01/04/12: Edited because I am an apathetic dork. Seriously.
A/N: Semi-important author's note (bolded) at the bottom.
18 reviews if I'm counting right! Thanks to DarkRoadHina, Chocolate Ribbons, stuffedninja101, SnowieG27, IceRose84528, hiyomi, ausumist, Juliedoo, DatAznKid, MoyaMetalDango13, fuwacchi (two times :D), Angie, omgpink (two times ^ ^), HibariluverP, midnight(.)wolf62, HappyxFat, Sheepoa, Pandorachan. I'm not exaggerating when I say I really, really, really wouldn't have been able to churn this chapter out if it wasn't for the encouragement. Thank you, thank you! :D You guys are awesome!
Thanks to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for betaing this chapter.
Possession
Chapter 11: Summer Love
"Hahi! Please hold still, Masami-san!" Haru giggled out as she wrapped the yukata around Masami's body.
"Tell me if any of the pins or clips hurt, Masami-senpai," Kyoko said cheerfully as she finished brushing Masami's hair.
"Ah... sorry... and I will, thank you..." Masami did her best to keep still as Haru and Kyoko fussed over her meanwhile chatting with one another about a new type of cake at their favourite cake shop.
Summer finished so quickly...Masami thought glumly as she obediently stayed still. She had spent her summer with Tsuna and the others. Masami smiled a bit as she recalled the small adventures they had had over the weeks, courtesy of a certain baby. Before she knew it, the summer festival had come around.
Masami sighed inwardly. She had forgotten about the promise Reborn had made to Hibari. It was only about three hours ago, when Reborn had come knocking on her door, that she had suddenly remembered. She was promptly introduced to Kyoko and Haru, who assured her they would do their best to make her the prettiest girl in the festival.
These two girls really are nice... Masami thought absentmindedly. Then she thought, Ow, as a pin accidentally stabbed her in the head.
She heard Kyoko gasp. "I'm sorry, senpai! Are you okay?"
Masami nodded and gave the younger girl a tired smile. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired..."
Haru squeaked as she finished tying the obi around Masami's waist. "Phew! It took a while to tie that, Masami-san!" She looked at Masami's body with slight envy. "Your waist is so thin! I'm so jealous!"
Masami smiled nervously. That's because I never have enough to eat, Haru-san... She didn't voice her thoughts out loud though. Masami blinked as Kyoko soon finished with her hair, pinning her long bangs back.
"I'm sorry, Masami-san..." Kyoko trailed off. "I only have very plain bobby pins..." she gestured to her short bangs. "I've never really had to pin my own back..." Masami's eyes softened at Kyoko's apologetic look.
"It's more than enough!" Her loud voice made the other two flinch in surprise. Masami grinned. "Thanks a lot, you two. Despite not knowing me that well, you still decided to help me." Even though I'm still unwilling about this whole thing... but it's the thought that counts!
Haru blinked. "Hahi! Of course! We heard you're trying to make a boy notice you!" Her eyes were suddenly filled with a determined fire. "Girls will always help girls when it comes to love!"
What.
Wait, what.
"...I'm not trying to..." What the hell did Reborn tell you two?
Kyoko smiled sweetly. "Do your best!" she interrupted.
"Believe in the power of love, hahi!" Haru exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air.
Masami sighed inwardly, giving up the notion of telling them Reborn had been lying. She looked anxiously at her reflection in the mirror. Did she look weird? She didn't want people staring at her when she was walking around.
Kyoko noticed and misinterpreted. "You look very pretty, senpai. I'm sure the boy will like it very much."
Haru gasped. "The prettiest, Masami-san! The prettiest! You were already very cute, hahi! The small bit of make-up on your face makes you look so beautiful!"
"Oh..." That isn't why I'm so nervous, but.. ."Thank you...?"
"Good luck!" Haru and Kyoko exclaimed at the same time.
These sandals are hard to walk in, Masami thought mildly as she tripped/walked through the festival, glancing at the stalls ever so often. She was trying to look for Reborn, who had told her to find him as soon as she got into the festival. She looked down nervously when she noticed some people staring at her.
Does it really look that weird? She wasn't used to wearing such feminine clothes but at the same time, she was thrilled. Masami had recently discovered she liked being in girly clothes, or maybe more like she liked dressing up every once in a while like every normal girl did? Before coming to Namimori, Masami hadn't really had much of an opportunity to dress up so a change of pace every once in a while was nice!
Masami smiled happily.
Should she thank Reborn for this chance?
Masami blanched at the same time she decided not to. She refused to thank someone who had an ulterior motive. She was still wondering why Reborn had insisted on her wearing a yukata to the , there's one good thing about doing this, Masami thought as she stomped/tripped through the crowd. It was that she was off-duty from her committee activities.
"WHYYY?"
Masami whipped her head towards the voice to see a vendor moaning with his head against one of the posts of his stall. She blinked, realizing the man had one of those shooting stalls. The second thing she noticed was that there weren't any prizes on the wall of his stall!
It can't be... Masami pursed her lips as she blankly directed her gaze at Reborn, who was standing on one of the stools with stuffed animals littered around the legs of the stool.
I knew it...
Masami sighed before walking carefully towards Reborn. Reborn noticed movement in the corner of his eyes and turned towards the staggering girl.
"Oh, Masami," he greeted. He looked at her up and down before smiling. "I knew you would look good in a yukata..."
Masami's eyes narrowed, suspicious, before she relaxed. "...Thank y-"
"...You have a flat body; the ideal type for the yukata."
Masami immediately changed her thanks to a, "Damn you." She then looked down at her chest. Was she really that flat?
"Yes, you are," Reborn answered for her. He ignored her glaring. "Go to Tsuna's stall."
Masami slumped her shoulders. "Tsuna has a stall...?" Why didn't she know about this?
Reborn nodded. "You remember when Yamamoto broke that window? Well even if you don't, they have to get money to pay for the damage costs."
Masami blinked before turning around. "I'll go help them then!" She was gone before Reborn could say another word.
"Heh."
Masami flatly watched from a few feet away as she saw Higashi and Renji screaming at a frightened Tsuna. They were extorting money and threatening to break the stall if Tsuna didn't pay up the money. It was... it was... unbelievable.
