CHAPTER 7:

ANOTHER CHAPTER! YAY!

I noticed how short this chapter is and thought I should update this along with Chapter 6 instead. Hopefully, that would make the length more forgivable…right? No…? Oh.

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn

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On the first day of school, Natsumi went to Vongola High early. She volunteered to chaperone and tour the incoming students.

She met them outside the school theater, where the welcome ceremony was conducted.

Forty-five people passed the entrance exam but according to the instructions given to her, only 42 students enrolled.

Natsumi counted and recounted the first-year students. Why are there 43?

"What are you doing there you stupid cow?!" an angry voice yelled and the first-year students jumped a little in fright. But Natsumi didn't even bat an eye, she's used to Gokudera-san yelling by now.

"Yare yare, found already? I'm here 'cause I want to be," one of the first years that gathered in front of Natsumi replied in a lazy tone, one eye closed and while the other one looked at Gokudera-san in a bored manner.

"You're not high school yet! Go back to your school!" Gokudera-san immediately argued back.

Natsumi blinked at that, no wonder she counted one more than she should.

"Why can't I skip a year? I'm a senior in middle school already, one year won't make such a difference," the boy with green eyes reasoned. His hair is dark and wavy. He has marks under his eyes and the reason Natsumi didn't peg him as the extra student was because of his height. He's taller than her.

(Which is just unfair, he's two years younger than her!)

"You didn't even pass the entrance exam yet! Just get out of here you stupid cow!" Gokudera-san pointed out.

"Yare yare, you're as loud as ever," the boy commented before putting a pinky in his ear and rubbing it presumably trying to clean inside his ear.

That seemed to be the last straw for the silver-haired sophomore as he walked towards the dark-haired middle school student, then hit him at the back of the head.

There was no reaction first, and then the boy started tearing up.

Gokudera-san clicked his tongue, "You annoying‒"

"Gokudersa-san," Natsumi interjected as she moved in between the two. She would have stayed out of their argument since they seemed to know each other already, but when the boy started tearing up she just couldn't stand by. She gave her fellow sophomore a false smile and said, "Why don't you go back to your classroom already? I'll be sure to escort him out of the campus after this."

Gokudera-san seemed to want to argue back but closed his mouth again and with a muttered 'whatever' left them, presumably to go back to his assigned room.

Natsumi then turned to the first-year students plus one and with a cheerful voice said, "Why don't we start the tour?"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is brought to you by Gokudera-kun's Triple Bombs*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The first floor of the building has an impressive lounge with a crystal chandelier, the (larger than necessary) Principal's Office, and the teacher's individual faculty room (which is excessive in Natsumi's humble opinion). The hallways themselves have the students' lockers against the walls with the indoor shoe lockers right at the entrance of the building. The 2nd floor has the Home Economics Room, Biology Room, Chemistry Room, Physics Room, Geology Room, and the likes. The third floor has the Publishing Office, Clinic, and the senior classrooms. The fourth floor has the freshmen and sophomore classrooms. The (pleasantly spacious) library covered two floors, 3rd and 4th, and was on the left-wing. Even so, they had two empty classrooms on the fourth floor and one on the third.

They didn't lack funds, Natsumi admits that but she wondered why the high school still operated with its few students. It was not as well-populated as the Vongola University, which is housed in a group of buildings across the baseball court and soccer field from the high school building. They didn't lack facilities either since she knew they have separate courts for basketball and volleyball. They even have Olympic size swimming pools and track and field. They also have dojos for different martial arts clubs available, and even a separate one for practitioners of kendo. Though they did have to share with the University students.

It's probably the tuition fee that had most backing out. At least Natsumi had a full scholarship that exempts her even from other fees.

She knew they barely had enough students in the baseball club to compete with other schools and that was the most popular sport in Japan. She had not seen any high school student play on the tennis court outside of physical education since her first year here. She didn't think there had been a full game of soccer before either even if the players are from across the years.

The poor firsties were as bewildered by the vastness (and emptiness) of the school as she was when she first got a tour. She gave them the basic floor plan of the building and where the commonly used facilities are but didn't share any of the negative insights she had had.

After the tour, she escorted them to their assigned classrooms on the fourth floor then walked with the middle school student down to the first floor and eventually out of the building.

"Err…Nee-san?" the boy called out.

Natsumi turned to him and smiled, silently urging him to continue.

"Thank you for earlier. Didn't think you'd stand up for me. Very few do," the boy confessed.

"You're welcome, err…?" the brunette just remembered she doesn't know the name of the boy yet. She mentally kicked herself because she had already promised herself she had to know the name of the person first before extensively interacting with them. The experience with Gesso Byakuran should have taught her enough. But then again the boy is younger than her even if he's taller. She's still his sempai so she should help him…right?

"Bovino Lambo," the boy, Bovino-san, extended his hand towards her.

She clasped it with her own and shook his larger hand, "Emiya Natsumi, second year here at Vongola High."

They immediately let go of each other and Natsumi tried not to wince at the boy's firm grip.

They eventually reached the gates.

