#vongola ottavo

[ciaossu-imagines]

For event Day 17, I used prompt 7, number 11 for Daniela from KHR! She’s someone I never get the chance to write about, despite her being such a fascinating character as the only female Vongola boss! I hope you all enjoy this little bit of headcanons about her, my lovelies!

What type of blanket does the character prefer (standard blanket, quilt, comforter, weighted blanket, etc.)?

The answer really does change, honestly. It really depends on the weather, season, and sometimes Daniela’s mood. And of course, where she falls asleep also factors into everything.

I added that last part because I do think that Daniela is someone who doesn’t always make it to her bed to sleep. She gets busy and has been known to fall asleep at her desk or on a chair kept in her office for that purpose. She pushes herself hard and sometimes sleeps really little and when she finally gets to relax, sitting on the couch, she’s been known to fall asleep there. When Timoteo was born, she spent a lot of time sleeping in a rocking chair in his nursery because he was a baby who really didn’t want to sleep unless he was being held.

Because of that, I do see her as someone who keeps a lot of throw blankets around. A lot of them are knitted afghans, either passed down from her mother or given to her as gifts from relatives and members of the family. She has one particular throw she keeps on the chair in her office, a knitted afghan done in a bon bon stripe pattern, with bright and vivid purples, greens, and yellows.

I don’t think that, if weighted blankets were available during her time periods, Daniela would actually really hate them. She runs hot while sleeping to begin with and she doesn’t even really like being held or cuddled while sleeping. The feeling of something that heavy on her while she sleeps would be unbearable for her and would make it really hard for her to sleep.

During summer, she tends to sleep with just the sheets on the bed. There’s the fitted sheet and then the top sheet and she’ll either sleep on top of the sheets or between the two depending on how hot it actually is. She actually really enjoys patterned sheets over solid colours. Stripes are one of her most used patterns for sheets, though she also really enjoys plaids.

Her flannel sheets in winter are definitely buffalo checked or plaid of some sort.

During spring and fall, she uses mostly quilts. Her own mother was very crafty and made Daniela’s favourite quilt for her as a wedding gift. It’s a double ring quilt pattern in muted earth tones and it makes her happy every time she puts it on the bed.

In the winter, she prefers to stay with quilts. Like I said, she runs really hot and she prefers to layer quilts and maybe a throw as needed instead of having something really heavy like a duvet or a comforter on the bed.

[cedefaci]

Five Times Vongola Settimo retrieved corpses at his CEDEF counterpart’s behest, and one time he made one

Vongola Settimo had the weakest Flame of all Vongola Bosses, but his CEDEF Commander was conversely, the strongest. Little is known of the enigmatic Spada, save that he was responsible for CEDEF's assumption of codenames based on herbs and spices, and that never had the CEDEF been more bloody and more brutal than under his leadership. Together, these two men laid down the foundations of what Daniela, the legendary Vongola Ottavo, would build upon to secure Vongola's place as the undisputed sovereign over a tight-knit Alliance of Families.

And yet these men's close-knit partnership broke apart, as the pressure of Iron Prefect Cesare Mori's campaign against the mafia grew. In the end, Spada chose not to rescue his dearest friend when he was imprisoned, awaiting trial, choosing instead to save and crown his goddaughter, Daniela, instead.

A love story with an angry ghost was always doomed to end in tragedy, and yet.

 “You need not wish me well.” His friend kissed his hand, the hand bereft of the Vongola Ring for the first time in more than two decades. “You have already returned love to me, when all I had was hate. For your sake, Fabio, I shall avenge thee, and see your children grow old.”

Simora di Vongola, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1

“Fabio di Vongola, your father is fallen.” Katzbalger’s face was solemn. “I, his consigliere, entrusted with one half of the authority to appoint his successor, choose you in accordance with his wishes, and so discharge my last duty to him.”

Fabio took the lacquered box from the Sixth CEDEF Boss’s hands. “It is true then.”

The round-faced man closed his eyes. “The Vongola’s reach may span the world, but there was no cure to be found for Simora, in this land or any other. He has chosen his end.”

“May he rest—Damn it!” The Rings scattered onto the carpet that was probably as old as they were. “Damn it, damn it all to hell! Father knew that he was weakening, the Alliance knew he was weakening, our enemies knew that he was weakening! It didn’t make him step down even if it caused the Vongola problems, so why the fuck did he decide that now was the time to make things right? What made him think that now was the time to put duty first? Why the fuck would he leave now?”

“Perhaps…” Katzbalger began delicately.

“No, don’t you dare try to give me his excuses, he’s an egotistical fucking bastard, mother’s been praying to every saint in the book, lighting enough candles to burn the church down, she’d have fucking built one with her own bare hands if she’d thought it would give her another hour with her husband, but his pride would rather have him die as Vongola Sixth than diminish with the people who love him!”

Fabio took a deep breath. “Tell me he at least took all those Azzarà dogs with him.”

“Not quite.” Katzbalger moved towards the door, looking pointedly at the grandfather clock that stood against the wall, “He got most of them, but Spada is cleaning up the rest. You ought to bring your father’s body home and complete your Ring, Vongola Settimo.”

Vongola Settimo. Three years later than he expected, but he had the title now. How long would it take before no one called him anything else? Fabio di Vongola. Vongola Settimo. He was no longer the disappointment, only heir because he was his father’s only son. He was the Seventh in a line that had continued unbroken for a century and a half.

“Yeah,” Fabio said, following his Intuition to his ring and sliding it on his finger, “I should. So, about this Spada—he a Rain?”

The soon to be former CEDEF Boss smiled sardonically, “Because he’s washing away the blood spilled? Nah, that’s what we all do, Rain or no. If you want to know more about him, go ask him yourself.”

The smell hit him first.

After a brief, embarrassing interlude in which he picked up the Half-Rings he had scattered on the floor and distributed them to his Guardians, they had driven to the manor where Don Vongola had made his last stand. He had then left them outside while he headed past the perimeter alone.

The smell of roast meat and gunpowder, sour piss and vomit and the stink of shit from fear-loosened bowels ripening in the summer heat, hung like a cloud in the hallway. The CEDEF agent on guard duty had to have been marinating in the stench for hours, that poor soul.

“Settimo.” The young woman saluted crisply, opened the door, and stepped aside.

Fabio acknowledged her with a nod and then headed in.

Well…

On second thought, he wasn’t sure whether he was sorrier for the girl or for himself. What had seeped through the cracks had developed into a foul but generally breathable fog, but the miasma at its source had congealed into an all but physical thing, thick and rich in the stagnant air.

He stepped over a disembodied limb and avoided the tangle of entrails spilling from its owner, shoes sticking to the ground. There to the right, a man and a woman, the man’s head at an unnatural angle, the woman’s body littered with the long, shallow gashes unique to Simora’s boomerang. Behind them, shards of bone and organs stuck to wallpaper that was liberally coated in blood and brain matter. Farther off, his father’s Flame had left a cluster of bodies unrecognizable, their clothes and hair charred and blackened, their skin covered in raised blisters, patches of pale round welts like cobblestones, some smooth, some burst and weeping clear fluid. And there, on the other side of the room, a trio of corpses pressed against a window, as if they had been struck down as they tried futilely tried to escape the room, so warped that they barely passed as human, with flecks of skin and flesh around their throats and great bites taken out of the meat of their torsos.

It was then that he decided to stop cataloguing the carnage; better to let the cleaners sort it out.

Sunlight poured in like molten gold, turning the charnel pit into an oven. His father’s body had been laid out upon a makeshift bier in a liquid pool of it, severe features softened by the gilt. Someone had combed Simora’s hair, damp with sweat, back into its usual neatness, slid his eyes shut, and folded his hands over his chest with his faithful boomerang clasped between them, as if he was a warrior-king of old, grave and grand and solemn in his repose.

What was he in comparison? The last and least, chosen only for lack of other options, the disappointing only son, no hero, no leader, more clerk than king.

“Hail, Vongola Settimo.”

Fabio turned around. The speaker was dressed in a snugly tailored black suit over a waistcoat of tell-tale indigo brocade, swinging a sword-cane with lazy grace. Just his luck, the Mist was a fucking peacock, strong enough to teleport and vain enough to show off. He steeled himself.

“I have you to thank for this mess, I presume?”

The Mist bowed, long, silver-blond hair swinging freely over one shoulder. “Spada, of the CEDEF, at your service.”

“Some service.” Fabio knelt by his father’s stiff body, where the ground was clean. “You couldn’t have gotten the Ring off before rigor mortis set in?”

