Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.
Chapter 4: A New Subordinate
'Thank the heavens and any other god for this miracle.' She was not late. (She ran as fast as she could, reaching the school right before the bell rang.) Opening the doors to her class, she strode to her seat, plopped down and put her head down in the position of a nap.
When the teacher came in she sighed in agony. He was not her favorite (not like she had one): her math teacher Mr. Nezu. The guy (who she suspected was a fraud but had no proof) was claimed to have graduated at some elite school. He was eternally biased towards the more failing students, herself included. The man didn't even let her sleep before lecturing on and on about her grades. And what type of teacher announces the worst grades aloud in the class? A horrible teacher and worse human being.
"Class, today we will be receiving a new transfer student from abroad. His name is -" his words were covered by the loud slam of the door as a boy came in.
He had the stereotypical bad boy look with skulls that adorned his attire. Silver (or grey) hair with green eyes and a mean frown (that could never compete with her brother's.) Italian. And by her now jogged up memory, Smokin' Bomb Hayato.
'What in the world is Smokin' Bomb Hayato doing in Japan?' was her only shocked thought. She had a feeling it had something to do with Reborn and her 'future position as the tenth' but she could be wrong. He was rumored to be of no family after all, and there were more mafia-related people in the city than just her.
By his (extravagant) entrance, the guys moved away from the glare and the girls squealed. It was certain that by the end of the day, a new fanclub would be created. Females.
His glare then moved around the room until it landed on her. He stared straight at her and ignored the teacher. His glare intensified and he yelled out, "You aren't fit to be the tenth boss of the Vongola family! It will be me!"
Tsuna gaped, incredulous.
'Oh god no. Please don't tell me there are even stupid people in the mafia. How can he just blurt out mafia families in a normal high school?' With a heavier sigh, she put her head face down and closed her eyes away from her new problem.
"Gokudera-san, please sit to the seat next to Dame-Tsuna. Sawada-san, please raise your hand." Moaning, she ignored the bastard's words.
"SAWADA-SAN!" Nezu yelled, though it didn't matter because Gokudera didn't even listen to the raving man. Instead, he walked up right in front of her and kicked the desk to the side.
Sensing his move, Tsuna slid my chair back, avoiding the incoming desk. Staring straight at him, she sighed, fixed her desk and placed her face on it. She could care less about him. And she would.
Face turning red in anger, Gokudera growled and sat down next to her, his glare never leaving. '…What a bother.'
Class ended quickly enough and Tsuna got up, hoping to leave before anything bad happened. It wasn't quick enough, as the new student blocked the exit and sneered. "You're a weakling, not fit to be the tenth. I challenge you to a fight!" With that, he stomped away as if he hadn't said anything.
His mini speech had *thank god* not taken much time and Tsuna quickly strode out the classroom doors only to come face to face with some guy from the kendo club. She groaned.
'Why, God? Why do you prevent me from going to my own home? Do you hate me so much? Did I do anything wrong in my life? ARE YOU OUT TO GET ME?' Tsuna was having a very stressful day, and it seemed the only release was blaming the holy being residing up in heaven.
So caught up in her own demise she didn't hear the man talking. Snapping her face to him she grunted, "Please repeat what you just said."
Her face was probably scary right then because the boy cowered and stuttered, "M-Mochida-sempai has challenged you to a kendo fight. P-Please come with me…" Her stress just increased.
'God. Seriously, you must hate me. What is it with men and challenges? It's like a game to prove who's manlier or something. Wait that's actually be true…' Disgusted by her truthful thoughts she swiftly shook herself and followed the frightened boy to the gymnasium.
At the center stood Mochida in his badass stance with a large crowd surrounding the fighting area. The noise from cheering, laughing and the overall excitement for the fight was unbearable. She would never understand how high-schoolers acted like kindergarteners. It was sad.
"So you didn't run away like a coward huh Dame-Tsuna' the bastard jeered in full kendo uniform."God may forgive a piece of shit like you, but I won't! I shall smite you!" The man starts rambling on something that she tuned out perfectly, knowing it would be some impotent speech of his 'might and power'. Men just love hearing themselves talk.
