"Part of what makes us human is what we mean to other people, and what people mean to us."
-John Scalzi
"I find it hard to find the Valentine's Day card that captures how I truly feel. I have never seen a "this holiday is complete bullshit, I feel the same way today as I do about you everyday" card."
-goldentee
It was another week after school was let in for the final term, Ashlynn waved goodbye to the guys as they walked onto their school campus and she walked further down the road to her own school gates. She had received a text message from Ran last night. It didn't say anything and it didn't have any of the smiley face emoticons it was normal for Ran to spam throughout her messages. Just a blank message.
Ashlynn anxiously walked a little faster towards the high school. She sighed, Ran once again wasn't waiting in front of the gates like she used to. Ashlynn stood on campus and waited as she scanned the pairs and large groups of students for her friend and waved and nodded to a few upperclassmen and ignored the others that pointed in her direction and whispered amongst themselves as they passed her to the doors of the school building. She gave up waiting when there was only five minutes for her to get to class, after a quick scan to make sure she entered the building and went to homeroom.
Ever since the fiasco the day before winter break, no one had seen hide or hair of one Tenma Hiroto. But they did see his family visiting the school asking for him. Ashlynn had been confronted by the boy's mother asking if she knew where her son was. Ashlynn was truthful with her and honestly said that she had no clue but asked why the woman was asking her on Tenma's whereabouts.
Tenma Kimiko wrung her hands in a handkerchief. "Hiroto has been talking non-stop about you whenever he calls or comes over to visit, dear, so my husband and I thought to ask the young lady who had taken our boys attention."
"I'm sorry ma'am. But I have never been in any relationship with your son."
"You mean to tell me that you have never...?"
"No."
"But why not?"
"Excuse me?"
"My boy was downright smitten with you. We had assumed that the two of you were already dating by the way that he was talking and we hoped that he would have brought you to meet us soon. I raised Hiroto to be the perfect gentleman, so it's a wonder why-"
"Because he belittled the only real friend I have here at school. Because he was stalking me with a camera. Because he was harassing me to go out with him. I wanted nothing to do with him and he wouldn't take the hint. I reported him to the school but they chose not to do anything. I have a restraining order making sure that he stays away from the complex where I live. If you want to figure where your son is then I am not the right person to be asking information from. The only times that I have actually seen him was in class because I went out of my way to avoid him after school. You'd have better luck asking the people he actually hung out with, not me."
"I don't believe you."
Ashlynn shrugged and turned to leave. "That's fine. I didn't ask for you to believe me. Good day Tenma-san."
"It's because of you that my son is missing, isn't it! Where is he! Where have you hidden my son! Bring me back my son!"
"Tenma-san, I haven't the foggiest idea where your son could be nor at this point do I particularly care. He didn't exactly endear himself to me during the time that I've been here. Goodbye, Tenma-san, I need to get back to class."
Even with her side of the story some people didn't believe it and made their own suggestions to what had happened. The most ridiculous was the story about Ashlynn secretly being a princess and because of some trivial matter she had sentenced Tenma Hiroto to lifetime prison or execution.
Ashlynn ignored them but couldn't help but glance at the clock above the whiteboard every few seconds and looking hopefully towards the sliding door of the classroom and she kept tapping her foot against one of the legs of her desk causing the girl sitting in front of her to look back at her with an irritated stare every so often. Ashlynn tried to tone down the tapping and began to chew on the edge of her pencil. She just couldn't get herself to concentrate and quickly she found herself very lucky that this semester was actually review for her.
It wasn't until the end of the class before lunch period and the teacher had already left to meet another member of the faculty for lunch in the teacher's lounge, she finally got another message from Ran. She sighed when she saw it: another blank message. She moved to put her phone away when the screen lit up and the phone vibrated again.
"...?" Ashlynn pressed okay to see the message then smiled in relief before stuffing her things into her bag and quickly left the building and practically sprinted towards the sports fields.
"right now. behind the gym shed- Ran"
"Hey."
Ran looked up from her phone leaning against the wall behind the gym shed. "...Hey."
Ashlynn dropped her bag next to the wall. "Ran, I'm sorry-"
"No, no. I'm the one that's sorry. Ashlynn, he was the one that pulled you up and you, you looked so shocked and... and I just ran away because of what I thought was going on. You were never secretly dating him were you?
Ashlynn shook her head and sat down next to Ran on the ground and grabbed her bag and laid it on her lap. Ran gave a timid grin and scratched the back of her neck. "I don't suppose that you can ever forgive me for being such an idiot?
"Of course." Ashlynn grabbed a hold of Ran's hand and held it in hers. "You're my best friend, Ran. This couldn't possibly change that."
"Thank you." Ran looked at her feet embarrassed when her stomach growled loudly. Ashlynn giggled and opened up her school bag and took out a bento boxed lunch that she had made. "Did you forget your lunch again?" Ashlynn asked.
"Yeah, and I kinda skipped breakfast this morning too. I was too nervous and couldn't really bring myself to eat anything."
"Come here." Ashlynn offered and the two ate together out of the box and Ran made fun that Ashlynn still made American things in the Japanese box.
They went back to class together and sat once again next to each other in the remaining classes and Ashlynn caught Ran up on what she missed in the last few days of school and made plans to do homework (and play many video games) at Ran's home. Over the next few weeks there had been an improvement in the student's attitude towards Ran and it proved that the source of the animosity had been Tenma all along. She had thanked Reborn but when she asked what happened to the guy, Reborn just merely looked away with his fedora covering his eyes and smirked. Well, she wasn't too bothered by the lack of response because she was much more happy by the fact that Tenma was now out of town and wouldn't come back in the foreseeable future. Did she mention how happy she was? She brought over a three layered chocolate cake with fresh strawberries on top to Tsuna's house to celebrate.
February.
It started snowing. In February.
She was so used for the snow to start falling around the end of November and then Spring would start around mid or late February to March. Once again Ashlynn found herself confused at the weather even though she kept telling herself that it shouldn't a surprise since she was halfway across the world where the weather would be the way that she was used to.
With thoughts of scorching deserts and constantly erupting volcanoes, Ashlynn zipped up her jacket and secured her scarf loosely around her neck then picked up all four boxes of cookies she had made before heading out of her apartment to Dolly's to drop off one box before going to Tsuna's house.
