I was standing by the huge window, looking out at the sky covered with thick clouds. Any minute it would rain.
I was done showering but the cold water did nothing to wake me up from my dream.
Maybe I wasn't really dreaming, was I?
The door creaked open, startling me, and I spun around to see Yamamoto holding a tray of food. He gave an easy smile. "Yo. You didn't join us so I brought you your dinner."
I felt embarrassed of myself. How could I be so neglectful of their hospitality? Looking down, I said, "I'm not hungry. But... thanks."
"Now, now. Don't be shy," he said and placed the tray above the bedside table, just next to the lamp. "Haru was worried since you didn't come down. She specifically requested for Japanese cuisine to be prepared since you're here."
I felt my cheeks flush. How grateful I was for Haru. Aside from Yamamoto, she had only been the nicest person to me.
"Don't be so afraid of us, Akari," Yamamoto said to break the awkward silence and I had to look up at him because of that. "You know how we all are, right? Hibari's always been uptight and doesn't really get along with everyone but he will not harm you if you stay out of his way. Gokudera's always been so hot headed and suspicious especially when it comes to Tsuna's safety. The little kid's always been doing things he likes without a care in the world, so I know you understand why he brought out his gun earlier. Don't be afraid of them. No one will hurt you here."
Yamamoto gave me a light smile, like he was reassuring me that everything would be fine and I would be safe.
"Thank you, Yamamoto," I said in a low voice.
He laughed out loud which confused me at first but he immediately explained why. "I thought you're going to call me senpai or worse, niichan, but I'm glad you didn't."
"Umm... Why?" I couldn't help my own smile. He was really easy to get along with.
"You're supposed to be the strongest of all guardians, even stronger than Hibari, from what I understand. It would be awkward if you call me anything other than just my name, don't you think so?"
"No, no," I immediately countered. "I don't even know how to fight or anything. I can punch or kick, sure, but other than that, I'd just be plainly a burden."
"Don't say that," Yamamoto consoled and nodded to the food. "You should eat now. I know you're hungry. If you need anything, I'm just in the room at the end of the hall, okay? Jaa," and he left.
I had procastinated for over thirty minutes before my stomach gave in and let out a wild growl. I knew I had to eat or I wouldn't last. After finishing the curry, which tasted so delicious, I laid my back on the bed and stared at the immaculate white ceiling.
What would be of me now, Obaa-chan?
I wish I could wake up. But how could I do that? I wasn't asleep. I wasn't even sleepy at all.
The rain started pouring. At first it was just a drizzle but suddenly it became a downpour. The lightning struck again. I had been right. There would be a storm.
I missed my bed. Sure, the bed of the castle was so comfortable and sleeping there appeared to be so fulfilling but still, it wasn't mine. It wasn't my room. My room might be small and not as beautiful as the castle's but still. I knew I didn't belong there.
Abruptly I got up from the bed and went outside the room. I was too careful to make any sound so nobody would see me. I was planning to escape. In this raging storm, surely nobody would notice. Maybe I just needed one lightning strike to get back to my senses and stop fantasizing about being in my favorite animes like what I'd always do. Maybe I just needed to be swept away with the unforgiving wind or be washed away with the storm. It would still be worth a shot.
I turned a corner, looking behind my shoulder to see if anybody had seen me. I kept creeping along the hallway until I bumped into a hard wall.
"Hmm. You seem to love bumping into me."
I looked up and gasped after finding out that it was Kyoya Hibari whom I bumped into. He was still in his suit and in his face was a dangerous smile.
"Where are you going, Akari Hoshino?"
I couldn't answer. I tried but I must have only made rubbish noise like, "ah-ek-ek-brr." I could never tell.
"Escaping, huh?" Hibari grinned maliciously. With his right hand, he brought out his tonfa and all of a sudden, he attacked me.
I thought I was done for but a miracle must have happened because I was able to somehow sense the incoming attack and dodged it with a huge step back. I had no idea how I had the reflexes to dodge it.
His eyes gleamed with interest. "Wow. As expected from the hope of the world."
"I'm sorry?" I asked. I didn't know why I felt a bit offended. Hope of the world? Me? Who couldn't even cook my own meals? He must be kidding me.
