Chapter 8

Hoseki walked home alone from the convenience store, a bag of chips and soda dangling in one hand and his iPod in the other. Music blared from his headphones as he walked by bystanders, wondering about if his princess is in needed of help with homework.

I see you in the dusk, looking sad but beautiful.

He pulled his phone from his pocket. In bright digital letters were "Hime-sama" and a picture of her smiling with a can of pepsi. He gladly answered. "Hime-sa-"

"Hoseki! Hoseki! Hoseki!" A bubbly voice repeatedly called.

"Dammit, bubble nut! It's Sunday, relax would you?"

It suddenly got quiet on the phone.

"…"

"…"

"…You butt… I was going to see if you wanted to go to Rinny's place, but someone had to YELL at me…" Remilia pouted. "Well since you're not in a good mood, I'll go to her place by myself."

Hoseki almost dropped everything just to retaliate against the athlete. "Now you listen here, you bubble nu-"

He heard a yawn. "Mop top's too loud. Hanging up now."

Beep. Beep. Beep. Ah…

"Damn it! I can't leave the princess with that bubble nut! She'll get weird like her!" With the natural instinct to be by Rin's side, he went running to her place. Little did he notice that he ran by the Yamamotos' family restaurant.

The door slid open with Remilia stepping out, Rin's phone in her hand. She donned the usual red ribbon in her hair, a blue and white striped tank top and shorts with white sneakers that were dusty from baseball practice. She grinned to herself, laughing as she watched the teen's back in the distance. "I win."

"Ahou-Rin, Lining wants pudding!" The young boy pleaded as he walked with the brunette and Rima.

Rin could only sigh tiredly as they made their way back from the grocery store. "Alright, just wait until we get home."

"Rima-tan gets two puddings though." Rima bluntly stated as she walked along the brick wall that lined the residences.

Never again will she take these two groceries shopping with her. So far they ate up all the free samples, knocked stuff off the shelves of approximately seven aisles, spilled fruit and milk all over the place. "Kids, you go home first, I'll be there in a bit." She said, hoping to get a few minutes of peace to herself.

"Then would we get pudding?" They asked.

"Yes… Now hurry and go home." She sighed.

Of course, with pudding on their minds, the two children ran home. Finally the brunette had peace and quiet for the first time in a few weeks. Come to think of it… It was two quiet… Normally something would get screwed up at this point and Reborn would coming, shoot her in the head with a bullet and of course the day would end with her in her underwear and some serious property damage. Would this be considered simply abnormal or a bad thing?

She listened to the beat of the song on her MP3 and casually walked home.

"I'm home!"

Of course, she just went ahead and left the groceries for her grandmother in the kitchen and walked up the stairs to her room ready to just plop into bed and sleep. She opened the door of course, lied in bed and rolled over only to have her head knock into something.

"Ow…! What the heck…?" She whined, wincing in pain.

"Ok whoa, let's get one thing straight here: Me."

The unfamiliar woman's voice made Rin's eyes snap open and soon chestnut was meeting with dark brown eyes and a mature face. Shaggy blond hair framed the sides of her face and was adorned with a light blue hair band. A thick green-banded tail was lying limp over her neck and a scaly head poked out from underneath the pillow.

"Ciao, kid!"

"HOLY CRAP!" Rin found herself hitting the ground hard, her legs tangled up with the covers.

"Miss me?" She asked with a grin.

Rin looked up, her head pounding from having slammed into the carpeting. "D-Dana?"

The 19 year old woman sat up, stretched her arms and yawned. "What took you so long?" She asked. "You can't keep guests waiting."

"I wouldn't have if you had just told me first!"

"I tried, but Remilia answered," She chuckled as she stood up.

"What?" Rin remembered going by Remilia's place earlier, but… Oh god that girl picked her pockets for her phone again.

Dana chuckled once more and sat down in the chair near Rin's desk. She looked around examining the room with a smile. "Eh… It's been a while hasn't it? It's so much cleaner than the last time I was here."

Rin nodded. "Y-Yeah… Your modeling work must keep you pretty busy, huh…"

"Nope." A voice answered.

The two looked at the door where Reborn stood, a towel around his neck and his hair glistening with water. "Ciaossu, Dana. How's Dino?"

She smiled. "Dad's doing great since he retired."

"Clumsy Uncle Dino retired from the fishing industry? Isn't that early?" Rin asked, completely clueless as to what was going on.

Reborn and Dana stared at the teen in blunt stun. Just what kind of lies have her father and mother been feeding her about the people in their lives. Clumsy Dino could no way be a part of the fishing industry other than owning it. The only lie that Dana and Reborn knew about was telling her that she was model which certainly explains why she's always on the move and why she had an iguana on her shoulder. Yup… Rin had inherited Kyoko's naivety.

"Little sis, you'll need to sit down for this…"

Hoseki took a seat in the park, tired from having to yell at Remilia over the phone about how wrong it was to steal Rin's. However, it was mostly because he had yet to have lunch and running around town on patrol for any potential threats to his princess was taking a toll on him. He unwrapped the packaged lunch and broke the chopsticks apart, ready to chow down on a lukewarm meal.

"Hoseki-san?" A gentle voice called out in question.

He turned his head. "Oh, Hotaru-san. What brings you here?"

