A/N: 13 reviews! This is one of those rare cases where I'm glad to get the famed unlucky number. ^ ^; Thank you to DarkRoadHina, DatAznKid, Chocolate Ribbons, hiyomi, Dante96, stuffedninja101 (two times!), ausumist, erika mae, IceRose84528, Jean, SnowieG27 and Sheepoa for reviewing! You guys and all of my reviewers rock my socks off! :)
Thank you to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading!
Possession
Chapter 10: Triangles
"Well, I think that's everything!" Akane's hands were on her hips as she looked enthusiastically at the waiting shuttle bus in front of her. The doors of the vehicle was open. She took a few steps forward to see a grumpy-looking bus driver staring back at her. She gestured to the storage compartments located at the bottom of the bus. The driver grunted and pushed the button. The doors opened with a hiss. The middle-aged bus driver noticed the pile of bags behind the woman.
"Do you need help with those bags, miss?" Though it wasn't required in his job description to put bags in, he did see that judging by the woman's slender frame that she wouldn't be able to carry the bags easily.
Akane waved her hand dismissively. "No, no, it's fine. I have help for that." She snapped her fingers with a flourish. "Mana! Get out from under there!" she hollered, turning expectantly at the pile. The bus driver's eyes widened as the pile of bags began moving. To his surprise, a little girl came crawling out from under the humongous pile, gasping for breath.
Akane caught the shocked expression on the bus driver's face. "Oh no! She's fine. Perfectly all right. I'll be on the bus in a minute or two," she said to him and walked to the girl with a small sway in her hips. The bus driver gulped as he watched the woman saunter to her luggage before remembering that he had a wife and two kids at home.
...
Akane frowned. "Lazing around on the job, huh, Mana?" Masami stood up quickly, patting the dust off her clothes. She proceeded to glare at the woman who was smiling sweetly at her.
"I collapsed from exhaustion because you forced me to carry all your damn bags." They were at the only bus station that led out of Namimori. One thing led to another and she and Akane had ended up walking all the way to the bus station instead of taking a taxi. Akane had said something along the lines of, "It's a wonderful day. What a shame it would be not to stay out as much as possible." The problem was that Masami was left with carrying all the bags when Akane threatened not to send anymore money for rent or food if she didn't.
Akane nodded amicably. "Yes, yes. We could blame this on me but we won't." She ignored Masami's bewildered face before turning around to point at the bus. "Right then. We must start putting my luggage into the bus. And by 'we', I mean you. Hop to it now! Put that manly strength to good use now."
"Whatever..." Masami scowled but nonetheless carried most of the bags and started for the bus's external compartments. "I'm not carrying the rest," she called out to Akane who was happily carrying the rest of the luggage: two light carry-on bags.
"I don't mind," Akane chirped as she walked over to the girl who was shoving the bags into the bus with a passion. Masami turned to Akane.
"...That's it," Masami said. She shuffled around a bit before looking up at Akane who was walking to the bus doors. "A...Akane-san!" Akane swerved around and tilted her head.
"When will you be back?"
"I don't know. This family's paying me well and the mission's pretty dangerous this time." Akane caught Masami's worried stare. "...Don't worry about it, brat. I won't die or anything. If it gets too dangerous, I'll just give up. I always put my life before money or anyone else's," she stated sweetly.
Masami sweatdropped at Akane's vain statement. Excuse her for worrying for Akane then. "Stay safe then..." Masami said awkwardly.
"You too! Have fun and make sure you don't lose that necklace." Akane cocked her head. "You're looking a little older to me." Masami put a hand on her necklace self-consciously.
Akane waved, one foot on the bus step. "Have a normal life! I'll be back to check on you in a while!" was the woman's enigmatic parting farewell. The bus doors closed and Masami could only wave back soundlessly. She watched the bus drive away for a few seconds before looking up at the blue sky. She had to admit it was sort of a nice day. Masami smiled lightly. She was sort of going to miss-
A loud call interrupted Masami's internal monologue.
"Looking up at the sky like those people in the dramas is laaamee!" Masami gaped. Akane had opened the window and was snickering at her. "Oh! I almost forgot! GET A BOYFRIEND!"
