What do most teenage boys expect when they get home after a tiring day at school?
"What is she doing here?"
Definitely not a pretty girl sleeping on their bed. In Tsuna's case, he'd rather have Reborn greet him with the typical punch on the face than have this crazy girl inside his house, and out of all the places she just had to crash in it was his bedroom.
Great.
"Tsu-kun! You'll wake her up," Nana shushed her son when she came in the room, tugging at him quietly as they both left the resting girl by herself. Closing the door carefully, her mother then proceeded to explain in a worried tone, "She immediately collapsed, Hansel told me she fell from a building…"
"A building?" Tsuna's eyes widened at what he was hearing. "Wait, who?"
"Hansel, he accompanied her all the way here," Nana told him as they entered the living room together and there, sitting on their couch, was a thin looking guy dressed in seemingly old and tattered clothes. The male looked up when he heard them and made a move to introduce himself.
"Hi there. I'm Hansel, sorry for the inconvenience."
"Don't be." Tsuna waved off his apology.
His mother welcoming strangers into their home without even knowing who they really are wasn't even surprising to him anymore. Hell, he's living with the strongest arcobaleno known to man, two small but deadly hit men, a young boy who could rank shit by talking to a star, and a hot, love-stricken woman who has a penchant for poisoning anyone who gets in her way.
Tsuna would have questioned himself back then how he can maintain his sanity, but now he would just laugh everything off and accept the crazy with open arms. Maybe those death matches against Rokudo Mukuro and the Varia did boost his courage and tolerance for the insane.
He'd have to thank them later.
"Alright, I'm gonna cut to the chase," Hansel started after Tsuna motioned him to sit down. "I don't know what's going on between you two but she kept insisting that I bring her here, so uh, just doing my job. She's your problem now."
"What? I thought you're her friend!" Tsuna blurted out.
Hansel paused for a moment at his words before he finally confessed, "I... don't know her."
Hansel placed a blanket over the unconscious girl he had found near the barn a while ago, his face scrunching up in annoyance at his own actions.
He could hardly call himself a gentleman. He scurried for food on the streets like a dirty rat, even did a lot of thieving here and there, hell the authorities can drop some sort of bounty for his head and he would still stand proud. Hansel was the exact opposite of an ideal man most women would drool for, so saving this cute and rich-looking girl from dying was very unlikely of him.
The thought of holding her as hostage in exchange for her family's money has crossed his mind like the low life that he was, before the girl bolted up and tightly seized him by the collar, almost choking him in the process. With her eyes half closed, she desperately muttered in a raspy voice,
"H–hck… elp."
"Please..."
"… born."
Those were the incoherent things she said before completely passing out. Did that at least bring a pang of guilt to his heart of a stone? No way, he was an independent asshole who didn't need help from anyone nor did he care about other people's well beings. So what changed his mind?
"Mo… m… a."
It was pathetic of Hansel to be moved by her tears, he thought, but he did.
"She slept for almost two days and still hasn't fully recovered. The moment she woke up though, she dragged me to the airport and quickly booked us tickets for Japan. I don't know how she did it but yeah, here we are," he finished, keeping the little details to himself where he even considered leaving her behind or rob her after he was done.
He didn't want to spill how much of a son of a bitch he really was, especially in the presence of someone like Sawada Nana who showed him nothing but kindness. The woman was a saint, confirmed.
"And you did it for what?"
Hansel sighed, "Look, I just needed the cash. She promised me some so here she is. I don't care about her business with you, as long as she does her end of the bargain then I'm outta here."
"You won't stay for the night?" Nana had disbelief written all over her face when she came back to bring her new guest a glass of refreshment. Hansel secretly sighed in relief that she only heard the last part. The young mother was hoping that they would stay a bit longer for dinner, or for tomorrow's breakfast even, she didn't care. She was too concerned for Louise's current condition to let them leave.
"I— sorry ma'm, but I don't..."
Hansel shifted uncomfortably in his seat when Nana shook her head in disapproval before firmly telling him, "No, you guys are staying here."
"Don't even try and argue with her," Tsuna informed him in a whisper, knowing very well that his mother wouldn't take no for an answer.
Five people would have been too much for him already but he couldn't care less now, it wasn't like two more people joining the house would hurt.
"Dibs on the couch."
"… Ma… ma," Louise mumbled when she felt someone softly caress her head, bringing a tender smile to her lips. Lightly touching the hand that was ruffling her hair, she opened her eyes to see none other than the kind face of Sawada Nana.
"You're awake, good! I was starting to get worried." Louise blinked at her, slowly turning to her side to get up.
"Breakfast's ready downstairs and there's some change of clothes on top of the drawer, Louise-chan." The brunette beamed at her, but she only frowned a bit, which thankfully went past the woman's radar.
How did she find out about her name? She could only assume that Hansel told them once she lost her consciousness, or did she slip up and actually revealed it herself back when she first met them? She was opting for a fake one when she decided to deal with the hitman and those around him. Louise was just being cautious after all. With her hazy mind still clouding some memories, she finally surrendered when she couldn't remember how she gave them her name.
