"I'm really starting to wonder about how sane my decision was." Tsuna mumbled to herself as she trudged to school. It had been four days since she began doing morning work outs with Ryohei and she was beginning to regret her decision. Her body was just one big sore spot and every time she moved another muscle would protest the movement. She was running a little late that morning but she didn't really care at this point. If Hibari was out front then she would just hop the gate.
As she turned the corner her eyes zeroed in on the gate as if she really expected him to be there but while her eyes did find someone it was not the person that she was expecting. In fact, she had almost entirely forgotten about him. She almost slapped herself for forgetting the fact that Gokudera would be stalking her after the volley ball game and she paused where she was as she waited for him to go through the gate before she continued on. It wouldn't be good if he confronted her in the morning when she was tired out from her work out.
She made it into the classroom right before the teacher did and sighed in relief that she wouldn't get detention. She didn't need that on her plate as well. She hadn't run into Gokudera even once since she entered school grounds, which was nice, but she couldn't help but wonder why since he did go in before her. He probably had to go to the office or something. Tsuna sighed again as she stared longingly at her desk top. Oh, how she just wanted to lay her head down and go to sleep.
"Class, we have a new student in our class starting today. His name is Gokudera Hayato and he's from Italy." The teacher said as she brought in the new comer. Tsuna looked up with a bit of trepidation and her gaze automatically locked with Gokudera's burning glare.
'Yep, that's Gokudera.' She couldn't help but think in exasperation as he began stomping over to her, ignoring the teacher's yells. She scooted back just in time and the kick, which should've made the desk hit Tsuna, sent her desk toppling to the floor. 'That... was kinda freaky.' Tsuna thought as she stared up at Gokudera uneasily before he 'tch'd ' and headed towards the back of the class where his desk was.
Now that he wasn't hanging over her Tsuna finally picked up her desk and the class continued on, albeit awkwardly. The students didn't really pay attention to the lesson since they were more interested in the transfer student, even if he was violent. Tsuna did her best to ignore this, which was pretty hard since it was everywhere, but half way through class she had a sudden thought. A troubled yet happy laugh tumbled out of her lips and it took all she had not to turn around and look at Gokudera, who was still glaring a hole in her head. By the end of the day she would have her own personal man-bitch.
(Lunch Time)
Tsuna grumbled to herself as she wandered around the campus. It was lunch and she just wanted to eat her lunch peacefully in the classroom but Reborn had forced her out. And now she was wandering aimlessly around the school to find a good place to eat while avoiding crowds of people. After all, who knows when Hibari would pop up?
Her stomach grumbled as she turned the next corner and it distracted her just enough for her to walk right into the person in front of her. She looked up, ready to apologize, and blanched when she came face to face with three thugs. 'Oh, shit...'
"Something wrong with your head, bitch? You should be on the ground apologizing and begging for mercy!" The thug that she had walked into yelled as he loomed over her, a leer on his face. The other two followed his actions and grunted in approval of what he said
Tsuna stuttered out some quick, incoherent words that were supposedly an apology before running away as fast as she could. It was only when she had turned through a door into the outside courtyard that she couldn't help but notice that this seemed awfully familiar to what happened to Tsuna before he got confronted by Gokudera. And then she saw Gokudera. And proceeded to cuss in several different languages as he began to approach her.
"The Vongola doesn't need a weak little girl to be their leader. I would do much better as the 10th generation boss!" Gokudera said as he advanced towards Tsuna. He whipped out two sticks of dynamite and quickly lit them before throwing them over to where Tsuna was before nonchalantly saying. "Die." Tsuna watched in fear as the bombs arched through the air towards her but then as soon as she entered their blast radius bullets came out of nowhere and cut the wicks. Tsuna stared at the dead sticks of dynamite before snapping her head up to find Reborn sitting on a window sill.
"Reborn! You have something to do with this, don't you!" Tsuna accused him as she rudely pointed a finger at him. "Are you trying to kill me or something!" Reborn just smirked down at her before turning to Gokudera.
"You sure took your time, Gokudera Hayato." Reborn said. "And of course I had something to do with this. He's actually well known in the Mafia world and is known as 'Smokin' Bomb Hayato.' He's come to assess you, so fight well or die, Dame-Tsuna. Oh, and the answer to your last question is 'maybe'." Tsuna gaped at Reborn but was soon brought back to Gokudera when she heard the sizzle of a newly lit bomb.
The multi-lingual cussing that had been going on in her head for a while now finally burst forth from her mouth and she ducked just in time for the bomb to whiz past her head and explode behind her. Tsuna was considerably paler as a wave of bombs sailed towards her and, thinking fast, she began trying to stomp out the wicks of the bombs into the dirt. However, it quite obviously failed and soon she was surrounded by the bombs that littered the ground.
In an almost perfect mimic of the first time it happened a dull pain exploded in her fore head and everything turned dark as she fell to the ground, unable to even feel when she hit the ground. And, again, she had only one regret.
Damn, I really wanted a man-bitch.