Masami could feel her face turning red from embarrassment.
"JUST GO ALREADY!"
Yamamoto yawned. "Aaah... The last day of school. I think it'll go by quick. Right, Tsuna?"he asked cheerfully to the shorter boy beside him.
"Yeah..." Tsuna said absendmindedly. He cringed at Masami and Gokudera, who were shouting at each other again.
"Those two sure do get along well!" Yamamoto exclaimed. Tsuna frowned worriedly. The pair had now completely stopped and were just glaring at each other.
Tsuna sighed heavily. "Let's catch up to them Yamamoto." Who knows what could happen with those two. It was kind of ominous how neither of them was speaking.
"All right," he agreed. They caught up to them soon enough. Tsuna reluctantly put himself between them.
"Guys... let's just walk to school, ok? No more fighting. Please?" The two contestants of the staring contest broke each other's gaze to look down at Tsuna.
Gokudera grinned cheerfully. "Of course, Juudaime!"
"Sorry about that Tsunayoshi-kun," Masami grumbled. It was all well and peaceful and silent. Their walk to school would have continued to be uneventful if a certain silver-haired dork hadn't opened his mouth.
"I hate that lady more than I do you," Gokudera deadpanned suddenly.
Masami paused in her walking and pursed her lips as she stared flatly at Gokudera. She had wanted to start off the last day of school well. Gokudera wasn't helping.
"I hate you too," Masami answered, not meaning it, but hoping it sounded as bitter as his. "Akane-san is... eccentric." I guess, she thought. She really had no idea how to describe the older woman's tendencies. "She isn't in Namimori anymore so you can relax."
"Eh? She isn't?" Tsuna breathed a sigh of relief once Masami shook her head. Thank god that lady was gone. "I...I don't think 'eccentric' is the right word to describe Akane-san..." Tsuna trailed off, his thoughts wandering to when everyone had gone to his house for the B.B.Q. She had tried to set his hair on fire with a burning marshmallow. Tsuna sighed. He had Reborn doing enough of those sorts of things. He didn't want some person he had just met trying to kill him too.
Yamamoto laughed. "Haha, she's pretty funny! She called me a triangle!" The other three stared at him weirdly.
"A triangle, Yamamoto?" Tsuna repeated, incredulous. What did that even mean?
The taller boy grinned. "Yeah!"
Gokudera scowled. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Tsuna grimaced at Gokudera's bluntness.
"Hahaha, I have no idea! That's why it was funny!"
"You stupid baseball fre-!"
"It means you're part of a love triangle, I think."
The three boys turned to see Masami looking at the sky contemplatively. She turned to them and grinned. "Akane-san is a total drama fanatic, so I'm guessing Yamamoto is in love." She smiled jokingly. Masami's eyes widened as none of the other three spoke.
"No way!" She hopped up to Yamamoto. "You're in love, Yamamoto-kun? With who? Why didn't you tell me?" Was she the last person to know? From the silence, Masami could tell Gokudera and Tsuna already knew. Yamamoto looked away from Masami's inquisitive doe eyes and laughed, but it wasn't the usual happy familiar sound Masami was used to. She could detect a tinge of... sadness mixed in. Masami squinted thoughtfully. Why did he seem so depressed all of sudden?
Yamamoto smiled, oblivious to Masami who was staring at him intensely. "...I don't think she really feels the same for me."
Masami's eyes widened. Is that why? Well, now it made sense why his smile looked a bit strange. She clenched her fist. She was going to cheer him up.
"Then you have to woo her! Go 100- no! 200% at it!" Masami suddenly grabbed Yamamoto's hand, to which all three boys reacted by sporting shocked expressions. "Do your best!" she exclaimed, grinning and holding his larger hand in both her own smaller ones. Masami frowned when Yamamoto didn't speak. She couldn't even tell what he was thinking because his eyes were hidden by a shadow. Tsuna set his mouth in a line. He sympathised with Yamamoto.
Unrequited love I know all too much, Tsuna admitted painfully, thinking of Kyoko.
"...Yamamoto-kun..." What was wrong? Was it something I said? That seemed to snap Yamamoto out of it. He grinned at his three friends.
