Story 3 Of Rumors, Slander and Flying Bodies

Timeline: First Year Middle School

Rumors. It was something that annoyed Tsuna for a long time. She sighed as she continued her rounds in her floor, the floor of the first years. It has only been three months since she entered the Middle School Division and now, she was getting tired of it all.

Since discarding her moniker 'Dame-Tsuna' back in fifth grade, she found fawning girls and boys at her feet. It was annoying. What was worse is that her boyfriend (that only Kyoko, Haru, Hana, Alaude and their parents are aware of) cannot be exposed, lest there be an uproar.

Now she wished that her relationship with Kyouya was widely known because of the current rumor circling around.

"Eh? Mochida-senpai asked that Sawada girl out?"

"Didn't he used to pursue Sasagawa-san?"

"I heard that Sawada already agreed to date him."

"No way! Is she trying to take Mochida-senpai away from Sasagawa behind her back? So mean! And she's her friend too!"

"Yeah! Isn't it enough that she gets to escape punishment being under Hibari-san?"

Now that struck a nerve. Girls need to get a reminder that she was not someone who simply joined the committee to get out of trouble. She didn't really have a choice in the matter back then, now that she remembers. It was something that came out of the blue from the mouth of the head prefect, and stuck until she got used to fighting and having an army of delinquent reforms at her beck and call. Now Tsuna was tempted to use that army to take out one Mochida Kensuke for spreading rumors about him and her dating in order for her to be pressured to agree.

All because she hit him in the nuts when he tried to make a move on her. Tsuna growled and scratched the back of her head in frustration. "Ah. This is so annoying…" she grumbled.

Kyoko sighed, feeling a little pity for the girl. "Tsuna-chan, it's just a rumor,"

"A rumor that will spread like wildfire and will reach Kyouya's ears and then a body covered in blood and bruises will be found in the river," Tsuna replied.

"Don't make it sound more morbid than it already is," Kyoko chided gently, knowing that it might be true if the prefect would prove himself to be the scariest teenager in Namimori. "You know that imagining what Hibari-san will do will give us the chills,"

Tsuna smiled, "Everything he does gives us the chills,"

Kyoko raised a teasing brow, "Even on your dates?"

"Except on our dates," Tsuna corrected. "Besides, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow," she said with glee. "We agreed to go snowboarding at the snow dome in Yokohama for the weekend,"

"Ah! Is that Snova Yokohama?" Kyoko asked brightly.

Tsuna nodded with glee. "He's going to teach me how to snowboard for our anniversary,"

Then it hit Kyoko, "So you're already going to two years? How time flies. It seems like it was just yesterday that you were flustered every time he comes close contact with you,"

Tsuna blushed. "Well…back then I didn't really know how to act around someone you like!" she said as the two girls entered their classroom, only to see a flock of people around Tsuna's desk. The brunette raised a brow, "What's going on here?" she wondered.

The crowd dispersed the moment they looked at her. "Ah…Sawada-chan, look! Someone defaced your desk."

"What?" both Kyoko and she said as they went to her desk.

True to their words, her desk had a graffiti on it with a lot of derogatory words.

No-Good

Scum

Slut

Man stealer

Flirt

The list went on. Tsuna pinched the bridge of her nose. "For the love of…" he grumbled. "Defacing school property because of a rumor? Spare me the headache,"

In an instant, a Disciplinary Committee member under her jurisdiction entered the room. "Sawada-hime, we heard about the defacing of your desk. Are you alright?"

Tsuna turned to the teenager and nodded. "I'm perfectly fine. They used some water-based paint, so this will come off easily. No need to alert the Chairman or the Vice,"

"What about Kusakabe-san?"

"Especially not the Deputy. We have a lot of things to worry about than some incessant bullying because of the growing rumor,"

"Rumor…? You mean the one circulating about you and Mochida-senpai?" the member flinched when Tsuna's eyes sharpened for a split second. "AH! Yes! I won't tell the higher ups if that's what you want, Sawada-hime!" he then saluted, "Please excuse me!"

Tsuna placed her bag on her seat and took out her wet wipes which she always kept in her safe bag and sighed, "Well, we have an hour before classes start. Might as well get started,"

"I'll help Tsuna-chan," Kyoko offered, taking the packet from her to grab another layer.

In no time at all, the desk looked like it was never defaced. But throughout the class, Kyoko noticed that she was still frowning. She was an inch away from texting the head prefect about the incident, but she knew that Tsuna could handle herself very well. But she swore at that time that if this kept on, she would have to tell him, no matter what Tsuna says.

Things got worse during Gym class.

Kyoko noticed Tsuna looking for something in her locker, and she looked mortified that it was lost.

"Tsuna-chan, what's wrong?" Kyoko asked her worriedly.

Tsuna perused her bag and her other things inside her locker, "I can't find my bracelet anywhere," Tsuna said. "I was sure it was here when I left!"

Kyoko remembered that bracelet with cute little bird charms very well. It was Kyouya's first gift to her on her birthday when she turned thirteen. Tsuna never took it off her wrist since unless it was Gym class. Now it was gone, and Tsuna was in a bind.

