My first double update ever. I feel very happy when people update double. It's like a gift.

Edited: 6/5/24

Chapter 14: Summer Debt Madness Pt. 2

All she had wanted was for him to demonstrate once, at least one gosh damn time it wasn't about Tsuna. Juudaime here. Juudaime there.

Ugh, since today that name was making her whole neck grow hot with rage. Tsuri had never felt so bothered hearing it until today. But she asked herself, why should it start? It was obvious that the self claiming right hand man would dote on the actual boss of the Vongola, not the side piece. They covered that from the day she got sick. But still. No matter how much the silver headed smoker denied them being friends… they were. Friends cared about each other. So why couldn't he muster any care behind his actions for her instead of making them solely centered on Tsuna?

Tsuri brushed her bangs out of her eyes and sighed roughly. Gokudera Hayato was seriously one tough person to understand, especially if he was a hothead. Hotheaded people tended not to rationalize about anything. Ever. She meant what she said. If he was going to act like an ass then there was no way he'd give him the satisfaction of being praised for protecting her for Tsuna's sake.

Tsuri shook her head. She could think about this later. She looked at both sides of the road, making sure the coast was clear. As she was about to start walking again, a woman with rose colored hair appeared in front of her, a dark aura surrounding her. And she didn't look pleased at the runaway.

"Tsuri, please make this easy."

"NO! I'm not wearing that!"

"You gave your mom your word."

"I said I would try it on, not promise to wear it the whole night!" Tsuri defended, hoping Bianchi had bought her lie. Of course the older Italian woman could be gullible sometimes. She did believe 10 year older Lambo was her ex-lover, Romeo after all.

"I have proof." Or not.

Bianchi lifted a green tape recorder and pressed the play button. Tsuri could tell the recorder was Leon. She could feel a massive amount of stress marks adorning the top of her head. Reborn was such an instigator. "For Nami's sake FINE. You win!"

Face flaring with fury Tsuri decided to turn right, returning back to her home to put on the 'stupid pink see through demon clothing.' "Kami-sama, please make Reborn pay one day," She muttered with a scowl.

Meanwhile at the Sawada Residence the baby hitman that was sitting in the kitchen with Tsuna and sneezed, sensing he was being talked about. "You're welcome Baka-Tsuri" he smirked, knowing well the female twin was badmouthing and cursing him to the ends of the earth.

.

..

Forty five minutes later...

The festival at Namimori Shrine had begun. Everyone loved the event and every year the town and its people looked forward to the games, the food stands and especially the fireworks at the end. It lifted much stress from work and school. Especially for summer vacation.

Tsuri remembered that it was a family tradition in going to the summer festivals since she and her twin were kids. Their mom would dress them up and enjoy all the festivities it had to offer. They remembered that their dad would go on certain occasions, but after he stopped coming home, they could tell that their mom wasn't fully into it anymore. She urged her kids to go however, with friends and the like to make memories.

So despite the fact that she didn't like the clothes she had on, she would do it for her mom. And because it would the first one that Tsuna and her would be attending after so long.

They checked out all the stands; some with games, to which Reborn was leaving run down for his shooting skills. In one section though, stood out a stand that read 'Choco-Bananas' and so the Chinese child they were watching got entranced and walked towards it.

"May we please have one choco-banana!" Tsuna asked.

"Coming right up! We'll have to ask you to wait for a few moments while we warm up the chocolate! We're using French!" a cheerful familiar voice chirped up.

"No you idiot! It's BELGIAN!" Another rough voice snapped at the kind voice. When the second person behind the stand turned around to hand the customer the banana, he was surprised to see that it was his boss. And Tsuri.

"Gokudera-kun?!" The brunet bellowed in surprise.

"Hey, it's Yamamoto!" The other one smiled and laughed.

"Don't startle me like that, Juudaime!" The bomber replied, regretful of his rudeness a few minutes earlier.

"Haha! We were waiting for you!" Yamamoto grinned. The raven head then blinked at his female friends appearance. "Haha Tsuri-chan's wearing a yukata! I thought you said you were going to die before you wore one?"

