Nothing much to say, besides that this chapter is way shorter than all the others XD I separated this chapter into two 'cause it would have been too long again. Hope you enjoy it anyway. Finally, the Daily Life Arc starts!

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR, just my OC/s.


Lost Before Light 9

Daily Life Arc

~~~Vongola 10th and Senior Apprentice ~~~

. . .

All of us have dark moments. All of us have something we regret. Some of us learn to live with it, some will never be able to accept the truth. But no matter how we choose to handle it, we learn to keep on going. We keep on going because we find something that helps us to face ahead, something that pushes us. Something worth fighting for.

We may just do not realize it yet…

. . .

"If you don't wake up soon, we're gonna be late.." The 22-year old Dino still stood in front of Nike, trying to wake her up. But even after an hour, she wouldn't even open an eye after hearing him knock on her door.

"Uuugh…" the 18 year old made a mumbling noise that wasn't making him sure whether she was awake or not.

"Nike, are you awake?" he asked, getting out of ideas how to wake her. Nike, who's face was buried in her pillows, didn't answer.

"Nike…" Dino tried again. But before he could finish his sentence, one of her pillows met his face.

"No, I'm just playing dead, you know?" Her sarcasm dripped into her pillow.

"Hmm." he looked at her with a disbelieving smile until her decided to squat down next to Nike's bed. He was already used to this procedure, and this time really felt bad about waking her.

She must have had jet-lag, just like him. Reborn's invitation to visit him and his new student came in a few days ago. Now they were in a hotel in Japan and his subordinates usually refused to wake Nike up. If there was a way to get on her bad side, than it was definitely this one.

And truthfully, there was just one word to describe her after being woken up. Scary.

But now Dino found himself looking at the side of her face, strands of hair covering parts of it. She looked really innocent and cute lying there. He felt the urge to stroke her hair, but restrained himself as soon as he noticed his hand moving on its own. He pulled it away and told her, crossing his arms:

"I'll be the one getting punished if we're late."

She finally turned her head around to look at him. The dark, gloomy atmosphere surrounding her made him back down a few centimetres. But when their eyes met, Dino was surprised to find her simply sighing as she stopped her death glare. His surprised expression turned into a smile. Seeing this, her cheeks turned warm. To prevent them from turning red, she suddenly started grinning cheekily and hit him with another pillow. He was so startled, that he fell backwards.

"Whoa!"

Nike meanwhile sat up and started laughing at him.

"Haha! That's what you get for waking me up!"

He blinked a few times, then shook his head and grinned wryly. Even though she was laughing at him, he still found her awfully cute.

"I'd get hit with another pillow if I told her that, though…" he thought, still resting his eyes on her face that was perfectly framed by her frayed and layered - as well as now slightly messy looking - hair, which had gotten longer since he had met her.

"Okay, okay I got it. I'll stand up now, you nag."

Tsunayoshi Sawada, called Tsuna, or No-good-Tsuna. 14 years old, middle school student.

He was one of those people that never had any luck. Bullied by classmates, a father that's absent all the time, miserable grades, a crush on a girl who doesn't even notice it, and on top of that, he was Reborn's student. In other words, he was the Vongola 10th boss to be.

It was another one of these days where Tsuna thought running away from home was a better solution as being tutored by the professional, little hitman.

After almost getting a heart-attack as he saw a group of tough-faced people in front of his house, he met the young mafia boss Dino and his companion Nike.

Right after they introduced themselves and made fun of him, they started discussing about Tsuna's future as Vongola 10th, much to the brown-haired middle schooler's dismay.

"Uhh… there seems to be a misunderstanding. I don't want to become a mafia boss!"

"It's just like Reborn said! You're exactly how I used to be!" Dino laughed.

"Eh?"

"Poor guy. I don't think that was a compliment." Nike smirked mischievously. Dino shifted his eyes to her, raised an eyebrow and grinned wryly, however, still seeming somewhat used to Nike's comments.

"Are we having fun?"

She looked at him like he had said something really shocking. "I just like teasing you."

