The sound of a key turning to unlock the age old lock was capturing the brunette's ears as her body was wearily perking up at the sound.
"Miura-san, you've been released on grounds of an important appointment." Katsumi's voice rings in her ears once her sights focus in on her freer.
'Kyoko-chan,' She instantly assumed that it was the orange haired woman, who unknowingly saved her from the Ricotta Famiglia hell hole.
"We don't have all day to get you ready for tomorrow so I would advise you to cooperate." The blonde sternly demands once he closes the heavy bars behind her.
'Haru can't wait to hang out with Kyoko again.' Haru excitingly awaits until the sight of Kyoko's silver haired escort pops to her mind. 'Haru hope the wet blanket's not coming too.'
An "ahem" emits from her guide, which swiftly breaks her out of her thoughts about tomorrow.
In a rare show of politeness to a family member, she offers a sincere apology for her behavior.
Meanwhile…
Hayato lifts an index finger underneath his nostrils to prevent a sneeze while he refocuses on the fancy script on the glossy menu.
"How'd you even hear about this place?" He curiously poses to the woman across the way with reflexive glasses due to his trauma.
"A casual date suggested this place." Bianchi mysteriously answers before their waiter arrive to take their orders.
She then stares at her little brother's face when she inquistively queries, "So have you started to get out a bit more?"
"If by getting out you mean dating…I don't have time for that." The silver haired male grumbled with a slight roll of his eyes at the topic of their conversation.
The violet haired woman audibly sights at the vision when she teasingly quips, "And here I thought I'd have a pretty niece or handsome nephew to spoil by now."
The Mafioso emits a "humph" and leans against the body of the chair and easily counters, "If anything I should make the demand from you."
"I wouldn't be able to properly raise them as I wanted too. Not to mention, they'll hardly ever see me for long periods of times." She elucidates in a somber tone while she tilts her cheek against the palm of her hand.
"I see." The young man uttered since her job often required extended hours and far off locations.
"I can't make any promises but I can try." The silver haired male partially cedes to the request of his half-sister.
The sibling duo delighted in the cuisine along with mild conversation about what they have been doing these past few months.
The next day…
"Did Gokudera-san inform you about the situation at hand?" Kyoko inquisitively wonders once she clicks the seatbelt safely across her chest.
"More or less…he probably thought I wasn't listening though." The brunette honestly regarded about his behavior during his chat with his fellow guardian.
The orange haired woman turned to reassure her friend, "I'm more than certain he thoroughly explained everything."
The Rain Guardian merely nods his head right before they depart from the Vongola's headquarters.
[RICOTTA FAMIGLIA]
"Did you get all of that Miura-san?" Katsumi gives the third degree as he faces the brunette, who appears attentive. Yet, on a closer inspection, she was blissfully unaware of the conversation at hand.
A sigh along with a mutter of "typical" slips form his mouth.
The blonde simply overlooks her ignorance, just for today, before he finally sends her on her way.
"So...Miura-san is already reserved for the day?" A feminine voice nosily asks while he adjusts his glasses before he greets Yui's mother.
"You're up mighty early."
A smirk materializes on her face when she dutifully recites, "The early bird catches the worm."
"Speaking of worms, does Yui know about his precious Spring leaving the grounds without his permission?" She enquiringly needles as she waits for the young man's response.
A "huff" emits from him before he chides, "That's a bit hypocritical coming from a former madam, especially of this famiglia's reputation."
"She's just like every girl here with a substantial amount of debt owed to the famiglia that is going to be paid off, regardless of any affiliations with family members." Katsumi dutifully spiels as a reminder that Miura was just like any other girl in the Geisha House.
"I see you've grown some balls since my absence if you have the nerve to scold me as if I was an impish child." Riko calmly lips as she narrows her sights in on the blonde male.
However, a smile stretches across her face before she genuinely compliments him, "Yet, well spoke like a handler's boss."
"I did learn from the best." The blonde affirms after he peers over his shoulder at the older woman.
'And I'll make sure to get you back for that you, cheeky brat.'
Realization soon dawned upon her, as her smirk morphs to a toothy grin at the recollection of their conversation.
