Target 1: The First of Many Wills
"Waa~! Help! Help!" Hitomi's flailing comically. She's halfway out the window and trying to hold on to something—anything. The students look around only semi-scared, this happens often enough, but no-one seems to make a move. It's as if they'll only care when she finally falls out of the window.
Finally, a lean and muscular boy with a bored look in his red eyes walks up to her. His crimson colored hair shines in the fluorescent lights and his black, terribly tied combat boots make scuffing noises on the floor. His hands are out and once he gets close enough, he'll pull her back in.
"Honestly... You're so useless, Idiotomi." He sighs pulling her back in the room by the skirt of her uniform. The kids around them chuckle and whisper, some breathing a sigh of relief before continuing with their work. She blushes darkly from embarrassment and anger.
"..." Hitomi doesn't say anything and walks away, blush still present on her cheeks.
'It sucks not having any friends in this class...' She thinks forlornly. The door slides open suddenly and two students, one girl with curled shoulder-length black hair and vibrant green eyes, along with a dark blue haired boy walk in. They command attention and the other students stop to look at them with mild interest.
"Hey! Everyone! We have an announcement! Drama club is putting on a play! Do any of you know a 'Sawada Hitomi'?" The girl asks loudly, her eyes scanning the students.
"Idiotomi? She's right there." One boy points at Hitomi, who currently stares out the window. The girl smiles and walks up to her desk.
She slams her hand down on the desk, snapping Hitomi to attention. This noise irritates most of the kids, who are now whispering again.
"Sawada Hitomi?" She asks. Her gaze is hardened and Hitomi gulps. Was she in trouble?
"H-H-Hai..." Hitomi stutters.
"Watanabe, Kita. 2nd year. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I hear you draw?" Kita states. Kita's aware of the stares she receives, trying to ignore them. Her pale cheeks very lightly tinted a dusty pink.
Hitomi blushes when all eyes turn to her. She ducks her head a little under the scrutiny, but Kita doesn't even seem to mind too much.
"Dame-Tomi draws?" One says, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Ha! I bet it's terrible!" Another one scoffs, hands in his pockets.
"Yeah, stick people!" The whispers turn into hushes laughter as they all wait for Hitomi to reply.
Hitomi ignores those comments and nods. Kita smiles a little wider and nods.
"Great. Even if you would've said 'no', I would've known. Kaoru-chan told me. Here," Kita explains taking out a piece of paper from her skirt pocket. "This is the play, main characters and any other information you'd need. Bring the poster by the drama room by, let's say... Tomorrow, I guess?"
Kita then walks towards the front of the room. "We'll pay you." She adds, sending a pleading look at Hitomi when no-one's looking. She then walks out the still open door with the boy, who closes it.
Hitomi gulps at all the eyes staring at her. She tries to ignore them by taking the pink colored paper off her desk and gives it a twice-over and then placing it in her bag.
The bell rings five agonizing minutes later and Hitomi happily gets up to leave. Ryota's not bothering her and she's feeling pretty good. She's out the door when she hears a call.
"Hitomi-chan!" She turns; Kamiko and Emiko are running down the hallway towards her. Both are stopped abruptly and thrown back before they can reach her.
"HIEEE?!" Hitomi yells, knees shaking in fright. The commotion in the hallway has stopped and everyone is staring at the two girls lying on the floor. They groan, rolling onto their sides in pain. In front of them, slowly moving out of a battle stance is a blonde-haired girl. Her uniform is crisp clean and pinned to her left arm is an arm-band with the words "Namimori Jr. High Disciplinary Committee". Her voice is loud and commanding.
"No running in my fuckin' hallways, got it in check?! Do you wanna die?!" She bellows scaring all the students.
The weapon she wields is a Bō staff. Pressing a button, the staff reverts back into a candy dispenser; she pockets it and whistles the first four notes of Namimori's anthem. Two big, thug-like men, reminiscent of yakuza are standing next to her within an instant.
"Motomiya, Wataru. Take Hibari and Yamamoto to the detention room. Alert the clubs they belong to as well." She states, walking away. She stops short, though.
