I blinked.

"...What?"

The girls, having expected my reaction, went on to explain to both me and the rest of the room that because they found it unfair that only boys were allowed to participate in the pole-knocking competition, they had complained to the headmaster and he had allowed them to form their own pole-knocking team under the condition that they could convince the representatives of the other teams to accept their team and participation.

I nodded in understanding, still a bit taken aback at what had clearly not been in the original story, but asked, "I see, but, why ask me? Why couldn't one of you be the leader?"

"Well," the leader of the group started, "When we went to ask the other representatives, they snorted," at this the girls bristled, "And said they'd only accept our participation if either you or Kyoko-chan could beat both of them in an arm-wrestling competition."

I blinked at them again. "And you think I have a better chance of beating them than Kyoko-chan...?"

The leader rolled her eyes. "Please. We know you can beat them both at the same time. Besides-"

"I'm not letting my sister participate in the competition." Ryohei stood behind me, arms crossed. "I'm all for you creating a team for girls who want to participate, but my sister is not competing."

"Onii-san! Don't make my decisions for me!" Kyoko stood up, but sat down again. "But it's true, I don't think I'd make a good pole-knocking leader."

I sighed, wondering why this world seemed so adamant in having me involved in the story. What was next? Nomination for class president? Getting shot with a special bullet? The Bloody Triplets?

...On second thoughts, those were all very real possibilities.

I started pretending to think, hoping that if I stalled for long enough, I could somehow wiggle out of this situation.

"I don't know, I don't think I'm suited for the position either..."

"We can get you ten grams of the powder of the hottest spice currently being bred."

I twitched.

"Fifteen?"

"When's the arm-wrestling competition?"

"At lunch in the gym. See you there!"

They left and I went back to my seat. Everyone stared at me.

"...What just happened?" asked Tsuna, despite not really wanting to know the answer.

"Business."

As soon as the bell for lunch rang, everyone - or what seemed like everyone - ran for the gym.

"Oh? Word sure does get around quickly."

"Nee-chan..."

Tsuna was staring at me worriedly, as we and the others were walking to the gym.

"Don't worry your fluffy head about it, Tsuna. I'll be fine." I ruffled his hair.

"Still-"

"Woman, you better not lose, or as Juudaime's sister, you'll shame him!"

"Gokudera-kun, you shouldn't put so much pressure on her. She's going up against the presidents of the sumo club and karate club, after all."

"So what?!" As they continued their one-sided fighting, with Tsuna trying to calm Gokudera down, Kyoko and Hana walked up beside me.

"Are you going to be alright? Like Yamamoto-kun said, you're going up against two of the strongest boys in the school."

I sighed. "Sheesh, no-one but Gokudera seems to have any faith in me. I can take 'em, right, Hana-chan?"

The dark-haired girl nodded, arms crossed.

"She could take them both on with one hand if she so wished."

I gestured to her. "See? Hana-chan knows best."

"Still..." Kyoko still looked incredibly worried.

"Psh, don't you worry your pretty head about it either. I won't die or anything."

"Yeah, Kyoko-chan. It's not like they would put their all into it anyways. I bet those perverts just wanted to hold hands with a pretty girl."

I stopped in my tracks.

"Sawada-chan? What's wrong?"

"Hana..."

"On it."

As she left for another direction, Kyoko and the rest looked at me quizzically. I waved my hand dismissively in the air.

"No, it's nothing much, Hana's already gone to take care of it anyway."

"Take care of what?"

"You'll see."

And with that, we were off to the gym once again.

When we arrived, everyone was already there, and there was a barrel in the middle with two chairs on either side. Takada and Oshikiri were standing in front of the set up, looking distinctly pleased with themselves. I fought the urge to sneer at them. Wouldn't be good for my 'good Japanese girl' image after all. Although, if I really did win and participate in the pole-knocking competition, it would be destroyed anyway.

"Takada-san, Oshikiri-san," I bowed slightly to the two of them.

"Sawada-chan." I could practically feel the tick mark that would have appeared on my head.

Oi, bastards, who the fuck gave you permission to address me with -chan?!

But I kept my mouth shut, still smiling at the two. As Oshikiri (he had won the scissors-paper-rock to go first) and I settled down on the seats, the referee announced the rules and stakes of match.

"This will be a competition of arm-wrestling. First to push and keep the other's arm down for three seconds wins. If Sawada-san wins, she'll gain the approval of her opponent for the creation of a girl's pole-knocking team. If her opponent wins, he'll get a date with her. Are there any complaints?"

...What. Fucktards. You. What.

Tsuna looked ready to start screaming at the referee, Kyoko in a similar state, but before they could, the door to the gym was slammed open with a loud bang that commanded attention. Everyone turned to the doorway, where Hana was standing.

