CHAPTER 13:
WELCOME TO ANOTHER CHAPTER!
Thank you for reading A Not So Ordinary Life of a Background Character!
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn
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Natsumi squeezed her way out of the fluff and crouched by the box where her three companions were (using some nimble footwork just to avoid the piss and the crap on the floor).
To be polite, Natsumi knocked on the wooden crate thrice before speaking, "Uhm, I'm going to try getting off the train. Do you want to come with, Tsuna-chan?"
"Wha-what? Why?" Tsuna asked, her voice understandably muffled.
"It's obvious that they seem to be after either Hibari-sempai or Hibari-sensei, most probably sempai. We'd probably be a burden to them both if we stick to them. The reason why they kept getting injured and needed to be as cautious as they are now was because they needed to protect the two of us. Besides, those goons probably wouldn't be looking for a pair of girls traveling by themselves anyway. We could sneak out that way," Natsumi explained like she hadn't just come up with that explanation twenty minutes ago while being miserable with the sheep and looking for any excuse to leave.
"I–" Tsuna got cut off by a hiss.
"Stay. Here." Hibari-sempai sounded rather menacing.
Oh wow. Don't wanna get parted from Tsuna-chan, Hibari-sempai?
"That's not your decision, sempai. That's Tsuna-chan's. She'll be the one in danger after all because I have no doubt you and sensei could get out of this one alive if not unscathed," Natsumi reasoned, not quite stopping herself from sounding a little angry. She also has no doubt that if Hibari-sempai's face is visible right now, he'd be glaring and scowling at her.
"I…I…" Tsuna kept trailing off.
The female Emiya could only sigh at that, "I guess protecting only one person would be a lot easier than two." Natsumi stood up and was about to leave without a word when her frustration got the better of her and said, "You're too kind, Tsuna." Because why would anyone want to face that much danger if they could just leave? Someone entirely too unselfish and kind, that's who.
Unfortunately, Natsumi was not that kind. She never wanted the possibility of leaving her Tatsu-nii alone to ever become reality.
Natsumi snuck to the passenger cars. She spent a miserable thirty minutes trying to chase away the bad smell that had settled into herself and her belongings thanks to sitting on said stink for three hours. That poor tiny, little bathroom had the bare necessities but at least the window could be opened to an extent so the smell was eventually aired away. A little fixing of her appearance she looked like any other passenger as soon as she sat on a random seat and looked out the window with headphones on like an emoting teen. She got off the train as soon as she could.
"I'm sorry, I ah…lost my ticket. I'll just pay the extra fee for losing it," Natsumi bashfully confessed.
The young man on the booth (if a lady in the ticket booth is a ticket lady, does that mean the young man is a ticket man? Wait, that sounds like a lame superhero name) gave her a polite smile before replying, "You would have to pay for the fee from the farthest station to here."
Natsumi made a dejected face before putting on a polite smile, "Not like I could do anything about it." She dutifully took out her wallet from her poor battered messenger bag and gave the corresponding fee. She was no longer making fun of her own brother for taking essentials around with him everywhere either in a sturdy messenger bag or a well-loved traveling bag. Nor will she ever fuss about his and his girlfriend's very useful advice no matter how much they repeat it to her like she's a toddler with an attention span of a goldfish. She did need that money after all.
When she finally exited the train station without a fuss, Natsumi had to suppress a sigh of relief. She couldn't bring herself to feel guilty about leaving the train by herself without her three companions. They have better chances of getting home without further injuries if there was only one useless baggage in a fight.
This time, Natsumi did sigh. She contemplated how to get home.
It was around 8:00 AM in the morning right now. She was in Niigata of all places. (She thought the train was going to Tokyo? What kind of route was that cursed train going?). There seems to be a concert happening at a rather large stadium so teens like her traveling by themselves into this town didn't seem out of place. How unexpectedly lucky of her. No wonder the ticket man didn't even bat an eye at her young age.
The band's name is…wait, ARASHI?!
Oh, she hoped there was a ticket available!
Natsumi's extra money got splurged on the following: a) hotel room (because the concert starts at 6:00 PM and it'll be night by the time she left the stadium), b) fresh clothes (because she'd been in her previous clothes for more than 24 hours already), and most importantly c) The Ticket.
She managed to find a fellow fan that had a friend ditch on her last minute and Natsumi happily bought the ticket from her. The best part was that the asking price is the same as the price listed. Bless her fellow fan for not upping the price on her!
Okay, so maybe her money wasn't enough and she had to withdraw more. But the alert that her brother was sure to get after she withdrew a large amount was worth it.
Oh? That screaming girl on live TV that was getting shot at? Not Natsumi, of course! She was diligently waiting in a city where the Arashi was going to have a concert.
And more than that excuse, she got to meet Arashi LIVE.
So what if her seat was so far from the stage that the members were as tall as her fingers. She still got to meet them live.
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Huh.
This school trip didn't seem so bad now.
(She hoped her three companions made it home okay.)
It was much later when Natsumi was on a train from Niigata to Tokyo (no direct trains to Namimori) that she got curious enough to Google which train went from Sapporo to Tokyo that takes a stop on Niigata.
It turns out, there was no such a train. In fact, a train directly from Sapporo to Niigata doesn't exist either. You would need some transfers to get from one point to the other.
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Then what the heck was that train she was riding just yesterday?!
Natsumi knew that as soon as she got back to Namimori, she would be Condemned.
Maybe even otome game villainess-style condemnation, complete with public execution (metaphorical execution of course…hopefully).
So as Natsumi walked back to her house from Namimori Station, she walked like a criminal headed for the guillotine. She was glad that at least she got to meet Ohno-sama in person.
She wished she could have met Keanu Reeves in person too before her untimely demise but alas.
