Authors notes
I watched the playthrough of "Beyond: two souls" the other day. It. Was. Epic! ARGH! SO FRUSTRATING! I want this game so much! Sigh, anyway... inspired by the game, so I decided to give Aigis some more scenes, rather than just dialogue XD
I'd like to take this opportunity to give a special thank you to uniquemangalover who has kindly offered to help beta this story XD and for the birthday fic written for Cielo! Read it! It's soo cute! XD
Akayuki Sawada: It's the thought that counts! XD Sorry if I confused you :P but I promise there really is a legitimate reason why the bullet doesn't work on Cielo. It'll be explained eventually ;P
scarlet rose white: Hehehe, Thank you! XD Glad ya liked it!
Now on with the show!
End notes
At first, Azusa didn't have much luck in locating her target. She hadn't been able to find any clues nor could she find anyone that matched the profile of that brat! In fact, it took three days before she had even been able to someone that knew of the target. Her skills must be getting rusty from not being used for over a year…
But no matter, she now has a general idea of where to find the target. It won't take long before she'll track that scruffy looking girl down and put an end to her miserable existence!
…And yet…
WHY CAN'T SHE FIND THAT GODDAMN CAGNA ANYWHERE!?
It's been another two days ending with another fruitless search! Why isn't the brat where she's supposed to be!? She'd been checking the roof every free chance she got and that damn girl hadn't shown up once! Not to mention she very nearly got bitten to death by the infamous Hibari Kai! The son of the Vongola Cloud guardian to boot!
Though she'd never actually met any other of the Vongola guardians, she knows a lot about them. She greatly admires the Vongola guardians and it has always been a secret dream of hers to inherit her father's position as Storm guardian and right-hand to the Vongola boss! Not that she'd ever let him know that…
Though rather than working for the next boss she'd prefer to work with the current one. She can't help but feel her heart skip a beat when she thinks of her beloved Decimo-sama! He was so kind, gentle, handsome, noble, strong, honest, and selfless; the list goes on and on…
When she was small, she used to peek into her father's study whenever he had a meeting, just to get a short look at that wonderful man. "Decimo-sama…" Murmured to herself, all dreamy eyed, as she sat daydreaming in class.
Ah! Focus Azusa! She shook her head and lightly slapped her cheeks. She can't forget her current mission! "Azusa-chan, are you okay?" Her friend (who sat next to her) asked worriedly. "Do you need to go lie down in the nurses' office?"
Shoot she'd been daydreaming to long. "Ah, no I'm—" Wait, that's it! The nurse has the medical files of every student at this school! She's bound to find that girl's file in there somewhere! "Actually, I am feeling a little feverish…"
With that excuse she made her way down to the nurses' office in high spirits; today she'd finally get her target! Make no mistake about it! Stopping in front of the door she took a deep breath to calm herself. Then she slowly opened the door, pretending to look sick. "Excuse me."
What she saw then left her dumbfounded
There, sitting shirtless in the middle of the room was her target! Said person merely turned around slowly in acknowledgement to Azusa's presence. O.M.G! She has really small breasts… No… IT'S AN EFFING GUY!? All she could do was stare, soaking in her— no, his appearance.
He had long flowing chestnut brown hair, highlighted with beautiful streaks of gold (it looked soft to touch too). His skin was (minus all the cuts and bruises) a stunning olive tan and looked so silky smooth, the type most girls would kill to have. And that eye! A gorgeous aquamarine with luscious long eyelashes that fluttered over his cheek as he blinked.
She was sucked into the gaze of that one enthralling eye, as if it was pulling her in. She'd never seen such a pure and clear gaze before! And yet… at the same time she saw nothing in that eye. As if it held no emotion whatsoever. And this frightened her.
She ran.
Well, not before knocking the boy to the floor. But she, Gokudera Azusa a trained hitman, had run away from her target! The shame of it all! She ran all the way home, not bothering to answer the calls of her worried maid.
She didn't care that she had skipped school or that her father had called wanting to talk. She didn't have time to listen to his fretting or whatever it is he wanted to tell her! She needed to cool down, rest and prepare herself for the next encounter with that (admittedly) beautiful yet frightening boy.
