Sun and Moon, Ryohei's Destiny 9 {Hand off the Pole}
Everyone around the table stopped eating. All eyes were on Tsuna, the letter still unopened. Whatever was in that envelope was going to be their biggest challenge yet. I wasn't even sure if I was ready for it let alone everyone else. Tsuna just stared at the envelope as if lost in thought. What was there to think about? All he had to do was open it, read it and we would discuss our strategy. It was that simple. Then again, if it really was that simple the tension in the room wouldn't have been so overwhelming.
"Don't worry, Tenth. No matter what we're right behind you!" Gokudera cheered on. Ryohei and Yamamoto gave a single nod of approval. Tsuna smiled in relief and opened the letter.
"Eh?" Tsuna seemed confused at first. "What's a Kaduna battle?" My heart sank. I never thought Culpo would actually sink to that level.
"A battle of the Mafia." Reborn stated. The hitman looked to me as if making sure we were on the right page. There was no doubt about it. In this single battle, Tsuna would be risking it all. I turned to Miharu, her expression hard to read. Even she knew the greatness of the battle. I sighed and stared down at my food.
"It's a battle between the Mafia families. It's a series of different battles, head to head, and both families risking it all." I had studied the Kaduna battle at home. My father told me stories of previous Kaduna battles; he having been in one himself. Almost every Mafia family had gone through one. I never thought I would come to see one, let alone be a part of one myself. "Kaduna battles date back all the way to Vongola Primo and his family. The first battle took place in Nigeria against the Gwandara Mafia; first mafia family ever to be created outside of Italy. The Gwandara family made a bet with the Primo. Whatever the outcome of the battle, the losing Mafia family would have to denounce their family; officially disband themselves from each other." I looked to Tsuna, hopeful he would win this battle.
"Once a Kaduna is summoned, it cannot be ignored nor denied. It must be a battle fought. Tsuna, if this Vongola family loses, you will no longer be a Mafia family and you will no longer see any of your friends again. That's Kaduna rules." I looked at Reborn to see if he wanted to add anything but he just gave me a nod as if I had done enough.
"Eh?" Tsuna responded. It wasn't really the reaction I was looking for. "I never wanted this!" I slammed my fist on the table.
"It doesn't matter Tsuna!" I seemed to be shouting but I didn't care. This was serious. A Kaduna battle wasn't something he wanted to do but he had no choice. There was no loophole and there was no way around it. "You can't back out from it, if you do you automatically lose and Culpo wins. This means that he will be the new leading Mafia family and you will no longer be able to see your friends ever again. Culpo will see to that." Reborn sighed and turned to me. Tsuna hung his head low, not knowing what to say.
"The training must start soon." I looked to Miharu who seemed to agree with me. I took the letter from Tsuna and skimmed through it. Not only was each battle decided but the date as well. We had a week to train before the first battle. Problem was we didn't know who was going to be in the first battle. I didn't think it was enough but only time would tell. I looked over at Ryohei as he stared at his own food. It seemed Miharu and I would have to get started right away. I stood up from my seat and looked at everyone else.
"Ryohei, if you're not going to eat you're coming with me. We have a lot of ground to cover." I looked at Miharu to confirm who she would be training. "You're going to train Gokudera, right?" Miharu nodded and I turned to everyone else. "The rest of you, your trainers will come soon. Ryohei, follow me." And with that Ryohei and I left for the bus station.
I had to forget everything else. Right now, I was going to train Ryohei. If I failed, I would dishonor my family as well as the Ninth's decision in giving me the Moon Guardian ring. It didn't seem like it, but it was a lot to think about. As we waited for the bus, Ryohei started to ask some questions.
"Where are we going?" He began. I simply answered that it didn't matter where we were going. We just needed to get on a bus. Our training sessions were going to be different than what he was used to. The bus was crowded with so many people, Ryohei and I were forced to stand up. Without touching one of the bars, I turned to face him. Ryohei held onto the pole next to him but I tapped his hand.
