In Their Story, There was a Girl

Chapter 18: Wait For Me

-----YOTSUBA POV-----

Wait for me, please…

In grade school, I never needed classes like physical education or any kind of physical training. Not just because of Nii-san's personal trainings, but also because of one dreadful reason – my short legs. They say that girls grow faster than boys in their younger years, but that was never the case for me and Nii-san. No matter how much milk I drank or how much I grew, Nii-san was always a head taller than me. When I look down at my legs, I notice that my torso was longer than other girls, which makes it even harder for me to catch up to Nii-san when we go to school.

"Wait, Nii-chan!" I would always say.

Nii-san would look back with an annoyed expression, but he'd always come back for me.

"Midget."

"Nii-chan! That's mean!"

Carry me, please…

"Nii-chan, Nii-chan! I sprained my ankle!"

"…Useless girl…"

Then, he would lift me up with just one of his strong arms. Sitting on his back, it was a very safe and comfortable position to me. I was unconscious at that time, but it must've been the way that he carried me back home on the day that we'd met – that blessed day that I'd met him…

­-----NORMAL POV-----

"Mikami! Oi, wake up! Mikami!"

The rough and powerful voice of Kusakabe pounded on Yotsuba's brain as she started to slowly gain consciousness. She blinked many times for her eyes to adjust to the morning lights. The first thing she saw was Kusakabe's frowning face, and the next was her surroundings – the emergency staircase at the back of Nami Junior High. Next to her were rolls of posters.

Kusakabe sighed as Yotsuba sat up from her previous position. "I was wondering where you went! It's the Athletes Festival season and everyone from the committee is working their butts off, and you're here sleeping?"

"Ah, my bad. You remember my little sleeping problem, right?" Yotsuba smiled sheepishly. "Kyouya isn't here, is he?"

"That's Iinchou for you," Kusakabe sighed again. "And put on the Disciplinary Committee arm band, will you? It's only good for you, and good for me."

"They're not very fashionable," Yotsuba pouted. "What time is it?"

Kusakabe sighed for the third time. "It's eight. You might as well go back to class for now. Come back to the Reception Room after school."

"Okay. Don't say anything to Kyouya!" Yotsuba said as she stood up and walked away.

Kusakabe stared at her retrieving back. Her footsteps were wobbly and it seemed like she could fall asleep anytime again. Sometimes he really wonder why Hibari decided to let Yotsuba join the committee. Right now, he can only see her as trouble for him and for the committee.

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As Yotsuba returns to the classroom, the people inside were already in a ruckus. She hobbled across the room to stand in front of a very distressed Tsuna. Meanwhile, Gokudera and Yamamoto looked excited and proud.

"What's going on?" Yotsuba asked.

"Yotsuba-chan!" Tsuna exclaimed with teary eyes. "Please, talk some sense into them! I definitely cannot be the leader for the Pole Knocking event!"

Yotsuba raised an eyebrow. "What's the Pole Knocking event?"

"You idiot! Aren't you supposed to know what it is since the Disciplinary Committee is in charge of setting up the Athletes Festival?" Gokudera said, emphasizing his displeasure as he said the words "Disciplinary Committee". Gokudera has never liked the members of the Disciplinary Committee, especially their very leader, Hibari Kyouya. Therefore, when Yotsuba announced that she has joined the committee, Gokudera was outrageous.

"Hayato-kun, are you still bitter than I have the ability to join the Disciplinary Committee and not you?"

Gokudera fumed. "What are you talking about?! I don't give a rat's ass where you go! Especially when it's that… stupid committee!"

"Maa, that's nothing to fight over about!" Yamamoto stepped in between the two hotheaded friends. "Yotsuba-chan, the Pole Knocking event is a very, very fun event, you know!"

"NO, IT'S NOT!!" Tsuna shouted. "It's very possible that I'm going to be KILLED!"

"You'll never know until you try!" said Reborn, who appeared out of nowhere.

"Don't worry, boss, I'll protect you when you come close to death." Yotsuba said with a bright smile. But that smile formed a dark cloud above Tsuna's head.

"You guys just say that because you don't know how dangerous Pole Knocking is!" Tsuna exclaimed. "There is no extent to what people do at that event! That's why it's usually the strongest person being the team leader!"

"Oh," Yotsuba blinked. "In that case, maybe you shouldn't be the leader…"

Tsuna smiled with tears. "Finally, you understood! Thank yo—"

"STUPID WOMAN!! Are you trying to say that Juudaime is not the strongest person here?!"

