Chapter. 17 - Dear Reader.

Dear Reader,

Have you ever been drunk? If you have, you probably remember the feeling for going to the bathroom every four minutes because you need to pee really badly. You probably also associate this feeling with the dizziness inside your head that makes you feel like the world is spinning, and while you're just trying to hold on to the walls to keep yourself from falling, every sober person who looks at you, sees an idiot walking like a penguin.

Now let me ask you another question. Have you ever been to a wedding? If you have, you probably saw people and lots of people feasting on beer, cocktails, and wine; many different types of wine. There's white wine, red wine, expensive wine, cheap wine, wine that's actually colored water, wine that's secretly the blood of a virgin, and cheap wine with vinagre (the worst kind). How many glasses of wine does it take to become intoxicated? Not like I would know. I drink like a sailor. But you know who can't hold in their licor at all? Sasagawa Ryohei.

The man was basically crawling, trying to make his way trough the crowd in a desperate attempt to find a bathroom, but this was not his lucky day, for when he did find one, the loud screams and sounds of broken glasses coming from the other side of the door, made him forget completely how drunk he was and how badly he needed to take a piss.

"HE LIED TO ME!?" The voice that came from inside the bathroom belonged to Miura Haru, and as you can guess by now, she was pissed.

"Honestly, I don't know how you didn't see this coming." Chrome was sitting on top of the sink and eating an entire jar of chocolate chip cookies by herself. "He does the same thing every time there's a gathering. It's like his own personal wicked tradition by now."

"He made me cry! Can't you be on my side for once!?" Haru kept trying to break one perfume flask in particular that resisted its faith.

"You know what alcohol does to him…" Chrome sighed.

For too long she had to put up with Mukuro's bullshit. He liked to think that being restrained inside a water tank for 20 years made him inmune to anything related to water. How wrong he was. Sure, alcohol didn't make him dizzy, but it turned him into an asshole. Thinking well, the only guardian that could drink like a responsible adult was Hibari Kyoya, but then again, he had other weaknesses. Or at least one weakness in particular.

"So let me get this straight…" Haru was finally starting to calm down. "Mukuro-san loves weddings, right? He gets excited easily, he cries when the couple says 'I do', and he likes to dance with the mother of the bride."

"Exactly." Said Chrome.

"So he just randomly decided to start celebrating earlier and he's been drinking since this morning." The brunette continued, trying to make some sense out of everything. "And then he went crazy with the illusions."

I guess that when you're the best illusionist in the world, you start to get bored. Yeah, that was probably his motive.

"And since he thought the flowers were ugly…"

"Which they were." Chrome interrupted, but Haru didn't really pay attention to her comment.

"…He decided to make illusionary flowers that were actually pretty."

"Yes."

"And those flowers would be cherry blossoms."

"All over the place."

"Amazing."

"He likes to annoy Hibari-san…" Chrome offered Haru the last cookie. "And since everybody thinks you like each other, I guess now he wants to annoy you too. That's why he told you that huge lie about Vinnie. The truth is, everybody hated him. His sister tried to defend him, but she was no match for Hibari-san. He returned with out a scratch."

"Woah, what do you mean everyone thinks we…?" Haru was starting to get red. After that line, she had stopped listening.

"Did you even hear everything I said after that? Anyways, it's true, right? You two like each other."

Haru's face went red to redder. "No… Of course not! I mean… Uh… I do like him… a little… maybe… But in any case, he doesn't like me back. He's not interested in stuff like this and, besides… if he did, he wouldn't let that other woman linger around his arm like that…"

"Ah, you mean that tall blonde one?"

"Yeah. That one."

"She was looking for you earlier."

If, for one second, Haru thought she had finally grasped a general concept of everything she had gone through during such a long and eventful morning, now she was just plain confused again.

"What does she want with me? If she wants to fight me over Hibari-san I… I'm a pacifist but I WILL knock her down."

Chrome let out the cutest laugh. "I don't think she wants to fight you. And, trust me, the only reason why Hibari-san has been letting her hang around him is because he's feeling really weak."

Even though it made perfect sense, Haru couldn't help but feel a little weary.

The hours passed by, people were dancing, Mukuro was laughing in a corner, Hibari was nowhere to be seen… nothing out of the ordinary.

Haru didn't know when or how it started, but she always found herself looking for the cloud guardian every time she was in a room full of people. She knew he was probably evading the crowds, skulking off to a quiet space where he wouldn't be forced to interact with anyone, but she still looked for him. And even when she spotted his figure she still wouldn't approach him most of the time, but then again, what for? Just watching him from a distance was enough. Just knowing he was there was enough. To her, it meant just as much as all the moments they spent together in his room, talking about everything and nothing at the same time, or simply not talking at all. That one instant when their eyes met, while they stood on opposite sides of the room, that was more than enough.