"Sawada-chan, I have what you wanted." She walked to the centre of the gym, the crowd parting before her, and dropped something into my waiting hands. I smiled thankfully at her.

"Thank you, Hana-chan."

"Anytime."

As she walked to where my brother and the others were standing, I lifted what she had given me and revealed it to the gym for what it was - a pair of gloves.

"I'm sorry, but I don't quite know where those hands have been."

I slipped them on, inwardly smirking at the insulted looks on the boys' faces, and then turned to the referee.

"Shall we start, then?"

I turned back to Oshikiri, smiling, and delicately placed my arm on the surface of the barrel in the traditional arm-wrestling position.

"Do your best." I said, still smiling.

He leered at me in response and took up the arm-wrestling stance.

"Are you sure those gloves are necessary? They definitely won't be once we're on our date~"

You piss me off.

"Oh, I assure you, we won't be going anywhere."

"I wouldn-"

"Are the contestants ready?" The referee interrupted us. When we both nodded in confirmation, they continued. "Alright." They started the count down. "Three, two, one - start!"

We started. As expected, Oshikiri didn't use all his strength straight from the start, being arrogant enough to think that he'd only have to use a little of his strength to defeat me. He looked mildly surprised though, when my arm didn't budge, and poured some more of his strength in.

I kept smiling at him. He kept pouring in more strength.

At last, when he was clearly sweating and straining against my arm, I lifted my other hand and elegantly covered a yawn. Then I slowly started pressing down on his arm, still not a sweat broken, and when the back of his arm hit the top of the barrel with a small thump, held it there for three seconds.

I raised an eyebrow at the slack-jawed referee. "Well? It's been more than three seconds already, and I'm sure Oshikiri-san would like to have his arm back."

The referee snapped out of their awed stupor and raised the flag indicating my win. "Sawada-san wins! The girl's pole-knocking team has now gained the approval of the B team's leader!"

The members of the to-be-girl's team cheered, but before they could celebrate further, Takada lumbered forwards and pushed Oshikiri out of the chair.

"Hmph. Too bad, karate club president. Guess sumo's better after all," he sneered.

"Oh, I don't know," I said, delicately removing my glove, "His hands seem cleaner than yours."

Upon sliding on a new glove, I tossed the used one up and over the heads of the audience, where a gasp and low whistle informed me I had landed it right in the bin on the side of the gym. I flipped my hair back over my shoulder and once again placed my arm on the barrel.

"Shall we begin?"

This time I didn't bother with pleasantries, and as soon as we were given the go-ahead, I slammed Takada's arm down and held it there for three seconds. Once again, I had to remind the referee to raise the flag, and they did so, but not until a few more seconds of gaping had passed.

The now fully approved girl's pole-knocking team whooped and rushed forward to swamp me with their congratulations and thanks. I managed to escape after a while and strode over to where Tsuna and his friends were watching in disbelief.

"See?" I said, placing my hand on my hip, "I told you I'd be fine."

They continued to gape at me. Hana was collecting her winnings.

After school, a Reborn disguised as Master Pao Pao invited me along with five other girls - Hashimoto, Yamashita, Nakajima, Yamazaki, and Suzuki - to train with Tsuna and co. The girls jumped at the offer, and who was I to say no?

We reached the riverbank, where we were greeted by a smiling Yamamoto, a scowling Gokudera, an enthusiastic Ryohei, and of course, a shocked Tsuna.

"Nee-chan! What are you doing here?"

"Training, of course. We were invited by Master Pao Pao over there."

I bowed to Reborn, my teammates following suit. I fought the urge to burst out laughing at Tsuna's dismayed expression.

"Thank you asking us to join, Master Pao Pao. Now, Hashimoto, plant that pole right over... there!" I pointed to a random spot on the ground that looked good. Hashimoto complied, and a dull thud was heard as wood met dirt.

"We can't lose!" Ryohei planted the pole he was carrying down as well. "Okay, climb, Sawada!"

"Gladly."

I quickly hopped up the pole.

"Nee-chan, you're wearing a skirt!"

"And shorts. Don't forget the shorts." I grinned down at them, not caring about my fluttering skirt. "Now, Tsuna, are you going to climb or not?"

As Tsuna admitted that he couldn't even climb a tree, and was shot with a dying will bullet, I went on with my own team's training.

"Right then. Suzuki, Nakajima," I pointed to the two girls, "I want you to scale this pole and try to pull me down. We don't really want anyone to get hurt badly today, so as soon as I tap you on the head, you're to climb down halfway before climbing up again. Everyone else, support the pole and try to stop them from getting to me. Okay? Let's start!"

