I'm back! I'm alive! Sorry about the late update! My family suddenly had a surprise trip to Martha's Vineyard!

Here's a special chappie in our favorite, little Korean sidekick's POV!

Warriors Don't Cry

Chapter 15: Allergies: Alana

Persephone snuck out and visited the field every day.

Visiting her dark friend was something that she looked forward to every day. He wasn't nice to her and he didn't pamper her. That was a good enough reason for her to like him.

He was the first person who wasn't afraid of bruising or scratching her.

He had no problem in speaking out on his opinions toward her.

Even though she tried her best in discovering what her stranger's name was she still wasn't able to get it out of him. He downright refused to reveal his name. He was usually cold or condescending when he spoke to her.

Her stranger had nice sides of him, too. They just didn't show as much as they should.

He helped her fix a baby bird's broken wing once during her visits.

Then, there was that other time when he lent his cloak to her when it rained so she wouldn't get too wet. That, and she was complaining non-stop about the cold.

Persephone grinned at her friend while hanging upside-down on a branch. He raised his eyebrow at her antics. "What's so funny, Kore?"

Persephone's nose wrinkled when he called her by her child name.

"Stop calling me that! You know I hate it when you call me Kore! It's bad enough that Mother still calls me that." Persephone pouted and crossed her arms.

"Kore."

Persephone scowled. Her stranger snickered.

"You're doing that on purpose to make me angry." She accused him. "That's not very nice."

"When was I ever?" He questioned.

Persephone had no comeback to shoot back at him so she crossed her arms instead and turned her nose up. "Well that's mean! If you keep on acting like that I won't invite you to my Goddess Nomination Celebration."

"I won't be able to go anyways."

Persephone sent her friend an alarmed look. "Why not?"

"I…I am not welcomed into Olympus, Kore." He said, obviously avoiding the reason why. Persephone frowned, upset that her friend wouldn't be able to come.

Her stranger looked away and for a second, she thought that he looked a little guilty. "What title are you going to earn, Kore?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"Persephone!" She snapped. "And I'm going to be the Goddess of Spring!"

Her stranger snorted. "Isn't your 'dear mother' already in charge of that?"

"Not anymore! Mother gave that title to me 'cause the other choices weren't 'good enough' for me. I just think that she's doing this so she could keep a close eye on me." Persephone rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess it's fine since I love spring out of all the seasons."

I despised spring with my very soul.

I mean it. I wish spring could be banned from the calendar, flowers, bees and all. Fall too but if I had to choose between them, then spring. I only accept summers and winters. Know why?

Allergies.

You know, the puffy eyelids and the stuffy noses. The watery eyes are also part of the package.

"Alana, wake up!" Karasu opened the door loudly and ripped the curtains open and opened the window. The painful sunlight socked me in the eyes, making me slap my hands over my eyes. "Gah! I'm being blinded, woman! BLINDED!"

"Well, you'll get used to the light once you get up."

I groaned and covered my face with a pillow. "I dun wanna get up from bed! We finally finished the first year of middle school! I want my sleep!"

I felt my pillow move from my face. I glared at the pup, which was the culprit of taking away my only shade. "You evil, evil puppy. No sweets for you for a whole week."

Pocky whimpered and sulked in a corner Karasu-style. I snorted. That guy spent too much time mimicking my friend. I guess he got the idea that acting like my buddy would get the same reactions. Well, think again!

"C'mon, Alana! We have to go now if we want to get good spots for Sakura Viewing!"

Sakura Viewing?

Oh boy, more flowers.

I glanced at the window and sneezed. I guess Karasu forgot that opening the windows meant that all the pollen would fly into the room and make me all nose drippy and…yuck.

I sat up. It's so surprising how selfless I could be when it came to Karasu. I even shock myself. I should get an award for all my hard work or something.

I whined and rolled off of my bed and slammed onto the ground. My blankets fell with me, making me look like some sort of cocoon with black hair sticking out. I crawled to my drawer and took out some random piece of clothing (Oh lookie there, it was my school uniform) and pulled it on.

With Karasu's help, I stumbled down the stairs in one piece and managed to sit on a chair.

"Morning, Alana-chan!" Yamamoto said to me in a sunny way. At least someone in the world was happy.

"Baseball nut." I greeted flatly, which came out more like 'Bay-bau-noht' thanks to my stuffy nose. I took a paper napkin and blew my nose to clear it.

"Morning, Takeshi-kun." Karasu said to him cheerfully.

"Good Morning, Karasu-chan." My eyes narrowed (as much as puffy eyes could narrow) at the slightly distant and formal way he was talking to her. Karasu obviously noticed this detail. Her happy aura dissipated.

That jerk!

"Good Morning, Juuhime! Have you slept well?"

