Target Four:
The Transfer Students
The moment Setsuna sat down at the dining table that morning she knew that she was going to have a bad day.
She never put much stock in omens, but if the intense glare emanating from the toddler sitting across from her didn't constitute as one she wasn't quite sure what would.
"What do you need, Reborn?" the blonde asked, heaving an exasperated sigh.
The Hitman seemed oddly amused at her straightforwardness, but didn't answer the blunt request. Instead, he was quite content with staring her down.
After a few moments of this however Setsuna began to feel very much like prey being stalked by a predator. The hovering ghost in the room did little to alleviate her blossoming unease as well.
Narrowing her eyes at him, she swallowed the bite she was currently on. "If you have something you want to say just say it."
"Hm," Reborn mused to himself. "I think it's about time you tell me what you did yesterday."
Setsuna stiffened, her eyes wandering to the turned back of her mother. "I'd rather not talk about that here if you don't mind," she hissed in a hushed voice. "Plus you wouldn't believe me even if I did tell you."
"You'll find I'm rather open minded."
The blonde grunted, running a nervous hand through her hair. "If it's that important to you - "
"It is."
"Then I'll tell you when we're alone."
Reborn considered this quietly. Just what exactly was she trying so desperately to hide? Something the rest of her family didn't know that was for sure. "Fine," he assented, finally lowering the dark voids he called eyes back to his plate.
Setsuna visibly relaxed, but couldn't shake the feeling that this conversation was far, far from over.
-Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ-
When the bell for lunch finally screeched above the chatter in her classroom, Setsuna was more than happy to escape the confined space.
"Be careful you don't bump into her," a girl sneered from behind the blonde.
"I heard she talks to herself, but I've never actually seen her do it," another replied, sounding as if they were discussing a random creature and not a human being.
"That's because she always leaves to have the conversations with her imaginary friends in private. Probably thinks it's courteous to them or something," the first girl giggled, before a few others joined in.
As much as Setsuna wanted to turn on them, her body was screaming at her to in fact, she scooped up her things to go to lunch. Ignoring everyone's blatant stares and recoils in her passing she silently made her way to the roof. Even though it was technically off limits, as the gates up there were old and had garnered a significant amount of rust over the years, it was the only place she found any peace at Namimori Middle.
Heaving a sigh of relief she plopped down onto the already sun warmed tiles, and pulled out her Bento.
"Itadakimasu!" she exclaimed, but just as she was about to take a bite something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. A dark silhouette lounging in the shadows. "If you're here to ask for something please just go away."
"What exactly would you be offering?" came the high pitched retort of Reborn.
Setsuna clenched her jaw. She knew he would seek her out after the little conversation they had this morning but she thought he would at least wait until after school. Apparently the first moment she was alone would suffice for him.
"Don't you have another Sawada to stalk?" she asked, occupying her mouth with food as an excuse to avoid the Hitman.
"Hm," Reborn sauntered over to her, seeming oddly suave for one so small. "My plans for him will go down soon enough. In the meantime however you promised to tell me something."
"I promised nothing," the blonde corrected. "But I guess I did say I would."
An amused smile tugged at the toddler's lips. "Then talk."
"You really won't believe me," she reminded him indignantly. "No one ever does.
Reborn only arced a raven brow.
"I'm a Medium," she used the word that Giotto had taught her just the night before. The memory left a fluttering warmth in her chest. Even if the two had somewhat of a spat she was so overjoyed to have him back in her life. That lighthearted feeling however fell in stark contrast with the one of trepidation that was threatening to consume her at the moment. "I can see ghosts."
The Hitman soaked in this new information eagerly though the shaded look on his chubby face did little to express the depth of emotions currently twisting around inside - doubt being the predominant one.
After a moment of charged silence Setsuna snorted and crossed her thin arms over her chest. "Knew you wouldn't believe me. Though I can't say I'm surprised - even considering what you are."
At that his obsidian orbs snapped to attention. "What I am?"
"Half infant, half man," she muttered, not sure what he was exactly herself. "Though I'm pretty sure the man part is lying dormant."
The Hitman resisted the urge to brandish his gun once again. "Who told you about that?" he demanded, keeping his voice lethally thin.
Setsuna bristled slightly, an icy shiver raking her frame at the glare he leveled her way. "No one. As I said I can see ghosts - and you have quite the spirit trailing you."
Reborn again considered this quietly. With Iemitsu's obvious regards on her involvement in the Mafia he most definitely didn't impart this knowledge onto her. Tsuna, on the other hand knew so strikingly little about the underworld he couldn't have possibly told her anything.
Unless there was a strain of Hyper Intuition that allowed direct mind reading there was really no possible way for her to know about the Arcobaleno curse.
"Say you are telling the truth," Reborn entertained the theory. "What exactly does that have to do with what you did yesterday?"
"In our... exchange, I accidentally grabbed the chain that binds the adult you to your back."
