Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or stuff.

Word Count: 4628

The serve was up, the ball propped nice and high, just how she liked it.

Natsume exhaled heavily as she ran for it, one of the blockers from Midori middle tailing her. She breathed in deeply as she jumped when the ball reached its highest point, its descent coming fast and she met it with the gentlest of taps, the ball going over the blocker.

The libero dove for the ball, the ball hitting the back of their hand and unfortunately for them going out.

The ref blew the whistle, the point going to Namimori middle.

Natsume clapped her hands above her head, smiling widely at the way Hayashi came up to thump her on the back, "Nice one!"

"Geez, you're worse than I remember," the blocker from Midori commented, but giving her a thumbs up nonetheless. "I'm going to have to make my team work over time to compete against you in a few months."

Natsume winked, a sly smirk aimed at the player, "I'll look forward to that."

And enjoy wrecking it.

"Ladies gather around!" Harada called to them all, waiting for both teams to come up to him. "Very nice playing today! Since this is our last day of meeting this weekend, we're having a barbeque."

Midori's coach, a woman with hawk like eyes and greying hair spoke up, "Wash up and meet up outside the gym here. Clean up after yourselves and a reminder that Midori will be closed the first two weeks of summer, so if you leave anything behind you'll be stuck waiting for it."

The corner of her mouth quirked up, eyes closing in a way that reminded Natsume of a pleased Emi, "Other than that, like Coach Harada said, very nice playing today."

"You're all dismissed."

There was some cheering and clapping, both teams intermingling as they made their way to the locker rooms to clean up. Natsume waited a little, having a short conversation with the other teams outside hitter, "You've gotten taller since last year."

"You think so?" Natsume patted the top of her head, "I still feel short."

"You're the tallest one on your team," the girl with dark hair said, an amused look on her face. "Probably the second tallest here in this room right now."

"Eh, I guess."

They split up after that, the lockers they had chosen at different ends of the room. Natsume rounded the corner to where she put her things away, opening her locker and grabbing what she needed before heading to one of the private showers.

"Lucky asses," she had said the first time she had been in this locker room as she stepped into one of the free ones. She hung up her things and then got undressed, folding her dirty clothes and tucking them into the bag she had had her clean clothes.

As she attempted to undo her hair tie, the band snapped and while the tension in her head was eased, she was slightly annoyed now because she had handed her spare bands to her teammates.

It was her stomach grumbling that had her hurrying through her shower, skipping out on conditioning just for today. She stepped out of the shower only ten minutes later, hair wrapped up in a cotton t-shirt to keep it from soaking her shirt, wet flip flops making a loud sound as she headed back to her locker.

"We had the same idea eh?" Hayashi called to her, the short haired girl also wearing their teams track suit.

"They're so comfortable," Natsume said, not minding when Hayashi stopped to wait for her as she pulled out her gym bag, throwing all her things inside. The thought that she would organize her bag later ran through her head as she closed the locker.

"I know, I'm wondering why we didn't get them before," Hayashi said, tucking her hands into her pockets.

Natsume shrugged, "It might have to do with that anonymous donation Coach mentioned a few weeks ago."

Hayashi started heading out, "Well thank that person."

"Yeah, blessed they be."

/ | \

Kawahira sneezed.

"Bless you," Wonomichi called from the backroom as did the middle aged woman in the shop.

"Thank you."

He watched the woman pick up the glass figurines, noting the way her eyes lit up, "Look honey, do you think grandma will like it?"

"An angel!" the little kid with her said, putting his hands together. "Grandma likes angels."

The woman picked up the other one, carefully holding on to them as she looked around, before she came up to the counter. "You have such nice things here."

"Thank you," Kawahira said, noting down the figurines. He told her the total, the woman's brows raising in surprise at how cheap it was, though she didn't say anything. "Have a good day."

The mother-son pair left, the kid pointing out a stuffed animal that his mother promised they would come back for some other day. The bell above the door jingled at their departure and with it the lights went out, the open sign flipping to closed.

Kawahira turned to head to the back, stepping through the beaded entry way without a sound being made, "How comes the selection process Wonomichi?"

He watched as Wonomichi's shoulders rose up to his ears, the tension in them obvious, "I'm sure about two, but….well….there's a lot of prospective candidates in this generation."

A nervous chuckle left the young man as Kawahira grabbed one of the round crystal balls, a fire of light and dark blue incased within it, "Interesting."

Kawahira could pick up the power of Natsume's friend, along with the frenzied spirit of the swordsman from a year ago. (1)

"Pray tell how are they?"

