Chapter 9 : Rivals in Kokuyo
"AISH Reborn! Why are you so hard on- AIIEEE!" Reborn got tired of his constant yelling.
"Shut up, DameTsuna." I giggled. It was a sunny, beautiful day today. The gravel of the road crackled at my feet. It's been rather boring. Ever since Valentines, Hibari has been attacking me more. It kind of confused me. Shouldn't he be NICER after giving him food and love? How frustrating.
"Hey, Cheyenne. I've been meaning to ask you," I hummed in reply. Reborn stared me down. "You should consider joining our family." Blinking, I considered his proposal.
"R-Reborn! You can't seriously-" Tsuna sputtered.
"Think about it Tsuna. She's managed to become friends with Hibari Kyoya." I pointed at myself.
"Since when Kyoya consider me his friend?" The baby smirked, knowing that I would ask something like that.
"Well, he certainly is around you a lot-"
"But he always is trying to kill me!" I waved my arms around, stressing my point. No way that guy liked me! We've never had a conversation longer than five sentences! It always ends up with him chasing me around and trying to kill me!
"Have you ever considered that his way of showing his friendship? Hibari doesn't waste time on people he doesn't find worthy. He wastes a lot of his time with you." Reborn then smirked and jumped on my head. "I'd go as far as to say h-" he suddenly stopped talking. I nearly bumped into Tsuna's back. The boy was shaking.
"Hm? Tsuna? Why did you stop?" I stood on my tip-toes to look over his shoulder and I nearly gasped. I pushed Tsuna away and held the man's hand on the floor. He was still warm and I could feel his pulse, but god...! His whole body was full of bruises and his left arm was twisted at an odd angle. Who could have done this?!
"This is bad." Reborn voiced all of our thoughts. "The Disciplinary Committee...Whoever did this has guts and is not someone to mess with." He tinkered with the clock in between his fingers. I watched carefully.
"A clock? Reborn...what does it mean?" Tsuna was worried. If someone can beat up a member of the Disciplinary Committee, they were something else.
"I don't know, but we better get to school. We should tell Hibari." The baby hit Tsuna on the head and the latter proceeded to complain. I stood still, staring at the body. My hand was sweating. Their voices were fading a bit, but I couldn't find the strength to follow them. What could be happening? Why target the Disciplinary Committee? What if this isn't the first person to get attacked?
"Cheyenne-san? Are you coming?" I looked up at Tsuna and Reborn a ways away. They were at a fork in the road. One lead to the school and the other...
"Cheyenne-san! Wait! Where are you going! School is th-" Reborn popped him on the head and Tsuna retorted, "Reborn! She's going the wrong way!" A smirk was present on Reborn's face.
"No. She's going the right way." He tipped his hat. "Now come on. We're going to Namimori."
"Huh?"
I practically sprinted to the hospital. Was Kusakabe okay? Tears gathered in my eyes. I don't know how I could handle him...no I didn't even want to think about it. Why? Why? Why would someone do this? I get that the Disciplinary Committee didn't exactly fit the title of 'nice', but...
My lungs were constricting painfully and my throat was cold. The nurses noticed my disheveled clothing and carefully formed their words.
"Who are you looking for, dear?"
"Anyone with big hair and a black suit." I answered simply. The nurse paled and nodded. She guided me down the halls and I nearly burst out crying upon seeing more members being wheeled around on gurneys.
"There are many. Is there any-"
I interrupted her, "Kusakabe?"
"No. There is no such person here." I sigh with relief.
"Can you take me where the members of the Disciplinary Committee are being held?" Nodding, she guided me around another hallway. Just as we were about to turn another corner, I bumped into someone.
"Why are you here." I recognized the deep voice and demanding tone. Hibari. It seemed that he didn't have question marks in his repertoire.
"Ah, Kyoya. I was looking for any of the injured members." The prefect furrowed his brow and glared at me.
"They're in bed rest. Leave them alone or I'll bite you to death." He readied his tonfas, but made no move to hurt me. I looked at the ground, fist clenched. Hibari was worried, too; he would have knocked me on the head for saying his first name. When I looked back up, I noticed he had a clock in his hand. Blinking, I remembered that the other member had one, too.
"Ne, Kyoya...what do those clocks mean?" He looked at it and smirked.
"I don't know and I don't care. I'm going to find the one responsible and bite the man to death." I nearly choked. Hibari' tone of voice was dripping without venom.
"Kyoya..." He swung at me and I dodged of course. I sighed.
"You shouldn't go. Do you even know who is responsible?" Worry filled me. It didn't matter how much I hated Hibari, I couldn't bare the thought of someone I knew dying.
