Hey there! I am soooo late. I actually read my previous chapters and cringed really bad at the illogical and mismatched information written down. Well, I decided to go with the story twist I mentioned in one of the previous chapters… Hope you don't mind too much :P
Chapter 9
"What do you think Hibari-san wants from us?" Tsuna whimpered uneasily. He was sweating profusely and wrung his hands together tightly. Yamamoto clasped his hands behind his head and shrugged, smiling. "I dunno. Maybe he has a present for us." He mused. Feeling very uneasy, Tsuna turned to Gokudera, "Ne, Gokudera…eh?" a light bulb appeared above his head. "Ah! That must be one reason why I am feeling uneasy. Where is Gokudera?" Tsuna asked. Recalling as much as he could with his weak memory, Tsuna vaguely remembered Gokudera bursting into the classroom just before the bell rang. What he did remember clearly though, was the trio's usual walk to school when Reborn suddenly appeared and said, "Gokudera, here's something you must do before you go to school. It will ensure you position as right hand man of Tsuna." Gokudera had immediately raced off to complete his mission. Maybe he'll be there… Oh no! What if he got held back by Hibari-san for being nearly late! Tsuna swallowed loudly. They had reached the door of the disciplinary committee room. Taking a deep breath, Tsuna knocked the door hesitantly.
"Come in." A deep voice sounded. Well that's definitely not Hibari-san. Tsuna thought. He glanced at Yamamoto with his rare sceptical eye brow raised before pushing the heavy wooden door open.
The room was very heavily furnished. Much unlike the first (and last) time they had stepped in there when Hibari was being recruited. The chandelier hanging low from the ceiling shone a warm yellow, its crystals and brass shining. Carpets looking to be from the Arabian states covered almost every inch of the floor. There were bookshelves on all sides of the room, and thick, brocade night curtains were drawn shut. Right in front of the boys, was a large teak wood table. Its lines were artistically carved to look classy yet grand, like a wise and elderly noble. There, sat the Ninth.
Shocked into silence and slightly cautious, the two teenagers stared at the Ninth with curious looks. Then, a figure stepped up from the side. It was Iemitsu. Tsuna gasped and mouthed, "Dad?!"
Iemitsu ignored this quiet outburst and announced, "With the presence of the Ninth boss and Tenth boss to be, the official guard meeting shall begin!"
The Ninth nodded and turned to the Tenth, starting to speak. "Tsuna, this week, the most devoted member of your family, Gokudera, had been given a test, one which he was kept oblivious to. As the external advisor, Reborn, and I believe that Gokudera is not ready to be your only body guard, we have set him up with Hibari Kyoya's sister, one with great potential. They were both tested on their ability to work together and strategise. It is my pleasure to inform you that they have both passed with flying colours. If you have or haven't noticed, some of your guardians had worked behind the scenes to assess the chemistry between the two. One of them, was Rokudo Mukuro. Gokudera may not have noticed, but your Mist Guardian definitely let them off too easily for a serious battle during the previous alliance meeting. It was only to see how much Gokudera would do for someone other than you. A similar thing happened during the Future Travel Conflict when Gokudera and Yamamoto were faced with difficulty of working together. Even Yamamoto, was part of it, having pushed, even agitated Gokudera to promote a greater sense of protection for somebody."
Tsuna's eyes widened at the speech and turned to look at Yamamoto in shock. The Rain guardian just shrugged and averted his eyes, a relaxed smile donning his lips.
"So, now, all we have to do is to wait for the new Tenth Tag Team to make their appearance and there will be an official installation when you officially become boss." The Ninth sighed and leaned back, happy that the news had been relayed clearly.
PABAM! The door burst open. "Jyuudaime! I'm sorry I was late!" A flash of silver rushed up to Tsuna and landed at his feet. Kowtowing repeatedly, Gokudera spammed apologies and tried to explain his reasons. "The Obakeri was spending so long in class. She had to talk to at least 15 classmates before making her way from the end of the classroom to the front door." Obakeri? Tsuna thought.
"OOOIIIIII *Sutookadera! Stop right there! We agreed that we'd face the consequences together since you were with me!" A voice shouted. Standing at the door, was the muscular form of Hibari Keriko, hair messy from the running.
"What do you mean *Stalker?! I follow the Tenth loyally! Don't lump your brocon** with me! You were the one that forced me to take the wall right?! Stop pushing the blame!" Gokudera shouted back at the girl.
HEEEEEH?! Tsuna mind shrieked. The two were head to head now growling insults at each other. Stepping forward, Tsuna tried to calm the two down. "Uhh… Guys? Nobody's in trouble at the moment. What are you talking about?"
Stopping their argument abruptly, both of them turned towards Tsuna, looking very similar to Siamese twins joined at the head. "R-really? Onii-chan isn't angry with us? I thought he'd call us here because he saw us climbing the wall." Keriko stuttered, looking towards Gokudera.
"N-Ninth…" was the right hand man's only response. Curious, Keriko looked towards where Gokudera was staring at.
There, she saw a kind looking old man, slightly hunchbacked yet still sitting tall and proud in his seat. His eyes seemed to give off a warm light, as if complimenting her without words. Smiling slowly, those eyes narrowed into one of the sweetest eye smiles Keriko had ever seen. "Hibari Keriko, it's such a pleasure to meet you." The man said. His voice was gentle, yet manly, calmly calling her name and sincere in every word he said.
Straightening, Keriko felt obliged to be respectful and gave a little bow, worried at the amount of attention she was getting. "G-good afternoon, sir." She mumbled softly. From the corner of her eye, she could see Gokudera also bowing.
