The hour was growing late and people had long since started filing out. There were still some there elbow rubbing and wine-drinking guests milling about, yet the Disciplinary Squad seemed to have a solid enough handle on them to allow the Guardians to relax a bit. The present Guardians, Yamamoto, Gokudera and Ryohei, accompanied by Tsuna, Kyoko and Daria, were all gathered in one of the second floor sitting rooms, eagerly awaiting the final departures. It was a comfortable sitting room and often doubled as an impromptu office of sorts.

“Shouldn’t there be an end time to where they can sit down there drinking all of the Tenth’s booze?” Gokudera frowned. He leaned back into the couch and placed his arm on the backrest behind Daria, careful not to touch her. “Wouldn’t you think they would learn when enough is enough?”

“Relax Gokudera,” Tsuna chuckled. The Vongola boss was propped up against the wall, watching out the window as another guest stumbled into a chauffeured car and was driven off. “Would you rather have the alternative to me throwing these parties?”

“That’s cold, Tsuna,” Yamamoto laughed, taking a sip from his drink. “You know that kind of thing is not going to happen again.”

“…because we are working against it,” Tsuna said. Once he saw the successful loading of another car, he sat down on the armrest of a chair Kyoko was sitting in. He was just about to speak again when Haru angrily stormed into the room. Yamamoto winced slightly, as he knew the danger that her face normally entailed.

“Hahi!? Who let the kids sleep in the same room?” she asked. Haru glared at Takeshi, who took an innocent sip of his drink and avoided eye contact.

“I put out sleeping bags for the boys… so I don’t see a problem,” Tsuna said. Haru harrumphed as she took the empty spot next to Yamamoto and frowned.

“Well, they’re all piled into the same bed anyways,” Haru snapped. “You would think they were all boys with their lack of boundaries that normal kids have. I’m sure none of that has to do with her father…” She side-glanced at a nervously smiling Takeshi, hands held up in an act of submission.

“It’s not my fault she doesn’t like hanging out with Chrome’s daughter, let alone any other girl,” he said.

“…but you did start playing baseball with her when she was two.”

“Oh, but that’s baseball,” Yamamoto grinned. “You can’t deny that she has talent.”

“Just relax Haru!” Ryohei laughed. “They don’t know any better. Give them a few years and they’ll be extremely into the personal space concept, right Sis?”

“You still fall asleep on me if we watch a movie together,” Kyoko sighed.

“That’s ‘cause you pick extremely boring movies!” Ryohei announced. Kyoko rolled her eyes and turned to Daria, who had been silent the entire time.

“So, how are you liking Italy Daria-san?” she asked pleasantly. Daria took a sip of her tea and smiled politely back at Kyoko.

“It has been a wonderful time, thank you for asking,” she replied. “Your hospitality has been more than generous.”

“Well, when you’re in the Famiglia, the Famiglia takes care of you,” Tsuna smiled. “I am glad that you could make it. Hopefully you might answer to some of the further invitations in the future?”

“I may very well have to consider it.” She was about to continue when a little ringing noise cut her off. Tsuna pulled a cellular phone from his pocket and answered it.

“Kasukabe?” Tsuna paused and allowed the other man to talk before speaking again. “Yes, we’ll be right there.” He snapped the phone shut and started towards the door.

“What’s up Tenth?” Gokudera asked, leaping to his feet.

“Grigoli and Rigatto are fighting and it seems like it might become at an elevated status.” Ryohei and Yamamoto both got up as well and they all went towards the door.

“Sorry ladies,” Takeshi grinned before heading out into the hallway. “This shouldn’t take too long.” He closed the door behind him, not letting the women see that they all broke out into a panicked run. The two men in question who were fighting had belonged to the Black Spell when they were transported to the future and were rumored to have horrid tempers.

Kyoko, Haru and Daria all sat silently for a while, none quite sure what to say next. The German could feel the awkward vibes her presence was creating, as if Kyoko and Haru were just dying to talk to one another in private. After a few minutes of this, Daria placed her cup down on the table and stood up.

“I am really quite flattered by everything, but I’m afraid I must retire for the night,” she said. Daria could not even turn towards the door before Kyoko spoke up.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she said, freezing her guest mid-turn. “No explosions and none of the men returning means that it’s not our turn to move from this room.”

“It’s just a couple of drunks fighting; I don’t see how that is any more dangerous than walking to the drugstore at night,” Daria retorted. She thought for a split moment on how much smaller the two Japanese women were compared to her own taller stature and self-consciously cleared her throat. “My apologies Donna Sawada, but I believe I can handle myself.”

