I think that, while writing these, I start completely losing track of what I may be doing. Oh well, this is the last one, so I tried to make it good! But even so, because I stop thinking about what I'm doing, I don't want to go back and read over what I did...
"Yes, mom, I'm staying the night. No, this probably won't become a regular thing. You don't have to bring me a set of clothes! I'll just change when I get home tomorrow! Yes, I know that tomorrow is saturday. Um, I don't think we're hanging out tomorrow? It seems unlikely. Okay. Yes, I'll try to have fun. Good night, mom. What- no, don't come to pick me up; I can walk home myself! I'm ten, mom! A fourth-grader! Ye- I mean no. Really. No I will not get lost. No, I will not be staying up late. Good night, mom."
Setting the phone receiver back down, Tsuna sighed. Honestly, his mother could be a bit too enthusiastic sometimes. Maybe just a little. Although he had to admit, she had a point in that him staying at a friend's home was a first... but still. And all of this was because of a certain set of persons, two of whom just happened to be–
"Get back here and let me bite you!"
He winced, hearing something crash in another area of the house. Fighting. Again.
"Not a cha- whoops, there goes another vase. Tut tut, Kyouya, I'll have to tell those two that you're throwing a tantrum again."
"Graaagh!"
Ah, brotherly love. Nothing like it.
Wincing again when he heard the loud and unmistakable thud that marked someone being thrown into a wall (he would never forget the sound of that poor boy in his class when Kyouya-san got to him), he turned towards the adults in the room. "Are they going to be alright?" he asked uncertainly, looking first at the blond man reading a newspaper on the sofa, then to the black-haired man elegantly arranging a flower vase on the floor in front of the first.
"They won't be if they leave another dent in the training room wall," Alaude, the "father" of the household, spoke up, eyes never leaving the print in front of him.
"Shall I go stop them before they do?" Fong (the "mother") asked, standing up and flicking his long braid over his shoulder.
Alaude shrugged. "Do what you want." Silent as a breeze, Fong disappeared through the living room door. "So, are you done?" the blond man asked after a short pause, gray-blue eyes momentarily flicking upwards to stare at the brunet. "Tsunayoshi Sawada."
"What? Oh, yes," Tsuna answered, momentarily blanking. "My mother said it was alright if I stayed over."
"Good."
Silence descended for a moment, as Tsuna contemplated what he should do.
He was, however, interrupted when the door burst back open and Kyouya, the second son, ran in, and trip-hopped ungracefully for three paces before pulling himself up proudly. "Ha! I win; you have to scrub the toilet next week!" The sentence clashed severely with his maturity and sadistically smug expression.
Kyo, the first son, leapt in, skidding for a moment on his socks before drawing his full height above his (much) younger brother. "Well at least I didn't run from a battle, Kyouya," he glowered. "As soon as he came in you turned tail and fled."
This time it was Kyouya's turn to growl. Tsuna could practically see sparks flying between the two, storm clouds gathering. "I do not retreat," he ground out, glaring. "Would you like to repeat that sentence?"
However they were both silenced when Kyo was smacked on the right temple with a firm palm and Kyouya's left wrist was snagged by a flying handcuff. The two brothers were yanked away from each other (rather violently), and Tsuna was once again left bewildered. Mentally, he began writing a journal.
Hello, my name is Tsuna. I'm ten years old, and I attend the fourth grade at Namimori Elementary School. I am, right now, being graciously invited (read: forced) to stay at the home of one of my upperclassmen, Kyouya Hibari, and his family. Apparently I may have contracted some sort of virus from the scent of a pork bun that may eventually render me immobile, and thus must get treatment before that happens. I don't know why they can't just give it to me now so I can go home. I think I may be in greater danger of being accidentally killed in this house.
Awkwardly, he edged closer to the coffee table. Alaude was back to reading his paper, though this time he was handcuffed to a rather disgruntled Kyouya who sat next to him on the sofa. Tsuna had a brief thought that he was probably one of the only four human beings to have ever witnessed the feared sixth-grader make such a face.
Kyo was passed out on the floor. Wonderful. Fong was sitting at the table and painting, acting as though he hadn't just knocked out his first son and left him on the floor like an article of used clothing.
