Author's note: I am realllly glad that I decided to revise this chapter that was written last year, it was going the direction I didn't want it to go! The timeline would have messed up had I published the original chapter last year.
Nevertheless, I am back! Whoop whoop!
To Sparksofrandomness, fuchsteufelswild, and Kurochach: Thank you for your kind words, I really appreciate it!
Previously on Safe and Sound,
Ayano recently revealed her real identity to GM as the daughter of Yoshino. Despite being deceived by Ayano, GM forgave her and agreed to disclose any information he knew about her grandfather—Dimitri, and her mother—Yoshino. It turned out that Ayano's grandfather was the boss of Soteria, an underground organization that provided and sold firearms illegally around the world. GM revealed that Yoshino was the next successor in line and was already being trained at an early age.
Namimori high school just finished a school festival that occurred on the Halloween week. The Nicolaou girl, dressed as the corpse bride, received a confession from her secret admirer, which was then interrupted by the chairman of the disciplinary committee. Words were exchanged, and the conversation between Ayano and Hibari ended with the committee chairman preparing to "hunt" her secret admirer.
Trigger warning: implied domestic abuse and mention of drugs. Very minor. Nothing too explicit in words/details. It's just I want to give a heads up just in case it might be a trigger to some readers.
Springtime. 30 years ago.
"You want to study architecture?! Sounds very badass, little miss!" GM proudly exclaimed.
The feisty Yoshino, who was 17 years of age, pulled the trigger of the rifle and fired at a wooden model about a hundred feet away. The adult simply whistled at the perfect headshot.
"I must say, I really thought you'd be studying business management or something. After all, you're inheriting Soteria—a POWERFUL organization," GM pointed.
"Thanks captain obvious," she took a deep breath. "But you also know that I've always been fond of architecture," Yoshino winked as she reloaded her gun. GM simply shrugged.
"By the way, how's your dad? I haven't seen him around for weeks."
"He's…uhhhhh. Busy." Her hesitation did not successfully hide her lie, which GM detected.
"Ohhhh…kay...? Care to elaborate little missy? He's always been busy since before you were born, yet he always managed to visit me frequently. What is this new type of 'busy' you're speaking of?"
The next successor of Soteria just finished reloading her rifle. Suddenly, without any warnings, she fired at all the wooden models continuously until she ran out of bullets. Her sudden action startled the owner of the shooting range, which made him drop the empty handgun that he was holding.
"Woah there! What was that for little miss?!"
Yoshino was still staring at the destroyed wooden targets, ignoring GM's question. Her gaze was slightly ominous, like a camouflaged tiger patiently stalking its next prey. Almost immediately, her smile returned, as if nothing happened five seconds ago.
"I need to go, I'll see you next week, baldie-san!" She happily hopped her way out after placing the unloaded rifle on the table.
"Hey kid, wait! You… forgot to clean my rifle!" shouted the confused adult. But the grinning teenager was already out of his sight, leaving him in a state of bewilderment.
Present time. November.
Ayano admitted: there was something "thrilling" about taking gun lessons.
She wasn't even sure if firearms were legal in Japan.
If they weren't, then how was it possible for GM's business to thrive? I should probably ask him later, the Nicolaou girl mentally noted.
Nevertheless, she discovered that GM could actually be a very friendly and cool storyteller. She believed that the more "lessons" she received from him, the more details he could remember about her mother, especially since Soteria was oddly never mentioned in her mother's diary.
"Listen kid, the more you know about Soteria, the more you expose yourself to danger. Your mom abandoned you so that you can live a normal life. To pick up the shattered glass pieces by your bare hands is a dangerous game you're playing," GM warned.
"If mom wasn't secretive about Soteria on her diary, then I would have stopped bothering you a long time ago," Ayano's voice faltered behind her smile.
"What I think you should do is take your mom's advice. Leave the past alone, face the present, and focus on your own life," GM suggested. "Don't even get me started with organized crime groups, they're common nowadays," he emphasized with a great tone.
"Huh?" Ayano's eyes darted at him.
"You know. Yakuza, gangs, the mafia…" he added.
"Mafia…?" she questioned.