[VONGOLA HQ]
"How are the schematics I sent earlier holding up?" Hayato directs to the head of all Vongola developed weaponry.
The round man merely rotates to face him with a response, "Spanner's been on it ever since you brought the files over."
His green eyes scope out the area before he wonders aloud about his box weapon, "How's Uri holding up?"
"You might need this." Giovanni honestly suggests to him as he hands him a welder's mask from his desk.
"That bad, huh?" The silver haired male mutters, which earns a stern nod from the inventor.
The Mafioso audibly chuckles, slides the mask over his face when he inwardly ruminates, 'I probably should've went with Sasagawa-san and that stupid woman.'
Giovanni mentally counts down from five before he rotates toward the door. Sure enough, the Storm Leopard deliberately greeted its master with a face full of claws.
He could make out an annoyed shriek that clearly emitted from the 10th Storm Guardian.
'Told him s,' The mechanic mentally declares with a shrug of his shoulders before his focus returns to the project in front of him.
[A local bakery shop]
"Ah, Haru-chan!" Kyoko immediately calls out to the brunette once she, along with her escort, finally enters inside of the shop.
She was modestly dressed in a navy blue mid-thigh dress with spaghetti straps, a long sleeve black crew neck shirt and strappy ankle length leather black Gladiator sandals. A thin navy blue headband sits on top of her head.
Her eyes widen at the sight of the orange haired woman in a mustard yellow dress with a thin orange belt around her waist with a knitted cardigan to keep her arms warm.
"Kyoko-chan!" The brunette was eagerly greeting her friend with an embrace when something out of the ordinary was presciently nagging at her thoughts.
Chocolate brown orbs stealthily sweep the bakery as well as the other patrons when she curiously poses, "Uhm…where's your escort?"
It took a few seconds for the Vongola woman to process the question before she clarifies, "Oh, you mean Gokudera-san?"
"He was assigned to another mission so..." She eventually reveals the location of the silver haired male, which earns, "Bakadera isn't here. Good."
"Bakadera?" A masculine voice suddenly captures their attention when a tall lanky raven haired male with a scar on his chin and brown eyes graces her line of vision.
He then hands Kyoko a slip of paper when he merrily verbalizes, "And I thought Lambo was the only one to call him that."
"Haru…this is Yamamoto, Takeshi," The orange haired woman cordially introduces her escort to her friend, who seems deep in thought.
Her facial expression shifts from serene to awe once she finally comes out with "No way!".
"You're like the top Japanese baseball player to go pro." She astonishingly voices as she points an index finger in his direction.
He simply brings one of his hands to the nape of his neck, tilts his head, chuckles briefly and confesses, "Well yeah,"
"Our boss used to watch you on T.V. a lot! You are a must known topic amongst our customers." The brunette revealed to the pair exactly where she heard his name from.
'Customers?' He repeats that one word as he inwardly ponders about her potential job occupation, but instead he voices, "I see."
The group eventually ventured over to their assigned table where a few menus await for them to read.
"So...which slice of cake would you like Haru?" Kyoko curiously inquiries about what specific flavor did she want to eat.
A dark cloud suddenly hangs over her date's hand when she solemnly expressed, "Haru doesn't have any money."
"You don't have to worry about that…it's my treat." The orange haired woman speaks up as she waves off the idea of Haru being without proper funds.
The slightly taller of the two picks her head up and instantly comments, "Haru couldn't accept" as her facial expression remains stoic.
Takeshi merely smirks, leans forward with his hand on the side of his mouth in order to discernably whisper, "It may not seem like it but she has a pretty stubborn streak too."
"If you say so…" Haru eventually cedes to the offer before she scoops up the plastic and scans her options until her eyes land on one.
"Haru wants this one." She announces to her date while she rotates it to point at the bold print on the menu.
"Chocolate Cake," The two read all while the brunette eagerly nods her head before she further expounds, "Haru loves sweets but chocolate is her favorite!"
'Are those bruises from shackles?' He inwardly contemplates since she extends her arms out further than the length of the cloth and slightly exposes her wrists.
"Uhm, excuse me Yamamoto-san," Haru nervously comes out with before he politely corrects her with, "Takeshi-san is fine."
