Target 19: Hi-Hat Hijinks
"So I see that Nai's stopped chasing you." Kita comments, lying on one of Hitomi's beanbag chairs. She's more draped over it than lying, on her back, face buried in a teen magazine. Katsumi takes up residence next to her, playing Road Fighter MMXI, while Kamiko messes around with her newest board.
Emiko's nowhere to be seen; as today's the day she'll get her cast off. Hitomi's seated on her bed, drawing, when she looks up, her eyes directed at Kita. Soon enough, they're travelling to her wrist where the bracelet is still firmly clasped. Her hand grasps it, as if that's enough to make it come off, but she knows it's not. Sadly, she accepts it.
"He's taking a break or something." Hitomi could clearly remember the last thing he'd done for her, as it'd only been a week since he gave that to her. It was unnecessary and Hitomi could only try to deny it, which he assumed was her being shy and bashful, fueling his 'need' for her even more. He'd bought her a hot-air balloon. The thing was currently residing in her backyard, well, the basket and necessary items for it were. Kita popped the balloon this morning when she'd come in, vaulting over the fence and ramming her trident into the side, deflating it. She was brought from her musings, "Um, to like somewhere in Europe."
She remembered the package he'd sent her just the other day. Full of trinkets and chocolates that she, her mother, Teru and R.J. polished off before Tsuna could even decide to throw them out. They were good chocolates, Hitomi wouldn't lie, but he was doing horribly at trying to win her over and at the moment, she'd pick Ryota over that crazy Longchamp any day.
Kita sighed loudly, "Y'know, this girl right here," She holds up the magazine so whoever wants to see—which is just Katsumi—can see who she's referring to, "Is so lucky. I wanna be in a band! I even know how to play the drums!"
"Really?" Hitomi looked up, surprised. Kita nodded, smiling a little.
"Yeah, it's my passion, besides acting, of course!" Kita replied, "But this Stella Sparks girl is like...awesome!"
"I've heard of her," Kamiko spoke, "She's American, isn't she?" Kita nodded, changing her position to lie on her stomach.
"She's totally in right now!" Kita said. Hitomi eyed the magazine. The words printed on the cover were unfamiliar to her as she placed her sketchpad and pencil on the bed and crawled forward.
"That magazine… is it in English?" When Kita nodded, Hitomi's eyes widened. Hitomi could barely handle when someone spoke fast Japanese at her and yet Kita knew English as if it was her first language.
Anything else Hitomi could have said was halted by the appearance of Reborn, who just flew in through the window, catching Hitomi and Katsumi's attention. Soon enough, all four girls were looking at him questioningly.
"Ciaossu, girls." He greeted, sitting down on the desk. Quietly, he took a large drink from the small travel coffee mug in his hand.
Hitomi didn't bother saying anything, she knew once he arrived, something was bound to happen to her, whether she wanted it to or not. "Hi!" Kita and Katsumi greeted, though the two were the only ones to do so.
"What do you want this time?" Hitomi asked, a little afraid of his answer.
"I heard you all talking about being in a band." Reborn stated, "So, I've figured out what we're gonna do for our next training exercise."
"Oh please don't tell me…"
"Yes," Reborn nodded, "You're going to become a band. Hitomi, I've been observing you over the past week, since our last… training exercise… and I've noticed a few things." Reborn hops off of the desk, walking forward until he reaches the edge of the bed. He looks up at Hitomi, looking her square in the eyes.
Hitomi tries her best to keep eye contact with him, but it doesn't last long, and her eyes are averted to the ground to the left of the small Hitman. "And that's the first thing. You can't make eye contact with a person for more than ten seconds—maybe even less." He states. "The second thing is you're too timid. How are you supposed to be the boss of a quintessential mafia family if you let people walk all over you?—you're not."
"I never wanted to be one, Reborn!" Hitomi cried, "So it's fine if I'm not outgoing or I'm a pushover…"
"It's not fine." Reborn states, pulling Hitomi off of the bed. She falls flat on her face, groaning as she does so. A glare is sent Reborn's way, but he doesn't take notice or seem to even care.
Instead, however, he walks over to Kita, holding his hand out for the magazine. Kita hands it to him without complaint and Reborn flips through it quickly. "I'm sure you've all guessed what it is that we're doing by now, correct? At least," He looks at Hitomi trying to remove her pants from being caught in a loose spring by shimmying out of them, "Some of us."
"A band," Katsumi says, unhooking Hitomi and turning to Reborn as the brunette flops and then somersaults into her desk with a thud. "You're going to have us compete in that Talent Contest next week, aren't you?"