“Why?” Spada asked, all mock scandalized offense, “Is it not meet that Vongola’s Heir should receive his Inheritance from Vongola’s Don’s hand?”

So speaking, he vanished the glass from the windows, letting in a tepid breeze. It did little to improve their surroundings and even less to change the fact that talking with the CEDEF agent was an exercise in forbearance.

Spada was a Mist, Fabio reminded himself, and there was always something wrong with the good ones. His own Ligurio wasn’t much better. He sat back on his heels, prize in hand. “Are you advising me, Outside Advisor?”

“Merely being conscientious.” The scent of orange flower water swirled about them as Spada joined Fabio at his father’s side. “After all, my authority extends only to this—”

He tapped the CEDEF Half-Ring on Fabio’s finger. “—and even then only when you bestow it onto me.”

A reminder. The man had not been confirmed CEDEF Commander yet.

Spada was presumptuous, insolent. But he had earned it with his casual power, exercised with breathtaking mastery, with Katzbalger’s trust, giving him responsibility over the matters of Succession, and with his encyclopaedic knowledge of law and custom, even if it was used to push the lines of acceptable conduct precisely as far as they would go.

Who, in their generation, could hold a candle to that bonfire? His father’s fingers were warmthless and stiff under his own.

Certainty was addicting, Will fed on itself. Don Vongola slid his Ring off and dropped both halves in Spada’s hands.

He had caught the Mist by surprise, and the other man’s disconcertment was supremely gratifying.

“What is this, Fabio di Vongola?” Spada counterattacked, drawling to buy time, “Such impropriety. You have not received the Sin—it is not yet time for me to take this back.”

“The giving of these Rings from one hand to another’s signifies much.” Settimo said, meeting the eyes of what could be the strongest Mist in the world, but for the Arcobaleno, “From me to you—trust. From you to me…”

“…support.” Spada concluded, “Is that what you ask of me, Vongola Settimo?”

Fabio looked down at that little twist of some unknown alloy, passed down through the generations, “With his half alone, my father enacted vendetta that shall soon shake the Underworld, but in me, the blood runs thin. I shall need its mate as well, if I am to hold my own with the sword as well as the pen.”

“If that is what you require,” Spada completed the Sky Ring and held it for Fabio to take, “Then the strength of the CEDEF is yours to command.”

Fabio accepted the offering and rose to his feet.

The sun had moved. The light was fading. It was time. “Well?” He asked, “Who shall carry my father to his final rest?”

It was the question Spada had been waiting for, as expected. The peacock of a Mist stood and struck the ground with his cane.

“Who else, but the defeated dead?” He laughed, as mangled corpses shuddered to life.

“Who else.” Fabio repeated flatly. There was always something wrong with the good Mists, and he had chosen this one of his own free will. Who else indeed. He raised his chin and joined his CEDEF Commander at the front of the ghastly pallbearer’s queue.

 Currently, CEDEF codenames are based on different types of swords, from the german Katzbalger to the Roman Spada. (Yes, Daemon is just going by his surname) Fabio’s guardians, on the other hand, are named after the characters from Machiavelli’s satirical comedy“the Mandrake”.

next

[indigosprite]

She was the hottest one in this show and I’m tired of nobody saying it.

[arianna-nuvola]

Vongola Ottavo, Daniela.

Drawn and edited with Picsart and Pixlr.

[trilies]

Daemon Spade: You may as well get a white flag and start waving it. 

Daniela, Vongola Ottavo: The only thing I will be waving is your decapitated head on a stick in front of your weeping mother. 

Daemon Spade: .............good lord

(context and source)

[i-w-p-chan]

Would You Drop by the Afterlife on Your Way Back? Part 2 (Final)

Previous

.

The two finally went to the Sun division, the check up and recovery processes passing faster than Xanxus expected.

It was all Sawada's fault, Xanxus had gathered from the dissatisfied muttering of the motherhenning Suns, complaining about Sawada Harmonizing with Xanxus just to get him up to snuff.

Which, actually, threw Xanxus for a loop, he knew about Skies Harmonizing with other Elements but he never heard of Skies Harmonizing with other Skies.

The soul reaper doing a final check up (after he kicked out a jittery Sawada, to 'avoid distractions') apparently understood Xanxus' silent dilemma and sighed before putting away his pen and papers, "It's Tsuna's special skill. Did anyone mention him being one of our Sector's best Skies at handling Harmony? He is. It's why he gets sent out to get people like you, stuck in the ice." He then ushered Xanxus towards the door, "Now, beat it, kiddo, no one here is in the mood to deal with a jittery Tsuna, he's susceptible to burning things down. Take him to see Ricardo-sama or Lavina's little brat, he may calm down."

When Xanxus exited the examination room, Sawada tugged him and urged him to follow, "We'll go see Ricardo. I don't know what Daniela has planned, but whatever it is, we'll need Ricardo in the know. He's very good with clean and cover ups."

Luck was on their side and they met Ricardo just outside the Sun division.

Or, actually, luck may not have been on their side as Ricardo looked worried, "Do you have any idea what Daniela is planning? She just snatched up her three kids and the four of them have been discussing Things with Elena. Elena is giggling. I repeat, Elena is giggling."

"I don't know!" Sawada threw his hands in the air before stuffing them into his mane of hair.

Ricardo raked his hand through his hair, "I'll go get paperwork ready for any possible emergency that may crop up."

Sawada launched himself at Ricardo and held his hands between his, "If I didn't know exactly how much you wouldn't want it, I'd have staged a rebellion, kicked the captain out and declared you the new captain."

Ricardo shook his head, "Tsuna, I thought we talked about this."

Sawada deflated, "Yeah, I know, no more overthrowing your father just to instate his second seat as captain."

"I have to go, Daniela is coming over. Keep me posted, all right?"

Sawada nodded.

Nonna walked up to them with a particularly vicious grin, "Xanxus. We'd like your help."

Xanxus knew better than to deny his grandmother.

And clearly, Sawada knew to stay the fuck out of her business, evidenced by how he crept away from the two of them.

"Oh. No, you don't." Nonna's arm shot out and her hand latched onto Sawada's shoulder with a vice-like grip, "We'd like your help, too."

Sawada whimpered; Xanxus did not blame him.

.

Elena was a devastatingly smiling beauty who'd be right at home bonding with Lussuria.

And then she opened her mouth and spoke, driving in the need to be thankful that there was no she was in contact with Mammon deep into Xanxus, "We'll be invading his dreams."

Xanxus would be an asshole and petulantly ask whom she was referring to, but he was surrounded by his brothers and grandmother, all of which were deceased. And with him in the equation, they were all connected to one person whom they could possibly have a reason to torment in his dreams.

His dear 'father'.

Elena waved a hand, "You know that idea about seeing your dead family in your dreams? You get to have payback and possibly also convince him to free Xanxus. Two birds, one stone."

Elena and Nonna high-fived each other.

"Now, let's get to it. Tsuna, be a dear and get us there,"

Sawada murmured from where he was standing next to Xanxus and his three siblings, "I'm one hundred and fifty three years old. I outrank Daniela and I shouldn't let her boss me around like th-"

"Tsuna."

"Alright! Alright!"

Sawada's shoulders slumped and he stepped forward before he repeated the process Xanxus witnessed before to open the same portal he did before inside Vongola HQ.

"There!" Sawada gestured towards the portal, then he crossed his arms and pouted.

Elena and Nonna stepped through, Nonna snatching Tsuna with her on her way. Federico smiled helplessly as he followed, accompanied by a smirking Massimo and a snickering Enrico, who tugged Xanxus with them.

Surrounded by his brothers and following his grandmother, Xanxus' tense shoulders relaxed for what felt like the first time since Federico was declared dead.

After they stepped out of the portal into a corridor Xanxus recognized as one being near the Ninth's quarters, what Sawada had said before about people being unable to see them slammed back into the forefront of his mind, helped along by the sight of Visconti bypassing them without a glance in their direction.

"Let's go!" Elena tore down the corridor with disturbing confidence, Nonna and Xanxus' brothers not far behind her.

Sawada sent a helpless look at Xanxus who shrugged and followed after his family, confident that Sawada would follow.

.

The ninth was lying in bed when they entered his bedroom. The occasional tremor wracked his frame, his fingers twitching and his eye brows furrowing faintly.

Xanxus wondered what he was dreaming about to make him act that way in his sleep.

Nonna halted next to him with an inscrutable look on her face, before it was replaced with a steely look and she nodded in Elena's direction.

The group gathered around the bed in a circle, sans Sawada who climbed onto it and crawled close to the Ninth.

