She is 10 years old when she finally gets to eat Bianchi's cooking. Up until that moment, everyone had been suspiciously weary of the pinkette's food, always coming up with excuses for why not to eat it.

The moment the slice of pizza rests on her tongue, strangely purple in color… she's more confused than ever before of why. "It's delicious!" She cries out, wide, dark eyes looking up at Bianchi with twinkling, adoring lights shining through.

A shocked silence falls. Lambo looks at her as if he is waiting for her to die, face pale and tears gleaming. Tsuna is calling Dr. Shamal with a panicked expression; meanwhile, Reborn is staring at I-pin as if he has come to understand something. Bianchi, among them all, stares down at her with emotions she had only ever stared at Reborn with.

"Is that so?" She purrs, luscious lips curving up as she bends over the dining table and puts her chin in her hands, watching I-pin eat like it is the most adorable thing she had ever seen.

"Yes!" I-pin pouts up at her. "Can I please have more?"

Lambo gawks at her, Tsuna grabs at his chest over his heart which is racing with fear, and Reborn speculates his ex-lover's expression. He stares at I-pin and then he smirks, fedora tipping over his eyes as he leaps off the stool and grabs Lambo by the tail of his pajamas (now a two-piece set that he had learned to wear only for bed) as well as Tsuna by ankle; he proceeds to drag them, both of them too scared for I-pin's health to be angry at the arcobaleno's actions, out of the kitchen, leaving the two girls alone.

Bianchi pets a hand over I-pin's hair, her raven-wing black tresses secured in a single braid for bedtime. "Of course."

I-pin beams up at her, reaching for another piece of pizza.

Bianchi laughs softly at the girl's expression of pure bliss. "I was going to use that to break down Gokudera's door…" I-pin appears upset for eating the food meant for other purposes, despite being uncertain of how a pizza could be used to get into Gokudera's room. "But I prefer this."

The next morning, I-pin wakes up with Lambo's face mere inches from her own, eyes wide and unblinking. "Lambo, what are you doing?" She asks irately.

"You're not dead." He points out, somewhat with relief and mostly with awe.

She is offended by his words. "That's not nice, Lambo! Why would I be dead?"

"You really don't know?" Lambo's eyes widen even further, larger even than dinner plates. "Gya hah hah! You don't know?"

"Know what?" She is getting annoyed now, winding herself up to beat her 'older brother' if he doesn't stop being so rude so early in the morning.

"Bianchi's food is so bad, it kills people!"

She beats him up and doesn't stop until Fuuta comes running into their bedroom, alerted by Lambo's pained screaming.

~ Five years later ~

When she is 15 years old, she is officially living off of Bianchi's cooking. She has long since gotten used to the putrid-purple color and is deeply in love with everything the pinkette creates in the kitchen. She isn't certain why she is the only one who likes Bianchi's cooking – though she had once heard Reborn discussing it over with Tsuna, about how she has developed immunity to poisonous foods due to her Gyoza dumplings (again, she isn't quite sure what that has to do with Bianchi's cooking) – but she is glad for it; she always gets what she wants to eat because she doesn't have to combat with any opposing orders.

She runs out the door in the morning, on her way to her school and then planning to go directly to work.

"I-pin~" Bianchi is at the front entrance, holding out a bento box. "You keep forgetting to pick up your lunch." She sighs.

"I'm sorry, Bianchi!" I-pin grabs the bag, still running. "I will be home after work!"

A hand on her wrist stops her and drags her back to the pinkette's side. The older assassin is actually pouting. "Is that any way to thank me for slaving over the oven, working tediously to make your food?"

The teen feels her heart break. "I-I'm sorry, Bianchi…" She hugs her, pressing a kiss to her cheek as Bianchi had showed her to do in gratitude. "Thank you for your hard work! Please continue to make food for me." She gives Bianchi her largest puppy-dog eyes – a look Lambo has told her is highly affective.

"Oh, I don't know… Mm… Alright." Bianchi smiles affectionately down at her. "Now get out of here or else you'll be late for school."

"Okay!"

Halfway down the street, I-pin looks back; Bianchi is leaning against the front gate, watching her leave with soft eyes… surprisingly soft eyes! Or maybe that is just I-pin's bad eyesight…

Nonetheless, her cheeks color red for reasons she isn't certain of.

