Author's Note: If you pickpocket Kori, all you get are…knives…?
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
"I'll be looking forward to doing business with you again, Sir," I say as there is a deposit in my account.
"Yes, yes, of course," replies the man on the other end of the call. I hang up and start to head out to withdraw the money so I can transfer it to my other account.
I walk downstairs and call out, "I'm heading out to the bank!" Then I continue to walk out the door. Hm, what was the next job that I had to do again? Was it for that woman in France or that man in England…? Or was it for that older man in America? I sigh. Suddenly, I feel as though I'm missing something. My hand goes to my thigh, where I hide knives under my skirt and I realize that I knife is missing. Weird… I look around to see if it dropped out, but there's nothing on the floor. I shrug to myself and continue to walk.
As I round the corner, I hear a male cry out in pain, "Arrrrggghhhh! What kind of girl carries something like this?!" I choose to ignore it. Weirdo…
I look blankly at Tsuna's mother as she says, "I'm sorry, everyone."
Tsuna exclaims, "Eh?!"
"Oh?" asks Reborn.
"Eh?" Bianchi asks.
Lambo, I-Pin and Fuuta's bowls and utensils drop to the floor as Fuuta starts, "No way…"
"There's no dinner?" Fuuta, Lambo, and I-Pin all ask at the same time.
Tsuna's mother looks upset. "I'm sorry."
Lambo and I-Pin jump onto the table next to Tsuna's mother and Lambo asks, "Why? Why? Why?!"
"Why? What happened?" asks I-Pin.
Tsuna's mother sighs and replies, "I think my wallet was pickpocketed. They got me when I was out for a little bit. Oh…maybe that's why my knife when missing… Haha.
"Oh no," says Tsuna. "Even though your wallet was taken, we still have savings, right?"
"Well…" Tsuna's mother starts. "Your dad just used it all getting the solid gold pick and shovel he was after." That's so… stupid…
Tsuna exclaims, "That stupid old man! How could he?!" I sigh. Is he really the boss of CEDEF?
Tsuna's mother continues to explain, "I heard that there was a lot of pickpocketing and bag-snatching around here lately, but I thought I was being careful."
I watch as the others excluding Tsuna all get ready and look like they're about to kill someone. "We'll tear him apart," they say.
"Their hearts are as one! And Fuuta too!" Tsuna exclaims.
I nudge Tsuna and whisper, "Are we the only sane ones left?" Then again, if I was paid to… I shake my head. No one is going to pay me to do such a thing.
Tsuna looks panicked now. "Hold on! Calm down! I'll give you my cup noodles!" he exclaims. They all stop and turn around. The massive killing intent gone.
"I like pork bone," says Bianchi.
"I like miso," replies Reborn with a smile.
"Seafood for me," declares Lambo, who's grinning now.
I-Pin says with her normal smile back, "Yakisoba is the best."
"I'm an odon fan, Tsuna-nii," Fuuta says with a bright smile.
I sit back in my chair, "Since you offered, I'd like a spicy one, if you'd please," I say.
"You too?" asks Tsuna.
The last cup gets filled with water and Tsuna's mother says, "I'm sorry, everyone. I'll get Dad's pay tomorrow, so bear with it for today."
"Is that…pay from the Vongola Family?" asks Tsuna. "Seems complicated…" he mutters.
"Don't worry, Mama," says Reborn, "I'll escort you starting tomorrow, so you won't be pickpocketed."
"Leave it to us," says Bianchi with confident smile.
"Thank you, that so dependable of you!" Tsuna's mother replies happily.
Reborn adds, "Tsuna's gonna do it to."
"W-Why me?" asks Tsuna.
"This is social reform," explains Reborn. "It's part of the mafia's duty to take care of bad guys."
I sigh. "If Tsuna-san must help then I must too since I work under him now." I nod. "Okay, I'll do my best then."
"Anyways, I can't wait for tomorrow," replies Bianchi. She must be bored…
"Mama, I'll do my best too!" Fuuta declares happily.
"Leave it to I-Pin!"
"I'll show them how scary Lambo-sama is! Nuhahahaha!"
Reborn declares, "Then it's settled, let's eat Tsuna's cup noodles and go to bed!"
"Yeah!"
