Chapter 7 : Can We Throw Snowballs at Him, Instead?
I changed the channel. All of this stuff was so boring! Apparently, students don't go to school in the winter. How was I supposed to know? Skull sneezed beside me.
"What's wrong? Got a cold?" He nods and leans his head on my lap, tuckered out. His hair was soft against my fingers. Yawning, I turn off the TV and stand up.
"Wanna go play outside?" The Arcobaleno frowns.
"No...it's snowing and I'm sick. Can you make me some soup?" It was snowing?! Cool! Catching myself, I slump. Poor Skull was sick and I was thinking about making snowmen My feet drag on the ground in my bunny slippers as I grab a few ingredients out of the cabinet. I boil some water and throw the vegetables in.
After I defrost the chicken, I come back to the couch and slouch. Skull sneezed again. I felt really bad just leaving him in the impure air. Climbing up the stairs, I look in the closet for blankets, but find none. Seriously? In the middle of the snowy weather and Reborn never bothered to give me extra blankets?! I sighed. The door to my room was open so I opted on just giving him blankets. My poor baby was sitting on the couch in a fetal position. Wrapping him in a cocoon, he relaxes and closes his eyes.
"Thank you, Cheyenne-chan. You're so nice to me." I smile and gently play with his hair. Going back to the kitchen to check on the soup, I go to prep the chicken. Eventually, finish de-boning and de-skinning it and plop it in the soup. If my calculations were correct, it should be finished in ten minutes. To pass the time, I sit in a seat by the window observe the layer of snow. It was beautiful. I've never seen snow in Italy and it was wonderful. I couldn't help thinking back to my family. Or well, the Varia and how they would react if they were here with me.
"VOIIIIII! IT LOOKS LIKE WHITE SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK!? IT'S IN THE DRIVEWAY, TOO!" Squalo swung at the ground with his sword, ineffectively damaging the snow.
"Ushi shi shi shi~ No escape, Shark Captain." The prince tried to make a snowman with his knives as limbs and noses.
"Shut the fuck up, scum. This shit is annoying. No going out today." Xanxus was a grouch when it came to this kind of thing. Lack of productivity from us.
"Mah! This is so pretty! Can someone give me an ice cream scoop?! Cheyenne chan? Be a dear~"
Mammon touched the substance and frowned. "It's going to cost a lot to remove all this snow..."
"Ice cream scoop?! VOI?! WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING, LUSSURIA?!" Belphegor seemed to get the idea and gathered a ball of snow in his hand before throwing it at Squalo's face.
"Bullseye~ Ushi~" He was so pleased with himself as he saw the bundle of white slide down Squalo's face, revealing a pissed off captain.
"Oh no~"
"Scum..."
.
"VVVVVVOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIII! YOU'RE DEAD, BASTARD PRINCE!"
I giggle to myself. That would be so fun. But I quickly bring myself back to reality. They're too far away now. Blinking, I stand up and try to hold my tears. Come on! It's bee month already! Pull yourself together! I stir Skull's soup and serve it to him on a small table. He sits up and brings his pudgy hands to eat some. His nose runs a little bit and I find it cute. If he wasn't legally a grown man, I would adopt him as my own child.
"You can leave if you want. I'm gonna take a-" he yawned, "-Nap." I pinch his cheek softly and tilt my head.
"Are you sure? I can stay if you'd like." He shakes his head and coughs a little bit, pushing the soup away before wrapping himself up again.
"You probably want to go outside. I won't stop you. Goodnight." A grin splits on my face. I kiss his cheek and give him a quick nuzzle.
"Have a good nap, Skull." I grab a coat off the hanger and swing a scarf around my neck. Stopping for a minute, I notice that I unconsciously grabbed my Varia coat. Smiling sadly, I put it back and get a plainer, gray sweater. It was pretty cozy and I nod, leaving the house. My boots were snug on my feet as they trudge through the snow. Maybe I should visit Tsuna? Deciding yes, since he was my only friend, I speed- walk to his home.
The doorbell rings and Nana answers the door with a smile.
"Ballotelli-chan! Please come in! It's freezing outside!" After I knock off some snow from my shoes, I remove them before entering her humble home. She leads me over to the kitchen and I sit at the table. She hands me a cup of hot chocolate and I smile in thanks.