"Um... if I may be so rude as to ask, is this a normal occurrence?" he asked nervously, working up the courage.
"What?" the other three occupants of the room asked simultaneously. (The only three that mattered at the moment, anyway.)
"All... this." Feeling even more awkward, Tsuna gestured his hands around the room, looking mostly at the unconscious Kyo and the silver chain that linked father and son together.
Alaude was the first to figure it out. "No, it's not," the former policeman replied. Fong chuckled good-naturedly. Tsuna breathed a sigh of relief.
"They're behaving well today."
… and sucked it right back in.
I am going to be stuck in a house of madness for the rest of today and tomorrow morning.
That night, they dined in hell.
Well, not quite, but there were four demons there and the level of hostility in the air was effectively the same. Fong had started cooking as soon as he finished his painting (a rather cute monkey), and when Kyo had finally woken up, he was really woken up when Kyouya threw a sofa cushion in his face (Alaude had already released him awhile earlier). Tsuna had been left sitting straight-backed next to the blond man as both were scolded and sentenced to help set the table by their mother.
He had never seen a Hibari-san like this before. It was strange to see him behave so childishly.
Eventually he did homework just to take his mind of things. (Which turned out to be a terrible idea; when Alaude saw his work, the demonic tutoring began.)
Once they were all seated around the table, the two siblings pointedly ignoring each other, the whole room was engulfed in a thick silence interrupted only by the ticking of the wall clock in the adjoined living room. He was about to ask why no one was eating when the wall clock again interrupted.
Seven chimes.
The other four all spoke a rushed "thank you for the meal," before digging in. Once everyone else had taken what they wanted, the remainder was pushed in their guest's general direction. Kyouya and Kyo had their eyes locked on each other, turning the mere act of eating into a competition (of what kind, however, Tsuna couldn't tell; if anything they seemed to keep switching the rules). Fong was eating civilly (after all, he was a very relaxed person), and Alaude, too, was eating normally.
Three times he had spent time with this family; first, that one fateful morning that he, surprisingly, did not completely regret. Second, earlier today, around noon, when they'd been warring on the school's grounds. And right now. It made him realize that each time was more strange than the last, which brought him to the thought that, perhaps the closest the Hibari family would ever get to being normal was early in the morning.
Which really wasn't very normal at all, but for the purposes of making himself feel better…
Anyway, to distract himself he began eating the fried rice that had been heaped generously on his plate, adding some of the vegetables to the very edge of the plate where they would fit.
"Thank you for the meal!" Kyo said loudly, standing up. (Tsuna squeaked in surprise, having barely even started his own meal.) He carried his dishes carefully to the kitchen, placed them gently in the sink... and then ran out the door and up the stairs. Momentarily, he came back down with a bag in hand and a black jacket on. "I'm going out!"
"Be back before 12 this time!" Fong called after him. The front door slammed shut. If one listened carefully, they could hear the sound of a motorcycle driving away.
After a few moments of silence, the brunet spoke up. "He stays out until midnight?" he asked, surprised. He would have assumed that a family as regimental as this one would treasure their sleep.
"Often," Alaude replied. "Though what Fong meant was noon."
Tsuna practically fell out of his chair and face-floored. The statement would've been comical. Would've, if this had been some sort of entertaining story and not real life.
So he just gave up and ate his food. "Oh, I forgot!" Fong said, getting up and leaving for the kitchen. Returning, he came back with a cup of tea. "Here, drink this," he said, handing it to Tsuna.
"Why?"
"Medicine."
"... Oh."
Right, forget the very reason that you abducted me, Tsuna thought miserably, taking a tentative sip. It was very aromatic. At least it went well with the food.
The rest of the meal passed in relative comfort. Fong moved over one chair so that he was seated across from Tsuna, leaving a space between himself and Alaude. "So, are you enjoying yourself at school, Sawada-san?" he asked, trying to make light meal banter.
"Not... really...?" the brunet replied, a spoonful of fried rice suspended halfway to his mouth.
"And why is that?"
He shrugged, replying honestly as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm stupid, clumsy and can't do anything right. There's no reason for anyone to want to be friends with me, but there's a lot of reasons people would pick on me."
"Well that simply won't do," Fong said, frowning. "Kyouya, you should bring Sawada-san by more often. He's very well-mannered and kind-hearted. I don't understand why you don't like him."