“It’ll take more than some fancy judo moves to take those men down,” Haru said. “Just trust us when we say that we’re better off in here for now.”
“…and stay shut in here like fragile dolls…?” The look on Daria’s face quickly turned to disgust. “I’m not convinced.”

“If you think we’re purposefully acting helpless, then you are very wrong Daria-san,” Kyoko said. She stood up and made her way over to the window, where she could see one of the feuding men being escorted by Ryohei and Yamamoto to a car. “There are just some things the boys have more experience handling; we take their advice and stay put as long as they in turn listen to us when we talk.”

“I still respectfully disagr—”

Daria was suddenly cut off by a resounding clamor, marking an explosion somewhere in the building that shook the walls and floor. Haru and Kyoko both sprinted towards a cupboard, where there were several Semmerling pistols that they gathered from behind a false bottom, throwing two in Daria’s direction.

“What’s going on…?!” Daria asked as she clumsily caught the guns.

“That was our cue,” Haru said simply. Before she could get to the door, Tsuna slammed it open; he was soot-covered and breathing heavily. A tiny line of blood ran down his forehead, glimmering in the lamplight.

“You heard right that Rigatto had a literally explosive temper,” he told Kyoko as he caught his breath. “I’m just glad the explosion didn’t reach up here.”

“What’s the status?” Kyoko asked as she propped her husband up against her own shoulder. Another blast shook the building again.

“Rigatto and his bodyguards are fighting with some of Grigoli’s men. I guess the two parties had some unresolved issues before tonight… and to imagine that this was the night that Leon had to start reworking my gloves.”

“Are the children safe?” Haru asked, grabbing some munitions clips from the cupboard.

“Kasukabe already sent two men up to make sure nothing happens and to take action if something does,” Tsuna replied.

“Well, I’m not taking any chances with those mooks,” Haru stated. She took a few more clips from the cupboard and tossed them at Daria. “Come on; you want to prove you can take care of yourself. Let’s go.”

“Where am I supposed to put these?” Daria asked, holding out the clips.

“Be creative,” Haru smiled as the two made their way into the hallway. Kicking off her heeled shoes, Haru broke into an outright run as she headed towards the central staircase that lead to the floor the children were sleeping on. Daria followed suit, not to be outdone by someone who just moments before wanted to hide. The pungent smell of smoke became sharper as they neared the large flight of winding stairs. Haru began to sprint right up it, unconcerned with the shouting and explosions that came from the floor below. Daria, however, paused for a moment, before shoving the munitions clips between her breasts and heading down the stairs instead.

Another explosion erupted, knocking the woman off her feet and onto the marble floor, sending one of her guns sliding down the corridor. Daria listened carefully before clamoring to her feet, making sure there was no after-shock. Quickly, she made her way to the ballroom, where she came across one of the most shocking scenes she had ever laid eyes on.

A giant, flaming-red leopard at least two metres in height was grappling with an equally large horse wrapped in brilliant emerald flames in one half of the large room, slamming into the once-gilded walls with so much force, Daria could feel the whine of the wall under pressure. The other side of the room had several men fighting, their own colorful flames clashing beautifully in the heat of battle. Daria was able to pick out Yamamoto and Ryohei, trying to beat down what were obviously lackeys (albeit seemingly strong ones at that) with softened punches and the blunt side of a blade. Gokudera was squared off against one man though, dodging the man’s multitude of green-lit rope darts while emitting a barrage of differently-colored flames from a skull-looking thing attached to his wrist. The man Gokudera was fighting caught sight of Daria out of the corner of his eye and before she knew it, one of the darts had been lodged in her left shoulder.

“Daria!” Gokudera shouted, his attention snapping away from his opponent as he heard her scream in pain. Within an instant, Daria was jolted forward by the dart and was entangled within the rope attached to it. She landed on the floor next to the man, who was—to her chagrin—seemingly pleased with himself.

“Look at what I found,” the strange man chuckled.

“What the fuck are you doing here!?” Gokudera shouted. “You should have stayed with Kyoko and Haru!”

“Come now, it’s not every day we get to play with women in our fights,” the man said.

“Stay away from her Rigatto!” Gokudera aimed the skull on his wrist at the man’s head. “She has nothing to do with this!”

“Hayato, what on earth is happening here…?!” Daria asked, trying to get one of her arms loose so she could aim her remaining gun.