Wonomichi exhaled, trying to relax his shoulders as he thought upon what he saw of the Varia group, "They were fighting against conforming, surprisingly enough it was after Natsume and her friends came back that they've stopped giving others a hard time."

"No surprise there," Kawahira said, setting down the ball and picking up the orange and gold one. "Interesting, you've narrowed it down to three sky?"

The young man nodded, hands clasped together, "Tsunayoshi, Iemitsu and Xanxus…Reborn's other student was not as strong as I would have thought he was."

"Of course not," Kawahira's eyes brightened in a way that had Wonomich on edge. "This tells me that you couldn't find him."

Wonomichi shook his head, "I did find Aria and her child, but she is weak and her daughter is a toddler."

"He'll show himself eventually, after all he has seen the future and experienced it himself enough times," Kawahira set the ball back, deciding to head to the kitchen and make himself some tea. "I wonder what steps he'll take in this one."

Part 91: Family Trips

Someone knocked on the front door and Tsuna who had been at the kitchen table helping I-pin with her homework got up to answer it.

And promptly shut it, though he didn't lock it.

"Hello to you too," Iemitsu said as he opened the door himself, seeming more amused than offended that his son had shut the door in his face.

I-pin shyly greeted the man, Lambo seemed to be judging him in his own way and giving him the stink eye, and Fuuta smiled, "Hi Uncle."

"Hello, hello, how are we all today?" Iemitsu asked, taking off his shoes and stepping into the slippers that he usually wore when he came home. They were warm, so he wouldn't doubt Nana had them drying out in the sun earlier.

"Auntie says we're going on a trip!" Lambo exclaimed, standing up in his chair even as Tsuna told him to not do that. Tsuna's mumbling of 'you're going to fall' was ignored as the now seven year old pointed at Iemitsu, "And you're taking us!"

"I am," Iemitsu answered, watching as Tsuna reached to grab the back of Lambo's shirt.

"Thank you," Tsuna said once he pulled Lambo to sit back down. "Don't stand up again, unless you're getting down." Lambo pouted up at Tsuna, who missed the look as he glared up at Iemitsu, "You're distracting us, can you go to your room?"

Talk about tough love, but he listened none the less, exhaustion making him let Tsuna have this round, "Of course, of course, if I don't come out in an hour assume I'm asleep."

"Uncle seems nice," Fuuta brought up after the door to Nana's room closed. The young boy didn't know if that was right to say, the tension in the room was still there. "….sorry, Tsuna-nii."

"No," Tsuna sighed, running his hands through his hair. He felt the stares of the two younger kids, giving them both a smile, "Your Uncle is nice, he just, uh, he sucks sometimes."

I-pin didn't exactly comprehend what Tsuna had said, but nodded nonetheless. She reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a grape flavored candy, holding it out to Tsuna, "It's okay now."

"Thanks I-pin, you don't have to though –"

"I'll take it –"

"Lambo no – "

"You said you didn't –"

"So it's hers to keep, not yours to take," Tsuna said, hand coming up to comb through his hair. He felt slightly stressed, if only because his dad was home now, Lambo had been acting up the last few days and the fact that the family trip was about to happen within a week.

Yeah he felt stressed.

He also shouldn't, because Reborn wasn't coming. Which was a surprise, but also a blessing? He did feel sorry for Dino, Reborn had mentioned visiting him in the three weeks they were gone.

He probably hadn't told Dino he was visiting either, which would mean for an interesting time for the young Don.

The front door opened again, Natsume greeting them all in a tired voice, "Yo everyone….eh…Papa's home?"

"He's in mam's room," Tsuna answered, getting up from his seat and stretching. "Do you think you can make sure they finish their practice sheets?"

Natsume looked at him, brows slightly furrowed as she dropped her gym bag, "No, I'm tired and I'm taking a nap." She walked up to the table, ruffling Fuuta's hair, "Not that I don't want to help you guys, but I'm sure I'll be less help than someone like Tsuna."

With that she headed towards the stairs, ignoring Tsuna's offended, what's that supposed to mean? "Just have them take a break Tsuna, geez, it's not like they can't finish it later anyways."

Nothing else had to be said as Lambo and I-pin both hoped off the chairs and ran after Natsume, "I wanna take a nap with ane!"

They could kind of hear the odd raspy sound that Natsume made, "If you kick me in the face again, I will throw you Lambo."

Tsuna watched as I-pin easily tripped Lambo, tailing right behind Natsume, the little girl grasping the older girl's hand, "I won't kick in the face."

