Nuts, Heart-to-heart Talk, and a Surprise

Chapter 6.

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo! Hitman Reborn.

Warning: There will be OCs in this fic, but this chapter's new OC won't be paired to any of the original characters. There will be another OC, but keep this in mind—I don't like pairing OCs with original characters.

Word count: 2,951

Uploaded: 19th Feb 2011

"You should take a bath. A.S.A.P," Giotto grinned. I smiled a bit, "No need to tell me; I know that already. For heavens' sake, don't even treat me like I'm a child." "Well, you are." His palm ruffled my wet brown locks sloppily and he walked past me.

"I'll be in my room if you need anything." I heard him as he walked up the set of stairs. "Mm." I hummed in response. I took off my shoes and yawned.

The first days of us living together (uh, as in, friends, not— …it's getting hard to explain, geez) was weird, but unexpectedly comfortable. Maybe the fact that I was his, uhm, wife four hundred years ago really did something. I guess that 'four hundred years' ago will stick to my thoughts from now on.

-Flashback-

"Mr. Gio—AAH! What's that!" I shrieked as I took in my view; a lion cub sitting cutely on Giotto's lap while he absentmindedly pats the thing with his eyes trained on the book he's reading.

"Hm? Ah, Sawada. This is Nuts, my pet." Giotto just smiled innocently, all the while patting the little furball of doom. I shivered. Oh God, I'll have to live for only-you-knows-how-long with my former husband like four hundred years ago and a tiny ball of physical and mental destruction; someone must hate me. Real bad.

The blonde sitting over there must've noticed that my expression changed. I think blood just rushed off my face and it turned a bit blue, after all. He chuckled, and said "….Sawada, do you dislike pets?" with an equally amused eyes and voice.

"Uh, no, but—… it's nothing, really." I swear I'm shooting bullets of sweats down my skin like…right now. He quirked his eyebrows and smiled defiantly.

"Nn…I think I'll just go back to my room—" "Wait, Sawada." Giotto bookmarked the page he was on and put it down on the table. Then, he started to walk towards me."Y-yes?" I stuttered a bit, my eyes eyeing the yellow thing on his arms all the while trying to smile as if no, nothing is wrong.

Giotto stopped in front of me. And I am very well aware that that thing is staring at me. 'Oh God please don't make him jump to me don't make him jump to me don't make him jump—"

"What was it?"

…eh?

My face blanked in response. "You called me." He reminded. Oh.

"Ah, that—I forgot. Nevermind—get that thing away from me!" I automatically screamed as the lion cub was about to lick my hand. I let my guard down just a second and it almost licked me.

I realized what I said almost immediately, and clamped a hand over my mouth. Oh no. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—" I apologized embarrassedly, my face burning red—until his laugh stopped me short.

I blinked once. Twice. Thrice. And then I looked up at him.

This may sound all clichéd and cheesy and all those romantic stuff I've read (forced to read, at least), but his laugh might be the best sound I've ever heard in my life—screw the fact that I may be overreacting about it. It was deep, comforting, relaxing, and so cheerful... it's like some kind of weird mix that goes well together somehow.

"So Reborn is right; you're afraid of cats and lions, even cubs." He said as he laughed between his sentences.

Reborn? So it was him who told Giotto about it?

...damn it.

"Oh well... I hope you can get along with Nuts; he's a good fellow," Giotto flashed one of his angelic smile. I sighed, agreeing to that in my head. Who knows if this...Nuts is different?

"Yeah, let's see if this Nuts will drive me nuts or not." I stared at him pointedly.

"Back at matters before all this ruckus started, sir—" "Giotto."

Huh?

"Call me Giotto." The blonde in front of me smiled. My eyes are as wide as saucers and, to complete my surprised look, my jaws dropped. "WHAT? Of course I can't! You're a teacher and I'm your student!" I declined his order (now that I think of it, it is an order—he didn't say "please"). "But that's at school. Here, we're just neighbours... living together." he smiled.

"You're still older than me!" I felt my head went a few degrees higher from all the stress. "And it's a tradition in Japan!" I added, trying to strengthen my argument. I was about to make my escape when he replied.

"But I was the one who told you to call me Giotto, did I not?"

With my back turned, I can't see his face, but I just know that he has that stupid proud smirk on his face. "And besides, I've had enough of those 'Mister's. It makes me sound really old."

"O-okay, Giotto...-san." I said quietly, figuring that if I can't use "Mister", I might use "-san" as well—"Just Giotto. No honorific."

...damn. it.

Reborn told me indirectly –with his piercing cold glare that screams murder—that I have to be polite. I remember his 6th rule: to be extremely polite to someone older than you. It's part of the morals, but he added, "like they're your God" at the end of the respective line.

Isn't Reborn an atheist...?

So yeah. I turned around to face Giotto again. "But Reborn told me to—" "Being 'polite' doesn't mean you always have to add honorific, you know. It's just a way to be polite, but I told you to cancel that one." He cut me off. I sighed, knowing that this is pointless.

"At least let me call you with '-san'. It's just... feels weird to not call you that." I smiled a bit. He sighed, letting it go. "Sure." He shrugged it off.

