In Their Story, There was a Girl

Chapter 23: One Summer Night

My little clover… my little clover…

Yotsuba opened her eyes to the deep voice calling her. She wasn't surprised, as she already knew who would be calling her in her dreams, and she stared straight into the eyes of the man in front of her. He knelt down beside her in the vast clover field. He held that small smile that he always have, except with less menace. As if trying to test if he was real or not, Yotsuba reached out her hand, but stopped before touching him. The man chuckled softly as he took hold of Yotsuba's hand and lightly put it on his left cheek. Yotsuba let out a breath that she's been holding.

"Mukuro… you finally came…"

"I've been quite busy with some personal things," Mukuro explained. "I'm happy to know that my little clover's been waiting for me…"

"I just…" Yotsuba looked away, "I just wanted to know why you showed me… that horrible place…"

Mukuro let go of her hand. "I didn't. You were the one that was searching, remember?"

"I…" Yotsuba stopped short, having nothing to say.

Seeing that Yotsuba has become silent, Mukuro started to speak again. "That's not what you really wanted to ask, is it?"

Suddenly, Yotsuba stiffened. The distance between measured up to not even a meter. The man was completely relaxed, sitting back in the softness of the clovers. It seemed that he was in a good mood, but Yotsuba, on the other hand, started to tense up by Mukuro's question.

"Little clover?" Mkukuro called in playful voice.

Yotsuba sighed, feeling weak in her legs.

"Are you… not suffering anymore?"

She looked into his eyes as he looked into hers. His eyes were calm, as if he already knew that the question was coming. "My body is still in the water jail, but my soul is free."

"Oh…"

"Aren't you afraid of me?" Mukuro asked. "It'd be easy to take over your body right now."

"No, I don't think you would," Yotsuba said without hesitating, surprising Mukuro a little. "I mean, I obviously don't know much about you; you've been through the Six Reincarnations, after all. But… I just have a feeling that… you won't do that to me, or even to Tsuna-kun, for that matter."

Mukuro was speechless for a while, but started to chuckle again. "My little clover… you're still the same as always; always just assuming things."

Yotsuba smiled a little as she gazed into Mukuro's eyes again. The red eye shined calmly, the power within the eye was unimaginable. And Yotsuba would never know the past of the cursed eye. The blood red color was darker than black, so dark that anyone could get lost in it.

Long time ago, there was a theory. It said that the reason why people were afraid of darkness was not the darkness itself. They were really afraid of the unseen, the unknown things that hid in the darkness. Human's fear comes from the unknown, and the fear turns into reject. So people made candles, invented light bulbs. All for the sake of obtaining control, shutting darkness out of the world.

Yotsuba frowned, suddenly feeling very sad.

"Ah, it's that face again," Mukuro smiled. "Yotsuba-chan always makes that face to me…"

"I want to find out," Yotsuba blurted out. "I want to know, Mukuro, everything about you…"

Mukuro was taken back; his eyes widened at Yotsuba's sudden statement. But he resumed his smile soon after. "Don't, little clover. I don't want you to lose that naïve little mind of yours."

And that… wonderful smile that you have…

"Mukuro…" Yotsuba muttered. But the next time she blinked, Mukuro has disappeared, and sleep was leaving her as well.

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Yotsuba woke up to a wet and sticky feeling. She turned her head to the side and saw her pet yeti licking her all over the face. Patting Kabi on the head as she sat up, she noticed that her blanket and her pillow were all kicked to the floor.

It was another hot day. The peaceful school days passed by with a flash, and it is now summer vacation. No more Disciplinary Committee duties and no more risks of getting bitten to death, Yotsuba was starting to enjoy the relaxation of the summer days. Sometimes she wondered how Hibari was spending his summer vacation, and she couldn't deny that it was a bit weird at first to not see Hibari's tonfa first thing in the morning.

However, the silence in her room and the heat was agitating her a bit. She stood up quickly and headed for the showers. After a quick, cold shower, Yotsuba walked to the couch, where a neatly-folded yukata was placed. It was one that Haru and Kyoko had picked out for her just for today—for the Summer Festival.

Yotsuba had always been looking forward to this event, hearing about it from Haru and Kyoko and all. She couldn't wait to see the food stands, the game stands, and the fireworks. Abandoning her earlier annoyance of the heat, Yotsuba quickly changed into the blue yukata, and head out the door after grabbing some money.

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"Tsuna-kun! What's up?"

The first person Yotsuba saw at the crowded Festival was none other than Sawada Tsunayoshi. Tsuna was standing in front of a food stand, which sold chocolate covered bananas.

"Yotsuba-chan! You're here!" Tsuna waved, and Yotsuba took skippy steps toward him.

