"It's rare to see you so gloomy, Yamamoto," the miraculous baby leaped to sit on the rain guardian's shoulder.

"Oh, it's you, Kiddo," Yamamoto glanced over, "Well, we just found out why Hayato was in such a hurry to go on the mission."

"We?"

"Me, Tsuna, and Hayato's sister."

"Which mission?"

"The one that ended up causing his wound after his wife's funeral," Yamamoto's gaze was cloudy, "Hayato requested a hit on Gokudera Haru's killer to be an official mission, then he went and claimed revenge by himself.. Can you believe that he took the trouble to process the request through Tsuna's desk and gained official approval first? Well, Tsuna didn't notice before in the midst of the chaos.. But damn, the guy even wrote a report and all, acting as if it was just another mission for the family's sake. That nutcase.."

"What's so bad about him doing it?" Leon yawned as his owner rubbed his head, "Did dame-Tsuna not want him to go?"

"No, not really.. Tsuna did intend to send Hayato on it, but not alone, and surely not that soon after the funeral."

"So the boss he admired so much hasn't commanded him to go, yet Gokudera went to track down the assassin to avenge his wife?" Reborn was interested, "That's unusual for him. He must've really cared for the woman."

Yamamoto nodded, "He must've told himself he did what he did so hastily for Tsuna's contentment. It seems the guy hasn't realized his love."

Reborn's face went grim, a man in prolonged denial of his feeling brought a familiar bitter taste to his tongue. An image of Luce sprang to his mind, ruining his first decent mood in months. He jumped down and walked in the direction of Tsuna's office, "How did it go with Shamal earlier this afternoon? Has he agreed to treat Gokudera?"

Yamamoto sighed, "He didn't even show up."

"You should call Shamal-san and ask him to treat you, Lambo!"

Lambo groaned, "I-pin, you're exaggerating!"

I-pin frowned, "No, Lambo. You're sick! You need to see a doctor!"

"It was just one sneeze, I-pin! ONE sneeze!" the young mafioso clawed his face in exasperation, "I haven't sneezed at all since then! Probably just someone talking behind my back! Now please, just let me get some sleep. I have an important mission tomorrow."

I-pin was quiet. Lambo thought the lover's quarrel has ended, but he realized that he was wrong when a river of tears cut across I-pin's left cheek.

"Oh, no," Lambo leaned closer as I-pin started sobbing, "No.. Sweet lotus, no.. I've sneezed a lot of times before. Why would you cry over this now?"

The girl shook her head, still weeping, "You shouldn't take it lightly, Lambo. I.. I don't want you to end up like Gokudera-san."

The Bovino's eyebrows rose, "Why is Aho-dera involved in this?"

"His finger, Lambo!" I-pin turned to look at Lambo in the eyes, "Gokudera-san was only cut once! But the bleeding never stopped! What if you sneeze forever?"

'That doesn't make sense at all,' Lambo rolled his eyes, 'I really don't get girls.'

I-pin kept staring at Lambo, "Kawahira-ojiisan used to say that sickness is just like ramen. You've got to finish them fast or they'll go bad!"

'Is she kidding?' Lambo's eyes narrowed, 'And what's with the weird comparison?'

"Lambo? You're not listening, are you?" the young girl started sniveling again, "That's mean, Lambo!"

Lambo blinked himself back to earth, "I am, I am. Allright, I'll call Shamal, but I can't guarantee that he'll even examine me."

I-pin's body relaxed a bit and her sobs subsided. Lambo took his cell to the porch and dialed the doctor's house. For a brief while, the talk seemed normal, until he shouted a few times at his phone and threw it on the wall, breaking the gadget into tiny pieces of metal.

I-pin quivered in fear when Lambo came back in with a trembling body, "Shamal-san just said that you're really ill, didn't he, Lambo?"

Lambo panicked, "Eh? No, no! It wasn't even Shamal on the phone."

I-pin's eyes flickered, "Then who was it?"

"It was Reborn," Lambo said, infuriated, "He was at Shamal's house, for some reason. He said Shamal is tired from checking Aho-dera earlier tonight and is currently having an adult talk with him. The stupid baby told me I'm not worth interrupting their drinks."

"What about your sneezing?"

Lambo sighed, tired, "I'll go see a doctor tomorrow, after the mission."

The young woman haggled, "Before?"

"Fine. Whatever makes you happy, just sleep," Lambo climbed their bed.

"Lambo?"

"What now?"

"You called me sweet lotus. That was cheesy," the girl giggled.

Lambo's eyes widened, "Wha- Of course it's not! Lambo-sama chose the name!"

Lambo's face was pink when he rolled over to confront I-pin, but his face was nothing compared to the tomato-red color of the shy girl's cheeks, "I-I like it, Lambo."

The young man's jaw dropped to see the sight, "You're seriously forcing me to pass my cold to you."

