27 and Single

Meet Haru & Hayato

Haru smiled warmly at her patient as he made his way out the door; once he was out of sight she collapsed onto her chair and rubbed her cheek. "Smiling is hard work desu" Haru sighed.

"Haru-chan I made you a cup of chamomile tea." Byakuran sung as he handed her the steaming mug.

"Thank you very much Byakuran-sama." Taking a sip she smiled blissfully and relaxed.

"Aah don't mention it" Byakuran smiled. "Today has been quite busy for you hasn't it?"

Haru nodded, eyes closed.

Today she had been on a tight schedule, with three root canal appointments, two braces applications, five general checkups and cleanings, and one tooth removal; Haru was exhausted.

"But Chrome-chan and Rokudo-kun must also be tired as well."

"Yes, but unlike yourself I do not overbook my days." Mukuro said entering the room.

"Mmm Roku-chan is right, why have you been doing that for the past three weeks?" Byakuran asked.

Haru looked down into her mug "I-Its just that Haru does not want to disappoint her patients, that's all desu."

Mukuro raised an eyebrow; making his way over to Haru he put his arm around her and said lowly " I think it's because you're trying to avoid moving on."

Haru jumped up from her seat abruptly, "T-that has nothing t-to d-do with this desu! Haru is not avoiding anything!"

"My, my aren't we touchy" Mukuro smiled mockingly. Haru glared.

"Maa Maa Roku-chan now that wasn't very nice, Haru-chan you know we are just trying to help you." Byakuran smiled, trying to defuse the situation.

" I don't need help" Haru stated firmly "I just-I" Haru faltered, eyes downcast.

"Face it Haru it's been five years and you still haven't been on a single date since then. Even you've realised how long it's been; but instead of doing something about it, like going out into the world; you've busied your self with work, before that it was uni. It's time to move on Haru." Mukuro said sincerely

Haru looked up, facing them, "I'm afraid, I jus-" she whispered.

"You don't have to be" a small voice spoke, all heads turned to the door where Chrome stood. Walking up to Haru she pulled her into a tight hug. "I know it can be painful, but trust me moving on, and finding some one special is truly the best feeling in the world. Trust me Haru, when you find your own Enma you'll be the happiest person in the world."

A small smile formed on Haru's face.

"There, you see, Haru-chan. everything is going to be fine" Byakuran said encouragingly.

"We can help you if like" Mukuro said "You know, set you up on a couple of dates."

Haru's eyes widened in horror, if Mukuro was the one acting as her personal cupid she could end up dating a lead singer of a death metal band or worse… a creepy surgeon.

"Ha-ha that's alright Rokudo-kun. I'm –"

"What a wonderful proposition Roku-chan" Mukuro's left eye twitched, "alright it's settled, we'll all work together to help Haru-chan find her soul mate". Byakuran's eyes were twinkling with mischief. Haru turned to Chrome, her face screaming help me. Chrome giggled, "Don't worry Haru-chan I'll help too." Haru groaned she was going to need another mug of chamomile tea.

"LAMBO! GET YOUR SORRY ASS FRONT AND CENTRE" Gokudera shouted.

"A-ah hai Gokudera sama" Lambo stated, peering through the doorway.

"Don't you Gokudera sama me. Get in here, NOW!" Lambo jumped and quickly entered Gokudera's office.

"What is this?" Gokudera hissed, slamming down a stack of papers on his desk

"Papers?" Lambo answered unintelligibly.

Gokudera vehemently breathed through his nostrils; "I'm referring to the contents of the papers; YOU IDIOT!" Lambo flinched.

"You were supposed to write an report analysing the time period when our top cliental needed our services.

"Which I did", Lambo stated indignantly

"Shut up! You incompetent cow! And no YOU DIDN'T! Instead of submitting what I asked, you submitted a report which contained some statistical analysis, intertwined with song lyrics such as "I came to party, hands up girl give me that body", parts of conversations including "no Misaki it's not me it really is you" as well as your thoughts on your job and your boss. Quote "geez this is so boring, Bakadera is such a tight ass". Gokudera finished, looking absolutely livid.

Lambo paled "ah you see-"

"No I don't see you ungrateful brat. I gave you an internship at my company which is the number one investment bank in America and instead of repaying me with hard work, I get laziness and disrespectful comments" Gokudera stated angrily. Lambo held a look of shame.

