Episode 17: Leaving Your Home
"The miles are getting longer, it seems, the closer I get to you. I've not always been the best man or friend for you, but your love it makes true, and I don't know why… You always seem to give me another try…"
-"Home" by Daughtry

One by one, everyone left to go home, like it was any other day to go home from school together. It'd been three months that they'd been together, and for everyone to leave, it was kind of depressing. I simply watched as everyone returned. I had decided that it was better to stay with Hayato than go back to Ken and Chikusa.

I walked around the streets calmly as I finally got to see Namimori. Everything was bright and colorful. It was then I noticed a familiar head of red hair. Shoichi Irie. My eyes widened and I walked up to the boy. "Hey." He took one look at me and froze. "You're Shoichi Irie, right?"

He nodded. "Y-Yeah…"

"I've seen you around my friend Tsuna-kun's place, right? You're a year older than I am, right?" He nodded again and I had to laugh. "I'm not going to kill you, you know. Just calm down."

Shoichi took a deep breath and sighed. "Sorry about that. I'm just really nervous."

I smiled a little bit. "Well, no need to be. My name's Najika Kamiya." He nodded. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Shoichi-kun. I should be going, since Hayato-kun's probably back from Tsuna-kun's."

So that was the boy that would grow to be the Vongola's first big enemy in Japan, and our greatest ally we could ask for. As I was walking back, I remembered a few other people that I knew in the future. Hikaru, Bel, Fran, and Mukuro. The last one, I wasn't even sure was alive in ten years.

The week proceeded to start off normally. We walked to school like any other day, meeting up with Yamamoto, Tsuna, Kyoko, Ryohei and Haru on the way.

I had all of my box weapons hidden under my sweater and I had my Ring around my neck. I looked up as we were going into school to see Hibari looking down on us. I smiled and waved up to him.

Inside the classroom, I "accidentally" bumped into Hikaru, who really looked the same, only shorter than his future self, and dropped my books. "I'm so sorry!" I apologized, leaning to pick them all up.

"No, I wasn't watching where I was going," he replied, bending down to help pick up all of the scattered papers. "You're Hayato Gokudera's girlfriend…"

I smiled weakly and nodded. "Najika Kamiya, nice to meet you. You're Hikaru Kobashi, right?"

He nodded and handed me the papers. "Yeah." After he helped me up, he said, "You can just call me Hikaru."

Laughing, I smiled brightly. "Okay, Hikaru-kun. Call me Najika, then, okay?" He nodded again and then the bell rang. "Oh, looks like class is gonna start soon. Why don't you eat lunch with the rest of us?"

He smiled weakly. "Sure, Najika-chan."

Class started, and two new students walked in. The teacher announced, "I know this is short notice, but we have two transfer students joining our class today. Please introduce yourselves." One, who was shorter, was a boy named Monta Hariyama, and the other was a girl named Himeko Hariyama.

My first thought of Himeko? Bitch. Why? She flirted with Hayato right off the bat. I felt my insides churn and I glared out the window. Major bitch. Thank God he didn't look interested in the least.

During lunch, I pulled Hikaru over to Hayato and introduced them. I decided to hang out with Hikaru, and he immediately asked, "Are you sure that Gokudera-kun won't mind?" I shook my head and was about to reply, but my phone beeped three times.

S7S! Rooftop.

I ran outside to see Lal facing off against Tsuna. I giggled. Same old Lal. But When I got up there, another familiar voice shouted, "I'm your opponent, hey!" I looked up to see Colonello, holding the Rain Pacifier.

The blonde baby dropped down and Lal and Colonello immediately started to fight each other. I sighed. Those two really didn't get along, did they? I walked forward to hear Lal order, "Come to Mount Namimori after school."

After school… Oh well. I guess my homework would have to wait. I sighed and moved to put a hand on Hayato's shoulder. He looked over to me and grabbed my hand. "We're going to win pass these trials with no problem. You know that, right?" I assured him, wrapping my other arm around his chest from behind.

"Yeah," he agreed, nodding.

As you could probably guess, school wasn't exactly our first priority the rest of the day. I was busy trying to predict what our trial was going to be. Colonello was an arms expert, good with guns and combat. That was probably going to be our trial, to defeat each other or him.

The school bell rang, and I don't think I could've gotten out of there sooner. I shoved all of my books into my bag and followed Hayato, Takeshi, and Tsuna out of the classroom, my hand attached to Hayato's. We met Ryohei on the way out of the school, and I mused, "Does anyone else think we're going to have to fight in this trial?" Everyone agreed, and the rest of the walk was silent.

