An Interesting Walk to School:
I couldn't particularly call it a restful sleep that night. I kept dreaming one guy after another were charging after me with all different assortments of weapons and flames, that it was actually a relief when the blaring alarm of the clock went off. It brought me out of the repetitive hell I had put myself in and slapped the alarm off. Not that the time was doing any favors for me. It was hard enough to fall and stay asleep, getting up was just as hard.
As I scrounged through my drawers for my clothes for the first day of school, I wanted to do something that was both a statement, but not noticeable. I smiled a little as I pulled out a simple green shirt with a bull head on the breast. I remembered how the characters of that one superhero show always wore their costume colors, so I found this to be a bit funny. I don't know why, but I was always a bit fond of bulls as well. I slipped it and a pair of pants on, got my shoes on and made my way toward the dinning hall.
I made it there on my own, and was greeted by the smell of sausage and pancakes. It was a scattered assortment of food around the table. Ryona was in her seat, eating quietly, but most notably was Hotaka and Ryohei scarrfing the food down almost as fast as they got it on their plates.
"And I thought I was the fast eater." I said to get Hotaka's attention. He looked up with a mouth full of food and quickly swallowed.
"Have to eat fast today. Have to get in my early morning jog before school." He said quickly before grabbing another sausage patty.
"How far do you jog?" I asked as I took a seat.
"A few miles or so, no big deal." Hotaka said as he came up for air. "Gotta stay fit, you know?"
"Right." I said as I took a plate full of pancakes. As I looked around, there was practically no one here. Hotaka, Ryona, and Ryohei were the only ones present. "Where is everyone? I thought we had to leave by eight."
"Tazia and apparently Kirata are late risers." Ryona said from her seat at the end of the table. "Hideki, Katsumi, and Uncle Takeshi are in the dojo practicing."
"Let me guess, so it's fresh in their minds?"
"Pretty much." Ryona said as she took a bite of her pancakes. "And dad and them have other business, so they're already off. Mom and Aunt Ernesta are actually still in the kitchen. Nice shirt by the way, I haven't seen any Bovino kids around school, should make a statement."
"Bovino kids?"
"The symbol on your shirt." Ryona pointed. "It's the Bovino Family insignia. Your dad was actually a part of that family before becoming the Lightning Guardian."
"Huh." I looked down at my shirt. "And here I just thought it looked cool."
"That's kind of the point of an insignia now isn't it?" Hotaka commented as he took a deep drought of milk. "Ahh, all right we're off!" Hotaka said as he stood quickly and replaced his chair. "You ready dad?"
"You bet!" Ryohei exclaimed as he too shot out of his chair. "Off we go."
In no time flat, they were both out of the house.
"To be honest, it scares me how similar they are." I admitted to Ryona.
"It does to a lot of people who see them side by side. You should have seen some of the reactions the school had when Hotaka ran late one day because he was racing Uncle Ryohei. Burst straight into Hotaka's class and wrestled each other for Hotaka's chair. Best laugh I had that semester."
"How do you even know that?"
"They ran by my class, so I followed to make sure they didn't do anything too dangerous while they were hyped up like that."
"Well you two seem to be on good terms now." Kirata commented as he walked in. "Any room for me?"
"I see plenty of open seats." I waved. "Take your pick."
"Don't mind if I do." Kirata said as he took the seat next to me. "I see I missed the storm again." Kirata said as he examined the mess Ryohei and Hotaka left behind.
"You get here late on purpose, don't you?" I asked.
"Of course not." Kirata took a false tone. "I show up exactly when I need to."
"Which is directly after a disaster is over." I speculated.
"That just happens to naturally coincide." Kirata said as he grabbed some pancakes. "Hideki and company will be here shortly, they were wrapping up as I walked by."
"Oh come on, even you get to see their practice?" Ryona complained.
"Have you not told her about the whole 'eye' thing?" I whispered.
"I'm seeing how long I can keep it from her without her noticing. I just love dropping hints like this."
"You're evil, you know that?"
"Thanks, comes from my fathers side."
"What are you two whispering about?" Ryona asked.
"Nothing, but Kirata just… uh… heard the sword speed slowing down, yeah." I lied.
"You're horrible at lying, you know that right?" Ryona glared at me.
"I know." I mumbled as I moved my own pancake around the plate.