"What brings you here?" I didn't want to be rude and tell her I was looking for Tsuna.
"I was lonely." Placing her hand on her heart, she frowns lightly. God, I sounded like such a loser. Well, if I was honest with myself, I was kind of socially inept. The only friend had was the Varia and that wasn't saying much.
"You poor girl! You can come here anytime you want!" She really did remind me of my mom.
"Thank you...Mama." I smiled. That felt...good. The older woman held my hand and closed her eyes in a tight -lipped smile.
"It makes me so happy when people call me that. It's like I have a big family." Nodding, I looked into her eyes intensely.
"Mama...what do you do when you miss someone?" Her expression changes into thought.
"I try thinking of nice things like rabbits or the smell of a fresh pie or the day of your favorite birthday. Pleasant things." Nana holds my hand tighter and looks at me in worry. "Why are you asking?" Keeping my eyes open, I look at the ceiling, trying to prevent the tears. Reborn was right; I cry too much.
"I miss my famiglia." There was a pregnant silence until she stands up abruptly and I jump in surprise.
"Well, sulking around isn't gonna solve your problems!" Plucking me out of my seat, she hands me my boots and forces me to put them on.
"Er...what ?"
"You should go play with Tsuna and the others. That'll take your mind off things, right? Go have fun!" Not even a moment after I finish putting on my boots, she pushed out of the door.
"They're at Namimori!" The door closes.
Blink.
That was unexpected. A tiny smile appears on my lips. Thank you, Nana -san. I turn around and jog to the school grounds. My friends were there! Having fun without me? Bitch puh- lease! The party don't start till I walk in!
(Totally not a Kesha reference)
When I arrive, I notice Reborn in a caveman costume. Tsuna gasps at my appearance.
"Cheyenne-san? Where did you come from?!" I frown and tilt my head, looking back in the direction I just came from. I point behind me.
"That way?" A guy with spiky hair laughs loudly and I grin.
"OI! Baseball nut! Focus!" From Gokudera's rude way of addressing him, I could safely assume that was Takeshi Yamamoto. I walked over to Reborn and sat next to him.
"Cheyenne is my co-referee. Ciaosu, Cryenne." The baby suddenly bangs on a gong. What the hell was going on?!
"Cheyenne! How are you doing?" I notice Dino off to the side and I smile, giving him a thumbs up.
"Hey, Dino-kun!" A woman with purple hair frowns and interrupts out moment.
"Mah! When are we going to start?" Reborn banged the gong again and suddenly it was all out war. Snowballs, dynamite, courtesy of Gokudera, and poison goo were thrown around. There was thorough confusion on my face. Reborn noticed and explained.
"It's a Mafia snowball fight. Whoever catches Leon-" he points at a moving toy car with a lizard's face on it, "-Wins. No rules. Just catch him." Nodding, I behold the handsome man that is Dino. I can't help myself and I chant for him to win.
"Go Dino-kun!" Dino looks back at me and winks. Noticing the men in suits running behind him, I gape. What the...
"OI! Woman! You should be cheering for the tenth!" He suddenly throws some dynamite and four people go down. I facepalm. Great job, knocking out your own team member and all that. A girl I didn't know casually sat beside me. She had bright orange hair and a girly vibe about her. It appears she noticed my gaze and smiled.
"Hi! I'm Kyoko! You must be Ballotelli-san! I've heard lots of things about you!" I smile and my head swells in pride.
"Good or bad things? I'm kidding, I'm kidding." I grin right back and she rubs her neck.
"Is it true that you and Hibari are together?" My eye twitches and suddenly have the urge to punch whoever started these rumors. She noticed my discomfort and apologized.
"Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to assume! Everyone says it's true!" I shake my head and find my patience again. This prefect was wearing on my nerves.
"Well, I'm not. In fact, I really dislike him." Eyes wide, she gapes.
"Really? I saw a picture of you trying to feed him some sushi on the roof and I really thought..." She trailed off and a vein throbbed painfully in my neck. Seriously?! I've known the guy for one month and there were already rumors? Who took that picture anyway?! Wouldn't we have noticed?!
"You really thought what?" I waited for her answer with bated breath.