"Alright, Tsuna, work your magic."

Sawada nodded, his amber eyes sliding into a glowing orange color.

Xanxus, realizing that Sawada was about to Harmonize with the Ninth, focused his attention on him to see him at work (he hadn't seen it properly at the Sun division and his curiosity was nearly killing him).

Sky flames burst into life on Sawada's forehead, spreading down his arms and snaking upwards from his shoulders into the air.

The flames then branched into web-like patterns, expanding throughout the room and beyond. Xanxus could feel the Harmony wrap around him and the others, could feel it reaching outside of the room and shooting down corridors, snatching up anyone in its path into its web with no one other than the spirits being the wiser. The flames reached outside Vongola HQ and engulfed it completely.

"Ready whenever you are," Sawada spoke, voice deep and emotionless.

Elena strode forward, the ring she wore glowing with Mist flames as she trailed her hand across the bed sheets, over the Ninth's shoulder, neck and face, her fingers stopping in mid-air, hovering above the Ninth's forehead.

And then her fingers descended.

Once she made contact with the Ninth, her flames embraced them from where Xanxus didn't notice they were surrounding them.

The flames tugged them forward, helped along with Sawada's Sky flames.

There was a burst of light, and they were falling.

They were falling, falling through smoke and lights, through fire and ice, through water and clouds, until they weren't falling anymore.

Their landing was gentle; their new surroundings recognizable; they were standing inside the room Xanxus had confronted the Ninth in.

The room was empty except for Xanxus, Nonna, Enrico, Massimo, Federico and the Ninth.

The Ninth was kneeling on the floor; there was a pool of blood in front of him.

Nonna walked towards him, her clothes changed from the soul reaper uniform to her old red suit, her heels clacked on the floor, causing the Ninth to whirl around and face her.

His blank expression melted away into one of shock.

"Timoteo," Nonna spoke, her voice reverberating through the place, her tone was flat.

The Ninth stiffened, his eyes moving from her to Xanxus and his brothers (who were all surrounding him), and back again before settling on Xanxus.

The Ninth paled.

The dream space shifted, and Xanxus' body encased in ice slipped into being between the Ninth and Nonna.

If it was possible, the Ninth paled even more.

"Your own son, Timoteo." Nonna's voice was like thunder.

The room shook and the five spirits slipped away from the dream.

Back in the Ninth's room, Elena observed each of them carefully before removing her hand from the Ninth's forehead.

Nodding her head at Sawada, she stepped away from the bed.

Sawada took a deep breath and gradually retracted his flames. When he was finished, he hopped away from the bed.

The moment Sawada stepped away, the Ninth started shaking, his flames fluctuating.

Mere moments later, the Ninth jolted awake at the same time his door was kicked down as his guardians flooded the room.

"Timoteo?" Ganauche neared his boss, carefully sweeping the room for any signs of danger, his gaze passing over the spirits in the room more than once without noticing them.

The Ninth rushed out of his bed, stumbling over his feet as he grabbed his cane. He speed-walked, almost running, out of the room.

The spirits followed him alongside his guardians.

They ended up in front of a door very familiar to Xanxus.

The door opened, revealing the same room they were just inside in the Ninth's dream. Except this time, it was Xanxus' frozen body lying in-wait for them.

"Your rings!" The Ninth barked, walking up to the ice and holding out his hand with the Vongola Sky ring. The guardians seemed to hesitate for a moment before they followed the Ninth's command and stepped up to the ice, reaching towards it with hands adorned with the Vongola rings.

In-unison, the seven lit their rings.

Fire burned strongly on top of each ring, and next to each ring-bearer, a specter formed, taking the form of each ring's respective first holder: Vongola's first generation.

Xanxus didn't have time to react to the Mist specter taking Elena's form (instead of the expected Deamon Spade) as Sawada nudged him, telling him to brace himself before he walked towards the ice as well, his flames bursting out and encompassing him like a cloak.

Sawada stepped up next to the Ninth and held his hands to the ring, causing the fire burning on the ring to grow into a great column of flames.

And then the ice started melting.

Massimo's hand landed on Xanxus shoulder, tightly squeezing it before letting go to give Enrico and Federico the space to tightly hug Xanxus. After the hug was finished, Nonna walked up to him and held his face in her hands, her eyes staring deeply into his, before she kissed him on the forehead.

Then the ice was melted completely, Xanxus' body dropping out of it and into the Ninth's hold; Xanxus felt his chains' rattling ring in his ears as they tightened around him and pulled him towards his body.

Heaviness settled around his form, weighing him down, making him feel almost like drowning. He tried to struggle but Sawada touched him and his form went limp.

And then everything faded to black.

.

Everything was a mess.

Xanxus sighed explosively and scrubbed a hand down his face, ignoring the faint tremors in his fingers, the moment he was alone in his office.

Only a day had passed since he woke up, his body having been removed from the ice only a few hours before he regained consciousness.

He'd steamrolled his way into his office in Varia HQ, ignoring the protests of the resident motherhens (Squalo naturally being the loudest) over him needing to rest more before he returned to his work.

The events of the previous day would have felt like a wild hallucination, had Xanxus not been feeling the lingering effects of Sawada's flames fighting against the ice-induced coldness and numbness in his body.

And there was also the matter of his silent observer, going unnoticed by all but Xanxus.

Given that Xanxus was the only one inside the office, he took the chance to question the only other person in the room, "Oi, trash. Weren't you supposed to go unseen by living people?"

Sawada stepped up to Xanxus' desk, acting casually as if he didn't reek of flames and his eyes didn't hold the faintest glow of orange, and he shrugged, "Normally, yes, but you're still Harmonized with me and you're a special case. Your soul is still not settled in properly. Plus-" Sawada's hands went inside the folds of his clothes and took out some papers, "-remember what Ricardo said about preparing paperwork for any possible outcome?" Sawada put down the papers on the desk, "This is official permission to grant you access to your spiritual abilities, which you unlocked after your 'out of body' experience. At least enough to see us and be able to interact with us. Plus permission to share certain topics with you."

Xanxus scowled down at the papers as he scrutinized them, "This has been signed by your fucking captain. Don't you have any rules about living people being in contact with your Soul Society or something?"

"We do. But there are exceptions. And. Well." Sawada scratched his cheek, "Mama and Cozart tag-teamed the captain. He can't say no to them. I think mama was a little sad she didn't get to have you over."

"And why would she have me over?"

"You miraculously spent only an hour or so in Soul Society so you didn't have to follow the rest of the procedures."

"Which are?"

"We'd have spirits ejected out of their body go into hiding using an artificial body while we work out the logistics of how to handle extracting the body from the ice. As a matter of fact, I could have melted your body when I first came to get you, but I didn't because one, my priority was your soul's state, you needed to visit the Sun division to heal up before we got you back into your body without any backlash from the ice.

"And two, where would I have gone with your body if I did melt it? Sure, your soul would return to your body, but you would need days to wake up and your body would require care. My initial plan was to get into contact with the Varia and get them in on the plan without telling them about the soul-related specifics.

"Except Mammon needs copious amount of money for compensation and so I needed time."

Xanxus' scowl deepened, "And you just do all of that out of the goodness of your hearts?"

"Kinda?" Sawada grimaced, "It's a repayment of sorts. The ice technique was created by our captain; think of it like taking responsibility for his actions."

Xanxus dropped the papers and leaned back in his chair, "And you expected me to what? Play nice and stay with you just like that?"

"Oh no." Sawada waved a dismissive hand, "We'd offer you jobs as a substitute until you got your body back."

"A substitute."

"Yeah. Those exist. Spirits of people who wander out of their body via astral projection usually do that. We get a lot of Mists working as substitutes as a result. Like Mammon. You can ask them about it. Or not. Mammon is Mammon." Sawada shrugged helplessly, "And then there are those like you. We provide you with an artificial body that looks either quite older or younger than your actual age so that you can interact with people without arousing suspicion from those who know you as you, and we, figure out a way to get your body back."

Silence stretched between them as Xanxus turned all of what Sawada said over in his head.

Some minutes later, he spoke, "And what do substitutes do?"

"They have nearly the same job as ours. Mainly the taking down corrupt souls and sending the still not corrupted ones to Soul Society. You don't have to deal with any of the bureaucratic aspects, lucky you." Sawada smiled wryly.

Xanxus decided to continue questioning Sawada, since he 'had permission' already, it was better to milk the chance for all it was worth.

"What marks the corrupted souls as different?"

Sawada's features blanked and his eyes glowed briefly, "It's difficult to miss them. They are quite known in the criminal underground of the living world. Known and feared."