One thing did catch Tsuna's ears though. "The prize is of course, Sasagawa Kyoko!" Kyoko bristled in irritation at someone calling her a prize of some sort while Tsuna just fumed. Okay, she didn't get to beat the hell out of him before, now she hears the bastard talking like he's god.
"You do not treat others like items, got that fool?"
Mochida just ignored her and thought, 'The armor and shinai that she's going to use has enough weight in it that two people can barely carry it. She'll neve—'
"Get ready bastard, I don't need armor or weapons to beat a wuss up, so let's go!" the frustrated girl barked. Mochida sweatdropped. 'So she won't wear the weapons, whatever. The judge is still one of my members. No matter what happens, he won't raise Sawada's red. Heh Heh Heh.'
He snapped out of his thinking once Tsuna dashed forward and went for the kill. 'The stupid girl really just goes straight at me? Too easy' were the fool's thoughts before he lifted his bamboo sword up to slam it down on the girl's head.
That is, if the hit actually made contact.
Smirking and dreaming of the tortures she had planned for the man, Tsuna sidestepped and punched him in the stomach, sending the bastard balling down, clutching his injury. '…Well, it fun well it lasted I suppose…' Tsuna sighed sadly while looking at the referee, who didn't raise her red flag. '…What? ... Oh! So Mochida's a cheater and the referee won't raise my flag-' Tsuna smacked herself and drowned out the disbelieving murmurs of the crowd at the unfairness of the match.
Mochida just screwed up his own life for him.
A sadistic laugh escaped her throat as a dark purple aura surrounded her. Groaning, the fool got up and paled at what he saw.
'Too late.'
Rushing back at the man, Tsuna kicked him in the guts, punched his face, elbowed his head hard enough to cause a concussion, and other, well bloodier things. The retard still got up (though she would commend him on his endurance) and gave a sloppy punch directed at her face. It was so weak she caught the fist with one hand and twisted it behind the guy's back, slamming him to the floor. Lifting up the bloody face by the hair she grinned.
"The heavens may forgive a pervert like you, but I won't. I shall hurt you so bad you'll want to die."
Half an hour later, the referee couldn't stand his sempai being beaten any longer and raised the red flag. "P-Poin-" He never got to finish; he fainted.
The crowd was not exempt from the scene, as many of them had either left earlier, fainted, or was now throwing up. Blood was splashed all around the floor, a few teeth littered, parts of the man's armor laying around and said man on the floor sporting two black eyes, no hair (that was just really really fun for her), a dislocated arm and some other non-vital injuries.
Contented with the release of her stress buildup, she got ready to leave (she had totally forgotten about Kyoko, who had been dragged out earlier) when a tonfa swung her way. Dodging, she turned to see who tried to hit her.
Only a displeasured expression was present on her face as she stared into the amused eyes of Hibari Kyoya, the Namimori Disciplinary Committee Head, aka: the most bloodthirsty kid in the school.
"I assumed you were an herbivore Sawada Tsunayoshi... I'll let this pass." Then his eyes narrowed dangerously. Suddenly, he pounced on her, his tonfa thwacking painfully on her side. On the last moment, she twisted a bit, both deflecting part of the force and also lessening the pain on her body. Still, it hurt. She stared at him calmly. Of course the boy would try to attack her. He was likely to do such sporadic and aggressive things.
"Remember to clean up." He made another smirk before he left as other disciplinary committee members arrived with various levels of disgust and dragged the remaining unconscious bodies away.
That was when she noticed the last person standing in the gymnasium. Gokudera Hayato.
"Y-You are not fit for the position of tenth! Tomorrow right after school. I challenge you and if you run away I will make sure you suffer!" Glaring, he left slamming the doors with him.
Just at the doors slammed close, Reborn appeared from inside a basketball pole. Tsuna arched an eyebrow up into her bangs. 'How does he even get in there?'