"Because he's weak and reliant," the hostile reply came. Tsuna scooted his chair over a few centimeters, which was as far as he could go before bumping against the table leg. "I am not a babysitter."
"Well at least look out for the poor boy," Fong retaliated, pouring himself another cup of tea.
Kyouya frowned. "I am not going to interrupt my schedule just to look over-"
"Do as Fong says, Kyouya."
"Alaude, please stop reading at the table."
"Don't tell me what to do."
But in the end, he's probably going to listen to what they say, Tsuna thought, watching their interaction. It was strange, really. If he had been normal friends with Hibari (or anything along those lines), and he had been told that Kyouya was the weakest of his family, then he wouldn't have believed it. But in a situation like this, he had no choice but to believe it.
"Y- you don't h- have to if you don't w- want to, Kyouya-san," the brunet stuttered. He didn't want Kyouya-san to have to do something he didn't want to do, after all; that would simply be rude. And as reassuring it would be to have such a strong ally, he didn't think they'd get along as friends like this.
On the contrary, he didn't realize that what he had said would flip the switch on Kyouya's 'never accept offers of assistance' light. "No, I'll do it," he replied immediately, making Tsuna squeak. "But don't expect me to baby you."
Fong tried to reassure the younger boy. "Don't worry," he said with a smile. "Kyouya's actually quite kind-hearted."
No. Just... no. Please, Fong-san, don't make him do this; I swear he's going to kill me just to be rid of the extra baggage or something. Wait wait wait Alaude-san don't turn a blind eye and please do something! Save me!
But in the end, Tsuna's silent pleas went unheard (or ignored) by both adults, and he and Kyouya were doomed to be chained together as each other's only ally for quite some time.
But he wasn't to know that at the time.
Anyway, back to what was going on at the moment. Having finally managed to finish his food (or however much he could stomach of it), Tsuna found himself simply sitting there, trying not to move excessively lest he accidentally incite someone's wrath. He was quickly learning that one could never be too careful when interacting with the Hibari family. Counter-intuitively, one also had to be open-minded. Either way, things were just downright strange to someone as normal as Tsunayoshi Sawada.
Kyouya was the first to stand up, dishes in hand. "Tsunayoshi Sawada, follow," he said. Not a request, no, but not quite a command, either. Just... a statement. Tsuna thought for a moment. Had the infamous Kyouya Hibari always spoken this way, or was it only now that he had seen another side that Tsuna noticed it? Hibari was not the ruthless demon he was always portrayed to be, he was a human. Much more apathetic than the average human, certainly, but he was not a boy made purely of violence, but rather a straightforward boy who was confident in his own actions.
"Hey, could you hurry up?"
With a squeak, Tsuna piled up his dishes and sprang up to follow Kyouya to the kitchen... before promptly tripping over his own foot. As he fell, time seemed to slow down, and he closed his eyes in anticipation for the impending reunion with the hardwood floor and subsequent crashes of broken or bouncing platters. Loser Tsuna struck again.
Instead, though, he didn't fall too much before knocking into something. The sounds, too, never came.
"Must I teach you how to walk, or do you think you can at least do that by yourself?"
With another squeak, Tsuna quickly pulled himself up. Kyouya ignored the insists that the brunet could carry his own dishes, and he simply continued on to the kitchen, ignoring. His own dishes in his right hand, those that he had caught out of the air in his left.
As the two boys left, Fong turned to Alaude with a smile. "They're getting along well, aren't they?"
The blond hummed in response. "They balance each other out," he replied, flipping to the next page in his novel.
When Tsuna and Kyouya returned to the table, Fong was clearing up, while Alaude was petting a small yellow bird. "Alaude-san, is that your bird?" the brunet asked. "He's very cute. What's his name?"
"He hasn't got one," the man replied, as the bird rubbed its head against his finger, much as a cat would. "He followed Kyouya home one day."
"And he just stayed?" Tsuna asked, a little bit incredulous. Having already clearly seen the violence in the family, it was a bit difficult to see the gentleness. Although, now that he thought about it, Kyouya-san had been gentle with Barinezumi's clumsiness the first morning. (Actually, it wasn't quite gentleness as it was injury under-reaction.)