~ One year later ~

November 25th… Not a very exciting day for the average Chinese citizen, though rather festive for the American society. The Japanese had celebrated their Labor Thanksgiving Day two days ago and that left only the dead excitement in its wake. All in all, November 25th was an all around 'average' day…

I-pin believes this halfheartedly until she glimpses at the calendar; oh. As it turns out, November 25th is a pretty unique day… it's the day she turns 16.

She scratches her cheek, tilting her head this way and that as she studies the day on the calendar, purple hearts highlighting the kanji writing out the festivity – not her handwriting but still very familiar.

She feels no joy; after all, today is a Thursday, which means that there is school. Not only is there school, but she has promised that she will do a double-shift to fill in for a comrade who has sprained her ankle at work (somehow, this fits into her school day). She sighs; ah, what a sad birthday… most likely, no one will remember anyway.

She immediately berates herself for the thought; no one forgets her birthday… ever. As part of the Vongola family, everyone seems to have an internal calendar labeled with everyone's birthday. Everyone's day of birth is celebrated to the point where the adults pass out drunk and the teens not much better off.

She trots down the stairs and then zips for the door, deciding to let the day take its course; if they decided to celebrate her birthday today, so be it; if they are considerate enough to celebrate it on a day off from school and work, all the better!

"And where do you think you're going?" Bianchi is standing in the kitchen doorway, arms crossed beneath her breasts and an eyebrow raised in fake amusement. There is an odd purple aura around her, one that I-pin has learned to fear by watching everyone else cower at the sight of it.

"School…" She answers honestly. "And then work."

"On your birthday?"

"There's a lot to do…"

"On your birthday?"

"Yes."

"No."

"But, Bianchi – "

"No." Bianchi procures an apple from thin air, colored a sickened purple; she throws said fruit at the door and I-pin watches with fascination as it hits the doorknob and explodes, melting the knob and therefore jamming the door. In all honesty, she can bust it open… if she wishes to. And she does somewhat wish to, but…

"I made you a birthday cake to eat before we go to Italy." She rests a finger against her lips in a 'hush, hush' matter, her misty green eyes twinkling. "You didn't hear this from me, but~ they're planning a surprise birthday party for you."

I-pin smiles happily. "Thank you, Bianchi." She hugs her and kisses her cheek, beaming.

"Oh, I-pin… you're 16 now; there's a different way to thank someone when you get as old as you are."

I-pin tilts her head curiously. "How is that?"

The pinkette holds two fingers beneath her chin and cocks her head up, her own descending.

Her first kiss tastes of spices and chocolate, warm, luscious lips against her own chapped pair. A skillful tongue berates her sealed lips, sliding them open and exploring her mouth. Her own tongue is roused to play with the intruding appendage, numb shock making her a poor combatant.

Her face brazen red, her eyes wide and uncomprehending, I-pin stares into Bianchi's heated gaze as the woman's hands begin to dance along her sides and sneak beneath her school blouse to run over sensitive skin.

Startling clarity returns to her in a flash of unnecessary brute force. Instinct makes her react as if she is being threatened and then the kiss is over abruptly, awkwardly, and very, very painfully.

Bianchi and I-pin are at opposite ends of the hall, the pinkette clutching her wounded belly as she coughs and I-pin still with her leg upraised, fists defensively in front of her face. It takes her another moment before she realizes what she has just done; she attacked Bianchi! Bianchi! Alright, so maybe others believe that she deserves it for surprising I-pin so, but she is not among those others. She is horrified by her actions, mouth agape and her formerly scarlet face turning extremely pale.

"B-Bianchi…" She steps forward and then retreats backward, unsure of herself. Sure, they have sparred before, and I-pin does beat Lambo up all the time… but she has never beaten Bianchi up! "I-I'm sorry, I-I…" She raises her hands to her quivering lips. Is it a matter worth crying over? No, not really; she has seen and done worse and has never cried. But this feels different. Why did she hurt Bianchi if all she did is kiss her?

She breaks the front door off its hinges before running off, forcing the tears back as she speeds away from the house. She leaves her coat behind, the sleeve having caught on the shattered door.