"Higashi-kun, Renji-kun," she called out mildly and still looking at the entire scene with a flat gaze. The two boys immediately turned around before their eyes both widened.
"M-Masami-san!" they both exclaimed before gaping at her appearance.
Masami raised an eyebrow in confusion as they both suddenly turned away, blushing. She ignored the action and began tapping her foot against the ground.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Um, well, we were..." Renji trailed off and looked to Higashi for help.
Higashi stiffened. "We were getting money for the Disciplinary committee," he explained tentatively.
"What..." Masami quietly whispered. Tsuna stared, incredulous, as the two boys hid behind him.
"WHAT?" She stomped towards them and pointed an accusing finger at them. Masami then proceeded to blow up.
"Why? Who do you think you two are! People are working hard to make this money and you go ahead and start threatening them! Do you think just because you belong to a scary middle school club that you can start extorting money off people! Do you see me running around threatening people with my power as a member?" She glared at the money box Higashi was holding.
Tsuna -san is really scary when she's angry. He glanced around nervously, wishing Yamamoto or Gokudera was with him. They had gone to get more bananas, leaving him to take care of the stall by himself. He hadn't been expected to be hassled by Disciplinary Committee members. Luckily, Masami was here to save him.
Save him...?
Tsuna's shoulders deflated as he realized he was being saved by Masami. This was the second time she was helping him out too. He watched in pity as the two other members shrank back from the small girl who was still screaming her top off.
"-and you've been doing this to all the stalls, haven't you? Go and return all that money this instant!" Higashi and Renji looked at one another before bowing.
"YES! Right this instant we will, Masami-san! We're going to return this money right now!" They were in mid-step before a voice interrupted.
"What did you two say?" Masami swerved around to see Hibari. He was glaring at his pair of subordinates with irritation obvious in his eyes.
"Oh good! Please tell them to stop extorting-"
He directed his glare at Masami. "And what do you think you're doing?" Something in his eyes flickered as he looked at her but it disappeared as fast as it appeared. Masami stepped back, confused.
Huh...? Wait... Her eyes hardened as she realized what was happening. "You... you ordered them to do this...?" Hibari ignored her and turned to Higashi and Renji.
"I expect you two to finish this row in an hour. If you don't..." He brandished his tonfas and the two boys made muffled squeaks. "I'll bite you to death."
They bowed. "Y-yes, Hibari-san!"
"Hold it!"
Hibari's eyes narrowed as the girl stepped in front of him to frown at Higashi and Renji in disappointment.
"Guys..." Masami frowned. "I thought you two were good people." They both stiffened and lowered their heads.
"...We aren't, Masami-san..." Higashi said quietly.
Renji shook his head. "You're the only one who thinks that..."
Masami blinked, confused. "What are you two talking abo-?" She felt a hand wrap itself around her wrist and was whipped around to meet eyes with a blank-faced Hibari.
"Aah..." Her eyes were akin to a doe caught in the headlights of a car.
"You're coming with me," he stated coolly. Masami frowned and put her hand on his, which was gripping her wrist tightly.
"Yeaah... I don't think so, buddy," she deadpanned while struggling out of his grip. "I still have to fight with you."You can't just force the members to extort money! She noticed his blank half-lidded stare which indicated he thought she meant literally fight with him. Masami set her mouth in a tight line.
"I mean that you shouldn't be extorting money, Hibari! I'm not going with you."
Hibari's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Fine." He turned to the Higashi and Renji who were watching the whole fight with fear in their eyes. Masami sighed. They were hiding behind a frightened Tsuna. It was a comical sight, seeing as how the two boys were taller than Tsuna.
"Return the money," Hibari ordered. Masami immediately turned to Hibari, her eyes wide in astonishment.
He actually listened. Amazing... Really amazing. For someone like Hibari to listen to someone like that...
"Let's go." Hibari pulled hard on her wrist, making Masami yelp and trip after him.
"W-wait!'
They disappeared into the busy crowd.
...
"...What do we do now?" Higashi asked Renji, who was wiping sweat off his brow.
"Return the money," Renji answered resolutely.
Go away already! Tsuna thought. He was almost near tears and his nerves were almost completely shot from surviving an encounter withtheHibari Kyoya. He glanced worriedly at the direction where Hibari had dragged Masami, praying he wouldn't be visiting her in the hospital the next time they met. They both turned to Tsuna. Tsuna backed away carefully. He didn't care what Masami thought.
These. people. were. violent.
EHH? His eyes nearly popped out of his sockets as they both bowed.
"Please take care of Masami-san, No-good Tsuna," they both asked in unison.
Tsuna frowned. Y-you don't ask people for a favour and then call them 'No Good'... He tilted his head. "What do you mean?" Higashi rubbed the back of his head, hair bobbing up and down with the movement.
"Hibari-san can be very unpredictable at times," Higashi explained. "We're worried about her well-being."
"A bit possessive and controlling too," Renji added.
Tsuna sweatdropped. They were blatantly insulting their leader. "I think she'll be okay though..." he looked away. "I mean, Hibari-san only thinks of her as a... a...pet." He cringed and inwardly asked Masami for forgiveness for calling her a 'pet'.
"We thought so too, but after seeing her dressed up no nicely..." Renji's snort interjected Higashi. "Dude, shut up... Anyway, just watch out for Masami-san."
Tsuna coughed to break the tense silence. "R...right..."Maybe these two aren't as bad as everyone makes them out to be,Tsuna remarked inwardly.I mean, they are worrying about Masami-san.
Renji nodded. "Right then. We'd like to buy two chocolate bananas," he said and then proceeded to take some money out of the box they were holding. Money which they were supposed to return to their rightful owners. Tsuna's jaw dropped. Higashi caught Tsuna's expression.
"Psh. We're going to give the rest of it back, No-good Tsuna. We're just hungry."
"Err..." Tsuna started but then promptly clamped his jaw shut when the scary Disciplinary members glared at him.
Nevermind. These people are evil! Tsuna gulped and starting preparing some chocolate bananas.
Tsuna shook his head. I don't know how you can stay around Hibari-san, let alone these people, Masami-san.
"Umm... Hibari-san," Masami began flatly. She was still being dragged by him. How long had it been now? Two minutes?
Hibari, predictably, didn't answer.
