A/N: Thank you to MikaUchiha666, DarkRoadHina, hiyomi, 10th Squard 3rd Seat, Kichou, Akuma no Tenishi 666, Conanfan15, Chocolate Ribbons, 21o(.)Amia(.)o86, fuwacchi, Silver Akuma Kitsune, hauarie and MiyukiNishio for reviewing. :D
This chapter hasn't been beta-ed yet, so feel free to point out any mistakes. I'm sure there will be quite a few. ):
Possession
Chapter 21: Insight
Masami would have passed right by Hibari's room to her own room for the night with little consequence. That was, if not for her remembering thelook he gave her when he passed by her back in Namimori.
...Umm.
"Why am I doing this?" Masami hissed to herself. Okay, well, she already knew why, but it wasn't preventing her feet from moving her towards Hibari's door! In no time flat, she was in front of his room.
She simply wanted to know why he had been mad. Was it because she made him stop fighting? That was the only thing that she could think of that made sense. Masami pursed her lips. There was a "tiny" hole in her theory though.
Reborn was the one who really stopped Hibari from fighting.
And before she knew it, she was already knocking on the door.
Masami paled.
"Oh... crap." Why'd she do that? Her eyes screwed shut and her hand made to tighten around the knob. Since she already had one foot through the door of "irritating the hell out of Hibari", there was no time like the present to finish the process.
The reaction was immediate. Masami didn't have any time to even cry out in surprise before she was slammed against the frame of the door by a tonfa pressing against her front. The wind was knocked out of her. She gulped in air as she recovered.
Hibari completely ignored the girl's wheezing. "Don't barge in my room," he deadpanned.
"Don't you think your reaction's a bit too excessive..." Masami managed to hiss out. She pushed against the tonfa to try to relieve some of the pressure, but the damn thing just wouldn't budge.
"..." Hibari's answer was to press the tonfa harder. She gasped and bit her lip. She wasn't sure if this was just Hibari being Hibari or if he was mad. He was always so hard to read.
...Oh, so he wanted to play hardball, did he? She frowned. Jet lag had a way of making people feel a tiny bit irked at the slightest thing a usual prick did in his usual dumb prickiness.
"Ehe..." Masami smiled sweetly at him. "Could you please get your goddamn tonfa off my person?"
She followed up by attempting to slam her knee between Hibari's legs.
The keyword was attempt.
In the millisecond she had her knee up was when Hibari decided that he did not want to be kneed and promptly tripped her with a simple swipe of his leg.
"Oh sh-" was all Masami could get out before she landed, face first, on the hardwood floor.
She let out a low, "Oww..." Her cheek stung now... She had no time to get up before a shadow loomed over her. Its slightly menacing quality was heightened by the fact that it was blocking the low light of the night lamp by Hibari's bed. Masami's eyes darted to Hibari.
Ugh... is he going to say something like, 'You're such a weakling' or something? Masami sighed and prepared herself for the tongue lashing.
"You may not be a part of the committee anymore, but..." Hibari's eyes narrowed.
"Don't curse in the presence of the head prefect."
...
"...Wha?" was Masami's clever reply as she sat up slowly. She was hesitant to relinquish her position with her cheek against the nice, cool floor, but dammit, she needed to, at least, be sitting to talk to him properly!
Masami's eyes narrowed.
"You..." He had already made his way back to the bed and she took the chance to stand up fully.
"You seemed angry." Masami floundered at her tactless statement. "I mean! Not that you aren't always angry, but I mean you seemed more angrier than usual and that animosity seemed to be directed towards me, which is kind of normal, but not at the same time since I don't think I did anything to piss you off-"
"You did." Hibari's brows furrowed at her choice of words, but he continued. "It's over now, herbivore."
Masami stopped floundering to stare at him.
"What do you mean I did piss you off? What do you mean 'it's over'?" She put her hands on her hips. She scowled. "It can't be over. What if you decide to secretly hold a grudge against me because of this one incident and decide to begin hoarding all the times I pissed you off until it becomes so huge that you explode?" She, personally, would not like to see Hibari snap. It was scary enough being around him when it was just his usual love for fighting. Masami shuddered.
She forged on.
"I mean, I always tell you when I'm really annoyed with you, so you should follow my example and totally tell me-eek!"
If looks could kill, Masami swore she would be dead two times over by now.
Masami blinked in confusion when she saw Hibari sneer.
