Are You The One?

Written by: CherryDrug

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn doesn't belong to us. If it did, we would have shipped anybody with everybody, and the series wouldn't be as dead as it was now. Thank freaking sprite for fan fiction having not died yet.

Rating: T-rated, 'cause we're still a bunch of pussies who can't put on their big girl panties and publish a smutty chapter

Genre: *slaps every genre here*

Characters: Everybody. Duh

Summary: It has been said long ago that actions speak louder than words ever could; however, when you live in a world where the first thing your soulmate says to you is etched upon your skin—well, suffice to say, actions don't even hold a candle to how important words can be.

Pairing(s) (for this chapter): N/A

Warnings: Alternate Universe where people bear soul-identifying marks; yaoi AKA boy x boy in the future; yuri AKA girl x girl; All27; drabble series

AN: Eri: Because I felt like Hana needed a longer story to talk about her past; and since she isn't Tsuna's soulmate, she needed a little bit of juice too. But she'll have some interesting soulmates—that I'm fucking sure of.

Choco: All the girls will have interesting soulmates, teehee!


CHAPTER 15

Hana isn't the pessimistic little girl that we all know. She can be hopeful too.


Ambition. The strong desire to achieve one's goals through any means necessary. Ambitious. Used to describe one's strong desire to succeed. That's what the caretakers would call her, amongst the many other nicknames that she'd gathered in her time at the orphanage.

Little Hana, baby flower, scary eyes, unwanted child, freak, and many more.

Ambitious Hana was by far her most favorite one, because it spoke of the dreams that she had for her future. But Ambitious Hana didn't dream of becoming a princess of a kingdom who'd lost their sole heir and being swept away by her fated prince—no, Ambitious Hana wasn't like that, she wasn't like any of the other little girls in the orphanage who'd began their so called princess training for when the right time came for them to meet their soulmates.

Tales of women as damsels in distress never really appealed to Hana. To her, to Ambitious Hana, women were as strong and capable as men. Women were as much as a fighter as men were, even more so if they had to be the one to deliver the next generation. Women weren't meant to be viewed as weaker gender, nor were they to be portrayed as rewards or possessions that a male could just easily. No. Women were more than that, and Hana was prepared to show the world that women were clearly the more superior race.

Ambitious Hana dreamed of being adopted one day, of becoming someone who could change this world.

But alas, nobody wanted her because of the many soulmarks adorning the pale skin that's stretched taut over her muscles.

It's not until she turns four does everything change for her.

It all started when a woman—a woman with long, curly black hair and the brightest pair of blue eyes that Hana has ever seen—suddenly walked into the orphanage, but it's the way that she carried herself and walked to the nearest adult with confidence and grace in her strides that attracts Hana's attention to her, because that's how a strong woman should look like. Confident, strong and beautiful at the same time.

It took Hana a minute to realize that the woman must have come to look for a child—because duh, what else would you come to an orphanage for?—and she sat straighter in her seat, pushed her wavy hair back, and tried to look like she was reading with earnest interest. She ignored the other girls who made a fuss of themselves, dolling themselves up at the mirror, and even going so far as to push one another to get a better look of themselves.

"Gather around, girls!" The head of the orphanage called for them, and Hana obediently set her book down on the table and went to stand at the end of the line because none of the girls would allow themselves to be scooted over to the end. Being at the end of the line meant that there was a lower chance of being picked, and Hana was already used to standing at the end.

She ignored the sneers and haughty looks sent her way as she passed by the girls. Hana just tilted her chin up a little higher. Because one day, she'll get out of this orphanage and become someone important while they just dawdle about, wasting their lives by settling down with a husband, and never once living up to their fullest potential or becoming the strong women that they should be.

Hana will show them. She'll show them all.

"This is Kurokawa-san, girls. Why don't you all greet her?" The head of the orphanage suggested in a soft and gentle voice.

Most of the girls greeted Kurokawa-san enthusiastically, sans Hana and a few of the shyer ones who murmured it softly yet politely all the same.

"Kurokawa-san, it's a pleasure to have you come to our orphanage today to find one of our girls to adopt," the head said, and all of the girls perked up at that.

Hana felt a flurry of butterflies gather about in her stomach, feeling nervous for all of a sudden as she wrung her hands into the edges of her dress. She hoped that Kurokawa-san would pick her.