She sighed, resigning herself to being pulled to wherever. To distract herself from her... distasteful situation, Masami glanced around, excited. This was her first time at a festival. She had heard a bit of what you could at one from Rei and Akane but never had an opportunity to go to one since she was always moving around. She paused as she saw a goldfish scoop stall. Masami felt that the grip around her wrist was now loose, allowing her to slip through Hibari's grasp and skip to the stall.
Stupid Hibari, Masami thought as she purposely ignored the glare that was given to her back. Masami knelt down by the inflatable pool, trying to ignore how she was surrounded by little kids. She turned around quickly and caught sight of people giving her weird looks. Was it really that weird? She looked at the fish-filled water contemplatively.
I guess it is a little weird... She shook her head wildly, ridding herself of embarrassment. It was her first time at a festival and she intended to enjoy it to its fullest!
"One paper net please!" Masami hollered, unnecessarily loud, to the vendor. The vendor gave the girl a wary glance before handing Masami the net in exchange for a few coins.
"Yosh!" She dramatically dunked her paper net in the water...
...only to pull a broken net out, no fish in the watery paper.
Erm... Masami could feel a pink tint her cheeks as she heard snickering from the kids around her. Depressed, she shuffled her way back to Hibari who was waiting under a tree. He stared blankly at her forlorn expression.
"Finished?"
Masami nodded. "Yeah... Let's go..." Wait, what am I doing? She looked up to see Hibari walking off and frowned.
"I'm not following you, you know!" she called out. She flinched as Hibari turned around slowly, eyes promising violence if she didn't obey him. She crossed her arms stubbornly while at the same time regretting calling out to him.
Should have just let him walk off like an idiot... Masami lamented as he stalked towards her. Hibari's eyes narrowed dangerously as her eyes darted around, looking for an escape route.
There were none.
Masami would have immediately opted for disappearing into the crowd but there wasn't a crowd. Many people had moved away a safe distance when they caught sight of Hibari in the area. She glanced at the stalls.
Many of the vendors were minding their own business, paying no attention to her. Though once in a while, Masami could see one make eye contact with her, only to look down quickly. Crap. Maybe she should have come up with an escape plan before calling out to him like an idiot. Masami backed away slowly and very carefully. She didn't want to trip in front of him and embarrass herself, especially at a crucial time like this.
Do not provoke scary Disciplinary Committe Chairman with quick movements. She must have shrunk down on herself. That was the only reason Masami could think of why he was towering over her.
"Didn't I say..." Hibari lazily wrapped his long arms around her form, pushing her towards him with the hands on her back.
"...not to disobey me?" he breathed out against her collar bone.
Oh god... Masami struggled to pull back. He in turn pulled her closer to him until both their bodies were flush against each other. Masami could distinctly feel every part of him: his toned chest against her own, his legs casually locking hers, and the hard sensation of his belt buckle against her stomach. "Get... away..." she gasped out, which only made Hibari pull her closer to him.
"Not until you say 'yes'."
Masami floundered, unsure of what would be the appropriate reaction to have. She chose to struggle even more than before.
"You're acting strange, Hibari," she remarked against Hibari's shoulder. She tilted her head up. "Sick?" Masami witnessed him frowning before she was dropped unceremoniously on the floor by Hibari letting her go. She grimaced at the pain from the impact. Her butt really hurt now. Were stone grounds normally this hard?
He was... walking away from her?
Masami bit her lip as she watched him retreat. It was hard to be angry at Hibari when he was like that. He was mad, but it wasn't his usual kind of it was his usual, he would have beat me up, Masami thought plaintively.
He's acting... She grinned and hurried after him.
...like a sulky kid.
Hibari turned around when he felt a hand tugging on his jacket.
He watched as Masami stared at him contemplatively. The thoughtful expression on her face was more than enough to give away that she was right now trying to think of something to resolve the situation.
"A compromise is in order," Masami stated to him. She exhaled loudly and he noticed that she was fidgeting with her fingers, strangely uncharacteristic of her.
"I'll stay with you. You're patrolling, right? I'll do it with you since I thought it was a bit unfair how Reborn managed to get me out of prefect duties anyway," Hibari raised an eyebrow as Masami looked away, almost shyly. "But this is my first time at one of these things, so I still want to do stuff, okay?"
Hibari stared at her face for the longest time that it was beginning to make Masami her fidget even more. She seemed to realize she was still holding onto his jacket and let go quickly. Masami straightened so that she didn't have to tilt her head up more than she had to. The look she gave to him was placating but Hibari knew that with that personality of hers, she wouldn't rub it into his face if he said yes. If she did do something annoying like that, he would be sure to beat her down.
So with much reluctance, Hibari coolly nodded.
Hibari watched blankly as the girl, Masami, practically floated to the game stalls like a child in a candy shop. Not even the children who were at the stalls seemed to be as excited as her.
Her aim was terrible. On all the chances, she had missed the entire target, which was a feat within itself seeing as how the target boards were so large. Masami's shoulders slumped dejectedly as she finished her last shot. The sound of children laughing filled the air around her and she looked around, noticing that the kids around her were laughing. Her cheeks turned red.
Hibari studied her profile for a moment. Half-lidded brown eyes with lashes that looked longer than usual because of the tiny bit of mascara elongating them ever so slightly widened as the child in front of her tripped. The elegant up-do of her hair shifted and loosened, allowing stray strands to fall over her flustered cheeks as she helped the kid up gently. Her pink lips that were previously in a slight pout shifted into a small smile as the child grinned bravely up at her, despite the scrap on his knee.
Hibari didn't react when the baby decided to pop in beside him.
"Masami cleans up well, doesn't she?" Reborn smirked as the vendor of the stall, a blushing high school boy, offered Masami another try at his stall. He then looked to Hibari and predictably, he was glaring at the oblivious, enamoured boy.
"No," Hibari intoned blankly. Reborn sighed. Hibari was either dense or just plain stubborn. The infant was betting more the former than the latter. He had got to all this trouble for the head prefect only for Hibari to say Masami didn't look like she was a stick-thin kid. He wouldn't have his efforts be wasted by some stubborn guy.
Time to approach this from a different angle then...
"Yamamoto didn't see Masami at all today," Reborn remarked casually. As expected, Hibari took the bait and stiffened imperceptibly.
"Your point?"
