Ay, long time no see?

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Chapter 15: Math, desu!

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Sender: Takara

If live gives you lemons….where did life get the lemons?

From: Enma

Sometimes I question your sanity.

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It wasn't until it happened that I remembered what today entailed – that being the arrival of one Miura Haru into our lives (or Tsuna's, really; at first anyways). Seeing the 'you-have-no-clue-what-you're-talking-about' and the 'why-do-the-crazies-always-find-me' looks on Tsuna's face made me laugh, and thus halted the confrontation momentarily as they all glanced over to me.

"Ara, did you make a new friend, Tsuna?" I hefted my school bag a little higher onto my shoulder. "And a girl, too. Good for you."

He spluttered, but before anything coherent could be said by him Haru interjected. "I am Miura Haru, desu! And I am here to save Reborn-kun from his horrible influence!"

"Oh yeah. Tsuna really is horrible." Tsuna squawked indignantly at my easy grin and harsh words. "Horrible at school stuff and sports and about randomly losing his clothes – but that last one might not be so bad if he wants to pursue a career as a stripper, you know."

"Takara-chan. Please stop talking!" Tsuna's hands flailed about in front of him, his face embarrassed and apprehensive as Haru puffed up her cheeks.

"This is no joking matter, desu!" Haru stomped a foot before making some exaggerated pose, her face serious. "He is ruining Reborn-chan's purity with his rotten heart!"

I hummed and rocked back on my heels. "Mmmn, yeah, okay, let's go with that."

Before anything else could be said, high-pitched laughter rang through the air, announcing the arrival of Lambo. It was rather reminiscent of that movie "George of the Jungle" when I really thought about it – because him swinging in on that wire wasn't going to end up going so well for him. Really it was a matter of keeping yourself balanced and letting go at the right time, but the kid just didn't have that much luck (or smarts, considering he let go of the rope to try and pull out grenades while in midair).

"Reborn! Prepare your –"

Tsuna winced a bit as Lambo smashed face-first into the concrete – "Gotta…stay…calm…"

"Well," I crossed my arms behind my head. "That's one way to make a beef patty."

"Takara." Tsuna's face was deadpan. "Please stop."

But it was also at that moment that Haru darted forward to check on the kid – an opportune moment that Tsuna, Reborn and I took advantage of (because I really didn't want to be late for class, nor deal with Haru during her 'I must save Reborn!' spiel). Haru was a character I never disliked – but she had been annoying during this point in time, as none of this had really been any of her business anyways, and as such she really shouldn't have butted in.

But, really, there were more important things to deal with right now.

"Hey, Tsuna." He glanced over, eyeing Reborn perched on my shoulder and then me.

"Y-yeah?"

"Don't we get our math tests back today?"

"….ahhhh, man. Today sucks."

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Sawada Nana was a wonderful, sweet woman. Though I still couldn't make any sense of how she managed to stay so damn oblivious. Or maybe it was an act – maybe Sawada Nana did see and connect the dots but chose to say nothing; it didn't seem too likely to me, but anything was possible. I certainly didn't want her to change, though, not if doing so meant I didn't get any more tasty snacks (food is love, food is life; that's what I say).

"Oh man, this is really helping." Tsuna looked absolutely relieved, and I could understand why; most of his make-up assignment had been completed. "You're really smart, Gokudera-kun. You too, Takara-chan."

"We're great additions in situations like these, huh?" My fingers tapped rhythmically against my crossed legs. "We divide and conquer any problems, neh?"

"Oh, would you shut up!" Gokudera shook a clenched fist at me, a scowl marring his face. "Is it impossible for you to ever be serious?! I can't believe you even passed this test! Must have been a fluke or something."

"Actually." Reborn sipped on an expresso, Leon curled up on his hat. "Takara has been consistently among the top five of your class. She even scored higher than you in English, Gokudera."