Hibari brought down his hand with the tonfa and stood straight. "No matter how bright the stars are, they have no use when they're covered up by the clouds."
I was at a loss for words. Was he threatening me?
"Here," with his other hand, he handed me a school bag. That was only when I noticed he was holding something. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was my school bag that I had already forgotten about but I was sure I left it in the garden of the castle when I arrived.
With trembling hands, I took my bag from him. I was about to say thanks but he turned his back on me already.
"Try not to die until I bite you to death," he said and started walking away. From out of nowhere, Hibird appeared singing the anthem of Namimori Middle High and landed on top of Hibari's left shoulder.
The lightning struck again which lit the sky so brightly. The image of Hibari's back and the sound of Hibird's singing were so creepy in a frightening way.
I stood there like an idiot until Hibari was gone.
What had just happened? Did Hibari really attack me and threaten me? I remembered what Yamamoto told me. He said that I was supposed to be the strongest, even stronger than Hibari. Was Hibari... competing against me?
The next morning, I woke up to find Reborn standing beside the bed and looking out the window. Today he wasn't wearing a coat but only a white button down, a black tie, and black suspenders. His face looked so dark because of his fedora hat. It was phenomenal to look at him, especially looking at his sideburns. Luche was right, those were really adorable and looked really great on him.
The sheets rustled when I sat up, catching Reborn's attention.
"You're going out today with Haru," he said without looking at me.
"Huh?" I couldn't think of any smarter response than that.
He turned his head and looked at me with a mischievous grin. "Chaos."
My cheeks must have turned red.
"Come down by the dining pavillion. We're having breakfast," and he left after that.
I didn't want to be treated like a princess so I decided that it's better to come join them for breakfast. It's not like they were really treating me that way but still, I didn't want to be served food everytime I would refuse to join them. So much for the "hope of the world", as what Hibari referred to it.
The dining pavillion was just another marvelous part of the castle. There was a long table that could sit a couple dozen of people and underneath was a red carpet with the same materials as the one from the great hall. There was another huge chandelier hanging above where the table was and butlers and maids in black suit were coming and going. They looked so busy with preparing the breakfast like there was a feast but there were only seven people in the room whom they were serving for.
On the right row of chairs sat Reborn, who was on the immediate left of the head seat, Yamamoto and then Ryohei. On the left row was Gokudera on the immediate right of the head seat, then Haru who had Lambo on her other side. Of course, Tsuna was on the head seat.
Everybody looked at me as I came except for Tsuna. He didn't bother to look up from what he was eating. He looked so deep in thoughts as he ate. Was he thinking about the ingredients used for that cuisine or what?
"Yo, Akari," Yamamoto greeted cheerfully. Like the others, except for Haru and Lambo, he was dressed in formal clothing again.
"Hey, Hoshino. Come seat here beside me," Ryohei offered and I nodded at him shyly in thanks before taking the seat next to him.
It felt like a dream to be sitting with the Vongola Family. A real mafia family. Well, I knew it was just a dream but I was starting to doubt my own sanity.
"We're going out later, Akari-chan," Haru beamed as one of the maids set a platter of foreign food in front of me. "Lambo's coming with us too."
"My, my, Haru-san. It's a man's duty to escort the ladies," Lambo said in his aloof dumb way.
"I told you to leave it for tomorrow," Gokudera told Haru in a low voice. "You know I can't come with you today. Basil and I are scheduled to visit the Cavallone family."
My ears rang at the sound of Cavallone. It was Dino's family, right? Oh, I wish I could see him!
"It's fine, Hayato-kun," Haru said. "Lambo and Akari-chan are with me so we'll be alright."
"Are you sure, Haru?" Yamamoto asked. "It's better to wait until Gokudera can come with you guys."
"Right," Ryohei agreed. "Neither Yamamoto nor I can accompany you. We are going to check with the townspeople here. It's extremely dangerous to go out while the enemies are still unknown to us."
Haru tried to protest but I kept quiet and just listened to everyone as I ate.
Reborn cut off what Haru was about to say. "It's fine. Haru and the others can go out today."
"Yes!" Haru exclaimed.
Gokudera looked genuinely worried and pissed off. "But, Reborn-san--"
Reborn cut him off as well with a simple and meaningful smile. I should have known that smile. Everytime he smiled like that, he knew something was about to happen and he had already planned something two steps ahead of it.