Lambo's whine trailed off into distant grumbling that was no longer heard once the three reached upstairs. Fuuta and Tsuna were left in a nice quiet that had the two sighing in a bit of relief, "So did you want to take a break?"

Fuuta didn't answer and the sound of pencil against paper didn't resume, "Fuuta?"

"Hiiiee," a quiet sound left Tsuna as he looked at Fuuta, the boy sitting as still as a cat before it pounces. His eyes were focused on Tsuna and yet Tsuna could tell that he wasn't really looking at him, almost as if he was in a trance.

"What once was can be again, forgive and move on. Do not begrudge them, they do not know either."

Tsuna gapped at the odd throaty way that Fuuta spoke, the young boy still staring at nothing before he seemed to shiver back to life. Fuuta yawned, "Tsuna-nii I think I'll take a break too." And the boy stood up from his chair and jumped over the back of the couch, landing with a quiet flomp.

The Pokemon theme song played, Fuuta singing along to it, all the while Tsuna tried to process what had happened.

"I-I think I'll take a nap too."

/ | \

"Nice!" Iemitsu called out, hands clasped together even after Natsume had told him not to do that. He watched the ball rise high, moving towards where he thought it most likely to land. The ball hit his forearms but instead of going up, it went off to the side.

His inability to receive the ball had the kids giggling, "Almost had it Sawada-san."

Fuuta, bless his heart was at least being supportive. Lambo was snorting, trying to get control of his laughter as he held up four fingers, "That was four times now! You're bad at this!"

I-pin didn't say anything, only giving him a thumbs up.

"I'm much better with my feet," Iemitsu admitted, catching the ball his daughter threw at him.

"I mean technically you can touch the ball with any part of your body," Natsume mused, her mouth quirked in amusement. "I wouldn't fault you for using your feet old man."

Iemitsu clicked his tongue, putting an arm around Natsume's shoulder, while the other held the ball above his head, "If I'm old, what does that make you?"

"Not as old!"

"Thanks Lambo," Natsume rolled her eyes, nose wrinkling slightly when he pulled her closer. "No, don't do –" Too late, he had dropped the ball and went to ruffle his daughter's hair, the bun she had had it in falling apart immediately, "Hiiee, pa no!"

"Say you're sorry~" His playful ruffling turned into giving her a noogie, though that was quickly ended when she wrapped her arms around him. Seeing what she was going to attempt, he loosened his hold on her about to tell her that she was going to hurt herself.

When he felt her actually lift him, he adjusted quickly, easily pulling her down to the side and having her roll onto the floor. She pointed a finger at him, lips pursed as she tried not to smile as she gave him an accusatory glare, "That's not fair."

"Ay, ay," Nana's tuts interrupted whatever brawl was going to ensue. She was amused, having been watching the last few minutes, "Have you four even finished packing?"

Her question was met with silence. The kids looking sheepish as they got up and headed to do what they had been putting off and Natsume using her distraction to hit the back of Iemitsu' knees. Iemitsu cried out dramatically as Nana called to Natsume, "Tsu-chan?"

"Going!"

Iemitsu stayed on the ground, watching his eldest scurry off inside. Nana closed the door behind her, walking towards him and crouching down, a similar tilt to her mouth as Natsume had sported, "She likes to roughhouse."

He rolled onto his back, hands clasped over his stomach, "I've known that for too long."

Nana reached to brush a few pieces of grass off of his face, her fingers lingering near his cheek, before pinching it slightly, "Thank you Iemitsu."

He hummed, sitting up so that he could cup her face and press a kiss to her forehead, "It's the least I can do."

She wanted to say more, to tell him that it would be nice to have him around more often. He'd only been here a day and already her home felt so complete. It would be nice for him to be around for dinner, to watch him attempt Tsuna's games as he had done earlier in the day to 'bond with his boy'. To watch him attempt passes with Natsume.

A hand to her cheek brought her out of her thoughts and she blinked back the tears she hadn't noticed forming, "I'll do better."

She sniffed, nodding slightly as he pulled her in to kiss her. His other hand moving to the back of her head, gently threading through her hair. When he pulled away, he let his fingers comb through the rest of her hair, lightly curling the ends around his fingers, before they fell away just below her shoulders.

Before he could say anything and be stupid enough to try and make promises, the door slid open and he saw Tsuna's unimpressed face, mouth turned down, "There's children – ow! Reborn! What the hell!"

"Go help your sister pack since you're not going to tell him."

