"Well...I'm a picture of grace and elegance this morning."

Nanako snorted audibly. Her decision to take a long look in the mirror this morning was a disastrous idea. Especially after the events of last night. She hadn't really got a good look at the damage last night. Her chin was grazed, it shining a viscous, cherry colour. She was surprised she hadn't come off worse to be frank, her jaw had taken a lot of damage yesterday. What came across as a real surprise though was the gash that stood out obnoxiously on her cheek. The plaster that had been concealing the injury had began to peel and with every slight movement of her head, it flapped, exposing the lovely, inflamed gash that had taken her cheek hostage. Geez, she hope that didn't scar. She thanked god her lip hadn't busted, which came across as a shock. She had remembered spitting a lot of blood up that last night, which led her to the next place of inspection. Pulling a cheesy grin -despite the fact it ached to do so-, she noted that all her teeth were still present in her mouth. Thank goodness. As soon as Kyouya had cleaned her up, she had pretty much passed out, which seemed odd seeing as her mind had been going at 110% when it came to over-thinking...over-thinking everything.

She would have said the first thing on her mind was Yamamoto's mother's kimono, but that was far from the truth. Instead, even though she was trying to forget it or make it seem rational, the behaviour of a certain someone resided in her head.

That playful smirk, the hug...the light in his eyes that seemed almost too foreign to Nanako; she didn't like it's effect on her. She growled, she was overthinking again. She had more important matters to attend too, and more important things to panic over, like that blasted kimono! Thinking back onto that, she scanned the room for where she had taken it off the night previous. It was nowhere to be found, and with that thought in mind she gulped loudly...what? Who? When? Where the unholy fudgery had that darn dress gone!?

Clutching onto her head exasperated, she felt another thing that didn't belong to her.

Glancing back to the mirror briefly, she noticed the dark chocolate wig still attached to her head. It was no longer smooth in appearance, instead it stuck out in random tangents, which along with the bruising, the tender, red injuries and the wild look on her face, looked well...freaking fantastic. OH! And not forgetting to mention the mascara that had made her eyes pop last night. They now 'popped' in entirely different way as it clung to her cheeks and lower lids. In other words, she looked genuinely terrifying. What was her mother going to say when she saw her? OH JESUS, another thing to worry about. With a dramatic sigh, she threw herself face first onto her bed, and groaned loudly.

"What are you doing?" Fuck.

Body spasming in surprise, Nanako found herself on the floor, staring at the ceiling, a dull throbbing pain now taking over her lower back. She really couldn't catch a break.

"Herbivore?" Just what she needed, Kyouya, especially seeing as the accounts of last night still played in her mind. She stiffened in alarm at his next action, her back feeling more pinned to the floor than it had initially. Met with those grueling platinum eyes, he was practically looming over her, his back arched as he stood over her.

"G-Good morning," she chirped , cursing over the stutter present in her voice. She hoped Kyouya hadn't noticed, but for a few brief seconds, she swore that unrecognisable expression was back, and she didn't like it. The way it made her feel caused her to squirm.

The expression disappeared though as quickly as it came, perhaps he had noticed her discomfort?

The boy retreated and Nanako slowly made her way up, grumbling a little as her joints twinged. Her body hadn't forgotten the many falls it had been subdued to the night before evidently.

"Can I help you?" she asked rather tooquickly, her lips forming into a thin line. Had that come across as rude?

"Here."

She glanced down, and noticed a box of plasters firmly in his grasp, along with a thin surgical mask.

Obviously, she had been giving him a weird look, as seconds later they were practically shoved into her palm, his face even more huffy than usual.

"Take them herbivore, don't expect treatment like last night ever again though," he growled at her, and she flinched. Y'know, Kyouya was seemingly good at that recently, doing something surprisingly kind but then stripping it all away with sharp tones or general rudeness, this boy.

"Thanks," she replied, her tone more bitter than it should have been, but he had riled her up.

He was heading for the door again, and part of her was glad. She didn't have time for his attitude right now, her current worries about his manner and actions from the night before abolished. Maybe last night was just a one off, Kyouya didn't like her, simple as.

