Chapter Five: Real Men

When classes finally let out I told Yamamoto-san not to wait for me since I was going to find Sasagawa-sempai. It turned out that he was meeting up with the baseball team after school anyways, so he offered to lead me to the gym. "Eh? The baseball team meets in the gym?" I asked. Yamamoto smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, we are just grabbing our gear from the storage room and moving back to the club house. All of Namimori's sports equipment is stored in there during the break." He explained.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. Alrgiht! Please show me the way. Thanks Yamamoto-san!" I said. We chatted more about the baseball club as we walked through the hall. Namimori Middle was a surprisingly large middle school, it was even more impressive considering it wasn't the only middle school in town. Maybe I had underestimated how large this town really was when we first moved in here. Maybe it was more of a small city?

Yamamoto lead me down several halls before the gym's large double doors. "Here it is!" Yamamoto-san exclaimed. I peered into the gym through the windows in the door and couldn't help feeling impressed. This place was massive! Talk about supporting the education system, Namimori had spared no expense on this gym. There were a lot of students inside already. Many of them were dressed in a variety of sports gear, some of them were in their school gym gear. "Haha, are you going to go in?" laughed Yamamoto-san. I blushed a little.

"O-Of course! I was just surprised by how big it is." I said as I pushed open the door.

"Eh? Is it that surprising? Your old school must have been pretty small." He said. He wasn't wrong. I had been to a lot of schools but most of them were small, and not all of them had the money to build facilities like this.

"I guess so…" I muttered. I continued to take in my surroundings as we entered the gym. The first thing that hit me was the scent of stale body odour, it wasn't overpowering, but it was a permanent fixture in the building. It might have been trapped in the pain over time. It was unpleasant and I scrunched a couple times in hopes of relief. Physical education classes should just be held outside, it would make my day easier.

"Oh, I think I see Sasagawa-sempai over there, looks like you didn't miss him after all." Said Yamamoto-san pointing at the group guys off to the side. I paused for a moment when my eyes fell onto the group.

Oh. My. Dracula.

Namimori middle was officially the greatest school on earth! Most of the guys gathered around in the group were wearing nothing but gym shorts and various forms of tape on their hands and legs. A tiny sea of muscular half-naked guys. My throat felt like a desert. "He's the one in the yellow shorts!" said Yamamoto. I nodded my head. "Well, you better catch him before he leaves! I'm going to go meet up with the guys now. See you later Tsuna-san!" he said and left with a cheery wave.

"Yup. Sure." I croaked, not really paying attention. I started walking towards the boxing club willing myself not to blush… or pop some fangs. That would be so embarrassing. One of the guys saw me coming and turned to the group member next to him.

"Hey Kamiyama, who is that kid?" I heard him ask in a hushed voice. The guy with long black hair turned to look at me.

"No idea. First year maybe?" he said.

"Nah, look at his shirt, he's a second year." The first guy replied. Sasagawa-sempai turned to look too.

"Hmm? What kid? OH! It's you to the EXTEREME!" he said shouting and pointing directly at me as I approached the group. I stopped mid stride and I'm ashamed to admit that I 'eeped'. He pushed through the small group and I quickly catalogued him as he approached me.

I had noticed earlier that morning how large this guy was. He was not only tall, but corded with thick muscle. It made sense that he was a boxer. His shoulders and arms were more defined than his legs, but not by much. Strong, fast. His face was an open, sunny, book. His large grin reached his eyes, and you could see the developing laugh lines. Genuine, optimistic. There was a scar on his face, probably an injury from a past fight, but likely not a boxing match. He seemed to be more braun than brain, but likely not a threat unless provoked.

When he reached me he clasped his hand over my shoulder. His hand was heavy, but his grip wasn't threatening. "Join the boxing club to the extreme!" he exclaimed while giving me a thumbs up. What a serious 'nice guy' pose!

"Eehh? Me!?" I could help but exclaim. I mean, I was nearly a foot shorter than every other guy here and well… my arms looked like noodles compared to theirs. His group members looked almost as exasperated as I felt confused.

"YOSH! You run extremely fast!" his exclaimed and clapped me on the other shoulder. I'd have stumbled if he wasn't already holding me steady.