Fong nodded. "The hedgehogs as well," he said. "Except that Barinezumi and Kyoushintai are Kyo's, not Kyouya's. And Roll was bought from a pet store. They each have two pets, I suppose. On a related note, Alaude and I also used to keep pets. Lichi, the monkey I had had as a child, passed away when I was around... eighteen? And Alaude's-"
"Irrelevant," the blond man cut in, apparently dissatisfied with having his personal history released.
It stood to reason, actually. For one thing, Fong had, earlier, mentioned that Alaude used to be "at the top of a secret intelligence agency in an undisclosed country that is most likely located in northern Europe." He had relinquished the title to join the most elite police force in Europe, formed by seven men from all over the continent (for the most part, anyway; one was apparently American, another Japanese). This team (collectively referred to as "Vongola -I-") was lead by a man named Giotto, from Italy's Carabinieri. Supposedly, Alaude joined "because of reasons... in order to attain a certain goal." After some nebulous incident that Alaude would not allow to be disclosed, he had moved to Japan and settled down as a common officer ("common" meaning that he was of no special rank, but still the top of his section), eventually retiring (probably to take up the raising of his children), though he still took it upon himself to manage delinquent citizens if the need arose. (Strange, then, that he apparently did not care to manage his own delinquent son(s).) All in all, it was a very... clouded tale that was missing many key details.
Tsuna had briefly wondered whether, perhaps, Kyouya looked up to his first father and aspired to be like him, hence his position within school.
Anyway, after digesting the information, Tsuna chose to ask a question that had been bother him for quite some time. "So why do Barinezumi and Kyoushintai have such strange names?" he asked.
"Kusakabe named them," Kyouya answered, sitting down, as the conversation was becoming long-winded. Tsuna followed suit.
Fong chuckled, answering the brunet's silent question. "Tetsuya Kusakabe is one of Kyo's subordinates at work," the Chinese (?) man said, twiddling with the end of his long braid. "It was originally a joke, but the names apparently stuck. Barinezumi is... rather obvious, but apparently Kyoushintai kept curling up into what Kyo ended up calling a 'needle sphere,' so that became the basis of his name."
"Hibari! Hibari!" the bird chirruped, hopping over to Kyouya.
"That's too vague," he told him, apparently perfectly okay with speaking to animals. He seemed to do it often. "I won't know who you're talking to."
Looking up quizzically, the bird ruffled its feathers and chirped its master's surname again.
Tsuna thought for a moment. "Then shouldn't he be Hibird?" he asked. "Because he's Hibari-san's bird."
"That's a terrible name," Kyouya said, moving the bird up to his shoulder. Tsuna's face fell, and Kyouya smirked, turning to speak to the bird again. "Isn't that right... Hibird?"
Hibird chirruped happily. Tsuna smiled.
The brunet turned, vacantly staring through a wall. "I wonder when Kyo-san's coming back," he said absently.
"Who cares?" Kyouya retorted almost instantly. "He can go die."
What a terrible thing to say about your own brother...!
"Sawada-san is right," Fong pointed out. "You two should try to get along more." Kyouya's expression was confused, Tsuna's shocked.
How does he-
"It is a useful skill that one can pick up in various forms. In my case, it is a long-standing relationship with the study of the body, mind, and soul through martial arts. Alaude is also capable. Or rather, he would be, if he would stop reading at the table and pay attention."
Alaude scoffed. "Don't give me orders," he said, continuing with his novel.
Fong's smiled strained itself, a nerve in his cheek twitching. "Perhaps I should lace your coffee with a mixture of herbs to weaken the eyes tomorrow morning. Then you wouldn't be able to read anyway."
Gaining no response, he continued. "Oh, I'm sorry. Your 57-year old ears are probably useless; I'm surprised your eyes are not the same. Should I repeat myself?"
Alaude shut his book– He didn't put in the bookmark. He didn't put in the bookmark, Tsuna thought–, before putting it down on the table. His eyes flashed, blue like chips of ice and just as cold as he locked gazes with Fong. "Last I checked, you were 12 years younger than me. How about you respect your elders?"