"Honestly, it's like you've never had to lie before in your life." Kirata observed as he took a bite of his breakfast.
"Not really, I've never had a reason to."
"Well, that's going to change in torture class." Kirata said.
"In what class?" I asked as the doors swung open as Hideki, Katsumi, and Yamamoto came in. "No, seriously, what class?"
"Good morning to you too." Hideki grumbled as he took a seat.
"What nipped you in the butt this morning?" Kirata asked, completely ignoring me.
"Hideki messed up today." Katsumi said as she took the seat next to her brother.
"Katsumi…" Hideki groaned.
"Set his training back-"
"Katsumi, that's enough." Yamamoto said.
"Yes dad." Katsumi went silent.
"Morning everyone." I heard Tazia yawn as she walked in.
"Morning to you too." I said as I looked over my shoulder. "Sleep soundly?"
"Like always." Tazia said as she took her seat next to Ryona.
"So, how does this usually work? Getting to school and all?" I asked.
"I just walk with Kirata, it's a nice quiet walk." Hideki said as he picked up a sausage.
"Ryona, Tazia, and I usually take the car there." Katsumi said. "It's always to noisy when we walk."
"Gee, I wonder why." I said sarcastically. "You said it was only about a fifteen minute walk, right? I'll take the walk."
"Suit yourself." Tazia said as she served herself breakfast.
"Well then, we should be heading out soon." Hideki said as he checked his wristwatch. "We should probably get you to school early to make sure everything is in order."
"And we can go over all of the classes that are at the school, right?" I glanced at Kirata, who was acting oblivious to my remark.
"Exactly." Hideki nodded. So breakfast passed without another word. When Tazia, Ryona, and Katsumi were done eating, Yamamoto led them out to the location of the car for the day. Kirata, Hideki and I headed out the front door after grabbing our backpacks.
I think the expression 'a few' was lost on the Neo Vongola family, because walking out the door; I could see at least twenty cars waiting. Some of them were limousines; others were simpler in design, a few Volkswagens and even a Ferrari or two.
"Well, looks like we got some new ones." Hideki commented as he adjusted his bag.
"How can you tell?" I asked.
"The new ones always send limos to look impressive." Hideki said as we walked down the front drive. "The Ferraris are new though."
"Wait, won't they figure out where the drive is if we just walk out there?"
"Not in the slightest." Kirata said proudly. "Mom set it up so that no matter where it's viewed from, it'll look like a completely different angle the second you look away. So even when we do walk out, the distraction of us suddenly popping up will switch the illusion around immediately."
I whistled in amazement. "I feel a lot better now knowing that sort of power is on our side. If I had to fight that sort of illusion, I don't know if I could keep my eyes straight."
"Well, you might have to one day." Hideki said. "You never know when someone more powerful or trickier than you will pop up. It's one of the reasons we have Flame Management."
"Right, so what were the other courses we were taking again?" I asked.
"Oh, normal things like math, history, science, torture, marksmanship, and business management." Kirata listed off.
"Funny that, I don't remember torture or marksmanship being in my last school." I monotoned.
"Really? I thought those were some of the essentials." Kirata smiled.
"Oh come off it already Kirata. Stop pulling Sanget's leg already."
"So there aren't those sort of classes?"
"Oh no, there are, but just not as menacing as Kirata is making it sound. It's pretty much more history and an extra P.E. class."
"Oh thank god." I breathed.
"Still wouldn't hurt to pick up a tip or two on lying during interrogation." Kirata said.
"Right, so, how should I approach this entire situation anyways? I mean, I'm part of a powerful family, sure, but I'm a complete nobody in the mafia world."
"That's not quite true now, actually." Hideki pointed out. "Most people do know about you since Ryona's Guardian requirements leaked. The day after word spread, Hotaka had transferred over and Sugu's name was on everyone's lips. I'm pretty sure you would have had to pop up in those searches."
"Yeah, but thanks to the Neo Vongola, your location was still a secret." Kirata added. "We were just lucky to keep our database hack down to names."
"Well, it looks like someone got the location as well." I muttered. I guess it was a good thing to have some sort of credibility to the school before showing up, but then again, these people might know everything about me. And that scared me.
"But don't worry so much about it." Hideki said as he threw an arm over my shoulder. "You got me, Kirata, Hotaka, and the girls to back you up. You don't have to worry about a thing."
"Besides being new to the entire world of mafia." I said.