"Unlike a weakling like you, I don't cling to insignificant past events," he said scathingly.
Hibari was scrutinizing her, maybe watching for her to snap or screech at him.
Masami did neither.
"...Yeah." She forced a smile on her face. His eyes widened minutely.
"I guess I do."
Masami began to back out slowly out of the room, still grinning like a fool. She grabbed hold of the knob.
"Well, I guess I'll be going now." She shrugged her shoulders. "Glad to know you aren't mad at me anymore."
Ah, she needed to get out of here now. Being with him in here was too... too...
...suffocating.
"I'll be going to bed now." Masami practically wrenched the door of its hinges as she swung it open.
"Haha... well... bye!"
Masami managed to close the door just in time to hide the first tear that slipped out.
She wiped it away hurriedly before making her way to her room like a silent spectre.
"Onee-chan is really amazing."
Brown-becoming-pink eyes turned to look at the grinning child sitting across from her. She blinked. Her throat hurt from not speaking for weeks and the little boy seemed to understand that.
He slowly slid off the bed and padded across her, bare feet making the slightest of noises. He plopped down right beside her, a grin too wide for his small face still plastered on his features. He held her hand lightly, perhaps just seeking for any kind of warmth.
"Because..." He looked away bashfully. "You are still here; still alive from that big experiment." Her heart clenched. She secretly wondered to herself how he could smile like that, when so many kids have died.
She already knew the answer, but it still didn't satisfy the guilt swirling inside of her.
Being in the facility -this place- for years tended to warp the mindset of children, making them revere those who survived. Pity for those that died was unheard of. The reason being because so many -too many- died in this place to feel sad for.
"Amazing..." she croaked slowly. It wasn't that amazing. It was just that her body had been compatible for the amplification of the natural storm flames within her.
She stiffened as she heard the voice of one of those people at the doorway, calling for the boy.
His name was... Yuki...
She closed her eyes for a moment, committing name and face to memory. She felt the smaller boy's hand squeeze her own tightly for a moment, just a brief moment, before relaxing.
He let go of her hand.
She watched as he padded over to the door. She squinted because of the bright light pouring into the dark room.
She had just been lucky, not amazing.
He- Yuki turned one last time. He gave her a thumbs-up and a big grin.
She wasn't amazing at all.
He didn't come back.
Hibari didn't understand. She just couldn't not remember stuff that happened in the past.
Masami put her palms to her eyes.
It would be too unfair to the people in her life that wouldn't be remembered by anyone else.
Masami had avoided Hibari in school all of the day. It wasn't a difficult task seeing as how he was either on the roof or in the Reception Room while school was in session. She blatantly ignored the announcement for her to go to the Reception Room too. The strangest thing was that he didn't chase her down. She contemplated if he was feeling guilty about what he said, hence why he wasn't chasing her down, before loudly laughing it off.
Yeah. Right. Like Hibari Kyoya would get guilty for anyone.
By the time Yamamoto's battle rolled around, she was still tuckered out. Jet lag was still affecting her internal clock. She knew it would adjust sooner or later, but would it kill it to adjust a little sooner rather than later? She had fallen asleep and had almost missed the battle.
Currently, Masami wasn't in the best mood since she had had to sprint all the way to the school. That, and she wasn't all that good with sprinting for long distances anyway. She was kind of grumpy and even more tired by the time she barely got there. The gates had been close to shutting by the time she came.
Gokudera was not helping matters.
His eyes narrowed. "You look... different..." Now that he was fully awake and in relatively better shape, he could take in her appearance.
She looked so damn girly that it was vomit-inducing.
Masami shot him a glare while panting furiously. "No kidding."
"Why you little...!"
She turned around before he could finish his insult. Her eyes were completely on the screen. Since she was almost late for the battle, Masami didn't have any time to speak to Yamamoto at all. Guilt.
Gokudera didn't help make her feel better.
Gokudera snorted. "...You look weird," he said, amending his previous statement.
She glared. Grumpiness derived from lack of sleep was rearing its ugly head again.
"So sorry, Gokudera-kun. Could you repeat that? I couldn't hear you cause your voice sounds too much like a feeble old man's who enjoys his cigarettes a little too much."
...Tsuna sweatdropped.
"You bitch!" He made a point to lunge for her at full speed.
"AGGH!" Masami yelled, surprised. She panicked and reacted violently by kneeing him in the stomach.
