Target 27: Mountain Training Trip (Part 1)
It was almost an hour later when everyone began to leave. Emiko and Kamiko were the first to leave, Katsumi following shortly after and now Hitomi and Reborn were going to leave now. "Wait! Hitomi! Reborn!" Kita reached out for them. Hitomi turns, a confused look on her face, "Er, there's something else."
"What?" Reborn asked, "What else did you forget to mention? Tell us now, we're leaving in the morning, you know." Hitomi's eyes widened as she yelped unintelligibly, protesting Reborn and being completely ignored by him and Kita.
He looked at Kita, his eyes dark and serious, her green ones mimicking him. "Well, before I really lost consciousness, I heard him talking to someone," Kita frowned, "And he said, 'Next is the one borne of fire and ice.' But… what does that mean? Who's next?"
Reborn tapped his chin, shaking his head as he did so, "I… don't know." Hitomi was surprised. It seemed as if Reborn knew everything, so this was a little scary. "But when we get back, we shall find out. Come now, Hitomi, Kita needs her rest, doesn't she?" Reborn doesn't wait for an answer, instead hopping out of the window.
"Right." Hitomi nods, sticking a leg out of the window. "Kita, when I get back, I'll be strong enough to protect you—to make sure that this won't ever happen again, I promise." Kita only smiles, waving as Hitomi leaves.
The next morning, Hitomi and Reborn stand outside the house, Hitomi holding a duffle bag. The cabbie comes around, taking the bag from her and putting it in the trunk. Masayoshi, Solana and Tsuna stand in front of the house, looking at the two. Solana gives a tense smile, she can still sense the underlying unpleasant feelings that Hitomi has for her father but she can't do anything to appease them. "Alright, well, see you in a week, and if I don't, I'm turning your room into my research center." Masayoshi gives a half-salute to Hitomi, smiling.
"No way!" Hitomi shook her head, "Mom!"
Solana sighs, shaking her head, "Hitomi, Masayoshi won't do that. Masayoshi, say goodbye to your sister properly." Masayoshi whines, slinking over to Hitomi and opening his arms before falling on Hitomi, much to her annoyance.
"Aaaaah my little sister is leaving for a whole week!" He fake-cries, large waterfall-esque tears, "No! She must stay!"
"Masayoshi! Get off of me!" Hitomi protests, pushing him away. Masayoshi laughs, getting off of Hitomi, "Gosh! You're such a jerk!" He then pats her head, shaking his own as he smiles down at his little sister.
"Don't die or anything, alright, because I might just have to take your room." Masayoshi ruffled her hair, skipping away as Hitomi playfully glared at him, waving as the blue-haired boy went into the house.
"Y'know," Tsuna stepped up while Solana was talking with Reborn, "I could go with you, I've done Reborn's training about a thousand times-!"
"No," Hitomi shook her head, her tone cold, "I've gotta do this myself, even though this whole thing was forced on me. I don't need your help." Tsuna seemed surprised at Hitomi's coldness, hurt flashing across his eyes before he scowled.
"Fine, that's alright. Have a good trip." Tsuna replies earnestly, offering a small smile, though Hitomi doesn't look at him. He steps back, rubbing his arm awkwardly as Solana pats his shoulder, stepping forward to hug Hitomi.
"Oh, dear..." The blonde begins, tightening her hug around Hitomi, whispering into her ear, "Maybe some time apart will be good for the both of you." She pulls away, looking at Hitomi.
"As long as he's been gone, we should be best friends by now." Hitomi mumbles. Her mother frowns and Hitomi watches her father leave them, heading back into the house but she can't bring herself to feel guilty. After all, it was the truth and she knew the truth hurt.
It was then that Emiko, Katsumi and Kamiko had appeared, all of them smiling a little as they approached Hitomi. Katsumi picked Hitomi up, twirling her around in a tight hug. "Oh! You're going away!" She yelped, only letting Hitomi go when the girl began tapping at her shoulders. Katsumi frowned, and then smiled, ruffling Hitomi's hair. "Promise you'll return with everything intact?"
