Chapter 18: Date Night

"Finally, the weekend is here!" Solana cheered. She hadn't done much that week, but she really did enjoy the weekend, things just seemed to move at a slower pace on the weekends. She was seated on the couch, Tsuna on the other end. It was a rare day where Tsuna had nothing to do, no imminent threats or paperwork to battle and the two spent most of it watching TV or eating, waiting for Hitomi to come home.

"Yeah, so…" He said, looking over at her, "What do you want to do then?"

"Date night!" She replied almost automatically. She'd been wanting one since Tsuna had arrived in Japan, but with Hitomi's training and just the all-around chaotic outcome of the past few weeks, they never found the time.

"Alright, well how about tomorrow?" Tsuna asked, he didn't really like going out, but if she wanted to, then he guessed he'd please her for once.

"I'd like to be asked, you know, like it's a real date." Solana replied, turning her nose up, "Dearest sir, I'd like you to court me. Entice me to go on a date."

"No, cause that would take years. You see how long it took me to marry you." Tsuna replied, and after a few minutes of watching her pout, he said, "Hey, go on a date with me." While also nudging her with his foot.

"Fine, I'll allow this." She replied, "Seriously, that's all you had to say."

"Well, where do you want to go?" He asked, "I don't want anywhere really fancy because they serve small pieces of chicken and over-priced alcohol that doesn't get you drunk the way you wanna be."

"Ah… I don't know…" Solana tapped her chin, "Oh, there's this place by the docks. It's a steakhouse, I think."

"And we could go see a movie because I'm not going back to the music hall." Tsuna added, shuddering, "That was terrible."

"Only because you started a whole big thing because you thought the guy next to you was feeling you up." Solana reminded him, "And it turned out that he was having a seizure and you looked like an ass because you were yelling at him."

"Well maybe he shouldn't have gone." Tsuna crossed his arms, pouting, "Not my fault."

"Alright, sure." Solana replied, turning back to the TV. "Well that's all planned."

"Tadaima, mama! What's for eats?" Hitomi called into the house, running down the hall. She caught the door frame and pulled herself against it, peeking into the room. At first glance, she noticed the rare occurrence of her father, confused, she added, "What're you guys doing?"

"Noneya." Tsuna replied, sticking his tongue out at her. Hitomi glared at him as best she could, but he wasn't affected in the slightest. Solana looked over to Hitomi, giving her daughter a wave.

"Welcome home, Hitomi." She replied, "Uh… well I think there's some leftover from last night in there. If ya don't want that, there's some Hot Pockets in the freezer."

"Alright, cool-cool. Gonna have some Hot Pockets." Hitomi pointed finger-guns at her mother before backing away and turning to head into the kitchen.

"Two minutes!" Solana yelled after her, "No metal in the microwave and you don't need a fork to heat it up. The plate's probably gonna be hot if you touch it directly after heat—!"

Hitomi screamed, something smashed and Solana sighed, "Mom! Mom I think I did something wrong!" Hitomi yelled back. Once again, Solana sighed, standing up and pushing her bangs back.

"I shouldn't have mentioned the Hot Pockets…" She mumbled, "Better yet, I should've told her to make a PB&J sandwich… but I'm sure she would've fucked that over too…"

"Mom!"

"I'm coming! Yeesh!"

Hitomi stretched, falling onto her bed. "Ah~!" She yelled, kicking her feet, "The weekend! No supplementary Saturday classes, no waking up early to attend the institution and no Reborn!" She sat up, though it was strange and completely welcomed, she hadn't seen Reborn since she and the other girls visited Emiko in the hospital, which was yesterday.

She was happy, thankful even, to not have seen that evil child in almost twenty-four hours. Hitomi hummed a small tune as she began digging around for 'necessary' items. She pulled out her controller, plugged in her game station and hoped RJ and Teru hadn't been playing with her stuff.

"Okay!" Hitomi fit-pumped, "Time to beat this game!"

Many, many hours later, almost around the same time Hitomi had begun playing the night before, Tsuna and Solana were getting ready for their date night. The blonde crossed the room, Tsuna looking up momentarily before trying to smooth out his hair unsuccessfully.

