To the guest who let a review in the last chapter, since I have no other means to reply to you... Thanks a lot! My updates might be short and slow and I'm honestly too absorbed to G's story lately, maybe more than I should, but I'll try my best to finish this! I will! Thanks for your support, it means a lot! I hope you'll enjoy the chapter.

Looking back to the events that led her being in that kind of situation, admittedly she could have made better choices, or she could have at least approached it a bit more carefully. Not taking into account that they had left the man responsible for the whole incident behind was her own fault, forgetting Ikegawa into the storage room was also a huge miss. Trying to cover for her mistake, she ended up not taking the necessary measures and that resulted to the most unfavorable conditions for her. It was one blunder after another. Raising her hands in the air, she could only bite her lips in defeat. Recklessly trying to tackle him while dealing with a broken rib could end up badly, the injury had taken a toll on her body, she had to try hard to hide her exhaustion. So what good would do to take the risk? Then again ending up as a mean for him to bargain could be even worse and humiliating; that is if they could leave that place in one piece.

"If you had not meddled, things would not have turn out like this for both of us," the man tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear sending chills down her body, his hot breath on her skin was nauseating. "So won't you stay quiet for me and cooperate? What's the point of loosing your life over this anyway?"
"Do you really think you will escape this place alive? You are as dead as me, you know"

Her voice emotionless, her body avoiding even the smallest move that could betray her nervousness, her mind running through the training she had undergone all those years. As expected that man did not make make her the favor to react to her provocation, he almost looked amused by her words. Of course he knew that, but a man who is almost as good as dead has nothing to loose anyway. Every moment seemed to last longer that usual, with her vision still clouded, her other sensations seemed sharpened. Focusing solely on the man's breathing next to her, her fingers flickered with disgust. She wanted to escape from that place and that desire grew stronger the moment the man's fingers run on her neck and wrapped around it, the metal barrel still on the back of her head.

"I don't know. Should I give up bargaining with the Vongola and have my fun instead. One should spend his last moments enjoying pleasure..."
"Too bad, I'm not part of the Vongola, so you can't strike a deal with them anyway."
"I don't think so. You looked pretty close with his right hand man to me, so I still think I may a chance."
"The more you postpone our exit, the less chances you'll have to bargain with anyone anyway."
"Well, I wonder… Would he hate it seeing me doing this?"

Taking the situation so lightly, trying to throw her off, she didn't know what that man was thinking, but the moment his lips touched the back of her neck teasingly her whole body shuddered under the repulsive sensation that run through her body. At that point, she didn't care anymore. Her hands and body moved instinctively as she violently blew his head with the back of her head. The man took back a step groaning but soon regained his balance. His smirk returned to his face and he chuckled while steadying his aim watching her backing off slowly. There was no doubt in her head, that man was crazy. Not that his victorious expression was unfounded; there was no escape.

"You are a damn bitch, you know," he hissed sweeping the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. "I bet you won't even beg for your life."

She gulped down hard, her saliva scratching down her dry throat. Yes, she would not beg, but that didn't mean she wanted to die. Not like this. Not with his face and memories they shared together popping into her mind even before the faces of her own family. It only made even more obvious what her biggest regret was; it felt sad and embarrassing. Cursing her self, she let her hands fall down limp in defeat and then... then everything happened too fast. As if everything else had vanished and the only thing she could hear was the sound of the gun firing and his voice calling her name. Her whole body numb, for a moment she blacked out. Next thing she knew was that her knees had given up, sat on the floor, her vision returned slowly. Someone was shaking her softly, calling her name. She had to regain her focus, but her eyes stranded to her shoulder, looking for the source of the strange, burning sensation she felt. Her clothes were painted red. Was that her blood?

"Akira!"

The voice now more demanding for a response, she shook her head slightly before looking up. Their eyes met, she'd recognize his eyes everywhere anyway, looking more worried than ever. His right hand clumsily checking for more injuries, while he was pushing her hair back with the other. Repetitively calling her name and asking for an answer, he ripped his sleeve and wrapped it around the wound. Her eyes drifting from him, they scanned the room before stopping on the unconscious body of the man, blood drenching his clothes over his abdomen. It was when Gokudera finally pulled her on her feet, supporting her with his hands that she finally snapped out of everything. Frantically looking around, he mumbled something about the exit being out. The question was though, why he was in.

