Chapter 9
Dynamites were exploding around them. Dust was falling everywhere.
"Psst!"
Suddenly, something pounced on her. Something fluffy and soft. She turned around, it was a huge white creature. It grabbed her tightly with its claws and started to shake her.
She snuggled further into the blankets.
"Oi, Tsuna."
A whisper. Did rabbits talk?
"Oi. Wake up, doink. "
Her eyes opened and focused...on the face of her brother. She sat up eagerly, only to recoil back in pain as her forehead banged against her twin's nose.
"Ow!" He yelled, "Tsunaaa-"
Tsuna could only groan in response, rubbing her forehead. However, she could not stop her mouth from stretching into a wide grin.
"Shige-chan, you're back!"
Shigeru slammed his hands onto her mouth, and whispered, "shut up! Do you want the baby to wake up?"
They both cast furtive looks into the corner where Reborn was supposed to be sleeping. There was no sound nor was there any movement. Still, the twins waited in silence for a few moments with Tsuna sat uncomfortably with her brother's hand still covering her mouth and Shigeru balanced on the edge of the bed.
Then, Tsuna felt her nose go all ticklish, and she sneezed.
"Eww, Tsuna," Shigeru took back his hand and wiped it off the back of his pants. "How can you be so gross?"
Sheepishly, the older twin apologised and laughed it off. Quietly, of course. She did not want to wake the baby hitman sleeping in the corner, and risk being killed in the most painful way Reborn could come up with.
"Welcome home," Tsuna said to her twin. Shigeru just smiled in response as he walked over to his desk and placed his bag on it with a light thump. She watched as he did some stretching, and then averted her eyes as her brother took off his shirt and pulled on a clean one from his closet.
"So how long are you going to sit in my bed, dummy?"
"Oh, right," Tsuna hurriedly got up, "okay, I'll just head back to my room then."
"Yepp."
"Yeah," Tsuna echoed backing out through the door, "goodnight, Shigeru."
"Night."
She closed the door in front of her, and let out a breath that she had did not realise she had been holding. Shigeru was back, everything will go back to normal now. She smiled and shuffled back to her own room. She had missed her room.
"Tsu-chan! When did you come back? How was the excursion?" her mother asked as Tsuna walked into the kitchen the next day wearing the female school uniform for the first time in weeks.
The bushy-haired girl could only give a wan smile in return. The weeks of pretending to be her twin must have caused her to forget what it was like to go back to being the Tsuna-nobody-remembered. She took a deep breath to calm her feelings, replied to her mother that the trip had gone well and walked over to sit at the dining table.
Then, Shigeru came crashing down the stairs. "Hey Tsuna! I've got to ask you something!"
"Good morning, Shi-kun." Mother greeted.
"Mornin' Mom." With a screech, her twin dragged out a chair and sat down across her. He then placed two circular bands on the table in front of her.
"I bought this for Kyoko, but I couldn't decide what colour. You're a girl," he said, "help me pick a colour."
Tsuna was impressed. Her football-maniac twin actually remembered to buy a souvenir for his crush. He must like her more than she thought. How adorable, she squealed internally.
"Are these hair ties?" She asked as she picked one up. It was navy blue, with a circular stone attached to it. The stone looked really pretty when it caught the light, and it was in her favourite sky blue colour.
"Duh, dummy."
She put back the blue one, and picked up the other one. This one was a pale pink colour, with a cherry blossom charm attached to it. She immediately thought of Kyoko-chan.
"But doesn't Kyoko-chan have short hair?"
"Yeah, but she'ld look great with long hair. I like girls with long hair." Her brother said smugly, rubbing his nose.
Tsuna wrinkled her nose. Something about the way Shigeru said that last sentence did not sit well with her, so she just hummed in response and placed the pink hair tie back on the table. "I think the pink one would suit her," she finally said.
"Ha! I thought so too!" Shigeru bragged.