"I'm gonna go tell Hitomi we're leaving." Solana informed him, pointing down the hall as she left their room. Teru and Hitomi's rooms were closer to the stairs, while theirs, RJ's and Masayoshi's rooms were towards the back of the hall.

Solana wondered what Hitomi was doing, every time she'd walked past Hitomi's room, and she'd been playing videogames or drawing, sometimes both at the same time. Either by herself, against Teru or RJ or online. The last she actually saw Hitomi out of her room was two hours prior when she came downstairs for nourishment, she hadn't seen her since then. When Solana opened the door, Hitomi was passed out on her beanbag chair in an awkward position, drooling over said chair.

"Hitomi," Solana walked over, nudging the brunette with her foot, "Hitomi, wake up, we're leaving." The only response she got was a mumble as Hitomi rolled over and onto the floor, just barely missing landing on the empty bowl and water filled cup to her right.

"Is she wakin' up?" Tsuna asked. He was standing at the door now, having given up with his hair.

"No, but she's gonna freak out if we don't tell her." Solana said, "Hitomi, get up!"

"Don't worry about that." Reborn replied, landing on Hitomi's desk, "I'll tell her when she wakes up."

"Well…" Solana looked a little skeptical. Tsuna sighed, coming into the room and grabbing his wife by the hand.

"Right, thanks Reborn, see you later or something!" He called, tossing a wave of his hand at the Hitman. Reborn nodded, knowing they couldn't see him. The two made their way to the garage where Solana began to voice her concern. How could he so easily leave his daughter there, alone, she might add, with the tormentor of his own childhood?

"You sure he'll just tell her… and then leave her alone?" Solana asked as they walked up to the car.

"No, he'll probably make up some lie or something." Tsuna shrugged, "And then he'll call it training… it's a whole process with him, I thought you knew?" Solana glared at him, getting into the car, "Hey, not my fault."

"You know, most fathers bring their daughters necklaces or trinkets when they come back from another country, not miniature infant-looking hitmen who are supposed to pose as your tutor to become a mafia boss."

"It's what I got from my dad, so it's only fair." Tsuna replied, starting the car, "Now let's get going, I'm hungry for steak!"

Thirty minutes later, Hitomi woke up to Reborn and Teru jumping and sitting on her back and legs respectively. She flailed around, gasping for air and screaming. "Thank you, Teru." Reborn gave her a half-salute. Teru nodded, smiling as she left Hitomi's room.

"WH-What the hell, Reborn?!" Hitomi said, sitting up and then turning around to look down at him, "I thought you were gone!"

"No, I was just around, if you must know." Reborn replied, "But let's get down to business."

"Business? What business?" Hitomi scratched her cheek, "You're kidding, right?"

"No, your parents have been kidnapped by a local mafia family." Reborn stated, "So you, as their loving daughter and a future mafiosa, have to go and rescue them."

"Wait, wait, wait… How does my dad, leader of some apparently feared mafia family get kidnapped by a local mafia family? Shouldn't he be able to protect himself?" Hitomi asked.

"Tsuna is still a wimp, like you, at the best of times, Hitomi." Reborn replied, "Now get your ass in gear; we've got to go investigate."

"Fine, fine…" Hitomi stood up, moving over to her closet, "Stupid dad… getting' kidnapped…"

Twenty minutes later, Hitomi and Reborn are down near the docks, looking around for the restaurant they were supposed to have gone to. "Where is this place, Reborn? We've—Well, I've been walking for a long time now!" Hitomi whines, moving at a slow pace.

"They didn't leave directions, only a name." Reborn replied, "Keep moving, we have to find them."

"Ugh! Why do I have to do this?!" Hitomi yelled, "Can't we call the police or something!" That earned Hitomi a kick to the back of the head. She yelped loudly in pain, looking back at Reborn, tears in her eyes.

"Why would you call the police on someone affiliated with the mafia? That's a big no-no." Reborn informed her, frowning, "Now keep moving."

Hitomi groaned, walking a little further. "Is that it?" She pointed to a glowing restaurant on the corner. "It's called Stake-house… oh, how clever."