"What?! That stupid woman's here?!" Gokudera's voice came from behind the stand. As Yotsuba got closer, Gokudera and Yamamoto's head stuck out to see her.

"Yo! Yotsuba-chan!" Yamamoto greeted energetically. "Uwa, Yotsuba-chan, the yukata looks cute on you!"

Yotsuba blushed a little. "Thanks!"

"Yeah, the color really brings a cool, breezy, feeling!" Tsuna said in agreement.

"Che, I've seen better!" Gokudera said, head turning to the side. "Now, shoo! You're blocking the customers, stupid woman!"

Yotsuba raised an eyebrow. "I think it's your face that's scaring the customers away, barbarian-kun! And why are you guys selling this, anyway?"

"The city council allowed us to make money at the festival to pay for all the damages we've done in Namimori." Yamamoto explained, blocking out Gokudera's shouting. ("Who are you calling barbarian?!") "We have to sell five hundred bananas!"

After the explanation, Tsuna and Yotsuba ended up helping out at the stand. The four of them worked hard to sell the bananas, but they were having a good time as well. Gokudera mostly scared the customers away, Yamamoto was giving out too many free bananas, and Yotsuba was falling asleep here and there.

Half of the day hasn't even gone by yet, when a worried-looking man came to their stand. "You guys should prepare a placement fee for your stand, too!"

"A placement fee?!" Tsuna repeated incredulously.

"It's like a tradition where people have to pay to get into this area." Gokudera explained.

"We plan to follow it and pay the fee!" added Yamamoto.

As if on cue, the fee collector appeared. The four of them widened their eyes as they recognized the fearful black hair, eagle-eyed Disciplinary Committee Chairman. "50,000 yen."

"HIBARI-SAN!!" Tsuna shrieked.

"Ah! Kyouya!" Yotsuba's eyes lit up upon seeing Hibari. She hasn't seen him for a while, yet he was still wearing the old Namimori uniform.

"YOU!" Gokudera pointed. "What are you doing here?!"

"Don't tell me…"

"…The fees go straight to the Disciplinary Committee?!" Tsuna finished Yamamoto's sentence.

Hibari merely glared at the overreacting herbivores. "They're funds for our club activities. If you can't pay it, I'll crush your stand."

Then the four of them heard a scream from a nearby stand. They looked over and saw some Disciplinary Committee members crashing down a food stand. The owner was on his knees begging them to stop. The four of them shivered at the thought of that happening to their stand.

"So what is it going to be?" Hibari said in a dangerous voice, raising his tonfa.

"Wait, Kyouya!" Yotsuba stepped up. "Here's 50,000 yen!"

Yotsuba handed the boy some cash. That was the first time today that Hibari landed his eyes on Yotsuba, and he looked her up and down quickly. Without saying another word, Hibari left the stands.

"Stupid woman! Why did you give him the money?!" Gokudera snapped.

"Don't worry! I paid it out of my own pocket!" Yotsuba said, trying to calm him down. "I don't want all of our hard work to go to waste!"

Tsuna frowned. "What? But we don't want you to just use your money…"

"It's all right!" Yotsuba smiled. "My daddy can always send me more!"

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Soon after the incident with Hibari, Kyoko and Haru also arrived at the Festival. They greeted Tsuna and the others and bought some chocolate bananas. Yotsuba snickered as Tsuna's face reddened at the sight of Kyoko in a yukata. And so, out of wanting to watch the fireworks with everyone, Tsuna and the others were fired up to sell all the bananas before the fireworks started. With everyone all working hard, and Adult I-Pin's help with feng-shui, they only had one box left within a few hours.

Soon after that, Yamamoto left to play a ball throwing game like he usually does every year. Gokudera left, also, to use the bathroom. And Yotsuba fell asleep, so there was only Tsuna watching the shop.

It's become quiet all of a sudden… Tsuna thought as a wave of bad feelings hit him.

Not long after that thought, a tall man ran toward the chocolate banana stand and snatched their money box away. Tsuna yelled after the thief and started chasing him. Yotsuba also woke up from the commotion, and started chasing the thief too. The three of them played chase until they arrived into the woods and into a clearing, where more of those thugs appeared.

"Ah!" Tsuna gasped as he realized who they were. "The senpai's at the beach!"

Yotsuba looked at Tsuna. 'Tsuna-kun, you know them?"

Tsuna nodded. "They were a bunch of no-good lifeguards at the beach at we went to last time. They were bullying little kids and stuff. Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun taught them a lesson!"

"Che, watch what you're saying, brat!" one of the thugs said, probably the leader. "I've been waiting for this moment. I'll make sure you never speak again!"

"Heeeee!!" Tsuna backed away, panicking.

Yotsuba jumped in front of Tsuna, holding up her fists. "I suggest you guys drop the money and run away right now!"