"I-pin!" She hears Bianchi's hoarse voice call after her. She doesn't stop, though. She keeps running and running and running…

When she becomes aware of herself, she is in the middle of Namimori woods. She is crouched down in the limbs of a tall tree, precariously balanced on a branch no thicker than her arm. She settles down there, not planning on moving anytime soon. She makes wordless apologies – to her family for missing her own party, to her master for using martial arts when she has promised not to, and, most of all, to Bianchi.

She touches her lips gingerly, surprised by how they still tingle. Yes, most of all to Bianchi…

~ Nine hours later ~

The November chill is settled in her bones, making her shiver; the day had started out decently warm, and then had gradually gotten colder.

Close to 7 in the afternoon, she hears the crackling footsteps of an approaching figure; she mentally supposes a slight woman, very young.

Lambo steps into the clearing far beneath her, looking worriedly around himself. He cups his hands to his mouth and calls out "I-pin! I-piiiin!" He waits a moment, listening intently. "… Goodness, that girl is going to be the death of me…" He shrugs his shoulders, hitching his coat closer to his chin.

I-pin vaguely remembers hearing a whisper like her name some time ago and realizes now that that had not been her imagination; nonetheless, she is silent, not wishing to be found.

As if fate is conspiring against her, it is in that moment that the overwhelming urge to sneeze envelopes her. Far beneath her, Lambo is taking a breather, leaning against a tree nearby. She fights the urge with everything in her, a hand clapped to her nose to try and contain the tickling sensation.

"A-achoo!"

Lambo jerks in surprise some distance beneath her, looking up in her general direction. He sighs as he realizes where she is. "Goodness, I-pin! We were all worried sick when Bianchi called us and told us that you were missing." He reaching into his satchel and pulls out a small white coat. "She told us you ran out without your jacket." He holds it up for her to see.

Hesitantly, she comes down, eyes turned ashamedly to the ground. She puts the coat on and turns her back on her 'big brother'.

"Hey…" Lambo clasps her shoulder and meets her eyes over her shoulder. "What happened?" He sounds so concerned and caring, eyes soft and understanding, that she spins around and buries her head into her chest, arms coming tightly around his waist. "Can't… breathe…"

"Lambo, I hurt her!"

"W-who?" Lambo wheezes.

"Bianchi! I hurt her!"

"Is that… is that so?"

"I didn't mean to, I really didn't – but I was so startled, I had never been kissed before and I didn't know what to do – what's wrong?" Lambo's petrified expression stops her tirade short.

"Bianchi… kissed you?"

"Yes."

"… Goodness, I didn't know you were gay too."

"I'm not gay – or at least I didn't know I was gay… it felt nice but I was so surprised that I just lashed out – wait, gay too?"

"… Let's hear your story first."

She speeds through the short and awkward story of realizing her birthday, trying to get to school, ultimately failing, and then having her first kiss taken by none other than Bianchi.

Lambo remains surprisingly calm. "I… see… Goodness, I suppose I should have seen this coming…"

"Really?" She tilts her head curiously. "How?"

"Mm… Do you remember the first time you ate Bianchi's cooking?" She nods, her eyes dreamy; oh, yes… "Do you remember how Bianchi would go on and on about how the poison of her food could be overcome with 'love'?" She frowns and tries to recall such, but only vaguely does so. She nods after a long moment. "You can eat her cooking without dying."

When Lambo doesn't add onto that, she looks up at him in confusion. This doesn't help her understand at all! Lambo rubs the back of his neck and sighs. "I think she's loved you ever since you told her that her pizza was delicious and lived to eat another piece."

Her mouth drops open and her eyes bulge. But, really, is she surprised? Bianchi, for nearly six years now, has shown no love interest in Reborn, and always seems happiest when I-pin eats her food or thanks her for making it – and the way Bianchi showed her to thank her…

She cups her hands to her mouth in embarrassment. "I should have noticed!"

"Maybe." Lambo does not ever pull back his punches. "Ah, but had you, you would not be the I-pin we all know and love." He pets her hair. "Did you not like it? When she kissed you, did it feel wrong?"

She considers it for a moment and then shakes her head. It had felt… pretty good.

"Do you like her too? I mean, do you like like her?" Lambo raises an inquisitive brow.

