13 Years later…

The sound of a gong loudly echoes throughout the hollow stone corridors, which signals to the residents that it was time to rise and shine.

An "ugh" emitted from a young woman as her body instinctively rolled out of the bed that felt like a stone slab against her back. She then stretches out the entire length of her body until she hears a small "pop" noise from her stiff joints.

"Ah! That felt good." The woman drowsily mumbles while her chains continuously clinks against each other due to her sudden movements.

A loud knock at the door instantly caught her ears as well as her attention. Her body went completely rigid due to the years of harsh discipline she received for being late to line up.

The door swings open to reveal an older man in his late twenties with shoulder length curly silver haired and light blue eyes. His body frame was one of an individual that works out on a consistent basis. His strongest feature is his chisel chin.

The older man was clothed in rather expensive garbs that displayed not only his wealth but his status in the world.

This only made her a bit more self-conscious about the raggedy tarps that adorned her body. Yet, she made the best of it with her latent sewing ability.

"Ah Good morning, spring." The man politely greets her with a small smile on his face while he stands in front of the door.

"Good morning, Mister Yui." She recites as she bows at the waist until she hears his voice orders her, "Follow me."

The woman never understood why the silver haired male tacked the moniker "spring" instead of her actual name Haru Miura. Even though, the literal meaning indeed is "spring" it was still strange.

She ambles forward before she patiently waits for Yui to lead her in the direction of where she needs to go.

"You're awfully quiet today, spring. What's wrong?" He inquires before he proceeds to lead the brunette woman to her assign location.

Haru ignores the question, keeps her head down, and loses herself in her own thoughts, 'I won't have much longer till I am able to be free of this place.'

8888

'Am I late?' A male with silver haired and emerald green eyes wondered as he bolted passed a sign that was inscribed "Vongola Family".

'I hope I'm the first person here.' He hopefully wishes after he dashes pass a couple of familiar faces until he reaches his destination.

"Tenth," The man dutifully calls out to the orange haired male that stands with two older men, who he in turn acknowledges as the "Ninth" and "Iemitsu-san".

"I was starting to wonder when the infamous right hand would show up." Iemitsu chuckles at the sudden sight of the silver haired male.

"I, Gokudera Hayato, will be continuously at the heart of the attack, the furious Storm that never rests." The young man, name Hayato, proudly recites his portion for the Inheritance Ceremony.

Timeto dryly chuckles at the young man, who unintentionally displays his excitement for the ceremony to begin.

"We haven't reached that part yet, Gokudera-san." He informs the Storm guardian, who blushes out of embarrassment for his slip up.

"Oh uhm, my apologies. I thought I was running late." Hayato immediately apologized for his mistake after he stood upright from his bow position.

"Ano…Gokudera-kun…" Tsuna's meek voice speaks up before he instantly directs his focus on to the orange haired male.

"You're actually on time. Everyone else is either getting dressed or already ready as we speak." He informs the silver haired male while he scratches the side of his cheek with an index finger.

Hayato releases a sigh of relief at the information before he receives further information as to where he needs to report.

'Whew…I can't believe that I slipped up like that! It wasn't just in front of Judaime but in front of the Ninth and Iemitsu as well.' He harshly ridicules himself for his lackluster performance while he heads to the dressing room.

"Gokudera-kun," A tall lanky brunette haired male with light brown eyes cheerfully greets the silver haired male upon his arrival.

"Octopus head," An older stocky silver haired male with grey eyes jokingly revels once he notices the Storm guardian enters in the room.

"Bakadora," A teen age raven haired male with two golden horns in his grasp and green eyes playfully mocks the older man.

"Gokudera-san," A pale woman with purple hair in a ponytail that resembles a pineapple with a purple iris and a black skull eye patch that covers the right eye meekly acknowledges him.

"Herbivore," A lean raven haired male with dark eyes irritably grunts since he was visibly uncomfortable with the number of people in the room.

After he exchanges personal greeting to each respective individual in the room, he then inquires about, "Where's Fuuta and I-Pin?"

"Fuuta's already dressed and I-Pin had a last minute delivery." The tall lanky brunette provides an answer to the question once he adjusts his tie.

Hayato nods his head to show that he understands before he points to a black suitbag that had his name on the white label.

"Maybe you aren't useless after all, baseball freak." He honestly admits with a shrug of his shoulders to the taller male.

The silver haired male stares at the bag while his hands seem to maneuver on its own as he loses himself in his thoughts, 'Tonight is the night.'

8888

"Ugh," Haru grumbles to herself as she irritably stares out of a window at the city landscape.

"I'm starting to think that "ugh" is your catchphrase Haru-chan." A girl with orange hair and forest green eyes, who is two years her junior, teases her after she approaches the brunette woman.