“You have no room to talk!” Gokudera snapped. “This isn’t a battle for you to fight!”

“Yet she’s here anyways,” Rigatto smirked, flicking his wrist so that the rope around Daria tightened. Blood spurted from her wound, forcing her to wince in enough pain to make her drop her gun. “You wouldn’t dare shoot at me with her so close to me, now would you?”

“Only if I had aim like yours.” Gokudera’s weapon shot forth a barrage of bluish-violet bullets which were aimed carefully down the center of Rigatto’s body. A thick wall of green instantly formed in front of the man, fizzing and cracking with the multitude of impacts. Gokudera cussed under his breath; how the low-life Rigatto could materialize a shield that was at least twice thicker than Gamma’s whilst lacking the offensive prowess was beyond him.

“The rumors about you seem to vault you to a higher level than this,” Rigatto told Gokudera, making a displeased noise as he leaned down closer to Daria. “I had always imagined the Right Hand of the Vongola would put up a better fight.”

“You idiot!” Gokudera shouted as he shot at the shield again. The crackling flame squirmed and morphed to form a dome around Rigatto and Daria as Uri threw the Thunder-horse in their direction. The men outside the protective bubble had only seconds to move before they were crushed; only two of the lackey-types did not make it.

“Now, where were we?” Rigatto asked as he turned his attention back to Daria. The woman cringed at the disgusting man, able to smell his alcohol-laced breath from nearly a metre away. “Oh, yes, what’s a gorgeous thing like you doing coming to play with the big boys, hm?”

“I came to fight!” Daria grunted, pivoting on her hip so that she could send a kick in Rigatto’s direction. The man dodged, taken aback at the sudden ferocity.

“A bit of spunk… I like that.” He ignored Gokudera’s ferocious attempts to break through the shield and inched closer to Daria, who tried to kick him again. He blocked deftly, as being tied up made her attack slower than normal.

Panicking, Daria tugged at the rope in an attempt to get free. She figured that the effort would mostly be in vain, yet nearly fell backwards when she felt the rope near her right hands completely singed to a crisp. Carefully leaning away, she hid this fact from Rigatto as he came closer.

“Come on Signorina… I thought you were here to play.”

“You’re wrong; I came to fight,” Daria said, pivoting for another kick. Rigatto blocked again, only for Daria to roll onto her freed hands and push herself to her feet. She landed a solid punch in his stomach and slammed her knee into his forehead for good measure. The combination knocked Rigatto unconscious, effectively dissipating his Thunder shield and horse box weapon.

“Hayato…!” Daria gasped as soon as the green haze that filtered the air between them disappeared. Gokudera was breathing heavily and bleeding everywhere, having been fighting with Rigatto for much longer than Daria. He was battered, bruised and worn thin—only noticeable now that his opponent lay immobile. The Storm slumped into Daria, having used up too much of his flame energy and lost too much blood to properly stand and went to sleep.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It did not take long after Gokudera collapsed for the situation to become under control. According to Yamamoto and Ryohei, Rigatto had sparked an argument between himself and Grigoli, which had quickly spiraled out of control and literally erupted when one of his personal entourage tossed some sort of explosive material at Grigoli’s men. When they had realized that the fight was not something for Tsuna to participate in given his temporarily-gloveless state, the Guardians sent him upstairs as a last defense and proceeded to work on forcefully calming down the two sets of body guards. It was only halfway through that fight when Rigatto decided to join in himself, deciding that he was going to fight Gokudera instead of insisting for Tsuna’s return. It had been a difficult battle, as the Thunder shield that Rigatto was able to conjure was beyond anything the three Guardians had ever seen before. That threw off Gokudera when it came to the subpar attacks and left him open to beatings from several of the rope darts at once, pushing him closer to the brink than he had been in a long while.

Medics from the Disciplinary Committee cleaned up the wounds everyone had received and Ryohei used his Sun Ring to speed up the healing on some of the wounds. By the time the first hour on the clock struck, most of the damage had been cleaned up and the Compound was quiet again.

“You have to admit that Hibari picked some highly efficient men,” Tsuna said with a sigh of relief. They had gathered just outside Gokudera’s room, where the usual occupant was fully healed, but still asleep. Everyone had changed into more comfortable bedclothes compared to their eveningwear and was ready for the day to finally end.

“We’re just lucky the kids didn’t wake up,” Yamamoto smiled as he leaned against the wall. “Could you imagine what would have happened if one of them got into the mix?”

