As Shizu made her way back to the school, she had a deep and unsettling feeling of being watched. She gripped her bat in one hand, the spikes currently withdrawn into its interior, and almost hoped that someone would try to attack her. After receiving the news that Xanxus would be visiting Japan, and seeing Isabelle's reaction, she knew she could stand to relieve some stress. Preferably by beating someone's face into a pulpy mess.
Arriving at the baseball field, she found Gokudera sitting against the fence. She couched down and cringed at his wounds. "Hm? What happened to you? Did your gang friends get pissed off at you or something?" Shizu asked, tilting her head.
He spat blood into the grass and scowled. "Just give me the damn bandages, Nanase. It's none of your business." The boy accepted the roll of gauze from her and set about wrapping his own wounds.
The more she stared, the more she realized that the beating had come from a blunt instrument. Not from knives? Wouldn't gang members use knives usually? Shizu tapped the end of her bat against the ground, her frown unwavering. "So who was it? Just tell me so I know whose ass I have to kick." To her delight, he snickered. "Hm? What? Did I say something funny just now?"
"You couldn't kick anyone's ass," he stated.
"You want to try me? This bat was the first weapon given to me by the Capellos. The first weapon I trained with. It's the same weapon that got me drafted for the Disciplinary Committee. So you want to try me when I'm holding this bat?"
"Shut up." Gokudera pushed himself to stand and his eyes widened when she grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him close to her. "Wh-what the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Tell me who did this to you," Shizu growled in her raspy voice. He tried to pull away, but she would not let go of him.
He gritted his teeth and turned his head to the side. "Fine! Just let go of me before someone sees!" Though his words perplexed her, Shizu obeyed and took a step back. "It was that prefect, okay? He called me out during lunch and this happened! You know what he said to me? He said to stay away from you! He said you're his! You're not dating that creep, are you?!"
She leaned on one hip and ran her fingers through her short black hair. "Are you serious? What the hell is wrong with that-? Urgh! No, I'm not dating him! Like I would date someone like that creep." Shizu started out of the baseball field, but froze when she heard the soft thud of footsteps crossing the field. Even in the darkness, she was able to see the outlines of five boys around Gokudera's height. "Hey! What do you want? We don't have any money on us!" she called, hoping it would deter the boys.
Gokudera grabbed Shizu's arm and tried to push her behind him, but she scowled and refused. "Stay behind me, you idiot! I'm not going to let you get hurt!"
One of the boys rushed forward ahead of the others and Shizu took the opportunity to sprint to meet him before Gokudera could stop her. The boy had a knife that glinted in the faint moonlight as he raised it and prepared to stab the girl. Shizu lifted her bat with both hands and smashed it against the top of his head. The tip of his tongue was bitten off, blood running down his chin. He was stunned momentarily, giving her enough time to bash him in the side of the head with all of her strength. Blood painted the ground beneath him as his body convulsed.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Gokudera demanded, suddenly at her side as the others advanced. "You don't even know what they want! What if-?"
"Innocent people don't carry knives and cyanide tablets. You think my bat killed him? Take a look at his mouth. It's poison." She adjusted her grip on the bat and smirked. "I was hoping for something like this. I had a bad day. I can't think of a better way to cheer myself up."
"Don't get yourself killed, Nanase!" The two parted and Gokudera withdrew a handful of dynamite from an inner pocket of his shirt.
Shizu ran at one boy and turned her bat, forcing the end of the handle into his nose and pushing hard. His nose shattered and bone splinters went into his brain, his body falling to the ground. Twisting in time to avoid being punched by another boy, she activated the bat's spikes and buried them deep into his chest. They punctured his ribcage and she grinned before pulling the bat free, blood splattering her pale face. The last time I had this much fun was when I attacked that jerk Xanxus! I forgot how good it feels to fight without restraint! She turned and saw the two remaining boys. One of them was already sprawled on the ground, screaming in pain. The other was standing with his back to her, glaring at Gokudera.
"This was supposed to be easy! He said there was only one person here and they were injured! This is a fucking set up!" the assailant muttered.
