Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or stuff.

word count: 4681

"We'd have to wait for the summer holidays, 'mitsu," Nana said, switching the phone from one ear to the other.

"Send me the dates and I'll plan everything," Her husband's sleepy voice made Nana's heartache for him.

Was he sleeping well? Was he working too much? Was he eating healthy?

"I'll ask the kids for the school schedule," she turned to look at the fridge, seeing the school calendar for her youngest three, but not seeing one for her twins.

Idly she wondered if they were trying to hide something.

No doubt it was Tsuna.

"Good, how have they been?"

Nana smiled, leaning back against the counter, fingering curling around the cord of the phone, "They're getting better, Tsuna talks to me more than Tsume though," she admitted. "I feel like I'm being outgrown."

"Nonsense, she'll never outgrow you, neither of our kids will," Iemitsu said, wishing he could be there with Nana. "Don't worry too much honey, that's just her nature."

"A nature she got from someone I know."

"Honestly, Tomiko-baasan would have loved the kid," Iemitsu sighed. "If it's anything, I apologize for whatever influence my genes had on them."

"Oh you," Nana shook her head, an airy laugh leaving her. "It's nothing new, y'know? But after this whole fiasco, I just want to know more so I can have some peace of mind."

"I know, I know, you're not the only one that feels that way," he admitted. There was a sound in the background, someone calling out to Iemitsu who groaned, "Che cosa? Nana, honey, I'm sorry to cut this short –"

"I understand," she hummed, releasing the cord from around her finger. "I love you...be careful, okay?"

"I love you too, take care and bother the kids for me, yeah?"

"I'll try."

"Until next time, Nana."

Nana waited for him to hang up, putting the phone back on the receiver when the call ended. She pursed her lips, arms crossed against her chest as she stared off into space, lost in her thoughts. It was the front door opening that brought her out of them and she poked her head out of the kitchen to see who it was.

"Ah, welcome home you three!" She greeted the three kids.

"Auntie! Look! Look," Lambo sped towards her after kicking off his shoes, a piece of paper in his hands that he held out to her. "I got it all right!"

There was a bright red stamp of a giraffe holding up a 'good job' sign. Nana knelt down, reaching out to ruffle Lambo's hair, "Good job Lambo-kun!"

"I-pin too!"

"Oh my! Look at you two doing so well," Nana smiled as she straightened up, both of their assignments in her hand. "How about we put this up on the fridge?"

"Yeah!"

She handed back the assignments, gesturing for them to go do so, before turning to Fuuta, "How was your day Fuuta-kun?"

The sandy haired boy shrugged, holding his backpack in his arms, "It was okay."

"Ah? Just okay?"

The boy nodded his head, "Auntie, can you help me with my homework later?"

"Of course," there was a cry behind her, which had Nana straightening up. "Come find me when you're ready."

"Thank you," and he trudged on upstairs. "Oh hey Emi."

Mew.

Nana shook her head as she turned around and headed into the kitchen. Her hands wereon her hips as she gave Lambo a look, who was trying to pull I-pin's paper away from where she stuck it, "What did I say about fighting over things?"

"No fighting, more sharing," the two responded, their answer having Nana nod.

"Now it's definitely possible for this one magnet," she held out her hand so they could hand her the fox shaped magnet, "To hold these two papers."

"But –"

"Stop Lambo –"

Nana stuck the papers on the fridge, "There, what's there to fight over now?"

Lambo squinted, "I-pin's has more of the magnet on her side."

Oh geez, really?

"Lambo…."

"It's okay! Lambo can share with I-pin!" Here the boy put both of his hand behind his head, a wide, cheery smile and giggle that meant he was up to something.

Nana refrained from snorting and putting her face in her hands.

"Go wash up you two." She waited until they were gone before sighing, "Gods, those kids." Nana reached out to fix the magnet, so that it was more even. Her eyes crinkled as she smiled, shaking her head, "Got to love them though."

/ | \

"Reborn how do you know so much about sewing?"

