3) If I never see your face again, I won't mind.

The only people who knew about her engagement were Squalo, if you could count him, and himself. Other than that, nobody else did. Dino knew that she'd want it to stay that way, so he kept his mouth shut—that was, until Squalo himself asked him who her fiancée was. All he did was shrug, because he didn't know who it was himself. Then the swordsman left unsatisfied, but he knew that he'd find out one way or another. Good luck to you on that.

There was going to be another party tonight, but would she be interested in going? It was getting dark, and he walked the courtyard alone, pondering this question. He stopped, and then looked up at the single light that stayed on in the whole dormitory. Mira, he thought. I hope you get through this.

With a bowl of caramel popcorn at hand, Mira lay on her bed watching Squalo's videos on her laptop. It became a game to her to find out if he had any sort of weakness at all, so she reviewed everything, looking for the slightest waver of his sword or hesitation. So far, she's found none—not even a twitch or tell that signifies his relentless attacks. This guy's foolproof, she thought.

Just then, someone knocked on her door. "Come in!" she yelled, cramming popcorn into her mouth. Dino must have forgotten something.

But it wasn't Dino. The door swung open, revealing the white-haired swordsman. "Squalo!" she coughed, desperately forcing the popcorn down her throat. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, and let himself in. "Just thought I'd stop by".

"For what?" she replied, sitting up.

"Do I have to have a reason to be here?" he scowled.

"Well, no, but..."

He stared at her long enough to make her fidget. Finally, Mira gave up, picked up the popcorn bowl and held it out to him. "Want some?"

He wrinkled his nose in disgust and shook his head. "That's not what I'm here for", he said. "There's going to be a party tonight; are you going?"

"Are you asking?"

"I never said anything".

"Well then, I guess I'm not going", she replied.

He shrugged and turned to leave, but before he put one foot out the door, he looked over his shoulder at her and smirked. "Funny, I'd thought maybe your fiancée might have mentioned this to you", he said.

Mira frowned, and put the bowl down on the bedside table. "Squalo", she said, standing up. "Will you please get back in here? And shut the door; I have to tell you something".

He went back in, hiding the smile that threatened to break over his face. Then he turned around and leaned on the door, barricading it. "So? Who is it?" he asked.

Mira stood across from him, twisting the ring on her finger nervously. "Look, I just don't see why--"

"Get to the point already".

Great. What have I done? She thought. "His name's Nikolai and he's from a Russian Mafia", she replied.

Squalo scoffed. "That douchebag?" he said as a mocking smile spread across his face. "You're seriously gonna marry that pathetic weakling?"

She squinted at him, confused. "Wait, you know him?"

He shrugged, and spoke in a nonchalant tone. "He's the only one stupid enough to bet against me; last week, he got his guy to fight me and I wiped his ass all over the floor--I'm guessing the Russian lost about ten grand that day".

"You cost him ten grand?!" And this is how he knows my fiancée, she thought.

"It was his call", he replied. "Too bad it was a bad one".

Mira sank back onto the bed, processing the newfound information. Great. My future husband has a gambling problem, she thought. She recognized the urge to throw the ring out the window. What were they thinking?

She was too preoccupied in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Squalo leaving until the door creaked open. Her head snapped up and she noticed that he was almost halfway out the room. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To the party--where else?"

She met Squalo at a party two years ago, and look where it's gotten them--not quite friends, definitely not enemies. Who's to say that she wasn't going to find the solution to her problem tonight? Screw this, she thought. I don't care if Nikolai's going to be there.

"Give me at least 20 minutes", she said. "I'm coming, too".

Squalo waited for her on the balcony. Seventeen minutes had already passed, and he kept track or every second of it. If she wasn't out after twenty, he was determined to leave her. What's taking her so long? You'd think she'd be out by now, he thought.

"Hey, I'm done".

He turned around and found Mira out of her pajamas and in a turquoise dress that made her ivory skin look paler than usual. Her silver hair was bound under a net, leaving only a collection of strands to frame her face. Overall, she looked like a porcelain doll—easily breakable. "It's about time you got out", he said. "Let's go".

It was almost the same as the night they had first met, only that there were more people tonight, and this time, Mira didn't have Dino. Squalo had already left her a few minutes ago to get something to drink, and she doubted that he'd come back for her. Thus, she tried to stay out of sight, and she was close to success until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She froze for a minute, then relaxed when she recognized the voice she's been so used to hearing say her name.

"Dino!" she said, throwing her arms around his neck. She breathed in his familiar scent, and just like that, all her anxiety disappeared into thin air.