"If it's fine with the kid, then I'm okay with it," Yamamoto said, to which Ryohei agreed to.
"Besides, Lambo will be there to look after the girls. He's still a guardian after all," Reborn added with a suspicious gleam in his eyes.
Lambo looked so responsible all of a sudden and pleased with being recognized. "Of course, Reborn. I'm glad you're finally seeing me for what I'm worth."
"Stupid cow," Gokudera muttered which made Lambo make a disheartened face.
Reborn just answered it with the same smile like earlier. I was getting worried about what he was thinking of because he surely was.
Everyone started talking to themselves about random things. Gokudera was talking with Haru but Lambo kept interrupting so Gokudera had no choice but to be pissed off even more. Yamamoto was discussing about sports with Ryohei. That left Reborn, Tsuna and me in quiet moods.
Come to think of it, Tsuna has never uttered a single word since I came.
I tried to chance a subtle look at Tsuna. He looked so lost in thoughts. I wonder what he was thinking of. Looking at him that way made me so sad. He wasn't the Tsuna I knew of. He wasn't the nice guy that I had loved and admired ever since I was a kid. It felt like looking at a stranger.
The food tasted great but it felt like I was eating chalk.
Suddenly, Tsuna stood up with a simple "I'll go ahead" and left the dining pavillion. Gokudera immediately stood up to follow Tsuna, even calling out, "Judaime!"
Everyone was looking at Tsuna with sad eyes. Something had really happened with him and everyone was sympathizing. Oh, not everyone. Ryohei was looking at his boss but there was a storm of thoughts in his eyes. I was just beside him so I could easily tell.
Haru tried to brighten up everyone's mood by trying to make an effort for a small talk with each of us but judging by the way that Yamamoto, Ryohei and Lambo answered her questions and Reborn not joining in the conversation at all, I could tell that they were still uneasy and their minds were still with Tsuna and how he left us with only those words.
When breakfast was done, Haru told me to wait in my room for her which I dutifully did. When she came to fetch me, she was wearing a smile, like telling me that it's fine and everything would be alright, which I appreciated wholeheartedly.
We went out and on the driveway was a moss green car waiting for us. The window of the driver seat rolled down and Lambo waved at us.
"You sure he knows this stuff?" I asked Haru suspiciously.
She laughed. "Yep. You don't need to worry about it. Come on."
As I was about to close the door of the back seat, I noticed Hibari getting into the back seat as well of a dark purple car not too far from we were. The car sped away as soon as he got in. I wonder where he was headed to. I still felt shivers down my spine when I thought back to my encounter with him from last night.
Haru and I talked on the way to our destination, which she told me was just a mall where we would buy change of clothes for me and other things that I would need. I was torn between being grateful and being sad. All of them were thinking that I would be with them for a long period of time which only meant that I would be away from home for so long. My life would be taken away.
Lambo was sharing his own thoughts in the topics that he could relate to and I still couldn't see how the nosy but cute five year old kid Lambo grew into this young man. Adult Lambo would always try to act collected but he still hadn't gotten rid of his crybaby nature. But still, at first glance you would not really see the resemblance.
We stopped in front of a mall and once Lambo parked the car, all three of us got out.
"Are you sure it's alright to go outside with the enemies hot on Vongola's tail?" I asked Haru.
"It's fine, Akari-chan," she answered with so much enthusiasm. "This is not like when our enemies were the Millefiore. The enemies are attacking us in a way that some of our once allied families turn their backs on us for some reason that even Tsuna-san doesn't know. They cut off the alliance and would always try to take the lands governed by Vongola."
"Were they successful though?" I pressed.
"Tsuna-san is just worried about losing all the power that holds Vongola at the top because of the breaking ties with other families but nobody has successfully managed to take any part of the land yet. Tsuna-san is making sure of that," Haru ended her explanation with an assuring smile.
"But how come is Tsuna sure that these withdrawals are because of just one particular family?"
She shrugged. "Haru doesn't know. That's only what Hayato-kun told me."
"Oh," I just said.
"What are the lands governed by Vongola anyway?" Lambo asked all of a sudden, just as we entered the mall.