"I see... a crowded hallway..." She warns darkly before continuing down the hall. The students magically unfreeze and quickly make their way to where they need to go.
Kamiko and Emiko, both unconscious at the moment are picked up bridal style by the two thug-like men and carried away. Hitomi looks on, sadly.
"Maybe if they weren't so extremely fast and stupid..." Katsumi voices from Hitomi's left.
"B-But Collins-san is scary!" Hitomi turns to her, seemingly unshaken by the girl's sudden appearance and loud voice.
"Even so, they know the rules. There's no reason to run to the extreme. They acted like you were going to extremely walk faster." Katsumi says. "Collins is literally the worst prefect this school has had in over twenty years. Hibari-san was the strictest and Collins comes second to him—but perhaps she's more violent.
Hitomi mulls over Katsumi's words. She'd never seen Hibari hit anyone personally, but she knew he was strong. All the stories that Kamiko had told her about the man made her almost deathly afraid to even be near him most of the time. It didn't help that Kamiko had mostly inherited his traits, as opposed to the ones of her mother, who Kamiko didn't know at all.
"Well, that's enough standing around for me. I don't want Collins to come back and make us fight her." Hitomi gasps at Katsumi's words, "Don't worry, kiddo. Extreme Katsumi Sasagawa, co-captain of the Namimori Middle School Star-Fighters and Namimori Dance Troupe member, won't let Collins get you. That's a promise!" The promise only makes Hitomi feel a smidgen better, and that's not much. The two girls begin walking towards the steps when Hitomi taps her chin in thought.
Hey... Didn't Kamiko-chan have a competition today?" Hitomi questions.
"Eh, I dunno. I don't really know what the Rainbow Skaters get up to. They stopped traffic once and I'm still a little pissed that we had to pay a late entry fee on that one competition." Katsumi's hand grips her bag tightly and Hitomi is silently glad that she's not ripping it apart in anger.
The two reach the shoe lockers and part ways. Katsumi waves at Hitomi before she takes off with two girls—identical twins—towards the dance studio.
Hitomi sighs, stretching her arms high before she walks towards the locker with her name on it. After collecting her shoes, she heads out into the sunlight. It's rather nice for being late September.
Elsewhere, a small fedora wearing infant is speaking to someone, a woman with short, wavy black hair. Her dark purple eyes bore into that of the small infant's. Their stare down doesn't last more than a few minutes when she turns away to start chopping up vegetables at the counter.
"Ryota-kun does know, we told him on his birthday. He's yet to find the remaining number of his guardians, though. Of course, he hasn't even gone through any real training. He hasn't even activated HDW Mode or gained a weapon." She answers. Her voice has a lot more emotion than he remembers. It's also resigned and light, something he doesn't remember her having.
"Hm... I see. He's farther along than Dame-Hitomi. Alright. Ciao, Xeno. We'll be in touch..." Reborn states, jumping off the counter. With a curt nod, he takes his leave.
Xeno sighs before turning around and finishing up with the food she was preparing. "With people like this, Namimori's peace won't last long..."
"Mom! Tadaima!" Hitomi calls, walking in the door. She drops her bag near the steps and kicks off her shoes. She doesn't bother with the slippers left by the door and walks down the hallway, checking in the living room for her mother.
"In the kitchen, Hitomi!" Her mother responds. Hitomi slips on her sock, slamming into the ground in front of the kitchen threshold. Solana tries her best not to laugh at her daughter, and only manages to chuckle. After tripping twice and almost tripping three times (Hitomi definitely needs to stop wearing these socks…), Hitomi's sitting in a chair watching her mother move around the kitchen.
"How was school?" Solana asks placing a plate of snacks in front of her. Hitomi stares down at them as she recalls her school day. It wasn't one of the worst, but it definitely wasn't one of the best, either.
"Terrible! They sent me to the nurse's during P.E. again. Because they said I was a 'hazard'. Can you believe that?! And then, during the cleanup period, I almost fell out of the window again. Those kids are always teasing me..." Hitomi explains. She grabs a cracker off of the plate, chomping on it angrily.