Yes, next time she wouldn't run! She was going to end him for sure in their next encounter! Make no mistake about it!
It's been a really, really, really long week…
Seriously, for the past five days Reborn-sensei has been forcing us to run around Namimori at ungodly hours of the morning every freaking day! And what kind of tutor blows up his student when they get the questions wrong!? I'm beginning to fear for my life here… it's gotten to the point where I'm actually scared to study…
Well, one tends to lose their motivation when told to forget everything they've learned up until now because it's useless information or something… apparently I have to start over from scratch. Hurray for me… but then again, if my grades actually improve it might be a good thing… probably…
With a sigh I slide off my bed and reach for my guitar. I'm so glad it's finally Sunday. At least, we don't have to run in the morning anymore (I have the feeling he just made us run because he felt like it…) so I decided to interpret it as a day off; which I really need right now. Especially after everything that's happened with Masamune and at school…
So, apparently, the flame that appeared on Masamune's forehead is called a "Shinuki no Honoo" (or dying will flame) and it's something like the symbol of the Vongola Famiglia. The bullet Reborn-sensei used is called a Dying Will bullet and it's a special type of bullet created by the Vongola (it sounds like there's more than one type of special bullet though…).
But then it brings up the question of why it didn't work on me. All Reborn-sensei said was: "Who knows." but I get the feeling he knows more than he lets on… doesn't look like I'm going to get anything out of him though, so I just let it drop. It's probably got something to do with the fact I can already produce this "dying will flame" on my own.
That reminds me; Kai said he would be busy today so we can't hang out at the abandoned lot. Guess that's one less training (read 'torturing') session to worry about. Sensei went with Masamune to basketball practice today (he appears to be splitting up his time between the two of us at random) so I guess I'm on my own today.
I snort as I think of the way every one's attitude has changed towards Masamune since his fight with Morita-senpai. Some people seem pretty freaked out by him, while others seem to completely adore him, particularly Sasagawa-san. He must have really impressed her that day because they're officially dating now.
Well, good for him. Not that I really give a damn, it's just that Sensei is forcing us to walk to school together because "that's how a family should be", so I've started to notice all the changes around him. Aside from being incredibly tired and that Kai seems to have taken a liking to Sensei (by 'liking' I mean he really wants to fight him) nothings really been all that different in my school life.
Then again there is that transfer student, Allaire Kasumi (dubbed Sumi-chan). She is actually still talking to me, even when everyone told her not to! It feels so weird having someone who says things like "good morning" and "see you tomorrow" to you every day. It's not a bad feeling though…
Well I guess that's not the only weird thing that's happened to me this week. I was with Sawa-chan yesterday, while I was getting the burns on my back checked (courtesy of Sensei's morning bombings), and this strange chick showed up. She was staring at me like she was in shock, for ages.
Then she started shaking and muttering some kind of gibberish under her breath. I'll be honest here; she looked like a cat with its fur standing all on end, like it had just had the scare of its life. When I asked if she was okay, all I got from her was: "a boy…" and then she threw me to the floor with a drop kick flashing her panties as she did so.
It was then that I remembered her from the day Sensei showed up; it was the silver haired, green eyed, super strong chick that flashed her panties last time! Wow, small world. Seriously though, get some damn shorts already! I really didn't need to see your frilly pink underwear thank you very much! Geez, what a cagna!
Suddenly one of the strings on my guitar snaps and smacks my hand. "Merda!" Owowow! That really stings!
"Hehe. You okay?"
I blow on my stinging hand a little, "yeah… it's fine…" My guitar's the one with the broken string. Well, the strings needed to be replaced soon any way. Placing it back on its stand I rummage through the case in search of some spare strings (Kai had taught me how to change them myself).
Oh, that's right, I forgot I was gonna go to the store yesterday and get some more on my way home. With everything else going on it just slipped my mind. Oh well, I'll just go now. It's not like I'm actually doing anything else today anyway.
