Disclaimer: A large part of this chapter is straight out of the manga (excepting the existence of my OC), so sorry about that. I usually try to write 'behind the scenes' stuff while following the overall plotline, but in this chapter it was necessary to implement a lot of actual scenes (as was the case in some of the previous chapters). Hope you don't mind too much.

The pairing vote is still open! Please state your reasoning behind your choice, because that's what's going to help me.


Post Scriptum 7) The Tournament

"Come on, Naoki! We'll take the shortcut!"

"We're not late you know-at this rate we'll be an hour early!"

"Nonsense! There's training to do!"

It was the morning of the long awaited tournament. Naoki had been rudely awakened by an incessant ringing of the doorbell- at least an hour earlier than she was used to.

Only one person could dare to risk waking the entire neighborhood so early in the morning, and that person could not be defied by logic. Knowing this all too well, Naoki had decided to humor him and participate in his pre-tournament blitz training session.

"I've never heard of this shortcut," she complained as they jogged along, having already tried (and failed) to use her ankle as an excuse to get out of this predicament.

His response to that one had been something along the lines of 'It won't get any better if you just sit around'. It made absolutely no sense, but apparently that didn't matter.

At least her injury really was fully healed, thanks to her superb medical treatment. She was actually quite proud of how quickly her ankle had recovered, which was why she was letting Ryohei have his way. That was, at least, what she told herself.

"Here it is- the perfect obstacle course!" the boxing fanatic shouted suddenly, stopping at the corner of a street.

A few seconds of silence passed.

"I don't get it," Naoki admitted flatly, running her eyes over the entirely normal part of the neighborhood they were in. Glancing back at her classmate, she blinked. And grimaced. "Ah… now I get it."

The white haired teenager was now standing on top of a wall that bordered someone's house. He gave his teammate a firm nod, his eyebrows furrowed in determination.

"You couldn't train because of your injury before today- so now your training level has to be doubled!" he announced passionately. "Get up here!"

Naoki could have fled. But she knew that resistance was futile when Ryohei was so fired up. Yes, she could have made a run for it- but he would have caught her in the end. And it would have been a very bitter end.

"Fine," she muttered, climbing onto the wall in one swift movement. It had taken her years to perfect this skill. Not that it had been particularly useful, but hey.

"You'll start here," Ryohei instructed, pointing at the backyard they could now see clearly.

The houses in this street were conveniently aligned for this ridiculous training session. The backyards were separated by walls, each of which was connected to the long wall bordering the street. That was where they were standing, and Ryohei's supposed 'shortcut' was basically like a major obstacle course involving wall-climbing lots of trespassing.

"Ryohei, this is not a hurdle," Naoki said, now able to keep her cool about as long as the average saint. "Are you trying to get me killed?"

"Of course not! You'll definitely be ready for the tournament after this!" he told her, oh so sure of himself.

She looked at him, wondering whether pushing her classmate off a seven foot wall would be enough to silence him.

No. Sadly enough, no.


"One more lap!"

"No really… that's enough… I'm in top shape now," Naoki stated firmly in between gasps of breath after three of Ryohei's 'shortcuts' and no use of her homemade drugs.

Oddly enough, he listened. Oddly enough, she was still alive.

"Can you win it?"

"… Sure."

She knew by now that 'I'll try' was never a good answer, and always a cause for more training.

"Ryohei, please don't ever become a coach," she muttered once she was able to breathe normally.

"Eh, why not? Because I'm meant to be the trainee?"

"… Yes. That's it exactly."


Naoki did have to rely on her recovery pills after all, seeing that she could no longer feel her legs by the time they finally got to school. And they weren't early either, but just in time to change into their sportswear and assemble outside. She was of course smart enough to get changed in one of the bathroom stalls, where she could get at least some privacy.

On her way out, she witnessed Kyoko giving something to- the only guy with such terribly out of control hair- Tsuna. Meandering up to the boy after the cute girl had left, Naoki glanced over his shoulder to see what he was holding.

Two Chinese letters (which she assumed spelled his name) were stitched skillfully onto a black headband. He was staring at it in stupefied awe. He also seemed to be trembling.

