Author's Note: I want to take a moment to thank everyone who reads this and send a special thanks to everyone who leaves reviews! I really appreciate it! I hope you like this new chapter! :)
A week had passed since the incident, but it still bothered Shizu. She had managed to get out of Hibari's home mostly unscathed, though her body hurt and she had collected various bruises. Kyoko and Hana had met with her and Isabelle that night to tell them that the school was closed temporarily. A number of dead bodies had been found on campus and the police were investigating. Shizu had a suspicion regarding who had committed the murders, but said nothing. In addition to this madness, she found her weapon missing from her room and heard that Gokudera had been in a vicious fight with someone.
At least I haven't been bothered, she thought as she walked home from the store. Mukuro and his friends had not visited her in the past week, which made things slightly easier for her. Whenever she tried to remember that night, when she had fallen asleep in the armchair, her head began to hurt horribly. Am I suppressing some horrible memory? It feels like something important happened, but…
"Nanase!" a familiar voice shouted from behind her.
The girl turned to look over her shoulder and half-grinned. "Where have you been?" she greeted Gokudera. She was blushing faintly, trying to ignore the way that he also blushed.
"Shut up. I've just been busy." He grimaced at the amount of food she was purchasing. "Are you having a party or something?"
"Hm. Sort of? Isa invited that creep over for dinner tonight." Shizu sighed in irritation. "I hate that guy. I wish she would just find someone better."
He shrugged. "I could come over. I mean if it would make you feel better. It's not like I don't have better things to do tonight."
She snickered. "Fine. Why not? Misery loves company, right?" They walked on for a while in silence. Shizu was trying not to think of what had happened between her and Hibari. She felt guilty about what had happened, but at the same time it was strictly physical on her part. The prefect still made her angry and it seemed to drown out any other emotions she might feel toward him. "That's crazy about the school, right?"
"Some of the dead bodies were from that one night."
The girl shrugged. She remembered that night of course. The night that Reborn sent thugs to attack her and Gokudera as a test to see if she was fit to join the Vongola. "As long as I don't get arrested. As long as I can keep protecting Isabelle."
"That prissy princess is in love with you, isn't she?"
"It's a sisterly love. Not like you would understand even if you tried." She shook her head. "Sorry. I'm just in a bad mood. My weapon went missing and it's pissing me off."
"Just get a new one. Use a knife or something." Gokudera lit a cigarette and took a deep inhale. "I'm surprised you care so much about that thing. It's worse than your tattoo." He saw her raise an eyebrow and scowled. "It's symbol of your servitude! How can you want it back?!"
"It's more than that! My weapon was a symbol of my strength! It was a symbol of belonging! An end to my being alone!" Shizu walked faster, not caring if he was unable to keep up. She liked Gokudera a lot, but she was quickly becoming irritated. It always comes to this! He acts like it's the worst thing in the world for me to be Isa's bodyguard!
He reached out, gripping her arm gently and frowning. "I didn't mean to make you upset." To his surprise, she actually stopped walking and turned to him. "I just don't like seeing you dote over her like that."
Shizu smirked and grabbed the front of his shirt to bring his face closer to hers. "Hm? Is someone maybe a little jealous?" she teased, meeting his green eyes with her amber ones. His cheeks were rapidly turning a light pink and he looked away. Her smirk grew and she pressed her lips to his. He was surprised for a moment, but soon wrapped an arm around her and returned the kiss, enjoying the way she lightly bit his lower lip. She closed her eyes, her heart racing. When the girl pulled away from him, her face was red and she kept her gaze averted. "Don't be jealous like that creepy prefect, okay? I really like you. I just…have things that I need to do. I'm sorry. It's not like I care about her in the same way that I care about you."
Gokudera saw her smirk fall to a frown when she finally glanced over again. He had hoped that she would not notice. The deep bruises that were still fading and the cuts that were still healing. "What? It's nothing."
"Who did you get in a fight with? Everyone knows that you got in a fight with someone. Who was it?" she demanded. When he refused to answer, she grabbed the front of his shirt again. "Tell me who it was or I'll-!"
