Disclaimer: I own nothing but the main character


Flashforward to November 10th

Almost everyone is gone from the class room and enjoying the time they don't have to be at school. I can see groups of Namimori uniforms leaving the school but don't recognize any of the students wearing them. Most are too far away to be clearly defined. I shift my eyes back on the floor where everything has fallen, all of my scattered papers, chargers, pen, and pencils. With a complaining sign, I finally bed down and clean up the mess.

In a short moment, I find another pair of hands helping me. Looking up, I see they're Yamamoto Takeshi's. I shoot him a grateful smile before looking back down to my assortment of school material. He scoops up and hands me some of the papers on the ground. I stuff them into one of my binders before shoving the binder into my satchel.

"So where's Tsuna and Co.?" I inquire to fill the silence.

I'm not particularly interested in talking to him, but I feel as if I should. As if I'm obligated to since he's helping me pick up my pens.

He flashes one of those smiles he has before cheerfully telling me that they went on without him. I don't think he meant it the way it came out, but he makes it sounds like Tsuna pulled a jerk move and ditched him. First he pretends to die in an attempt to get away from me and now he ditches his friends? Man, what an asshole. At least Gokudera-san makes it clear he doesn't like him.

I giggle at my dry joke, and Yamamoto-san looks interested in what I am chuckling about. "I just had a funny thought. " I say and wave it off. We finish picking up my scattered stuff, and after it's put away, we silently decide to leave together. A mutual understanding without words, you get a lot of those with Yamamoto-san.

"How's life?" I ask making some small talk.

He laughs and lightly says, "Well, I like a girl."

Any cheer or easiness I just had faded. Why is he telling me this? Is it me? We've rarely hung out or anything so why would he be telling me this? This situation has suddenly turned awkward.

"Oh," I say as if appreciating him telling me this. "Who?"

I hope it is anyone but me.

With another merry smile he answers, "It's Sensei."

"Oh." I say, relived it isn't me. "Oh!" I gasp, suddenly realizing who it is. "OH!" I shout, shocked at who it is.

In a whisper, I hush out "You like Sensei? Like, seriously?"

He's laughs and gives me an amused look. His eyes squint in laughter and his face becomes faintly pink on both sides. Aw, he's abashed. He must really trust me to confide in me, and we're not even friends. Then again, he could have other motives for this. After all, we're not even friends, yet he tells me he likes her? I can't believe he likes someone six years older than him. That takes guts.

I smile and run my hand over my scalp, pushing back my brown hair. "So, I don't mean to be cliché. But…are you going to tap that?"

His face brightens into a red color, and he chokes on a breath. It's impossible for me not to laugh at the awkwardness. "Okayyy," I say to myself out loud. "Maybe not so forward."

With an uncharacterized cough of composure, he tries to be a little less…tense. It's kind of funny that even the chilled out Yamamoto Takeshi can get stirred up about a crush. We smile at each other, but in reality we're both smiling because there's nothing else we can do in this uncomfortable air.

"Why are you telling me this?" I bluntly ask, dropping the awkwardness and the smile.

He smiles again, but then again, he's always smiling. "Well, I helped you with Tsuna."

I immediately flashback to the lie I once told, or rather implied, to him. It had just tumbled out of my mouth that day. I wasn't even acquainted with Tsuna when I said that, it was just to get his address. I think about it for half a second longer before responding back to Yamamoto with a realization.

"You didn't help me at all!" Okay, it's more of an accusation. "You didn't even tell me where he lived so I could confess!"

He frowned at me. "I encouraged you."

"You also laughed at me." I remind him pointedly. "Give it up Yamamoto. I see the flaws in everyone."

He looks at me like he does at Gokudera-san, as if he's a nice guy for putting up with me. Suddenly I'm insulted. "What do you want?" I demand briskly. We tap down the steps of the stairs, and upon reaching the end I can see the school door leaking light into the entryway.

I remind myself that he told me of his crush, and the thought settles me down. He did tell me of his crush, which kind of inspires loyalty toward him. I'm obligated now. "Do want me tell her?"

He smiles, but it's a bitter sweet one. What did she do to him? "She already knows."

I sign, feeling his pain. His expression is deep and wistful; it's the look of one sided love. My sympathy dissipates any petulant feeling I have, and my face softens. "Let's stop for some ice cream on the way to your place. I could so go for a cold but sweet snack."

Instantly, he is back to good old easy going Yamamoto Takeshi and with a cheer in his tone, he agrees. "Sure!"

He must really like ice cream.