"Smart girl." Reborn smirks, nodding, "Yes, that's exactly what we're going to do. And don't bother picking instruments that you like, because I have already picked instruments for you." He pulls out a small piece of paper, handing it to Katsumi, who looks it over before reading it out loud.
"So, I'm on guitar, Kamiko's on bass…. Uh, Kita's drums," Kita cheers slightly, and Katsumi continues, "Emiko gets the… keyboard and you're the singer, Hitomi." Hitomi squeaked, a horrified look crossing her face.
"Wh-What? I can't be a singer? Reborn!" Hitomi stood up abruptly, "You can make me do anything else, but I'm not singing!"
"Then you'd rather get married to Nai, right now instead of sing?" Reborn asked, pulling out a small cellphone, "Because I can call him right now and get him over here and ready to marry you in under ten minutes."
Hitomi gulped, her resolve weakening. "Fine…" She mumbled, lowering her head, "I'll do it…"
"Good." Reborn nodded firmly, "Anyway, tomorrow we'll begin practice after school, so be ready." With that, he disappeared, leaving the girls by themselves.
"Aw, cheer up, Hitomi-chan!" Kita said, standing and smacking Hitomi on the back repeatedly, "We can do it. Hey, we've survived some of his other trainings, right?"
Kamiko lay back, agreeing with Kita, "Yeah, remember when he stuck us in that burning building last week? Or when he said there was a bomb in the school?"
Hitomi shivered, remembering all of these things. "I… I guess you're right. But that doesn't mean I want to do it! Why can't Emiko do it?"
"Why can't Emiko do what?" In strolled Emiko, the cast no longer on her arm and looking rather confused, "Hey, guys. What's goin' on?" She gave a small wave to them.
"Emiko!" Hitomi practically threw herself at her best friend, surprising Emiko. The silvernette's quick reflexes were the only thing keeping the two from falling backward into a heap on the floor. "Oh, you're here! That's great! How are you? Fine? Good. I need to ask you something. A favor, I'll pay you back later!" Hitomi yelled, shaking Emiko. Emiko finally managed to pull Hitomi off of her, setting her aside to step forward and look at the other girls.
"So… what's wrong with Hitomi?" She asked.
"A band, huh?" Emiko still couldn't wrap her head around the idea. Reborn wanted them to compete in a talent competition. "I've only seen things like that in movies and junk." Kita shrugged, walking alongside Katsumi.
All five girls were now making their way towards an address that Reborn had stuck in Hitomi's shoe locker. Emiko was more dragging Hitomi than anything, as Hitomi made no move to want to go anywhere near that address. "I think it'd be really cool! We could have a totally awesome band name and everything!" Her eyes sparkled as she skipped ahead of them.
"Why are you so afraid to sing, Hitomi?" Kamiko asked, "I mean, it's not a big deal. It's not like he'll have you pour your heart out in a slow ballad full of pain and angst or something. You'll be fine."
"No I won't!" Hitomi emphasized, "Don't you see, Kamiko? This is just a way for me to make a big fool of myself! I'll mess up so hard and then you guys will be laughing stocks just like me and I can't have that! You don't want that, trust me! It's the worst thing in the world."
"It can't be that bad, Hitomi." Emiko responded, "Besides, we already hang out with you, there can't be much else they can laugh at us about, right?" Emiko didn't seem at all bothered, like the rest of the girls, by the thought of being an outcast like Hitomi was.
"Calm down, Hitomi." Kita said, slapping Hitomi on the back repeatedly, in an unintentionally hard way, "We'll just auto-tune you or something if you can't sing. It's not that big a deal."
Hitomi shook her head just as Katsumi looked down at the small slip of paper, she was in charge of getting them there, being the one who knew the city better than the others, "Alright," She said, claiming their attention, "This is the place."
It was a run-down, shabby old building out by the abandoned part of the docks. Hitomi gulped, looking around. The place looked like it had been through a tornado, a riot and a hurricane all at the same time. The windows were broken in, the garage door was partially opened and the door they just went in made a weird creaking noise when opened. Not to mention the awful smell.
"Ugh," Kamiko's nose crinkled up in disgust, as she and the other girls put their hands up to their noses, "Why couldn't he have picked a cleaner place?"
"This was all Hitomi's allowance would allow for." Reborn stated, surprising them. The lights turned on and in the warehouse were shiny, new instruments and amps. Kita's eyes sparkled as she skipped over to the drum set, only cartwheel away from them when a bullet was sent her way. Reborn put away his smoking gun, looking over at her. It was hard to tell if he was glaring or not, but Hitomi assumed he was.
