"You know, you'd make a cute couple. You and Gokudera."

Shizu glanced up from her sketchbook, confused for two reasons. The first reason was that she had never spoken to Gokudera. The second reason was that she had never spoken to this girl before either. Hana and Kyoko had simply sat down near her and Hana had started talking. "Uh…sorry. What?"

"You and Gokudera." Hana pointed at the boy, who was sitting at the front of the classroom with his friends, completely oblivious to their conversation. "Right, Kyoko? Wouldn't they be cute together?"

The dark-haired girl quirked an eyebrow at this. "What makes you think that? I've never even spoken to him," she bluntly stated.

"Yeah, but you have a lot in common. You're from Europe, right?" Hana saw her nod, eyes on her sketchbook again. "You know he's from Europe, too, right?"

"That doesn't mean much to me." Shizu glanced over at the desk beside her. Isabelle was absently flipping through a manga. That's all in Japanese. I don't know if she's just admiring the artwork or what, but there's no way that she can read kanji yet.

The other two saw her look at Isabelle and beamed. "Capello-chan? Don't you think Nanase-chan would be cute with Gokudera?" Kyoko asked.

Isa looked at them blankly. "What you say?" Her Japanese was still not very good; they had only moved from Italy a month ago and Isabelle was not putting forth much effort to learn the language. She was from a rich family. She was still expecting them to send for her to come home to Italy.

"Nanase and him," Hana said slowly, pointing from Shizu to Gokudera. "Cute. Right?"

The blonde stared for a moment and nodded. Turning to Shizu, she frowned. "What are they talking about? Are you dating that guy now or what?" she asked in Italian.

"They think I would be cute with him," Shizu replied, returning her attention to her textbook. "So? What other stuff do I have in common with Gokudera?" she inquired in Japanese.

"Well you both have that delinquent look." Hana saw her frown. "I meant that in a good way. You can't really argue; you have four piercings in each ear, plus that tattoo on your forearm."

Shizu rolled her sleeve down to hide the tattoo, very self-conscious now. "I'm not a delinquent."

"But you look like one."

"That doesn't mean-"

"At least let us introduce you to him. It could be love at first sight!" Kyoko insisted.

"What are you doing now?" Isa tilted her head.

Shizu sighed and ran fingers through her short black hair. "I guess I'm going to meet him," she answered in Italian. "Just wait here." Turning to Kyoko and Hana, she shrugged in resignation. "Fine. I'll meet him, I guess."

"Great! You won't regret it!"

Oh, I'm sure I will. Shizu walked with them, hands in her pockets, and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw his face. His eyes had a look about them that made her face heat up with a vibrant blush. Just…stay calm. He's cute, but don't overreact like this!

Shift P.O.V

"This is Nanase Shizu. Isn't she cool? She's our new best friend."

When he looked up, he was prepared to be annoyed. He already was, when he heard girls whispering behind his back. However, when his eyes met hers and he saw the way her face turned pink, his heart skipped a beat. "So what?" He wanted to ask certain questions, but had an image to keep up.

"It's great to finally talk to you!" Yamamoto exclaimed. "Awww! Is that blush for me?"

Shut up. His hand curled into a tight fist. The girl was odd-looking. She wore her hair short; it was obsidian, shaggy, and just reached the nape of her neck. Shining in the pale skin of each ear were four silver hoops. The eyes that kept glancing away from him were a sharp amber color. In a strange way, she almost reminded him of a black cat.

"Yeah…nice to meet you," she muttered. Her voice was quiet, a bit raspy.

He had never spoken to her directly, but he had heard her talk to Isabelle. The two were close, like sisters almost. Not like sisters, he corrected himself. Like a guard dog and their owner. It was a bitter realization and grew even bitterer when he realized that he could compare her relationship with Isabelle Capello to his relationship with Tsuna. What the hell?!

"We were just discussing it and thought you two would be a cute couple," Hana explained, looking at him.

"What? Nanase, what do you think? Do you already like someone?" Yamamoto grinned.

"I sort of have things to do so…see you later." She turned away quickly, her face turning red.

