CHAPTER 6:
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE READS, REVIEWS, FOLLOWS, AND FAVORITES!
Also apparently, in the Japanese Curriculum, first-year high school students do not have History but rather Contemporary Society.
Err…so uhmm ignore the mention of it in the previous chapters…?
I guess I'll just add that to the (long) list of things I have to correct.
Also, I would like to warn you in advance that some (most…all…?) characters might be OOC.
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn
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"We're not eavesdropping woman!" a masculine voice shouted.
"Don't be so rude to them," a cheery voice lightly reprimanded.
Natsumi blinked, unsure about reality for a second.
Vongola Giotto-sensei gave a hesitant (guilty) smile, scratching the back of his head. Hibari Alaude-sensei just gave Natsumi and her companions a flat stare.
And then there's the other two (the ones who spoke) with them.
Natsumi had not met them personally but she had heard of them.
One, frankly, just seemed to be an older version of Yamamoto Takeshi. The high school student could safely surmise that he is Asari Ugetsu-sensei, the Literature teacher for the upperclassmen. He was the owner of the cheery voice that is eerily similar to the baseball player.
The one that jarred Natsumi the most is an older, pink-haired Gokudera Hayato. She had heard of that description before, yes, but actually seeing it when she had been classmates with grumpy Gokudera-san for a year made her stare a bit. Then she remembered that both half-brothers were supposed to have the same personality. She immediately averted her eyes even though she wanted to inspect Rossi* Luigi-sensei's facial tattoo a bit more. She'd rather not get yelled at. Or prematurely find out if Rossi-sensei has the same tendency to throw dynamites or something.
(Gokudera-san had apparently legally changed his last name to that of his biological mother's as soon as he could…which is about two years ago, right after he earned his emancipation.)
Natsumi turned back to her brother and his girlfriend. And with a (fake) cheerful tone she said, "These are my senseis in school. Hibari Alaude-sensei, he's our neighbor Tatsu-nii, is the teacher for Contemporary Society for freshmen, and Japanese and World History to sophomores and seniors. Vongola Giotto-sensei would sub for our Math teacher whenever Tanaka-sensei isn't feeling too well. He usually teaches Algebra and Geometry to sophomores. Asari Ugetsu-sensei teaches Classical and Modern Literature to sophomores and seniors. Rossi Luigi-sensei is the Chemistry and Physics teacher for sophomores and seniors."**
She knows they have three other friends although only two are teachers, Sasagawa Knuckle-sensei and Spade Daemon-sensei. The other one, if the rumor mill is accurate for once, is still in college though she doesn't know his name.
(Now that she listed them down, it felt like they were teaching too many subjects. But then again there are only 2 classes of about 20 students each per year in Vongola High, being a prestigious and exclusive private high school and all. Its high standards and good reputation were the main reasons why Natsumi was willing to navigate through her volatile classmates and schoolmates until graduation…and because she's a scholarship student)
"Good evening," Vongola-sensei greeted amicably.
It prompted an exchange of greetings and introductions, even a stilted one from Rossi-sensei and a monotonous one from Hibari-sensei.
"We didn't mean to eavesdrop, really. We were waiting for the rest of our friends and your stall was just right next to ours so we uh…" Vongola-sensei trailed off.
"Eavesdropped?" Ara 'helpfully' supplied.
Natsumi kicked her lightly under the table, "It's okay Sensei, we weren't really lowering our voices either. We don't really care much that you overheard."
The stalls could only comfortably fit four adults. The high school student was facing away from the stalls occupied by her teachers while her two companions sat beside each other on the opposite side, her brother near the wall. Rossi-sensei and Vongola-sensei sat back-to-back with her, the Math teacher sitting near the wall. Meanwhile, Asari-sensei sat opposite Vongola-sensei, Hibari-sensei beside him.
"Are you sure about that?" the male Emiya asked, a bit amused.
It made the younger sister blush when she remembered just what they were talking about earlier before she stopped and stared in amazement at how much Ara could consume.
Natsumi had confessed that sometimes she would still come across a few kanji she had no idea existed before then, much less know what it actually means. Even after almost half a decade in Japan she still couldn't grasp more than the more common kanji. And don't get her started on the literature and the proverbs or just plain references that would suddenly just pop out mid-conversation. She could only guess what they mean through context clues. Most of the time she just smiles and nods along even though she didn't really get what they meant at all.
Realizing that her teachers just heard her confess all of that makes her want to melt into the ground. Or maybe become a hermit for the rest of her life so she didn't have to return to school anymore.