The girl quickly turned nervous and her face was stained with an embarrassed pink. "W-Well, I just saw you and I-I started to wonder why you weren't with Rin-san since… you're always… with her…" She nervously answered with such a quiet shyness.

The teen smiled and told her to cop a seat. "I'm not always with her. Unlike my stupid mentor, I let my boss have some privacy." He smirked, his nose high in the air. He quickly took a bite of his lunch.

"Really? From what Remilia-san told me, I thought you'd always be by her side because… it seems like you like her…"

Hoseki began to violently choke on rice and guzzled down half his water. His face was red but it was hard to say whether it was from choking or the fact that Shiroi went and said he might have a crush on his own boss. "J-Just what are you saying? Don't let that bubble-nut influence your thinking!" He hissed, quickly wiping his mouth.

"I-I'm sorry…! But I'm glad though… I thought you'd might be angry…"

Hoseki sighed. "Angry about what? The bubble nut?"

Shiroi shook her head. "I… I thought you'd might be angry with Rin-san…"

"Why would I be angry with Hime-sama?" He questioned with a puzzled look in his blue-gray eyes.

The girl started to stutter again. "I-I-I just thought you'd still be upset…! I saw it… I saw her slap you across the face…"

He fell silent for a moment and put his lunch back in the plastic bag he was carrying it in. "I… I don't blame her. I was way out of line."

She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I'm glad… You're not angry with her this entire time… But haven't you noticed something off…?" She asked.

"What's off?"

"The past few days… She seems to be avoiding you…"

Hoseki's heart jumped. He's thought it over before. The teen had always walked her home from school, but as of late, she's been denying him. Then there's the fact that Hoseki always lent her his jacket every time she falls out of dying will mode and she turns that down to. He even asked her to play a game of basketball with him and it was the first time she shot him down for that too. The way she was acting and how she always said… Was she really avoiding him?

"I… I honestly don't know…"

Shiroi smiled gently and place her hand on Hoseki's hand. "I think it's time I tell you what I've heard… It doesn't feel right if I don't tell you…"

"Eh? Dana, you're a mafia boss?"

Dana sighed and looked over at Reborn. "I told you it was too early."

The man took a sip of his espresso. "Nonsense. It's time she learns how to handle the truth."

Rin just blinked in awe and eventually started to pinch her own cheek. "I'm having some kind of nightmare, right?"

"No, you are not, sis." Dana answered curtly and half jokingly. Her eyes bored into Rin's and her expression suddenly turned cold, her lips forming a slight frown.

Her heart jumped with fear. Not once has she seen Dana become so serious and cold. A spearhead of fear struck her in the gut and she swallowed loudly, unable to say anything. She started to choke on her own words, pressing her lips together. Finally, Dana laughed.

"I guess she's still learning, huh?" She looked at Reborn who merely smirked, his arms folded across his chest.

"There's some progress at best." He answered. "She's a lot like you and your dad, Dana. Hardly any stamina to begin with."

"No chance of intimidating anyone."

"No power."

"No-"

"Okay, I get it. I suck." Rin sighed, ready to sulk in the corner.

"Agreed." Remilia sang as she waltzed into her room. "She's a lot like Uncle Tsuna too!"

Rin looked back. "Remmy!" She smiled for a moment. "My phone?"

The brunette pondered for a moment, sat down and reached into her purse. She lightly tossed the 3G into Rin's lap and grinned. "Thanks for letting me borrow it." She sang.

"More like letting you steal it." Rin replied under her breath with a faint smile.

The blond woman smiled at Remilia. "Ciao, little sis."

"Yo, got your call! Nice for you to come and visit. Where's Tracy?" She asked as she played with Iggy, making him stand on his hind legs while holding his forelegs.

"Tracy and them are back at the hotel relaxing." She answered. "Anyways, where's my little brother and other little sister?"

"Tsuki's with Grandma getting a check up."

"And Hoseki…" Remilia looked around. "That's odd… I thought he'd be here by now."

All eyes fell on the athlete.

"I called him earlier and he even took off running past my place. You'd think he be here by now."

It was certainly odd. Hoseki had always made it a point to be punctual especially if it was Rin. This wasn't good. What if he got mugged only this time he can't fight them all off like he usually does? What if there was an accident? Rin started to feel remorse and regret. Bitter emotions began to swirl violently in her heart. There was so much she had already regretted already… She couldn't live with herself like this…

"I say we go look for while it's still light out." Dana stood up, scooping the reptile into her hands and letting him crawl over her shoulder. As soon as she was sure that Iggy was secured, she ran towards the stairs.

"W-Wait a second, Dana-"

The sound of a heavy crash and blow, the two girls ran out to check what happened. Yup… Dana fell down the stairs again.

"D-Dana, are you alright?" Rin asked.

Remilia slid on the wood flooring in her socks and knocked into Rin, sending her tumbling down the stairs. "Whoops."

The two girls lied down at the base like dead bodies, somewhat moving and somewhat numb.

"Don't you guys have a bomber to find?" Reborn asked as he calmly walked down the stairs, stepping over their bodies.

"We're on it…" They groaned.

Iggy stood on the both of them, flicking his tongue and tilting his head. Oh, this is just chaos and nothing has yet to happen.