I'm back! Wow this chapter feels long to me.
Have fun!
It was a white, snowy, Saturday. It was also the day of Winter Ball.
Enchanted— the theme of the event, a term as magical as the current month, December. Happiness is in the air when it's December. Love is in the air when it's December. Forgiveness and reconciliation are in the air. Closure. A new start. It didn't matter what one's religion was. Everyone deserved the magical, enchanting things December always offered every year.
The themes in previous years were creative, too. Last year, it was "The Great Gatsby", where the jazz music and the "Roaring 20's" formal attire were emulated. The year before that, it was "Paris", a masquerade-concept ball matched with the vibe that the city of love exudes.
For this year, "Enchanted" would create an environment full of happiness, love, compassion, admiration… you name it. This was conceptualized to be an event as captivating as a fairytale world in a winter setting, sprinkled with some aspects of the holiday season to match those of the students' holiday spirits.
However, to bring the theme into existence, it was important for the student council that the arrangement of the venue was exactly as planned.
Currently present on campus in the afternoon were student volunteers who signed up to set up the venue, which was held at the school's gymnasium. The budget for the event could only accommodate the costs of the decorations, equipment rent, and the banquet catering. There was not enough money to hire 3rd party staff that could set up and clean the place. Thus, the council offered admission ticket discounts, to the first 50 students to help with the event decoration as well as the post-cleanup operation. The whole student council were also required to help with the set up. Surprisingly, a few members of the disciplinary committee were present to offer their help.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the disciplinary committee sat alone in his office, well-aware of the busy situation. He also had some busy paperwork to do; it was common for him to work on some weekends. However, it was unusual that some of his underlings offered their help with the operation at the gymnasium. "Impressive herbivore", was his response when he found out from Kusakabe that Ayano somehow, befriended a good number of the members of the disciplinary committee, which explained their presence in the gymnasium.
"Good afternoon. How's it going?"
A voice from the ceiling interrupted Hibari's well-maintained focus. He looked up and at the same time, a ceiling tile opened, revealing an unexpected, but familiar and well-respected visitor.
The kid in the fedora hat landed on the couch situated a few feet from Hibari's desk. The entrance of this infamous hitman tutor was always amusing to him, appearing uninvited from the walls in intriguing ways.
But the toddler's appearance always had a purpose. A scheme. What could it possibly be this time? the Vongola cloud guardian silently thought to himself.
"Toddler," the skylark addressed as Reborn fully revealed himself. "What is your business here?"
The toddler sat on the couch and smirked under his fedora. "Nothing really. I'm looking for my no-brainer student."
"My office is where you'd least likely find Sawada in," yawned the skylark.
"I know. I just want to say hi to Ayano-chan."
The sound of the pen's friction against the paper stopped. Hibari glanced at the toddler who was comfortably drinking a cup of coffee. His perceptiveness was trying to decipher what Reborn might be planning.
"She's not here."
"I can see that she's not here, Hibari-san."
"Then get out," the skylark breathed exasperatingly.
"Okay, I'll leave."
The arcobaleno turned around as if he was really going to exit the room, still holding his coffee on his left hand.
"Oh wait, one more thing," he turned his body toward the indifferent skylark, "you know… she's not that bad."
"I don't know what you mean by that."
Reborn placed his coffee on the table and leaped on the Hibari's desk. "Of course you don't. She's a regular civilian, but at the same time, she's not. She's not a combat fighter, but she's growing to be a fighter. Fearless."
"And what am I supposed to do with that information? You're disrupting me with nonsensical stuff…" the chairman was now slightly pissed. "Cut your speech, what is your purpose here, toddler?" He glared at Reborn, whom then simply responded with a mischievous smile.
"Alright, I'll cut to the chase. I want to recruit Ayano to be a member of the Vongola family. Not as a guardian. I don't know what her purpose will be yet, but my gut is telling me that she'll play an important role."