“Only Kyoko’s son would have had any sense to stay out of it,” Haru said as she allowed Takeshi to wrap an arm around her. “There are too many people in this Famiglia that are hot-headed, unfortunately.”

“It’s never a bad thing to be a little extreme!” Ryohei laughed wearily. “Besides, Daria got to knock out Rigatto for us and she ended up joining late.”

“I still was reckless,” Daria frowned. “I still don’t know what was going on during that fight and I participated in it. That man could have killed me in an instant if he wanted to.”

“It was pretty shocking when we were first introduced to box weapons too,” Tsuna said kindly. “You didn’t know and you cannot be blamed for that.”

“Now I know what Hayato meant when he said that you’re all different,” Daria shivered. She leaned against the wall and allowed herself to sink to the floor.

“When did he say that?” Yamamoto asked.

“Earlier tonight,” Daria explained, staring at the floor. “He said that you fight different from regular thugs, but are thugs all the same.”

“Now that’s just the cynical side of Gokudera-kun talking,” Kyoko said through a slight chuckle. She knelt down besides Daria and smiled. “We may be Mafia, but that doesn’t mean that we go out looking for fights. It just happened to be that the time you came over that there was a confrontation.”

Daria looked up and saw the smile on Kyoko’s face. It seemed genuine to her; something Daria was not used to seeing from a woman of power. She blinked and realized that Kyoko was now the only one in the hallway with her, the others deciding to attempt a few fleeting hours of sleep.

“Do you understand now when Haru and I wanted you to stay in the room with us?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard it was quite a fight for your first experience with box weapons.”

“If you count giant animals and controlled fire everywhere, all colored impossibly different hues… then yes—it was an extraordinary fight.”

“I remember when I first saw a box weapon,” Kyoko sighed, shifting so she could sit next to Daria. “It was actually Gokudera-kun’s cat Uri. It was a lot smaller than when you saw it downstairs. I thought it was one of the cutest things I had ever seen. Gokudera-kun seemed to hate it at first though, since the cat was always underfoot and got in the way. At least I saw Uri once before I was introduced to the concept of using the boxes as weapons.”

“When was that?”

“When we were teenagers and Tsuna was just named the heir to the Vongola, there were some people who did not like that very much. Now I understand where they were coming from, since he was a Japanese outsider and had no idea of what the mafia was like outside of movies, but I never really understood their desire to out-right kill him. We all ended up going to a place that was not home, but not foreign, and Tsuna and the Guardians had to fight to keep alive. I had no idea that my brother and friends were wrapped up in the Mafia until the very end when I was kidnapped in order to get Tsuna to cooperate and die.”

“…and you were just teenagers?” Daria asked, confused by the whole thing.

“Yeah, second year of middle school if I remember correctly. We were pretty stupid about the whole thing. Once Haru and I were captured by the Millefiore boss, the boys went nuts. My brother ended up being useless, since he was panicking so much. Tsuna almost gave in just to save me, but it was Gokudera-kun who snapped him out of it. He took Uri and used his box weapon system to grow the kitten to an impossible size and attacked with it. I had never seen something so beautiful and terrifying at the same time before in my life and the poor thing wasn’t even headed towards me.”

“I take it everything went well after that.”

“It did.” Kyoko glanced at Daria, who was still staring at the floor. “Gokudera-kun was able to be a real Right Hand and helped show Tsuna that they still had to fight. Since then, he’s been so wrapped up in his duties as a Guardian that I’m surprised he has much personal time at all.”

“How did this conversation suddenly turn to Hayato?” Daria asked, turning towards Kyoko with an arched eyebrow.

“My brother said he went ballistic once Rigatto’s shield turned into a dome; I don’t think he does that for just anyone.”

“…but I almost got myself killed. It would be normal to try to save someone from such a fate.”

“True, but you also showed him something that I don’t think another woman has displayed in front of him before.”

“What is that?”

“Competence; so many of the women in his life have not been fully competent to some degree that I think it may be why he wanted to invite you as his personal guest instead of as a business partner. I think he had a feeling you were competent enough to stand on your own two feet and you proved him right.”

“You and Donna Haru seem like capable individuals though,” Daria retorted.

“Haru and I are unable to hold our own in fights outside of the ones with our husbands,” Kyoko replied. “The two of us are more non-violent political players, as most of the women in the Mafia are, and he doesn’t see that as being enough. You took down Rigatto on your own… no boxes, no weapons… it was just you. That was one of the best things you could have done for him, no matter how reckless it was. He’s been waiting a long time for someone able to do that for him.”

