Author's Note: Ahh, okay. I'm back! Wow, that took a really long time. I'm going to work this out somehow. Getting older only means more work, so… haha. Yeah, school work sucks. Alright! Inheritance Arc, start!
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn
I wake up earlier than usual and my mind feels groggy as I force myself to sit up. I look out the window as I try to remember what I dreamt about. Daemon Spade was in my dream. Alaude too, but I wonder why? Daemon Spade, huh? I continue to look out my window for a little while longer before dragging myself out bed.
"What's troubling you this early in the morning, my of adorable Kasumi?" Mukuro asks.
Oh, good morning, Mukuro-sama.
"You're avoiding the question," Mukuro says. "If you're still worried about the thing that happened with that guy, you should know that I'm always by your side, Kasumi."
Thank you, but that's not really what I'm worried about right now. I hesitate and hope that I'm wrong out about this, even though I'm pretty sure that I'm not. Mukuro-sama, you haven't delivered food to us recently, have you?
"No, not recently. Why? Would you like me to?" He seems a bit confused.
I see… No, it's alright. I curl back up in bed and throw my blankets over myself again. I don't want to be up right now. If Mukuro didn't send the food, then there's something to be worried about. I scold myself and get back up. I can't turn around and pretend nothing's happening. I have to protect them. Ken, Chikusa, Dokuro. I'm supposed to take care of them. I take in a deep breath and get up again.
We've been keeping an eye open for anyone suspicious lurking around for the past few days, but we haven't found anyone. I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach though. I feel on edge. At night, sometimes I feel like there's someone else around. It makes me feel nauseous just thinking about it. Maybe I'm scared. That uneasy feeling is stronger than the one I felt when Daemon Spade was here. Maybe that's why he appeared in my dream. I've already subconsciously connected this feeling to the one I had when he was around. I clench my hands into fists tightly before letting go and putting my rings on. I just have to take matters into my own hands, and dispel my unease.
As I'm making dinner, my cell phone goes off. It's the Storm Guardian's number. "Sato here. Storm Guardian?"
"It's the baseball idiot," he starts. His voice is trembling.
"The Rain Guardian? What happened to him?" I ask. His voice. It's shaking. What happened to him? Enemy attack? My heart starts to race before I even realize that I'm scared.
"J-Just come to the hospital with Chrome," he replies, "You'll see for yourself, Goth Loli."
"Mm," I reply. "See you soon then." I hang up. It took everything just to keep myself from sounding scared. My hand is shaking. I take in a shaky breath. "K-Ken! Chikusa!" I call out. They both come rushing into the kitchen.
Chikusa notices my hand shaking immediately. "Kasumi, your hand," he says. By this point, I'm sure they both can tell that something is wrong.
I nod. "I-I'm alright. I'm not hurt, but I have to go to the hospital," I start. "The Rain Guardian, he…he…" I shake my head. "S-Something happened to him. I'm sorry, but could you guys eat what I have done so far? I-I should go now. I'm bringing Dokuro with me." Ken looks at me with wide eyes. These past few days, have been too much. I can't handle it anymore. I can't hide my fear anymore. I failed. I'm scared. I'm scared, I want to hide in some corner and curl up into a ball. I'm scared.
"We'll be fine. Just go, Kasumi," Chikusa says. He seems as calm as ever, but I can feel it. He's concerned.
His composure makes me feel a bit calmer though. I nod slowly. "Thanks, Chikusa, Ken. I-I'm going then." I head to where Dokuro as I fix my long-sleeved black off-the-shoulder shirt with a bow on the bottom and straighten out my white shorts. I try to compose myself. "Dokuro, let's go. The Rain Guardian is in the hospital," I say as calmly as possible. She looks at me with wide eyes and starts to run. I follow right behind her.
I stand around in the waiting room with the others as the Sun Guardian explains what happened. Sawada looks off. He looks completely helpless. I have to stay strong. Especially since they're all so down right now. I force all emotion off my face and try to look calm. I don't know if it works. "I was the first one to find Yamamoto. I was patrolling the grounds and saw him. The door to the baseball team's locker room was open, so I went in to check and Yamamoto was lying in a pool of blood… I called the ambulance. I tried to heal some of his wounds with Garyuu's Sun flames, but… The wounds were too deep…" I hold Lambo in my arms a bit more tightly and look down. Even Lambo understands the seriousness of the situation. He looks up at me with wide eyes, but doesn't say anything. Sawada is quiet. Dokuro is crying.