Hibari frowned upon Reborn's statement. This was the second time he heard of the ridiculous suggestion—of his secretary joining the Vongola. The first time was when Ayano mentioned that Dino had asked her to join a "family". The skylark could not understand why Reborn and Dino were very fond of her. Ayano would never survive a mafia conflict, and therefore should never be a part of this dangerous organization. He made sure that whatever Reborn was scheming would not happen.
On the other hand, Reborn believed that there was something going on between Hibari and the female secretary.
And the typical wicked toddler had a plan.
The girl could serve as a pull factor: a motivation. A rare opportunity to make Hibari fully accept his status as a family member, and more importantly, as Vongola's 10th generation cloud guardian.
Additionally, she might not be as fragile as she seemed to be.
Reborn had been secretly "researching" Ayano, and it was not difficult to discover her little hobby at a range place disguised as an abandoned building. Knowing Reborn's detective skills, it was also not difficult to learn about her true origin, and her little "mission" of finding her mother.
In fact, Reborn might be a few steps ahead of her in terms of locating her mother, a card that he planned to use to "recruit" the Nicolaou girl. This was the reason why the toddler was confident about his plan, and he had no intention to disclose any of this information to Hibari.
The toddler jumped back to the couch and broke the silence. "So, what do you think, Hibari-san?"
"Laughable. It's quite disappointing that your idea of a Vongola member is a mere weakling."
"She's not what you think she is."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want to know your opinion."
"I'm warning you, stay away from her." Hibari rose from his seat, which didn't intimidate the toddler at all.
"I also heard she's moving to Italy, which will make it easier to introduce Vongola to her since our main headquarter is also in Italy," further tantalized Reborn.
"She wants to work with clothes, not the mafia. Last warning. Stay. Away. From. Her." Hibari's tonfas were now visible, and he made sure that his threat was obvious.
"You're defensive. Perhaps you are concerned about her?"
"You're projecting."
"Am I?"
Reborn shot up back to his little ceiling door just before the skylark launched his first attack.
"I will take my leave then, have a great afternoon, Hibari Kyoya!"
This might be the first time that the skylark felt the need to destroy his ceiling and chase the toddler in the fedora hat.
But he suppressed his bloodlust. There was no need to waste his energy on Reborn's game. Besides, what normal girl would believe this whole mafia business?
Certainly not Nicolaou Ayano, he told himself.
However, Reborn's words echoed at the back of his mind.
"She's a regular civilian, but at the same time, she's not."
What a paradox, proclaimed with great confidence.
It didn't take long for Hibari's hunch to figure out that the toddler knew something about her that he didn't.
He shouldn't care, but why was it bothering him?
Two hours later, a knock broke the boring silence in Hibari's office.
"Hey," greeted Ayano. She was dressed warmly, a long white puffer coat mismatched with black mittens, right hand occupied with a cup of drink.
The skylark raised his left eyebrow in question. He didn't recall summoning his secretary in the afternoon. She entered his office and closed the door behind.
"The set up ended very early, and we had some extra hot drinks. I brought one for you, I figured you'd like to have a nice, hot, black tea to combat this cold weather." She handed him the drink, evident warm steam escaping the sip hole of the lid.
It was a nice gesture, but the skylark didn't need it. He hesitated, but eventually he motioned with his head to place the drink on an empty spot of his desk.
Her presence reminded him of the recent conversation he just had with Reborn. His gaze met hers, searching for hints of whether the toddler had given her the ridiculous "recruitment talk".
"I didn't poison it, if that's what you were wondering," she lightly joked.
Her attention turned to the pile of papers on his desk, and she immediately knew that he had more work to complete. On the top of the file was the security agenda, which detailed the schedule of the disciplinary committee members for tonight. She had read it already before, but she still wanted to say something about it to her chairman.
"You know, I understand that the council asked for some type of security measure, but isn't this plan a little, too much?" inquired Ayano, as she reviewed the security agenda of the event.