“Hm.”

Kyoko stood up and stretched, letting out a long yawn. “Go in there and at least make up,” she said. “The last thing we need is for Gokudera-kun to be grouchy in the morning.”

“…but…”

“You were fighting; I could tell how he did not touch you in the study.” Kyoko winked and started off towards the bedroom she and Tsuna shared. “Good night Daria-san. See you when the sun rises.” Kyoko disappeared into a door down the hall.

Silently, Daria stood up and entered Gokudera’s dark room. It was a large room that was more of a spacious studio apartment without a kitchen than anything else. She was surprised to find that Gokudera was not in his bed where he had been left, but she saw the light filtering in from underneath the bathroom door and heard the telltale sound of the sink tap running. Daria decided to sit at the foot of the bed and wait for him to come out.

A few soundless minutes passed before the door opened and Gokudera strolled out wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. He was unwinding the bandages from his left forearm, inspecting the unmarred skin that the Sun Ring had healed. He caught Daria out of the corner of his eye, but went on to dump the bandages in the waste-bin across the room aside his desk. He began working on unraveling the long piece of medical tape that had been plastered to his bicep before talking.

“I thought you have a plane to catch tomorrow; doesn’t that involve getting some sleep?”

“My flight doesn’t leave until the evening.”

Gokudera stayed silent as he dropped the last of the tape in the bin. Leaving the bandage around his middle, as that was where he remembered being stabbed repeatedly by Rigatto’s rope darts, he walked over towards the bathroom to turn the light off.

“I’m sorry I ran into things so rash like that,” Daria apologized. Gokudera flicked the switch and started for the other side of the bed.

“No, don’t apologize. You beat Rigatto.” There was a certain edge to his voice that Daria did not like.

“…but I had no idea how to fight in that kind of battle. It was irresponsible of me to think that I could have helped, even if I was going into a regular fight without all that hocus-pocus that was flying around.”

“You mean box weapons,” Gokudera snapped. He gingerly slid underneath the blanket and laid down facing away from Daria.

“Listen,” Daria sneered. “I’m actually apologizing for something in earnest, so you better take advantage of this. My entire life has been nothing but tooth-and-nail, climbing up to the top while everyone pushes against me. Every single action, promise, glance… I have to put my faith in it all. The fact I am actually saying I did something wrong is not something that happens often. I only realize now that the fight was supposed to be beyond me and that it was foolish to have interfered… so I’m sorry! There! Happy?!”

“You don’t know tooth-and-nail,” Gokudera muttered. Daria quickly took one of the spare pillows on the bed and threw it at his back.

“How don’t I know? Tell me, please. Do you think I had my businesses just waiting there for me once I came of age? Those drunken bums I was supposed to call parents thought we were better off with the Curtain up; in a society where I would not have had the ability to create what I have. I had to move out of the house, change my name and claim being orphaned in order to have a shot at a decent life… and that even was a long shot. I wasn’t born Mafia where everything is already there waiting for me.”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re not the only one who’s had it rough,” Gokudera growled. “Being Mafia doesn’t always mean that everything’s waiting for you for when you get old enough. I had to work hard to be The Tenth’s Right Hand. Orphans get shelters and handouts—Mafia runaways aren’t that lucky most of the time.”

“So then I guess we both are just reaching for lofty ambitions,” Daria deadpanned. Gokudera rolled over and sat up, staring at Daria with hollow eyes.

“It scared me to death when you and Rigatto were under that dome and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. There is nothing worse in this world than a feeling of helplessness. Before we were called down to the fight, I just thought you and I were simply going to have a shouting match and either make or break there… but once Rigatto had you down like that, no box weapon or even a clue, it felt like so much of what I had worked towards was going to vanish right there with you.”

“Something tells me having an adult row might have been better than this awkward thing that makes me feel like an idiotic teenager.”

“Possibly.”

The room stayed silent as the two of them thought to themselves. Daria looked down at her hands and scowled.

“What possessed you to invite me as your personal guest anyways?”

“I thought I avoided this question earlier.”

“Well, I want an answer.” Daria glared at him acidly. “Why would you rather have me instead of any of the countless other women that are probably available to you?” Gokudera paused for a moment, reflecting on the question.