I slip out of my PJs and throw on some faded blue jeans and an orange and white long sleeve shirt. It's a little after ten in the morning, so maybe I'll stay out for lunch too. I kinda don't want to be alone with Katerina today; even though she finally calmed down she's still acting like a weirdo. But then, she's always been a bit "eccentric" I suppose.
Grabbing my wallet I head down stairs, trying (and failing) not to trip. I rub my aching chin as I sit down to put on my shoes. It's pretty quiet around here though… wonder where my dearest auntie is?
Someone please tell me how the diamine I ended up here… Heck, I don't even know where here is!
It looks like some kind of convention hall, so it must be some kind of fair or something. There are all kinds of stalls and shops set up selling who-knows-what, there are a few little live shows too and it's so damn noisy with all these people shouting over one another plus the (horrible) music screeching over the top of everything!
To make matters worse, every single damn shop within a ten mile radius seems to be having a spring sale! Watching all these women elbowing and clawing at each other over some skirt was rather unnerving. I have to say, women are terrifying! And I'd say that pretty much every man that's forced to be here with their wife/girlfriend/fiancée/whatever agrees with me.
There are a lot of meek and timid looking men here; makes me think that the "man of the house" is actually a woman in most cases…They should really change these old-fashioned sayings. They're seriously out of date in this day and age.
"Cielo, isn't this dress just the most adorable thing you've ever seen!?" Katerina whips the changing room's curtain aside dramatically revealing a whole lot of bright pink lace, frills, glitter and sequins all stitched together into something that resembles a dress.
"Uh… yeah…" I mutter trying not to gag.
"Excuse me while I go throw up." I think I need to as well…
"Isn't it just!? It fits perfectly and it's half off too!" she squeals happily.
"It's a match made in heaven, darling!" I turn towards the sound of the new voice and immediately regret it. Firstly, the dress she's wearing is the colour of unicorn vomit. Secondly, there's a wriggling fluff ball in her handbag that is glaring and growling menacingly at me. And do you know that you have a bloody peacock on your head?
"Mrs Inukawa! What a pleasant surprise!" You mean incredibly unpleasant.
Okay, you know how pretty much every town's got a crazy cat lady? Well, we don't. Instead we've got a crazy dog lady (guess who it is) and she just so happens to live down the street to us. Not only that, but she's also part of Katerina's crocheting club (why she's even part of that club is beyond me) so the two of them are good friends...
"That hat is just divine! You must tell me where you got it!" The two start chatting away in a language that is foreign to me. I think it must be some kind of code women use when they go shopping.
Why? Just how in Dio's name did I end up here?
Roughly an hour earlier...
I was just walking to the music store when I ran into the first crowd of rabid females tearing apart a clothing store. While I was dodging the crowd and avoiding the high heeled shoes that were being thrown as weapons (a new take on the term 'killer heels') I slammed straight into some poor guy carrying two big boxes.
Given that I was the one who knocked him down it was only natural that I had to help him gather up the contents of the boxes that was now scattered across the sidewalk. It looks like a bunch of robot parts or something, plus an old CD player and stacks of CDs to go with it. "T-th-thank you." He stuttered as we gathered them up.
I just nodded silently.
This guy's fairly plain looking, with messy white hair (that looks like he's never brushed it) and dark mustard yellow eyes. The thing that really stands out about him is the way he dresses; he's got a pair of goggles sitting on his head, a plain white long sleeve shirt and denim overalls with the top half undone and sitting loosely over his hips.
I turn my attention to the CDs in my hands. Wow, he got quite the collection here, even Kai doesn't have this many! There're some pretty rare copies here too! I wonder where he got them from…
I spot some kind of human-shaped (relatively) robot off to the side about to be crushed by the crowd of stampeding women! The boy lets out a choked noise when he spots it. Guess it must be important to him them… Aigís flings it over to me before the flock of heels can smash it into dust.
"Here." I wave it in front of the boy's face, his eyes are impossibly wide and his jaw is practically hitting the floor. I should probably get out of here before he comes to his senses.
Some one's phone goes off nearby and the robot suddenly starts moving around on its own!
"Holy—" I jump and drop it, luckily the boy snaps out of his stupor and manages to catch it.