Dino shook his head as he cleared his throat and looked at Tsuna again."You know, in the beginning, I thought the mafia could go to hell for all I care. There are no good guys in the mafia, after all."

"But…" Tsuna started again, while Dino grabbed inside his coat.

"But if you keep refusing…"

He pulled out his turtle Enzio and grinned widely, while Tsuna thought of the worst possibilities and dropped on his back.

"He'll bite you!"

Turtle?" Tsuna asked puzzled when he realized what Dino held in his hand.

"He fell for it!" Romario and Bono laughed, while Tsuna just stared disbelieving at the turtle in Dino's hand.

"This guy's Enzio. When I asked Reborn for Leon, he gave me Enzio instead," Dino told him. Nike's eyes shifted over to him.

"What a lie…" she thought, actual knowing how Dino got Enzio. Sure, Reborn gave the turtle to him, but the way it happened had been quite unique.

"Leon is my partner after all," Reborn commented. Leon, his chameleon, was just blinking.

"What's up with these people?" Tsuna thought, still in shock.

Moments after that, they heard a weird voice from somewhere. When the door to Tsuna's room snapped open, a little boy in a cow costume, named Lambo, chased by a little Chinese girl, named I-Pin, came in.

"…. Noisy…" Nike thought, but then something else caught her eye. The boy held something pink in each of his hands. Suddenly, Lambo tripped and two pink grenades were unlocked right before he let go of them accidentally. They flew out of the window, almost meeting with Nike's and Dino's faces.

"This is bad. Dino's men are still outside," Reborn said calmly, and Nike shot her head around. When she was about to jump out of the window, she felt Dino's hand lightly touching her shoulder right before he ran past her.

He stepped on the windowsill and jumped outside. Bringing out his whip, he shouted:

"Get down, guys!"

Before his men could realized what was happening, Dino managed to catch the grenades with his whip and threw them up. They exploded in midair. Luckily, nobody was harmed and Dino landed safely and his feet. His subordinates even started laughing and looked completely calm.

"The boss did it again. He surprises us at least once a day."

"Oh come on, that's not true…" Denying and a bit embarrassed, Dino put his hands in his trouser pockets.

"He's so cool…" Tsuna mumbled impressed, looking out of the window. Nike stood next to him, her elbows resting on the windowsill, her head in her hands.

"He's just trying to impress you."

"I'm not!" Dino shouted from below, a slight grin on his face. Nike stuck out her tongue with a smirk and Dino scratched his head with a defeated sigh.

"So, do you understand? A boss will risk his life for his family," Reborn told Tsuna.

"Don't relate everything back to that!" Tsuna yelled.

Meanwhile, they didn't notice Lambo, who stood on the windowsill between Nike, Reborn and Tsuna. He held another pink grenade and unlocked it on purpose, charging at Reborn, interrupting the little quarrel.

"Reborn, die!" he laughed.

"Watch out!" Dino shouted and his subordinates saw what was about to happen as well.

Reborn was about to slap him away, but Nike didn't bother to wait for it, grabbed the cow-boy by his collar and threw the grenade, along with the boy, out of the window.

It exploded in midair again, Lambo flying straight through the window downstairs.

"GYUPIIII!"

"Haha, Miss Nike, that's mean," Dino's men laughed and Dino himself face palmed, thinking that his heart would stop beating for a second.

"And she surprises me at least once a day…"

"Good backhand, Miss," Romario told her.

"Wah, she's so cool as well!" Tsuna said amazed. Nike turned her head, which was still in her hands, to look at Tsuna and started grinning confidently.

"I'm just showing off as well."

Tsuna blushed, while Reborn suggested:

"Dino, why don't you and Nike stay over today?"

"WAHHH?" Tsuna shouted and Nike stared at Reborn in disbelief as well.

"What's he planing now?"

"Hm, I don't mind but what about these guys?" Dino asked, his hands in his trouser pockets again, talking about his subordinates.

"They can return," Reborn answered.

"We don't have to worry if you're with Mr. Reborn," Dino's subordinates teased him.

"And don't forget Miss Nike. She's with him as well."

"Ah, Boss, be nice to Miss Nike."

"What, no way! Miss, Nike, come back with us!"

"Don't worry. I'll see you tomorrow, guys." Nike waved from above.

"Geez you guys…" Dino let out one short chuckle, then looked at Reborn. "Okay then, I might as well give the Vongola 10th an advice or two."