"Look missy, I've had a couple of sketchy mafia men visit this place, asking me funny questions. But I ain't stupid. I know that they are hunting for someone. I don't know who, and I don't want to know. Which is why I'm begging you, don't dig for too much information." He reloaded the handgun and gave it to the fearless girl to finish her next dummy targets.
The mafia, she muttered.
Why could she not remember an important conversation she recently had that was related to a "mafia"?
Fall departed upon the arrival of the frosty, winter season. It was late November, and the weather channel already forecasted heavy snow starting the next day. Such weather would prevent Ayano from visiting certain places that were written on her mother's diary. Therefore, before the first snow of the season arrived, she decided to visit a very influential person to her mother.
As she walked down an affluent and unfamiliar neighborhood, she spotted a group of students, whom she immediately recognized. In such a quiet residential area, the conversation of the group echoed loudly and could easily be heard from her distance.
"Tsuna! Are you going to ask any girl to the winter ball?" the tall student cheered.
"Of course, he's going to ask Kyoko-chan. Right, Tsuna-kun?" the red-haired boy commented.
"She'll definitely reject me," the spiky brown-haired sighed in defeat.
"Have some confidence and grow a pair, Tsuna," the toddler smirked and threatened with a what seemed like a toy gun.
"Hiee! Not the dying will bullet!"
Just before the ruckus escalated, Reborn, along with Yamamoto, noticed a familiar female student approaching from the opposite direction.
"Ah! What an encounter, Ayano-san!" beamed Yamamoto.
"Oh, hello! You guys are lively…as usual." She made a small bow. "Hi Tsuna-kun, Enma-san, Hayato-san, Reborn-san. It's Sunday, what brought you guys out here?"
The boys looked at each other, tongues seemingly tied.
"Power training." Enma casually replied.
"Hieeeeeee! Enma meant to say work-out training, yes! We kind of just wanted to take a short walk after our work-out session... haha!" Tsuna awkwardly chuckled as he scratched a visible small scratch on his cheek.
"Hmmm, it's quite a walk, don't you think? I mean, this place is certainly far from Namimori town," the suspicious Nicolaou pointed out, yet her perceptiveness failed to notice the dirt marks and blood stains on their shirts.
"Tsk, woman, so what if we like long walks? What are you doing here?" snarled Gokudera.
"Visiting a friend," she lied, a little. "Anyways, you guys were talking about the winter ball just now," she brought the topic back up.
"Yeap! We're excited about it because this is our last winter ball, and hopefully, the best one!" Yamamoto's excitement was through the roof, which made the Nicolaou girl chuckle.
"I promise, it will be the best one. The student council worked so hard to make this year's ball very unique and memorable."
While the group continued hyping the school event, the silver-haired boy unexpectedly inserted a completely irrelevant topic in the conversation.
"Oi woman, is it true that you and Hibari are dating?" interrupted Gokudera.
Everyone froze like Medusa's victims upon Gokudera's bold question. Except the toddler in the fedora hat. Reborn simply grinned.
"You're rude Gokudera-kun, that's private stuff that you shouldn't be demanding an answer for," Enma noted in such a passive tone.
"Time. Out." Ayano pinched the bridge of her nose. "And where did you hear that from?" She felt a slight warm sensation creeping up on her cheeks.
"Rumor. In school." Gokudera shrugged. "I made a bet about it with the baseball freak. He doesn't think Hibari is your boyfriend. But I think you're dating that demon."
"School rumor?!" The long-haired girl waved her hands in disapproval. "No no no. We are not… dating. Nope."
"Well, I won the bet!" celebrated Yamamoto which made Gokudera rolled his eyes.
"Can you guys not spread the rumor? We all know what will happen if it reaches Hibari-san," goosebumps crawled on her skin as she pleaded, already thinking of ways to resign from her secretarial position.
At the same time, Ayano realized that she had better things to do than gossip about her chairman, so she decided that it was time to depart from the group that seemed to love school drama.
"Anyway, you know what? My friend is waiting for me and I'm already late. I'll see you guys in school tomorrow, have a fun walk!" She quickly excused herself and disappeared from the boys' sights.
Reborn finally broke his silence. "Interesting. Tsuna, what do you think of Ayano being a member of our family?"
The 10th boss of Vongola yelped. "Absolutely not!"