"Stop trying to tell me what to do, herbivo-" The worst scenarios filled my head. What if Hibari the great was in over his head? What if they killed him? Tortured him?
"This is too dangerous! You shouldn't be going, let alone by yourself!" The nurse had long left the hallway and even with the amount of people rushing around with dead or dying people, I felt like it was only him and me in the hall.
"Shut up, herbivore. I know what I'm doing. Go home or go to school, I don't care." My body shook from anger and I practically yelled in his face.
"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING ALONE?! STOP BEING SO COCKY! WHAT IF YOU GOT SERIOUSLY HURT?!" I was only inches from his face and if he looked hard enough, he could see the masked worry in my eyes.
"Be quiet. You're yelling too loud," he commented smugly. It was as if my yelling did nothing, but amuse him. To him, I was just a Pomeranian yipping for nothing. "Why does it matter to you?" He smirked and took another step forward, leaving us mere centimeters apart. His breath was in my face. I faltered and looked away, taking a step back, an invisible blush on my face.
"It was your breath, it stinks. You should stop eating so many burgers..." I didn't even have the guts to look him in the eye anymore. Hibari came forward.
"Don't buy me any more, then, woman." When I looked back, I sucked in a breath. Hibari noticed and his eyes squinted at me, questioning my sudden change in attitude.
"Boss! Ten more members!" Hibari quickly stepped away. He nodded and the messenger left. Just as the prefect was about to leave, he paused to say something.
"Don't follow me, herbivore." He turned around to look at me. There was no glare or anger in his expression, which gave me more reason to believe he was serious. "I will bite you to death and not with my teeth." Hibari then ran out of the hospital with determination in his step. I clenched my fist. No matter how much I wanted to chase after him, just to make sure he wouldn't die, I was more afraid of what he would do to me than what they could do to him.
Running out of the hospital, I saw his figure in the distance. I frowned and went the opposite way.
To Namimori.
I rushed into many classrooms, the teachers scolding me along the way. Even venturing into mine, my teacher gasped and smiled.
"Mrs. Cheyenne! You're fina-" I closed the sliding door and left. Coughing awkwardly, I ran around again. Damn! If only I had remembered where Gokudera and Yamamoto's classes were! By now, I've gone in at least fifty classes. The teachers weren't really teaching anything. Judging by the students meandering in the hallways, the news about the Disciplinary Committee had gotten around fast. Frowning, I stopped running for a moment to assess the situation. Tsuna, thanks to Lambo informing me, had gone to the hospital.
My job now was to get my best friend and the baseball nut to the hospital so we could go rescue Hibari! Yeah! Damnit why was I so worried about this guy?! He's been nothing, but rude to me and yet... The door beside me suddenly opened to reveal Yamamoto and Gokudera. My eyes widened in joy and relief.
"Hayato! Takeshi! I was just looking for you!" Yamamoto grinned and Gokudera nodded.
"Hey, Cheyenne-san! What do ya need?" Fidgeting, I waved them to follow me.
"You've heard haven't you? About the Disciplinary Committee being attacked? The students are getting hurt, too." Gokudera grounded his teeth.
"Yeah. Those damn guys have been getting chewed out. I don't really care, but usually, Hibari would have taken care of it by now..." Frowning, I nod.
"Right. So I was thinking, we should go and teach those guys a lesson, for you know, hurting the students."
"Right..." My octopus-head friend dragged his words out, seeming to mock me.
"Cheyenne-san, if you're worried about Hibari-san, you don't have to hide it! There's nothing wrong with liking him!" Yamamato's tone of voice wasn't exactly a rubbing me the right way. I facepalmed. Changing the subject quickly, I began planning how we would do things.
"First, we should go find Tsuna. Then, we can get to work."
My eye twitched upon seeing Bianchi wearing a chipmunk hat. Reborn chuckled and Gokudera stayed behind me and away from his sister. I patted his head. Tsuna was gathering some stuff up in a bag, I didn't really know why. After all, I just got here.
"Reborn can you please explain what's going on? Where are we going?" I was full of questions that everyone else was probably dying to ask, too. Well maybe not. This seemed like a regular occurrence for them.
"Well, we found out that these guys are from Kokuyo based on the uniforms they used when battling Gokudera, so we're going there to do something about all this." Nodding I looked out at the sun. My eyes were burning. Tsuna tapped my shoulder and I giggled.
"Cheyenne-san...you should really stop doing that." Putting my hand on his shoulder, I gave him a reassuring smile.
