SkyGem: Hey darlings! This is a Secret Santa fic for the loveley akuma-chan23500~! I really do hope you enjoy it darling! And to everyone else as well! Merry Christmas to my lovely readers! I hope you have a good one!

This was the worst Christmas EVER, decided Kaede, trying to blink back the tears of frustration that were threatening to spill onto her cheeks as she trudged on through the snow, doing her best not to slip and fall again.

Not only had she had to leave behind all her friends in Tokyo a month ago when her father had been transferred to this backwater little town, she was now spending Christmas Eve alone because both her parents had had to go to Tokyo for "business" for a whole week.

And to top it all off, the restaurant she worked at just had to be one of the handful of places that hadn't closed early on Christmas Eve.

All the obnoxiously happy families and their bratty kids, the lovestruck couples with their goofy expressions, and the loud groups of friends that had visited her workplace had slowly been getting on her nerves, and by the time her shift had ended at eight, her nerves were so high-strung that if anyone even looked at her the wrong way, she felt she might burst into loud, ugly sobs.

She was two blocks away from her home, however, when her day decidedly took a turn for the better.

Up ahead was the Sawada residence, a large, sprawling manor that acted as a group home to orphans who had nowhere else to go.

As Kaede approached, she noticed two men walking towards the house from the other direction.

One was a tall man with short black hair, and the lean muscles of an athlete. The flawless, tanned skin of his face was only marred by a short scar on his chin, just under his lips, which were stretched into an easy smile. He was maybe ten years older than her, and was carrying bags in each hand.

The person following after him was carrying also carrying bags, and was chattering happily, enthusiastically with his companion. He was ten years younger than his friend, and had a mop of unruly, curly black hair that Kaede knew very well, and was the only reason she recognized her arrogant classmate.

Bovino Lambo was in Kaede's class at Nami High, and contrary to the infectious grin of childish pleasure currently on his face, he was usually a very distant, aloof guy, showing emotion only towards the other children that lived in the group home with him. He seemed to be something of an older brother to them.

They were only about ten paces apart when the two men seemed to notice her, and Lambo turned his infectious grin on her, causing her heart to skip a few beats.

"Izumi-san!" he greeted in a friendly voice, taking Kaede aback. She'd barely said two words to the guy before. Why was he smiling at her as if she were his best friend in the entire world?

Bowing her head slightly in greeting, Kaede said, "Hello, Bovino-san."

Lambo's older friend grinned widely and nudged Lambo in the arm with an elbow.

"A friend?" he asked, seeming inordinately pleased at the idea.

But Lambo just shook his head no.

"She's Izumi Kaede-san, a transfer student who just joined our class last month," he introduced.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Izumi-chan," replied the older man, bowing slightly. "I'm Yamamoto Takeshi, Lambo's big brother. I know he can be somewhat of a handful, but I would appreciate it if you could continue to be his friend in the future."

"I am NOT a handful!" protested Lambo indignantly, smacking Yamamoto in the arm. "And I don't need friends in Japan," he continued with a sniff of disdain, "because when I graduate, I'm going to go to Italy and live with you and Tsuna-nii and the others."

He looked away as he said this, pouting and crossing his arms, and as a result, he missed the sad look that passed Yamamoto's face at his claim of not needing friends.

"It's always good to have friends your age, you know," said Yamamoto quietly. He sounded tired, as if this were a conversation they'd had many times before.

Lambo resolutely ignored him, instead turning towards Kaede and asking, "What are you doing here anyways, Izumi? Shouldn't you be at home with your family?"

"Ah, I'm just on my way home from work," said Kaede with an awkward smile.

"You had work on Christmas?" asked Lambo incredulously, as if he'd never heard of such an outlandish notion in all his life. "But...but Christmas is supposed to be spent with family!"

Kaede shrugged, looking away awkwardly.

"Well, my parents are out of town anyways, so even if I'd had the day off, it's not like I'd be able to spend time with them."

"Out of town?" demanded Lambo, looking even more scandalized than he had when she had mentioned she'd had work. "On Christmas? And they left you behind? But...but that's not fair! You're supposed to spend Christmas with family!" he reiterated, looking up at Yamamoto, as if for support.

"You are," agreed Yamamoto with a serious nod. Then, after a few moments of silence, he grinned widely, and asked, "Would you like to spend Christmas with our family, Izumi-san?"

"W-what?" asked Kaede, taken aback. "I-I couldn't! I mean...I-I wouldn't want to intrude. After all, you-"

"Maa, maa, you wouldn't be intruding at all! Like I've always said, the more the merrier!"

Kaede bit her lip, still unsure. She barely knew Lambo, she reasoned with herself. There was no way she could intrude on his Christmas with his family.

"You should come," Lambo spoke up, bringing her out of her thoughts. She turned to look at him with wide eyes, and he shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "No one's going to mind. In fact, I'm pretty sure everyone will be super happy. "The more the merrier" is practically the motto of the Sawada residence. Anyways, no one should be alone on Christmas!"

Kaede hesitated for a moment longer, trying to convince herself that she really ought to be getting home, that she shouldn't be intruding on this kind family.

But in the end, she gave in, saying, "If you're sure I won't be a bother."

"Of course not!" replied Yamamoto, his grin widening as if he'd just won a battle.

Turning, he started walking towards the Sawada residence once more, gesturing with his head for Kaede to follow.

Lambo followed behind her, almost as if he were making sure she wouldn't run away.

