In There Story, There was a Girl

Chapter 21: Stop Joking Around

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The cold season is finally over, and the air is becoming warmer and warmer each day. However, not the air surrounding Gokudera Hayato. Gokudera walked down the streets of Namimori with heavy steps, and his eyes seemed to freeze everyone in sight. Gokudera has been having this kind of bad mood for a while now. Ever since Yotsuba declared that she joined the Disciplinary Committee, he has been against her. Although Tsuna and Yamamoto don't say anything, he was sure that they were against it, too.

With excuses of Disciplinary Committee duties, Tsuna and the others almost never see Yotsuba around anymore. It bothered Gokudera a great deal. He'd rather have her dying in a hospital bed than have her follow that bastard Hibari around.

Che… those morons… Gokudera said to himself as he noticed a group of thugs following him. Suddenly, he takes a sharp turn into a dark alley. The thugs quickly followed behind, but as they turned into the alley, Gokudera was already waiting there for them. With just a few hits, he beat up those thugs and grabbed one of them by the hair. Stuffing dynamite into the man's mouth roughly, Gokudera threatened to light it.

"You guys sure picked the right day to follow me!" Gokudera said sarcastically. "Who are you?! Who ordered you to follow me?!"

The man was so scared that he couldn't speak, and tears were welling up his eyes. Fortunately, the man behind all of this showed up in time.

"It was me," a calm voice said as Gokudera's lighted dynamite was stricken away. Gokudera looked to the voice, surprised to find Dino standing there with a cheeky smile.

"What are you doing here, Bucking Horse?" Gokudera grunted.

"You did well," Dino complimented, "I think you're suited for the job!"

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"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Yotsuba yelped, "Can you be any gentler, Shamal?"

"No!" Shamal said, "You're a cute girl and all, but if you keep coming in here everyday with these wounds, it gets quite annoying!"

Recently, Yotsuba has been spending most of her morning in the infirmary. Everyday a new wound, even Shamal is getting tired of them. This girl does not know her limits, Shamal thought as he tossed aside the used Q-tip. Patting down some bandages, the treating was finally done, and Yotsuba hopped on the bed.

"Well, I'll just take a little nap here!"

"Get out!!"

"Geez," Yotsuba frowned, but stood up to leave anyway. "Fine, I'll just sleep in the classroom, then. You're loss!"

Reluctantly, Yotsuba left the infirmary. Yotsuba has been sleeping a lot more than she needed lately. No one knew why, but she knew, deep in her heart, that she only wanted to see one person in her dreams—Mukuro. Ever since she found him in the water jail, she became more and more worried, and she felt sorry for him. And the way he looked at her made her heart wrench. However, ever since that time, she never dreamt of the water jail again. Although she could not see him, she had a feeling that he was not suffering so much anymore, but she'd like to see him again nonetheless.

With light steps Yotsuba moved her way toward 2-A. She raised her eyebrow as she saw Gokudera crouching in front of the fire extinguisher box with an excited expression.

"That suits me just fine!!" Gokudera exclaimed into the box.

Yotsuba walked closer to the boy, "Who are you talking to?"

"WAHH!!" Gokudera was taken back, but his face darkened quickly when his eyes met Yotsuba's. Standing up quickly, he walked off without a word.

"What's wrong with him?" Yotsuba murmured, staring at Gokudera's hurrying back.

"Who knows?" Reborn said from inside the fire extinguisher box, making Yotsuba jump in surprise.

"Reborn-san!" Yotsuba exclaimed. "I didn't know… you, um, reside in there…"

Ignoring Yotsuba's comment, Reborn said, "Why don't you come to Tsuna's house after school today, Mikami? There will be something interesting to see!"

"Interesting?" Yotsuba repeated. "Well, I guess I could take a day off from the Disciplinary Committee… but what's going to be interesting, Reborn-san? …Reborn-san?"

When Yotsuba looked back into the fire extinguisher box, Reborn has already disappeared.

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The game was to have Tsuna ask Gokudera to help him at anything at all. It must be an easy win, Gokudera had thought. No matter how brilliant Reborn is, there is no way that he could lose at this game. Gokudera was full of confidence as he made his way toward Tsuna's house after school. As he neared Tsuna's house, he could already hear Nana's voice saying, "Tsu-kun! Could you take this to the neighbor, please?"

