Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.
Chapter 13: One Knight, Rescued
Reborn had been distant; quieter, and more sadistic over the summer vacation. She was ignorant (and she hated being ignorant) to the reason and while curious, she wasn't going to ask and incur his wrath.
The days dragged on with the last month of summer vacation dragging by dutifully. There was nothing of peculiar interest she could do, and that left her training (she had not been working on her guns for such a long time—due to a certain hitman—and her skills were getting a tiny bit rusty. She was going to practice her aim in the basement; screw Reborn's watch.), reading the random books sprawled around the living room, rereading the books on her bookshelf, and sleep around the house.
Her sleeping had reached a new level: Now her napping locations included her room, the basement and the attic, which was a huge increase from her previous nights sleeping at her room.
With Lambo going out so much and Reborn lounging around with Bianchi, she kept her privacy: something that never lasted more than hlaf an hour. Unfortunately Reborn realized this far too easily, and she was constantly swarmped with random orders of 'training' and 'target practice', most right in the mist of her sleep time.
The only exciting thing in her live now was that the heat was finally leaving; slowly, oh so slowly. It got her heart thumping, that soon, the weather would bring in the cool winds that signaled the start of autumn.
That's how exiting her life was.
...
The morning was peaceful, as always. The daily hygiene routines were normal. Reborn was as silent as usual. Gokudera had to restock his dynamite last night, and wouldn't be around to bother her. Yamamoto—well maybe he was still finishing up his summer school work (To think that he needed to take summer school…).
And to be honest, Tsuna was starting to get bored. Everything was mundane; her life felt like it was meshing up, swirling together into one ugly color; days passing without her even knowing it.
While she couldn't believe she would actually give into the temptation, she needed something worthwhile thrown into her life or her heart would stop beating. (It was probably the fault of Reborn and the mafias that followed. They plagued her with their actions, keeping her on her toes.) She would even accept it being life-threatening. (Bianchi was excluded—there was only so much she could take of her love filled ideals.)
She used to want the sense of quietness in her life; the relaxation of solitary noise and lack of idiotic hindrances, but now it was just a bit less than stifling. She had grown used to him and his craziness.
That was what Tsuna thought, strolling around that day. Nana had forced to her walk around the neighborhood in the morning, to prevent her from growing fat, which was by far the most foolish decision she had ever made since marrying Iemistu. With Reborn in her life, she would never stay less than Spartan.
Reborn was by her side as always, walking along the fence of a house.
It was then did she notice a female student started walking along the fence, right behind Reborn. The girl's balance wasn't the best, and Tsuna wondered if the student knew it would have been easy to see her panties while she stood above her. She decided it would be best not to mention it as she watched the scene.
The girl stood shakily and gave a small wave at the infant.
"H-Hello!" she exclaimed shyly.
Huh. Though the girl didn't seem to be part of the mafia, she was just as strange. She was blushing like a love-struck fool, at a baby. A baby! Tsuna winced. Pedophilia wasn't really on her 'like' list, though it didn't exactly apply to Reborn. He had a mind of a devious twenty-year old, and the body of a five.
"Ciaossu" was his cool reply.
Reborn was always putting the suave facade around women. Either to attract idol-istic gushing, or in this case, an innocent school girl's 'first love'. (She had read about his life before: his sly good looks were a sin that had intoxicated multiple women.)
Well, Reborn's simple hello certainly didn't deter the girl, as she introduced herself.
"M-My name is… Miura Haru."
Tsuna noticed the sweat that fell down the girl's forehead. Just how hard was it to introduce herself?
"I know you. You're from this house right?" Reborn pointed to the house he was standing next to.
"…"
Tsuna didn't say anything so no one noticed her, but she had just realized something. Was this girl, perhaps, the one she had kept on feeling before? The one that stared out the window every day outside in the morning? The one who's face was covered with toothpaste and water, almost to an unrecognizable degree? The once that had a glazed look, not even moving, with drool coming from her mouth?
She had assumed the girl had fallen asleep each morning while brushing her teeth. She didn't think this Miura was the same girl.
Before Tsuna had the time to finish her thought, she was startled by a loud proclamation.
"Can I be your friend?" the girl shouted loudly, eyes wide in excitement.
"Sure"
Miura would be happy Tsuna knew. She just didn't imagine the girl sigh in pleasure and fall off the fence.