She involuntarily groaned but voluntarily ran a hand through her face. What made her think that was a safe topic to discuss in public?
"Well, you could ask me for help if you want Emiya-san. I'll be your teacher the coming school year," Asari-sensei volunteered.
Natsumi had to twist her torso to even look at the Literature teacher but she wanted to give him a grateful smile. "Thank you, Sensei. I'll be sure to take you up on that offer when my self-teaching skill reaches its limits."
The dark-haired sensei beamed a smile at that but judging by the faces of the rest of the senseis, the brunette student might have said a bit too much. Maybe she should have only said 'thank you, sensei' and stopped at that.
Before anyone could continue the conversation, Ara interjected, "We would have to leave now. We still need to go to that patisserie Natsumi had been waxing poetics about."
"Am not! And are you sure you could eat more?" the female Emiya immediately changed the topic although she was curious about the answer. If the high school student ate even half of what the young woman ate, Natsumi would surely be too bloated to even want to move anywhere.
"Of course I could eat more," the female blackette countered, "there's always room in my stomach for desserts."
Natsumi was quite skeptical of that but Tatsuya gave her a reassuring smile that bordered on a smirk.
With the bill paid and with some pleasantries exchanged with her senseis, the three left TakeSushi.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*TakeSushi, the best sushi – free advertisement*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Natsumi introduced I-pin to Tatsuya and Ara.
"You finally introduced a friend!" the male Emiya yelled in an overly enthusiastic voice, "I'm beginning to worry you don't have one!"
That sent the brunette student sputtering barely coherent strings of words and the brunette apprentice giggling behind the notebook she writes orders on.
Why was Natsumi looking forward to him coming home again?
Oh right, he cooks great food.
(And gives warm hugs…she missed his hugs the most. Not that she'll ever tell her brother that.)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*'Brothers are bothers' – this line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
With the spring cleaning done, Natsumi, Tatsuya, and Ara decided to take advantage of the beautiful cherry blossoms and have a picnic.
Snacks were made and Ara was officially banned from the kitchen.
It's not that the woman created impossible disasters like setting celeries on fire but she just had a habit of eating while preparing the food. It would not have been a problem if it was just a little bit of everything but she actually eats 50% of what she makes.
The siblings had to stop her before they run out of food to bring for the flower viewing.
The picnic itself was a relaxed affair. Having had all of yesterday to catch up with one another while cleaning, there was little left to discuss except for random small talks.
Eventually, they settled into lying down and enjoying the beautiful sight of swaying pink petals and the perpetual showers of it.
Natsumi had been so relaxed she eventually drifted to sleep, lulled by the still cool breeze.
(She would have been warier of falling asleep if she had kept in mind that Tatsuya was carrying his camera but she dismissed the sight as 'he's always carrying his camera'. She'll regret that thought when he decides to use his stash of blackmail pictures.)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line likes annoying its siblings*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
While Natsumi was happy she, Tatsuya, and Ara could finally walk around and explore Namimori, she didn't remember what they may possibly encounter until a loud explosion was heard.
Thankfully, it was on the other side of the shopping district from where they were at.
Unfortunately, both her brother and his girlfriend wanted to know what happened, in other words, go where the explosion happened.
"Do you really want to go there?" Natsumi asked hesitantly.
"Don't you? Aren't you even just a tiny curious about it? Or at least concerned if someone got hurt?" Tatsuya countered.
"What if another explosion happened and we're near there?" the female Emiya pointed out.
"I'm sure whoever authority got there first had made sure whatever it is doesn't explode more. Or at least turn onlookers away if it isn't," Ara reasoned.
As if on cue, gunshots were heard.
"Okay…maybe it's not safe," the male Emiya acquiesced, a bit wary about the gunshot and steadily pulling his younger sister, this time away from the commotion.
Natsumi immediately nodded in agreement and latched on to Ara's hand before pulling her with them. Then the younger female noticed that the woman was looking around distractedly. "Ara?" she called out. Was there something wrong?
"Why is no one even remotely panicking?" Ara suddenly asked.
"W-What?" Natsumi asked back in shock and a tiny bit afraid of this line of questioning.
The female blackette frowned at the mother and child that continued on their shopping trip as if they weren't hearing the continuous sounds of violence from a distance. "Even if the gunshots and explosions were a bit of distance from us, normally, people would have been screaming and running away, at least calling the police or something. But everyone is acting like it's a normal part of their everyday life. What the hell?" the half-Canadian questioned.
Because it is becoming a part of our everyday lives, Natsumi answered in her head but didn't dare say it out loud. Maybe the residents of Namimori are collectively out of their minds if they got so used to this amount of violence they think it's normal.
