Author's Note: I apologize for the long wait, my teachers wanted to throw projects at their students for the last few weeks of school.
But please enjoy the chapter, and once you're done, if you could, there's a poll on my profile that I'd like for you to answer. Thank you.
"And of course, Lambo being Lambo, he started blowing up stuff when he saw Reborn!" Tsuna complained.
"I-is everything okay, though?" I asked, my hand shaking a bit as I held the phone.
Tsuna sighed heavily, "Yeah…kinda, Lambo flew out of the house from the explosion and…well, everything calmed down."
"Wh-what?" I stuttered, "B-but Lambo-kun's still missing!"
You're all probably confused at the moment, allow me to explain.
It's morning and I was coming back from the convenience store after buying some orange juice. On the way home, Tsuna called me and told me what happened during breakfast at his house. Apparently, Lambo-kun (I'm still not used to calling him 'Lambo') came back and tried to fight Reborn-san again, which ended in explosions and stress.
Man, Tsuna can never catch a break.
"Where are you right now?" asked Tsuna. I looked around.
"I'm near the apartment buildings," I answered.
"Huh? You're not at home?" I shook my head. A meaningless effort since Tsuna couldn't see me, but habits are habits.
"We ran out of juice, so my mom asked me to go buy some," I replied, "Why do you ask?" Tsuna let out a small chuckle.
"Well, I was going to ask if you could come over," he explained, "You're not busy today, are you?"
I stopped walking. Hm, let's see. I finished the homework, made my bed, had breakfast, washed up…
"I'll ask my mom," I replied, "I'll talk to you later?"
"Yeah, see ya!"
"Bye," I closed my phone and slipped it in my pocket. Letting out a breath, I looked up, using my free hand to cover my eyes. Summer's nice and all, but it gets too hot. It was a bad idea to wear a dark shirt today, and the shorts I'm wearing aren't balancing the temperature.
Something, or someone, bumped into me from behind.
"Oof!" they said, "Oh! I-I'm sorry!" I turned around. It was a auburn-haired boy with glasses, he was carrying a medium-sized crate under one arm and…Ah! Lambo-kun!
"Lambo-kun!" I said aloud.
"Eh?" the boy said, "You know him?" I nodded.
"Great," he breathed, "Could you, maybe help me? I'm trying to get him to this address," he nodded his head at a small slip of paper on the crate. Tsuna's address.
"S-sure, I don't mind," I shifted the handles of the bag I was carrying to my wrist and took Lambo-kun off the boy's back, "U-um…m-m-my n-na-ah, I-I'm sorry, p-please pardon my st-stuttering…" We started walking.
"Its fine," the boy assured, "I know how you feel, my name's Irie Shouichi, what's yours?"
"M-Mifune Ch-Chi," Ow, I bit my tongue.
Some time later, we reached Tsuna's house, I was finishing my call with my mom (she said I could go to Tsuna's) when I heard Irie-san scream in shock.
"Irie-san?" I asked, shaken from the scream "W-what's wrong?"
"Th-there's a woman in a bikini sleeping in the yard!" he shouted, his eyes wide and his glasses askew.
Woman? I don't think Nana-san wears bikinis…maybe, Bianchi-san?
While I was caught up in my thoughts, Bianchi-san was walking up to Irie-san.
"Did you need something?" she asked.
"E-eh, uh," he stuttered, "I-I was l-looking for R-Reborn-san…"
The angry air emanating from Bianchi-san interrupted my train of thought.
"Are you here to kill him?" she accused. Irie-san took a few steps back until he was a few inches behind me.
"What's the matter?" Oh, Reborn-san's outside too? "Ciaossu," he greeted.
I looked down at him, "G-good morning, Reborn-san…" I was beginning to feel nervous since I was holding Lambo-kun.
"Reborn!" Ah, speak of the devil…He took off his horns, which were somehow attached to his hair, and threw them at Reborn-san but were immediately deflected when Reborn-san had Leon-san turn into a baseball bat, and knocked Lambo-kun somewhere.
Ah, he's gone missing again…
"Mifune," said Reborn-san. I flinched and turned to face him.
"Y-yes, Reborn-san?" I replied hesitantly.
"Tsuna's upstairs, I expect he's waiting for you," and he turned back to whatever it was he was doing.
"Y-yes sir…" I sped upstairs, and tripping along the way, and clung onto Tsuna when I got inside his room.
"Wh-whoa!" Tsuna exclaimed, putting his hands on my shoulders, "What's wrong, Chi?"
I took some deep breathes, trying to calm myself down, "I'm expecting explosions and other such loud noises, so excuse me if I faint."
Tsuna let out a shaky laugh, "That so, well you can take over my bed when you do," he patted my head that was currently taking residence on his shoulder.
Feeling all the anxiety building up, my brain decided to short-circuit and I flopped on Tsuna's bed, hearing him run downstairs shouting about explosions and disturbing the neighbors.
Sometime later, I woke up to Tsuna playing a video game and muttering about Lambo-kun and Bianchi, his frustration translating to the way he was button-mashing his controller.
"Chi!" Tsuna got up, "Feel better?"
Sitting up, I nodded, "Yeah," I replied, "What time is it?"
"Around one in the afternoon," he said.
Seriously?
"I was out for awhile," I said, mostly to myself, "Wait, what happened to that guy?"
Tsuna looked confused, "What guy?"
I turned my body and placed my feet on the floor, "He was walking with me to your house because he found Lambo-kun," I explained, "Irie-san, I think his name was?" I rubbed my head. Tsuna frowned a little.
"I didn't see him," he said, going back to the game.
"What happened after I passed out?"