"Oh boy. Looks like you won't be able to back out of this one now," Naoki remarked casually, causing Tsuna to twitch in surprise.

"Eh-! Itoe-san!"

"I mean, your beloved Kyoko seems to be counting on you," the redhead continued with an air of mild amusement. After that horrible training with Ryohei, the sight of someone else's misery was quite refreshing.

Tsuna blurted out some nonsense at her choice of words, but soon hung his head in despair. Even the upperclassman seemed to be laughing at him- how humiliating!

"Just try to survive," Naoki told him with a lopsided grin. Needless to say, it wasn't very encouraging.

She would have patted his head as she left, but that hair really did look suspiciously pointy.


"Go team A!"

"Goal!"

"Awesome, Yamamoto!"

The games were soon started after a short opening ceremony. There were far too many people in Naoki's opinion- even parents and family had come to cheer on the students.

"Next up, the 100m hurdle!"

The redhead sighed as she made her way to the starting line in a relatively laid-back fashion. The squeals and high pitched cheering only made her eyelids twitch, though her fans didn't seem to notice.

"Oy, Naoki! To the extreme!" someone, whom she could only assume to be her overly energetic classmate, roared from the crowd, almost drowning out the starting signal.

Every once in a while, Naoki did enjoy a challenge- which was why she didn't avoid Ryohei, who offered her a life-threatening challenge almost every single day. That was also why she now concentrated on winning the race. She liked the idea of being able to chuckle at the losers afterwards.

Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as well as she had hoped.

"Go, Itoe senpai!"

"You can do it!"

One hundred meters was not a particularly long distance- but with obstacles in between, it became quite a breathtaking competition. What with the ridiculous amount of training she had to go through that morning, Naoki was determined to win this thing.

She did manage to take the lead and conquer most of the obstacles- until it happened.

"Almost there- NO!"

"Kyaa! Naoki-kun!"

The aftereffect of those recovery pills kicked in the very moment Naoki approached the last obstacle and finishing line. A sudden wave of drowsiness left her toppling over the last hurdle, which resulted in an involuntary somersault and gave her opponents a chance to catch up.

Naoki got in third, at least.


"Man… At least I got in third."

Tsuna sighed at these not so encouraging words from the upperclassman. He had just been the last one to cross the finish line for the pogo stick race. No surprises there, but it seemed as though quite a few people had expected a lot more from him.

"Shut up, you! The Tenth was obviously saving his strength for the pole-knocking competition," Gokudera interjected with a glare at Naoki.

"Eh-?" was all Tsuna could say, since his self-proclaimed right-hand man was spewing nonsense again.

"Oh yes, of course. How could I have missed that," the redhead responded with a straight face, nodding solemnly.

'… He's making fun of me...' Tsuna concluded miserably.

He was then a bit surprised to see the usually nonchalant upperclassman grimace at the sound of someone's very loud voice.

"Naoki!" Ryohei yelled upon arrival. The redhead sighed inwardly, attempting to prepare herself for whatever the boy had in store for her.

"Yes, Ryohei?" she answered, sounding mildly interested and covering up all traces of that grimace with a blank look. Tsuna watched her act in awe.

"Why didn't you tell me that your ankle is still injured?" the white haired boxer demanded. Whispering broke out among the students nearby who had heard his words all too clearly.

Naoki blinked speechlessly for a moment.

"Go on," she then said, crossing her arms loosely and raising her eyebrows, inviting him to continue.

"I saw how you were in the lead- and then your injury stopped you from winning!" Ryohei exclaimed, sounding quite outraged.

Naoki blinked some more. And then she nodded.

"Ah, you saw through me," she confirmed gravely with a defeated sigh. "That's exactly what happened."

Sadly enough only Tsuna could see through the act. Ryohei nodded solemnly at his friend's 'confession'.

"And you, Sawada!" he suddenly shouted, turning his attention to the first year instead, "You came in last- what was that? Always give it your best! Our team's victory is at stake here!"

"I- uh-" Tsuna stuttered in response, cringing at the unexpected scolding.

Naoki was now complacently observing the scene from behind Ryohei. Upon meeting eyes with Tsuna, she smiled rather smugly.

'Uwaah- why me?' the boy wailed inwardly.