"No, no! Gokudera-kun! I really don't mind!!"

By the end of the day, Yotsuba still didn't find out what Pole Knocking is.

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It was the day of the Athletes Festival. Yotsuba, surprisingly, came to school early today to set up the event with the other Disciplinary Committee members. It might be because of the threats from Hibari the day before, but who knows? After quickly leaving a note of encouragement on Tsuna's desk, Yotsuba took off towards the fields. All the other members of the committee were already working hard in the fields. Some were putting up signs and posters, and some were setting up equipments. Yotsuba had no idea what to do, but she decided to go find Kusakabe before Hibari catches her doing nothing. Just as she took a step, someone grabbed her arm from behind. She turned around to find the one person she did not want to see, Hibari Kyouya.

"Ah." Yotsuba smiled guiltily.

Without saying anything, not even hitting Yotsuba with his tonfa, Hibari dragged her away from the other committee members.

"Where… where are we going?" Yotsuba asked.

"You're patrolling with me today."

"Eh??" Yotsuba frowned. "Isn't that Kusakabe-san's job?"

Hibari looked back at her with his sharp eyes, making Yotsuba topple over her own feet. The glare that the whole student body is afraid of somehow made Yotsuba blush lightly. Staring at Yotsuba's reaction, Hibari raised an eyebrow in amusement, somewhat pleased with the unusual blushing face. Without much thought, Hibari turned his back to her and took off again.

"Wa… wait!" Yotsuba shouted, but Hibari did not stop walking. "Kyouya, wait!"

Not stopping or checking back on her, Hibari just kept walking at his own pace. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Yotsuba slowly got up from the ground and caught up to Hibari with small running steps.

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The Athletes Festival has finally started and the atmosphere at Nami Junior High is hotter than ever. The three teams gave out their best at every category. Yotsuba was quite impressed with all the energy that the students were giving off. In spite of her sleepiness at the moment, Yotsuba secretly longed to participate in the festival with Tsuna and the others. However, she frowned at the committee chairman in front of her, her job did not allow her to leave his sight.

But as obvious as it was, Yotsuba was definitely not paying attention to her job of patrolling. She was too into all the games that the festival was holding. Her adrenaline went rocket high just as the other students as Yamamoto won against even the track team at the relay race.

"Ne, Kyouya, don't you ever want to join them?" Yotsuba asked, turning her gaze back to her chairman, who was not in sight anymore. "Kyouya?"

"BACK OFF!!!" two angry voices shouted from somewhere not far away, catching Yotsuba's attention.

"Hey, over there!"

"It's the leader of team C!"

"These people from team A attacked him!"

"Guys! I heard that the leader of team B got attacked by someone from team A in the bathroom!"

"What?!"

Yotsuba hurried over to the commotion. Passing through a sea of people, she finds Tsuna, Gokudera, and Sasagawa in the middle of the crowd. Both of the student bodies of team B and team C were glaring daggers at Tsuna.

"You cheap bastards!!"

"Get him!!"

A swarm of people charged toward Tsuna, who was clearly panicking. Out of instinct, Yotsuba darted out from the crowd and stepped in front of Tsuna.

"Stop right there! No group fights during the Athletes Festival!" she shouted.

"Yotsuba-chan!" Tsuna said with tears of thankfulness.

"Woman! You finally decided to show up!" Gokudera growled, earning a glare from Yotsuba.

The angry students stopped in there place and became quiet. Well, not exactly quiet. Many of them were murmuring amongst themselves.

"It's her!"

"Mikami Yotsuba, the new Disciplinary Committee member."

"Hibari Kyouya's woman."

Yotsuba's jaws dropped. Kyouya's woman?! What kind of name did I earn from this stupid committee?! Not only Yotsuba, Tsuna and Gokudera's faces also went paper white.

"Yotsuba-chan… what kind of things do you do with Hibari-san?"

"I patrol with him… and sleep in the Reception Room."

"Hmph, stupid woman, you probably don't even know what other people do to you when you're asleep."

"Hayato-kun, are you jealous?"

"Woman, I'm gonna…………"

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After a long discussion amongst the student body association, they finally came to a decision. Since the two leaders of team B and C were not in condition to participate in the pole knocking, and the one to blame is, apparently, Tsuna, they came to an agreement that team B and C would combine against team A. Team A was hysterical, while team B and C were cheering for the decision.

