And there they were, outside Tsuna's comfy little home. He opened the door and said to his mom, "Okaasan, I'm back."
"Ahhh Tau-kun, Reborn-kun, welcome home." Sawada Nana walked out with a bright smile. Hane liked her the very second she saw Tsuna's mom. She looked sweet, innocent and caring. All her life she had been raised by men. And not very fatherly ones. They were more like a bunch of inexperienced babysitters or, better, teachers. She hadn't had a motherly figure for a long time. "Yamamoto-kun, Gokudera-kun, welcome! Ehh...is this your new friend, Tsu-kun?"
"Hai, Aunt Sawada, I'm Shirotatsu Hane! I'm a transfer student." For the first time in Japan, she introduced herself in delight.
"Ah, Hane-chan you're so cute!" Sawada Nana was literally glowing. Apparently the "iemitsu-coming-back" effect was still on. "Do you have a place to stay? You're most welcomed to live in our home."
"Okaasan!" Tsuna's protested. Not that he didn't like Hane, but his home was getting more and more crowded.
As Nana offered, Hane's face lightened up, shifting her sight to Reborn with endless hope. But then Reborn gave her a "don't even think about it" smile, and her face darkened again.
"It's okay, Aunt Sawada, I already have a place to stay."
"Lambo-san has arrived! AHAHAHAHAHAH!" A kid in cow-suit hopped down the stairs and arrogantly laughed at them. Then a pig-tailed little girl in chinese costume followed, angrily pointing at Lambo.
"Lambo! Give me back my candy!" I-Pin started to chase after him but he kept on bouncing everywhere.
"Lambo, knock it off." Tsuna said wearily but it had no effect. Lambo even stepped on his foot, leading to him gasping in pain.
Ipin frowned and decided to pose for her special skill. "Gyoza Fist!"
And she accurately hit Lambo. He fell onto the ground and started howling-Tsuna's home is not a suitable environment for children', thought Hane.
"Hold-it-in…..! You stupid pig-tail head, how could you do that to the almighty Lambo-san?!" He angrily pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his hair and put it on. "Rrrrrrr!"
"Bro…..Broccoli-Fly monster!" Ipin screamed, and started to shake with fright. Sweat began to drop from her little head. The ninth Pinzu appeared on her forehead at an instant. She inadvertently held on to the leg of the person closest to her—Sawada Tsunayoshi.
"Oh no! Not Pinzu-timed bomb again!" Tsuna quickly tore her off of his leg and tossed her around.
"We're having this thrilling little game again? Nice!" Yamamoto, as usual, gave a bright smile to I-Pin who was now clinging on his foot.
"Ahhhh Yamamoto watch out! It's dangerous!" Tsuna just couldn't let his friend get directly hit by the bomb. He plucked up his courage and dragged I-Pin off again when the countdown was up to three and tried to throw it as far as possible.
Yet he forgot there's someone standing at that direction—Shirotatsu Hane.
There was only one pinzu left on I-Pin's forehead.
And boom.
Mists and ashes shrouded over Hane. Tsuna froze with a half-numbed, half-desperate expression on his face. He couldn't believe that he just murdered his new classmate.
"Hane-chan?" Tsuna softly called her name, with a slight hope that she was still alive.
"Ahemmmmmmc!" A series of cough responded. As the smokes faded, a completely safe Shirotatsu Hane was unveiled. She tried to cough out all of the dust that swarmed at her and complained, "How could you toss me such a dangerous thing, Tsuna-kun?"
"Hiieeee! Hane-chan, you're alive?!" Tsuna rushed towards her and checked if she had any injuries, yet all he could find was dirt on her face and uniform. Hane started to wipe the dirt off her face and brushed ashes off her now slightly grey hair. But then she was distracted by the dusts and burn marks on her uniform.
"Man. Hibari's going to kill me." She sighed and tried to clean herself up in vain.
"I'm sorry." I-pin bowed and apologized.
"It's lucky that you threw I-pin at Hane but not anyone else, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn whipped out his 10-t hammer again and ruthlessly bashed it against Tsuna's head.
"Itetetetete!" Tsuna clutched his head in agony. But then something came up to his mind. "Wait, I don't remember I-pin's Pinzu-timed bomb being so…mild."
"Hane has the ability to dissolve energy." Reborn answered. "She doesn't have an attribute, or else Vongola could use another guardian."
"I think I should go." Hane looked at her uniform again. "I gotta take care of this mess before Hibari finds out I ruined the school uniform on the first day."
