A/N: Thanks for reading this far, minna! I love all of you sooooo much and every one of you make my day even if you don't make yourselves known hehe. So here's chapter 10 with its crappy fight scene and all – bear with me! Exams are starting on Monday, so it'll be quite a while before I update again, gomen!
chibianimefan26: Your review made me happy and laugh so much hahaha. I was wondering where you were, but it's alright, I understand ^_^ that darn road confuses even the best of ninja XP And I love your story, depressing or no haha this one can get a bit depressing too here and there… I'll bake the cake for our reunion! Whooo! Hahaha, hope you enjoy this chapter, my faithful reader and sister =P
laffup: Haha yeah, they are always at each other's throat XD welcome back! Thought I was losing my readers *tear* Thanks for continued support and hope this chapter is okay~
I have also found out my fav/follow/review alerts now gets sent to my spam in my emails, what the fudge? So from now on I'm thanking EVERYONE again for the favs, follows and reviews! XD BlackSakura-chi, DEVIlishAngel00, Evanescentfacade, FearaNightmare, Lazy Historian, LiHoi, LucediDio, MusicAnime31, PineappleFairyWithAFroggy, Stars of Briar, Thao Sama, TsubakiDesu, chibianimefan26, intanafikah, klariz anime, laffup, natachoco, rozellaz8, sweetcookies82, xKANAN, Yamiroo Alice, TisEdith, Ashiteru my hasu, Gallifreyan Annihilator, HalocraZze, becky157689, jazica, starawesomeness. Thank you guys sooooo much for the support! *hugs for everyone*
On with the show!
Chapter 10
Arica and Gokudera stood about ten meters apart, facing each other, never dropping their respective glares. Tsuna was sitting on the steps to the house, clutching tightly onto Lambo so that the cheering child didn't rush over to them or something equally stupid. Reborn was standing between the two, acting as referee.
"Alright, the rules are simple. This is a hand-to-hand fight; punching, slapping, kicking, biting – basically, everything goes. However, no weapons are allowed. The first to get pinned down and rendered unable to fight any further, loses," the infant said in a professional tone of voice and waited for both of their affirmative nods before stating, "Battle start!" and bounding over to Tsuna to watch the fight.
Neither of them made a move, merely waiting for the other to do so first. Arica was a patient person most of the time, especially when it came to things such as fighting where it could be critical. Gokudera was also a little glad to see that she knew at least something of fighting: never make the first move; if you do, make it count. Unfortunately for him, he knew he would have to make the first move since the waiting was getting on his nerves.
Dashing towards her for a tackle, Gokudera watched her every twitch to see what she would do to avoid or counter. Only to find none. She was just standing there, still as a statue while he bore down on her. Then, a foot away from making impact, Arica sidestepped, twirling out of the way and causing the surprised bomber to steamroll past her. Her foot stuck out and his momentum sent him flying into the wet grass and mud.
It had started to rain a few minutes before they made the challenge, but that didn't stop them. Reborn had somehow – in a way unknown to any of them – managed to convince Nana to let them 'play' in the rain and cold, and so they had continued. "Watch your step," Arica smirked as she watched in satisfaction as Gokudera got up, cursing under his breath with a deep scowl etched onto his face along with a bit of dirt.
He was still wondering how she was able to do that without him noticing she was about to move; there had been no contraction or relaxation or even twitching or muscles. Tsuna and Reborn were wondering the same and the arcobaleno watched with more interest that before.
Without warning, the bomber charged head-long once more and Arica raised a questioning brow. Does he honestly think he'll get me the second time? Arica wasn't thinking as she took the same step aside to avoid him and only too late did her eyes widen. Of course he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice either! Shit, the girl thought as she realized too late he had tricked her, since her body mostly moved on its own before she could tell it to – one of her greatest strengths but also her worst weakness.
That time around, Gokudera had better control of his speed and slowed down a little as she took the step. One of his arms shot out, grabbing her around the waist, spinning in behind her and pulling her off her feet. With the momentum he had left, he twisted them both, causing her to fall face first in the grass with him sprawled across her back. The Storm pulled himself up, planting his butt on her lower back. Grinning as he watched her lift her head and spit some stray grass from her mouth, he said, "You know, you make a rather comfortable chair."