But Tsuna's horrible day was far from over.

"You again-! Shut up, turf head!" Gokudera put in, apparently trying to pick a fight with Kyoko's brother.

A vein on Ryohei's forehead throbbed visibly at the younger student's insolence.

"Wha-! Wait, Gokudera!" Tsuna cried frantically, trying (and failing) to put a stop to the violence that ensued.

He could only gasp as the two proceeded to punch each other in the face. Naoki wrinkled her nose at their stupidity.

"Hey, maybe you should recruit him to the boxing club," she suggested, holding back a snort as the two acted all tough.

Then another guy showed up, this one from Team C according to the very large vest he was wearing on his very large body.

"What's this? Fighting within the team?" the third year remarked, looking down at the boys with a derisive laugh. "Pole-knocking is all about teamwork- I guess Team A won't be a challenge!"

Naoki recognized this guy. He was one of the bullies who had cornered her two days ago. But before she could comment, he was already knocked out by a punch from Ryohei and a kick from Gokudera.

"Th… this guy is the leader of Team C!" Tsuna exclaimed in panic.

"And here are his followers," Naoki said, as cool as ever, watching the crowd around them getting larger. In her opinion, this was when the tournament actually got interesting.

"Anyone got a problem? Bring it on!" Ryohei declared against the members of Team C who were voicing their disapproval of their leader's unconsciousness.

"If it's a fight you all want, I'll take you on," said Gokudera, suddenly showing some team spirit. Sort of.

'You're making things worse!' Tsuna exclaimed inside his head, 'He isn't helping either!' he added at the sight of Naoki's rather pleased expression.


Things got even more interesting (and worse, for Tsuna) when a student from Team C announced that the leader of team B had just been assaulted by someone in the bathroom.

"This person is the witness!" the messenger concluded, pointing at the ground. Everyone stared at the small old man that Reborn was apparently supposed to be.

"It's true," the infant (now with beard) squeaked, "The attacker said that he was under the orders of Team A's leader, Sawada Tsuna."

"Reborn? What are you saying!" poor Tsuna shrieked, desperately trying to deny the situation.

"You have more thirst for victory than I thought Sawada!" Ryohei remarked, sounding quite impressed.

"Oh wow, how sly," Naoki put in with a smirk, playing along with Reborn's evil scheme.

"Brilliant strategy, Tenth!" Gokudera said, full of admiration for his boss.

"No it's not!" Tsuna retorted in horror, 'The attacker was definitely Reborn!'

Of course, the students of Team B and C were already complaining loudly.

"See that?" Ryohei said, turning towards the now very large audience, "This is how we do things!"

"No it isn't!" Tsuna wailed to no avail.

The opposing teams blamed everything on the poor first year and could not be silenced until an announcement was made, saying that the matter would be further discussed by the teams' representatives during lunch.

"Ah, so much drama," Naoki muttered happily before strolling off to find a quiet place to eat.


Dear Suomi,

Today I brought you to school because I thought I might be too tired to write an entry tonight. And I obviously need to tell you about today.

It is now lunch time, and I have retreated to a nice, quiet spot on the roof. From here I can observe whatever is going on down there without having to participate.

I can tell that some sort of war is about to break out. And at the center of it all is Sawada- somehow his misfortune makes me feel content. Does that mean I enjoy watching little boys suffer?

I swear; I used to be normal.

Well, I'd better get down there. I'm curious to see what decision they came to concerning the whole fiasco. I bet Ryohei only made things worse (and therefore more interesting).

More details later,

-Lumi Virtanen


Quickly shutting the red notebook she used as a diary, Naoki stepped up to the roof's fence (now sparkling new) and listened to the announcement that was being made.

"-and so this year's pole-knocking will be Team A competing against Team B and C combined!"

A deafening cheer broke out from the two unified teams, drowning out the horrified gasps and protests of Team A.

"Oh, I need to hear Ryohei explaining this," Naoki muttered to herself with a smirk, snatching up her violin case to take back to her classroom before storming out onto the courtyard.

And completely forgetting something rather important…


"Sasagawa-san! How did this happen?"

"I bet the majority ruled against you!"

"That's unfair!"