"I thought you guys were an item. It isn't often that Hibari talks to girls." Slapping my hands on my mouth, my face turned red. I stifled my laughter with my hands. Hibari bigger loser than I was! She giggles with me. "Funny right? I should have known. He's too cold for a girlfriend." I nod in agreement. Reborn suddenly blows a whistle from behind us.
"Dame-Tsuna! Grab Leon!" Tsuna looks around frantically and responds with a loud 'HIEE'.
"Eh?! I'm the only one left?"
"That's right! Take this chance and get the Leon -Mobile!" Amongst all the talking, I didn't notice that everyone was officially out of the game and that Tsuna was the only one. Facepalming, I somehow knew that this would happen. Everyone protected their precious 'Tenth'. He ran after it for little before he fell flat on his face. Poor Tsuna. A failure t end. He gasps and I don't have to squint to see what he was surprised for. The bane of my existence was standing in all his ass-holish glory.
"I came here to have a snowball fight." He grabbed Leon and the lizard turned into a ball while sweating up a storm. I bit my lip, afraid that he would actually hit Tsuna with The prefect wound up his arm, but in the end, psyched us out. "But I have more important things to do. I have to do paperwork for the committee. Later." He lets Leon fall to the ground and turns to leave when Reborn smirks. I frown, not knowing why the baby was giving me a look.
"Hibari " the prefect turned around and I try punching Reborn. He jumps on my face and taps his foot on my head.
"Reborn! You bett-" He interrupted me and pointed at my face.
"I think you're missing something, Hibari." Hibari notices what Reborn's standing on and he smirks. He starts walking over here and I try pushing Reborn off, failing miserably. For a baby he sure was strong!
"Reborn! You cruel person!" I whine.
Tsuna calls out to me, "Cheyenne-san!" Every step the cannibal took towards me made a vein throb in my neck. I managed to avoid him for nearly a week, but no matter what he was determined to give me my punishment. Reborn must be holding a grudge for something I did because he would not get off my head. Reborn finally jumped off as Hibari picked me up by the scruff of my collar roughly. I pout, crossing my arms. As he drags me, presumably to his office, Kyoko sweatdrops and gives me a look saying 'are you sure?' Reborn waves us off with a 'good luck' and his same smile. I was feeling rather uncomfortable. Damn this prefect.
"I can't feel my butt, Kyoya." My head throbs when he smacks me with his tonfa. Hey! It was just a comment! Geez, this guy was so uptight!
"Ouch! Kyoya! That hurts!" He hit me again.
"Stop calling me Kyoya, Herbivore." Frowning, I pinch his thigh.
"But, Kyoya-" he swings and misses, "-My butt is cold!"
"Deal with it then."
"I can't! You're the one dragging me! You're too mean! No wonder everyone is afraid of you!" He swings at my head and misses again.
"Be quiet." The gang stares off at our banter.
"Reborn...you're just going to let him abuse her like that?!"
"Don't worry, Dame-Tsuna. She's used to it."
"They're a funny duo!" Takeshi laughs.
"They are." Dino grins.
I wasn't expecting him to drag me the whole way. Well, he let me stand up at some point, but still kept a steady grip on my shirt collar. This wasn't a fun way to spend the d off. I could easily be drinking some cocoa at Nana's house with the gang, but now I was here with this jerk. We reached the committee room and he let me go. He went to sit his desk. Blinking, I look around, taking in the room. It was pretty and roomy with a nice view of the outside. Walking over to the window, I look outside at the snow with a smile. Like a blanket of white. Unconsciously, my hand touches the glass and I retract it with a wince.
"Cold..." I hear a small scoff. Whipping around, Hibari was watching me with a condescending stare.
"Are you done fooling around?" My tongue flicks out in teasing and he frowns. He lets it go. Hibari stands up and opens a cabinet from behind him. Inside was an assortment cleaning supplies. My head falls in discontentment. I thought I left behind my life as a janitor. It seems I had a misunderstanding somewhere along the way. He tosses me a dusty window wiper and some Japanese brand of Windex.
"What's this?" I lift up the objects, hoping that my assumption was wrong. He looks at me like I'm stupid.
