There was still another hour until the plane landed in Italy and from there a private car would take the three to Varia mansion in the middle of a forest. Both Kristina and Fran were sleeping while Jana sat in the middle of the two playing sudoku - taking advantage of the quiet.

It had only been about twenty minutes earlier that Fran had finally fallen asleep. After the verbal battle to store his apple hat in the overhead locker, when Fran lost he made it a point to piss his sister off for the rest of the flight.

However, it seemed the constant nagging for the day finally wore him out enough to sleep silently. Just as Jana had finished another puzzle and turned to the next one, the plane went through some turbulence and woke both Kristina and Fran up.

"Wha-?"

Kristina straightened up in the seat and checked her phone. "How much longer is the flight?"

"An hour or so," Jana replied as she eyed Fran from her peripheral vision slowly getting up and rubbing his face. He still seemed drained and out of it - so much that he wasn't even acting much like he was earlier.

Jana cringed as Fran leaned over and grabbed her arm as he rested his head against it and asked, "what are you doing~?"

"Sudoku." She didn't bother saying anything else. "Don't bother me."

"Oh." Fran got off her arm and went to the bathroom.

Jana sighed heavily and looked at Kristina, "Why did I have to sit in the middle?"

"I tried to sit in the middle so you didn't have to deal with Fran but then he insisted to be with his older sister. And after he insulted me like that I was done. We only have another hour."

"Did you really start believing his crap?" she rolled her eyes.

"No but it still hurt."

Fran sat back down and curled into a ball, "Goodnight."

At least he just went to sleep, they thought.

/

"Hmmm," Lussuria sat at the bottom of the stairs near the front door, "when do you think they're gonna be here?"

"How should I know?" Squalo folded his arms as he walked past.

They both suddenly heard a car stopping outside. "That should be them!" He got up and opened the door, "Jana! Kristina! Welcome back-! And oh...you brought Fran…"

"Mukuro left him with us," Kristina responded.

Jana pushed Fran towards the entrance of the mansion, "and as if I was going to leave him in Japan."

Fran ran up to Squalo and gave him a hug, purposely making sure the apple hat hit him in the face. "Hi long haired captain~ Did you miss me~?"

"Voi Fran! Piss off!" Squalo pushed Fran off and walked down to the car where Lussuria, Kristina and Jana were talking. Fran on the other hand, ran inside the mansion to greet everyone and making it a point that they probably did not miss him at all.

As Kristina saw Squalo, she ran up and gave him a hug, "Squalo!"

"VOI! Enough with the hugs!"

After a few more minutes of talking, they grabbed their bags and made their way into the mansion. Lussuria led them to one of the many living rooms to greet the others. Bel and Marmon were currently versing each other in a video game while Levi watched - because obviously no one wants to play with Levi.

"Ishishi the prince wins again!"

"Umu," Marmon looked up to the door to see the girls walking in and making themselves at home, "you're here."

"Well what does it look like," Jana laughed as she sat down on a chair and made herself comfortable after the long flight.

Bel frowned as he realised something, "does that mean the apple is also-"

"FUCK OFF, TRASH!" There was a flash of bright light from the other room.

"Boss!" Levi shot up from his place on the couch. "I'm coming, Boss!" He rushed into the dining room. Puffs of smoke and dust flew out of the room as soon as he opened the door. When it cleared he saw Fran lying on the ground, barely moving. "Oh, it was just Fran." He picked him up by the back of his collar and dragged him out of the room.

Kristina lied down on one of the couches, "Aaahhh they're always so comfy…"

Squalo sat down as well and started asking Kristina and Jana random questions, "So, what'd you think of the Vongola brats?"

"They were really nice~" Kristina rolled over on her stomach and used a cushion as a pillow. "Right, Jana?"

"Yeah, we thought they'd be really childish or something considering how you described them but," she shrugged, "they weren't like that."

"The negative opinions are probably because of the fact they lost to teenagers in a fight over magical jewellery."