"Trust me Suzuka, when I say that ugh is Haru-chan trademark." A girl, with maroon hair, chimes after she overhears the pair's conversation.

"Uh oh…looks like we got some company." The girl name, Suzuka, states once she notices an older woman purposely draw closer to them.

"Disperse." Haru swiftly orders right before the woman could evenreach the trio as they instantly separate from each other.

"If you three don't get back here now!" The older woman orders in a stern tone, except for the fact that they refuse to even obey the woman's order.

The brunette chuckles at the woman's frustration completely unaware of the silver haired male presence until he speaks up, "I'm starting to think you like to cause me problems, spring."

Haru slightly jumps from the sudden appearance of the man as it immediately causes her nerves to stand on end.

"I wanted to see you before the ceremony official started." Yui admits to the girl with a frank smile on his face.

She watches him close the distance between them while he reaches out one of his hands toward her. His abrupt action causes the brunette to flinch from his touch.

Haru hears the older man in front of him deeply sighs and mutters, "It saddens me that you run from my touch, spring."

Yui then casually withdrew his hand from in front of her face and returned it to his side.

"I just wanted to tell you that you look beautiful tonight." He honestly reveals before he leaves the brunette alone until she spots the older lady.

'I can't wait for this to be over so I can get some sleep.' She concludes after she situates the tray in the proper position and enters inside of the ballroom.

8888

A few hours later...

'Why is Yui on the stage?' Haru wonders once she notices the silver haired male with a microphone in his hand.

"We, the Ricotta Family, offer our hospitality for this momentous occasion as the Vongola's family bestow the title of Boss on Tsunayoshi Sawada." Yui cordially greets the guests that were present in the foyer of the building.

"So please indulge in cocktail hour until it is time for the Inheritance Ceremony to officially begin." He urges after he secures a glass flute of champagne from one of the trays.

The brunette decides to lose herself in her work as she seems to weave in and out of the crowd with grace. From years of practice, she knew the signs of those who were ready to engage in cocktail hour and did not fail to create a naturally cheerful disposition.

Haru softly hums to herself to pass the time when she abruptly senses a sudden change in the aura of the environment.

'What's this strange feeling?' She quietly wonders as she continues to watch the shift of concentration from the other guests to one direction.

Haru then noticed that all of the partygoers' eyes were now currently directed on the group that entered inside of the foyer.

All of a sudden, the crowd seems to cave in on her as people began to push their way forward in order to catch a glimpse of the cluster.

"Look it's the Vongola family!" "Ah there boss is so kawaii!" "I hear's just 21 years old!" "That would make him the youngest to ever assume the Boss position."

Haru desperately attempted to push against the crowd only to be swallowed up once again. Somehow she made her way toward the middle of the people.

"Sheesh, can't you people at least show a little decency!" She angrily snaps at the assembly of people unaware of her current position.

"Hey…" A masculine voice speaks up, which prompts the brunette to rotate her head to the source of the noise.

A male, with ear length silver hair and emerald green, was the source as he continues to speak, "A woman that complains about decorum yet doesn't show it herself is...stupid."

Before she could even retort, a tall brunette man taps the silver haired male's shoulder and suggests, "Now, now, Gokudera-kun…don't be rude to the lovely lady."

'So his name is Gokudera huh?' Haru catches on since she wants to smack the silver tray in her possession across his face.

A 'pft' escapes the man name Gokudera's lips until a meek voice in front of him instructs, "She was caught up in the crowd. Apologize Gokudera-kun."

Her sights now land on a rather short orange haired male clad in a simple suit, who issues out an order to the silver haired male.

'As if this guy would listen to you…' She mentally assumes that the silver haired male was of a higher rank than the one in front of him.

Haru watches in disbelif as the male mumbles something underneath his breath before he quickly extends her a "Sorry".

"I apologize about his behavior, ma'am. He doesn't know how to express himself around women." The tall man offers an apology for who she assumes is his friend or at the very least comrade.

She merely nods her head and bows out of the way only to catch another brief glimpse of the cluster that enters inside of the ballroom.

Suzuka quickly sprints over to the brunette haired woman and immediately inquires about if she was alright.

"Haru's fine Suzuka." She confirms to the orange haired girl, who breathes a sigh of relief after the good news.

Haru merely dusts herself off, checks out her surroundings, and suggests to the young girl, "You should really get back to the cocktail hour."

"Why?" Suzuka curiously poses before her answer came in the form of a whisper, which sends the girl on auto-pilot.

"Get back to work, you two!" The older woman snaps at the two girls, who merely ignore the woman and continue on with their assign duties.