"Yes, I believe that's it." Reborn nodded. The two continued walking until they were right in front of the place. Though the lights were still on, the place was completely empty, aside from the stray employee cleaning up.

"Wow, it looks pretty bad in there." Hitomi commented, going up to the window, "Maybe they put up a fight… and then there was tear gas… and then my parents were kidnapped!"

"Nah," Another voice said. Whoever it was came closer, leaning against the building, facing the water, "It's more like some fat guy tossed a fit and broke a bunch of things when his steak's price was taken from his stakes…. Or something like that. It's a steakhouse and a casino-thingy."

"A-Ah…?" Hitomi turned, looking at him. In the dim light from the restaurant, Hitomi could see that the boy was dressed in yellow and red checkered low-hanging skinny jeans and mismatched sneakers, a flannel shirt with a scarf wrapped loosely around his neck and a beanie on his head, covering his orange-ish locks. "W-Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Nai!" He replied easily, "And you're looking for your parents, right?" He turned to her, "Well I think I know where they might be!" Nai nodded firmly, crossing his arms, "And I'll help you look for them… if you can get me a date!"

"W-What…?" Hitomi scratched her head, "If you hadn't noticed, this is serious! Serious! My parents have been kidnapped by the mafia! The mafia!" Hitomi yelled, tossing her hands up.

"Yeah, so?" Nai responded, picking at his nails, "I mean, I know which way they went and they looked fine to me, so we have enough time for you to find me a date, then we can go save your parents or something, I don't care."

"Take the deal, Hitomi. It's not like we have any other leads." Reborn said, jumping from the window ledge and onto the ground. "Ciaossu, Nai, I am Reborn, this is my student, Hitomi."

"Student, eh?" Nai repeated, giving the two weird looks, "Well, that's not the weirdest thing I've seen," He shrugged, "Well alright, let's get going then, Hm? 'Bout this time of night, the downtown area's always full of chicks!"

Nai pulled Hitomi along, the girl regretting her decision as he wouldn't stop talking.

Hitomi looked around, there were many people in the city-like area of their small town, most of which she assumed were high-school students, out and about, enjoying the nice weather on a Saturday night. Nai was probably one of them, she guessed, as she'd never seen him at Nami-chuu before. "That's her," Nai suddenly stopped, pointing at a girl walking across the street, by herself.

Hitomi squinted, looking at the girl; quickly she slammed her eyes shut. That girl was ugly. Even Reborn would have to admit that. She was big, burly, seemingly like a man, much more so than Nai was. "Ahh... her name is Aika..." Nai swooned, "But I just can't talk to her!"

"...This is some sort of joke, right?" Hitomi asked, looking at him, her eyes full of disdain. Nai seemed shocked, the look he had given her being one that Hitomi couldn't put a word to.

"H-How-? Why would I be joking about this lovely creature?!" He asked, "She's beautiful! This isn't a joke!"

"When you said you wanted to get a girlfriend, I thought she was going to be..." Hitomi searched for a word, "Well, I assumed she wouldn't look like that!"

"Look, Hitomi, was it?" Nai stopped, "You said that you would help me. If you don't, then I'll just have to pull out my secret weapon!" Hitomi arched an eyebrow as best she could, her face now a cross between confusion and interest.

"Oh?" Reborn questioned, also intrigued, "Well why don't you use this 'secret weapon' against this girl?"

"I-It's different!" Nai complained. "Now you have to help me, Hitomi! You promised!" He whined, grabbing at her shirt, "Besides, I can tell you where your parents are!"

Hitomi sighed, looking down at Nai before running a hand through her spiky hair. "Fine, Nai-san, I'll help you…" Nai perked up almost immediately, clapping his hands and jumping around, attracting stares. "J-Just calm down first…"

"Gr-Great! Yay! C'mon!" Nai pulled Hitomi along, trailing after Aika. The three followed Aika into an arcade/restaurant.

Nai looked around, not catching sight of Aika at first, but Hitomi did. She was in line to get her food. Hitomi raised her hand, pointing a finger over at her, "She's over there…" She mumbled. Nai's eyes followed Hitomi's fingers and almost immediately, he pushed her and Reborn into a nearby booth, diving in himself.