I shot him a hillarious look. "Are you for real, Lambo? You're a guardian and you don't know?"
"My, my, Akari-san," Lambo put his hand over his one eye, as if to brush his hair falling on that part of his face. "I am a guardian but I don't know anything about those things. Tsuna-nii will never include me in any meetings. I was surprised when I was invited yesterday. I guess that's because you're coming so they needed all guardians to be familiar with you."
I just shook my head at that. It must be hard for Lambo to be left out from important things like that. I remember the part in the manga where Lambo stated how he couldn't wait to grow up to catch up with Tsuna and the others to the world they live in. That was during adult Lambo's fight against Rauji Ooyama, Simon Family's mountain guardian. That was about the only part that I admired about Lambo. All his other appearances, whether as a kid or as an adult, just made me laugh or annoyed.
"Well, I don't mind it actually," Lambo added and yawned to his heart's content. "At least I can party all I want."
I think I would take back what I had just said. I never, for any instance, admired Lambo.
Haru and I just laughed.
We shopped for clothes, like what was planned, and all other things unnecessary that Haru and I just thought looked cute. Haru even bought me a heavy metal plate that has a pair of pig ears on one side. I wondered how that would exactly benefit me since the dishwares in the castle looked so fine enough. I didn't want to be the only one using a pink plate with pig ears.
Lambo carried all our shopping bags and he seemed not to enjoy any second of it. We decided to eat in one of the expensive restaurants in the mall who served the best blueberry cheesecake which was Haru's favorite.
Haru and I were sipping smoothies as we walked towards the mall's exit. We were about to go back to the castle and I was already itching to try on one of the new sweatshirts that Haru bought for me. It was a white one with prints of a lot of stars.
There was still one question bugging me though...
"Haru?" I called.
"Yep?"
"Umm, where's Kyoko?" I asked in a careful tone. Last night I had already wondered about that since it was really unusual to see Haru with the others but without Kyoko. They were best friends so it was really something to talk about.
Haru's enthusiasm toned down. "Kyoko-chan is--"
"Oh, Haru-san! Look at that!" Lambo exclaimed and grabbed Haru's hand and dragged her to one of the shops. I had no choice but to follow.
When we entered the shop, we found out it was not really a place to buy things but rather a playground for little kids to play in.
"You still have the kid spirit in you, Lambo-chan," Haru joked.
Lambo looked embarrassed. "That's not it. And don't call me Lambo-chan anymore, Haru-san. I'm already thirteen years old."
"Wait, thirteen?" I interrupted. "Aren't you supposed to be fifteen now, Lambo? It's ten years into the future now, right?"
"My, my, Akari-san. I don't know how you came to that conclusion but I am only thirteen right now."
I tried to mull that over my head as we headed out of the mall again. "The manga ended with the last fight between Vindice and the allied teams for the seven Arcobalenos, so... how many years have passed since?"
"Eight years," Lambo answered matter-of-factly.
So it wasn't ten years. I was only brought eight years into the future from when the series ended. It wasn't the Ten-Year Bazooka that brought me here. But why was that thing looked a lot like the infamous bazooka?
I was still pondering the idea inside my head when an explosion occured just behind the three of us. Lambo even lost his grip of all the shopping bags he was holding so they clattered around and we were all pushed down on the ground because of the impact. We just got outside of the mall and was only a few meters away from Lambo's car.
"What... What happened?" I asked.
"Haru doesn't know!" Haru exclaimed as Lambo started crying.
Another explosion occured again and we all screamed. People started running around in fear.
"Terrorist attack!" some even exclaimed.
"Lucky!" a voice suddenly said and it came from the direction of where our feet were, since we were all lying on the ground on our stomachs. "We caught a good prey. The guardian of lightning, Lambo."
Another voice laughed. "This kid will be enough of a bargain for the boss of Vongola."
I tensed. The attack was because of the enemies and they were going to use Lambo as bait or something. I could feel Lambo's shaking from beside me and Haru was also crying now as well. I was in between them.
Slowly, I craned my neck and looked over my shoulder as I tried to get up. Behind us were two big men who looked nothing but trouble. The bigger one had a nasty scar from above his left eyebrow all the way down his chin.
His eyes gleamed dangerously. "Our boss will be so glad."