"I…I'll try…" Hitomi rubbed the back of her head, giving a sheepish smile to Katsumi. That seemed to be enough for the girl as Kamiko stepped up, patting her cousin on the arm.
"I'm sure you'll do fine. You've survived tons of other excursions with Reborn, this shouldn't be any different." Kamiko said, "But just in case you don't come back, I need your consent that you'll let me turn you room into my own personal skateboard holding room." Hitomi paled and Kamiko laughed a little, "I'm just kidding. Come back safe, alright?"
Hitomi nodded as Emiko stepped up, punching the girl on the arm in a way that the silver-haired girl thought was playful. "You hurry up and get stronger, y' hear? Because I don't want to have to attend any funerals anytime soon, okay?!" The girl crossed her arms, looking away from Hitomi and the brunette only smiled at her friend, pulling her into a hug.
"Of course. I'll do my best…" Hitomi promised just as Reborn called her. She turned; he was already in the cab, complaining about the meter. She turned back to them, "Well, I've gotta go… so... see you later, and make sure you watch out for Collins, okay?" Before any of them can question her, Hitomi gets into the cab and it speeds away.
Emiko frowns, "Why would she want us to even associate with Collins?" The other two shrugged, "Eh, well let's go, I kinda want a milkshake from Namy's."
"We have to train!" Katsumi said, her eyes burning with a passion, "We must be prepared to fight anything that comes after us, remember? That's what we're doing all break!"
"Oh… right… guess that means no skateboard practices…" Kamiko scratched her head. "Fine… I guess I can handle something like this…"
"Good! Because I'll be leading the practices, to the extreme!" Katsumi gave them a peace sign as she winked and Emiko and Kamiko shared looks of horror.
"This won't end well…" They murmured as Katsumi grabbed them both, speeding down the road.
The Namimori train station wasn't very big. It was rather basic looking, all things considered. Of course, this was due to most people having cars or taking the bus. Not many people took the train in Namimori, so there was no reason to upgrade it like the buses had been. Hitomi sits on a bench out on the platform while Reborn is off doing something Hitomi couldn't really be bothered to remember. Instead her time was occupied with thinking about what Kita told them. "One borne of fire and ice…" She repeated almost unconsciously. It sounded a little strange, who could it possibly be? Hitomi went over the choices in her head.
'Auntie Amelia is the ice to Uncle Ryohei's fire but Gokudera is the storm guardian and Yamamoto is the rain guardian… and then Hibari is a fire all his own and cousin Dino calms that fire… so who could it be?' It was hurting her brain to think so much, but she just couldn't stop and by the time Reborn had returned, she was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't even see him until he kicked her off of the bench.
"Hitomi." Reborn then said, walking over to where Hitomi lay sprawled on the ground. She looks up at him, "I told you to watch the bags. Where did they go?" Hitomi sits up abruptly, looking around the bench.
"Wh-What?! Who took them? There was nobody here!" Hitomi argued, and then paled considerably, "No! My ticket was in there! What am I going to do?" She groaned loudly, slamming her head back onto the concrete, yelping in pain as it collided, exploding with pain. She quickly sat back up, gripping her head.
"I guess you'll just have to walk because I've still got mine." Reborn says just as the train pulls up. "Oh, and I didn't actually buy you a ticket. That was just a piece of paper I scribbled on." Hitomi gave him an incredulous look. She couldn't believe him. "Now hurry on. This is your first training exercise."
"And what would that be? Catching a train?" Hitomi said sarcastically as Reborn walked toward the train. He turned, looking up at her.
"Yes, that's exactly it. You'll be chasing after the train while trying to avoid other trains until we reach our next stop where we have to change over. Can you handle it?" Reborn asks.
Hitomi groans, whining and complaining loudly. "I'm going home! That's it! I'm done, I can't do this!"
