Thank you to To The EXTREME KHR Enma Fan, 13th Misery, and GraceHeart27 for your reviews!

I really appreciate it you guys!

Aight, once this chapter ends, the author's note will include a very important question I'll have to ask ya'll.

So stay tuned...?

Enjoy!~

(btw, for those who saw the announcement, it was a false alarm... the source I was reading from was wrong so uh lets just pretend nothing happened lmfao)


"-Dere"

1. When it comes to characters, there are no more commonly used archetypes than those known as the "deres": tsundere, kuudere, dandere, and yandere. To start with, the term "dere" itself comes from the Japanese word "deredere" (デレデレ) which is the onomatopoeia for being lovestruck.


Thirteen Years Old

December 18, 20XX

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.

.

They were now seated on the swings in a nearby park, after Yukino had texted Kyoko to hang out at the Sawada Residence until she came back.

It was quite quiet and peaceful, but that had just encouraged a silence to form between Hayato and Yukino.

Eventually, Hayato ran his hand through his silver locks frustratingly.

"Hey..." he started.

Yukino turned to him, and he groaned, looking away.

"I'm sorry."

Yukino blinked at the silver haired bomber. "Huh?"

"Look, I'm- I'm sorry, okay?" he repeated, not meeting her eyes.

She stared. "Wait. For... what?"

"F-for... gah, I don't know. Do you need me to repeat it?"

"I mean, just saying "I'm sorry..." That's real specific, isn't it?"

He rolled his eyes. "I don't need your sarcasm right now, idiot."

She sent a grin. "Hey. I just need you to complete your sentence, lazy ass."

He deeply sighed, and looked up at Yukino with exasperation. "Ugh, fiiine."

He then narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm sorry for being such a stubborn little bitch and not listening to your reasoning any sooner back then."

She nodded, satisfied. "Good, good! That's what I needed to hear!~"

He glared. "I hate you."

She narrowed her eyes at him with a scowl. "Don't lie, you tsundere. We both know how much you love me. After all, you were all over me when we were kids!"

. . .

The two thirteen year olds burst out laughing, and in any stranger's eyes, they would've looked like two average friends.

Nothing at all like the children of the dark mafia that they actually were.


{First Person POV}

"So..."

"Hm?~"

"Are we..." He sighed, and then looked at me exasperated. "Are we good now?"

I tilted my head with a playful smile on my face. "Good in... what?"

He socked my arm, and glowered.

I grinned slyly. "Alright alright, we're good, no worries you dynamite freak."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You're such a loser." (FAMOUS SASUKE LINE)

I bowed. "Why thank you." I sat back on the swing and started swinging myself.

He sighed, and after a while, he stared at the ground. "Um... hey."

As I swung, my head turned towards his suddenly awkward self. "Yeah?"

"I've noticed this, and..." He sighed, and stared at me. "Why do you treat me differently than the others?"

I grinned. "Because I love you~"

He deadpanned, and then I laughed. "Okay okay."

I jumped off the swing. "Because!" I turned to him with a grin. "You're just really fun to tease, Hayato."

He blinked, and then glared, getting all flustered. "Wha- I- What are yo- What do you- Er- I- As if- I'm not-!"

I laughed. "What do I tell you? So amusing, your reactions~"

He stood abruptly from his swing, his face beet red. "S-s-shut up! I'm going home!"

"When you say 'home' you mean your precious Juudaime's home, right?"

He flushed, and stomped away. "Yes, that's right! Leave me alone you stupid woman!"

"Oh come on, Hayato, I'm going the same way anyw- Hey don't walk so fa-! Hayato!"


"YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T RUN FROM ME!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"OH COME ON YOU TSUNDERE WE BOTH KNOW YOU LOVE THE ATTENTI- HEY, WAIT UP!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"


January 1, 20XX

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.

.

"Oh hell no, I am not waking up for that shit!"

"Heh. I knew you'd say that, Nemui-Yukki."

"Well, yeah! Isn't it obvious?! I obviously already know what you're planning!"

He smirked. "Or do you really?"

"I knew it, you're planning something! No matter what you do, I'm not going! Just watch!" I stomped away frustrated, hugging my arms to escape from the cold.

"Where you going, Yukki? Your training's not over yet."

"Today's New Years, and it's 1 A.M. I'm going home!"