Gokudera suppressed another wave of the symptoms he received from earlier in the morning. "Hm. So you can look like a girl."

Yamamoto nudged him. "Don't be mean Gokudera. You look very pretty Tsuri-chan!"

She lifted a sleeve to hide her bashful expression. Yamamoto was a real honest charmer. No wonder he also has a trail of fans behind him at school.

"I didn't want to wear one if I'm honest…" She shared annoyance at the other person behind the stand. "Your sister and my mom forced me into it. I want to take it off…" She picked on the pink yukata and lifted her sleeves. The clothing had white and orange daisy designs everywhere from top to bottom. Her brown hair was still slightly damp due to the bath she took earlier but was picked up in a side ponytail with an orange flower scrunchie holding in place. She wore the traditional wooden sandals, even though she objected greatly because they would slip every so often from her tiny feet when she walked.

Three blue lines appeared under her left caramel eye. "But I don't want to let their effort go to waste. Yamamoto gets it. Thanks." Tsuri narrowed her eyes at the silver head and stuck her tongue out at him. "And screw you Bakadera."

Tsuna let out little laughs and waved off her sisters childishness. "Anyways, what are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"Wait…Reborn-san didn't tell you? We're working here for the money." Gokudera explained, setting up more bananas in the front of the stand.

"We received the right to set up a shop from the committee." Tsuri jumped at the identified voice who popped out of nowhere.

"In my ranking, Choco-banana stands sell the most!" Fuuta said, found beside Reborn.

"Fuuta!" Tsuri cried in delight.

"Hi Tsuri-nee!" Fuuta ran up to her and was squeezed into a hug.

Tsuna glanced at the scene, feeling a little left out and jealous at the displayed affection.

"Our goal is to sell 500 bananas!" yelled Gokudera.

"Eh? That's a lot…" Tsuna complained. Tsuri sighed.

"Ah, right. Also, don't forget to prepare and pay the lot fee."

"Pay?" asked Tsuna.

"Lot fee?" The twins stared at the arcobaleno in question.

"It seems to be a Namimori tradition to pay the guys running this area." The silver head explained with a sour face.

"…OH! So that's why I had to stay late that day in the reception room!" Tsuri blurted out in realization and struck a fist to her palm. Then she paled a little. "You're going to want to hold on to the money protectively..."

"Wait what? Tsuri? Who is it for?" The people present asked in unison.

"Fifty Thousand." Everyone turned to find who the deep voice belonged to. Their eyes traveled to his left arm where a red armband dwelled.

"Hibari-san!" Tsuna squeaked out the name as if it were cursed to say. Tsuri put a hand to her face and sighed. She totally knew it.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Gokudera yelled.

"…we're paying the Disciplinary Committee." Tsuri answered their previous question in annoyance. "Is that why you had me sign an NDA before the festival? So I wouldn't reveal who's feeing the stands until it began?" Tsuri crossed her arms. "That's a bit of a jerk move Hibari-san."

"…Tsuri…you're…being rude...Aren't you scared?" asked Tsuna. She shrugged, but Tsuna could see that she was shaking in fright. So she was putting on a brave front.

Hibari ignored his desk manager's considered annoying question and insult. "You have to pay for the operations around here. If you don't…then I'll destroy your shop."

Tsuna looked over to the shop next to theirs to see some of his other club members holding knives, axes, and some other weird weapons, ready to break down the shop. Tsuri almost shrieked her way out of her spot.

"I'll pay, I'll pay!" yelled the owner of the shop as he panicked and quickly gave the money.

"…accepted." Hibari smirked in victory, counting the money as he walked away.

"Can we have chocolate bananas please?" yelled two certain voices. Everyone turned to see Haru and Kyoko in yukatas just like Tsuri's except with different designs and colors. Tsuri grinned, feeling more comfortable in her clothes now that she knew her friends were wearing it too. She side glanced towards her brother who was smiling awkwardly. Tsuri poked him with her elbow, causing the latter's cheeks to redden.