Ashlynn turned the final corner and smiled when she saw the group of men gathered in the street in front of the house she was visiting. She waved when they greeted her and she decided to give them one of the boxes of cookies she made to be handed out amongst themselves.
"Grazie, Signora."
Ashlynn grinned and entered the property, opened the front door and placed the cookies on the island counter in the kitchen. Maman was fluttering around the kitchen happily as she watched I-pin and Lambo play in the yard through the window. Bianchi pointed upwards. "They are upstairs right now."
"Thanks."
Ashlynn went up the steps and moved to the side as Dino's men began to file out of Tsuna's bedroom. Romario looked over with a smile. "Buon pomeriggio, Signora."
"Hmm?" Dino stepped out into the hallway. "Hey Ashlynn."
"Hi. There's cookies in the kitchen if you want any before Bianchi turns them poisonous. I already gave a box to the men waiting outside if you don't want to risk it."
"Really? We'll grab a few then, thank you." Dino grinned and kissed her cheek before he and the men left downstairs. Ashlynn opened the door to Tsuna's room and let herself in. There was a little boy sitting at the low table with a large book laid out in front of him. Reborn nodded to her and she sat down next to Tsuna next to the bed. He hadn't noticed her yet so she placed an arm on his shoulder to ask what was wrong.
"Hiiiiie!" He jumped and fell backwards to the floor.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Ashlynn apologized.
"Dame-Tsuna, it's hard to come across an opportunity such as this, so why don't you and Ashlynn get some rankings done?"
The boy smiled. "That's fine with me! I want to see if Tsuna-nii can prove me wrong again!"
"Ashlynn, this is the ranking prince Fuuta, Fuuta this is Ashlynn one of Tsuna's mafia family members. Fuuta you should also try ranking her as well since she's new to the mafia so you'll get some new numbers in some of your rankings. Go ahead." Reborn motioned to the other.
"Hahi!" The door opened again and Haru peeked in. "Haru overheard the conversation when she came to the door! Is rankings some kind of new fortune telling? It sounds like fun! Can Haru have her fortune told as well?"
Tsuna sighed. " 'Overheard the conversation'? You mean you were eavesdropping! And why do you always come over here unannounced and uninvited?"
"She does it too!" Haru argued pettily pointing at Ashlynn.
Ashlynn rolled her eyes. "That's cause I'm part of his family and his mother gave me and the boys permission to let ourselves in."
"Hahi! You have also brainwashed my Mother-in-law, Subordinate-san!"
"My name is Ashlynn, not 'Subordinate-san'. Please remember it."
"Haru." Tsuna started and Haru looked to him with hearts in her eyes. "...Um...er...Haru, why are you here?"
"I came over because I want to get to know Tsuna-san better. And it was snowing early this morning but the weather channel said that there was going to be rain so Haru took the initiative to bring in Tsuna's laundry like a good wife. I bet that you didn't think of doing that, Subordinate-san and shame on you for it. Leaving out Tsuna-san's laundry to become wet from rain after they were cleaned. But Haru took care of it for you Tsuna-san!" Haru smiled.
"O-oh thanks..." Tsuna thanked her rather uncomfortable. 'You really don't need to do that. And you're not my wife...'
Haru directed her attention to Fuuta who was watching the exchange. "Oh, yeah! Please tell Haru's fortune too!"
"You're Tsuna-nii's friend so...I guess it's okay to rank you as well."
"Hahi!" Haru reeled back in surprise. " 'Tsuna-nii'? You're not Tsuna-san's secret illegitimate little brother are you?"
"I'm Fuuta."
"Stop jumping to conclusions!" Tsuna cried.
Ashlynn got up and sat next to Reborn on the bed. "You don't need a ranking to know that Haru practically slams headfirst to the wrong conclusions. And you don't listen when I tell you to address me by my name. It's really annoying not to mention very rude. At this rate 'Subordinate-san' is going to stick and I'll never get rid of it. Oi, Tsuna, she'll listen to you. Make her stop will you?"
"Tsuna-nii isn't my actual brother but he lets me call him that and he does act like a nice older brother." Fuuta explained. Haru wiped the imaginary sweat off her forehead in relief and seemed not to hear Ashlynn once again tell her to call her by her name. Did the girl have selective hearing?
Haru sat down at the low table across from Fuuta. "Oh~~? Yes, Tsuna-san is very caring so Haru isn't surprised now that you call him your brother. Um~ Haru wants to know... What are Haru's best charm points? Haru is very gullible, so if I ask very specifically then Haru will be positively sure that the fortune-telling isn't all-knowing!"
"What are you going on about?" Tsuna asked and slumped into the computer desk chair.
Fuuta smiled. "Okay, so Haru-san wants to know her charm point rankings. Here I go."
Fuuta looked up and his eyes glazed over with stars in them as he began mouthing words. Objects were lifted and hovered in the air, the table, papers, Reborn's hat, Reborn himself, and books amongst other things. Haru clapped very impressed. "These are amazing theatrics!"
"This is Fuuta. Yes, I can hear you ranking planet."
"Hiiiie! W-what! Fuuta, what are you saying! And you're making things float agai- Hiiiiie! Ashlynn is floating now!" Tsuna cried.
Reborn swam in the air. "Didn't I tell you? He's contacting the ranking planet to create a connection so he can rank."
Haru pressed her hands to her face. "How romantic~~."
"Allow me to welcome you to the Twilight Zone." Ashlynn was holding her knees to her chest and was attempting to keep a straight face. She failed and began to giggle to herself as she moved in the air and did a back flip with a large grin.
Tsuna though he was still on his feet, grabbed a hold of the bed which was the only thing besides the desk and the TV. stand that wasn't hovering to keep himself firmly on the floor. "You seriously expect me to believe something occult like that! This is crazy!"
"Why not?" Ashlynn asked stopping from doing more flips in the air. "We are obviously floating and I'm pretty sure that a space station crew didn't just decide to trick out your bedroom and allow you to be able to hover...though that would be pretty cool..."
"Haru-san's~ number one charm point out of eight..." They all looked towards Fuuta who began speaking out loud for them to hear. He had his book in front of him ready to write down the rankings. "...It's your hair whorl."
"Hahi! How did you know!" Haru grabbed the base of her ponytail. "...No, Tsuna-san must have told..."
"How would I have known that?" Tsuna yelled.