"THE ROBOT MOVED ON ITS OWN!" IT'S ALIVE!
It stopped moving and the boy held it up, "C-cool, right? I-it moves to the s-sound of m-music." He stammered blushing lightly. "Look." He placed it on the floor brought his iPod. It started to swing its arms and legs around as he played a song.
Oh, so that's what it was. "Wow, that's awesome!" It looks a little stiff as it moves though.
"Isn't it? It's meant to move differently to the different types of sounds," He stopped the music and picked it up. "But it's not finished yet."
"You made this?" He nods slightly, his face a bright red. Wow, he's really talented.
"Ah! I'm Oshima Takumi by the way." He says as he picks up the boxes.
"Sawada Cielo, but just 'Sora' is fine." I take one of the boxes for him and he smiles gratefully at me.
We chat as we walk, mostly about music and the robot (although I don't understand most of the technical mumbo-jumbo). Turns out Takumi-kun and the rest of his school's robotics club is entering his robot in a science fair. He says I can go see it if want and gave me a flyer for it. I hope he wins, this robot is really cool!
Finally we reach his uncle's place (a family run tech shop) and we can put the boxes down. "Sorry for making you carry it all this way." Takumi-kun scratches his cheek sheepishly.
"Ah, its fine." I wave my hand dismissively.
He opens his mouth to speak but is cut off by a shrill "CEILO!" I cringe at the high pitch tone that is disturbingly familiar to me…
"A-auntie!?" What the diamine is she doing here!? And she got my name wrong! I don't get the chance to say anything else because I'm suddenly being dragged down the street by the collar of my shirt.
"Come! There's no time to lose!" She declares as she drags me Dio-knows-where.
We left Takumi-kun to stare completely dumfounded after us, "Eeeeehhh!?"
… Maybe she just wanted someone to carry her bags or something…
I turn back to Katerina to find her talking to a huge group of ladies all wearing brightly coloured and frilly dresses. Merda, they've multiplied! What exactly happened when I wasn't looking!?
Looks like they're fawning over some new dress now… I take a peek at it. What the diamine is that? That has to be the ugliest dress I've ever seen!
Its sky blue Victorian style (from the looks of it) with puffy sleeves, a whole heap of white lace and white ribbons stitched all over it. It's even got a matching floppy hat, gloves and I bet it's even got to be worn with a corset or something... I can't believe women used to wear this crap back in those days, poor things…
"Wouldn't she look just gorgeous in this?" One lady squealed.
"Just like a doll!" another answered.
"It's perfect!" Katerina looks ecstatic. I feel sorry for the poor soul who'll be forced to wear that thing. "Ceilo~ sweetie~! Come here and try on this darling little dress for your auntie!"
"WHAAAAT!?" ME!? And she got my name wrong again!
"Wait a minute here! I can't wear that!" I shriek.
"Nonsense dearie, you'll look lovely in it." No I won't! And that's beside the point! "If you're worried about your flat chest it fine, this type of dress hides it!" ARGH! What's wrong with you!? "That reminds me, it's about time we bought you some proper bras and some more feminine clothes too." She looks me over wrinkling her nose in distaste.
"What the hell woman! I'M NOT A FREAKING GIRL!" This is why I never want to go shopping with you! This kind of crap happens every freaking time!
"She really ought to dress more appropriately." My clothes suit a boy just fine, thank you!
"Yes I keep telling her, but she never listens." That's because she is a he!
"I know a fabulous little boutique with the cutest little skirts and dresses you've ever seen!" I don't ever want to see them!
"LISTEN TO ME DAMMIT!" I don't care how much you wanted a niece! I'm not going to suddenly become a freaking girl!
Waa Papa, nobody's listening to me!
"Enough dilly-dallying, Ceilo, just try it on." Auntie beamed happily (read 'evilly') holding up the vulgar piece of cloth and lace they call 'a dress'.
There is no way in hell I'm wearing that thing!
"We could try and run for it?" We could… but she'd just come after me (that woman can really run when she wants to).
"We'd never make it…" I whisper as I begin to back away slowly. They're starting to advance on me now all holding up bits of lacy cloth which I won't even try to identify where they're supposed to go. Oh, Dio, I hope that's not what I think it is… I've got to think of something, quick!
