Note from the author: Hide's name is pronounced HEE-deh, not Hyde like the Home-Improvement franchise, HYDE
~8~
Hide had no clue what he had gotten himself into, it was all because he couldn't say no to Megumi, the girl of his dreams. Now, he was in a small building that was hot and smelled like sweat; it was so hot that you could see a mist of sweat floating around the room. This did not help the image of the clubhouse when Sakuraba Morita, supposed bully, slapped him on the back, waking him from his regret filled daydream and into the horrible reality of a sweaty club house.
"Well, this is the clubhouse!" he said cheerfully, he pointed to a stage in the middle of the room with rope around it and said, "That's where the fighting ring is. Over there are the sandbags, and there, by the changing room, are where the weights are."
"He was here before, giant," said Hanabi, who had been sticking around Hide ever since lunch.
"Yeah, but I'm just so excited," the boxer said happily, "I mean, someone who isn't scared of me is joining the Boxing Club! It's so cool; there are no other first years than us too, which is just great right?"
"Us?" she questioned. "Girls can't do boxing, you idiot."
Hide looked over to Morita to see what he would do, but the spiky headed boy just said, "Yeah, but I wasn't talking to you."
The female glared, apparently taking what he said as an insult. "You want to fight bastard?"
"H-hey you guys, quit it!" Hide pleaded, why'd I join the Boxing Club again?
The 'reason' opened the door; Tanaka Megumi walked into the club room, she began walking towards Morita and Hide and it was obvious that something was wrong with her. "Sorry guys, I just talked with the senpais and they said that they've given up on the Boxing Club…" she said disappointedly.
"They did what!?"
"Why?"
"There were no second-years in the club to begin with and the third-years all said that they were done with Boxing anyways."
"I can't believe they would do that!" Morita growled; Hide was a little surprised at his reaction since this was the first time he had seen Morita actually got angry. It looked scarier than the rumors said.
"What are we supposed to do now?" they all fell silent until the clubroom door opened again.
"Hm? People are still in here?" a voice said.
All three looked up and saw the principal of Namimori Middle School, who was also the principal of Namimori Elementary and Namimori High. He was an elderly man who always wore a suit; he had thin, narrow eyes that seemed to be naturally annoyed at whatever they saw with creased wrinkles underneath. He was tall, or would have been, but it seemed that old age gave him a bad back and used an expensive-looking oak cane to keep himself propped up. His hair was a grayish-white color that was on the verge of balding but fixed in a neat, slicked-back position. In fact, he would have looked like a vulture if he had a larger nose and a thinner body.
Why was an old man like him the principal of three separate schools? There were various rumors; one was that the guy was once the long, lost, son of a mayor of Namimori and was raised by wolves and when he came back to his home town, he naturally fell in love with it. Another rumor was that he found his true love and convinced his wolf-parents to let him go to this school, and another was that he was once the Disciplinary Committee Chairman at Namimori Middle…and was raised by wolves. Now that Hide thought about it, a lot of the stories involved him being raised by wild animals.
"Principal Hibari!" Megumi exclaimed and bowed politely; everyone else except for Hanabi followed her example and did the same.
"Good afternoon, Principal Hibari," they all said in a sing-song voice.
"Hn, herbivores are crowding together," the principal mumbled to himself though he said out loud, "What are you all standing around in here for?"
"Please, Principal Hibari!" Megumi began, "Don't disband the Boxing Club!"
The principal merely stared down at them and noticed Hide and Hanabi. He looked at them for a few seconds before saying "Sawada Hideyoshi and…you must be Gokudera Hanabi?"
"Y-Yes sir!" Hide nodded quickly.
"What's it to you, old geezer?" Hanabi questioned with attitude in her voice.
"I heard about you both from your grandfathers," said the principal in a trance-like state.
"Oh, that guy," she shrugged it off.
"Gramps?" Hide asked and then quickly remembered something, "Or my dad's dad?"
"The second one."
"Oh, him," he said, slightly less impressed this time.
"I see, you're both exactly like those herbivores," the principal nodded; it wasn't in approval though it just that sort of nod that old people have whenever they think their right about something and are thoroughly convinced so.
"Um, what about the Boxing Club…?" Morita asked.
"Hm?" the principal was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Oh that, the Boxing Club won't be lasting any longer."
"What? Why?"
"Because there aren't enough members," he spoke with a hint of annoyance in his tone, "This morning I even received news that a lot of the third-year students quit, and since there are only…two?- two members, this club will have to be shut down."
"Oh no…" Megumi frowned.
"How many members are needed to make a club?" Morita asked hopefully.
"Five," the principal answered calmly and looked Morita up and down, "But you should join some other sport, like basketball or baseball. This school used to be known for its baseball…"
The principal sure spaces out easily, Hide thought, I wonder why so many people are scared of him?
"The track team and soccer team are looking to build new fields for their sports," the principal continued, "The Boxing Clubhouse is probably the most desirable spot for them as well. But this doesn't really affect me, so I couldn't care less."
"Wait a minute, aren't you the principal here?" Hanabi snapped at him, "I thought that a principal was supposed to help the students!"
The principal gave Hanabi a cold look that even made her back away. "You are wrong little herbivore. A principal's job is to protect his school and students. I couldn't care less what the students were feeling." With that, the principal left the room, leaving some questions answered but a whole lot left dangling in the air.
Megumi sighed with despair and sat down on a bench, "The Boxing Club is ruined! Unless we find three more male members, the club doesn't have a chance!"
