Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn or anything else. This is merely a fanwork. I own only my OC ^___^
EDIT: So I've decided on this ver. Please enjoy~ This is my first fanfic, so please excuse any mistakes I make! I'd love to hear advice and feedback, so do leave a review. Thanks! ^___^
It was before school started and Tsuna was unpacking his bag at his desk when Gokudera bounded up to him, "Good morning Tenth!"
"Ah, good morning Gokudera-kun, I didn't see you this morning. Did something happen?" Tsuna slid his notebook onto the desk and pulled out a pencil.
"Right! Aneki stopped by this morning to give me some more money to pay the bills, since she spends all the time at your house with Reborn-san. I passed out and couldn't make it in time to meet up with you. I'm very sorry, Tenth!" Gokudera bowed fervently, his octopus legged hair dangling in his face, too abashed to face Tsuna.
Vongola Decimo put his hands up reassuringly, "Really, it's alright Gokudera-kun. I was going to ask you this morning, but now should be fine. Next week is the retake for the math test, can you help me study for it?"
"Anything at all," exclaimed Gokudera happily. "You'll have the best score in the class!"
"I think we should just aim for passing this time around, but thanks Gokudera-kun." Worriedly Tsuna thought to himself, Especially when I don't even know what's going on in class right now, there's no way I'd get even close to a score like Gokudera-kun!
Yamamoto poked his head into the conversation, "Sign me up, Gokudera. I'm taking the retake next week too. You might as well help me out if you're helping Tsuna too."
Gokudera retorted, "You can go fail by yourself, you baseball freak."
"That's a good idea, Yamamoto!" Tsuna replied to Yamamoto's suggestion with relief, It helps if someone else is there; I don't think I can handle all of Gokudera-kun's theories by myself.
"Of course, Tenth! As expected of the Tenth! If you ever need help, you can come to me! Anything and anytime," he repeated, seemingly emitting a sparkly aura of adoration.
Sensei walked into the room, "Settle everyone. We have a transfer student, please be cordial." Gesturing behind the door, he signaled the new student into the room. There was silence, no one came in. Exasperatedly, he walked back to the entrance of the classroom and said quite loudly, "Please come in, we don't have all day."
A contrast to Sensei's loudness, the girl was quiet, speaking at a low volume, barely heard above the idle, wondering chatter of her new classmates. She coughed, silencing the murmurs.
The transfer student, bowed, her shoulder length hair hiding her face, similar to the fashion of Gokudera, her nerves on edge and rattling.
"My name is Sawada Aki, I've transferred from Tokyo. Please take care of me." How many countless times has she done this? All the memories blend, each school the same way, the same types of faces, the same kinds of teachers. But this time was different. Nobody was looming terribly over her, not even the portly Sensei, nobody laughed and pointed. There was no incredulous looks, glares or squeals. Just a blank slate, tabula rasa. And there was one more thing, one special, particular thing, or rather, person. Sawada Tsunayoshi was here.
She finally lifted her face to analyze the class, noting the seat arrangements, the classrooms were all designed to fit a standard, everything the same, the windows and exits faithfully noted in case. Reflectively, the class made a note of her blue eyes, making assumptions already: her quiet stance, her height, her voice, and everything else. Tsuna-nii's face stood out to her, his face puzzled and easy to read. His facial expressions hadn't changed at all, not in three years, and in some way, it pleased her, knowing he hadn't changed. At least, as far as she could tell, the only changes were that he seemed to finally be taller than her.
Aki decided then to spare her cousin of an embarrassing reunion scene but replace it with a practical joke. She hadn't laughed honestly for a long time, and she itched to just start laughing now, but to make it a success, she had to keep a straight face. Inside, she was giggling, a sadistic joy in toying with her cousin's mind, almost guaranteed to work.
"Sensei, where should I sit?" Aki looked expectantly, willing for the empty seat next to Tsuna.
"Next to Sawada," pointing at the place she had wanted. Collectively, the class groaned inwardly, the teacher was putting the new girl next to No-Good Tsuna? She wasn't going to get a good impression of Namimori Middle if Sawada was her guide.
Oblivious to these thoughts, Aki sat down in her appointed seat, turning toward Tsuna quietly, "Hi, my name is Sawada Aki. I hope we can get along."
At this point, Tsuna was very confused. The transfer student had Aki's name and looked like his cousin, but she was acting differently from the Aki that he knew, a boisterous, abrupt, affectionate girl. The Aki he knew would have jumped all over him, in some ways, he concluded, like Gokudera-kun. But this new girl was speaking keigo towards him, the polite speech that she usually reserved for strangers and superiors. Perhaps, he had confused his cousin with this new transfer student, but no matter how he looked at her, she was definitely his cousin. Her hair was styled differently from the way he had last seen her, childish pigtails; now it was long with braids intertwined, like a May Day flower wreath.
Just to be sure, he leaned towards her. "It's nice to meet you, my name is Sawada Tsunayoshi. If you don't mind my asking, but does Aki stand for anything longer? Akiko, perhaps?"
She shook her head, "It's just Aki. I was born in the autumn, so my papa chose this name for me. Is there anything that you'd like me to call you, Sawada-san?"
"You can call me Tsuna. But the funny thing is, you really look like my cousin. Her name is Aki too, and you two even have the same blue eyes."
"Really?" feigning surprise, her lips twitched slightly, resisting the urge to smile. "I've only ever met one other Aki, much less another Aki who has blue eyes. What's her story?"
"My aunt is Italian and my uncle is Japanese, so she's a mix, but we grew up together."
Aki tilted her head shyly, "Somehow, I get the feeling I can't possibly live up to this Aki that you know. But let's be friends, Tsuna-kun."
Tsuna flushed, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you feel bad; I actually haven't seen my cousin in a few years, but I hope we can be good friends."
"What a coincidence, I haven't seen my cousin in a few years either," she smiled mischievously.
"Eh? That really is a coincidence," said Tsuna, with a look of slight astonishment.
"His name happens to be Tsunayoshi-kun as well. You know, he used to be afraid of a Chihuahua when he was younger, even though it was an adorably, harmless puppy," Aki paused. "Now that I think about it, he's probably still afraid of Chihuahuas." This thought struck her as hilarious and she laughed, the sound spilling over, until Tsuna was infected with laughter as well.
"Aki! I can't believe you tricked me like that," blushed Tsuna, when the realization dawned on him.
"I can't believe you were tricked like that, Tsuna-nii! Then again, I kinda expected it. You haven't changed at all in three years."
Tsuna protested, "I've grown taller. Um, and I have more friends. I can ride a biycycle now, although I'm still known as No-Good Tsuna..."
Aki beamed, still giddy from pulling her prank, "Still No-Good Tsuna? Nothing's really changed after all. But everything else sounds really great, Tsuna-nii. I've missed you a lot these years. It's good to see you're doing well."
Before Tsuna could reply with an equally sappy reply, Sensei shouted in their direction, "Sawadas! Stop talking, class is in session. You can introduce yourselves later, that's what a lunch break is for."
"Hai, Sensei," the Sawadas replied and turned back to their work. Aki winked at Tsuna, a smile threatening to trickle out again. In the back, Gokudera couldn't help but look over jealously at this new girl who made the Tenth laugh and blush in the span of a few minutes.