"I just wanted you to know that you are always welcomed back home, Haru. Actually, I'm kinda glad you came back since I hardly had anyone to go with me whenever I would go to the cake store." Kyoko mentions to Haru.

Haru recalls the pair's tradition to spoil themselves at least twice a month with some delicious sweets from a local bakery.

A smile was appearing on Haru's face before proclaiming, "I guess it is never too late to start up the old tradition again with me."

Kyoko's eyes widen with joy and anticipation at the revival of their old routine, "That would be...amazing!"

The brunette silently nods her head at her close friend statement before she returns her focus on to their task at hand.

A knock at the kitchen door prompts the girls to rotate their heads around to see who is at the door.

"Bianchi-san." Kyoko was greeting the older lady of the three before seeing her carrying on a sleeping Chiharu in her arms.

"She was trying to hang with Tsuna and the others…" Bianchi explains to Haru once the brunette dries her hands off on a hand towel.

"I think it's about time we head on home." Haru suggests while she covers the distance from the sink to Bianchi in a matter of ten steps.

"Chiharu definitely tried to be a trooper before she started to nod off." Bianchi adds in before she gently hands the toddler over to her mother.

She smooths her hair out before the little girl places her right cheek against her mother's left shoulder while her left thumb in her mouth.

"I'll go get my lousy little brother from the dining room." Bianchi chimes in before she leaves Haru, Chiharu, and Kyoko alone in the kitchen.

"Thanks with the dishes. I appreciated it." Kyoko thanks her friend for her help.

Haru faces the orange haired woman, whom she is closest to, "No problem at all. For as much as you and Tsuna did for me, I wouldn't mind cleaning a few dishes up."

"Alright see you later then, Haru-chan." Kyoko was saying to her friend before watching her walking out of the kitchen with Chiharu in tow.

Meanwhile in the dining room…

Tsuna and his Vongola's guardians, except for Hayato Gokudera, were present at the dinner table discussing pertinent issues at hand.

"I thought for a minute that Bianchi-san was going to give it away." Takeshi claims after he releases a sigh from his mouth.

"That's exactly why I don't do crowding." Hibari proclaims from his corner of the room with his arms across his chest.

"Even still, she couldn't help but to notice her own self. She wouldn't be a good sister if she couldn't recognize that."

"I should've told her about our silent agreement. It was a lack of judgment on my behalf." Tsuna declares to the group, which earns silence for a brief moment.

"Has anybody seen Gokudera-san by the way?" He speaks up again once he notices that the silver haired Storm guardian was nowhere to be found.

"Achoo." Hayato was sneezing before rubbing his index finger underneath his nose to soothe the sharp pain.

Not caring for the meaning behind the sneeze, Hayato was yet again adjusting his position against the wooden pole so that he was comfortable again.

A half full sake cup was still present in his right hand while his left hand fingers encircle around the neck of the sake bottle.

'I think I deserve another drink…especially with all the drama I'm going through ever since that stupid woman came back!'

He was lifting the sake bottle until it was near the cup, pouring it in and allowing the liquid to flow until there was no more left.

Hayato was shaking the bottle only to find it completely empty. The silver haired was still in disbelief that he could have possibly drunk the entire sake bottle within five cups.

He carefully eyed the inside of the bottle before he determined it to be true.

With a sigh of fustration, he brings the sake bottle onto the surface of the floor and then eyes the inside of his cup.

'Well then bottoms up…' The silver haired Mafioso inwardly cheers once he brings the cup to his lips and tosses his head back in order to drain the liquid in its entirety.

The burning sensation that was stinging his throat was quickly fading away. It was as if he pricked his finger on a tack's sharp point.

'And there it goes…' He was grumbling in disappointment before bringing the cup to his lap and returning his head to the proper position against the pole.

The alcohol was doing nothing but making him want more of the sudden rush of potent strength before fading away as if it was a bad memory.

"I see you still rely on the bottle for your problems, baby brother." A feminine voice chimes in as he almost immediately recognizes the voice.

"What else is there for me to do then?! My nerves are on end and I'm trying to cut chain smoking since I have a toddler under my guardianship now." Hayato annoyingly rants while he leans his head away from the wooden pole.

A thought passed through her head before she opted to just let it remain a thought due to the reaction she received from the group earlier.

"What you are doing now is worse?! Look here, Haru and Chiharu are ready to go. They're waiting on you." Bianchi reminds him of his responsibilities.

"Besides, I know your drive to become Tsuna's right hand man will allow you to get through your issues." She adds in while she watches her brother stumbles to his feet.

"Can you take care of this cup and bottle for me? I will come back tomorrow so we can talk." He requests with his back now towards his sister.

Bianchi nods her head an says, "Sure, it's no problem. Just get those two safely home, okay? Then we will be even."

"Good night," was the last exchange between siblings as Bianchi watches her younger brother make his way towards the front of the Vongola's headquarters.

'I need to talk with that brat about putting my dear younger Hayato through the ringer.' Bianchi thought inwardly before she made her way inside of the home.