"B-but! You don't really have to run fast in boxing." I protested.

"You have to be able to dodge and punch super fast though! Like this!" he exclaimed and proceeded to demonstrate with a round of rapid fire punches far too close to my face.

"Hiiiee!" I squealed and backed away. This is not how I imagined meeting my first group of half naked guys would go! So much for that fantasy! "No, no Sasagawa-sempai! You've got it all wrong! I'm not here to join the boxing club!" I exclaimed, my hands raised in surrender. I looked to the rest of the members for support but the looks on their faces clearly said 'not our business, not our problem'.

"Is that so? Well you should extremely consider trying it out anyways! Why not come to our first practice and see if you like it!?" he suggested. This guy was so… nice. Energetic and scary, but in an earnest way. I felt my defenses crumbling a bit.

"I.. uhm… I guess I could…" I replied. Crap. I gave in way to easy. Sasagawa-sempai beamed and clapped me on the back, causing me to stumble forward.

"Extreme! Real men try new things all the time! What's your name, little extreme dude?" he asked.

I rubbed at my shoulder as I straightened up. "Eto… I'm Hikawa, Tsuna." I replied and offered a small bow.

"Yosh! I'm Sasagawa, Ryohei! Just call me Onii-san!" he said. My eyes were wide… wow Rosemary really suited this guy.

"A-ah. Sure. Onii-san." I replied dutifully. I had a feeling it would be better for me if I just went along with it. He grinned again.

"YOSH! NOW I'M FEELING ALL PUMPED UP TO THE EXTREME! I'm going to get a hundred people to join the boxing club today!" he said with a fist pump.

"Oh! Wait, uh, Onii-san! I do need to talk to you!" I said. He turned back and blinked, fist still in the air.

"Huh? Sup, little dude?" He asked. I scowled at the nickname, but it was a far cry better than Dame-Tsuna.

"I wanted to apologise for this morning." I said. He blinked again, dry-wood and sharp florals lacing through his scent. He was just as confused as his sister had been. "E-eto… I bumped into Hibari-sempai first when we were all running to school. I'm pretty sure that's why he tried to fight you." I said.

"HAHA! Hibari-san is an intense guy to the extreme! I wondered why he was so energetic on the first day of school!" he exclaimed.

"Err, yeah. I'm starting to get that impression. Still, I'm sorry I managed to cause you so much trouble on the first day." I said, bowing in appology.

"No problem, little dude! Show up at practice tomorrow and we'll call it even to the extreme! Yosh! I'm off to gather new extreme members!" He shouted and then took off at lightning speed. I was left standing with the rest of the boxing club members.

"Uhm… is he usually… like that?" I couldn't help but ask. The one named Kamiyama looked at me and nodded his head.

"Ah, yeah. Sometimes he's louder. Name's Kamiyama, just Kamiyama." He said and extended his hand. Catalouging him didn't take much time. He had a similar build to Sasagawa-sempai, but a much calmer demeanour. I shook his and felt a little dizzy when he flashed a smile at me. I wasn't concerned about this guy being a threat, you couldn't threaten me with a good time.

"Hikawa, Tsuna." I replied shyly. He let go of my hand and took a step back.

"We'll, see you at practice tomorrow, Hikawa-san. We meet here right after school and practice starts fifteen minutes after the last bell. Try not to be late. Let's go guys, we better hand out some flyers too. See ya." He said with a short wave as he walked off, the other members following him and offering their own goodbyes. I was focused on one detail in my half-dazed state; he smelled like Ginger… I blushed as I shook myself. This was not the time to be thinking about strangers with dark eyes and well-defined abs! I quickly made my way out of the gym, intent on getting my stuff and going home before anything else strange could happen. This was only the first day of school. What else did this year have in store?

I was super distracted as I walked down the halls at a brisk pace. My mind was furiously not thinking about Kamiyama-san, or his large chest, so I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. By the time I caught the scent of cherry blossoms, and registered why that was a bad thing, it was already too late. I had rounded the corner and crashed into none other that Namimori's resident demon. The disciplinary comity captain, Hibari-sempai. Ah… I really want to cry.

