Hello, friends! I've graduated and taken a much-needed vacation, but this was never far from my mind. I'm still amazed that I'm still going with this to be honest. I really thought this would be over after five chapters haha…

Someone left me the sweetest review, and it honestly made me clutch my chest for a second. To each and every one of you who has left a review on this fic: you bring me joy and motivation to continue writing. Thank you 3

Also, I started another KHR fic back in January that's essentially Postmates but for the mafia. Civilians meet the mafia is one of my favorite fanfic tropes, so that's what's happening there lol. That one is an idea that wouldn't leave me alone, but Good Morning is still my priority. Check out Shino's Delivery Service for some anime mafia nonsense lmao

Finally, it's been a while since I updated, so please enjoy! I really wanted to get this out as soon as possible, so if there are any errors, I'll try to fix them in the coming days.

Chapter 10: The ones who extremely don't listen

Izumi's lungs are on fire. Rapid, shallow gasps fall from her lips as she turns onto her side, pressing her cheek into the floor. She curls into herself as she struggles to regain her breath.

Bracing her hands against the floor, she manages to push herself up to her feet. Closing her eyes, she breathes deeply through her nose and out her mouth. By the time she opens them, an arm is around her neck again, bicep against her throat. She grabs it with both hands, creating enough space to breathe.

With a grunt, she shoves her leg between her captor's and pitches her body forward. They roll over her and crash to the ground. Izumi throws a jab at the throat, stopping right before contact.

"Good. Let's take a break."

Izumi exhales in relief and gets to her feet. She wipes away the sweat on her forehead with her arm and holds a hand out. "Thank you, Bianchi-san."

Bianchi grasps her hand, and Izumi pulls her up. The older woman smiles at her as she gets to her feet. "Your form is good, but your counter needs more power."

"Yes, ma'am." Izumi tries not to beam at the comment. It's been a week since they started practicing, and she's finally gotten complimented on her technique. The amused look in Bianchi's eyes tells her that she's not doing a good job hiding her excitement.

"Again, these techniques are for emergencies," she warns. "The best self-defense method is to disengage and run."

Izumi nods, so Bianchi strides over to the other practice area to check in on Haru and Kyoko. Izumi goes to the sidelines. She gratefully accepts a water bottle from Sasagawa, who grins at her. "Looking good out there."

"Thank you." She glances over in time to witness Haru taking a fall, courtesy of a smiling Kyoko. Oof.

Sasagawa snickers when Haru grapples with Kyoko and turns them over so that she looks down at her. "Not bad."

"You're okay with this?" Izumi takes a sip of water as she watches Kyoko sigh and surrender the match.

"Well, I wasn't at first, but now, yeah." Sasagawa nods. "I'd rather they be able to protect themselves than not."

"What changed?"

"We got busier." He shrugs. "We can't always be there, and it's not like they'll ever stop being our friends."

"So what you're saying is that you grew up."

"Ugh, that makes me sound bad…"

Izumi laughs as Sasagawa cringes. A comfortable silence settles as she takes another sip, absentmindedly glancing around the room. It's less of a room and more of a gymnasium, outfitted with a high ceiling and a floor lined with movable practice mats. Even the walls and ceiling are padded, though she doesn't have the faintest idea why the latter needs it. Bianchi coaches the other two through defensive maneuvers she's yet to learn, and they slowly work through the motions together. Haru's dark hair threatens to escape the pins holding them away from her face, and Kyoko's headband has slid dangerously far back on her head. Intense concentration takes hold of their movements, and Kyoko's headband goes flying when she executes an escape and defense combination.

"Why did you join the mafia?"

Sasagawa continues to watch the pair as he replies, "Because of Sawada. Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"He was interesting, so I stuck around." He smiles. "Weird things always happened around him, and before I knew it, I was a part of his family."

"You… accidentally joined a mafia family?" She gives him an incredulous stare, and he laughs.

"Yeah, pretty much!"

Izumi is speechless, and he laughs at her again. "That's some face you're making."

"Well, yeah," she says, grip tightening on her water bottle. "Aren't you afraid?"

"I'm not afraid. I can protect those I care about, and I can fight those I want to fight. Plus—" he gives her a meaningful look— "Sawada would never let anything happen to us."

She's never doubted that. "I know."

"I fight with Sawada, not for the mafia." He pauses, then adds, "Well, not all of the mafia is bad."

Before she can ask another question, Bianchi's voice cuts through the room. "Hey, Ryohei! Make yourself useful. You're Izumi's partner now."

"All right, all right." Sasagawa starts shrugging off his jacket. The hard muscle of his forearms that is revealed as he rolls up his sleeves almost makes Izumi want to give up. She's going to go home with so many bruises today. She glances down at the one already forming on her forearm with resignation. A hand comes into view, making her look back up at Sasagawa, who grins at her. A familiar warmth caresses her arm for a moment, and she raises an eyebrow.