"Eh? Tsuna-san didn't tell him? Hahi! Fuuta-kun is amazing! What a gifted fortune teller! Okay then, now that I have no doubts about your ability, please tell Haru the top three things that Haru likes the best about Tsuna-san!" Haru cried happily.
"Right...the top three things on the list of what "Haru-nee likes about Tsuna-nii are...his assertiveness...his strength... and number one is his gentleness."
"Did you hear that!" Haru patted on Tsuna's shoulder to grab his attention. "Did you hear what he just said! And it's all true too!"
"Pfft. You know that's just a list of what Haru thinks..." Ashlynn did another slow flip in the air. This was really fun! Reborn landed on top of her head as she did another flip.
"Rank Ashlynn now, Fuuta." Reborn told the boy.
"Got it... Ashlynn-nee's running and sprinting is way better than Tsuna-nii's; she is ranked two hundred and thirty-five out of eighty-six thousand two hundred and two, she ranks twelfth out of fifty-two thousand two hundred sixty-two people for potential to become a promising assassin, and she ranks one hundred and forty-seven out of one hundred thousand nine hundred eighty-four people for being open-minded in the mafia."
"Hmm, that's not all bad." Ashlynn mused. She turned her head when the door opened, Lambo and I-pin rushed in and were lifted up into the air.
"我們在飛!"
"I-pin's pinzu-timed super explosion ranks thirty-eighth out of eight hundred and sixteen most powerful attacks. That's not all; when it comes to mid-range fighting techniques, the Gyoza-ken ranks one hundred sixteenth out of five hundred and twenty effective attacks. At her age, these stats are amazing! With things as they are now, I-pin beats Ashlynn-nee's rank with potential to be a promising assassin, she ranks third out of fifty-two thousand two hundred and sixty-two.
Tsuna looked up to the small Chinese child. 'That's amazing! But ten years from now she renounces her hitman ways and is just a part-timer at a noodle restaurant and going to college to be a teacher...'
"What about Lambo-san! Tell Lambo-san's fortune too!" Lambo squealed while pointing at himself.
"Lambo ranks number one as the most annoying out of all mafia members by far. You are also ranked number one when it comes to people wanting to kill you and use you as a seat cushion."
Tsuna covered his smile with his hand when he saw Lambo's shocked expression. 'I thought so...But what kind of ranking was that second one?'
"Juudaime~!"
Tsuna peeked around his open door and saw Gokudera and Yamamoto climbing up the stairs. "Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto!"
"Juudaime! Why didn't you say that the ranking kid was here!"
Yamamoto smiled. "I bumped into him a while ago. It seemed interesting so I tagged along."
The three boys came into the bedroom, Ashlynn waved to Yamamoto when he looked up and found her floating with Reborn, Lambo and I-pin. Gokudera stood in front of Fuuta with a serious expression on his face and made his request. "I have been meaning to ask you something for a while now. There's only one thing that I want to know! What are the rankings of people most suitable to be the Juudaime's right hand man, what rank am I? Can it be done?"
"G-Gokudera-kun~" Tsuna murmured.
"That's easy, the ranking for who would be most suitable for Tsuna-nii's right hand man, right? Let's see, Hayato-nii's place is...Out of range."
"W-what!" Gokudera gawked at the boy.
"There is such a thing for ranking?" Tsuna asked.
"I didn't say that it was out of range for the ranking." Fuuta commented making Gokudera look up hopefully, but the hope was quickly shot down. "It's atmospherically out of range. The person who ranks as the most suitable right hand man for Tsuna-nii is a person named Suzume Cross."
"Hunh? Birdy? Oh yeah, remember she won the contest to make Lambo laugh and the prize was that the winner got to be Tsuna's right hand man." Ashlynn explained as she glanced to the window. As she thought, it was had began to rain just like it did in the series.
Fuuta quickly tried to console the unmoving boy. "B-but there are other jobs suitable for you other than being Tsuna-nii's right hand man, Hayato-nii! You rank number one out of eighty-two thousand two hundred and three people who would be suitable as a kindergarten teacher!"
"Hahi! A-a kindergarten teacher!"
Fuuta continued. "After all, Hayato-nii ranks second out of the eighty-two thousand two hundred and three people who likes children! So you are the best possible person to do the job!"
"I...I liked kids...When...How...?" Gokudera brought a hand to his face in bewilderment. Yamamoto laughed merrily.
"I commend your ranking skills, little prince." Bianchi suddenly appeared from hiding behind Ashlynn in a mission impossible pose in mid-air. She, Ashlynn and the kids were the only ones floating in the air from Fuuta's rankings. She continued. "But the most important thing of all is love."
Tsuna pointed at Bianchi in shock. "Hiiie! Bianchi! When did you get in here! And you're making a spectacle, making this look like a horror film at any angle! And Gokudera-kun has been petrified from all the different shocks!"
Bianchi ignored him. "Take this opportunity and make a love ranking. It's time to clarify who loves who."
"Fnn, sounds like fun, we'll keep it with the people in this room. Go ahead and rank them Fuuta." Reborn instructed the boy.
"Okay, the we will start with Tsuna-nii's love ranking..."
Tsuna whipped his head towards Fuuta. "A-are you serious! Wait a minute, Fuuta! Don't! Uwaaah!"
Fuuta carried on as Tsuna was lifted into the air. Haru looked on anxiously with a dark blush on her cheeks, Yamamoto laughed and Ashlynn already knew what was going to happen. "Tsuna-nii's love ranking, the number one person is...LEON!"
"Haha! Is that true, Tsuna?" Yamamoto snickered.
Tsuna pinched his cheeks hard. 'It can't be...Did I unconsciously like Leon? he does transform into a gun and fires a bullet at me when Reborn shoots me and he sometimes helps when I am in the Dying Will mode...I don't understand...'
"No! It can't be!" Haru cried and flung herself to the window sill and leaned her cheek against the glass. "Haru lost to such an opponent. Haru's heart is just like the sky; A dark rain storm."
Fuuta froze. "Rain?"
Everything and everyone who had been floating fell out of the air as Fuuta broke off his connection to the ranking planet, the inanimate objects fell with with a clattered and somehow the television was set right on the TV. stand. Reborn jumped to perch on Tsuna's head after his student stood up from nearly crashing onto the desk,with his fedora on his head. Bianchi, I-pin and Lambo landed on the bed with a bounce. Ashlynn had been floating by Yamamoto and the baseball player caught her with his arms around her shoulders and underneath her knees when she fell out of the air. She thanked him as he set her down on her feet.