"Hahi! Tsuri-san! You're wearing a yukata too?" asked Haru. Tsuri gave her a toothy smile. Tsuna's eyes widened only a fraction before softening. His sisters smile looked very honest and sincere.

"Yep. Bianchi-san and my mom forced me into it. But it's alright I guess!"

"I see! You look beautiful Tsuri-chan!" Kyoko complimented.

"Thanks. Both of you look great too!"

Both of the girls blushed in appreciation and thanked the female.

"Ah! Tsuna-san! We're going off to see the fireworks which will start soon!" Haru said beginning to run off. "We'll see you later!"

"Bye!" said Kyoko chan she followed Haru. Fuuta had wanted to go too so Tsuri patted his head and let him follow the girls while she stayed. I-pin also followed. She then turned to Tsuna and saw that he was sulking, a black dark aura surrounding him.

'You wanted to see fireworks with Kyoko didn't you?' She asked while patting his head comfortingly.

Tsuna sniffed and nodded. 'But we'll never make it' he moped.

"Oh don't be so negative Tsuna!" Tsuri scolded outloud. Yamamoto and Gokudera shared confused glances at one another at the sudden outburst. They both saw her determined face and energy surge up quickly. "I promise that you will! We still have time to watch the fireworks!"

"Hey, if we sell all of these before they start, we could still go." Yamamoto piped up while unpacking more boxes containing chocolate and bananas.

Tsuna's lips curled up into a grateful smile and nodded. "Un! Let's do our best and sell them all!" he replied happily.

"If that is what Juudaime wants…then okay!" yelled Gokudera as he peeled some bananas. Tsuri pushed her sleeves up and began to help the baseball star cut the chocolate bars while Tsuna readied the pot and slipped in the cut pieces into the fire.

'You know Tsuna, you're always being babied too much by Yamamoto' Tsuri stifled her giggles behind her pink sleeve. 'What would he do if he knew just how bad your crush on her is?'

Tsuna rolled his eyes at her teasing while stirring the pot of chocolate. 'I'm not obvious!'

'Sure, sure.'

.

..

...

Everything went by smoothly. After a tough struggle with having a bitter silver head forcing their product to by-passers while Yamamoto gave some for free, Adult I-pin had helped the group of teens attract many people into buying delicious choco-bananas with a lovely decorated stand Chinese style.

Everyone was taking a mild break now that they gathered enough profit for the broken water slide and Tsuna was left alone to watch the stand with Tsuri who sat down, sleeping soundly when suddenly her eyes snapped open and saw Tsuna running after someone who had their face covered.

She was groggy and awake enough to quickly grab a piece of cardboard and write that the stand was closed and followed suit to grab the man that stole their profits. Since she was wearing a yukata and sandals it made it harder for her to follow.

Hesitating whether the yukata or the profits was more important, she silently apologized to Nana and Bianchi, ripped the hem of her clothing, slid off the sandals and ran like her life depended on it. When Tsuna and her finally caught up, they tried catching their breath and saw that they were led to the temple shrine on the hill above the festival. Their eyes widened.

The guy who snatched their box money and the rest of the people he met up with at the shrine were the guys they had beaten up in the morning. The lifeguards who tried to grope her and the girls.

"Ha! You fell right into our trap! Thieving is our second profession and summer is the best time to make a profit. But simply taking this doesn't make me feel better." The boss of the group smirked and whistled, summoning several people with several sharp weapons big and small.

"Oi you." The lifeguard that had tried to touch Tsuri pointed at her as if his finger could cut her down like a sword. "You're gonna pay for what you did to me," he snarled and smirked. "But if you agree to let us keep the money and you spend time with my pals and I tonight, I'll let you and your brother slide."

Now wide awake, Tsuri stood in front of Tsuna protectively. "I'd rather get beaten and cut up than waste my time with you and your pervert pals. No wonder you don't get laid."

"Y-You...!"

"Oi, who says you can take our profit and my sister with you?" Tsuna said darkly. Tsuri smiled. Times like these made the shy brunet intimidating and scary. The female swore that this overprotective trait was definitely from their dad.

