The drive to the Vongola's headquarters was yet another ride in silence with little to no conversation amongst the people in the car.
'I was able to see my daughter smile and play with kids her age.' Haru was thinking while observing her daughter quietly napping in the car seat.
'And it's all because of that man driving you around as if he's your chauffeur…' her conciseness chimes in.
"So...what you think that Kyoko would be making for dinner tonight?" Hayato inquires with hope to at least start a conversation.
She shrugs her shoulders up and down, "I do trust her cooking since I use to help her out in the kitchen."
'That's right. She even cooked for me when we were in college.' He was recalling after hearing her statement.
"I don't mean to bring up the past at this time, but I never properly thanked you for the time you spent cooking for me. Even though I didn't show it often." The young man was cautiously claiming knowing that he was treading back over a minefield.
Haru's voice was caught in her throat and caused a dry painful lump to form there. She audibly cleared her throat so her voice would not crack when she spoke to him. "It's no problem."
Hayato released a sigh of realization that he once again bulit up Haru's wall of defense whenever he would mention their past.
'You should just give up. Everything you've been doing up until now, you just screw it up.' He was considering to himself before pulling in the driveway of the Vongola's headquarters.
"Well...we have arrived at our destination." The silver haired male announces to his passenger, who releases the seatbelt from around her waist with a push of the red button.
Haru leans over toward Chiharu and unhooks the seatbelt from her body so she can easily pick her up in her arms.
Hayato patiently waits until the pair safely exit the vehicle before he closes the door for them and presses the lock then the alarm on the car.
"Hey there, Takeshi!" She cheerfully proclaims after she spots the Rain Guardian makes his way around the corner.
'So she will greet Takeshi but is scared to look me in the face.' The Storm Guardian thought after he tracked the brunette woman in front of him.
The man, name Takeshi, briefly pauses and faces the direction of the caller only to recognize it was Haru with Chiharu in tow and Hayato close behind them.
A thought passed through his head mind about the two before he opted that it was not the appropriate time to voice his opinion.
Instead he politely greets the both of them with his famous easygoing smile on his face, "Hey Haru and Hayato,"
"Are you just now getting here?" Haru was curiously posing not aware of the growing tension between the two close friends.
Takeshi physically nods his head, "Yeah, I just finished up the last shift at the restaurant a couple of minutes ago."
'That's right he did take over his father's restaurant after his untimely death.' She recollects.
"If you need someone to cover a shift for you then ask me. I mean I'm really not doing anything work-related since I got back." The young woman mentions.
The brunette male felt Hayato glared a hole directly aimed at his heart for an instant kill, "I will keep that offer in mind."
Haru watches as Takeshi takes his leave before she develops the urge to glance back at Hayato, 'I think it would be best if I keep straight ahead.'
The awkward moment that developed still lingered until the sight of Kyoko's orange bob emerged from the kitchen.
"Ah, Haru, Hayato, you made it just in time!" She was declaring with a wide smile on her face before facing the open door after hearing her name.
"Alright, I will tell him then." The young woman tells the person in the room before she faces the pair again with the same smile on her face.
"Hayato, Tsuna says he needs help with some of the dishes." Kyoko relays Tsuna's message onto Hayato.
"Excuse me," He says loud enough before he passes Haru so he could have enough room to make his way around her.
'There's something wrong with him…' The brunette noted to herself while she observed his actions.
"Haru," Kyoko was calling out to her close friend catching her attention, "let's get going."
She was nodding her head before stepping forward until she was in a walking stride towards the dining room area.
Kyoko noticed another car pulled up once Haru entered the dining room, 'Oh they made it just in time.'
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Hayato was tasked with the transportation of the heavier items due to his enhanced physique that he acquired after being left with a broken heart.
"How's the mission going?" Tsuna's question breaks him out of his thoughts once he grabs the rice maker.
He briefly paused after he approached the small size grill, "She's still breathing. Chiharu is with her so I think it's going well."
The Vongola boss knew Hayato's tone held sarcasm when he supplied his answer to his question. "So I take it that it is an easy mission then?"
"I mean come on now, Tenth! I was freaking in love with her! We even lived together!"
"And the instant that I was going to propose to her, she just up and left me! All I got was a stupid note!"
"Then two years later she comes back with a child in tow. Now just imagine yourself in my shoes." Hayato irately rants before he slams his hand over the grill's lid.
"I would be lying if I said I could. I simply can't imagine my life without Kyoko." He mentioned almost in a whispered tone.
"That was exactly how I felt the very next morning then I had to go on without her presence around me daily." The green eyed Mafioso softly admits while he tightens his fists.
The orange haired male releases a sigh, "If it's killing you this badly being around her maybe I can shift her guardianship over to Takeshi. He just finished up with his latest mission and has spare time now."
"Do you agree to the exchange?" Tsuna poses to his silver haired friend.
'Of all the people...baseball freak?' Hayato inwardly thinks to himself. He suddenly recalled the conversation that just happened between Haru and Takeshi.