"So what's the plan?" He asked Hitomi. Hitomi groaned, trying to sit up from the awkward position she had gotten into and she looked at Nai. If it wasn't for her parents, she'd tell this kid that he was on his own with that beast.

"How about you go talk to her, I don't know…" Hitomi suggested, "I mean I don't know anything about relationships…"

"But you're a girl!" Nai stressed, tugging at his eartails, "You're supposed to read stupid magazines and stuff and be able to help me get Aika to go out with me like that!" To emphasize his point, he snapped his fingers, "This isn't going like that right now!"

"Well I'm sorry, Nai-san, I just don't know what to tell you." Hitomi said, her anger rising, "I have to go find my parents!" Hitomi stood up, "Good luck, but I can't help you."

"O-Oh yeah?" Nai stood up suddenly, his eyes filled with tears, "W-Well you suck!" He pointed at her before leaving the booth and running out of the arcade wailing loudly and waving his hands wildly. Only the people outside seemed to notice.

Hitomi and Reborn stared after him and then looked to each other, looks of confusion on their faces. "What…?" Hitomi started only to trail off, not knowing what to say about what just happened. She looked back to the door then to Reborn again, frowning at his expression, "You're not telling me that I have to go find him… are you?"

"Well I didn't make him cry… if you could call what he was doing crying." Reborn looked over to the counter, Aika had moved over to a table not too far from Reborn and Hitomi.

"Ugh… fine…" Hitomi frowned, sitting back down and slamming her head against the table with a loud yelp. "I…I think I have a plan…"

Reborn was surprised. Hitomi's plan was worse than he'd thought it would be. He watched her stalk after Aika, following the girl at a noticeably close distance. They'd been following her since she scarfed down her food at an inhuman pace and left the restaurant. That was almost fifteen minutes ago. Reborn was getting tired of this. "Shouldn't you be looking for Nai, more importantly, your parents?" Reborn commented, just as Hitomi stopped to tie her shoe.

"Eh, they'll be fine." Hitomi replied offhandedly, "I'm just trying to see what's so great about this Aika chick. So far she hasn't done anything spectacular to justify her… um, looks. Why does Nai like her so much?" Hitomi cringed.

"Forget about her, she's not important." Reborn said, "Go find Nai. He might have information we need."

"He could've been lying." Hitomi said, "How would he know which people were my parents anyway?"

"Something tells me he does, now c'mon, let's find him." Reborn pulled on Hitomi's pants.

"Fine…" Hitomi said, her arms akimbo, "But where would he be?"

"Why are you asking me? I didn't make him run away crying like that." Reborn replied.

Hitomi shrugged and began walking, unaware of Aika following her. Her idea was that if she wandered far enough, she'd find him somewhere. This wandering brought her walking underneath the Namimori Bridge. "Look." Reborn pointed a small finger, though Hitomi couldn't see, "He's on top of the bridge trying to jump off."

Hitomi looked up and there, on top of the bridge, underneath the street light and on top of the railing, stood Nai. He looked as if he'd been running through a dirt tornado. His clothes and hair were dirtied brown and green substances. "Nai!" Hitomi called, "What're you doing?!"

In a sudden motion, Nai was falling and Hitomi's eyes widened as she tried to decide whether to protect herself or to try and catch Nai. Instead, Reborn decided for her. In an instant, she was shot, clothes ripping off of her, screaming loudly and jumping up, thanks to the power of another shot from Reborn.

Easily, Nai was caught and Hitomi fell back to the ground, on her butt with Nai draped over her lap in an awkward position. "Nai, are you alright?" Hitomi asked, trying to maneuver him off of her lap. Aika ran over, skidding to a halt after sliding down the side bridge and into the aqueduct.

"Y-Yeah… I'm fine…" He rubbed his head, pushing himself out of Hitomi's lap. Hitomi looked up, surprised by Aika's appearance. Nai followed Hitomi's line of vision, just as surprised by Aika as Hitomi was.

"Mind telling us what you were doing up on the bridge?" Aika asked; her voice strangely masculine. "Seems pretty dangerous up there, what with cars and such."