"Your materials. Make this room spotless. Don't make too much noise, or I'll bi- "
"Or I'll bite you to death. I got it, boss." I salute him with a sarcastic look and he sighs before sitting back in his seat. I grab the window wiper and the Windex and start on the window. I don't know why he was making me do this; it was already glistening clean! My tongue pokes out in concentration as I effortlessly clean the window. The duster was pointless because there was no dust. Blinking, I wondered if Hibari was allergic.
"Are you by chance allergic to dust? Is that why you're making me clean?" The pen taps on his papers and he answers without looking away from his work.
"I'm not. I just wanted to punish you." My eye twitches. I turn to look back at him, his attention still on his papers.
"On a Sunday?! Why couldn't you do it tomorrow?! You know, a school day?!" Foot stomping, I put down the cleaning supplies to send negative vibes his way.
"If you forgot, you've somehow skipped my detentions. This is compensation." Groaning, I continue cleaning. In the corner of my eye, I see Tsuna and the gang walking home smiles on their faces. They looked so happy! Grinning, I twist around to another angle to watch. Lambo was crying and throwing grenades around. I- Pin had hearts in her eye some reason. Yes, they were that obvious. A 'clonk' to the back of my head interrupted my moment. I spot a broom on the floor and Hibari's glaring eyes.
"What was that?! I wasn't doing anything that time!"
"Stop looking at those herbivores and do your work." Sigh. He resumes his stack of paperwork and I start dusting the table in the middle of the room. Just like before, it was pristine and clean. I couldn't help my eyes rolling at how stupid this was. Really, I could just pretend to clean and it would be fine, but my nature wouldn't let me do that. We finish there, I move to the only other thing in the room that might need cleaning: his desk. Not even worried about his reaction, I was too focused on dusting. He, too, remain concentrated on his work, not paying me any mind.
It was then that I noticed the stack of papers on his desk. Gaping, I wondered how he could possibly get all of this work done. You could measure this crap with a ruler, for god's sake!
"Are you done cleaning?" He doesn't even look up to answer as he fills in boxes and empty lines with signatures and numbers. It was as if he was paying bills or something. Frowning, I can't help my curiosity, completely ignoring question.
"You do all this on your own?" There was a pause in his work as he looks up at my sympathetic eyes.
"Usually," was his curt answer as he resumes his dull labor. I felt bad. He probably spent all day on this. Grabbing a random chair from the other side of the room, I bring it b his desk and open his drawers to grab a pen. He glares at me and stops me with a hard hold on my arm. "What are you doing?" I grab a stack of papers and look at it, seeing it was damage costs as I suspected. Beaming at the prefect, I start doing some maths with a calculator that I found. Thank you, Belphegor, for teaching me math!
"Helping you. What does it look like?" I start filling in lines and he observes me to see if I mess up. He doesn't protest when I try to complete forms. A moment of silence passes and he grunts.
"Hn...If you make a mistake, I'll bite you to death." I nod and quietly help him finish his work. We don't even speak to each other.
Stacking up and lining up the completed papers, I sigh, satisfied with my work. It was passed noon and the sun was starting to set. I stretch. My stack was significantly less than his, but it was only because I had trouble with some parts. How long did I spend in this office? I was starting to feel a bit disoriented. The prefect kept working.
"Leave." Wow. Rude much. I shrug and walk to the door. I'd spent more than enough time around him, anyways.
"You're welcome." I turn back to him. He only grunts in response. Sigh. Well, I tried playing nice. So much for that.
I closed the door to his office and looked out of the wide windows. The sky was a mix of oranges and pinks. It's about time for me to get home. Skull probably missed me.
The journey was silent and bland. Tsuna and his gang were having a good time while I was doing work. Getting an idea, I lean against the gates of Namimori and call them. Okay, okay. Maybe I stole Gokudera's cell number, but hey, he left it vulnerable! It rung a few times before a familiar gruff voice croaked.
"Hello? Who is this?"
"Hayato-kun! It's me!" There was some commotion in the background.
"W-what?! How did you-what the hell is your problem?" He quickly resigned. This was probably the norm for him.
"Are you at Tsuna's?"
"No. Everyone left the Tenth's place about ten minutes ago. Why?" Grinning, I hash up a mischievous plan. Why not have a little fun?