"Herbivore, Yamamoto Takeshi's outfit has been washed and returned."

Her face softened at his words, and almost lit up.

"Really?" she asked surprised, so that's where it had gone.

"Yes." With that blunt reply Kyouya had gone, the sliding door banging garishly, causing her to wince. Now she felt bad for two reasons. One for not returning the outfit herself, but two for starting to hate Kyouya again when the boy was being strangely nice to her. Maybe he didn't hate her after all...or perhaps just not as much as normal.

This was probably the first and last time Yamamoto would ever see this sight. In fact, he stood dumbfounded at the door, his mouth snapping open and close abruptly. Why on earth was the head of the school's disciplinary stood at his door? At 7am in the morning no less. They weren't friends, in fact they had barely even spoken. But then again perhaps he was here about the fight last night. The fight...his mother's outfit…the thoughts began to leak into his head.

Why had Nanako been wearing it? Then again, he had a feeling Kenji had put her up to that...but he was still angry about it. That was his mother's outfit...and like that, last night it had escaped his grasp again. But then again, he knew he was feeling a bit irrational, he couldn't have yanked the thing off Nanako's body, even though he was tempted to do so. The more he recalled the whole idea, the more he realised how savage and also rather perverse he was becoming for his mother's possession.

Thinking about Nanako had caused Yamamoto to grimace over his behaviour. Mistakes were made, the girl had apologised instantly, but he hadn't once thought last night about the girl's safety. The girl who had bravely fought to save one of his best friends without hesitance. In fact when he had the seen girl, her body battered, blood drooling down her chin, a vicious gash on her cheek, he hadn't cared. When he had watched the girl struggle to fight with all her might despite the state she was in , he hadn't cared. Even when she had fallen after being roughly manhandled...he hadn't cared. Any normal guy with a shred of decency would have ran to the girl's side instantly , which is what he had done. However, he hadn't ran to her side to help, that wasn't his motive at all...he had ran to check if the outfit was ok.

His stomach sank a little when he recalled the frightful gaze in the girl's eyes when he had approached her. The way she had feebly kicked him also, like a wild animal bucking out of fear. He had been selfish, really selfish.

He lurched out of his thoughts when something struck him violently in the stomach.

"Herbivore." He had almost forgotten Hibari was here. Rubbing his hand over his eyes, as if to see if he was dreaming, he gave Hibari a once over.

His tonfas were now positioned on his belt and in his outstretched hand was a brown paper bag. Whatever was in it smelt good, that was for sure, a fresh aroma, like a sweet smelling detergent. Was that wash powder?

'I will make sure your mother's costume will be cleaned and perfect before you see it next,' like a trigger, his mind filled with the boy's words from the night before and with them his body lurched on impulse towards the bag.

What he didn't expect though was for it to be pulled sharply away from him, his fingers brushing gently against the papery surface.

The steely feel of the tonfa was back, this time pressed firmly into his chest, as if to create a barrier between the two.

"You're quicker than I thought herbivore," Hibari muttered nonchalantly. So it was his mother's costume! His hands reached for the bag again, this time his friendly facade completely destroyed and in return desperation began to creep it's way onto his features.

"Give me the bag Hibari," he had tried to sound as firm as possible, but it wasn't like there was any way of scaring the prefect. The man was known to be completely fearless, ruthless, so there was no way someone like himself, nicest guy in school, could scare him into giving him his mother's costume back.

Just why wasn't he giving him the costume back in the first place? Of what use was his mother's shrine maiden kimono to Hibari Kyouya?

"On one condition," Yamamoto stilled at his words, was Hibari Kyouya going to blackmail for his own mother's costume...why would he-

"I'll give you the costume if you stay away from Nanako Euguchi."

The statement had sent Yamamoto into a stunned silence. Nanako? Nanako was the condition.

"Huh what?" Yamamoto was still left bemused, had he heard Hibari right?

"You heard me herbivore, if you want the costume back, then you stay away from her."