She frowns. "I… don't know… I don't think so." She has never thought to question her relationship with Bianchi. She knows she loves Bianchi – but in that way? She isn't so sure. "How would I know?"

Lambo groans. "Goodness… Does your heart speed up when you're near her? Does your face get red? Do you get clumsy? Do you always think about her?" He lists them off in a droning voice, though his eyes are distant with memories.

"… That sounds like an illness." She admits. To herself, she admits that – no, not half of those happen when she's near Bianchi; sometimes, she blushes, or her heart speeds up when she eats Bianchi's delicious food… but being clumsy would be a quick way to die if there are enemy about and always thinking about Bianchi would put her school-life in jeopardy. All around, this 'love' business sounds… rather mind-numbing.

Lambo groans again. "I guess all that's left to do is go back there and try it out."

"it?"

"I don't think you love her like she loves you." Lambo insists. "But I also don't think you're opposed to the idea of falling in love with her. I just believe you've never fathomed to do so before." He pulls her into a warm hug. "If you go back and ask her to go slow, maybe you two will become a great couple in time."

… Go slow? I-pin ponders what Lambo means by this, but isn't given much time as Lambo pulls away and looks up with a sigh.

"You wouldn't happen to know a way out of here, would you? I got lost looking for you."

"… No… I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going…"

"Ah, and my phone's battery died too… Goodness, this is going to hurt."

I-pin cocks her head curiously. "What is?"

Lambo hides behind a tree, a fair distance away from her. "Broccoli monster."

~ 10 minutes later ~

"I understand that you were both lost and didn't have anyway to contact us…" Tsuna tries to soothe the situation – or, to be more precise, tries to soothe Reborn who is currently trying to murder Lambo. "But setting off I-pin's pinzu-timed super explosion was not the way to have us come and find you." Half of Namimori woods is now missing due to that little fiasco, but he doesn't say as much because that will most likely end Lambo's life.

"Tol… er… ate…" Lambo wheezes, held tightly in Reborn's choker hold. "Tol… er… ate…"

"I'm sorry…" I-pin mumbles, soot dirtying her clothes. "It was… all Lambo's fault." She flinches when said teen releases a cry of pain as Reborn twists his arm behind his back. "Forgive me, Lambo…" She whispers beneath her breath; but she really can not be punished at the moment. There is something she must do.

She bows to them and then hurries inside their house; luckily, they had gotten back before everyone else, who had been contacted when Tsuna and Reborn had found them. This means that she gets to avoid any and all distractions.

She stands, only a few seconds later, in front of a very familiar door. Her heart is doing that silly thing Lambo mentioned earlier, galloping out of control. She steals a deep breath and knocks on the door. There is no answer. She knocks again. "B-Bianchi?"

The door swings in and a disheveled pinkette is before her, looking at her with first hope and then relief. "I-pin…"

"Hello, Bianchi… Can I come in?"

The assassin steps aside and the girl enters her domain. She remembers Lambo's advice. "Go slow."

Bianchi raises an eyebrow. "What?"

She's a little confused too, but Lambo told her to say that and he has always had good luck with love, she thinks… Well, he always has hickeys anyway and that's a sign of love, right? "Go slow with me… because I don't love you right now but I don't mind falling in love with you." She likes how that makes her feel kind of giddy and happy.

"Go… slow?" Bianchi shuts the door and then locks it. Her green eyes gradually warm up. "I understand… thank you, I-pin."

Her eyebrows draw together in confusion. "Thank you for what – !" She manages to stop herself from instinctively defending herself when Bianchi grasps her waist and pulls her flush to her.

"Slowly." Bianchi purrs, head descending patiently.

For the second time that day, their lips touch. Bianchi is much more inquisitive than earlier, taking her sweet time while I-pin adjusts to the feeling of having another's lips on her own. It is both different and… pleasurable. Tingly. She follows some strange urge and wraps her arms around the woman's shoulders.

She realizes, in the back of her head, that they are moving backwards; the back of her knees make contact with the edge of the bed and she falls onto the mattress with Bianchi looming over her. She blinks owlishly as Bianchi pulls away and caresses her cheek. "I'll take you slowly, don't worry."

Her eyes widen and her cheeks flush; is that what Lambo meant by 'go slow'? She hadn't realized that he meant it in the perverted sense!