"I just remembered! I have classroom duties today! I have to go ahead, guys!" He let go of Masami's hands, albeit reluctantly. "I'll see you all later." Before anyone could say anything, Yamamoto ran ahead.
"What's wrong with Yamamoto?" she asked out loud, but not really expecting an answer. He was usually so cheerful...
"Don't worry too much about it, Masami," Tsuna exclaimed. He didn't want Masami stressing over Yamamoto's problem, concerning her nonetheless, when she had to worry about her work and... Most importantly, Hibari-san, Tsuna thought. He already knew that she always got work from the head prefect, which was always one of the reasons why sometimes she could never go out with them.
Gokudera dropped his burnt cigarette and crushed it with his heel. "Yeah, just worry about appeasing master Hibari, Pet-san," he said nonchalantly as he lit up another cigarette.
Tsuna gaped at his friend. G-Gokudera-kun! You weren't supposed to tell her that! He had even specifically told Gokudera not to when he had confided in him about Reborn's hypothesis. The boy slapped his forehead. He lifted his head to look wearily at Masami.
For some reason, Tsuna could hear the sound of a bomb ticking.
"Pet?" Masami's voice repeated. Masami turned around very slowly, eyes slowly brightening with realization.
"Guys become total beasts when put into a small space with a girl. Best to remember that now."
"Guys become total beasts when put into a small space with a girl."
...
Tsuna stumbled away as he suddenly felt a dark aura surround Masami. Even Gokudera stepped back a bit, wide-eyed. The silver-haired boy was even too surprised to realize his beloved boss had fallen to the ground. Neither of them had ever seen her angry, let alone this angry.
The demonic look in her eyes was. not. good.
"Tsunayoshi-kun, Gokudera," Masami said softly.
Tsuna cringed as he got up. "Y-yes, Masami-san?"
"I'm going ahead..." Tsuna nodded, meanwhile wondering what the heck she was going to do-? Masami turned around suddenly, eyes flashing with rage.
"...to kill that fucking prefect."
Oh.
Complete unadulterated rage. That was the only thing Kusakabe could feel from the tiny girl as he held her back from maiming their leader, who was staring at the raging female with a bored look on his face.
Kusakabe winced as he felt Masami accidentally hit her chin with the back of her own head. He was struggling to keep her from pouncing, which was surprising since one of his skills was his superior strength. Kusakabe had to reluctantly admit that he was even stronger than the chairman in terms of raw strength. Yet I am...
"Let go of me, Kusakabe-san!" Masami hollered as she managed to free one of her arms. "I have to kill him!
...I'm struggling with holding back a little girl... This couldn't be good for his self-esteem. "I'll do that when you calm down, Masami-san," he said amicably. Wait. "Why are you so angry?"
"I'm not a pet!" Masami spat out at a sleepy Hibari. She didn't even know why she was angry. I'm a... a pet... For some reason, she could feel a pang in her chest at the thought of Hibari not thinking of her as a girl at all. Why was that? Hibari yawned, distracting her from her thoughts.
"You're like a little animal," he admitted. "You haven't proven that fact wrong yet."
"I'm... a girl..." she bit out slowly as if she was speaking to a child. Hibari's eyes narrowed and he stood up from his seat with a lazy air about him. Kusakabe's eyes widened. The chairman was getting angry. Masami smirked, fury overriding rational thought.
"Of course, I would expect someone like you to mistake me for a pet," she said, implying he was stupid. She didn't notice him scowling and pulling out his tonfas. "I guess there's a reason for a repeat of this year-" Masami's eyes widened as she was pulled back just in time to avoid a hit from Hibari. The same luck couldn't be applied to the few strands of her hair that had been cut off. She looked behind her. Kusakabe had pulled her back.
"Th-thank you, Kusakabe-san." Masami smiled. Kusakabe hadn't meant to pull her back. It had been done on reflex, but he couldn't help but return her smile.
"It was no problem, Masami-san."
"Kusakabe Tetsuya." The pair looked to Hibari, who was glaring furiously at them. "You're going to take that girl's side?" Kusakabe's eyes widened before he cringed. "No! Of course not, chairman!"