"Haha, no problem!"
Fuuta curled into a fetal position on the floor with a groan. Tsuna put his hand on his forehead. "Are you okay, Fuuta? What's wrong?"
"I feel heavy. I really hate the rain. I'm weak to it and it makes my rankings crazy and inaccurate."
"What did you say! So that means that the rankings don't work while it rains?" Tsuna asked. 'That means that ranking about Leon...!'
Gokudera perked at the news. "...So my ranking...? I'm not really atmospherically out of range to be the Juudaime's right hand man?"
"When did it start raining?" Haru wondered.
"I presume the ranking becomes askew when it rains because it causes an interference between Fuuta and the ranking planet." Reborn offered his explanation.
Tsuna snapped at the hitman. "Again with the ranking planet!"
Even so, Tsuna was a little bit curious about the existence of the ranking planet that Fuuta had a connection to.
And with February there came Valentine's day.
Growing up in the States, Ashlynn found Valentine's day to be one of the days of the year where one would receive candy even though she and her mother also bought a bag of sweets to pass out with cards every year. Although not as cool as Halloween or Easter she didn't complain cause she really ha no reason to. Candy was candy. And there was the little fact that she had been collecting the Valentine's cards she received every year into a shoebox since the first grade. So with the thought in mind that everyone in class would be getting a generic Valentine card and chocolate even though they weren't friends. Ashlynn decided to save herself the stress and worry by creating her molds and buying cards a week before the actual date. The things for her class was in a red bag waiting in her freezer as she worked on the more personal chocolates for her friends: Ran, Dolly and Birdy, anyone that she personally knew from the Vongola, Dino, plus a few extras.
Ashlynn and Keiko decided to send out their gifts early to the people that were out of the country: Keiko hadn't told her who she was sending so many chocolates to but Ashlynn had sent one to Don Timoteo (A piece of chocolate painstakingly carved into the Vongola crest), Dino (a horse, and as many batches of cookies she was possibly able to pack and hope that there was enough since she had lost count), and Lussuria (a chocolate carved sun). Thankfully she had a mind to make a list of the people she wanted to specially make chocolates for and check off each person as their gift was finished and stored in its own container.
"A tree for Ran, a bird for Birdy, a heart for Dolly, Maman, both present and future I-pin and Lambo, Boxer shaped for Tsuna, fedora for Reborn, a scorpion for Bianchi. Checkety, check, check and check. Dynamite for Gokudera, Baseball for Yamamoto, A chocolate tonfa for Hibari...hehe. Wonder what he'll think of that~."
When it finally got to the day of Valentine's Ashlynn yawned and ignored the many females hyped up over the holiday. She left Dolly's and Birdy's gifts on the counter in her kitchen before she went back to her own apartment and lug down her duffel bag filled with lunch box ice packs and the many gift boxes with chocolate inside.
The reaction to her gifts from her schoolmates were majorly with surprised expressions. They weren't friends but after so many years of Valentine's for her entire class she went along with it. Ran mentioned that it was weird but thanked her for the better chocolate and teasingly said that if she didn't know better that her special chocolate could be seen as a love confession.
"But I know that were friends so it's okay. Here's your gift by the way." Ran presented a small assortment of homemade chocolates and a yellow rose. She scratched the back of her neck. "It's not a cool as yours but Auntie tested some of the earlier ones I made and said that they were pretty good."
Ashlynn hummed and popped a piece into her mouth as she arranged the flower into her ponytail. "She's right, it is good. Good job Ran."
"Yay~!"
"Will you be doing anything special tonight?"
"Yep! I've got a hot date! And she's adorable~! Ne, what about you? Got a special someone that you're gonna meet later on? Come on, tell me tell me!"
"Nope, nothing really special. My Valentine's day is usually spent tracking down people to give them their gifts." Ashlynn snickered. "I remember one year I was searching for Aniki to give him chocolates and ended up interrupting a date with his pretty girlfriend."
"Ha! What happened?"
"Hmmm, I think that year he took her out for lunch. I saw him sitting alone in a window booth and I went in a sat across from him and gave him his gift. Turns out his girlfriend had gone to the bathroom then came out seeing another girl sitting in her place with her boyfriend (He hadn't brought her to meet the family just yet). Man, it was so awkward trying to explain that I wasn't dating my own brother. We ended up being kicked out because she was making such a big fuss and I wasn't really helping things go smoothly."
"Wow, sucks for him."
"Flaithri said it was okay but his girlfriend never really forgave me for it even though it wasn't my fault. He was my brother and I had been trying to find him all day and didn't want to wait until he came home to give him my gift." Ashlynn tapped her cheek. "I think he broke up with her because she kept complaining about it to everyone...at least I think that was the reason."
Both looked up as the bell rang releasing students from school. Ran giddily gave her a hug before skipping out of the room. Ashlynn shook her head and left at a more sedate pace with her mostly full duffel bag and went in the direction of the middle school. She was a little disappointed that Hibari wasn't in the reception room so decided that since there were still others she had to find she tore a piece of paper from one of her notebooks, wrote his name at the top, wished him a Happy Valentine's day and signed her name at the bottom before leaving to track down the rest of the boys.
She bumped into Ryohei and Gokudera arguing outside of the boxing club's room with a group of girls following after the latter like a bunch of ducklings clutching little boxes that they'd give to the Italian transfer once given the opportunity. It would have been pretty cute had they not given her psycho looks complete with their faces hidden by shadow and an eerie light from the eyes. Especially when both Ryohei and Gokudera accepted the chocolates from her and ignored the fact that the group was trying to give them their own chocolates and confessions. It was a wise decision to immediately walk away before someone had the bright idea to make a fuss over the fact that the boy they obsessed over accepted chocolate from her, an outsider from another school, instead of them the boy's schoolmates.
Because there wasn't baseball practice on Valentines Day, mostly to keep the players from being distracted, Ashlynn had to find Yamamoto to his father's sushi restaurant. She waved to Tsuyoshi and asked him where his son was only to smile when he came in from the kitchen and brought his father a platter of fish. Yamamoto grinned widely when she handed over the box from her duffel bag and he laughed merrily when he saw the baseball shaped chocolate inside and thanked her. She wished a good Valentine's Day and left the building saying she had a few more people to see and waved goodbye to both Yamamoto's.