"Thank you again, Natsu-nee-san," Bovino-san said with a lazy backward wave as he walked away.

Natsumi waved back. She would have scolded him for being too familiar with her but her friends and acquaintances from America call her the same thing. ('Natsumi' is apparently too long) She didn't mind him calling her that too.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Befriending lazy cows may not be that bad*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Natsumi arrived at her classroom to the female portion of her class swooning over something.

"Can you believe it? Vongola-sensei is our Homeroom teacher and Math teacher!" Yoshida Shizuku-san, her classmate since they were sophomores in middle school, happily informed her.

Yes, actually Natsumi can believe it. Vongola-sensei probably wasn't allowed to be his own brother's Homeroom teacher and Vongola Xanxus was in the other class, the Science major route. (Thankfully because Belphegor-san followed him there.)

Their class was the one following the Literature route. Natsumi thought Gokudera-san would have been at the other class but it seems like he stayed here because Sawada-san was here. Sasagawa-san, Yamamoto-san, and Rokudo-san are still their classmates too. Cozart-san and Kurokawa-san seemed to have taken the Science route though.

"That's awesome. It would at least make Math enjoyable, wouldn't it?" she replied instead of voicing her thoughts.

"I know right? I don't know if I'll be able to pay attention at all like this," Yoshida-san sighed dreamily.

"I think he'll be more impressed with us if we do well and more," Natsumi lightly countered.

"You're right! I'll get 100% in everything even if it kills me!" Yoshida-san's yell prompted the other girls to want to do the same. Eventually, they decided to have a sort of study session together.

Natsumi backed away discretely after that. She's happy she was able to motivate them but she didn't think she'd happily focus on one subject like what they were planning to do. She has grades to maintain after all.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Focus, focus on me!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Natsumi fidgeted slightly. She couldn't help it, she's nervous.

The first thing Vongola Giotto-sensei said after arriving in class was that Natsumi was being called down to the Principal's Office. No explanations why because he didn't have a clue what the Principal wanted either.

The brunette tried to think of what she might have done to warrant getting called down during the first day of class.

(She was sure she didn't say out loud the not-so-flattering observations she had about the school.)

Vongola Timoteo-sensei smiled at her kindly, probably noticing her discomfort.

She tried to smile back but she knew it looked strained if not strange.

"How were the first-year students, Emiya-san?" Vongola Timoteo-sensei (Vongola-sensei? Timoteo-sensei? Screw it, she'll call him Vongola-sensei as well) asked.

"I showed them around the building, like where their lockers are, the Rooms on the second floor, the Clinic, and the Library. I showed them the other school facilities as well, like the track and field and swimming pool and others. They didn't have many questions and I told them they could approach me any time before escorting them to their classrooms."

Natsumi noticed herself babbling at that point and closed her mouth, even if she really wanted to say something about how the freshmen looked so awed about the top-notch facilities the school has.

"I see. Good job Emiya-san," Vongola-sensei praised and Natsumi felt her mood lifting up. "Actually, I would like to discuss something else," he added and Natsumi's mood started sinking again, her nervousness coming back with a vengeance.

"It's nothing bad, I assure you," the Principal said with a bit of amusement in his voice and the brunette blushed a little at that. "We just noticed that you didn't join any club in your first year here," he said.

Natsumi gulped uneasily. It's not exactly required to join any club, it's just 'highly encouraged'. Something about it looking good on your resume.

"You're one of our scholarship students and I know you are focusing on your studies to maintain good standing, but I hope you would at least find something you would enjoy while here in Vongola High. Trying for one of the clubs would be a good start if you have nothing in mind yet," he told her.

The sophomore nodded at that, "I'll visit a few of them and see if I'll find something I like. Thank you for your advice, Sensei."

"You're welcome. Now I'm sure you want to return to class immediately, at least to get your schedule from Homeroom," the Principal said.

It's a good dismissal as any and the brunette nodded, "Thank you for your time, Sensei."

She excused herself and he resumed checking over some paperwork at his desk. She was already standing up when he suddenly spoke.

"Ah, Emiya-san?" the Principal called out, "If you don't mind me asking, how did no one notice you didn't join any club?"

Natsumi bit her lower lip and blushed at that. Actually, it was quite simple but she had only come up with how she would appear like she had club activities after two weeks of thinking about it.

"I stay in the Library, Sensei. I time going home around when most clubs dismiss their members," she confessed.

The Principal's lip twitched up in an involuntary smile. It looked more genuine than the ones he gave her earlier. "I see…that was a rather simple answer, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically.

The sophomore nodded, still blushing a bit even though she was sure she wasn't the only one that had thought of that.

"Thank you for indulging my question, Emiya-san," he said.

"Err…you're welcome, Sensei," she replied unsurely. It made the Principal smile wider, which made Natsumi want to leave even more.

She gave him a deep but stiff bow and fled the Principal's Office as fast as she could without seeming rude.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Dishonor! Dishonor on your family, dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow! – line dressed-up as Mushu*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Natsumi knew that if she wanted to improve her writing more, she'll have to take Creative Writing in college. So with great reluctance, she chose the Literature route.