Tsuna stopped in the middle of threading his needle to squint at Takeshi, a smidge of I'm-judging-you in his eyes, "If it were possible to raid Reborn's closet, I would show you how he knows so much – ow!" Tsuna set down his things, stabbing the needle he was using into the eggplant cushion he had taken from his mother's sewing box. "I stabbed myself again, I give up."

"You didn't give up after dying twenty times on that level of your video game," Reborn brought up, flicking through the crossword book that Nana had left on the coffee table. He paused on a half finished one, debating with himself if he should finish it, before side eying Tsuna who was now glaring at his apron, "You can't give up after pricking yourself three times."

"I am delicate," Tsuna muttered, "My thumb can only take so much abuse."

Takeshi paused, making a face that wrinkled his nose and forehead, "Don't you set your hands on fire?"

"One: you're not helping and Two: I wear leather gloves."

"The one I expected to complain the most is almost done," Reborn set the crossword book down, pointing at Hayato who had put on his glasses, inspecting the red trim he had pinned around the black fabric of his apron.

"An old lady showed me," Hayato idly said, setting down the fabric. He pushed his glasses up on top of his head so he could rub his eyes, "Came in handy when I needed to fix my clothes after I fucked them up."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes, thinking if he should question Hayato if this was after he left his family or not. It probably was, he wasn't going to ask.

As much as he had gotten better about being open with what he was thinking or feeling, Hayato didn't really like talking about his past.

Which was understandable.

"Hayato can you do mine?"

"Sure I don't mind."

"No," Reborn piped up, Leon scurrying up his arm and transforming in his hand into a fly swatter. He lightly smacked Tsuna over the head with it, earning a dramatic cry from the brunet, "You want to cry, I'll make you cry."

The front door opened, "Who are we making cry?" Natsume asked tiredly, before yawning out a greeting to them.

"Your brother."

Natsume didn't bother looking over at them, heading straight to the kitchen as she hummed in acknowledgment. Tsuna pouted at his sister's reaction, only to be smacked again, this time a little bit harder by Reborn, "Get back to work, you're almost done."

"But the ruffles Reborn," Tsuna whined as he resumed forming them, pinching the fabric together, grabbing a pin and sticking it in place. "I don't like this."

Something fell in the kitchen, Natsume cursed, "Hey Tsuna who put the dishes away today?"

Tsuna decided to focus on making the ribbons, watching Hayato as he began to use the sewing machine Reborn had brought earlier to finish his apron.

"Tsuna? Did you hear me?" Natsume poked her head out from the kitchen, brow slightly furrowed and looking annoyed.

Her usual face.

"Uh, it was probably Fuuta again."

She clicked her tongue, head shaking making the lopsided bun on her head move back and forth, "That kid, I told him the cups don't go there cause they always fall out like that."

"He's out with mam, I'll tell him when he gets back."

Natsume squinted her eyes at him, before shrugging and resuming whatever she had been doing.

"Weren't you putting the dishes away when I got here?" Hayato asked quietly, pausing briefly on the machine to check that he was lining it up well.

"Shhh," Tsuna shushed, resuming his threading only wince as he pricked his finger again. "Dammit."

Part 90: Calm tides

"I still think you should have worn a dress," Natsume said, standing far enough away so that Tsuna wouldn't be able to smack her.

"No," Tsuna uttered as he tied the apron he had made around his waist. "The other guys aren't even wearing aprons, why do I have to wear this?" Tsuna could see himself pout in the mirror, could see Natsume's smirk from where she stood by the doorway.

"It's cute though, makes you stand out," she commented, moving forward to stand beside him, uncrossing her arms so she could tug at the material. "Did you stitch those fishes?" she asked, rubbing her thumb over the orange outline of the fish on the bottom part of the apron.

"I asked mam if she could do that," Tsuna answered. "She asked who it was for."

"Oh ho~" Natsume started laughing, before biting down on her lower lip to stop herself when Tsuna bumped her with his hip. "Careful, I'm fragile."

"You're bigger than me, how the hell are you fragile?"