"You…both of you are just middle schoolers…what could you do?" taunted the man. Both twins smirked evilly.

"Wanna see? I kicked one of you earlier. II'm pretty sure I can snap more twigs," Tsuri cracked her knuckles with a smirk. The guy shivered a little but soon regained his composure. Tsuna was going to lunge for him when suddenly a knocked out body landed in front of them, stopping him.

"I thought I found a delicious little flock and it turned out to be the big catch of thieves I've been after."

"Hibari-san?" The Vongola heirs said in surprise.

"Who the hell is that?" asked a random guy from the gang.

"The Disciplinary Committee of Nami-chuu!" said another guy as his voice shook in fear.

"This saves me the trouble of collecting. The money you took will be taken by the Disciplinary Committee." Hibari said, oozing out an evil malicious smirk. Suddenly, the gang started to attack the trio. Hibari knocked some of the people out from the back easily, his signature smirk growing.

"Che…then….GET THE GIRL!" yelled a few of them, charging towards Tsuri who only smiled. No use in keeping her fighting strength a secret from Tsuna or the others now that it was out in the open. That would be the only thing she'd thank Mukuro for since she didn't have to hide it anymore.

Tsuri ran into the middle of the circle and kneed three in between their legs. She turned her body and kicked another in the face very hard, sending him flying, invoking a couple more down. Tsuna watched with his mouth open.

'You got some skill too' she told him through their link. 'Use your fists and punch some assholes!"

Tsuna's eyes brightened suddenly and felt a rush of emotions swim inside. A guy had targeted Tsuna and lunged for him when Tsuna gave him a solid kick to the stomach. Tsuri stood solid still for a second. They exchanged a small glance at one another and smiled proudly. 'Nice one!'

Suddenly, one man snuck up behind Tsuna. Tsuri panicked and was going to reach out to pull him out of the way when suddenly, a red light, clearly a bullet, shot his head from nowhere. Tsuri moved to see that Reborn was on top of a tree holding a Leon sniper gun. The glint in his eyes sent shivers up her spine and she swore he was planning on shooting her too. Tsuri was going to run out of the scene if that happened. She could tell that he'd use this as an excuse for being secretive.

Crazy fighter Tsuna went on a rampage and ended up beating half of the people surrounding her and Hibari. She glanced at the raven head and almost squeaked out of her place. He was looking at her hungrily, and his aura was definitely filled with a purplish color and only increased each passing second.

"Arg…they're only three middle schoolers! GET THEM!" The leader yelled, clearly panicked. Then, right when they were about to attack again, a dynamite stick was thrown and exploded from behind. Tsuri couldn't hold back her eyebrow from twitching. The black smoke cleared, revealing Yamamoto and Gokudera.

"We came to help!" Yamamoto shouted as he got into the middle of them.

"Juudaime!" said Gokudera. He winced when he saw Tsuri's annoyed face but ignored it quickly, getting back to the situation at hand.

"Don't kid around…I'm taking the stolen money." Hibari prepared his tonfas.

"Like hell!" Tsuri cried.

"NO WAY." Tsuna denied.

"Naturally." Gokudera agreed.

"Yeah." Yamamoto nodded with a half smile.

"Why are you getting all excited amongst yourselves? Get them!" yelled the leader sharper than the last time as the people charged at the teens. They all exchanged smirks at one another and charged at them. It didn't last long. Each had done their part and after a cool ten minutes, all the delinquents were found on the floor with broken noses, arms, bruises and pain in the middle of their legs.

Hibari bent down to take the stolen money from the previous stands, eyeing the box that clearly belonged to the pack of herbivores he wanted to crush with his tonfas. "I'm taking this." Tsuna immediately hovered over it protectively. Yamamoto and Gokudera covered him from behind, while Tsuri contemplated over her ripped yukata. It looked shorter and luckily she had slipped on some shorts under just for situations like these.

Tsuna's dying will then ran out." We worked together for this money…I can't let you take it!" he objected, shaking with fear.

"That's right. We won't let you take it!" Gokudera declared with his signature scowl.