[Hours later]

"Yukki-chan! Yukki-chan! Wake up, it's New Years, you know!"

"Mmergh... Kyoko... just... 5 more hours..."

"Eh? But Yukki-cha-"

"...I don't wanna get up..." I mumbled into my pillow.

"Yukki-chan, what about your kimono? There's no other day to wear it than today, Yukki-chan, so you need to wake up and wear it!"

I waved her off. "I don't wanna... Takes too much work..."

"I'll do it for you-"

"Just go with Nii-san this year, Kyoko."

"Eh? But-"

"Ah, that's right..."

"You're coming over to Dame-Tsuna's house for New Years, Yukki."

I scowled in distaste at the memory, but nonetheless sat up to look at Kyoko. "Reborn invited me to Sawada's house, but since Nii-san's wanted to see it for awhile now, you can go with him, Kyoko. I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Eh? Tsuna-kun's house? Hmm... alright, then. But you have to leave the house before the sun sets today, okay Yukki-chan?"

"Sure sure..." I said, rubbing my eyes.

I noted the kimono she had on, and gave her a half smile. "Have fun."

She blinked, and then smiled. "Mm!~"

Once the house was finally without random shouts of "EXTREME" and nagging, I slipped into a peaceful sleep, having no dreams or nightmares.


"Gah."

It was about 3 P.M., but the blinding sun was out, despite the chilly winds.

I grimaced, squinting my eyes. "Shit. It's too bright out." (=.=)

I groaned, and shoved my hands into my pants pockets.

What was the whole point in me going out...?

"Eh? Is that you, Manager?"

My body tensed up at the voice, but recognizing it I turned around.

I met the confused gaze of Yamamoto Takeshi.

"Yamamoto..." I greeted awkwardly.

He grinned. "And here I was wondering what was missing! It was you after all!"

"Missing?" I frowned. "Wait, missing for what?"

"We had a New Years' Battle against Tsuna's friend, Dino-san! The kid arranged it for us, and it was pretty fun! I thought you'd be there too!"

"New Years' Battle...? Ah. So that's why Reborn wanted me to come."

"So the kid did invite you! Why didn't you come then, Manager? Even Sasagawa came, after all!"

"I told her to take my place. I was sleeping this whole time."

"Ehhh? Seriously? Aha, actually, that's just what I'd expect from you!~" He chuckled to himself. "You really haven't changed at all, Manager."

I flinched at that. "Yamamoto... a-actually-"

"Is this about you leaving the baseball club?" he asked, his tone surprisingly icier than usual.

I blinked. "H-huh? Well, y-yeah..." My gaze averted from his. "I left and still gave you all no reason, after all..."

He sighed, but then smiled softly. "Don't worry about it. You had your own reasons, Manager. Not everyone can stay committed, after all."

I felt my fists clench, and I bit my lip.

"Say... Yamamoto."

He tilted his head. "Yes?"

"Why... Why do you still call me Manager? I've... I've asked you several times about it, but you never answered, so-"

He laughed, albeit a bit bitterly. "If I called you Yukki-chan instead, you'd probably chuck something at me again. I can't have that, Manager."

I blinked. "What do you mean? I would never-" I couldn't finish my sentence.

One look at Yamamoto's bitter smile made my eyes widen in realization.


"Manager, what class do you have? I have Class 1-C," Kishimoto-kun said.

"I have Class 1-A!" Yamamoto-kun chirped.

"Really? I have Class 1-C..." Okumura-kun said.

"Hey, Okumura, don't act so disappointed, I have Class 1-C too!" protested Kishimoto-kun.

"That's why!"

"Wha-? You're so cruel-!"

"I have 1-C."

. . .

"Yatta!~" the two 1-C classmates of mine chirped.


"Ma~"

"Na~"

"Ger~!" they ended together in unison.

I sighed, looking up at them. "What?"

"Let's go get lunch together, ne~?" Okumura-kun said with a grin. "We'll share ours with you!"


People blinked at me, and Yamamoto-kun finally turned our way, instantly grinning after. "Kishimoto! Okumura! Yukki-chan!"

He instantly caught the chalkboard eraser I chucked at him.

Class 1-A got silent really quickly.

I nodded. "Good reflexes."

He laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, Manager! It just slipped out!"