Arica turned her head slightly to glare at him over her shoulder. "Enjoy it while it lasts. Which won't be for much longer." With that, the brunette put her flexibility to some use. Gokudera didn't expect the hit to the back of his head as she brought her leg up and back, her foot making contact with his skull.
"Gah!" he yelped, clutching his head while he got away from her and Arica rolled to the side before getting to her feet. "What the- Are you made of bloody rubber or something?"
"No, but I did do a little gymnastics when I was younger," she answered with a pleased smirk, but it quickly melted into a scowl as she looked down at herself. "You ruined my favorite shirt." Her clothes were now grass-stained and there were also a few splashes of mud. "You'll pay for that."
"Wow, Arica-chan is still standing," Tsuna said, having thought that his best friend would've pinned her down by now.
"Gokudera's not really taking the fight seriously it seems," Reborn mused, knowing those were only the most basic moves in close combat. "But I have to admit you're right. What she did before, when she sidestepped… Did you pick anything up?"
Tsuna shook his head. "No, not even my hyper intuition sensed anything…though it works a little better when I'm in my Hyper Dying Will."
"Hm," was the only response he got and they focused back on the fight.
"My turn," Arica stated and took off running towards the silver haired boy. Just as he made a move to catch her, thinking she's launching a frontal assault, she disappeared. Or, more accurately, she dropped to the ground, using the wet grass to her advantage as she skidded between his legs. Gokudera was still too confused to react and the brunette arched backwards as she slid, hooking her arms around his legs and pulling them with her.
With a grunt, the Storm went down this time, also face first and Arica rolled back towards him. "You're right; this is comfortable," she grinned as she emphasized her words by bouncing up and down a little on his back, making him growl.
"You…Get off me!" Gokudera gave an annoyed grunt, jolting himself up on his hands, causing Arica to fall off. She transformed the fall into a roll and came to her feet a meter from the bomber as he stood up once more. "Now you're going down!"
Gokudera rushed at her once more, but not for a tackle, for a punch. It was a straight, aimed right at her face, but Arica dodged it easily, glaring. "You know that it's rude to aim for a lady's face, right?" Without even the slightest hint or hesitation, as quick as lightning, she struck at his stomach while he was open.
"Gyahaha, Ahodera's losing to a girl!" Lambo laughed loudly, sticking his tongue out at the growling teen.
"Shut up, ahoshi! I haven't lost!" The bomber went for an uppercut this time as he straightened – he was spending way too much time in the Turf-top's company – but Arica did a back flip and landed a kick to his jaw as her feet came up, making him stumble at the unexpected move.
"Are you sure about that?" the brunette mocked as she closed the gap, feigning a punch to make the bomber raise his hands. Wrapping her hands around his wrists, her foot hooked around the back of his knee, pulling it from under him as she simultaneously pushed back with her upper body. The silvette went down and Arica yanked him to one side, making him roll onto his stomach. Quickly slipping her arms through his, she locked them behind his back and lay down on top of him, tangling his legs with her own. "Now you've lost," she breathed in his ear, trying to catch her breath – it was no easy task tossing him around!
The Storm had to keep himself from shivering as the hot breath made a stark contrast to the cold rain. He could feel the heat from her body soak into his back as she pressed close. He was even hyper aware of her chest heaving with each breath as it pressed between his broader shoulder blades. Then Gokudera realized something else: he couldn't move. Not even an inch. He tried to struggle, but the girl's weight and complicated hold she had on him prevented it.
"It looks like you have indeed lost, Gokudera," Reborn said as he came up to the two. Doing a quick study of the maneuver she had the bomber locked in, the arcobaleno was nothing short of impressed. The Vongola guardian's limbs were immobilized, the joints locked, making it impossibly hard to move, if at all. "The winner is Arica."
Grinning, Arica carefully untangled herself and got up, going to stand in front of the frozen, dumbfounded bomber. "I told you I was better in a lot of things. Though, if you hadn't underestimated me, the outcome might have been different," she said, holding out a hand to help him up. She wasn't expecting it to be violently slapped away.