"Everyone already agreed so there should be no problem."
"Well, everyone agreed because they couldn't disagree," she muttered softly under her breath.
"I don't speak the mumble language."
"What I meant to say, Hibari-san, is that I just think having the perimeter of the gym surrounded by disciplinary committee members might intimidate the students."
"Everyone should have seen the strict security coming."
"I… know. It is what it is," the Nicolaou girl sighed. She wasn't going to win this argument.
"Anything else? I don't need your service today, so leave."
How about a simple thank you for the tea I brought, she thought to herself.
She wanted to leave so that she could properly rest and get ready for tonight, but since the set up ended two hours early, her aunt wouldn't be able to pick her up yet.
"Actually Hibari-san, I—"
"No."
Her brows knitted upon his sudden interruption. "You haven't even heard what I was about to say."
"If it's a complain, then I don't want to hear it."
"How do you know that if you refuse to listen to what I'm about to say?"
"You're already doing it," yawned the chairman.
"Doing what? I haven't done anything," her body unconsciously moved, slowly approaching Hibari.
"You just complained," he mocked. Who knew his boredom could get to a point where teasing his secretary was oddly… entertaining?
"About what? I didn't say—"
"You wanted me to listen. I didn't want to. You complained. Is it that hard to recall your own words, Nicolaou Ayano?"
"Wait. What? I didn't complain about you not listening to me?" Her voice raised a little louder than usual, frown plastered across her face.
Hibari didn't think he'd find amusement upon his secretary's frustration. He might have spilled a slight smirk.
"Do you see the position you put yourself in just now?" He rose from his chair to make it easier for her to see his point.
She realized that she was only a few centimeters from him where she could smell a hint of his cologne. And such proximity gave her a chance to notice small things about her chairman.
For instance, he seemed… taller? Also, his hair was parted differently, in a messy but good, way. His fringes had also gotten longer.
Lastly, his complexion was a little paler than what she remembered it to be?
"Herbivore, are you done staring at me?"
A pink tint escaped her cheeks, which she failed to hide from Hibari. Ayano took a step back. Away from the person that mesmerized her for a good five seconds.
She's… flustered? he questioned mentally. It made her appear vulnerable and… weak.
Two traits he hated. Yet he had a strong urge to protect.
"Look, I'm not going to play your little… game," she massaged her temple.
"You started it," his nonchalant voice slightly annoyed the already calm Ayano.
"Hmm… you know what, you're probably right," her face softened, adamant eyes darting back to his. "It all started when I accepted this secretary position."
Hibari's smirk faded.
Something about her response spoke an essence of truth.
But something about her response also sounded like a… goodbye.
"But at least our little bickers were entertaining… sometimes," she continued, diverting her gaze away from him.
As she turned around and towards the door, Hibari felt a twist in his stomach.
Similar to that stomach twist when driving over a bumpy hill. A twist that wanted to convert itself to an urge. An urge to hold her back and stop her from walking away, even though he was the one who pushed her out in the first place.
Instead he stood frozen still, his pride battled against his own feelings.
"I was going to offer you some help with the paperwork, but it turns out you don't need it," she added, her eyes on the door handle.
Then stay, was what he wanted to enunciate, but it remained in his head.
"Have a uhmm… great day, Hibari-san."
And just like that she was gone from his sight.
He realized that he was starting to hate that image…
The image of her walking away.
The clock hit seven o'clock, signaling the gate to open for the Namimori High Winter Ball, commencing with a banquet-style dinner before the night activities. It was a good thing that the gymnasium had the capacity enough to fit the only allowed students: juniors and seniors. Half was occupied by round tables covered with white table clothes and accompanied by centerpieces.
The other half of the gymnasium was designated as the dance floor. Other things such as photo booths, float decorations, concession stand, etc. could be found along the corners of the venue. The overall vibe was welcoming enough that the students seemed not to be intimidated by the presence of the disciplinary committee patrollers.