She made a turn into her street and the most visible thing there was Hibari-sensei waiting on her gate, brows furrowed in irritation. He was scowling and still had a split lower lip. There were bandages on his left arm and wrist, peeking out of his lavand–uhm, light purple dress shirt. (Lavender was supposed to be calming and relaxing. There was nothing calming and relaxing about Hibari-sensei's presence. She refused to associate those two words together, even if it's just the color of his clothes.)
"Emiya," was the cool greeting, in contrast to the almost burning glare.
"G-Good afternoon, Hibari-sensei," Natsumi stuttered out. All the fatigue from the four-hour train from Niigata to Tokyo then another two-hour train from Tokyo to Namimori suddenly left her body.
"You split from the group," Hibari-sensei stated.
"Y-Yes…" Natsumi answered anyway.
"You didn't return to Namimori yesterday."
"I got off in Niigata and there was a concert there and I like–no love the band so I uh…attended? Sorry?" her explanation sounded like a hesitant question and she wanted to bash her head on the nearest wall, which was conveniently only two feet to her right.
Hibari-sensei's brow twitched minutely at the confession of attending a concert before he spoke again, "I ordered you to stay." There was a definite emphasis on the word 'order'.
"I didn't…I didn't hear…?" it came out as a question, because what? Natsumi didn't know there was such an order! Hibari-sensei's brows furrowed further as he took a menacing step forward, which had her stepping back several times in fear. "I didn't hear! I swear! If you said anything, I didn't really hear!" Natsumi reasoned although she sounded more hysterical when she yelled each statement. Both her hands were up as well, palms facing her furious sensei, in a sign of surrender.
Natsumi continued scrambling back without looking while Hibari-sensei continued to advance threateningly. And of course, since Natsumi had spent all her luck yesterday, even with the wide sidewalk, she ended up back flat against a lamp post.
Her heart skipped two beats before deciding to make up for it by drumming really, really fast because oh sh*t Hibari-sensei's advancing at her FAST.
Natsumi ducked her head and put her hands above her head like she's facing an earthquake indoors instead of her History teacher in the middle of a street.
"Emiya Natsumi," was growled out and Natsumi whimpered.
~GRUUUUUUU~
Natsumi's stomach decided to protest right then. It was true that she hasn't had anything except a cup of hot chocolate that morning and it's already 3:00 PM but can't her stomach sense the atmosphere here?
She was about to get murdered by her teacher in broad daylight! In the middle of a street! Can it not make an embarrassing sound right now?!
It turns out, Natsumi had to thank her stomach. Without it protesting loudly, she wouldn't find herself in her kitchen right now, looking at the ingredients in her fridge and cupboards, contemplating what to cook.
Hibari-sensei was standing at the kitchen doorway and keeping an eye on her of course, but she's still alive for a few minutes more. (Like she'd even contemplate running away. She didn't need to dig her grave any deeper. It was probably already six feet by now.)
"Burger steak," someone suddenly said.
Natsumi jumped in fright while screaming, "Holy!" She turned and there Hibari-sempai was, standing next to Hibari-sensei.
Said sempai glowered at her while holding up her old phone she had long given up on, "Burger Steak."
"Unfortunately Hibari-sempai, that phone no longer has any hostage value since I already bought a new one," Natsumi sassed back. Tatsuya insisted she bought one before he left. It wasn't until Hibari-sempai brought out a tonfa that Natsumi remembered just who she was sassing at. "Burger steak then," she said in a placating tone.
The tonfa thankfully disappeared into whatever hammerspace Hibari-sempai stores it into.
So the Hibari brothers just ate and then left…? Hibari-sempai even left her old phone on the table like its value was equivalent to that of a burger steak meal. Like what?
She let it go, though. Natsumi wasn't about to question her good fortune.
It wasn't until Natsumi went down for dinner and found Hibari-san and I-Pin-chan eating the leftover burger steak that Natsumi realized maybe, just maybe, she should question her good fortune when facing angry Hibaris?
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Nah.
EXTRA SCENES:
"Emiya, stay," Alaude ground out. That disobedient, little girl better not be stupid enough to separate from the group.
There was no answer from the girl but there were heavy footsteps coming their way and they stayed quiet.
It was later when he found out that the girl was nowhere to be found in the train car nor the whole train.
So, the girl went on ahead and left the train? She sure wasn't with those stupid criminals because he and Kyoya managed to punish all of those that followed them into the train. Not to mention Giotto had already dismantled the rest of their group according to that one phone call from said man. If she had been captured she would have been used as a bargaining chip by now.
Alaude's eyebrow twitched in irritation. He was sure to cuff that girl to death...with detention. Three months. At least. He doesn't care if Giotto protests.
That three months became the rest of the school year when he found out Emiya has yet to return home despite Alaude, Kyoya, and Sawada getting off the train at Fukuroi, the train's final destination. (Actual final destination because he and Kyoya destroyed the whole train...after the civilians got off it of course.) In theory, Emiya should be back in Namimori already, way before the three at least.
If she went straight back.
IF the stupid, stupid girl went straight back.
Of course, she didn't.
Trying to call her school-registered phone was once again fruitless when the d*mn thing rang from where it was.
Kyoya's pocket.
A lesson later and the boy grudgingly agreed to return it to the owner as soon as possible.
Another set of favors called and they knew just where Emiya got her new phone. Said phone was immediately tracked down and according to the GPS tracker, it seems to be traveling fast in the direction of Tokyo. A train, they identified. Giannini wasn't as useless as Alaude thought.
It would take at least five hours more before the stupid girl arrives in Namimori.
Aluade can wait. He is patient.
At least when waiting for prey.
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END OF CHAPTER!