Disclaimer: I don't own KHR.
Any mistakes please let me know, I've proofread this, but I'm not the best.
Natsume had been called out of class and didn't question it. It wouldn't be the first time, perhaps word had gotten to the counselors of what had happened between her and the three seniors and they wanted to have a talk with her.
Being taken into one of the rooms in the office, she expected Fumiko-sensei, who was an absolute delight to talk to and understood her (over)protective tendencies she had over her brother. What she got was Reborn, wearing an outrageous costume, wild beard and hair included.
The teen gapped, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to say something, but ultimately decided against it and closed her mouth.
"I assume you know who I am?" questioned the disguised Reborn, who sat in the chair, legs crossed and his hands laced together atop his knee. "Well Natsume-chan, if I may call you that, I called you here to speak over the book I gave you a couple of days ago."
She cleared her throat, "I – ah – wouldn't this be better discussed at home?"
A loud smack resounded against the room, Reborn having pulled a ruler out of nowhere and slapping it against the desk. His eyes gleamed with danger and Natsume feared for her life. She felt how heavy the air became and was glad when it came to pass seconds later. She could breathe again, could feel how her nails had pressed into the palm of her hand from how tightly she had clenched them.
"We will discuss it here, so please Natsume-chan enlighten me on your readings."
The girl gulped and took a shaky breathe, "E-Elena de' Medici was a very prompt supporter of Vongola, she had joined shortly after it was formed," she licked her lips as she paused, thinking on what else she had gotten from the old book. "She was interested in mysticism and has left a detailed account about her beliefs and experiences in it. What she experienced in her time with Vongola changed her earlier thoughts and led her to delve deeper into her research – flames being one of the subject she studied."
Her hands had stilled as she explained the book, her shoulders were less tense and there was a gleam of excitement in her eye; all this Reborn took notice of and suppressed a smile.
"The book was originally blank, how are you reading it?"
"Oh," the girl gave him a sheepish grin, one eerily similar to her brother's, "That's something I can't say, but it did have something to do with the necklace you gave me." She tilted her head back a little as she reached within her shirt and pulled out the clear crystal he had given her. "Clear quartz?" At the hitman's nod she continued, "It focuses energy and its one of the few that activates and balances energy," she closed her eyes at this and concentrated on the crystal she held in her hand, opening her eyes she gave a brief smile before it flitted away, "I don't know if it's supposed to do that, but it's similar to that flame that appears on Tsuna's forehead isn't it?"
Silence descended between the two, Reborn seeming uninterested as he looked at the glowing indigo and amber flames. In the end, the babe nodded at her answer, a sigh escaping him as he uncrossed his legs.
"You're a smart girl, Natsume," the hitman said as he hopped down from the chair and came around the desk to stand beside her, "Tsuna is very lucky to have you as a sister." She fiddled with the necklace, looking away from Reborn's intense look, "Look at me girl," she didn't want to but she did.
Hazel clashed with onyx, Natsume barely keeping herself from fidgeting, her discomfort showing clearly on her face.
Reborn smiled, eyes closing as he did.
"You'll be a good shadow for Tsuna when the time comes."
And he left it at that.
Natsume had been passing in front of Tsuna's class when she heard one of the boys announce that Yamamoto was going to jump off the roof. The students spilled out, all rushing to get to the roof, some muttering that this was a bad prank and others looking more interested in just being a part of the gossip.
Sasagawa trailed behind, Tsuna following just a ways. He hadn't noticed her, but she did notice how pale he seemed – almost gray in color – how wide and unseeing his eyes were as he headed in the direction of everyone else.
"Sensei won't mind if I stay behind longer," she murmured to herself as she caught up to Tsuna, her hand reaching out for her twins and giving a light squeeze. He seemed to jerk awake, his breath hitching as he turned to her.
"We need to hurry," he uttered, taking the steps two at a time when they got there, nearly tripping Natsume.
"Hey calm down, why are you so worked up?"
"It's my fault," he responded, his brows furrowing as they stepped out onto the roof, his brown eyes too serious, "I gave him bad advice and he hurt himself because of me."