"Takeshi-san," She unknowingly stammered over his name since it was rare for her to communicate with the opposite sex due to Yui's overprotectiveness.
The brunette male acknowledges her with a nod and a "yes" prior to her request, "Could you pass Haru that platter over there?"
Takeshi hands her the small dish when her sleeves recedes even further to reveal fresh bruises that were dark red. 'Those look…fresh.'
As he motioned to point out the marks, he caught a glimpse of Kyoko who slyly shook her head "no".
Heeding to the wishes of the woman, he falls back to his inner thoughts.
An hour later…
The two friends were rudely interrupted by Haru's guard, who sternly announced, "Times up. Let's go."
"One second, please?" Kyoko to some extent pleads for a few more seconds as she signals for a maid to approach them.
"Here you go Haru." She then hands over a to-go slice of Chocolate Cake when she notices that tears begin to well in her eyes at the kind gesture.
"Thank you, Kyoko-chan," Haru cordially thanks her friend once she finds her voice after she stifles a couple of sniffles.
The orange haired woman shakes her head, grabs her hand to place on top of the carry out and sincerely remarks, "No, thank you. Besides, you deserve it."
Takeshi shows he is in agreement with a "mhm," along with a small smile across his face.
She nods her head while she fights back the tears to mention, "Haru thinks you're much nicer than the other man, Takeshi-san."
"It was nice to meet you too Haru-san." The raven haired male politely conveys with a bow at the waist right before the woman exits from the shop.
Brown eyes divert from the glass door to his boss' wife when he inquisitively needles, "Did you know about those bruises?"
"Unfortunately, yes," She gravely confirms that she is knowledgeable about the abrasions that presently decorate her body.
In a rare show of anger, he irately jaws, "Those were fresh! And it looked like she was tightly shackled too."
"Is that the reason why Gokudera-san said "I'll be sick to my stomach once I see it for myself."?" Takeshi vividly recalled that one line from his conversation with his fellow guardian.
The orange haired woman could only nod her head as she pays for the tab.
"There are some sick bastards in the Ricotta Famiglia." He ultimately surmises about the people in that particular family.
[RICOTTA FAMIGLIA GROUNDS]
A knock went unheard as Yui scribbled his signature on a piece of parchment when the door pushes forward and a head peaks through the crack.
"Hard at work or hardly working?" A familiar feminine voice unexpectedly breaks him out of his concentration when he casts his sights toward the door.
"Mom? Where's you escort?" He inquisitively questioned since she was presently in his private study unoccupied by her attendant.
The woman physically waves off the questions before she boldly declares, "Oh puh-lease, I come and go as I please."
She then took note at the amount of paperwork currently on his desk when she posed, "Am I interrupting?"
"Why would you think that?" The silver haired male confusingly retorts once he stands to his feet to properly converse with his mother.
The older woman peered around the study again only to make known, "I thought…Spring was here since she wasn't in the dungeon."
"Wait, what?!" Yui startlingly screeches at the news, which prompts her to fill him in on the details. "The sentry said she was requested by someone so I assumed that she was here."
"So they took Spring from the grounds?" He was giving her the third degree since no one was informing him about Spring's departure.
Riko inwardly shakes her head at how dense her son has become under her husband's care, "How else do you think I broke away from my escort, Katsumi?"
"He was with her once the guard brought her to him this afternoon." She stated the obvious to her rather ignorant child.
"How long have you been working?" The silver haired woman curiously probes once she beholds two stacks of papers and a few across the surface of the desk. "Since this morning,"
"But...are you always this busy though?" She further queries in order for him to connect the last few dots together about Spring's specific time of departure.
He briefly ponders about the answer before he provides a response, "Only on certain days…"
"When Spring is gone, right?" The older of the two deliberately hints at the actual reason behind his abrupt busy days.
The young man tightly clenches his fists until they shake as he furiously hisses, "That old prick!"
"Listen," His mother's voice captures his attention so she can offer up a suggestion, "the next time you have a load like this, I'll help so you can personally escort Spring and stay abreast of her whereabouts."
"Like they say…mother knows best." Riko coyly recites.