"That's the way it is" Yamamoto stepped up with a serious expression. Hibari seemed like he didn't care and was going to take the profit by force if necessary when the female twin blocked him from continuing his path. He raised an eyebrow.

"P-Please Hibari-san? I'll owe you a favor in exchange. Please." The herbivore pleaded. Hibari looked like he was thinking it through for a second and then smiled evilly. Tsuri's whole skin nearly went blue. His hunting gaze was back.

"…Then, herbivore, I'll take on that favor right now, " Hibari began, keeping his prey on lockdown. Everyone gulped. "Fight me."

"EH?" Tsuna and Gokudera bellowed.

"That's crazy!" Yamamoto yelled.

"Then I'm taking the box." Hibari resumed walking towards them, lifting a tonfa.

"…Fine."

"What! Tsuri!" Tsuna called out. "What are you thinking!"

"Stupid woman! You're crazy! You can't fight this bastard!" Gokudera snapped angrily and approached Tsuri. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "I won't let you!"

"Oi Gokudera calm down!" Yamamoto also approached his friends and tried to remove the silver head from the brunette.

"Shall I punch you in the face like I said earlier?" Tsuri calmly replied, and somehow Tsuna could tell behind the tone that she was holding the urge to move her arm and give it to him. By the srunch in her eyebrows, clearly she was pissed at him for some reason. Did something happen back at the beach?. "I'm not some damsel in distress that needs her brother's loyal dog to protect her. If you can see around you, I can do it myself."

She pushed his hands off her and let Yamamoto come between them. "Protect your Juudaime instead." Gokudera froze in place. Tsuna stared, dumbstruck. Yamamoto laughed nervously waving his hands to calm his two friends down.

Gokudera's face suddenly turned red with anger. "Fine! Go get beat to a pulp for all I care! Let's go, baseball nut, Juudaime!" The Italian walked away fuming like never before.

Tsuri looked towards the prefect. "I agree." She said ignoring the tiny daggers her brother was shooting.

"Be careful Tsuri-chan" Yamamoto smiled a tiny smile and followed Gokudera. She nodded in response.

Tsuna was going to follow but stopped to see his sister. She looked regretful. 'You know, he cares about you too.'

Tsuri stared at the ground, irritated at the way Tsuna scolded her. He had no idea how she felt about this either. She wished she could tell him how much it bothered her, but she didn't want Tsuna to pull away from his friend.

'No he doesn't. You're more important in his book.'

Tsuna sighed. "Be careful" he said and ran past the two. Behind, Tsuna could see that Gokudera was angry, but he also looked confused, a bit hurt and maybe even remorseful. He argued with her before, and nothing like this happened. The Vongola tenth sighed. Would they ever get along?

Tsuri stood in place feeling stress lines under her tired eyes. Hibari already had his tonfas out, waiting.

"Um, Hibari-san...?" She asked. "W-When do we begin?"

"Now."

"B-But aren't you tired...? Oh what's the use," she mumbled and readied herself. "Any rules you want to apply?"

"Whomever pins their opponent down wins." Said Hibari. Tsuri sighed. Sounded pretty easy and simple. Maybe it wouldn't be so violent...

"And, if you lose, there's a penalty, " He added with a smirk. Tsuri's skin crawled. His smirk was too intense it reminded her of Reborn's. And punishment... He wasn't serious was he?!

Tsuri rubbed her head hesitantly. Maybe Hibari was doing this under Reborn's orders? There was no way this was the prefect's idea! She growled. Her tutor seriously wanted answers and he would do absolutely anything to obtain his piece of information! Knowing her yukata would be in the way, she took it off, leaving her in only an orange tank top and black shorts. What Hibari saw next intrigued him.

Her caramel eyes were no longer hesitant nor filled with fear. Eyes that had been a warm syrup color were now a piercing orange, unwavering. Just like the ones he'd seen before. That same look he saw when he had first interacted with the small girl. Excitement rushed through his veins and he smiled. "Wao," he said in amazement. "Shall we begin?"

.

..

...

...