As expected, Asari-sensei was their teacher in Classic Literature. Japanese and World History were still taught Hibari-sensei, Biology was Rossi-sensei and English seems to have been taken over by Spade Daemon-sensei. She heard Spade Elena-sensei has Music but Natsumi took Calligraphy.

At least Calligraphy she could learn. She's hopeless at Music.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*I don't sing, I declaim*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It seems like word got out about what happened at the start of the tour Natsumi conducted.

Except apparently, she managed to 'bully' Gokudera-san away when he only wanted to make a non-student leave the school premises.

That was a rather twisted interpretation of what happened, she thought.

Gokudera-san's fans fully believed that version though and now they are bothering her.

(She refused to call it bullying. She is not getting bullied.)

One of them had 'accidentally' punched her in the gut in the hallway.

Another 'accidentally' poured her juice on her.

This time, Natsumi was 'accidentally' knocked out and locked inside a storage closet.

Yep, sure. And Julius Caesar got 'accidentally' stabbed by (many of) the Roman Senators.

They managed to ambush her on her way down the first floor since she's about to go home.

It's 11:00 PM already and she had given up trying to yell for someone fifteen minutes ago. Her phone had no reception so she can't call anyone either. Not to mention the back of her head hurts and she may be feeling a bit nauseous. She felt a bump there so she's assuming that's how they knocked her out.

The light on her phone was her only companion and it was down to 8%. It wouldn't last the night and Natsumi hated that fact.

Everything was so dark and she's freezing, teeth chattering and body shivering.

She's d*mn afraid of the dark and here she is, in a storage closet without a single light source.

And you know which storage closet this is? The Biology Room. The mannequins and models might be made of plastic but it didn't make them any easier to look at, especially in low light.

Natsumi did not want to even think about what's inside those jars. She didn't look at them any longer than the two seconds she needed to identify that yep, they're jars filled with something.

Curse her d*mn luck!

7%

Natsumi gave up trying not to cry.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Stop Bullying!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It was exactly 11:48 PM when Natsumi's phone died.

Ever since then, she had been crying and hiccupping and begging for someone to please open the door.

Sometimes she could feel the hair at the back of her neck stand and it's making her nervous at what could suddenly jump at her.

She doesn't want to open her eyes because she knows she won't see anything anyway (She's more afraid of what she might see instead of darkness).

She didn't know how long she had been alone in that dark room (she had stopped shivering a while ago and she doesn't know why and she doesn't really care why), she had stopped crying a while ago as well. And then she heard something.

"Emiya-chan!" a distant voice called out.

Natsumi's mood lifted up. Someone's looking for her! She started banging on the door.

"H-HERE! I'M HERE! P-PLEASE LET ME OUT!" she screamed as loud as she could.

It was only a few seconds later that a voice, masculine, told her to please calm down. That she needs to take a few steps back because the door swings in.

She obediently stepped three times backward, thankfully not hitting anything.

The door opened revealing Gesson Byakuran.

She was so happy she tackle-hugged him.

She didn't care how he found out she was trapped somewhere.

She didn't care how she even got inside the building at this hour.

She didn't care he isn't even studying at Vongola High.

She didn't care she's sobbing at his chest and ruining whatever he's currently wearing.

She's just so relieved she's out of that d*mn closet.

She was chanting 'thank you' over and over again between sobs.

She no longer cares if the white-haired teen ever invites himself over to her house in the future just to demand food. He rescued her so he's her new best friend now.

(She didn't notice falling asleep from exhaustion.)

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*You're reading this?! You're my best friend now! – this line*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Natsumi woke up with a groan…and a headache…and a parched throat…and stuffed nose…and crusted eyes. In other words, she didn't really enjoy waking up.

"She's awake!" a female voice yelled.

Natsumi very much wanted to yell back at her to shut up, she knows she's awake but all she could muster is another groan.

People were talking to her or maybe just each other. She didn't know, she's not really processing anything else right now other than she's aching and she's thirsty.

Someone helped her sit up and put a glass in front of her with a straw. How thoughtful of them.

She took a few sips but that's all she could stomach right now even if her throat is begging for more.

Oh, the voices are making more sense now.

"Do you need anything else, Emiya-san?" the nurse asked, at least Natsumi assumes she's the nurse…or maybe she's the doctor and the guy wearing a lab coat is the nurse and Natsumi is just being judgmental b*tch.

There was a laugh and then the woman said, "I am the nurse Emiya-san and I don't think you're being judgmental. Sasaki-sensei is the one wearing a lab coat. My name is Honda Keiko, please call me Keiko."

"Nice to meet you Keiko-san, please call me Natsumi."

Sasaki-sensei cleared his throat. He was professional in telling her what happened and what she had been diagnosed with.

Apparently, Gesso-san found the bump on the back of her head and immediately rushed her to the hospital. It was a mild case of concussion on top of hypothermia.

Before Sasaki-sensei could say anything else the door burst open.