"Nothing at all," Reborn replied innocently and suddenly, Hibari had re-directed his glare from the vendor to the small baby beside him.
"Don't test me or I'll bite you to death."
Reborn shrugged and glanced at Masami. She was being handed a large stuffed teddy bear from the boy with the scrapped knee. Most likely, the kid had taken her place as a participant in the shooting stall. Reborn had witnessed her first attempt at the game from a different location before going to Hibari.
Reborn was positive that with Masami's aim, she couldn't have won such a large prize.
He smirked smirked, very suddenly. If what he said next didn't bring out a reaction from Hibari, then nothing would.
"You seem to have grown attached to Masami over the past few months, Hibari." Reborn had noticed that it had begun slowly. At the beginning, Hibari had only accepted Masami into the committee because of the bet with Reborn (Never bet against Reborn) and was quick to try to disassociate her with the committee as much as possible. But now...
Reborn smiled as Hibari swung a tonfa at him. He dodged expertly and landed on his feet a good distance from Hibari.
The baby lifted the brim of his hat to meet cool metallic eyes. He smirked.
...
The Namimori Middle anthem interrupted the heavy atmosphere with a cheerful ring.
Hm? Reborn thought. Now what could that be? His eyes widened in surprise at what he saw next. Hibari promptly pulled out a cell phone that was blaring the familiar song much to Reborn's amusement. He flicked it open and turned slightly away from Reborn.
"What is it?"
Reborn raised an eyebrow as Hibari's stoic expression slowly morphed to one of annoyance as the person on the other line spoke rapidly. The baby tilted his head. It was most likely that fight with those thugs near the shrine. He could only contribute Hibari's irritation to the incident that was taking place right now.
The baby smirked at the memory from 10 minutes ago.
"Go get the money box back, No-good Tsuna." It was only a few seconds ago that their precious money they had earned from selling bananas was stolen by a thief. Reborn thought of this as an excellent opportunity for training, which was why he ordered the three boys not to alert the Disciplinary Committee of the robbery.
Reborn didn't think they would anyway. Hibari would likely 'confiscate' the cash and keep it for his committee, which all of them knew was a distinct possibility(threat).
Tsuna cringed at the mischievous glint in Reborn's beady eyes and backed away from the tutor to the relative safety of Yamamoto and Gokudera. He knew it was bad news for them that all their earnings had been stolen and he also knew that telling Hibari's committee of the theft was not a good idea, which meant that it would be a good idea to take matters into their own hands, but... but...
'HIIIEK! The look in Reborn's eyes is absolutely terrifying!'
Tsuna was putting his foot down this time. "No way! What if I get hurt?" He frowned. "There's no point in going, especially if I'm going to get hurt!"
Reborn's eyes narrowed, irritated. "Shut up." Yamamoto and Gokudera's eyes widened as their friend was kicked in the stomach by the Arcobaleno.
"Juudaime/Tsuna!" They knelt down to help the idiotic boy. Tsuna winced. He put a hand to his stomach and stared at his tutor fearfully.
"Reborn! What was that for!"
Reborn sighed. His idiotic student was such an... idiot. Leon morphed into a gun and the baby followed the transformation by clicking the safety off.
Tsuna's jaw dropped. "No, no, no, NO! You are NOT shooting me with that!"
Yamamoto laughed. "Are we about to play more of that mafia game again?"
"That's right, Yamamoto. It's the mafia game..." Reborn smirked, a mixture of more evilness than innocence in his black eyes. With a nod of affirmation from Reborn, Yamamoto proceeded to close down their stand. They had sold all but one box of bananas. Surely they could take a little break now to play, right?
"Stupid baseball freak!" Gokudera scowled. "We aren't playing a game, godammit!"
Yamamoto looked perplexed. "Eh? Of course we are, Gokudera." He grinned. "I mean, the kid's even gotten his toy gun out!"
"You dumbass! That isn't a toy-"
BANG!
The two boys automatically turned their heads to the noise. During their argument, Reborn had taken the opportunity to shoot Tsuna with a dying will bullet.
All was quiet among the patrons of the festival. It wasn't every day that they saw a baby shoot a middle school boy, after all. The tension was palpable as silence reigned among the masses, whose eyes were all on the unmoving boy lying on the ground. Suddenly, the boy popped up, a flame on his head and looking as fresh as a daisy. The flame was overshadowed as the participants of the Namimori summer festival quickly noticed that the boy was in nothing but a pair of boxers with pink hearts on them.
Tsuna raised both his arms above his head, hands clenched in tight fists.
"REBORN! Catch the thieves with my dying will!" the usually meek Tsuna boomed with gusto, oblivious to the scandalized shrieks from the people around him. He ran off with incredible speed, many people giving the exhibitionist more than enough space to get through easily.
"Juudaime!" Gokudera hurried after the Vongola boss, though with less speed but considerably more clothes on.
"Guys!" Yamamoto hurriedly draped tarp on the stall. As soon as he finished, he started after his friends only to be stopped by Reborn's voice.
"Yamamoto," Reborn called out. He had forgotten to mention it earlier. This didn't seem like a good time, especially since they were in the middle of training, but... The baby shrugged.
Whatever. Reborn moved his hat up so that he could see the inquisitive look on Yamamoto's face.
"Masami looks really pretty in a yukata," Reborn simply said. And that was enough for Yamamoto to understand that Masami was at the festival in a yukata. The boy's cheeks turned slightly red.
Yamamoto nodded shakily. "All right."
Reborn chuckled as Yamamoto jogged instead of sprinting and his smirk only widened when the usually coordinated Yamamoto pulled a 'Dino' and slipped on absolutely nothing.
The snapping shut of a phone lid made Reborn look up to see Hibari tugging his phone into his coat pocket.
"Going, infant..." Hibari muttered, tonfas clenched tightly by his side, as he started for the Namimori shrine which was just at the outskirts of the festival area.
Reborn blinked. "What about Masami?"
Hibari gazed briefly at the aforementioned girl. She was eating takoyaki now with a pleased smile between her stuffed cheeks.
"..." He stalked towards the shrine without a backwards glance.
Reborn sighed but covered it with a mischievous smile. He had to reluctantly admit that he should go supervise the entire situation, just in case it went too overboard. With a parting nod to the oblivious Masami, he started off after the prefect.