Karasu's dull mood brightened when a certain silver bomber walked into the room with Tsuna-fish in tow. Reborn also hopped in with them with Pocky following. "Morning Gokudera-kun, Tsuna!"

Tsuna-fish grinned when he saw his sister. "Are you all ready to get the seats for Sakura Viewing?"

"Of course, Juudaime!"

"Haha, yep!"

"I'm ready, Brother."

All eyes were on me, waiting for me to reply. Gokudera glared daggers at me (yeah, I'm going to suck up my pride and call him by his name for now on because Karasu obviously likes him. Happy now, world?), Yamamoto just…stared, and Karasu looked at me expectantly.

"…Yeab, I'b reaby." Yup, I'm ready.

Tsuna-fish gave me an alarmed look. "Alana-chan, are you all right? You don't sound very well. Are you sick?"

His concern for me warmed my heart, mostly 'cause he looked a lot like Karasu. He also looked too darn adorable for his own good. Karasu told him for me. "She has allergies, that's all."

"Really? Then she should stay back home!"

It's official. Tsuna-fish was a saint.

"I think that the fresh air would do her some good." Yamamoto suggested cheerfully. "And I don't think she'll appreciate being alone back at home, don't you think?"

"I…guess."

That Baseball nut is going to be a very hurt Baseball nut.

Pocky decided to stay home and take a nap so I was going to suffer springtime alone with a bunch of nuts (minus my favorite twins). Traitor.

When we finished breakfast and stepped out, I made sure to make the concrete under Yamamoto's feet shift so he would fall flat onto his face. Painfully.

"Hiii! Yamamoto, are you okay?"

Even Karasu stooped over and offered her hand while giving me a look. "Takeshi-kun, do you need help getting up?"

Octopus-head stiffened a little from beside me and looked as if he was considering blowing the Baseball-nut back into his senses.

If he doesn't accept I'll kill-

Yamamoto shook his head. "Don't worry. I think I can get back by myself."

I saw Karasu flinch as if he slapped her.

He's dead.

But before I could do anything life-threatening to the guy, Tsuna-fish offered his hand. "Yamamoto, I think we should quickly get to the sakura trees before all the spots are taken."

"Ah, that's right. Sorry about that Tsuna."

I bristled in anger when Yamamoto took Tsuna-fish's hand. Karasu looked away and blinked quickly. I thought she was going to cry then and there. Tsuna-fish noticed this and gave me a questioning look. I shrugged. In reality, I wanted to tattle on the Nut but it wasn't my place to do so.

My nose was too stuffed to make my speech understandable anyways.

I rubbed my eyes and sniffed loudly.

Being outside wasn't helping that much with my predicament. There was pollen flying around everywhere! I glared at a daisy. Not that I had anything against daisies personally, it was just the closest plant to glare at.

Octopus-head glared at the ground, then at me, then at the daisy that I was also glaring at.

It wasn't a good day for the daisy.

"Kaa-su, we mab id!" I yelled excitedly in pure gibberish while waving the tissue (unused) around like some flag. Karasu feigned a smile and nodded. "That's great Alana. Oh look, we made it." She said, finally noticing the Sakura Tree garden.

That's what I said!

"I'm not going to die!" Tsuna-fish cried out in relief. Must've been Reborn who suggested on hogging some seats for them. I sneezed when a petal blew into my nose. Ugh, hate flowers.

"Woo! Lucky!" Yamamoto pumped his fist in victory and grinned at me.

I glowered back at Yamamoto. He looked genuinely confused, the nerve of him! Wasn't he even guilty that he hurt Karasu's feelings? I looked away from him and blew my nose.

He's not even worth acknowledging.

"Hey, this place is off limits."

I jerked to the speaker of the voice and relaxed when I saw that it was just one of my pompadour buddies. His name was…Chuck, right? No wait, that's an American name. He's Japanese.

…Was it Pedro then?

Whatever. I shook my head and waved at…Chuck. Yeah, lets call him Chuck. He recognized me and smiled a little before turning back into his hostile mode. "Okay, with the exception of Alana-sama, all of you scram!"

"Nice to see you, Chuck! Make an exception for these guys. They're with me."

…Was what I wanted to say.

"Dice do dee huu, Chub! Make a edepton bor deese guys. Day wit be."

"…?"

I was met with a blank look.

Chuck obviously didn't understand my message. Hey, no hard feelings. Judging by the looks on my companions' faces (namely Tsuna-fish's famous 'what-the-heck' mixed with his charming 'we're dead!' look), they had no idea what I just spluttered out either.

Gah, I never knew that communication would be this hard. I gotta give it to the deaf and mute kids around the world.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a grunt. I gaped at Octopus-head and then at the now writhing Chuck and back at the pissed off bomber again. He must've kneed him while my mind was off to la-la land. "Waz thab weally nedidawy?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow.