"Don't touch them yet. We have things to do." Reborn said, "And since I paid for the instruments and that means that you have to work them off, so first, we're going to have a fun little training exercise."
"Oh no…" Kamiko rolled her eyes, "What're you gonna have us do, baby?"
"You'll be raising awareness for the competition, so put on those uniforms." Reborn pointed to a box next to the microphone stand, "After all, we need tons of people to attend."
"N-No we don't!" Hitomi yelped, waving her hands wildly, "We can… ah, just perform for a crowd of no people!"
"No, I already promised the proprietor of the event that you would help in exchange for not having to pay the entrance fee, so hop to it, or you'll die before your big debut." Reborn pulled out his gun once more and that was all he needed for them to start moving.
"Kon'nichiwa, Lambo!" The man on the other side of the computer screen greeted warmly. Lambo gave him a small wave, a tiny smile on his lips.
"And good afternoon to you too, Allen, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" Lambo responded, twirling locks of his hair.
"It's been about… a month or so, yes." Allen laughed lightly. He shook his head, "As you can tell, we're… prac-tic-ing our Japanese." Lambo nodded, the man's Japanese was awful, as his thick Texan accent was clearly clouding over any possibility of him learning Japanese fluently.
"Yes, I can tell, and it's awful." Lambo shook his head, after seeing Allen's look of fake-horror. "Anyway, what'd you want? I'm already coming over there in a few weeks."
"Oh, nothing in particular." Allen said, switching back to English, "It's Regina. She's… eh…"
In the background, loud noises and screams could be heard. Allen winced as something smashed and he shook his head, "Well, that's that."
"I take it she's not taking the news well." Lambo inquired. Allen nodded, scratching his head and pulled at his silvered locks.
"No, so I need you to do a little something for me." Allen replied, "She wants a reason. Um… like a musical reason. Find a band of some sort—or a competition! I don't care, just something that will make her think 'Hey! Japan's the place to be!' Otherwise she'll just hop on the next plane back to America."
Lambo nodded, "Of course I can do that." After exchanging brief farewells, Lambo closed his laptop and leaned back. "How can I do that?"
Hitomi ran. Of course, she wasn't exactly sure how she ended up in this situation, but she didn't really care. She didn't have time to waste, thinking about how she got here. She had to run. And she had to run fast.
The crowd behind her was getting bigger, or closer, but Hitomi only glanced back once and that once was enough to send her flying over the side of the bridge's curb and into traffic. She waited for the honks and loud noises and death, but it never came. When she opened her eyes to look, she could see the cars zooming by below her. She was hanging from the side of the bridge.
"Ah! Ah!" She screamed, moving around wildly. She was scared, if that wasn't obvious, and didn't seem to realize moving would make it worse.
"Did you see which way she went?" Of course they were talking about Hitomi. She could just feel it, but how could they not notice or hear her screaming.
"Yeah, she went that way." Someone said, and Hitomi could hear the crowd leaving.
"Dame, Hitomi-chan, stop moving so much." Came a lazy drawl. "I'll pull you up." And the person did pull her up. Hitomi looked up. A tall man with bushy hair braided in a few places wearing horns and a long brown coat stood in front of her, one eye closed. Next to him was a red-haired boy and a purple-haired woman, all of which she recognized.
"A-Ah! Lambo-san? Chrome-san? Ryota?" Hitomi squeaked, looking around for the groupies. "Wh-What are you all doing here?"
"Ah, just walking along." Lambo replied, shrugging, "What were you doing? And why are you dressed… like that?"
Hitomi looked down at her tattered clothes. She was dressed in all leather with platform boots and her hair was puffed out, a real 80's Hair Band style. "O-Oh, um… I was supposed to be promoting the Rock Talent Competition we're competing in for Reborn… and then the people who saw us—me and my friends—they just lost control after I screamed and started chasing us. I don't know where everyone else is because most of the crowd was chasing me."
Lambo pondered this, his eye still closed. "So, a competition?" He didn't seem to care about them Hitomi being chased, "When is it?"
"Next week I believe, why?" Hitomi was afraid of his answer. Lambo just shook his head.
"No reason, c'mon Chrome, Ryota." He called, walking ahead, "See you later, Hitomi." Hitomi watched them leave, surprised that Ryota was even listening to Lambo. The red-haired didn't listen to anyone but his mother, and even then he didn't really listen to her.