Tsuna trembled. And for good reason: for a split-second, his mind's eye had shown him a different version of the spectacle. Everything had been black, aside from three spots of color. There was a small, softly pulsating lavender to his right, a flickering smolder of the same color another space over, and across there had been the same kind of flickering in red. As Fong continued speaking, the hostility in his voice rising, he red flame had slowly fanned out, and then suddenly the flickering lavender had flared up like a signal.
With a small sigh, Kyouya stood up and gripped Tsuna by the arm, hoisting him up as well. Without a word, he steered the brunet out of the dining area, through the living room, and into the hallway. "It's safer," he said, in response to the questioning look he received.
"Oh? You seem to be asking me for a fight."
"Gladly."
There followed an animalistic roaring noise as someone lunged. Tsuna continued trembling, and Kyouya peeked through the glass window in the door. Something crashed. "At least Brother and I use the training room," he said, watching the spectacle for all the world as though it were a television program. Tsuna distinctly heard a whooshing noise, metal clacking together, and then further tussling. "They're making a mess."
Taking the still unresponsive Tsunayoshi by the arm again, Kyouya sighed and lead him up the stairs. "I'll lend you a set of pajamas; go take a bath upstairs. I'll take the downstairs bathroom."
Roughly thirty minutes later, Tsuna came out of the bathroom, wearing a set of Kyouya-san's black pajamas that were a little too large for him, a towel on top of his eternally messy brown hair. He was met by Kyouya casually leaning on the wall. "Apparently we're all sleeping downstairs," he said indifferently. Despite the tone, one look at the older boy's face told Tsuna that he was unhappy with the logistics of the herbivore's stay.
As they pattered down the stairs, a banging came from the front door. "Great, he's home," Kyouya said, rubbing his temples. "Just what I need."
Tsuna made another note in his mental journal. Though I had originally thought that Fong-san was probably the one putting up with the most troubles, I now think that it may be Kyouya-san. He's probably so tired of the chaos in his home that he beats down on it at school, where he can.
The two moved towards the front door, barefooted in their sleepwear. As Kyouya slid open the fog-glass main door, he kept the screen door shut. "You'e early today," he said, staring with boredom at his brother.
Kyo had just been walking an impressive black motorcycle into the shed. "Children should be asleep at this hour," he called back, closing the door behind him. "In any case, shouldn't you be doing homework?"
"B- but it's friday!" Tsuna pointed out with a small pout on his lips. Like all young boys, Tsuna Sawada detested homework. He would much prefer to laze about, playing video games with or without his adopted brothers.
Kyo scoffed. He walked in, making sure to shut both doors behind him. "You'll become a middle-school graduate with that kind of worth ethic," he said.
"No one cares about stuff like that," Kyouya said, his expression dead. Clearly, he was not interested in discussions about work. "Oh, by they way. We're all sleeping downstairs, and those two had a fight in the living room."
Kyo face-palmed. "Again?" he asked, putting his shoes away and heading down the hallway. The two children followed. "That's it. I'm going."
I'm beginning to think that Kyo-san gets tired of dealing with his family every so often. Perhaps that is why he apparently stays out so incredibly late sometimes. He doesn't seem like someone who would enjoy drinking. (How old is he?)
As Kyo went up the stairs, Kyouya and Tsuna turned around to go back to the big room. Tsuna remembered Alaude handing him a cat there. He briefly wondered what happened to her. What greeted them was the sight of Alaude and Fong peacefully laying out five futons. The stark contrast to their earlier hostility towards each other caught the brunet a little by surprise, but his escort was apparently used to it. "Twenty minutes," Alaude said.
Right when Tsuna was about to ask, "Twenty minutes for what?", Kyouya nodded, took the brunet by the shoulder, and frog-marched him back up to his own room.
"It's safer here," he said, closing the window after letting Hibird in.
I actually think the safest course of action would be for me to just go home.
Kyouya plopped down into his chair with a tired sigh. "We have twenty minutes; is there something you want to do?"
"... Eh?" was the only response Tsuna managed to produce.
"We have twenty minutes to do whatever, so I'm asking if you want to do anything in particular," Kyouya repeated. "Read, do homework, play a game, whatever."
Tsuna's expression remained nonplussed. "... Is it really alright?" he asked, uncertainly. The nearly-inaudible growl that drew itself out of the older boy's throat gave him a very clear answer. 'I'm saying it's alright so just choose something already.' Thinking quick, Tsuna chose the first thing that came to mind. "D- do you have... a deck of cards? We could play speed... o- or something else if you want!"
