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Lambo has spent weeks begging to attend negotiations with the Rossi alongside the other Guardians. He’s tried everything, from tears to cajoling to calm, reasoned argument, until at last Tsuna gave in, like they’d both known he inevitably would. Lambo would go, as long as he proved he could handle it by attending his first Big Fancy Mafia Party solo and getting through the whole evening without incident. Lambo isn’t particularly looking forward to spending one long, boring evening with the other Mafia Families, but hey, whatever it takes to get his way, right? Even if proving he’s matured means sitting through what he’s sure will be a mind-numbingly dull party.
Of course, Lambo’s big brother is a worrier at heart and ends up regretting his own ultimatum, delaying Lambo’s departure for a solid thirty minutes.
‘Seriously, Tsuna-nii, I’m fifteen, I’m practically an adult already. You don’t have to fret so much. I can handle one party by myself.’ Lambo complains as he wiggles out of Tsuna’s grip.
‘Alright Lambo.’ Tsuna says, clearly still reluctant. ‘Call me if you need anything, I’ll always answer. And don’t forget, if you end up wanting to leave, I won’t judge you.’
‘I know, I know.’ Lambo waves him off.
Had this been a year ago, Lambo would’ve been insulted at how obviously Tsuna is babying him – it’s not like he’d treat any other Guardian this way for stuff this simple – but he can’t really complain this time, considering how he took advantage of said special treatment. It’s not like he doesn’t understand the worry either; the last time Lambo was alone he ended up being kidnapped as a lab experiment. Thinking about it that way, this is actually a huge sign of trust from Tsuna. He hasn’t let Lambo go off entirely by himself anywhere since his kidnapping. Even when he pretended to, Lambo always knew someone was tailing him. Now, for the first time, it feels like all of Kyouya’s training is finally paying off. Tsuna actually trusts him to defend himself if something goes wrong, enough to let him step outside the cradle of Tsuna’s Sky Harmony.
(Not that Lambo particularly wants anything to go wrong. If something does end up happening to him the first time he’s left by himself, nobody will ever let him out of their sight again and he’s had quite enough of being babied, thank you.)
For the first hour or two, the whole thing ends up being just as boring as Lambo anticipated. It’s fancy to be sure, the Family responsible for hosting has rented out a huge ballroom for the occasion and everything, but it’s nothing he hasn’t seen before so it doesn’t impress him. The food is by far the highlight of the occasion, so Lambo sits at his table and tucks in heartily, ignoring everything else.
Unfortunately, his stomach has its limits and after he finishes, Lambo sits around, sighing, wondering idly if going for his thirtieth bathroom break in the past half an hour, just to have to something to do, would be considered impolite.
To his delight, his musings end up being interrupted by a trio of people causing a loud scene in the middle of the ballroom.
‘Your accusations are completely absurd! I would never betray my Family like that-’ a well-dressed lady about five years older than Lambo protests indignantly.
‘Silence, Katherina! I will not stand for your lies any longer!’ a man declares angrily. He’s clutching another young lady to his chest, who looks rather similar to Katherina, except more delicate-seeming. Sisters, perhaps?
She also looks to be much closer to Lambo in age than Katherina, which. Ew. The man is clearly at least twenty-five. Lambo hopes this isn’t what he thinks it is.
(Also why does this seem so familiar to him? He doesn’t know any of these people.)
‘You have bullied my poor Bianca enough. As of right now, I am breaking our engagement!’ the man declares grandly.
As the crowd around them whispers to themselves, Lambo gasps, staring at the trio in glee. So that’s where he recognises this from. This is a scene straight from one of those Villainess manga! He swears he’s seen this exact scenario about a hundred times already – he just didn’t think it would actually happen in reality.
This is, quite possibly, the best day of his life.
‘Hey, is this for real?’ Lambo calls as he wanders over.
Everyone immediately falls silent, including the man. Bianca actually peels her head away from his chest to look up in astonishment and the white-faced Katherina clenches her fists on her skirt. Nobody had expected the Vongola Lightning, who up until that point spent the entire time ignoring everyone in favour of the food, to interfere here.
‘Let me get this straight, you’re actually accusing your fiancée of all that… stuff?’ Lambo clarifies.
He hadn’t bothered to keep track of the massive list of accusations the man had rolled out against Katherina – if this really is a “Villainess Scenario”, most of them will be complete shit anyway. Lambo is willing to bet he’s right and he isn’t afraid of pulling out the big guns to prove it. Because why shouldn’t he interfere? Who here is going to stop him?
‘Ex-fiancée,’ the man insists impulsively, then winces when Lambo sighs in a put-upon way.
‘I think I’ve heard enough. Hey, miss,’ he says, turning to a startled Katherina. ‘I could call my big brother for you, he can tell when someone’s lying or not based on just their voice.’
Katherina’s fiancé and Bianca stare in blank incomprehension, but Katherina blanches, instantly putting two and two together.
‘Oh no, I couldn’t possibly bother the Vongola Decimo with something this trivial-’ she protests.
Lambo ignores her, digging out his phone.
‘It’s no bother at all.’
Bianca claps her hand to her mouth and abruptly all but leaps away from Katherina’s fiancé, who loses all colour in his face. Lambo has to bite back a grin. He calls Tsuna’s contact, relishing in the horrified expressions he’d produced.
(He might be enjoying this a little too much, but who at this gathering has enough balls to call out the Vongola Lightning for having a little fun at someone else’s expense?)
(Exactly, nobody.)
(He knows he’s exploiting his position and the Vongola’s influence, but he doesn’t care. His fun is far more benign than some of the shit past Bosses have gotten up to in the past.)
Tsuna picks up almost immediately, as Lambo knew he would.
‘Hey Lambo! How’s the party so far? Feel free to go home, if you want.’ Tsuna says.
‘So, somebody here got accused of betraying her Family and all that stuff, but I think it seems pretty suspicious, can you check if she’s innocent?’ Lambo says, in deliberately loud Italian.
There’s a befuddled silence on the other side of the call.
Katherina’s fiancé pales still further – how interesting, Lambo didn’t think people could turn this shade of grey – and Bianca stands farther away from him, trembling. Katherina herself, on the other hand, has begun to gather her wits. There’s a calculating look in her eyes that Lambo knows well – she’s thinking how she can take advantage of this turn of events. Clearly an intelligent lady, that one.
‘Excuse me, what?’ Tsuna says disbelievingly.
‘Yeah, I know, right? I couldn’t believe it either. I thought this kind of thing only happened in manga, but apparently not. So, will you do it?’ Lambo says.
Tsuna sighs.
‘Alright, Lambo. I’ll help,’ he says indulgently.
Lambo grins in triumph.
‘Hang on, I’ll put you on speaker so they’ll know I’m serious.’ Tapping the speaker button, Lambo holds out his phone closer to Katherina. ‘Go on, miss, tell my brother your fiancé’s accusations aren’t true.’
Mafia parties are much more exciting than Lambo gave them credit for. Going to this one had been the best decision he’d made all week. Who knew he’d get to witness an actual Villainess Condemnation Scene in person?