"No!" He nearly screams at the top of his lungs but pauses to scale down the amplitude in his voice.
"I mean...Takeshi just told us that he had a really busy day at the restaurant todayl I don't think he will have enough time to watch out for her too." Hayato was explaining attempting to sound calm while speaking.
"If you feel so strongly about it then I don't see why you can not still be assigned to the mission." Tsuna firmly declares, which eases the tension in his subordinate's body.
Without any further complaints, Hayato places both of his hands on the handle of the grill before he lifts it up with little to no struggle.
Brown eyes closely observe his friend easily lugs the black steel grill out of the kitchen and to the dining room.
"You know something Tsunayoshi Sawada, you can be a evil person sometimes." A familiar voice breaks him out of his thoughts.
"I just knew that his heart wasn't going to allow his mind to make such a rash decision." Tsuna was claiming while picking up the instant rice maker in his grasp.
'The kid is still growing up.' The person concluded.
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Kyoko strolls around the dining hall in order to make sure that everything was in order.
"Can I have everyone's attention?" She speaks up as she catches the individuals' attention that were still at the table.
"We have a special guest that will be coming to enjoy dinner with us tonight." She was announcing before pointing to the shoji door.
A shadowy figure appeared behind the door, slid it open and poked their head in.
"Hello there everyone, did you miss me when I was gone?" A feminine voice jokingly inquires once the sight of purple locks enter their vision.
"Bianchi!" Lambo and I-Pin happily shouted after they processed the young lady's identity in front of them with orange goggles over her eyes.
"Bianchi?!" Haru curiously questioned after she watched the older woman entered the room with a wide grin on her face and rested her fists on both sides of her hips.
"What is onee-chan doing here?" Hayato was finding himself asking.
"Ah Hayato, don't treat the only sister you have like that!" She dramatically proclaims with a fake scowl on her face.
Haru silently agreed with his question before she realized that Bianchi now faced in her direction.
"Is that lovely Spring sitting over there?" Bianchi was inquisitively posing while using her personal moniker for the young woman.
She blushes out of embarrassment before she returns the personal greeting to the older woman, "Hey there,"
"Mommy," Chiharu suddenly tugs on one of her mother's shirtsleeve to capture her attention.
"Who's that adorable little girl sitting by you Spring?" Bianchi popped an innocent question after she occupied a seat next to Haru.
"Chiharu, I want you to meet Aunt Bianchi," The brunette begins the introduction, "Bianchi, this is my daughter Chiharu."
'Daughter?!' She quietly restated to herself in order to make sure at she heard her correctly.
Her eyes instantly cut across the room until it landed on her brother, who still seem in shock at her presence.
"A thousand springs, huh? I think you have an affinity for the season of spring." Bianchi jokingly concluded with a small on her face and a hand outreached towards her.
The little girl gladly accepted the hand with a wide smile on her face; it was not until Bianchi got a better look at the child did it finallyhit her.
"That's strange, why you remind me of..." She unintentionally pauses in her assessment, which causes everyone, except Hayato, to tense while they listen to her statement. "So much of your mother."
"Are we going to starve to death or are we going to eat some food?" Ryohei deliberately breaks the silence and redirects their attention to the food.
'Good save,' Tsuna and Kyoko shared similar thoughts while they exchanged looks. The sound of meat on the grill quickly erased the previous awkward moment.
'I take it from Tsuna and the others' facial expression that they knew what I was going to say.' Bianchi mentally assumed to herself once a bowl landed in her hands.
'I guess I will have to talk to him once the dinner is over with. So until then I will enjoy this delicious food.'
Haru did not expect for Bianchi to cause such an uproar at dinner about the fact that she felt completely exposed for the others to see her innermost hidden dark secrets.
She was distracting herself by intently focusing on feeding Chiharu enough food so that it can tie her over to the next day.
'I'm just glad for the distraction that Ryohei-sempai provided.' The young mother ruminates once she places the bowl on the table.
The rest of the dinner seemed to fly by without any other odd moments instead it was filled with jovial conversation about what happened to each other today.
"Ah I see you grew your hair, it looks nice on you." Bianchi was complimenting Haru after noticing the young girl's haircut.
"Thank you. You still have your same hairstyle from when I was younger." She claims.
The older of the two casually runs her fingers through her hair before she examines a strand of her hair in her hand. "Its easier for me to take care of when its like this."
"Anyway, enough about me and more about you," The violet haired woman redirects the conversation back to the subject of Haru. "So how have you been able to transition from America and back to good old Japan?"
Haru was unknowingly stealing a glance of Hayato. He was lifting and moving heavy items back into the kitchen that he brought out from earlier.
'I wonder why everyone was so tense at dinner?' The young man wonders to himself while he places the items back to their respective place.
"Thank you for helping out again." Kyoko was thanking Hayato for helping her once again.
"It's been a lot easier then I thought it would have been. I'm just glad that everyone welcomed me back with such open arms and friendly greetings." The brunette supplies an answer.
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10.29.17 Major editing revisions