Even Tatsuya paused at his girlfriend's observation and also began to eye the shopper and shopkeeper haggling on some goods' prices like they weren't hearing the loud noises of hostility and possible carnage. "Now that you've pointed it out…" he trailed off.
"L-let's just go!" the high school student yelled as she tagged them both, "let's just get out of here! We'll just ask around later what happened! Let's just leave for now!"
The couple gave her a suspicious look but let themselves get dragged away.
The younger female fought a sigh of relief from escaping her lips. No need to get them more suspicious.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line let itself get dragged here*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
It was after they visited Namimori Shrine when something happened again.
"Isn't that your teacher?" Ara asked, pointing somewhere behind the crop of trees they had to pass through to get back home.
Natsumi looked at where he was pointing at and saw Asari-sensei and Yamamoto-san practicing their swordsmanship…with live blades.
"What the heck?! Are those real swords?!" Tatsuya yelled in disbelief.
Ara then hit him over the head and hissed at him, "Don't yell! If they get distracted, it'll be more dangerous for them."
"B-But‒! Live blades," the male Emiya pointed out, thankfully with a lower volume.
"Let's just get out of here before we distract them," the female blackette tugged her boyfriend away from the scene as Natsumi obediently followed them.
"But we should get them to stop before they hurt each other," the only male in their group countered.
The younger girl pitied her older brother. He looked like he was about to hyperventilate.
Maybe they should leave Namimori for a while?
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line has nowhere else to go, can it stay here please?*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Kokuyo Land was their destination the next day.
The three immediately got in line for the roller coaster.
While in waiting, the three discussed who'll sit together, after all, only two people could sit side-by-side and there are three of them.
"It's okay, you two sit together first," Natsumi told the couple.
Ara already has her mouth open, probably to argue, but Tatsuya spoke before she could say anything, "You said 'first'?"
"Then after that Ara and I would sit together then you and I the third time," Natsumi suggested with a smirk. Her suggestion would give her the chance to ride the roller coaster three times.
"You sure you want to do this three times? You know the thrill lessens the more you repeat it, right?" Ara asked.
The younger female shrugged at that. She doubted her thrill would lessen with just three rides, consecutive they may be. The Kokuyo Land Roller Coaster is massive.
The couple looked at each other briefly.
"I don't see anything wrong with doing it three times," Tatsuya shared his opinion.
"You know motion sickness is a thing right? I'm just glad I won't be next to you on the second and third ride," Ara replied to that.
Natsumi blinked, she didn't think of that.
There's no time to think about it more though because it was their turn to get on.
Now, different people deal with the thrill differently. Some scream in genuine enjoyment. Some scream in fright. Some scream profanities while some for their mommies.
For Natsumi, the thrill makes her laugh. Her laughs could range from full belly laughs to giggles and she can't stop it.
Her seatmate was already yelling prayers and confessions. Poor guy. If she remembered correctly he is her fellow third-wheel.
Natsumi was laughing in between whoops of excitement when the guy finally burst into tears.
Then she giggled.
The timing is totally unintentional on her part.
When the ride was finally over, the guy had to be escorted to the nearest trashcan by the couple behind them.
Tatsuya had the decency to make some distance from them first before he snickered.
Ara promptly elbowed him in the gut.
"The bumper carts next!" Natsumi enthusiastically suggested. The excitement from the roller coaster ride was still running through her system making her high-strung and a bit giddy.
She had run ahead and was already on the line before she turned back to the couple and found them lazily walking. The high school student frowned at them. Why are they walking so slowly?
Her brother was quite taller than average being 6ft2. He inherited his height from their father, including his coloring of grayish-black hair and dull black eyes.
In fact, Tatsuya was intimidating at first sight. At least until he opens his mouth.
Natsumi would admit to anyone that her older brother fits the description 'adorkable' very well.
Proof of that was when he promptly challenged her and Ara in a 'circuit race'.
The female Emiya rolled her eyes at that. They're in BUMPER carts! They're supposed to bump on each other, not race!
A look was exchanged between the two females. Without a word they already had agreed on what to do.
They ganged up on the only male in their group.
Tatsuya complained about how unfair it was on their way back to the roller coaster. He was still whining when they finally got in line.
Thankfully, Ara had pulled him into a conversation about quality tents by the time they were about to board the roller coaster.
And then Tatsuya remembered he would be the one going solo on this round when the two females sat together.
He started whining again.
At least he stopped whining when the ride started.
If Natsumi was all giggles and Tatsuya was whoops of excitement and fun, Ara was completely silent.