"You calling me fat?"

Tsuna rolled his eyes, a groan leaving him though it was muffled as he covered his face,

"Whatever, the point is I didn't want mama to go to the café, cause she's going to take pictures and send them back to the family and they're going to be annoying."

"Ah, so you're the one who threw out the school calendar."

Tsuna turned to look at his sister, who stared back. Natsume rolled in her lips, both brows raising, a questioning glare aimed at Tsuna, "What?"

"Did mom ask you?"

"Yaah," she drawled out, crossing her arms against her chest.

"You told her."

She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, the look she gave him asking him 'what are you gonna about it?'

"Tsume no," was all that left Tsuna as he hung his head.

He felt her hand on his head, ruffling his hair before settling on the back of his neck, "You'll be fine."

"Will I?"

She hummed, pulling him out of the room and then against her side, "Yeah you will, now look up and say mocha~"

"Why would I say mocha?"

There was a flash as Tsuna looked up at his sister, who was sticking her tongue out. He looked at who she was making the face for and his mother wiggled her fingers at him, a cheery grin on her face, "You look so handsome Tsu-kun."

"I look dorky," Tsuna unhooking the brown bow tie around his neck, attempting to walk away only for Natsume to wrap her arm around his shoulder and keep him there. "Natsume."

"Tsunayoshi."

"My children," Nana stepped forward, reaching up to run her hand through Tsuna's bangs, while giving Natsume that look. Natsume hold on him loosened, but the knowing grin on his sister's face didn't go away, "For me, please? A picture together?"

Tsuna sighed as his mother turned around, her head tilting to the side as she held up the camera and started counting down. He gave the camera a half hearted smile and his attempt earned him a quiet 'thank you' from his mother.

"Okay, time to go," Natsume looped her arm with his, waving at their mother. "I'll see you there, mam."

"I'll see you~"

They both put their shoes on and Tsuna almost got ahead of Natsume. She caught up to him quickly, her hands tucked into the pockets of her hoodie, "Did you think you could get away from me?"

No, but he could try.

He didn't say that though, instead he said, "You can be so annoying sometimes."

"Just doing what I do best, Tuna-fish~"

/ | \

"Oh Haru-chan, you're here?"

Haru perked up at hearing Nana's voice, turning around to greet the woman, "Sawada-san! Good afternoon, you look so pretty."

Nana's smiled widened, placing one hand on top of her wide brimmed straw hat, while the other smoothed over her front, bringing Haru's attention to the sunflower patterned sash that wrapped around her waist, "So sweet, Haru-chan, you look very cute."

Haru inclined her head, feeling her cheeks burn when Nana leaned in, a teasing glint in her eye, "The boys look very handsome today, ne?"

"Ha - ah," she had caught a glimpse of her friends and a few of their classmates and they had looked nice. What she had liked were the aprons Tsuna, Hayato and Takeshi had worn, though she hadn't gotten a chance to ask them about it. "Everyone looks good today."

"Ara, yes, they do," Nana hummed, a slight sigh leaving her when she heard a yell of her name. She waved at Natsume who had left the house in shorts and a hoodie and seemed not at all inclined to change.

Natsume didn't come up to them, but she also called out Haru's name, who waved back. Someone else got Natsume's attention, wearing similar attire and the two took off towards the gym.

"Would you like to share a table with me Haru-chan?" Nana asked as they both made their way inside the gate. Haru nodded, not at all minding spending some time with the older woman.

"Haru," she scrunched up her face as she accidentally slipped into third person. "I mean, I," she exhaled, "I actually have been wanting to ask you something."

"Of course."

The two paused before a sign that listed the class activities and where they could go to participate. Nana pointed out the chocolate station that class 2A was having would be nice to stop by afterwards, "Oh and they're also doing special candy grams, how sweet~"

They entered the school building after that, stopping by one of the tables set up to buy tickets for the booths.

They then made their way up towards the cafe, the distant chatter and at times shriek of laughter a welcome background sound. Oddly enough it soothed Haru's nerves, "How did you do it Sawada-san?"