"Basil's on the phone!" Tsuna yelled over his shoulder as he turned away, muttering under his breath how he wasn't going to help Natsume.

Reborn stared at the pair, nodding slightly before heading back inside, not bothering to close the door behind him.

"That's going to be the last business call I take," Iemitsu muttered as he stood up, stretching his arms above his head and sighing when something popped.

Nana merely hummed, not at all bothered when he put an arm around her shoulder, "Business is business though."

There was a shout from upstairs, the cacophony of voices making the pair sigh in unison, feeling both amused and slightly exasperated.

"Well right now business is going to be the least of our worries," Nana murmured, patting Iemitsu's arm as she pulled away, heading upstairs. "Oi keiki! What's up with all you, ah?"

As Iemitsu made his way to the kitchen to pick up the phone, he couldn't help but think that being here this time was a lot better than the last.

/ | \

"I feel like I should be leaving behind a list," Nana sighed, fingers messing with the leaves of the peach tree. "Anything happens just call me or do you're thing, whatever you think is appropriate."

Bianchi hummed in acknowledgement, hands laced behind her back as she looked over the garden that Nana took great of, "I will, Auntie."

"Good, good, thank you again Bianchi for house sitting."

"I'm thankful you trust me enough to do so."

Nana clicked her tongue, "You're family; of course I trust you honey."

Bianchi's lower lip stuck out slightly at the elder woman's words, straying just a bit behind Nana as they both entered the house again. She heard Hayato inhale when he saw her, sputtering just a little before he turned around and headed to the restroom to have his coughing fit.

At least he didn't pass out, she thought, before sighing as she pulled up the goggles around her neck and placed them over her eyes. He doesn't even need to be here.

He had overheard Nana the other day asking Bianchi to stay for the three weeks they would be gone and decided that he also would help keep watch over the home.

(She didn't doubt at all that Hayato wanted another go at some of the twin's games without being judged or feeling like he was overstepping himself.

Which was ridiculous, but that was Hayato.)

"Incoming!"

The thud that followed and the peel of laughter from the younger kids had Bianchi looking over her shoulder, amused as smaller bags were chucked down the staircase and landing on top of the bigger one.

"You know as the eldest you're supposed to be setting a good example," Tsuna sighed as he trudged down the steps, stepping over the baggage on the floor.

"I'm not the only example here," Natsume yawned out, walking just a bit behind Tsuna with her arms crossed behind her head. Unlike her brother, she didn't step around the bag she had thrown down and began to merely push it up against the wall with her foot.

Tsuna gave his sister a flat look, who merely reached up and put her hand on his head just to push it down, "You're the best example anyways, Tsuna-nii!" He swatted her hand away, ignoring the way she laughed as he headed towards the kitchen.

"We haven't left and you're already annoying."

Natsume gasped, dramatically grasping her hand to her chest, "Oh I can't believe you hurt me like this." Tsuna's scoff was all that was heard and Natsume dropped the act, her hands coming down to rest on her hips, "Well, he's no fun."

"That's because you're in a good mood," Reborn commented from beside her, making Natsume nearly scream at his sudden appearance. The hitman smiled at her reaction, not at all minding the way she glared at him. "How does it feel?"

Natsume's response was just to hold up her hands as if they were claws and hiss. She only moved away from Reborn when Leon scuttled down his arm and transformed into a spray bottle, "It's going to be quiet without them around."

The chameleon transformed back to normal, its tongue poking out slightly, eyes blinking slowly at Reborn.

"Yeah they'll be fine."

/ | \

"Nine hours really isn't that bad," Iemitsu said as he handed the appropriate tickets to Nana, who then tucked them into the right passport. Passports that she wasn't going to question how Iemitsu procured for three of the five children. "I've had to do a fifteen hour one."

"….are the seats comfortable?"

"Hmm, not really," Iemitsu admitted, watching Nana put the passports into her bag. "I would recommend standing up every hour or so, your legs feel dead if you sit through the whole flight."

"Is that from experience, papa?" Natsume asked, adjusting a sleeping I-pin in her arms, the little girl's head resting on her shoulder. Iemitsu nodded, a grimace crossing his features as he remembered the few times he couldn't feel his legs after sitting for so long.

"I wanna be sleeping too," Tsuna muttered, a little envious of I-pin. It was Lambo tugging on his hand that took his attention from the sleeping child, "Yeah?"

"I gotta go," Lambo said, doing the world famous potty dance. "Tsuna-nii I gotta –"

"Okay, okay, mam I'll be back."

"We'll be right here."