"W-Well, after I ran away I came to the bridge…" Nai recalled, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "I thought that if I yelled from the top of the bridge or something, I'd feel better. It'd give me confidence to ask you out." He admitted easily, "But I don't need that anymore, because now I have Hitomi!"

He pointed to her, giving a cheeky smile. Aika looked at him, confused, "I thought I heard this middle-schooler say that you liked me?" She scratched her cheek, "I must've heard wrong."

"N-No!" Hitomi stood up quickly, forgetting the fact that she was partially naked, though Nai took full advantage of that fact. "He does like you, Aika-san! He even said so! You're the girl he wanted to get a date with. Right, Nai?" Hitomi looked back to him.

"No!" Nai replied happily, he stood as well, beginning to unbutton his flannel, "See, I did like Aika, but she's old news, I'm sorry to say. Now I only have eyes for Hitomi-chan!"

"What?!" Hitomi screeched, making Aika and Reborn cringe at the sound, "What do you mean? You liked Aika not but an hour ago!"

"Things change, especially in my family!" Nai nodded, finishing unbuttoning his shirt. He pulled it off, handing it to Hitomi, "See, now that you've saved me, we're engaged!"

Aika, Hitomi and Reborn's eyes all widened in shock. Hitomi's mouth dropped open, a look of disbelief firmly set into her features. "Well," Aika stretched, "Maybe it's a good thing he stopped liking me."

"C'mon, wife-chan!" Nai put the long shirt on Hitomi, pulling her arms through it and buttoning it for her, "Let's go meet my parents!" He pulled Hitomi along, Reborn watching the two go.

"….Did that really just happen?" He asked, finally tearing his eyes away from the two.

"'Fraid so." Aika said, "Well, I've got things to do since I'm not needed anymore." Aika gave a small wave, walking in the opposite direction.

"What have you gotten into this time, Hitomi?"

In a large mansion-like house on the other side of town was where Nai stopped. Hitomi looked up; it was strange; this was the nicer part of town. If anything, Hitomi knew that if her father had it his way, they'd be living over here, but her mother didn't want too big a house, so they were stuck in the middle-class suburb area.

Nai fished around in his pocket, digging for his keys and with a triumphant cry, pulled them out. Quickly, he stuck them into the electronic key pad and pressed a few buttons on the key pad. A small noise was heard and the gate opened up slowly. Hitomi gulped, wondering why she hadn't tried to run away. Oh that's right, she thought as Nai pulled her inside of the gate, this guy's grip is like an iron claw!

The driveway leading to the actual house was a long one. Hitomi was dreading each step on the graveled driveway. Her feet were hurting with every step and she was scared. Who was Nai related to? And what about her parents? How were they? Were they really hurt?

Nai didn't even seem to remember that he promised her information about her parents as he skipped along merrily, a smile plastered on his face, all previous thoughts about Aika and screaming on bridges forgotten. Hitomi sighed, looking around. Where was Reborn when you needed him?

Maybe he could shoot her again… but could he? Hitomi noticed a pattern with him; he'd only shoot her once a day, if he needed to and only when it was dire. Was saving Nai really considered dire? If anything, he would have landed on Hitomi and been alright, as a part of Hitomi's bad luck, she'd have been the only one injured in the ordeal, but still, she thought it strange that he chose that moment to use the Dying Will Bullet on her.

She didn't question it, however, and continued to let Nai drag her down the driveway as the gate locked with a loud click. She was screwed now.

The mansions insides weren't what the brunette boss-to-be had expected. Old pizza boxes and just plain trash lined the area of the foyer; her mother would have an absolute fit if Hitomi or anyone else even left a shoe out of place. She wondered if Nai's parents even cared. Said boy was chattering on about something or other Hitomi stopped paying attention to long ago, he talked entirely too much and Hitomi couldn't handle that.

"Mom! Dad!" Nai called into the house, "I'm home!" A few voices called out from a distant area and Nai took off in that direction, dragging Hitomi with him.