"What about what you promised Kita? How are you going to get stronger if you don't do something like this?" Reborn told her, "But if you really want to, you can go back home." Hitomi cursed under her breath, looking everywhere but at Reborn, because she knew he was right. She did promise.
Against her better judgment, she grunted, "Fine. Fine, I'll do it." Reborn seemed a little surprised but quickly hid it behind the brim of his hat, tipping it forward slightly as he smirked.
"As soon as the train takes off you'll be trying to keep up with it until the next stop which will be within an hour and a half." Before Hitomi could change her mind or protest this, Reborn was already on the train and it was departing. Hitomi cursed, zipping up her light jacket and stumbling into a run.
However she didn't count on the fact that it was a raised platform and promptly fell from it, landing on the soft grass of the hillside. Hitomi grunted, wiping grass from her face and getting up into a run. She wasn't very fast, almost immediately losing sight of the train.
Hitomi curses, looking around. She can still hear the train, but she's unsure if it's her train. After all, there might not be a lot of trains coming through Namimori, but there were a lot of trains. She looks to the track, thinking that her best bet would be following the tracks, thinking it would lead her back to the train.
So she begins jogging. There's no real reason to expend any energy she doesn't have to. Hitomi leisurely jogs along the tracks, trying to make sense of Kita's attack and the words she told them. Wrapped all up in her thoughts, it was no surprise that Hitomi almost got hit by a train. Had she not, at the last second, noticed the loud whistle of the train, she would've been squished instead of wet with nasty water in a lake beside the track, screaming.
She coughed, spitting up water and yelling loudly about how much she hated this. She got up, trying to get as much water off of her as she could as she walked.
When Hitomi had arrived at what seemed to be a train station, she was completely tired and dirty looking, with tree branches and leaves—and maybe a bird somewhere—in her hair and her skin and clothes were crusted in mud. Reborn was waiting patiently, sitting on a bench on the platform when Hitomi caught up to him. He looked up, nose crinkling in disgust, "So you made it…" He decided to say instead of addressing the elephant in the room.
"I'm never doing that again. Please tell me this is the stop." Hitomi begged, collapsing to her knees. Reborn held out a ticket to her, which she gingerly took, studying it.
"It took you three hours to get here. We missed our train and now, we've got to get on another one that will take us to Mountain-Town." He explained, looking up just as the train whistle blew. "And ours just arrived."
Hitomi looked up, seeing the old model train pull into the station. "Mountain-Town? I've never heard of it."
"It's a small settlement at the base of the mountain you'll be training in. I have a friend who owns a cabin out there." Reborn jumped from the bench. "Now come, we can't miss this train."
Hitomi followed Reborn onto the train. The conductor wrinkled his nose at the sight and smell of Hitomi, but she didn't seem to care, walking past him as he handed her the ticket again. In the car they were in, it seemed as if they were the only ones headed towards Mountain-Town. And it was true. But Hitomi didn't care because as soon as she sat in the chair, she was out like a light, snoring heavily in her seat.
Reborn got up from his seat, pulling out a cellphone as he did so. He had to make a phone call.
It was almost an hour or so later when Hitomi grunted, coughing and hacking as her eyes flew open, effectively awakened. She looked around for the culprit, finding Reborn standing next to her with a Leon-Hammer that quickly changed into a triangle, then a ball lodged in her stomach. "Reborn!"
"Good so you're awake." Reborn replied, hopping off the seat, "Well we're here." He then said, walking towards the exit. Hitomi followed him, still feeling extremely tired. Hitomi was expecting no one to be in the train station when they got off, but she was sorely mistaken.
It was packed—which seemed a little surprising since there was nobody on the train heading to Mountain-Town. But it seemed like everyone was trying to get away. She saw giggling high school girls and envious high school boys and middle-aged women and men dressed in business attire and the occasional college-age student peppering in. But one thing was in common with all of them—all of their eyes were glued to one person in particular.
