Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Amano Akira.
Chapter 9: Vongola-Style Open House Part 2
Outside, the sounds of scuffling echoes throughout the school grounds. Jin leaps backwards to avoid a blow from Hibari's tonfas, but stumbles and falls to the ground. Both teens are slightly out of breath, their abilities on par with one another's. Still, they've taken hits, costing them energy.
"Get up, herbivore," orders Hibari. He positions his tonfas before him, ready to strike. "I'm not finished with you yet."
Shakily, Jin complies. Sometime during the fight, Jin's bandages slipped off, revealing the tattoo. And because tattoos are against school rules, Hibari's strength intensified. Jin prepares to continue sparring, but to be honest, he simply wants to go home. He chuckles harshly within his mind. There's no home for me to return to, he reminds himself.
Fortunately for him, a brave, or stupid, student comes running over to them…or past them. Both Jin and Hibari pause to watch as Sai sprints to an open area with a little girl in his arms. A wild look of desperation mars his face. Winding his arm backwards, he flings the girl high into the air.
Before Jin can ask his friend what in the world he did, a thundering explosion engulfs the sky above them. A few moments later, the same girl falls to the earth. Swiftly, Jin moves to catch the girl, who wears a red Chinese dress shirt and her hair in a braid. He recognizes her immediately.
"I-Pin? What are you doing in Japan?" remarks Jin in Mandarin. Said girl looks down sheepishly.
"Master sent me on a mission," she tells Jin, "but I mistook his identity and attacked Mr. Tsuna. But he was really nice to me and let me stay at his house with Lambo and Mama and Mr. Reborn." By the end of her anecdote, I-Pin is smiling at fond memories.
"I see." Jin feels relieved at this news. "I'm glad that you're happy, I-Pin. I didn't think I'd be able to see you again. It is a small world, yes?"
"U-um, Mr. Jin?" I-Pin's tone shifts to one of nervousness. "Why are you and Mr. Sai in Japan?" Jin's cheerful smile disappears. Sai steps in to answer her question.
"We…we decided to take a vacation, Miss I-Pin," Sai lies. He knows Jin wouldn't want to worry I-Pin, who they both treated as a cute little sister. Even if she is in the Mafia life, they know they can't tell her the truth.
"Ah! I see!" I-Pin exclaims. "Japan is really pretty, hm?"
"How do you know her?" Hibari's voice cuts into the conversation. He stalks over to the trio, annoyed by the conversation he can't understand. He, too, recognizes the girl as the one who gave him chocolate. However, one look at Hibari, and I-Pin freezes up, love-struck. The Pinzu-Timed Super Explosion begins to count down.
Jin doesn't know what to do. He knows he must get I-Pin away from the school hastily, but clearly, Hibari looks out for her. What would the prefect do if he sees Jin hurling I-Pin into the sky? Gritting his teeth, Jin makes a decision. For the sake of the school and the students inside, Jin grabs onto I-Pin and launches her into the air. Unfortunately, his indecision cost him valuable seconds, and the explosion occurs closer to the earth and catches Jin and Sai in its wake. Bright light engulfs the area, and a wave of scorching heat washes over the grounds, singeing the area.
In the aftermath of the blast, Jin and Sai lay sprawled out on the ground like dead fish as I-Pin glances around nervously. Every few seconds the two burnt boys twitch.
"Hn, I'll leave for now," Hibari tells Jin before walking away. "Get back to class, herbivores, and clean up this mess." Jin and Sai listen in disbelief.
This is all his fault!
"Reboyama? Who's that?" a student wonders.
"What a young teacher!" remarks a mother, to which another adds, "It's my first time seeing this!"
The class buzzes with new conversations about this supposed "Reboyama" guy. Even Yamamoto and Kyoko, who should know him, are clueless seeing this new face.
"To the parents and guardians," Reboyama says, bowing, "nice to meet you."
After a moment of skepticism, the addressees echo his words. "You too; nice to meet you." They bow back, not questioning a thing, much to the chagrin of Tsuna. Ignoring the silent protests, Reboyama rapidly draws his chalk across the board, writing down another, extremely complex math problem comprised of various numbers, shapes, and letters.
The door suddenly reopens, and Jin and Sai stumble into the classroom, crispy and singed from earlier. Tsuna stands up immediately, shocked. As they walk to their seats, he shouts, "W-What happened to you guys?!"
Before the duo can answer, a pebble-sized piece of chalk slams into Tsuna's forehead. Thanks to his Spartan-tutor training, though, he merely falls back into his seat, grumbling. Another two pieces of chalk zoom at the heads of Jin and Sai as well, but are both disintegrated within seconds before even reaching the duo.
"Stop fooling around and sit down," orders Reboyama. They hastily do. "Back to the board. For whomever can get this question right, I will introduce you to a good employment opening in the Mafia." Obviously, the stunned reactions of the majority of the class do not surprise 'Reboyama'. One unlucky student decides to speak up.
"I don't care if you're 'Reboyama' or 'Heboyama'!" declares a male student named Osamu. "I'm not gonna put up with someone like you!"