"Dame-Tsuna, that man is Smokin' Bomb Hayato, the boy I asked to come here. He's earlier than expected, but that is not the issue. Be prepared. Tomorrow you will face him."
"I know that Reborn. I won't lose" she replied flippantly.
Reborn just nodded before jumping on her head. "Dame-Tsuna, you'd best hurry and clean up before Maman gets worried." Her eyes widened. She had totally lost sense of time, and Nana would get upset if she wasn't home soon.
With supernatural force, Tsuna rushed through the clean up. Blood was quickly rubbed off with wet mops, teeth thrown in the garbage can, and armor put away in the storage room. After 10 minutes of cleaning, the gym was satisfactory. She cleaned herself up, making sure there was not a single drop of blood on her clothing, and then went speeding off home.
Nana was thankfully not worried nor angry, just curious. Tsuna had no friends, so she couldn't exactly 'hang out' with anyone and her daughter would rather stay inside than out. So why had her child come home much later than usual?
So curious, she stood in front of the doorway, waiting for Tsuna to come home. Soon, she did see her coming from away.
"Tsu-chan~ what were you doing after school?" Nana questioned.
"I… made a new friend." Tsuna answered indifferently. Her bag slung down near the sofa and she walked up to her room before her mother exploded.
Nana didn't explode but she did jump up and down in joy and sang, "My Tsu-chan has a friend~" Flowers emitted by the ecstatic mother filled the living room.
Up in her room, Reborn asked, "Dame-Tsuna, lying to Maman now?" Tsuna jumped on her bed and started finishing her homework. "I didn't technically lie. Don't you consider me a friend?" she muttered. No response came from Reborn.
"…Whatever."
Suddenly, her remaining homework was snatched away. "Reborn what'd you do that for? I need to finish my homework to pass the grade you know." Again, Reborn ignores her and was for some reason wearing a… construction outfit? Three TNTs appear and Reborn asserted,
"This is to help you. If you answer a question wrong, I will activate one of these." To prove his point, Reborn pushed one down, thus exploding the room.
BOOM
"REBORN!" Tsuna yelled. Her room was now organized into a warzone with things strone everywhere. Her bookcase had miraculously stayed alive and intact. Tsuna herself was not so lucky. Her hair was frizzled and soot smothered her face. Numerous scratched adorned her body. She was pissed.
Glaring that heavy glare she learned from Xanxus, Tsuna stomped to the bathroom to get ready for a shower. Reborn paused, before reminding himself not to get the girl too angry and went downstairs for dinner.
The night passed along like this with Tsuna pissed at Reborn while she cleaned her room and forcing Reborn to swear he would never do that in HER room again. Reborn did whatever to keep the girl happy. Not that it would matter. Tsuna wouldn't care in the morning.
She just needed a few hours to cool down was all.
…
The next school day was strange, but the change welcoming she supposed. Arriving at school, many of the students cowered from her while the rest of the population was confused at their peers' sudden change of treatment towards Tsuna.
"Psst. I heard Dame-Tsuna almost beat Mochida-sempai to death yesterday."
"Really? But isn't she like, really weak?"
"Yeah, but apparently she's part of the mafia so she sent some of her guys to beat Mochida-sempai up."
"We should stay away from her…"
They didn't know how right they were.
Rumors and gossip spread like wildfire throughout the school. Even in her own class, all the kids who had bullied her kept far, far away. It was finally peaceful.
Classes ended, and she walked out the school gates, her classmates parting like the red sea. It was hilarious. Or sickening. It didn't matter as long as they kept away.
Then someone entered her field of vision. Gokudera Hayato. Snapping her fingers she remembered. 'He challenged me yesterday! I forgot…'
"I will defeat you here and now! DIE!" he yelled fiercely, holding out his dynamite. Reborn popped up. "It is said that Gokudera Hayato is a human explosive device that conceals dynamite all over his body." Reborn informed her.
As soon as Reborn had finished speaking, Gokudera threw a clump of bombs that appeared out of nowhere. Swiftly, Tsuna dodged them all by running to the sides. They exploded with a bang and Gokudera growled in irritation and surprise.