Ten minutes later, the curious Nicolaou finally arrived at an unfamiliar residence after her encounter with Tsuna's circle. Her destination was a house that was currently occupied by a retired professor, Professor Noda, who was mentioned multiple times on Yoshino's diary. Professor Noda played an important role in her first three years in college. Noda was a student advisor as well as an architecture professor who specialized in interior design—a similar emphasis that Yoshino was interested in.
With a little bit of internet research, Ayano was able to acquire his contact information. Her simple voicemail consisted of a small introduction and a request to meet with him to discuss about her mother's college years—if he still remembered his former student. Surprisingly, his response revealed that he indeed still remembered Yoshino as one of his top students, and that he agreed to have a chat with Ayano.
Ayano rang the doorbell which was answered quickly. The front gate revealed a female caregiver. The woman didn't mutter a word; she instead gestured to let the Nicolaou girl know to come in. It seemed that the caregiver was instructed to let in a visitor whom Noda was expecting. The retired professor then met his guest in his living room, with two cups of tea and some snacks already prepared on the coffee table. He signaled the teenager to take a sit on the couch adjacent to the table after they made their greetings.
"How's your mom? You look so much like her, genetics is astounding ain't it?" started Noda in his raspy, old voice.
The teenager took a deep breath. She reminded herself to be careful with her words. Her eyes landed on her lap, finding the right way to start her sentence. "Actually, this might sound odd professor, but… I've never met my mom."
Noda was about to reach for his tea when he stopped midway upon Ayano's statement.
"Pardon?" the retired professor was obviously baffled.
The next hour was spent on explaining her situation, starting from her abandonment at birth. Of course, she left out the part about the Soteria business. She didn't feel comfortable letting out too much information because she had not established her trust with the professor… yet.
On the other hand, Noda couldn't help but listen in awe. In fact, he remembered Yoshino as a talented, yet cryptic student. She would visit him in his office many times to ask for constructive criticism about her projects. She had such intricate architectural designs, which indeed showed her passion about her career. Yet, her designs were impossible to construct in real life due to structural flaws that she purposely placed. She never shared her reason for the intentional design flaws. She claimed her blueprints to be feasible, and that whatever was perceived as "faulty", was an intended illusion. What was the goal of her structural "illusion"? It didn't make sense to Noda, even after spending so many years analyzing her blueprints. He admitted—as a professor who attained the highest educational degree as well as years of experience in the architectural field—he was a little frustrated about not being able to decode Yoshino's mysterious designs.
"Your mother was very talented, and I strongly believed back then that she was going to be a successful architect," Noda concluded after his long speech about Yoshino's accomplishments. "I wish she never met the guy that ruined her future."
"Guy?" Ayano inquired.
Noda pushed his eyeglasses up. "She started dating this overly, possessive guy during her 3rd year. At first, she was excited to share to me her love life, as if I was her love therapist. However, as the time progressed, her relationship completely changed her… into a new person," Noda cleared his throat, indicating pain from reminiscing his memorable student.
The Nicolaou girl didn't mutter a word. She wanted the professor to continue his story.
"Your mother went from being a studious, confident, passionate, and motivated student to a frightened, insecure, and doubtful woman. She stopped going to my office for project feedbacks. And whenever I saw her around campus, she looked very, drained. Weak. Anxious."
"Did you ever try to talk to her, to determine what was happening?" Ayano desired for more information.
Noda rubbed his temple, hesitating to reveal the ending of his story. He glanced at his guest's eyes and saw no fear but her unyielding curiosity.
"On her 5th year, I emailed her for an advising session. Being her faculty advisor, I found out that she was failing classes. She was close to graduating, and I wasn't going to let her drop and waste her four years' worth of work."
The professor motioned his caregiver to reheat his tea before he continued.
"The meeting didn't even last 5 minutes. She attended but she was unresponsive to my concerns. Then, I noticed… bruise marks on her arms. I became alarmed and I asked if she was being hurt by someone, but she stiffened upon hearing my question and immediately walked out of my office," Noda's face turned sour. "I knew that wanting to know about your student's mental state might be perceived as too invasive. But I was genuinely concerned about your mom. I still blame myself today for not doing enough to help her."
The Nicolaou girl's lower lips trembled slightly. "Did… she ever mention anything back then, that might help me find her today?"
