CHAPTER 8:
Thank you for reading another chapter of A Not So Ordinary Life of a Background Character!
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn
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"O-ho, so she is awake," a man said and the first thing that Natsumi noticed about him was his hair. It was the most beautiful shade of cyan/teal that she had ever seen and it's his hair color.
She wondered if it's naturally like that?
"Sir, no visitors are allowed in yet and‒" Keiko-san got cut off when the man spoke over her.
"Byakuran-sama! The little miss is awake!" the man then stepped aside and almost immediately, Gesso-san came into view.
"N-No visitors yet!" Keiko-san yelled, quite flustered that another one just casually entered when she just said no visitors are allowed in yet.
While the teal-haired man just left without a word, Gesso-san strolled towards Natsumi despite the nurse sputtering at him that he couldn't enter yet.
Sasaki-sensei just sighed, "Just let him stay, Honda. We won't be able to make him leave anyway."
The doctor then proceeded to tell the brunette sophomore student the rest of what he had to say, which is how long she still needed to stay in the hospital for observation (five days observation for her concussion and also make sure the hypothermia didn't affect any organ), while the albino sat at the only chair in the room like he's not doing anything wrong.
Frankly, Natsumi probably paid more attention to the older teen than what Sasaki-sensei was telling her.
(She was also telepathically asking Gesso-san who the teal-haired man was. Based on the smirk on the purple-eyed teen's face, he perfectly knew what she was thinking.)
The doctor then excused himself, and before leaving gave Keiko-san and Gesso-san a nod that both acknowledged with a nod as well, the former even smiling.
Keiko-san then turned to Natsumi with a stiffer smile and said, "This would have been the time when I would tell you to sleep and get rest but it seems like you have a visitor to entertain first." She then shot the unrepentant older teen a glare before continuing, "If you feel tired, just let yourself sleep even when mid-conversation. You need it."
Natsumi firmly nodded at that with a smile, "Thank you Keiko-san."
The nurse's smile became a bit more genuine, "You're welcome, Natsumi-san."
After the door closed behind the nurse, Gesso-san immediately spoke, "She gets to be on a first-name basis with you but I can't?"
Natsumi's default response was to get annoyed before she remembered that the albino was the one who rescued her. She calmed herself and smiled (a little forcefully), "You can call me Natsumi too if you want. You did get me out of that storage closet."
"And saved your life," he added smugly.
"And saved my−wait, my life was in danger?!" she looked wide-eyed at him because she didn't know that! All she knew was that she had a mild concussion and hypotherm−.
Natsumi paled in realization.
Hypothermia. A person's shivering may stop when it is no longer a mild case of hypothermia and she stopped shivering.
With the temperature steadily rising as spring turns into summer, the Biology storeroom must have had its temperature artificially lowered for the temperature-sensitive objects inside. (Natsumi involuntarily shuddered getting reminded of those jars filled with…something.)
No wonder she was so cold. She then wiggled her fingers and toes, just to make sure none of them was amputated or something.
"−tsumi-san? Natsumi-chan?"
"Y-Yes…?"
Gesso-san gave her a grim look, the first time Natsumi ever saw him have a facial expression other than smug smirks and amused smiles. "You realize now then how serious this is?" he asked.
She nodded at that.
She nearly died.
She really wants a hug right now. Preferably from her brother.
"The girls that did it are currently suspended, pending expulsion," the older teen added.
"E-Expulsion?!"
"You nearly died Natsumi," he pointed out.
"They probably didn't mean it to go that far!" she reasoned.
"A particular art school probably didn't mean it to go that far when they rejected Hitler," he countered.
"Byakuran!"
The purple-eyed teen gave her an amused smile, "I haven't said you could use my first name yet."
Natsumi sputtered a bit before getting her bearings again. "Stop changing the topic! What do you mean expulsion?" she stirred the conversation back to that because frankly, Natsumi didn't want to be the cause for anyone to get expelled.
She didn't want to have the stigma of 'she got some students expelled' for the rest of her life!
"This had almost become a murder with you as the victim and you're worried about them getting expelled?" Byakuran-san, she owned up to calling him by his first name, pointed out but he didn't seem surprised by her priorities.
"Who were they anyway? How did they get caught? I didn't even see any of their faces," Natsumi changed the topic, hopefully not so obviously.