"I don't want your help," Gokudera sneered, his expression having turned hard and cold. How did she know that move? Where did she learn it?! He got up and turned to Reborn, who was now joined by Tsuna and Lambo. "Reborn-san. I request a rematch."
"Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna questioned, frowning at his friend's behavior. Yes, it was just like the bomber to do something like that, but the look in his eyes… Now Tsuna's intuition was starting to wake.
"Ahodera's a sore loser~ he can't believe he was beaten by a girl," Lambo snickered when he finished congratulating his 'subordinate', promising to share his candy once she had given it to him next weekend.
"She didn't beat me; she cheated!" Gokudera snapped, making them all jump.
This caught Arica's attention and she came over to frown at him. "What? How the hell did I cheat? I won fare and square!"
"She's right, Gokudera-kun. Arica-chan didn't break any of the rules and Reborn himself made sure you were completely unable to fight after she had pinned you down," the young Vongola Decimo confirmed and Reborn also nodded. Both were now staring at the silver haired teen suspiciously, wondering what was making him accuse Arica like that.
It can't be… this woman can't know how to fight like that, were the words that flashed through Gokudera's mind over and over. It was giving him a headache and the voices and flashes in his mind didn't help either. He caught only a few words, but the conversations – or so he thought anyway – went by a million miles a second and so did the pictures. It was like a movie on super-fast-forward. He knew they were memories of some kind, but he didn't know where they came from since he didn't recognize them.
"Where did you learn that move?" he growled, spinning to face the girl who was still staring confusedly at him. It pissed him off. Without thinking, the Storm lashed out and grabbed onto Arica's shoulders, giving her a rough shake. "Answer me!"
"G-Gokudera-kun! W-what are you doing?" Tsuna exclaimed in utter shock, watching with wide eyes as his right-hand man's sanity slowly slipped away.
He ignored his boss' voice and continued. "There's only one person that knew that trick; how did you learn it?" He still got no answer from the speechless brunette as he continued to shake her. It was a long time ago, a short while after he had run away from home that he had came to a Family, asking for shelter. He then met that person, the only one he had close to a friend back then. Then he had heard she was dead. Now this stupid woman was using that same move. She was disrespecting his friend by stealing it!
"Stop it, Gokudera-kun! Y-you're hurting Arica-chan!" Tsuna called, finally snapping out of his surprised stupor and jumping into action, trying to pry his friends apart.
Arica wasn't sure what was happening, but as she looked into raging green eyes, the fire in them reminded her of someone…yet she couldn't put a face to the person at all no matter how hard she concentrated. The fingers digging into her biceps and her brain nearly quivering in her skull from the shaking kind of made it hard to concentrate anyway.
As the shaking and yelling continued, though, Arica became aware of something else. The fabric around her neck was growing looser and looser, her neck was becoming colder and colder. The way Gokudera was holding onto her arms and shaking her made it impossible for her to reach up and stop it. Even if she could, it wouldn't have been fast enough. Time seemed to slow down, almost painfully so. Just as slow as the scarf slipping from her neck.
The cold wind and rain suddenly hit the bare skin of her neck as the piece of fabric fluttered to the ground. Two seconds later, the shaking had come to a complete stop and Gokudera was now merely holding onto her with a vice grip. Tsuna's eyes followed his friend's in confusion when the Storm had ceased to struggle and yell. When he saw it, he gasped and nearly threw up at the sight before him. Even Lambo went completely silent, though he didn't really grasp the full effect and meaning of it all. Reborn tipped his fedora slightly; even though it was far from the most gruesome thing the hitman had ever seen, it was still a sickening sight, especially on a beautiful, innocent young girl such as that.
Arica could feel the eyes on her, she could feel the disgust. She wanted to disappear, be swallowed up by the ground beneath her feet, but alas, the gods were cruel to make her suffer this. She wanted nothing more than to run, but Gokudera's death grip wouldn't allow it, nor could she ask for help from the others. Why didn't Nana come out there when the yelling had started? Why did no one ever come when they were needed, like Andrew? Andrew…where are you? Save me.