Tsuna's eyebrows shot up. "You guys...!" he groaned out. Why did something like this have to happen to him every single day?
"...Are you okay, Gokudera-kun?"
Gokudera sat up almost immediately. Masami stepped back, but then frowned when she noted the pained expression on his face.
"I'm fine, Juudaime!" Tsuna's mouth was in a tight line. He could also see that his friend was definitely not fine.
"Really, Gokudera-kun?" He knew Masami had been the one to injure him, but... you're the one that started it, Gokudera-kun... Tsuna's eyes widened at the redness of his friend's clothes covering his stomach.
Before Gokudera could reassure his beloved boss that he was perfectly all right (Just ignore him on the ground, cringing!), his head was pulled into a lap. Tsuna's jaw dropped while Gokudera sputtered indignantly. Reborn paid no attention to the three idiots and diverted it to watching Yamamoto's match.
"W-wh-wha-what are you doing, woman!" Gokudera choked out, indignant.
"You're bleeding again." Masami pointed at the blood now soaking the boy's clothes. She smiled a bit tentatively. "S-sorry, Gokudera. I had forgotten."
Gokudera snorted. "So? You think that-"
"It's fine if you hate me then," she said quietly. Gokudera seemed a bit surprised, but became silent and stayed thoroughly disgruntled. Tsuna pursed his lips, worried. Masami-san's acting weird... "Though it must hurt a lot."
"No, it doesn't-OWW! What. the. hell. woman!" Masami had prodded his stomach with her finger. Gokudera scowled. He hated her. He really did. Barging into the Juudaime's life like this and harassing him on a near daily basis. Making him and the Juudaime carry her when she fainted back in Kokuyo.
She made a clucking noise. "Mhm, suuure," she agreed skeptically, raising an eyebrow at Gokudera's reaction. The two boys shivered as her eyes glinted evilly suddenly. "...This won't hurt a bit..." she stated ominously.
Gokudera's eyes widened as her hand started to move. He slapped it away quickly. "What the fuck do you think you're-"
Tsuna shrieked in surprise as his friend was effectively silenced with a karate-chop to his forehead.
"Masami-san!" Gokudera had fainted from the strength of the attack, though he had the same uncomfortable expression on even with his eyes closed. "What are you doing!" Okay, Tsuna knew it was sort of Gokudera's fault again for antagonizing her, but still... he hadn't thought knocking him unconscious was the right reaction! He hardly thought kneeing him in the stomach was appropriate.
Masami looked up. "Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll forget who did it when he comes to..." She paused. "He didn't see me hit him, right?"
Tsuna gaped. "T-that's not exactly the issue here, Masami-san!" He squinted. "Why did you knock him out anyway?"
"..." Masami's mouth turned into a small 'o'. "Why did I knock him out again?"
Tsuna's mouth practically unhinged.
"Y-you don't know why?" he screeched. He could see Masami visibly wince.
"Ah, well... I wanted to put him out of his... misery...?" she said slowly.
"Oh, so you're planning to kill him, right?" Reborn piped up. He had turned his attention away from the ongoing fight to the banter between Masami and Tsuna. The latter was way too entertaining to not watch. The two teens turned to the Arcobaleno.
"NO!" they both shouted at the same time.
"...Don't look now guys, but Gokudera-chan is coughing up blood," a new voice stated.
Well, of course when your friend was coughing up blood, you would look at said friend right away, regardless of whatever a mysterious voice told you. And that was what Masami and Tsuna did.
"Holy crap!" they both shouted at the same time again. Their eyes both widened when the Storm hacked up more blood. Reborn was fairly neutral about the whole affair and turned to welcome the newcomers. He nodded.
"Akane, Dino," he greeted as the pair walked towards them. The baby had known that Dino had gone somewhere on the grounds to check up on Hibari, most likely the roof. He shot an inquisitive look at Akane. She smirked.
"I followed in barely a minute after Masami came." The woman ignored Masami, "Really...?" and continued. "Just was walking around a bit to... check around."
Reborn understood right away and nodded again. He turned to Dino.
"Well, is Hibari watching?"
"Hah... yeah." The Cavallone Boss shrugged. "He seemed to be looking forward to the fight when I saw him earlier today." Dino raised an eyebrow at Reborn's smile, but didn't comment. He had a feeling he knew the reason why he was smiling. His eyes found Masami and sweatdropped.