She frowned and shook her head, her hand tightening around her brothers, "Hey he hurt himself and this has nothing to do with you." The look he gave her, it made her pause, and he took that moment to slip his hand out of hers and towards the chain link fence. She was gaping, her face a mix of confusion and understanding. She clutched her hand to her chest, keeping an eye on her brother as he spoke with the baseball star.
"Sawada-chan, are you okay?"
"Sasagawa-san," greeted Natsume, barely turning her head to look at the girl who stood beside her, "Yes, I – TSUNA!"
Something had gone wrong, Tsuna had been turning around, Yamamoto had called for him, the fence broke and the two were falling. She barely caught Tsuna's surprised gasp, why was everything moving so slow? Why was her heartbeat so loud all of sudden?
A hand gripped hers, someone was calling to her, pulling her away.
'Was that a gunshot?'
For once she hoped it was.
"Breathe Sawada-chan," uttered Sasagawa softly, her hand rubbing the sandy haired girls back. Cries of outrage and disgust were heard, the complaints of it having been a terrible prank, but all sounding relieved. "Do you want to go to the restroom?"
Natsume cleared her throat; her hand squeezing Sasagawa's. She breathed out a response and the auburn haired girl accompanied her to the restroom, making sure to keep them ahead of the crowd so nobody would see her. She eyed the shorter girl beside her and she could see why her brother liked her.
Sasagawa Kyoko wasn't just cute; she had a kind heart and was always willing to help others around her. And as she pushed open the restroom door and turned around to give her some sort of privacy, Natsume couldn't help but feel her throat tighten up. Her eyes were shiny from the unshed tears; her lower lip was bleeding slightly from all the constant biting she had subjected to it in the last couple minutes.
The hazel eyed girl shook her head, turned on the water and scooped up some water to splash on her face. Grabbing a paper towel, she kept her eyes on her reflection as she patted her skin dry. She looked like Tsuna, but the coloring was all wrong.
While his hair was a chocolatey brown, hers was lighter. His eyes were a light brown as well, large and rounded like their mothers, hers were her fathers – a dark hazel color, not as sharp, but smaller and narrower than Tsuna's.
"Sawada-chan how do you feel?"
Her lips quirked up at that, she saw herself swallow, her eyes shining brighter. Tilting her head back she released a sigh, her shoulders felt heavy and tight, she was thirteen why did she feel so tired already?
"I'll be fine Sasagawa-san," she answered, turning away from the mirror and trying her best to give the girl a sincere smile, but failing as it came out looking like a grimace. "Thank you."
"Eh?" that seemed to have taken the other girl by surprise, her cheeks turning pink as she looked away from her. "I-it was no trouble, really! I know how worrying brothers can be."
Natsume didn't mean to bark out a laugh, her palm coming up to rub a bit too hard against her eye as her mouth looked less sad and the corners of eyes crinkled with an honest smile.
The girl reciprocated with a bright smile, her cheeks still flushed as she looked over Tsuna's sister. She wasn't as mean looking when she smiled, thought the auburn hair girl as the two left the restroom and walked back to their respective classrooms. They waved goodbye, Natsume thanking her once more before splitting up.
'Maybe she just needs a friend?'
She had gathered her things as soon a she entered the classroom and left, not bothering to look for Tsuna or caring that someone was dogging her steps.
"Sawada."
She stopped, eyes closing as she inhaled deeply and slowly letting it out in ten counts.
"Hibari-san," her tone was clipped, not bothering to at least act decently to the older boy. Looking over her shoulder, lips pulling into a sneer, and her chin held high, she glanced over at the Disciplinary Committee President.
"Leaving school grounds early is not permitted, herbivore." The tonfa in his hand glinted in the light as he slowly raised it up, not bothering to get into a fighting pose knowing she – like the other weaklings – would just cower and return to class.
Her scoff and the way she rolled her eyes as she resumed to walk away was enough of an answer for him. His strides were longer as he cut her off, tonfa held up against her face, his eyes narrowing menacingly.
"Then consider me not here," her voice was odd, almost soothing but stilted. There was a command somewhere in her words, one that urged him to listen to her. Hibari's brows furrowed, shaking his head slightly to clear the ringing words out.
The prefect sniffed as he relaxed his grip on his weapon and continued to make his way down the hallway, not noticing anything strange, yet feeling as if something questionable had just happened.
xiii
Nana hadn't questioned me coming home early (or alone), though I'm pretty sure she could definitely tell something had happened.