The door to Tsuna's house opened slowly, revealing an unwilling Tsuna. "Man, what a hassle…"

"Don't fear! I'm here!" Gokudera exclaimed happily outside of Tsuna's house, surprising Tsuna with his sudden appearance.

"HUH?!" Tsuna was clearly dumbfounded. He would never know what's going on in Gokudera's mind.

"Eh?" Another voice came from behind Tsuna, Gokudera raised his head only to find the girl that he did not want to see the most—Yotsuba. "Gokudera-kun, you're here too?"

Gokudera's face fell. Of course, Yotsuba caught the change of expression, and it made her pissed off. First he does it at school, and now at Tsuna's house? Something is clearly wrong with him, but she swallowed her words as Tsuna began to speak.

"Um…" Tsuna said, sensing a bit of tension, "Why don't you come in first?"

Hearing Tsuna's words, Gokudera quickly smiled. "Sorry for the bother, then!"

Yotsuba raised an eyebrow, but followed them upstairs nonetheless. The three of them settled in Tsuna's bedroom, which was quite messy with all his clothes tossed around and empty bottles. Tsuna was first to break the silence again.

"So why have you guys come to my house all of a sudden?" Tsuna asked. "Honestly, I haven't started my homework yet…"

Gokudera's heartbeat quickened at Tsuna's statement. Finally, this is what I'm good at! As me to help you with it, Juudaime!!

"But, Tsuna-kun, it's almost summer vacation!" Yotsuba said.

"Yeah, it sure is peaceful right now…" Tsuna said lazily, agreeing to Yotsuba's comment and leaning back in a relaxing way.

Gokudera fumed. "WHY DO YOU SAY THAT?!" His fist slammed onto the little table.

"Heeeee!!" Tsuna jumped back, scared of Gokudera's outburst.

"I'm right in front of you!" Gokudera exclaimed. But before Tsuna could think of anything to say, something else caught his eyes.

"HEEEEE!!! It appeared!!"

Gokudera and Yotsuba both turned their heads toward the direction that Tsuna was pointing at. A big, black, shiny bug was happily making its way across Tsuna's wall.

"A cockroach!" Tsuna screamed. "I hate cockroaches!"

Here's my chance! Stars could be seen shining in Gokudera's eyes. He was ready to light his dynamite. Come on, Juudaime! Ask me for help!

"Ara! Tsuna-kun, it's just a cockroach!" Yotsuba said nonchalantly, walking toward the wall like there was nothing to be afraid of. With a quick snatch, she caught the cockroach by its tentacles, and threw the little creature over her shoulder and out the window.

Wha—what?! Gokudera was frozen in place.

"Whoa, Yotsuba-chan, you're not scared of cockroaches?" Tsuna asked in amazement.

Yotsuba smiled with a little embarrassment. "I got used to getting rid of them by myself because Kabi often mistaken them for chocolates! Well, I'm going to go downstairs to wash my hands!"

As Yotsuba hobbled downstairs, Nana's voice came up the stairs again. "Tsu-kun! Can you give me a hand? Move the couch in the living room!"

"Psh, how can I do it myself?" Tsuna muttered under his breath.

"Oh!" Gokudera's heart jumped again. Physical labor is fine, too!

"Yotsuba-chan! Can you help out while you're down there?" Tsuna yelled toward the hallway, making Gokudera topple over.

Why do you ask her?! Gokudera screamed in his head.

"Me?!" Yotsuba's voice came from downstairs. "Just tell Lambo and I-Pin to do it! Lambo!! I-Pin!! Ack, they're fighting again! Come stop them, Tsuna-kun!"

"Why do I have to do it?!" Tsuna yelled, but walked out of his room nonetheless. "I'm gonna go for a bit, be right back!"

Gokudera watched Tsuna leave desperately. He could not understand why this was all happening. Just as he began to sulk silently, Yotsuba came back up the stairs. Noticing Yotsuba's presence, Gokudera quickly turned his back to her. Yotsuba raised an eyebrow at his reaction, but decided not to go at it.

"Why are you looking so depressed, Hayato-kun?" Yotsuba said as if nothing happened. "Tsuna-kun will be back soon! But he sure is busy today, ne! He probably won't have anymore energy to talk to you later, Hayato-ku…"

"STOP JOKING AROUND!" Gokudera suddenly exploded. Jerking his body around to face Yotsuba, his eyes glaring at her angrily.