"Everything is going to be ok. I'll get us out of here."

His reassuring voice echoed in her head. Her hand unconsciously touched his cheek, as if to check if he was really there. The move made him freeze for a second, but he soon looked at her softly, his hand promptly squeezing her arm. A sigh of relief escaped her lips the moment her mind registered he was really there, next to her, holding her. Yet, should she really rely on him again? Wincing, she tried to take a step on her own, removing herself from his grip, only to stagger in the process. She bit her tongue to muffle a groan, at least her breath had calmed down.

"What are you doing? You are injured."
"I think… I've caused enough problems for you already," her voice hoarse, she couldn't bear to look at him. "I… I can handle it."
"Really? Because with a wound like this, I don't think you can handle much. You should not strain yourself. Let me help you upstairs. We have to-"
"I have to take responsibility… about everything."
"Akira!" his hand blocking the way, he looked down furiously. "Stop thinking about that, ok? You are injured and we have to focus on getting out of here. Spanner will take care of it. Trust me for now. We'll think about the rest later."
"It's not like I don't trust you. But… I've got this," she shook her head. "You shouldn't have to worry about me. It was my fault anyway."
"That's not what's important right now!"
"Dino trusted me and I..." she tried to pass by him.
"Just give it a rest already!" he barked.

Suddenly, her feet left the ground. Picked up without warning, she found herself pressed against his body. His expression severe, he gave her a stern look before he takes the stairs carrying her carefully. However, it was not like he was in his best condition either. Covered with dust, sweat dripping down his forehead, blood dripping from multiple scratches of his body. He was exhausted himself.

"Hey, Gokudera... let me down," her voice more stubborn now.
"I won't."
"Let me down… I want you to let me down."
"Stop struggling, I'm not going to let you before we reach the room Spanner told me to," he barked annoyed. "Normally I wouldn't even let you move but we don't have that leisure right now. I'll be the one responsible if something happens to you!"
"What? Stop acting like you are my brother!"
"Well, I'm not your brother, but I'll have to answer to him if something happens to you. So just stay quiet and- Arghhh. Did you just bite me? Are you in your right mind?"
"Just-"
"I'm not going to let you down, no matter what you do, you know, so bite me all you want… You are panting, stop wasting energy for stupid reasons."
"It's already embarrassing enough..." overwhelmed by her frustration she clenched her hand on his chest. "What am I supposed to tell my boss? That I screw up everything, got wounded and finally was carried to safety like a child? Just right after he said he'd support me as a valuable member of his family too."

He looked down, his breathing steady. It was almost admirable how calm he could remain in that situation compared to how tense he usually was in his every day life. His piercing eyes made her look away and they remained silent until they reached the room as promised. Gray fumes still lingering in the air, the shuttered glasses on the floor cracked under his feet. He placed her carefully on a couch, checking the wound again. His touch tender, he seemed to be in deep though. Leaving her side, he opened the broken windows wide to let even more air in. Just when she started to think that the atmosphere had turned awkward between them again, he sat beside her taking a big breath.

"You are not a child. You did your best today. I'm sure Dino will be glad just to see you alive and safe."
"You can only say that because the crisis was luckily averted. But you can't dismiss the casualties, nor my mistakes."
"Then it's my fault too, I should have better judgment, since I did not consider a third party interfering with the meeting."
"You did."
"Well, I was not the one who noticed that man… So I won't say that you did everything right, but you didn't do everything wrong either."
"You are too kind."
"Am I?"
"And here I am, thinking how I don't want to face my brother," she mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck tired. "I bet he'll treat me like a kid again. Telling me I should not have taken part in this in the firs place. Screw this..."
"Well, everyone has bad days," he exhaled sharply, resting his back on the couch with a thud. "To be honest, your brother was the one who was supposed to be in charge of this. But I insisted too much to take up this case, so I'm expecting an earful too and honestly I can't stand the idea either. I bet he was also the one who tipped Cavallone."
"Then… That means that Dino wanted to give me a chance to prove my brother that I can handle this and I went and screw up everything..." she balled her fists on her knees, angry with herself, her teeth clenched.
"You don't have to prove anything to him," Gokudera's reprimanding voice startled her. "You don't have to prove anything.. You don't have to follow in his steps either. The only one you have to answer to is yourself and your boss."