"Come closer you two, I've got good news for you." The man said. They shuffled forward hesitantly. "Iemitsu, give them the certificates." Responding firmly, Iemitsu handed them two pieces of paper. Unfolding the one handed to her, Keriko gasped as the top of the intricately decorated paper burst into flames. It was a calm flame, but it did not go out, strongly burning with a dying will, or at least that was what it felt like to Keriko. Tearing her eyes from the flame, she concentrated on the words written on the paper. They were in Japanese and handwritten with a fountain pen, although so shaky that she could hardly read the message, "I, Timoteo, Ninth boss of the Vongola…Is that the old man? Familia… Hereby, declare… Hibari Keriko, oh that's me… and Gokudera Hayato, ew why… Official Tag Team of the Tenth Vongola Boss to-be, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Wait, WHAT?!" Keriko harshly whispered at the end. As if he had memorised what was written on her certificate, the Ninth recited, "Throughout this month, my guardians have taken the liberty of watching your daily interactions and assessing your ability to serve Tsunayoshi-kun. They have reported to me of your outgoing and welcoming personality. You have demonstrated love and care for others and exhibited the dying will that has potential to protect Tsunayoshi, Tenth boss of the Vongola family. Therefore, you are worthy to be close members of the Tenth generation family. I hope you can forgive the handwriting. I had Iemitsu write it because of his knowledge of the Japanese language. However, it seems like his hand has not gotten familiar with the pen in a long time." Unable to take the confusion anymore, Keriko raised a hand and said, "Wait wait wait wait…Please let me ask a few questions first." Nodding, the Ninth sat back and awaited the questions. "Firstly, I'm supposed to work together with this guy? Secondly, I'm suddenly being posted as Tsuna's bodyguard?! Thirdly, I have been inspected and surveyed and stalked by you and your team?" With every question, Keriko grew more and more uneasy. "Please understand, Hibari-kun. This quest was not one you had to know about. Although in the mafia world, one must expect to be watched every second and stay alert. This test was simply to prove our point that you are capable to be part of Tsunayoshi's family." Slightly baffled by this response, Keriko retorted, "But I'm not actually part of the mafia! I didn't know about this and I'm not trained nor was I ever notified about this mafia business so how can you expect me to 'stay alert' and 'expect to be watched at all times'?"
Turning to Yamamoto and Tsuna, Keriko asked, "Did you guys know about this? Was I the only one kept in the dark? I thought you guys were going to be my real friends! Not my superiors or my boss!"
"Keri-chan please calm down! I just heard from Grandpa about this test. I'm surprised as well. Even though Yamamoto knew about this and didn't say anything, I'm sure he didn't mean for you to feel left out." Tsuna exclaimed, looking at Yamamoto for confirmation.
Stepping forward, Iemitsu said in defense, "Previously you were taken to a meeting between the mafia families. Reborn told you then that you are now part of the mafia. Not to mention you know that Tsuna is the tenth boss. You had no violent objection to that so we assumed that you had the heart to take up this position in the Vongola family."
Keriko was really angry now, as much as she knew she was being rude, and insensitive yet overly sensitive, she couldn't help but doubt the people around her as confusion overtook her mind. "B-but that was simply because we were rushing and I couldn't escape! How could I honestly take the mafia seriously? Even if I realized that you really were the mafia did you think I'd suddenly trust you and do everything you command? You guys are dangerous, the mafia for goodness' sake!"
Everybody in the room seemed to flinch at that phrase. The tension heightened and Tsuna made a movement forward to calm her down. Keriko flared at the small movement and whipped her hand out to smack Tsuna's hand away. "Don't touch me! You traitor!" The word seemed to resonate through the room and a deafening silence filled the room.
Seemingly realizing the harshness of what she said, Keriko looked down to Tsuna quickly. Only seeing his hazel orange eyes shine with a bittersweet disappointment. As if saying, "I'm hurt but, it's better if you stay out of this business after all." Hastily taking a breath, Keriko opened her mouth to apologise.
"OI. OBAKERI… SHUT UP." Gokudera's voice suddenly thundered. He was standing stiffly at the side. His fringe hung over in his face as he stared menacingly at the carpeted ground. Fists clenched and teeth gritted, Gokudera managed to squeeze out, "Quit being so immature. Do you really think Jyuudaime or the baseball idiot would use you like that? Don't make such assumptions before you even know who we are."
Plucking up his courage, Gokudera turned to glare into her eyes. "You're blindly doubting them just because you feel victimised aren't you? Are they such stuck up people to abuse their positions in the family, and use you as their servant? Jyuudaime has never hurt anybody intentionally. Our Vongola is becoming better BECAUSE of him. You ARE precious to Jyuudaime, and to all of us." Gokudera's voice rose by the second, trembling that little bit like a whisper of desperation.
"You thrust your way into our family, acting like you know us so well, when you have only scratched the surface of a relationship. You should've felt his concern and his warmth from long ago, and you still shoot him down in the end. Yet here you are claiming that WE have betrayed YOU? Is this what you call being real friends?!"
Guilt surged through Keriko as she heard those words and found them logical. Looking down, Keriko felt tears stream out of the inner corner of her eyes and down the sides of her nose. Her chest hurt but she resisted moving despite the ticklish feeling of tear droplets collecting and dripping off the point of her nose.
"He's been treating you as his relatable friend that he can support and will support him. Don't let your 'vast' imagination and dramatic suspicions get to your head. You're the traitor here, Keriko." Gokudera said, voice low and spiteful.
Hesitant on how to apologize, Keriko lifted her head slightly. Immediately, Gokudera's silvery grey-green eyes pierced into hers and sent mix feelings of rage, annoyance, disappointment and sadness through her. Unable to take the shame anymore, Keriko turned and ran out of the room, ignoring the shouts following her.
TBC~~~~~~~~~