"Dame, Dame... It's a struggle, 'Tomi-chan. At least your friends help you. And even though you don't want him, Ryota is there. Things will get better... Now, be nice when your father comes home tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay..." Hitomi pouts, folding her arms. They're quiet for a moment before Solana snaps her fingers, remembering something.
"I know you don't really… like your dad right now, but maybe you'll like him a little more now—when I talked to him on the phone earlier, he said that he's bringing you a present! Be nice, maybe you'll learn to like him!" Solana wags her finger at Hitomi, a hint of a smile on her face.
Hitomi's eyes become wider as she looks up at her mother. Solana notices the sparkle in her eye at the mention of a gift. This girl was so easy to win over. However, Solana frowned inwardly, she was sure that Hitomi probably wouldn't like Tsuna's gift.
Hitomi coughs, clearing her throat and calming herself, "Well, whatever… I guess I can be nice…"
"That's my girl." Solana chuckles. "Anyway, homework?"
"Nope! I'm glad too! But..." She trails off. She fidgets in her seat, wondering if she should tell her mother. Solana, however, stops moving around the kitchen, standing on the other side of the table and giving Hitomi her full attention.
"But what, sweetie?" Solana presses.
"Dame-na, the Drama club... um, they asked me to draw a poster for them... for their, like, play or whatever... A really loud girl came by my class today. She asked me." Hitomi explains.
"You should do it! You're really good at drawing! I don't know why, because your father and I can't draw for crap." Solana mused. Hitomi rested her head against the table.
"I... I mean, I guess I could..." Hitomi breathes out.
"That's good! Maybe you'll make more friends too!" Solana encouraged. Hitomi sighed.
"Well, I think that I'll go start that or whatever." Hitomi said getting up from the table.
"We're having spaghetti for dinner!" Solana says smiling brightly after Hitomi's close to the door.
Hitomi nods absently and doesn't look back. She leaves the kitchen and heads towards the door, grabbing her bag before heading up the stairs to her room.
Reborn's sitting in an office, a nicely furnished one. Lush, red velvet curtains hide the room from prying eyes. There's also a nice, soft carpet to match. Across from the desk he's sitting on, there are two chairs; to the wall below the windows is a couch. Photos decorate the walls and the big desk. The room is dimly lit which gives the entire room a 'Mafia'-type feel.
"Hm. She's going to be a piece of work. Harder than her father. But, I do like a challenge." He states to Leon, whose resting on his hat.
"A test?" Another voice says.
"What?" Reborn asks. He looks to the source. Tsuna's face is visible on the small screen.
"Test her, see her dying will flame's purity! She must be regretting something. Most teenagers are." Tsuna's smirking now; he sees the evil glint in Reborn's eyes.
"So you do have a brain?" Reborn chuckles slightly. Tsuna chokes a bit a Reborn's comment.
"I've always had one! Test her, though. And call 'Lana, I wanted to talk to her." Tsuna says. He's situated in a chair on a plane, from what Reborn can see.
"Testing her might be a good idea..." Reborn says getting off the desk. He ignores Tsuna's calls and continues on his way, climbing out of the open window.
"What should I do—?! I have no determination, ideas or the will to do this! Why did I agree to this!?" Hitomi's now wearing a 3/4 shirt with the number '13' on it in emboldened black. She has on black basketball-type shorts and red socks. Her hair tied with a star shaped clip into one long tail down her back.
Hitomi stands up. "Maybe a walk will help me?" She frowns, packing up her art supplies into her back and leaving her room.
Ten minutes later, Hitomi is walking around town, trying to find something that might inspire her to make the Drama club's poster. The place is bustling despite it being pretty late in the evening. Namimori wasn't a huge town, but it did have a lot going on… like a kidnapping. The woman was someone she recognized—the nice old lady, Tamamori-san—who lived down the street. She was a grandmother who took care of her daughter's son while his parents were off in other countries working. They were nice people and the last that Hitomi would suspect of being targeted.