"I'm sorry, I don't remember any notable words that she said that might serve as a clue. However, I'm not sure if you want to hear the last thing that happened to her before she ultimately cut off her contact with me."
Ayano took a deep breath before nodding her head.
"I was told by another faculty that your mom… along with her boyfriend, got expelled for possession of illegal drugs on campus."
The clock struck past four o'clock, reminding Ayano that she had been in Noda's residence for two hours. It was her time to leave the professor's residence out of courtesy that she might be exhausting the elder. It had been a long day; the beginning stage of sunset was evident by the orange hue dominating the entire sky.
She learned so much about her mother's college years that were not mentioned in the diary nor in GM's testimony, which made the orphan girl wonder if her mother purposely left those details out.
"I'm sorry this happened to you. I will be praying that your mom is safe and well, wherever she is," consoled the genuine professor.
"Thank you."
The two bid their farewell. Instead of taking the taxi, Ayano resorted for a walk so that she could clear her mind. The teenager was obviously confused and distraught. It seemed that she was now discovering the darker side of her mother's history. Her fearlessness was starting to waver; she now wasn't sure if she wanted to proceed with her search for her biological mother.
What if the story actually ended in tragedy?
Should she save herself early from the heartbreaking news by quitting her investigation?
What if she was already more than half-way to the finish line?
But how would she know that?
All she wanted was to find her mother safe and sound.
Wait.
Was that really the purpose of this whole thing? To find a mother who refused to be found?
But she didn't need to find a mother.
She already got one.
How could she forget about Tara?
Tara, the owner of the orphanage house who raised her like a real daughter, was the mother figure everyone would wish to have. Ayano couldn't even remember the last time she talked to her. Tara showered the Nicolaou girl with so much love as she grew up… only to be forgotten?
Ayano felt strongly disheartened by her own actions.
GM was right, she admitted in defeat.
Not because she became the cat that the curiosity killed.
But because her obsession with the idea of meeting her biological mother almost replaced her most important possession: Tara's motherly love.
Twenty minutes into her mentally exhausting walk, she spotted a serene-looking, traditional tea house. She decided to stop by and take a quick break. She slid the door open and was met with a welcome sign that also instructed customers to remove their footwear at the entry-way doormat.
She scanned the room, adoring its minimalist vibe. The floor was covered with green tatami mats. The host wore an elegant kimono. There were beautiful haikus in calligraphy hung around the room. Paper lantern lamps on the ceiling illuminated the whole space perfectly. The place was very traditional, indeed.
There was only one customer situated at the very corner. Funny enough, the person looked so familiar.
Wait a minute.
That customer turned out to be the very last person she wanted to see if the world was ending.
Kyoya Hibari.
WHY, was the only word she could form inside her head as she stood frozen in the middle of the room.
Now she was convinced that mentioning his name was actually a spell that would summon the said man. And she blamed it all on Gokudera's daring question earlier.
Nevertheless, it was too late to turn away and walk out without making the situation awkward. They already made a solid eye contact. So Ayano went ahead and approached the strangely, calm figure.
"First the Sawada circle. Now you. Why am I encountering everyone outside of Namimori?" Ayano flailed her arms up in defeat as she sat on the tatami mat across the skylark.
The unconcerned skylark didn't respond and continued to sip his tea. Her presence wasn't bothersome to him. In fact, he was just as surprised to see his secretary popped out of nowhere.
She got up to order a simple coffee before returning to the skylark's futon table.
"Can I sit here?" she pointed down.
Again, the skylark didn't respond.
"I'll take that as a yes," sighed Ayano.
Two awkward minutes passed. Again, the committee chairman was oddly non-confronting and silent. The Nicolaou girl didn't complain about it though. She needed a companion just for a bit so that she could take a break from thinking about her mother. She wished it didn't have to be Hibari. Luckily for her, he was calm. She convinced herself to treat the current situation the same as their casual hangout in his office, where the two silently worked through stacks of paper. That was all. Nothing more.
While the long-haired girl was enjoying her coffee, Hibari continued to examine her presence. Her purpose for being here. The coincidence of encountering each other outside of Namimori. Her encounter with the herbivores, and if Yamamoto was there. He also noticed how her hair was not the length he remembered it, so did she trim it?
He would have asked these questions. But her silence was more pleasant to him than a tiring conversation.