"I'm supposed to practice self-defense while I'm injured, you know."

"Oh, I know." He says with unabashed excitement. "But it wouldn't be fair if you started with a handicap."

Sasagawa says this as if his being a part of the mafia isn't already putting her at a massive handicap. He enters the proverbial ring with a near skip in his step, stretching as he goes. She finally lets out her sigh. It's nice that he puts her in such high esteem, but, well, this is going to be interesting. Setting her water bottle on the ground, she joins him on the mats and assumes a defensive stance. Not a second later, he closes the distance in a single lunge.

His fingers curl around her wrist and yanks her forward. Twisting her arm inward, she wrenches free from his grasp. As he pitches forward, she brings her knee up as fast as she can. She can't beat him in strength, but perhaps speed and surprise can work in her favor.

Or not. He blocks it at the last second with his other arm. The next thing she knows, she's on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Ow.

"That was fun! Let's go again."

Oh boy. She's definitely going to feel this later.

Thanks to Sasagawa's post-training healing, Izumi's body is blessedly not screaming in pain when she wakes up the next morning, though her limbs feel heavy. Nervous energy fuels her movements as she gets ready for the day, slipping into a simple but stylish white blouse and dark gray trousers. Gathering her hair into a neat ponytail at the base of her neck, Izumi makes a final check in the mirror to ensure her presentability before grabbing her bag and leaving the house.

She arrives at the moderately-sized office complex that she's only been to once before. She pauses as she approaches the sliding doors, feeling her heart hammering in her chest. She can't help but press a hand to her chest in an attempt to calm it. There's no need to be nervous now—she's already gotten through the hardest part. Taking a deep breath, she gathers her courage and strides through the doors.

The receptionist directs her to the second floor with a smile, and it eases her nerves somewhat. She navigates through the building until arriving in front of a small conference room, which is currently open and occupied by two others around her age.

"Oh, perfect. You're all here."

Izumi smiles as she turns to the voice behind her. "Good morning."

Sharp eyes framed by dark wavy hair light up in recognition when she turns around fully. With a final nod, Izumi goes to take a seat with the others.

"Good morning, everyone. My name is Kurokawa, and I'll be one of your supervisors for the program." Hana looks at each of them from the head of the table. "You'll each work with a mentor throughout the duration of your internship and learn what it means to work here. I'll announce your assignments and take you to meet your mentors in a moment. A lot of this will be new to you, so be ready to learn and put in your best effort."

Izumi and the other two interns nod, and Hana grins. "Welcome to Asari Consulting. I look forward to seeing your results."

Hana gives them a tour of the office, introducing other supervisors along the way. Orientation is brief but efficient, something Izumi comes to learn is a reflection of Hana herself. After handing off the other interns to their mentors, Hana leads her to the auditing department. It's spacious and neat, and Izumi is greeted with smiles as she enters.

"Listen up," Hana says, grabbing everyone's attention. "We have a new audit intern starting today."

After she introduces herself, the room welcomes her in a chorus of hello's, and some of Izumi's nerves settle down. Hana turns to her and says, "The desk at the end is yours. Before we get started, you need to stop by human resources to sign some final paperwork."

"We?"

Hana grins and sticks out her hand. "I'm your mentor for the next few weeks. Don't worry—I'll work you hard."

Izumi cracks a smile and shakes her hand firmly. "I expect no less."

After signing the required paperwork, Izumi dives straight into work. Hana assigns her to work on a longtime client. She's in the midst of collecting data on company sales when Hana comes by to check in on her. "How's it going?"

"It's going well. I do have one question about this part though."

Hana leaves over her shoulder to get a good look at the screen but then pauses. Izumi glances at her and sees her staring across the room with a look of surprise. Following her gaze, her heart nearly stops. No, no, no, this is bad.

Hana straightens with a frown and calls out, "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, what kind of attitude is that? Do you treat everyone who drops by like this?"

"Just the ones who extremely don't listen to me."

A heavy sigh. "The things I do for you."

Hana rolls her eyes. "Ryohei, I've told you many times not to show up at my department without telling me. I'm busy teaching—"

Hana is cut off by a tug on her sleeve, and she looks down to see Izumi hidden behind the computer monitor. She gives Hana a pleading look and holds a finger over her lips. Please don't let him know that she's here!

"Hana?" She can hear Sasagawa begin to cross the room, and panic rises into her throat.

"Look, let's talk in my office." Hana steps away from her desk, discreetly removing Izumi's fingers. "You're disrupting work."

Izumi lets out the breath she's been holding as the bickering fades as the two enter Hana's office. Hana is on her side, so she's not worried about interacting with her for the next few weeks. If anyone else finds out though, it'll be a disaster.

"I will never understand how those two got together."