As we walk down the street in the shopping district, people give us wary and/or scared looks. I trail behind them with Tsuna. "Hey, you shouldn't be walking around thirsting for blood! That's embarrassing!" exclaims Tsuna. His mother on the other hand, is smiling happily.
"It wouldn't be much of an escort if we didn't," replies Reborn. He's smiling now.
"Now we're just sticking out too much. No matter how you look at it, this looks odd," Tsuna mutters.
Reborn says, "Well, it would be boring if the one we need to punish is too scared to come out." Suddenly, something seems to catch his eye and he jumps over to a coffee shop. "Mama! I want to drink coffee made with this store's coffee beans!" Reborn is easily distracted by coffee…?
"Okay, then let's buy some," replies Tsuna's mother.
Lambo jumps up and exclaims, "Lambo-san wants this soft-serve ice cream!"
"All right then." Tsuna's mother continues to smile.
"That smells really good," says I-Pin as she points at a cart selling sweet chestnuts.
Tsuna's mother says, "Oh, I-Pin-chan wants sweet chestnuts. Alright."
Fuuta points to the cart next to that and says, "Mama, this place's hard-baked rice crackers are ranked tenth."
The children start tugging on Tsuna's mother in all different directions. "Soft-serve ice cream!"
"Don't pull so much…"
"Hard-baked rice crackers!"
"Sweet chestnuts! Sweet chestnuts!"
"Coffee first!" I wonder how Mama has that much patience…
Tsuna exclaims, "Why did you even bother coming?!" He sighs.
Bianchi crosses her arms. "They're all such children." Suddenly she runs over to the pet store and stares at the sloth. "Oh? This is perfect for Poison Cooking."
Tsuna exclaims, "Don't eat the sloth!"
"This way!"
"This way first!"
"Soft-serve ice cream!"
"Hard-baked rice crackers!" Tsuna's mother gets pulled around in all different directions and I sigh.
Finally, they all get what they want. "Did you all get what you wanted?" asks Mama. Actually, I went off on my own for a bit to buy myself more clothing with some of my income. I hold onto the shopping bags and Tsuna looks at me blankly.
"Clothing," I explain. He nods.
"Yes!" they reply.
"Tsu-kun, is there something you want?" asks Mama.
Tsuna replies, "Eh? Not me." Suddenly he seems lost in thought. I look at him blankly.
"Tsuna-kun!" Sasagawa calls out. Tsuna, still lost in thought, starts to blush.
"It's Tsuna-san!" exclaims Miura.
I give them a small wave. "Sasagawa-san, Miura-san," I greet.
"Hello, Saito-chan!" they say.
Tsuna says to himself, "No, it was nothing."
"Tsuna-san," I say quietly. I wave my hand in front of his face.
Suddenly he snaps out of his thoughts. "Oh… Eh? Kyoko-chan! Haru!" he exclaims.
"What are you doing here?" asks Sasagawa.
Tsuna starts, "W-Well…"
"Oh, hello!" greets Mama.
Sasagawa asks Mama, "Out shopping together?"
"That's right," replies Mama.
I jump out of the way as Miura wraps her arm around Tsuna's. "How lucky am I to meet Tsuna-san while I'm out shopping? We must be connected by a red strand of string."
Tsuna jumps back and shakes his head frantically. "We're not connected! We're just not!" Wow, that was blunt…
Miura starts to dig through her large bag. "Ah! Good timing! There was something I wanted to show Tsuna-san."
"Huh? Show me?" asks Tsuna.
"Ta-da!" exclaims Miura, now dressed in a namahage costume. "This is the new namahage costume I'm going to wear at the next culture festival!"
Tsuna exclaims, "You're going to be namahage again?!"
"It has fins on the back like a monster!" Miura continues to exclaim happily.
"You really shouldn't wear that…" mutters Tsuna. I still can't get over how weird this group is. Suddenly, Bianchi's snake yells somehow and a man with light hair screams and falls to the ground.
"What were you doing to my precious cooking ingredient?" asks Bianchi. The man on the floor continues to tremble.
Tsuna runs over to him. "Are you alright?" he asks the man. Then he turns to Bianchi. "Hey, Bianchi!"
"I gave up on the sloth and went with the python," she replies. She shakes the snake around a bit. "This one seemed tastier," she explains.
Tsuna starts to bow to the man. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
"Shut up! Go away!" exclaims the man, he still looks frightened.