"I'm sorry. It helps me think. My uncle used to do that all the time." My smile turned a little and I looked at the ground, thinking back to my Varia. I missed them dearly.
"Your uncle that likes sushi? I'd love to meet that guy! He has so many interesting stories!" Yamamoto laughed loudly and pat my back, making me feel better.
"Yeah! He was the coolest!"
"We're all here. Let's get going." Reborn suddenly reminded us. Although I was kinda sad he interrupted my memories, I was determined. These guys have disturbed the peace and for that...
We'll have to bite them to death!
I sweatdropped when I saw Bianchi melting the locks with her food.
"I could have sworn there was a glass zoo around here..." Tsuna frowned. Looking around, I noticed there was no such thing.
"Are you blind? There isn't anything like that here." Very smooth of you Bianchi. Usually I would laugh and shake it off, but it was strange. Something felt, off. Tsuna couldn't be wrong. Even if it was that long ago, he couldn't have forgotten.
"Yamamoto watch out!" I yelled out. He looked back, but kept walking and eventually, glass broke beneath him. I cursed myself; I wasn't fast enough. A weird looking guy suddenly jumped down there.
"Yamamoto!"
"Baseball nut!" Everyone was shocked, but Reborn was staring dead at me. I looked at him and he smirked. It worries me a little, knowing Reborn, but I was more worried about Yamamoto. They started fighting. The other guy was turning into different animals while all I could do was stare in shock. This guy wasn't normal. A mutant? Reborn interrupted my thoughts.
"Cheyenne," I jumped at him calling me. He jumped on my shoulder.
"We're wasting your time here. Go find Hibari and then come back and tell us where he is. I'm counting on you." I nod and sprint off. Running through the trees, I use the sneak tactics I've been taught over the years to enter the school. So far, no one has noticed me. Hearing footsteps, I pause. They round the corner into the hallway I was in. Thank goodness I'm so quick on my feet.
When I see hear his foot folly disappear into the next hallway, I quietly remove the ceiling tile and get down. The coast was clear. This school was almost more confusing than Namimori. I winded through a few more hallways until I heard grunts of pain in the next room. A sign beside the room read 'Theatre'. A Sakura blossom fell at my feet. It smelled strongly of them in that room- I gaped. No way. The Sakura Blossom Fever. How did this guy get his hands on a something that potent?!
The grunting suddenly stopped. I choked on a breath and went into the ceiling tile again. I could see a little through a tiny crack in the tile that a man with pineapple hair was taking Hibari. Glaring, I held in a snarl. Hibari was badly beat up. How foul. Using a dirty tactic to weaken Hibari. It makes sense. Hibari would have kicked this guy's ass if he didn't use the Sakura Fever to his advantage! That made me a little proud.
I nearly screamed when I felt the tile crumbling under me. Just as I went to dodge, a string from a...yo-yo caught my foot and pulled me down harshly. This was not the time to be weak. These guys were serious. Using the string around my foot as an advantage, I yanked my foot back and the guy came attached with it. I head butt him hard enough to make his forehead bleed. Serves him right, freaking beanie wearing hipster!
He frowned and tried punching me, but I dodged and swept his feet. I had no idea how I was fighting right now, but I assumed it was an adrenaline rush. I kicked him hard in the ribs, sending him back a foot or two. Just when I was going to finish it off, I realized there was someone behind me. Narrowly dodging, I back away from the trident.
"Kufufufu...Hibari certainly has good taste. No girl has ever put up this much of a fight, but I'm afraid that this has gone on too long." My arm winded up to punch him in the face and I succeeded. A sickening crack resounded in the hallway. I smirked and celebrated internally. He rubbed his face and chuckled.
Suddenly, his eye changed and I fell, paralyzed in pain. My arm...! It was twisted inwards and my fingers were touching my shoulder at an angle that was not natural. Tears gather in my eyes. "Chikusa, take them down to the prison." Chikusa?
"Yes, Mukuro-sama." I was suddenly knocked out. Mukuro? Why were those names so familiar?
When I roused awake, I was in horrible pain. I screamed and hunched over. My arm was no longer bent in a strange way, but it hurt like nothing else. I noticed it was in some makeshift sling. The material was black and cold with an orange thing surrounding it, keeping everything together. There was kanji on the band.
'Leader'
"Herbivore..." I paled and didn't even look toward where the voice was coming from. "Look at me." Slowly, I raised my head. No matter how beat up or hurt or in pain he was, Hibari always had an air of victory and strength.
"Y-yes?" He noticed my stutter and smirked. Hibari leaned his head back against the cement wall and closed his eyes. There were a few moments of silence.