Gokudera's face was a mixture of mortification and surprise, which was mildly insulting if I was being honest. I hadn't really done anything like Yamamoto Takeshi had to make him think I was some oblivious idiot, had I? Sure, I joked around, but that shouldn't necessarily equate to stupidity. Or perhaps this was a result of Gokudera's own genius – because he was supposed to be a bit of a prodigy intellectually, wasn't he?

"Underestimating others isn't nice, you know." I wagged a finger in his face. "Besides, we're supposed to be helping Tsuna, not fighting, right?"

At that he stiffened and whirled in his seat, his human version of a puppy-dog face already formed. "Right! Is there anything else you need help with, Juudaime?"

"Ah, well….number seven is really confusing." Tsuna lifted the paper up and I resisted the urge to laugh (because this question was so stupid). "'If you had a stack of one hundred sheets of eleven point five centimeters squared papers, which are dropped together from a height of three meters, prove that when they fall to the ground, the stack will not fall apart.'"

He paused and his shoulders drooped.

"I've got no clue!"

"J-juudaime..!"

And then the door opened, revealing a smiling Haru with a tray of snacks and a handkerchief tied around her head –

"I brought snacks! And…" Her face turned serious and one of her hands was held clenched to her chest. "I'm also here to make sure that Reborn-chan isn't badly influenced!"

The air after that was awkward to say the least – mostly because Tsuna was undoubtedly feeling oh so very awkward; if not because of Haru, then because of the scowling Gokudera beside him. I almost wanted to end this ('cause I did know how to answer the question) but I doubted that would get Haru to leave, even if Gokudera and I ended up leaving. So instead –

"Say, isn't that the uniform for Midori Middle School? I always thought it should have more green to it, but…"

"That's right!" Haru's eyes never relaxed nor left Tsuna's form as she answered, but things seemed to click in Tsuna's head.

"Oh! That school's really hard to get into, right?" Haru gave an affirmative nod. "T-then you can probably solve this problem, can't you?"

"Fine, I can do it! But once I do, then that means you can have nothing to do with Reborn-chan anymore!"

Tsuna's response was quiet, weak. "B-but that's Reborn's choice too, isn't it?"

This was another reason I hadn't liked Haru at this point. It was an extremely childish and inappropriate request, as she wasn't related to Reborn in any way. He wasn't hers to control or have a say about, no matter how cute or innocent she thought he was. It wasn't bad to care or childish – lord knew I acted childish enough – but the way Haru was going about things was wrong (which, now that I thought about it, seemed to be a lesson that Reborn was actually working to teach her at this point).

And it was late, very late, by the time Haru gave up on solving it. I had hoped that how long it had taken the girl to give up was an exaggeration, but apparently it hadn't been.

"Hieee." Tsuna cradled his head in his hands, his face defeated. "So none of us can answer it. What now?"

"Eh? What do you mean?" As he lifted his head up my eyes scrunched in a yawn. "I never said I couldn't answer it, you know."

Gokudera slammed his hands down on the table, shaking everything on it as his face reddened. "Are you fooling around again?! What the hell kind of joke are you trying to make, woman?!"

"You are so rude!" Haru puffed up, her cheeks inflated and her shoulders high. "You should be nicer to girls, desu!"

Reborn squished Leon into a ball in his hand, not even looking up –

"A true mafia member treats a woman with respect."

"Aah, well…" Gokudara flushed momentarily, his face sheepish. "W-well then…if you have an answer then tell us."

"Well, if the papers had glue on them then they would stick together when they fell." I stretched my arms out above my head. "Or, I suppose, one could argue that it was never said whether the papers were still in their packaging or not; if they were then they'd stay together then too, right?"

"Ah, that's right." Reborn adjusted his newly placed nightcap. "Very intuitive of you, Takara."

Tsuna twitched, "Was this just a riddle, then?!"

Haru deflated in an instant, and I was sure it was because she realized that she hadn't won this little competition of sorts.

"You're one of them…so I can't take Reborn-chan from this place."

My shoulders and spine popped as I stood and twisted, "Ng, well, I don't think he would have gone with you even if you had."

She became somewhat angry at this, her cheeks flushed. "Why not, desu?! It would have been for Reborn-chan's own good!"