"I'm very disappointed in you Lambo, when I employed you I expected top quality statistical reports, I expected you to work hard, I thought you had matured and grown. Your university results were proof, first year at Yale and already a High Distinction student, I was impressed and thus I employed you, I only employ the best". Gokudera sighed, "Lambo, I jus-I don't know" he stated looking at the teen.

"I'm sorry Gokudera-nii" Lambo stated sincerely, surprising Gokudera. This was the first time Lambo had ever apologized to him, normally he would receive a stream of insults followed by crying when he was younger or now that he was older, Lambo striding off arrogantly.

"Nani?"

"I said I'm sorry Gokudera-nii. Your right I was acting ungrateful and I was abusing your kindness towards me. If it is all right with you, I will rewrite the report and submit it for you in two days time. I promise you it will be to the standard of a HD student". Lambo stated.

Gokudera was taken aback, Lambo was behaving maturely, and he was acting responsible? "Good. Don't disappoint me again", he stated sternly.

"I won't Gokudera-nii"

Gokudera nodded "You may leave"

Lambo got up and headed towards headed the door

"Lambo"

Lambo turned to face Gokudera "Hai Gokudera-nii?"

"It's good to see that you've finally pulled your act together" Gokudera said, a small smile on his face.

Lambo grinned in response. "Ha- Ahhh!" Lambo cried as box crashed into him causing him to fall onto the ground.

"Ah Lambo-kun Gomensai" I-pin exclaimed, quickly rushing to examine if Lambo was okay.

"Geez woman are you trying to kill me?" Lambo stated rubbing the back of his head.

"Gom-"

"What if I had got a bruise on my chest, or worse my handsome face, I have a party to go to on Friday."

I-pin rolled her eyes "seriously Lambo".

"Don't roll your eyes at me as if it is like no big deal." Lambo stated.

"Stop being so immature, your eighteen years old."

"Im-Immature" Lambo faltered, "how could you say such a thing?" he said aghast.

"Just help me pick up these folders" I-pin said irritated as she knelt and began to pick up the fallen folders.

"Why don't you just ask someone who's mature to help you", Lambo stated arms crossed against his chest.

"Lambo" Gokudera said sternly "What did we just talk about?" catching Gokudera's gaze he quickly knelt to the ground and wordlessly began to help I-pin. Lifting the box he let out a groan "Geez I-pin what are in these folders, baby elephants? How did you manage to carry this?" he asked in disbelief,

I-pin smiled cockily in return "Fong-samas' martial arts lessons are great for building both upper and lower body strength".

"Tch, your such a man", I-pin directed a glare towards Lambo.

Placing the box on the desk he asked "but seriously what are in these files?"

"They're all of our clientele's past records, which haven't been edited and put into the system yet. A task I-pin and I will be doing for the next few days" Gokudera answered.

Lambo raised his eyebrows, smirking he said; "sounds like a great way to spend your Friday night, wish I could join you but alas as fate would have it, I have two parties to attend."

Gokudera rolled his eyes "well hopefully we'll finish before Friday. And ahoushi there is more to life than parties and girls."

Lambo smirked, "of course you'd say that Bakadera, considering that your girlfriend is G Corp's".

Gokudera narrowed his eyes " I am not married to my work Lambo; I just spent a considerable amount of time at work four years ago, trying to build the company, and now that it's the number one investment bank in America, I have much more free time, of which I dedicate to playing sports and spending time with friends.

Lambo smiled slyly "now that you mention it; you do spend a considerable amount of time with Tsuna-nii don't you Gokudera-nii, I guess that finally explains why you don't want to look for a girlfriend."

Gokudera's left eye twitched "ahoushi, GET BACK TO WORK!"

Lambo chuckled mischievously, "hai hai Gokudera onee-chan".

Gokudera eyes widened, "Lambo yo-" but before he could finish Lambo was out the door.

"Tch, that Ahoushi", Gokudera stated irritably as he took some files out of the box and began to examine them at his desk.

I-pin looked at Gokudera uncertainly debating on whether or not she should say something, she decided it would benefit him if she did. Taking a deep breath she approached Gokudera.

"Ano, Gokudera-nii"

Gokudera looked up from the files "Hai I-pin, is there something you wanted to ask me?" he asked, looking up expectantly with a small smile.