Maybe this girl's stupidity grew each time she introduced herself to a child in this fashion and fall on her head? Perhaps.
…
It seemed this girl was full of surprises. One moment she was falling, the next, she was flipping over and landing on her feet. And there wasn't even a meter's distance from the ground.
Nothing that was related to Reborn had a slither of normalcy in this realm. Right now, Tsuna was thankful for that.
But then she defied all logic and Muria was suddenly giving out a creepy aura. The girl was breathing heavily, and asked Reborn in a nervous whisper, "U-Urm, It's rather sudden… But… Can you hug me… like this?" She wrapped her arms around herself tightly.
Tsuna's eyes closed in disbelief. Just what was wrong with this girl? The next thing she knew, Reborn would probably comply to the strange girl's desires with an arrogant smirk on his face. Or maybe he would ignore her politely, like he does with Bianchi. Who knew?
Instead (and to her confusion), he gave a scowl (well, that's what she saw) and said, "Don't touch me so easily."
Then his scowl morphed to his normal smirk, continuing.
"Cause I'm a hitman."
"…"
"…"
Both girls were silent, though for different reasons. Tsuna didn't understand the sudden mood change, but just assumed that was part of his current strangeness.
Miura Haru was silent for an entirely different reason. Red hot blood pulsed through her veins and burst in her body as the girl's body moved by itself, unconscious and free willed.
A loud smack resounded through the area, and Tsuna stared wide-eyed at the girl.
'Did she just slap me?'
Disbelief shook her body. Had she just been slapped by the girl? The ordinary, regular high school female? Her eyebrows scrunched together in frustration. She should've been able to dodge that hit.
Her hands went to clutch the red cheeks. Still in her shock, Muira glared at her, radiating hate.
"You… What are you teaching him!"
She went waving her hands around whilst proclaiming, "Babies are angels with pure white hearts!"
"ARE YOU DESTROYING THAT LOVELY PURENESS WITH YOUR ROTTEN HEART?"
Now the girl was raving around, grabbing Tsuna's shirt in a threatening manner. Astonishment turned to disbelief and disgust. Just what was wrong with this girl? Her ideas were selfish and naïve, as if the girl had the mind of a child. And since when did Reborn become classified as a baby?
Tsuna calmed herself. Just pretend she was dealing with a child. Calm down…
"I think this is a misunderstanding…" she spoke in a pacifying manner.
"WHAT MISUNDERSTANDING?"
Her ears rang in cadence with the girl's shriek. She winced.
"I-"
"YOU'RE REBORN'S SISTER RIGHT? I SEE YOU TWO TOGETHER EACH DAY!"
'You look at him every day? What are you, a stalker?' Tsuna thought.
"I'm not his sister. I'm-"
"Then you're a worse… Making someone else's baby…" Miura started mumbling curses under her breath, and a darker aura surrounded her.
Tsuna took this opportunity, and started walking away. She wouldn't want to stay with this girl longer than she had to. She was even worse than Bianchi. But a great bellow filled the area as Miura stopped mumbling.
"Listen! I want you to stay away from Reborn, got that!" The girl had sent a beastly glare straight to Tsuna. She began to remind Tsuna of the bitchy girl fighting over the guy in one of those romance novels Nana had around the house. Tsuna's lips twitched.
"That won't be possible." Reborn spoke all of a sudden.
"…Huh?"
Muira's glare turned into that of confusion as she turned to Reborn. He continued.
"It's my job to raise Tsuna, the 10th boss of the mafia. I cannot be separated from her till then."
As soon as he started speaking, Tsuna knew without any doubt that it would make a certain brunette angry. She put her hands in front of her face, and sure enough, after he finished talking, a fist went slamming into her hand.
The girl, Miura, ignored that fact and growled at her.
"MAFIA? You're going too far, to even restrict his freedom, making him say such things!" Her glare turned into fiery passion and she swore, "I'll protect Reborn-chan!"
Tsuna smirked, if only for just a second, before schooling her look into a neutral line. Never, it all her life, would she have thought she would hear someone address the Reborn with a 'chan'. It just seemed so impossible. Would that excite Reborn's sadistic anger, or would he ignore it with cool distaste? She would love to find out.