She watched the two go off towards the closest restroom, keeping an eye out for them until they returned. It still wasn't hitting her that they were only ten hours or so away from being home. How long had it been since she had last been to Hawai'i?

Definitely before the twins had been born, maybe eighteen years?

She was glad to have not lost contact with her family, who were always just a phone call away, but it was nothing compared to being there.

Nana hadn't noticed, but she had begun to bounce her leg, biting her lower lip as she continued to think while keeping an eye out for Tsuna and Lambo – something she knew she didn't have to do, but felt as if she had too.

It was Iemitsu grasping her hand that she noted just how sweaty her palms had gotten and though she tried to pull away to wipe them, Iemitsu merely laced his hand with hers. She turned to look at him and he offered her a smile, one that was tinged with sadness and guilt.

She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she tried to calm herself.

"Not in public," Natsume's hissed words got Nana's attention, distracting her for a moment when she witnessed her daughter flicking Fuuta's forehead. "I know you want to rank, but that can literally wait."

There was a soft 'but' from Fuuta, though whatever argument the boy was about to say was cut short by one narrowed glare from Natsume. With a pout, Fuuta merely turned back to his book, resting a chubby cheek against his fist as he flipped to the beginning of it to read over his first entries.

"Oh wow, her Italian's gotten good," Iemitsu hummed, resting his cheek against Nana's head as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Now she has another language to curse in," Nana hummed, earning a chuckle from Iemitsu. "She'll fit right in at home."

/ | \

Natsume gripped both of the arm rests, teeth grit as she breathed out heavily, making a hissing sound as the plane touched down not so gently. "You're being ridiculous."

"I," Natsume started as she relaxed now that the airplane was on the ground. "Did not like the takeoff or the touchdown."

"It wasn't that bad," Tsuna yawned, ready to get off the plane and stand for the next few hours. Or lay down, whatever happened first.

His sister chuckled, a slightly hysterical sound that she cut off quickly, "Tsuna that landing was a bit harsh."

"….you'll get used to it sweetie," Iemitsu could be heard saying from behind them, a yawn leaving him. "This is pretty mild compared to a few landings I've been in."

Iemitsu blinked as he realized he had his children and wife's attention on him, another yawning leaving him and an unintelligible, "What'd I say?"

"You know what, we're going to have a talk about what you've done, papa." He would have taken Natsume a lot more seriously if she hadn't scrunched her face up in that adorable way she did when she did not like something.

"Of course, of course," he yawned out, letting his cheek rest against his neck pillow, eyes closing. "Wake me up when the plane is empty so I don't have to deal with people."

Nana rolled her eyes, amused at her husband's words. She looked out the window of the plane, not getting enough of the sight of home. A wobbly smile curled her mouth, feeling her eyes sting slightly as she felt something in her chest finally settle.

Home.

/ | \

They had grabbed their luggage and were heading outside to where they would get into a cab, when Nana shrieked in surprise.

"No!" she cried, running towards a big, tall man. The man held his arms open as Nana practically collided with him, patting her back as he laughed at the way she started crying. "Don't laugh at me, when you're crying too Zack."

"Ah, don't call me out like that," the man said, sounding overjoyed as he pulled an arm back to wave them over. "Hey come on, don't be shy to meet me now."

Iemitsu pushed the twins, so they could get a move on. Natsume stepped forward, heading towards her mother and so did Tsuna, though he did look back at him and squint at him.

"Hey! It's the little niece and nephew," Zack patted Tsuna on the head first and then Natsume, the pair both making pouty faces at the action. "Ah thought you two would be taller."

"Hi to you too Uncle Zack," Natsume said, glancing over at her mom who was smiling even as she wiped away some tears. "You're a lot bigger in person."

Zack laughed, one hand patting his stomach, "That's cause I eat good, which is what all ya gonna be doing here."

"Now," he waved over the others, "I know I got more family than this, come on keiki, don't be scared!"

(1): It hasn't been a year yet since the Ring battles, Kawahira's just rounding up.

AN: I did not realize four months went by since the last chapter, I have been CAUGHT up in life.

Uh, briefly proofread/edited. Please let me know if a section doesn't make sense, I have a tendency to skip lines when I already know whats happening. As always I got caught up in reading and when I reached the end I was like 'yoo where's the next part.' Now i have to write it, but I think this next chapter should be easier to put together. This trip will probably take up two - four chapters at most? A big warning there'll be lots of OCs in the next few chapters, maybe 6 or 7?

Anyways. Thanks for reading!

Hope you enjoyed!