The girls cheered and we began our training. Then all went to hell when Ryohei health-freaked out and Gokudera started throwing dynamites. Yamamoto couldn't support the pole anymore and Tsuna fell into the water.

My teammates stared at them. I sighed, then climbed down.

"Just ignore them. I do it all the time."

The day of the athletics festival arrived. There was indeed a hot battle between the three teams. Tsuna came last in everything, the white/silver haired duo got into a fight, and Reborn pitted the C and B teams against Tsuna's. The girl's team was unaffected, of course. I was, after all, invincible. (Okay, maybe not, but no one would believe it if Tsuna hurt me.)

Being the leader of the girl's team, I went up to the 3rd grade leaders' meeting. The meeting quickly passed with Ryohei 'suggesting' the union of teams B and C. Everyone agreed, but then turned to ask me what about the girl's team.

I shrugged.

"Well, since everyone seems so set against team A, I guess we'll concentrate a little more on beating them than the team B+C union. It's not like anyone'll be willing to fight against their representative anyway," I muttered at the end.

"What did you say at the end, Sawada-san?"

"Nothing you need to know."

They pressed further, but I outright refused to tell them, leaving them only with a, "You'll see."

The meeting was over with lunch break, and we had come to a decision.

"Upon debating with the representatives, this year's pole knocking will be the A team versus the B+C union and the girl's team!"

Then after all the complaining/cheering was over, it was time for the actual competition. I eyed Hibari who had just walked up onto the pole, uniform and all, much to the shock of everyone, and did the same myself. Tsuna was already on his own pole, looking completely and utterly terrified. When he looked over to me, I mouthed a 'good luck, you'll need it' to him. He somehow managed to look even more scared.

"Ready... Go!"

With a roar, the crowd beneath me surged forwards, carrying the pole I was on with them. The competition had seemed intense even in the still, soundless manga, and now that I was a part of it, I could fully appreciate just how ferocious everyone and everything was, even all the way up here.

I kicked the first climbers away with the soles of my shoes. I was incredibly thankful that the pole could only hold so many people at once, or else I would have been swamped in bodies and quickly dragged down. In my peripheral vision, I could see Hibari on one pole fighting daring climbers off with his tonfas, and on the other, Tsuna panicking and falling, then being hit with the Dying Will Bullet. I could also see the astonished faces of the people who had previously had a hold on his clothes.

Then my attention was pulled away by my own attackers, and I was no longer able to watch as Tsuna rode on his cavalcade, much to the other competitors cries of 'army tank!' and Hibari's happiness(?). And it really was like a tank, I mused, as soon I caught a break. They might even have won, even against Hibari, if the white/silver haired duo hadn't started bickering. As it was, they did, causing the A team to go down. Hibari was disappointed.

Everyone started ganging up on Tsuna, and full out war began below. I plopped down on the top of the pole, and began swinging my legs in a childish manner, wondering when they'd take notice of us. I had a really nice view though, of the battlefield below, and was again glad I was up here and not down there.

I was so absorbed in the bloodshed below, that I almost didn't notice when Hibari subtly motioned with his tonfas towards me. The people carrying his pole, however, noticed quite easily, and the pole lurched forwards. I narrowed my eyes at my opponent and smirked.

"Full speed ahead!" I pointed forward and cheered. "We're goin' in!"

The girls carrying my pole looked back up at me like I was crazy, but they complied. I felt like cackling gleefully, but refrained from doing so, and instead smiled at the prefect who had a slight smirk on his face.

This, is going to be fun.

And we have hit the double digits, people! That means double (and a bit) the length of the chapter! Unfortunately, it also means double the length of the authors note. Originally, I was going to write the battle scene between Hibari and her, but I thought it was best to leave it up to your imagination. And yeah, the spicy riceball joke originally used in chapters 5 and 8 to fill my word quota has officially become a running gag and plot device.

To Admiration (guest): I'm glad you found it beautiful. I do my best to pretty it up.

To Guest: Why thank you. Yes, it is more comic relief than actual plot, and it also does feel kind of detached, but I feel that makes it funnier. And she will pwn everyone that comes after her if it won't affect the story. If it will, she'll just be like, "Ugh, I knew I should have faked sick and stayed home today." and keep a running commentary in her head about the stupidity of it all. As for your other suggestions, I will keep them in mind. I'm glad you enjoyed reading.

To all my reviewers, followers, and favouriters, thank you so much.

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Tell me if there's anything you particularly want to see.

Review?

Disclaimer: If I owned KHR, do you think I'd be writing fanfiction about it all day? No, I'd be rolling in the money it rolls in.