This takes places directly where the prologue left of.
The boy was adorable. The slightly spiked hair was a light shade of brown, as were his eyes; his face was boyish, and Elysia didn't quench the initial surge of affection she felt towards him. One of the things the clouds had allowed her to keep was her love of cute things—whether they were people, animals, or objects.
So the small smile on her face was real, and the Tsunayoshi-kun seemed to gain a little more courage at the fact that she wasn't an ogre or something else scary. He returned the smile weakly, "Thanks for helping me."
"You're welcome." And Elysia was becoming dangerously close to being attached to Tsunayoshi-kun. Before—before those men with the dark glasses and the ones who always snarled at her—she had formed attachments easily. And down in Elysia's heart compassion still simmered, the clouds had only charred the uppermost layer, which was both a blessing and a curse. She could still bleed. The first person Elysia had felt a connection with in a long time—
Ah, he's actually the second.
The actual first was a boy around her age that she hardly spoke to, but he reminded her of her beloved clouds, so she went out of her way to act as real around him as she could. But the clouds didn't stop Elysia then, and they didn't stop her now. Even if they protected her, she was not the clouds. They may have swirled about her in an attempt to hide her away, but they had never forced Elysia to do anything that she didn't want.
And she wanted to be friends with the Tsunayoshi-kun.
Standing, Elysia extended a hand Tsunayoshi-kun, "Let me help." He allowed her to pull him effortlessly up from the ground. She ignored the reopening wounds in her heart, because sometimes pain was good.
Elysia went to brush some dust off his shoulders, but held back at the last second. Just because she wanted to be friends, didn't mean that he did. In an attempt at keeping Tsunayoshi-kun beside her for a little longer, she asked, "Where are you headed next, Tsunayoshi-kun?" The name felt good in her mouth, and she smiled again, unconsciously; it had been such a long time since she chosen to freely interact with someone.
"A-ah, well, they cornered me during P.E. so…"
Elysia nodded decisively, "Then I'll walk you back to your class."
He raised his hands up in defense, "You don't have to do that."
"I want to."
Again. I want to feel what I did when I was with Gramps. Again…
Tsunayoshi-kun peered at her, as if to see if she were being serious, before reaching the conclusion that she was and nodding tentatively, "O-okay, thanks."
Elysia smiled at him, "Lead the way," gesturing with her hand.
He began to walk, Elysia falling into step beside him. To keep the conversation going, she asked, "What year are you in Tsunayoshi-kun?"
"This is my first year." He glanced at her, "What about…" He faltered, unsure of how to address her. She smiled, "I'm a second year."
He nodded, "Sempai, how did you know I needed help?"
"Ah, well," She looked away, not wanting to hurt his feelings but she had spent such a long time being blunt that she couldn't think of an indirect way, "I heard you scream from the roof."
Tsunayoshi-kun looked stricken, embarrassed, "S-sorry."
Elysia ruffled his hair gently, "I don't mind."
Tsunayoshi-kun blushed, but he smiled again. Then he looked hesitant, "H-how did you learn how to fight like that?"
She repressed the flinch smoothly, plastering a grin on her face, "I just picked some things up here and there." Which is true. Tsunayoshi-kun noticed her tense shoulders, and dropped the subject. An awkward silence ensued, gah, I haven't talked like this in months, what do I say?, before Elysia asked, "May I call you Tsu-kun?"
"Wha—?"
"It's just," She bulldozed on, "Tsunayoshi-kun is a little long in my opinion. Forgive me if that was too rude."
He waved his arms to placate her, "No, it's fine!" When she laughed in relief she surprised herself, because she hadn't laughed like that since—
Since Gramps.
Tsu-kun grinned sheepishly and asked, "Elysia-sempai, sorry if it's rude, but were you born in Japan?"
"Ah, it's okay," Elysia said, "I'm not Japanese at all. I-," She hesitated briefly expecting and suppressing the flash of hurt, "-moved here when I was younger."
I miss home.
"So where were you born Elysia-sempai?" He asked curiously.
Why?
"America."
Why did they take me?
"Oh." He stopped; they had already entered the school and had reached his classroom. "Thanks for walking with me, Elysia-sempai."
"Tsu-kun, I told you, I don't mind." She smiled before taking the plunge, if he says no then it won't be the end of the world, "Would you mind if I walked with you to your house as well?"