"DOUBLE BOMB!" He threw more bombs. She dodged once more. Now he was really mad.
"TRIPLE BOMB!" He took out an armful of bombs. The fool accidently dropped one, which in turn dropped all the others. They clattered the floor, ready to explode.
"S-SHIT"
'The end of me…' he thought regretfully before Tsuna sighed. She really didn't want to kill the guy, even if technically, he would be killing himself.
'He can't even use his own weapons efficiently.' She thinks sadly before taking out her two guns. Reborn smirks. His student was finally being serious (though he didn't know how guns would help and how she got one in the first place).
Then he grimanced.
The so called guns were merely water guns.
"Dame-Tsuna, for what reason do you carry water guns?" he questioned dryly.
She scowled back at him. "Don't insult my water guns! They work perfectly fine!" she exclaimed. With that, she ran forward and shot, moving her hands so fast they were just a blur. In seconds, all bombs were defused, soaked in water. Smirking triumphantly she retorted, "You see? You never know when you might need to put out burning dynamite."
Reborn had an expressionless face which would be interpreted as stunned. Gokudera was also gaping at Tsuna.
Then he was on the ground on all fours. Staring at Tsuna as if she was god, he yelled, "I WAS MISTAKEN! You're the one who's fit to be the boss! Juudaime! I'll follow you! Command me to do anything!"
Now she was gaping. "What—"
"Having the loser serve the winner is a family rule." Reborn answered for her. Tsuna scrunched up her face pensively.
"Actually, I didn't really have ambitions to become the tenth boss. It's just when I heard that the tenth is a Japanese girl the same age as me, I felt that I had to test that strength…" he spoke sheepishly.
Tsuna continued to think.
"But you're much more than I expected! For putting yourself on the line to save me, I'll place my life on your hands!"
Tsuna was pondering on what actions to take. He was still a fool, but an interesting fool. Finally, she settled on kneeling down and hugged him. After all, violence would most likely not work at all, and he seemed to be the type to like gentle movements, or least be temporarily stunned at them. It would make a larger possibility of calming the boy down.
"Are you sure Gokudera-kun? Normal classmates are enough…"
Gokudera turned red at their proximity and stuttered, "A-Absolutely not!"
"I see… Well fine. You'll be my… right hand man . You'll join the Vongola famiglia, right, Gokudera-kun?" she continued quietly, her mouth right next to his ear. He shivered at the warm breath that sent cold air down his neck and felt his heart thumping widely. What was that feeling?
His blood burned and pulsed through his veins as if the body was heating up while connected with hers. "T-Thank you Juudaime." He murmured, his head leaning against her shoulder. She smiled at the boy and abruptly stood up once her business was done. She was aware that everything that sprouted from her mouth were half truths: things that were more of an illusion than reality, but that was okay. They were half truths, which where better than outright lies. He would be her closest companion (as sad as the fact was), and he was joining the Vongola one way or another. He was really cute sometimes.
Reborn broke the moment when he appeared on his customary spot on Tsuna's head. "Gokudera became your subordinate because of your strength. Good job Tsuna."
The conversation between student and teacher was then interrupted with the arrival of three seniors that smirked menacingly at them.
"Oh no no no. These guys are cutting class. This requires some punishment."
"You're only allowed to cut starting senior year."
"So how many front teeth do you want broken?"
These men clearly didn't listen to rumors, or they were blind not to see Tsuna there. Gokudera got up joyfully and ready to show his new boss his strength. "Leave it to me Juudaime! I'll get rid of them!"
Tsuna smirked, her eyes glowing maliciously at the annoying pests. "You do that, Gokudera." His passion brightened and his pink cheeks flushed darker with the lack of formality in his name.
"HAI! Juudaime!"
A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Was this chapter too romantic for Gokudera and should I make Tsuna more sadistic or something? Advice/Constructive Critisism would be nice.
I've edited, minor errors...yeah... And then this is the second edit. Jan. 4. 2012