Anyone could see that the Cavallone tried to keep his cool composure, but to no avail since she had caught him off guard. Nevertheless, he hugged her back, grateful for the fact that she was here. Finally, she pulled away from him and grinned. "Didn't think I'd be here tonight, did you?" she said.

"No, I guess not", he said, smiling down at her. "So who brought you here?"

"That'd be me", said a voice behind him.

He turned around and saw Squalo, vodka at hand. Mira sighed with relief. He actually came back for me, she thought. "I thought you already left me".

He shrugged, and took a sip of his drink. Dino remained rooted on his spot, looking back from Squalo to Mira and back again. He opened his mouth to ask her something when the quartet began playing. After the first few notes, couples had stepped into the dance floor and waltzed across the room. Now it was Mira's turn to look back and forth from Dino to Squalo. She didn't want to have to choose between them, but she wanted to dance—just for the hell of it. She almost let go of the idea when she spotted a familiar face across the room; he was standing there, drinking and laughing obnoxiously with his friends. Nikolai.

Let the games begin, she thought.

To Dino, she asked, "Will you dance with me?"

He chuckled nervously, running a hand through his hair. "I'd love to, but—"

"Please?"

A pair of silvery blue eyes looked up at him, pleading. She knows I can't dance, he thought. Even his tutor, Reborn, had agreed with him on that. Any attempts on teaching him were thwarted due to his incompetence. If Romario had been there, he probably could have done it; seeing as he wasn't, he was not willing to take the risk. "Mira, I'll probably step on your foot, or trip, or something!"

"I won't let that happen", she said, taking his hand. "Trust me, okay?"

All protests drowned in his throat as she led him to the dance floor. By then, the quartet had already begun another piece, one that he actually knew. As they grazed the floor, Mira was aware of all the eyes watching them as a couple, but only one mattered. Nikolai, you do not own me.

He chuckled darkly, finishing the last of his drink. At first, he thought she just wanted to dance—just for the fun of it, right? But no—once he saw what she had been looking at, he knew. She never struck him to be the spiteful type, but now her true colors were showing. Smart girl, he thought. He watched the scenes unfold before him—Mira and Dino, who both looked happy, and her fiancée with a scowl plastered on his face as he saw his wife-to-be dancing with someone else—until he remembered to refill his drink. The bar was located near the entrance, and he traipsed past the groups clustered around the dance floor to get there. Once he had refilled his drink, he left and planted himself on the same spot he had been before. People came to parties to socialize or get some business done, while he stood there, drinking his vodka. He was about to leave when a certain Vongola plodded into the room. Xanxus.

It was true; he had a commanding presence. Even as the quartet kept playing, people turned to look at him. Squalo recognized that look—it was the same look he had seen in his opponents' eyes when he defeated them. Slowly, couples have stopped dancing to be rejoined with the crowd. Weaklings, he thought. It wasn't long till Mira and Dino were the only ones left on the dance floor; once they had stopped, so did the quartet, regardless the fact that they didn't finish the piece. Meanwhile, Xanxus made his way to the bar and started talking to the bartender. Whatever he said was inaudible, since Squalo was a good 5 feet away from him; either way, he knew it wasn't going to end well when he saw that familiar scowl deepen. It only got worse when the bartender offered him a drink, which he swatted away with the back of his hand. "Hey, what's going on?"

He tore his eyes away from the scene, only to find Mira standing next to him. "Where's Dino?" he asked.

"He said he had to go somewhere; Romario came to get him", she replied. "So what's up?"

He nodded towards the bar, where a group of people—including her fiancée—had flocked over. "Just watch".

One of Nikolai's friends went behind Xanxus and tapped him on the shoulder. At first, he didn't seem to react to it. Idiot, he thought. Finally, Xanxus turned around and glared at the man, then pushed him so hard that he landed on the buffet table behind him. From where they stood, it looked as if there was no effort behind that simple shove. That's because there wasn't. This guy runs on pure anger, Squalo thought.

Mira couldn't believe what she was seeing; she had studied Squalo's videos long enough to recognize weakness a mile away—apparently, Xanxus didn't have any; just sheer power that made him a menacing character. It didn't surprise her that Nikolai was there in the midst of it all—what made her disgust for him grow deeper was that he ran after his so-called friend had been humiliated. He ran, and never looked back. And they thought that he was going to help the family, she thought.

After muttering something under his breath, Xanxus left the party. A ghost of a smile crept over her face as she watched him leave. "You do know who that was, right?" Squalo asked.

"Well, it seems that I do now".