"Damn it! I won't forgive whoever did this!" the Storm Guardian shouts. I agree. "We need to ask the baseball team what they know… Wasn't Mizuno with Yamamoto?" the Sun Guardian asks.
"Yeah," he replies. Suzuki's reaction seems strange somehow. "He and I were playing catch yesterday, but I left before him." That's… a lie? My eyes widen a little and I hope that no one catches that as I revert back to my normal expression. I'm almost sure he lied. In the end, lies are just like illusions. Determining what is a lie and what isn't is up to instinct. My instinct says it's a lie.
"I see… So Yamamoto must have been attacked when we was alone," the Sun Guardian concludes. I let them continue the conversation. I don't want to say anything right now that might lead Suzuki to think that I feel she's lying.
"That idiot! Letting his guard down!" the Storm Guardian exclaims. Aoba and the guy that Lambo likes to play with have weird reactions too. They're lying. All of it's a lie.
Suzuki says, "Considering they were strong enough to take down a Vogola Guardian, there's a good chance that they're the same culprit that took out the Giegue Family."
"It's as Adelheid says. Which means we still have no idea who the culprit is," Aoba says. Lies. Lies. All of it.
"No, there's a way to dig out the culprit," Reborn says suddenly.
"Reborn!"
Reborn starts to explain, "I just went to check the locker room where Yamamoto was attacked. I was looking for any leads as to who the attacker was."
"Leads?" the Sun Guardian asks.
The Storm Guardian asks, "Did you find any?"
"I did." He pauses. "But it'll take some time to reveal the culprit, and since this concerns secret information about the Vongola, could the Shimon Family leave for a while?"
Aoba asks, "Secret information… of the Vongola?"
"Let us in on it. We should be able to help you," Suzuki insists. She's pushing on this a little too much. My feeling that they're lying only gets stronger.
It's time I step in. I don't want to let them get another step ahead if they really are lying. I compose myself and put on a mask. I'll do what I have to. I scoff. "You must be joking," I say with a roll of my eyes. The Shimon turn to me, and I feel a glare on me from Suzuki and the other Shimon for a moment. "Information is the most valuable and powerful weapon one could wield while fighting. They're secrets for a reason. Why should the Vongola secrets be handed to you on a sliver platter while you've given none back in return? Life is a game of give and take." I return a glare and a few of them back off. "So back off," I command coldly.
"S-Sato-san?" Sawada asks. I direct a sharp glare at him and then look away defiantly. Hopefully he gets the message to shut up. I will explain myself when the Shimon are out of hearing range.
Luckily for me, it seems that Reborn agrees. "Kasumi is right, but of course, if we need your help, we'll ask for it. For now though, we need a little privacy," Reborn says. "You lot should be careful too. You might be attacked as well."
"Understood," Suzuki replies.
Once the Shimon are out of sight and I'm sure they're gone, I let out a sigh. "Kasumi…?" Dokuro asks timidly.
The tension in my shoulders relax and I feel my shoulders drop. "I'm sorry for glaring at you before, Sawada-san," I apologize. "Those guys though, I don't trust them."
"Huh?"
"They're lying. All of them. They know who the culprit is at the very least," I say. "I'm almost sure of it."
"How can you know that?" the Storm Guardian demands a bit angrily.
I shake my head. "Lies are like illusions. In the end, finding lies is about instinct. The way they reacted was strange. I don't like it. Something feels wrong."
After Reborn explains about how the Vongola's "sin" is probably the culprit's motive, Sawada seems determined to go along with the inheritance ceremony. "Just so you know, in case something happens, I will not be attending," I say.
"I-It's alright if you come, Sato-san," Sawada insists.
I shake my head. "I wouldn't mind coming with you, but in the event that something happens, you'll want someone near your family and the others wouldn't you?" I reply. "I'll stay behind that do that. I'm not a Guardian, so no one will be expecting my appearance."
"Wow, it's rare of you to involve yourself like this, Kasumi," Reborn comments.