"So...I think I should continue doing the papers for, um, Student Council. Yeah." I stepped back. I was about to turn around when he suddenly yelled, "Wait!" along with a MEOW!

Wait, meow?

I turned around back to Giotto just in time with Nuts jumping towards me, and I shrieked before I passed out.

-Flashback end—

Now that I think about it, this house seem to be so... I don't know—empty? There are furniture and all, but...the people in the house are basically just me, him, and Nuts. I think there are some maids somewhere around the house; food, after all, doesn't make itself, and this house doesn't clean itself.

And aside from that, I never found a family portrait. I don't go around the house much—maybe I should take a look around this weekend or something like that. I should ask for Giotto's permission first, of course—after all, I'm a guest here.

I rinsed my hair with a towel and slipped into some clothes I took out; a white shirt and black shorts. I sat on the chair and pulled out some papers I need to check. To be honest, paperwork and homework are equally boring and monotonous—I don't think anyone would like them. I don't, at least.

Okay, let's get to work. I glanced at my school calendar—with red marks here and there—. There's no special events coming up, so I can relax a bit. My eyes twitched as I scanned the papers.

"Proposal for Paint Ball Club"? Is this a joke? Don't they know the infamous consequences of spoiling Namimori High? Nope, not a chance.

"Sports Competition between Namimori High and Kokuyo High". The last time I checked, Kokuyo residents are like the arch-nemesis of Namimori residents. I think the person that suggested this is just joking—I'll talk to the person later.

I keep signing the papers; grimacing at times. The students' ideas are getting wilder and random. I must keep my sanity at this point; a loose grip on their requests and there will be hell to pay.

In the end, there were some intriguing yet safe suggestions, and I signed them to be checked by the President later. The President is, by any means, the Head of the Student Council.

Our school's so-called "Communication Section" actually only has two members, which considered as the Communication Representative. Our job is mainly about translating documents and getting problems done. Most of the students usually forgot to write in English or Italian, and Reborn doesn't want to read Japanese documents, so we had to translate everything from Japanese to Italian.

For closing argumentations, originally, we had the Disciplinary Committee. Apparently, the Disciplinary Committee is more to the beating-up-students side rather than dissipating fights and quarrels, so usually we're the ones called first when something goes wrong, like when someone forgot to do something for the event and it's really crucial, we'll help them try to solve the problem.

Our side-job, aside from translating and taking care of fights, is sorting suggestions from the students, collected in a box on the Student Council's board.

My partner, the other Communication Representative, is Aria Falzetta. She's been excused from the school because of family matters.

Aria is the one responsible over the articles in School News (our school's newspaper), or the airings by the Radio club (both of us didn't want to control the students too much, though, so even though we say "we control the airings all the time", we don't do that). While she's gone, a substitute took her place, but now that I think of it, I rarely see her. Maybe because I'm too busy? Or she's too busy? I should approach her one of these days, I guess. Partners should work together, after all! What was her name again...Chrome Dokuro? Yeah. I should talk to her. Mental note, self.

Well, anyhow, I'm done. I stretched and glanced at the clock; it's almost 11 PM. I turned off the lights and let the curtains open, so the room won't be too dark. I abhor darkness. It makes me uncomfortable.

I slid into the warmth of the bed covers, my head burying deep into the pillow. Compared to my house, Giotto house is in a constant silence. The difference is so big that it's like comparing the day and the night. There was no silence in my house, when there's barely a sound (other than me and Giotto) in this house.

I averted my gaze to the windows, and...eh? Who's that on the balcony? ...Giotto?

I stood up, and almost automatically, my legs walked towards the door to the balcony. My hand reached out for the doorknob, and I opened the door very quietly. Giotto seemed to be alerted by the door's noise, apparently, and he turned around—and I was temporarily mesmerized by the sight.

Giotto's blue eyes looks so...blue. The moonlight lit his eyes a bit, making an effect as if it's glowing and shine like a sunny day's bright blue sky, while the center of it is like the deep sea. Like if you stare at them for too long, you'll be sucked so deep into his eyes to the point you can return anymore. His features look more refined than ever, and for a split second, I thought that the man in front of me wasn't Giotto. "Hi, Tsuna." His smooth voice said, his trademark angelic smile graced upon his lips, and ah, Giotto.

...I really am turning to sound like a teenage girl in love, aren't I. All these cheesiness, a-an-and these stuff... oh my God. It's all going according those cheesy teenage romance novels I've read!

And I thought I would never be like those girls before Giotto came into my life...again.

"Tsuna...?" Giotto called again, and I snapped back to reality. "Oh, hi." I quickly replied, awkwardness heavy on the air. He chuckled –almost mockingly, I bet—, saying "So young, yet spacing out so many times already, eh?" and I glared at him. I walked over to the spot beside Giotto as he leaned back on the railing, his arms resting on top of it. I folded my own arms and rested them upon the top of the railing. I looked up to the moon, who seems as if it's bathing me with its yellow-ish soft light.