"Kusakabe-san..." The vice-chairman looked down to see Masami staring at him sadly. "You won't...?" she asked softly. Masami probably didn't realize it, but she had pouted and was looking at him with big, glassy doe eyes.
Kusakabe gulped. "It's... it's not that Masami-san, it's just that..." he trailed off. Wait. Why was he even getting into the middle of their quarrel anyway!
Needless to say, Hibari, who was witnessing her unintentional 'cute' act was much displeased. Hibari stepped forward and brandished his tonfas. "Kusakabe Tetsuya, prepare to be bitten to death." He glared at his subordinate reproachfully.
Masami stepped away from Kusakabe. "Tch," she looked away, disappointed. "I thought I could rely on you at times like this, Kusakabe-san."
Wait a minute...
Kusakabe looked between a sad Masami and an angry Hibari. They had completely forgotten their fight and were now directing all their negative feelings towards him!
These two are amazing... he thought. ...In the sense that they're both are upset with me now!
He looked at Hibari. I'm going to be killed...
He looked at Masami. Making Masami-san sad doesn't sit well with me either...
Kusakabe's saviour came in the form of a little baby.
"Ciaossu!" Reborn entered to the room with a surprising scene in front of him: Masami and Hibari standing in front of Kusakabe with reproachful looks in their eyes. He jumped up into Masami's arms. "Hibari, Masami," he greeted.
"Baby," Hibari acknowledged.
"Reborn-san..." Masami said uneasily. She never saw the baby in the Reception Room. When he did something unexpected, it usually meant he was planning something that wouldn't really be in everyone's best interests.
"What's going on?" Reborn asked, surprisingly innocent.
Masami's eyes narrowed upon remembering. She pointed a finger at the blank-faced Hibari. "He... doesn't think I'm a girl!"
"You don't look your age," Hibari coolly shot back.
Reborn nodded agreeably. "You do evoke this pet-type of feeling, Masami." He ignored Masami's spluttering. "Why do you care so much of what Hibari thinks of you anyway?" Three pairs of eyes stared at her patiently for her answer.
Masami could feel her face turning red. It's the rage! My face is turning red because I'm angry! She didn't want to admit she was upset Hibari didn't think of her as a girl (which she still didn't understand why she was so angry about). So, Masami said the first thing that popped into her head.
"The word 'pet' makes you think our relationship is dirty!" she blurted out.
...
"What? What?" Kusakabe repeated, incredulous. "M-Masami-san..."
Reborn was giving her a 'I could have fun with this' smirk.
Hibari...
Masami frowned at Hibari. He hadn't reacted at all. His expression and eyes were completely unreadable. Oh crap. She felt her blood turn cold. What the heck did I just say?
"Heh." Reborn blinked. "There will be the summer festival in August. I heard the committee will be supervising the event."
"What's your point, infant?" Hibari asked, suspicious.
Reborn smiled. "That is the time of yukatas. I'll make sure Masami goes to it in one. She'll look very much like a girl then. But you'll have to excuse her from her duties, all right, Hibari?"
Masami's eyes widened. What exactly was Reborn's objective? Hibari didn't say anything for a while. He turned to Masami who flinched but kept his gaze.
Remember Masami. Never look away from a predator. It could attack you if you do. He smirked suddenly, making Masami blink in confusion.
"Fine."
Reborn let out a satisfied sound. "All right then."
"Nice weather," Reborn pointed out, observing the sunny sky. He was held snugly in Masami's arms as she walked to the school gates. After Reborn and Hibari had exchanged a few more words, the school day had gone on as usual, but he stayed behind on purpose so he could speak with Masami.
"Mm..." Masami hummed out, looking ahead and trying not to be nervous. Whenever she and Reborn were alone, she noticed whatever he wanted to talk to her about wouldn't be good.
"Did Akane leave?" he asked, curious.
Masami could feel suspicion well up inside her but chose to brush it off. "Yesterday. I don't know when I'll see her again. She really just came here to check up on me," she told him honestly. She was sort of missing the woman's presence in her cramped home. Though Akane hadn't stayed there, she had visited a lot.
It was lonely in the apartment sometimes.