Ashlynn made a small detour on her way to Tsuna's house and made a quick stop at the apartment complex a few blocks away from her own, she asked the personnel at the office to find out which floor and room number before going up the elevator to one of the upper floors. When the door opened the woman was shocked that she specifically asked for her son and allowed her inside the apartment while she went to go fetch him from his room. Ashlynn waited next to the front door and snickered quietly as she heard the woman talk to her son.
"Sho-chan! Sho-chan! There is a pretty high school girl asking for you! Specifically, by name!"
"W-what?"
"Don't make the girl wait Sho-chan! Go! Go and be a man! I'm going to call your father and sister to tell them the news!" The woman pushed her son out of his room and towards the front of the home where Ashlynn was waiting then she hid in the kitchen down the hall and kept peeking around the corner every so often with a phone pressed to her ear.
Ashlynn smiled at the boy. "I don't know if you remember me, but we met when you brought a child named Lambo back to the Sawada house some time ago. My name is Ashlynn."
Shoichi nodded completely dumbfounded. Ashlynn grinned at the expression and gave one of the gift boxes to the boy in front of her. "This is for you, Shoichi, happy Valentine's day."
"...oh...thank you...?" Shoichi blushed and thanked her still a little bewildered. Ashlynn nodded and let herself out of the apartment. Even with the front door closed behind her as she walked down the hallway to the elevator she hear Shoichi's mother squeal happily.
Ashlynn had a light spring to her step as she walked towards Tsuna's house but paused when she saw Tsuna himself in Dying Will mode clad only in his boxers as he carried a bleeding future Lambo with Bianchi hot on their heels. Ashlynn held on tightly to the duffel bag and quickly caught up to the two and managed to slide to catch Lambo when Tsuna dropped him after he was almost hit by Bianchi's poison cooking.
Ashlynn smiled when the boy cowered and pressed his face into her stomach. She gently ran her fingers through his hair to calm the boy down. When he looked up at her she unzipped her bag and handed him to boxes.
"Happy Valentine's Day Lambo. One is for you and the other is for I-pin when you go back to your present time."
"Thank you Aneue, I never say no to your Valentine's chocolates." The Bovino boy smiled before he disappeared in a poof of smoke and was replaced by the five year old Lambo. Ashlynn grinned and gave the younger Lambo his own box of chocolates and he quickly ate most of them before storing some in his afro. Ashlynn held the boy in her arms as she walked the rest of the way to Tsuna's house and met Tsuna in front of the house and gave him his own box. She giggled lightly at the thankful gaze when she handed the box over but he sighed when he saw the shape and made Ashlynn laugh a little harder. They went inside and found Fuuta sitting on the bottom of the steps happily changing a few of Tsuna's rankings and smiled when Ashlynn presented his gift and handing one to Maman when she passed by with a hamper before she stepped into the kitchen to give Bianchi and Kyoko who were making chocolate and crackers with Haru. When Haru stared at her expectantly she sighed but decided to give her one of the smaller extras that she brought with her. When Haru took the obviously smaller box she glared at her as if she had been jilted.
Ashlynn raised an amused brow. "What? Did you honestly think that I would give you a special chocolate? I really have no reason to do so, Miura-san. Other than you being friends with Bianchi, Reborn, Kyoko and Tsuna, I really don't know you very well to consider you one of my friends. Be happy that I brought extras along with me."
"Hahi? What on Earth is Subordinate-san talking about? Is this because you're jealous Subordinate-san? You're not warming up to me because I'm becoming closer and closer to breaking the spell that you cast?"
Kyoko's smile waned a bit. "What do you mean, Haru-chan? Ashlynn-chan? Is something wrong?"
Ashlynn shook her head. She didn't want anything involved solely between her and Haru mess up the friendship that the two girls had. "Nothing to worry about Kyoko. Just a matter between me and Miura-san that I hope to have resolved soon."
"Hahi!" Haru gasped. "Why is Subordinate-san being so informal with Kyoko-chan!"
"Because I consider Kyoko as a friend. I'm not from Japan and hardly ever used honorifics." Ashlynn then sat down on the other end of the table where it was cleared of clutter. She bundled the empty duffel bag and stuffed it into her school one seeing as she finally passed out all the chocolates that she had with her.
When Haru and Kyoko left the kitchen to find the boys Bianchi gave her a questioning glance. "She is fighting you for the love of another. Love from who you do not wish for in that way."
Ashlynn nodded. "That girl is going to jump to the wrong conclusion with the wrong person one day. I don't know whether when the times comes I'll watch and say 'I told you so' or to try to attempt glean her off the habit now. I'd rather then second option but she's being too hostile to take any advice from me seriously. Heh, she'd probably ignore me or see as an underhanded tactic to separate her from Tsuna and then things from there would blow out of proportion."
"Love makes people do crazy things."
"Too true."
"Reborn plans on giving the boys a training exercise tomorrow morning. I have requested that I steal you away for some one on one instruction. I expect you here at dawn." When Ashlynn nodded Bianchi smiled. "Perhaps it is because you do not have a person you can truly love that your studies in my craft are not successful. For it is love that allows one to consume it without any negative side effects. Is there anyone of your peers that you have taken a liking to? I could make a match for you if you wish."
"Perhaps. Thanks for the offer Bianchi but I think I'll be fine with getting a match for myself. I don't think it'd be fair to knowingly set up meetings to get someone to fall in love me. That's like giving someone a love potion."
Bianchi smiled but before she could say anything Kyoko and Haru came back into the kitchen with the boys in tow, sat them down at the table and presented the chocolate fondue that they had made. Haru practically ran to the table with a pot in tow and placed it directly in front of Tsuna who had taken a seat next to Ashlynn. The girl grinned when Tsuna's eyes widened. "Thank you for waiting! The Valentine's chocolate is officially finished!"
"Wow, it looks like chocolate soup!" Tsuna exclaimed.
"It's a fondue, you dip the crackers into the chocolate!" Kyoko smiled placing down the pot of chocolate she had made.
"It was a great effort so please eat your fill. I made the crackers to dip in the chocolate." Bianchi presented the purple crackers on a tray and laid it out on the table to Tsuna and Fuuta's horror. Reborn promptly took the cue and fell asleep at the table. Bianchi waited patiently as she along with Kyoko and Haru stared at the boys. It was eerily silent and no one moved. Ashlynn sighed, she didn't want the girl's feelings to be hurt but then again she didn't want to be poisoned. But Ashlynn wondered, even though she didn't love-love Bianchi and she was sure that Bianchi didn't have such strong feelings for her in that way but there were other kinds of love. So long love was reciprocated...then if Bianchi wasn't fooling anyone with saying love countered the effects then she should be fine. She loved Bianchi as she loved her siblings and she trusted Bianchi that she wouldn't actively try to kill her so...