The Nicolaou girl, unfortunately, was not excused from her student council duties. She was reminded by the council president of her existing position as the school's historian. Meaning, for the publication of the upcoming school yearbook, she must photograph the event's best moments throughout the night. As if to make things less convenient, none of the yearbook club members attended, which meant she had no assistance.
Nevertheless, she remained positive. After the entrance, she chose to sit with her dear friend Mina, along with the seniors of the volleyball team. The team's attire made their table look like a makeup palette of pastel colors mismatched with Ayano's maroon dress.
The caterers showed up 30 minutes after the gate opened. Once the attendees got served their food, conversations resumed.
"So, no date?" asked Ruka, a senior volleyball player.
The Nicolaou girl simply shook her head. "Nope! But I'm curious as to why none of the volleyball team didn't bring a plus-one with them?"
"I think we are too intimidating to be asked by any guys," chuckled Haruhi, the co-captain of the volleyball team.
"We don't need men," added Sakura, the captain of the team. The rest of the girls snapped their fingers in synchrony, agreeing to their captain's declaration.
"We kind of thought Hibari-san would show up if you attended, but that's like, never going to happen right?" joked Mina.
"Well, he is on campus right now. In his office," calmly said Ayano as she finished the last bite of her meal.
"Hey, if you need help with making a move, you should give him some cookies from the concession stand," Ruka cleared her throat.
"Ruka, stop it. Ayano-san, you're pretty, and Hibari is a freak. You can do better," advised Sakura.
"Whaaatttt… I think Hibari-san is kind of handsome," countered Haruhi, which made everyone cough upon her unpopular opinion.
"Also isn't it interesting how that Hibari is so tolerant around you? So just try it! The cookies are cute!" winked Ruka.
Ayano groaned at the persistent girl. "He hates cute things though."
"He doesn't hate you," teased Mina.
"Isn't that great…" eyes rolled by the Nicolaou girl.
"Girl. We all got radar. We know what's going on between you two. I think you should get some answers from him before you… study abroad," suggested Haruhi.
That's true, Ayano told herself.
She told almost everyone except Hibari, about her acceptance to a prestigious fashion school in Italy, where she would be given opportunities to work for prominent designer brands. Although she's very thrilled, moving away from Japan was also a little scary. Her undergraduate program would be very time consuming as she would be required to do internships year-round, barely giving her any free time to have a vacation break.
"Well, why don't we all stop talking about that guy. Dance is about to start in a few minutes," motioned Sakura.
"That sounds great to me," agreed Ayano in relief.
The dance was what everyone was looking forward to. The music didn't really have a theme. As long as the songs were upbeat and appropriate, the student DJ played it. The Nicolaou girl was having a great time dancing as well as going around to take pictures of other attendees. Thirty minutes into the dance, she decided to take a restroom break.
Seeing the other girls crowd around the restroom mirror, Ayano also stared at her own reflection. She was pleased that her light makeup sufficed at masking the fatigue on her face. At the same time, the girls next to her were gossiping about the boys they danced with, and how Yamamoto was "serving looks," which made everyone giggle. Such gossips made her think about what her chairman might be currently doing.
The sudden thought of Hibari made Ayano's cheeks blush a little.
Oh no I'm crushing hard, she thought to herself in defeat.
And the more she denied it, the stronger it got.
Haruhi was correct, about finding answers from him before leaving for Italy. But how?
The Nicolaou girl couldn't bring herself to have that conversation because she knew it would turn awkward immediately. There was no way that he was even capable of such conversation.
But the "conversation" is bound to happen. When? Ayano wasn't sure. She knew she needed a closure before moving to Italy in the summer.
After concluding her self-talk, she walked out of the restroom. As she turned around a corner, she accidentally bumped on a patrolling Kusakabe.
"Kusakabe-san! Sorry about that! Thank you for securing the grounds, I hope you are keeping warm?" beamed Ayano.
