Date Started: Friday, August 06, 2010
Title: The Journal of Memories
Author: Gin Nanashi
Creation Type: Fanfiction
Main Rating: K+
Main Genre: One-Shot Series; Fluff, Friendship
Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman REBORN! belongs to Amano Akira; We Are! belongs to Kitadani Hiroshi and One Piece belongs to Oda Eiichiro; Sasaki Li, Sasaki Xue Fang, Sasaki Daisuke, Sasaki Kiyoshi and every other non-identifiable characters belongs to me (Gin Nanashi).
Summary: Sasaki Li came from a bloodline that allows her to gender-bend. Unfortunately, Li has yet to figure out how to control her ability. Fortunately, it leads to a whole bit of fun for the readers!
The Journal of Memories
Event 11: HIT IT!
It was a beautiful morning on the third of December when a dark brunette frowned to herself as she sat on the sidewalk just outside of one of her best friends' house.
Closing her eyes, the girl thought back on her and a certain red-head's words.
Sorry, Li-san, but I really don't want to celebrate…
WHAT? B-But-! It's your birthday, Shou!
Yeah, but… Never mind… I just don't want to…
Li pursed her lips together before glaring up at the bright blue sky.
It was too weird.
Especially since, only a week ago, the bespectacled boy was as hyped up as she was!
Was it because his family were unexpectedly away and busy today?
A thoughtful look crossed over on the dark brunette's face.
It was possible.
After all, family is possibly the most important thing in a kid's life, particularly in the early years.
And, come to think of it, Shouichi's family always seem to be busy so the red-head was always hanging out with Li and Tsuna, even outside the daycare and during holidays.
Li spent a few more moments contemplating the listless behavior of her friend while staring at the Straw Hat Jolly Roger on her shirt before the metaphorical lightbulb sparked.
Grinning to herself, the dark brunette jumped to her feet and skipped off in another direction.
Inside the Irie household, Shouichi buried himself in a cocoon of blankets as he thought back to an hour or two ago.
Guilt swirled around in his guts as he recalled his best friend's hurt expression when he rejected her plans.
The red-head groaned and clutched his abdomen as it began to cramp.
Really!
What was he doing?
He could be out enjoying himself right now, family or not, instead of sulking!
But… It was too late now.
The gender-bender had probably already left to do something with his other best friend.
Getting slowly off of his bed, Shouichi dared to take a peek outside of his window before sighing to himself as a dark cloud hung over him.
Of course, no one would be outside of his house.
Did he really expect for the dark brunette to be hanging around an hour or so after being dismissed so rudely?
He groaned again before his knees buckled and he slid to the floor as his stomach began to cramp once more.
"Ready?" A tall black-haired woman asked as she finished setting up the black stereo.
The lighter of the pair of brunettes gulped nervously and fumbled with the two microphones in his hands, "I-I guess…"
The darker one grinned and ruffled the other's hair, "Don't worry! We're all doing this together!"
Shaky brown eyes looked up and met with firm ones before their owner took a deep breath and nodded in determination, "Un!"
The grin widened some more before the mastermind glanced up at a certain red-head's bedroom window.
Dark-brown eyes flashed with excitement.
"HIT IT!"
The muffled sound of drums and guitars filled the air outside as Shouichi opened his green eyes in surprise.
He furrowed his eyebrows together as he slowly got up.
It sounded familiar with it's upbeat and cheerful music.
He vaguely recalled staying over at Li's house with Tsuna and watching a cartoon show about pirates though all he really could remember was of the dark brunette mimicking the main protagonist and trying to stretch out her arm… only to knock over her mom's favorite knife.
He flinched a bit at the thought of having sharp objects thrown at him as he recalled the fury of Fang before jumping in shock.
What had startled Shouichi to his feet was the sound of a familiarly strong voice that flowed in tune with the song.
Arittake no yume wo~ kakiatsume~
Sagashi-mono wo sagashi ni yuku no sa~
ONE PIECE!
He quickly made his way to the window and shoved the barrier up in order to properly gape at the scene in front of him, "U-Uso…!"
A dark brunette bobbed her spiky head and moved to the now-clear beat as a lighter brunette stood close by with a nervous expression.