Before she can clear up the misunderstanding, Bianchi is kissing her again. Her thoughts become muddled and her eyes flicker shut as she tries valiantly to defend her mouth when the pinkette tries to invade it with her tongue; she is, however, unsuccessful, considering that Bianchi's experience with this far surpasses her own.

She squeaks when her warm, soft hands take wonder beneath her school uniform, fingers tickling her hips and then drumming over her belly. Why does her breath hitch at the simple touch? She isn't certain, but she is somehow breathless, as if waiting for something else…

Bianchi's hands cup her breasts. "Mhmhmhmhhh…" Bianchi laughs into their kiss. She pulls away by a hair's width and looks down to where her hands are touching, their forms outlined by I-pin's close fitting, white blouse. "Very practical." She murmurs, nibbling on I-pin's jaw.

She blushes redder; well, a sports bra is always a good thing to wear, right? The lace bras are scratchy and the push-up bras make too many people stare at her breasts.

Her breathing is erratic by the time Bianchi's lips reach her shoulder; she suckles there, hard. I-pin has the oddest urge to cry out as Bianchi's thumbs tweak her nipples through her bra. She also isn't quite sure why her legs are sliding apart, her inner thighs trembling for unknown reasons…

She feels uncommonly wet.

"B-Bianchi…" She bites her bottom lip and then pushes the pinkette away. At first, the woman looks a little hurt and then accepting… right before appearing a little startled as I-pin straddles her and faces her with a stained-red face. "I want to make you feel good too!" She goes at it with determination, trying to copy how Bianchi had touched her breasts on the pinkette's.

Bianchi watches her with warm amusement. "Like this, I-pin…" She grasps the teen's wrists in each of her hands and then entwines their fingers, using her own to guide her on how to use hers. She shows I-pin how to touch her, shows her what places are sensitive and which places are even more sensitive.

I-pin, though scarlet, follows each instruction with unfailing concentration. She jumps when she hears Bianchi gasp, eyes zipping from her work to the woman's pleasured expression. She is doing something right!

Bianchi notices her elated beaming. "That's good, I-pin… now, use your mouth…"

"M-my mouth?" Her mouth?

"Yes, your mouth." Bianchi arches as she throws off her shirt and then unhooks her bra, letting it slide off of one arm and then the other before tossing that carelessly aside as well. "Use it here." She palms one supple mound, nipples peaked and hard.

I-pin nods, her throat too tight to speak. Hesitantly, she wraps her lips around one pebbled bud; Bianchi's breath hitches. She waits, not quite sure if she is supposed to do something.

Wow, she really is innocent… well, she has never had time before for public outings or nasty movies… she has never before thought to masturbate because she is just too self-conscious for that. This is her first experience with sex… ever. Not even Lambo ever bothered to go into detail of what he did on all those dates he has been on.

Bianchi unbuttons her blouse, lips curved up. "Remember ice cream, I-pin?"

She nods, nipple still in mouth, as she stares uncertainly up at her.

"Treat me like ice cream; we both like to be licked and sucked until we melt."

She is almost certain that is a sexual innuendo. Nonetheless, she swallows thickly and licks the hard bud in her mouth. Bianchi shivers. Encouraged, she does it again and again until Bianchi begins to look slightly bored and then she switches it up by suckling. She rather likes the taste… like Bianchi's body soap and strawberries.

Bianchi arches into her, a light moan escaping. She pulls I-pin's bra up over her breasts and then fondles the pair.

"M-mmm!" I-pin releases the now red captive and gasps as her nipples are tweaked and teased. There it is again! That wetness! Health class had never bothered to tell her that the wetness she feels now happens during sex! "Bianchiiiii…"

"Hush now." Bianchi turns them over and rests her on the bed, taking her clothes off until all she wears are her white cotton underwear, now soaked a light gray. "Remember, I-pin: slowly."

She whimpers. Slowly is the last word she wants to hear.

Bianchi stands up and sheds her own clothing; the last scrap of fabric left on her body is a pink thong and then she sheds even that, revealing that – yes – pink is her natural hair color.

"Do you want to touch me?" She purrs. I-pin nods numbly. "Then touch me here." She leads I-pin's quivering hand between her legs.