Arica felt her eyes sting and her vision blurred. The silvette was finally shocked out of his drunken fury and near-madness by the sight of tears brimming in light green orbs that were staring blankly at him. It looked like she was beginning to shut herself away from the outside world. Guilt flooded through him instantly and it was made even worse when he saw her neck.
She felt the grip on her arms loosen and saw it as her chance. Using their dazed states as a distraction, Arica ripped free from the bomber's grasp completely. She only took enough time to swipe up her scarf from the ground before she took off running down the path beside the house and into the street, turning in a random direction and sprinting full speed ahead. She ignored her name being called from behind as she ran.
Raindrops weren't the only thing running down her cheeks as she ran, not looking back once.
Her legs were aching, her muscles screaming, her vision blurry and her lungs burning. Yet she didn't stop running until she nearly collapsed face first into the asphalt. Arica didn't know for how long she had run or how far or how many random, unknown roads she had taken. She didn't care. All that had mattered was getting away from the Sawada residence as quick as possible.
The girl bent over with her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. Because her legs finally got the chance to rest, they started throbbing, feeling numb and heavy. Deciding it was due time for a break, Arica lifted her head to see where she was. Well, I wasn't expecting to end up here…but it's as good a place as any.
Gathering what little strength she had left, Arica dragged herself over to the gates, finding them unlocked just like they had been the previous day. A breathy chuckle made its way past her lips as she went inside. "Didn't I tell you to lock them? Geez, you just don't listen to anyone, do you, Hibari?" The side door to the roof she had used the previous day was also left open, as if they wanted her to come back there.
While she had been running, the rain had stopped, but the sky was still packed with dark, stormy clouds and growing darker by the minute. She wouldn't be surprised if a thunderstorm was on its way. Arica looked around on the roof and found it empty, thankfully. Even though it was a Sunday, one never knew what stray Skylarks one might find wandering around, looking for people to bite to death. She searched for a good spot to sit and found a marginally dry piece of ground around the corner. It would hide her from view of the door, so should someone come up there, they wouldn't see her and she would most likely hear them coming first.
With her back against the wall, Arica's legs gave in and she slid down. Biting her quivering bottom lip, she could feel her face warm up with sadness for the second time that day. She had thought her tears had all been shed, her tear ducts dried up, but she hadn't cried in, what, months? Years? She hadn't cried since that time. She had shut all those painful memories away, had practically deleted them from her brain. She had cried the previous night when she had put on that show in the bathroom, but that couldn't count as really, truly crying.
The girl sat there on the roof, the tears silently rolling down her cheeks as she stared up at the drifting, grey clouds. Why did she cry now, all of a sudden? How did she endure Ricardo's cruelty without so much as the thought of crying, but when someone saw the results of said cruelty – merely laid eyes on it, not even touching it – she broke down?
Those thoughts and questions clouded her mind so much, like the clouds did the sky, that she didn't even notice that very noticeable presence appearing next to her until it was – like the day before – too late. "You're trespassing again, herbivore," the low voice threatened and Arica jumped, cursing under her breath as she remembered her exposed neck.
The brunette hastily wrapped the scarf around her neck even though both of them knew it was futile; any Tom, Dick and Harry could notice that with a single glance. Covering it up just gave Arica some semblance of security. "Good day to you too, Hibari," she greeted, looking up at the boy innocently after she had discreetly wiped her eyes.
"Hn." Hibari gave her a thorough onceover from where he loomed over her. The puffiness and redness of her eyes and face made it clear what she had been doing before he arrived, but he didn't care for such herbivorous things. "Get up."
Quirking a questioning brow at the sudden demand, Arica asked, "Excuse me?"
"Don't make me repeat myself, herbivore," he growled, revealing a tonfa from gods know where and raising it threateningly. Arica held her hands up in surrender before pushing herself to a standing position. The past half hour on the roof had thankfully restored her legs to working condition, though she would probably be sore the next day. Great. "Okay, I'm up. Why did you– Whoa!" She jumped back instinctively as a tonfa swiped at her chest. "What the hell?" she exclaimed, looking up to see Hibari in fighting stance.
"I heard you won a fight against the bad-mannered herbivore, Gokudera Hayato," Hibari stated, as if that should explain everything. Well, he thought it was pretty clear, anyway.