"Tsuna-kun! The fireworks are about to start!" Kyoko chirped up in happiness and waved a hand over to him to come over. The brunet screamed internally. He was behind his friends who were sitting in the grass waiting for the show to start while he waited for his sister to show up.

He put his hand under his chin in thought.

There was definitely something off about her stamina. He had definitely been surprised when he saw her beat people to a pulp. If he knew correctly, she'd never taken karate classes nor anything else during their childhood. She was, in no offense, weak like him.

'Are?' Tsuna's mind traveled down memory lane for an apparent reason and remembered something he had forgotten long ago.

A week after Tsuri had been kidnaped when they were ten, she'd had asked permission from their mother to go out every day after lunch and came back around dinner. Nana and him thought it had something to do with extra classes in order to improve her grades but on a certain day Tsuri had come home beaten up in their front door.

Her arms and legs had gashes and bruises, and her hands were red and purple. Nana had gone to her cooking classes not far from their home so she hadn't been there to see her in her state. Tsuri had looked up at Tsuna from their mat in exhaustion and laughed, something he thought she'd forgotten to do after being drugged and used as a hostage for money senseless. Her excuse had been, "I fell into a construction site's hole on my way home."

Tsuna didn't like to pry into his sisters business so much back then and not too much now, but it still had concerned him just as much as it did now. He just didn't want to pressure her into telling. That's when Tsuri's record of hospital trips began. They stared with sprains, then broken bones, then constant fever trips.

Had Tsuri been training with someone or pushing herself to improve her own body? Was it her way of fixing the trauma she held?

'Mou! I'm going to ask you for an explanation!' Tsuna muttered to himself and shook his head in denial. There was no way she could have. Maybe she was just a little stronger because she exercised everyday for her soccer games and such. But it didnt explain the fragility she contained too. Tsuna waved off his self considered paranoia and rushed off to sit next to Kyoko.

Meanwhile Gokudera distanced himself from the others, wallowing in irritation. The stupid woman was still angry at him and he couldn't really tell why. Yamamoto had tried to explain to him the same situation they've been dealing with since forever. The fact that he was protecting her because of her importance to Tsuna. She was Juudaime's sister. Of course he had to protect her for him. He was his right hand man. It was his duty!

"Wahh! The fireworks are starting!" Ranking Fuuta exclaimed, deeply enthralled at the throwing of colors in the night sky and how they lit up like stars before disappearing.

"Lambo-san wants to fly with the fireworks!" The cow child yelled, jumping up and down crazily.

"No Lambo! You will blow up!" I-pin replied worriedly causing Yamamoto and the rest to laugh at their typical child behavior.

The silver head just couldn't keep up and instead found himself still in his foul mood. The fireworks did seem pretty, but he couldn't enjoy them somehow.

"Oh! It started already?"

"Tsuri!/Tsuri-chan!/Tsuri-nee!" Everyone yelled in complete surprise at the new voice. Gokudera turned his head slightly and his green eyes fell on her appearance. Her clothes had tatters here and there, on her legs and behind her right arm was a big red scratch. Her hair was disheveled and down with leaves covering it on top. The rest could see that she was hugging the yukata she'd worn earlier to her chest.

"Are you okay? Did you break anything— How'd it go?!" Tsuna asked worriedly. "Did you beat him?"

"I'm fine. No hospital trips today. As for me winning…N-No," she replied stuttering. "He's definitely not human! I didn't even last more than ten minutes!" She let out a breath and brushed her bangs out of her face. "But I can't say I didn't land any hits on his face and chest, He probably won't be happy with me later."

"Hibari is Hibari, " Yamamoto laughed nervously. "Were there any rules?"

"Yeah a penalty. Since I lost I was punished..."

"Eh? What did he make you do?"

Tsuri groaned. "I'm his punching bag for the next week or so."

"Yikes. You sure you can keep up with that?"

"I keep my word. And he's scary so I don't want him hunting me down later."