"Ara?" Nana tilted her head to the side, lips pursing slightly as she wondered what she did it.

"When you found out…" Haru trailed off when a group of four walked by them. Nana smiled at the teens, who all greeted them before rushing into the nearest classroom. "...about the ma -"

"Ah," Nana interrupted her before she could finish, stopping before a staircase, a thoughtful look crossing her features. "I only found out a few months ago."

"Really?"

Nana nodded, moving onto the first step and pausing on the second one as she held out her hand to Haru, "It's okay to feel the way you do, Haru-chan, whatever you feel is right."

Haru looked at Nana's hand then up at the sweet smile Nana gave her, her brown eyes crinkled at the corners, complete understanding in her gaze. She gently took her hand, Nana tugging her up the steps, "Haru feels alot better than a few weeks ago, but it still," she made an exploding gesture with her hand, "Pops up."

"Well Haru-chan, if you ever feel like it becomes too much, you know you can always come talk to me," Nana's voice was gentle, her hand moving to Haru's shoulder and giving her a comforting squeeze.

"Also," Nana spoke up as an afterthought as they reached the second floor, her kind smile turned sharp when she waved at the two boys standing outside the classroom they were heading too. "Don't be afraid to ask Bianchi or I anything, I may not look like much," and here Nana flexed her arm, "But I can handle~"

"Hiee"

Haru was a bit dazzled, seeing Tsuna quickly change his act to the host he was supposed to be. She had always wondered where Natsume had gotten her smile from, always assuming it was probably from their dad.

"Table for two please," Nana chirped, a crooked grin aimed at her son, who nodded his head, smile faltering as he caught the look on her face.

"Y-yes, this way."

Tsuna didn't usually stutter, not like he used to at least. But when his mother looked as if she'd just won an argument with Uncle Reno and was about to get what she wanted, he only shared a brief look with Haru as they sat down.

Wide dark brown eyes stared back into warm chocolate ones, a nervous hahi leaving her.

Right.

"Ito-san will be right with you."

/ | \

Hana took a picture, catching Kyoko in the middle of giggling, Haru pouting, and Nana winking at the camera.

"Well you three, I'm going to wonder around and see if I can find Natsume," Nana made an odd move, but instead of hugging Haru and Kyoko, she merely rested a hand on each of their shoulders. "I'll see you three around, okay?"

She waved at Hana as she passed her, the dark haired girl murmuring goodbye. They watched as Nana headed downstairs, before turning to each other again, Hana snapping another picture, "Brilliant, I'll name it 'caught in the moment'."

Haru stuck her tongue out at Hana, who smirked as she showed her the picture, "Oh it's not bad."

"I'm one of the designated photographers for today for a reason," Hana stated as she clicked on the back arrow. "I think I outdid myself though, I really made those idiots look good."

Kyoko clicked her tongue at the way Hana addressed the boys, "I'm not wrong." Who was Kyoko to say when Hana was in the wrong?

"Can Haru help take pictures?" Haru asked, blinking innocently at Hana.

"I mean," Hana started, biting the inside of her cheek. "You can, but you can't."

"…..so."

"Hmph," Hana rolled her eyes as she handed the camera to Haru. "Just know I'm going to be right behind you, because I don't want to be responsible for whatever happens to that camera."

Haru only smiled back, bringing the camera up to her eye and snapping a picture of Hana. She pulled it away, looking over at the image that appeared on the small screen – Hana in the middle of her sentence, one arm crossed against her chest, while the other was held upright, pointer finger pointing in her direction.

The bright sunlight made it seem like Hana was some sort of angel, bringing down her annoyance on whoever was in front of her.

"Wow, Hana-chan is so pretty, don't you think?"

"Oh yes~"

Watching Hana's cheeks flush pink made them giggle and Haru pulled back just out of Hana's reach when she tried to snatch the camera back, "Hey!"

"Relax Hana-chan!" Kyoko walked after her friends, hands clasped behind her back as she watched her friend's start a game of chase. "It's all in good fun."