As the announcer cued all the male students to get ready for the Pole Knocking event, Tsuna shed tears of despair. "No way! I'm not going to be alive after this!"

"Don't panic, Tsuna!" Yotsuba said casually. "How about I switch with you when you can't handle it anymore?"

"Really?!" Tsuna smiled, but the smile quickly faded. "Are you sure? You don't look the most awake right now."

"Don't worry about it."

"Pfft. Stupid woman, Juudaime is gonna take care of all those dumb asses by himself. You can just go to sleep or go find your stupid chairman!"

Yotsuba squinted her eyes and stared at the sky. "Speaking of Kyouya… I haven't seen him since I met up with you guys."

"Hibari-san!!"

"It's Hibari-san!!"

"Gah!"

All three of them turned their heads toward all the noise. To their surprise, especially Tsuna's, Hibari was at the top of the pole that belonged to team B and C. It seems like Hibari had decided to become the leader of team B and C. With this, Tsuna panicked even more.

Yotsuba looked up at Hibari disbelievingly. So that's what he's been planning to do? She watched as Hibari's uniform jacket dance behind him with the wind, his eagle eyes staring at Tsuna menacingly.

Hibari smirked as he watched Tsuna struggle against the students of team B and C. Only five minutes into the game, Tsuna was already nose-bleeding and had several wounds on his body. But just as Tsuna was going to fall, something seemed to hit him in the head, and his clothes exploded. It was a signal that "extreme" Tsuna has been born. With a roar, Tsuna jumped on a human carriage made by Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Sasagawa. The four of them crashed through the barrier of team B and C easily.

However, just as they almost reached Hibari, Gokudera and Sasagawa got into a fight. Although Yamamoto tried to calm them down, the two hot-headed boys punched each other hard in the jaws. The four of them lost balance, and Tsuna fell to the ground. In the end, Tsuna still lost at the Pole Knocking contest, and the entire student body seemed to hate him.

-----------

"………"

Yotsuba looked nervously at Hibari from the corner of her eyes. The Athletes Festival was finally over, and due the chaos that team A had created, cleaning up had taken an extra long time. And because Yotsuba hadn't been doing her duties during the festival, she was made to work overtime. She was now standing besides Hibari, who was staring at the sky on the rooftop with a very scary expression.

"Kyouya…" Yotsuba smiled dryly. "That was SOME Althetes Festival today, wasn't it?"

Hibari did not reply.

Yotsuba gulped. "Don't tell me that you're disappointed because you didn't get to fight with Tsuna…"

Hibari glared at Yotsuba, who shut up right after. A couple of minutes went by and Hibari finally stood from his lying position. He faced Yotsuba, who stared back confusedly.

"Then…" he said as he readied his tonfa's, "why don't you satisfy me?"

"Eh??" Before Yotsuba could reply, Hibari already started to charge toward her. "Wait!!"

Yotsuba barely diverted Hibari's attack with Aikidou when Hibari stroke again. Yotsuba diverted a few more attacks, but her fatigue was overwhelming her. However, Hibari's moves were merciless.

"Don't just run away," he muttered, "Attack!"

"Wait! I can't!" Yotsuba barely got to say before she was sent flying by Hibari's tonfa.

Hibari stared down at Yotsuba, who was grabbing onto her ankle with a painful expression. Although there was no look of concern on Hibari's face, the scariness from a while ago was definitely gone. Without saying any caring words, Hibari walked past Yotsuba, ready to go back downstairs.

"Wait, Kyouya!" Yotsuba groaned. "I… I sprained my ankle!"

Hibari looked back with unconcerned eyes. "You have another leg. Hop if you have to."

Yotsuba gawked at him. "You… you jerk!"

Hibari already started to walk away. "You said you wanted to be stronger."

With widened eyes, Yotsuba couldn't say anything back. Watching Hibari's retrieving back, Yotsuba chuckled under her breath.

"How pathetic…" she said to herself. "I guess I have to catch up to him on my own…"

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TBC.

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A/N: Oh my, so sorry for the late update! I thought it's going to be easier writing this story since the battle parts are over, but it really isn't. Anyway, more romantic actions coming up! I know Hibari may seem a bit heartless in this chapter, but I think Hibari wouldn't be a gentleman so easily anyway. I think it's his way of pushing Yotsuba onwards. Anypoo, I appreciate the people who patiently read all of my chapters! And please review!