He ignored me.

And I'm not even sure if it's because he really didn't understand me or because he was ignoring me on purpose.

I let out a frustrated sigh and grabbed a good fistful of my hair. This wasn't a good day for me. And all I wanted was to stay inside the house and finish off my candy pile.

"I was wondering why it was so noisy. So it's you guys?"

I froze up.

Please God NO! I thought I wouldn't be seeing him again until school restarted! I mentally began crying a waterfall. Why now?

I dared to look at the tree that Hibari was leaning against as he was explaining the reason why he put Chuck in duty. Something about not liking crowds, which was no surprise. It was a nice combination of the two things that I want to avoid the most in the world: Flowers and my bully of a Kaichio.

Then, he abruptly hit Chuck on the face and told him to 'decompose'.

Bad day for poor Chuck

"Dun do dat to Chub! He wad doin hid job perfely!" I spluttered to my teacher/bully/potential killer. Hibari finally noticed me and gave me a quizzical look. "Chibi-omnivore? I didn't see you because you were too quiet like those herbivores. Make sure you get stronger and taller before school starts."

I made a face. If I could control my growth, I'd be as tall as Yamamoto. "DUN CALL BE SHORT!"

No translation needed

Hibari smirked at my reaction. I swear he calls me that all the time just to hear me scream at his face.

I caught the expression on Tsuna-fish's face. I snickered. He probably was thinking, 'They're being impossible again.' It was written all over his face. It was either that or 'We're screwed' which was also true.

"Ah, what a nice view. Sakura viewing is such a nice thing." I heard an all-too-familiar voice sigh. "Ahh! Gross! It's all men!"

Reborn popped out of nowhere too and began explaining that he brought the creep over so he could treat Tsuna and co.'s wounds after the little 'battle' for the Sakura viewing spots that Hibari suddenly decided to suggest.

I glowered at the perverted doctor. Unni always told me that I had to stay away from creeps like him. Karasu smiled. "Shamal! So you're here to see the Sakura blossoms too?"

Shamal grinned drunkenly back at her. "At least my favorite little girls came! Alana! It's been a while! As cute as ever, I see."

"Shuddap."

That was the very first comprehendible word I said since I left the house. Yay me.

Then, Shamal did the most idiotically brave thing in the whole world:

He approached Hibari and asked if he had a sister.

Even if he did, why would he tell YOU? I mentally screamed at the idiot. As I (and everyone else) predicted, Hibari whacked him senseless. "Scram."

Great, there goes our only doctor.

WHY do I always get into these types of situations?

I was currently positioned in a fighting pose a few feet away from my best buddy. 'Cause I belonged to the Disciplinary Committee, Hibari ordered me to 'fight' against one of my friends to even up the numbers or, as he eloquently put it, he would 'bite me to death'.

Karasu volunteered before anyone else could say anything. I was a bit relieved. I mean, we haven't sparred in like, a while but I knew that Karasu had a bigger chance on winning against me out of the whole group. I knew that she was (no offense to Karasu) the weakest out of the whole group but, with my allergies and all, I guess she'll be okay when I go all out.

"You little traitor!" Octopus-head yelled at me from the sidelines before running head-on at Hibari. The statement hurt a little, I admit, but I sensed Karasu's forgiving stare on me so all was good. She understood that I was doing this 'cause…well, I had no choice.

I sneezed and rubbed my now very puffy eyes. I could hardly see through them, dammit! I tore my sneakers and socks from my feet quickly, earning strange looks from the people who bothered to watched. I closed my eyes and readied myself. "Are ya ready, buddy? I'm not going to go easy on you today, unfortunately."

Hey! I can speak clearly now! I suspect that Shamal had something to do with this. But the swelling on my eyes didn't stop so I guess it was the best he could do. I scratched a mosquito bite that suddenly appeared on my cheek.

Yup, definitely Shamal.

"I didn't think you would. I would be disappointed if you did." Karasu shot back laughingly while readying herself.

I was a Southern Praying Mantis styled fighter. Yeah, I practically based my fighting style on Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is a really good show. All four of us based our fighting styles on that show ever since we suddenly obtained the ability to move our respectful elements. Like all cartoon-loving fans, we all agreed to call our abilities 'bending' in respect of the show that helped us cope and survive.

Proves to you nagging mothers out there that watching cartoons can be very helpful to your kiddies in life.

Just saying

So, if you all didn't watch Avatar, I'll explain why I took my shoes off. By having direct contact with the earth, I'm able to send small vibrations in the earth and see through my feet. Sort of like how bats see by screaming their heads off, 'cept a lot better. I had a 360-degree view because of this useful ability. I can do this with my eyes open too!