Byakuran-san looked at her in amusement again so she guessed that means she wasn't as subtle as she thought. He, thankfully, let it go and began to explain.
Apparently, they paid the (now-fired) bodyguard manning the monitors for the CCTV cameras to 'take a walk' for a while. The bullies, five senior students that the albino never specified the names of, then turned off the cameras on the second floor while they knocked her out and placed her inside the Biology storage closet. The only reason they got identified was because they didn't disable the cameras from the other floors and they were the only ones leaving said floor when the incident happened.
Natsumi was, honestly, flabbergasted that they got caught because they forgot they'd still be seen in the cameras of other floors even with the ones on the second floor turned off. It was a stupid oversight.
Judging by the tone the older teen used while narrating what happened, he was thinking the same unflattering thoughts about said senior students.
The two bantered a bit more after that, Natsumi's mind slowly adjusting to the fact that she considers him her friend now and therefore calls him 'Byakuran-san' instead of 'Gesso-san.' She would sometimes still stumble and say 'Ge' or simply make a 'g' sound, which would make the albino's mouth twitch higher than its almost permanent smile. She resolved to fix that less he actually starts laughing at her.
The albino explained how he went to her house so they could celebrate the first day of school, i.e. cajole more food from her, when he found out she isn't home. The fact that he went to her house at 11:00 PM (probably intending to annoy her by waking her up) made everything very alarming. He started looking for her in her last known location, which is her school. The time in between that and finding her was spent going to Vongola Campus, trying to get into Vongola Campus, trying to get inside Vongola High School Building, trying to get into the building's Security Room, and perusing the cameras for what happened.
In other words, it mainly involved a lot of breaking in.
Eventually, when she yawned too frequently and her eyes started drooping, he stood up to leave.
She replied to his 'pleasantries' almost automatically and when the door closed behind him, her eyes closed on their own.
Only to open up again when the door creaked open.
Byakuran-san only peeked his head in and said, "And oh, the man you were ogling? His name is Kikyo." Then he left.
Natsumi blinked slowly before she processed his words.
"I wasn't ogling!"
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Kikyo's hair is actually cyan but wiki said teal so…*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Natsumi stared at Kikyo, mortified.
Apparently, Byakuran-san told the man to guard her or something.
The teal-haired man looked torn between amused and irritated but eventually settled into amused and the brunette had no idea how to make sure it stays that way.
She then blurted out the stupidest idea in her head unintentionally, "Can I play with your hair?"
Kikyo-san stared at her for a while and Natsumi swore she was sweating buckets when the man eventually relents.
Which was how she ended up running her hands through the man's short locks while he sat on the floor beside her hospital bed.
It was smooth and was teal all the way to the roots. Natsumi was amazed. It's his natural hair color.
As she began to massage his head for good measure, small talks between them started, the first topic was how she met Byakuran-san. It was embarrassing talking about how she freaked out thinking the albino was a ghost but endured narrating it.
After all, the man was letting her play with his hair.
"O-ho, that was a rather unusual way to meet," Kikyo-san commented.
"How about you? How did you and Byakuran-san meet?" she asked, desperate to change the topic.
Kikyo-san stiffened and the brunette guessed she hit a topic he didn't want to talk about. She was about to tell him he didn't have to answer her when he began to speak.
He had an abusive boss before being hired by Byakuran-san, though he didn't specify what abuse he was receiving.
"My brother had a bad boss too," Natsumi blurted out.
There was silence and she thought she had messed up any amicable air they had before when Kikyo-san eventually spoke, "O-ho?"
Natsumi then let her mouth run without thinking, "Y-Yeah…but probably not as bad as yours. Tatsu-nii's boss just gave him the worst shifts and berates him even if he did nothing wrong and didn't recognize if he did something good and stuffs like that. But he couldn't quit because he needed the salary. He was the only one with an income and he's trying to keep us both alive and one job wouldn't just cover for everything. And it wouldn't look good if he quit his first job due to some 'minor difficulties' and would probably not be accepted into anything else with the stigma of being a quitter or something like that. I eventually got him to quit the job though."
Her word vomit was met with silence.
"I-It's because I got him another job!" she explained herself, "He travels for work now so he isn't home often."