Squalo's eye twitched and then tried to get off the subject of losing the Ring Conflict. "Any guys you're interested in?" VOI! WHAT?! He internally facepalmed and beat himself up for asking such a dumb question.

It seemed like the two girls felt the same way about that last question. Kristina kicked her legs, "Hmm, not really. But I'm kind of interested in Yamamoto. Like, it'd be cool to get to know him better."

"What?!" Jana looked at her like an idiot. "Really?!"

"Huh? He's nice! What about you then?!"

"No."

"VOI, KRISTINA, YOU LIKE THE BASEBALL IDIOT?! HE WORE OPEN TOED SANDALS DURING THE RING BATTLE, I DON'T APPROVE OF THIS!"

Kristina burst out laughing until Xanxus entered the room, "Trash, go make me steak."

"Fine, fine," Jana said as they got up and walked to the kitchen talking to each other. "What kind should we make?"

"Don't we usually make medium rare? I don't even remember anymore…" Their voices faded out as the kitchen doors closed behind them.

/

"It really has been some time since we cooked in this kitchen, I can't remember where half the stuff we need is anymore." Jana scratched her head and she searched through the cabinets to find ingredients for the marinade. However, the girls hadn't even found a pan yet so she might be skipping a little too much ahead. "Uh, Kristina?" Jana called out to Kristina who was in the second room of the kitchen. Well, more like pantry. But this pantry was so big it could really be a second room.

Kristina poked her head out of the door, she had multiple pots and pans in her hands as she searched for the right one. "Yeah?"

"Could you find and ask one of the chefs where all the stuff is. It's like a maze in here and I think we're more likely to get killed by Xanxus for being incompetent than find a tomato."

"Can you do it? I'm kind of busy here," Kristina frowned as she dropped a few pans. "Shit!"

"But you speak better Italian than me~ It's your native language, I speak French. I always mix up words because they're so similar and I don't want to look like an idiot," Jana stuck out her tongue.

"Bullshit."

"Hey!"

"You've gone to school here for years and we're speaking it right now! Come up with a better excuse next time." Kristina turned around and searched through the pile until she finally found the right pan. "Aha!"

"Grr…" Jana walked out of the kitchen and back into the main living room.

Bel looked up from his winning streak against Fran in a video game, "Ishishi, food ready?"

"No." Jana walked past Bel and to Lussuria, "where are the chefs currently?"

"The west wing. It's their break so they're probably in the lounge room with some other servants."

/

"... And all the meat is in this fridge here." The main chef, who introduced himself as Luca, finished orally mapping out the kitchen by pointing at the last fridge in the row of fridges. Why does Varia have so many fridges? Why do you need to ask that question?

"Thank you Luca, they really changed the position of everything in the kitchen." Kristina smiled as she tossed him an apple.

"No problem," He took a bite and was just happy that there was finally someone (who was not a servant) that was pleasant in this mansion. "Find me if you need help with anything at all." Luca turned and left the kitchen waving his free hand in the air. "Good luck."

The girls finally got to work on the steak. About halfway through cooking the many steaks and sides, the smell began to waft throughout the other rooms.

All of a sudden, Squalo barged into the kitchen, "VOI! Are they ready yet?!"

Fran walked in behind him and began poking Squalo's arm, "Be patient."

"We're almost done! Maybe another 15 minutes!" Jana called.

"Ishishi, give them a break. You never know, they might poison your food," Bel placed his hand on Squalo's shoulder.

"Voi, they wouldn't do that."

"Maybe not your sister, but Jana could do it in a heartbeat, ishishishi."

Out of nowhere, Xanxus casually burst into the kitchen and kicked Squalo to the ground on his face. "Oi, where's the food, woman?"

"We're nearly done, don't worry…" Kristina lightly waved her hand and sighed.

Bel laughed, "Ishishi, that was like reality TV."