That was when the door to the office banged open and Squalo briskly walked up to Xanxus' desk with a huge scowl. He dropped the files he had with him on the desk.

"Shitty boss," Squalo ground out, clearly still pissed about Xanxus returning to work so quickly, "Shit happened not too long ago." He glared down at the files as if they personally offended him, "It seemed like a famiglia was taken down in short time a couple of hours ago. The Estraneo. Completely wiped out and their base burned to the ground-" Sawada suddenly grinned mirthlessly, his flames, burning underneath his skin, burned hotter, spreading an air of grim satisfaction, "-Vindice were on the scene." Squalo scowled harder, "And Mammon-supported rumors have it that at least one of the Vindice guards was taken down by the mysterious assailant."

Sawada barked out a harsh laugh, his eyes glowing orange, "Elena had so much fun with them. Don't worry, she'll be paying Mammon with some bonding time."

Squalo stormed out of the office while Xanxus flipped through the files, his mind reeling from the new information.

Sawada hopped onto the desk, eyes scanning the words before pointing his finger directly at the mention of the Vindice, "Like I said: known and feared."

Xanxus felt a wild laugh threaten to erupt from his throat. "Why are you telling me all of this? Is it just the permission?" Normally, he'd be more collected and careful, but he'd just been told by a person who looked like a teenager, but held an aura of someone ten times older and experienced, what the nature of the Vindice (the obscure, feared, revered jailors of the underworld) was.

Xanxus would be damned but he believed him.

Sawada leaned forward until he was nose to nose with Xanxus, "This is a personal request from Daniela; I'm here to ask you." Sawada pulled out what looked like a badge with a flame depicted on it and a ring.

"Would you accept our job offer to work with us as a substitute?"

.

End.

Would Xanxus accept or not?

Who knows… certainly not the author.

[sam-crevellari]

Next in my adventures with the makeup... I know she is not that famous, but I love her, despite the fact that there's so little info about her. But she was a Vongola Boss! She deserves better. (By the way, somebody in the fandom is still alive?)

[megamajorotaku]

Someone give me a fic  about a fem Romano becoming Vongola Ottavo/ Daniela Vongola and leading Vongola like a boss(no pun intended). Plus Spain being jealous cuz Romano has a bunch of hot guys surrounding her wanting to be her guardians.

[underlovedkhr]

Day 2: Fav Female Character

30 Days of KHR

Daniela (Ottavo)

She is easily my fav female character and we were robbed of her.  We should have seen more.  Also, the fact that her weapon is a crossbow?!?!  I...I love her.

So, here.  Have some more headcanons:

She almost shot one of her own guardians when they surprised her while she was hunting one day

Her tracking skills are unparalleled.  Yes, you can run from her.  But you definitely aren’t hiding.

While her father was pretty traditional, Daniela embraces new technology and would install all the latest security and techniques she could.  

She trained her dogs herself.  While they were taught a variety of commands from sit to attack, her favorite trick she taught them was to pose for the camera.

[onceabluemoonwrites]

Excuse me, just dropping by to tell you that Daniela di Vongola is the fav™

[seraphxx]

Damn. I was going to lurk until I got drafts done, but I saw KHR on my dash and now I’m here. Speaking of which I’m still working on that KHR Multimuse, whoops~

[kiralushia]

since this comic is so center around girl power will we ever see chrome? does nozo know about daniela at all and does she look up to her? i just feel like that would happen since she was a female boss

Chrome, as the other canon characters (from vongola, at least) will appear in future when the plot needs them. They’re right now busy (Chrome is sharing with Mukuro the ring) (I ask for mercy, I’d like to show everyone and more but writing about characters is one thing, drawing them in a comic is a very hard and stressful work twt) Nozomi knows about Daniela and she also admires her! I take advantage of this question to also reveal an info I still don’t know when showing it: In the original fanfic, at this point I already explained that some people didn’t like Ottavo because she was indeed a good boss but she didn’t bring incredible innovations to the family, very different if compared to Decimo, the one who made the Vongola even more powerful (and less cruel). That’s their explanation about why they don’t think another woman is suited to be boss “ they wouldn't be up to the task”. (obviously, they're just sexists. In 2032 there are still many people with stupid "ideas", unfortunately.)

personal opinion: Daniela is amazing and she deserves more love!!

[kxzuna]

The KHR prequel story has been revised for many times (like about three or four times) and many changes are made to match the right timeline. Here are some extra information that exists in the original version of the prequel story:

Adult Ietsuna was originally working as a lawyer.

Takahashi Reiko was a Shinto priestess.

There was a male Sky Arcobaleno before Luce.

Yoshimune's hair colour was dark blue, inherited from his mother (later changed to brown)

Giotto's wife (Hotaru) was originally named as Sora.

Ietsuna was attending private middle school and his uniform was a light blue blazer with white shirt, red necktie and black pants.

Satoshi was the same age as Ietsuna and once served as the class monitor.

Dino's grandfather was Ietsuna's good friend who ran away from Italy to hide himself from his brother, Cavallone Ottavo.

Ietsuna's original weapon was Japanese bow and arrows.

Daemon Spade once possessing a transfer student from Italy just to get close to Vongola Primo's descendant, Ietsuna. The transfer student was Rokudo Mukuro's grandparent.

[vicehectic]

Want Emancipation Ch (2/?)

REWRITE OF “THE CURSE OF THE SKY”

In one world Tsunayoshi grows up under a neglectful family and hardships and makes relations with people associated with death by force.

In another, Tsunayoshi grows up under a loving and caring father and uncle and welcomes those touched by death with open arms.

Or; Byakuran Gesso adopts Tsunayoshi at a young age and that changes everything.

Parts 1 / 2 / ?

Also on AO3 and Fanfic

-------------------------------

He’s been in a world without Tsunayoshi’s influence. It feels empty.

-------------------------------

Okay, maybe he wasn’t telling himself the exact truth. And that was a hard pill to swallow in it of itself. He hates to lose to anyone – even if it is himself.

Tsunayoshi is the name people whisper across most worlds.

(Sometimes it’s Ieyoshi, others it’s Tsunahime but it’s still Tsunayoshi – after all what’s in a name? Sometimes it’s not Tsunayoshi at all; whether it’s someone under the guise of Tsunayoshi or it’s someone completely different. Those worlds don’t last long. If they do there’s chaos rampart and no peace in sight.)

To the people that know about the worlds, Tsunayoshi is praised like a god. In some worlds he’s the end, the beginning, or a stepping stone in-between. Tsunayoshi is never all those things. Sometimes he’s two of those things and in the worlds that he’s both the beginning and the end; nothing really makes sense.

Tsunayoshi is the catalyst. Tsunayoshi is the tool. Tsunayoshi is the sacrifice.

In those worlds Tsunayoshi never truly feels happy.

In those worlds his significant other dies. Kyoko, Haru, Hayato, Takeshi, Dino, Kyoya, Bianchi, Ryohei, Hana, Renato, Fon, Cherep, Colonello, Nagi, Mukuro, Spanner, Shoichi, Azucar, Belphegor- The world burns because of it.

In those worlds his mother is dead. Nana targeted because of her connections to the mafia – it doesn’t matter if it’s before everything happens or after.

In those worlds, sometimes, it’s good his mother is dead, but his father dies along with her. Iemitsu’s heart is big like that in those worlds and the world burns because of it.

In those worlds his guardians die. In those worlds his guardians crack. The world burns because of it.

In those worlds Tsunayoshi doesn’t get a chance to get involved. Tsunayoshi either lives a short life or a long life of misery. The world burns because of it.

He’s seen all those worlds and maybe there’s something wrong with him, dare he say one of the defective ones, but he wants Tsunayoshi to get a break among all the worlds he’s in. He wants Tsunayoshi to feel satisfied. And that’s a goal that he will have to fight tooth and nail for.

There’s a reason why he let everything in this world work out the way it did. Other versions of himself will mock him for his laziness but they don’t see what he sees. Tsunayoshi is not a tool for them to control. Tsunayoshi is everything and it’s ridiculous how none of them have realized this before.

He’s been in a world without Tsunayoshi’s influence.

It feels empty.

-------------------------------

The blanket is slung over his lap and his hands are cradling the mug full of his uncle’s famous hot chocolate as he waits.

The soothing chatter of a mischievous voice and an exasperated voice reaches him, and it somehow makes the dozens of thoughts circling in his head come to a stop. Tsunayoshi Gesso just sits there and breathes.

It’s winter break halfway through his first year of middle school but that hasn’t changed their tradition to visit Italy every year with his uncle. Honestly, after the drama his class has been through in just the first semester, Tsuna is glad to get a break.