He took the pink hair tie, dropped it into his shirt pocket and started wolfing down his breakfast. Tsuna tried to ask her brother about his audition. She had so many questions she wanted to ask – how did it go, what did he have to do and was it tough? But her twin was too busy stuffing himself with food to reply her. So she gave up and focused on her own set of breakfast.
"Oh yeah, here. You can have the other one." Shigeru said when he finished his breakfast.
"Really?" Tsuna replied, surprised.
Tsuna stared at the blue hair-tie, and tried to remember the last time she tied her hair up.
"My, Shi-kun, how sweet of you to give Tsu-chan a welcome-home gift." Her mother smiled and picked up the hair tie. "I haven't tied your hair since grade school, sweetie!"
Right, she remembered now. Especially how her hair stuck out like a palm tree, and how all the children laughed at her. She visibly cringed at the memory.
"Shall we give it a go today?"
"Huh?"
Reborn watched as Sawada Shigeru yelled goodbye and dashed out the house towards Naminori Middle School. Over the past few days, the pace of things have been picking up. Namimori students were found badly injured and are now hospitalised. More alarmingly, Hibari Kyouya had gone missing. Something was up, and Tsuna had been frantic but she would no longer be the one who had to deal with it. The brat had to be the one to deal with it now that he was back.
Reborn had to give him one last chance to prove himself.
The brat, after all, was the one that Iemitsu chose.
While the hitman was still curious about Tsuna, he had his orders. His had been instructed to train the next Vongola Boss, and train him he will. But first, he had to pummel the brat to hell and back for pulling a stunt like that.
"Lunch time! Let's go, boss!"
Tsuna smiled and stood up. During her stint pretending to be her brother, her recess was usually spent with Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun. It was a nice change from always eating alone in the classroom, waiting for recess to end and then, waiting some more, for school to end. It warmed her heart that the routine was still here even though her brother had returned. She wondered if Yamamoto-kun would still spend recess with them now that Shigeru was back.
She looked over to his empty chair.
The baseball player had been absent from school for quite a few days now. Was Reborn right in saying that only Doctor Shamal could help Yamamoto-kun? Tsuna pursed her lips. But Shigeru was back now, he would be able to do something about it. Shigeru could do anything. He wasn't the dame-twin. Deep in thought, she walked down the corridor with Gokudera-kun following close behind.
She was about to make a right turn when she felt a tug on her ponytail.
"Boss, it's the other way."
Sheepishly, Tsuna turned around and was about to head down the left walkway when she heard her brother's voice from behind her. She stopped to confirm, tugging on the back of her friend's shirt to stop him from walking ahead.
"Wha-"
"Shhh," she whispered, holding a finger to her lips, and looked back. There was a door left open by just a crack. Her brother must be in that room. She took a couple of steps backwards, and, even though she knew she should not, Tsuna could not help but listen in on the conversation.
"Oi bastard," she heard. "You gonna help Yamamoto or not?"
Who was her brother talking to?
"Are you deaf or a simpleton? I've told you before. I only treat women."
A taunt. This was not going to turn out good, her brother hated being made fun of.
"What kind of stupid reasoning is that?"
Shigeru's tone was sharp and his words almost sounded like a growl.
"Oh? You wanna fight me, brat?"
A chill ran through her, and she exchanged looks with Gokudera-kun. "Was that Shamal?" he mouthed. Tsuna nodded. Shamal's taunting had sounded like a joke, but it had also sounded like a threat. Suddenly, the door slid open.
"Now, who do we have here?"
Tsuna froze, afraid to turn around.
"Hayato, backing up your boss from the shadows now, are you?" Shamal smirked. "It's not like you to hide around."
Her friend said nothing. Tsuna watched as her brother exchanged a brief look with their silver-haired classmate, then her brother walked past the both of them, ruffling her hair.
"Now, aren't you a cutie?" Shamal, who had been sitting on a black chair with roller wheels, swivelled over and placed his face mere inches away from Tsuna's face. "I haven't seen you around before, what's your name, honey?"
