The two walked towards the shopping area. Akito led her to many of the shops and introduced her to the people working there. Seeing her enjoy their outing was kind of fascinating to him. Her smile was wide, and her eyes sparkled as she talked with the residents here.

“Ah, Akito-sama!” Pearl looked back at him and smiled. “Look, it’s a cat!” She pointed at a white cat that was sleeping on the fence. “How cute~!”

Akito then blinked. “Wait… this is just another date…? A normal date… She’s been having fun this whole time, and I forgot to get some information from her!” Shaking his head, he walked over and reached out to the cat. 

Waking up and seeing Akito, the cat got up and jumped on his shoulder, lying down across the back of his neck. “This is Snowbell, a random stray that the town takes care of. She’s wary of strangers, so she might not let you touch her. But, never mind that, I wanted to ask-!”

“Wow!” Pearl clapped her hands, giggling. “You two look so cute~!”

“Eh…? Cute? Me?” Akito shook his head and began to fan his red face. He felt the cat jump off his shoulders and looked back to see it disappear into the bush. “Ah, sorry.”

“It’s fine, but are you okay?” Pearl asked, confused. “Your face is really red.”

Akito flinched. “Well, I mean… It is a bit warm out here, and Snow was around my neck.” He said, trying to stop himself from sweating.

 “I see. Shall we head to that restaurant? It’s already past lunch time.” Pearl smiled. 

Akito could only nod. “Seriously, can I stop thinking she’s cute?! Why am I such a simple person? I can’t stand this…!” He then thought of something. “Ah, Pearl-chan, do you know any Japanese?”

The blonde looked up at him and blinked. “Not really… I do watch anime and such from time to time. The DVD I got was in Japanese, and I can recite the whole movie and understand it. I never had a conversation, though.”

“Hmm…” Akito hummed and then nodded. Speaking Japanese, he said, “Do you understand what I am saying now?” He watched as the girl froze and began to tremble, tearing up. “Ah, I get it. You don’t know. I’ll have someone tutor you on some basics.”

“That would be lovely!” Pearl clapped her hands. When they arrived at KuroNeko’s Bar, Akito opened the door for her. “Thank you~!” She glanced around the place and smiled when she saw it was decently packed. “Oh wow…”

“Come on.” Akito smiled as he took her hand. Guiding her to the back of the restaurant, he helped her into her chair and smiled. “What would you like to eat?”

“Ah,” Pearl blinked. She had gotten a cheap sandwich plate yesterday due to her running low on funds. Maybe she should get that today as well.

“I recommend the Acqua Pazza,” Akito told her as he sat down. “I usually get it, and it’s really good. The Vongola family has its own winery, and they supply the wine here. Nii-chan uses both red and white wines for his cooking.”

“I didn’t know that…” Pearl blinked. To think that they had their own winery, the idea slipped from the girl’s mind. “What else does the Vongola family have?”

“We have a winery, bodyguard system, clothing line, and perfume company.” The waiter answered as he placed a pitcher of water on the table with two glass cups. Pearl instantly recognized him from the meeting. “Hello again. I’m Raphael Gokudera, Akito’s Storm.”

“Hello.” Pearl smiled at him. “I’ll be in your care.”

“Of course. Sorry that classes have to wait until we get to Japan.” Raph sighed as he poured the water into the glasses.

“Classes?” Pearl blinked.

“Ah, I forgot to mention this.” Akito chuckled. “Raphael’s father is going to be your flame teacher.”

“His father?” Pearl blinked and then looked at Raph, who only nodded. “He said that he’s gonna teach you the basics, and then you’ll be under my care to learn how to control them. Your mother said that you never used your flames before.”

Pearl blinked. “Ah… Well, that’s… correct…” She gripped her sleeves and then looked downwards. How can she tell them that she has no flames at all? Would they still accept her?

“Excuse me.” Pearl gasped when Raph put his hand over her forehead and gently pushed her to sit up straight. He closed his eyes and then nodded. “She has lightning. That’s good. We don’t have anyone for that flame.” 

“Eh?” Pearl blinked as he removed her hand. “Lightning…? You mean Lightning flames?”

“Yeah.” Raph nodded as he handed Akito the order booklet and a pen.

“That’s a relief.” Akito smiled as he wrote their orders in the book. “I have been having trouble finding someone with lightning frames to join our family. You saved me some work, Pearl.” He looked at her and gave her a wink, making her blush.

“Now, we’re missing Mist,” Raph smirked as he took the book back. “I’ll go hand in your orders, Captain."

“Thanks.” Akito waved and then looked at a shocked Pearl. “Hm?”

“Y-You didn’t have a Lighting Guardian?” Pearl asked, confused. 

“Yeah, at the moment…” He thought for a bit, “I have a storm, cloud, sun, rain, an extra, and now lightning.”

“An extra…?” She pondered and then remembered the other boy. “You mean that Yuuma person?”

“Yeah, Yuuma is my Oath Guardian. He has both Sky and Earth flames.” Akito took a drink from the water and then continued. “Because he had those flames, he had to come here and train under my father. However, because he’s overpowered, Simon Tenth and my father agreed to welcome him into the Vongola Eleventh family. He’s similar to you, in a way.”