“How are you holding up Yoshi?” There’s a hand in his fluffy hair and he immediately leans into the touch, his eyes closing unconsciously as a smile comes to his lips. “Are you finally relaxing a little?”

Tsuna laughs, “I would, but we left dad in the kitchen alone and we both know that’s not a good idea.”

His uncle’s hand leaves his hair as he laughs with him, “Don’t worry about that, I used all the marshmallows for the hot chocolate. I’m not letting Byakuran have the chance this year.”

“Geez Sho-chan!” his dad whines as he pokes his head out into the living room, “You could have told me that! I’ve been looking for marshmallows for the past hour and a half!”

Tsuna grabs his uncle’s arm dramatically, “You don’t think he’s going to go insane because of marshmallow withdrawal, do you?”

Shoichi Irie, Tsuna’s favorite uncle, plays along, “Oh god,” he jokingly grabs his stomach, “I’m getting a stomach ache just thinking about it.”

Byakuran Gesso jumps out into the living room with a dark expression, “My best friend and my favorite son ganging up on me? I won’t accept this!”

Tsuna shrieks, but would forever deny it, when Byakuran tackles Tsuna into the couch and drags uncle Shoichi down with him, “You’re heavy dad!”

“Are you calling me fat?! What happened to my cute little son who followed me around like a little duckling calling me papa?!”

“That never happened, and you know it!”

“I can’t breathe! I can’t breathee…..”

  -------------------------------

Yes. A world without Tsunayoshi is empty.

  -------------------------------

In most worlds Timoteo is barely a factor.

Timoteo Vongola is at his wits end. In his seventh and eighth decade he’s lost his three eldest sons and Timoteo is only getting older. His wonderful wife passed in his sixth decade and he wasn’t exactly as capable as he used to be – nor did he want to impregnate someone in his old age. Worst come to worst, Timoteo would tell the council to shove off and make Iemitsu Vongola Decimo – no matter what tradition said.

But Timoteo still has Xanxus. His beloved youngest son that was lost on the streets after one of Tolomeo’s many nights spent with common whores in the alleys of Naples. There was a reason why their mother chose Timoteo as Vongola Nono and not Tolomeo. In many ways Tolomeo bore much resemblance to the cousin twice removed of their great grandfather, Vongola Secondo, Ricardo, and that was passed onto Xanxus. Timoteo sees it in the slightest bit of wrath that Xanxus has in his flames but like Timoteo’s said.

He’s at his wits end.

Such a shame that Iemitsu’s child had died twenty-seven weeks in and his wife could no longer bear a child.

  -------------------------------

In a small fraction of worlds, he’s the catalyst of destruction.

  -------------------------------

Enrico is dead by an assassin, a bullet straight through his head so they have to cover his face at the funeral. His fiancé still cries over his cold body. The day of his funeral the Vongola all stand together in the Vongola graveyard with the Varia keeping guard despite being an assassination squad. Enrico wasn’t the favored heir to take on the mantle of Vongola Decimo, but he was reliable. He always said that Massimo was the one with the charisma of a leader. Enrico always rather preferred to be Massimo’s advisor and lead from the shadows. Massimo’s back is straight like his spine is iron and his is chest open in open defiance at the funeral – he doesn’t cry but the hands holding his younger brothers’ hands tremble.

Massimo is found dead in the fountain Chiavarone Ottavo gifted to Vongola Ottava as a poorly disguised courting gift. The fountain that is the center of the Vongola Mansion’s courtyard. Massimo is found dead in his pajamas without any signs of a struggle. The autopsy later shows that Massimo had somehow been heavily drugged and if he hadn’t died from the water in his lungs – he would have died from an overdose. His youngest brother is the one to find the body; poor Xanxus is found dragging his brother’s dead body out of the fountain and begging him to wake up. The event sends all of the Vongola into a frenzy to find the culprit and rats are killed on the spot. They still hold a funeral with lilies because its well known that Massimo had a preference to them. Federico looks so small as he holds his remaining brother so close. For the one to have screamed louder than Xanxus was Federico who crumbled at the seams at the sight of his pale brother’s corpse.

Federico is found dead with holes in him. After the death of Massimo, Federico was placed on intense watch. It takes years for Federico to even resemble the person he used to be. The last person in his family to have talked to him, after his father sent him out on a peaceful assignment to celebrate his return to the field, is Xanxus. He never returns. The party that went with him yell about a raid despite being unharmed and without any missing members besides Federico. He was the only one who died. According to his party he had welcomed death with open arms – he let himself get killed. Xanxus stands next to his father with twin guns engraved with “mi dispiace fratello”. The famiglia responsible for Federico’s death never sees the light of day because of him.

In some worlds Xanxus grows up loved by his older brothers and leads the Varia with intelligence of a leader from Enrico, with charisma he’s learned from Massimo, and with compassion from Federico. He recovers from the trauma the streets give and the way his mother had just abandoned him for a large sum of money. Xanxus learns how to be happy and be content in life.  

In those worlds his flames don’t burn with wrath. His elements are attracted to how warm his sky flames are.

That isn’t this world.

  -------------------------------

“Xanxus.”

Xanxus doesn’t have to turn to know that it’s Superbia Squalo who’s calling out to him.

“What do you want?” he grunts as he cradles the beer Federico used to love before he lost himself in his left hand.

Squalo doesn’t move to sit by Xanxus’ side and frankly, Xanxus doesn’t expect him too. Squalo just continues to stand behind him, a half step to the right so if he were to walk forward they would knock shoulders. Xanxus expects Squalo to stand exactly where he’s always stood.

Squalo doesn’t hesitate as he speaks. “Boss.”

Xanxus whirls around and the beer bottle almost cracks in his grip. “I’m not your boss anymore!” he practically screeches, “You’re the new head of the Varia dipshit!”

Squalo doesn’t even blink, “I pledged to follow you through thick and thin, boss. You may be a piece of shit at the end of the day but you’re the man I chose to follow. This… change in plans doesn’t change anything.”

Xanxus’ blood boils, “Are you fucking blind? You know that this is exactly what that bastard wants. The second he announces that I am to be his heir I’m fucking trapped. Everything we’ve done up to this point has been fucking useless.”

“So, you’re just going to give up?” Squalo shouts back, losing his calm composure – always being quick to anger. “Like hell you are!” he yells because he knows Xanxus just as well as he knows himself, “We aren’t going to be playing into his hands.”

Xanxus quells the anger in his chest to stop and narrow his eyes at the white-haired teen, “What do you know?”

Squalo grins wickedly, “If Timoteo is going to announce you as Decimo it’s going to be when you’re at least twenty – officially at least. We have time until then to figure everything out.”

“Figure what out?”

“We’re going to find another potential heir to the Vongola.”

The beer falls out of his hand, “If I wasn’t the only illegitimate child of Tolomeo then…”

Squalo turns on his heel, “Come on, shitty boss, we’ve got work to do.”

  -------------------------------

But this also isn’t the world that Xanxus goes on a revenge trip.

  -------------------------------

In most worlds Iemitsu leaves his family for his famiglia. In those worlds he usually loves the child he births with his significant other with all his heart.

In most worlds Nana is Iemitsu’s wife, but she’s easily replaced in others. In those worlds she’s usually an airheaded woman not capable of being a mother.

In worst case scenarios Nana shouldn’t be let out of an insane asylum.

  -------------------------------

It starts with the Byakuran in one world and even in the worlds that don’t have Byakuran as the wielder of Mare Rings, Byakuran becomes the wielder of the Mare Rings. Each Byakuran reacts differently from the onslaught of memories and insights of other worlds. In some worlds Byakuran thirsts for power and grandeur. In most worlds Byakuran simply wants to live an easy-going life.

The Byakuran of this world doesn’t turn a blind eye nor does he try to grasp everything that has potential as his. The Byakuran of this world has a bleeding heart and he sobs over the chest of his best friend and he’s inconsolable even for the practical they have the next day in their final year of University.

Byakuran Gesso scours the world looking for the one that calls himself Tsunayoshi and he never looks back.

  -------------------------------

“Are you sure that you want to go back to Namimori?” Tsuna barely hears his dad’s question as he walks between several spots in the kitchen trying to get everything ready for school as the minutes tick by. “I know the faculty said they were going to have a mental health assembly, but they just seemed like they wanted to brush everything under the rug as fast as possible.”

Tsuna laughs dryly, “The perks of public school,” he replied sarcastically as he opens the fridge looking for the water bottle he swore he put in last night.