Tsu-kun looked surprised, "A-ah, um, no, if you want to you can." He looked down shyly, blushing slightly. Elysia grinned enjoying the warmth that eased the deep aches in her heart, "Alright. I'll meet you at the gates after class."
He nodded, and she ruffled his hair again, "I'll see you later Tsu-kun."
"B-Bye, Elysia-sempai."
Elysia waved lazily as she walked back to her classroom. She had English now, which was all too easy, so she frequently skipped the class to go to the rooftop. It was nice to just look at the sun and the sky and the clouds and simply exist.
Elysia only hoped that the head prefect was busy biting people to death, because she didn't want to deal with him at the moment. Recalling Tsu-kun's cuteness she smiled, looking forward to their next meeting.
During lunch, she grabbed the two lunches she had made that morning, and quickly left the classroom. Elysia walked leisurely to the Disciplinary reception room, enjoying the quiet that surrounded the place. People were too afraid to come by here, but she had a certain understanding with the head prefect.
Knocking quietly on the door, she heard a baritone voice respond, "Come in."
Stepping across the threshold, Elysia smiled at Hibari. His dark eyes were always stormy, and the smirk that greeted her could have a lesser woman cringing. But Elysia dealt with that same darkness every day, for it swirled about her, and she had become immune to its aura; so she stepped up to his desk quickly, staying a respectful foot back.
"I've brought your lunch," She placed the lunch gently on the desk, "I added a few extra pastries. They're ones I've been meaning to talk to Reina-san with."
He nodded, taking the box and examining the contents. A satisfied smile crossed his face, and he said, "I'll try the new ones later. Eat here."
Elysia blinked, Hibari had never invited her to eat with him before. She couldn't stop the smile, however, from spreading across her face. Inside, the clouds were churning pleasantly, "Alright."
She took a seat on one of the plush couches, getting settled comfortably and snapped her chopsticks apart. She heard an echo of it repeated by Hibari as he set aside his paperwork to eat. They ate in near silence, only interrupted by the occasional murmur of the members of the Disciplinary Committee coming to pay their respects to their leader during lunch.
When the bell rang for students to start heading to class again, Elysia stood, wrapping her bento back up. She took Hibari's bento, and deftly wrapped it again, before setting a small bag of macadamia white chocolate chip cookies on his desk. Hibari's raised eyebrow prompted her to say, "For Kusakabe, if you could give them to him please."
"Only if you fight with me after school today."
Elysia nodded, "Alright. A little after five." It seemed that the only reason Hibari tolerated her presence was because she could fight. She shouldn't complain too much, because Hibari definitely kept her on her toes, and she needed that—because then she could fight them, and there wouldn't be any angerpainragehurtpain—because it wouldn't do to get killed just because her skills were rusty.
His eyes narrowed, but eventually he consented with a slight dip of his head.
With a small wave she left, heading back to her classroom.
Elysia sighed in relief as the final bell rang. She gathered her things quickly, and headed out to the entrance. If there was a bounce in her step as she walked, then it certainly wasn't because she had no homework.
As she approached the gate, she saw Tsu-kun already waiting for her and again that surprisingly comforting warmth spread through her. A smile appeared on her lips and she waved as she neared him.
Tsu-kun gave a timid wave back, and greeted her with, "Good afternoon Elysia-sempai."
"Ah, good afternoon to you too Tsu-kun. Did you have a nice day?" Elysia winced because her eagerness was showing, and who wants to be reminded of a bullying incident?, "Besides your P.E. class I mean?"
He shrugged, not saying anything. Taking in the defeated slump of his shoulders, Elysia frowned.
Please don't be because of me, pleasepleaseplease—
Just as she was about to ask what happened, another first-year came up to sneer at Tsu-kun, "Trying to escape, No-good Tsuna?"
"E-eh? That's not—"
"Well too bad!" The boy grabbed his arm and started dragging him away, "You'll clean all by yourself."
"Wait!" Tsu-kun turned to her, "I'll see you later Elysia-sempai." Then the boy quickly left towards the gymnasium.
Elysia stood there for a moment, mercilessly squashing the disappointment curling up in her heart, humming thoughtfully. She walked after the two slowly, wondering why that boy had called Tsu-kun no good. It almost sounded like a nickname. A bad one.
She reached the gym soon, seeing Tsu-kun all alone and meekly dragging a broom across the floor. Setting her things down, she grabbed another broom from the supply closet, and went out to meet him.
His surprised exclamation, "Elysia-sempai!" made her smile.
