Gahhh, I'm so sorry for such a late update!! D:
Anyway, thanks MEKI for reviewing twice!! xD
I don't own KHR, and that goes for all chapters. T_T
Happy Reading…and please review~!
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The next day brought about rain. Kaia had woken again, and was returned to her apartment. She remained indoors for the day, however she was constantly caught looking forlornly outside, gazing up at the cloudy skies, the relentlessly pelting rain, the mighty winds sweeping the city, and the deafening roars of the thunder. Soto pressed her to sleep – it was better than seeing her sit by her window hour after hour, looking up into the dark skies. Once she was asleep, Jasmine and Soto began to talk.
"It's the second Ring Battle today," remarked Soto. "The Thunder."
"Isn't it for that kid, Lambo, then?" Jasmine raised an eyebrow. "He's in no shape to fight!"
"No, shhh, you'll wake up Kaia," Soto motioned to her stirring form. Jasmine frowned. Kaia opened her eyes, and she slowly sat up.
"L-Lambo…?" Kaia rubbed her eye and blinked. "Where's-"
"He's all better now, okay, Kaia?" reassured Jasmine. "Wait one second – I'll get you some tea." She got up and retreated into the kitchen. Kaia laid back down, staring blankly up at the ceiling. Soto went to the front door and opened it, breathing in the fresh air of a rainy day. The entire apartment was getting quite stuffy, as Jasmine wouldn't allow Kaia to ever go wandering again. The windows, of course, were all shut with a lock.
Soto shortly closed the door. He turned to Kaia.
"Would you like a walk in the rain?" he smiled. Kaia looked at Soto and nodded. Jasmine came in from the kitchen with a teapot and three teacups already poured with the tea. She placed the tray down on the table.
"Kaia, here – tea."
But Kaia shook her head. She looked apologetic, and Jasmine nodded as if she understood.
"I…want…to…walk…in…the…rain…"
"Then let's all go, shall we?" smiled Soto. Kaia shook her head.
"Just…me…"
Both the expressions of Jasmine and Soto immediately darkened.
"Kaia…we can't allow you to wander off like before," said Soto. Kaia wasn't happy. She shakily stood up and walked to her own room, silently shutting the door behind her. Jasmine just watched Kaia go, and she looked to Soto.
"We have to call Allegra."
"No, we must not. She is busy enough as she is."
"…are you going to bring Kaia to the Thunder Battle tonight? Or watch?" frowned Jasmine. "I haven't been able to see the successor yet."
"You'll get to – later," smirked Soto. "We are definitely not going. Kaia's not ready yet to see the mafia at work."
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The next few days were relatively uneventful – to Soto, to Jasmine, at least. Jasmine preferred not to go at all, and to stay at Kaia's apartment to watch over her. Soto hadn't gone to the Sun Battle, of course, because of Kaia's mishap with Hibari again. Neither had he seen the Thunder Battle, as he stayed home with Kaia and Jasmine. The Storm Battle was situated inside, so Soto wasn't able to watch that without exposing the fact that he was actually in Namimori to the Varia. He was supposed to be hiding somewhere in Italy; nobody other than Reborn and the Ninth's Guardians knew that he was in Namimori now. But the Rain Battle, he was there. The viewing platform was outside, and there was that large screen on one of the school buildings to watch.
Jasmine hadn't seen anything, but she heard of the current standings. Tsuna's side had the Sun Ring and the Rain Ring. The Varia had gained the Thunder Ring, the Storm Ring, and the Sky Ring, due to Tsuna's interference. Soto approved of Yamamoto as the Guardian of Rain – after all, as Reborn pointed out, he was a natural-born assassin. He only worried when the time comes when they must be rid of their blood innocence. There, he agreed with the disappeared Squalo.
However, he fell over laughing when he found out that Hibari was actually there, watching. Jasmine was shocked. Hibari usually wasn't interested in anything involving crowding – this unusual interest was really something none of them even thought would ever happen.
Kaia, though, was stuck in her apartment throughout those two days: in the kitchen, the living room, her own room. Meaning, she was limited to sleeping, eating, or being locked in her room. On Sunday, the day of the Thunder Battle, she was once again brought to the Cavallone hospital to be scanned – Jasmine wanted to study the patterns of Kaia's negative dying will. Right after, she was put to sleep – again. Soto and Jasmine know that her training can't progress if she's in such a state, so finding the cause and cure of Kaia's ailment is top priority.
For Ria, who is trapped in her own little world, she has seen every single one of the Battles. She knows all about the Varia, about the Vongola, about Tsuna's group, and everything going on throughout the Ring Battles.
But that's Ria we're talking about, not Kaia.
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Once again, from this point on, Kaia and Ria are different. :D
And I'm sure that you all know which battle comes after the Rain Battle… :]
Thanks for reading and please review down there!! I'd absolutely love that!! Thanks a billion times to those who do!!
Have an awesome life, everyone! Love you all!!