Setsuna's hand flexed unconsciously at the memory. Despite the craziness of the time she could still distinctly recall the dark energy that filled her at the touch. The way it felt as if the only way it could exist was through sucking the life out someone. Which, it very well might have considering Reborn's current condition. Maybe he had been an adult at some point and the chain had slowly been siphoning away his soul until nothing remained but a toddler.
When Reborn yet again refused to say anything, Setsuna took the quiet moment to finish off the rest of her Bento. The Hitman seemed exceptionally more intent on his thoughts, so when the ending bell for lunch rang out, the blonde passed him without so much as a contest.
Just as she reached the door to the stairs though Reborn finally gave her a reply.
"I believe you."
-Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ-
Once Setsuna made it back to her class, she found all of her classmates to be in more of an uproar than usual.
"Come on!" a guy shouted, tugging on the shirt of the student next to him. "Didn't you hear? Mochida-senpai challenged that Dame-Tsuna to a Kendo match! We have to go watch!"
Setsuna dropped her belongings onto her desk and rushed over to the two boys. "What did you just say?!"
Both of them shrank away from her, whether from fear of the sudden demand or just her presence in general she couldn't quite tell. When neither seemed forthcoming she repeated the question, a little more politely this time.
"Mochida-senpai kidna - er - took Dame-Tsuna to the Dojo for a Kendo match," the boy that spoke the first time stuttered under the intense gaze of Setsuna's amber orbs.
My plans for him will go down soon enough, Reborn's words from before echoed in her mind. Had this been what he was referring to?
Setsuna cursed under her breath, and ducked out of the classroom. While she wasn't exactly sure where the Kendo Hall was at, all she had to do was follow the flow of the congested traffic that filled the halls. Nearly everyone was talking about it. Some people whispered whenever they spotted her, and others even taunted her outright for it.
After what seemed like hours she, along with half of the school, reached the Dojo. But as Setsuna scanned the room she couldn't spot even a hair on her brother's spiky head. "Nii-chan?!" she called into the crowd, but it instantly got drowned out by the other chatter that filled the stagnant air.
Deciding she had ditched class for absolutely no reason, Setsuna turned to leave. Her teacher had already warned her multiple times that if she skipped any more classes there would be repercussions, but honestly her brother's safety was vastly more important than her attendance record.
That's when everything roared back to life however.
"READY TO FIGHT!" Tsuna shouted as he shoved through the crowd to the main floor. Setsuna's mouth went slack as she realized her brother had gone into the same mode as he had the day before when Reborn shot him with that bullet... what was it called?
Dying Will Mode?
"You're going to fight me half naked?!" Mochida barked with laughter. "Idiot! Did you think I would hold back because you weren't wearing armor?" The rest of the students within earshot joined in his taunting jeers, but that cut out almost immediately.
Before Mochida could get a single swing in Tsuna rocketed forward, smashing the weapon to pieces with just forehead. Then, Tsuna went in for the first point, a chop, but at the last second switched to tearing a small handful of hair from the older boys scalp. Despite the obvious, albeit strange, point the referee refused to lift his flag.
Tsuna tilted his head slightly, his enrage eyes unblinking. Even from her spot in the back of the room, Setsuna scarcely believed it was the same weak willed brother she had grown up with all her life.
After the loss of the rest of Mochida's hair, the referee finally caved and called the match.
"That was amazing!" someone in the crowd exclaimed, the rest of them following suit. In seconds the students converged on Tsuna, flinging compliments rather than insults now.
How very fickle everyone is... Setsuna sighed, eyeing the scene before her with an odd amount of distaste in her mouth. Just moments ago they were all going on about how pathetic, stupid and weak he was but now he was a 'hero.'
Deep down she had to admit a part of her felt jealous. Not of the new attention her brother was getting, but more at the fact that he had finally earned some respect for himself. The twins may not have agreed or connected on much, but the lack of respect and consideration by their peers was the one thing they truly had in common.
Setsuna gave a somewhat sad smile as she watched her brother get the attention he rightfully deserved. Even if he was drifting away from her, she was proud of Tsuna for finally breaking free if even for a moment...
-Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ-
Thankfully, the next few days went pretty much without incident for Setsuna. Tsuna was in a daze from his win over Mochida, and then his ego inflated even more with the Volleyball tournament so he was off in his own little world for the most part. Reborn also didn't question her again. That didn't stop the seemingly endless flow of scrutinizing glares however.
Even the ghosts were steering clear of her - Giotto included. After she fell asleep on him the other night he hadn't reappeared. Despite herself she had actually become somewhat lonely since then. Of course Tsuna not talking to her wasn't anything really new, but after that spark of activity it almost seemed dull for everything to go back to normal.
So, when she was pulled aside by her teacher almost immediately upon showing up to class she was somewhat taken aback at the sudden break in monotony.
"Sawada," the older man began stoically. "Upon the recommendation of another teacher it has been decided that you'll be put in a different class from now on. Your attendance had been exceptionally poor thus far, and even though you have proved to be knowledgeable in some subjects there is no reason that you should stay in this more advanced class. Class 1-A should be more your pace."