I nudge Tsuna and ask quietly, "Should I torment him a little with illusions for being so rude to you, Tsuna-san?" I'm seriously considering it right now. Shoot, I should stop hanging around Gokudera so much…
"Kori-chan, you sound like Gokudera-kun…" Tsuna starts. "Don't worry about it, he's probably just scared…" I nod.
Suddenly, I-Pin jumps in front of him and keeps starting at the man. "Huh? What's with you?" he asks.
"A wooden man doll!" I-Pin exclaims suddenly.
"Huh?" asks the man.
Tsuna repeats, "A wooden man doll?"
"I thought we lost them!" I-Pin explains. "It's been a while."
Reborn explains more clearly, "They were dolls I-Pin used instead of sandbags when she was training."
"That's this person?" asks Tsuna. "No, I-Pin, this person was just walking by." It's too late though, I-Pin uses her Gyoza Fist technique on the man and I just watch blankly. "Too late."
The man flies off and disappears into the sky. "Was that a street performance?" asks Mama.
"He was jumping around on his own. What an amusing person," comments Sasagawa.
"Really?" I ask. "Don't you mean psychopathic…? That's what I would think."
"Dangerous and strange," says Miura.
I see Tsuna let out a sigh and a walk over to him. "Don't worry, I can always cover it with an illusion if you'd like," I say reassuringly.
Lambo demands, "Mama, more soft-serve ice cream!"
"Did you eat yours already?" asks Mama.
"Knock it off, Lambo," says Tsuna. "You'll get a stomach ache if you eat too much."
"You won't be able to hold it in," says Bianchi.
Mama agrees, "They're right. Ah, Lambo-kun, didn't you have candy?"
"OH?" Lambo seems to realize this and starts digging around in his hair. "I stored it in my afro! I'm not gonna share it with anybody," he explains. He pulls out a grenade and the pin comes out. "This isn't it," he says with a bored expression.
Suddenly, there's an explosion somewhere and a man screams. "An explosion?" asks Tsuna.
Lambo immediately replies, "Lambo-san doesn't know!"
I stay quiet as Mama says, "It's Sunday, must to be fireworks from some kind of event."
"Celebrate with explosions in China," says I-Pin.
"Oh, I see. I'm so sensitive to explosions lately," Tsuna says happily.
"Tsuna-san, you're worrying too much. Don't, I'll take care of it. I am your Snow Guardian after all," I tell him.
Not long after we get back, someone rings the doorbell. I ignore it because I hear Tsuna get it and I continue to do my homework. Suddenly, there's a loud boom and I realize that the Ten-Year-Bazooka must have gone off. I stand up and walk downstairs to check on what's happening. I find a man on the ground with adult Lambo standing on the man's back in the most idiotic outfit I have ever seen. He dances on the man's back as Tsuna stares at him with a blank look.
"Lambo," I greet calmly.
"Oh, young Kori, nice to see you again," he says. Then he looks and the man that he's dancing on. "Oh? I've never seen him before." He crouches down on the man and looks up at Tsuna and I. "Who is this, young Vongola and Kori?"
"What to say…" mutters Tsuna.
Adult Lambo picks the man up. "Oh well. Let's party together!" Lambo continues to do the stupid looking dance with the man's arm slung around his shoulder.
Suddenly the man jumps away and exclaims, "Let me go!" Adult Lambo dances his way out the door. "What was that?" asks the man. Then the man turns to me. "What a pretty girl you are. What grade are you in?" he asks.
"Second year in middle school," I reply. The doorbell rings and I open the door to see a brightly smiling Gokudera.
"Excuse me, Tenth!" he exclaims. Then he looks at me and realizes that I'm not Tsuna, thus he scowls. "Tch, it's only you."
I roll my eyes and reply sarcastically, "Yeah, thanks." I watch as Yamamoto and the older Sasagawa step in as well.
Gokudera asks angrily, "Why is it that when I come, you two are here too?"
"I was invited over today, along with Kyoko," replies Sasagawa.
"Now, now… Come on, it's alright," says Yamamoto.
I nod at them. "Yamamoto-san, Sasagawa-senpai," I greet.
"Yo," greets Yamamoto.
"Saito," says Sasagawa.
