Target 27: Should've Said No (Yuki POV)
Oh, the Vongola Gala was a blast. I forgot how fun it was to forget everything, and just become another person. Before we left for Italy, Reborn told me that it probably wouldn't be safe if my real name was used, because I have some….er….connections to the mafia and such. Using my Claire Voyant alias wouldn't work, because no one knows what Claire Voyant looked like. I did take special care in making sure no one ever found out. I just decided to go with the Alessa Rossi alias, because it was the safest one, and it wasn't that known either. It had been a while since I used my Alessa Rossi alias, but everyone seemed to buy it. That didn't avoid the questions I got from Gokudera and Tsuna about my whereabouts though. But I totally did not appreciate being used as a distraction for Ari and Yam.
Apparently while Gokudera and I were serenading the audience, Ari and Yam were outside chasing bad guys. She got to do all the fun things, while I was stuck playing a hella hard violin piece. Did I mention I haven't touched the violin in ages? I'm pretty sure my solo sucked, but whatever. What's done is done.
Anyway, today was a pretty normal day, until Ari came knocking on my door.
"Yes?" I asked, as I opened the door. When I did I saw Ari, who was out of breath from running to my house.
"YUUUUKIIII. OMG HELP ME!" She wailed. And I stood there just staring at her. After she calmed down, she managed to gather her wits again.
"Are you just going to stand there like an idiot, or are you going to come in?" I asked her raising an eyebrow. She walked in and plopped herself down on the couch.
"Help me I'm dying," She told me again, and I just looked at her.
"If you're dying, why did you come to me and not Shamal or anything?" I questioned.
"You have Shamal on speed dial don't you?" Ari asked, almost desperately. "Plus I don't wanna visit that creepy doctor guy by myself."
"Awwww….you trust me. I feel flattered." I cooed, placing a hand on my chest and acting all touched.
"Yeah, not for long." Ari muttered, and I immediately got serious.
"Ari what happened at the Vongola Gala?" I inquired, just knowing something went down.
"Uhh…I might have gotten myself poisoned, and I might die in three days. Hahaha," Ari stated with a humorless chuckle.
"Poison sure does love you huh?" I concluded, and Ari sheepishly nodded. "That's what? The third time you got poisoned? Someone really wants you dead, and is doing it the cowardly way."
"Ok, whatever, can you just call Shamal?" Ari asked, fidgeting uncomfortably. I whipped out my cell phone, and Shamal was indeed on my speed dial. My phone only rang twice before Shamal picked up.
"That was fast." I deadpanned, knowing that Shamal probably saw my caller ID.
"Of course I would pick up if someone as lovely as you called. What do you need?"
"Well…I have Ari here with me…and she kinda got sick, so do you mind coming over to check her out?" I asked, and Shamal's immediate answer was yes.
In less than five minutes the doorbell rang and I got up to get it. I was greeted by Shamal attempting to glomp me, and I skillfully managed to avoid him. Once he saw Ari sitting on the couch, he propelled himself at her with his lips puckered. His lip met something, but they kissed the bottom of Ari's foot as she stuck her leg out and kept him at leg's length away.
"Creepy!" She yelled, while Shamal removed his face from her foot, and tried to stop the blood gushing from his nose.
"Why, you're lucky you're a lady." Shamal drawled, after his bloody nose finally stopped. "I'm hung over and came all the way over here for you, and that's the greeting I get? You are definitely a cold city woman after all. So, what's wrong?"
"Ari somehow managed to get herself poisoned at the Vongola Gala…again." I informed him, and Shamal just nodded.
"And where did you get injected?" He asked Ari, and she told him her back.
"It seemed that whoever poisoned you didn't mean to kill you." Shamal concluded after his initial examination. "The poison was most likely from a scorpion of some kind, and it was mildly toxic at best. You should be thankful that they didn't use anything that Medusa did."
Yuki nodded and Shamal gathered all his stuff.
"Anyway, if you need anything I will be there." Shamal reminded Yuki as she technically had to shove him out the door.
"So…since you came to me, there has to be something else on your mind isn't there?" I asked Ari crossing my arms, and raising m eyebrows.
"Umm….yeah, I guess." Ari replied, twiddling her thumbs.
"Well….are you going to tell me or no?" I asked her tapping my foot impatiently. Ari spent a few more moments in silence before she finally decided to speak.
"You know what? Let's go back to my house. What I'm about to tell you, I would like to tell Reborn as well." And I nodded.
We started walking to Tsuna's house and were there in like 5 minutes.
"Reborn? Are you here?" I called, and he popped his head out of Tsuna's room.
"Ciaossu, Yuki. What are you doing here?" He asked me, sipping a little cup of espresso.
"Apparently Ari has something to tell us." I informed him, and Ari stepped into the room.
"Ummm….Tsuna's not here is he?" Ari asked, and Reborn told us that he was out running some errands for Mama.