Ashlynn grabbed a small paper plate then gingerly picked up a single purple cracker to the girls delight and the males horror; even Reborn peeked an eye open, broke it in half before dipping it into each bucket of chocolate and took a bite out of each one. She hoped that she wouldn't regret this later.
Bianchi, Kyoko and Haru watched with bated breath as they waited for Ashlynn's opinion while the boys waited for the tell tale signs that would be the start of Ashlynn's death from poisoning. Ashlynn swallowed both pieces of the dipped cracker and could feel it drop in her stomach and she could also feel her brow already beginning to sweat. She gave a smile for the waiting girls.
"You two did a very good job making the chocolate, and you as well, Bianchi, for making...the crackers. Thank...you..very much... "
Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto panicked when Ashlynn fell out of her seat in a faint. The girls squealed and hugged each other happily at their success and thanked Bianchi for teaching them how to make the chocolate.
It was a memorable Valentine's Day.
Though Ashlynn would have to make up for the training that she'd miss the next morning because of a bad fever keeping her secured and not allowed out of bed.
Meanwhile, halfway across the globe in different parts of Italy...
"Kyaaaaa!" Lussuria squealed in delight at the breakfast table as he opened one of the cute little gift boxes in front of him. The other people present at the table either glared at the man or ignored him. Lussuria in turn ignored them in favor of the cute heart shaped chocolate with a sun etched on the surface with a large grin and squealed again. "This makes me so happy! Il mio dolce miele thought of me and sent me a chocolate for Valentine's day! So very happy!"
"VOOOI! What the hell are you gushing about!"
"Squ-chan wouldn't understand because a pretty girl hasn't sent him any Valentine's chocolates before, at least not that we know of anyway~. Are you jealous Squ-chan? Maybe if your good I could introduce you to my honey and you could start getting Valentine's chocolate from her too."
"Fuck you, Lussuria! Shut your trap!"
"…"
"…"
"Kyaaaaaa! I got one from Keiko-chan too!"
"VOOOI! Shut the hell up!"
"Boss, a package came from Fukano-san in Japan." Romario set down the parcel on his Boss' desk.
Dino smiled as he used a knife to cut along the middle to rip off the tape. Inside were three boxes, one was red and the other two were blue along with a note taped to the red one. He grabbed the note and read it out loud.
"Dino-kun, Happy Valentine's Day, the red box is from me and the blue ones are from Ashlynn, the smaller blue is for you and the cookies in the larger ones are for the men. First come first serve. You better reciprocate on White day next month, with chocolatey love, Keiko."
He opened the red box and found a little display of square shaped chocolates filled with caramel then opened Ashlynn's and was greeted with pleasant surprise by the figure of a horse molded by chocolate. That was pretty impressive. He took out the larger blue box, the chocolate horse, and a small radio transmitter and left the office in the direction of the dining room with Romario following after him. Once all the boxes were opened and placed separated across the table he sat at the head seat then pressed onto the transmitter that allowed him contact with the men on the site of main house of Cavallone.
"Hey guys. A box came today from Ashlynn, one of Tsuna's family members, remember her? Well she sent you guys some cookies for Valentine's day but not enough to go around, so it's first come first serve. They're on the table in the dining room. Take one, please."
Dino clicked off the button to speak in and sat down in the chair at the farthest end of the table and took a picture of the chocolate horse before he started breaking off pieces and plopping them into his mouth, Romario sat down next him and took a bite out of a cookie.
"It's good and still soft."
They looked up as a large group Dino's men burst through the open doorway in the direction of the cookies on the table and watched as pandemonium ensued in the dining room.
"Cinnamon!" Keiko burst through the door of the baking area scaring the other employees working. One of the girls dropped a plate and it shattered to the floor. Keiko gave her a sheepish smile and helped clean the mess up before she skipped happily over to Ashlynn's work station. It was a few days after she fainted on Valentine's Day and she was lucky that she only got a fever from the poisonous crackers Bianchi made.
"Nutmeg, I just got a message from Nono and he said that he loved the chocolates that we sent to him! And he said that his guardians were very jealous! He was impressed that you put the Vongola crest onto the heart, he almost didn't want to eat it! Then he did because he took a picture and he framed it! Here he too a picture of it! Look!"
Ashlynn reached her arms high into the air and stretched until she could feel her lower back pop a bit and sighed in relief. She had been picked up by Gokudera that morning and they met Yamamoto, Ryohei and Dino at Namimori Middle, all were dressed warmly for the cold. There was no school today because it had snowed heavily the day before and some of the roads had been blocked off and she didn't have work to do for the following two days.
Gokudera happily greeted his Boss when Tsuna and Reborn came into sight from around the corner of the school gates. "Juudaime! Juudaime! Over here! Good morning Juudaime!"
"What? What is everyone doing here?"
Dino laughed. "We were waiting for you, Tsuna."
"They were the ones to call us out today." Reborn informed the boy.
Dino continued the line of thought. "We thought that because Tsuna is the one that always looks after the kids, that we should play with them every once in a while and give you a hand with them."
"You should have just Extremely asked Sawada!" Ryohei punched the air. Yamamoto and Ashlynn nodded in agreement.
'Everyone...Everyone is going out of their way for me...Everyone is so nice...wow.' Tsuna was warmed greatly by the thought.
"If we're going to play outside it should definitely be a snowball fight." Gokudera exclaimed scooping snow in his gloved hands and compacted it into a ball and tossed it up and down in the air. His actions were quickly repeated by Ashlynn and the other boys. Tsuna quickly paled at the suggestion.
Yamamoto snickered. "Sounds like a lot of fun! We'll have to divide into two teams. Should we decide like we normally do? Rock paper scissors, best two out of three?"
"I have taken the liberty in choosing your sides." Reborn informed the group dressed as an ancient samurai warrior shogun in bright red armor. He opened up a battered ancient scroll. "I put a lot of thought in making sure that the teams would be balanced out and I ended up staying up all night. See? Look at the bags under my eyes. They are really dark. I shouldn't even be up right now. It's bad for my health and my soft baby complexion."