I had made my way up to my room and just let myself fall onto the bed, wrapping myself into a blanket cocoon and just let my thoughts drift.
Before this whole situation, my emotions were less all over the place. Now they were as unpredictable as the situations that had been happening. I could feel myself acting up much easier – punching the seniors wasn't something I would have normally done (even if it was warranted, they hadn't put a hand on Tsuna or me; they were just trying to show who was boss).
I got along with Reborn a little better. Even if I was still miffed with him about shooting Tsuna that first time. That was the stuff of bad dreams and something that I wish wouldn't continue to happen. I knew it was inevitable though at least up until a certain point.
What ever happened to that sudden clarity I had?
I feel like I'm starting to grasp at straws.
The glint in Reborn's eye (the sadistic, little demon baby) gave her the creeps, especially when he had turned that gaze on her.
"What's the answer for four, Natsume?"
She looked down at her paper, reading said question of her history quiz, 'When did the Allied Powers occupy Japan and when did it end?'. The teen was about to answer, only to be rudely interrupted by the mad cackling of a child. She eyed Reborn, wondering if it had come from him, but even he didn't bat an eyelash as it continued on and seemed much more intent on getting an answer from her.
"The answer is B."
"Correct."
"Is no one going to question the kid outside our window?"
"Tsuna don't be ridiculous -" She turned to her brother, about to tell him to stop being dramatic, only to be stunned at the truth that was before her. In the tree just outside her brother's bedroom window, was a madly grinning child crouched on a tree branch, with a gun in his hand. "Who the hell is giving children weapons!?"
An explosion followed her exclamation, one that was instigated by Reborn himself as he flung a round shape back out the window towards the young cow-looking child. There was a thud, followed by a squeal of pain, followed by a calmness that the twins knew would end a terrible, fiery death. Natsume made a noise at the back of her throat, her face falling into her hands as a headache began to form.
"I'm going to go take some medicine," she murmured, excusing herself from the current lesson.
Opening the bedroom door only gave the menace that had been outside crying a chance in. Instead of letting him barge in like he had wanted to, Natsume scooped up the child and held him out at arms length. The screaming died down once he realized his kicks weren't reaching her, nor was he able to grab at her with his flailing arms,
The kid went rigid, his head tilting forward, sniffling accompanying the motion before he started outright crying.
"L-Lambo just wanna p-play," he cried, beginning to move again to get out of her grasp..
"Ahh," the pain in her head seemed to be clouding her judgement, but she brought the child close so that she could balance him on her hip and began to bounce the child as she had seen mother's do in the markets when their kids began to fuss. It probably wasn't right to give the tantrum attention, but what the hell did she know? "You said your name was Lambo?"
At the slight nod, the child continued crying, "Lambo w-wants to play with R-Reborn."
The demon spawn in the room was very much capable of violently hurting her and her brother, Reborn would absolutely murder this kid.
Safe to say she wasn't so mean to let that happen.
"How about we go downstairs with my mama? Y'know she would love to meet such a cute boy like yourself."
The tiny, unbelieving really that escaped Lambo had her pause for a moment, then she pushed on and took it upon herself to take the boy downstairs and introduce him to her mother.
"Oh so you were the one who I saw run past me," Nana smiled kindly as she was wont to do when met with a teary eyed child. She took him from Natsume's arms, which the girl appreciated, leaving said girl to rummage through the cupboard near the entrance of the kitchen for her medicine. Quiet whispers and giggles came from the table where Nana had taken the boy, sitting him on the table top and holding his hand gently so that he wouldn't be too intimidated with her.
"Your Japanese is very good Lambo-kun," Nana complimented the boy who blushed. "Can you answer me this, where is your family? I'm sure they're worried about you."
The young boy pouted, tears forming in his eyes as soon as Nana's quesiton left her mouth. The woman was taken back and seemed to flounder a bit before she brought Lambo into her lap and let him cry into her chest. Natsume made eye contact with her mother and the woman gestured with her chin to take the seat beside her. The two waited out for the crying to subside and Lambo's broken answer to that made Nana's cheeks turn pink with anger.