"Don't worry about it, I have a couple of heat packs in my coat and it's keeping my job comfortable," he reassured. "How's the Ball?"
"It's going great! The dance just started half an hour ago."
"Oh, are you having fun?"
"Yes, very much. You should take a quick break and dance with me!"
Kusakabe blinked multiple times, as if he heard her invitation wrong. "I don't think someone will like the idea of me dancing with you."
Ayano realized how her statement could be taken the wrong way. "Oh, I mean… dance, like, in a friendly, fun way, not like…" she paused. "Wait, who's not going to like the idea of us dancing?"
"I think you know the answer to that, Nicolaou-san," Kusakabe chuckled nervously. "Well I appreciate your invitation, but I must excuse myself. I'm glad to hear that you are having fun," he bowed and parted from her.
I wonder if he was pertaining to… her tired eyes widened.
"Wait, Kusakabe-san..." she called. "What is Hibari-san... currently doing?"
"Hmm? I think he's in his office, doing paperwork probably," he recalled.
"Sounds just like him."
"He plans to patrol when the event is over," Kusakabe added.
"I see. By the way, do you know if Hibari-san likes cookies?" wondered the secretary, praying to hear the word "yes".
"Hmmm, he enjoys them. Why?"
Ayano looked down, twirling the curls of her hair. "There's some extra cookies packed in small baggies, do you think he'll accept it if I bring him some?"
"Definitely, if it's from you," smiled Kusakabe.
"Oh. I see, thanks Kusakabe-san!" Ayano hurried back to the gymnasium.
Maybe Ruka's suggestion might not turn bad.
If there was anything the Nicolaou girl always appreciated, it was the comfort of silence. However, silence was nowhere to be found as she stood still outside of her chairman's office.
Or maybe it was there all along.
Maybe it was her loud heartbeat that was interfering her sense of hearing, which made it sound like the hallway was being serenaded with obnoxious drums.
She was obviously nervous. Nervous enough that the concept of "knock before you enter" briefly disappeared from her dictionary of politeness.
Carefully pushing the door, she caught a glimpse of the person she wanted to see.
"Hi…" was the only word that escaped her crimson red lips, failing to say a rather formal greeting.
The male in the room was facing the window, watching over the gates for any non-student intruders. He didn't need to move from his position to know the source of the feminine voice.
Puzzled by her presence but kept his attention on the gates, he asked, "what do you need this time?"
"I brought you uhhm… cookies…as my apology for bothering you this afternoon."
"I'm not hungry," his gaze below at the gates remained undistracted.
"You don't have to eat it now, it's from the event." Ayano walked toward him and placed the little baggie on his desk.
It was odd for Hibari to hear the sound of her high heels against the floor—how it exuded the power of her femininity. He straightened his chin, catching a glimpse of her blurred reflection on the window. He turned around as he felt her presence nearer.
Her long, strapless, silky dress hugged her figure comfortably, screaming in an ombre hue of black and maroon. The tiny stones on the top part shone like glitter, imitating a burning, screaming, galaxy. The leather camera strap around her neck battled with her silver necklace for the space on her nape. She took off the dangling camera, revealing redness on her collarbones from the strap, which was swiftly hidden by her long, curled hair.
"You look stupid," scoffed Hibari.
His insult caught Ayano off-guard, who froze midway from trying to place her camera and purse on the couch.
However, she was not offended, at all. In fact, she burst a laughter that echoed across the room. Her nervousness from earlier disappeared. Who knew the skylark's mean comment, which really was an attempt to compliment, was the cure to the turbulence in her head?
"What's so funny, herbivore?"
"Haha… it's nothing," she fanned her eyes to dry her watery sight from a good laugh. "I'm sorry for looking too stupid for you?" her sarcasm was clearly tempting him to a friendly quarrel.