Hopefully she won't get into trouble with no one with her, Reborn thought as he recalled the kidnapping incident. He promptly left to go after Hibari and to watch the events unfold.
"Hibari...?" Masami turned on her heel, inadvertently spinning in a full circle. She scowled after nearly tripping in her footwear again. All right. That was the last straw. She carefully stepped out of the sandals and secured the straps in the crook of her finger of one hand. The other hand was preoccupied with an overstuffed teddy bear at the moment.
Now that that's over with... Masami squinted, meanwhile searching the faces of each individual in the crowd. There was no familiar face of a certain prefect glaring at her. Masami scowled. She had only been looking around for 10 minutes. Was he really that impatient to recommence patrolling and "protecting the peace of Namimori"?
"Tch." Sighing heavily, Masami ventured into the mob for any signs of the guy. She couldn't believe he just left her like that. She was slightly curious of what happened to Hibari. She wasn't worried about him in the slightest, just mildly curious/annoyed. While she searched, Masami could feel the mild feeling of anxiety in her heart transform to giddiness. She may not have a makeshift tour guide to lead her around the festival but the "Holy crap, I'm at my first festival" feeling was kicking in. The giddiness was swiftly put out with the fact that she had finished off the last few yen she had brought with her on that last dish of food. Damn. Masami's shoulders deflated. Why hadn't she brought more money?
Maybe it's because you don't have more money to bring, inner Masami pointed out.
Oh yeah.
...That meant all that was left for Masami to do at the festival was to patrol. She paused contemplatively.
...
"No," Masami deadpanned. No way was she going to be caught dead walking around like an sandal-less idiot. Masami could feel the peculiar looks sent her way as she marched on the stone road, careful to avoid any loose pebbles that could injure her feet. She was embarrassed enough as it was just walking around and trying to figure out what to do. What to do, what to do...
Masami's eyes widened as an idea suddenly popped into her head. She should go back to Tsuna's stand. Maybe they needed bananas that needed selling. She could give her aching feet a break on the stools behind the counter of the stall too.
With a slight happy hop in her walk, Masami ventured off to the stand.
"Umm, excuse me..."
The old man looked up from his newspapers to see a small young woman standing in front of his stand. He smiled, the skin around his eyes crinkled with the movement.
"Yes, miss?" He gestured his hand to his merchandise. "You want to buy something?"
She looked blatantly ashamed and turned away quickly. "Sorry..." She grinned at him sheepishly while he chuckled, waving off her apology with a hand. He didn't think it was a problem at all. "I was actually wondering if you could tell me why the chocolate banana stand beside yours is closed..."
The old man's eyes glanced at the stand. "Oh, are you a friend of those boys?" Masami nodded. "It's a real shame. All their money was stolen right when they were 'bout done sellin' all those bananas." He pointed to the direction of the Namimori shrine. "I think they went that a way to try to catch the thief."
Masami panicked before nodding hurriedly. "R-right! Thank you."
"Be careful if you're going after those boys, young lady," the old man warned. "Those thieves could be dangerous."
Masami stopped short of running to look at the man incredulously. "What... did you just say?" she questioned.
The old man blinked. "Be careful...?"
She shook her head furiously. "The last part!"
"...Those thieves could be dangerous...?"
Masami hummed contemplatively and squinted. "The middle."
"Um... young lady?" the old man said slowly. What was the big deal with what he had said anyway?
"Yep, that's it!" She hit her hand with her fist. "Not a brat, little girl or kid, but a 'young lady'!" Masami exclaimed excitedly. The old man blinked slowly as Masami grinned at him. "How old do I look?"
The old man tilted his head slowly as he surveyed her. She was wearing a kimono as yellow and bright as the sun with a subdued darker yellow obi around her waist. Her dark brown hair was held up in a casual up-do by a long pin with matching yellow flowers hanging off the end. The strange thing about her hair was her bangs, which seemed to be barely being held back by the weak bobby pins that held her straight chestnut brown hair. He could tell she was wearing make-up, but could care less about the names of the beauty products. She was young but he could tell she would be quite pretty once she grew up a little more.
Well, he ought to know what was beautiful! After all, my granddaughter's one of the prettiest young'ns I've ever seen, the doting grandfather thought haughtily as he recalled his beloved granddaughter, who was presently studying at a prestigious university in Toky-
"Ojii-san?" The old man was startled out of his thoughts as Masami called out to him. He smiled warmly at her inquisitive gaze.
"15..." he declared. "You look 15, miss!"
"I am 15!" Masami said like an idiot, smiling happily. "I'll be going now, ojii-san. Thanks a lot!"
"Good luck, miss," the old man hollered out to a waving Masami, who was, impressively, already all the way down the path. Goodness, she was fast. Her swiftness made him briefly miss his younger days. He sighed.
Kids these days, he thought as he watched her disappeared down the road.
"Y-you'll pay for this!" the delinquent high school boy screamed to the four middle school boys. The four were surrounded by high school students who were lying on the ground from the beating they got. Other than him and two others, everyone single one of them had been rendered unconscious by a bunch of middle school kids.
Dammit! Fucking brats! he thought angrily, backing away from the scene. His lip was busted and some of his teeth had been knocked out because of the fucking head prefect. Hibari was the one who needed to pay for what he had done the most. Said person had crossed his arms and looked to be arguing with the other three boys about what to do with the money. The high schooler scowled. So they didn't think he was worthy enough to finish the job on? One of his subordinates looked to him for guidance. The boy was sporting a black eye.
"Boss! What do we do now?" His voice was wavering. The obvious fear in it was unmistakable.
"Fuck..." The delinquent turned to the forest. That was their only way out since the brats were situated at the exit of the shrine.
"We're leaving for now!" The boy scowled as he clutched his mouth with one hand, the other having a few of his teeth in it. They will pay the next time, he promised as he made his way through the forest furiously, his two lackeys following him helplessly. Even with a full moon out, he was still tripping over stray branches because of the cover the canopy of the tree provided. This only made him more frustrated. He roared in anger, causing the other two to jump back. Their aniki had a scary temper.
"Hey, who's that?" one of his lackeys whispered. The boy turned towards where his friend was pointing. A girl in a yellow yukata was frowning at nothing in particular and looking around.