I lead us to the a little shop I know and in the meantime we talk about "Sensei", and it turns out he doesn't know what I know. What she told me after getting back from the future. I want to tell Yamamoto, give him hope. But it's not my place to give away secrets I was trusted with. Instead, I tell him that a little arrogance goes a long way with girls and so does knowing how to please a woman. Our faces might be red as we talk about this, but nonetheless we talk about it. However, there is no lacking of vague words.

Somehow, the conversation is turned into being about me and Tsuna. I don't like the guy, but nonetheless Yamamoto-san prods me about him. "Shouldn't I be the one prodding you about him?" I point out. "You're the one he's best friends with."

He laughs and the sound rings in my ears a bit. Yamamoto-san has a nice laugh and smile, just as Alana said. "Isn't it the same on my side?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I guess."

I point to the shop only a few yards from us, and he nods in acknowledgment before carrying on our ever-so interesting conversation. When he opens the door for me, I thank him, but our conversation stops inside the shop. We both spot a young girl with brown hair in a side pony tail and a happy face. It's the one brunette girl who was at the future and is with the boys a lot.

I lean closer to Yamamoto-san and whisper for her name. She's told me it before, but I can't really remember.

"That's Haru Miura." He says and waves at the girl before going over to the counter and ordering.

Haru, that's it. "Hey Haru-san!" I greet with Yamamoto-san.

She tries talking to us, but I stick to getting my order from the cashier before she can babble on. The girl seems nice, but I just want my ice cream. Yamamoto-san talks to her, but he makes it short when he sees that another guy's trying to get her attention—and it isn't for ice cream. Haru-san looks at me a little longer than she should have, probably because of the future, but I just challenge her innocent stare with a smirk. We lock eyes, and I tilt my head while pretending to observe her.

"Bye." I say curtly after getting my ice-cream and paying for it.

Yamamoto-san seems to notice all this and laughs. He finds us funny, and I have to admit, we are pretty funny. Joining in on his laugh, I relax and then walk out the door with him. I grimace upon his mint ice cream and just shake my head in disappointment. Mint taste terrible.

"She loves mint." I comment. "To the extreme." I add the last part and laugh.

The boxing guardian may be an idiot, but he has a hell of a catchphrase. I've taken to incorporating it into my everyday speech. Yamamoto-san just keeps up his smiley face, but it turns into a curious expression when my phone rings. It's playing my favorite song by Bon Iver*. The song is in English, so he probably doesn't understand the words. Do Bon Iver even have songs in Japanese?

I answer the phone. "Alana?"

Her voice comes out clearly and loudly from the speaker; Yamamoto-san can hear her. "Who else would it be?"

"I don't know, Santa Clause?" I answer with a snarky tone.

"You're friends came over."

I frown. "I don't have any friends."

There's a laugh at what wasn't a joke, but before she can speak I add. "I'm with Yamamoto-san right now. I'll get home A.S.A.P."

Her reply is short, and then I hang up the phone. Yamamoto-san's a closed book when I look at him, but he's probably just lost in his thoughts. That happens to me a lot. I lick at my vanilla ice cream so it doesn't melt and advise my tall classmate in front of me to do the same.

"I got to go. Sooo, yeah. Good luck with her and everything. You should ask your dad for advice though. He'd probably be helpful in a situation like this."

As we part ways, me to take a left and head into the small forest mountain, him to take a right and go the sushi shop home, I feel as if we've both gotten something useful out of our talk. He got good advice, and I got decent company. Not to mention an excuse for ice cream. However, let's hope that we never have to have that conversation again. Yamamoto-san's a cool guy, but he's not exactly my favorite due to his involvement in this Mafia stuff. It was intriguing, but after a hit attempt, the Mafia doesn't seem like such a cool idea anymore.

I call Alana back now that Yamamoto-san's out of sight. The phone doesn't hesitate to pick up. My heart seems very apparent in my chest and nerves tighten in my stomach.

"Alana?" I ask, making sure it's her.

"Yes, Mia-bo-bia."

"Are people really over?"

She knows about my lack of friends, Hana-chan being the only exception, and she wouldn't refer to any of my acquaintances as friends. She would refer to them as the boys. Yet, she used plural.

Her voice is light and humorous as says, "There are. One is a strapping fellow in a suit, and the other is an older but also strapping lad in a suit. They work for the Ninth Vongola Boss and are here to escort us to him. I hope your hair is already brushed."

"It's not," I say dismally.


Counterpart story:

Assholes & Idiots »by DEECAPSLOCKISON

My life is full of them. OC story.