"What an odd trio…" Hitomi shook her head, turning around to walk in the opposite direction. She took a step and tripped over her platform boots, "Damn these 80's trends!" She didn't stay down long, however, as the crowd that was chasing her came back, lifting her up and trying to get a piece of her.
"No!" Hitomi pushed and punched her way back to the ground and ran, the group following closely behind her, "D-Dammit!"
"That was so tiring." Emiko whined, lying on Hitomi's bed. Hitomi was next to her, sulking. "I was stuck with fucking Makimoto all day after that."
"You're telling me. At least you guys weren't chased halfway to Kokuyo!" She commented, "I got yelled at by my dad even though it wasn't my fault!"
"It wasn't that bad," Kita replied, rolling out her sleeping bag. Hitomi eyed her suspiciously before looking back to the TV, "I got a free smoothie!"
"I got an endorsement for skateboards." Kamiko input.
"And I got to kick ass!" Katsumi grinned. "All in all, I think we got the point across that we're in the Talent Competition."
"And if that didn't do it, Hitomi's loud ass scream did." Emiko snickered, nudging the brunette.
Hitomi glared at her, frowning, "Hey, walking in platform boots hurt and someone knocking into you is even worse. I had to let my pain out somehow…"
"But why the 80's? And it's American 80's not Japanese 80's." Kamiko asked, changing the subject almost too quickly. Emiko looked over at the raven-haired teen, shrugging as did Katsumi. Kita was too busy getting ready to sleep.
Hitomi shrugged, "Maybe it's just a bunch of cover bands doing songs from the 80's that no-one cares about."
"It's all kinds of bands, actually." Reborn input. He was sitting in his little hammock, just above Hitomi's bed. "Cover bands, real bands. Everyone wants to get their big break because there are going to be many big producers there."
Hitomi hid her face under her pillow, "Ah, there's gonna be so many people!" She shook her head, "Don't want, don't want!"
"Well that's too bad. In the morning, we're actually going to practice, since you wasted all of your time running around town. Now's not the time for physical exercise, Hitomi. We're doing something else." Reborn scolded.
"Ah… fine…" Hitomi gave up. She didn't care anymore. She just wanted to sleep. "Are you guys staying?"
"I am!" Kita responded, already inside her sleeping bag. Hitomi face-palmed, but didn't say anything to her, knowing she wouldn't get an answer that made sense.
"Yeah, I'm staying too." Emiko said. "Toss me a pillow." Hitomi handed Emiko a pillow, "And keep your feet away from me." For that, Hitomi pressed her cold feet against Emiko's back.
Emiko screamed, kicking Hitomi lightly, "Dammit, Hitomi!"
"Whatever, Emiko, I do what I want." Hitomi replied, snuggling into her pillow.
"I guess I'm staying too. Where're the spares?" Katsumi asked, standing up. She didn't mind sleeping in her clothes; she'd done it numerous times.
"Closet." Hitomi mumbled, pointing at the doors. After a lot of rustling and moving was heard, everyone was settled "Lights off!" Hitomi shouted, and the lights turned off.
Once again in the warehouse, Reborn stood on top of a box. Hitomi and the girls looked down at him, as he spoke. "Alright," He began, "Does everyone remember their instruments?" The girls nodded, "Get in position."
The girls moved, Hitomi tentatively walking up to the microphone, Kita speed-walking to the drums as if someone would steal them from her and the others walking normally. Once they were all in position, Reborn stood in front of them.
"Alright, let's see who can play what." Reborn clapped, "Katsumi, you're first." Katsumi nodded. "Hook the amp up."
Katsumi picked up the wire and plugged it into the guitar. She smirked, turning it on, "Alright! Here's what I know!" She strummed, trying to play 'Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star'. It came out horribly and extremely loud.
The girls covered their ears, crumpling to the ground as Reborn pulled out his pistol and shot it at Katsumi. She was quick to dodge, however, and used the guitar as a shield. Katsumi only smiled, "So how'd I do?"
"Oh, it was horrible." Reborn said. Katsumi's smile dropped from her face, "And if Katsumi can't play an instrument, I'm pretty sure the rest of you can't."
"Hey," Kita said, "I can play drums, look!" Kita knocked the sticks together and began playing a nice and even drum beat, which sped up and slowed to a finish, "See?" Kita crossed her arms triumphant after seeing the looks on everyone's faces.
"Alright, let me rephrase that," Reborn said, impressed with Kita's skills. "Everyone but Kita sucks at playing an instrument."