"I shall stop him with my dying will." She said with a deadly calm as she rushed forward and began to grind them into the ground with her foot or hand as they came. After she stomped out the first wave she had finally had it and rushed towards Gokudera. He was considerably surprised as Tsuna barreled into him and they both came crashing down into the dirt.
Tsuna groaned as her dying will dispersed and leaned forward to rest her pounding head against the warmth beneath her. She probably would have stayed in that position for a while if the thing she was resting her head against didn't shift beneath her and groan in pain. She sat up and looked down at Gokudera, who was holding his hand over his eyes, and blushed. She did not mean to straddle him. Though it was a nice perk considering the pain that she had to go through for it to happen.
Tsuna was brought out of this little revelation when she heard the sound of burning wicks around her. Without thinking Tsuna launched off Gokudera and began smothering the wicks with her hands. A quick twist of her wrist when she pushed it into the dirt and it went out with out to much pain. She only had two more wicks to put out as she left the one she had just finished smothering.
Unfortunately, there was still a single, hot spark left within the wick and as soon as she finished putting out the last two it was burning just as brightly as before. A look of horror passed over Tsuna's face as she looked at how short the wick had gotten. She quickly began to smother the obstinate little wick that just wouldn't be put out. Tsuna clenched her teeth as it burned the sensitive flesh of her palms.
'I...really hate pain.' She thought as the wick finally died out. She sighed in relief and took her throbbing hands off the ground and held them up gingerly so she could look at the damage. She winced.
A sudden movement behind her made her twist around in panic. She had completely forgotten about Gokudera. She had been expecting him to be glaring at her with newly lit bombs so when so she was taken off guard when he was bowing to her, his face down in the dirt. She flinched in surprise from where she sat when he brought his head back up, a huge smile on his face.
"Principessa! You are truly the only person fit to be the 10th generation Vongola boss! I'm extremely sorry for insulting you earlier, I never wanted to be the tenth!" He said as he stayed loyally in his bowed position. A weak, nerve-filled chuckle escaped Tsuna's lips. She had known it would happen but to see the 180 degree transformation in person was really different. And the bowing thing was weird. Really weird.
"Ah, um. Gokudera-kun, you don't have to bow your head like that. I mean, look at your forehead, it's covered in dirt." His eyes darted up and a light blush tinted his cheeks as he quickly wiped off the dirt. "Lunch time is almost over, how about we head back to class now, ok?" He nodded his head quickly.
Everything seemed to be going well until she pushed her hands down on the ground to help her stand up. She went up half way before falling back down as the burns on her hands flared. A small 'Itai' leaked out as she cupped her hands protectively. Gokudera quickly snatched her hands up to survey the damage. Her finger tips were only slightly red but the palms of her hands were red and had blackened parts here and there and was sensitive to touch.
"Wow. It's going to be hard making lunch with these burns. I hope Kaa-san doesn't see them." She said thoughtfully, not noticing the further distress that she was putting on Gokudera. He stood up quickly, dragging Tsuna with him, and began heading towards the school building.
"I'm extremely sorry, Principessa! I will take any form of punishment later but first we have to get you to the nurse's office before the burns set in." His voice was tight and shoulders stiff as he directed her to the nurse's office and Tsuna could almost hear what was probably going around inside his head. Probably something along the lines of 'I barely just met her and I've already done something stupid to get her hurt.'
A sense of guilt wiggled into Tsuna's mind and she had to grumble at the cuteness of her new man-bitch. Voices from the connecting hallway brought her back and she paled as the thugs that she had run into earlier walking straight at them. Gokudera felt her stiffen a bit and stopped to see what was bothering her and noticed the thugs for the first time. He sent them a burning glare that stopped them in their tracks. However, it didn't stop their mouths. Oh, those poor, poor suckers.
"Hey man, isn't that the bitch that bumped into you?" Sucker number one said as he pointed over to you.
"You're right. It's the bitch with no manners." Sucker number two said as he scrutinized her from afar.
"So, have you come to kneel before me and apologize? It's about time." Sucker number three, the one Tsuna bumped into, sneered. " And what's with that look you silver haired freak. Tch, kohai's have no manners anymore." And their fate was sealed.
After a quick bombing session in the hallway, courtesy of Gokudera, Tsuna found herself seated on a sterile, white bed in the nurse's office as she waited for Gokudera's tender ministrations of burn ointment to her hands. She watched in amusement as he grumbled about lazy nurse's as he sifted through the supply closet. She could just tell him where the burn medicine was since she was technically the nurse's assistant but it was funner to watch him look for it himself.
Finally he let out an exclamation of triumph and pulled out a box labeled 'Burn Supplies' and walked over to where Tsuna sat. He threw open the kit and began to toss things to the side much like he did with the supplies in the supply closet. After a bit he picked out some bandages and the correct salve for her level of burns and brought them over.
"This will only take a minute, Principessa. Then we can head back to class." He said determinedly.