In fact, from what she heard from Keiko-san, who was tasked to inform Natsumi's guardian a.k.a. her brother what happened to her, Tatsuya was already about to board a flight with his shishou to their next project when he was informed of what happened to her. He's on his way back to Japan right now. Natsumi has no news about Ara though.
She was eventually dragged from her thoughts when the door opened. She expected it to be Byakuran-san and was surprised when it was Hibari-sensei.
"Alaude," Kikyo-san greeted in a falsely amicable tone. The only reason Natsumi knew he wasn't being sincere about his friendly tone was because of how tense he was.
"Get out," Hibari-sensei replied to that.
"O-ho, but I−"
"Get out," this time it was snarled out.
Natsumi was instinctively scared of the tone he used. She knew how dangerous Hibari-sensei could be. Heck, the History teacher could restrain some of the most bloodthirsty Vongola High School's students at the same time. But the brunette never felt unsafe around him. In fact, she felt safe around him because she knew he wouldn't let any harm come to her, even if it's only out of obligation. This is the first time she felt genuinely scared of him because this is the first time she ever drew his ire.
Kikyo-san eventually stood up and Natsumi had to retrieve her hand. The teal-haired man never once turned to her nor did he say anything to her and left without so much as acknowledging her, Hibari-sensei glaring at him the whole way.
Hibari-sensei then turned his glare at her and she stiffened under his scrutinizing gaze. He didn't say anything either before slamming the door closed.
Natsumi felt really, really disappointed in herself because for some reason she felt like she did something really wrong.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line is disappointed at itself too*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Only about an hour after Kikyo-san and Hibari-sensei left, Natsumi got another visitor.
It was I-Pin.
And she brought food.
"I-Pin-chan, you are an angel," Natsumi told her seriously as the younger girl began unwrapping the food she brought.
Natsumi was instantly suspicious when she saw the shape of the container and immediately deflated when her suspicions were confirmed.
It was soup.
At least it had to be better than the soup from the hospital canteen, she consoled herself.
"Eat," I-Pin-chan ordered her. And when Natsumi stopped after feeling full half-way the container, the Chinese girl immediately followed-up with a stern, "All of it."
Natsumi snailed her way through eating every last drop as ordered. By that time, she felt bloated, like her stomach was already too full and could no longer contain the food so it's now all the way up to her esophagus.
"Good, eating a lot would help you get better faster," I-pin-chan said as she packed away the container and utensils.
"Who told you that lie?" Natsumi asked with a groan. She's too full. She didn't want to move until the next century.
"Shishou," the younger girl replied with no shame.
Hibari-san, huh? Figures. Speaking of Hibari…
"Ne, I-pin-chan, do you know why Hibari-sensei seemed angry?"
The Chinese girl blinked at that, "I did not know Alaude-san is angry about anything."
"Huh…"
"Kyoya-san seemed to be in a permanent bad mood though," the younger girl confessed.
The older brunette winced at that, "Oh."
Hibari-sempai probably wasn't happy about the oversight that had caused such a mess. In fact, he probably wasn't happy with her either because she was the cause of the mess.
She could already imagine his face full of irritation and him saying something with 'stupid herbivore' and 'bite to death' in it.
Natsumi was not looking forward to that at all.
"Can you tell me about the situation out there? No one would tell me anything," the high school student asked. In fact, the only one who ever told her anything significant was Byakuran-san of all people. Everyone else would just say something about how her guardian should be here to hear it with her.
"Everything is kept hushed up. Most Vongola High students think that you fell ill and was hospitalized," I-Pin-chan informed her.
Okay, not the first time if they remember the Sick Week Incident last year. "And the senior students were suspended because…?"
"They had messed with the school surveillance system by bribing a guard, who was immediately dismissed for accepting said bribery."
That was…a load of bullsh*t but at least no one would blame her for getting other students suspended/expelled.
Natsumi absentmindedly thanked the Chinese girl for the information.
Some of the perceptive students will probably suspect a connection between the suspension and her hospitalization and the ones with reliable sources of information would probably find out about the truth. In fact, that's probably how Hibari-sempai found out about what happened.
Or he just intimidated whoever was investigating into giving him information.
In any case, some would know what would happen but most would remain clueless.