“Exactly!” Byakuran cries as he stands on the other side of the fridge door, “You could have gone to Midori Private. It’s not like it’s only for girls anymore.”

Tsuna shifts his gaze away from his dad as he closes the fridge shut, letting his eyes settle on his Uncle Shoichi who just let out a huge yawn at the kitchen table, “Jii-san you didn’t have to wake up just to see me off.”

Shoichi immediately jolts and wipes the drool that leaked from the corner of his mouth. “Of course I do! It’s not everyday you head back to school,” he finally says after gathering his composure.

“I mean, it’s not like it’s my first day, I’m just heading back after winter break.” Tsuna shoves the black bottle into the bag that’s sitting in the seat across from Shoichi, “You were up late last night, right?”

Shoichi looks sheepish as he rubs at the back of his head, “Haha, just a little later than usual.”

“Yoshi,” Byakuran calls out gently and Tsuna turns because he’s weak to moments like this. And Tsuna’s supposed to be the one with the puppy-dog eyes. “Promise me if you feel uncomfortable at school that you’ll tell me.” Warm hands rub his shoulders, “I just want what’s best for you.”

“Yeah,” Tsuna says, “No problem.” Even to him his words sound hollow.

Byakuran’s eyes bore into him but his dad doesn’t push it and just embraces Tsuna in a hug, “What am I going to do when you grow up and leave me, kiddo?”

Tsuna cracks a smile at that, “Like I’m going to disappear from your life just because I’ve grown up dad.” He breathes in the relaxing scent of marshmallows and orchids, “We’re family and family sticks together.”

His dad pulls back and kisses the top of Tsuna’s fluffy head, “Get going kiddo or you’re going to be late.”

Tsuna grabs his bag off the chair and gives a sarcastic salute, “Yessur.”

“Have a good day Yoshi!” his uncle calls after him as he steps out of the house.

Tsuna very much doubts that it’s not going to be much different from most days at Namimori Middle.

  -------------------------------

Tsuna doesn’t want to tell his dad that the assembly goes just like how he expected it to. The whole thing feels bland and useless as students are invested in their own little conversations and the teachers look bored. For Christ’s sake the mental health counselor is sleeping!

For a second, he regrets not taking his father’s offer to attend Midori Private School, regardless of the low percentage of male students due to only having allowed male attendance the year before, but Tsuna knows that if he wants to live as he does at school then Namimori Middle is the perfect place for him.

Even if he knows how toxic the environment at Namimori is when he takes one cursory glance at the first years around him and doesn’t see the student that had tried to commit suicide at the end of last semester.

  -------------------------------

 NOTE:  I'm so sorry for the late update but I got swamped with the weeks leading up to finals and then finals at the end of June. As soon as my finals ended I went on a trip and I've just been recovering from that. I've also been writing scenes for this story and "Vongola Vigilantes" at the same time but the scenes also don't make sense chronologically so I have a lot of mess I need to piece together later for each story. Hopefully I will update quicker next time. Thank you for the love and support I've gotten already! I really appreciate it!

[ciaossu-imagines]

Can I ask for a platonic match-up, this time to get a girl as my friend? :)

Of course you can! I hope you enjoy - I absolutely love doing platonic matches so this was a real treat!

In my humble opinion, your female best friend in KHR would be DANIELA!

Daniela intimidates a lot of people and few want to get close to her. When they do, it’s normally only to use her power. Her true friends are few and far between and she’s fairly choosy about who she lets into her life. However, she’s never once felt threatened or used in your friendship with her, never once felt like you were simply after her protection or power. Daniela is a good judge of character and has a knack for correctly reading people and she really does see you quite well and knows that you are as loyal a friend to her as she is to you.

Daniela isn’t able to drop her guard very often, to lower the public persona of Vongola Boss that she shows most of the world at large. There’s only a handful of people she’ll really feel comfortable just being herself with, people she’ll feel comfortable talking to honestly and confiding in. Outside of her Guardians (and even then, she doesn’t fully trust all of them), there’s maybe two or three people and of them, you’re her chosen ear to whisper in, her chosen companion for adventures and games. Your calm demeanor makes it easy to talk to you and with as honest as you are, she knows you’ll keep her secrets. You’re so observant, especially when it comes to people you spend a fair bit of time around, and you’ll usually even be able to tell when she’s keeping something inside that she needs to talk about and you always seem to pick the right moment to be there for her. 

The two of you will have become friends in early childhood. Though she was always being groomed to be the boss, before Daniela was actually Vongola Ottavo, she had a bit more leeway in how she behaved. A tomboy and a bit of a hellion, the brash, confident Daniela was at complete odds with the quiet, almost fade in the background you. The two of you were never people that others would consider becoming such good friends. You didn’t even think you’d become friends with her. But she saved you from bullies one day when you were children and boldly stated that you were going to come and play with her and be her friend. If you were her friend, after all, the bullies wouldn’t bother you and besides, she was bored and nobody wanted to play with her (she tended to scare most of the other children away). Her loud and confident personality may have overshadowed yours at points, as much as she tried to avoid that, but it also forced you to come out of your reserved shell quickly and before long the two of you were close friends. 

You often played together as kids, spent nights together and had all kinds of fun adventures. Your family was large and you were often left to take care of yourself and Daniela was often left to her own devices, as her father was busy with the Vongola. The both of you had to learn to take care of yourselves from an early age and it really helped bond the two of you. I see the two of you learning to cook together (she was the better cook, you the better baker - she loves your cookies, even as an adult, and will ask you to make her some almost every time she sees you). As kids, the two of you played sports and games with the other neigbourhood children and she always picked you first for her team. The two of you had radio serials that you both loved, comic books that you both huddled over together and she was always amazed and delighted whenever your quick hands drew out a picture from the latest episode of the serial or drew up one of your favourite comic characters for her. Though she’ll have lost some of them, she still has a few of them put aside, even as an adult, just for nostalgia’s sake. 

She always thought you were amazingly talented and encouraged you in everything you did. Daniela was always a woman who strongly believes in supporting other women (I personally headcanon that, given that she led the Vongola during World War II, when a lot of the men would’ve been off and fighting, that Daniela used women to fill a lot of the spots in the Vongola and that she probably even had a female Guardian or two). No more so was this evident than in her relationship with you. She was always there to quietly (or not so quietly, when the two of you were kids) support you and to give you the push you needed to do something, especially when you weren’t feeling confident enough to do it yourself. She knows how you fear making the wrong choices in life, how you fear having your life mean nothing and she’ll always make sure you know just how baseless those fears are. After all, even if your life isn’t spectacular, you make the lives of those around you better - your friendship with her matters more than any fancy accolades or awards. She won’t come out and say these things but she’ll let you know, in her own ways, just how much your friendship means. And besides, your life with her around is never boring enough for those fears to have any truth to them. While she won’t let you officially join the Vongola, I could see her using you to help out the organization, hiding members of the resistance groups with you during Germany’s occupation of Italy or even having you watch over her young son as she fought as Vongola boss. That last one was an honor above all - Daniela trusted precious few people with her beloved son. 

While Daniela became busier and busier as the two of you grew and you spent less and less time with her, your friendship never faltered. Though the two of you may not see each other every day, you both know your friendship is still there and when you do see each other, it feels natural to just continue on conversations the two of you had been having the last time you saw each other. The two of you will always be friends, will always gossip and have an interest in each others lives, will always trust and support each other. Your kids will grow up together and the two of you will grow old together, even if there are months and months that go by without the two of you seeing each other - it’s simply that kind of friendship.

Runner Up: Adelheid Suzuki

[i-w-p-chan]

Would You Drop by the Afterlife on Your Way Back? Part 1

Summary: Xanxus has been trapped in the ice for two months when complications happen and he lands himself a trip to the afterlife. NOT a death fic. Bleach AU.

Note: when I had the idea for this AU, most of the events were supposed to go differently but then Daniela Happened…  

Warnings: Shameless Self-Indulgence, Bleach AU (So People Who Are Dead Pre-Fic Make An Appearance), No Actual Knowledge Of Bleach Required To Read This, Let Tsuna And Xanxus Go To The Sun Division 2K17, Did I Mention AU? AU, Fic Events Are Happening At X3 Speed, World Building Details Blurted In-Fic A LOT, POV Character Doesn't Get Much Dialogue, Poor Nono, Tsuna's Big Crush On Ricardo, Vague Implication Of The Existence Of Ricardo's Fanclub, Characters Get Mentioned (Blink And You'll Miss It! Style).

Disclaimer: Don't own KHR.

.

It was cold.

Everything was cold.