Morisuke flinched, and stuttered. "Um... M-M-Manager-s-san-"

"Manager."

"M-manager...s-s-san..."

"Manager."

"Manager... san..."

"Manager..."

"Um, I'm sorry, Manager-san!"

"For the last time it's Manager..."


"Hoho~ Youth, with their innocence~~" teased third year Kozume-senpai.

I deadpanned.

"Oi, Manager-chan, don't look at me that way!" he protested.

"Manager."


"Aha! Yukki-chan, your face expression is priceless!"

I chucked my clipboard at him.

He caught it again with ease.

I huffed, and began picking up the papers that fell out of it.

Yamamoto-kun and Morisuke-kun helped, Yamamoto-kun handing my clipboard back.


I walked over to the crowd of boys screaming "KYOKO-CHAN~~" and proceeded to stand in front of her. "Please leave my sister alone."

They blinked, and I added a devilish smirk. "Or I'll remove those positions of regulars and double your training."

"H-H-HAI GREAT QUEEN OF BASEBALL!"

I blinked, and snorted. "What's with that?"


Nanase-senpai's eyes were shadowed by his hair. "Manager... that was your childhood?"

I smiled awkwardly. "Y-yes?"

Morisuke-kun looked pained. "I'm really sorry for asking..."

Yamamoto-kun, Kishimoto-kun, and Okumura-kun's eyes were widened.

The rest of the team was just silent.

Kozume-senpai sighed, and smiled at me. "I'm sure we're all shocked to hear this, but we won't tell a soul."

I blinked. "Eh? I mean, I don't care if you do, so-"

"It was insensitive of us to listen in," stated Okumura-kun.

Kyoko blinked. "E-eh? N-no, I was just being too loud-"

The whole baseball team bowed. "Please take good care of us, Manager!"

. . .

I blinked, and felt tears rise up.

The third years panicked. "E-e-eh?! Manager, we-"

I laughed. "I'll make sure to guarantee victory for you all!"

They blinked, but nodded. "H-H-HAI!"


I felt my bangs shadow my eyes, and my fists clenched.

Yamamoto-kun's bitter self changed to confusion. "Eh? Manager? What's wrong?"

"I..." I swallowed, and looked up at him with a bitter smile, my fists unclenching. "Well shit. I really do miss you guys after all."

Yamamoto-kun's eyes widened, but they softened in the end, and with a big smile, he responded with, "We miss you alot too. Did you know that, Yukki?"

At the unfamiliar use of my name, I threw my house keys at him, and he caught it with a playful grin.

"If you won't even let me call you Yukki, what do you expect me to call y-"

"Shaddup Yamamoto."

He grinned in response.

I felt myself start to smile, but at a realization, I suddenly felt tears blur my vision.

Yamamoto-kun immediately turned panicky. "M-manager! W-what-"

I wiped away my tears quickly, and looked at the ground. "F-funny. I... I didn't think I'd cry over this, but..." As tears kept appearing, my arms wiped them away angrily. "It's been so long since I was able to joke around with you guys..."

I haven't laughed with Hayato for years.

I haven't smiled with the baseball club for months.

Something pat my head comfortingly, and looking up I saw that it was Yamamoto-kun. He smiled softly at me. "You know, you don't need to hide away your tears all the time. There are times when people are strong for too long and are tired and weak."

I swallowed, holding in my tears. "You mean being weak means you've been strong for too long."

"Oh yeah, exactly that!"

I swat his hand away from my head, and he laughed.

Despite the fact that he got the quote wrong, his reassurance made me want to break down at that moment. Instead, I clenched my fists tightly, and bit my lip. "Say, Yamamoto..."

He looked at me curiously. "Yes?"

"Do you think, maybe, that I-" I faltered, but hesitantly started again, looking up at him. "Do you think I'd be able to come back to the baseball club? Would they even forgive me?"

He blinked, and thought about it, smiling warmly in the end. "Of course they will, Manager. You're always welcome back, after all, but..." With his eyes soft and welcoming, he grinned. "I'm pretty sure they've already forgiven you."

My eyes widened, and the tears that gathered quickly overflooded my vision.

"Yamamoto!" I unconsciously tackled him into a hug, sobbing. "Thank you. Just, thank you for everything."

I knew he was surprised, but eventually he just laughed, and hugged me back. "No prob."