"No, speed is fine," Kyouya said, turning to take a worn box out of a desk drawer. "Here."
Tsuna caught the box tossed to him, and began laying the cards out.
Twenty minutes and 13 lost matches later, Tsuna followed Kyouya back downstairs. (He was, however, proud that he had managed to win two or three.) Kyouya-san played really, really fast, he had discovered.
That being said, when they entered the room, Tsuna's hands were really, really tired. "You two are over there," Alaude said, pointing to two futon in a corner, a little separated from where the others were.
"Oh, I heard that you're his caretaker now," Kyo noted, glancing at his brother before pulling his own futon a short distance away from Fong's and Alaude's.
"Not by my own choosing," Kyouya retorted. Kyo merely shrugged.
It's not that I don't appreciate it, but you really don't have to!
Tsuna had long since given up actually voicing his thoughts. In any case, apparently Fong and Alaude would know anyway.
Once everyone was settled, Kyouya, who was closest to the switch, stood up. "Good night," he said, clicking it off. Tsuna snuggled into his futon in the few moments of blissful silence, and then...
Suddenly there was the sound of a gasp as someone was hit with something else. Almost immediately, the gasp changed into a small growl, as dull thuds began resonating around the room, accompanied by grunting. Tsuna recognized the sound as human hitting building.
In a flurry of rustling cloth, the light was once again clicked on, revealing a glowering Kyouya by the switch. On the other end of the room, Alaude and Fong were still rolling over each other, both with their hands around the other's neck. After a brief moment, Alaude gained the upper hand, managing to twist so that he was on top, crouched above Fong.
Kyo was watching in amusement.
Kyouya was bristling with rage. "Get a room!" he shouted, interrupting the pair's tussle. "There is a child here!"
"Don't you mean 'children'?" the eldest son retorted.
Tsuna wanted to point out that Kyouya had the maturity of someone twice his age. Then he decided that it was probably best not to get involved in such a family feud. Getting involved had been the reason he was here in the first place, after all. So, instead, he tried to hide underneath the covers.
After a thorough one-minute biting session of rants, the light was back off and the two youngest were trying to go to bed.
The three oldest apparently had other ideas.
Crack. "Ow ow ow! Stop! That hurts!"
Click. "Go to bed already!"
Lifting the sheet a bit, Tsuna poked his nose out so he could see a little, not unlike some small animal wary of predators. He was greeted by the sight of Fong happily bending his oldest son's legs much farther back behind him than could possibly be comfortable. Alaude was resting on his stomach, head in hand, watching. "What are you doing?" Kyouya asked, exasperated.
"I'm tense, so I can't sleep very well," Fong replied, going back to his own mattress.
The youngest son sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Good night." The light clicked off. Beside him, Tsuna heard the older boy sink into his mat with a mutter of "I'm tired..."
After a whole minute of silence, humorous and raucous snoring interrupted. Tsuna's eyes snapped open to the total darkness. "Kyo, you're loud," Alaude's voice said.
This time a demented chuckling filled the air.
Tsuna could just feel the annoyance radiating off of his friend (?). "Go to sleep..." the eleven-year old groaned. "Please, just go to sleep."
Instead, the laughter only increased, both in volume and intensity, before being culminated in a single, loud snort.
Click. "What are you doing?" Kyouya growled, picking up his pillow on the way to the other's mat.
"Stop waking us all up so often," Kyo replied, clearly holding back laughter. "You're making my insomnia worse, and I need to get a full night's rest."
"You're 21 already," Kyouya pointed out, smacking his older brother with a pillow. Fong, whose bedding was closest to Kyo's also smacked his eldest son with his own. "Just go to bed."
However, once the light was off, instead of going to bed, Kyo made another long snorting sound. This was followed by waves of laughter, getting louder and louder with each repetition. This time, as Kyouya crossed the room to go smack his brother with a pillow again, Fong flipped him over and Alaude gave him a light kick to the stomach. Tsuna was, unfortunately, beginning to get used to this. Even so, he was very tired, so he tried to bury his face into his pillow and the rest of him under the futon.