"And we've only got a week till the show!" Katsumi panicked.
"W-Well maybe we shouldn't do it, huh? Yeah, that's what this is telling us." Hitomi nervously said, "H-How 'bout we go runnin' or somethin'?"
"I admire your enthusiasm, but no." Reborn replied, "You're just going to have to practice harder." Hitomi gulped.
"So we'll start with Katsumi since she made our ears bleed." Reborn nodded. Katsumi gulped, looking at the evil glint in Reborn's eye. She knew this couldn't be good.
School was their safe haven, even Skye's yelling and ushering them to class by use of tranquilizer guns couldn't bring down Emiko's mood. She swayed peacefully and tiredly to class. Hitomi dragged herself alongside the silvernette. "We practiced for two days straight and we still suck." Emiko said.
"I assumed you'd be good at the piano, Emiko." Hitomi admitted. "Considering Gokudera-san is." Emiko's face burned red in embarrassment, but it didn't stay that way for long.
"Well I'm not, so good at playing it." Emiko added gruffly, "So drop it." She turned and slid the door open to her classroom, shutting it loudly.
Hitomi squeaked in surprise, heading into her own classroom. There waiting for her way R.J. He smiled, waving her over and because she was the only one who had entered, as everyone else was in the classroom, she had no choice but to come over.
"Hi, R.J." Hitomi mumbled, plopping into her seat. She noticed he was dressed as a boy today.
"Hello, Hitomi!" He smiled as if he hadn't had breakfast with her that morning, "How are you? I hear that training isn't going so well."
Hitomi laughed bitterly, "We're supposed to be a band and we suck! I don't even want to do this!" She didn't know why she was complaining to R.J. He was just as sneaky and conniving as Reborn was, maybe even more so, if that was possible.
"Well, that's the life of a mafia boss." R.J. shrugged. He didn't seem to actually care. In Hitomi's opinion, he seemed to be enjoying her pain. Hitomi looked around the room, some people were looking at them, and she assumed some of them saw her the other day.
Before Hitomi could respond with anything, the bell rang and their teacher walked in. Quickly, the class quieted down and took their seats, pulling out their books. The teacher began talking, but Hitomi could care less. She wasn't worried about this test or whatever they were learning; she knew even if she did pay attention, she'd fail the test anyway. Everything was so confusing in school, she wished she didn't have to be here, but it was the only place where Reborn didn't attack her often.
The only times he didn't attack her at all were when she skipped school. And she hadn't been able to do that since the baseball game. She picked up her book anyway, holding it up and pretending to read, just like everyone else.
In a flash, class was over and lunchtime had Hitomi worried. She was walking past the courtyard on the dividing sidewalk in the middle. Not many students hung out in the courtyard during lunch. It was just too hot at the moment. Summer break was coming up soon. Hitomi was trying to make her way to the roof, when she was stopped and slammed against the wall. Hitomi squeaked, her first instinct to hold up her hands and protect her face, something she learned from her mother.
"Calm down, idiot," Came a bored voice, "I'm not going to hit you." Hitomi opened one eye, looking up. In front of her was Ryota, looking down at her, his expression matching his tone, yet the stoic-looking face mask was easy for Hitomi to look past to see what he was really feeling.
It was all in his eyes, if she wanted, she could easily read him like a book. "Wh-What is it that you want?" She cleared her throat, as if to sound more confident, even if she wasn't, "You want to know about the Competition thing? Or are you going to enter?"
His surprised eyes gave her all the answers she needed. "Why are you doing this?" He pulled her toward him. Hitomi gulped audibly,
"Reborn told us we have to." Hitomi replied easily, "But I don't really want to do it…"
"Reborn?" Ryota asked, raising an eyebrow. "Who's Reborn?" Hitomi mentally slapped herself; of course Ryota didn't know who Reborn was! He hadn't met Reborn, nor did he even know about the mafia.
"He's my home—!" Hitomi cut herself off, receiving but another questioning gaze from Ryota. D-Dammit, Hitomi! Why would you say something like that?! She remarked mentally. Now he's gonna find out! Think of something, quick!
"Your home what?" Ryota stood there waiting with patience Hitomi didn't even know he had.
"U-uh, he's my… my, um, home-schooled little cousin!" Hitomi nodded quickly, "Yeah, that's it! He's my home-schooled cousin." Ryota still had his eyebrow raised and Hitomi knew he didn't fully accept her story.