"Didn't I tell you not to follow me?" I sigh and frown.
"I'm sorry..." His eyes open, seeming to not believe what I said.
"What did you say?" I look him in the eye, full of guilt.
"I'm sorry, Hibari. I should have listened to you." Instead of saying something smug or mocking me like I though he would, he smirked.
"If you would have listened, I wouldn't have been able to see Rokudo Mukuro's jaw broken."
Blink.
Blink.
Blink.
Blink.
Blink.
"Aww heck yeah! Did you see that?! You could hear Pineapple's jaw breaking all across Japan!" He nodded. I grinned. This was the first time I've ever been given a compliment by the grouchy prefect. It felt so...rewarding.
"I knew you wouldn't listen regardless. You never do, you insolent herbivore." Although he growled, his expression was playful. I rubbed my neck and sweatdropped. I looked at the wall beside me. I held no expression on my face, seriously contemplating. When I was with Hibari, I acted so different. Usually when I'm with the Varia, I'm so respectful and obedient, but with him I just want to act out of turn just to rile him up. It was fun.
"Ne, Kyoya," I pause, waiting for him to hit me, but he didn't. I guess he just gave up on that. He grunted. "You're a fun guy." I sent him a big smile, teeth and all. The prefect stared at me with those steely eyes. He smacked me on the head, a bit more gentle than usual, but still hard enough to leave a bruise.
"Be quiet, herbivore. I'm saving my strength for when I get out of here so that I can kill these delinquents." I sweatdrop and nod, but I keep talking.
"Okay, but one more question," he looks at me, "What's your favorite color?" A tick mark appears on his forehead. I shuffle away from him quickly and he smirks.
"It's blue." I gape, but smile. Since when was Hibari so nice and cool?! He needs to get beat up more often!
"Now it's my turn to ask the question. Will you become a member of the Disciplinary Committee?" Shuffling around with my good hand, I sit in front of him.
"Okay, only on one condition!" He raises his eyebrow. "Can I wear one of these, too?" I ask, pointing at the orange armband.
"You can, but it will say 'Annoying Herbivore' on it." He smirked, triumphant. Twisting the little orange band on my arm, I click my tongue.
"I think that's a little too long to fit on this little thing..." He whacks me on the head again.
When I wake up again, there's a dull pain in my head. I blink and stretch a bit, noticing there was something impeding me from doing that. When I look to my left, Hibari was very close to me. I squeal and push myself away.
"Why are you so close?!" He frowned deeply and I paled. Man he was mad.
"What do you mean? You were the one that fell asleep on top of me." Scratching my head I nodded in understanding.
"Oh...You could have just pushed me away from you." I tilted my head.
"I woke you up. Your idiotic excuses of friends are here. They're bound to save you, so get up." He completely changed the subject. Deciding it would be smart to not push him, I nod and use my good arm to stand up. A chirping from Hibird caught my attention. Facepalming, I noticed it was singing the Namimori anthem.
"Hah. I only know one guy that can stand that stupid anthem." I heard Gokudera's voice and a sudden explosion. Covering my eyes, I cough and wait for the debris to subside. My eyes water when I see Gokudera, even if he was beaten up to hell.
"Hayato!" I tackle him in a hug and he opens his mouth to complain, but instead just rubs my back. It was comforting. Especially after being cooped up in that hole for hours.
"You're okay... Come on. Juudaime is waiting for us." His voice was soft. I nod and wipe away the tears that were forming before separating. Hibari was already speed walking out of there. I frown, feeling bad for just tossing him off like that.
"Che, what's his problem?" My arm was acting out again. The pain was excruciating. I held my arm and stared at the orange arm band, trying to get my mind off the pain.
"Go-ku-dera-"
"Oi! Cheyenne!" He caught me just before I fell. Everything was black.
My fingers twitched. Opening my eyes, I was surrounded by white walls. There was an annoying beeping noise beside me and I realized I was in the hospital. I sat up. There were flowers and cards beside my bed. A lot of them said get well soon with a cute little bandaged up animal on it or had a sentimental note. One of them caught my eye. It was plain white, but when I opened it, there was neat handwriting on it.
'You start Monday. Heal quickly.'
I grinned when I saw Hibari's name at the bottom. Although it wasn't very sentimental, it was the fact that he took the time to even make it and give it to me that counted. I smiled. Feeling a light pain, I look down at my arm, remembering what happened.
My arm was now in a proper sling, but there was an orange band around my cast. I tilt my head confusion; in letters that were different from before...
'Annoying Herbivore'
My eye twitched.
"H-I-B-A-R-I!"
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!