Natsumi pondered how different school life would become for her as she made small talk with her friend.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Brace yourself! Wint−err…change is coming!*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
On the third day of her stay in the hospital and Tatsuya finally arrived.
Natsumi only found out when her older brother decided the best entrance was slamming the door open.
(He got scolded by the nurse.)
She then spent half an hour crying in her brother's arms because oh Kami-sama she nearly died. She nearly didn't live to reach her eighteenth birthday. She nearly left her Tatsu-nii all alone.
Because Natsumi was so stupid to ignore the bullying and the bullies were stupider for doing what they did. Which made Natsumi even more stupid because she let them do it to her.
The next thing she knew, Tatsuya was trying to wake her up…by continuously poking at her cheek.
"Tatsu-nii!" she whined, she didn't notice herself falling asleep. In fact, she was still sitting on her brother's lap, his arms wrapped around her, the same position from when she was still crying at his chest.
"Sorry Natsu, I would have let you sleep more, you look like you need it, but someone's here to talk to us," the male Emiya explained as he gestured his hand somewhere.
The sophomore student rubbed her eyes with her right hand and stifled a yawn with the left, lethargically twisting herself to look at who her brother was talking about.
It was Vongola Giotto-sensei. And he was looking guiltily at her.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Guilty for overspending on sweets*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Vongola-sensei was there to explain to her what happened.
It seems like the senior students didn't think she'd potentially be in danger of dying when they did what they did. They only wanted to 'teach her a lesson' and thought of the Biology storeroom because 'it was the creepiest'. And now Vongola-sensei is asking her not to press for expulsion, that two weeks of suspension was enough punishment.
Natsumi didn't know what to think. On one hand, they didn't really mean for her to nearly die. On the other hand, she nearly died anyway. The thought of which could still make Natsumi tear up. If she had to decide whether to press for expulsion or not…she still didn't know what to think.
"No," Tatsuya decided and it made Natsumi and Vongola-sensei stare at him.
"No…?" Vongola-sensei parroted in confusion. The female Emiya was equally confused. What did the blackette mean by that?
"No, we refuse your suggestion not to press for expulsion," her brother clarified.
"B-But they didn't mean for it to go this far!" the blond protested.
"A particular art school probably didn't mean it to go that far when they rejected Hitler," the apprentice photographer countered.
"Tatsu-nii!" Natsumi hissed then elbowed him in the gut, partially because of how harsh he was and mostly because Byakuran said the same thing, what the actual f*ck?
"They're just kids! Not even adults yet! They haven't fully realized yet what−" Vongola-sensei was cut off by a voice by the door.
"They're almost eighteen by now," it was Ara, "and what they did is attempted murder and that wouldn't change however much you want to pretty it up Vongola-san."
Natsumi would have loved to see the young woman any other time but not when she is using her nearly dying as an argument.
The female blackette closed the door behind her and stood beside Tatsuya, opposite the blond teacher.
"And shouldn't you be defending Natsumi? She's your student and this happened on the first day of school," Ara added.
Vongola-sensei looked offended at that, "I am looking out for her. I know how harsh peers could be and being the center of such an incident that could cause the expulsion of five of her sempais would not be good for her. In fact, it'll make things difficult for her. You both should know how a negative reputation could affect your life by now."
"So said sempais should just get away with light punishment even after what they did? This is the reason why they get entitled. Because they already know they could get away with it. Eventually, they will push the limits of what they could get away with, Vongola-san. Better they get corrected now than do something they'll regret later," Ara countered.
Natsumi was looking at Ara in concern. She sensed a history somewhere in there. And judging by the look on her brother's face he knows just what said history is. She was curious but didn't want to press. It might bring up memories Ara would rather forget.
When Vongola-sensei seemed to be gearing up to win the argument, Natsumi interjected, "Why don't I get to decide what I want?"
Ara gave her an understanding smile, Tatsuya a reluctant nod, and Vongola-sensei a sheepish expression.
When all attention went to her, she tried to sink into herself but eventually mustered up the courage to speak, "I…I don't want anyone to get expelled because of me."
Vongola-sensei beamed at her (ouch, nearly blinded by sparkles! Nearly forgot about those after not experiencing them for a long time). Ara and Tatsuya frowned at her though so she hastily added, "I think they got off lightly though. They should be punished more for what they did. Like…"
The three are now even more focused now that she mentioned extra punishment.