"Bel, shut up," Jana spun around and turned to Xanxus, "and Xanxus, five more minutes."

Marmon hovered in as well, "What's with all the racket? I'm trying to count my money."

"Yeah I'll just leave you guys here," Kristina mumbled and started to walk away. "Come on Jana, the steak's almost done." The two walked back over to the stove and finished cooking the multiple steaks.

After a few more quiet minutes of the girls making sure the steaks were perfect, Fran went over to the two. He stood on his toes and leaned over Kristina's shoulder.

"Fran what are you doing?"

"I don't know…" He fell back onto his heels and paced around the kitchen. Occasionally he would also pick up some spices and play with them until placing them back down, in the wrong place, and continue pacing.

Jana was becoming very annoyed, "what do you want?"

"What's a girlfriend?"

"Huh?!"

Both Kristina and Jana dropped the utensils they were holding and turned to Fran in shock. The boy just stared back with a blank expression and his hands behind his back like usual. "Why do you want to know?" Jana pushed up her glasses.

"'Cause."

Kristina scratched her head, trying to explain it in the best way she could, "um, a girl you like and want to spend time with…?"

Fran thought for a moment before speaking again (that's a first), "so how would I get a girl I like to be my girlfriend?"

Jana laughed as she turned back to the steaks, making sure they didn't burn. "You ask her."

"A girl I like…" Fran mumbled to himself. "But I like you, Jana."

"Well that's because I'm your sister. It's different. I mean someone other than family. It's like having a really close friend but you also love them romantically."

Fran nodded. "So if there was a girl I liked, would that mean I would want her to be my girlfriend?"

"Basically."

He turned his head to Kristina, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Huh?" she barely heard him and turned around with the knife in her hand.

"No- Fran," Jana facepalmed, "not like that. You don't want to marry her or anything…"

"Then who else is there?"

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

"That's the whole point of meeting people," Jana said hastily while running to the oven. "Shit!"

Kristina followed, "Fran, can you tell everyone the food's ready please!"

"Okaaaay~," Fran stood up and left the kitchen.

Jana asked one of the maids to set the table while the two girls brought out the food. Xanxus was already sitting at the table ready for the food. The maid filled his glass with the wine that was given to her and Kristina placed the first steak in front of him and then put the others in front of all the empty seats. The rest of the Varia began to enter the dining room as the last plate was placed on the table.

Lussuria clapped his hands together as he sat down, "it smells good~!"

"Haha, thanks." Jana smiled as she sat down as well. Fran purposely made it a point to sit down in between Squalo and Jana as well as across from Bel. His apple hat hit Squalo's head, elbow hit Jana while his foot 'accidently' kicked Bel in the shin.

"Whoops," he uttered monotonously as he began to cut into his steak.

Jana frowned, "faites attention!" (be careful)

Bel raised his knife, "ishishi, you want to die kid?"

"VOI! Pay attention Fran!" Squalo rubbed his head as he shouted at Fran.

The three stood up, ready to kill the apple, when Fran ignored them by slowly scratching his knife and fork against the plate.

Kristina raised her arms, "hey can we eat in peace for once?" After that there was an awkward silence.

Then Lussuria broke it, "This is some really good steak."

"Thank you."

"Thanks." The silence came up again but it was slightly less awkward because everyone was eating. But Jana decided to talk anyway, "By the way, where's Levi?"

"Levi just went on a mission a few minutes ago, he won't be back for a while." Marmon continued to count his money.

Bel swallowed part of his steak and gave a cheshire grin, "At least we won't have the octopus head around."

"'Cause Levi-san's the weakest out of all of us," Fran took a large bite out of his steak.

"So you sent him?" Kristina questioned as she looked at Squalo who simply nodded. "And what's he doing?"

"Trying to find Slenderman. Though for this kind of mission I'd be sent, but Levi has his squad so we thought it might be better to send him."

"But Slenderman isn't even real!"