"They're so lucky Hibari-senpai isn't here anymore," Kyoko sighed as they turned the corner.

/ | \

"Hello~"

Takeshi flinched at Natsume's voice and at the way she dug her fingers into his side. That earned her an elbow to her upper stomach, a wheeze leaving her as Takeshi cursed. He put a hand on her back, rolling his eyes when he heard her chuckling, "Pointy ass elbow you got there."

"Shut up," he patted her back two more times, before she batted his arm away. "You okay?"

"I've had worse," she said as she cleared her throat, pulling the sleeve of her hoodie over her hand so could cover the lower half of her face. He stepped away when her other hand reached out to tug at the apron around his waist, "Is that a piggy?"

"It's a puppy," he sighed, hand smoothing down over the not so good outline of Jirou. Hayato had had to help him fix it, but a lot of the girls still thought it was cute, had even asked if he would join one of home ecs club sessions.

The giggles they had erupted into as well as the way they looked at him had made him slightly uncomfortable, so he had tricked Hayato into switching with him whenever girls like that came around.

"Ino-chan," Natsume managed, bringing her hand down. She was biting down on her lower lip to keep from laughing aloud. "It's cute, Takeshi."

"You think so?"

Her nose scrunched up as she gave him an unimpressed look, head tilting to the side as she placed the hand that had been covering her face on her hip, "I wouldn't say it, if it wasn't."

"Mm, right." He then gestured to the classroom, which compared to earlier was a lot quiet and calmer, "Would you like to check out the cafe?"

"I would love to after hearing about it all day," and she walked in, laughing as she spooked one of the other third years. "Didn't know you got scared easily, Deki-san."

"It's Daiki, Sawada, Ito Daiki," the dark haired baseball player corrected her sounding exasperated.

She smiled, appearing unbothered by his tone and he stared back as he pointed to an open seat by the window, "Someone will bring you a menu."

"Such a gentleman," she hummed as she moved to her seat all the while Takeshi watched the interaction with confusion.

"You two have met?"

Ito squinted his eyes staring up at Takeshi, "Regretfully, go take care of her, she's on your side Yamamoto."

"She's not that bad, Sawada is an angel compared to elementary school," one of the boys that was sitting in the back and eating a pastry said. Ito scoffed and Takeshi watched as he made himself busy by counting out what he had sold that day.

While the others playfully jeered at Ito, who expertly ignored them all, Takeshi took a menu to Natsume, who was staring out the window. The humor from earlier was gone, her face completely relaxed as her eyes looked over the moving figures below.

She looked like her older self in that moment.

Natsume held out her hand for the menu and he placed it there, her eyes moving to it and looking it over, "Oh~ I'll get the iced mango black tea."

"Hey can I -"

"I heard," Hayato cut him off, voice gruff as if he's had his quota of people for the day.

He probably had, that and Haru and her mother were there earlier, who knows what Haru said to ruffle him up.

Natsume held out the menu to him, one corner of her mouth quirking up, "Y'know I've never been to a maid cafe before, but this doesn't seem like the right attitude for it."

"Give us a break," Takeshi sighed, a hand coming up to rub the back of his neck, stepping aside so Hayato could set her drink down on the table. "We've been busy and we're tired."

Hayato put a hand on the back of Natsume's neck, lightly jostling her. She snickered and decided to try her drink instead of continuing to nitpick. "Oh~" she smacked her lips slightly, "That's good." She shrugged off Hayato's hand as she stood up, reaching into the front pocket of her hoodie and pulling out a wad of tickets, "You guys can have the rest of these."

She put it in Takeshi's hands, before ruffling Hayato's hair and once again poking Takeshi and taking her leave.

"Adios amigos~"

"Sometimes," Hayato started after she left, not bothering to fix his hair as he glared at the mess of tickets that was in Takeshi's hands. "I want to punch her."

"Oh yeah?" Takeshi hummed, beginning to try and unfurl the wad in his hand.