"It doesn't seem smart to me to dress minimally in a sub-zero weather, does it?" he rolled his eyes.
"Well, good thing the central heating on campus works wonderfully!"
"I don't understand why herbivores enjoy these things. It's foolish."
"Having fun is foolish? You need to try it."
"I don't need it."
"Have you even danced before?" She held out her hand, unknowingly inviting him to do an act that was definitely not within his character. Hibari's brows knitted, unimpressed by whatever stunt she was trying to pull.
Realizing how awkward she looked, Ayano immediately retrieved her arm back. Her eyes searched the floor for advice on how she could recover from her own embarrassment.
"See? You just made a fool out of yourself," he smirked.
"Okay, yeah yeah I admit that was an awkward attempt to uhm..." she had a difficulty with ending her sentence—words jammed in a heavy traffic. What would she even call that?
She cleared the blockage in her throat and continued, "forget it, are you done with your… paperwork and stuff?"
"None of your business. Don't you have some responsibilities to do? Stop sticking around my office, herbivore." Hibari returned to his chair and leaned back, slightly irritated by the lateness of the night.
"Fine geez I was just trying to be…" What was she trying to be? Nice? Flirty? The latter was definitely not the answer she should choose.
"… friendly," she sighed.
The skylark was about to respond when he was interrupted by a phone ring, which came from Ayano's purse.
"Hello, Yamamoto-san? Sure, I'll head there soon." She hung up and before she could put her phone back in her purse, Hibari suddenly snatched her phone away. After a quick scroll, he pressed the delete option. He tossed her phone back to the couch effortlessly.
"Hibari-san! What did you do?"
"I erased his number."
"Who's? Yamamoto-san?" she scrolled up, horrified that she could not find Yamamoto on her contact list. "Why did you that?!"
"He irritates me."
Her jaw dropped upon his ridiculous answer. "That's not my problem?"
Hibari turned his back, unbothered by his fuming secretary. Still upset by Reborn's declaration, he convinced himself that what he did was one step to get her away from the Vongola brats.
"He's not good for you."
"Who are you to say that? Yamamoto-san is a great friend, you're just jealous th— " she quickly covered her mouth after accidentally blurting out a term that she knew he definitely disliked.
"Excuse me?" he scowled. He faced his secretary once more, his gaze clashed against her fearless pupils.
Ayano's mind was racing a marathon. Even she seemed like she just ran a mile, with her breath becoming staggered. But in this race, there was no turning back. This conversation had to happen eventually, and it might have to happen now.
"I noticed that… you're always annoyed whenever Yamamoto-san is around me."
"I despise crowding regardless of who you're around with."
"That's hypocritical. So you're saying that whenever we work together after school, you hate it?"
"That's called being indifferent. For work purposes."
"That logic. Unbelievable. Still doesn't give you any right to erase his contact off my phone."
"Then stop hanging out with the Sawada circle."
"First Yamamoto-san, now Tsuna-kun and his other friends? Justify it."
Hibari was surprised that he tolerated her act of defiance for this long. He could just let his tonfas to do the talking, but he could not bring himself to hurt the girl in front of him. She had the right to get mad, fair enough. But at the end, it was for her sake.
"You'll thank me later," he took a step closer.
"That is not a valid answer," Ayano retorted, further decreasing the gap between them.
"Herbivore, validity doesn't matter. Stop approaching me if all you want to do is argue."
Their heated exchange of words brought the two closer in distance together, like two canines ready for a duel over a prey.
"Can we stop being dishonest to each other, for once? I am tired of trying to decipher your vague demands, especially if they concern with me." Her gaze softened in the midst of keeping up with his dominating eyes.
"Dishonest? You're being overdramatic," he sneered. "Why don't you start being honest first?" he rolled his eyes, hoping that his sarcasm would make her give up her little conquest to solve his puzzle.
However, Hibari completely underestimated Ayano's resolve.
