Chapter 13: Third base but not that kind of third base.

So yes. He had, indeed, made a joke. Haru had heard stories about Hibari making jokes during his middle school days, but those were no more than legends. Dino could confirm that. But the only thing more striking than the cloud guardian's unexpected sense of humor, was Tsuna's complete incompetence when planning a vacation.

"Did you not check the weather forecast before coming here?" Lambo was running as fast as he could back inside the house, but he kept on tripping due to the sand and the heavy rain.

"I'm sorry! I forgot!" Tsuna scratched the back of his head. This was ridiculous. It never rained in this stupid beach, why did this have to be the first time?

Gokudera had turned on the television and the news announced precipitations for the following ten days. That was just awesome. No one was getting a tan this year. He secretly wanted to give Tsuna shit too, but no way. No effing way he would ever call his beloved boss out on his bullshit. Not everybody shared that thought, though (and Kyoko was the first one to smack her boyfriend's head with a magazine).

"Ok, who was in charge of the board games?" Yamamoto raised his voice above the ruckus and the complaints, trying to settle some order and calm everyone down. All he got was killer stares directed at him and a faint:

"It was you, you baseball head. Don't tell me you fucking forgot to bring them…"

And then, after a few awkward seconds of silence, Gokudera threw the remote control at his lover's face. Ah yes, true love is so beautiful.

"So… we have nothing to do…" Haru finally sighed and let her body fall on the couch next to Chrome, who jumped on the spot, because that's what happens when you're the thinnest person alive and someone does what Haru did.

"Kufufu, my sweet Chrome, you need to put some meat on those bones." Mukuro mocked her, and the girl was visibly upset, but before she could talk back, Haru smacked the man on the forehead.

Everyone was making noise and jokingly beating each other up. Exactly in what moment did these people become adults? It was hard to tell. And I know what you're all thinking: "Oh, but Hibari Kyoya is mature."

No.

No he's not. He's the biggest child of them all.

He had found a weird looking box inside a drawer when, while everyone else argued, he was inspecting the house and checking for possible bombs or traps set by possible enemies. It was an old game, probably from the 19th century, and it was basically cards with intimate questions and awful dares. Basically Truth or Dare for evil people with no imagination. He would have suggested it… but then he figured it would be better to not mix in with all those herbivores, which is just a translation for 'he was shy'.

Haru kept on staring at him from across the room. He had his eyes locked on the box, but from where she was, it looked like he was staring out the window melancholically, and looking like a model in the middle of a photo shoot. He wasn't even doing anything and he looked fine as hell. Before she even knew, she had completely neglected her hand play with Mukuro, who kept on poking her with an evil grin. She didn't even notice. Her entire surroundings had vanished and she wasn't hearing a sound no more. It was just her, and him. And realizing just how lost in thoughts she was, that was strike three for her. So yeah, her eyes followed him like a cat follows the Red Dot of Doom. But that doesn't mean anything, right? It's probably just a coincidence that he always happens to be standing in the middle of her vision field. And the whole thing about looking seven times sexier with wet hair? Nah, that applies to everyone… It can't possibly mean a thing.

"What is that?" Tsuna grabbed the box in a poor attempt at distracting all his friends who kept on giving him shit. "It's a game… Hibari, you brought a game?"

And tonfa to the face.

It took them half an hour to set the game and read the instructions, that were written in latin, for some reason. Everyone looked at Gokudera, and that pissed him off to no end.

"OH SO JUST BECAUSE I'M ITALIAN YOU ALL THINK I KNOW LATIN!? THAT'S FUCKING RACIST!" But he did know latin. It was mandatory in elementary school.

Remember when I said it was pretty much truth or dare? It was exactly truth or dare.

"Well, it's not like we have anything better to do~" Kyoko grabbed the cards and started shuffling. I mean, she's the kind of girl who likes stuff like this, why not take the chance. "Onii-chan! Truth or dare?"

Ryohei had just come out of the kitchen and he was holding the biggest bowl of salad you can imagine. And ice cream.

"What?"

"Truth or dare."

"Dare! Bring it on! I'll do anything to the extreme!" He should have known better than to take a dare from his beloved little evil sister.

"I dare you to… eat a whole chili pepper." And she just went and said that with the most adorable smile in the world.

How could he say no? It was too late to refuse to play this wicked game. She hadn't even taken a fucking card like she was supposed to, although there was most likely a card that said that. Long story short, he ate the thing. Flames would be coming out of places other than his ring that day.