"Oh, I know!" the other subordinate cried out. "It's that girl who's always with that chairman guy. I think she's part of his club thingy."
The leader of the trio stared back at the girl who was now began walking deeper into the forest. He grinned, teeth showing. He had just gotten a wonderful idea. Something that could be the perfect revenge on the prefect bastard.
"Tsunayoshi-kun..." Masami hissed out. Her eyes darted quickly on the trees surrounding her. "Yamamoto-kun, Gokudera!" She continued walking for a few minutes before stopping to sit on a large rock. Masami sighed. It was official. She was lost. She must have made a wrong turn or something. One minute she was on a path and the next, she was in a forest.
Can't believe my damn rotten luck. Masami scowled, meanwhile glaring at a bush. She sorely regretted not taking that other turn when the path had split up. Masami looked at her feet mournfully. She cringed at the amount of dirt on them. Thinking it would only be a simple trip to the shrine, she had slipped the stuffed teddy bear and uncomfortable sandals into Tsuna's stall.
Masami shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. It was cold. Even though it was summer, once the sun set, the scorching heat chilled significantly. She tucked her head to her knees, eyes darkening. To be a little honest with herself, she was scared. For as long as she could remember, she had always been afraid of the dark. The darkness and enclosed spaces were two of her greatest fears. Masami shut her eyes tightly and curled into an even smaller ball.
She had been afraid of the dark and small spaces ever since...-
"Hey there, little girl..."
Masami felt a vein pop from her forehead, dissipating any scared emotions in her heart.
Little girl? she thought angrily. She stood up and swerved around to see three roughed-up boys who looked to be in high school. She neglected to see the sleazy grins pasted on their bruised faces.
"Who the hell do you think are to be calling me a little girl?" Masami was already grumpy that she was lost. She didn't need someone insulting her by calling her a 'little girl'. Masami was pretty sensitive about how old she looked.
The boy, who looked to be leading the trio, grinned even more widely.
"We just want to play with you, that's all." He stepped forward as Masami began to cautiously step back, her face slowly paling now that she had a better look at them. "You shouldn't mind too much having fun with men like us, after all." Masami's eyes widened. Despite his words, she could tell he didn't want to "play" (whatever that meant) with her. His whole body language reflected violence but the real thing that gave away his anger was the malicious glimmer in his eyes. For whatever reason, he wanted to hurt her. Badly.
He grinned. "Get her!" the boy commanded. The other two, who had been previously behind their leader, stepped forward. Masami grimaced as she was suddenly snatched by the arm by a pudgy hand.
"Get off me!" Masami ground her teeth as the boy grinned at her. She scowled. Who the hell did he think she was? Did they really think she was going to go with them so easily? She wasn't going to be led away by these guys without a fight!
Masami slapped the chubby boy across the face, the sound of the action like the crack of a whip against the ground. The boy fell back, half from the shock of the slap and the surprising strength she carried despite her stature.
...That's what you get for underestimating me. Masami backed away cautiously. He lay on the cold ground, one foot through the door between awake and a light lucid dream.
The other two stared with her in a newfound light. Masami watched as the leader silently signaled to his subordinate. The pair were surrounding her like wolves did before they pounced on their prey.
Damn it... She shouldn't have hit that guy so hard. They would have continued to underestimate her if she hadn't knocked him out like that. She wasn't good with spontaneity... Her small advantage of being underestimated was now gone.
Masami gasped. The other boy had snuck up behind her while she was daydreaming and had pinned her body against his own. His arms were hooked with her own, preventing her from even moving an inch from her current position.
"Heh." The one in charge leered. "Caught you~"
The hardy mask she had on cracked into a million infinitesimal pieces, so small that the courage she had displayed before could be nonexistent for all it did for her now. She began to shake. And as more of the adrenaline seeped out of her veins, the more shaking she did, until she was shaking so hard from fear that it was visible to the trio. They guffawed and she could feel her eyes stinging from bitter unshed tears.
"Haha! The bitch is shaking!"
"In that bastard's place, you're going to pay for it instead." The boy approached her with a confident slowness in his saunter.
Who... was it? Who was she being used as the martyr for? Her fists clenched. An irrational hatred for the person sprung up in her like a weed. Some part of her mind knew it wasn't the person's fault that this trio was planning on taking revenge using her, but... She pushed the thought away. She could... focus on that later. Right now...
Masami blinked back the unshed tears. Some small part of her brain penetrated through the chaotic thoughts and emotions. If she cried, it would only give them satisfaction. Satisfaction that she absolutely didn't want to give them. It would be like giving up her soul, the very essence that was her.
She had promised not to cry to him, after all.
Breathe Masami... She slowed her quivering heart. Panicking wouldn't do. But her instincts and body were betraying her mind. Shutting her eyes tightly, what was left of Masami's rational mind scurried around to find a suitable way to get her out of the situation.
Sandals may have been better than going barefoot, she thought in passing. Then she inwardly laughed morbidly at her own thought. Here she was thinking of footwear in this kind of situation when she was supposed to be thinking of some way to escape. Her toes scrunched together and she squeezed her knees together to keep in warmth that was lost in the cool summer air. The action made her blink. A small seed of hope flowered.
Her legs were still free to move.
If she could...
All three of them stiffened when she suddenly slumped, her weight being supported only by her captor.
"Hey, is she awake?" the leader asked.
The person holding her leaned in to check, loosening his hold at the same time.
That was enough.
Masami headbutted the person holding her. The blood rushing in her ears was so loud that it silenced the startled yelp. She could feel her head throbbing from the hazardous impact, but she willed herself to ignore it.
A sharp intake of cool air.
Masami shot past the other two and dashed off into the forest.
She held her shaking hands to her chest as she heard the scuffles of a chase beginning.
Tsuna sighed. They had gotten the money back from Hibari. Unfortunately, they had gotten only their money back. The rest of people who had their sales stolen wouldn't be getting their money back from the Disciplinary Committee. They were now walking back to their stand, Hibari having gone into the forest after the remaining trio who had escaped.
The Vongola Tenth smiled at the appearance of their closed stand. He had thought something might have happened to it. After all, the possibility of Hibari sending his committee to smash it wasn't that farfetched.
"We got all the money back, Juudaime." Gokudera grinned at Tsuna who returned it with a sheepish smile. Reborn, who had been sitting on Yamamoto's shoulder jumped off and expertly leaped into small hole through the tarp covering the stand.