“I knew I could count on you,” he finally said. “The Tenth and Yamamoto both have strong, reliable women beside them and there has been a part of me that wanted that for a long time. In most instances that notion was shoved in the back of my mind to be replaced by Vongola duties, but that felt different this time around.”

“You know I am not about to give up my entire life’s work so I can become arm candy,” Daria said.

“I knew you wouldn’t,” Gokudera shrugged. “My parents never married, so I don’t see an issue there. Other women seem so needy and clingy; you’re too independent for that sort of behavior, let alone marriage. That independence—that sense of reliability that you seem to exude whenever I am around you—that was why I invited you as my personal guest.”

“No offence, but I thought the Mafia frowned upon illegitimacy.”

“Why do you think I had to fight for the life I have now?” Gokudera leaned back onto the headboard and sighed. “I was just afraid Rigatto was going to take away the one relationship that seemed to be making my life bittersweet.”

“I’m flattered.”

“Don’t get used to it; I’m a mean cuss,” Gokudera muttered. He shifted back down into bed and once again faced away from Daria, who in turn slipped underneath the blanket herself. The bed was soft and comfortable, like the one in her bedroom. Had he remembered or was he just one to relish in such comforts as well? Either way, Daria brought herself up to Gokudera’s back and wrapped an arm around his bandaged midsection. When he did not protest, she took it as a positive sign and closed her eyes, taking in his scent and drifting further away from unconsciousness.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was nearing eight o’ clock when Haruhi’s eyes finally fluttered open, signaling the end of a long night’s sleep. She tried to sit up, but got stuck halfway upon discovering Masaru sprawled across her lap and effectively pinning her down. Kiyohiko was curled up on the very edge of the bed, just out of the girl’s reach.

“Get off me…!” she grunted as she tried to shove Masaru’s dead weight off. Haruhi was able to roll Masaru towards his cousin, ending in the two colliding and falling to the floor with a heavy thunk.

“Ouch…!” Kiyohiko cried as he woke up. Masaru simply jolted awake and jumped back onto the bed to tackle Haruhi.

“What’d you do that for?!” he asked as he tried fighting her.

“You were sleeping on me!”

“I can’t control where I go after I fall asleep!”

“…like I care!”

“Please stop fighting!” Kiyohiko pleaded. He crawled up onto the bed and tried to pull his cousin off their friend. “Masaru-nii… Haruhi-san… please stop!”

“Hey!” Haruhi exclaimed, freezing in place. The boys looked at her curiously.

“What?” Masaru asked.

“We were gonna ask Goku-oji today if he wants help finding a lady to marry!” Both Haruhi and Masaru’s eyes lit up.

“I dunno guys…” Kiyohiko started.

“Spoilsport, let’s go!” Haruhi giggled, grabbing Kiyohiko by the wrist and dragging him off the bed. The three ran down the hall to Gokudera’s room, where they quietly opened the door and snuck in to surprise him. Haruhi and Masaru ran at full speed across the room, catapulting themselves onto the bed in order to tackle the Storm Guardian.

“Goku-oji! Goku-oji!” they chanted as they bounced up and down on the lump underneath the blanket. Gokudera and Daria both were shook awake, the former subconsciously groping for a gun (which he could not find) whilst the latter yelped in surprise.

“Oh, so you had a sleepover too,” Masaru noted, tilting his head at the sight of Gokudera and Daria together. Gokudera simply gaped at the boy.

“What…?”

“Masaru-kun, Yohi-kun and I also had a sleepover! It was fun, until I woke up with Masaru on my legs…”

“What do you two think you’re doing…?! You just don’t barge into my room and tackle me while I’m sleeping! What’s the matter with you?!”

“I told them it was a bad idea Gokudera-san! I knew you wouldn’t want to be woken up like this but they didn’t listen!” Kiyohiko cried from the other side of the room. He plopped down on the floor and began to sniffle, looking like a hurt puppy.

“You kids have until the count of five to get out of my room,” Gokudera growled, closing his eyes in an effort to keep his composure. “One… Two…”

“Masaru-kun, I think I hear Kyoko-oba calling us for breakfast,” Haruhi lied. She and Masaru leapt from the bed and literally had to drag Kiyohiko out behind them. The door slammed shut before Gokudera hit “four”.

“Well, at least you didn’t use a bar of chocolate this time,” Daria chuckled. She leaned over and kissed Gokudera on the cheek. “It’s a start.”

“…and what are you implying?”

“Nothing.”

“Do not lie to me; it’s unbecoming.”

The two adults smiled.