The girl chanced a look at the woman and Ara didn't seem petrified at all. In fact, she was just smirking and grinning.
Natsumi's respect for her skyrocketed with that display of bad*ssery.
The next attraction they went to was some sort of boat ride in running water, just with mini waterfalls and a lot of slopes and turns, the speed varying from time to time. It was not as thrilling as the roller coaster but the splashes of water made it just as fun.
The three were already in line for 2 minutes for their third and last ride on the roller coaster when Natsumi recognized just which group was less than a dozen people in front of where they are in the line. She immediately tried to come with an excuse to evacu‒err…leave the roller coaster for later.
(No wonder so few decided to get in line for the biggest attraction of the park this time. The last two times they actually managed to take a turn getting a bathroom break each while waiting.)
The female Emiya was just about to suggest to Ara if they could maybe get some snacks and ice cream first when a stern voice silenced the usually noisy crowd of amusement park goers.
"Emiya," it was her last name and she was already used to being referred by it but when said by the Demon Prefect of Vongola High School, it makes her blood run cold.
Sawada Setsuna's Fan Club seemed to have finally noticed their presence at the back of the line.
Add insult to injury, the ten people in between them and the group ahead (the fan club members plus Sawada Setsuna and another girl she doesn't recognize) suddenly decided they would like to try other rides instead.
"Hibari-sempai…?" Natsumi asked uncertainly, though proud of herself for not stuttering.
Said sempai just glared and gestured for the twinned seats.
Natsumi opened her mouth to ask for more clues about what the heck he meant when she realized just what he was telling her.
The rest of the group had paired off. Sawada-san and the unknown girl, Sinclair-sempai and Cozart-san (her poor classmate), Gokudera-san and Yamamoto-san (bad idea), and then Vongola-san and Cavallone-sempai (even worse idea with their one-sided hate/friendship, depends on who you asked). Only Rokudo-san is left unpaired with Hibari-sempai.
"Kufufufufu, who would she sit with? Me or you?" Rokudo-san asked the prefect.
Hibari-sempai paused, seemingly thinking about it before saying, "Me. You'll stay in front of me pineapple herbivore."
Natsumi was petrified. A whole roller coaster ride with the Demon Prefect.
"Too bad for either of you," her brother suddenly interjected with a smirk, "there are two Emiyas here and you didn't specify which one."
There was silence. Someone actually had the guts to talk back to Hibari-sempai.
Her brother, Natsumi's mind couldn't seem to grasp the situation that well yet, her sometimes stupid, mostly adorkable brother just opposed the Demon Prefect.
"There's a free seat left and it couldn't just be left empty. It would be a waste, you know?" Ara added, "Maybe I'll go too."
And that's how Natsumi didn't get to ride the best attraction of Kokuyo Land for the third time.
She didn't know what happened up there (all she could hear were screams and peals of laughter…and gunshots…and explosions), but when they finally got off it was a different atmosphere than she anticipated.
Natsumi was expecting the couple to be cowed or intimidated by the antics of Sawada-san's fan club members.
What she got instead was Sawada-san and her companion sending awed looks towards the couple, Hibari-sempai with a tight facial expression and Rokudo-san looking slightly disturbed. Sinclair-sempai tried to pretend he wasn't affected by whatever happened but he wasn't turning his back on either Tatsuya or Ara. Cavallone-sempai has a small frown on his face, Gokudera-san was openly scowling at the couple while Yamamoto-san seemed impressed by something.
As for the couple themselves, they were wearing matching smirks.
Natsumi wondered if she'll ever find out what happened up there. Or if her sanity would remain intact if she ever found out.
(Natsumi seemed to be clueless about the power gained by overprotective older siblings when made aware of existing/looming threats towards their precious baby brothers/sisters. Ironic when she's writing a novel about one.)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Adrenaline gives everyone superstrength…well adrenaline and threats to their precious people apparently*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
The days Tatsuya and Ara would spend in Japan seemed like it would be quite long at the start of said vacation.
It seemed so short now that it was about to end.
The couple's flight would leave tomorrow and the two are already packing up, checking, and rechecking if they had crammed everything into their suitcases and travel bags.
Natsumi's heart felt like it was being sat on by a particularly large hippopotamus from the Nile River. It felt constrained, at the same time it felt like bursting.
She consoled herself that at least she didn't have to go to school until the day after tomorrow so she could at least accompany them to the airport. But…
"Can't you leave after the start of classes instead? Maybe extend your vacation for a week more?" Natsumi whined. Yes, whined. She's not afraid to admit that she was whining at this point. Tatsuya was sitting on his bed with a few of his things still spread out on the mattress when she found him.