The girl moved quickly behind him, pressing a spike against his neck. "What are you talking about? Who sent you here? Was it a prefect?" she hissed in the boy's ear.
Gokudera started forward, but stopped when she glared at him. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"I need to know who sent these idiots!" Shizu pressed the spike closer against the boy's flesh. What he was saying…it means that someone sent them here to attack Gokudera. Who would do that?! I don't understand why this is happening! But I can't forgive someone for trying to hurt my friend!
The boy gasped, his body shaking terribly in her hold. "I-I'll tell you! Just let me-!" There was a soft crunching sound and his body jerked once before going limp.
"Damn it!" Shizu dropped him onto the ground, delivering a hard kick to the boy's ribs. "If you hadn't interrupted, he might have told me!"
"Why is it so damn important?! We got them all! It's over!"
"You don't know that!" She sank to her knees in the grass, feeling absolutely exhausted. That caused more stress than I thought it would. I just need to get home and rest. That's it.
Gokudera stood beside her, scowling at the five bodies that littered the baseball field. "What are we going to do with these?! We can't just leave them lying around! You didn't need to kill them, you idiot!" He gritted his teeth when she glared up at him with her bright amber eyes. "I don't like worrying about people! Don't rush into things like that again!"
She snickered and lowered her gaze to her spiked bat. There was blood and a bit of brain matter on it. "Do you think it was Hibari?"
"He wouldn't do this; he would have tried to kill me himself if he wanted me dead."
"How are your wounds?"
"I'm fine! Stop worrying about me!" he snapped.
"I can't help it." Shizu sighed and pushed herself to stand. A flick of her bat sent the blood and brain matter onto the ground, the metal shining clean in the moonlight now. "I've never trusted men, you know. Never been close to boys. Never had friends other than my mother and Isabelle. You're the first guy that I've been able to trust. If something happened to you, I don't know how it would affect me. I don't want to find out."
He followed her off of school grounds and the two stood for a moment at a street corner. "What are we going to do about the bodies?"
"Hm." A frown took form on her pale pink lips. "I'm sure Hibari saw all of that and will take care of them. He did last time."
"What do you mean last time?!" Gokudera quickly pieced it together. "You killed someone that night? What the hell is wrong with you?"
Shizu looked away, gritting her teeth for a moment. "Two boys tried to lure Isabelle behind the school to do something awful. I swore to protect her. Hurting them would never be enough; they might try it again. Even if it was with another girl, how could I live with myself knowing that I didn't stop them?" She sighed and ruffled her short black hair. "You know what? I don't care if you're disgusted by me or if you hate me. I was never meant to care about anyone but Isabelle." She started to walk away, but felt a hand grip her upper arm. "What do you want?"
"Why does your life have to revolve around that prissy little princess?!"
Her eyes lifted to his and she tilted her head. "Hm. I think I was just born to serve someone else. That seems to be it. I was born to fight and serve someone else. You feel compelled to protect Tsuna, right? It's the same with me and Isabelle." Shizu pulled her arm free and started off down the street alone.
She was a few blocks from home when she felt someone watching her. It raised goose bumps on her skin and she chewed the inside of her cheek anxiously. Who is watching me? If it's Hibari, I'll have to teach him not to mess with me. I can't bring my bat to school with me, but if I catch him off school grounds…
"Ciaossu, Nanase." The voice sounded like that of a child and came from around the corner. Someone stepped into view. They were quite short and tipped their fedora in greeting to her as the girl frowned. "I saw your fight at the school. Very impressive, just like last time."
Shizu squinted in the darkness. "Do I know you?"
"You don't, but I've heard a lot about you. Nanase Shizuki."
"Hm. I prefer Shizu, thanks. And you're…?"
"Reborn." He stepped closer and Shizu crouched down to his level, not threatened in the least by his presence. "Tsuna and Hibari have both said good things about you."
She scowled. "What do you mean? Why would either of them-?"
"The Vongola family. You should consider joining. You can even bring along your princess. I'm sure she would be thrilled. After all, isn't she in love with Xanxus?"
Shizu stood now and took a step back. "You're with him?! Did he send you? That fucking coward! I'll rip out his intestines and force them down his throat!"