She was cheerfully being whapped on the back of the head by a smiling Akane as punishment for being an idiot. The woman then whapped Tsuna on the head just for kicks.
Dino winced on their behalf and decided to step in. Akane didn't seem to be satisfied with just one hit.
"Um, guys..." Dino trailed off when he saw Akane giving him a saccharine smile. That couldn't be good. "I think we should watch Yamamoto's battle now?"
He stepped back when he saw Akane's eyes narrow into a glare for ruining her fun.
Scary.
Masami nodded, head still smarting from the well-deserved smack.
The reason she had come was to support Yamamoto.
The only thing that could be said about the Shigure Souen style was-
"Fucking hell," Akane whispered, looking impressed and she was not the type to be impressed often.
"Of course," Reborn said plainly. "Yamamoto is a natural-born hitman, after all."
Tsuna looked perturbed. "Don't say such scary things!"
Every spectator stared, wide-eyed, at the 9th form that Yamamoto had spontaneously created. He had... managed to create such a great move during the match.
Truly amazing.
Masami watched as the curtain of rain fell with Yamamoto as the one left standing. Scratches and deep gashes marred his tanned skin, but he was grinning when he turned to wave at them.
"...Stupid baseball freak," Gokudera rasped.
"Oh," Masami hummed out. "You're awake."
Gokudera scowled and diverted his attention from the won battle to her. "Shut up. Why is my head on your lap?" he growled out.
Masami blinked before a stupid grin made its way to her face. He didn't remember. He didn't remember anything at all.
She could use this.
"Oh, don't you remember?" Masami laughed. It sounded a little shrill to her ears. "You slipped on a puddle and then was knocked out when you fell." She kept laughing as Gokudera scrutinized her closely, gauging whether or not she was telling the truth. She was bad at lying. Really bad at lying, but he was half-asleep and not in his right mind, so she had a chance to escape Gokudera's screams (and dynamite). Their staring match and Masami's laughing was interrupted by Tsuna, who noticed that Gokudera was awake. His face crumpled up in relief.
"Gokudera-kun, you're awake! Thank god!"
The silver-haired boy grinned hugely at Tsuna.
"Yeah, Juudaime." His smile became a frown. "I'll watch for puddles and stuff more closely so that I don't miss any of the battles!"
Tsuna raised an eyebrow. "A puddle...?"
Meanwhile, Masami was making hand gestures that signified for Tsuna to go with whatever Gokudera was saying. Tsuna sweatdropped and quickly figured out what was going on.
He inwardly sighed.
"Yeah... a puddle, Gokudera-kun..."
Tsuna didn't reply to the discreet thumbs-up that Masami gave him.
"-kill that trash myself."
Masami caught the sound of a gruff voice speaking those words and turned back to the battle. She could see it. The Varia boss -Xanxus, was it?- holding up his hand.
It can't be... She put two and two together. He was... planning to make flames through his hands. She had to warn him. Who knows how destructive that person's flame was. If Yamamoto was caught in the crossfire...
"Xanxus-sama, please stop. It's dangerous for you to go into the field now," a cool voice said courteously before Masami could open her mouth. It was one of the Cervello women. "The water levels are at a high enough level. The creature's been released."
Creature?
"What do they mean?" Tsuna asked, just before all of them saw what the Cervello meant.
"This is bad..." Dino whispered as the screen flashed to a shark weaving through the water.
"HIII!" Tsuna screeched. "Yamamoto, get out of there!"
"Yeah, because talking to a screen is so effective," Akane grumbled out, but, she too, was watching the screen.
...Yamamoto was trying to save Squalo.
"Yamamoto..." Tsuna trailed off as he watched the boy try to lift up the older man, despite the severity of his injuries.
"Stupid fucking baseball freak," Gokudera growled halfheartedly, his brows furrowed in concern. "That isn't going to work."
Everyone could only watch in shock as Squalo pushed Yamamoto off him and practically throw himself into the water. The murky water was slowly dyed to red as the shark tore into Squalo's already-mangled body, but-
But all Masami could see was the look on Yamamoto's face. It would forever be burned into her mind because it just wasn't like him, just wasn't like Yamamoto not to smile and instead have that emotion on his face.
Anguish.
Why was she here again?
Masami squirmed anxiously as she sat on the bed. Yamamoto's bed to be exact.