"I don't believe it! He forced us to kiss him, how disgusting!" the angry complaints of the maids assured Reborn that he picked the right turn on his search for Shamal.

"Reborn?!" Bianchi's voice was full of surprise when she crossed path with Reborn, "I-I was crying.. I don't want you to see me looking this ugly. I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Reborn smiled as Bianchi ran, hiding her face. He continued his journey up the stairs, and as he predicted, Shamal was bending towards Tsuna's office door, "I heard you were late, Shamal."

Shamal didn't stop his observation on the poisoned doorknob, "Yeah, the pretty young maids slowed me down."

Reborn took Leon from the edge of his fedora and stroked the green chameleon, "Why did you try so hard to avoid having to examine Gokudera?"

Slowly, Shamal straightened his body, "How did you know?"

"Don't insult me," Reborn smirked, "I am the best hitman in the world."

"Well," Shamal chuckled, turning around, "Then you must have understood what I might have to tell his sister if I were to thoroughly check Hayato. I don't want to tell her that."

"Maybe you're meant to do it," Reborn suggested as Shamal walked past him.

"Maybe," Shamal agreed, "But I don't like making women sad. I fancy them, you know."

"Oh, but you must, Shamal," several loud bangs echoed on the walls of the corridor.

"Huh?" Shamal turned back again, just to find a smoking gun lying on the exact spot where Reborn was standing earlier.

The decorated wooden door had been shot open. Inside the office, the Don of Vongola's face looked horrified. Just across his desk, his cloud guardian trembled, hands squeezing a collection of papers torn with bullet holes.

"Herbivore," Hibari Kyoya stood and let the papers sailed downwards, his tonfas were ready even before the files touched the carpeted floor, "You are going to be bitten to death."

On top of the flight of stairs, a certain infant hummed and smiled ever so innocently.

"Oh, hi! I didn't know the two of you are here," Yamamoto smiled as he walked into Shamal's kitchen with an empty cup in his hand.

"Good evening," Bianchi greeted, "We are making sure that Shamal's not slacking off."

Yamamoto laughed while he hunted for coffee in Shamal's cabinet, "He's doing his job allright."

"Good," Reborn seemed happier than he should be, "Where were we, Bianchi?"

"The wedding," the woman took a sip of her tea, "Why did your pupil let my brother marry Haru?"

The baby hitman giggled, "Didn't Gokudera ask for dame-Tsuna's blessing himself?"

"Yeah, but Hayato never said that he loved the girl he was going to marry," Bianchi looked disturbed, "Even as I helped him put on his wedding suit, he kept on saying how the girl would be a bother to Tsunayoshi, how he was doing it for Tsunayoshi's sake. Does Tsunayoshi not care about Haru's and Hayato's well-being, as long as nobody prevents Kyoko from being his wife?"

"O-ho-ho," Reborn let out his santa-snicker, "What do you think, Yamamoto?"

"Well, Hayato did say that Miura- ugh, sorry. I always forget not to call married chicks with their maiden name.. Gokudera Haru wasn't good for Tsuna, a lot," the swordsman was now digging the refrigerator for fresh milk, "But he never once said that she was bad for himself."

"That's.." Bianchi chuckled, "How did I not notice that?"

"Chill," Yamamoto cheered her up, "You still were the one who asked her to consider Hayato."

"But I doubted his feelings at first," Bianchi shook her head, "I'm such a bad sister.."

When Yamamoto said nothing, Reborn mimicked a shocked expression, "You're not going to deny her claim, Yamamoto?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't," Yamamoto's face was sincerely apologetic, "Tsuna told me that she has endured the loss of a lover once, some guy who looked a lot like Lambo, was it? But she made no effort to guide Hayato while he was going through his wife's death with her experience."

The woman's body stiffened, "I would if I could, but our situations were different."

"How?" Reborn inquired.

"I weren't at good terms with Romeo, my late ex-boyfriend," she poured some more drink, "Even now, not a single day passed by without me wishing to make him suffer more."

Yamamoto stole a glance at her, "You don't regret his death at all?"

"Maybe a little," she admitted with a dark grin, "Because I can't kill him when he's already dead."

After Yamamoto left to bring the refilled pot of coffee to Gokudera and Shamal, Reborn asked, "I didn't know you're the type who would have a relationship with a man you don't love, Bianchi."

"Oh Reborn, I do love you," Bianchi told him quickly, "And I used to love him, before things went wrong."

"How about him?"

"I'd like to believe that he loved me, too. But I'm sure that in the end," Bianchi stared at the bottom of her teacup, "He would very much like to kill me, torture me.. as much as I do him. Maybe even more."

"You can reunite us?"

"Yep~"

Bits of our conversation swam back and forth inside my mind.

"Are you playing with me? This is not funny, you brat!"

The curly haired man only shrugged, "It's up to you whether or not you're going to believe me."

He must have been messing with me. I was such an idiot to have taken it seriously, even for just a second.

"How?"

"Wait here."

Wait for what?