"Lambo and Reborn were fighting each other, Lambo got upset and used the Ten-Year Bazooka on himself, Bianchi thought he was Romeo and a bunch of explosions," Tsuna explained, "The older Lambo was wondering where you were though, he mentioned something about not having seen you in a long time."
I froze, "D-does that mean we become friends with a bomb-happy, five-year-old who dresses up like a cow?"
Tsuna shuddered, "I hope not…"
Tsuna and I gave each other a look, and sighed heavily.
"Knowing our luck, we'd get sucked into this, 'mafia', stuff pretty deep," I concluded. Tsuna passed me the other controller in silent agreement.
The next morning Tsuna and I were heading to school, we were going to be late since we stayed up trying to beat that…stupid cheating boss that every game has…uh, ahem. So we just gave up and were just walking.
"Hmm, maybe we should've ran when we got out of the house," I remarked.
"We'll be late no matter how fast we rush," Tsuna grumbled behind me, his head against my shoulder blade.
"You'll never know unless you try," a shiver ran down my spine, Reborn-san. He was sitting on top of a wall, pointing a gun at Tsuna.
"Huh? Reborn!" Tsuna tried to avoid it, but to no avail, "RAAAAH! GET TO SCHOOL WITH MY DYING WILL!"
And once more I was being dragged along. Hm, joints are pretty strong aren't they, or else my right arm would've been torn off by now.
As I was being pulled along, I caught a glimpse of Sasagawa Ryohei-sempai, Sasagawa-san's older brother. He was reaching out for…Tsuna, I think? But he ended up getting dragged too!
Oh, um, Sasagawa Ryohei-sempai is the captain of our school's boxing team and is well-known for being very loud and 'extreme'.
Thanks to Tsuna's impressive running skills under the influence of the Dying Will Bullet, we got to the school gates in record time.
"Haah…" Tsuna panted, "Damn it, everyone's gonna make fun of me for running around in my underwear again…"
"…Tsuna?" I patted his shoulder.
"What is it?" he asked. I pointed to the hand that wasn't holding mine, "Aaah! I was dragging someone else too!"
He was only out for a few seconds, but then Sasagawa-sempai got up pretty fast.
…Lucky, I wish I could do that without feeling dizzy.
"Such stamina and passion!" he shouted, gripping Tsuna's shoulders, "Join the boxing club, Sawada!"
"EH!" we yelled.
"H-how do you know my name?" stuttered Tsuna.
"I heard it from my sister!" Sasagawa-sempai answered, "She's told me about you!"
"Brother!" came a voice from afar. Looking behind us, we could see Sasagawa-san coming our way, carrying a sports bag. Unwilling to stay awake in her prescence, I passed out.
…You guys are probably getting tired of this. And for that, I apologize.
Some time later, after Tsuna picked me up from the nurse's office and after school, we headed toward the boxing club's room. Tsuna had explained to me that Sasagawa-san was gushing about how happy she was to see her brother look so excited, so Tsuna couldn't say no.
And now he's stuck trying to find a way to avoid joining the club. We stood outside the door, Tsuna was hesitant and was thinking up ways of how to get out of this situation.
I'm starting to get really apprehensive about this. Aaaah, why do my nerves feel shot? I'm not being pressured into this!
Tsuna looked over at me, "You okay, Chi?"
I shook my head, "I think I'm gonna be sick…" I groaned. He put a hand on my shoulder.
"Do you want me to take you to the nurse?" he offered, "I'll tell you everything after."
"Y-yeah…th-thanks…" Ugh, now I'm feeling shaky.
After Tsuna helped me get to the nurse's office, I laid down for a bit. Not really sleeping, but not really awake either.
I sighed, "Why did things have to get so crazy? It probably would've been better if I died back then, I think it's kind of obvious Reborn-san and Gokudera-san don't want me here…"
"You're sounding a lot like a runaway, Chi-chan," said a familiar voice. I sat up, ignoring the dizziness. I saw a silhouette behind the curtain surrounding the bed I was on.
"Shimizu-san?" I asked. The shadow revealed itself, and it was indeed, Shimizu-san.
She sat herself down on the side of the bed, moving her long, red hair to the side. Making herself comfortable, Shimizu-san looked at me right in the eye, with me quickly looking away, not liking direct eye contact with other people who weren't my family or Tsuna.
"Dying's a pretty easy way out for everything, huh?" she asked. I didn't answer. She laid back across my legs, her hair tickling my calves, "I think you're going to be a pretty tragic friend, my dear," said Shimizu-san, closing her eyes, "But that's okay, we can be tragic together."
I was gently pulling at some of her red strands, "Is this an allusion to your situation with Gokudera-san, Shimizu-san?" I asked quietly. She nodded, opening her eyes.
Giggling and pressing her pointer finger against her mouth in a shushing gesture, she replied, "Yes, but I can't tell you, until I tell Hayato. I always tell him everything first," she let out another chuckle, "You understand that really well, right Chi-chan?"
I nodded, I understood that completely. Trusting one other person is pretty interesting.
After school, Gokudera-san, Shimizu-san and Yamamoto-san were walking home with us. Gokudera-san isn't getting along with Yamamoto-san, and Shimizu-san seems to enjoy listening to their one-sided arguments.
Saying goodbye to the three, Tsuna and I went inside my house, intending to have another sleepover. We went up to my room, giving my mom a greeting along the way.
Tsuna groaned loudly and fell back on my bed, "Kyoko-chan's brother's going to be part of my 'family'," he complained, "Reborn's just getting greedy now!"
I patted his head, pushing some strands out of his face, "I'm sure it'll be okay, Tsuna, after all, it is really up to you if you're going to be the boss of this, 'Vongola'."
Sighing, Tsuna held the hand on his head, squeezing it, "Yeah, that's true, thanks Chi."
Squeezing back, I replied, "No problem."