He's not a Rain Flame attribute without a reason... huh?

This hug is pretty soothing...


Little did I know, a certain person spotted the two of us in that position. With a surprised look, he walked away, hands shoved into his pants' pockets and mumbling things to himself.

'What the hell is their relationship, anyway? Between Yukino and that baseball idiot...'

'...Not that it matters, or anything.'


January 13, 20XX

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.

.

"God, why am I here, again...?" I asked aloud, staring at the sushi restaurant before me.

"Nemui-Yukki-"

"Reborn, if this is about that cake you bought me, no, I did not eat it firsthand, I checked it if it was poisonous-"

"Do you like Yamamoto?"

. . .

"Excuse me?"

"Well do you? I was wondering, because-" He reached into his suit blazer and showed me a picture. "-it certainly looks like you do."

I frowned at first, but realizing what that picture was, my eyes widened, my cheeks quickly flushing. "HOW-? WHAT WERE YOU DOING THERE THAT YOU WERE TO-?"

I shook my head. "No, it's not a matter of how, it's more like when..." I sighed. "Reborn, are you planning on using this picture to blackmail me?"

"That, too. I also just want to know about my student's love interest, that's all."

"Well I-" I sighed. "No, I don't like him. I was merely hugging him because-" I blinked. Wait, why was I hugging him? "-...Huh."

"Interesting. If you don't know, that means you do have an interest in him, whether it be romantic or not. That works too. Nemui-Yukki, you're going on a trip with Yamamoto to the zoo. I'll tell you more about it later, but invite him out yourself."

"Huh? Wha-? No. I'm not going to-"

"Or I'm going to show this photo around to everyone telling everyone you know that you two are dating."

I deadpanned. "Riiight. That's why I'm here." I sighed, and stared at the two Nanimori Animal Park tickets in my hand. Do I really have to...?

"Oh? Are you waiting for someone, little lady? I noticed you haven't entered in awhile."

I turned abruptly, only to meet a middle aged man wearing a sushi chef uniform, holding a box of fish over his shoulder.

I blinked, and as soon as I spotted the familiar black spiky hair and brown eyes, my eyes widened and I bowed. "G-good morning to you, Y-Y-Yamamoto-san. I'm here for Y-Y-Yamamoto-k-k-kun..."

He tilted his head. "For Takeshi? I don't remember him ever mentioning-" He blinked. "-Ah. Are you perhaps the manager of the baseball club?"

"H-huh? Yes- well, n-not anym-"

"She will be soon though, Oyaji!" a certain cheery voice inputted.

I turned to it, expectantly meeting Yamamoto. "Ah. Yamamoto."

"Oh, Takeshi. She was looking for you, so go ahead and take care of that, okay? I need to put these fish away."

"Alright, Oyaji!" he chirped.

I bowed nervously. "G-goodbye!"

Yamamoto-san chuckled, and entered on in.

"So!~" Yamamoto said with a grin. "What is it, Manager?"

"Huh? Oh, uh..." I stared at the tickets again, and then looked back up at Yamamoto. "Reborn invited us both to the zoo, so he wanted me to give you his ticket."

I inwardly cheered. Now it doesn't sound like I'm asking him out! Woohoo!

And then I stopped midway. Wait, why do I care?

He blinked. "To the zoo? The kid did? Hm, I wonder why... Well, probably for Tsuna! Let's go, then!"

He then blinked again, and smiled awkwardly. "Ah, wait, actually, can you wait for me out here first? I should tell Oyaji before I leave."

I nodded. "Sure."

"Sweet! I'll be back in a bit!"

As he jogged inside, I sighed in relief. Glad I got that taken care of...

I heard grumbling, and looked around to see Hayato mumbling things and kicking rocks that happened to be in his way.

"Hayato!~" I called out to him.

"Hah?" He looked up extremely annoyed, and spotted me waving at him.

His eyes narrowed, and he ignored me, going on his way and mumbling some more.

I smiled, feeling my eyebrow twitch in annoyance. "He's mad again, the damn tsundere…"

I jogged up to him to walk beside him, following his stride towards who-knows-where.

"-justseeingthattodayhasalreadyruinedmydaysowhy'sshegotta-"

Before he left the street leaving Takesushi, I spoke up, "If you're talking about me, you can always tell it to my face, ya know."

