Sakiko didn't feel the time pass by, since when she heard Hibari say "go to class" it surprised her. Looking up at the clock, she saw that it was five minutes till the bell would ring.
"Alight. I guess that I will see you on the roof…?" Sakiko half-asked as she picked up her bag. She didn't get an answer from Hibari – he didn't even look up from his papers – so the girl went back to class.
Everyone's eyes were at her as she opened the 1-A class's door, however no one said a word. Only when she had taken her seat, the questions poured out of everyone's lips, the most frequent being about her surname and her relationship with Dame-Tsuna.
"Dame-Tsuna? You mean Sawada Tsunayoshi? I already said that we are not related. However, I do suggest you to stop calling him like that. It will only get you in trouble. If not now, then later." Sakiko said it very clearly so that the whole classroom could hear it, including the three familiar flame owners by the door.
"How come you are in the Disciplinary Committee?" Asked another.
"Because I proved my worth to Hibari-sama."
"Why do you call him like that? Isn't he extra scary?" Were two other questions.
"I call him like that because I respect him and view him as my superior. As for the other question, you just need not press his buttons that aggravate him. With a keen eye one can see them, and he simply has them more than an average person."
More questions were asked, however the bell rang indicating the end of lunch break, so everyone returned to their seats. Sakiko felt the stares she got from behind and saw the glances from those who sat in front of her, however she paid little to no attention to them and took notes diligently on the material she already knew. Back future, she had already reached High school material in her tutorage before the attack came? She could act like Gokudera who also knew the material due to his background and intellect, but that would be out of her drilled behavior.
When the classes ended for the day, Sakiko's table got swarmed again by her classmates that had more questions for her. The first one she answered was why did she take Dame-Tsuna's side.
"I already told you not to call him like that. How old are you? Five? I find it distasteful to belittle someone just to make them feel miserable. Also, words have power. With your words, you lower his self-esteem and jinx him to fail. For that reason alone, I am on his side. There for, if you call him like that when speaking to me even once more, the consequences will be on your neck." Sakiko's gaze was calm and unwavering, like usually, however at the last part it turned into a glare directed towards the person who asked the question.
"Finally, someone with common sense in this class." A familiar voice said from behind the crowd. Sakiko didn't have to pay attention to her 'flame radar' to tell who it was. The tone said it all. "How about you let her breathe and not bombard her with stupid questions."
Sakiko had to smile as the classmates dispersed, some saying a quick apology as they backed away. Now that they were gone, the caramelette could see her future aunt Kurokawa Hana and Sasagawa Kyoko standing next to her.
"Thank you… Kurokawa, was it?" Sakiko thanked, pretending not to know the raven-haired girl.
"Yes, and this is Sasagawa Kyoko." Hana introduced her companion. "However, you could have made them leave, like you did during the lunch break."
"I could have, hut I dislike misuse of position of power, like the teacher tried with me in the morning, there for I try to avoid it. However, could you tell me why does everyone flinch at the mention of Hibari-sama? He didn't seem to be that scary."
"Because he beats everyone up who doesn't listen to him." Hana answered without a pause.
"Strange. I was in the same room with him and Kusakabe-san during lunch break and he didn't try to kill me." She reigned ignorance.
"It is a miracle. Usually three is a crowd for him." Kurokawa mused out-load. "What did you do?"
"Emm… only greeted him politely, showing him respect he deserves for keeping order and not letting chaos reign. What more… I sat next to Kusakabe-san when doing paperwork, not him…. Nothing else comes to my mind." Sakiko listed the two buttons she pressed not to aggravate him.
"So you have the 'keen eye' you spoke before. How did you get it?" Hana tried to press for more information.
"Let's just say that my life made me train it, and leave it at that." The caramelette avoided the answer, not wanting to remember the horrific details.
"Everyone has rights to keep secrets, so I won't press on." The raven-haired girl backed of and offered Kyoko to go home, but the girl did something that Sakiko didn't expect. She offered Sakiko to go home together. It shocked the girl from the future. She had forgotten how nice Kyoko had been.
"I'm sorry, but I won't be able to do that. I have duties as a member of the Disciplinary committee." Sakiko answered. Part of her wanted to go with the girls, however the other part said that it shouldn't be known by the general public that she lived with Tsunayoshi, and that Hibari will be expecting her on the roof after the club activities were over. Kyoko offered to wait for her, but Hana the Insightful made the girl back down and ho home now.
Once everyone had left except Sakiko and three very familiar flame users, the girl turned towards the group and stated: "You wanted to talk to me, Tsunayoshi-san."
"Y-yes… I wanted to thank you for standing up for me…" Tsuna said timidly, scratching his cheek in nervousness.
"There is no need to thank me. I did what a rational person would do. Also, I did tell you that I am on your side." Sakiko answered, her eyes locked to his. His eyes were so open, so easy to read. She hoped that Reborn would cure that quickly. At the current moment, they also said that the boy was puzzled by something, so the girl decided to press the button.
"Is there something else you'd like to say?"
"W-well…" Tsuna hesitated.
"A mafia Don mustn't stutter." Sakiko admonished him. That made Tsuna tense up and exclaim loudly that ge wasn't going to be one, which made Sakiko's eyes turn sad.