Catching her looking at him straight in the eye, he turned away flushed. Her body relaxed again. Chatting normally like that with him after everything that had happened felt like a miracle. Her eyes softened. Somehow she could see, how she could not get that awkward man out of her head after all those years. They could call it obsession, fair enough, but it was moments like that one who made her heart beat like crazy.

"You said the same thing back in high school," she smiled sadly. "That I shouldn't join the discipline committee if I didn't want to. That I am not and I'm not supposed to be my brother's shadow."
"Well… I still believe that."
"It made me happy. Since everyone was comparing us constantly, it really meant a lot to me, hearing you saying that. The history club was really fun too."
"It was, wasn't it?" he chuckled. "Still… Akira, I don't believe that your brother does not believe in you," he placed his hand on her head, shuffling her hair softly. "He is just being overprotective in his own way."
"I know," she rested her head on his shoulder. "But it's unbearable sometimes."
"Well..." he voice came out with high pitched at first, his muscles tensed. "I get that. He pissed me off too sometimes… well most of the time. And he even hit me out of the blue once in the past without an explanation. I honestly don't know how his mind works."

She felt a bit guilty hearing that, since she could imagine when and why her brother had acted like that. She had found out later, felt embarrassed about it and after refusing to talk to her brother for over a month, she finally decided to forget about it like nothing had happened. How would she apologize to him anyway, because her brother decided to "bite him to death", as his exact words were, because he gave his kid sister a heartbreak.

"You know, I missed that," she said trying to change the subject.
"Missed what?"
"Talking to you like this… It's been so long."
"Ah… Yes," he straighten up his trouser nervously. 'Well… We don't meet very often and it's usually about work... I know things are not the same anymore… but you can always come to me if you want… talk to me about anything… I'll listen."

Her words made her look up at him. His cheeks painted red, he was avoiding her glass as usual. Her eyes followed his long fingers running through his hair, she wanted to touch them too, embrace him, tell him everything she had bottled up all those years. Why was she holding back again? What if she had died back there?

"It's not about that. You were always accompanied by a woman, it didn't feel appropriate."
"Huh?"
"And… well… You always listened… You always listened, yet… it's not enough anymore," he tensed even more at her words and looked at her with a surprised look on his face. "Because you always listened, but you never looked at me. But I got tired of watching you looking at other girls. I put up a smile, but I hated it. I was watching them touching you and there was nothing I could do. I thought I should endure it until you look at me… But you never did."
"No… Hold on. That's-"
"I know it's horrible," she blubbered. "I always thought that it should be enough if you were happy, that I would give up eventually. But I could still not stand it and I reached a point where I could not pretend anymore. I wanted to touch you too. Because I liked you… I still..."

She run her fingers through his soft hair and down to his neck. His mouth agape, he looked lost, unable to respond. Leaning in more, she pressed her lips again his, she could tell his surprise since it took him a few seconds to return her kiss. She didn't even care anymore, even if he was just in the moment, even if it was out of pity it was enough. His hand finally drifting from the top to the back of her head and then to her waist, he let out a small moan and cupped her cheek with the other, prompting her to open her eyes, just slightly.

"If you moan like that..." she thought. "I'll get even greedier and won't hold back."

She slightly grazed her lips against his, adjusting her position to his and locked his lower lips between hers, sweeping her tongue over it just for a moment. Every sign of resistance was now gone. She slowly slid her tongue into his. Hesitantly at first, their tongues started dancing with each other. As she caressed his shoulder, his moves became bolder, more needy, his kiss hungrier; it made her head spin, her temperature rise, at some point she had lost control, it was his lips that were demanding more. When they finally broke apart gasping for air, a thin life of saliva connecting their lips, she could feel his heartbeat through her hand placed on his chest, refusing to break eye contact.

Still panting, he covered his lips with the back of hand lowering his gaze, his face red, he stayed silent as if he could not believe what he had just done. Thinking that she had probably pressed him too much, she was about to remove herself from him when she felt his hand pressing her waist more, bringing her closer.

"Gokudera, I…"
"Please, don't look at me right now. Just give me a moment..." his voice trembling.
"I… I might need a moment too..."

Was it supposed to be that awkward? Her heart was beating so fast, she thought that it might break; a mix of excitement and embarrassment together, she could not keep her thoughts in check. What kind of mess was that? Her body could hardly move from the pain but she could not ignore the happy thrills running down her spine when he was touching her. It was not like she was expecting a grand romantic moment but she kind of wished she'd be in a better condition at least.