Gokudera watched her rejoin Isabelle, who giggled. Hana and Kyoko followed her, leaving him to his thoughts as his friends went about filling out a worksheet for class. They thought we'd be a cute couple? He scowled. Since she had transferred to their school, he had subconsciously stolen glances at her. She was different from most girls he knew; she was quiet without being shy, fiercely loyal to Isabelle, and just didn't seem to care what other people thought. Although he suspected that it was because she was too worried about Isabelle to care about what others thought about her.

"Well that was weird," Tsuna commented.

"Yeah. She was cute though!" Yamamoto paused. "Do you think she has a boyfriend?"

"You just met her!" Gokudera growled.

"Yeah, but she seems nice. I want to get to know her better."

They all observed Kyoko and Hana more or less interrogating the two girls. Isabelle beamed, more than happy to accept their attention. She resembled a princess, in both looks and need for pampering. "I think we'll talk to her more often," Tsuna said.

"I hope so. Can you believe they thought you and Nanase would make a cute couple, Gokudera? Isn't that weird? You've never even talked to her before."

Shift P.O.V

He was pretty cute. Shizu set to work sketching out a fierce, three-headed dragon in her sketchbook. He seemed really confident, too. I like that. Isn't he on the baseball team? Her pencil snapped and she winced. Everyone likes Yamamoto though. He's so nice to everyone. I don't think he would ever fall for someone like me. Besides, boys are too much of a distraction. I have a job to do. I have to protect Isa.

"Isabelle, I baked a cake yesterday. Do you want to come over and try some? We can all study together," Kyoko said. It was apparent that she had a plan; she knew that Shizu could never leave Isabelle unprotected and everyone in class knew that Isabelle loved sweets.

"Yes! Cake is favorite!" Isabelle exclaimed. She turned to Shizu, excitement in her sky blue eyes. "We have to go, Shizu! Cake!"

"Fine, fine. I already finished the homework that's due for tomorrow anyway," she assured her friend. "Give me your address. I don't like wearing this uniform outside of class."

"Yay! We got them~"

Why does it feel like I've fallen into a trap? Shizu walked home with Isabelle after school and changed into a simple pair of jeans and a grey t-shirt. "Hey. What do you think of them? Honestly?" she asked, standing in the doorway to Isabelle's room.

The blonde's bedroom was twice the size of Shizu's, as was the bed, the closet, and the dresser. Currently, Isabelle was rummaging through the walk-in closet in search of something impressive to wear. "I think they're okay," she replied in Italian. "I want friends, Shizu! I mean…more friends. You know what I mean! It's good for both us to have more friends! And those boys they were talking to were kind of cute, right? What did you think of that one? Was it Gokudera?"

"Yeah. I don't know." The dark-haired girl sighed and pushed her way into the closet. "This skirt, these boots, this blouse, and the fluffy pink sweater because it's kind of cold."

"Thanks, Shizu!"

She stepped out of the closet as her friend dressed, frowning to herself. "That one. Yamamoto Takeshi. He was cute."

"He was super cute! Are you kidding me?! I want to hug him! I bet he would feel so nice to hug!" Isabelle stepped out of the closet and used white ribbons to tie her hair back in twin ponytails. "Well? Is it cute?"

"Absolutely adorable as always," Shizu recited. It was something she said so often that it had become automatic whenever Isabelle asked how she looked.

"Good! Anyway! I think you should give Gokudera a try though; he's not bad. He seems more your type than Yamamoto."

Shizu followed her out to the apartment door, grabbing her dark blue hooded jacket from its hook. How would you know my type? I haven't dated anyone. Ever. Especially not since we met. I can't have distractions like that. Not when I have a job to do. Instead of shooting down the idea and risk hurting Isabelle's feelings, she gave her a sheepish smile. "Hm. We'll see."

Isa frowned and shook her head. "I just wish I could meet a nice guy! Maybe I'll try talking to Yamamoto. I would just be happy to get a hug from him."