Tsuna felt her face go hot and she jerked backwards.
"What do you think you're doing, bastard?" Gokudera-kun growled, stepping in between them.
His face was beaded with sweat, and his breathing was shallow. Even so, he still managed a smile and waved at them as they entered his room. From the numerous posters on the wall to the signed baseballs preserved behind glass, every inch of the boy's room was decked in some form of baseball merchandise. Tsuna and Gokudera stood at one side, looking on at their pale friend. Worry clouded Tsuna's expression.
There was little conversation as their friend quickly fell back into restless slumber. They quickly left the house via the entrance of the sushi restaurant, waving goodbye to Mr Yamamoto.
"That crazy baby!" Shigeru yelled. He was running for his goddamn life. Bombs, missiles and exploding rubber ducks were shooting out of the baby's handgun. He could barely see where he was going. Making a mad dash, he escaped into a forest. Pushing past brambles and jumping over bushes, Shigeru ran further and further into the forest.
When he noticed the lack of explosions sounding behind him, he came to a stop, panting. Yamamoto was only a few steps behind. Shit, where were they?
His good friend broke out into laughter. "Whew, that was some intensive game of catch."
Shigeru stared incredulously at his friend. "Forget the baby, where the hell are we?"
Yamamoto gestured at something behind him, "Maybe we can ask him?"
Shigeru whirled around. About two metres away stood a boy with hair that is more accurately described as an pale shade of yellow rather than blond. The broke out into a feral grin, "Kaki-pi is going to be so pissed that I caught two rabbits this time."
With a madly delighted screech, the yellow-haired boy lurched forward with his hands poised to claw Shigeru's eyes out. There was no time for Shigeru to react. Shit, why was he being attacked? He tried to duck the attack, but knew that he was too slow. Then, he heard the sound of the claws raking against metal.
Yamamoto had his bat out in front of him, blocking the attack. From behind Yamamoto, Shigeru saw that it wasn't claws, but sharp canine-like teeth that bit into the metal of the baseball bat.
"Gotcha," the strange boy leered, and clamped down his teeth, breaking the metal bat into pieces. Then he jumped back, landing on the bark of a tree and rebounding off, launching his next attack.
"Thanks for saving me back there, Gokudera-kun."
"That sleazy bastard had it coming," her friend grumbled, embarrassed.
They walked on in silence on the usual route home until they came face to face with a boy wearing a green uniform and a white beanie, and he was standing in the middle of the path, blocking their way. Tsuna's eyes were immediately drawn to the markings on his left cheek – was that a barcode?
The other boy stared straight at her friend who glowered back, and grumbled, "what'dya want?"
Unfazed, the boy replied stoicly, "Kokuyo High, second year, Kakimoto Chikusa." Tsuna's brain scrambled to recall whether she had heard of said school. The next words she heard sent a chill down her spine.
"I came here to break you."
Gokudera smirked, "oh yeah? Bring it on, I never refuse a fight."
"F-fight? We really shouldn't, Gokudera-kun." Her stutter was back. Was it because she had reverted back to dame-Tsuna? Or was it because of the feeling in her gut that Kakimoto Chikusa was no ordinary high school gangster?
She tried to relax and said lightly, "Reborn isn't even here, so we don't have to play Mafia anymo-."
Tsuna caught Chikusa's hands making swift movements at the corner of her eye. Before she could react, Gokudera-kun grabber her arm and yanked her behind him. She stumbled, and narrowly avoided the attack. Looking at the ground where she had stood, Tsuna saw tiny needles sticking out in a neat line.
"A fight is not a game." Chikusa said, annoyed. "Hurry up, this is getting too troublesome."
Gokudera-kun took a step towards him, "you're gonna pay for that, punk."