"We have seventeen little girls here in our orphanage. Why don't you get to know each one of them until you find the right one?" The head of the orphanage encouraged with a beaming smile.

Kurokawa-san smiled politely in return and nodded her head briefly. "I will. Thank you," she said with a bow of her head, before she turned her attention to the seventeen little girls.

Hana waited patiently as Kurokawa-san talked to each one of the girls, each of their conversations ending with Kurokawa-san smiling indulgently at the girl she'd been talking to and telling said girl that it was nice meeting her. Hana didn't know whether Kurokawa-san had liked talking to each girl, because the questions of each conversation had always been the same.

What's your name? How old are you? What do you like? What do you want to do when you grow up?

"Hi."

Hana nearly jumped out of her skin when Kurokawa-san kneeled down in front of her and spoke to her. She blinked her dark eyes and looked up into bright blue ones. "Um..." Hana said unsurely. "Good morning," she settled on, holding the sides of her skirt up and curtsying as gracefully as she could. When she looked up, the woman was blinking down at her, before a small smile lit up her face.

"I'm Kurokawa Hanako," the woman introduced herself, and Hana blinked, because this hadn't a part of any of the woman's conversations with the other girls. Risking a glance at the other girls, Hana could see that her orphanage-mates were looking at them with interest. "What's your name?" Hanako asked her.

"..." Hana stared blankly at the woman, finding this particular question a little bit too ironic. "My name is Hana," she introduced herself as.

Hanako blinked a few times, appearing surprised, before she composed herself once again and merely looked amused. "Hmm. Well what do you know, our names match!" She chuckled, her voice coming out deeper than higher like all the other women workers in the orphanage would laugh like. "How old are you, Hana-chan?" She asked curiously, tilting her head a bit and causing her curly black hair to tumble down over one shoulder.

"Four," Hana answered.

"And what do you like, Hana-chan?"

"Books!" Hana immediately answered, before shrinking back into herself, a flush covering her cheeks, and looking embarrassed for her exclamation. "I like books about strong girls," she murmured quietly.

"Oh?" Hanako asked, her interest having been captured. "And what kind of strong girls?"

Hana played with her fingers for a few seconds before she answered, "The ones who can fight for themselves." She didn't say anything else after that.

"Don't you like playing with dolls or teacup parties?" Hanako asked her, and Hana bit her lip, reluctant to give an honest answer, before she shook her head.

She'd never played with dolls, nor had she ever been invited to a teacup party. The girls in the orphanage didn't really like her because of her many soulmarks, so she hadn't been able to experience any of those games.

"Tell me, Hana-chan," Hanako said, her voice soft and lulling, and Hana felt her chin being lifted up. "What do you want to do when you grow up?"

Both Hana and Hanako stared into one another's eyes, neither saying a word after that question, until one of them broke the silence.

"I want to work," Hana stated firmly, and she willed down her embarrassed blush when she heard the other girls giggle at her bold words. Swallowing the lump that had accumulated in her throat, Hana continued on, "I don't want to become a housewife. I want to work. I want to become a smart and strong woman who can take care of herself. I don't want to rely on a man. I want to get my own job, earn my own money, and support my own family,"

There was a brief silence that occupied the entire room, and Hana closed her eyes, knowing that the head of the orphanage would most likely scold her for being so bold and unfeminine.

Another reason for why she was a freak.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Kurokawa-san," the head of the orphanage apologized. The head of the orphanage had always viewed that the proper place for a woman would be in the kitchen, whilst the other caretakers were much kinder and had a open-minded view. Hana had never liked the head, because the head would always get mad at her for dreaming such 'ridiculous nonsense.' "Hana-chan's always been like this since she'd arrived. Spouting out such ridiculous nonsense. I apologize once again," the head of the orphanage bowed her head deeply.

"Oh, that's fine," Hanako said, pushing her long hair behind her ears. The smile that she gave to the elderly woman seemed much more colder, in Hana's opinion. Sharper too. "Hana-chan's just growing up after all. Every little girl needs some ridiculous nonsense for a dream," she said, and Hana didn't know whether the woman was being sarcastic or just plain insulting her. "But anyways, I've already decided on who I want to adopt," Hanako said, her smile beaming and completely icy. "I want Hana-chan here to be mine," she chirped, and Hana turned her head upwards to stare at her in surprise.

