Summary: (Canon compliant-ish) Takeshi had slipped into her life with such ease it's no wonder they're such good friends. It doesn't have to make sense to others, and it doesn't have to make sense for them, either – but that's okay, because labels are overrated anyway. "What kind of balls?" "Baseballs."
Note: Chapter lengths are not pre-determined and are to be posted as they are written, hence updates may be unpredictable. At present, this is to be a snapshot-like series. Storyline told in snippets. (And there WILL be a storyline!)
All recognisable appearances here are the conjurations of Akira Amano and the team behind Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Unless otherwise stated, the only thing 155cm owns is Nakamura Yukiko, and even that's debatable – she's a fairly free spirit.
The single issue with the window seat of her favourite spot in the library is that if she sits in her usual position, at a specific time of day the position of the sun is such that it shines directly in her eyes.
Squinting against the bright sunlight, she blinks sleepiness from her mind as she turns to the fidgety boy seated opposite her. Sawada Tsunayoshi, she knows is his name – though most refer to him by the derogatory nickname Dame-Tsuna. This is the first year they're in the same class, but the rumours can be heard from everywhere. They say that he's no good at everything he attempts, be it sports, academics or just plain existence itself.
Honestly, she thinks it's more than a little mean and spiteful of others. The problem is, no one has ever asked for her opinion – and so, she has never actively stood up to say something about it. She's no strong, powerful figurehead of world peace and justice. She's just Yukiko, a simple girl who takes care of what's in her bubble and will reach out further beyond maybe once or twice.
She's not proud of her inactivity, far from it in fact, but she's not going to change soon either. Yukiko knows that her lazy, non-confrontational nature is the sort that's common yet frowned upon, but she doesn't exactly feel guilty either. It's too easy being one-in-the-crowd, and though she knows it's wrong, she doesn't try to change things despite knowing it's the right thing to do.
Rather, she just blends into the background without grabbing attention, and she'll voice her concerns when she does have some sort of emotional investment into the given situation. Until now, Sawada Tsunayoshi was nothing but a stranger hence she had never bothered with his concerns.
Still though, just because she doesn't say something about it when she is very, very far removed doesn't mean that she won't do something when she's within easy reaching distance.
"When we're done for the day," she begins, setting her book on the table and absentmindedly placing a cough lolly between her lips, "don't turn left from the school gates. Seniors are waiting around the corner, setting up an ambush."
They've been partnered up out of convenience, because both were the only ones absent from school the day before. There has been some sort of flu going around as of late, and the school has been blasting the heaters to compensate for the frigid conditions outside, and unfortunately both of them had succumbed to illness. Even in his awkward uncomfortableness, Tsunayoshi cannot help shivering slightly in the final stages of recovery. Yukiko sucks on her cough lolly, wondering if she'll get drunk off the miniscule alcohol concentration if she eats enough of them.
Tsunayoshi, bless the boy jolts in surprise. "H-Huh?"
Instinctively, Yukiko turns to look at what he was gazing so intently at moments before. Ah, Sasagawa Kyoko and Kurokawa Hana, the latter of which Yukiko is on semi-good terms with as a consequence of being classmates seated nearby each other last year.
Hana is entirely the sort of intimidating confidence that would probably have Tsunayoshi shrinking in his seat, so through easy deduction Yukiko pinpoints the boy's focus.
"Sasagawa-san will still be there tomorrow, Sawada-san." She remarks mildly, watching with some amusement as his cheeks flush a brilliant red. "You however, may be absent once more if you take your normal route home – and then, you may be partnered up with someone who won't tell you when people are plotting your eminent demise."
With some amusement, she recalls her observation to Takeshi the other day. Relationships really do suck balls – especially when you lack the balls to start the relationship to begin with.
(No, Yukiko! Those are bad, mean thoughts! Quickly, she dashes the snarky voice from her mind – at this stage, Tsunayoshi is not the type who would respond positively to that sort of teasing, and she is not going to poke a wound when it hasn't even begun to heal.)
Poor Tsunayoshi still looks all shades of clueless, so Yukiko eventually decides to drop it. Shrugging, she plunks her head down on her arms on the table, hair splayed wildly across the surface. "I'm gonna rest. If I fall asleep, wake me up in ten minutes." She intones.
The peaceful warmth of the sun beats down on her back, and she smiles sleepily as she dimly registers Tsunayoshi's spluttering in the background. She does hope he'll at least take a look at his half of the research to complete, but there's a part of her that's resigned to the fact that he'll probably spend more time collecting information on Kyoko, on the orangey-brown hue of her hair when the sunlight hits it at from just the right angle.
(Good on her for remarking off-handedly in the middle of home economics that that particular table had the best view of the courtyard. Yukiko knows that Kyoko is the type to indulge in the simplistic joys of life, and it's an expert maneuver if she says so herself.)
The artificially citrus taste of the cough lolly is unpleasant, but the teachers had been suspicious enough when she had dropped ill all of a sudden when she had been acting fine the previous day. Easily ignored or not, she's not invisible after all.
She has a role to accomplish, and after watching Takeshi eye Tsunayoshi speculatively from across the classroom with increasing frequency, she's sure that whatever's going on, she'll just have to prepare for the inevitable.
Two days later, she feels like heading home and flopping back into bed.
Tsunayoshi had gone and gotten himself beaten up anyway. So, maybe she had failed to account for the fact that there were other groups of ill-doers around… but when Tsunayoshi handed over to her his (sloppy, poorly-researched and illegibly written) half of the task, something told her those suspicious burn marks on his hands weren't entirely the fault of malicious, mindless bullies.
Then Gokudera Hayato had started following Tsunayoshi around like a puppy, and Yukiko had taken one look before deciding to back off. Good, she didn't want to seem like she cared too much.
a/n:
Careful there Yukiko, you're contradicting yourself - are you a meddler, or a lazy bystander? Quick, tell me now!
Why can't she be both tho
(There is method to my madness and hidden meaning in my sleep-deprived writing)