When they reached the door, Yamamoto turned and pressed the doorbell, and after a few moments of silence, footsteps could be heard before the door was thrown wide open by a young brunette about Yamamoto's age.

He had short, spiky brown hair that stuck up every which way, and warm, welcoming brown eyes.

"You're back! Did you guys have any trouble finding everything we were missing?"

"Nope!" replied Yamamoto. "In fact, we managed to find something that wasn't on our list!"

Here, he looked back at Kaede and winked mischievously.

The brunette followed Yamamoto's gaze, and when he saw Kaede, his smile brightened.

"Another guest?" he asked, "Wonderful! The more the merrier!"

Here, Lambo snorted, as if saying to Kaede, I told you so.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," he said by way of introduction, and Kaede stifled a startled gasp. She hadn't know that the head of the group home, Sawada Nana, had a child of her own.

"A pleasure to meet you," she said, "I'm Izumi Kaede, a classmate of Lambo's. I'm sorry to intrude."

Tsuna's smile brightened at her introduction, and as he waved them all in, he said, "You're not intruding at all! Now come along, it's time to start baking the cookies now that we have all the ingredients!"

Kaede felt the last of her reserve melt away at the mention of baking, and so she spent the next few hours getting to know the rest of Tsuna and Yamamoto's friends, and the other children of the Sawada residence.

Everyone was very friendly to her, not once letting her feel left out.

One thing she couldn't help but notice, however, was different Lambo was from usual. He spent the entire evening shadowing Tsuna and his friends, hanging onto every word of theirs, being extremely affectionate, and basking in their attention whenever he got the chance.

It was a few hours later that she found out just why the older men (and woman) had such respect from him.

She had been sitting on the sofa, taking a moment away from her new friends to just relax and contemplate on how different her evening had been from what she'd been expecting.

Then Yamamoto had walked over and plopped down beside her.

"You having fun?" he asked, and Kaede's lips stretched into a wide smile.

"I am," she replied. "This is much better than what I'd originally had planned."

"Good," replied Yamamoto, seeming genuinely happy that she was enjoying herself. "The other kids really like you too. This is the first time I've seen Lambo so happy and friendly with someone outside of the family."

Kaede was quick to agree, laughing and saying, "If I didn't know better, I'd think he was a completely different person, you know? He's not usually very friendly at school..."

Yamamoto was quiet for a moment after she said this, looking down at his lap as if he were pondering something.

"I'm sure he doesn't mean to be unfriendly," said the older male quietly. "He just...doesn't know how to communicate very well with others his age."

"And why's that?" asked Kaede quietly, curious.

"I suppose..." said Yamamoto, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling, his eyes distant as if he were looking at something only he could see. "I suppose it's because he's trying so hard to grow up as fast as possible, and catch up to Tsuna, and the rest of us."

Kaede was quiet, not knowing what to say, and Yamamoto looked at her with a nostalgic smile.

"Tsuna's his legal guardian, you know," he said, and Kaede's eyes widened in surprise. "He's always looked up to Tsuna so much, as a role model, and the day we all had to leave for Italy, he was absolutely heartbroken to find out that he would have to stay behind. Tsuna was just looking after Lambo's well-being of course. All we've ever wanted is for him to have a normal childhood, free of worry. But Lambo...I guess he was feeling like he was being left behind."

Kaede thought of her friends in Tokyo, wondered if they had already moved on and forgotten her, and she found that maybe she understood a bit of what Lambo was feeling.

"And ever since then, he's started acting more mature. As if hoping that if he grew up faster, next time Tsuna visited, he would take him back to Italy with him. That was the opposite of what we wanted, of course."

"What exactly is in Italy anyways?" asked Kaede. "Why did you all have to go there?"

Yamamoto seemed to ponder this question for a moment, as if wondering how to answer.

Finally, he said, "Tsuna...is a very important person. The boss of one of the most influential...businesses in the world. And his headquarters is in Italy."

Kaede's eyes widened, and suddenly, a thought came to her mind.

"Then Tsuna...is he the..."

"Benefactor of this group home?" finished Yamamoto with a smile.

Kaede nodded dumbly.

"He is. A lot of the children here are the orphaned children of acquaintances, or acquaintances of acquaintances. At first everyone wondered why he didn't just make the group home back in Italy, instead of bringing all the children here. But Tsuna...he really thinks of everything, you know? If he had made the group home in Italy, it would have made Lambo feel more left out - to think that all these children got to see his big brother every day, when he only got to see him once every other month if he was lucky. But by sending these children here to Japan, he not only gave them an opportunity to start life anew, with a blank slate, and to experience life in another country, he also gave Lambo people to protect - a responsibility. It helped Lambo feel...needed."

Yamamoto trailed off suddenly, as if realizing he may have said too much.

Sitting up, he smiled awkwardly at Kaede, reaching over to ruffle her hair.

Then, before an awkward silence could grow between the two, Gokudera called from somewhere upstairs, "Oi! Baseball idiot! Get your ass up here for a second!"

Yamamoto smiled apologetically at Kaede, but she shook her head, letting him know she wouldn't mind if he left.

Before heading off to help his friend, Yamamoto threw one last smile at Kaede.

"I'm glad you decided to spend Christmas Eve with us, Kaede-chan. And I hope you'll continue to be friends with Lambo from here on out."

Kaede smiled back at him.

"Of course I will."

SkyGem: So? Didja guys like it? Hate it? Please leave me a review and let me know what you thought! Ciao!