Mount Namimori was huge. It was pretty insane, especially if we were going to be fighting. "Oh, this brings back memories," Ryohei exclaimed. "I trained with Master Colonello here when we fought the Varia."

Takeshi looked around and replied, "You sure trained in a crazy place."

Losing his temper, Hayato snapped, "Why are you people so laidback?! We have to clear this trial!" I sighed. As much as I didn't want to admit it, this trial was going to be important. If we failed one trial, we lost the entire thing.

Colonello called, "I've been waiting, hey!" He jumped down from where he was atop the highest part of the mountain. "Like I said at school, my trial will test your combat abilities." He said that? Huh… "You pass if you can take this badge away from me while fighting, hey." The badge was a little black button on his bandana. I gulped. This was going to be tough.

"Colonello's trial will be given to the holder of the Sky Ring and one Guardian," Lal explained. She and Reborn were up on another cliff above us. So only Tsuna and one of us would be fighting. Colonello chose Hayato to help Tsuna win, but I wasn't sure that they'd win that easily.

I could understand why Hayato was chosen as I walked up the cliff with Takeshi and Ryohei. Storms were vicious when they wanted to be. They could attack at any moment, and that's why Colonello chose the Storm to work with the Sky. I bit my lip and sat down next to Lal. She acknowledged my presence with a curt nod and I focused on the battle that was about to start. Hayato and Tsuna were facing Colonello, who called, "I'm ready, hey!" My fists clenched and I gritted my teeth.

Hayato made his move first. He opened his box weapon and pulled out a gun that attached to his arm. I could see the gray Flames leaking from the weapon as he rushed forward, not waiting when Tsuna called him. His charge was stopped before it even began as Colonello's shot blasted Hayato back and then tossed a net on him. The Storm Guardian quickly blasted the net away, but when he resumed his charge, ropes shot out of the ground, wrapping around his arms and legs. His movement was restricted and his weapon rendered useless.

"Shit!" he cursed loudly. My nails were digging into my palms at this point.

A group of arrows were shooting towards Hayato when I looked back. I gaped at him. Colonello was definitely aiming to kill. A burst of fire slammed the arrows back into the ground and cut the ropes away from Hayato. Tsuna… I smiled a little. Maybe, just maybe, they'd be okay.

Yeah, that didn't really happen. The only thing that kept Tsuna from being the next one fried was Gokudera's sense of smell, which, I had to admit, was pretty impressive. He was able to smell the gunpowder in the boulder that flew at them, and warned his boss just in time. One second later, and Tsuna would've gone boom along with the rock. I sighed in relief. This was really going to be tough at this point. Colonello was really going to kill them if they didn't step up to the plate.

In fury, and hope of winning, Hayato flung eight of his Rocket Bombs at Colonello and prepared to hit him with his box weapon. Colonello's response? Destruction. He yelled, "Maximum Burst!" A blue Flame shaped like a bird flew out of his gun and destroyed all of the Rocket Bombs. Hayato didn't even respond when it dove into the ground and created a chasm that threatened to swallow Hayato whole. It would've if not for Tsuna's speedy intervention.

I heaved another sigh of relief. Maybe they had a chance after all. "We'll fight together," Tsuna assured Hayato.

"Bring it on, hey!" the Rain Arcobaleno challenged.

My phone rang, and I quickly looked at the Caller ID. Why would Chikusa be calling me? Answering it, I quietly asked, "Megane-chan? What's wrong?"

He replied, "It's the girl. She's not eating, and Ken is starting to worry." Chrome wasn't eating at all? As if hearing my unspoken question, Chikusa said, "Nothing. She didn't even touch the food Ken brought." Ken really did care about her, didn't she? "When you get the chance, come to Kokuyo Land. She may just listen to you."

I shook my head, not remembering that he couldn't see me. "I… Sakkaku-kun isn't going to let her die. Ken won't either. He's attached to her now, right?" Chikusa made a noise that I took as confirmation. "I'll be over as soon as I get a break."

When I turned back, Colonello was dropping to the ground, and Tsuna and Hayato were flying quickly towards the baby. Tsuna swiped at him repeatedly, but each time, Colonello blocked it. Frustrated, Tsuna aimed a kick at him, only to be jumped on and beaten into the ground. He struggled up, then flew at Colonello. Hayato shot at Colonello, who jumped. Taking this chance, Tsuna took another swipe at the Rain Arcobaleno. He simply smirked and kicked Tsuna right in the face. I grimaced as Hayato aimed multiple shots at Colonello. He dodged all of them and blasted Hayato back.