Setsuna could only nod, as she tried desperately to swallow her pride. It really wasn't her fault. What was she supposed to do about it all? The spirits that stalked her didn't seem to care even the slightest bit that she was in the middle of a quiz or an exam when they showed up. And it wasn't like she could tell anyone the real reasons why she always had to excuse herself. They'd lock her up in the crazy bin before she could even finish explaining.
So far the only people that ever believed her anyway were Giotto and Reborn, yet neither were exactly the most reputable of sources.
No one in her class was all that broken up over her transfer either, which made it that much easier to leave them behind. In retrospect, Setsuna wasn't all that upset about having to switch, but as she made her way over to her new classroom she couldn't help feeling that she had lost in some way.
It wasn't like her original class was all that advanced anyway, maybe just slightly accelerated, but it made her feel inadequate somehow being kicked out. Almost as if she wasn't able to juggle a normal school life and being stalked by ghosts - which quite frankly she wasn't.
"Ah, there she is," the teacher, a fairly stereotypical looking middle aged man, clucked as Setsuna slid inside of the classroom. "These are the two new transfers we'll be having with us for the rest of the year." He gestured for her to join him at the front of the room. On the other side of the teacher was another student.
He had semi-long, although nicely kept, silver hair, crystal green orbs and an expression that probably attracted as much negative attention as the skulls clinging to his accessories.
"This is Gokudera Hayato, he has been studying overseas in Italy," the older man gestured to the silver haired boy then over to Setsuna. "And I'm sure you know Sawada Setsuna, who will be joining us here from now on."
"Isn't that your sister, Dame-Tsuna?" a student asked the boy, a little too loudly. Tsuna wasn't really sure how to respond. He had no idea Setsuna was going to be switching classes - much less be joining his. Regardless of that bombshell however, he was more concerned with the way Kyoko was ogling the other transfer student.
Setsuna also simultaneously realized that this was in fact her older brother's class. Of course, on some level she knew he was in 1-A but it hadn't really registered that he would be in it for some reason.
After Setsuna and Gokudera finished their introductions, which were both rather short and substanceless, they were guided to their seats. Setsuna being a little in front of Tsuna and Gokudera somewhere off to the side. Before either of them actually took their spots though the silver haired boy made a beeline for Tsuna's desk.
Without even the slightest provocation, Gokudera slammed his foot into one of the metal legs, scattering all of Tsuna's belongings across the aisle. "Hieee!" Tsuna exclaimed in surprise, trying to catch what he could - and failing miserably.
Other students chuckled as the brunette scrambled to gather all of his things. Setsuna sent them a slight glare before rushing to her brother's aid. "Here you go, Nii-chan," she whispered as she handed over the pile she collected.
"Thank you," he replied hesitantly, obviously shaken up by the random bout of bullying.
After that the class finally settled down a little bit. There was still the occasional mention about having the Dame-Twins, and the oh so attractive half-breed now, but for the most part it was pretty standard.
Until of course, an eerie melody pierced the silence in the room.
The lilting notes sounded like that of a piano. They were woven so intricately that it had to have been a talented pianist behind it. Despite the obvious skill however, the piece evoked an exceptionally powerful feeling of sadness in Setsuna's gut. After a moment, unshed tears even began to prick at her eyes.
What the heck? Setsuna quickly glanced around the room, but everyone was still busily working on the worksheets the teacher had passed around, completely unperturbed.
Not quite sure what to make of the situation, she leaned back towards Tsuna.
"Do you hear that?" she asked in as hushed a voice as she could manage.
"Hear what?" Tsuna demanded back, his eyes wide with concern.
"That piano."
Tsuna swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. Setsuna had only been in his class for less than an hour and she was already up to her antics. As much as it freaked him out, more than anything he worried about her when she got like this. It wasn't normal for a teenage girl to be seeing and hearing things.
Setsuna noticed the glazed look of pity that filled her brother's honey brown eyes and swiveled back around in her seat. She wasn't exactly quite sure what she had been hoping to accomplish by asking him, but at least she knew she was the only one hearing it.
Which, meant there was likely a ghost nearby. Sure, she had never heard anything like a spirit being accompanied by music before but she wasn't about to rule it out either.
After a quick scan of the room she realized the apparition wasn't in the room.
It was in the hallway.
Through one of the slit windows that led to into the hallway, she noticed a woman staring intently inside. She was one of the most beautiful women Setsuna had ever seen. The spirit had soft features, though they were spoiled slightly by the grimace on her lips. Aside from her features however she had wavy silver hair, and exceptionally light green-grey eyes.
"Hayato..." Setsuna could hear the woman's ethereal moan from outside.
Hayato? Wasn't that the name of the other transfer student?
Surely enough, when the blonde turned to inspect the boy, she instantly noticed the resemblance.
-Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ-
Thanks for reading!
