Chapter Text
He was meeting with a Boss from a small family today, to forge another alliance. He sat back and fidgeted.
Gokudera looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You'll do fine, Juudaime!" He said encouragingly, smiling a bit forcefully.
Tsuna gave him a smile and nodded his head. "Right. I've done this before, I'll be fine!"
"Right, and if it doesn't go fine, me and the baseball idiot here can deal with it!"
Yamamoto merely laughed, "Now, now, Gokudera, you can't go thinking like that if you want it to go fine!" he said happily.
Tsuna nodded once again. "Right," he cleared his throat, "Do we have any Intel on the boss?"
"Of course!" Gokudera handed him the file containing any details he saw fit.
"Okay..." Tsuna stared down at the bio, somewhat surprised. In it, was a picture of a girl, no older than himself, with two other girls all smiling at the camera cheekily with peace signs. "Uh, Gokudera?"
"Yes, Boss?"
"Is this the right picture?"
Gokudera looked at it and made a face. "Yeah. See, we wanted full transparency and asked if they could send a picture and a short bio from the Boss herself and she sent this..." He sighed. "She's the one in the middle."
"Ah, thanks," he flipped the photo up and read the bio. "She seems nice," he commented.
"Yes, she does, but she is a Boss, so be wary!" Gokudera said, scowling down at the picture.
"A-ah, right."
There was a knock at the door and Tsuna stood. Ryohei opened it with a big grin and said, "Oi, Tsuna! Boss [L/N] is here!"
"Ah, let her in!" Tsuna hastily patted his shirt flat. The two at his side stood straighter and Gokudera put on a scowl.
She peeked her head around the door, smiled at the sight of them and walked through, the same two girls from the photo flanking her sides.
"Hi!" She said brightly, "I've brought gifts," she said in perfect Japanese, nudging the shorter of the two forward. The girl bowed, handed the wrapped package to Gokudera and stepped back.
"Um...?"
"Sorry, did you want to do this in Italian?" She asked, switching languages with a frown. "Or maybe English?"
"Uh, I-Italian is fine!" Tsuna stuttered, then mentally cursed himself.
She ignored the stutter and nodded her head. "Very well, Tenth," she said politely. "I'm [F/N] [L/N], these are my cousins, Rain and Sonny, my Rain and Sun guardians. Um, those are names they go by."
"I'm Sawada Tsuna, this is Gokudera, my Storm Guardian; Yamamoto, my Rain Guardian; and you've already met Ryohei, my Sun Guardian."
"Yes, my sun took a shining to yours."
Said sun guardian smacked her and whispered, "Can you not?"
[F/N] didn't look remotely sorry as she apologized and said, "Puns are my lifeblood."
The other girl smacked her forehead next, and hissed, "Just stop talking."
Tsuna bit back a smile as [F/N] flashed the two a grin. "Sorry," she said, more sincerely, "I'm a bit nervous," she admitted.
"Ah, it's alright!" Tsuna quickly assured her, "Would you like to sit down?" he motioned to the seat in front of him.
"Oh, yes, right." She stepped forward and sat down with the two standing on either side of her.
"Eh--do you two want to go look at the gardens? The flowers are in full bloom!" Tsuna offered. "Ryohei and Yamamoto can show you them," he added.
[F/N]'s eyes lit up and she nodded, "Go on, you two, I seen you eyeing the flowers earlier!" She shooed them off, looking completely at ease being left alone.
Sonny and Rain looked pained at being dismissed but nodded and allowed the other two guardians to guide them out of the room. Gokudera stubbornly stayed by Tsuna's side.
"Don't your guardians clash?" Gokudera asked stiffly as the door closed.
"Sorry?"
"Rain and Sun? Those are opposites in flame." He scoffed and crossed his arms.
"Gokudera!" Tsuna said in reprimand.
[F/N] just smiled. "Yes, they may be twins but they did butt heads a lot when we first started out," she gave them a shrug in a 'what can you do?' manner. "They got over their differences quickly and now they're good; they're the best team I have, actually. The calming rain and energizing sun work good for my family."