"Listen, do you think Reborn woul-"
Again. Her sentence was silenced by the enormous glare of hatred coming from the girl. Her body excreted hellish flames as she approached Tsuna, close enough that their eyes were mere centimeters apart. Then as soon as they closed in, Miura turned around, waved a goodbye to Reborn with a smile, and walked away.
The girl was so strange, just like all other girls that knew (and wanted) Reborn.
A sniff woke her senses, clearing her mind of any disturbances. Reborn, who had been standing on the wall fence cleared his throat and smirked with his innocent eyes. His hand was across his lap, his legs crossed, in a haughty manner.
"You girls get along really well. Almost like a married couple."
Tsuna decided to honor that with her usual retort.
"I'm not even old enough to marry."
"Old enough to be in the mafia, old enough to marry." And as usual, Reborn threw back the casual rebuttal.
…
This was just about the strangest sight she had ever seen, not counting a chameleon that could morph into a gun, a hilarious hairdo worn by the committee members, or a soppy, crying, laughing, insulting, baby with weapons. But it was close.
The girl from before had come back again. For what, Tsuna was willing herself to not know, even if it was painfully obvious.
Metal armor gleamed under the golden sun, its meticulous designs in shining gold. A worn, black hockey stick was gripped by a sweaty hand. Under the other arm held a football helmet. The strangest combination of defense and offense Tsuna had ever seen.
The girl was ready for battle.
Though it really wouldn't be considered 'ready' when there were dark bags under her eyes; her skin was clammy from exhaustion and wet from sweat, and her hair in a bird's nest. Even the greeting was slurred into an almost unrecognizable noise. However, it had relayed its message: Miura Haru needed sleep and something thinner to wear in the ending summer heat.
Yet the girl's willpower was left intact and reinforced with determination. Miura stood as straight as possible and declared, "If Reborn really is a hitman, then as the mafia boss, you must be really strong. If you're really as strong, then I won't complain. I'll accept his lifestyle…. So"
She slammed the helmet on her head and clenched the stick with both hands.
"PLEASE HAVE A MATCH WITH ME!"
A roar broke the ground as Miura lunged at Tsuna with her weapon. Tsuna dodged at the last minute to hear the resounding whack of the stick hitting gravel.
But the girl didn't stop there: lunge and lunge, dodge and dodge, thwack and thwack were repeated with vengeance for minutes. Despite Miura's exhaustion, her body strained itself to continue.
Beating someone to half-death did seem interesting now, but there was no way Tsuna was going to waste her time with this girl. Miura neither infuriated her, nor did she annoy her to the point of exhaustion. It was pitiful really, watching the girl desperately waving around the stick. Of course, there was no way she was going to let herself get struck by the thing, so Tsuna continued dodging. It was only until a surprised yell rang out did Tsuna sigh in relief.
He was here, and while she wasn't exactly pleased with his presence, he would useful. Probably.
"Juudaime! Please stand back."
Gokudera rushed in and jumped in front of her in a protective stance.
"DIE!"
Gokudera flung his dynamite at the confused (just who was this guy who appeared from nowhere?) girl. It took Miura at a surprise and she cried out whilst being blasted away. A loud splash of impact against water crashed as she flew into the nearby river.
Tsuna frowned, ignoring the satisfied look Gokudera held as he nodded to himself. It took a bated few seconds before a mop of chestnut hair burst up onto the surface, before sinking down once more.
Reason and the emotions that plagued Miura before were thrown away, replaced by a frenzy of desperate gasps of air and fear. Eyes were shut tight as saltwater went up her nose. She cried out.
"S-SAVE- COUGH- SAVE ME!"
Again, her head went back into the water.
Gokudera did nothing. He stood there, barely paying attention to the girl. Reborn stood atop the railings with an even colder look on his face. His face was carved into that seemingly ever-present smirk. He did nothing.
"Reborn, do something."
Silence.
"DO SOMETHING."
Tsuna's voice began to grow in volume, but Reborn did nothing. She was not going to let a random girl she had barely known drown to death. But there was also no way she was going to get wet and drag a lug of metal out of the water.
"REBORN!"
His only response was a condescending sniff. A gun was flicked out, and he asked, "Do you want a Dying Will Bullet now?"
Her eyes narrowed. The girl was beginning to go down in smaller intervals. Gokudera wasn't doing anything. A mesh of images flashed by before she sighed...