~~~Later~~~

"Please eat up, everyone!" Nana said with a bright smile again, after everyone sat at the dining table.

"Our table has so many people all of a sudden..." Tsuna thought while everyone else was trying Nana's food.

"Wow, it's really good!" Dino stated quite happily, and Nike nodded. However she just couldn't stop wondering about Nana. The woman definitely didn't look like 34 at all...

Soon after, her attention was drawn by Dino, who asked Tsuna:

"Is there anything you want to ask me, my cute sworn brother? Oh yeah, do you have a family?"

"What should I do? I'm happy that Dino likes me, but I still don't want to join the mafia…" Tsuna thought and Reborn answered for him.

"Right now there is Gokudera, Yamamoto and a few candidates. Hibari Kyouya, and Sasagawa Ryohei."

"Those are just my friends and upperclassmen!" Tsuna hissed. "Anyway, why did you come here? You were doing just fine with Dino-san."

"Vongola is the centre of our allied families. That's why it has top priority," Dino explained.

"The Vongola is that influential?" Tsuna's jaw dropped. Nike watched Tsuna for a while and came to the decision, that it must be really pitiful to be him, but then Nana interrupted.

"Oh, Dino-kun… My, my you spilled all your food.."

Dino looked down and found his food all over the table, just not on his plates. It looked like a little baby had tried to eat alone for the first time.

Dino's cheeks flushed red and his mouth dropped open. Nike snorted and tried not to start laughing out loud, while Tsuna looked shocked once again.

"If Dino is without his subordinates, he's useless," Reborn explained.

"True," Nike nodded, smirking lightly.

"Huh?"

"He's the type who can only use his powers for the family or in front of the family. Without his men, his abilities drop dramatically," Reborn continued.

"What? In other words he's the ultimate build for a boss?" Tsuna couldn't believe it.

"Again with that, Reborn… You really want Tsuna to believe that? I usually eat with a fork and a knife, so I can't use chopsticks very well…" Nike and Reborn smirked at Dino while he tried to make up excuses for his obvious clumsiness in front of Tsuna. The silence between them was awkward for Dino. They knew he was clumsy, he knew he was clumsy. He just didn't know why. The only one who believed Dino's excuses right away was Tsuna.

"I see… that must be it."

Meanwhile Nana stood up to prepare the bath. But just seconds after that, they heard her scream. All of them jumped up. Unfortunately Dino tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his face.

"D-Dino-san, are you alright?" Tsuna asked puzzled. Nike just squatting down next to him while Dino twitched in pain and rubbed his forehead.

"I stepped on my own foot…"

"See? He really is a klutz," Reborn said.

"It can't be…" Tsuna gaped at Dino. Nike started poking him a few times.

"Aren't you going to stand up?"

"Ouch…" he mumbled, starting to stand back up. Right after that, Nana came running back, only spluttering:

"In the tub…!"

They ran down the floor to the bathroom, and when they opened the door, a grown Enzio greeted them growling in the bathtub.

"Unbelievable!" Tsuna's eyeballs almost fell out of their sockets.

"Can't you take care of your pet?" Nike looked at Dino in slight amusement.

"Damn, when did he get away?" Dino asked himself, rubbing the back of his head questioningly, while Reborn explained to Tsuna why Enzio had grown this big.

"What the heck is up with that?" Tsuna shouted. Poor guy. This day was full of 'surprises' again.

Suddenly, Enzio started biting into the bathtub, slowly breaking it into pieces.

I-Pin, who had followed them, prepared to attack the grown turtle. But her special attack which included garlic had no effect on Enzio.