The look in his eyes confirmed to Yamamoto that Hibari was deadly serious. But still why?

Like they had done before, more memories from the night prior began to flood into his mind again. Nanako had been saved by Hibari, he had swept her up like a knight in shining armour, his grip on her tight, and despite the fact he was desperate for the costume then, he had observed the weird air between the two. Just what was that?

"Hibari, I barely know Nanako," he uttered, he was telling the truth to a certain extent. Yes, he was aware she was Tsuna's unusual cousin, what with her green hair and her kooky fashion sense, she was hard to miss. But still he hardly knew her, he practically knew everyone in their class in a sense, everyone was friendly with him...everyone except for her. Since the time she had started at Namimori, Yamamoto was only aware of her due to the distance she put between herself and the rest of the students, it was strange to say the least. And he wasn't stupid, despite what people thought of him, he was more than aware of her presence in the background. He had seen her on multiple occasions out of the corner of his eye, staring in his group of friend's direction, an uncomfortable, wanting expression planted all over her face. What did she want? She was constantly doing it. He had tried smiling in her direction on a few occasions, his friendly demeanour getting the better of him, but each time they were either brushed off or met awkwardly with a strange stare before the girl disappeared back into her own little world.

He knew nothing about her, that was until their brief encounter yesterday. He hadn't seen anyone this young approach Kenji, and he was aware that Kenji had grandchildren of the same age; his father had always explained that the old man would complain about their lack of respect or presence around the shrine. And he was also aware that the majority of people who knew of Kenji weren't his biggest fans either. The old man was sharp and most of his sentences ended with an insult, so why was the transfer student there, obviously well acquaintanced with the challenging shrine owner?

They had spoken more that day, and she turned out to be a lot more charming than Takeshi had imagined. Sort of shy, but jokey with a tomboyish sense of humor, and good principles too, so he couldn't resist teasing her a little bit by feeding her the sight of her red face was certainly different from the expressions he had seen from her previous, it sort of excited him. And at the time he had been genuinely interested in hanging out with her again. He had made that apparent to her, and even though the girl seemed to be trying to run from him, he had managed to capture her expression as he had talked about seeing her again. Her face was a picture, crimson cheeks and a blissful expression that really did the girl's face justice. Tsuna's cousin was cute and he had concluded that the distance the girl was putting between everyone was non-existent. Those forlorn, 'secretive' glances finally made sense to him, she was an extremely lonely girl. That's why it seemed a shame over what he was about to do next.

"Deal." With his exchange of words, the bag made its way into his hands, and he took a peek inside, relief washing over him at the sight of the costume. Hibari wasn't completely twisted.

"Thank you."

"If you break your deal herbivore, I will bite you to death," Hibari snarled more viscious than normal, the tonfas moving back to his belt, and with a swish of his jacket, Hibari had left Takeshi as dumbfounded as he had been at the start of their conversation...if you could have called that a conversation.

That terms of the trade still bugged him though. Just what kind of hold did Hibari have over Nanako? This possessive display of behaviour only made Takeshi perceive Hibari as even more terrifying than people had portrayed him originally. Was Nanako his girlfriend or something? He just couldn't picture that. In a way if that was the truth, or even if that wasn't, a little voice in the back of his mind suddenly started squeaking at him, Nanako was clearly in danger. And just like his self-centered decision the day Tsuna had saved him from his scene on the roof, he pushed away anything justifiable to the back of his mind, his main focus now being on his mother's outfit.

Trying not to wake his father, he made his way back to his room, closing the door behind him. The bag was ripped to shreds immediately, and like the boy had promised the outfit was no longer scruffy and it was certainly clean. But there was one thing that the other boy had promised that Yamamoto was aware could never be fulfilled. He lifted the costume to his nose and inhaled deeply. A sweet smell filled his nostrils and without warning a choking sound escaped his lips. The only thing that could have made this costume's return 'perfect' was nothing that could ever be achieved again. Another choked sob escaped his lips, tears evidently becoming present on his cheeks. The distinctive scent of his past no longer resided on the article of clothing anymore. His eyes became blurrier, tears falling onto the fabric of the dress.