The orphanage mother stared at her with wide eyes, jaw slackened. "H-Huh?"

"You heard me," Hanako said. "I want to adopt Hana-chan," she said as she stood up to her full height and placed her hand on Hana's right shoulder. "Now," she spoke calmly and regally. "Where are the papers that I have to sign?"


Hana still couldn't believe that she'd been adoptedpicked! Out of all the seventeen and sixteen other normal girls, she, the freakiest one there, had been picked!—even as Hanako had slung the seatbelt over Hana's body and locked it into place before doing the same for herself.

For the beginning of the ride, all had been silent, and Hana had been thankful for those few minutes of peace. She needed time for herself to organize the calamity that was now happening in her mind and state of sanity. But then Hanako—her new, adopted, mother—suddenly broke the silence when they stopped at a red traffic light.

"None of it was ridiculous nonsense," was the first thing she'd said, and Hana snapped her head to stare up at her, confusion etched upon her features.

"Huh?"

"What that crazy old woman said about your dreams," Hanako—her mother, she corrected—clarified. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to become a strong and independent woman," she said.

"I..." Hana honestly had nothing to say. "...Thank you," was all she'd manage to say, too tongue-tied to say anything else.

And then her mother began rambling about things. How the orphanage head was really whacked up in the head to tell a little girl that her dreams were basically full of shit, when in reality it was a practical one compared to all the crazy and fictional dreams that all those other girls had; how they had to buy more things for Hana since all the clothes Hana had owned was the ones she had on, and the only things she had to get from her room were the pink blanket she'd been wrapped in as a baby when she'd been abandoned on the doorstep of the orphanage to almost freeze to death in the rain, and what few books she had as a gift from some of the caretakers; how Hana would maybe love their new home in Namimori, a small town in Japan, because Kyoto was too busy and noisy for Hanako's tastes, and so one and so forth.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, they stopped at another stoplight and her mother turned to her to ask her another question.

"So," she began conversationally. "How many soulmarks do you have? I have only one of them now, cause my other two kinda greyed out when my soulmates died, and I didn't even meet them yet..." her mother said, appearing to have zoned out if her glazed eyes were anything to talk about. "But anyways! Mine's on my thigh, and I'll show it to you later," she said.

Hana didn't know what in the world a thigh was. She'd look it up in a book later, if her new mother had any books about the human body.

"So how many do you have?" her mother asked curiously.

Hana swallowed down her nervousness, debating whether or not she should tell her new mother. Hanako seemed nice enough, and open-minded enough. "I have seven," she answered.

Hanako merely blinked at her, before she turned her attention back to the road once the stoplight went green.

They drove off for a few minutes, before Hanako pulled to a stop off to a side.

"Um, can you repeat what you just said, Hana-chan?" her mother asked her, twitchy smile in place.

"I have seven soulmarks," Hana clarified.

Hanako stared down at her. "Seven?" She asked, testing the waters. Hana nodded slowly in reply. "Okay," Hanako said, appearing to be fine. "So you have seven soulmarks," she repeated, and Hana nodded again.

Another brief silence encompassed the air above them.

And, having seen the wariness on Hana's face, Hanako tried to comfort the girl. "Oh, don't worry, Hana-chan! I won't return you back to the orphanage. You became my daughter the minute I signed all the papers, and I wouldn't give up any of my children to any orphanage. Plus, I don't really like that crazy old lady, she could corrupt you," Hanako muttered the last part, and Hana strained to hear it but could only catch bits and snippets of it. "I won't bring you back there, Hana-chan," Hanako said, bringing her hand out to pat Hana on the head. "I'll never do that to you," she assured. "Just...give me a few minutes to process this, okay?"

Hana nodded slowly again, looking unsure.

And then, after having confirmed that Hana was comforted that she wouldn't be brought back to that hellhole, Hanako pulled her hand back and slammed her forehead into the steering wheel, groaning a bit from both the pain in the middle of her forehead and what was her life now after having adopted a kid with seven soulmarks.

"Kami, I need a fucking drink," she muttered quietly.


Word Count: 2800