And thus, the entire house was finally able to re- "Ow ow ow ow ow! Alaude put me down! Ow!"
"Kyo, what are you doing!"
This time, it was Tsuna who leapt for the light switch. Alaude had Fong slung over his shoulders, pulled down on the legs and neck. Kyo had his brother by the ankles, swinging him lightly in a circle and laughing his head off.
Tsuna screamed in shock, running up to Kyo to try and get him to let go of Kyouya. Eventually, Alaude let Fong drop back onto his own futon, and Kyo relinquished his hold.
1 am, and the entire house was finally able to go to bed.
By 10, everyone was fed, clothed, and out the door if they needed to be. Kyo had gone to work, Fong and Alaude were staying home, and Kyouya was walking Tsuna back to the Sawada Residence.
They walked together in silence, Tsuna mulling over what he could say. "Um... Hibari-san," he said, speaking up. "Is this... always happening?"
Hibari sighed, rubbing his temples. "You have no idea."
The younger of the pair gave a wry smile. "I think I'd prefer to stay that way."
A bit of an anti-climactic ending? No, it was just humor (probably)!
Anyway, the main scene was based on the video meme "School Trip" (修学旅行). The original was a skit by V6; it's very amusing. I thought the Reborn version was especially funny!
Since I haven't written for "Family Problems" in a while, I was afraid that this came out... not so good. But I tried. I get ten points for trying, right? (No, you don't.) Anyway, thank you all for reading this far!
[Edit] Sunstar13 reminded me of something (unintentionally)! I was going to give you guys a nice present! Well, I suppose it's just as well; it is Christmas here now, after all. So hopefully I'm not too sappy? (What am I trying to say?)
Reborn was beyond livid.
He had been hired by his long-time associate, Timoteo, to tutor his grandson, Tsunayoshi. That had been a month ago. According to his reports, Tsunayoshi was a no-good child who was terrible in school and sports alike, sorely lacking in motivation and not very socially active.
So why were none of his methods working.
Oh, it wasn't that Reborn had tried. The man had once been a member of the underworld of society, and his teaching style was Spartan. He was also a home tutor, which meant that he was housed in his students residence. And yet, though No-Good Tsuna, as his nick name was, was completely terrified of his tutor, it was as though he wouldn't learn anything from him except how to be snarky. Or rather, he couldn't.
"So, I told Gokudera-kun this yesterday, but I don't think-" Dodge. "-That I told you, Yamamoto. Anyway, I heard-" Dodge. "-There's an event going on in the shopping-" Dodge. "-Center, something about-" Dodge. "-plans for a new underground mall."
Yamamoto, the black-haired teen with whom Tsuna was speaking, laughed lightly. "That sounds pretty fun! Maybe we can all go tomorrow? Oh, Tsuna, is there something in your pants? You keep jump- whoops! Hey mister, I think you dropped this."
Yamamoto tossed the suspiciously dangerous-looking spiked baseball that he had caught back to Reborn, who was sitting a short distance away with a heavy scowl. He was the baseball team's ace, after all. Reborn tossed it back. "Throw it at No-Good Tsuna," he growled. "I've been trying to get his attention for the past five minutes."
"You have?" Tsuna asked, his expression nonplussed and totally confused. He looked around and, indeed, the area surrounding the two 13-year old boys was littered with similar projectiles, all looking potentially lethal but harmless at the moment. "Hiie! When did this happen?"
Back to Reborn being livid. "You mean to tell me," he growled, voice dripping with venom. "That you have been dodging everything I've thrown at you for the past five minutes, with your back turned to me, without even knowing it!"
Tsuna shuffled his feet sheepishly. "A- Apparently...?"
Reborn sighed dejectedly. "They told me you were terrible at sports," he said, his intense stare softening a little.
"W- well I am," Tsuna stuttered. "It's just that a couple years ago I was friends with-"
Out of nowhere, a rotating metal stick whirled through the air with a piercing whistle and nailed the boy right in the back of the head. He fell down with a yelp and a puff of dust. Reborn smirked.
Tsuna got up, rubbing his head. He saw the tonfa (lodged in the ground now), and looked behind him to hear two brothers arguing and metal clashing. With a scream, he ran off towards them, fists raised.
"Hibari-san!"