Reborn frowned. The two females were starting to grate on his nerves. The other day, he had tried looking up anything on a 'Mana' or 'Kouno Akane'. Predictably, Reborn couldn't find anything and he was starting to become uncomfortable. He eyed Masami, who was paying attention to walking. Would she tell him anything? It was worth a try.
"Masami, why did Akane keep calling you Mana?" Reborn demanded. He contemplated putting a gun to her head but then dismissed it. For something like this, Reborn doubted the brave, stubborn and stupid girl would tell him against her will. There was a pause in her step. He wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been in her arms.
Masami laughed nervously. "It's a nickname. Sort of." She caught Reborn's inquisitive stare and cringed inwardly.
"I don't want to tell you, buut..." Her eyes narrowed. "I have this feeling that whether or not I want you to find out won't be up to me." Masami had been having a baaad feeling for a while now. She felt something was going to happen soon that would reveal her secret.
She didn't want anyone to find out.
Unconsciously, she made a move to grab the purple-blue gem that was hanging next to her hand. Right after Hibari had broken the chain, she realized a few of the links were missing. So... I had to make the necklace into a bracelet. It felt uncomfortable having a weight on her wrist. As soon as she could, Masami planned to buy a proper chain so she could make it into a necklace again.
"So, just wait a little longer, Reborn-san."
Reborn tilted his head. Masami caught his gaze and looked away quickly.
"I'm sorry."
Reborn stared at her for a while. "It's fine then. Take your time, Masami." He had the same feeling as Masami that all would be revealed in due time. "Just don't take too long," he said, smirking.
Masami blinked before grinning. "Reborn-san is pretty nice sometimes."
His tiny hand went to pull at her hair. "Sometimes?"
"Ow, ow, ow. Haha... Of course I meant all the time, Reborn-sama," she said nervously. Happy, Reborn let go off her hair and pretended not to notice the glare directed at him. The pair walked (well, in Reborn's case, sat) in silence for a while until they reached the edge of the school property before Masami stopped suddenly.
"Crap," Masami breathed out. "I forgot about Yamamoto-kun." She couldn't believe she had forgotten. She frowned. It must have been because she was so angry about Hibari thinking of her as a 'pet'. She shuddered, still bitter about the whole thing.
"What?" Reborn asked, curious.
Masami grimaced. "He was sort of upset earlier." She caught his look. "I know... Yamamoto upset... I think it was about a love triangle," she trailed off, thinking about this morning. "He doesn't think the girl he likes likes him back, but Yamamoto-kun does seem to be the type to have lots of girls fall for him," she observed thoughtfully.
Reborn had to smirk at that. "What are you going to do about it?"
Masami looked to the school pensively, her eyes dull with worry. "I don't..." Her eyes widened as a light bulb in her head lit up. She quickly set Reborn down on the ground before shooting back up.
Hmm? Reborn raised his fedora hat before smirking. "An idea?"
Masami began backing away excitedly towards the school. "Yeah!" she exclaimed. "A great one to cheer him up." Reborn watched her run back to the school. Good luck, Masami. Though he doubted it would be hard to cheer the boy up because...
Yamamoto will just be happy that Masami cares.
Yamamoto allowed himself a small sigh as he put the last of the cleaning supplies back into their proper places. He had volunteered to take both him and his partner's classroom duties because his partner had had to go to a doctor's appointment. Yamamoto didn't mind at all. Just before the final exams, all club and team activities in the school were stopped, meaning he had no more after school baseball practice. He stared out a nearby window from which he could see the empty baseball field, eyes wistful. If the keys to the store room and the field hadn't been secured by the main office, he would have gone out onto the field in a heartbeat.
"Yo," a girl's voice greeted behind him.
Yamamoto turned and felt a grin making its way to his face. It was Masami, hands folded behind her back and standing on her tippy-toes so she wouldn't have crane her neck up as high to look at him.
He laughed. "Haha. 'Yo' doesn't suit you, Masami," he noticed. "But hi."
"I was trying to be cool," she explained, hands gesturing in the air. He laughed again and she smiled a bit. "Anyway, I have a surprise!"
Yamamoto raised an eyebrow at her statement. What could the surprise be? He was curious and, dare he feel, a bit happy.
She nodded. "Now close your eyes. You'll see your surprise in a bit."