And jumped.
…
The water was incredibly uncomfortable. Her clothes weighed her down, and she had to navigate around in dirty liquid: she shouldn't have jumped. But there was no changing the past, so she swam quickly around the murky water before locating the struggling girl.
She found the drowning girl quickly, but it was not enough.
Miura's arms were losing strength, her lungs filling quickly with water. Again, she went down.
Her eyes opened, just for a second, and stretched wide, finding Tsuna, before she let go of the rest of her air and began to sink, her eyes now shut.
There wasn't any time.
Tsuna shoved her way through the water to Miura, and tried pushing her already sinking body up. As she thought: it didn't work. The samurai suit was too heavy for her to drag up along with a girl and while swimming. She was beginning to lose air.
Hurriedly, she let herself fall into the deep waters with the girl while pulling the armor off. Strap by strap, piece by piece the thing went off and the weight began to lessen. But that wasn't fast enough.
She needed air. Desperately.
She squinted her eyes away from the dirt that inhabited the waters and forced her arms and legs to push quicker, stronger, on the dense water, ignoring the rest of the armor that was strapped on Miura's legs. She pushed with all of the remaining energy she could gather, and the two girls began moving. They moved slowly, but at least they were making progress. The would hopefully reach the surface before she ran out of oxygen.
Then a murky figure flooded into her periphery from above: Gokudera.
He had the funniest (at least to her) face on, and as soon as he spotted her, he swam. Really, he was her only chance in living, so she too, dragged herself and the girl to him.
Once they met, he grabbed her tightly on the wrist and pulled her to him before moving up.
As she was pulled up, she had to admit; he had more strength than she thought he would've had.
…
It took a precious few seconds of slowly letting out the rest of her air in the form of small bubbles trying to prolong her supply, did they finally break the surface.
It was only then could she open her mouth to take in the huge gulps of the oxygen she craved. Air was inhaled and immediately thrust out for another gulp. The process was repeated for a while; until Tsuna could compose herself enough to breathe normally.
Then her attention was placed upon the girl who still, did not breathe. There was no pulse. She sighed. Gokudera was right next to her, and she supposed, his childhood in the mafia world had hardened his heart, or rather, his conscious.
She bent down, over the girl and took in a deep breath. She gave a series of chest compressions, tilting the girl's head and letting the air go through. Doing a few more compressions, she pinched Miura's nose and placed her mouth atop the others, breathing slowly in.
The girl's chest slightly rose as she violently choked out water.
Tsuna was reassured. Again, she gave a few rounds of chest compressions and breathed, exhaling into the girl's mouth. She repeated the procedure for a while until the signs of life came up.
Miura coughed spits of water out each times, until finally she began to breath, even if erratically. It was only at the end did she throw up the rest of the water lodged in her windpipe and blearily open her eyes.
Her pulse had returned.
"H-Huh?"
The girl had no idea what was going on, other than she saw 'kabom' coming at her, and she fell into the water. And… (If she didn't imagine it) Was it the girl she had challenged—Tsuna—that had saved her?
Tsuna observed the fully awakening girl with blank chocolate eyes and sighed. Gokudera was giving a glare of hatred aimed at Miura. She could infer why.
"How DARE you sully Juudaime's innocence with your dirty lips!" he hissed aloud.
The girl was shocked. Miura turned to her with wide eyes and a new emotion surfaced.
"Y-You saved me, even though I was your rival?" she whispered.
It looked as if she was going to ignore the CPR part, which is perfect for Tsuna; she didn't want to revisit the event.
Miura's head bent down and her hands covered her cheeks. If one looked closely enough, they would see her face a burning cherry.
"mmpghmsum…" Her words were incoherent; they were muffled by her hands and the blanket (that was thrown to her) she held. Tsuna could understand nothing.
"What the hell are you saying?" growled Gokudera. He was going to blow if she didn't start saying something that made sense.
Silent seconds slipped by before she lifted her head. Her eyes shone with admiration, and…
"It was… very wonderful that you jumped in, in place of Reborn-chan, Juu-sama… is what I said." Her tone held a soft buttery feeling that let pink hearts flutter around Tsuna.
She winced. Just what was that stupid nickname she called her by? And why 'sama'? And was that love the girl was illuminating?