Tsuna was flying back towards some rocks, and at the last second, he managed to stop himself. When he turned back, Colonello aimed a hit to his face, beating him back into the rocks. "Hayato! Tsuna-kun!" I yelled. Tsuna looked up to see Maximum Burst being aimed right at him. I gasped and covered my face.

Takeshi tapped my shoulder and said, "Look!" I looked up to see three large shields in front of Tsuna. It must've been Hayato's new weapon, SISTEMA C.A.I. I heaved a huge sigh of relief and saw that Hayato's eyes were a bright green. Shooting more Flames at Colonello, Hayato blocked his attacks with his shields. More rapid-fire Flame-bullets came out of Hayato's weapon, and finally, a huge system of beams came out of his weapon, hitting Colonello dead-on.

But when the smoke cleared, only the bird was flying. "Over here, hey!" Colonello warned. Hayato looked behind him, all of us following his gaze. The Arcobaleno was right behind him, and Hayato was near defenseless. "Too bad, hey."

"You sure about that?"

The shocked Colonello looked behind him to see Tsuna powering up. X-BURNER, Tsuna's new attack, versus Colonello's Maximum Burst would be the final showdown in this fight. Two huge Flames came from both sides and smoke erupted over the field. When it cleared, I saw that Colonello's rifle was pretty much bent, and Tsuna was still standing. The Vongola boss landed and plucked the badge off of Colonello's green headband.

They did it. They won. Takeshi pulled me down to the field with them. I smiled in happiness. "Arcobaleno Trial 1, the test of combat ability, has been cleared! Good job, hey!"

I sighed in relief. One down, six more to go. Tsuna pointed his Vongola Ring at the Rain Pacifier, and the Ring seemed to gain a little bit of power. Even I saw that both his and my Rings were glowing. So were Hayato's, Takeshi's, and Ryohei's. I could bet that Chrome's, Lambo's, and Hibari's were glowing, too.

We walked home, and that's when I remembered. Chrome… "Hayato." They looked over to me. "I'm going to Kokuyo Land."

"Why?" he demanded softly.

I looked up at him sadly. "It's Kori-chan." He must've remembered that Kori-chan was my nickname for Chrome. "She's not eating well, and Dobutsu-chan and Megane-chan are both pretty worried about her. I'll be home soon." I stood up on my toes and kissed him on the cheek. "You did great today."

With that, I ran off towards Kokuyo Land, leaving a slightly pink Hayato in the distance.

X Tsunayoshi Sawada X

So Chrome wasn't eating, or at least, that's what Najika had said. Tsuna looked down at his food sadly. She'd vanished, and that's why Tsuna was worried. "Mom?"

"What is it?" Nana replied.

Tsuna asked, "Can you make some riceballs? You can put whatever you want inside." That way, Chrome would be okay.

Nana nodded. "Sure, but why?"

That sent him into a quick-thinking mode. "I-I was gonna study tonight to make up for the classes I missed," he lied quickly. Nana didn't know about Chrome, and quickly made the food.

X Najika Kamiya X

I was sitting with Chrome in the deserted building, with Ken and Chikusa both off somewhere. She had her head on my shoulder, but the rest of her body was shifted away from me. "Chrome, you have to eat something, or you'll starve. It'll make people worry."

She looked up to my face, then down. "No… I'm not hungry."

"You haven't eaten since we got back, and for all I know, you may not have eaten before we came back, either!" I protested firmly. "I'm worried. Ken and Chikusa are worried, too. Why do you think Ken brought you all of this?" I gestured to the snacks lying on the ground in front of the girl.

Chrome hesitated. "I… I just want to know that Mukuro-sama is okay…" That was a complete lie, and she probably knew that I was sure she was lying.

It was then that we heard a crunch. I looked up to see Tsuna standing there with a firm, and somewhat angry look on his face. Chrome looked up too. "Boss?"

"Where is Mukuro Roduko?" Tsuna demanded. Chrome scrambled to her feet, me right behind her. I stepped in front of her. Something was wrong. "I have business with Mukuro Roduko!" Tsuna pushed me out of the way and ordered, "Tell Mukuro Roduko to come out!"

I sat up and yelled, "Tsuna-kun, stop it! You're scaring her!" Chrome was visibly shaking, completely intimidated by her boss's strange behavior. "Tsuna-kun, get away from Kori-chan!"