"Hayato-chan~ Your favorite friend wants to visit you!"
"No, woman!"
"Aww! ...Why not? Seriously! I'm not as bad as you think." Using my most innocent voice, I try convincing him.
"Until you give me a real reason...no."
"Err...well, I need to work on my science." The lie came out naturally. It was a stupid one, too. Facepalm. Dropping my act, I become tired of his interrogation. "Fine! I'll leave alone. See you tomorrow, best friend!"
"OI! We're not bes-" I hung up. Sorry, Gokudera, but you can be annoying sometimes. I look up at the sky to watch the sun setting. Legs dragging, I walk home with a slump snow was crunchy and the land around me was blanketed in white. Even the streets had a light coating of snow. I was in awe. It was like a fantasy world.
Along the way, I saw something that looked like a bazooka. What the hell was a firearm, let alone a bazooka, doing in the middle of the street?! Scratching my head, my curio took over as I go to inspect it. I wouldn't touch it, of course, but I saw that it was twitching. It suddenly popped up, startling me, and I fall on my butt. The bazooka shifted a pointed in a direction and shot a loud rocket that way. I cover my ears. This thing has a mind of its own! Dropping with a clang, it stopped moving. I slowly uncovered my ea Why did it fire that way? My better judgment was, again, not functioning and I went where the rocket went. What's the harm? It didn't blow up anything.
Before me was a cozy little spot called 'TakeSushi'. My eyes widened and I smiled widely. This was where Reborn told me to start working! I'm was going to take this opportunity to get a job since the winter break was coming soon. Approving my own plan, I opened it, a bell ringing and a smiling man with spiky hair greeting me.
"Welcome! Make yourself comfortable!" I sat on a small spinning chair in front of the sushi bar as the man resumed cutting up some fish. The way he did it was art. He filleted the fish and removed the bones with one swipe of his sword. I was shocked and amazed.
"You're technique is superb! I usually break the bones inside before I can even remove the spine!" Chuckling, he shook his head and put it on a plate before wiping his hands a rag.
"Would you like to learn? Business is slow today." Scratching my cheek, I giggled nervously.
"Well, I was going to ask for a job, but I doubt I qualify..."
"You're hired!" Gaping, I nearly choke on my own surprise.
"W-what?" He nods and grabs an apron off a hook to hand it to me. I grab it gently, smiling. "Thank you so much, Mr..."
"Yamamoto. You can call me Tsuyoshi, though. It's great to have an extra pair of hands around here! My son is always busy with baseball..." He frowns and starts cutting up fish again. Yamamoto?! I knew his name was familiar! And baseball? It only confirms that we were talking about the 'baseball nut'!
"Your son is Takeshi! He's a friend of a friend." The man grins and claps his hands.
"You know my son? That makes this much easier! Maybe if he sees a pretty girl working at his old man's place, he'll start working more!" My blush erupts on my face and I pull my scarf up to my cheeks and shake my head vigorously.
"It's not like that!"
"I'm messing with you. Don't worry. I'm just glad. No one really likes working in a sushi place. It's the smell."
"Ah? I'm not worried about that. I have an uncle back home that makes me give him sushi every day." Squalo. I smiled, thinking of him. My annoying, loud, vulgar, and overprotective shark.
"He should visit sometime!" Frowning, my head tilts down and I clench my hands around the apron.
"He's far away in Italy."
"Aish...I'm sorry about that. I'm sure he misses you just as much as you miss him." I nod and blink a bunch. Don't cry. Not here! Come on now!
"Don't worry. I'll get over it." Giggling, I successfully cheer myself up.
"Atta' girl! That's the attitude I like!" He hands me a plate with some onigiri and a tiny slab of salmon. My mouth waters and I eat it quickly. He grins. "Glad you like it! The more where that came from!" We talk for a while longer before I collect myself so that I could leave.
"I'm happy to see you, but I have to go home. Goodbye, Mr. Yamamoto!" I wave a goodbye and he yells back at me.
"You start tomorrow! Be here anytime!"
If there are any errors, PM me and I will rectify them as soon as I can! If you have any character/episode/plot you want me to write about, tell me and I might include it! Please leave a review! I love reading them!