"That was fun!" Kyoko squealed. Her dark side was just on a whole new level. "Next! Haru-chan!" There she was, skipping the rules entirely. "Truth or dare?"

Haru swallowed dry. No way she would say dare after what had just happened to Ryohei.

"Uh… truth?" Wrong. Try again.

Kyoko was about to spit out the most embarrassing question anyone could imagine when Tsuna calmly put his hand on her shoulder.

"Kyoko-chan, I believe your turn is already over." He always pulled this dazzling smile when he talked to her. He could melt the earth's crust with that smile. But Haru knew better. There was something evil behind that soft façade. He wasn't the heir to the Vongola's family for nothing. It was in his blood, along with many other evil twisted things.

"Haru-chan~" His smile turned dark. It could send chills down anyone's spine. Even the almighty Mukuro covered his mouth and looked away. "You said truth, right?"

Oh fuck. She was so fucked.

"If you could have sex with anyone in this room, who would it be?"

Everyone went silent. Gokudera almost fainted after hearing for the first time his boss say the word 'sex'. He was just too pure in his eyes, and everyone else seemed to agree. Haru was astonished. She could not believe he had just asked her that, in front of the whole family. He was pushing his limits with her patience. Then, she felt all the eyes on her, waiting for an answer. No one could even imagine what kind of preference Haru would have. She never even talked about guys in that way, and the only expectative she held was a guy who would cry when he saw her walk down the aisle. A large wave of curiosity was invading the room, and Haru knew no one would judge her for her answer, cause they were all like weird siblings with the sexual activity of a cheesecake (except for a few exceptions we will not be naming; you know who I mean). But then Hibari lifted his gaze from his book and looked at her. Yes. He was really interested in her answer, even though he would never admit it. He didn't think of her that way… well, he had thought of her that way several times. Just because he was all into murder and staying away from people it didn't mean he had to be asexual. He just thought of her in many ways, like for example in the 'I'd buy you four wedding rings if you asked' way.

Haru took a deep breath. There was one answer to that question, but she'd rather die than say it out loud. Instead, she went for the element of surprise.

"You." She said, obviously joking, and got up.

Thus, Tsuna was defeated. But Kyoko knew exactly what kind of information he was trying to get, and she would not accept that answer.

"I know you would, look at him, he's perfect." She giggled. "But after him, who?"

Haru was now in front of a level 99+ enemy. Tsuna might be the dungeon boss, but Kyoko was the final overpowered boss of the entire saga, and she was impossible to defeat.

"Kyoko-chan, can I speak with you for a moment? In private, please?" It was now her turn to accept her fate.

Kyoko got up from her chair with a victory smile spread across her face.

"What is it?" She asked after she had locked the door of the bathroom, which is apparently where all the private talks happen.

"What if I gave an answer to that question and I actually meant it?"

"Hibari-san?"

"Hahi?" Haru blushed from head to toes and opened her eyes wide.

"You're very easy to read, did you know that?" Kyoko smiled and hugged her friend.

"Please don't tell him." The brunette covered her face with her hands.

"Are you kidding me? I can't even ask him what time it is, I'm afraid he'll just bark at me."

"Don't worry, he doesn't bark. He's too good for that. He might snort at you or make weird bird noises if you catch him off guard."

"That… uh… I did not need to know that."

"Right."

"Why don't you just tell Tsuna? I'm sure he already figured it out and he just wants to help."

"Are you sure he's the right person to help others when it comes to love?" Haru rolled her eyes to the back of her head. He couldn't even pour juice properly, how was he gonna get someone to fall in love with her? Hibari out of all people?

"No. But I can assure you he's the only one here who won't think you're out of your mind when you tell him how you feel."

"Ok, you have a point. But I'd kinda rather trust Reborn…"

"You should not trust Reborn with things like this."

"Exactly."

xXx

Hello there my children! Carrying on with the beach arc! Yeah, this totally doesn't mean I want to go to the beach I really don't mind being stucKInside my house writing a 10 page essay on Love in the history of cinema nope i Love this so Much it's about as fun as it can gEt!

But yeah here's the next chapter. It's about as cliché as it gets sorry about that but I'm kinda liking the clichés idk, for example here's a link for a comic i drew about our typical shoujo manga scenes: post/121369092099/meeting-your-soulmate-expectation-vs-reality

Shamelessly promoting my blog? Me? Noooo waaaaaay I would never do that!

ok yeah sorry. the good thing is, I'm done with my finals! yaaaay! just this one last essay and I'm free! But since I don't actually have to keep going to class, I can update more often, which is what I intend to do.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and see you soon~