Then again, it's not as if it was the number one priority right now.
"C'mon now, they're waiting for you."
'They..?'
Louise was greeted by a lively bunch the moment she arrived at the dining room, Reborn turning to look at her as soon as she took the seat across from him.
"Ciaossu, how are you feeling?"
Before Louise could even respond, Ipin and Lambo were already causing mayhem as they chased each other on the table, something about the latter kid stealing the little girl's food in the early morning.
"Lambo! That's mine!"
"Come and get it, blegh!"
"Mama's omelet is the best as always, 1 out of 357!"
"Just ignore them," the beautiful woman sitting next to Reborn said with eyes closed as she calmly continued her meal, like this was all part of their daily routine. Louise only nodded, before her attention turned to Nana when she released a huge sigh.
"Tsu-kun forgot his lunch again…"
"Mama! Me! Let me!" Lambo volunteered, waving his arms as he jumped in excitement, eager to deliver the lunch box to Namimori Middle.
"Why don't you bring it, Louise?" Reborn's recommendation earned a quick objection from the cow boy.
"Oi Reborn! I, the Great Lambo, will—"
The poor child didn't even get to finish his sentence when Reborn kicked him away, standing directly in front of Louise after.
"I don't mind but… I don't know where that is?"
"Don't worry, Bianchi will go with you."
Reborn's seductive look was enough to make Bianchi blush like a teen madly in love. "Anything for you."
"But Reborn-kun, is it alright for her to be moving around?" Nana interrupted them, quite anxious at the thought of the girl overexerting herself.
"Exercise would help her get better in no time, it's the best medicine for any sickness after all."
Reborn's statement and reassurance managed to put a smile on the young woman's face. "I guess you're right."
"Isn't laughter the best medicine—"
"Okay, off you go." There was something behind Reborn's commanding tone that made her shut her mouth right away. Without any other choice, Louise silently carried the neatly done bento as she prepared to take off with Bianchi. "Tsuna's an idiot that tends to forget a lot of things, you'll get used to it."
Why did it feel like he was implying that she'd be seeing a lot of him from now on?
"That's... huge," Louise mumbled in awe as she approached the open gates.
It was her first time to see a real school since she's been home schooled her whole life; just one of those typical boring stuff most children were forced to do when they're born in a noble family, which sucked in her opinion. It hindered them from enjoying what they really wanted in life and caused a lot of wasted opportunities to meet people that could potentially be life long friends.
"Tell Tsuna I said hi," Bianchi said with a light pat on her back.
"Wait!" Before Louise could even reach for the pink haired woman and ask her to guide her because she had no idea where to find this so-called tuna, she already disappeared along with her bike. Louise stood there contemplating on her next move for she had no knowledge of the said kid's whereabouts, especially in an unfamiliar place like this, where would she even start?
Of course asking around was the first step so she might as well—
"What are you doing here?"
The question made her slowly turn around, only to come face to face with the infamous Hibari Kyoya. The dark haired teen looked at her with narrowed eyes, Louise gulping a bit at his intimidating stare before she greeted him politely, "Ah, good morning, I'm here to deliver something," she immediately corrected herself, holding up the lunch box in her hands. "To... I think it was, Tu— Tsuna?"
Hibari didn't bother hiding his scoff once he heard the herbivore's name. It was another member of his weak pack, he concluded when Louise gave him a soft smile.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you but I—"
"No uniform, no enter policy," the chairman cut her shortly with his firm words and she could only apologize in embarrassment.
"I— yes, I'm sorry. I just wanted to give this to him, I promise I'll be gone after this."
"You! What are you doing here?!" Tsuna swiftly made an intervention between the two, fearing for the girl's life. Luck must have been on her side for Hibari was merely standing there, listening to her babble without bringing out his tonfas. Most of the time he would do so and the sorry person who managed to get on his nerves would wind up in the hospital a few minutes later.
"It's you! I believe this is yours..?"
"Yo, what's up!"
"You again?!"
And soon Yamamoto and Gokudera joined the party, Hibari twitching in irritation as the four of them started crowding around him. Louise, noticing that dark look he had on, quickly shoved Tsuna his lunch box and excused herself. "Well that's all, I guess I'll be going now."
"Don't you wanna stay for a while?"
How does one make Yamamoto Takeshi shut the hell up? The number one solution Hibari came up with was to hit the baseball nut so hard he would forget the annoying blabbering mess that he was. That could work.
"No, thank you. I mean I don't go here, I'm technically trespassing so…"
That certainly brought a satisfied grin to Hibari's handsome yet bastard of a face. The girl had manners and knew her place well, something he rarely encountered these days considering that almost everyone has a knack for disobeying him and his self made rules.
"Oh come on, it would be fun!"
Louise Brienne, for the lack of better terms, was a kill joy. The girl lived by the rules all her life so how wouldn't she be? Louise hesitated, only because she didn't know how to get back to the house by herself.
"Besides it's already lunch time, we're gonna go get some sushi at my old man's place. You should definitely come!"
Did Yamamoto Takeshi just suggest that they skip school? And in front of the Hibari Kyoya?