"Uhm…uh…cleaning all storage closets…for a month…maybe…?" she suggested unsurely. When they seemed to be expecting more she added, "Get someone unbribable to watch them closely too? Like maybe Hibari-sempai…?"
Vongola-sensei looked at her in horror. Ara seemed to be considering it. Her brother though looked incredulous.
"You want them to clean? That's it? That's the punishment you could think of?" he asked.
Natsumi huffed at that. Just try cleaning while Hibari-sempai was glaring at your back. That would be the punishment. Her Tatsu-nii probably didn't know what type of hell awaits the sempais if ever Vongola-sensei approves of the punishment.
If Vongola-sensei approves of the punishment.
The brunette suddenly yawned.
"Are you still tired?" the male blackette asked in concern.
Natsumi's denial was immediately followed by a yawn so no one believed her.
"How about discussing this somewhere else?" Ara suggested.
"But I want to join the discussion!" the high school student protested.
"We'll tell you what we'll come up with. Then you could suggest what you would like to add or change," Vongola-sensei told her.
Natsumi frowned at that but then she yawned again. She blamed how scary hospitals are at night. She hadn't been sleeping properly unless it's her falling unconscious due to sheer exhaustion.
"Fine. I want to know everything though."
"Sure Natsu, we'll tell you everything later," Tatsuya reassured her.
As she settled on her bed and while the three adults left the room, she swore she saw the couple smirking at her teacher and the blond gulping a bit.
She wasn't so sure though. She'll just ask about it later.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*This line wants a longer vacation than a weekend*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
EXTRA SCENE:
Giotto Vongola can't believe such a mess could happen on the first day of school.
He could hopefully calm the whole thing down and pacify everyone involved before it gets out of hand. Making sure the full story won't come out until it's resolved was his first step. Sure, Kyoya finding out what happened via beating a security guard black and blue was a hiccup but it's a hiccup he knew would happen.
Of course whatever Kyoya found out, Alaude would eventually know and now he also has the oldest Hibari glaring at his back to fix this, which isn't really very good for Giotto's heart and continued health.
Letting the public know that five of his senior students almost successfully killed one of his sophomores is a big 'NO'. This meant Giotto doesn't really have anything strong enough to expel said students for though, only barely enough for 2 weeks suspension. The sophomore then would probably not want to go to school with the very students that nearly killed her. Which means she'll probably quit and transfer. She's one of their scholarship students and her leaving would most likely raise a lot of red flags. They didn't need that now that they still barely had enough students each year to keep the school open.
He'd have to talk to her and her guardians to ask for a compromise.
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Special thanks to hamysophie2910, Cnidri, Irish. lee, konan248, Ever-lethargic, mistywind, Bluegirl-334, Animeisheaven, Emeraldsaregreen, Elizamed, Lizard LIZZY for the follows favorites and reviews!
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Bluegirl-334: Surprise! Tatsuya and Ara came back and they are out for blood! Muwahahahaha! Only a few days into Natsumi's second year and a major shift had happened. Natsumi would definitely get her revenge on those fangirls even if it's everyone else who really wants said revenge and not her
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CassieInTheDark: I feel like I had disappointed you with what had happened after the cliffhanger. I tried to write it with a more dramatic flair and a lot of shouting but I feel like they would have just gotten kicked out leaving Natsumi clueless so I guess I went for the calmer approach
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Irish. lee: First of all I'm sorry I had to cut your name in half as I do most of the pen names they'd disappear magically (like empty lines) if it's connected so *shrug* Also, I'm glad you enjoyed this story and I'll try to update as regularly as I could.
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konan248: The fangirls were going too far with what they did to Natsumi but I thought they would have eventually gone increasingly extreme when she seemed unfazed by their harassment. The Roller Coaster Mystery was something Natsumi would probably rather not unravel if she could help it.
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Ever-Lethargic: I hope this made Natsumi's character a bit more defined. I admit that at first, I had planned not to make her interact with the characters as much, sticking to her 'background character' persona more closely but I blame the 'Sick Week Incident' for eventually making her more than a blimp on the other characters' radar
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Animeisheaven: I hope this chapter was worth the wait!
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I hope this chapter clarified a few things.