"N-no… um… I-I er… that is… I um…" The look in their eyes is seriously starting to freak me out! "Wait! Umm, that is to say, I umm..." My eyes dart around frantically in search of something can use as an excuse. They've even got a bunch of accessories to go with the darn thing! Accessories…? "That's it! A parasol! It's needs a parasol!"
"Ara? A parasol you say? What a splendid idea!" Katerina claps her hands together excitedly.
Wow, I can't believe it worked… "Um, yeah! I saw this, uh, g-gorgeous little parasol way back there." I point my thumb behind me. "But I'd better go get it before the, uh, elf knight can give it to the Faery Queen!" Okay, now I'm just saying the first damn thing that comes to my mind.
"Really? Then you'd best hurry up and get it then! Good luck!" She smiles and waves me off as I run for dear life away from her and the dressing room of doom.
"I cannot believe she bought that crap!" Yeah, neither can I...
After running nonstop (while dodging through the crowd) for about ten minutes I finally decided I was far enough away from my crazy aunt and her troop of equally crazy friends.
There is something very wrong with that woman's head! Maybe I should call Padre to send in a doctor or something… That reminds me, I haven't spoken to him in ages. He usually calls at least twice a month and sends emails every week, but I haven't heard anything from him on over three weeks now… I wonder if it has something to do with Reborn-sensei.
My stomach gives off a loud growl interrupting my thoughts. Man, I'm starving… and my throat's so dry and hot from all that running. Guess I'll get something to eat then. I glance around and spot a little café and some tables set up just a few stalls ahead of me. Yeah, an ice-cream sounds really good right now.
I weave my way through the crowd and up to the counter. The cashier chick smiles pleasantly, her eyes sparkling all professional like. I hate fake smiles, but I'm thirsty and hungry so, "…I'll have a choc mint ice-cream, thanks…"
"I'm sorry we're sold out of choc mint, how about just chocolate instead?" She beams.
"No I want choc mint!" is what I want to say but I really can't be bothered right now, "Fine… whatever." Just give me a damn ice-cream.
"I'm afraid we're out of chocolate too!" she giggles.
Then why the diamine did you offer it? Damn cagna. "What ice-creams do you have then?"
"We're all sold out of ice-cream~." The smile never leaves her face.
Why you f— oh screw it. I'm too tired right now. "Then I'll have a lemonade," there are some cakes in the display case too. "And a jam donut."
"We don't have any more jam donuts or lemonade either~."
"Then what's that there in front of your face?" I deadpan.
Her face twitches a little, "T-those are for display purposes only!"
I feel the sudden urge to murder some small unsuspecting animal, "…And the lemonades in the fridge behind you?"
"Display purposes only!" I really, really hate fake smiles…
I'm also pretty impatient right now, "Then what do you have?"
"We're sold out of everything~."
"You effing cagna!"
I huff and turn away after sending her one last glare. Some guy wanders up to the counter as I'm walking away. "I'll have one strawberry and one choc mint ice-cream." Yeah, good luck with that pal…
"Hai! That'll be 780 yen!"
What the hell!? I watch furiously as she hands the guy his ice-creams. That little puttana is totally playing favourites here! Where the diamine is my damn ice-cream!?
"Hey," Aigís floats up next to my shoulder. "How about we teach her a lesson?"
"Hmm tempting…" I guess a little prank wouldn't hurt… besides someone has to take that stuck up chick down off her high horse. "Okay." A broken coffee machine ought to give her a nice scare (and a good telling off from her boss).
I duck around the corner and lean against the wall so as not to attract attention. I close my eyes and concentrate on Aigís. A few months back I'd discovered that if I concentrate hard enough I can see through Aigís's eyes. Though my vision becomes a little blurry and voices sound muffled the further away he gets from me.
He can't go more than five metres away from me any way (at least not without it hurting me…) so it doesn't really matter all that much.
"Okay, let's go."