Yamamoto's bed.
She rubbed her eyes tiredly. It was late now, past midnight. Masami wasn't exactly uncomfortable that she was in Yamamoto's room in the middle of the night or even how they had to sneak into Yamamoto's home while his father was sleeping or how they had to be very quiet to not wake the man up, but it was more so...
...That we should have stayed at the hospital.
They'd gone after the battle to treat Yamamoto's wounds and to see Lambo, but Yamamoto hadn't stayed. He'd insisted jovially that he should go home because his dad would worry if he stayed in the hospital.
Reborn had agreed and "persuaded" the reluctant people, particularly a screeching Tsuna, with a gun. They really should have gone to the hospital to get Yamamoto checked up on and treated.
Masami sighed and flopped down on the bed, exasperated.
She was here to...-
The official reason was to make sure Yamamoto's dressings were done right by him. He was wounded badly and would need to change his bandages everyday by himself for about a month.
The real reason is because... Masami covered her eyes with an arm.
"He can't go home," Masami said tersely to Reborn. She looked behind her to see Yamamoto laughing at something with his friends and Dino. She guessed they were probably talking about the battle because of the grim and worried expressions on their faces.
"He's going home," Reborn stated as he put his gun away. There was no need for it now that Tsuna had been... "persuaded". Masami bristled angrily at his retort. Yamamoto was injured and the Arcobaleno was saying for him to go home?
"Then why is Lambo in the hospital?" Masami shot back.
"His injuries are more severe," Reborn replied. "And Mama has given Lambo permission to stay in the hospital. Papan," he said, referring to Tsuyoshi. "Doesn't know anything about the ring battles. It would be better if not such a big deal was made out of Yamamoto's injuries, for his dad's sake."
Masami's cheeks puffed up. She got his logic, but... but...
"He's still injured!"
"He'll be fine as long as he follows the doctor's instructions on the bandages and the medication."
Masami smirked in victory at Reborn then.
"I'm betting that he doesn't know how to change his bandages!" she exclaimed, finally making a solid argument. Her smirk widened when he saw the flicker of hesitance in Reborn's eyes. What middle schooler who thought they were playing a mafia game would know how to change bandages, after all? "He should stay in the hospital so that the nurses and the doctors can make sure that everything is going smoo-"
"Just go to his house then and make sure he can do it properly." Akane stopped examining her short, but polished, green nails to smile sweetly at them.
Huh?
Reborn blinked curiously at Masami.
"You know first-aid?" he demanded.
Masami spluttered. This was bringing them back to where they started! She bit her lip as she looked at Reborn's unnerving black eyes. Was he glaring at her or was it just her? She winced when she heard the click of a gun.
"Yeppers!" Akane exclaimed rather cheerily before Reborn could blow a hole through Masami's head. She gave them both a Cheshire Cat's grin. "I taught her a bit when she was younger. Albeit, she's pretty bad at actually doing it, but Mana should at least be able to tell if Yama-kun is doing it right!"
"Ah..." Masami stepped back, just in case. "I may have kind of forgot-"
She was immediately pulled by her shirt front by Akane, whose eyes were flashing. The unnerving smile was still on the older woman's face though. Masami shrinked back.
"Don't tell me that you forgot, Mana? Especially after I made you read all those books to teach yourself." She tilted her head. "W-ell?"
...Masami sighed in resignation.
"Okay, I'll do it."
Granted, she wasn't doing it only because Akane had forced the job on her, but more so-
She couldn't forget the look on Yamamoto's face back there.
"Masami?" a voice said.
Masami's eyes shot open and she put herself upright. She had been daydreaming. Yamamoto was standing over her, a towel over his washed and messy hair. His arms were exposed from the blue shirt he was wearing. Masami cringed at the sight of the bandages that were wrapped around his entire arm and the patch adorning his injured eye. Huffing, she stood up from the bed and pointed to it professionally.
"Lie on the bed, Yamamoto-kun," she ordered. He blinked silently at her command before smiling.
"It makes me... happy you're worried about me, Masami." Before she could reply, he was already lying on the bed, beaming up at her with a grin on his face.
"Of course I'm worried, Yamamoto-kun..." Masami kneeled down so that she was hovering just above Yamamoto's bedside. She lifted up her arm to inspect his work. It was pretty good. Just a bit loose -a common mistake for beginners- but that could easily be remedied. She put down his arm carefully and noticed his eyepatch was a little off-centre. With careful hands, Masami adjusted it and smiled warmly at him.