"What is with this plan of yours that is making me feel really guilty!" Tsuna screamed.
"This is what the team layout is going to be: the east side troop with be led by Tsuna followed by Yamamoto, Fuuta, and I-pin. You will wear white scarves. On the west side the troop will be led by Dino followed by Gokudera, Ryohei, and Lambo. You will wear red scarves." Reborn handed out the scarves to the team leaders.
"Wait just a mintue, Reborn-san!" Gokudera interrupted him. "Why am I on a different team than the Juudaime's? I request a switch!"
The armored helmet covered over the tops of the hitman's eyes. "That still remains a mystery. You'll have to play nice with your team until it has been revealed. Until then it shall be a test of your patience."
"It hasn't been solved yet!" Gokudera cried.
Reborn motioned for Ashlynn to come forward and he held Leon out for her to take and a strip of blue cloth for both of them. Ashlynn put the flag through the loop of her jean pants but didn't tie a knot (That's cheating) and Leon had it lightly wrapped around his tail. "This is a battle for the strip of cloth that Leon and Ashlynn will have in their possession. Both teams will have a total of thirty minutes to fight and the team that gets both pieces will win."
"Sounds interesting." Yamamoto grinned.
"Win to the extreme no matter what!" Ryohei yelled with eyes blazing hotly.
"It doesn't matter how many times you are hit with a snowball, but you will be counted out if you lose consciousness. Now, both teams go dig a trench and build your snowballs. We will start in thirty minutes time." Reborn walked away with Leon and Ashlynn following after him as the teams began their snow building and two pillars made of snow in the middle with equal distance between the two snow forts where Leon and Ashlynn would be atop of.
The thirty minutes was quickly used up and Reborn sat to the side still dressed as a samurai with a conch shell in his little hands. He brought the shell to his lips and blew a loud note, resounding around the area. "Begin!"
Ashlynn glanced in both directions. It was quiet and no one seemed to want to be the first to go out from behind their defenses. That was fine, Ashlynn crouched low on top of the rather high pillar of snow with an already made snowball in her hand. She had asked before the teams finished if it was okay for her to aim snowballs at the boys herself. The hitman's response? Do whatever it takes to not be taken. She was going to take full advantage of her terrain, namely the small cluster of trees off to the side of the wall of the school where she had snuck over without the boys' notice and created a few piles of snowballs to throw and a few trenches and barriers made from snow, some of the were close enough to a few trees that she could jump off a barrier and land on a tree branch. She was glad that she had decided on a mainly white jacket to wear.
"No way! If we do not go after the ultimate goal, we will not be able to have our Extreme victory! To the EXTREME!" Ryohei sprung out of the trench and charged for the pillars with no snowballs on hand and Dino calling after him.
On the other side after hearing Ryohei's battle cry, Yamamoto stood from his place, tensed as he fell into a baseball form and threw a snowball directly at Ryohei. The boxer punched forward with his fist completely destroying the compact ball of snow. Ryohei smirked triumphant. "As slow ball like that is like a marshmallow against my fist, it is no match for my Extreme strength!"
"Alright then!" Yamamoto took snowball after snowball and started pitching them fast at the boxer. After a few moments of Tsuna persuading Fuuta that now was not the time to do rankings they began supporting the baseball player and threw their own snowballs in Ryohei's general direction. The boy yelled out another Extreme as he began punching them all away as he slowly inched his way towards Leon and Ashlynn still on top of the snow pillars. Ashlynn was still crouched and tensed her legs and got ready to leap off.
'...And~...Now!' Ashlynn launched herself off from her perch on top of her snow pillar over Leon's and rolled on the ground as she threw two snowballs at Ryohei on one side and I-pin on the other. A quick glance showed that she had picked the perfect time to jump for it, the pillar that she had been perched on was falling to pieces to the ground from I-pin's gyoza-ken attack. While Leon stayed atop of his own snowy pillar, Ashlynn quickly leaped away while pulling the hood of her jacket over her head and ran for one of the closest barriers while throwing a few snowballs in both directions. She didn't have to do much since the vapor from the dumplings that I-pin had, it was going downwind right back to Tsuna, Yamamoto and Fuuta. Still she laid flat on her tummy and crawled to another barrier trench. If she didn't want to be caught then she needed to keep moving around.
Ryohei punched away another snowball and called out to the young Chinese child. "Your artillery is too light! The flags will be mine to take!" The boxer ran forward before he was knocked off of his feet to the side from an explosion behind him. "Woah!"
"It's me Juudaime! My spy work is finished so I will return back to your side now!"
Tsuna's jaw dropped as Gokudera took off his red scarf and pulled on a white one signifying his change in teams. 'G-Gokudera-kun, totally switched sides right now...Is...Is that even allowed?'
"Then us as well! Protect the Boss!" Three of Dino's men, Romario, Ivan and Bono jumped from their hiding places inside one of the trench barriers that was on the west side. "Even if it is only just a game, we won't let the Boss lose!"
Buna nodded in agreement as he rubbed his arms to get more feeling in them. "It was so cold!"
"H-how long were you guys hiding in there! How did you get here without any of us knowing!" Dino asked incredulously.
Tsuna grabbed the sides of his head and conveniently turned away as Gokudera jumped over the trench to stand beside him, pushing Yamamoto out of the way. Tsuna looked towards Reborn who didn't react to the new situation. "It's become really chaotic and the judge is totally okay with it!"
"Yup, it is just as I had predicted too." Reborn smirked.
"It is now the Vongola against the Cavallone." Gokudera lit up a cigarette in his mouth and the dynamites that he pulled from his jacket. "This will make this much easier! Die!"
Tsuna shrieked. "It went from a snow fight to a fight on the snow! It's a snow fight! At least use the snow around you so you don't hurt anyone!"
"I won't allow you to do that Smokin' Bomb." Dino cracked his whip and safely defused the oncoming explosives. "I'll be taking the flags now."
"Not so fast Bucking Horse Dino."
The boy's heads whipped to the side at the new voice to see Bianchi with her arms crossed in front of her. She smiled thinly and scoffed. "How dare you even think to play without me. Come to me my minions" She snapped her fingers, Lambo and I-pin took off the scarves distinguishing them from different teams and joined the poison scorpion in a martial art pose. "The winner shall be us! Team Poison-Cow Chinese Cuisine!"