"I figured we could hang out this way too."
"S-sempai…" He looked at her like he never received nor expected any form of kindness. She just gently ruffled his hair. With the two of them, cleaning the gym was done in no time, and it was just nearing four thirty.
They stopped at the gate, "If you still want to come over sempai—"
Elysia frowned, "I can't today. I have to be somewhere at five," She thought mentioning the prefect would scare Tsu-kun, but when a disappointed gleam entered his eyes, Elysia was quick to placate him, "But if you wouldn't mind me coming over tomorrow, I could do that."
Tsu-kun smiled, "Okay. I'll see you later then, Elysia-sempai."
She nodded, finally recognizing that warmth as happiness, "See you tomorrow, Tsu-kun."
They waved, and Elysia waited until she couldn't see him anymore before entering the school again. She climbed to the rooftop quickly, and as soon as she opened the door, she ducked to avoid a metal tonfa. Rolling away, she came up in a crouch, deflecting a tonfa to the face. Reaching up, she tried to jab his sternum, but Hibari jumped away, tonfas raised.
Standing fully, Elysia grabbed a hold of the pair of sai tucked into the back of her skirt, holding them out in front of her defensively. Hibari smirked before running towards her, left tonfa going for her temple, the right for her thigh. Elysia blocked both, holding the tonfa between the prongs of her sai.
She moved, ducking under Hibari's arm while releasing the right sai and jabbing him in the chest a little below his armpit. He grunted, and Elysia took advantage of the split-second stillness, spinning around with another knuckle punch to a point right above his left elbow. Hibari moved away, glaring at the limp appendage. Using his other arm, he rushed at her, too fast for her to accurately see.
Searing pain in her abdomen was her only clue that he had hit her before she was thrown back. Twisting in mid-air, she landed on her feet, sliding across the roof.
The fight lasted awhile, neither giving in, but not giving their all either. This was practically training, and their endurance was increasing rapidly. Before, they would collapse after a mere thirty minutes.
Only when Hibari's tonfas, and Elysia's sais, slipped to the ground from numb fingers did they stop. Elysia slid down to her knees, and then to her back, breathing heavily. Hibari staggered over to the side of the roof and sat down with a little less grace than usual, resting against the concrete.
They sat in silence, regaining their breath. Elysia turned her head to look at Hibari, taking in his closed eyes and relaxed form. "Hibari," One dark eye opened a crack to glare at her, "Did Kusakabe like the cookies?"
He scoffed, scowling, "Yeah." She hummed thoughtfully, "And the new ones?"
Hibari shrugged, "Okay." Elysia hid her smile by putting an arm over her face. Hibari liked her cookies. Her own creations, not ones that Reina-san had her make. A companionable silence ensued. Elysia lay there, staring blindly at the sky, her mind delightfully blank. Even the clouds drifted in a lazy, pleased drawl. They weren't trying to protect her; they were just there, on the edge of her consciousness.
"Omnivore." Elysia looked up at Hibari, who was staring intently at her, "Leave, before I bite you to death."
She blinked, "Ah." Wobbling to her feet, Elysia tucked her sai back into her skirt mentally thanking Hibari for allowing her to wear shorts under the incredibly short uniform skirts, after a fight of course, and headed for the door. She turned once, in the middle of the doorway, "Bye Hibari. See you tomorrow." She heard him grunt in goodbye, and she headed home. Hibari wanted her to go home, before either of them fell asleep on the roof. Elysia smiled faintly, knowing that both of them liked sleep a little too much.
She hurried out of the school and into the streets, keeping her head down. It was dark, and those that met gazes head-on at this time were nothing but troublemakers. The walk back to her apartment was quick, filled with baited breath.
Only once she was inside her apartment, with the door locked behind her, did Elysia release a relieved sigh. Every time she traveled at night, she was inviting the scum that lived on the streets to do—his eyes were crazed, and he chased her like a dog on a hunt. She was sprinting, because he wasn't alone but she didn't want to hurt them and they were cornering her—something that would not be pleasant.
Elysia shucked off her shoes and blearily set about trying to cook something for dinner. She was starting to feel all the little, and large, aches and pains that Hibari had left in her body, and she winced as she went to bend down to get some cooking oil. Sighing, Elysia decided that her best bet would be a simple grilled cheese.
She didn't remember eating, just getting in the shower and then collapsing on the bed. Fights with Hibari always left her tired.