"That's good! That's good, right, Gokudera!" Tsuna said, giving Gokudera a pointed look.
"Yes, Juudaime."
[F/N] just smiled again.
"So, um…can I ask why you want to form an alliance with the Vongola?" Tsuna asked.
"Simply put, we're a small family, but we're growing and my advisor said I have to pick a side. I decided I would pick the side I agree with," [F/N] said, smoothing her hands over her skirt. "There are other families who want to try to merge with mine and I'm not looking to marry just yet, so I decided I was going to make an alliance with someone who would not try to take over my family through either marriage, or power," she answered slowly, looking up and giving them an awkward smile.
"Right, there's no way I'd try to force you to-to marry me," Tsuna said with a blush, "but in our alliances, we ask you to sign a contract that states what kind of business we do and do not condone, as well as an agreement that if we need help in battles, you will help, and vice versa." He prattled out, waving a hand as he spoke.
[F/N] bit back a smile and the two looked at her. "What's so funny?" Gokudera asked with a frown.
[F/N] grinned and said in a thick Italian accent, in English, "You speak-a like-a true Italiano, Tenth," while waving her hands around for emphasis.
Tsuna looked at his hands still in the air and laughed slightly, lowering them. "It's become habit."
"No-no, it's cute," she made a face, "I mean it's fine...it's common here, so it's...yeah...?" she coughed into her hand awkwardly.
Tsuna smiled at her flustered face. "Would you like to stay for dinner to get to know my family before you sign the contract?" He asked.
She looked surprised, "I wouldn't want to be a bother," she said after a beat.
"No, not at all!" Tsuna reassured, standing and motioning Gokudera to lead the way. "We've just got to tell our cook there will be three more guests; it's no problem at all!" He added to her unsure look.
"Well, I mean if it's not a problem, we'd be happy to stay!" She smiled beatifically at him, causing him to flush.
They turned a corner to find Sonny and Ryohei talking loudly, while Rain and Yamamoto traded sports stories.
"You did not!" Rain said with a gasp.
Yamamoto laughed cheerfully, "Yeah, I was in the pro leagues for a bit, but I came back to the family very recently," he said, rubbing the back of his head.
"That's so cool, I used to play softball, and basketball, and soccer, but I'd never gone to any pro leagues," Rain said with a grin. "I'm so jealous, I wish I could've stayed with any of the sports I took up, but it's busy, you know?"
"Oh yes, I know that very well," Yamamoto said with a laugh.
Tsuna looked at [F/N] and smiled when she only looked fond. He looked to Ryohei and Sonny, who were both in fighting stances. "I'm not a boxer," Sonny said sheepishly when Ryohei righted her stance to match his. "I did take Tae Kwon Do, but in terms of boxing I'm not even an amateur."
"THAT'S OKAY!" Ryohei boomed. "Boxing is easy once you get a hang of it, just match me," he did a slow uppercut, to which Sonny copied. "See! You're already getting the hang of it!" He said excitedly.
Sonny just grinned and shrugged. She was the first to notice [F/N], Tsuna, and Gokudera. "Ah! Boss!" She bowed slightly, just for show. "Did they like the cookies?" She asked, looking expectant.
Gokudera looked down at the unopened package and handed it to Tsuna. "Ah, I forgot about your gift! I apologize!" Tsuna fumbled with the bag, only stopping when [F/N] took it from him gently and untied it with care.
"Sonny's our baker," [F/N] said fondly, "I'm the one that cooks and Rain..." She looked at Rain and grinned, "Eats."
Rain pointed slightly and then said, "I resent that! I make amazing ribs, thank you very much."
[F/N] smiled but kept any comments to herself. "So, we're staying for dinner," she said as she joined Rain and Sonny's sides.
"Oh?"
"Mhmm~" [F/N] said, smiling as the boys ate Sonny's cookies.