"N-Nai…?" She'd dropped honorifics so long ago, deciding he wasn't worth them any longer. Rude, but she really was tired of him, "C-Can we find my parents now? I wanna go home." It was a little late for that, but Hitomi thought she'd try anyway.

"Ah, we'll meet my parents and then we'll go looking for yours, kay?" He gave her a smile. Finally, the two reached a room sealed off by double-doors. Nai let go of Hitomi momentarily to push open the doors.

Inside, a group of about four people were drinking wine, talking and laughing. Two of which, Hitomi recognized rather quickly, "M-Mom? Dad?!" Hitomi pointed at the two. Tsuna looked up first, doing a double-take before spitting up some wine.

"H-Hitomi?" He questioned, standing up, "What're you doing? It's almost three in the morning!" Hitomi was surprised to hear that, she'd thought it was only eleven or so, considering she'd left the house about eight-thirty.

"I-I was looking for you guys!" She stepped forward and out of Nai's grip, "Reborn said you were kidnapped so we went to look for you and I met this crazy guy and now he says we're gonna get married!" Hitomi blurted out, pointing at Nai.

Tsuna looked back at the three people behind him. "Hitomi, what do you mean?" He asked, glancing at Hitomi again.

"I mean, I saved this weirdo and now he's going on about how we've gonna get married!" Hitomi flailed her arms around, "He's being delusional… right? Right?" The look on Tsuna's face said otherwise.

"So this is Hitomi, huh?" A red-haired man walked over, leaning down slightly to look at her, "Well I'm sure she'll do." He nodded firmly, "She's not very cute, though."

"Dad! Hitomi is adorable!" Nai grabbed Hitomi, pulling her into a headlock-type hug. Hitomi squeaked, flailing her arms again, trying to get out of his grip. "We're in love!"

"Um… yeah, no…" Tsuna said, pulling Hitomi away from Nai, "Naito, see the thing is, Hitomi's not up for marriage proposals, even if she did save him, as per the Tomaso marriage… er… thingy. We're not doing that…"

"It's tradition, Tsuna!" Naito raised his arms in the air, "Just because it's not happening now, doesn't mean that they're not engaged." Naito pulled something from his pocket, "Here, Nai, put this on yourself and Hitomi so that everyone knows you're engaged!"

Naito handed his son two ornate looking bracelets. Before Tsuna could react, Hitomi's hand was snatched and the bracelet was firmly locked onto her wrist. "Okay, it's time to go. Solana, when we get home, fire up the blowtorch. This thing's not comin' off without a fight."

"Right-o, captain." Solana stood up, downing the rest of hers and Tsuna's wine and crossing the room, "It was nice to see you all again, Longchamp family, and I'm sure that we won't meet again in the future, considering you're trying to marry Hitomi off to your son."

Tsuna tossed Hitomi over his shoulder, "We'll, uh, show ourselves out."

"Oh, that's right!" Nai snapped, "Playing hard to get, huh?" He called after the trio, "Well don't worry, Hitomi! I'll win your heart! And I'll convince your father to let us marry, too!"

"That's my boy, don't give up!" Naito smacked his son on the back.

"Wait for me, Hitomi!" He called, running after them, "You'll be mine soon!"

Solana pulled out a small cube, handing it to Tsuna who managed to juggle Hitomi to get to his ring hand, which was glowing now. He stuck his ring in and twisted, opening the box and letting free a motorcycle. "Oh my god, this is the last time we leave you unattended." Tsuna mumbled, dropping Hitomi into the sidecar as Solana climbed on behind him. The three made their getaway into the night.

"Kidnapped?" Solana paced, "Seriously? How could that possibly happen?"

"The place was empty when we got there!"

"That's because some guy started shooting. Tsuna and Naito went to disarm him and after, we went out with them." Solana shook her head. "You shouldn't have believed him, Hitomi! Now you're engaged!" She gestured to the bracelet Tsuna was currently trying to get off of her wrist.

"Maybe someone else will save him and I'll be just a thing of the past?" Hitomi suggested.

"Mm, nope."

Tsuna shook his head, "Once a Longchamp has an idea in their head, it's hard to even get them to think about something else, Hitomi. He may not act like it much after this, but he'll be there… secretly plotting to get you to be his bride…"

Hitomi gulped, paling noticeably. "Tsuna, you scared her!"

