The petite woman visibly wore an expression of confusion on her face after she listened to her husband, who for some strange apparent reason wanted to see her.
He merely gestures for her to have a seat on one of the two plush sofas while he deeply inhales the tobacco flavor before he casually blows a long continuous stream of thick smoke into the air around him.
"I see you still have a vice for your cigars." She quipped after she watched the older man stabbed the lit end into his clear circular glass ashtray and settled the half-smoked cigar in one of the square gaps to prop it up from his desk.
"The Vongola Famiglia has claimed sanctuary over Miura Haru," The male was revealing while leisurely leaning against the leather body of the rolling chair and checking the clock on the wall for the current time.
This revelation instantly prompted his wife to direct her gaze at him as she inwardly presumed this was the reason why Yui irately stormed out of the office like a mad lunatic. 'His precious spring is no longer in his possession.'
"I'm not too sure about the details of the specific date but I was able to convince the Vongola Decimo to agree to a sit down between our two famiglia." The Ricotta boss mentions before he purposely adds, "And that's where you are going to play your role."
The silver-haired woman immediately snapped at the sheer audacity of this man, who sat behind his desk and ordered her to play her role. "You don't own me like those pathetic girls you managed to con to reside in the Geisha House!"
"Have you forgotten what's on your finger, Riko?' He was calmly countering while standing to his feet, moving towards the sofa she was sitting on, squatting down to her level and promptly reminding her of her duties.
"You're the Donna of this famiglia or have you been too busy entertaining your new Italian artist lover with the body that I've trained?"
"How do you know about Lorenzo?!" The woman nervously questions before she suddenly feels his strong grip latches underneath her chin and forcibly rotates her face toward his direction.
"As if I just let my bel fiore be plucked by some amateur no-name snotty nose brat without my permission," Her husband was brazenly proclaiming when a dangerous glint was materializing in his glare after audibly scoffing at the idea of her belonging to someone other than him was an amusing joke.
He eventually releases his vice-grip and calmly states, "The sit down is scheduled to occur between two to two and a half months from now."
Her husband simply left her to her thoughts as she tenderly massaged her lower face with both of her hands as she felt a stingy sensation from the sudden jolt to her neck.
Riko angrily muttered "bastard" under her breath at how he still had her trapped underneath his thumb.
One week later…
Eyes were wearily blinking open before painfully wincing at the bright light that was hovering over their heads. One simple thought slowly formulated then passed through their mind, "Where am I?"
They felt the lower end of their body was wet as if they were submerged underwater. Their body felt abnormally heavy as they physically attempted to shift from being on their back to a more comfortable position.
'This sucks,' this person was concluding as they were peering downward to see a clear plastic mask constantly supplying a steady flow of oxygen to their lungs.
They soon felt the wetness gradually receded from their hips until it pooled then drained at the end of their feet when cool air current suddenly ghosted over their body, which naturally shivered as goosebumps prickled the outermost layer of skin.
"Welcome back, Miura Haru…"
Meanwhile…
The silver-haired male tiredly removed his glasses from in front of his eyes so he could gently massage the bridge of his nose once he felt a tight pulsation of pain emit from within his cranium. He knew exactly where his source of ache stemmed from, it was just one week after the festival debacle which not only left him emotionally exhausted but physically fatigues too.
The right-hand man of the Vongola Decimo resembled a withered elderly figure inside and out from the sunken dark heavy bags underneath his bloodshot red eyes and lack of appetite were some of the visible telltale signs that he was not the same man as before.
Smokin' Bomb Hayato looked as if he had fallen from grace.
He was currently on his fifth cup of expresso since the caffeine did little to nothing for his attention span as it starts to wear off quicker than usual when he receives a notification for the guardians to convene in the conference room.
Hayato simply stares at the screen as his brain attempts to process the message until he hears a loud knock at his door.
"Let's go, Gokudera-san," Takeshi was suddenly speaking while presently standing in front of his doorway after removing his fist from against the surface of the wooden door.
The Tenth Storm Guardian loudly scoffed "You're not my mom," once he swiftly stood to his feet and almost stumbled against his stool and keeled over behind his desk.
"Not a single word about this baseball freak," Hayato irritably snaps after he eventually gains his composure, rounds the side of the desk and heads in the direction of the conference room.
The two finally arrived at their destination as the other guardians comfortably settled in their respective positions with Tsunayoshi at the head of the smaller table.
Green eyes were scanning the room checking to see if all of the guardians were present and accounted for: Ryohei was still dressed in his boxer out sans the headgear and gloves, Chrome quietly fiddled with her trident next to an astral projection of Rukudo Mukuro, Lambo occasionally spun around in his chair, Takeshi was clad in his work garb with his katana slung from his shoulders and surprisingly Hibari was noticeably camped out in the corner furthest away from the crowd.
It was indeed a rare occasion for all of the Decimo guardians to be present in this one room but it was only one man even capable of this feat and his name is the Vongola Decimo Sawada Tsunayoshi.