A tall blond man with a bandana wrapped around his head stood in in the crowd—mostly because of his appearance and the fact that the crowd had literally created a ring around him. Being taller than most of them, he was one of the first people Hitomi noticed and from here, standing in front of the train, she could tell what he was wearing—he was dressed in an army uniform, the camouflage standing out the most. His blue eyes scanned the crowd as few people began pouring into the train, pushing past Hitomi.
Then they landed on Hitomi. Realization seemed to set in because his eyes widened and he smiled at her, making Hitomi blush as he waved, "Hey! Hitomi!" He yelled and Hitomi's own eyes widened. Why was he calling her?
"He's spotted you, Hitomi," Reborn then says, hopping up onto her head, "Let's go meet him." Hitomi does her best to walk through the crowd, tripping and stumbling as the people push past her. After finding out that he was waiting for someone, the crowd lost interest.
Hitomi tripped, waiting for the hard contact of the ground against her body, but it never came, instead she felt strong arms wrap around her and lift her up into those very same arms and she came face to face with that blond. "You're really dirty, huh?" He commented, looking her up and down, "And Reborn says that you don't have any luggage either… I guess you can borrow some clothes…" He seemed to be mostly talking to himself as he turns around, carrying Hitomi away from the train station.
Reborn walks next to them, talking with the man as Hitomi tries to find something to say, but she can't think of anything. It's clear that Reborn knows this man, but from where? And why does he look so familiar?
It isn't long before they reach the outskirts of town and there's a semi-large cabin nestled underneath the mountain. "You know, you didn't have to carry her. Hitomi can walk just fine." Reborn commented as the blond pushes open the door. He only shrugs, setting Hitomi down and smiling at her.
"Ah, she needs to rest, from what you told me, anyway." And at that moment, a large puff of smoke envelopes the man and Hitomi screeches, staggering back and falling onto her butt as the man is replaced with a smaller sized version of himself.
"Wh-What's going on?!" She points at him, "What happened to you?"
"Nothing to worry about." Reborn says, "He's just going through some things. Now do you recognize him?"
Hitomi looks at the baby blond who smirks, giving her a two fingered salute. Her eyes widen with realization and she points at him, "H-He's that Colonello guy! From the ship!"
"Quicker than I thought." Colonello says, "But yup, that's me."
"So that means you're also Collins' cousin." Hitomi then says and Colonello freezes, then nods, and Hitomi turns around, banging her head on the ground, "Oh god! That means you're going to kill me!"
"Slow down there, hey." Colonello said, walking over to Hitomi and patting her back, "I'm not that bad… or at least I don't think I'm that bad…"
"That's right," Reborn chips in, "Collins is pure anger but Colonello knows how to handle his anger. He's just a little bit smarter than he was years ago. Only a little bit." Colonello shoots him a glare but Reborn doesn't seem to notice.
"Anyway, let's get this started." He pulls something from his pocket, holding it out to Hitomi, "Here, this is for you." She takes it from him, sitting up and looking at it.
It's a dirty napkin with smeared pen all over it. She can't even read it now—or even tell what it should've said. "What's this supposed to be? It's dirty and I can't read it… is that mustard?" Colonello blushes, looking away from Hitomi and snatching the napkin back from her.
"Okay, look it's not the best I know but Reborn only told me you were coming here about an hour ago—I only had five minutes before I realized I had to come get you!" He argued, "It was supposed to be your training schedule."
"Well let's make it simpler." Reborn stepped forward, "You'll train with me in the morning and then him in the afternoon and every other day we'll switch—me in the afternoon and him in the morning, starting tomorrow." He the smirked, tipping the brim of his hat so she could only see his mouth, "Welcome to hell, Dame-Hitomi."
"What did you say?! What do you mean hell?! What are we doing! Reborn!" Hitomi yelped but he didn't answer. Colonello shook his head but couldn't help the smirk on his face; this was going to be fun.
Well this was part 1 and part 2 should be out soon, that's all. See ya!