Yotsuba was clearly taken back. "What?"

"Here I am trying to help Juudaime in every way possible, but you're ruining everything!" Gokudera shouted. "As a part of Vongola, you should be ashamed!"

Yotsuba was astonished, and angry. She could not make any sense out of what Gokudera was saying, but the boy just glared at her with his anger at the top notch.

"Everyday… following that Disciplinary Committee guy like a little servant," Gokudera spat out each word slowly, he could not hide his anger any longer, "It's as if… as if you'd rather be serving that bastard than Juudaime! Do you know that you're betraying him?!"

Suddenly, Yotsuba was speechless. She didn't know that Gokudera thought of her and Hibari that way. Really? Does Tsuna really think she's betraying him? Yotsuba frowned and looked down at her feet. She did not know.

Silence filled the whole room. Gokudera stared at Yotsuba while Yotsuba stared into space. The two of them remained like that for quite a while. Seeing that Yotsuba has nothing to say for herself, Gokudera felt even angrier. He had wished that she would say something to defend herself. However, the silence calmed him down a little. He began to catch his breath again and loosened his muscles.

With a much calmer, but colder, voice, he said, "I got a promotion."

Yotsuba looked up at him with confusion.

"To work closer with the Ninth, I must go back to Italy tomorrow." Gokudera said. "But if it's for Juudaime… I'll do anything."

Yotsuba remained silent for a few seconds, and then smiled sadly, "Congratulations, Gokudera-kun! I… I'm so jealous of you. Because I'm not strong like you or Yamamoto-kun, I can't support Tsuna-kun the way you guys can. But… but I will! I'll do my best to be a true Vongola!"

Gokudera watched silently as Yotsuba made her way toward Tsuna's door, ready to leave.

"Just… come back to visit, ne!" Yotsuba said before getting out. "Tsuna-kun… and I… are going to miss you!"

With that, the girl left without even looking back.

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By the end of the day, Gokudera thought he was going to Italy for sure. He was determined to support Tsuna from afar until he accidentally heard a conversation between Tsuna and Reborn. It seems that Tsuna really didn't want Gokudera to leave, in a friend's point of view. Touched by Tsuna's words, Gokudera decided not to go to Italy after all.

In the end, the promotion turned out to be just a test for Gokudera. The Ninth wanted to test Gokudera's loyalty, and Gokudera has passed the test, of course. And Gokudera has returned to his regular job of following Tsuna.

"Yosh! Time to head to Juudaime's!" Gokudera said to himself as the school bell dismissed the students. Gokudera stood from his chair and was about to follow Tsuna out the door, but something grabbed onto the corner of his shirt.

Gokudera looked down to see Reborn. "Reborn-san?"

"Before you go to Tsuna's," Reborn smirked, "Why don't you come with me first? I have something interesting to show you."

Raising an eyebrow, Gokudera followed Reborn reluctantly, wanting to walk home with Tsuna. But since it's Reborn, he should listen anyway.

The two of them made their way up the staircases, and they arrived at the rooftop. Gokudera wondered why they've come here as he opened the door a little bit. Instantly, the sound of people fighting could be heard. Curiously, Gokudera opened the door a bit more and saw an extreme fight between Hibari and Yotsuba.

Gokudera's eyes widened. Yotsuba's body was already covered in bandages, yet she was getting new wounds. She dodged Hibari's attacks easily, but had a lot of trouble getting close to him to attack.

"Mikami has been fighting with Hibari like this everyday after school," Reborn said, bringing Gokudera out of his trance.

Reborn continued, "Although Mikami still loses quite a lot, she's been getting less and less wounds each time. Ever since the battle with Mukuro, Mikami knew that her old self wasn't enough to stand side by side with you guys. This is what she's willing to go through to become stronger. This… is what she's giving for Vongola."

A big thump brought Gokudera's eyes back to the battle. Yotsuba has collapsed on the hard surface of the rooftop, her back heaving up and down from her panting. Gokudera watched silently as the girl slowly got back up to her feet and charged at Hibari again.

Gradually, the anger that's been building inside of Gokudera disappeared.

"Hmph… stupid woman…"

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TBC.

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A/N: Review please! I love reading your reviews, they just make me so pumped up!