He paused from checking his traveling bag's pockets to smile consolingly at her, "There wouldn't be much reason to linger here if you'll be at school most of the day anyway. We chose to leave tomorrow so you could at least come with us to the airport."
She knew that. Logically his words make sense but she didn't want logic.
She wants them to stay here.
Natsumi's eyes were becoming wetter and wetter and blinking it rapidly away isn't keeping up anymore.
Then she sniffed.
Her stupid brother just had to hug her and make it all worse so now she's sobbing at his chest.
"I don't want you to go yet!" she managed to say in between sobs.
"I know, I'm sorry," Tatsuya murmured to her calmly, a total contrast to her loud and mildly hysterical voice.
"Can't you stay longer?" she whined.
"I'm sorry, Natsu…"
She let out a pathetically loud sob, "Can't you really stay longer?"
Her brother just continued rubbing circles on her back and murmuring apologies to her.
She kept crying, not even able to muster enough control to stop herself for a while, even just to tell him she didn't want his apologies, she wants him to stay.
She feels so pathetic right then and there, looking like she's crying to try and get what she wants. She just really can't stop crying.
(She exhausted herself crying and fell asleep.)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Irrational lines*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
That night, Natsumi threw all shame out the window and asked her older brother if she could sleep beside him that night. Tatsuya let her.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Free warm hugs to cheer you up!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Natsumi gave both Tatsuya and Ara as many hugs as she could give them until they had to board the planes.
The couple promised to visit as much as they could, maybe together, probably separately because of their conflicting schedules.
That promise was enough for Natsumi though.
For now.
The female Emiya didn't cry as she waved at them until they could no longer see each other. She didn't cry when she waved at the departing plane. She didn't cry when the plane was nothing but a small figure in the sky.
She had probably run out of tears last night.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Another bonus line, yay!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
OMAKE:
Emiya Tatsuya must have some rotten luck.
The first time his sister and his girlfriend were with him at the same time, they just had to have their period at the same time.
He didn't know what he said but Natsumi suddenly became very angry with him and started hitting him with one of the throw pillows.
He didn't even say anything back and took the 'beating' like a champ but that somehow made it worst. Natsumi went from angry to sobbing on the floor.
He tried to console her but Ara just had to pick that moment to come down from her room. His girlfriend immediately pegged him as the one to blame and sent him away while she sat down beside his younger sister and started whispering at her.
He came back to the living room not two minutes later when he heard two people sobbing instead of just one when he left. And as he expected, the two most precious girls in his life are now sobbing on the floor while hugging each other.
He tried to console both of them but just got slapped on both cheeks.
And now here he is, in Natsumi's favorite patisserie trying to find the perfect treat to get him back to their good graces.
How did this become his life?
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*I literally spent about a day trying to decide whether to use Rossi or Russo because apparently, they both mean red.
**Is their teaching load alright? Or are they teaching too many classes?
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Special thanks to KingdomOfWinter, roodblow01chrishi, zier1, Mikazuki Kira, tobimadaraisawesome666, KaliRenee, Fire's Son3, Quaarus, Draconaise Chiaro, latinagirl-reader2010, AdictaMoon, Animeisheaven, CassieInTheDark, Bluegirl-334, konan248 for reviews, follows, and favorites!
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Also, I hope the first scene wasn't a disappointment. I tried to extend it but I feel like Natsumi would have fled as soon as she could make an excuse to do so and Ara would have lent her aid when she saw how uncomfortable Natsumi was. As for Tatsuya, well…he was probably enjoying Natsumi's discomfort, deep inside his consciousness where he laughed evilly while counting the blackmail pictures he'd collected over the years.
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Guest: Thank you and I'm happy you enjoyed this story so much!
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Animeisheaven: I'm glad you liked Ara, though she might have left for now, but she'll definitely be coming back and be that older female influence Natsumi currently lacks
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CassieInTheDark: I have the same problem with the other half of the hearts disappearing too! I wonder why the site does this to us. We just want some hearts! 3 3 3
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Bluegirl-334: I hope the identity of the spies got your approval 3 I've been wanting to introduce some of the Vongola 1st Gen and this seemed to be the perfect time to introduce to Natsumi another redhead she could ogle, hehe
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konan248: We didn't get to see how Tatsuya would have acted normally if he had witnessed the craziness by himself but they just had to trigger his 'Big Brother' mode, didn't they?
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It's going to be Natsumi's second year at Vongola High on the next chapter!