"Oi you! Stop inviting her!" Gokudera made a protective stance in front of Tsuna, oh boy he was prepared to throw hands if Louise pulled anything that might hurt his boss.
"Students who cut classes will be bitten to death."
The familiar phrase was enough for Tsuna to scream his head off, "No, Hibari-san! We don't plan to!"
"He's right, I— hey!"
Yamamoto quickly grabbed her and Tsuna by their hands, leaving her with no room for protests as she was dragged along by a running Yamamoto with a shouting Gokudera hot on their tails.
"Where are you taking the boss?!"
"He's going to kill us!"
"Catch you later Hibari!"
Hibari Kyoya whipped out his tonfas, ready to hunt for his preys like the predator that he was, before Kusakabe stopped him, "Kyo-san! The student council president called for you, he says it's something very important."
The smirk Hibari wore was replaced with a scowl as soon as he heard this, his eyes glinting maliciously at the four people who were getting farther and farther away from him. Equipped with nothing but his temper and weapons, he made his way to the council's office to beat up the one who had the balls to stop him.
"Are you sure it's alright? He seemed pretty mad," Louise said, pertaining to the pissed off looking prefect as she took a seat next to Yamamoto.
"Nah, we do it all the time."
Tsuna thought that maybe, just maybe, if he prayed hard enough, Hibari might spare their lives for breaking a school rule. And he probably did. He was expecting a wild goose chase with the most dangerous guy in town, only releasing a cry of relief when he saw that the mad man was nowhere near behind them.
"Let's dig in!"
Yamamoto, Tsuna and Gokudera said in unison before picking up their chop sticks, Louise turning away awkwardly as she tried to carefully split hers in half without breaking them.
"What's the problem?" Yamamoto asked when he saw her having trouble with hers and Louise could only send him a half smile.
"I don't know how to use this."
"..."
Oh.
"By the way, we never properly got your name, mine's Yamamoto Takeshi."
In the end, he did manage to teach her the basics of using chop sticks and how to properly eat a sushi, the two already forming a small bond from what Tsuna could tell. He was hoping that this would somehow lessen Gokudera's suspicions towards the girl because he wouldn't stop glaring at her as they ate.
"I'm... Louise."
"This here's Tsuna."
"Uh, thanks for bringing the bento." Tsuna waved at her, a tad bit embarrassed, and she returned the gesture with a nod and a smile.
"No problem."
"… and Gokudera."
Yamamoto pointed at him, taking the liberty of introducing his silver-haired friend since he wouldn't even spare Louise a glance, which was quite of the opposite to his earlier actions since he just won't take his eyes off her.
"Che."
It was obvious that both have already developed a certain dislike for each other when Louise looked away with a frown, Gokudera doing the same as if it was a form of competition. Yamamoto, who only wanted to get rid of the tension in the air and put a smile on everyone's faces, dropped in a question that he would soon learn to regret.
"So... how's it going with your fiancé?"
The sound of her chop sticks hitting the floor was enough of a sign that the subject very much unnerved her to the point that she continuously slapped herself, Tsuna and the others panicking at her sudden behavior.
"Louise?!"
"H–hey!"
"What the hell?"
The memories came back to her in a flash; her home, the people she cared for, Luka, her parents, the fire— who knew that such a short sentence like that could trigger tons of flashbacks? It was silly of her to deny what had happened, even trying to convince herself that everything was some sort of nightmare that she would soon wake up to, yet the soft palm of her hands against her face felt so… real.
Staring at them with wide and terrified eyes, Louise asked in a shaky voice, "I–I'm not dreaming, am I..?"
Tsuna could do nothing but answer her truthfully, "... No."
His reply was all she needed to bring her back to the reality that everything wasn't just a bad dream.
"Imbeciles!"
The long haired man paced furiously around the dimly lit room, tightly gripping his personal hand gun as he blindly aimed it at his men out of rage.
"Not my fault boss, it was Jerek."
"Don't put the blame on me!"
"You threw her out of the window."
"You liar!"
"Everybody shut up before I blow your brains off!" The man in charge threatened them before storming out of the room, checking his phone as he did so when it vibrated in his pocket.
"Latvenko, your boys have failed not only you but me as well."
A voice from the other line started, the said man Latvenko sighing in frustration as he quietly reloaded his favorite pistol with bullets. He already knew what was coming. Being in this business meant risking your own life and the others around you with no questions asked, and those involved knew that. That's why everyone always did their best when it came to their jobs— there was still the matter of rankings too.
"I know, what now?"
So having a bunch of idiots working under him fail a simple task such as kidnapping the next successor to a noble family was a huge blow to his pride considering his position.
"Don't fret, I have news."
"A lead, I presume?"
"Perceptive as always, details will be given to you by night fall."
"What about them?" Latvenko casually leaned against the wall, referring to his men who were still busy of accusing each other for the unsuccessful mission.
"... Just get the job done."
The last thing the other man instructed before he ended the call. Latvenko didn't even have to think twice. He instantly entered the room with his weapon ready on hand as he targeted the unlucky bastards in their heads, before shrugging with a nonchalant expression on.
"Sorry guys, nothing personal."