With Reborn's permission, Hane waved goodbye and promised she would visit Tsuna's home next time. She started walking to the direction of Hibari's mansion—or to wherever she thought was the direction of Hibari's mansion.
She could get lost on her usual way home just because the decorations were slightly altered, not to say this was the first time she went from Hibari's home to school, and the first time she went from school to Tsuna's home. It was ridiculous to even think that she could combine the two already unfamiliar routes and figure out how to go from Tsuna's home to Hibari's.
Actually not recognizing directions was not a big problem, because one could always return to Tsuna's home and ask someone for help. Nevertheless, Shirotatsu Hane, with a weird mind that all geniuses had, could not find her way back to Tsuna's home after wandering around the community.
It's actually also not a problem if she could not return to her original position because one could always call for help. However, her weird mind once again acted against her favour and she could not even explain where she currently was.
"Hane-chan, I know there are trees, roads and walls around you." Hane chose Yamamoto Takeshi as her savior, yet he could not understand her description of her current location at all.
Beep.
And her phone went out of battery.
Hane sighed.
She was so gonna be bitten to death.
On the other hand, Hibari Kyoya frowned at his simple, black cellphone. He called that horned-herbivore seven times yet the line had been dead. How dare she ignore his phone call?
Or was she in danger?
'First day in Japan and you got yourself into some sort of trouble. Yes, horned-herbivores are more troublesome, after all.' He thought to himself.
He very much wanted to go home alone. However, if she really got hurt, he would have to wait for weeks before training her and thus entertaining him. Plus he hated the idea of outsiders hurting students from his school. Not that he cared much about them, but it's like an infringement of his properties.
"Yo, Hibari!" An energetic voice broke off his ponder. Hibari turned to see Yamamoto Takeshi waving at him a few metres away.
"Have you seen Shirotatsu Hane, Yamamoto Takeshi?" Hibari asked cooly.
"Yes, Hane-chan was heading home." Yamamoto replied as Hibari winced at his over-intimate address of the girl. "She got lost so she called me, but I think her phone ran out of battery. Tsuna and I are looking for her right now."
"There is no such need. Get off the streets." Hibari ordered.
An hour later, Hibari was grasping Hane's wrist and dragging her along a rocky path in the dark. He was clutching her hard so its slightly painful, but Hane knew she was in the wrong and so tolerated.
After ten minutes of torturing silence, Hane stammered, "Ano…Hibari-senpai…"
"And now you're addressing me by 'senpai'?" He halted, turned and squinted dangerously at the smaller girl. "How could any person in this world wander one kilometer off after getting lost?"
"I'm sorry." Hane's eyes met his for half a second as she flinched and stared at the ground in embarrassment.
"I'll bite you to death next time." Hibari snapped.
They went back to silence and continued walking. Soon, Hane was intoxicated by a gorgeous sea of pink in front of her. Her eyes widened and her gait began to become lighter.
"Hibari-senpai." She cheerfully chanted.
"Yes?"
"Sakura is just so pretty! I love Japan."
"…..Kamikorousu!"
And Hane's scream echoed in the streets.
Dinner time-
Hane was sitting opposite Hibari, rubbing her new bruises in frustration. Kusakabe Tetsuya made them a simple dinner.
"Three things." Hibari elegantly finished a piece of pork and started. "First of all, you have no accuracy. You missed three of the five whips you tried to slash at me."
"I only learned how to use a whip for a couple of days a few years back then. Dino-nii hasn't taught me anything yet." She argued.
"Second of all, you have no strength." Hibari ignored her protest. "You hit me twice and it did not even immobilize me, or at least restrained my movements. Thirdly, I have to say you did a good job avoiding my attacks, but that doesn't help you in a fight unless you can outrun the enemy or unless someone is on their way to save you."
"I don't like fighting anyway." She grunted and finished her soup. She picked up a pair of chopsticks and struggled to get herself some vegetables.
"You don't hold chopsticks that way." Hibari frowned. He grasped her hand and moved her fingers to the right positions. Due to intense training, there was a thin layer of calluses on his hand. She could also feel that his hands were slightly colder than hers. That quite fitted his personality.
"Practise more." He ordered and tossed a piece of veggie at her bowl.
"Uh…Thanks." She held the bowl to her lips and used the chopsticks to swoop food into her mouth. Hibari frowned again. He realized he'd been frowning a lot since she got here.
"Make sure you clean up your uniform. And the dishes." Hibari stared until Hane unwillingly nodded, then went back to his room.