Squalo stood up so quickly the chair behind him fell to the ground, "YES HE IS AND WE'RE TRYING TO FIND HIM! WE ALREADY HAD THIS DEBATE!"

Kristina did the same, "He's not real! It's just a story!"

"THEN EXPLAIN ALL THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE VARIA HAS TAKEN OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS!"

"Didn't they find them on the internet!? They're photoshopped!"

"VOI DON'T DOUBT US!" Squalo lunged over the dining table and punched his sister. He then stood up and casually walked back to his seat.

Kristina rubbed her arm, "calm down."

Jana leaned forward in her seat towards Squalo excited by this, "can I see the evidence? Was there any sign of his proxies?!"

Squalo folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, "see someone believes us." Kristina glared at Squalo, still not believing him.

"No really," Jana continued. "Can I see the evidence? Did you see him in person? Is he in Italy - because I know some ways we can find him!"

"Trash shut up!" Xanxus threw the empty bottle of wine at Squalo's head.

"VOOII!"

Everyone was quiet again until Fran spoke up, "can we continue our previous conversation."

Lussuria looked up and smiled, "what conversation?"

"About-"

Jana leaned over and covered Fran's mouth, "sh! It doesn't matter." She looked over at Lussuria, not wanting to get him involved in this topic with Fran.

However, Fran bit Jana's finger and continued to talk. "How to get a girlfriend."

Lussuria grinned widely, ready to take over. "I got plenty of tips and tricks to help you get one. I mean first-"

"Stop!" Everyone in the room besides Xanxus and Fran shouted at Lussuria.

"But I want to know," Fran puffed out his cheeks.

Squalo's eye twitched, "Fran, you're nine. It really doesn't matter."

"But captain, what is love?"

Kristina murmured, "Squalo doesn't know no love."

"VOI! I HEARD THAT!"

Jana sighed, "Just Google 'Love is...' and lets leave it at that."

But Fran completely ignored her and turned to Lussuria instead. "Lussuria-san, have you ever had a girlfriend?" Maybe he'll answer, he thought to himself as the other three were violently shaking their heads hoping Lussuria wouldn't give any stupid advice.

Lussuria clapped his hands together and smiled, "Ooh, my little Fran's growing up."

Jana averted her eyes to the side and made a disgusted face, "First of all, he's not your little Fran. And secondly, that doesn't sound right."

"VOI! It's because Lussuria is an okama so he's not interested in women…" Squalo said and then Fran asked Lussuria if he ever had a boyfriend.

"No, no, my dear Fran. I haven't."

"Then does anyone else know what love is?" Fran looked up towards the ceiling and raised his hands into the air, attempting to grasp the little understanding he had of loving emotions.

Suddenly the tall double doors slammed open as Marmon came flying in, "Love is money." When everyone else in the room who were listening cocked their eyebrows at him he began to explain himself, "If you want to know love, Fran, then it is money. Everything revolves around money."

Kristina whispered to Jana, "Hence capitalism."

"For example, you can make money with love by-"

"OKAY NO! STOP RIGHT THERE!" Jana cut him off and then took a deep breath when he decided to be quiet. "Fran, can we have this talk in like six years or something?"

"But Janaaa that's too far away."

"Wait a sec!" a light bulb flashed in Kristina's head. "If you really want to know what love is, then you could ask Bianchi!"

Bel clicked his tongue. "Fran, love is when you really want to kill someone."

"Bel-senpai, that's hate."

"GET OFF THIS TOPIC ALREADY OR I'LL SMASH ALL YOUR FACES!" Xanxus' voice echoed through the entire dining room, rebounding off the walls and making it even louder.

"Someone has difficulties with love," Lussuria muttered under his breath but quickly took a chug of wine when Xanxus glared threateningly at him.

/

Fran sat on his bed in the dark. The only thing illuminating the room was the laptop on top of his sheets. Everything was silent as Fran opened google and typed into the search bar:

Love is

END OF CHAPTER