I scoff. "I'm only doing this because it means I can keep an eye on Ken and Chikusa." I look away.
"Whatever you say," Reborn replies. He doesn't buy it. "Since you're helping us out so willingly, mind doing another small task?" He jumps onto my shoulder and whispers to me to tell me to get Hibari to go tomorrow.
"I understand. I'll be racking up those favors from you then. Don't worry, I'll let you know when I plan on cashing them in," I reply.
When we finish the planning, I head out of the hospital with Dokuro. "Hibari-san? It's Sato. I'm sorry it's really late, but can I talk to you?" I ask.
"For calling me so late, you'll have to come and speak to me directly as punishment," Hibari says. He must still be mad with me for not speaking to him for the past few days because this is the most absurd punishment I've heard him say. Alright, maybe not. It's the most absurd punishment he's given to me though. "E-Eh? Um, were would we do that?" I ask.
"My house," he replies.
I nearly choke on air. "I-I understand," I reply. My eyes are wide. I cover the mic with my hand. "G-Go on ahead without me. I'll see you back at home," I say to Dokuro. She looks at me blankly, but then she nods. I watch as she goes off. "I-I'll be on my way then." I've seen the outside of Hibari's house once, but I've never been inside. Going into a guy's house late at night. I really don't think that anything good can come from this under normal circumstances. It's Hibari though. What could happen? Right? I hope?
When I get to his house, I find that he's waiting for me by the entrance. He's wearing pajamas and Hibird looks pretty comfortable resting in his hair. "I'm sorry about seeing you so late at night, Hibari-san. Did I wake you up?" He says nothing and just lets me into his house. I take my shoes off and we sit down in front of a low table. It's kind of like back when we were in the base. "Um, the Rain Guardian, Yamamoto, Takeshi, was attacked on school grounds sometime yesterday in the baseball team's locker room. He's been hospitalized."
"A student was attacked on school grounds?" he asks. "Who did it?" He seems mad suddenly. The school's rules were violated, so I suppose that that's normal though.
I shake my head. "We don't know yet. The attacker is supposed to show up for tomorrow's inheritance ceremony though," I reply. He frowns. He probably wasn't planning on going, but I think that he will be now that he knows that he might find the culprit there. "That's all," I say as I get up. "Good night."
"I heard from the Vice Chairman that you asked him to see if there was anyone going by your home," Hibari says. My eyes widen a little. He did find out then. "Why didn't you ask me to begin with?" he asks. He seems angry at me.
It takes me a bit to think of a good way to phrase my answer. I don't want to get him any more upset at me than he already is. "I didn't want to hinder you with my trivial problem. You've been very, um, busy with the Liquidation Committee's leader recently," I reply.
He looks at me and seems to think about my answer. "I was simply getting rid of a nuisance," he says. I decide to just let him go with that and not say anything against it or express my doubt. He holds up a folder that was sitting next to him on the floor and hands it to me. I look at him blankly, but I take the folder from him and open it. Inside, there are pictures of a male with a goatee. He's wearing a fedora and has a pair of glasses on. I've never seen him before in my life. "Pictures that Hibird took by Kokuyo Land," Hibari explains briefly. I look through the pictures and I find one of the same male with the fedora carrying the bag of groceries that we received the other day.
My eyes widen. "That's-" I stop myself and try to keep calm. "T-Thank you, Hibari-san," I manage to say. "You too, Hibird." I close the folder and tuck it under my arm. "I should get going now though," I say, "Good night, Hibari-san." I bow a little and head back home. This guy in the picture makes me feel uneasy. Who is he and why haven't any of us seen him?
When I get home, I head straight to Chikusa's room and knock on the door. I hope he's still awake. A minute or two later, he opens the door. He has a groggy expression on and I smile at him a bit apologetically. "Sorry, did I wake you up?" I ask. He nods. "Sorry," I say again. I hand him the folder. "This guy is the one. If you find him tomorrow, attack. I trust your judgment," I say. "Show Ken for me in the morning. Act as you see fit. Both of you." Chikusa nods and closes the door. I head to my own room, but my feeling of unease doesn't go away for some reason. If anything, it seems to get even worse. I feel disgusting as I lay in bed staring out the window. I can't shake the feeling that an intruder is lurking around.
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