"T-Then are they a local m-mafia family?" Hitomi asked suddenly.

"They used to be a bigger one, but I guess they regressed and became a local yakuza." Solana shrugged.

"One with strange traditions…." Tsuna added, "Anyway," He stood back, looking at the bracelet, "That's not coming off anytime soon and we'll deal with this marriage proposal when the time comes, for now… avoid Nai as much as you can, okay? We can't have him trying to kidnap you or something…"

Hitomi frowned, nodding at him and looking back at the bracelet. "I'm surprised though," Reborn said suddenly from next to Solana. She jumped slightly at his sudden appearance, "At first that Nai kid liked this behemoth of a woman and the next, he's trying to court Hitomi. Makes a person wonder what goes on in the minds of those Longchamps."

"Maybe they're on drugs?" Tsuna made a crazy motion, chuckling, "Well there's not much we can do. Naito explained the whole thing, he can't even do much other than try to 'court' you while you're both underage."

"That doesn't make me feel any better! I'm engaged! Engaged! I'm only thirteen, dad!" Hitomi stood up suddenly. "I should be worrying about other things, not being engaged to a crazy person!"

"Ah, Hitomi, calm down," Solana said, "It's not all bad. Longchamps don't follow tradition all that much at this age anyway, or so Pantera tells me. If anything, in a week or so, he'll be asking for that bracelet back and you'll be Scott-free."

Hitomi seemed to accept the answer and after a few more attempts to remove it, which ended with Hitomi scared and running for her life, the group dispersed and went to bed.

On Monday morning, Hitomi stood outside on school grounds, looking around. She wasn't alone; Kita, Kamiko, Katsumi and Emiko were all around her, animatedly talking about their weekends. "Hey, Hitomi?" Emiko nudged her best friend, "What's up? You keep spacin' out. What happened?"

This quieted all other conversations in the group. "And where'd you get that neat bracelet?" Kita picked up Hitomi's arm, showing off the bracelet, "It's really pretty."

"Oh… I got engaged this weekend…" Hitomi mumbled.

"…Wait… what?" Emiko asked. Hitomi repeated herself, also going into details of her Saturday night.

"Well… it can't be all bad…" Kita tried to cheer her up, "After all, he doesn't go here-!"

"Oh, Hitomi-chan~!" A voice called out. Hitomi, along with her group of friends and a few others in the courtyard looked up. Nai came running towards Hitomi, three people following behind him at a much slower pace, all dressed in Namimori uniforms. Nai stopped right in front of the group, "There's my beautiful bride!"

"Wh-What… What are you doing here?" Hitomi asked, backing up slightly.

"I transferred from Kokuyo middle school just for you~!" He called, "We're going to get married, you know?" He looked at Hitomi's group of friends.

All of this was just a little too much for the brunette, so, Hitomi turned and ran, screaming all the way as Nai called after her, following behind her. "So not cool!" She screamed.

"Should we… I dunno, help her?" Emiko watched the two run around.

Kita shook her head, "Nope! It's love! Or so my mom tells me! Besides, we're supposed to protect Hitomi from things that'll hurt her. He just wants to love her."

"And we might get beat up by Collins, too." Katsumi added.

"Hitomi, come back! I just want to love you!" Nai called after her.

"No, you creep!" Hitomi yelled back, "Get away from me! Help, someone! Stranger danger!"

Well here it is! After, like two weeks or something, I think. Um, I didn't know how to end it, since I wanted to include all of that, so I'll just end it there. The plot/idea for this chapter comes from a reviewer, KHLegacy. I hope it turned out the way you wanted it too! But if it didn't, I hope you still liked it anyway! And see, there's another throwback. Got the Tomaso family in there, too! :D Honestly, I did enjoy their little part in the manga, so I hope I did them at least a little justice in this. I'll just warn you, this isn't the last you've seen of Esteban Julio Ricardo Montoya—I mean Nai Longchamp. :D Cause they're engaged! Anyway… um, I think that's it. So… bye!

Question: What does the fox say?