Tamamori-san screamed as the man rode by on his bike. "Stop him!" She yelled, pointing at the man. Hitomi turned just in time to see him barreling towards her. She flailed, falling over at he tried to run her over. "Stop him!" She cried again and Hitomi dropped her bag.
She watched as nobody moved or did anything. The woman was still crying while the man rode off with her child firmly seated in his lap, crying. "Dammit…" Hitomi frowned. She wanted to help—really, she did. But how could she when she was a weak, pathetic mess who couldn't even help herself?
Her back slammed against the wall. She didn't even notice until it was too late. It didn't seem like anybody else had noticed either. 'Wha-What's going on? Am I... Am I dying...?'
'I-I-I'm d-dying? B-B-B-But why?! I'm too young to d-die! I regret it! I regret being so useless to my friends...'
In her mind's eye she sees Kamiko, Emiko and Katsumi's smiling faces pass by.
'I regret not being nice to my dad...'
Tsuna's laughing face passes by. She then remembers all the times she's ignored him.
'I've lived a pathetic life! I don't wanna die! I regret not doing anything when I had the chance! I could've saved Momo-kun!"
A large, vibrant orange-colored flame started itself on her forehead. Her clothes ripped apart, leaving her in matching floral print undergarments.
"Reborn!" She strikes a pose, drawing stares, "Save Momo-kun with my dying will!" She screeches. Her first step is a blur and before anyone can react, Hitomi's kicked up a strong wind and is barreling across town, looking for the cycling kidnapper. The people in the shopping square watched her with wide eyes, wondering what exactly just happened.
Takahashi is jogging, shadow-boxing as he goes along when Hitomi speeds by. She's yelling and Takahashi nearly misses her when she runs by. "Was that…?" He watches her from the intersection and then laughs. "Maybe we should recruit her for the boxing club!"
Hitomi continues running. She's caught up to him and is hot on his trail. The man's face contorts in confusion when he hears something strange, "Is that… screaming?" He looks down at the child in his lap who is crying. "Hey, shut up, kid!" He chances a glance behind him. "Whoa—holy shit!" He speeds up.
"You're not getting away that easily!" Hitomi speeds a little bit faster than before when she sees an intersection coming up. She turns down it just as the man looks around.
"Couldn't keep up with me, huh?" He smirks, "They don't call me power-legs Hamada fer nothin'!" Celebrating the tiniest bit, it's unsurprising that he doesn't see her come in from the side. Hitomi tackles him, knocking Momo and Hamada off of the bike. Momo screams, but Hitomi manages to catch him, both of them landing safely on Hamada.
He groans and Hitomi puts the boy down just as the flame goes out. "Ah! I've been attacked by an exhibitionist! Police!"
"Wha—I'm no exhibitionist, you child snatcher!" Hitomi accuses before she looks down at herself. "Oh my god!" Hitomi springs up just as a few bystanders latch onto Hamada, holding him in place. Hitomi runs from them, screaming as she goes.
When she returns home, Solana is sitting on the couch. "Hey, Hitomi!" The half-naked girl runs up the stairs and changes quickly before her mother has time to call her again.
"Yeah mom?" Hitomi enters the living room. Her eyes automatically go to the TV where they're covering a report on the child snatcher. "Oh my god…" Hitomi's face contorts in a look of horror.
"That girl on TV looks a lot like you—apparently she ran down a criminal in her underwear!" Solana laughs, "Did you happen to see her on your walk?" Hitomi shakes her head. "Hm, she was mostly in the shopping district, so I guess that's probably why you didn't see her. Anyway, did you finish that poster?"
Hitomi mentally cringes. She'd forgotten about it in the weird occurrence that was her running down a criminal to save Momo-kun. "Er, almost…"
"Okay!" Solana stands up, "I wanna see it when it's done, yeah?" Hitomi nods as her mother passes her, "Leftovers on the stove. Put it away when you're done!" The woman heads up the stairs and Hitomi sighs.
"That's really freakin' weird…" She runs a hand through her hair. "Oh, fuck! My bag!" Hitomi runs out of the living room, hoping that her bag will still be there.