Soooo much time has passed, you guys, I'm so sorry! Life away from my computer sucks, let's just leave it at that!

I'm not gonna keep you more on this note - so off you go with the next installment in Junko's endeavors!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KnB!

Officer Aomine was really starting to question his decision to include Hayashi Junko to his group's gatherings. True, the woman was cool and funny – even if she wasn't trying to be – and he enjoyed watching Midorima and Kagami squirm because she made them uncomfortable with her weird demands. Plus, his wife was somehow convinced that it was destiny that brought her in contact with at least 3 of them, and she was dead set on making her a permanent member of the circle.

But, really, the only good thing that Aomine could see from all this so far was her dragging her flatmate with her. Kazuma was a delight. He was nice, polite, knew how to hold interesting conversations with all the adults, and the children loved him. Which was nothing like the sulky writer who was out of it and thinking about her work almost 90% of the time – the other 10% was spent antagonizing Kasamatsu.

At first, it was pretty hilarious. Their pissing contest had only gotten worse after the disastrous interview that had the audience thinking those two were dating or whatever. He – and the others, of course – had gotten a nice laugh at the expense of the two artists trying to bite each other's head off. But they would soon reach the Christmas season, and the whole thing was starting to get… well, boring. And irritating, because it put a stopper on the fun they could all have together – which was much needed for his stressed out life.

"Another wrap, daddy?", a voice that sounded like honey to his ears instantly brought a smile to his face as he looked down, in the deep blue eyes of his tiny, pink-haired daughter.

"Ah, yes, Hama, thank you", he replied in a sweet tone he reserved only for his girls, and took the offering. Biting into it, he groaned in delight – thank God for small miracles, Hama hadn't inherited any of her mama's skills in the kitchen. "Salmon and ceasar sauce? Baby, you've outdone yourself this time!"

Hama giggled happily at the praise, and sauntered off to offer her culinary creation to the other guests. It was at that point that Kagami and Kuroko joined him. He decided to address the matter at hand.

"Someone needs to talk to them and make them see reason", he stated, pointing at the glaring duo of creative individuals with his half-eaten snack. He turned towards the red-head "Bakagami, you do it."

Kagami choked on his beer and gaped at his ex-rival "Why me?!"

"Because you're a good diplomat", Aomine deadpanned, "you put up with that demon of a coach and managed to live and tell the tale through high school – plus, that brat and the cold-ass bitch are watching over you."

The fireman risked a glance towards the aforementioned individuals. Yup, sure enough, the social worker who had insisted to check out his circle of friends after the incident at the bakery was keeping a close eye on him. As for Akira, he was busy either sneering at him, or making sure Junko was no closer than 5 feet of him.

"Have you forgotten that I'm in trouble with said bitch and the so-called brat would rather see me bleed out right there at his feet?", he sighed, and then gave the policeman a disappointed frown. "And you'd better make sure Coach Aida doesn't hear any of your name-calling – ever! – concerning her person. Diplomacy never helped with that woman, it was ALL about survival of the thickest during practice! Thickest skin, that is. And Kuroko was there, too, make HIM do it."

"He's gone", Aomine pointed at the now-empty spot where the famous shadow had been standing mere seconds ago.

Kagami growled. "Damn it, Kuroko-teme!"

Resigned to his fate, he sighed and dragged his feet towards the silently bickering neighbors. "Yo, Junko, mind giving us men some privacy here?"

The writer took her angry, amber gaze from her 'enemy' and turned it on him. Man, as much as he hated this tension between them, he had to admit that Kasamatsu had at least made her a bit more… alive. Even if she was pissed about his mere existence. Kagami tsked and used what he had dubbed as a 'dirty move'.

"Look, I heard Satsuki saying something about making sure the cupcakes had an extra crispy exterior or whatever. She was ready to put them in the oven", he commented in a stage whisper.

The bluenette blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about? We just got them out of - ", she froze, her face turning a shade of grey as she started running towards the house. "Fuck, she's gonna burn the damn things! Not my sugar dose, woman, not on my watch!"

"Fuck, really?!", Aomine freaked out, too, following her closely, having forgotten all about the situation at hand.

Kagami sighed in relief and turned back to Kasamatsu "Now, you wanna talk about it? This is getting out of hand, and, frankly, it's affecting all of us. Having Takao and his wife at odds is bad enough, we don't need you two trying to out-glare each other as well."

The composer took a deep breath and snorted, his nostrils flaring like an irate bull's, before he replied, his eyes not leaving the place where Junko had been standing earlier "You know how everyone is supposed to have a guardian angel, or something?"

"I'm not a fan of such religious kiddie beliefs", the redhead hesitated, wondering if this was a rhetorical question or a trap, "but whatever rocks your boat, I guess, man. Your point being?"

"Well, I don't. Have one, I mean", Kasamatsu grumbled, pinching his nose bridge in that telltale sign of an impending headache. "I have a guardian demon or whatever, and I bet he's laughing his fiendish ass off, because there's no other explanation as to why I got stuck to work with this harlot!"

The fireman cringed. OK, now he was taking it too far! "Look, dude, I get that Junko is a bit… violent, but she's pretty much effective when she's working, so can't you focus on that until you're done with this movie?"

"Violent… Violent! The woman threatens people with a gun on a daily basis, is rude beyond belief, disrespectful, and I for one consider her a danger to society as long as she is free to roam among us!", the former Kaijo captain roared, not noticing his nemesis who had come back out, munching on a cupcake over-topped with frosting, with Aomine by her side.

"For the last time, the fucking gun is a fake!", she finally snapped – and boy, an angry Hayashi Junko was nothing to sneeze at. "Calm your balls, bastard, before I force them to calm for you myself! And I'm warning you, my heel is pretty much the real deal!", she threatened, lifting her foot to show that her purple ankle boot sprinkled with glitter stars meant business.

"I'm so glad you didn't even bother to deny his other accusations, good job, Hayashi…", the police officer deadpanned, an expression rather amusing, considering his cheeks were filled with his daughter's offered snack.

"No, those were true, I got no problem with - ", she waved him off, only to be interrupted by a loud thud a few feet away. They all turned to see her flatmate unconscious – yet twitching – on the ground, with Hama fussing over him. "Ah, fuck, Kazu fainted again. Was it something I said?"

As the grumbling woman lazily got to her friend's side, she didn't notice a pair of steel blue eyes following her form – or the ever-watchful and calculative gaze of a certain editor…

PREVIEW:

"I'm not asking for much. Just a few dates, maybe a smooch or two - hell, you can give him a ride as well, the poor guy probably needs some stress relief."

"Wow, and you call yourself his friend... OK, one, I'm in a sexual moratorium, remember? And two... no, wait, I thought he would get his heart broken afterwards, but then I remembered, it's wrong to assume he has one to begin with."