Suddenly, the air was filled with dynamites, fizzing as they fell around Chikusa. Tsuna clapped her hands over her ears, anticipating a series of explosions. She waited, with her eyes squeezed shut, but there was only silence. There was not even the fizzing sound of the dynamites. Tsuna opened her eyes, and saw dynamites, all sliced in half, scattered around Chikusa. This person was definitely no ordinary high-schooler.
Her friend's brows furrowed as he asked, "Kokuyo High? Which Family was that again?"
Tsuna's stomach sank, Gokudera's question confirmed her suspicions. Chikusa was also from the mafia, and from the looks of it, he was professional assassin material.
"Finally, we got the right one." Chikusa's expression remained stoic, but there was a detectable trace of smugness. "Spit it out, who are the members of your family, and who's your boss?"
In response, Gokudera aggressively launched another series of dynamites into the air.
With a yo-yo on each hand, Chikusa effortlessly sliced the dynamites in half again. "If it didn't work the first time, there's no way it'll work the second time," he taunted, when suddenly a few explosions went off in front of his face. With smoke fizzling off his charred face, the boy slumped onto the ground.
"Don't underestimate the Vongola," her friend growled.
Then, Tsuna heard a familiar voice saying, "pretty good, Gokudera." Out of the shadows appeared Reborn with the chameleon perched on his fedora hat. "Throwing in those mini bombs with your regular dynamites was a good touch."
So that was what it was. Tsuna looked at her friend with new respect. "That's really smart of you, Gokudera-kun." Then again, Gokudera-kun had always been the smartest out of the three of them. Even though he never seemed to study, he always scored perfectly on tests and excelled especially in Mathematics, which was Tsuna's weakest subject.
Slightly embarrassed, Gokudera-kun brushed it off and said, "it was nothing really, Boss."
At that point, something green dropped onto the ground. The two teenagers and Reborn stared at it. Immediately, Reborn reached up to hold Leon, and Tsuna saw that the chameleon looked rather off-colour.
"What's wrong with it?" Gokudera asked. "It's losing shape."
Reborn answered in a chirpy tone, "Leon's just lost his tail. When this happens," and he looked at Tsuna, "it's an unlucky sign." A shiver went down Tsuna's spine.
Then they heard a cough from behind. Chikusa was standing up with his yo-yos out in front of him. "You called that girl…"Boss". Huh, I never expected the Vongola boss to be a girl. That saves me a lot of trouble." Suddenly, the boy noticed Reborn and kept his gaze on the baby. After a few silent moments, he kept his yo-yos and shuffled away.
"Three against one, forget it." Chikusa turned away, mumbling something about taking a bath.
Tsuna watched the Kokuyo student leave with relief. Wait, he thought she was the boss. If the fight had continued, Chikusa might have attacked her too.
"Will Shigeru be alright?" she asked Reborn, worried for her brother.
Reborn grinned maniacally, "I already sent the brat running to their headquarters." Then, he faced Gokudera saying, "Yamamoto is with him. This is a mission from the Ninth. Gokudera, you should join them."
Her friend seemed to hesitate, glancing over at Tsuna. She mouthed a "be careful" to him. This mission felt more dangerous than anything Reborn had made her do during her stint as Shigeru.
"Who are they?" her friend asked.
Reborn answered swiftly, "Escape convicts from Italy. The boy just now must be one of the three. Their leader is Rokudu Mukuro."
"W-were they the ones who have been attacking the Namimori prefects and even Kyoko-chan's brother?" Tsuna asked.
"Presumably so," he replied, "it seemed that they were looking for the Tenth Vongola boss, and they conducted their search by attacking the strongest fighters of Namimori. Enough talk, Gokudera, get going."
"And you," Reborn eyed her with an unreadable expression, "make up your mind, and if you can't do even that simple thing, then stay out of things."
Longest chapter written so far. So, Shigeru's back! Where will Tsuna stand now? Thank you for reading I Will Follow You, and please leave me some reviews, I would love to know your thoughts.
DISCLAIMER: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! and its characters don't belong to me. The only thing I can claim ownership over is the storyline.