"They sent you off alone? And to play like that?" there was an edge to the sweet voice and Natsume knew if her mother ever met Lambo's family, they would receive a tongue-lashing that would make them regret everything they'd done to the child in her arms. "Tsu-chan, go back to your studies, I'll watch Lambo-kun here and figure out what we can do for him."
The young teen nodded, excusing herself and heading back upstairs. She returned to Tsuna's room, which looked smokier than it had before, but she didn't quesiton it, already knowing that her brother's nerves had gotten the best of him and had him fumbling for answers if by the wide-eyed 'help me' look he sent her when she walked in.
"Hey Reborn, what do you know about a family named Bovino?"
The current lecture of maths subsided as Reborn seemed to think it a better question than the ones Tsuna was currently failing at. Of course finding out that the Bovino was mafia, wasn't part of the plan.
"If they focus on creating and enhancing weapons, why did they send Lambo to kill you?"
The hitman shrugged, not really caring why a weak famiglia like Bovino would do that. He of course would be reporting this new development to Nono and see what the Vongola Don would want done.
The wooden floors shown after having all her things picked up and put away in their correct place. The books were back in the shelf she kept in the corner of her room, her clothes actually folded or hung up in her closet, and the various amount of blankets folded and put away into the plastic pink chest where she used to keep her toys.
She blew a raspberry at that, as much as it had held all her toys (and the ones she would hide from Tsuna) the chest was well worn and in need of replacement.
Something curled itself between her legs, a soft chirp followed the constant motion and once Emi had her attention Natsume thought perhaps she could make it into something for her cat. A whining meow made her take that thought back, instead she opened the door to unleash the black cat into the rest of the house.
"Tsu-chan you cleaned your room?"
The teen looked over her shoulder and nodded at her mother, who then stepped in and sat herself on the bed. Natsume gave her mother a questioning look, to which the woman responded by patting the spot beside her.
Closing the door, she went and sat down, not saying anything as she waited for her mother to begin speaking.
"My, my," Nana began, looking over the pictures that her daughter had hung up on her walls. "Time sure has gone by hasn't it Tsu-chan?"
Not knowing how to respond, Natsume dipped her head in agreement, leaning against her mother and placing her chin on the woman's shoulder. "I'm taller than you and Tsuna now." That caused Nana to chuckle, a warm sound that soothed the younger girl.
"And bigger by the day!" responded the older woman, her own head tilting to rest against her daughters. The two stayed silent, just taking in each other's company, it had been awhile since they had spent any time together – especially since Lambo had appeared. "I only wish your father were here to see you two, I just know he would be so proud."
Nana felt Natsume stiffen slightly, before sagging completely against her. She wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. Her eldest had always been withdrawn, it wasn't until recently that the girl had made a friend – or at least someone that considered her a friend.
Looking down at the girl, Nana could feel her heart clench. Her little girl looked so similar to Iemitsu and she sometimes acted like him that it hurt. She would smile, claim everything fine and continue on with herself. The way she would look after Tsuna, even after Nana herself, sometimes worried her.
"Papa hasn't called in a while," commented Natsume quietly, her fingers pinching the material of her sweats as she ignored the anger forming in her chest.
But Nana heard it and exhaled softly, the tension slowly returning to her own shoulders.
"I'm sure his work just has all his attention," was all the brunette woman could say, before succumbing to her own thoughts. Iemitsu had made it a point to at least call twice a month, he hadn't called since the end of July and it was nearly October. "How about we go out, ne? Just us two girls!"
She could see Natsume perk up at that and the small smile she received made Nana relax.
"Can we go to Kimiko's? I'll pay!" Not waiting for her mother's confirmation, the girl got up and began to pick out jeans and a shirt, leaving Nana to shake her head at her sudden chipper mood.
"I'll wait for you downstairs then."
Nearly five minutes later and the two were locking up, leaving a spare key for Tsuna in one of the potted plants that adorned one of the windowsills. The two set out, walking the way to the plaza where they would window shop and maybe pick out a couple things that they needed.
"Mama?"
Oh? Her eldest rarely called her that, usually opting to drop the last letter or two. She hummed in acknowledgment, tilting her head to look at her daughter who looked at her with such a serious look, she almost stopped walking.
"Do you ever feel lost?"
She was about to respond with an assurance that she knew where she always was, but the way Natsume gazed at her made those false words shrivel up on her tongue.