Xanxus shuddered and inwardly cursed as the ice tightened its hold on him, seeped into his body and latched onto his flames like a disease.

He had no idea how long it had been since he'd been trapped; it was difficult to keep track of the time while he was literally encased in a block of ice and he had nothing other than his own thoughts for company.

With every passing moment, he could feel himself slip away. To where, he had no idea; and he didn't know whether it would be a good or a bad thing.

The ice slid down his frame, it was a startling motion, one that never happened before.

The ice was sliding away and he was slipping, fast and unobstructed, until he felt himself hit the floor.

A warm hand settled on his shoulder with a whispered 'finally', and Xanxus leapt to his feet, jolting away from the presence he could feel with him in the room.

His body felt weirdly light- how long had he been in the ice? His body was being very responsive, unexpectedly so.

He focused his attention on the other person in the room; the sight that greeted him was very shocking.

In front of him was the specter of Vongola Primo, solemn and holding his hands up, next to him was a miniature copy of him: a teen with striking resemblance to the first Vongola boss but with brown hair and amber eyes. Unlike Primo's specter, the teen looked perfectly solid and was dressed in black clothes that appeared to be of Japanese origins.

The teen approached him, hands raised just like Primo, "Hey," He spoke with a quiet voice, as if Xanxus was a little animal who could startle at any moment and run away.

(Xanxus was half pissed, half full of enough spite to make him want to maul the kid.)

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Xanxus blanked; he was in the ice long enough for that fucker Iemitsu to have a fucking kid?!

"I'm here to take you to where you can get medical attention," The brat, who may or may not be Iemitsu's spawn, continued, apparently ignorant of the mind-breaking thoughts going through Xanxus' head faster than the Prince brat latching on recently sharpened knives, "You've been in the ice for a couple of months already-" Wait, what? "-Your soul has already escaped your body to avoid further damage-"

"Hold. The. Fuck. Up." Xanxus growled. The brat stopped, "Fucking explain what you just said about my soul."

"If you'd look behind you." The brat pointed.

Xanxus whipped around, walking a bit sideways to keep the brat in his line of sight while he looked at the ice.

And then he understood.

There, in the ice, was his own body still trapped. Xanxus raised his hand, observing it, if he focused well enough, he could see it fade away at the edges.

He turned the majority of his attention back to the brat, who apparently understood what the look on Xanxus' face meant and elaborated, "You've been in there for two months, no one is supposed to stay in that specific type of ice that long, and that's why your soul left your body as a type of self-defense mechanism, leaving the body in stasis inside the ice."

"So, I'm dead." Xanxus ground out, fists clenched to hold in the anger, at least until he received a satisfactory explanation.

"Oh, no, you're not, yet." The brat shook his head, "It's like you're in a coma. Your soul is still attached." The brat raised his hands a little higher as they glowed orange, the glow brighter around what looked like a ring on his right hand. Around Xanxus, there was a faint rattling of chains that appeared around his figure, glowing orange and red, and leading to his body still in the ice.

"Those are your chains of fate." The brat shook his hands, the orange glow around them fading from view along with the chains, except the chains weren't gone completely; if Xanxus listened attentively enough, he could hear their faint sounds at the edges of his hearing. "As long as they're connecting your body and soul together, you'll still be effectively alive."

"So, if they all are severed, I'll die."

The brat furrowed his eyebrows and quirked his head to the side, "It depends? You have access to Dying Will Flames, so if the chains are severed, you can will them to mend themselves if you're determined and willful enough. People who don't are effectively dead the moment their chain of fate is severed."

"Chain?"

"Dying Will Flames users have multiple chains, which come from their original chain snapping in order to access the Flames for the first time. Next question?"

Xanxus raised an eyebrow at that; the brat seemed content to answer his questions.

Whether he was being truthful or not, Xanxus had no way to ascertain.

"And you are?"

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, a shinigami, a soul reaper."

"You just said that I wasn't dead, what's your business with me?"

"Reaping souls isn't our only job." The brat hurried to explain, "We do other things, too. We purify corrupt souls that stay in the living world too long; we take the souls of the people who die to Soul Society; we also handle cases like yours. You're not the first person to stay too long under the Flames' ice, we kind of have a procedure for that." The brat gave a shaky smile, "We get the souls of people like you and take them to soul society where we heal the damages as we plot a way to get the body out of the ice. I'm here to take you."

Xanxus deliberated, "How will you take me?"

"I can open a portal, a doorway between here and Soul Society, and take you through. Besides, it's not like the people here can actually see us."

Xanxus stilled.

"It takes high spiritual power for us to be seen, even for Dying Will Flame users." The brat shook his head, "We could parade from here to the entrance while singing at the top our lungs and stomping on the ground and no one will notice."

"So, are you coming?" The brat gave him a look and suddenly, suddenly, Xanxus saw; the brat's eyes held the faintest orange glow, and an old presence peeked through them.

For all that he looked fifteen, he was far from it. And while he phrased it like a question, it wasn't one. The bastard was just making it look like Xanxus was given the courtesy of a choice.

Sawada Tsunayoshi's eyes told him that should Xanxus decline, he was perfectly ready to take Xanxus by force.

"You're asking me?" Xanxus scoffed and strode towards Sawada, who smiled at him, pleased.

(Xanxus wanted to wipe that smile off the bastard's face.)

Sawada turned to Primo, who was silent throughout the conversation, "Thank you for notifying us."

Primo's specter nodded before he faded away.

Sawada hummed, "You'll meet the real thing in Soul Society. Actually, you'll meet a lot of people you've only heard about there."

It was then that it dawned at Xanxus what it could possibly mean for him to go to the veritable afterlife.

Sawada looked at him with a small smile, "Oh, there you go. Yes, you have family on the other side."

Sawada raised his right hand, the ring on it glowing as he made a fist and pushed it forward in front of him, he then turned it like it was a key.

There was a loud click, and a pair of Japanese doors appeared in front of the two, an orange glow shining from behind them.

Sawada opened them, showing a hallway made of writhing flames.

Sawada gestured forward, "Sky Flames, they're pretty harmless unless I wanted otherwise. Getting you to Soul Society safe and sound is my priority, so you don't need to worry about me deciding to burn you to ashes once you step through."

Xanxus looked between Sawada and the literal flaming hallway, and decided, fuck it, and he stepped into the corridor.

The walk through the hallway was silent.

When the two reached the other end, Sawada waved his hand and the flames parted, revealing an expanse of blue sky.

Sawada walked forward until the edge and looked down before he made a triumphant sound, "Okay, we got our landing covered. Let's jump." And Sawada proceeded to do just that.

Xanxus poked his head out of the opening and looked around; the hallway opened somewhere high in the sky. Down, there were houses surrounding a walled town made of white buildings that stood in contrast with their surrounding area.

In mid-air, Sawada appeared to have been caught in a ring of symbols that was holding him suspended. Sawada looked at him and gestured for him to jump.

Xanxus braced himself, not only was he asked to jump from this height, but also asked to entrust his safety to a stranger.

Could someone die as a soul?

Xanxus huffed and jumped, wishing he had his guns on him, but prepared to blast flames from his bare hands to handle his drop if need be.

He didn't need to in the end, as just as he reached Sawada, another ring came into being and surrounded him, halting his descent.

The two rings than began to gradually drop closer to the ground at a steady pace.

"Earth Flames," Sawada said in lieu of an explanation, "I don't think they're known in the living world except for a select few, and that's only because they use it. It's another set of Dying Will Flames, like the Dying Will Flames of the Sky and its branches."

By the time Sawada finished speaking, the two had reached the ground, the rings dissipating and safely depositing them on their feet in front of a broad-shouldered, red-haired man with red eyes that had compass-like markings for pupils. The man was dressed in the same fashion as Sawada except he wore a sleeveless, reddish-brown coat on top.

He smiled at them, "Tsuna, welcome back." He then turned to Xanxus, "You must be Xanxus, I'm Cozart, welcome to Soul Society." Cozart turned around and gestured for them to follow him, "I'll be taking you to the Flame Sector where you will be staying."

Cozart led them to the walled city through a side-entrance.

("No need to attract attention by asking the gate's guard for entrance," Cozart had said.)

The walled city was as grand as it looked from above with its big, white buildings. Xanxus noticed there were whom he assumed to be other soul reapers like Sawada and Cozart, as they wore the same black garb. Except those in the city carried swords with them, unlike Sawada and Cozart who only seemed to wear a ring instead.

Xanxus figured that it had to do with Dying Will Flames; there were probably two types of soul reapers, some dealt with souls that had Dying Will Flames and some dealt with the souls that didn't, and Cozart had mentioned a Flame Sector.