He probably had managed to sneak out already and he would be taking a nap by now. It was time to feed Hibird and Roll anyways. Haru always wondered if it was even necessary to feed box weapons. It probably wasn't, because they fed on ring flames, but Hibari liked to take care of his small animals more than anything else in the world.

The brunette was walking down the hall, headed towards Hibari's room. She herself was looking for a moment of silence and some peace of mind. She had barely reached the stairs when a hand tapped her shoulder.

"Cinderella!" Haru yelled when she saw the woman behind her.

"Please, don't call me that. I have a name, you know?" Cinderella replied with a smirk.

"…Can I help you?"

"Why yes. Yes you can." The taller woman put her arm over Haru's shoulder and rested her head on top of hers.

"What are you doing?" Haru didn't try to push her away, but she was feeling rather uncomfortable.

"I'm drunk and lonely~ And I was wondering if we could be friends~"

Haru let out a sigh of relief. Friends. She wanted to be her friend. That would be the first good thing of the day. She loved making new friends, even if they were really weird and alarmingly attractive people.

"Kyoya got away before I got to ask him stuff about you." Cinderella sat down on the stairs and invited Haru to sit next to her.

Haru could feel her heart skip a beat, but when the other woman placed her hand on her knee, Haru felt her heart stop entirely.

"I feel so jealous~" Cinderella snuggled closer. "He gets to be with such a pretty girl every day…"

"Hahi? Thank you… I guess."

"So you don't have a boyfriend, right?"

"No… not really…"

"Ah, good."

There was a moment of awkward silence between them. Haru kept trying to find a good conversation topic, but her brain had stopped working long ago. Just when she finally found something interesting to say and she turned her head to face the other woman, she felt a soft and warm sensation close in on her lips.

Haru's eyes closed themselves as she let herself get carried away in the sweetest kiss she had ever received. How could someone's lips taste so well? Maybe because girls generally speaking smell better (lesbi honest). Cinderella pulled away after a few seconds and bit her lower lip trying to conceal a smile. Haru wasn't even angry that she had stolen a kiss just like that. Instead, she swore she could have fallen in love with such a sight if she wasn't already in love with Hibari Kyoya.

"Well…" Cinderella sighed and got up. "I did what I wanted to do. I'll let you go to your prince charming now. He's a good man and he seems really into you. Don't let some hoe snatch him away from you."

Haru sat still for a few minutes trying to assimilate, well, you know, everything. Eventually her legs began to work again and she found the strength to carry on with her path and get to her destination.

"A girl just kissed me." She said.

By now, Hibari was used to her walking in with a random out of context sentence and no 'hello'.

"And I like it."

Now this was alarming.

"What do you mean you liked it?" He was trying his best not to seem interested, but he was.

"It was cute, I guess."

The man just stared at her in silence. Oh boy, he wanted to say something about it alright, but he knew damn well it would come out the wrong way if he even dared to open his mouth.

Meanwhile, Haru leaned on the door and waited for his answer. Baffled enough when she didn't get any, she kept talking.

"So Mukuro-san hid cherry blossoms all over the place. Are you feeling well?"

"What do you mean you liked it!?"

"Hahi! I- I mean… I just liked it, it's not like I like liked it…"

"That's not an answer you woman."

Ah, here we go. He was calling her 'woman' again. That means he's upset.

"You wouldn't know… I don't think you've ever kissed a man before…"

"I have not. And I know I would not enjoy it."

"You can't be sure if you've never tried it."

"I'm sure."

"How?"

"Because I wouldn't be able to enjoy kissing someone I don't love." His answer came straight like a bullet. He spoke in a monotone voice and his face wore no expression. That's how sure he was.

"But what if you were thinking of someone who you do love? I think I just liked it because I was actually thinking of yo-" Haru was quick enough to cover her mouth with her hands, but Hibari was even quicker to react to her accidental confession.

"Were you thinking of me?" He asked.

Haru looked away, first at the wall, then the ceiling, then her feet. Anywhere was good enough as long as she didn't have to meet his piercing gaze.

"Haru," he asked again. "Do you love me?"

aaaaye cliffhanger again~ I'm starting to like doing this. ok yeah here's the chapter, I fixed some plot holes and ooc moments from the previous chapter and now im actually starting to lead this fic towards an end, maybe.

so yeah, I hope you have enjoyed the chapter! I'll try to update soon and meanwhile leave comments and stuff idk it's always fun to read what people have to say :)

Until next chapter~ bye bye!