Simple tastes when it comes to guys, but extravagant taste in everything else. Lovely. You never mentioned that you like guys like him. I'm surprised after that incident back in Italy. With that guy. What was his name? He was mafia…or something. His name started with an 'X'. Xavier? That doesn't sound quite right. Shizu tilted her head back, looking at the fluffy clouds.

Shift P.O.V

"What if they start hanging out with Kyoko and Hana more often? Wouldn't that be neat? They both look so lonely."

Shut up. Stop talking about it. He walked with his friends, coming back from the convenience store mid-study session. "They're not that great," he remarked.

"I don't know. Capello-san is really pretty," Tsuna pointed out.

"A lot of guys at school like her, but they're afraid to approach her because she looks like a princess, right?" Yamamoto had been grinning since that afternoon. "I don't know though. I prefer Nanase."

"What?!" Gokudera glanced at Tsuna, surprised that they shared the same alarm at their friend's declaration.

"Yeah. She just acts cooler. I don't know what it is, but I think she's cuter than Capello."

"So are you going to tell her how you feel?" Tsuna inquired.

He shrugged. "Maybe. I just want to talk to her more. She hardly talks to anyone."

"Isn't she kind of…scary though?"

Gokudera's frown deepened. They had all heard rumors about the girl; she was Isabelle's girlfriend, she was the blonde's bodyguard, she was in a gang, she was a yakuza boss, she had been to prison. He knew that only one of those rumors happened to be true and that was that she was Isabelle's bodyguard. Why, he didn't know. However, he had seen the tattoo on her right forearm. It was in Italian and it said 'forever' with blue flames surrounding it. He would never admit this, but he always had the weird urge to touch it whenever the tattoo was exposed.

"Why are you blushing? Are you thinking about Capello?" Yamamoto teased.

"None of your business." He walked a bit faster, but knew it would do nothing. They were all going to the same place. His eyes met with a pair of bright amber ones as two girls rounded the corner a block ahead of them. The boy's face heated and he tried to fight back the blush creeping rapidly onto his face.

"Oh! Nanase, Capello! Going to Kyoko's house?" Yamamoto called, running ahead.

Instantly, Isabelle's face turned red and she shifted behind the dark-haired girl. "Hm? Yeah, we're hanging out with Sasagawa and Kurokawa today," Shizu answered in her raspy voice. "What are you doing?"

"We were studying at Tsuna's, but had to take a snack break."

Gokudera stood listening to their conversation for a moment, occasionally glancing over at Shizu. She was fidgeting a little with the hem of her sleeve and he hated that he found it cute. "What are you doing on Sunday?" he blurted out.

"Sunday?" Shizu looked directly at him now. Her sleeve had slipped up enough to show her tattoo and her fingertips absently rubbed over the letters. "Hm. I don't think we have plans. Why? Did you need something?"

Despite her somewhat harsh wording, he felt excited. She was talking to him. Just to him. In that moment, the two were having their first conversation and almost nothing could destroy it. Almost nothing. He scowled as Yamamoto opened his mouth to speak.

"We should do something fun! Why don't we go to an amusement park or something?"

Amber eyes shifted to Isabelle. "Well…her Japanese isn't that great. I don't know how well that would go."

"It's fine! Look, we can both translate for her," Gokudera said before Yamamoto could reply. He saw her lift an eyebrow, looking sort of amused. "Er…I speak Italian, too."

She smiled a true smile and nodded toward her blonde friend. "That would be great then. Sunday? Should we meet somewhere in particular?"

"Just meet us in front of the school and we can all walk to the train station together." Yamamoto was once again dominating the conversation.

"It will be fun," Tsuna assured the girls. "Tell Kyoko and Hana to come, too."

"Sure. Well then, we have to get going. Isa's skin is sensitive to the sun." Shizu led her friend off down the street, glancing back once and blushing pink.

This is my chance. His heart was beating fast, almost painfully so. Sunday. I'll talk to her and see what she's really like. He glanced at Yamamoto, who looked even happier than he felt. Worry started to set in instantly, but he knew he couldn't give up before he had even tried.