"Hand off the pole. First we're going to work on balance." The bus began to move and Ryohei immediately clung to the pole again. With a newspaper I had grabbed earlier, I rolled it up and swatted at his hand. "Don't touch the pole. Plant your feet. Don't move." Ryohei closed his eyes but with each stop and turn, he would begin to lose his balance and grab the pole again. Each time I would swat at his hand. A few times he would get better but it wasn't much improvement. I could tell the people around him were a distraction but it was good for our training. The bus stopped in front of the local Aquarium and I told Ryohei to follow me.
Since it was the middle of the day, it was full of elderly couples, kids on their school fieldtrip, and tourists. It was perfect for our next session. Ryohei followed me, a little curious as to our whereabouts.
"Why are we here?" Ryohei asked. We paid for our tickets and walked in.
"You'll see. Just trust me." I walked to the back of the Aquarium, passing the penguins, to where the whales were located. We walked down a long tube where other fish were swimming over us. At the end of the water hallway, was a giant tank full of two Beluga whales. In the upper corner near the glass sat a speaker for all to hear the whale sounds and other water life. I gestured Ryohei to stand right in front of the glass.
"Alright," I began, "close your eyes." He did. Around the room were little kids and grownups chatting away. The sounds the whales were making were very faint. At one point a few children began to laugh really loud. I looked at Ryohei who seemed to get a little aggravated by the noises. "Don't get frustrated." I told him. "Relax. Breathe. And listen to the whales."
"I can't hear them!" Ryohei almost shouted back. I sat on the bench in front of the glass to watch him.
"Ryohei," I said calmly, "don't shout. Calm down. Just listen. Ignore the other sounds." Ryohei tried again. I could tell by the look on his face, he was trying too hard. This went on for a good two hours. I would tell him to relax but he would just continue to tighten up. It seemed today wouldn't be going very far.
"Alright Ryohei," I patted him on the back. "That's enough for today." I feared if he tried any harder, his head would explode. "I'll buy you lunch. You deserve it." We headed to the cafeteria and I grabbed a few things for our lunch. However, when I was done, Ryohei disappeared.
"Oi! Sayomi!" I looked around and saw Ryohei on the other side of a room waving at me. He seemed to be holding onto something but I couldn't tell what it was. As I got closer, I realized he was holding a stuffed penguin. "For you." Ryohei said as he handed it to me. "Thanks for today's training." Penguins were my favorite animal but how did he know? He must have read it on my face because Ryohei answered my question. "I saw you looking at them when we got here. You didn't really seem to look at anything else the way you looked at them."
"Thanks." I smiled. We ate our lunches and looked around the Aquarium some more. Ryohei and I talked for hours. It was nice. It almost seemed like a date but it wasn't. We were taking a break from training. Nothing else.
Eventually, I told him today was a good attempt and we would try again tomorrow. The next day was Sunday which meant no school. It would be perfect for training. I could only hope he would get better.
We took another bus home, trying out his balance again and stopped at my house. His balance was still weak but it looked like there was some potential. "Your homework," I informed him, "practice balance for an hour and then practice listening." I started to walk inside but I stopped. "Hey Ryohei?" Ryohei stopped himself and turned around as he was about to leave. "Thanks again for the penguin." Ryohei smiled and gave a small wave.
As I walked into our apartment, I hugged the penguin tighter. But when I closed the front door, I felt someone walk up behind me. Out of reflex, I took a hard swing behind me. Miharu ducked and smiled that she was faster than I. This time, anyway.
"I thought you were supposed to be training Ryohei." Her coy smile seemed to ignore the fact that I had mistaken her for a burglar by almost attacking her.
"I did. I mean I was training him. We just happened to stop by the Aquarium and he bought me a stuffed penguin because he noticed I was looking at them." Miharu folded her arms across her chest. I knew she didn't buy it, even if it was partial truth. I really didn't know what to think about Ryohei. The last time I let a guy in, I ended up getting hurt. Not to mention, he was now the reason why the Vongola were forced into a Kaduna battle. "How did training with Gokudera go?"
"Ugh! Horrible!" Miharu groaned. "He's so dumb. He fights recklessly and will end up killing himself if nothing is done about it." Miharu walked into the kitchen and began to biting her way through bubblegum lollipop after bubblegum lollipop. It seemed there was something more than just his training. Miharu would never get this steamed up over a simple training. If it was anyone else, she would have simply given a sigh and said something about them being pathetic. But this was different. And even though she was my best friend, I decided not to push because of it. I didn't really think Miharu knew what was going on.