"I'm sorry Megumi-chan," Morita said apologetically, "I guess I'm really not cut out for team sports after all. Ever since I grew tall, I thought that I could at least make friends in sports…"
"Hey you guys stop whining," said Hanabi, but she didn't seem that into it. Hide rubbed his arm sheepishly as he looked from person to person. He wished that he could help bring in new members, even if was just three people…
"Maybe you should publicize it with your Dying Will," Reborn suggested from the rooftop of a building across the club house as he pulled the trigger and a Dying Will Bullet left the barrel, whizzing straight into Hide's head.
"Hide-kun!"
"Twelfth!"
"What happened!?"
Hide fell to the ground and closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he shot straight up with more energy and slightly less clothing than before.
"REBORN!!" the blonde haired boy roared, "GET NEW MEMBERS WITH MY DYING WILL!!!" He ran out of the clubhouse and into the school screaming, "JOIN THE BOXING CLUB!!" at everyone he saw.
~8~
He ran across the baseball field, perfectly catching each ball that was thrown at him. He ran across the soccer field, leaving everyone behind in the dust he kicked up. He also ran through the class hallways, attracting the attention of the kids who had stayed for afternoon tutorials.
When flame on his forehead dissipated Hide fell to his knees tiredly, he realized that he was on the roof top of the school and looked down and saw that the clubhouse had a crowd of people in front of it.
"Hey, is this the club underwear-guy is in?" he heard people ask.
"His name's Sawada, I heard!"
"Hahah! First he ran around town, now the school? How awesome is that!"
Hide was once again surprised by the reaction of the student body. People crowded in front of the Boxing Club asking for flyers to get in.
"Are they all going to join?" he asked himself.
When he got back down to the Boxing clubhouse, Megumi ran over to him brightly.
"Hide-kun!" she began cheerfully, "Guess what? We just gained thirty more new members; Most of them are first-years too! It's all thanks to you, Hide-kun!"
"Eh? It is?"
"Yes!" said Morita from behind her, "With this many members, the Boxing Club won't be disbanded! You can also quit now if you want."
"Wait, Sawada's going to quit?" said a student that was listening in on the conversation, "The only reason I joined was because I thought that Sawada was in it!"
"What!?" Hide yelped.
"Yeah, I wanted to be in the same club as underwear-guy!" rallied another student.
"Oh no…" Megumi sighed disappointedly.
"Hey you bastards, stop ganging up on Twelfth!" Hanabi growled, "Just cause he doesn't want to join this stupid club is no reason to gang up on people!"
"Stupid?" one of the boys questioned, "I thought Gokudera-chan was the manager of the Boxing Club!"
"You what!?" she yelled.
"Really? I did too."
"I thought I was the only one."
Gokudera-san is will probably blow up on them now…Hide thought.
"I'll blow all these bastards away right now!" she growled and, suddenly, her hands were filled with playing cards.
I meant figuratively not literally! Hide screamed in his mind and yelled, "W-Wait! I am part of the Boxing Club!"
Hanabi stopped in mid-throw as Megumi and Morita looked at Hide with a hopeful look. The students that had signed up to join stopped with their bickering and listened to what Hide had to say.
"But," the boy continued cautiously, "I'm not the captain, Morita-san is!"
"What?" Morita asked.
"Oh really?" the atmosphere brightened a little as all the other students seemed to like the idea of Morita being the captain and they would all still be in the same club as Hide.
"And I'm the manager," said Megumi voluntarily.
"You are!?" Hide asked.
"You didn't know Hide-kun?" she asked innocently.
"Well, if Tanaka-chan is the manager, then that makes up for Gokudera-chan not being the manager!" cheered a student, this got a cheer of agreement from the crowd.
"Who told you to call me 'chan'!?" Hanabi threatened.
While Hanabi continued to threaten anyone who dared to add 'chan' to her name, Morita pulled Hide aside and thanked him quietly for what he had done. "Thanks Hide, you really are a good friend," he said, "You even ran around the school in your underwear for me!"
It wasn't really a choice in the matter...Hide thought about the matter.
"But can you do me one more favor?"
"What is it?" Hide asked.
"Well, you don't have to go to any of the matches or meetings," Morita began, "But can you stay in the Boxing Club?"
"He will," said Reborn, sitting on top of a pole that was on the corner of the fighting ring.
"Reborn!" Hide hissed, "Don't go deciding things for me!"
"Ok then Hide," Reborn turned to stare at Hide and said, "What is it that you would like to say to Sakuraba then?"
Hide looked over at Morita, who was giving him a pleading look; he then looked at Reborn and back to Morita before giving in, "Okay."
"Yes!" Morita pumped a fist into the air and clasped his hands onto Hide's shoulders, "You rock Hide!"
"N-No problem…" the still-underwear wearing boy said with a hint of remorse. Morita didn't take any notice of this as he celebrated with Megumi and the new members of the Boxing Club.
~8~
"What a long day…" Hide sighed and took a sip from his soda, he was walking back home from school with a can of soda in one hand and his school bag in the other. Reborn walked alongside him, or at least on top of the concrete wall that divided the houses and the road.
"Do you want me to carry your bag for you, Twelfth?" oh yes, Hanabi had been following him ever since he departed the school gates as well.
"No, you don't have to Gokudera-san," was what Hide about to say before a little boy jumped out from behind the street corner and held up an accusing finger towards Hide.
"Sawada Hideyoshi, I am here to kill you!" he declared.
"What!?"
Hide spat out his drink, creating a beautiful brown-tinted rainbow.