Tsuna walks over now. "Huh? You guys…"
Gokudera exclaims happily, "Tenth!"
"Oh? Do you guys have a guest?" asks Yamamoto, peering down the hall.
"W-Well, yeah," replies Tsuna.
The man walks down the hall with a bright smile. "Hello, nice to meet you. I am selling study material that would be very useful to all of you."
"Study materials?" Yamamoto repeats.
"In this age, grades from elementary school to middle school decide your life!" exclaims the man. "It is in this age that my company's materials are necessary!"
Gokudera mutters, "We don't need that crap."
"No interest!" declares Sasagawa.
"Well, the thing is…" starts the man. "If you take things too easy, it will be too late. In an ideal world, every home would hire a tutor, but that's not the case."
Reborn's voice replies, "Don't worry. There's already a home tutor here." I look at the staircase where Reborn suddenly appeared.
"Reborn," says Tsuna. "If you pop out, things will get complicated."
The man starts to laugh. "Hahaha, what an adorable infant! I'd like to take him home with me!" Then the man continues, "Please listen. You cannot be satisfied even if you do have a home tutor. You will certainly be left behind by the times if you rely only on a home tutor!" Don't aggravate Reborn like that…
"Say that again," commands Reborn. Too late… "I'll split your head open."
"Stop it, Reborn!" exclaims Tsuna. Then the turns to the man and says, "And you shouldn't make fun of home tutors."
The man replies, "But in reality, all home tutors are just trash." Reborn slams his hammer shaped Leon into the floor right in front of the man and the man gasps.
"You've dug your own grave," says Reborn. He lifts his hammer up again. "Don't move. I'll get you with the next one." The man starts to tremble visibly. Then, he tries to run away, but he falls flat on his face, cracking his glasses.
"Why is there a log here?" he asks. He soon finds out that it's actually Bianchi's sake. "A snake!" exclaims the man covering his head.
Bianchi appears holding a large knife in hand and scolds the snake. "No. Food shouldn't run."
Gokudera's stomach grumbles and he exclaims, "S-Sis!" Then he falls to the floor.
"Save me!" exclaims the man. Then he and the sake start to float and he let out a cry of fear.
Fuuta crouches on the floor as he writes in his book and stay out loud, "Ingredients that are good for Poison Cooking… Pythons are in third place." Then Fuuta closes his book and the man and the python fall to the ground.
The man starts to cry. "I've had enough!" He attempts to crawl out the door, but he knocks into Gokudera. Some dynamite falls from Gokudera. The man looks at the ground and exclaims, "Dynamite?!" He charges out of the house screaming, "What is with this house?!"
"That's why I said so…" starts Tsuna.
Yamamoto points out, 'That guy forgot his bag."
"Eh?" asks Tsuna, he glances at the bag, whose contents are starting to spill out. "Hey! That's Mom's wallet!"
"What does that mean?" Gokudera asks weakly.
Tsuna exclaims, "That man is a pickpocket!"
I walk over to the bag and crouch down. I start to dig through the bag and I find my knife. "Oh, look! My knife! So it did get pickpocketed!" I exclaim as I put my knife back in place.
"Y-You keep knives under your skirt…?" asks Gokudera.
"Yeah," I reply. I look at his expression and then I kick him. "Don't have weird thoughts!" I command.
Reborn says, "Tsuna, go beat him up."
"T-Then…" starts Tsuna. He gets shot by the Dying Will bullet and he falls to the ground. Then, Tsuna, now clad in just boxers, exclaims, "Reborn!" He runs out shouting, "Beat up the pickpocket with my dying will!"
We all stare out the door for a bit. Then, I say, "Well, now that that's taken care of, I'm going to continue with my homework."
I sit at the table with everyone excluding Tsuna and Mama announces, "Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting! It's ready!"
"Crab stew!"
Mama explains, "I thought a crab stew would make up for not being able to cook last night. It's a good season for stew."
"I love stews," Fuuta says happily.
Mama declares happily, "Let's all eat then!"
We all exclaim, "Thank you for the food!"
Gokudera looks around and asks, "Where did the Tenth go?"
"Tsuna?" asks Reborn. "He must be having a valuable experience as a mafia boss," explains Reborn with a smirk. I have a bad feeling about that… I look around and I sigh. The amount of concern for Tsuna right now is amazingly low…