He couldn't smell her anymore, her existence becoming more distant by the second.

"Mother."

The costume slipped from under his trembling fingers, and for the first time in years Yamamoto sobbed aloud.

Nanako's mother still hadn't returned home yet, neither had Akio, and for once, it seemed like things were finally looking up for her. She knew a rant was headed her way, but least she was safe...for now. She wanted to prolong the meeting further, and with this idea in mind, she had slipped out of the house silently, taking one glance in the direction of Kyouya's bedroom before leaving. She had been rude to him earlier, she was aware of that. Yet at the same time the boy hadn't exactly been the epitome of kindness to her exactly! She was almost tempted to apologise, especially seeing as the items he had given her were working wonders.

Despite the warm weather, a hooded jacket along with the surgical mask from Kyouya were the best things to cover up the remains of last night's event. She didn't want passing strangers perceiving her as a thug, especially after common thugs were the reason she was even in this state in the first place.

Aware of the costume being back in Yamamoto's hands, Nanako felt rather relieved. That was one worry to tick off her list, and thanks to her little fight with Kyouya earlier, her troubles concerning his one-off actions from the night previous had also subsided. In spite of this, one concern still remained evident in her thoughts, and for that she headed straight to the shrine.

As she made her way up the stairs, she was greeted with the sight of the old man slowly sweeping away the remains of the festival, his whole body hunched over. She almost felt bad for the old man for leaving him to clean it up on his own but it wasn't like she was in a state to help.

"Shrine's closed today, come back in a couple of days," the old man grumbled, continuing his job without a second glance at her.

Letting down her hood and taking off the surgical mask, she turned to get the man's attention again.

"Kenji, it's me," she stated, and with the sound of her voice, the grumbling of the old man became more intense.

"About time you showed up! What do you have to say for yourself, running off like that, do you enjoy making a foo-"

The words stopped dead on his lips as he took in the sight of the damage from the night before, his eyes widening dramatically.

"Nanako...who did this to you?!" For the first time ever Kenji sounded distressed, and he had made his way over to Nanako abruptly, taking her in again.

"Who said I didn't do this to myself?" Nanako joked, trying to break the ice and in return rid the frightened as well as furious tone that was current in Kenji's voice.

But that didn't work, instead the man scowled even more, his forehead wrinkling in the process, "Don't lie to me Nanako, this was clearly not an accident!"

"They've been dealt with Kenji, it doesn-

"Yes it does matter! You're a state, how did this even? Who did this? Was it those boys from before because i'll-

"Kenji!" Nanako paused, she hadn't meant to shout, but it had effectively stopped the man in his tracks. Taking a deep breath in and relishing in the few seconds silence, she glanced over at the man. It was time to finally abolish this last remaining worry of hers,

"Kenji...you have to train me more…and this time, don't go easy on me."

AN: Sup. So, umm hello, its been a long time since my last update. Mainly down to the fact that the last couple of years have been so jam packed because of exams and turning certain benchmark ages, i.e. I became legally an adult. It then didn't help that my house got broken into and in the process my laptop got smashed to bits. The main problem though I faced was this chapter though was an extreme case of writers block, this chapter for me and has been for years, the in between chapter, in which I had no ideas for, but I needed to get it out the way so I could write more and progress with what was in my head, which hopefully I can do now!

I apologise if this is rather lacklustre for an update that's taken a good couple of years now.

While it might seem to trying to incorporate Yamamoto/OC, I am planning to make it extremely minor, so there won't be too much of that in this story. Nanako isn't a girl who will be fancied by everyone because that's just wrong, and unrealistic by far.

Again, sorry if this chapter sucked major balls, I hope that now with this out of the way I can finally write something more exciting.

Once again, I'm very sorry.

PS. There will be more than likely a few grammar mistakes, it doesn't help that i'm completely void of Microsoft Word at the moment, and haven't been in education for a year, losing my touch.