"Alright! Let's clear up and leave it set for tomorrow," Tsuna's voice startled the group in the corner, while Takeshi and Hayato just started doing what they had been prior to Natsume's appearance.

There were a bunch of groans, but no one complained. Chairs squeaked across the floor as some got up and others started moving things around, so that everything would be in place for tomorrow.

/ | \

The festival went on and ended on a good note.

It was without a doubt that the ones that collected the most tickets was the third year class. Even though not all the third years committed to the the maid cafe, the stalls that some of the third year girls set up to give out special charms or snacks only boosted the amount of tickets.

Last minute trinkets were being handed out as everything was being taken down and put away.

"For Sawada," came the soft voice of a short teen, who didn't meet her gaze.

"Oh, hey Hayashi can you get this?" Natsume called out to her teammate, who cooed at the cute little pouch the first year had.

"Oh a secret admirer Sawada~?"

Natsume shrugged as she took the light blue pouch from the teen, "Thanks...uh?"

She didn't get a name as the dark haired teen scurried off, "Alright then." She stuffed the pouch in her pocket, moving over to help Hayashi carry the table she had finished folding the legs too. They set it down on the cart nearby, stepping aside when someone else came by with another table.

"So what was it?"

"I didn't check yet."

Hayashi huffed, the hot air she puffed out blowing her bangs up, "Really? Someone is probably trying to do something romantic and you're putting it off?"

Natsume pulled the pouch out of her pocket, putting her finger through one of the loops, "Romantic? How is this romantic?"

Hayashi squinted at Natsume, "It's spring, during a festival….you know the perfect time for love to blossom?"

Natsume hummed as she finally opened the pouch, "Oh! If only I had a phone." She pulled out an eevee phone charm, the bell attached to it jingling, "And there's gummies, you want one?"

"Strawberry please."

There was a note inside as well, but she would read that later.

"Come on let's finish up," Natsume said as she popped in a peach flavored gummy.

Hayashi groaned, "Why do we have to do this?" Her hands were on her hips as she watched Natsume tilt another table and push in the legs. "I'm not meant for hardwork."

She then proceeded to do the same as Natsume. They eventually finished, calling over one of teacher'swho had been overseeing the tear down, "Nice work, you two can leave this here, maintenance should come by in a few minutes to put it away."

"Hai, see you tomorrow sensei!"

They grabbed their things, Natsume giving another strawberry gummy to Hayashi before they split ways. Without Hayashi there, she pulled out the note and unfolded the paper. A soft sound left her as she recognized the neat writing, lower lip jutting out as she read over her mother's kind words.

I hope you enjoy the gummies, I was able to pick out the flavors you liked. I just wanted to remind you how much I love you. Even though we only spent a short amount of time together at the festival, I was more than happy to watch you be with your friends. Remember, you are the best you can be.

Much love,

Your mother

[I have watched you grow

From a sapling to a sprout

May your roots take hold]

"She's really tryin' make me cry," Natsume mumbled, wiping at her eyes before she carefully folded the note and placed it back into the bag. She exhaled slowly, looking at the pouch that meant a lot more than when she first got it, "Mam really is the sweetest."

She wondered if she had sent similar items out to everyone else, it would explain why her mother hadn't been too bothered by her coming and going. If she was picking out stuff for everyone, she would have liked to keep it a secret until it was time to hand it out.

Now how to get her back?

AN:

Thanks to OneWhoReadsToMuch for letting me know about the error. Accidentally posted 34 again instead of 35 ;O

Sorry for the absence, I've had a lot of trouble. FFN logged me out for a while and I couldn't log in. If anyone has that trouble, I ended up downloading the app and I would reset my password from there. I sent an email about it and never heard anything back and it seems alot of people have been having issues. If this happens again, I probably won't update on here again.

I'll be on ao3 under the same name, Soruga0Bandgeek.

Anyways, hope yall enjoy.

PS. do you know how much i struggled with that haiku at the end? and the interaction with kyoko/hana/haru? I accidentally deleted what I had originally and I hadn't saved it previously (; ~ ;)