"What are you going to do?" he taunted. A slow smirk took form and he leaned down to her eye level. "You don't even know what you would do. Don't make stupid threats you can't finish. It doesn't matter anyway." Gokudera pulled out of her hold and started to walk away.
She scowled and hurried to keep up with him. "Don't assume that I'm going to forget this! I'll just keep bothering you until you tell me who you fought!" When he went silent, she realized that he had no plans to speak of what had happened. Idiot. What does he think I'm going to do? Shizu sighed and shook her head. "Whatever. Not like I really care anyway."
When they arrived at the apartment, they were greeted ecstatically by Isabelle. The blonde had her curly hair up in ponytails and was dressed in a fashionable rose pink dress and a white jacket. "You took forever! Don't tell me you stopped to make out! If he's going to take so much of your time-!"
The dark-haired girl held up a hand, frowning. "That's not what happened. I took the long way to the store," she interrupted.
Isabelle frowned back and sighed in irritation. "Whatever. So what's for dinner?"
Shizu moved around her friend to get to the kitchen, glad when Gokudera followed her. He stood against the wall, his arms crossed. "I'm making my specialty."
"What?! Why can't you make something Italian? Or at least American?"
The girl lifted her eyes from the beef that she had started to prepare and grimaced. "Is he not here yet?" she inquired, trying not to sound too hopeful.
"Xanxus? I canceled my plans with him." Her blue eyes looked a bit watery, as if on the verge of tears. "I know you don't like him, Shizu. You can't hide that from me."
"Yeah, but I want you to be happy," she argued. "If you want to see him, invite him over. He makes you happy, doesn't he? Even if I think he's an evil jerk, you should still be happy, Isa." Shizu began cooking the meat, absently chewing the inside of her cheek as she did.
"Hmm…you know what would make me really happy though? We should invite Mukuro-san over. He's so interesting!"
"No." The word came from Gokudera, who had a slight sheen of panic in his eyes. He was trying to maintain his composure, but something was obviously bothering him.
It made Shizu raise an eyebrow. Was he fighting Mukuro? Is that why he's so battered? Shaking her head, she started to work on the sauce for the meat. "We're not having Mukuro-san over. How about Yamamoto-kun and Tsuna-kun?"
Isabelle's eyes lit up. "Yes! Yamamoto! I almost forgot about him!" She turned toward Gokudera with a frown. "You. Call him for me."
Shift P.O.V
"Huh? Nanase-san and Capello-san's apartment? What time? Soon? Uh…yeah. That sounds good. Let me tell my mom and we'll be there in a few minutes." Tsuna put his phone into his pocket and turned to Yamamoto. "So you heard all of that?"
The other boy grinned. "It sounds fun. It's been a while since we got to hang out with Isabelle and Shizu. But didn't Isabelle say that her boyfriend is in town?"
Tsuna winced. He knew who she claimed her boyfriend was. "Yeah, but I guess he's not there right now." At least, he hoped not. He hoped that Gokudera would not call them over when Xanxus was there. They started out of the room, but stopped when Tsuna heard Reborn.
"I'll go with you," he announced.
"Huh? Um…why?"
Reborn smiled, but there was the gesture was hardly benevolent. "I need to talk to Shizuki," was his reply. "I have a job for her to do tonight."
"A job?" Tsuna soon realized what was going on. "Wait! You can't just-!"
"I had her join for a reason. My ultimate goal to pry her away from the Capellos. She could be a valuable asset to the Vongola family."
Shift P.O.V
Shizu was not used to talking to a baby. She had to constantly remind herself to keep her eyes lowered down to his level. He started by talking about some mundane things. He explained as much as he could about the Vongola family, with her only half-listening. Sitting at the table were Isabelle, Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Gokudera while she sat in the sitting room talking with Reborn. It was not where she wanted to be. "So I have a question," she finally interrupted. "Is there some way you can protect Isabelle from Xanxus?"
He frowned and lifted a slice of grilled beef to examine it. "Not possible."
"Why not?!" Shizu kept her voice as quiet as possible. "I don't like him being so close to her! He's an evil jerk! Just tell him that he can't be around her!"
"I can't do that."
"Why not?!" she repeated, her anger growing.
"What kind of sauce is this?"