I-pin jerks, surprised. Bianchi is… hot. Hot and moist. She lets her fingers probe, finding that the only place she can go is in because Bianchi is holding her so firmly in place.

Bianchi shivers, gasping. "It has been… a very long time for me…" She admits. She moves I-pin's wrist back and forth, making her fingers thrust in and out of her. "Just like that… Nn!"

I-pin nods, not even sure if she is still awake or not; her heart is going so fast and her breathing isn't much better – is her vision turning black? She isn't sure if that's it or if it is that all she can see is her fingers moving in and out of Bianchi's sheath. She just doesn't know!

Bianchi pulls her hand away; when I-pin whimpers (she means to ask why she stopped her, but words are lost by now), she laughs softly and pushes her back into the bed, sitting down at the further end between I-pin's spread legs. "I'm going to show you something now… something that will blow your mind."

Oh, no worries… her mind has long since been blown away.

Bianchi's strokes her legs from ankles to hips, hands slowly migrating to her inner thighs where she caresses over and over until I-pin has yet another strange urge to redirect those beautiful hands to another part of her; she blushes when she realizes what place this would be.

Bianchi reads her expression like a book. "I'm sorry… Did you want me to touch you here?" She strokes a finger along her more intimate lips. She cries out, shocked by how much feeling rushes through her at the one, feathering touch. She cries out again when it happens continuously. "You are so innocent, I-pin."

"B-Bianchiiii – !" Her world turns white when Bianchi pushes one finger into her. "Ga-aaah!" In the one moment all she can feel is unimaginable pleasure, she swears she feels something tear.

When she comes to, Bianchi is licking her fingers clean, all but purring. I-pin swears there is something red on her digits before they disappear into her mouth. The pinkette meets her drowsy expression with loving eyes. "You're no longer a virgin, I-pin. Now you're my love and I'm yours."

"Sh-should I make you feel th-that way too….?" Frankly, she isn't certain if she can lift a finger, much less make Bianchi feel that same explosive pleasure.

"It might have been a long time since I last had an orgasm, but I will still take much longer than you before I cum. I'm in a state where I am closer to calming down than coming to completion, so it doesn't matter." She kisses I-pin's guilty frown away. "Another time."

"Okay, Bianchi…" She blinks and tries to recall something, something just on the brink of her subconscious… "Oh no!" She realizes. "The party!" She tries to roll out of bed.

An arm comes around her waist and stops her, dragging her right back in. "Let's take a nap first." Bianchi purrs into her ear.

"But… the family…"

"Oh, I see…" Bianchi sulks. "After making love, I am to be abandoned like a one-night stand for people you can see at any time… All I ask for is a nap, just to sleep with the one beautiful girl I love for at least an hour…" She looks ashamedly away. "I understand…"

I-pin doesn't see the guilt-trip for what it is. She looks guiltily down. "I-I'm sorry, Bianchi… Of course I'll take a nap with you!" She determinedly squeezes herself against the woman's side, resting her head on her soft chest. "But… only for an hour, please? Because I actually can't see my family whenever I want… they're all the way in Italy usually and I'm here in Japan…" She smiles lovingly. "I'm really happy when the whole family comes together and we can celebrate something, whether it's my birthday, a holiday, or just dinner." She admits demurely.

Without realizing it, she reverses the guilt-trip back on her lover.

Bianchi sighs and grabs her watch off the floor, setting the alarm. "Just one hour…"

I-pin smiles. "Thank you, Bianchi." Shyly, she kisses the older assassin.

Bianchi all but beams. "I love you, I-pin."

I-pin flushes. "I…" Well, she isn't sure what she feels for Bianchi; whatever Lambo had meant by 'go slow', going slow had not cleared anything up for her. Well, maybe that was somewhat a lie… she has learned that she loves it when Bianchi kisses and touches her… is that love? "I love being with you, Bianchi."

The pinkette undoes her braids and smoothes out the rumpled waves that emerge, running her hands through the long, raven locks. "I'll settle with that for now." She wraps I-pin up in her arms and cuddles close, spewing contentedness from her every pore. "Have a good nap, love."

"Have a good nap, Bianchi…"

Truthfully, it is the most confusing and yet best birthday she has ever had.

~ Author's Note ~

Oh my, my, my~ I really chickened out towards the end, didn't I? Ah, but I'm still learning!