"LI-SAN! TSUNAYOSHI-KUN! And…"
Off to their left was a black-haired woman fiddling with the music maker.
"FANG-SAN?"
Li glanced up at the open window to see the red-head's baffled look but continued singing as she tried to pass her thoughts and feelings over to her friend.
Rashinban nante~ juutai no moto~ (Don't let your worries hold you back.)
Netsu ni ukase~ kaki wo tour no sa~ (Just go and grab fun by the hands.)
Hokori kabutteta~ takara no chizu mo~ (Things may seem bad.)
Tashikameta no nara densetsu janai! (But that's only if you let it be.)
Kojin-teki na arashi wa dareka no~ (We all have our problems.)
BIORHYTHM nokkatte~ (We all worry about dealing with them.)
Omoi sugoseba ii! (We all think too much on them.)
Arittake no yume wo~ kakiatsume~ (Just forget about them and go!)
Sagashi mono wo sagashi ni yuku no sa~ (Have the fun that you deserve!)
POCKET no COIN, sore to
YOU WANNA BE MY FRIEND?
WE ARE, WE ARE ON THE CRUISE!
WE ARE! (Your friends!)
The dark brunette then glanced over to her partner and tugged on his hand lightly as the instrumentals began.
Tsuna gulped before breathing slowly and deeply to calm himself down.
He tightened his grip on the other's hand, gaining some courage from the warmth, and closed his eyes.
As shy and helpless he was, Tsuna wanted to help his other best friend.
After all, Shouichi had as much of an impact on his life as Li and Nana (and even his remote old man) had.
The light brunette calmed slightly as the light timbre of his voice soon came into play.
Z-Zembu mani ukete~ shinji chattemo~ (Many had said that I'm no good.)
Kata wo osarete iippo LEAD sa~ (But, even then, I want to help out.)
Kondo aetanara~ hanasu tsumorisa~ (I haven't seen you at all today.)
Sore kara no koto to kore kara no koto~ (But, I hope that you'll come out to play with us.)
Tsumari itsumo PINCH wa dareka ni~ (I can see that you're troubled.)
APPEAL dekiru ii CHANCE~ (But, something good is sure to come.)
Ji ishiki kajyoo ni! (Just be aware!)
Shimittareta yoru wo~ buttobase~! (Throw off your pains.)
Takara bako ni kyoumi wa nai kedo~ (We'll throw off ours.)
POCKET ni ROMAN, sore to (Feel our feelings.)
YOU WANNA BE MY FRIEND?
WE ARE, WE ARE ON THE CRUISE!
WE ARE! (Your friends!)
Li grinned encouragingly at the light brunette before it faltered when she peeked up to see Shouichi gone from his spot.
However, she continued to press on with Tsuna by her side.
Arittake no yume wo~ kakiatsume~ (We never want to leave your side.)
Sagashi mono wo sagashi ni yuku no sa~ (We want to go through life with you.)
POCKET no COIN, sore to
YOU WANNA BE MY FRIEND?
WE ARE, WE ARE ON THE CRUISE!
WE ARE!
WE ARE!
WE ARE!
(Your friends…!)
BAM!
Everyone jumped as the music faded into silence.
Tsuna gripped onto Li's hand tightly as the girl couldn't help but swallow thickly at the red-head's shadowed face.
She stood still and watched as Shouichi stalked towards the brunettes.
He stopped in front of them and stayed silent for a moment.
"…"
Then, his lips moved and his voice trembled.
"You stupid…"
"!" A metaphorical pan of pain fell onto the dark brunettes head as she stuttered, "W-What?"
"… annoying…"
A heavier weight slammed into her spiky head before bouncing off, creating a small bump on her hard head.
"… idiots...!"
A one-ton boulder crushed the gender-bender's spirit as she slapped her hands onto her cheeks and slowly (slowly) swirled into the dark abyss of desolation.
"Still… Thank you…"
Li snapped back to attention with wide eyes as her hands remained on her cheeks, "Huh?"