I think Karasu called it 'Seismic Sense'.

Karasu, in the other hand, used the Ba Gua style of fighting. She was a defensive fighter and rarely attacked, following the usual Airbender philosophy. I knew that she wouldn't be making the first move.

I smirked and made the first move by making the earth beneath Karasu shift in a way that would make her loose her balance. If she lost balance, the fight would've been over in a second but she expected that trick and launched herself into the air before landing softly God knows where.

Gah, I forgot that Airbenders had light feet.

This little match was going to be harder than I thought.

"I'm right here."

I frowned a little when Karasu revealed her hiding place, destroying her only advantage in this small battle. "Oi, didn't I tell you that I wasn't going to go easy on you, Karasu-girl?" I asked before kicking the ground a little to make a fissure under her feet. Karasu nimbly avoided that and sent a gust of wind at my direction. I barely avoided that and stumbled a little before regaining my balance.

That was a close one.

"Yeah, I heard you. But that doesn't mean that I'll be taking any handicaps. We'll be fighting fair and square, Alana."

"You know what, Alana? I had a small talk with Reborn last night and I decided something." She went on while moving lightly around me. I almost stumbled at that. A talk with Reborn? What did that infant hitman put into her head this time?

I kicked the ground again. This time, I brought up a rock wall and pushed it at Karasu's direction. To my surprise, she jumped over it without any trouble.

It seems that my buddy had been training a lot without me.

I sensed it when she landed and jumped at me but I barely had any time to react. Karasu was in front of me in seconds and she whispered something into my ear. I froze up when I heard her words and she swiftly knocked me away with a harsh punch fueled with airpower.

Flying is a very scary experience when you're blind.

Then, someone caught me. I immediately recognized his scent and gaped at him in shock. "O-Octopus-head?"

Yeah, that was a shocker, wasn't it?

He promptly dropped me and muttered something under his breath. I winced when my butt made contact with the ground. "Ouch."

Then, right after I recovered from my butt pain, I was yanked up by someone roughly. "We're leaving, Chibi-omnivore."

I sweatdropped as Hibari dragged me away from the Sakura Garden. Not that I was complaining about leaving the plant-invested place but didn't I come there with my friends? I felt his sharp glare on me. "Do you have any complaints?"

"Nah, I needed an excuse to leave anyways. Allergies, remember?" I asked while tapping my overly swelled eyes. Hibari suddenly stopped, making me crash into him. "Eh?"

I flinched in surprise when he gently tilted my face up. His hands were cold! And they smelled like metal, too! But worse yet, he was acting very un-Hibari-like.

I didn't even know that 'gentle' was even in his vocabulary.

He made a clicking sound and roughly took my hand again. "We're going to have your eyes checked." He decided. I pointed at the direction back. "But isn't Shamal back there, Hibari?"

"He's useless."

…I couldn't really argue to that.

"Hey, Hibari?"

"Hn?"

"My feet hurt."

I don't think that Hibari realized that my pair of sneakers were all the way back in the Sakura Garden. The ground was littered with all different kinds of things, sharp or soft. My feet didn't like the sharp things. "Can we go back to get my sneakers?"

"No."

I was about to protest, but anything that I was about to say died in my throat when Hibari went onto a knee (not THAT way! This is Hibari you romantic fools!) and turned his back facing me.

That was when I realized Hibari, THE Hibari Kyouya, was offering to give me a piggyback ride.

"…"

"What are you waiting for, Chibi-omnivore? For me to bite you to death, perhaps?"

I scrambled onto his back and awkwardly wrapped my arms around his neck. The last time I had a piggyback ride was when I was five. Hibari got back onto his feet and went back to walking toward the hospital.

For the first time today, I actually felt happy. In his strange, unique way, Hibari showed that he cared about my health…somewhat.

"Hibari?"

"What now, Omnivore?" He was irritated.

"Thanks."

Hibari was quiet for a little moment before he snorted. "I don't want a puffy-eyed omnivore following me around school and being a burden."

Then why didn't you just let me 'decompose', dude? You really suck at lying. You know that? I thought a little smugly while smiling a bit like a fool.

"Thanks anyways."

"Hn."

I smiled a little more and rested my head against his shoulder before jerking back and wrinkling my nose. "You smell like Sakura Blossoms. I hate those things. You're going to take a shower later, right?"

"...Wanna die?"

And there you have it! Sorry dudes for the late update!

So...did you like the little fluff there? Huh? Huh?

It was a bit hard to write. Hibari is one tough character so it's hard to keep him in character, you know what I mean? Anyways, the next chappie will be in Alana's POV again so keep your eyes peeled for it!

Oh and

REVIEW!