"By the way, winter ball is around the corner, will you be attending?" blurted Ayano, interrupting Hibari's self-talk.
He supposed talking about school wouldn't be bad.
"What a ridiculous question. I don't associate myself with crowding. Especially in that environment," nonchalantly answered the uninterested Hibari.
The Nicolaou girl sighed in defeat. "You're right. That'd be very out of character of you. Geez, sorry for hoping."
"You hoped for my attendance?" he raised his eyebrow, his metallic gaze locking with her cloudy gray eyes.
Ayano wished that a real life "undo" button existed so that she could change her previous statement. To "hope" that her chairman would attend the winter ball was a suggestion of her desire to be near him—a dangerous development that she previously promised herself not to pursue. She shouldn't be longing for Hibari's presence because that would strengthen her attraction to him, which she already admitted a while ago. Besides, she concluded that the compatibility was just, not there. That's what her brain believed and what she thought made the most sense.
But it seemed her heart felt otherwise.
She wondered what would happen if there was compatibility. It would be the most interesting plot twist of her life. Maybe Hibari-san is capable of more than a platonic friendship? she wondered. It was such an absurd and laughable possibility that she accidentally let out a chuckle.
But what if?
"What's so funny?" followed up by the unamused Hibari.
Her gaze landed on her lap. "What I meant to say was that I was hoping you'd be patrolling that night because I'd really appreciate if no one breaks the rules to ruin the event," she hid her elaborate lie behind her amiable smile.
The male subject was slightly disappointed at her boring response. "I don't need to be reminded of my duty," Hibari remarked.
He bought my lie, Ayano sighed in relief.
"By the way, shouldn't you be looking for a new secretary?" Ayano swiftly changed the topic.
"And why is that?"
"Because it's almost December, and I'm graduating in 4 months? You should open up an application for the next board members."
She was right. Hibari completely forgot that she was a senior transfer student. He took a sip of his still warm tea and closed his eyes.
I don't want her to go.
The confused skylark immediately opened his eyes and frowned at the strange thought that randomly echoed inside his head.
Since when did I care about this herbivore?
Hibari was now annoyed and confused at the same time.
He was annoyed because he suddenly felt a weird twist in his stomach. He was confused because the thought of her leaving might have induced it.
"I don't do applications. I choose my members, herbivore."
Ayano's eyes widened, which she then followed with a light giggle. "It's been a while since you called me herbivore. Anyway, I'm just saying, I'm not going to be your secretary forever. Also, aren't you graduating too?"
"Hn. Who knows?"
"What do you mean 'who knows'? It's not like you're failing, that would be very ironic."
"I can choose what grade I am in."
Ayano raised her eyebrows. "Ah. I see. Of course. I keep forgetting that you might be the owner of the school or something," she joked.
Before he could respond to her silly claim, Hibari was interfered by a ringing phone coming from Ayano's purse.
"Hello, Aunt Agatha? Yes, I'm on my way home," Ayano reassured. Within five seconds, the long-haired girl shot up from her position and gasped. "What?! A mail from a fashion school in Italy?!"
Her excitement was evidently uncontainable. Her eyes beamed from hearing a what seemed to be a good news.
Meanwhile, it wasn't difficult for the curious Kyoya to deduce from the phone conversation that his secretary applied for a fashion school. What seemed to bother him was the notion of her going away. Far away.
"Okay aunt, I'll try to hurry up. I'll see you back home!" She hung up, face full of radiance like a thrilled child seeing an ice cream for the first time. "I need to go home. I'll see you at school, then." Ayano quickly collected her belongings and walked out of the tea house.
Italy? Hibari mentally frowned. So she's going far away.
He shouldn't care, right?
But he was feeling irritated.
I don't want her to go. Again, the same thought echoed in his head, which further fueled his irritation.
Stop, he ordered himself, which was a silly attempt to deny whatever was going on inside his head.
He believed that some violence might cure the knot in his stomach. Therefore, the skylark decided to return to Namimori immediately so that he could start his search for people who "deserved" to be bitten to death.
Author's note: Okay okay so hear me out. This chapter just ended the slow-burn part of the story. I will be moving on with reinforcing the pairing in the next chapter, of course without making it OOC.
Yay I'm exciteddddd, I can't wait to update my readers!
I'll see you soon!