Izumi stifles a laugh and smiles. "They seem close though. By the way, I'm the new intern…"

The words wither on her tongue when she turns to introduce herself. Oh, hell.

Green eyes look down at her in amusement. With his hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, Gokudera looks every bit the professional in a crisp suit. She stands a bit too quickly and blurts, "Do you want coffee?"

She doesn't wait for him to respond and makes a beeline for the break room. She fumbles with the pot as she tries to pour coffee, nearly splashing herself with it before a hand covers hers to steady it. Gokudera. She takes a deep breath. "Thank you."

He lets go to allow her to pour coffee for the both of them. He gazes at her in the specific way he has that feels like he's trying to discover her secrets.

Taking a cup from her, he finally speaks again. "So? Why're you hiding from Turf-top?"

"What are you doing here?" she asks instead, pushing down her panic. He raises an eyebrow.

"I work here."

Irritation flashes through her. "I mean on this floor. In this department."

"I'm supposed to be in a meeting with Kurokawa, but she was taking too long. I came out to find out why."

Izumi suppresses a sigh. Since Sawada and his friends are likely Asari executives, she figured that she'd be able to avoid crossing paths with them. Obviously, the world wants to toy with her by ruining that on her very first day.

"Please don't tell anyone that I'm working here." She tries to keep the pleading note out of her tone, but her words produce the same effect regardless.

"You don't want Tsuna to know."

She nods. "He'll stop me."

"For your protection."

She rounds on him, anger sparking in her eyes. "We've all seen how well that works out, haven't we?"

"I agree."

The anger is shocked out of her, and she stares at him. "What?"

"Stopping you now will only make things worse," he says, taking a sip of coffee. "What's that look for? Did you think I'd say no?"

"Everyone else has. And when we met, you looked at me like I was some sort of threat."

Gokudera reddens. "I did not!"

"Yes, you did!"

"No, I—" He catches himself and sighs. "I didn't think you were a threat."

"Then what did you think?"

"You were a stranger—one who was interested in him," he explains. "At the time, there was a family after us. You didn't seem to mean any harm, but I had to make sure. We've made that mistake in the past."

He grows pensive as he finishes, and it chastens her. This is why she decided to come here. Every conversation, every gesture she's had with each of them takes on another meaning now that the truth is out. Even though she knows what kind of lives Sawada and the others live, it doesn't mean that she understands them. Working at Asari, which was founded out of a desire to operate the way Sawada wanted to, may give her the clarity she needs.

"I know that there's still much I don't understand. I came here to figure that out. Plus—" she grins at him—"it's a damn good internship."

Gokudera bursts out laughing, and she finds herself laughing with him. He grins at her and says, "I'll keep your secret. You'd get into more trouble if I didn't anyway."

"Thank you, Gokudera-san."

"No problem." He lifts his cup toward her. "Cheers. Welcome to Asari."

"Cheers." She bumps her cup against his and drinks. "Ugh, that's bad."

Gokudera chuckles. "I'll let Kurokawa know."

"Say, may I ask you a question?" He makes an affirmative sound, so she continues, "Why did you join him?"

He glances at the door, and Izumi is reminded that they're having a conversation about the mafia in the middle of an office in broad daylight. Hm, this is not her best moment.

"I was born into one of those families. I grew up fighting everything I was told to," he says, placing his cup on the counter. "It wasn't until I met Tsuna when I realized that I didn't have to. I joined because of that. I stayed because… well, you know how he is."

She does know. "What makes his family different?"

Gokudera smiles. "Tsuna."

The door opens then, and Hana pokes her head into the room. Her eyes narrow when she sees the two of them together. Gokudera holds his hands up in a placating gesture. "I'm not going to say anything."

"Good. I already had to fend off Ryohei." Hana shoots Izumi a supportive smile. "Let me know if you need anything else, Izumi."

"I will. Thank you, Hana-san."

Gokudera dumps the rest of his coffee into the sink before tossing the cup on his way to the door. "Let's get this meeting started."

He pauses at the door and turns back to Izumi. "Work hard. I look forward to your results. Also, your data organization is too complicated. Ask Kurokawa for tips."

She cracks a smile at the critique. "Yes, sir."

The rest of the week goes by smoothly, with Izumi working closely with Hana and the others in the department. Gokudera had stopped by again, pointing out the flaws in her work and making her redo more than one analysis. Despite the somewhat informal critiques he gave her, it was clear that the quality of her work improved with his advice.

Currently, she sits on a park bench, waiting to for Sawada to arrive. It's April now, so the midday sun shines brightly overhead. It's been over a month since Kyoko's birthday party, since the revelation, but they haven't been able to meet up much. On the bright side, it made it easier to keep her internship from him. On the down side, she missed him. Damn feelings.

She sees him approach with a smile, looking much brighter than the last time she saw him. "Hope you didn't wait long."