"You're my friend, after all." She blinked at the disappointed look Yamamoto gave her as he sat up so they were both at eye-level.
"Just a friend, huh..." he repeated softly. She held her breath as he brushed away a stray strand of hair the sakura clip had let escape. Her underclassman seemed a little... off today. She frowned. He wasn't 'just a friend'.
"One of my dear friends," Masami corrected in a matter-of-fact fashion before turning to the first-aid kit by her side and picking up some gauze.
"Now lift up your shirt!" she chirped happily.
That seemed to snap Yamamoto out of his reverie.
"W-what? Lift up my shirt?" His eyes widened to comical proportions. "Masami, that's kind of... weird."
Masami raised an eyebrow at that. Yamamoto didn't seem to be the type to be shy about showing his chest. Sure, he wasn't one of those macho-macho men who took off their shirt in public to secretly flaunt their muscles, but she didn't think he would be self-conscious. She wondered why he was acting all timid now...
"I need to re-bandage your chest," Masami insisted. It was an area that people tended not to do right since you couldn't really see well when you were wrapping it all around. Masami narrowed her eyes at the hesitance Yamamoto displayed. She pursed her lips.
She would have to take matters into her own hands. Who knows what the reprecussions of not taking care of his wounds could be?
"Masami...? Yamamoto's mouth opened in shock as moved swiftly up at him, leaning close to him, one foot supporting some of her weight against the floor while the knee of her other leg was propped on the bed in a very uncomfortable position for him between his legs. In the next moment, he heard the 'snip' of the bandages being cut. He stared incredulously at the victorious smirk on her face.
"Okay, now just move back a bit so that I can see better..." Masami paused and placed the back of her hand on Yamamoto's forehead. "...Your face is red again. Are you sure you aren't sick?" Having been soaked in massive amounts of water couldn't be good for you.
Yamamoto rubbed the back of his head. The tint of pink on his cheeks were unmistakable.
"Yeah, I'm sure." He moved back.
"All right..." Masami positioned herself so that she was on her knees on the bed and proceeded to wrap the bandages she had gotten from the kit as carefully and as precise as she could manage. Her mediocre first-aid skills couldn't have gotten better after being so long without any practice, after all.
Yamamoto watched, with undivided attention, Masami wrap the bandages around his torso. His hold on the bed sheets tightened when her hands accidentally brushed his skin occasionally. Yamamoto blinked slowly. Her hands were small, but he could feel and see the calluses on them. At the same time, she smelled nice like some kind of flowery soap. Yamamoto could feel a smile touch his mouth.
"Yamamoto...kun...?"
Masami had finished bandaging his chest and he had...
Yamamoto could see her face turning a crimson red as he put her hand against his mouth, his lips brushing against her knuckles. He didn't let himself feel hopeful. She probably thought it was just him being 'friendly' or something like that.
...
He let go of Masami's hand with a smile. "Thanks for bandaging me up, Masami." He noticed something and let out another laugh. "They're a little looser than before."
Masami's eye twitched before sighing drearily.
"It's just like Akane-san said..." she grumbled glumly. She turned to Yamamoto and narrowed her eyes.
"I think that you should do it yourself then, Yamamoto-kun..."Masami said, running a hand through her hair. "Just do it much tighter than what you or I did before."
Yamamoto nodded amicably as he casually stuck a finger through a hole between the loosened bandages.
"Hmm... all right." Yamamoto looked out the window and saw the drizzle outside that had started about two hours ago was slowly increasing.
"Hey..." He heard Masami say. He turned his head and was startled to find her pink eyes were piercing.
"...Are you okay?"
Yamamoto grinned jovially. Masami was still worried about him? How... nice.
He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm fine. The injuries just kinda ache now."
Masami shook her head vigorously at her response and the expression on her face looked uncomfortable
"I mean if you're all right about that guy..." She hesitated. "...Squalo."
Masami could feel her stomach drop when Yamamoto's eyes darkened; not from anger, but from sadness.
"I'm fine," Yamamoto finally told her and she may not have been the best at telling whether someone was lying or not, but Masami could tell her friend was doing a pretty damned bad job doing it. Masami scowled.