"Hey, everyone starts somewhere, where better than school?" Kirata posed.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." I smiled. The rest of the walk was just as quiet as Hideki had said it would be, and it actually gave me time to look over the architecture of Italy. It was very nice to look at and traverse, but I think the same aesthetic as the mansion, if it weren't for Hideki and Kirata, I would be lost, either in amazement or actual directional challenge.
As we arrived at the school, I was in awe at how beautiful it was, even in comparison to its surroundings. It was at least four stories high and was quite extensive. I could even spot a tennis court to the side. There were already many people milling around the grounds, and there was even a run around of cars still dropping off students. I had to stop at the gate to take it in.
"What? Is this the first time you've seen a school too?" Kirata asked.
"No, but this just seems…exuberant."
"Well, there are at least 150 mafia's funding and attending this school, some of the budget had to be put into construction." Hideki said. As he did, a swell of talking went up at the run around. As I looked over, I noticed Tazia leaving the car.
"Huh, must have been some back up in the traffic." Kirata noted. "We usually show up after them."
"Well, I guess this'll be an excellent opportunity to see how Ryona acts in public." I said.
"Why do you say that?" Hideki asked.
"I guess, getting to know her a little gave me the impression she had some sort of personal and professional identities. Otherwise, I don't see how she could be looked upon as an idol."
"Mostly it's just her having a pretty face." Kirata said.
"I'll say." Hotaka said as he jogged up to us. "Have I missed it yet?"
"Missed what?" I asked.
"The daily morning brawl." Hotaka said straight. "Everyone was just getting so eager to fight with Ryona that she set up a schedule. Last I checked, there was at least one this morning."
"Well, I think you showed up just in time then." Kirata said as he pointed out a pusher in the crowd. "They seem eager to get it over with."
He was right. There was bit of space between Ryona, Tazia, and Katsumi and the rest of the crowd that by the time the movement got to the space, a guy with ragged brown hair and a less than clean appearance popped out in front of them.
"Here." Kirata said as he handed me an earpiece. I put it in and I suddenly heard Ryona's voice loud and clear. I quickly looked to Kirata, who was now holding a listening dish. Without a word, he snapped his fingers and my vision was augmented like it was in the garden. Suddenly the students were all just outlines filled in with pillars of color, but the dish was pure indigo. I guess Kirata had one hell of a talent for illusions to make a solid object form nothing. As I tuned into Ryona, I suddenly felt a chill go down my spine.
"You heard me, I'm not going to fight you."
"But you're the one who made the schedule in the first place! You can't just go against it!" The guy complained.
"That was before there was a change to the schedule." Ryona said calmly.
"And when was that? I've been waiting a month for this chance!"
"It changed over the weekend." Ryona replied coldly. There was a ripple through the crowd as she continued. "Over this weekend, I changed my plans to include a preliminary fight."
"What?" The guy roared angrily. "No one else had to go through a preliminary!"
"And they all lost easily. So, as to not waste my time, I'm now making a preliminary to go through my Lightning Guardian."
Now the ripple of conversation was even greater. Suddenly I felt a multitude of eyes fall on me. I looked around and found I wasn't wrong; everyone close to me was already giving me questioning looks. The guy up front was looking more and more flustered, so I decided to save him at least some embarrassment.
"Was this what you meant by testing Ryona?" I called out. Now everybody had their eye on me and backed away to make a straight line to the group. I took out the earpiece and Kirata snapped his fingers again to set my vision straight. I walked right up to the four through the crowd. "Honestly, did it have to be so early in the morning?"
Tazia and Katsumi looked completely confused, but Ryona rolled with it. "You have to be prepared for every possible moment, and that includes school."
"And this guy is your Lightning Guardian?" The guy asked.
I just turned to look at him. "I'm Sanget Li Rizzo, and I am the Neo Vongola Secendo's Lightning Guardian. Now, if you have a qualm about that, please state it now."
"I do!" He declared angrily. "This isn't what I signed up for!"
"What did you sign up for? A date for beating up a girl? Romantic Romeo."
"Like you know anything!" He snapped.
"You're right, I don't know anything, so why not give me a lesson Teach?"
"I'll give more than a lesson." He growled. "And my name isn't Romeo or Teach, it's Spadda, and you'll wish you hadn't come to school today!" He proclaimed as he drew a sword from his pocket.