I noticed the mist emanating from Chrome's body. "Who is it? Who dares bully my Chrome?" The eye patch fell off, revealing Mukuro. Tsuna stepped back in shock. "Are you the one who has business with me? Making Chrome scared, I'll punish you." I got to my feet and Mukuro pushed me behind him. "Stay out of this, Kanari-chan."

Tsuna… what are you thinking?

The brunette boy ran out, the illusionist following. I gritted my teeth and followed the two, only to see Tsuna holding a huge box tied with a purple cloth. Wait… if Tsuna was there, then who was the Tsuna who had just scared Chrome?

Unless… One of them wasn't Tsuna.

As I ran outside, I saw Hibari and Mukuro both there. I winced as they both glared at poor Tsuna, then turned to each other and started to fight. I ran up and yelled, "Sakkaku-kun, Hibari-kun! Stop fighting, please!" Tsuna seemed too scared to move, or frozen in thought.

All we could do was watch as Hibari and Mukuro attacked each other with absolutely no mercy in either of their attacks. "What are you doing, Hibari-san?! Mukuro?!" Tsuna demanded, dropping his package.

I sighed. Those two were equal in stubbornness. That's when I saw the helmet-head Arcobaleno named Skull. Everything was backfiring in his plan. I sighed. So this was a trial. It was confirmed when Lal showed up.

All he had to do was calm them down Hibari and Mukuro. Easy enough, right? Yeah… that wasn't working. Especially when a group of Skull's lackeys showed up and attacked both of them, only to be taken care of by Ken and Chikusa when they came to check on the noise.

I sat down next to Reborn and watched as the fight continued when a huge octopus showed up and attacked Tsuna. Ken and Chikusa were doing fine, as was Tsuna. I was more worried about Mukuro and Hibari, so I stood and ran around all of the others and found Mukuro and Hibari rather quickly. Those guys… They never stop fighting, do they? Too bad I couldn't get involved.

Damn octopus. Because the thing landed right in front of me, I wasn't able to see what happened. All I was able to pick up was that Tsuna somehow calmed the two most stubborn guardians of them all, and that Skull had provoked both of them using Mammon, and that they both knew it before it even began.

I sighed in relief and turned to Mukuro. "Sakkaku-kun… you were right in your warning," I said. He smiled a little.

"I know. Just be careful, all right?" he asked before disappearing. "Kanari-chan… the future isn't bright for you."

The future isn't bright for you.

I knew that already. I looked down and walked away from the scene. "Tsuna-kun?" I asked. "Make sure Chrome gets a good meal, and make sure she's okay." I looked as my Ring turned a purple. The Cloud trial was over, which meant there were only five more trials to go.

The next morning, I met up with Kyoko, who had called me earlier, and Himeko. At first I was wary of Himeko, since she had flirted with Hayato, and pretty shamelessly too. But she sheepishly said, "I didn't know he was your boyfriend. My bad."

I smiled a little and replied, "It's fine. Please, for my sake, just don't do it again. Himeko-san."

She sighed. "Yeah, no need to worry 'bout that, but for my sake, call me Hime-chan!" she exclaimed. I laughed and agreed. Hime meant "princess," which strangely reminded me of a certain someone who loved to be called the Prince.

We were out at the mall the entire day. Hime and I actually ended up pretty quick friends. She was actually really cool. "How about this?" I asked, holding up the black dress. Hime sized it up, looking it up and down, then gave the thumbs up.

"What about this for me?" she asked, pulling out a long black coat. It looked really good on her.

Nodding happily, I pulled out a red skirt and black T-shirt that was her size and handed them to her. "Go try that entire outfit on." She grimaced, then pulled out a pair of black jeans and a red V-neck T-shirt instead.

"Sorry. I just don't like skirts too much." She picked up a pink shirt and handed it to Kyoko. "Kyoko-chan, try this one on," she suggested.

Kyoko happily agreed and held up a purple and white striped shirt. "I think this one would be perfect for you!" she said, handing it to Himeko.

Himeko laughed, and it sounded strangely familiar. "Yeah! It's just my style." I gaped. Things were beginning to add up. Himeko didn't exist, but I knew someone just like her who did. "Hey, Naji-chan, let's go get some lunch and then go to the shrine when Kyoko-chan's done shopping!"

Namimori Shrine? "Sure," I agreed, nodding.

Lunch was uneventful. But walking to Namimori Shrine, I we noticed the entire town covered in mist. Mist… Mammon… That only confirmed my suspicion. "Hey, Hime-chan, let's get some ice cream," I said. "What do you want, Kyoko-chan?"

"Ah! Vanilla, please, Najika-chan"

Of course, Hime came with me. "I'll pay, Hime-chan. Or should I say… Bel." Hime, or Bel, laughed again and I smirked. "Everything that's happened today has only confirmed what I thought."