Reborn smiled. "I like your enthusiasm, but try to refrain from killing members of the Vongola family. He didn't send me, by the way. I happened to see an interesting circumstance and sent those boys as a test."
"What?! What if I hadn't been there? They could have killed Gokudera!"
"I knew you would show up. He didn't want Tsuna to think he was weak so I knew he would call you. I knew you would come because you have feelings for him." Reborn met her gaze directly now, holding her amber eyes with his dark ones. "All the more reason for you to join. If you join the Vongola family, your princess will be better off." Seeing her blood-splattered face, arms, and shirt, he recalled her expression when she had been killing. "You'll have more opportunities like the one tonight. You look like you could use the stress relief."
She rolled her eyes. "If I join, how will things change?"
"Just join."
"That's all you have to say?" She stared down at him for a moment and sighed. "Yeah. Fine. I'm too tired to care right now anyway." A thought crossed her mind as she narrowed her eyes, her mouth twisting into a deep frown. "What did Hibari say about me?"
Still smiling, Reborn replied, "He said you're his woman."
When Shizu arrived back at the apartment, she was greeted by the black Labrador and saw that Isabelle's bedroom door was closed. "Hey there, Lucy." She rubbed the dog's ears, locked the apartment door and made her way to her bedroom. The dog followed her and jumped onto the bed, tilting its head and panting. "What? Really? You want to sleep in here? It's plain compared to Isa's room." In response, the canine rolled around on the blanket.
The girl changed into her pajamas and went to the bathroom to wash the blood off of her face and weapon. This day has been way too long, she thought as she blinked at her reflection. I killed people. I joined a mafia family. And weirdest of all…Her cheeks turned bright pink. I lost my virginity today. A knock at the bathroom door made her jump a little. "What do you need?"
"Are we really not going to talk about the fact that you're acting weird today?" Isabelle asked, leaning against the door. "Look, I have something that you're going to love. Come to the living room when you're done doing whatever. Also, have you seen Lucy?"
"Lucy's in my room for some reason," Shizu replied. She heard Isabelle walk away and shook her head. The girl found Isabelle pouring two glasses of red wine and frowned. "Where did you get that?"
"Don't be such a prude, Shizu! And anyway…he sends me stuff sometimes."
"What part of 'don't contact or interact with him' didn't you-? Urgh! Never mind!" She sipped the wine and leaned back against the couch cushions as the dog jumped up to sit on her lap. "So what was it you wanted to talk about?"
Isabelle was beaming. "You did it, right? You lost your virginity today! I could tell when you got home from school! You've been acting weird the past few days and it finally happened, right?!" She was gradually leaning closer and closer.
Shizu frowned. "Yeah, but it was nothing spectacular."
"What are you talking about?! It's a life-changing event, Shizu! How could you say it was nothing spectacular? What, was he just really bad at it?"
Her face turned red. "N-no. He was…actually really good. Damn it! I didn't want it to happen this way though! It wasn't even someone that I have a crush on so-!"
"Who was it?! Wait, were you attacked or something?"
She absently toyed with the license around her neck. "No. Not really. I just…I don't know. It was Hibari."
"You lost your virginity to that prefect?! What was it like?"
Her amber eyes half-closed as she sighed in frustration. "I mean, it was good. It felt really good. He kept talking to me the whole time and…look, I'm not discussing this with you right now, Isa. I'm really tired." She blushed again. "N-not because of him though! Don't look at me that way!" She hurried to her bedroom and slammed the door, flopping on the mattress on her back. Why did it have to feel so good?! If it was bad, I could be angrier. I wouldn't be blushing like this. What if he tries it again? What will I do? It felt good. She felt her heart skip a beat, remembering the way he touched her. Recalling the feeling of his skin against her, the feeling of him filling her with his warmth. Shizu closed her eyes tightly. That bastard Hibari.
"Shiiiiiiizuuuuuu! Come on! Let's watch a movie or something! I'm so excited to see Xanxus that I can't fall asleep! Why can't it be next week already?!" Isabelle called through the door, slurring her words. Beneath the alcoholic glee, there was a deep sadness in her voice.