Yamamoto laughed. "It's great. Now we can pay for that broken window!" The grin the bomb-user had been sporting suddenly turned upside down. He glared at Yamamoto.
"Stupid! You're the idiot who broke it in the first place!"
Tsuna sighed wearily as the two began arguing. Well, more like Gokudera was doing all the arguing and Yamamoto was just standing there, laughing. He would have continued to watch them fight if not for a heavy object that was thrown against him. He fell down with a shriek.
"Juudaime!" Gokudera cried out, rushing by Tsuna's side who was currently being pinned down by what knocked him over.
"Haha! Tsuna, when did you get that teddy bear?" Yamamoto grinned at the sight of the giant stuffed animal on Tsuna. Tsuna moaned in pain as Gokudera lifted the heavy thing off him.
Tsuna sat up slowly. "Where... where did that come from?"
"From me," a familiar squeaky voice said. Tsuna turned to see Reborn frowning at him.
"What are you doing, Reborn!" He shrieked as Reborn shot him a glare from the corner of his eye.
"...Is there something wrong, Reborn-san?" Gokudera asked. Reborn looked at the boy before nodding his head slowly.
"Where's Masami?" The baby pointed to the teddy bear beside Tsuna. "That's hers." Where the heck was that girl? Reborn regretted leaving her alone like that. Ever since entering the committee, Masami had been on the receiving end of many negative emotions of others, mostly due to the fact she was associated with Hibari.
"...Oh, you mean that sweet girl?"
The four turned to see the old man that owned the stand next to theirs looking at them with his head cocked to one side. "She went to look for all of you a while ago. Quite worried, you know." He blinked. "Did you get your money back, by the way?"
Tsuna nodded slowly. Why was it that he could feel dread in him now? "Yeah... we did..."
The old man smiled as he finished packing up the last of his things. The festival was over and all around them, others were doing the same with their stalls. The only thing left to end off the night were the fireworks.
"Good on all of ya!" He chuckled. "Well, I best be going now. Gonna go watch some fireworks!" The old man hobbled off.
Reborn frowned, thinking. "...Masami... she's in the forest..." he concluded.
Tsuna's jaw dropped. "EHH? What do you mean she's in the forest? Why would she be in there?" The dread tripled. Hadn't those three high schoolers also gone into the forest? Yamamoto was frowning worriedly while Gokudera had taken an uncaring expression.
Reborn shrugged. "She went to go look for us and must have gotten lost. All that's there," He pointed towards the direction of the shrine. "...is the shrine itself and then the forest." He smirked and Tsuna saw the shine of the gun.
He paled considerably when he saw the firearm. "NO! No way! I'm not getting shot with that again!" he shrieked.
"You don't have a choice No-good Tsuna," Reborn stated before shooting his student for a second time that night. They had to go look for Masami. Who knows what was happening to her right now.
Masami hadn't known she could be this afraid. She hadn't tasted fear like this for a long time because she had always felt safe when Rei or Akane were with her.
But now... I'm alone. It was a terrible feeling.
Loneliness.
Panting heavily, she lithely ran through the forest, careful to avoid roots and rocks that littered the cold, hard ground. She couldn't afford to turn around to see if they were going after her, knowing that if she did, she could fall to the ground and hurt herself.
Masami could feel herself struggling to breathe. After a while, she couldn't hear any footsteps behind her. Maybe they had left? She didn't bothering looking behind her when she sought rest under a tree. With two hands planted on the trunk, she looked down while taking big gulps of the cool air.
Masami's forehead bumped against the tree as she leaned against it. "I think..." Pant. "...I lost them."
Please... be gone. Please.
"I don't think so," a male voice whispered right next to her ear.
Masami cried out as she was grabbed by the elbow and flung onto the ground. She floundered to get up but was stopped by the vice-grip of sweaty hands on her wrists and equally tight holds on her ankles. She looked up to see the boy standing above her, grinning. Masami saw some perverted sick pleasure in his eyes as they raked across her form a second. She tried struggling for a few moments only to give up. No good. The other two were pinning her legs and arms on the ground, their grips tight enough to bruise.
"Don't loosen your hold," he ordered the pair. "She could cause trouble for us." As a result of their boss's words, they made their grip even tighter. She grimaced from the pain.
"Get off me!" Masami yelled, heart in throat. She didn't want this. Would rather do anything than this. Would rather go to the hospital a million times if they only let her go!
The boy leered, but did not say a word. He yanked away her loosened obi, tearing it in the process. He threw it over his shoulder, eyes never leaving her. Her yukata opened from the movement, revealing her thin camisole and legs to see. He put his hand on her knee and sneered cruelly at her face, meanwhile gauging her reaction.
Coldness.
Her mind was screaming at her to do something. Anything. But her body -her traitorous body- was frozen in fear. She could feel the ugly emotion, ice cold and choking. All of these feelings were leading to a sense of helplessness that was making her tear up. What if's popped into her head while the person above her screamed in anger at the cold blankness of her face. The sounds and sensations were fading slowly. She barely registered how he was yelling at her or how he had just slapped her across the face. The hit left a painful-looking red mar on her cheek, but she wasn't perturbed by it in the least. She couldn't feel pain anymore. She couldn't feel anything anymore. There was a nothingness that should have been terrifying to her, but at the same time, she welcomed it. It felt like she was just a spectator to what was happening to her, like she was out of her body and was just now... watching. Simply watching.
Was that okay?
The boy could feel desperation well up inside of him. She wasn't screaming. She wasn't doing anything. She was just simply looking at him with glassy eyes. If he didn't see how her chest was rising up and down, she would have thought she was dead by how motionless she was. He growled. Dammit, dammit, dammit!
"You," He grasped at the camisole and pulled hard. "...and your fucking bastard of a chairman..." The delicate material tore, revealing bandages wrapped around her torso. "...can go rot in hell!"
His sweaty hands barely grazed the girl's chest before he was thrown off his position above her and flung a few feet away. A foot promptly stomped hard on his face. The strength of it was enough to dig his entire head an inch into the cold rock-hard floor. He was bleeding from his head. The other foot of his attacker smashed down against his arm and the boy could clearly hear the snap of a clean break of the bone. He cried out from the pain as the foot mercilessly twisted back and forth, digging his now-broken arm into the floor.