"Why would your home-schooled little cousin tell you to involve yourself in a Rock Talent Competition?" Ryota asked, pushing Hitomi up against the wall again, "Something tells me that you're not telling me the whole truth, Hitomi. Spill it." Hitomi gulped. She couldn't tell him the whole truth! Even if he wasn't the best of people, Hitomi wouldn't allow him to be swept up in this mafia stuff! She didn't want him to get shot!
So, Hitomi being Hitomi, decided to use her best plan of retreat. "So… you're wearing the school uniform today?" She asked, looking him up and down, "That's a surprise, oh do you hear that? Gotta go!" She slipped out of his grip and darted across the courtyard and, much to Ryota and those who saw's surprise, hopped the fence.
"You're so stupid, Hitomi." Ryota shook his head and walked away, as if nothing happened.
"Ah!" Hitomi stretched. Emiko was next to her. Apparently all of the girls, excluding Kita, had the same idea to skip. And currently, they were walking around town, feeling out-of-place because of their school uniforms.
"I'm totally not ready for this." Katsumi admitted, looking at the other girls, "I mean, why are we even doing this?"
"It's for Hitomi, don't you remember?" Kamiko replied, looking over to her cousin, "She's the one, who can't talk to people, that's why she needs this."
"My fingers hurt." Emiko input, looking down at her fingers, "I'm not good at playing the piano, if you didn't know."
"Yeah," Hitomi groaned, "I'm sorry guys, if you didn't know about… that thing and Reborn, maybe we wouldn't be trying to be a band."
"Maybe you should give up." Someone else said. Hitomi looked up. In front of her was a group of people, four males and one female. They were all dressed similarly with leather, studs and chains. The female's hair was hot pink and she glared at Hitomi with a fierceness that made her take a step back.
"Why would we do that?" Katsumi raised an eyebrow, "We're just feeling sorry for ourselves at the moment."
"Why don't you just skip the underdog story and leave it to the real rockers to take place in this competition, hm?" She said, spitting in front of Katsumi, "I mean, since you guys suck and all."
Katsumi looked down at where the pinkette spit, her anger rising. Luckily Kamiko and Emiko held her back, Hitomi stepped up. "Y-You leave her alone! You're in the competition, hm? Well guess what?" Her voice grew louder, "We're gonna win and we're gonna kick your ass. You can bet on that!"
"How about we do?" One of the boys spoke up, "Five G's to whoever wins." For emphasis, he held up a large wad of cash. Hitomi stared at him, and in the spur of the moment, agreed. Emiko looked at Hitomi with wide eyes as the group left. "Alright, Postcards, out!"
With that, The Postcards left. Hitomi turned to the other girls and they gave her different looks, most ending with a look of horror. "Hitomi, what the hell?" Kamiko yelped, shaking her, "We don't have that kind of money! We'll never have that kind of money! Why would you do that?"
"They made me mad…" Hitomi pushed Kamiko's hands off of her, "But you're right. I wasn't thinking and now we're in a mess."
"Well we have to do something!" Katsumi said, "We can't just not enter or give up. We have to try to win!"
"What I want to know is why was he carrying five thousand dollars around." Emiko crossed her arms, "Obviously something is going on."
"That is strange…" Katsumi rubbed her chin, "Anyway, we have to practice extra hard and we have to tell someone about it."
"But who?" Kamiko said, "If we tell one of our parents, they'll flip the biscuit. And Chrome-san would probably keel over." Hitomi tapped her chin in thought, before she snapped her fingers.
"I know just who to ask. C'mon!" She broke off into a run. The others shared confused looks before following her, "Someone call Kita and tell her to meet us at the warehouse."
"So she took some initiative, huh?" Reborn said as he watched the girls run down the street. He was standing on top of a building, Tsuna standing next to him, watching as well.
"Do people really do stuff like that? Or did you pay them?" Tsuna asked, looking at his former tutor.
"No, I had nothing to do with that group of weirdoes." Reborn said, "People are just like that. So, have you seen everything you needed to see?"
"No, I just need to see a little more, I have to know if they're ready." Tsuna replied. "I'll be watching them…" With that, he disappeared, leaving Reborn alone.
Kita stood outside of the warehouse, looking around. She was the only one Reborn trusted with a key to the warehouse, for some odd reason. She had been waiting for about ten minutes for the others to arrive. She prided herself in her ability to confuse Skye long enough to escape school, not to mention, the ink-haired girl managed to get their things, which were inside the warehouse.
"Hey! Kita!" Hitomi yelled, waving towards the girl. Kita looked up, waving back at her with a smile, "Sorry for keeping you waiting."