She sighed in frustration and ran her fingers through her short, scruffy black hair. "My mom taught me how to make it when I was a kid. A little ponzu, soy sauce, rice vinegar, some chili powder, a bit of lemon." The girl knew he was not going to speak to her again about Xanxus. She watched him chew the piece of meat and saw a smile take form on his face. "You really like, huh?"
"It's interesting. You should come to Tsuna's house and cook with his mom."
The thought of doing this pained her. She shook her head, knowing that she could never cook with someone else's mother. It would just be a painful reminder of times long past. Of every night when she was a child, cooking with her own mother. Her mother that she would never see again. "So what are you doing here?"
He sipped from the juice that she had poured for him and lifted his gaze to hers. It was hard to read his emotions through his eyes; they were a shiny pebble black that conveyed nothing. "I have a job for you tonight. Remember the baseball field incident?"
"Yes. What about it? I can't do it again. My weapon's been missing for the past week."
Reborn stared up at her for a moment, seemingly in amusement. "You really don't remember," he muttered, tugging the brim of his hat down to shade his eyes. "You can use a different weapon. A normal bat, for instance. Or a knife."
She grimaced at the idea of using either. "Do I get paid for this?"
"Of course." He helped himself to another piece of meat and his smile returned. "Do you want someone to go with you?"
"What do you mean? I'm not taking Isabelle anywhere dangerous."
"Of course not. She's weak." He saw her open her mouth to protest and he continued to talk. "I meant Gokudera or Yamamoto."
Shizu glanced over at her friends. They were mostly oblivious to the conversation taking place in the sitting room. All of them except for Gokudera, who was watching her. "I guess…Gokudera and I work well together."
"I know. You love him, don't you?"
Her eyes widened. "N-no. I mean…I like him. Look, it's not really your business." She remembered what he had said before, when she first met him. He had said that Hibari had told him things about her. That Hibari claimed she was his. "I know what you're going to say."
"How do you know?" he countered, finishing his food.
"Because. I bet Hibari told you already. About that stupid thing that happened last week."
"I know that most of the bodies around the school were your fault." There was a darkness in his tone that made her shiver. "You didn't know."
"I didn't." Shizu listened to the job proposal and when he was finished talking, she quietly accepted. It will be good to blow off some steam anyway. Having that jerk Xanxus hanging around has put me in a bad mood for the past week.
When the guests were gone, she sat alone for a while in the sitting room. Isabelle had gone to her own room to talk on the phone with Xanxus, leaving their dog with Shizu. What am I going to do? I should have picked Yamamoto to work with, but what if he's the same as Gokudera? Last time, he said I shouldn't have killed those boys. What else can I do? If we let them live, they'll come after us later. That would put Isabelle at risk. I can't let that happen. She leaned back against the couch cushions and sighed, absently petting the Labrador at her side.
A knock at the door, a bit cautious and quiet, drew her attention soon and she opened the door to find Ken. He had fading bruises on his face and neck, but gave her a sheepish grin when he saw her examining him. "What? See something you like?" he taunted, stepping into the apartment.
"What the hell happened to you?" She already knew. Why he and Gokudera had fought, she did not know. Shizu fixed him a plate of leftovers, seeing him start to drool a little when he looked over at them. She sat with him at the table, watching him inhale the food.
"I fell down some stairs," he replied. "We can't all be as graceful as a cat."
She snorted. "Do you even know how ridiculous you are?" she teased. He licked his lips and blood rushed to the girl's face. "So what brings you here so late?"
"I heard that you had a job tonight." Ken saw her raise an eyebrow. "Mukuro said you did anyway. I'm here to help."
"You're not helping me. I have a boyfriend for that," she stated. Shizu expected his grin to fall, but it remained intact. "What? Don't tell me-"
"I'm just going to follow to make sure you don't get hurt. If you need backup, I'll just jump in. You can't talk me out of this. It's either me or Chikusa." He saw her grimace and his grin grew. "Come on! You know you think I'm cute!"
Again, she snorted. "Yeah, I mean, in a puppy sort of way." Shizu had finally managed to get her blushing under control when he leaned over to kiss her on the cheek.