"I can't leave this house." Haru jerked as Reborn tugged his covers up. "Not until Tsuna becomes the tenth Vongola boss."

And then, in a very Reborn-like fashion, he was asleep.

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Sender: Takara

I think I want to learn to sleep with my eyes open.

Next time we hang out can you hold my eyes open while I sleep?

From: Enma

Seriously, what's wrong with you?

Also, as cool as being able to do that would be – no.

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The fact that early mornings didn't annoy me or make me grumpy was a bit of a blessing; though why I was a morning person I didn't know. Hana, though, was always just a tad bit more snarky early in the mornings than as per usual. In all honesty it made the mornings I met up with her and Kyoko on the way to school all the more entertaining (though the way Kyoko practically sparkled in the morning had to be paranormal). There was something that just felt real good about morning banter.

"Hana-chama, those purple bags really bring out the darkest depths of your eyes."

"Shut up, Taka-baka." Hana's hands moved almost reflexively to rub her eyes; eyes which had no bags, in actuality. "Your morning breath is so foul it's reaching all the way over here."

"The fresh minty smell doesn't perk you up?" Kyoko laughed softly between us. "Or is it the hint of fish from breakfast? Maybe the orange juice?"

Hana's face scrunched, her nose wrinkled and her lips poised to say something that was probably rude or insulting when Kyoko perked up and pointed down to where the water was –

"Oh! Isn't that Tsuna-kun? I wonder what they're doing down there." Soon enough the three of us were going down to where they were, as Kyoko seemed quite curious as to what was going on. "Tsuna-kun!"

"A-ah! Kyoko-chan!"

Hana eyed him and then the dripping Haru, "What are you guys doing? Going for a swim before school? Are you crazy?"

"Mn, isn't it cold?" Kyoko looked over to the water before looking back at Tsuna. "This isn't the best weather for swimming."

I grinned and waved a dismissive hand in the air. "I'm sure he just wanted to add a splash of something interesting and daring to his routine."

"T-that's not it at all…"

Haru practically exploded up into the air at that moment, her fist in the air above her and her face both excited and somewhat enamored. "Save Haru with my dying will! Uwahhh!"

And this was the Haru I liked; excitable and kind – no longer trying to force things she had no business changing. It was also kind of fun to watch Tsuna twitch when she did things like this, too. Though I'm sure he doesn't share my sentiments on the matter at hand (a matter that had evolved into Haru chasing Tsuna around while lovingly calling out 'Juu-dai-meee~!').

Hana quirked a brow, hand on her hip. "What idiots. I mean seriously."

"I think they're funny!" Kyoko giggled, watching the spectacle before us. "They seem like really good friends."

"I just think you're just jealous." Hana shot me an incredulous look. "I could chase you around, if you want. I'll even call your name with all the love I can muster, Ha-na-cha-maaa~."

"I'll kill you."

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From: Enma

Why is it that I have the feeling that someone wants to hurt you?

Sender: Takara

Beats me why you'd ever get that feeling. I'm a good girl.

From: Enma

I don't know why I even asked that.

The proper question would be "When is there ever not someone annoyed with you?".

Sender: Takara

Looooooooooveeeeee you too, Enma~!

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Writing the Haru chapter was a bit… bleh, for me. 'Cause there's not too much one can really change, you know? Like, Takara isn't the type that would enjoy somehow making Haru leave or something, and she's far too lazy to try and make the situation avoidable.

But Takara answered Q7, so no Bianchi or future!Lambo; or talk of Boreen.

I hope to get more creative with the next chapter (hopefully, maybe).

Also, I am total KHR and KnB trash.

TRaSh I SAY.

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Prince: Ahaha they are the ultimate dorks! Though I don't think Gokudera would have it in him to care at this point; he just wants to find his Juuuuudaiiiimeeeeee~! Though he might have wondered who she was with at some later point (and he might have complained about her not searching for Tsuna too).

Guest: Glad you liked it! :D I always love writing them haha