"It's fine," Kita waved away the apology, "Anyway, what's up?" Kita watched the rest of the group catch up to Hitomi, noting the appearance of a tall man behind them.
"Let's go inside first." Hitomi said, pointing to the door. Once they were inside, Hitomi spilled everything to Kita and Lambo.
"So… why did you ask me?" Lambo questioned, closing one of his eyes to think. "I mean, do you think I have tons of money?"
"W-Well… no…" Hitomi scratched her head, "I just thought you would be the best choice… are you going to help us?"
Lambo sighed, "Well I guess I have no choice then, huh? Fine, I'll scrounge together some cash just in case, but you guys better start practicing if you're gonna win this thing." Lambo pointed at all of them, "But, I think I have the perfect song for you, if you're willing."
Katsumi nodded, "Yes! Tell us! Tell us!" Emiko looked at her strangely and Katsumi explained herself, "Well I thought that if we had our own song and practiced ourselves, then Reborn would back off a little."
"That doesn't sound like Reborn, but it's worth a shot." Hitomi shrugged, "What song did you have in mind?"
Lambo smirked, they were willing and eager, plus with them, he'd be able to get Regina to come over to Japan! "Alright… so here's the song…"
Throughout the rest of the week, Reborn was certainly surprised that Hitomi and the others were eager to practice. He had them doing things they never thought they would be doing, like building-hopping and singing turtles to sleep at the zoo. By the time the competition rolled around, Hitomi and the girls were tired.
They watched as many bands and performers went before the crowd of Namimori and were either booed off because they were bad or they were booed off because the crowd just felt like booing. Hitomi peaked behind the curtain, looking at the boy who was juggling pencils and singing some song by Britney Spears. He was quickly booed off stage and a tomato was thrown just in front of him and he tripped.
They had to wheel him out. "Tough crowd, huh?" Lambo stood behind Hitomi. Hitomi nodded, looking at him, "Hey, you practiced, so you'll be fine. I heard you guys earlier, you were great."
"Sure…" She replied, turning back to the curtain. One more act and Hitomi's group would go on. She had a whole five minutes to run away and leave her friends behind. And she would have, had it not been The Postcards who pushed past her to get onto the stage.
"Oh, now I'm ready." She growled, gripping the curtain to steady herself. Hitomi went backstage into the dressing room they were using. She didn't even know the community center had a dressing room.
"They were great…" Emiko put her head in her hands, "We can't compete with that!" Katsumi was pacing back and forth in the dressing room. They only had a few more seconds before they were supposed to go on.
"W-We'll do better than them!" Hitomi said. They were the last act and honestly, she didn't believe that herself. But they had to, so that Lambo wouldn't have to pay for her stupidity. She took a deep breath as they were called onto the stage.
The crowd was still hyped from the last group when Hitomi and the others walked on. Nervous, Hitomi walked up to the mic and stood there. She didn't know what to say. Emiko looked at her, urging her on. Hitomi still didn't say anything and the crowd giggled. She knew if she didn't say something, they'd get booed off the stage. All previous anger and determination left her as she stood out there, looking at the crowd. She could see her parents and every other person she'd ever known.
"We're a sing and we're here to Vongolas for you!" Hitomi yelled out as Emiko face-palmed, taking the mic from her.
"Switch that. We're The Vongolas and we're here to sing for you." Emiko repeated correctly, looking back at Kita to count them in. She picked up a tambourine, passing one to Hitomi.
Kita banged her sticks together in rhythm. Emiko smashed the tambourine against her thigh and she and Hitomi began moving in sync as Katsumi and Kamiko joined in with Kita. The crowded cheered, they didn't sound bad at all.
"They're not bad." Tsuna commented, looking to Reborn, who was on his shoulder.
"Yes, but that's not the song I picked." Reborn agreed. "I don't know where they got this one from." Tsuna shrugged, he couldn't believe that they had disobeyed Reborn.
Backstage, The Postcards watched Hitomi and her band. They were doing pretty well, the crowd happened to be cheering for them. The female lead, named Rosa, growled, crushing her soda can. "Franz, get me my guitar!" She yelled at her band mate, "We're gonna ruin this gig for them."
Hitomi had managed to get over her fear of being on stage. She was surprised that she could even remember all of the words and dance moves. They weren't even half way through the song when a flying axe-shaped guitar came straight for Emiko.