"Giotto?" I called out as I closed my eyes, enjoying the fresh air at night. He hummed in response, letting me know that he's all ears.

"Have you ever feel...lonely?" I asked, my eyes opening a fraction.

"...Why did you ask?" he asked back.

"It's just that.. you never mentioned your family, and with a house this big...don't you feel lonely sometimes?" I said, tilting my head to the side as I glanced up on him. He looked surprised for a moment, and then his face turned to a thoughtful one.

"You're right, sometimes, I do feel lonely. But… I'm used to it now. And even if I never mentioned my family, that doesn't mean that I don't have a family," Giotto shrugged, "…it's just that I'm so used to living without them in my life, so I don't feel really lonely anymore. My parents were always busy since I was born, and I have no siblings. Moving here by myself is not so different from when I was in Italy." the blonde's eyes looks as if they were looking far, far back to his days in Italy.

"And I have you here with me now, anyway, right?" he looked down to me as he grinned playfully, wrapping his arm around my neck as if to strangle me as I grinned back.

"Yeah, I'm here."

The sound of birds chirping woke me up; sunlight welcoming me to another new day. I yawned, getting more oxygen to wake my sleepy brain up, and I hear my joints making little 'crack' sounds as I stretch them. I slipped off the covers and walked out of the room, heading to the kitchen. I don't think Giotto woke up already, and today's Saturday—might as well as to make breakfast for both of us.

I tried to keep my voice down, not making any sound as I descend down the stairs. I heard a sound from the kitchen—it was like someone is humming.

"…Who's there?" I called out while my feet kept walking down the stairs. I turned my head to the source of sound, only to find a woman in his 40's, clad in a maid outfit, staring back to me. I reached the first floor and walked towards her.

"Good morning," she greeted, her lips curving up to a smile. As soon as I saw a clear look of her face, I felt my head throb so badly—it was as if it's splitting to two.

My legs buckled and fell to the floor as energy left me powerless; pictures and words started to flood into my head as I feel extreme pain, making my head pound. I brought my hands to my temples, making a futile effort in making the pain cease. I saw flashes of people's faces; the same face, the smiles I've seen so many times, the same eyes…and again, I saw flashes of Giotto's face.

All of the sudden, the excruciating pain stopped altogether. When I heard the woman's voice calling for me, I snapped my head up to meet her worried gaze. "…-re you okay?" her voice was a bit panicky now, anxiety in her eyes.

"I-I'm fine, thank you, Tsukina—" I slapped my mouth shut as my eyes widened. My memories said that she was my mother from my past life –the one responsible for me and Giotto's past life together—but I don't think I need more than one person (Giotto) thinking that something's wrong with my head! Gee, now I have to explain—

I was suddenly enveloped in a big, warm hug from the woman in front of me as she said, "You remembered!" in relief.

….wait, what?

It turns out that the woman was my mother in my past life. She remembers her past ever since she fell from the stairs one day, hitting her head pretty hard. That event seemed to trigger her past memories, and it led to the suspicion of her being insane because of the hit.

Her name is Tsukina Abrielle. She's half-Italian and half-Japanese, with dark brown eyes and dirty blonde hair.

She's been working for Giotto's family ever since she was around 16 years old, and she dedicated herself to the family fully, simply because she believed that 'sticking with Giotto would eventually lead to Ellenois'. And of course, that 'Ellenois' right there in that sentence is me. Tsukina is basically "the closest mother figure Giotto could ever find".

I talked about a lot of things with her; about the school, about Reborn, about my current family—everything. I had so many things I had wanted to tell her, and now that I met someone I loved dearly in my past life… this feeling is just… indescribable.

"Good morning," a familiar voice called out from the stairs. I looked up and saw Giotto, his eyebrows tangled in confusion. I was so into the conversation that I didn't notice Giotto staring at us, talking to each other like we're best friends since forever. I greeted him back, while my mom said, "Good morning, Giotto. Come here, eat your breakfast. Tsuna-chan here made it for you." as she smiled.

"Oh, you don't have to, Sawada—" "Tsuna." I cut him off.

"Eh?"

"Call me Tsuna." I smiled confidently, humor clear in my voice. "Just like how you want me to call you Giotto, call me Tsuna." I chuckled softly. Giotto's eyes twitched as I laughed together with Tsukina.

To be continued.

A/N: Most of you would most probably be furious this time for not updating for almost a year (heck, I think most of you readers would even ignore this fic) but yeah. This is the update.

Hopefully this fic would progress faster now, cause Black134 decided to help me! 8D I'm a real fail in organizing, aren't I (ignores my teacher's comment "You're organized", ha), Black134? I keep mixing up chapters for Past Memories with my other fic, orz.

By now, I think you would've noticed that I have a life, too. Just like you all do. And with my recent events, it's even busier than usual (SPARTAN TEACHERS!). So yeah. I can't guarantee you when I can update again, but until then, see you!

As usual, pardon me for my (horriblehorriblehorrible) grammar and (horrendous) choice of words. Pardon me for any mistakes, actually XD I haven't been writing for so long to the point I keep forgetting stuff orz