The Flame Sector didn't look distinctly different from the other buildings. The only thing that separated it was the boundary wall; it extended much farther than the boundary walls Xanxus passed on his way, which indicated a much bigger area. The entrance was modest and had a sign with a flame drawn on it, on top.

All the building were designed with a Japanese style like the rest of the city, they were spread out in a way making them face a courtyard. Each building had a sign on top of the entrance, and from what Xanxus saw, he concluded that each building was specific for a flame type.

Cozart indicated the building that had a sign with a flame, very like the one on the entrance, "I'll leave the rest to you, Tsuna, I have paperwork to do-" Xanxus twitched; the afterlife had fucking paperwork?! "-you know what you have to do."

Sawada sighed, "Yeah. I do."

Cozart smiled apologetically at him and Sawada waved him off, "It's not your fault. It's just… you know how bad he can get sometimes… and you know how our latest visitor looks like."

Both Sawada and Cozart gave Xanxus strange looks that he couldn't describe and it grated at him. A part of him felt the overwhelming need to run and never look back, but he squashed it down; it couldn't possibly be worse than that time involving him, Enrico, Squalo and a couple of dresses.

Sawada trudged towards the building with the flame sign, calling out to Xanxus, "C'mon! I'd rather get this done with very quickly. Hopefully, we can get you to the Sun division within the hour.

Sawada walked towards the building like he was walking towards his own execution, Xanxus didn't want to go too.

Sawada whipped his head to stare at him, eyes flashing orange, "You will come as well, or so help me Soul King, I know just the person to threaten you with."

Given that they were in the afterlife, Xanxus also knew who that person could possibly be, so he cut his losses and stomped towards the building as well.

And so, the two walked towards their doom.

Sawada led Xanxus through the hallways, passing other soul reapers who gave them sympathetic looks before they continued on their way, as if this wasn't the first time something like this happened.

Sawada stopped in front of a pair of sliding doors. He took a deep breath before he opened them.

"Tuna-fishie!" Came a cry from inside.

Sawada launched into a flying roundhouse kick, nailing whoever came flying at them for what appeared to be a flying tackle hug, and sending them crashing.

"Ow!" Xanxus peered inside the office to see a figure lying among scattered papers. They raised their head, to pout at Sawada.

"Tuna-fishie!" What appeared to be a Vongola Primo lookalike whined.

"Captain," Sawada ground out, Xanxus was slightly impressed, "What did vice-captain Storm say about flying tackles?"

"Not to do them." Xanxus heard a person approach the room, "But G is a killjoy!"

The newcomer bypassed Xanxus and Sawada on their way inside, with an air of muted murderous intent, "I'm a killjoy, huh?"

"Ah… G…" G walked into the room and grabbed the Primo lookalike from his clothes to deposit him on the desk.

"Sawada Giotto Ieyasu. Fucking do your work."

Vongola Primo, and holy fuck the guy really was Vongola Primo, pouted, "Fine!"

He sighed and settled himself to start gathering up the scattered papers.

G turned to Sawada, "So, Tsuna, you're here to report?"

"Yes," Sawada started, gesturing to Xanxus, "Extraction successful, I'll be taking Xanxus to the Sun division for medical examinations. I'll turn in my written report later."

"Oh my god, G, he lo-!" G slapped a hand over Primo's mouth.

"He looks just like Ricardo, we know. Now, get back to work."

Sawada grabbed Xanxus and dragged him out of the office, slamming the door behind them. Pulling Xanxus down the corridor, he didn't let go of him until he deemed it safe, "Boy am I glad we got that done with. Now-" Sawada turned the corner, "-to the Sun divi-!" Sawada had to swerve to not hit the shinigami rounding the corner.

"Ah, Tsuna! Apologies! Almost didn't see you there." Freaking Vongola Quarto smiled lightly at Sawada from behind the humongous pile of paperwork he was carrying.

"It's okay." Sawada waved the apology off, "Why are you carrying all of this anyway."

"Oh, this?" Quarto's smile turned into a secretive one, "I'm just doing my duty, helping out the great Ric-"

"He's helping me." Another soul reaper joined in, "Even though he's actually doing all of the heavy lifting. He refused to let me carry anything." This one was Vongola fucking Secondo.

Sawada gave Quarto a nod and a discreet look, Quarto's smile widened and Xanxus wondered what type of secret the two shared.

"And you," Secondo started, approaching Xanxus, "You look a lot like me."

Sawada perked up, carefully maneuvering himself close to Secondo, "Oh, he's Xanxus," He said eagerly, like he couldn't possibly be happier doing anything else other than telling Secondo all about what he did for the day. Which, disturbing, Xanxus spent barely half an hour in Sawada's presence and still, seeing him turn into a gushy, giggly creature was making Xanxus break out into fucking hives.

"You know, my assignment." Sawada fucking batted his eyelashes, Xanxus was clearly lied to, this was definitely hell.

"Ah, yes, the one trapped in the ice." Xanxus couldn't believe that Secondo wasn't paying any attention to Sawada's flirty gesture, focusing on Xanxus instead with a polite curiosity. Quarto was looking at Tsuna with a pained, sympathetic look on his face.

"Of course I remember. I personally filled out the paperwork for your assignment." Secondo hummed, "But that was sure very fast. I only gave you the assignment not three hours ago. Good job, Tsuna." Secondo sent a faint smile Sawada's way.

Sawada melted.

Xanxus needed brain bleach.

Secondo returned his attention to Xanxus, "Welcome to the Flame Sector, Xanxus, I'm the second seat of the Sky division, everyone here calls me Ricardo, so feel free to do the same."

"Everyone here calls you 'Ricardo-sama', Ricardo-sama," Quarto interjected.

"Like I said." Ricardo's smile grew strained, "Ricardo."

Ricardo took a deep breath, "Anyway, you should go to the Sun division to check up on your flames, Tsuna will accompany you in case they need Sky flames for anything. He's one of our best when it comes to handling the Harmony factor."

Sawada emitted dying animal noises, and launched at Xanxus, wrapping his arms around him and steering him away, "We should go!" He squeaked.

The moment the two were out of the division, Sawada released him and took a couple of steps back, his face was red.

Xanxus quirked an unimpressed eyebrow. Sawada crossed his arms, "Hey, don't judge! At least you didn't see the captain with Cozart around! He has it worse!" Sawada said defensively, "And now can we finally go to the Sun division? I think that's been delayed enough, and we really need to get you there, Soul King knows just how much of a horror story this will turn out to be if Daniela knew-!"

"Knew about what?" A voice interjected from behind them.

Sawada stiffened while Xanxus turned around slowly; the voice was very familiar and there was a possibility that-

He was met with his grandmother's youthful face, "Nonna…" He breathed out.

"Xanxus." She looked just as shocked as he was, one of her hands rose to hover uncertainly in front of Xanxus' face, as if afraid to touch it, "You're not dead, are you?"

Xanxus was tongue-tied, and definitely also indescribably shaken. How was he supposed to explain the situation when he probably couldn't even string a couple of words together through the lump of emotions in his throat?

"Tsuna!" Nonna barked, not moving an inch from her position or redirecting her gaze towards Sawada.

Sawada jolted and didn't need any further prompting, "He's not dead, but he's been trapped in the Sky flames' ice for two months."

"Who? Where?"

"I found him deep in Vongola HQ. The flame signature matches with Timoteo di Vongola."

"How sure are you?"

"Father's specter was there, he was the one to notify us."

"And I wasn't told?"

Sawada suppressed a flinch, "We didn't know that it was Xanxus until today."

Nonna pressed her lips into a thin line, "You went and got him today?"

Sawada nodded, "High priority assignment from the second seat, Sky division."

Nonna's rage seemed to recede a bit, not going away, but simply simmering underneath the surface; she sent an amused smile Sawada's way, and his cheeks colored slightly, "High priority, huh?"

Sawada's slight blush increased, Nonna hummed, "Hurry up and get him to the Sun division, I need to go and find a couple of people and talk to Elena."

The color drained from Sawada's face after Nonna turned on her heels and headed back into the Sky division.

Sawada grabbed Xanxus and dragged him again, this time towards the Sun division. Xanxus didn't protest the treatment as he was still reeling from the encounter with his grandmother and dreading what she could possibly have planned, if Sawada's sense of urgency was anything to go by.

"Oh, this is bad. We need to see Ricardo about this later. But first, Sun division."

Xanxus broke out of his stupor to snark, "Fucking finally."

.

End part 1

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