He jumped, and he glared at me, flustered almost. "Y-you-! Yukino, what was that for?! How long have you been listening in?!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Does it really matter?"

"Yes! It does! Now tell me!"

My mouth twitched into a smirk, and I gained a teasing aura. "And if I don't wanna? What are you gonna do?"

"What am I going to do? I'm going to-" He paused, his face reddening, and he looked away. "I'm not going to do anything."

"Yeah, that's right! You're not gonna-" I blinked. "Wait, you're not gonna do anything? But I was certain-!"

He turned the corner. "Just... leave me alone Yukino."

At that I finally snapped. "Leave you alone. You want me to leave you alone? Hayato, we literally recently made up from a fight, and now you want me to leave you alone?!"

He turned around, fuming. "YES! I want you to stop pestering me! Just because we made up doesn't mean you can get all up in my personal space! Why can't you understand this simple thing? You think I'm like that stupid baseball idiot who insists to hang out with you 24/7?!"

My anger dropped, and I stared. "What does... What does Yamamoto have to do with this?"

His fuming face dissolved, and he clenched his fists. "It's nothing. You wouldn't understand."

I frowned. "So tell me, so I can understand. Why won't you communicate with me? Isn't... Isn't lack of communication what caused me to leave on you in the past?"

He glared. "No. What caused you to leave was your selfish wish to leave your adoptive family. I have nothing to do with the reason you left."

My eyes widened, and Hayato widened his eyes in horror.

Funny.

I feel like...

...This has happened before.

My eyes closed, and I sighed, suddenly mentally tired. "I'm not..." I opened my eyes. "I'm not going to do this anymore. There's... There's no way I can start another fight with you. Hayato, I-" My mouth lifted into a hesitant smile. "I just wanted us to be like before, you know?"

"I'm sorry... for bringing up your family. But..." He sighed. "I'm not, and never am going to be the same as before. Sorry, Yukino."

My eyes widened, and as he walked away I spoke up. "What has the mafia done to you?"

He turned around, his eyes with bitterness. "Exactly what it's done to you."

When I walked back to Takesushi, Yamamoto-kun was staring at me worried. "I couldn't help but hear your argument with Gokudera. Are you okay? ...You mentioned your past to the baseball club that one time, so I know enough to figure some things out. Do you need to talk about it?"

I stared up at him, and smiled. "Yamamoto. How can you be so dependable?"

He stared at me in confusion, and I stared. "Can I hug you?"

He blinked at the sudden question. "Hug? W-why?"

"Your hugs are soothing," I admitted.

. . .

My face flushed, and Yamamoto-kun rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I- I didn't mean to, you know, say that but hey...! They... they r-really are and-"

His hug cut me off. "It's okay. I'll do anything to help a friend out."

I hugged him back, and sighed. "Thank you, Yamamoto." Once we pulled away, we started walking towards the train station. "Now, where do I start...?"


Yay.

I finally finished this.

Wow, so much drama all in one chapter.

You know, I should be called the Drama Queen from now on, I swear writing drama comes so easy to me...!

Anyways, I'm sorry for my long absence guys.

The fact that I was procrastinating and that I knew I was procrastinating just made me put writing to the side more.

I don't know how, but yesterday was the day I finally decided to act on getting my shit together. And so, I was finally able to write this whole emotional ride chapter.

You know, I'm actually pretty proud of this.

Anyway, I'm sorry I couldn't fit Futa into here, but if I added Futa, then this would've gotten too long, so I decided to postpone it.

Alright, as for the important question I had to mention, it's right here.

.

The time has finally come to decide the pairing of this story, so what do you guys think should be the pairing?

.

Seriously, it could literally be anything, I'm not even going to give you choices.

In this chapter, I made sure to include a few examples of Yama X Yukki, and Dera X Yukki, but really you can ship her with anyone else. You can ship her with any present characters, or any future characters that will be appearing.

Oo, just don't ship her with my baseball club member OCs and Hibari, they're off-limits and strictly going to all have platonic relationships with her. Of course no Ryohei either, because their relationship is strictly platonic.

But besides that, the power is with all of you readers.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, and please do review your thoughts and opinions.

Oh, and of course what you think the pairing should be.

Anyway, good luck readers!~

Your trashy author,

Ally