"It's been a while," she agrees, and he sits down next to her. "Did you miss me?"

She asks it as a joke, but he nods. "Yeah. It was stressful without you."

That is so not fair. "I was half-joking."

"I'm not." He lounges back against the bench and sighs. "Do you know how chaotic it is with everyone? I love them and all, but I need a breather sometimes."

"So all I am to you is a stress reliever, is it?" she teases.

He bolts up straight and seizes one of her hands. "No, I didn't mean it like that! You're much more than that."

Her face burns at the sudden outburst, and damn it all, he can see everything. "I-I was kidding."

Now he gets embarrassed, but it's satisfying to see red bloom in his cheeks. "Oh."

He leans back again but doesn't let go of her hand, instead threading his fingers through hers. She focuses her attention on the playground, where some children are hanging off the monkey bars. It's nice, just sitting here together, but all the butterflies in the world wouldn't be able to make up for the still vast distance between them. No matter how much she believes there may be something there.

"Congratulations on graduating, Ishikawa-san."

She turns to Sawada, who gazes at her with pride. Oh. "Thank you, Sawada-san."

"How does it feel to be a college grad?" he asks with a grin.

"Honestly? It's a huge relief," she smiles, catching his infectious grin. "I never have to take another exam in my life."

"So now that you're done, what are you planning on doing?"

"I actually got an auditing internship," she says, and his smile grows impossibly prouder.

"That's awesome. Where is it?" he asks.

She's glad she came up with a cover story weeks ago because the pride in his eyes almost makes her want to spill everything right then and there. "In the next town over."

He looks surprised for a second but then smiles and asks, "How's that going?"

"It's going well." She ignores the way her gut twists at her lie. "I'm learning a lot."

"We should celebrate sometime," he says. "Graduating and getting an internship? That's impressive."

"It's all right," she says. "Knowing that you want to is enough. I know that you're busy."

"I'm not the only one who's busy," he insists. "Come on, you deserve a celebration. I'll let the others know too."

The refusal is on the tip of her tongue, but he looks at her with so much excitement that she can't find the will to say no. She stands, turning to face him with a smile. "I'll accept if you go on a walk with me."

He returns her smile and lets her pull him to his feet. "Deal."

They fall into a comfortable silence, taking in the budding flowers as they stroll through the park. As Izumi glances at Sawada, she can't help but think back to her conversation with Gokudera on the first day of her internship. She can't forget the way he merely smiled and said "Tsuna" when she asked what made Sawada's family different.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Hm?"

"What did you mean when you said that you still kinda don't want to be a mafia boss?"

He stops, causing her to nearly lose her balance as she takes another step. "Sawada-san?"

"Sorry."

She turns to face him, and he contemplates something as she watches him. He glances around and gestures to a nearby bench. "Shall we?"

Once they're seated, he says, "I never wanted to be one."

"Who would, you know?" he continues. "It's dangerous and violent. I wanted nothing to do with it when I first found out about it."

"Found out?"

"I was fourteen," he replies. "My tutor came to my house and told me I was supposed to be the next boss of a mafia family."

That coincides with when he met everyone. Izumi wonders if the fight he had gotten into with Gokudera was related to the mafia.

"Obviously, I said no. But then crazy things kept happening, and people were coming after my friends. I—" he takes in a sharp breath—"I accepted the power to protect them, but I rejected the family."

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"I know the horrible things my family has done in the past. I refused to accept that legacy then, and I refuse to accept it now." A wry smile tugs at his lips. "That's why I was chosen to become the next boss."

He faces her the whole time he tells his story, and it warms Izumi's heart. It also twists the knife further into her gut. He's sharing his most personal feelings with her, all while she's lying to him.

"I've also met some incredible people since then. I refuse to let the mafia to ruin everything they've built up." His eyes flash amber, and Izumi is reminded of a previous declaration. "I know this won't happen in my lifetime, but maybe… maybe one day the mafia will be known for its vigilantism instead of its crimes."

Izumi wonders what it was like to be fourteen with your whole world on your shoulders. What sort of burden would it be to realize the legacy of your predecessors is the reason your friends being targeted?

What is it like to know you live in such a dangerous world but try to change it anyway?

She takes his other hands in hers and squeezes. Her heart drops when he pulls away, but he only does it so that he holds her hands instead.

"Why are you holding my hands?" she asks, letting out a laugh.

"I'm the one who's known all this for years, not you," he says, cracking a smile. "But this also makes me feel better."

"If you say so, Tsuna-san."

Ah. His eyes go wide at his name, and she curses whatever gods made her slip up. This is all because Gokudera said his name like that the other day.

His gaze softens, and he squeezes her hands. "It does, Izumi-san."

The sound of her name makes her smile, but even as she does, a voice in the back of her mind whispers to her. He's finally opening up to her—what will he do when he realizes that she isn't doing the same?