They tried to look for it their whole period, but when the bell rang, all the two girls could do was sigh in frustration, more so with Tsuna.

"I can't believe I lost it!" Tsuna moaned as she and Kyoko went to their lockers to leave the school. "How could I face him tomorrow?"

"Tsuna-chan, I'm sure we'll find it," Kyoko assured. But then she saw her friend stop. "Tsuna-chan?" she shivered when she saw a displeased look on Tsuna's face.

"That's it…" she said as she gazed ahead of Kyoko.

Kyoko turned to where she was looking and her eyes widened at the sight. There it was, Tsuna's shoe locker, closed but you could see slips of paper sticking out of the corners of the locker.

Getting close to the locker, Tsuna didn't waste any time opening it to see a mound of letters flowing out of her shoe locker with derogatory words and some messages for her to 'stay away from Mochida' and all that crap.

"This has got to be the most ridiculous rumor reaction I have ever seen," Tsuna practically seethed. "Who started the rumor anyway?"

"Hana told me it came from the Kendo Club itself," Kyoko informed.

"And how many fangirls does Mochida has?"

"About fifty."

Tsuna sighed. "If this doesn't stop by Tuesday, I'm putting my foot down."

And when Tsuna says that word, things don't really go to well for the opposing party.

…

"Where's your bracelet?" Kyouya asked, making Tsuna flinch.

"Ah…well, I left it at home! I was in such a hurry this morning that I forgot it in my bathroom," they were now on the inn when Kyouya had noticed the missing bracelet of the brunette that Saturday evening during dinner. Tsuna was feeling bad on lying to Kyouya so blatantly, but she couldn't help but worry about the defacing of her desk and the thievery that happened to her in a single day. Not to mention that she almost fell on the stairs had she not landed on Kusakabe a second later.

She felt bad in lying to her boys and making them keep what happened to her on Friday a secret, but she had to handle it on her own. Besides, it was her refusal to go out with Mochida was what triggered the rumors and the girls' stupid jealousy. This was not what Tsuna wanted to think during their trip to Yokohama.

One would wonder why they were going to Yokohama, a fourteen and fifteen year-old pair of teenagers alone without a chaperone. Of course, that would be a cause of worry, if your companion isn't Hibari Kyouya.

For some reason or another, Nana and Kyouya got along very well. In fact, Nana was the one who suggested the two of them have their alone time together. Not to mention that the teenager was a traditional young man, which meant that Tsuna is safe with a gentleman.

"You seem to forget a lot of things lately," he commented. "Including telling me what happened to you yesterday."

The moment Tsuna froze, the prefect immediately knew that she was hiding something else. "So I was right."

"I could handle it perfectly, Kyouya. Don't mind me." She assured him.

"Then tell me honestly what you did to forget something you promised me you won't take off when you spend time with me?" When Tsuna looked away, Kyouya's face softened and sighed, "Tsunarumi, you can tell me anything. Just what happened?"

Tsuna took a deep breath, "Promise me you will make me resolve this on my own?"

Knowing that he won't get any more information if he didn't abide by it, Kyouya agreed, "Fine. I will let you resolve what happened to you on your own."

It was a time like any other. "Mochida's fangirls kept sending me signals about 'staying away from their Mochida' because of the rumors that kept on circulating that was started by the Kendo Club,"

Tsuna knew that the prefect was trying to rein in his anger at her words, but he was barely keeping his cool. "Then your bracelet?"

"It went missing in my locker during Gym class. Someone went into my things and took it, apparently, since I've never been careless about it…" she confessed.

"I see…" Kyouya replied. "Then I'll just buy you a new one then,"

Her head snapped to face him, "What?! But that bracelet was expensive!"

"Money is no object to me,"

"But…it was your first gift to me…" she tried to pull the 'sentimental value' card.

"Still. I can't let you use something that has already been tainted by herbivorous hands." Kyouya reasoned. When Tsuna was about to protest again, he sighed, "At least humor me just this once, Tsunarumi." Kyouya said. "It's already a good thing that no one tried to push you down the stairs."

"Ah…about that…" when she looked back at her boyfriend, she knew that whoever did the deed was screwed come Monday.

…

Just as Tsuna predicted, Monday proved to be a fruitful day.

The moment she stepped in the school grounds early morning for her DC duties, she was approached by one of the committee members under her and handed her the bracelet that she had lost that Friday. It would seem that Kyouya had ordered his members on a school-wide search for her bracelet. When she asked where it was found, the member simply said that it was found somewhere near the lockers, and that was that.

Tsuna knew better than to ask something that she already has a hunch happened.

The next was that the rumors that were flying about her and Mochida were now rectified, as she heard one of them say that it was Mochida himself, who purposely spread the rumor.

The best thing? Was that during the morning practice of the Kendo Club, the body of Mochida Kensuke flew out of the room with his armor, and collided into a tree.

None of the Kendo club members had the guts to save their captain, not when Hibari Kyouya was the one who sent him flying using only his tonfas.

It was clear as day to all students of Namimori, that if you mess with one committee member, then you mess with their Chairman.

But to those who knew the relationship between the chairman and the secretary, it was something else. 'Mess with my woman and you die a painful death.'

END