"Akira… I… I mean… Eh?"

He cut his words hearing the sound of a helicopter drawing closer. He looked lost for a moment, as if he had forgotten where they were, that they were expecting the rest of the team to rescue them and yet his hand pressed more on her body, almost instinctively, pulling her into an embrace. Soon, they could hear Lambo calling their names and a ladder appeared hanging in front of the window. Lambo himself came into view right after, a mix of worry and fear on his face; he froze the moment he faced them and then shook his head as if that'd make the scene he was witnessing dissapear. Jumping right in, he rushed to them anxiously. His eyes widen, he placed a hand between them and pulled her away from the older man while checking behind him. She grimaced from the pain, his moves were a bit clumsy, he knew but his nervousness got the better of him, he didn't have much time.

"Be careful," Gokudera tried to interfere but he turned his back to him, getting in-between them.
"I'm sorry, I'll be more careful from now on," he apologized to his friend nervously.

"What's going on? What's taking you so long?"

Everyone turned towards the window. Hibari was hanging by the ladder, making it look like it was the most relaxing and easiest thing in the world. His voice made Lambo let out a muffled cry and he turned to him with a plastered smile, shoving Gokudera to the side. The young mafioso shuddered the moment he saw Hibari furrowing his eyebrows, thanking the gods of luck inside him for letting him be the first one who found them at the same time, even though they literally had to force him to come down first. There was nothing to misinterpret in that situation. What was the storm guardian thinking? Even he would be mad at him if he didn't have Hibari to worry about. Well, she had to blame her too, letting her self carried away despite her injuries. She was supposed to get over him or something? Didn't she have the arrange marriage to worry about? What led them to that anyway? Why were they acting awkwardly in normal situations and yet they hooked up in the most abnormal one? Adults were scary.

"She has to see a doctor!" he finally cried out the moment the cloud guardian opened his mouth, not letting Hibari to pry into details. He was sure he had smelled his nervousness, now he had to avoid him at all cost. "Ahhh… Good thing Gokudera found her, I was so worried!"

Hibari's eyes traveled on his sister's wound. Luckily he rushed to her side without saying a word, sending Gokudera a murderous glare in the process. Despite Akira's protests, he carried her to his arms, slapping away Gokudera's hand telling him to back off when he tried to help. The tension in the atmosphere had risen dangerously, thus when Hibari turned his back to them without another work the lighting guardian let out a relieved sigh and glanced at the storm guardian who was looking down. Talking about lack of gratitude though, he should at least thank him for bringing his sister to a safe place. He shrugged and looked at his superior. Obviously taking the silent blame on him and letting himself sunk into guilt, Gokudera bit his bits to shallow his words. He was not in his best condition either, he should see a doctor too, yet he didn't even seem to care about his own injuries. Unsure if saying anything would really help, Lambo scratched his cheek and decided it would be best stay out of this, bit seeing the storm guardian planted in his place, his fists clenched, he turned back. Well, he had to admit, he was kind of cool, so he could offer him a few words.

"Gokudera… We should go, you have to rest too you know..."
"I know..." he murmured, walking towards the window. "And…" he rubbed his nose bashfully. "Thanks… It might have turned things even more awkward."

"He did it after all! The damn octapus-head reallydid it! Did you even look kind of proud about it? I wasn't doing for you, idiot!" he shuffled his fluffy hair. "I wasn't supposed to know, it'd be better if he have never confirmed it. How am I supposed to keep it a secret from the demonic brother now? Stay calm, Lambo. It's not even your business right? Just let the storm guardian get what he deserves..."

Easier said than done, though. Finding himself in the helicopter among them, he could not help but notice the way they exchanged glances when Hibari was not looking. The young guardian rubbed the temple of his nose feeling conflicted. Of course it was mutual, but the storm guardian looked like he was the star of a romantic action movie or something and a really bad one at that. And were they crazy? What if Hibari noticed? How would they even cover that?

"I can't believe this. Ain't I supposed to be the teenager here?" he thought to himself, resting his head on the window feeling exhausted already. "I can't even hate him, look at that face... Am I supposed to root for them? What should I do? Ahhh… I just want to go home, eat Kyoko's food and sleep… Forget everything, Lambo. Nothing happened… Nothing ever happened. You saw nothing… Nothing at all..."