A Series of Snippets I.
There were flames burning from her hands.
Strangely, it did not burn.
The flames glowed orange.
There was no pain. There was no fear.
Dust was falling all around.
Instead, there was an unnatural calm that settled firmly in her heart.
Mamma mia, he forgot how much he loved Japan.
The first thing he did after arriving in Japan was to order a plate of curry rice. No one made curry like the Japanese could. It was just the right balance of sweet and savoury, and it never set your insides on fire. Of course, more than the food, the thing Shamal missed the most about Japan was -
"Hello gorgeous, just wondering where the nurse's office was." he said with a cheeky wink.
The teacher halted in her footsteps, and gave him a disapproving glare. "And who may you be, sir?"
Shamal gave a charming smile.
Then, a cheeky wink.
Masquerading as Shigeru has been a weird journey so far. However, even the tough training, the string of strange people she met and the whole concept of being part of the mafia could not compare to this – walking Kyoko-chan to school.
Tsuna smiled shyly at Kyoko-chan, who smiled back.
Silence.
What was she supposed to do? What did Shigeru talk about? Soccer? Tsuna knew nothing about soccer.
"Erm, how have you been, Kyoko-chan?" Tsuna asked, feeling stupid.
Kyoko-chan blushed and replied happily that she was doing great, thank you.
More silence.
She had never noticed how shy Kyoko-chan was around Shigeru. The popular girl seemed to engage in conversations easily enough with other people. However, right now, she remained quiet, and even threw subtle glances at Tsuna every now and then.
The silence was too painful to bear. She could not jeopardise Shigeru's chances with Kyoko-chan.
Tsuna tried again, "Nice weather today huh?"
She should have just kept quiet.
There were flames burning from her hands.
The fire glowed a warm and bright orange.
Like yesterday, it did not hurt.
Dust was falling all around.
Maybe it was normal not to feel pain in dreams.
On the ground lay two figures, one sprawled and one curled up on his side.
A tall figure stood across her.
He was holding a long staff.
"So boy, why should I help you or your friend?"
Tsuna stared at him, unsure.
"I only help women," he went on, and his hands mimed an hourglass shape in the air, "I don't help scrawny kids."
I'm a girl, Tsuna thought. But that shouldn't matter.
"It shouldn't matter whether or not I'm a boy or a girl," she told the doctor.
"Well, it matters to me."
Tsuna pursed her lips. Reborn had said, that this was the only doctor who could help Yamamoto-kun, who could save Yamamoto-kun. What was she supposed to do? She could not force a doctor to treat a patient he did not want to treat.
"Boss, shall I beat him up?"
"You can try, brat. Don't forget, I was the one who helped raise you."
Doctor Shamal. A user of mosquitos and viruses. Gokudera-kun's mentor. A dangerous person from the mafia world. Supposedly, a very qualified doctor. Also known as Trident Shamal.
She closed her eyes, and turned back.
"Let's go, Gokudera-kun."
She heard the pattering of feet as Gokudera-kun scrambled after her.
He was warm to touch, and his chest heaved with every breath.
What should she do?
"So he's on his way back already?"
"Alright. Good job."
Reborn sat at his favourite spot where he had a full view of the little town he was living at, one hand on the green chameleon which was his companion. There was a gentle breeze, and Leon gave a blissful chirp.
That night the brat ran away, Reborn knew something was up. It was not the way he sneaked off to his friend's house, nor was it the way he insisted that the hitman was not supposed to follow him which triggered Reborn's suspicion. It was the lack of feeling more than anything that triggered Reborn's alarm bells.
When he watched from afar how the soccer-player snuck off with his friends, drunk with glee, the hitman felt no sense of annoyance, no sense of urgency to stop the boy and was content to watch him leave.
Why?
The arcobaleno was still figuring it out.
Every part of herself screamed at her to go home and hide, that this was not her problem in the first place, it was Shigeru's and above all, what could she, dame-Tsuna, do anyway? Rokudo Mukuro was a criminal on the run, she was a below-average middle school student who exceled in failing at every aspect of life.
This was Shigeru's job.
She was just going to botch this up.
Just like she botched everything else up.
There were just three of them left, not counting Reborn. Tsuna stood in the middle with Gokudera-kun and Hibari-san flanking her sides. The both of them stood tall and their presence gave her strength. But Tsuna knew that despite their tough display, the both of them were heavily injured, having born most of the damage from the fights so far.
Tsuna would not be surprised if they collapsed at any moment.
She took a deep breath.
She would have to deal with this fight alone.
Somehow.
It's been too long since I've updated, and I'm really sorry for the lack of updates. Life has been a whirl and I really didn't have time nor heart to write out a full-length chapter. However, I managed to write some bits here and there. For now, I hope you enjoyed this series of short-snippets in I Will Follow You.
So how did you find this series of snippets? Let me know in a review. I may do some more of these (not too often of course) when I really have no time to write out a full chapter (or when I'm stuck let's be honest). As I said, I've been busy busy busy like a bee, so I cannot promise regular updates. What I can promise though, is that I will update and finish this story. It just may take a while.
Thank you for all your support and lovely reviews. As always, I'll sign off with the disclaimer~
DISCLAIMER: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! and its characters don't belong to me. The only thing I can claim ownership over is the storyline.