"I won't stand for that tone," Reboyama reiterates. He flings a piece of chalk at the offending student so harshly that the projectile disintegrates upon reaching the skull. Osamu's head collapses onto his desk with a thud!
"Excuse me!" a nubby voice calls out from the back. It's the boy's mother, who wears the same characteristic mole on her nose. "What did you do to my Osamu-chan?!"
"Ma'am, please calm down."
WHAM!
The entire class falls silent as another person falls from the sheer force of the blow. Each of them fears for their own safety. Jin and Sai are only relieved to have destroyed the chalk before.
"Right, so who knows the answer?" continues Reboyama as if nothing happened. The following silence is broken by a little boy who has just stepped into the room.
"Me! Mee!" Lambo shouts. "Poo!"
"Wrong!" A giant bomb hurtles towards the boy, detonating on contact and scorching the area around it. Amazingly, the school doesn't catch on fire. Lambo shrieks in surprise and injury.
"Idiot cow," a gruff voice then says. Gokudera stalks into the classroom, still woozy from earlier.
"Gokudera-kun?!" Tsuna exclaims.
"I've seen this problem before," Gokudera states. He points dramatically. "The answer is the square root of pi!"
"You're already in the Mafia," Reborn replies as he nonchalantly throws a second bomb at Gokudera. The students can only stare in horror as Gokudera disappears in a cloud of smoke and flames.
Sai scribbles on a scrap of paper, then crumbles it and tosses it at Jin. Jin, sensing the projectile, catches it inconspicuously. The note reads: let's get out of here, boss. Glancing back at Sai, Jin nods slightly. In a flash, the two are by the window, which is still open. By this time, only a few other students have noticed the movement. The pair slips out of the classroom, leaping down to the school grounds below, escaping the classroom. Meanwhile…
"Lambo! Gokudera-kun! Are you alright?!" Tsuna cries, running towards the burned out boys. Then he shouts at Reborn, "Hey, Reborn! You're overdoing it!"
"Well, I got annoyed."
"Punishing with such a reason?!"
"I knew it…" voices mutter throughout the room. "Sawada's involved with it again…"
"What is he thinking?"
Turning around hesitantly, he's met with the glares of all the students that all say, DO SOMETHING! Tsuna wonders how exactly he can get out of this mess. He looks for Jin and Sai, hoping they can defuse the situation, but the two are gone.
"Then do something about it," states Reboyama, aiming a pistol at Tsuna. He shoots. And a few seconds later:
"REEEBOORRRN!" Tsuna shouts. A Dying Will Flame flickers on his forehead. "I'LL TEACH THE CLASS WITH MY DYING WILL!" Pulling out a paper fan from nowhere, he raps the teacher's desk with it. He gestures to the board. "YOU IDIOTS CAN'T EVEN UNDERSTAND THIS?! DO YOU WANT ME TO KNOCK YOU OUT?!"
"N-no way…"
"He turned defiant?"
Reboyama smirks. "I guess you have it under control, Dame-Tsuna," he says. With that, he walks out of the classroom.
And so, the horrific class participation continued.
"I can assume that Tsunayoshi-kun did not find any new recruits, hm?" Jin remarks as he, Sai, and Reborn recline on the edge of the roof. After escaping – er, leaving – the classroom, the duo went to the roof. Not long after, Reborn appeared.
"My dame-student still has a ways to go before he can gain Family members so easily," Reborn replies. "It seems like he can only attract those who were once against him."
"I see," Jin says smiling. He stares up at the sky. "I've heard…that the Vongola Decimo contracted many of his followers after defeating them in battle. Escaped convicts, independent assassins, and others of the like became comrades in arms. The entire Mafia world has been abuzz with news of the Vongola's acceptance. If…circumstances had not occurred, I would have planned to meet the infamous boy, one forthcoming boss to another. It seems ironic that I finally get my wish, yet I am nobody now."
Jin turns to the infant, if only to see his reaction, but is shocked when he sees that the famous hitman has fallen asleep with his eyes open and a snot bubble forming from his nose. Jin chuckles lightly at the sight.
"Hey, stupid boss," Sai speaks up then, "that reminds me. We still have'ta initiate that Hazé guy as the new Black Tortoise."
"I understand, Sai," Jin answers, "but right now, we have a more critical situation on our hands."
Sai looks away frowning. "So you knew?" he asks. Jin covers his mouth with his hand. A bead of sweat rolls down his face.
"H-how could I not know my fiancé is coming to visit?" Jin asks, tittering nervously. He takes out a neatly folded piece of paper littered with inked hearts and flowers. "She hasn't changed a bit."
"Well then, stupid boss," Sai says, clasping a hand on his friend's shoulder, "we're in for a whole lotta trouble this next week."
A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short. It's really supposed to go with the previous chapter, but I felt I needed a break in the storyline. Anyway, thanks again for the comments, faves, and views. By the way, I think I've already mentioned this, but there will be no pairings among the main cast, partly because romance is not my forte.
There's not much else to say, so thanks for reading!