Once we were all situated in Tsuna's room, Ari took a deep breath.
"Ok, so my father contacted me last night and he said that the program was ending, and that he booked me on a flight to Quebec next week."
We all stayed silent for a few moments, before Reborn broke it.
"Well of course you have to go back, Ari. You don't live here, and your exchange program was only supposed to be three months. I had to call your father to have it extended, but he wouldn't allow any longer than a few more weeks for you to say your goodbyes."
Ari just gawked at Reborn while he was telling her this.
"You asked my dad to lengthen my stay here?" Ari asked incredulously, and Reborn nodded.
"You play a special role in the Vongola Family, plus I think that everybody forgot that you don't live here. It would be detrimental to the family if you left now, especially because of what's going to happen." Reborn and I made meaningful eye contact, and we basically had a conversation with just our eyes.
It went a little something like this:
Reborn: You do know what is going to happen right?
Yuki: Of course I do, who do you think I am?
Reborn: So I can trust that they will be okay without me?
Yuki: Uhhh….sure, yeah you can totally trust me with them….hahaha.
Reborn: You know what happened in the future don't you? You know what happened to them…to me?
Yuki: Trust me I know. I'll try and delay Ari as long as possible.
Reborn: Good.
And that's when we broke eye contact, and I turned to face Ari.
"So…you have your goodbyes in order?" I asked, and Ari froze. I could see a look of shock cross her face, and then it was replaced by disbelief and maybe a little bit of anger.
"Umm…not really. I still can't even think about saying goodbye to everybody." She muttered quietly.
'Well you don't have to.' I thought, almost laughing to myself. But I kept my face void of expression and nodded.
"What time is your flight?" Reborn asked, and Ari took out her phone.
"According to father, he's sending his private jet to pick me up, and I have to be on the tarmac at 11:15 on Friday."
"We have school that day." I broke in, and Ari nodded solemnly.
"So you guys won't be able to see me off." Ari sighed, and Reborn jumped to perch on her shoulder.
"Dame-Tsuna and the rest will see you off." Reborn reassured her, and he smirked a little to himself. "He'll say goodbye with his dying will."
With that the door opened, and Tsuna walked in.
"Oh, Ari-chan, Yuki-chan, what are you doing here?" He asked a little surprised.
"Oh, nothing," I responded, as I picked myself up and headed to the door. "I was just leaving."
As I walked out the door, I mulled over what Reborn told me in my head. It was a big responsibility taking care of everybody, but I was the only one who could do it. Reborn was really too perceptive for his own good. I guess that's why he's the number one hitman in the world. It was a big responsibility and I probably should've said no. But I was glad I didn't.
It was late in the evening on a Tuesday, and Tsuna and Co. were all walking home together, including me and Ari after dinner at TakeSushi. It was a normal night, before things started to take a turn for the…unexpected.
Lambo took out his bazooka because he started crying. (It was technically my fault, because I was going to give him a piece of candy, only for Tsuna to run into me, and make me drop the unwrapped candy on the ground. Lambo immediately started crying, and whipped out his bazooka from his hair as usual.)
That's when things started to malfunction. When Lambo tried to jump into his bazooka, like he's done countless times in the past, it started moving like there was something in it. That resulted in Lambo jumping in the air only to fall on his butt, and the bazooka to come flying towards me.
'Shit, I can't be hit with the bazooka just yet,' I thought, and as I have established; it's my instinct to grab the closest thing near me, and block me.
Apparently the person standing next to me was Ari. So the last thing I saw on her face was a look of pure shock, before the bazooka covered her, and then there were just pink smoke everywhere obstructing our view.
We all waited for the smoke to clear and when it did, all our jaws dropped.
There was Ten Year Ari standing there in the middle of the smoke in all her glory. And when I mean in all her glory I really mean in all her glory. Her clothes, well…her lack of clothes, in this instance made us all raise our eyebrows in confusion. She was brandishing her kunai, wearing just lingerie, and a white dress shirt that just had one button buttoned.
"Oh. It's just you guys." She stated nonchalantly, putting away her weapons.
She turned to survey all of us, and I could see the nostalgia in her eyes, especially when she saw Tsuna starting at her with bug eyes. Then her eyes met mine, and her facial expression grew cold and distant.
"It really has been a while, hasn't it Yuki?"
A/N: Sorry for the long wait you guys! Btw the title has nothing to do with the Taylor Swift song…I just thought it sounded nice. School's been a bitch, and the homework is killing me. I'll try to update every week…ish… Sorry guys, no promises. Anyway…next chapter is the chapter I have been waiting to write forever! Ahhhh I'm so happy I might even do double update…maybe. But it's going to come out soon, cause I'm just so excited to write it. Now I can do my homework without guilt…haha…hahaha…not really- Until next time~