He giggled. "So you knew from the start? I should've figured, huh, Naji-hime?"

I smiled weakly. "It's been a while. Sorry for the last time I saw you."

"Nope~ It's fine. Boss isn't very happy, but hey, when is he ever?" I laughed a little. Never was the correct answer for that one. "I missed you, Naji-hime."

Looking at him, I reprimanded, "No physical contact until you show your true self. Just don't do it in front of Kyoko-chan. She's been through enough these past few days."

Bel nodded. "I figured as much. Then let's get going to the shrine."

As we walked to the shrine, Bel and I sent cryptic messages to each other through whatever else we were saying. I learned that the Kyuudaime had suspended them from action for a short while, but they were all getting back into their job. I told him that I'd been practicing my fighting, and I was getting better. Before I knew it, we were at the Namimori shrine. Little balls of goo were flying at us from everywhere at that point. Kyoko shrieked and Bel and I exchanged a look.

He flung knives at the red goo, and I pulled out my gun that I'd left in the past and shot a whole bunch of them down. I high-fived him and then, Bel and I stayed behind to wait for Mammon, and then I saw my Ring light up. The Mist trial was over and we only had to defeat four more Arcobaleno.

After Mammon caught up to us, I was shocked to see how hurt he was. "Mammon… Did Tsuna-kun get you with his X-BURNER?" I asked, putting a bandage on his cheek.

"Yeah. He's gotten stronger," the Arcobaleno mused. "Anyways, I'm hungry. Can we go eat?"

I laughed. "Yeah, of course. Let's go. I know just the place for you, Bel," I laughed, picking Mammon up. "It's Takeshi-kun's place, and it serves the best sushi in town. Let's get going!" Bel's face lit up; he'd clearly heard of it before.

X Takeshi Yamamoto X

When Takeshi walked into his dad's sushi restaurant, he was surprised to see three people eating and sitting together happily. "Give me the pink one next," Belphegor ordered.

"Pink one?" his dad asked in disbelief. "Kid, this is known as extra-fatty tuna." Mammon sighed and Najika, of all people, laughed as Belphegor got his order of extra-fatty tuna sushi.

Takeshi walked up to them. "H-Hey…" Belphegor and Najika looked up from their conversation about something or other. "You guys haven't gone back to Italy yet?" he asked.

Belphegor laughed. "This was the reason I tagged along."

"Yeah, we can't spend every second working," Mammon added. "Anytime we come here, we come to this place. Najika recommended it, too, so all the better."

Takeshi looked over to see another strange figure cloaked in purple with a monkey on his head also eating. Najika laughed at something Belphegor said. "Takeshi-kun, chill. Now that Mammon's job is over, they're going to stick around for a little. Himeko and Monta Hariyama are a thing of the past."

Belphegor chuckled and slung his arm around Najika's shoulder. "We're going to be crashing at your place tonight."

She shrugged. "That's fine with me, but I'm staying with Hayato, so you two have to promise not to burn anything." Unlike Ken and Chikusa. Those two and Chrome had decided to stay in Kokuyo Land.

"Aw~ That sucks, I wanted to stay with you again~" Belphegor whined. Takeshi chuckled a little. Their little act never changed.

Atogaki:

So yeah. I died. Whoopsies? I kind of had to go offline due to everything that was happening in my life, but I'm much better now. Things are a lot clearer. I was actually caught in Hurricane Sandy a few days ago, and my local library has its own backup generator and internet. So I have something really important to say.

If you're reading and you weren't caught in the Hurricane, please donate anything you can spare, even a few dollars. I'm trapped in my own town. I can't see my friends, I can't get to school, and the entire town is black. The library is only a couple minutes walk away from my home, so that's why I'm on here. Hurricane Sandy devastated the Tristate area. My town, personally, will be black for at least another two weeks.

There's few resources left in the town. All the shops are closed. My dad is having difficulty getting in and out of town to go to work, and even more trouble finding gas to keep our tiny generator running. We weren't swamped, like Sayreville, NJ or Staten Island, but there has been destruction absolutely everywhere that I turn. Please donate, and if you need your parents permission, please ask them to help out as well. Every little bit counts.

Thank you so much for reading this. I'm back, I suppose. I had time to finish and edit this entire story over these past few days that we've been running on a simple generator. It's 253 pages and over 101,000 words. Thanks for sticking with me through this.

Again; please help the relief for Hurricane Sandy.

Thanks. :')

-Akira