My bag fell from my grasp as I dropped to the ground. I sat, half sprawled, on the floor with my arms supporting my torso. I stared, wide eyed, at the angry student in front of me. Naturally, I started cataloguing him and almost immediately regretted it. The first thing I noticed were the concealed weapons holstered inside his sleeves. I'd seen those tonfas in action earlier. I didn't know if Hibari-sempai had names for them, but neither of them were named Mercy. Hibari-sempai was wicked fast for a human, and I haven't had a chance to see him at full speed. Too fast for me to escape right now, he was too close. Which meant I would have to fight, or take the hits, and his hits looked like they hurt. He looked thin, but there was no mistaking the strength behind his strikes when he fought Sasagawa-sempai that morning. Not to mention running into him felt like running into a brick wall. He was practiced too, all of his strikes were accurate and precise. He knew exactly where to hit to produce maximum damage. It was hard to believe this guy was the same age as the rest of the school. He was on an entirely different level.

Analyzing his physique in person only further confirmed all of the assumptions I had made about him during his fight in the morning. The first thing I noticed was his proportions. Arms, legs, torso, shoulders; all perfectly proportioned for optimal speed and accuracy. The solid muscled lining those long limbs were a testament to his strength. What surprised me the most was the fact that his arm muscles were not the bulkiest part of his body despite his obvious preference for tonfas, his muscle mass was evenly distributed. His body was a fine tuned fighting machine, he'd been training a long time for one thing and one thing only; combat.

The brain controlling that weapon of a body was no hell either. The combination of obviously violent tendencies, lack of basic social skills, and confidence that could only come from being on the top of the food chain made for a dangerous psychological cocktail. It might be shear luck that this individual was hell bent on keeping order and not the other way around, or this town would be a very different place.

However, it was his eyes that made my heart stutter in my chest. Oval pupils were surrounded by cold steal grey. Their shape became even more pronounced as they contracted. Humans didn't have those eyes; vampires did.

I was quickly forced to re-evaluate all of my assumptions about Hibari-sempai. If he was a vampire then not only was he lethal to humans, he was lethal to me. Faster, stronger, smarter, and vicious. Mama was always so careful about the towns she chose. I'd only met two other vampires but never alone, and both were happy to stay out of our way as long as we stayed out of theirs. To put it lightly, I was terrified.

Clearly, I'd been staring for a couple of seconds more than I should have been, and that spicy scent of annoyance was making a slow appearance in the air.

"Hie! Hi-Hi-Hibari-sempai!" I stuttered out. He crossed his arms and took a threatening step towards me, I gulped.

"Herbivore" he hissed out, low and smooth.

"Sorry, so so sorry…" I repeated, body tense as if prepared to run but also frozen solid by the cold look in his eyes.

"I've been looking for you all day. You are quite the difficult bunny to find, but I've found you now." He said as he slipped out his tonfas. "For disrupting the peace on the first day of school, prepare to be bitten to death." He growled. My mind started short circuiting as his tonfa advanced towards me. So this was it, he was going to kill me. If I fought I would lose and if I ran… well running was pointless too. I was stuck between a metal tonfa and the school floor with nowhere to go. In a last-ditch effort to avoid being killed I did something that I am not proud of. I rolled over… and I played dead.

In my defence, my mind has always been geared towards blending in a surviving. Momma and I have been on the run from the church for as long as I can remember. All unaffiliated vampires are. So, with barely a thought, I stilled my heart and exhaled for the last time. Perhaps, in hindsight this was taking it a little too far, but it had the desired effect; Hibari-sempai paused. With my eyes closed and breath still I couldn't gauge his reaction through sight or scent, but I did hear him stop moving. One second, two seconds, three seconds…

"Herbivore, what the hell do you think you are doing?" he said. When I failed to respond he gave me a swift kick to the side. The force of the kick and the pain that blossomed made me want to grunt and whimper, but I was in full on survival mode so I persevered. I could last like this for days if I really allowed my body to start shutting down, slowing metabolic processes. My heart would only need to beat once every few hours. I'd just hover around death's door until the danger had passed. Except, Hibari sempai probably knew exactly what I was doing. I was so dead.