He heard his lackeys' terrified yells of, "Fuck, it's him!" before losing consciousness.
Masami's eyes shot open.
She was back.
She was here.
She watched in horror as a mysterious shadow flung the boy off her and away. The grip on her wrists and ankles disappeared entirely as she heard the guttural howl that came from the boy. The scream sounded like something you would hear from a wounded, dying animal and she shivered from her position lying on the ground. She could hear the sounds of attacks and pitiful shrieks coming from the other two as they were punished by the mysterious shadow that had saved her.
...Get up, her brain commanded her. She nodded blearily, now on auto-pilot. She sat up cautiously (she was still shaking), trying in earnest to not be distracted by the begging and moaning and screaming that she could hear from the boys in the darkness. Masami grimaced as she heard the clear sound of another bone snapping. It was almost pitch black now, the cloud hiding the moon's rays.
Masami's eyes were blank as she stared at the dirtied yellow obi a few feet in front of her. Too preoccupied in her thoughts was she to bother identifying who the shadow was.
...She had almost been, was so close to...
Masami shuddered and wrapped her arms around her as the realization hit her. She couldn't finish that sentence. Her thoughts drifted, coming to a stop as she remembered the boy above her just a few moments ago who had looked so...evil, so malignant. The image niggled Masami's mind and a memory came flashing back:
Lights.
Bright fluorescent lights shined down on her. She was on a sterilized slab of cold metal. The chill reached through her thin cotton gown, worming into her skin and settling into her bones. She stared blankly at the bright lights, willing her eyes to shrivel up and for her to be blinded as she listened to the ones in lab coats surrounding her. Their shadows hovered above her.
"She's reacted well," a voice stated.
Another chuckled. "It's a success. The only physical flaws we've determined are a change in the subject Mana is the eye and hair colour and even then, it's non-consequential."
"Should we continue?"
A hand touched Masami's shoulder and the voices began to fade.
"...Affirmative, but we should tread carefully."
A movement of someone nodding.
"After all, we lost all the other subjects from this experiment..."
Masami's eyes lit up, slowly losing the dull sheen to them.
...Ah...
"H...Hibari," she croaked out. Hibari let go of her as soon as she looked up. There was blood on his cheek that was most likely not his.
"Why are you... here...?"
Hibari's cool eyes assessed her appearance. Something flickered in his eyes. If she had been in the right state of mind, she would have known it to be guilt.
"...We're leaving."
She was still shaking like a leaf, the negative side effects of that still fresh in her head and body.
Masami didn't notice though. She felt numb, like she had just woken up from a long, dreamless sleep. In fact, the only reason she was walking was because of the young man in front of her, who was leading her quietly out of the forest. She pulled the tatters of her clothing closer to her. The chill in the air had gotten stronger.
If he had been any later, who knows what would have happened.
"...Um," she began awkwardly. Her voice was as rough as sandpaper from disuse and screaming. He didn't stop, but he did slow down. Enough that it encouraged her to timidly catch up to him.
"T-thanks." She didn't know what else to say. Words meant little to Hibari, so it didn't matter much.
He stopped then, turned to her expressionlessly. He hadn't made eye contact with her at all, so the action surprised her and at the same time, scared her. She hadn't expected the latter feeling. Maybe because she hadn't expected it to feel like he was staring right past her relatively calm front to her very soul, to the chaotic emotions swirling just underneath. Masami looked away.
She felt like crying now.
"...Sorry." She didn't know why she said it, but it seemed instinctively appropriate. Masami rubbed the nonexistent tears with her hand. For some reason, they stubbornly refused to come out and all she could feel was a stinging pain behind her lids.
"Here." He held his hand out to reveal something that seemed to shine in the dim moonlight. It was a simple sturdy-looking bobby pin made for pinning back bangs was the base of a silky-looking pink Sakura flower. It looked expensive and it took her a moment to recognize it from a stall earlier. Scratch 'looked'. It was expensive. She gulped and hesitantly plucked the object from his palm, her cold fingers brushing against the warm skin. She silently placed it in her hair, sweeping her long bangs back.
And against her will, she felt a little tiny bit better.
When they were on the outskirts of the forest, Masami felt good enough to at least act like her normal self. She wouldn't forget this night. She didn't think anyone who had the same experience as her could forget it, but her subconsciousness was telling her to remember the good parts of the festival more than the bad parts. She touched the cool metal in her hair and smiled a very tiny smile.
At the very least, she had a token to remember one of the good parts of the night.
They both stood there watching the lights from the stalls wink out as more and more owners packed up their wares. The night for the festival was ending.
She attempted a grin. "Thanks for the pin, Hibari! It's pretty nice!"
"I hate fakers..." He didn't even look at her.
The grin slid off her face. "...Am I really that obvious?"
He was about to answer. Would have answered if not for what happened.
She yelped as she suddenly felt something (a foot?) land on her hand and a loud voice saying, "REBORN! Save Masami with my dying will!" But hat was the least of her worries. The momentum caused her to trip on her foot and stumble forward. Instinctively, she grabbed on to the closest thing, which happened to be Hibari, to try to prevent the impeding fall. It would have beensuccessful if not for the fact that Hibari was unprepared to see a naked Tsuna above in the night sky behind Masami.
She felt something very similar to lips against her own for a brief moment before she was pushed to the side by a furious Hibari.
"That..." Masami stared wide-eyed at Hibari and felt herself stiffen when she saw that Hibari, like herself, had a cut on her lip from when she had... accidentally bit his lip.
"...That didn't just happen, did it?" she asked out loud.
As Hibari went to deal with Tsuna in his own way, Masami wondered... if this memory was a good or bad one.
...
It was... definitely. Bad.
End of Daily Life Arc
A/N: What I wanted to say that was important was there will be no update next week (...and possibly the week after that). But this chapter was about 12k so... I guess it all evens out...? I've run out of pre-written chapters and need time to start writing more chapters again. I hope you all can understand.
I think I'll most likely be able to update in two weeks instead of the possible three weeks if you guys told me what you all thought of this chapter. This is a major leap in their relationship and I'm worrying if I did it all right.
Your reviews fuel my passion to write! Thanks for reading!
Next Chapter: Relapse
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