He was obviously feeling guilty for giving her the burns and that in turn made Tsuna feel guilty for making him worry. Which is just a never ending crappy cycle of guilt. The cool salve felt nice against her skin and Gokudera was soon skillfully wrapping her hand up in bandages. She marveled at how well he had wrapped them, he obviously had lots of experience with taking care of wounds, and the bandages didn't constrict her movement at all. She flexed her hands a bit to test them before smiling at Gokudera.
"Thank you, Gokudera-kun. I can barely feel them there at all!" She said boisterously and she was given a small, happy smile for her efforts. She could almost see the puppy ears flopping on top of his head. Then a sudden idea struck her and she could barely hold in a fan girl giggle as she stood up and gave him a hug. He flushed immediately.
"P-Principessa! W-what are you - ! Uhm..." He stuttered out, unused to such situations. He was stiff, with his hands half circling around her but not actually touching her. She pulled back, though her hands still clung onto his shirt, and gave him a bright, innocent smile, which belied the scheming fan girl underneath.
"I thought of it just now, but, technically, this makes you my first real friend." She beamed up at him. 'Yosh! I'm doing well. I've already straddled (accidentally) and hugged him. I feel so accomplished!' Were her real thoughts. And she didn't count Kyoko in her earlier statement cause even though they were kinda friends they didn't hang out. She watched in amusement as he flailed around for a bit before letting go and picking up her bag. "We should probably head back to class now. We might still be able to make it for the end of the lesson." She slid open the door and pause at the sight of a smiling Yamamoto on the other side. She tilted her head to the side in confusion. Why was he here?
"Hey, Tsuna. Is the nurse here?" He asked as he looked around the room. "I've been trying to find her all lunch." She stepped aside to let him in before closing the door with a sigh. Damn her for getting so many injuries and hiding out in here all those times that she was forced to become the assistant!
"She's currently on vacation but since I'm her assistant I can help you." When the nurse had left for her vacation she was supposed to take charge but she wasn't doing a very good job at it. She was supposed to be in here every lunch but was simply to lazy to do it. "Now, what's wrong?" Yamamoto's eyes slid over uneasily to Gokudera, who was glaring daggers at him, before he showed her his right arm.
"My joints have been hurting a lot lately, even to the point where it's sometimes hard to use a pencil." He said with a sheepish smile. She nodded and told him to sit on the bed while she grabbed the nurse's wheely chair. She led him through several exercises while checking the joints in his shoulder, elbow, wrist, and fingers. She frowned. This was obviously a lead up to him breaking his arm.
"All I can say is that you're straining your ligaments. You're probably over practicing or something like that." She eyed him carefully as his usual smile dropped a fraction of a degree. "Everyone's body needs rest Yamamoto-kun, even yours. If you keep straining them there is a good chance that you'll fracture something and I'm sure that that's the last thing you want to happen." With that said she went to the supply cabinet and rummaged through it a bit before pulling out HotCold strips. She set it on the bed next to him before taking his arm and slipping of his sports arm band and placing it to the side. "This stuff should help the ache."
She wrapped one of the strips tightly around the wrist before moving on to the elbow. After she was done with that she began to wrap his fingers, making sure that she did it carefully and lightly so he would still be able to use the hand. She couldn't help but smile as she leant back and examined her work. She had done it wonderfully. Not as good as Gokudera, but still good. She was about to let him go when she remembered the last thing that she would have to wrap.
"Um... Yamamoto-kun, you need to take off your shirt so I can put a strip on your shoulder." Despite her slight embarrassment at having to ask him that all he did was blink once and shrug off his shirt before throwing it to the side. She worked quickly and efficiently to wrap Yamamoto's shoulder, despite the blush, and had him done and putting his shirt back on a few moments later.
"Thanks, Tsuna! I owe you one." He said as he rolled his shoulder to test out the bandages. "Wanna walk back to class together?" This last sentence finally set off Gokudera, who had been quietly waiting (watching her [intently]) and thinking vengeful thoughts in his anger (jealousy) for him delaying (getting attention from) the 10th.
"Go away, you baseball freak! You don't deserve to be in Principessa's presence!" He yelled out stepping in front of Tsuna, as if to protect her. He reached for his dynamite, but before he got to it Tsuna grabbed onto hos sleeve and gave a small tug to make him stop.
"Calm down, Gokudera-kun." She mumbled to him before looking over at Yamamoto. "You can go on ahead, Yamamoto-kun. We'll head back once we clean up the mess in here." She said with a small smile. He looked around the room and gave her a bit of an apologetic grimace. Tsuna paused. Why was he grimacing like that? It's not that big of a mess. Just the stuff that I took out for Yamamoto's joints. Right?
"Haha, well, good luck then." Tsuna had a really bad feeling now. She turned around almost hesitantly and froze as she finally saw the disaster area around her. The room was trashed, with medical supplies everywhere and her shoulders dropped at the thought of how much work she would have to do to clean it up. Why, oh, why, did she she let Gokudera rifle through the place by himself when he was looking for the burn stuff? Oh, right. Cause it was amusing. Not really all that worth it anymore.