"That happened less than an hour ago. How did you hear about it?" Arica questioned, keeping her eyes locked on the twin weapons as she tried to slowly create more distance between them.
"A little bird told me," was the Chairman's only answer and he glided forward, swinging at her chest once more and Arica barely dodged that time; she even felt the wind its passing created.
"Then you should also know I'm in no condition to fight you right now!" she said exasperatedly, dodging a blow to the face this time. "Watch the face! And that's unfair; I don't have a weapon!" Well…no, I won't use them.
"Then dodge," he responded, ignoring her first statement and taking note of the second. "I want to see if you're a worthy opponent." Hibari swung at her stomach and Arica barely had time to pull her middle back, but it caused her chin to stick out. He was about to nail her in the jaw with his other tonfa before stopping short, deciding on a kick to the chest instead. It was rude to hit women in the face, after all.
Arica flew backwards and landed hard on her back. She coughed a bit as she took large gulps of breath, to regain what has been knocked out of her. She pushed herself up into a crouch before lifting her head to look at the impassive Skylark as he slowly stalked forward. "Do you usually pick on defenseless girls like this?" she managed to say.
"Only ones I think are strong enough to withstand being bitten. I told you you'd be bitten to death when we meet again," he answered immediately. When he reached her, Hibari stared down at the panting girl. She looked tired and weak. Maybe he had been mistaken; the bomb herbivore isn't much of a challenge in the first place. With one last disapproving look, Hibari turned on his heel and said, "I'll be taking my leave then. You're not worth it."
Not worth it. How could he say that about her; he barely knew her! All he knew was her name, as far as she could tell. How dare he say she wasn't worth it? What pain did I go through in that place to be worth something? When Arica had been sent to that place, it was to make her stronger, to make her 'worth' something, as her father had put it. When she had refused to use her weapons after the first few times, they had seen her as a failure. Not worth it.
"Wait!" The girl's mouth had opened without her consent and the words coming from within weren't her own. She straightened up completely, catching the final wisps of her breath before she spoke once more to the retreating figure. "I'll fight you. Seriously this time."
The Skylark paused in his tracks before turning around. He blinked blankly at her, not showing what he was really feeling inside upon seeing the determination in her face and eyes. "Oh?" he said, sounding disinterested, which he was far from being.
"Yes," was the firm and only answer he received. Then, to the Cloud's confusion, Arica closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "You don't want me to hold back, am I right? However, I know if I do hold back, I wouldn't even stand a chance." So I'm going to lose anyway, she added mentally, concentrating. But it's worth a shot at finding out more about the possible Vongola Guardian.
Arica hated this. She hated this power she was about to use. It was part of the operation she had undergone when she got her weapons. It came as a package deal of sorts in 'making her worth something'. She hated it. But the prefect did want her to fight him seriously and this is the only way she was able to. It was only a quick round. Nothing bad would come of it…
Hibari watched as the girl before him seemed to go into some kind of trance while her eyes remained shut. He didn't know what she was doing, but he felt a small shift in the air around them. The space between them grew tenser the longer she just stood there. The aura he felt growing around her was something he wouldn't have expected of that seemingly ordinary herbivore. Something he had only felt from Sawada Tsunayoshi.
That was one of the few times Hibari Kyoya was ever truly surprised. What he saw when the girl opened her eyes, was nothing he would've ever expected. There were no more deep, green pools staring back at him.
When Arica D'Angelo opened her eyes, they were the purest of moonlight silver.
A/N: Shiz is about to get serious, people! *puts serious face on* …*bursts out laughing* I have never been able to keep a straight face for long hahaha. And Hibari has appeared~ :3 *happy, love-struck dance* He's my anime boyfriend btw so STAY. AWAY. Or else… Nyahahaha! Okay, enough of my randomness.
*clears throat* Please let me know what you think of this chapter/story so far! Any type of feedback helps me, constructive criticism is also welcome, but flames will be thrown back in your face and I will laugh. Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!... yeah, I'm changing this into a crossover lol.
Anyway, review!...review…eview…view…ew… Ciao~