"Uh, hai well um" she sighed "Gokudera-nii you are a wonderful person, you're really kind and thoughtful. Not only that but you have a quirky sense of humour and you're really intelligent". Gokudera looked at I-pin in surprise, she had never spoken to him like this before. "You're also a really talented piano player and successful business man. Not to mention; you're really quite attractive Gokudera-nii", Gokudera blushed; he was starting to feel uncomfortable. "Er I-pin-"

Holding his hand gently; I-pin looked into Gokudera eyes, her face full of concern. Gokudera stiffened; he was completely confused, what was I-pin doing. "I-pin-" he tried again but she continued, "so I-pin wonders with all these great qualities why is it that Gokudera-nii is afraid to look for a woman in his life?"

Gokudera's eyes widened in surprise, she was just concerned that he was single, he sighed and relaxed, thank goodness, he was scared for a moment. Thank god for that.

Gokudera smiled kindly at I-pin, "I-pin thank you for caring about me so much, however I'm not afraid of finding a woman, it's just that all the woman I have dated, well, there personalities where a bit to much for me and I guess since then I have been put off dating" he admitted.

I-pin looked a little shocked "but Gokudera-nii, not all women are like that, there really are some wonderful, kind hearted women out there". Gokudera smiled and ruffled her hair "I know, I'm in the company of one right know" he said winking

I-pin blushed "Gokudera-nii", laughing, she said "But seriously you just have to look, your 28 Gokudera-nii I jus-just don't want you to be lonely" she said concerned

Gokudera sighed "I won't be lonely, I'll find someone eventually, these things just take time" he added with a small smile.

"Don't worry." he said, ruffling her hair once again.

I-pin sighed "Hai Onii-san" she said, before making her way back to her desk to sort out the Mount Fuji sized stacks of folders.

Gokudera let out a soft sigh once I-pin had left, sinking into his chair he looked up at the ceiling. I-pin had a point, at the age of 28 he was still single and it looked like it was going to stay that way for a while. Despite being popular with the ladies Gokudera hated the attention, and in all his 28 years of living he had never come across a woman who he found tolerable; excluding his mother, whom he loved dearly; his sister and his best friends girlfriend, Kyoko. A quite, sweet girl, who hardly spoke, which is probably why he managed to keep his cool around her. He sighed once more, well perhaps he'll leave it to fate. Booting on the computer he turned to the task at hand.

Who knows, perhaps he'll meet her tomorrow.

"Taidaima" Haru greeted her empty apartment. Sighing she tossed her keys onto the phone table and made her way to her bedroom where she collapsed on her bed. She had worked herself into the ground this week, in hindsight overbooking herself wasn't the best option; however she did not want to disappoint any of her patients and on the bright side this meant business was doing well. Sighing she remembered Mukuro's words, he was right, she was just trying to busy herself so she wouldn't have to face the music and realise that at the age of 27 she was still single and it seemed it would stay that way until she did something about it. Which she was, or rather her friends were. She sighed, why was finding love so hard, her thoughts began to drift to her previous boyfriend. Sitting up abruptly she began to prepare for a relaxing shower, she had to stop thinking about him, no matter how happy he had made her. Gritting her teeth she collected her clothes and made her way to the bathroom.

After her relaxing shower, Haru began to prepare dinner. Switching on her speakers she began to dance as the voice of Michael Bublé, filled her apartment. Chopping tomatoes she sang along to the music "we can beat around the bush, we can get down to the bone" she stopped singing, frowning. Even Bublé was giving her hints. She pressed the skip button, Haru smiled at the familiar tune "I'm going out tonight, I'm feeling all right, I'm gonna let it all hang out". Dancing with much more enthusiasm, she sang as she continued cutting the vegetables. Heading towards the stove she checked on the fettuccine. It still had a while to go. "I want to put you in my car and drive and turn you up loud" Haru smiled as she sautéed the prawns in a garlic sauce. "Shout it out, I love this girl" Shaking her bottom to the beat she bopped to the beat of the music. " You'd be right where you belong, I wanna put you in a song" Checking on the pasta she saw that it had five minutes to go. As she added tomatoes to the pot she smiled, perhaps it was time to move on. "And I know someday that it'll all turn out, you'll make me work so we can work, work it out" Stirring the sauce Haru added garlic, chili and basil "You'll come out of nowhere and into my life" Haru nodded she wanted to be in love again, she wanted to be happy again; she wanted to have someone to cuddle, laugh, and run around in the rain with. "And I know that we can be so amazing and here in your life you're gonna change me" Tasting the sauce, Haru smiled happily it was delicious. Adding the Fettuccine and garlic prawns to the sauce Haru mixed them together "I just haven't met you yet". Haru smiled, dinner was ready.