"I hate your arrogance—it's not cute. I hate your obsession with rules—you're not a god. I hate your tendency to resort to violence—fighting is not the answer to everything. But despite of all that, you're oddly magnetic. Sometimes you're funny, sometimes you're relaxed. Sometimes, I feel a sense of safety when I'm around you. And I don't get it. Which is why I hate that I let myself develop feelings for you. I hate that I like you. Because I already know that you won't reciprocate it."
It took a few gasp of breath after her little speech to realize that she might have revealed too much… honesty.
And as a result, color drained out of her face. Letting out her steam felt good. Yet at the same time, she felt horrified. Horrified of what was going to happen after.
Similarly, Hibari was caught off-guard by what he just heard. Behind the skylark's narrowed but also surprised eyes, was confusion.
She hates yet she likes me, he frowned mentally. It was stupidly contradicting.
But one part of it felt satisfying for the skylark. The part about her infatuation.
He believed that infatuation could lead to a weakness. However, revealing her "weakness" to him was a sign of her strength.
Additionally, revealing her "weakness" to him was a sign of her trust.
And handing out trust was a sign of loyalty.
Strength, trust, and loyalty were important traits that would make one a qualified companion to him. And Hibari admitted mentally that she… was a decent companion.
In what way was I dishonest, then? he questioned himself.
What he failed to recognize was that his pride was the impediment to his answer not only to this question, but also to his other questions in the past.
After a lack of response from him, the Nicolaou girl took some small steps back, her eyes landing on the floor and the couch interchangeably. Forgetting that her dress was a little longer on the back side, her right heel accidentally stepped on the fabric, resulting to losing her balance.
As she fell backwards, she suddenly felt a hand grabbing her forward which helped reclaim her own momentum by reaching for the adjacent body, resulting to her other arm wrapping around Hibari's nape.
His calloused hand, either from his endless signing of paperwork or his tonfa scars, pressed firmly against her soft palms, while his neck felt her small exhales.
"Clumsy, as usual," he muttered close to her right ear.
She quickly pushed herself away lightly as a response to his untimely tease. Refusing to look up to avoid eye contact, she grabbed her camera and purse off the couch.
"Thanks…" she softly conveyed.
"Herbivore, what you said earlier—"
"I said what I said, you heard what you heard. And I already know your answer," she interrupted. She took a deep breath, and quickly walked out of the room.
He wanted to chase after her, but something stopped him from doing so.
And again, he failed to recognize that his pride was the culprit.
When did she learn to interrupt me mid-sentence? His eyes narrowed, but he remained unbothered. He returned to his seat and reached for the small bag of cookies she left.
Enjoy losing her, suddenly echoed in the skylark's head.
He recalled the future Ayano saying those words when they met in the summer, and it made him want to punch something.
Because it was all clear to him that the future Ayano was referring to the current Ayano.
And that it was already happening… with her moving to a different country in about six months.
And with her always walking away from him.
He thought he would always get whatever he wanted. But in this case, he didn't know what to do to keep her around.
Meanwhile, Ayano dashed through the hallway to return to the Ball. As she completed descending a flight of stairs, she halted upon seeing a small figure that blocked her way.
"Hello. I need to talk to you," Reborn smiled.
The Nicolaou girl was too tired to have another conversation this soon, especially with a toddler who seemed to be always nosy about her acquaintanceship, with Hibari.
"Hi, I'm sorry, can we talk at a later time? I need to go back to the gymnasium as soon as I can," she requested in a soft tone.
Before Ayano could run away from the gossip toddler, his next words sent chills down her back that made her froze from her spot.
"I have information about Yoshino Nicolaou, your biological mother."
Bloopers/incorrect quotes:
Ayano: I hate your arrogance—it's not cute. I hate your obsession with rules—you're not a god. I hate your tendency to resort to violence—fighting is not the answer to everything... I-
Hibari: It be like that sometimes.
I'm kidding y'all.
I hope you enjoyed this :)