"I suppose there are times," Nana responded after a couple minutes, thinking on how she should phrase her next words, "But I usually find myself, you and your brother do a good job of keeping me grounded."
Natsume nodded at that, turning her gaze away from Nana and looking forward. They had made good time in their walking, she could see the shops just a little further down the street and she smiled to herself.
"I love you mama."
The older woman gushed, her eyes brightening as she looped her arm with her daughters and brought her closer to her side.
"Mama loves you more, Tsu-chan~"
With her face flushed pink and feeling a little embarrassed, Natsume felt better than she had in the past couple of days.
Yamamoto laughed nervously, his hand coming up to rub the back of his head.
'Man oh man, she's intimidating.'
Natsume stood before him, Lambo completely at ease in her arms as she locked eyes with the tall baseball player. Tsuna stood on the side, breathing heavily with Gokudera beside him looking between the two.
"You know," she began, looking away from him and eyeing the other two, "I just won't question it anymore."
She held out her hand to Tsuna, who looked at said appendage confused. With an annoyed scoff, she tersely said, "Phone."
"For what?" he asked as he opened his backpack and pulled out a flip phone, handing it over to her. The look he got from her was one of irritation and he knew she was still upset with him over what had happened on the roof.
"I'm going to call mam to come pick up this one," her tone implied that he was being dense and it almost made him want to snap at her.
He hadn't meant what happened on the roof to happen, it was a complete accident. Yet here she was holding it against him and Yamamoto. The poor baseball player took the brunt of her bitchiness, often choosing to overlook whatever Natsume directed at him.
"Here," she tossed the phone back to him, which he barely caught. She turned around and headed towards the school gates, leaving the trio behind.
"Well I'm going off to practice!" chirped Yamamoto, he patted Tsuna on the shoulder (causing said boy to slightly lose is balance) and nodded at Gokudera as he took off, leaving the trio down to two.
"I kind of feel bad for him," spoke up Gokudera as the two headed inside the school, Tsuna trailing beside him, looking over his shoulder staring at his sister's sillouette near the entrance.
"Yeah," he responded gloomily, "He doesn't deserve that."
"I understand her anger as well," said the silver haired boy glancing at the brunette beside him, "She'll get over it, tenth, just keep your distance for now."
"I've been doing that for the past week," exclaimed Tsuna, scuffing his shoe against the floor as they stood outside the classroom. "I just, I don't know."
A hand on his shoulder got him to look up and the sincere smile that was on the usually scowling boys face made Tsuna appreciate his friend at the moment.
"Sisters, they're supposed to be a pain in the ass aren't they?"
Tsuna's lips quirked up into a smile, shaking his head as he opened the door to the classroom. "A complete pain."
"You know Hibari-san, a girl might get the wrong idea if you keep showing up like this."
The comment was worth the look he gave her, though she refrained from showing her amusement until a later time. Maybe Sasagawa would appreciate what she had said?
"Sawada," Hibari all but growled out, his gray eyes narrowing further and causing a chill to run up her spine.
Danger.
She gave him a weak smile and tried to take off, only for him to block her way. She made a noise in the back of her throat, her anger starting to flare up.
"Then what is it, Hibari-san?"
He stared down at her and she met his gaze, quirking a brow as she crossed her arms beneath her chest. Her jaw was set and she was ready to try her hand at what she had done the other day, even if it left her feeling like crap.
The prefect sniffed down at her, "It seems you did have a reason to speak against the committee." That took her by surprise and she was sure it showed on her face, because he smirked down at her. "It will not do well to have people speaking against what should have been protecting them, no?"
She nodded, her eyes squinting a little as she tried to understand what he was getting at. It was like a light bulb moment and she levelled her own smirk at him, "Any problems and I'll just bring them to you, Hibari-san."
By the look on the dark haired boys face, he doubted that there would be any further problems within the committee.
"Get to class, Sawada."
All he got was a toothy smile in return.
"Sawada-chan want to have lunch with us?" came Sasagawa's voice from beside her. Blinking slowly, Natsume turned to look at the auburn haired girl, who gave her a cheery smile, and gestured to the dark haired girl beside her. "It'll be just Hana and I this time."
