Haru groaned for the thousandth time and turned her head again. It was Haru Appreciation Day for the third time already since she had been forbidden from having sweets. She had volunteered to sing in the musical being held in the Vongola mansion in a few days and her voice teacher had emphasised that she had to protect her voice at all costs. She had been craving so badly for the last few days that she had nearly gone mad with it.

How long had it been since she'd had a mere fruit drop candy? Her precious cakes were going to waste. The chef's special cheese cake with vanilla cream, the dazzling chocolate bomb cake with strawberry finish, the white forest cake with whipped cream and white chocolate topping, but most of all, she wanted to have her strawberry cake. The one that came drizzled in chocolate sauce on top and was decorated with grapes on the side.

She had tried so many times to forget but she couldn't. It didn't help that Gokudera, whom she had promised to stay away from sweets, was doing his part in making sure she didn't. There were people following her at all times and all her food was double-checked before it went in and/or out of her room.

So there she was, in her room and at her desk, doing the only thing she could instead; dream of her precious cakes and how many she could have after the show was over. Of course that meant she would have to change her exercise regimen again. She had even lost two whole kilos since she had been forced to give up her sweets, but still...

"Ah... Haru wants her strawberry cake..." she sighed. Sitting up, she opened her drawer to at least try and find her lucky pen. She needed it for the exam the next day. At the top of the pile, however, was the stick left from the last lollipop she'd had. She had kept it tucked away neatly all this time and now, as she looked at it, she smiled. Soon she could have all the lollipops she wanted, but she could at least comfort herself, right?

She walked to the bathroom and washed the stick then put it into her mouth. She could just pretend that she'd been eating a lollipop instead. Smiling at her genius and with a big smile on her face, she went back to her room to look for her pen and continue studying.

She had already gone halfway through and decided to take a break so she walked down to the kitchen to see if she could get an apple. Gokudera had nothing against fruit sugar, she supposed. He had absolutely refused to listen to her theory that her cake had fruit in it too so it was okay to eat as well, so she would have to make do with this.

She stepped out into the hallway and literally bumped into Hibari Kyoya.

He took one look at the stick still in her mouth and she could immediately tell what he was thinking. Hibari, by some miracle, had also been put in charge of choosing the singers. She had decided to pester him about it instead of Gokudera who would be more than unreasonable in letting her get a part. Her pestering had borne fruit and before long, she had her very own voice teacher. When it came to protecting her voice. He would never admit that he agreed with Gokudera so he only told her that she would not embarrass him since she had insisted on participating in this event in the first place. He simply wouldn't let her back down from it.

And this was looking worse by the minute...

"This isn't what you think it is," she said taking a step back from him. He raised an eyebrow and advanced a step. She stopped feeling a bit ridiculous. She hadn't done anything wrong. She hadn't had a single sweet in all of two months and if he jumped to conclusions on his own, that was not exactly her problem, now was it? She pulled the stick out of her mouth and held it up to at least try and make him see sense.

"See? It's just a stick. I'm not eating a lollipop..."

He reached for her before she could continue her sentence and pressed his lips to hers. His tongue dipped into her mouth once then twice and then he let her go and went on his way down the hallway taking the lollipop stick with him.

"Confiscated... it's sweet," he called before he disappeared into his study. Haru watched him incredulously and wondered what new manner of torture this was. AND he had questioned her credibility for telling the truth, taken her one comfort left to her and stolen her first kiss! The monster! And what on earth did he mean by "sweet?"

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

The night of the musical, Haru stepped on stage and smiled at the audience. It was all of her friends and a scowling Gokudera who had given her enough death threats concerning her performance that night. She didn't care about him though.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, opened her eyes, then her mouth and sang.

The whole room was still until she had finished her performance. Then everyone broke out into applause including (begrudgingly) one slightly impressed storm guardian. Haru smiled and took a bow then went off stage. She had been shaking the entire time. Her nervousness returned in full force. Had it paid off? Had all those weeks of cake-less voice training been worth it? The applause said it all. If that didn't convince her, the congratulations she got at the after party were convincing enough.

She barely heard what anyone said though. She was eyeing the triple layer chocolate fudge cake that Tsuna had ordered specially for this occasion upon Kyoko's request; and Haru thanked her best friend with all her might.

She had only just gotten to the table when she was pulled away from the table and the crowd and onto the balcony away from everyone. She barely registered who this new nuisance was before a pair of warm lips rested on hers and a tongue dipped into her mouth again.

Hibari!

He pulled away and looked deep into her eyes for a long moment. Haru merely stared back unable to do much else. He brushed his thumb against her lower lip then reached down and licked it very gently startling her again.

"Hn, still sweet," he said and turned to leave.

"Oh no you don't!" she said catching the back of his coat. He turned to look at her, his expression at stoic as ever. She didn't care. She was well beyond furious.

"What exactly is it you mean by 'sweet'? That's the second kiss you've stolen from me because of 'sweetness' and I demand compensation for my first kiss!"

He blinked at the fury he saw in her features. He had never seen this side of her before and he doubted anyone ever had. He smirked though and turned to face her. Holding one hand behind him, he brought his lips to her ear.

"And what kind of compensation would Miura-san like?" he asked.

Haru coloured and glared at him. In a moment of sheer adrenaline, she grabbed his face and kissed him squarely on the lips then walked back into the party without a backwards glance determined to enjoy herself. The next person to stop her trip to that cake would get themselves a blistering of epic proportions.

There was no explaining the redness of her face as she angrily munched on a giant slice of well-deserved fudge cake and stayed with her for the rest of the evening.

Or the ghost of a smile on Hibari's face for that matter.