"Liar," she stated and could feel anger welling up inside her. Why did he-
Yamamoto stiffened visibly when Masami managed to get on top of him in, what, the second time in barely more than a day? And yeah, Yamamoto didn't notice this. Not at all.
"Masami, I'm not lyi-"
"Yes, you are," she insisted. Yamamoto flinched as her fingers dug into his forearms where he had been injured. Masami squeaked as she noticed and backed away quickly.
"Crap. Sorry, Yamamoto-kun." Yamamoto was silent as Masami nervously brushed aside a stray strand of hair that had slipped from her clip's hold. His eyes went to the clip for a split second and he frowned. "I don't like seeing you so depressed and pretending you're not depressed." Masami pointed a finger to his chest.
"You should show your feelings a little more."
The movement was so quick that it was over in the blink of an eye.
"Yama-" Masami started. Yamamoto had flipped her over on the bed, so that he was looming over her. His hands were intertwined with her own. She didn't move, too surprised at what had just happened.
"Haha..." His laugh didn't sound real to her ears. His dark eyes were blank. "I am upset. It's one of those times I think that this game is going too far."
Game...? He still thought it was a game?
"But there's people that will worry about me if I'm depressed," Yamamoto continued. A sincere smile reached his mouth. "You're the only one who saw through me."
Masami's breathing hitched as Yamamoto's head dipped down to her own, until their noses were touching. He gazed at her pink orbs unblinkingly.
"If only you could see that..."
Masami could feel the close proximity slowly begin to overwhelm her because it reminded her exactly of...
...that time with Hibari.
But unlike Hibari, Masami didn't need to kick him off her. He got off her swiftly.
"I think it's time you went home now, Masami," he said. The usual grin on his face wasn't there. A wall of neutrality met her eyes.
Masami's eyes widened at the uncharacteristic expression. She bit her lip. He was doing it again. Withholding stuff. What did he mean by 'seeing'? What exactly was it that she couldn't see? Not only that, but Yamamoto seemed more... sad than he had before she had come.
"Why-"
A clap of thunder interrupted Masami's interrogation.
...
Yamamoto awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. Masami was hiding under his covers.
"Masami... are you afraid of lightning?" He could see the blush on her cheeks as she peeked out from under the sheets.
"Not at all," she denied vehemently. It wasn't lightning, just thunder, but Yamamoto certainly didn't need to know that. The loud noises always made her jump and she absolutely hated it. She guessed thunder for her was like a popped balloon to others. Another clap of thunder made her instantly pale. She looked to Yamamoto sheepishly. He blinked.
"But, I was wondering if I could stay here for the night." She knew Yamamoto didn't have a formal guest room. "In your room, I mean."
There was a significant long pause, save the sound of rain hitting against his window.
"Yamamoto-kun...?" She was instantly regretting her decision to ask him. His expression was completely expressionless. She cringed inwardly. He probably didn't want her staying for the night since he was injured and all.
"Oh... oh!" He laughed and rubbed the back of his head. His brows furrowed for a moment and she could see his cheeks were tinged red. He exhaled and grinned at her.
"Yeah, sure! Just let me go grab a futon." Yamamoto was gone before she could say another word.
Masami's eyes shut tightly as more thunder roared. She shivered and held the sheets closer to her. She was really hoping he would hurry. As she snuggled into the sheets, she silently dismissed the idea to call Hibari's house and tell him.
She was sure he wouldn't care.
A/N: Like he wouldn't care... X)
Here comes some shameless pimping! Recently, I've been a little more active on LJ. I'm helping to managa a KHR Fanfic Contest community on it called write_and_run. We're always welcoming new writers. Adding to that, I've also started a community where I've spammed icons I've made. The links to both are in my profile. It would be great if you checked both of them out. I may be pimping another community out in the next chapter too, haha, but for now, I'll be quiet.
I'll be skipping the Mist Battle and going to the Cloud one. Sorry for those that wanted to see more of Mukuro, but I can't think of a good way to involve Masami in his battle without getting writer's block. He'll be back in the Future Arc. (:
As always, thank you for reading and please review to tell me what you think. Reviews further fuel my passion for writing and will help me get back into the weekly update swing of things.
Next Chapter Preview:
"What exactly do you think you were doing staying there?"
"Why do you follow him, Kusakabe-san? I really don't get it."
"It's a complicated thing, Masa-"
"Explain, please."
"Mana... why haven't you gotten them yet? You promised, didn't you?"