0000

Haru was patiently waiting on the side of the building until the sight of the silver hair Storm guardian enters her sights stagger a little in the dark.

"Are you ready to go?" His voice rings in her ears once he asks the question.

The stench of alcohol from Hayato was hitting her hard, which would explain why he was staggering a little while walking in the dark. Luckily for him, he was already familiar with the layout of the headquarters' grounding.

Haru observes him reach inside of his pocket until the sound of metal clicks against metal, which means that he has the car keys in his hand.

"Um Hayato-kun, are you drunk?" She was inquiring not moving from her standing position.

This causes him to freeze up, "No…I'm not drunk you stupid woman! Just get in the car so we can go home!"

Once he completed his statement, he then made his way around to the driver seat of the car. He pauses to notices that Haru did not move from her current position.

"Are you going to get in the car or not?" Hayato was questioning as his voice rising due to his frustration of Haru not complying with him. Not to mention, the drop in tolerance due to the consumption of alcohol he had that night.

"No. We are not getting in that car with you especially when you are this drunk. I can't afford to take that risk with Chiharu in my care." Haru explains why she was not going to get in the car.

Hayato slumps against the car and bangs his head on the roof of the car at how idiotic the woman in front of him could be. 'Why did I have to accept this stupid assignment?'

Haru never seen Hayato act this way during all the years that she knew him both in a friendly and an intimate manner. It was almost as if he had transformed into this brand new person, who drinks and lashes out in anger when being told what's right.

A sick thought passes through her head causing a nausea feeling to build up in her, 'Was I the cause of this transformation?'

Hayato rests his head against the roof of the car not feeling the pain from his previous actions due to the heavy amounts of alcohol he consumed earlier.

"How about I drive since you are impaired?" Haru's voice chimes in causing him to lull his head in her direction so he could see her.

There were four blurry images of her along with a sleeping Chiharu in tow standing alongside one another, 'I really am drunk.'

"Fine!" He simply answers while placing the keys on the center of the roof as Haru makes her way towards him.

She was slow in removing the keys from their position in case Hayato wants to suddenly change his position and snatches the keys away from her.

Haru punches the alarm button preventing the alarm from going off, which would cause shock and utter confusion among the pair.

'So far so good…' she thought as she unlocks the door allowing her to place Chiharu in the backseat inside of the car seat strapping her in.

Haru closes the door shut only to find Hayato still lying against the car blocking her from getting to the driver side of the door.

"Gokudera-kun?" Haru calls out to the young man, who seems unresponsive until a small jerk away from her signaled that he was still awake.

"Can you make it to the passenger side or do you need help?" The instant "help" escapes her lips Hayato pushes himself off of the car as if been shot with rejuvenation of life.

'I can't believe I'm about to let this stupid woman drive us back home.' Hayato inwardly thought after opening the door and taking a seat inside of the car.

'He's going to have a massive headache when he wakes up tomorrow morning. I should stop by the convenience sore for extra strength aspirins.'

0000

"So it appears as if our outing was quite successful, wouldn't you agree?" A voice questions their subordinate upon their arrival back to their camp.

"Yes, boss." Another voice supplies an answer to the question.

"I just would've never thought that they would land right in our personal stomping grounds. I always knew I was lucky." The voice states with a small grin apparent on their face.

"Boss, I know that this little girl have some amazing power readings but do you really think she's being protected by some local mafia." The subordinate wonders.

This prompted the voice that spoke up first to pause in their response, "You might have a point there. We don't know exactly how long the child and her mother have been here."

"Plus, she doesn't have the necessary experience to survive this long without the proper help."

"Besides the child, the mother poses no harm to us and the plans. She has absolutely no flames emittance from her so she can easily be eliminated."

"I've already taken her in to consideration as well. A child that young needs some type of influence to produce in order to prevent defiance. Do you understand?"

"It does make sense because the child displays the rawest and purest emotions that I've ever seen. Those unbridled emotions in turn super charges her flames. It's rare now and days to find that kind of power in flame users."

"That is unless you were born with the rarest flames out of the six…"

"The sky flame? You think this girl may have that lying underneath all of those other flames?"

"Are you suggesting that she may also be able to beat other Sky Flame users…even the current Vonogola's boss?"

"To take such a worthy and high position would definitely strike fear into the other mafia's family hearts."

"She would prove to be quite useful to us, don't you think?"

"If she does then she will definitely be sought after making a commodity for us. No one in this area not even the world would dare try or betray us."

"The only thing is how do we go about it."

"I think we should make this an inside job. It seems as if there are too many unknown variables around those two." The subordinate suggests.

"Excellent. I know the perfect person for the job too." The boss was proclaiming after agreeing with their subordinate's plan.

"Glad I could help, sir!" The subordinate declares with enthusiasm.

'I will definitely have that child in my ranks if it's the last thing I should ever do as a mafia's boss.'

0000

10.29.17 Major editing revisions