"But even more so, Juu-sama, you were the one who took my first kiss…" Her eyes closed in bliss and embarrassment, while Tsuna stared in horror. Gokudera was glaring in both horror and disgust.
Were they truly hearing what they heard her say?
"By heart is pounding! I can truly say, Haru has fallen in love with Juu-sama." Now she had reverted back into her high-school-girl-in-love mode.
Tsuna tried to give reason. "Listen Miura-san—"
"Haru."
"…?"
"Call me Haru, Juu-sama!" Haru called out.
"…Okay, Haru, If I remember correctly, weren't you in love with Reborn?" Tsuna pointed to the infant who had not moved at all during the past few minutes. Reborn gave nothing but a stare.
Haru hugged herself tightly and replied, "But I feel like being hugged by you again, Juu-sama! I can still remember your warn embrace as you saved me."
Gokudera bristled in anger as he barked out, "YOU WERE UNCONCIOUS!"
Haru made a face at him and retorted, "Even if Haru wasn't awake, she would recognize a hug and kiss from her true love."
This was going to drag for a long time Tsuna sensed, and she was going to put a stop to it.
"Haru, aren't you tired? You've had a very exhausting experience right?" Tsuna slipped on a semi-smile.
As soon as she said that, Haru's body sagged, realizing its exhaustion. "Now that you mention it…"
"Why don't you go home? Gokudera will walk you there, won't he?" She purposefully dragged him in; she needed her rest after all. Both the girl and the guy (two peas in a pod) were an impediment, and she was forced to make sure they stayed away.
Two cries of disbelief echoed out in harmony as the two grew upset.
"Why—"
Both spoke at the same time, and both cut themselves off in anger.
'Just who does she think she is?'
'Just who does he think he is?'
Two peas in a pod.
Tsuna gave a wide yawn and stretched her arms up, letting them swing down. The sun's warm evening glow had warmed her wet body considerably, leaving her with a lazy yet uncomfortable feeling. She wanted to go home, take a short shower and get to bed.
"Well, I'll be leaving. Reborn will be following, so don't worry."
"Juudaime!"
"Juu-sama"
Ignoring their continuous whines she left them by themselves, hoping they would make themselves useful. On the way home, she had a short, albeit meaningful conversation with Reborn.
…
"How did you like your first kiss?"
Reborn's question (that wasn't phrased in a question) rang clearly in her ear. He looked ahead with a bitter smirk on his face.
Tsuna gave an irritated sigh. Similarly to Reborn, she looked on ahead without facing Reborn. But her face was contorted to a small tried grin.
The sun was still shining brightly as hues of orange, purple and pink painted the sky a melt of monochrome. Her skin absorbed the dancing flickers of gold and her mop of brown clung to her rosy cheeks.
Today had been a strong wind that blew across her face. It definitely had not been boring: that was without doubt.
Tsuna let her lips curve softly as she replied,
"Great. Just great."
A/N: I realise the chapter was extremely late, and they'll proably this late each time from now on... I hope you'll still sty with me...
I do you you've enjoyed the chapter though. I'm doing NaNoWriMo (and I haven't even started it... My laptop's in the hardware store...sniff..) this month so I won't have ny time, which is why I made sure to post this up first.
Poll: Just giving a general layout.
1. Xanxus, leading Topped Reborn! I can't believe this!
2. Reborn, duh.
3. Mukuro
4. Byakuran
5. Alaude Giotto
I'm only listing the top five this time, but don't worry; all characters will have their special screen time.
*The poll is ongoing until I say so*
Reviewers:
Shugopop: Yes, Reborn will get his adult body back, sometime... It's coming.
Torka: I know. But Squalo's part off the Varia, and his signature thing's a shark right? He should love water!
Sachiel Angelo: Yep, Squalo and Xanxus are around that age. And there is actually going to be more scenes like this, since I really want to portray Tsuna's relationship with them...
kaito kitsune: Of course you can! This is leaning towards X27, but the rael drama will come when the Varia arrive, so you'll be waiting.
Insanity-Red: You've got it. I would show Tsuna's skill as well, but (hint) you need to know that Tsuna didn't spend the whole time with the Varia. Her training didn't reach the level that it could have. I can't wait for Mukuro as well. '
Lilac: Of course, but are you sure Reborn'll make pudding out of Tsuna? Won't it be the other way around?