"Sometimes we don't have a choice. Sometimes life forces things on our shoulders that we don't want to carry. But tell me, what was it that you wanted to ask?"
"Why do we have the same surname?"
"A coincidence. However that we are in the same class is most likely Reborn's doing."
"How do you know the kid?" Yamamoto decided to ask.
"I know him since I was a baby. He was one of my tutors."
"Does that mean you are super strong?" The Rain guardian asked in a half-laugh.
"Of course, she is." Suddenly a squeaky voice said, and Reborn landed on Sakiko's shoulder. "She beat Hibari."
The statement made Tsuna's and Yamamoto's eyes pop wide open, while Gokudera only scoffed, deciding to keep quiet.
"How about you join Tsuna's family, Sakiko?" Reborn asked, not bothered how double-sided it might have sounded to the boys, especially Tsuna.
"Why do you ask, when you already know the answer due to my situation?" She asked in turn.
"Don't invite people randomly to join the mafia!" Tsuna exclaimed loudly, half-panicking.
"Calm down, Tsunayoshi-san. Letting one's emotions reign one's actions can be disastrous in any setting. Mafia is simply more unforgiving than other places." Sakiko told her father to-be and then turned to Reborn. "I'll think about my answer n the setting you mean, but now I must attend my other duties."
Sakiko stood up from her chair and went past the boys, only to stop and add: "You should leave for home before Hibari-sama decides that you've lingered too long for not having any club activities."
"Che. Why are you calling him like that? You are what? His pet?" Gokudera scoffed only to taste blood in his mouth the very next moment, as a smack echoed the room and his cheek started to sting. Sakiko had back-slapped him with her ring finger hand. There would definitely be a bruise.
"Gokudera!" Tsuna exclaimed, shocked by his friend's words, and so was Yamamoto. Everyone could easily see that she was deeply wounded by his words. She didn't say anything, only left the room, but still heard Reborn admonish the silver haired boy.
Sakiko went directly to the roof, hoping that Hibari wouldn't be there yet. She wanted to be alone in case she would lose her willpower not to cry. One of her closest people in the future degraded her so much in this time. It hurt. A lot. However, her luck was not here today, since the skylark was already waiting.
"Can we postpone the fight for a later time? I really need to be alone for a while." Sakiko asked in a tiredly controlled voice.
"Why?" Was the only answer she received as he inconspicuously fingered his tonfa. He could easily see the pain in her eyes and a part of him wondered what had happened.
"I don't want to talk about it." Sakiko answered. "Just… give me an hour."
"No." Was Hibari's answer as he moved in her direction. With a heavy sigh, Sakiko dropped her school bag and caught the tonfa, pulled it to the side and tried to knee the boy in the stomach, but he dodged it and dislodged his weapon from her grip. Hibari took out his other tonfa, getting serious. "I will bite you to death."
"Maybe in a year or so." Sakiko answered, her demeanor changing. Her voice grew cold and eyes narrowed in a glare. An hour was not much to ask. The club activities were still in progress and she had been told that the fight would commence after those activities. Sakiko grew so annoyed that it was close to bordering with anger.
Noting the sudden difference, Hibari only smirked. He had her full attention now. His instincts told him to dodge to the left. He always paid attention to the warnings in his brain, but not always followed them, however this was not the time. He quickly sidestepped to narrowly avoid a punch towards his ribcage, but was not fast enough to avoid the elbow in his stomach that followed only a moment later. What surprised him though was that he was actually pushed back a few feet.
Hibari glared at the girl looking at him with cold, calculating eyes. Then he noted something strange. Her eyes had turned orange and seemed to slightly glow. Then she opened her mouth and said words he had once heard before and hated very much. "You can't beat me. You are weak."
In the past he had not been able to fight back, since he had been held down by a certain adult, but now he was older, stronger and by no means held down. He would make her pay for those words! He lounged at her, but no matter how fast he tried to move and hit her, she avoided him completely.
"Too slow." Sakiko said and punched him in the gut in a momentum between his attacks. She was about to hit him again, when she felt a gun being pointed at her and a squeaky voice say: "Sakiko, that's enough!"
She quickly jumped back and looked in the voice's direction to see Reborn pointing his gun at her. Next to him were the three boys looking shocked. The she looked at Hibari to see that she had used too much strength in the last punch and was starting only by sheer willpower.
"Shit." Sakiko said, dropping out of her Hyper Dying Will mode and rushed to inspect the wound to see if she had punched him with or without Lightning Flame around her fist. It could turn very badly if she had. Luckily, she hadn't, but that didn't mean that he didn't need to lay down somewhere at the least.
"Help me carry him to the Reception room." Sakiko said, looking at Yamamoto. With a slight pause the boy moved and together, with Tsuna opening the doors, they reached the room and carefully placed the wounded boy on one of the couches.
"Go home. You don't want to be here when he awakens." Sakiko said, not looking at the boys and Reborn.
"What about you?" Yamamoto asked.
"He can't hurt me more than I would allow him to. Now go." Sakiko answered. At the first moment they didn't move, but the Reborn chimed in that they need needed to leave, so they did.