The last time she had invited Natsume to eat with a bigger group, the sandy haired girl had disappeared not even five minutes into having settled down. When Sasagawa went looking for she had found her back in class 1B sitting at her desk, with her head resting on her arms.
The slow nodded she received put the girl in a chipper mood as she led the other two out of the class and towards the courtyard, where they settled beneath the shade offered by one of the trees.
"So tomorrow's home economics we're making rice balls," Kurokawa brought up after a couple of minutes of silent eating. She didn't sound particularly happy about that, but the way Sasagawa turned to chat about it was probably why she did it.
"I don't know who I'll give mine too," she murmured, a blush creeping on her cheeks. Natsume and the other girl made eye contact, rolling their eyes at the auburn haired girls words. "Who would you give yours too, Sawada-chan?"
Said girl almost snorted, but she withheld it, "I'm going to eat mine and I'll probably save one for my mom."
Sasagawa pouted, "Mou, there's no one who you would give even one too?"
Natsume blinked at her friend's expression. She shook her head, reaching out to the girland ruffling her hair, "Oh Sasagawa-san," she said mournfully as the girl knocked her hand away, "Apart from me not wanting to share my food, the boys are idiots – they'll probably get in over their heads."
Not that most of the guys in class would have taken anything from her.
"Hana-chan, what about you!" the girls attention was fixed to the other girl who made a similar response to Natsume, who all but grinned.
"I think you're just too hung up on romance, Sasagawa-san."
Kurokawa made a noise of agreement.
"Please call me Kyoko, Sawada-chan," that threw Natsume off, who gave Kurokawa a look, who shrugged and said, "Call me Hana."
The look Kyoko levelled her with and the motion Hana made to just go with it, let Natsume relax a little, although she was still a bit uncomfortable.
"Then I'm just Natsume."
Thursday came and went without incident – well except if Tsuna eating everyone's rice balls counted as a no incident – Nana and Lambo had enjoyed the only ones Tsuna hadn't managed to get his hands on.
"They were good, Tsu-chan," her mother told her, with Lambo cheering in agreement.
"Yeah, ane should make more!"
"Maybe on Saturday?"
The five year old whooped, his energy catching onto Nana who giggled at the enthusiastic child. Lambo had come around last Sunday. He probably though he had been threatening Reborn but ended up being more of a threat to himself. Hyperactive as he was, it kept Nana busy and distracted from the usually empty house, which Natsume was glad for.
"But you have to promise me not to wonder around on your own anymore."
The young child pouted at that, quickly overcome by a sneaky smile or what he probably considered to be sneaky.
"Ane has to play with me then!"
Nana and Natsume shared a laugh at the triumphant look on Lambo's face, the Sawada girl accepted his demand.
"Go sit on the couch, I'll go grab my bag and we'll do whatever you want."
"Drawing?" he seemed slightly reluctant to ask, his bravado lost for a split second, only to return in full force at her nod.
"If that's what you want."
He scurried off, behaving himself for the while as he waited for her.
"Anything specific you want for dinner, Tsu-chan?"
The girl thought about it, "I'll eat anything you make, mam."
"Salisbury steak then?"
Nana caught Natsume's face and was about to suggest something else, "I think Tsuna will like that." The woman gave her eldest a knowing look, to which she responded by pouting. "I'll eat a little bit."
"I'll make a side for you."
"Anything with potatoes!" called the girl over her shoulder as she exited the kitchen.
Nana shook her head as she heard Natsume begin to explain a drawing game to Lambo. She would drop a hint or two to her knuckleheaded son, letting him know that his sister was the one who had suggested his favorite.
"Kami-sama help my children, they can be so hopeless sometimes."
AN: And the waiting game is over for this chapter! Perhaps it seems like its moved along too fast at certain points, I'm letting things that were pointed out in canon remain more background and they'll be brought up if it ends up crossing Natsume's path. Most of the things will be hinted at happening and I'm really trying my best not to make this to similar to what happened in the manga - certain situations will of course turn out different than they should have or have happened in another way.
A huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/alerted this story, you guys truly do inspire me to write more.
Comments or concerns let me know?
Also let me know what I can do better because I'm pretty much just trying (and hoping) to make this sound right. Other than that, hope you guys enjoyed!
Sorugao