"Sit down Tsuri-chan! The fireworks started already!" Kyoko said, ignoring the way she appeared. While the others got back to admiring the flying colors in the night sky, Tsuri was going to sit next to Fuuta but then noticed Gokudera far from the others. Feeling pulled to resolve their earlier spat, she got up and plopped herself next to his right. The silver head kept his gaze at the sky, trying to ignore her presence. It didn't work.

"I'm sorry."

"Eh?"

Gokudera scowled. "If I did anything earlier to get you upset, I'm sorry."

Tsuri stared blankly and then shook her head. "No Gokudera. I'm sorry."

She covered her injured legs with her torn up yukata and laid her arms on top of her knees. "Look. I know you say we're not friends, but I consider you one of mine. As weird as this," She gestured back and forth from themselves. "You're okay." She pressed her lips together. "But the fact that you step in to help me because you're doing it as a favor for my brother doesn't make me feel okay."

"You're an idiot," Gokudera mumbled angrily, hiding his face from Tsuri.

"Huh?!"

The bomber ran a hand through his silver hair and closed his eyes. "I won't say I don't do things for Juudaime because I do. He's my number one priority." He then stared directly at Tsuri with an expression she couldn't read. "You're right. Like hell it'd change."

"We're friends. We're friends Bakadera so believe it."

Gokudera felt a tug on his sleeve and soon felt inches closer to a body that had been a few feet away from his. He felt his neck grow hot, and his pulse speed up.

Tsuri didn't glance at him and kept silent. Almost as if she were being careful with her words with him. She was waiting for him to reply, but how could he? He didn't want to say the wrong thing again. So what could he say?

Gokudera's patience—or what he had of it—was wearing thin. He hated what ever this emotion was that was tugging him back and forth.

"I need you to care for me because of me." Tsuri felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment at the way she said it. "A-And I-I totally mean in the friend way. Don't get any ideas." She flung her arms all over the place nervously. Her voice was so soft that if he hadn't been right next to her, Gokudera wouldn't have heard her. "So, do you?"

"Wha-What?"

She was standing so close and looking at him so intensely, that he had to back up a little, feeling his cheeks reach a newer temperature. Was she honestly asking him that? Why?

"Wha-What...?" he choked out, trying to keep his composure. Why had he reacted like that? She was just looking at him and standing near him. Then again, she had never stood so close to him nor looked at him in such a manner. It seemed like she was begging him. But he was at a loss for words.

Tsuri smiled sadly, and let out a defeated sigh. She let go of his sleeve. "Geez Bakadera. Be a little more honest with yourself. I don't think I'll ever hear you say it, but my intuition tells me you do care. I'll take it." Her eyes again avoided contact with his green ones and listened to the pop and release of the explosives, but a small sincere smile made its way onto her tired expression. Gokudera didn't take his gaze off her. He watched the lights dance in her syrupy eyes, curious as to how those eyes could look like his Juudaime's and yet be so different at the same time.

He wanted to internally beat himself up. She was definitely a witch. How dare someone like her make him feel so flustered and caught off guard! He shut his eyes, no longer feeling the desire to continue observing the show.

"You're such a handful and you're right. You'll never hear me-" he couldn't continue his sentence as he felt something heavy sit on his shoulder. He blinked his tired eyes to find that Tsuri's head was on it, completely asleep and knocked out. He stared at the sleeping figure in irritation, but for the first time didnt even feel himself let go to the fireworks in his own body, and his expression soften.

Meanwhile from afar Tsuna emitted black waves all over his side at the scene. And by a tree, a certain baby Spartan smirked at the scene unfolding.

'Dame-Tsuna, you're sister complex is starting to show.'

Back at the shrine, Hibari sat on top of the roof, staring at his injuries. They weren't major but they certainly weren't minor either. The little herbivore had a strong punch. His steel eyes then traveled up towards the fireworks.

"There will be more punishments to come Sawada Tsukairi," he said, feeling excitement all over again just remembering the way her eyes looked. He rested his hands behind, smirking. This was one penalty won. And Hibari was sure he'd win more of the spars and penalties to come too.

Review like the wind too my readers and tell me what you think! Any Q's are welcome!

-Blu