“I see…” Pearl looked down. “How sad… He could have been Simon Unidicesimo.” 

“I told him that as well, but he agreed that he didn’t care about being the heir of the Simon family.” Akito sighed. “He told me that he would rather protect me since I’m more unstable.”

“Unstable…?” Pearl asked. “What do you-!” She flinched when someone placed a bowl of bread in front of them. She looked over and paled at the young man in front of her. 

He had long black hair on top of his head with the bottom half shaved and dyed a dark purple. His dark brown eyes were reflecting her shocked face, but he seemed emotionless, almost bored. He was wearing a waiter's outfit like Raph, so she was guessing that he was also a waiter. However, he was being rude… and scary.

“Bunny…” He mumbled in a deep, monotone voice. 

“Eiichi, stop staring at her.” Akito snapped Pearl out of the trance, and she looked at Akito, seeing that he was frowning at the new waiter.

“Ah, sorry.” Eiichi sighed as he backed away. “Brother wanted to give you this bread. He just made it.”

“Eh?” Pearl blinked.

“Pearl,” Akito called for her and motioned at Eiichi. “This is Eiichi Hibari, my Cloud Guardian. His older brother is the owner of this bar.”

Pearl blinked, remembering the male from that morning. She then looked at Eiichi, who only yawned. “B-Brothers…?” She blinked, remembering the older man’s friendly personality and how well he was with customer service.

“I know.” Akito could already tell what she was thinking. He looked at Eiichi and nodded. “Thanks for the bread. Let your brother know that we appreciate it.” 

“Yeah, I’ll tell him.” Eiichi looked at the girl and pointed over his shoulder. “Your brother is here. He wants to talk to you and is waiting for you upstairs.”

“Mine…?” Pearl got up and looked at Akito, who looked just as shocked as she did. “Can I go see him real quick?”

“Yeah… Eiichi, can you escort her?” Akito asked, and he nodded his head. “I’ll wait for you here.”

“Thank you.” She followed the silent boy and entered the waiter’s area, and then went upstairs. He showed her a room that was right beside the stairs and then went back down. She entered the room and gasped when she saw her brother sitting on the bed. “Romeo…”

“Ah, Armonia,” Romeo got up and rushed over to hug the girl. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Have they been treating you well? Were you able to sleep well in that room? Are the twins taking care of you?”

“R-Romeo…!” Pearl blushed at his concern. “I’m fine!”

Romeo was the only family she had left, other than her sickly mother. Back when she lived with her mother, her father and Romeo would go and visit their small house and spend hours playing together. However, it all ended when Romeo let it slip to his mother that he had a cute little sister, not knowing that their father was hiding the secret family from her. Their father and Romeo’s mother were in an arranged marriage, and she was the only one who was helplessly in love with the man. However, he didn’t love her in return and fell for his childhood friend, who worked as his chambermaid. Enraged that Pearl’s mother had a child with her husband behind her back, she killed the man and brought Pearl to work in their family as a slave, as her mother was sent to the hospital for her illness. Since then, Romeo always burdened himself with guilt and had to treat Pearl coldly in front of his mother. However, in secret, he was just a helpless big brother who loved his younger sibling.

“I’m fine, I said,” Pearl whined as she pulled back from the hug. “They have been treating me well so far. Everything Cacciatori Quinto prepared was perfect. Right now, Unidicesimo is taking me on a date.” She lowered her voice. “I’m sure it’s to see our intentions. You’re making it very obvious by meeting me in secret here.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll leave as soon as I can.” Romeo patted her hand, smiling at her. “I’m glad they’re treating you well here, Armonia. I was really worried for a while.”

“Geez…” Pearl sighed but accepted the affection. “They will be teaching me Japanese so that I can communicate with the others in Japan. It won’t be long until I have to go with them.”

“Mother says that she will call you to return to the Cacciatori home.” Romeo sighed.

“What?” Pearl blinked. 

“She says that the plan is changing.” He looked at her and held her hands. “Armonia, please do me a favor and betray Mother.” 

“What?” Pearl gasped. “I can’t! My mother…!”

“I know,” Romeo looked at the ground. “The truth is… your mother passed away two years ago… Mother has been lying to you to use you like she always has.”

Pearl fell to her knees as tears fell. “No way… I… I can’t believe you…”

“I wanted to tell you sooner… But I couldn’t. Please, go to Vongola Decimo and tell him everything. I’ll be fine.”

Pearl grabbed his sleeve, still trying to find a way to look fine. However, she was already falling apart. Everything she did. All the lives she took. For two years, it was pointless. Oh. She has nothing left but him. “Don’t die, Romeo… Please, you’re my only family left.”

The brother got down and hugged the girl. “I won’t. I promise.” He whispered in her ear. “I’ll do everything to support you, even if it means getting rid of Mother.”

After five minutes of crying and planning, Pearl walked out with Romeo, who cloaked himself and left the restaurant. Pearl went to Akito, who was waiting for her. 

He saw her swollen eyes and blinked. “Pearl? Are you okay?”

Pearl looked at the boy and smiled. “After we finish eating, can I go see your father? I wish to have a word with him.”