Slowly, she brought her hands down to her sides as her eyes softened upon noticing the slight shake in the boy's body, "Shou…"
The red-head bit the bottom of his lips as he forced the tears to remain stationary and continued, "Even though… this morning… I pushed you away… you still…"
Li's parted lips slowly closed before she sighed through her nose with a small smile.
The dark brunette stepped forward and grabbed the red-head by his shirt, bringing him into her embrace, "Silly Shou. That's not nearly enough to make me leave. Besides…"
She trailed off and stepped away a bit to look at her mother and other best friend before continuing, "It's definitely not enough to make them go away."
Shouichi's eyes widened at the girl's words before he looked over at the other two.
Fang smirked from her position of leaning on the stereo as Tsuna smiled gently at the red-head.
A lump formed in his throat as the light brunette stepped forward and embraced the boy with the older Sasaki watching over them.
His response was simply to cling onto them and sob quietly.
Li closed her eyes and rested her cheek on top of the mop of messy red hair.
A moment of tranquility passed as the birthday boy slowly calmed down before pulling away to look at them with red-rimmed green eyes and a watery smile.
"Everyone… Thank you!"
(Extended Ending)
Li grinned widely as she swung an arm around the red-head's neck while bouncing, "And now that the waterworks are done, let's go PAR-TAY!"
"Li…" Tsuna sweatdropped with a smile at the dark brunette's enthusiasm before his eyes widened in alarm and he yelped, "L-LI!"
The gender-bender gave the panicking boy an oblivious smile, "What's up?"
The light brunette's arms flailed as he tried to form a coherent sentence.
Li tilted her head to the side with confusion apparent on her face, "Are we playing Charades? 'Cause I suck at that game."
(In the background, Fang nodded in agreement, "She does. After all, who else can confuse a chicken for a spazzing hunchback?"
The gender-bender attempted to throw her microphone at her mother's head but said ammo was caught and put away.)
The frantic shaking of the light brunette's spiky head made the girl even more confused, "No? Then, what are you doing?"
"Sh-Shouichi-kun…!" Tsuna managed to stutter out as he grabbed his hair with a pale face.
"…?" Li blinked before looking over at the said red-head, "What about Shou…?"
Dark-brown eyes widened as the gender-bender yelped in surprise and removed her arm from the boys neck, "SH-SHOU! WHAT HAPPENED?"
Said red-head's eyes were slowly spinning as he foamed at the mouth and he gurgled out an incomprehensible answer.
Li shook the boy roughly by the shoulders, "WHO DID THIS TO YOU? I'LL CRUSH THAT PERSON TO DEATH! I SWEAR IT!"
Fang sweatdropped before looking away with an "Are you serious?" expression, "Can you even crush yourself…?"
The dark brunette paused before paling rapidly at the horrific realization of her mother's words, "I DID THIS?"
Slapping her hands onto her cheeks, Li ran around frantically (much like a headless chicken), "NOOOOO! I'M SUCH A FAILURE AS A FRIEND!"
Tsuna gripped his hair lightly as he switched his gaze from the foaming boy to the screaming girl before his eyes began to swirl in confusion, trying to decide on whom he should help and whimpering, "What should I dooo!"
Fang watched the scene with a flat expression before sighing exaggeratedly, "Oy vey…"
That said, she grabbed her packed-up stereo and turned to leave as the neighbors began to swarm out of their hives and question her.
The older Sasaki merely shrugged and responded.
"I don't know them-"
CRASH!
(Li had just slammed into Tsuna who then tripped over an unmoving Shouichi.)
POOF!
"…"
"WHY NOOOW?"
"Scratch that. I definitely don't know them."
Author's Note:
I humbly thank all of my reviewers.
Your words never fail to lift my spirits.
I suppose that this can be considered a song-fic (if it does, then this would be my first song-fic).
It might be a bit of a stretch for some regarding Li's and Tsuna's thoughts in corresponding with the lyrics, but I thought that the song fit nicely (after considering which anime it came from).
I'm not planning on making a birthday-fic for every character, just those that Li's closest to; sadly, I just don't have enough ideas for more specials.
Anyway, like the other chapters, this chapter reveals more depth to Li's personality and interests.
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
(It's centered around a popular holiday!)