"I-Pin's Gyouza Ken didn't work?" Tsuna asked surprised.

"Turtles can hold their breath pretty long," Nike simply explained, standing behind Dino, only able to look past him when she leaned to the side.

"Stay back," Dino suddenly stepped forward, his whip in his hand once again. "Nobody interfere. If I can't even take care of my own pet, it would be a disgrace for the Cavallone family."

"I just said the same thing…." Nike raised an eyebrow. She knew how this would turn out and stepped back, not bothering to interfere, since she knew the situation would probably turn worse with Dino's current abilities..

"Calm down, Enzio!" Dino shouted and swung his whip confidently. And as confidently as he thought he would stop Enzio, Nike was confident that he would hit everything but the turtle. She was right. The whip met Tsuna's face and left a red mark across it.

"Owowowow!" Tsuna whined, pressing his hands against his face to stop the pain somehow.

"Sorry! I slipped!" Dino apologized nervously. Now Nike was certain; the situation called for a face palm.

"You get it now?" Nike looked at the still shocked Tsuna.

"Without his men, he's not fully himself," Reborn finished the sentence for her.

"I can't believe that the magnificent…!" Tsuna shouted, but was interrupted. Enzio stepped out of the bathtub and growled at them.

"Seriously…" Nike shook her head in disbelief. But before she could bring herself to step forward, Reborn interfered.

"Though he told us not to interfere… it can't be helped. Now is my turn." That being said, Leon jumped in Tsuna's face, changing into a mask that looked like Romario. Dino looked at Tsuna.

"You're here, Romario? I thought you went back with the others!" He swung his whip another time. "Idiot, stay back!"

This time, Dino managed to wrap his whip around Enzio's feet. The turtle lost its balance and fell over, struggling while laying on the back.

"Sleep for a while." Dino said calmly.

"Dino is still cool…" Tsuna thought amazed.

And so, Enzio returned to his original sized after being blow-dried. But without his men, Dino is still nothing more than a klutz….

"A-Are you okay?" Tsuna asked Dino insecure. Dino was lying on his back. He had fallen down the stairs again.

"May introduce Dino's worst enemy?" Nike grinned as she looked at Dino. "Stairs."

Suddenly Nana walked around the corner, putting her hand on her cheek in surprise as she saw Dino, who had still troubles standing up.

"My, my Dino-kun, are you all right?"

"Yeah…" he responded and got up.

"You know, I just wanted to ask if I should show you and Nike your room? It's so late already," Nana asked cheerfully.

"Yeah, that would be nice." Dino looked at Nike who nodded, then was quiet.

"Wait, did she say your room?" Dino seemed to be asking himself the same question. They walked after Nana, until she opened a door at the first floor.

She shoved Dino into the room, causing Nike, who stood in front of him to stumble forward, almost falling onto the two futons that were neatly put together in front of the window.

Both turned around to see the sparkling aura of hers.

"Ohh~ Now don't be shy about sharing a room~ You're a couple after all!" Then she shut the door.

Dino gaped speechless after her, while Nike looked from door to Dino, both of them knowing who must have told her such a lie.

And image of Reborn who had an evil spark in his eyes appeared in their heads. Trying to let the thoughts of Reborn blow out, Nike crossed her arms in front of her chest before turning to Dino, as she said:

"And this is exactly reason why I didn't want to visit Reborn."


Sorry for the delay. Seriously I tried to change this chapter for like 5 times and didn't like it no matter what I did =w= I even thought about leaving all honorifics out, but decided against it. You can tell me how you feel about that if you want to. Anyway, though it's short, I thought I just leave it be before I trash my pc XD

So, the next chapter should be up soon, btw. I actually already wrote it. I just need to edit it. If I'm nice, I'll update tomorrow ^.^

Just one thing before I close this chapter… Seriously, who felt confused after finding out how old Nana is? I did XD Does that look like 34? LOL

Anyway, see ya next time! Thank you for all your kind comments etc.! Love all of you! Stay well! *waves*