The brunette discernably clears his throat and politely greets each one of them with a "Good afternoon, everyone,"
"Last week, I was phoned by the Ricotta Famiglia boss…" He immediately starts their meeting once the pleasantries were done between the other guardians.
"He wanted to strike a deal so that Miura Haru is back in their possession." The Decimo relays the Ricotta's intention from their phone call.
"Boss, he'll…" "We only agreed to a sit-down. I have no intention of surrendering Miura-san over to them." He was thoroughly explaining after dropping his hand from Hayato's direction.
"Nevertheless, a man with pride along with a son who has a larger than life ego does make for some terrible company. So we need to be prepared for any and everything within these next two months." The boss firmly declares with a stern expression present on his face as he addresses his subordinates.
"Hibari will facilitate that meeting on a later date but in other news as of 10:35 am this morning Mira Haru is up and conscious." Tsuna finally revealed as a small smile stretched across his face at the good news.
'That stupid woman is…awake,' Hayato shockingly surmised once they were dismissed from their duties after they completed their check-ins on their areas under their protection.
"Are you on your way?" Takeshi mysteriously hints once he easily catches up to his friend's stride. Hayato remained silent too busy lost in his thoughts that he did not realize he had arrived at his destination.
'Behind these doors would be a wise-cracking, talking in third-person brunette known as Miura Haru,'
Takeshi was easily sensing his initial hesitation before gathering up the strength to push doors open and entering inside of their family's medical bay.
They soon were observing a doctor dutifully conducting a physical examination since he was checking her lungs, throat, eyes, and reactions to external stimuli while the nurse was jotting down her temperature, blood pressure, and weight.
"So Tsuna-san finally spilled the beans to you guys." Bianchi's voice unexpectedly came from behind them.
"I would've hoped he held out long enough for her until we were able to be situated in her room." She was casually mentioning before physically pushing past the two men blocking her way and approaching the brunette.
The two men merely watched as the violet-haired woman cordially interacted with both the doctor and the brunette woman, who sat on the metallic examination table. Yet, something seemed a bit odd about their exchange with each other but Hayato could not directly place his finger on it.
The doctor dismissed himself with a slight bow at the waist once the nurse was rolling a wheelchair to the side of the examination table and pressing the black grips to lock and prevent it from rolling away from them.
The duo then physically aided her into the wheelchair as Bianchi politely bid another thank you to the doctor and nurse for their quick response and their service to help their family.
She was slowly rolling Haru over towards Hayato and Takeshi before noticing the male tensing up at the sight of the woman coming closer and closer to him.
"The doctor says she will make a full recovery but rehabilitation will be quite the molehill for her." Bianchi relays the first part of the doctor's message, which immediately earns a small smile from Takeshi.
However, Hayato blankly stared at the brunette who merely mimic his actions.
"Her throat is a bit hoarse so it'll be a while before she can speak." She finally concluded the diagnosis based on the doctor's examination when Haru physically gestured for Hayato to come closer to her.
She gradually lifts her arms until she gently places her hands on the sides of his face as he slightly shivers from the slight cold touch that radiates from her fingertips. Her thumbs tenderly outline the sunken dark heavy bags and note the bloodshot color of his eyes, which causes a frown before she tugs his cheeks outward until he hisses, "Stop stupid woman,"
The silver-haired male suddenly felt a soft blow to his head from his sister as silence befell them when he realized he unconsciously addressed her as 'stupid woman'.
Haru soon smiles at his reaction before she releases his now redden cheeks.
"Remember what I told you Hayato," Bianchi forewarns him with a deadly glint in her eyes while the brunette remains blissfully unaware of the silent exchange between the half-siblings.
A "what" emits from Hayato's lip once he cuts his eyes over at Takeshi, who merely shakes his head, settles his interlace hands at the nape of his neck and loudly whistles on his way out.
The 10th Storm Guardian discernibly growls under his breath as he feels a dull pain emits from his cheek before he huffs, "You win, aho,"
[Ricotta]
Katsumi was closely watching an angry Yui furiously stabbing away at a human-sized cushion doll that lifelessly hung on a metallic post with the razor-sharp epee.
'To think, he still remembers his fencing lessons from his younger days,' The blonde startlingly thinks as he observes the future boss effortlessly deals a blow to the middle of the dummy's forehead.
Yui abruptly tossed the epee aside as if repulsed by the feel of the sword's weight in his hand.
"Katsumi!" The silver-haired male piercingly shouts to the top of his lungs. "I know you're there damn it!"
"Yes," He immediately heeds the summons only to see his master heavily heave short breaths with a crazed glint in his eyes.
"Have two girls from the Geisha House prepared to accompany me." The young man instantly demanded, which was met with "Are you sure you want to do this? What about…"
"Don't ever fucking question my orders," He snaps as he roughly grabs the collar of the blonde male and spats, "Do as I say or you'll lose that head of yours."
The future Ricotta boss releases the blonde, who merely adjusts his collar and glasses before he heads out to complete the task that was assigned to him.
"I will have spring at my side and the head of that idiot Storm Guardian on a silver plate!" Yui vowed through gritted teeth.
0000
bel fiore - beautiful flower in Italian