I half expected Hibari-sempai to call me out, and just start beating me up, but after a few more 'motivational' kicks he stopped. I was surprised when the perfect bent down and pressed his fingers to the side of my neck and cursed quietly. I heard him back up and drop his tonfas, the metal clattering loudly against the ground. Cellphone keys were clicked in rapid succession as he muttered something about rabbits being scared to death. The person on the other line picked up after the first ring.

"Kyoy-" the voice said but Hibari-sempai cut him off.

"Make sure the shitty nurse is in the fucking infirmary, we have a situation. Some herbivore just rolled over and died." He said sharply.

"Died!? Kyo-san, what happened!?" replied the voice. Oh. My. Dracula. This guy had no idea that I was a vampire too. He was distracted, this was my only chance! I jumped up and I took off at a mad dash toward the school doors. Breathing heavily through my nose I found that the air smelled of salt and cherry blossoms. He was either afraid I was dead or startled that I had just jumped up. Unsurprising really, and it gave me a thrill of accomplishment. That was overshadowed when the scent of citrus and musk accompanied the quiet exclamation of "Wao" as I ran out the doors.

My chest hurt as my heart returned to it's normal pace but the slight discomfort was worth it as I escaped the brunt of Hibari-sempai's wrath. The euphoria quickly ran out as I excited the school grounds, finally, as I came to terms with what had just taken place. If mom found out that I had used my abilities at school, Hibari-sempai would be the least of my worries. I was nearly half-way home before I was convinced that Hibari-sempai wouldn't try to catch up to me. I slowed to a walk.

It was official. This town was fucking crazy. I thought back on how mama had lived here for ten years and wondered how she had managed it. Maybe the adults in this town weren't quite as quirky as the children. Everyone I had met today seemed to have very strong personality traits, a lot of them violent. So far only Yamamoto-san and Sasagawa-san seemed normal. Though, I guess I had no room to judge any of the other students here. I was by far the strangest kid in the school. Except, perhaps Hibari-sempai.

My mind wandered back to the silver eyed demon perfect. I definitely hadn't been mistaken about Hibari-san's heritage, but he should have known that I was playing dead. He seemed genuinely confused by what I'd done. Didn't all vampires know how to do that? Was he even a vampire? No, his eyes were a dead giveaway. Maybe he was a half-blood like me. And that catch phrase! 'I'll bite you to death'! Who said that!? I'd have to talk to Mamma about him later. I blushed as I thought back on how his scent had changed as I left. There was no way I had gotten that right. Musk could be a couple of things really, like interest… or arousal. My face turned red as I thought it. There was no way, there was just no way. If anything, he was interested in my ability to play dead. Still, one thought led to another and I couldn't help but wonder what his blood would taste like if I bit him.

I slapped my burning cheeks as I kept walking home. I shouldn't be thinking about this. I was still a little young to go hunting on my own. Mamma had given me the talk when my fangs first grew in. Feeding was a rather… intimate experience for vampires and their prey. It was so embarrassing! Why did evolution have to be so… so… ugh!? I shook myself and willed my blush to fade at last. Look at me, getting all worked up over the scariest person I had ever met.

Maybe I should get Mamma to bring me home a blood bag though. It had been a long time since I had drunk any, and my throat was constantly burning at school. Chocolate could only do so much. I needed a way to feed myself when things got bad. Mind made up I continued home to finish my homework early. I was going to ask mama about signing up for hunting lessons. There was one problem with that plan, however.

I had left my bag on the floor in the school hallway.

My face scrunched up in wide eyed terror and stress. How could I have forgotten my bag in the school!? Now I had to go home without it and get murdered by my mother, or I had to go back to school to retrieve it and get murdered by Hibari-sempai. Either way my life was forfeit! No wonder Hibari-sempai hadn't chased me out of the school! He knew I was going to have to come back!

I bent over and placed my hands on my thighs as I panted, anxiety taking over. How the hell could I have let this happen? It was official, this was the worst day of my life. I had hoped to fly under the radar, but it looked like that just wasn't going to happen.

"Yo, Tsuna-san! You still haven't made it home yet?" came a voice from behind me. I turned around and saw Yamamoto-san walking towards me smiling and waving. I couldn't help it, my eyes started watering and my bottom lip quivered as I looked up at him. "Huh… Tsuna? Wha-what? What happened? OI! Hey, don't cry!?" he exclaimed.