He makes his way over to the counter and passes straight through the walls so he's hovering right next to the cagna. She's chatting away to some of her friends while another poor girl is trying to be served. Oh, yeah, she so deserves this. "Let's give her a scare. Start by moving some stuff around."
She didn't give much of a reaction when the straw dispenser shook, but when he knocked over the foam coffee cups she started to look a tiny bit worried. Then he made the lights flicker and when she moved away from the counter he threw open the drinks fridge door. She yelped and jumped back in fright.
"Okay I think she's scared enough. See if you can't do something to the coffee machine."
"Roger that~."
At the time, I should have been paying closer attention to his unnaturally gleeful tone of voice. Maybe then I would've been able to stop what happened next…
"KYYYAAAAAA!" the girl shrieked as the coffee machine caught fire. People started running away screaming 'fire, fire' which caused a panic.
"Whoa! That's enough, stop!" But he wouldn't listen to me and started to fling burning foam cups over the counter causing an outright riot. "I said stop!"
The girl tries to run away but Aigís blocks the door by throwing the fridge against it. She lets out another terrified cry and scrambles into a corner shivering. "That's enough! STOP!"
I forcefully pull myself away from him, staggering as I'm thrown back into my body. Dizzily I try to race back over to the trapped girl but I keep getting pushed around by the fleeing crowd. Aigis starts flipping burning tables over and smashing the glass of the café windows and display cases. Merda! Why won't he stop!?
As I push myself off the floor again a hand lands on my shoulder, "Dame Sora, you have to stop now." Demanded the familiar baritone of Reborn-sensei.
About a dozen questions flew through my mind in that instant, like 'why are you here?' and 'how do you know about it?' But before I could stop myself, the words had already flown passed my lips: "I can't he won't listen to me!"
"Then it can't be helped." Was the last thing I heard when I felt the butt of a gun against the back of my neck and blacked out.
I woke with a start (and a killer headache) and found myself seated on a random bench outside the convention hall. Blearily I took in my surroundings; it would appear that the fire department was called and everyone's been evacuated. With a sigh of relief I spot the cashier chick being treated in a nearby ambulance. Doesn't look like she's hurt.
"Dame Sora." Reborn-sensei is next to me, leaning on the bench. "From now on, you and I shall be having some special tutoring sessions. Understand?"
Not one bit. There is so much I want to ask him right now; about me and about Aigís. I'm sure he knows something about us, but I'm also sure he won't tell me a single damn thing. So I keep my mouth shut and just nod compliantly.
"Good." And with that he stands and disappears into the crowd before you can say "Ninja!"
Well, this has been a really horrible experience. I slump back into the seat and stuff my hand into my pockets. "Huh?" there's something in here… oh! It's the flyer Takumi-kun gave me. I'd completely forgotten about him!
A tiny smile manages to creep its way onto my face. Okay, I guess today wasn't so bad…
"CEILO!" Katerina's high pitched voice makes my aching head throb. I stand corrected…
"There you are! Where have you been?" Avoiding you. "Well, it looks like you're fine." Yep, just dandy. "What a mess this has turned into!" You can say that again. "Oh! Did you find the elf knight?" The what!?
Oh… right, the elf knight… "Umm, Yeah! But, uh, Mary Poppins already took the parasol and flew off into the clouds with it!" If there was an award for the dumbest excuse ever made up, I would probably win it.
"Oh, that's such a shame." And if there was an award for the most gullible person on earth my dearest auntie here would already have it… "Well there's always next time! As compensation for today's events they're rescheduling the fair for next week~"
"…Really…?" Oh the joy. Note to self: make plans to be far, far away from here next Sunday.
Another note
Hehehe, Reborn knows everything! And another new character! I kinda picture Takumi to look a bit like Irie Shoichi, only with white hair for some reason...
Azusa likes Tsuna~ :3 and btw her description of Cielo is meant to be overly beautified... kinda like how Gokudera would describe Tsuna through sparkly eyes or something like that XD
At first Katerina's bit was only gonna be small, but then it just kinda kept going... until I suddenly had over 3000 words! XD And with Cielo's excuse, I really did just put down the first thing that popped into my head ;P
Review's are loved btw :3
-love NyanNyan-suru