Later that night, after the two of us ate dinner, I decided to go for a walk by myself. The night was cool and it was peaceful. However, once I hit the deserted park that's where things went wrong. A chill ran up my spine so quickly I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest. No one was around me.
"Nice night, huh." I heard behind me. I could feel fingers picking up my hair as they were brought up to smell. "I always did love the way you looked in the moonlight." The moon was hardly even out. I turned around and looked dead into the eyes of Culpo. The last person I ever wanted to bump into.
"What do you want?" I asked. Culpo held his arms out as if to give a friendly gesture.
"It's not my fault we happened to go out for a walk at the same time." Culpo touched my cheek. I couldn't move. I was practically frozen. "We were always destined for each other, Yomi." I couldn't feel my legs. It was as if Culpo still had this magic spell over me. Suddenly, I was reminded of the good old days. Culpo and I would walk along the beach and just talk for hours. Other days Culpo, Miharu, and I would just hangout and watch movies. Sometimes we would just do whatever we felt like doing. It was a time when I really was weak for him and I felt as if I was weak for him again.
My voice didn't seem to want to work. Why couldn't I even say two words to him? When Culpo and I had our date, I was able to control myself. Now, in the middle of the park at night with no one around, I was under his spell. Culpo smiled at me and moved some hair out of my face. At some point his lips touched mine. I couldn't breathe and I felt weak at the knees. It was as if we were kissing for the first time.
Culpo pulled away and grabbed my hand as he guided me to a bench where I sat resting in his arms. We didn't say anything. We just looked at the stars the way we always did with our midnight walks. What was I doing? It was as if I was up in the sky watching my body move like a mindless robot. I couldn't stop any of it. I didn't think I even wanted to.
We sat there for what seemed like hours. It, sort of, felt good to be there with him. It was weird. It was as if I was getting lost in the moment because I lost track of time. It wasn't until Culpo's phone go off did I actually break out of my little "trance." Culpo got up from the bench and walked a few feet away from me so I wouldn't hear him. Luckily for me, I was able to catch a few words here and there. I heard words like "babe", "her," "plan" and "a few minutes." Something was wrong with hearing those words together. I thought maybe I was just overreacting but when he returned back at my side on the bench I couldn't shake off the feeling that this was all completely wrong.
"You alright?" Culpo asked as he tried to put his arm around my shoulder but I grabbed his hand and squeezed it as hard as my hand could take. Out of reflex, Culpo yanked his hand back. I stood up not looking at him anymore. If I looked at him again, I knew that would be it. I was tempted to punch him. Among other things.
"I'm not doing this anymore." I muttered. "Go home and leave me alone. For good." Without allowing him to say anything else, I turned on my heels and just walked. I didn't care where I was going. Being with Culpo was wrong. Somehow, I felt as I was letting a certain someone down and somehow I felt as if that person was Ryohei. I couldn't explain it. Him and I weren't even dating. We weren't even that close. Sure, we were friends but I felt as I was really betraying him somehow. I couldn't do that to him. I didn't want to break his heart. Or mine.
I did the right thing, walking away from him for good. No longer was he going to make a fool out of me. The puppeteer had lost his puppet forever. For some reason, I could feel my body boiling with anger. I should have hit him. I should have beaten him until every bone in his body was broken.
A hand tapped my shoulder. As a reaction, I tried to roundhouse kick whoever was behind me thinking it was Culpo. But I was wrong. Miharu blocked my kick with her just in time. Thank goodness we had trained so long together that we knew each other's moves.
"Geez!" Miharu gasped. "What's your problem? Your best friend comes out looking for you and this is how you treat her." I wrapped my arms around her neck and hugged her tightly. She squirmed under my grip. I didn't care if she was made at me for almost kicking out her lights. I was just glad it was her and not Culpo.
After she escaped my grasp, I apologized and told her what happened after I walked out. It was hard for her to listen once I mentioned Culpo but she eventually settled down as we reached the apartment.