"Oh?" The man raised an eyebrow. "Let's see who's the one that's going to run away when I start slicing!"

The man took out a pocket knife from his back pocket. Frowning, Yotsuba backed away a little with Tsuna. This is not good…

"I'm so happy, I'm trembling…"

All heads looked toward where the voice came from. It was Hibari, who already had beaten up some of the thugs. He held his tonfa's tightly in both hands, and his eyes showed bloodlust.

"I thought I found a delicious crowd, but it turned out to be the thieves that we were after," Hibari said as he stepped closer slowly, licking his lower lip. "The Disciplinary Committee shall take all the money you stole."

"WHAT?!" Tsuna exclaimed. This guy only thinks about himself!

The two sides fought, and soon Gokudera and Yamamoto joined the fight also. Even though Tsuna and the others were only junior high students, except for Hibari, they still beat the high school thugs with a landslide. It was the first time Hibari fought with the Family, but he was only after the money box. As the thugs ran away, Hibari reached for the money box.

"Wait!" Tsuna snatched the money box bravely. "This is the money that everyone worked hard for! We can't just give it to you!"

Hibari stared down at Tsuna mercilessly. "I'll bite you to---"

"Kyouya!" Yotsuba called out to Hibari, who acknowledged her from the corner of his eye. "Tsuna's right. We worked really hard for this money! And we helped you fight off those thugs, didn't we? There were a lot of them; don't tell me that you could've beaten them all!"

Hibari stared at Yotsuba for quite a while. His piercing gaze making Yotsuba a little nervous, as well as Tsuna, who gulped at this scene. Without saying a word, Hibari walked in front of the brave girl.

"Then, it's a trade," he said.

"Eh?"

"You for the money box," Hibari added as he grabbed Yotsuba's hand, dragging her away from the clearing.

Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto were left gawking.

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Hibari and Yotsuba arrived at the top of a hill somewhere in the woods. No trees blocked the view of the sky and they were high enough to be away from the city lights. It was quite dark at the location, and Yotsuba could not make out Hibari's expression when she looked. Honestly, it was kind of awkward.

"Um…" Yotsuba broke the silence. "How is your summer, Kyouya?"

Hibari remained silent, making it even more awkward. Yotsuba felt herself sweat a little, and she flipped her brain around and around to think of something to say. But before she could say anything, something broke the silence for her.

BOOM! BOOM!

Yotsuba's eyes darted toward the sky as the fireworks lit up the darkness from before. Without the city lights, the fireworks looked even clearer, more colorful, and they were just stunning. The sparks were so beautiful that Yotsuba didn't realized that she was smiling. Like a little child, she gasped as the fireworks exploded.

"Kyo…" Turning her head toward Hibari quickly, she was going to say thanks to him before she stopped short.

Hibari's smooth skin and dark eyes sparkled with the lights given off by the fireworks. His hair swayed playfully in the wind, and even his eyelashes danced. Yotsuba didn't notice how close she was standing to Hibari, and how beautiful he looked. His eyes seemed to give off magic, too. After all those times that she spent with him, she never noticed the charm of Hibari Kyouya.

"So… beautiful…" she muttered unconsciously.

Hibari turned his gaze from the fireworks to Yotsuba suddenly, making her jump a bit. The corners of his lips curled up into a smirk. "What's beautiful? The fireworks?... or me?"

Yotsuba flushed in an instant. Her mind was blank and she couldn't think of how to answer the beautiful man in front of her. Hibari leaned in closer to her, raising a hand next to her face. Yotsuba's face heated up dramatically, and her heart was beating fast. Having no idea what he's trying to do, she closed her eyes shut, trembling.

Hibari's chuckled softly. "Are you expecting something?"

Yotsuba opened her eyes again, getting more and more confused. Hibari's hand moved up to the top of her head, and gently took off a leaf that has fallen on her head. Letting out a breath that she's been holding, she thought Hibari was only playing with her again.

…Until his lips claimed hers.

Yotsuba widened her eyes at the Hibari's sudden action. He was so close that she could not even see him well. Her whole body was frozen, and it felt like her heart has stopped. His lips were so soft… and cold… she managed to think. They were like a hook that pulled her out of the summer heat and like a refreshing stream of water. In the midst of this, she felt Hibari's hands run up her arm and pulled their bodies closer together.

…………………

……………

………I hope he's not eating me…

The fireworks shot up in the sky continuously, celebrating the summer. But there were things that were more beautiful in front of the two of them at that moment.

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TBC.

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A/N: And I end the fillers with a kiss. Next chapter shall mark the beginning of the Varia Arc! I hope it's not too sudden that Hibari just kissed her! I know, kissing under the fireworks is so used before, but I just had to do it. Blame me for my uncreativeness. Please review and I'll love you!