In a quick movement, Emiko dodged, tossing the tambourine and pulling out her Tonfa. Hitomi was left wondering where the girl stored them, but didn't stop singing, with Emiko on guard; she continued to dance, looking around confused, as did Kamiko. The girl was poised and ready, which worked in her favor, as one of the male members of The Postcards came out, trying to come at her with a knife.
A quick twist of her bass and a spin, she managed to kick him into the crowd, which just made them cheer even louder. Emiko went back to dancing, only this time the attack came at Kita. Her sticks were knocked out of her hands and the beat stopped. She growled, reaching for them only to have them kicked away.
"Guys!" She yelped, being knocked into the wall on the side. Katsumi dropped her guitar in favor of tossing a punch at the other male. She managed to knock him into the other wall, and unconscious. Hitomi stopped singing altogether, looking around. Kamiko did to, removing her guitar in favor of pulling out her wooden sword.
Kita got up, dusting herself up and looking around. She managed to locate her sticks and counted them in again as Katsumi ran over to her guitar. And Kamiko picked up the bass. "I guess we're ready again. Oh, where were we?" Emiko tapped her chin, "Oh, right. You should, you should, be quiet!" She and Hitomi sang, though Hitomi a little quieter than Emiko.
It was then that she was attacked. A punch to the face knocked Hitomi into Emiko, sending the silvernette sprawling to the ground.
"You will not steal this from me! I put my heart and soul into this and I will not let some little kids ruin my big break!" Rosa screeched, running towards Hitomi. Hitomi continually dodged hits from the pinkette, trying to get in her own while Emiko did the same with another member. It seemed as if all five girls were fighting. Kita had already pulled out her trident and Kamiko her sword.
In a burst of anger and strength, Hitomi stood up and knocked her fist into the pinkette's stomach. Katsumi picked up the male she had been fighting and tossed him off of the stage. The one Kita was fighting tossed some sort of gas and Emiko diluted it with her firework bombs. All in all, it was a big light show.
"I'm not stealing anything from anyone! You're the one who is messing stuff up, lady!" Hitomi said. Rosa dropped to the ground, kneeling as she held her stomach. Hitomi pushed her over, "Alright, let's finish the song." After that, they finished the song with loud cheers from the crowd and fireworks going off.
It was almost an hour later when they were called back out on stage. Both her band and the other band stood there. Both were tattered from their fight and the announcer looked a little scared to be around them. He gulped. "After careful consideration and input from the crowd, we have decided that The Vongolas win!" The announcer yelled, prompting the crowd to cheer louder.
"What? Why?!" Rosa yelled, "We were better!" Her face practically matched her red leather outfit as she took the microphone from the announcer, pushing him out of the way, "I put my heart into all of that! Why didn't you pick me?!" The crowd booed her and she gasped, shocked at their behavior.
"You tried to fuckin' kill us, that's why!" Kita accused, "If anything, you should be locked up."
"Yeah!" Hitomi agreed, "And where's our money? We won!" Emiko held out her hand and begrudgingly, Rosa handed over the money.
"And I've taken the liberty of calling the cops." Chrome said, stepping out from backstage. "She's an escaped convict from the same place as that girl who shot Emiko at the baseball game."
"C-Convict?" One of the males said, "Why did you tell us you were a jailbird, Rosa?"
Rosa gulped, "W-Well, time to go!" She threw down a bomb, leaving the area.
"She's gone…" Hitomi stated the obvious.
"It doesn't matter, we'll find her." Chrome said, turning tail and walking off of the stage.
"Well hey!" Kita said, grabbing the others, "At least we won! Now smile!" The camera flashed and Kita was the only one prepared for the picture.
"So how's that?" Lambo asked, leaning back. Allen had gotten the video the night before. Allen clapped, nodding his head.
"It's great. She's ready to go; hopefully she'll make it in time, hm?" Allen replied, "Thank you, Lambo. This is really great. I'll see you soon, yes?" Lambo nodded, closing his laptop once more.
"Oh yes, this is really great."
So hey! It's been a long time, I think like three or so weeks? Could be more, could be less, I'm not sure at the moment. Anyway, I'm back with this chapter. Look it! It's Lambo! :D Wassup wit all dese convicts? IS SOMETHING HAPPENING?
PS. The song that Hitomi's 'band' is singing is called "Super Driver" by Aya Hirano. If it feels rushed at the end, I believe it is. Anyway today (The 13th of October) is Hitomi's Birthday! Happy Birthday to you! Woo!
Oh, and one more thing. This Arc is ending in about… two or so chapters I believe. Yes, I think it's two or three. Okay, now I'm done. Bye!