Naoki got back just in time to hear some of her teammates confronting Ryohei, who looked as grimly resolute as ever.

"No," he told the small crowd, "I suggested it and forced it on them!"

'Why?'

"Attaboy," Naoki said, patting her friend on the shoulder and earning herself a number of exasperated glances.

Tsuna's jaw hung open (as it had for quite a while now) as he tried to understand just how deeply in trouble he was. Reborn explained that having the 'enemy' as one would make things faster. And a whole lot more difficult, but he left out that part.

"I agree!" Ryohei exclaimed all too enthusiastically, "We'll defeat everyone in our way!"

'Then leave me out of it!' Tsuna raged inwardly, unable to move his jaw from where it had dropped long ago.

"All male students, please get into position for the pole-knocking competition!"


It was impossible for Team A to win. Most of the more sensible students knew that- except that there weren't a lot of those on the team.

Naoki was one of them, but all she cared for was her own wellbeing, so she had no time to feel sorry for Tsuna (who was obviously doomed).

"Begin!"

The field was instantly filled with the sound of roaring and running, surrounded by deafening cheers from the girls. It soon became more of a downright gang war than anything.

Naoki had stayed towards the far back when they had gathered, but had quickly found herself being pulled towards the center just as the starting signal was given.

"Ryohei! What-!"

"This is your chance to redeem yourself, Naoki!" the boy yelled in her ear, finally letting her go as the opposing teams entered the fray.

Her protests were drowned out by all the chaos. And to make matters worse, her hair color seemed to aggravate the enemy.

"Get the redhead!" someone shouted amidst all the kicking and punching that Naoki was barely avoiding.

"No, get the whitehead!" she yelled back, elbowing someone in the face rather accidentally. Luckily it turned out to be a member of Team C. "Hey, I know you- you threw me down the stairs!"

She was happy to see him trampled on by everyone else once she had knocked him to the ground.

There was no more time for talk- now she had to concentrate on defending her dear life (and more importantly, her dignity), especially since she was practically stuck in the very middle of the battlefield.

"There are too many of them!"

"We're not getting anywhere!"

What, were they still thinking of winning? Naoki frowned at their ridiculous competitive spirit and grimaced as some hoodlums tore at her clothes.

It was enough to be called sexual harassment, so they completely deserved the pounding they received from her. She mainly used her bony (and therefore lethal) elbows to smash their faces, unwilling to use her fists. Their faces would have done more damage to her hands had she used them, anyway.

"Whoa!"

"Timber!"

Everyone's attention shifted to Team A's pole and Tsuna, who was falling, falling-

Then, the sound of a gunshot.

"Win as if I were to die!"

They all watched in awe as the previously insecure teen roared in midair, and landing, kept himself off the ground by jumping on people's heads.

"Are there no rules to this game?" Naoki voiced, the fight having come to a temporary standstill.

"I guess as long as he doesn't touch the ground, he's safe!"

"This way, Tsuna!"

Another round of confused protests erupted as the scantily clad boy formed a sort of cavalcade supported by Yamamoto, Ryohei, and Gokudera.

"Go! Aim for the leader!" Tsuna hollered just before they took off, sending all opposing forces flying. Naoki was thankfully left behind.

"Now that's impressive," she commented, gazing at the path of destruction with a lopsided grin as her teammates began to cheer.

But suddenly, there was silence.

The group had been moving forward at a remarkable pace when Ryohei and Gokudera had started arguing once again. And then they had to punch each other, leaving Tsuna no support.

He was now on the ground- his enthusiasm gone and spirit extinguished.

'We… we lost!'


"Well, at least someone had fun."

They watched as Ryohei roared triumphantly in the middle of his collapsed enemies.

As soon as Team A's defeat had been decided, the field had broken into instant battle once more (for reason Naoki could not comprehend). Of course, the sensible ones kept their distance. The unlucky ones- namely Tsuna- didn't get much of a choice, though.

"He seems really happy…" Kyoko observed with a halfhearted smile at the sight of her brother, who was shouting for more opponents.

The tournament was now over, and those who were still conscious were busy tidying up. It proved to be rather difficult with all those bodies lying around. Not that anybody was too seriously injured. It was quite a miracle for Tsuna to be alive though.