"A third force!" Dino stood in front of his men warily.
"What are you doing Bianchi!" Tsuna screamed. "Coming out uninvited out of nowhere!"
Bianchi's eyes narrowed at the Vongola heir. "Do you understand the feelings of those who are not invited!"
"Hiiie! A-are you sulking!"
Dino shook his head. "The reason why the kids are siding with her is probably because she fed them her poison cooking."
"You're wrong actually, Dino," Bianchi smirked darkly. "It was pure threatening that brought them to stand by my side. It is their fear that keeps them with me. And it is fear that will make them fight for me. Victory shall be ours!"
Tsuna shivered and it certainly wasn't from the cold. "How scary...Hey, G-Gokudera-kun, are you okay? Bianchi is right in front us and you haven't fallen down sick..."
"Yeah, I don't really get it myself." Gokudera looked at his hands questioningly. "...This has actually happened once before. It was during the Autumn Equinox and she put on a squirrel outfit... I didn't know that it was her until she hugged me and started talking through the mask. I don't remember anything after she took it off..."
Tsuna's eyes widened in realization. "Ah! Both times she had head-gears. So maybe it's because Bianchi's face is partly hidden!"
"That may be it! Then this means...I did it! I've finally overcome my sister! And it's all thanks to you, Juudaime!" Gokudera patted Tsuna's shoulder as he congratulated the both of them until Ashlynn took advantage and hit them square in the face with a snowball to each boy before she moved again.
Reborn shook his head, everyone was getting too distracted. "Since there are now three teams, we have to change the rules of the tournament. It will still be a fight for Leon" The hitman pointed at the chameleon that was still perched atop of the still standing snow pillars and then a general wave around the entire area. "And Ashlynn who has successfully evaded everyone's notice and attention. You'll win the moment you catch Ashlynn and Leon. And now Leon will start moving around too. It's Leon Turbo! The second and final round of the snow fight begins now!"
"This just got more interesting, Haha!" Yamamoto laughed as the three teams chased after the self-remote controlled Leon car as they realized that they didn't see Ashlynn anywhere.
Which suited said girl just fine as she threw a couple snowballs from the edges of the trees before she ran to another position before they could track her down. She got a clear hit at one of Dino's subordinates as he passed her by and she winced in sympathy as seconds later the man was hit in the face with Bianchi's poison cooking causing him to withdraw from the competition. A scuffle broke out between Bianchi's team that started to throw poisonous snowballs and Dino's team that started throwing snowballs that had real life bullets inside. While the two teams opposed each other Tsuna's team tried to sneak by, it was completely unsuccessful as the battling teams turned their attention to Tsuna's group and opened fired at them. They were quickly saved from destruction when Fuuta cried that he couldn't take anymore and wanted to make rankings, causing a sphere of snow to protect them from the onslaught of dangerous snowballs then Gokudera caused a distraction with dynamite while Yamamoto ran ahead to catch Leon with Dino quickly catching up then running past the baseball player.
Ashlynn crept along the side of the outer school walls towards the gates. She had to bite her lip from laughing too loud when Dino and Yamamoto were rolled over by a giant snowball making them withdraw since they couldn't move from the compact snow but her laughter was quickly cut short when Enzio stood enlarged by the water of the snow. She could feel her eye twitching and she crept a little faster and went to cross to the trees on the other side of the gap between the sidewalk and school gates and nearly made it before her arm was tugged and she was pulled back.
Gokudera was taken out of the game when Bianchi took off the goggles and tried to save him from being trampled by the large snapping turtle falling into sleep because of the cold weather. Enzio caused Bianchi, Fuuta, Romario and I-pin to withdraw due to missing in action under the turtle. The only one left unscathed and able move freely was Tsuna.
Tsuna ran after the transformed Leon across the grounds and made a catch for him but he slipped on a bit of ice on the sidewalk and slid across the ground face first. He groaned in pain and looked at the ground ahead of him to see two pairs of shoes within his vision then looked up to see Hibari holding the Leon car in one hand and was gripping Ashlynn's forearm in the other.
The prefect tilted his head. "What's this? And that giant turtle? A remote controlled car and a mess of herbivores and one Omnivore on school grounds?"
"Hiiiie! Hibari-san! Um...umm...why is Hibari-san at school...on a...a day that school had been let out?"
The prefect smirked. "It snowed so I was thinking of having a snowball fight. Though I just want to arbitrarily hit a bunch of targets. We must have met here because of fate. I guess then you shall be my target."
Ashlynn though technically captured couldn't help her grin. ' "Snow brings out the child in me. By child, I mean the asshole who wants to throw snowballs at all of my friends." '
Tsuna stared at the disciplinary leader in shock. 'Why...? Why hasn't he been arrested yet from anything of this?'
Hibari's grip on Leon tightened. The poor chameleon transformed into a little ball and was sweating, and Ashlynn tried her best not to seem to too nervous since the prefect had yet to release her arm from his grasp. He made a motion to peg the Leon ball at Tsuna who instinctively covered his face with his arms and shrieked in fear. Hibari chuckled and dropped the Leon ball at his feet and he released his hold on Ashlynn before he turned his back on them and made his way off the school grounds with a parting message.
"Or so I thought. But I still have responsibilities as the leader of the prefects of Namimori that need to be done. I will see you again. Make sure that you do not vandalize the school or I will bite you to death. Omnivore I shall see you later."
Tsuna sighed in relief. "I...I'm saved...eh? I unconsciously used something as a shield...? No way! I-pin! No! I-pin is in love with Hibari-san! And there's only three pinzu's left! Hiiiiiiie!"
Ashlynn blinked as she somehow found herself on the roof of the school with Leon nestled in her hair and Reborn in her arms and she closed her eyes as Tsuna realized that I-pin was about to explode in Tsuna's hands with only two pinzu's left on her timer and he ran in a panic and tried to pry the child off of him. He was far too late and the explosion lit up the school grounds.
Technically it was Hibari who won the competition because he had captured both Ashlynn and Leon but since he left, Reborn was declared the ultimate winner of the snow battle tournament. Ashlynn was just glad that Hibari hadn't come back to see what caused the explosion on the school's campus.
Buon pomeriggio- Good afternoon
Signora- Lady or Miss
Il mio dolce miele- My sweet honey
Grazie- Thank you
The line about throwing snowballs at friends is by infamouspj