Yamamoto smiled agreeably. "All right then." He promptly closed his eyes but almost opened them in surprise when he felt a hand wrap itself around his wrist. He noticed the slender fingers barely made its way around his wrist as Masami pulled him.
"It was kind of hard getting permission, but I just flaunted the arm band a bit and the secretary immediately let me. Err, I guess I sound sort of vain but... I'm expecting some sort of compensation by always doing the committee's paperwork. This is the least Hibari can do," she exclaimed defensively still pulling Yamamoto in an unknown direction. "It took a while to set everything up since I didn't know where everything was in the room but I eventually found everything!" Masami's eyes widened in realization. "I'm... babbling, aren't I?"
Yamamoto grinned, eyes still closed. "It's cute. Don't worry, Masami." He was pretty curious as to where she was taking him but didn't dare peek. He could feel Masami's gaze on his face every so often, making sure he didn't open his eyes.
"Oh..." she started awkwardly. "...Thanks." Then, "We're here!" Yamamoto opened his eyes. They widened. They were on the baseball field. He looked down to see a bat near her feet. Masami was a ways from him, halfway from the pitcher's mound so that she was standing rather close to him. She noticed his confused look and rubbed the back of her head with the hand which didn't have a baseball glove on it.
"I have terrible aim so I have to stand really near you." She looked away, embarrassed. "I may not throw the balls properly and I'll miss a lot and I know you may have rather been doing this with your team members, but I couldn't find any of them." She shrugged. "Everybody seems to run as fast as they can from school when summer starts," she joked. Meanwhile, Yamamoto had returned to looking down at the bat which he had picked up with an unreadable expression on his face.
Masami frowned. "Yamamoto-kun?"
He twitched and looked up. "Oh... Oh! I was listening. Just thinking a bit." He laughed. "I don't mind at all if you don't throw too well!"
Masami cocked her head. "What were you thinking about?"
Yamamoto grinned. "Just that I'm not giving up on that girl. Not yet anyway."
Masami's eyes immediately flashed. "That's the spirit, Yamamoto-kun! Fight!"
He nodded. "Haha, I will!" He smiled softly as he watched Masami hit the palm of her gloved hand experimentally.
"Masami..."
Masami looked up. "Yeah?"
"Thanks," Yamamoto said, grinning.
Hibari watched calmly on his perch on the Reception room window as Masami accidentally threw another baseball over Yamamoto's head. His eyes narrowed as Yamamoto laughed merrily at Masami's embarrassed expression. Meanwhile, Kusakabe stood a few feet away from Hibari, confused.
"Kyoya-san." The vice-chairman cleared his throat. "You aren't going to stop them?" As he remembered correctly, Hibari didn't allow any students to participate in club or team activities during the last weeks of the school year. He cringed inwardly. What was even worse about this whole situation was the fact that a committee member was one of the people breaking the rules. Kusakabe could only imagine how furious Hibari was right now.
...Which makes his action, or lack of it to be exact, strange, Kusakabe thought. The chairman would usually be down there by now punishing the rule-breakers. Hibari didn't answer, still looking outside with an emotionless facade on his face. Kusakabe shuffled nervously before taking a deep breath.
"You... you aren't mad, chairman?" he asked carefully. Kusakabe sighed inwardly as his leader ignored him again, but flinched when he heard Hibari's voice.
"I am," Hibari remarked coolly as his eyes were drawn to Masami's bright smile, something which he had never seen on her features before, and that he could only see now because she didn't realize he was watching. Kusakabe froze as he felt the room suddenly become cold.
"...It's unacceptable to take anything that's mine."
A/N: Next chapter will be pretty long. At least by my standards. It's also the end of the Daily Life Arc, which may be the reason it's so long. I've only finished half.
Thank you for reading and please review. They fuel my desire to write. I'm sure I'll be finished by Friday if you guys tell me what you thought of this chapter. :)
Next Chapter: Summer Love
"You look very pretty, Masami-san!"
"...I'm pretty excited. This is my first time at a festival."
"All the money from Tsuna's stall was stolen."
"Get away!"
"Hibari... this is... for me...?"
"That did not just happen, that did not just happen, that did not just happen! Hibari!"
"...Shut up."