"Hey Kyoko," Naoki beckoned the girl over and handed her a small vial containing little red pellets. "Give this to Sawada, will you? It'll save him a lot of pain."

She had had the time to retrieve her violin case and rummage through it for this particular medicine. It was a pain killer she had invented- much safer and more effective than what you could find on the market. It was also quite cheap and easy to make- otherwise she wouldn't have wasted it on Tsuna.

Kyoko blinked with those large eyes of hers before smiling prettily.

"I will!" she said happily before shooting a concerned look at her brother, who hadn't calmed down yet. "Can you take care of onii-chan?"

"… Of course," Naoki assured the girl before sending her off with a dismissive wave.

She then turned to Ryohei, who was stomping around the field.

"Oy turf head! Time to go home!" she called.

"Turf-? Naoki! Why are you calling me that?" the boy responded, sounding quite outraged. He was at her side in seconds.

"I don't know, it sounded funny?" Naoki suggested, suppressing a grin. "Let's go."

"What about Kyoko?"

"She's busy saving Sawada's life."

"Oh. What?" Ryohei blinked.

"Never mind," she answered, walking ahead and out the school gates, "Come on, turf head!"

"Argh!"


A little red notebook lay discarded on the rooftop of Namimori Middle School. The sky was already reddening, and it didn't seem like anyone would come here anymore today.

The poor little notebook was sad. It had been waiting for its owner for hours now.

Suddenly, the door to the roof creaked open, filling the small notebook with hope.

"…Trash?"

The red notebook panicked at the sound of the unfamiliar voice and the rather rude word it spoke.

"Hmm."

The notebook was picked up and opened, upon which it tried to resist revealing all its pages. It did succeed in giving the intruder a paper cut.

"…"

And regretted doing so immediately under the unnerving power of a death glare.


Naoki frowned as she eyed herself in her bathroom mirror that evening. She had sustained far too many bruises, and her left shoulder was stiff. She remembered someone kicking her there, and smiled at the memory of seeing the idiot being punched in the face by Ryohei soon afterwards.

Oh yes, for once she was glad to be in the same class as the boxing fanatic.

After showering and applying her homemade salve on any bruises, Naoki got into her pajamas and opened her violin case. She had to replace the vial she had given Kyoko with an extra from the cellar (her storage room for everything she made) while making sure that everything else was in place.

Then she had one of those woman's intuition moments. Something was amiss. Apparently her subconscious already knew what it was, judging by that unmistakable feeling of dread she was getting in her stomach.

"Great. Now I won't be able to sleep before I-"

She paused. Looked around. Closed her violin case. Opened it again. Unzipped the bag's outer pocket, where she kept all her school material. Sifted through the papers. Took a deep breath.

"I lost Suomi?"


Author's Note: Dun dun dun! In case you don't remember… Suomi is the name of Naoki's diary.

I really really appreciate the nice reviews! It's good to know that some people are enjoying my story.

And those of you who like the read but don't care enough to review- shame on you.

As for the vote, I've received more votes for Ryohei, and that's probably who I'm going to pair Naoki up with. But I haven't made my final decision yet, so keep on telling me your opinions!

Brief replies to your reviews, because I love you so much:

ColinatorGX: Haha! Too true, too true. Hibari gets all the OCs… it's almost tragic. Thanks for your review!

HitmanMiharu: Thanks! Even if I do decide to go with Ryohei instead, there'll be plenty of Hibari-ness involved. I think. Keep reading!

Evanescences Angel: Your review brought tears of joy to my eyes. I'm glad you like my OC. Haha, I'll try not to torture you too much! Thank you!

miyosan343: Wow, hadn't even thought about them! Which one were you thinking of, exactly? It'll be some time till we actually get to that arc, but hey. I can plot. Thanks for the review!

yuru-neko: You're right, Naoki would probably prefer the not-as-violent Ryohei. Thanks for reviewing!

Draegan88: Excellent point there! I actually do think that writing romance involving Hibari may be harder... Thanks for the helpful review, and hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Remember guys, reviewing leads to faster updates! Most of the time. Keep your hopes up (and your reviews nice).