25: A New Arrival

The days blurred into a week and Hitomi sat on the couch with Teru and R.J. The remote in Hitomi's hand, she wasn't staying on one channel for more than a few seconds. "Hitomi, pick something or I'm going to beat the literal shit out of you." Teru deadpanned.

Hitomi didn't even flinch and settled on a channel. It was a documentary on something or other that Hitomi wasn't paying much attention to. She was too busy thinking, something some would be surprised about. Hitomi frowned, shaking her head as she blankly stared at the TV, watching some bugs crawl around and hear the thick accent of an Australian man speaking Japanese.

It felt as if nothing had changed. Hitomi didn't feel much different at all. Actually, the only thing that was different was that she could, on command, call her flames—she'd even started practicing it when no-one was looking (and by practicing, she meant calling them forth while trying to think of cool names and phrases). And the flames were useless. They couldn't even heat up food!

Since they couldn't burn anything, Hitomi could only wonder: What was the point of them? Her father's flames were much more impressive. He could heat up food—Hitomi'd tried countless times to heat up popcorn with the damn things and her dad had caught her more than once and eventually he'd heat it up with his flames, surprising the crap out of Hitomi each time and they'd sit on the couch and watch a movie. She sighed, shaking her head.

In the distance, she hears the door slam closed and running footsteps. A surprised shout and a clatter is heard, Hitomi, R.J. and Teru look up, seeing Emiko and Kamiko being carried by Katsumi, one girl under each arm. Hitomi's father walks by, face buried in an unmarked manila folder. "Hitomi, friends here." He mumbles absently.

"Yeah, thanks dad." Hitomi hops off the couch and walks over to them. "What's up, guys?"

Emiko jabs Katsumi in the ribs, making her drop both girls. With startled shouts, they drop to the ground and Emiko stands up, frowning, "Thanks a lot, idiot." Emiko casts a glance at Katsumi who shrugs, unable to keep the smile off of her face.

"Enough of that, Hitomi," Kamiko says, grabbing the girls shoulders, "Kita's getting out of the hospital tomorrow!" Hitomi's eyes widen.

"Th-That's great!"

"You bet it is!" Katsumi pushes Kamiko out of the way, "And as such, we're totally throwing a party for her!" Kamiko shoots her a look before nodding, Hitomi smiled, it seed like they all had the same idea.

"So get ready, we're going gift shopping." Emiko says. "And we have to buy stuff for the party."

"Alright cool." Hitomi nods, "Let me just get my wallet." As Hitomi walked away, she heard them talking about what they wanted to do for the party.

The door opened and she stepped out, hands waved in a lavish gesture only to be greeted by a population of one person. Her eyes opened when she didn't hear the expected cheers of adoring fans. She narrowed her eyes, looking around the airstrip only to find it almost completely empty aside from the few stragglers and one person standing in her immediate line of vision, waiting. "Lambo!" She said, running down the steps, nearly tripping over her own feet once she reaches the bottom.

"Hai?" He replies, one eye closed while he awaited the loud screams and cries of anguish from the girl. She grunted, stomping the rest of the way over to him, hands clenching and unclenching, golden electricity popping and crackling harshly between them as she grabbed his collar, shocking him and pulling him down to her eye level, "What's wrong, ne?"

"I don't know!" She let him go, electricity creating a bridge between the two that Lambo could barely feel. He was more focused on her accent, which permeated every word she said—her southern accent was thick and that was what made her Japanese harder to understand. "I was told that when I got here, there would be crowds upon crowds of adoring fans waiting for me!"

"Who told you that?" Lambo asked, looking down at the girl. "I sure didn't… and I'm pretty sure your father didn't either. Maybe your mother told you? Because that's a lie, chica."

She grunted, turning around and looking at her jet. "I'm a superstar! In all of America and most of Europe! Why don't I have a crowd here?"

"Because we're in Japan, chica." Lambo responded, "Now hurry on. The paperwork for your transfer is almost done and we've gotta get you moved in so you can meet everyone tomorrow."

"Hmph, fine." She replies, "My bags are on the jet—since you didn't let me bring along any of my servants." She flipped her dark hair over her shoulder and turned back around, heading towards the gates. "I'll be waiting in the car." She walked away and Lambo sighed.

"She's going to scream once she figures out which car is mine…"

The dining room was where everything—well, everything they'd eat—was set up. Hitomi, with the help of Masayoshi, placed the cake down on the dining room's table. Hitomi sighed, smiling at the cake. "Looks pretty good." Masayoshi commented, reaching towards it to swipe his finger across the icing.

Hitomi quickly slapped his hand, frowning up at him, "Masayoshi, this is Kita's cake!" She scolded him, "We can't have any until she's here and cuts it!"

"Damn, Hitomi," Masayoshi rubbed his hand which was turning red, "Okay, I get it, you didn't have to slap my hand so hard." He grunts and mumbles under his breath as he walks away. Hitomi stares after him, confused for a moment.

"I didn't even hit him that hard…" She wanders into the kitchen, seeing if she'd missed anything else while taking things into the dining room.

"It just means you're getting stronger," Tsuna says from next to her, making Hitomi lash out, backing away from him. Tsuna catches her hand, smirking at his daughter. "See what I mean? Instead of jumping away like you usually would, you tried to hit me." He laughed, "Yup, that training trip really did you some good, huh? Did you find your weapon, you haven't talked about the trip at all since you got back."

Hitomi ripped her hand away from him, stepping back, "There isn't much to talk about." She replies, a scowl placed firmly on her face. "I trained and they made me shoot a box with my flames… which I did," For emphasis, she snaps her fingers, a small flame lighting on the tip of her index finger, much to Tsuna's surprise. Tsuna leans against the counter, grabbing the can of icing and a spoon from the drying rack.

"Wow," Tsuna says. Hitomi can hear the impressed tone and the pride in his voice, "You're learning so fast. I doubt it'll be long before you get your weapon, yup." The backdoor to the kitchen opens and Ryota, followed by Nai enter. Nai's face is lit up with a large smile as he animatedly talks to Ryota who can't be bothered to give a response, though it's clear on his face that he's listening to Nai.

"Hey guys." Hitomi greets as Nai rounds the table, placing his bag down and bumping wrists with Hitomi. "You're kind of early."

"This guy wouldn't shut-up." Ryota points towards the door where Makimoto comes in holding a blue baseball-themed bag with yellow tissue paper sticking out, "He wouldn't stop until we decided to come here."

"I didn't know the three of you were friends." Tsuna commented, "Actually, I don't even know who you are." He stands at his full height only a few inches taller than Makimoto. Makimoto laughs, rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm on the baseball team with Yamamoto," Makimoto says, "I'm Makimoto Kenta! It's nice to meet you, Sawada-san!" Makimoto bows slightly as he catches sight of someone coming into the kitchen.

Masayoshi frowns at the sudden intrusions, "Ah, nobody said nothing, I'm not decent…" He looks up at them, studying each of them for a moment, "Oh Ryo-chan! It's so nice to see you! I've missed you, y'know!" He ruffles the boy's hair with a slight chuckle, making Ryota frown, his cheeks flaring up in a dark blush, "Ah, don't be like that! Is it because I called you by your nickname? Maybe I should only use it when we're alone."

Hitomi and the boys snickered as Ryota roughly pushed Masayoshi's hand off of his head. Masayoshi whined but didn't pursue him further, instead he headed towards the fridge and pulled out the milk jug. "Don't drink straight from the jug!" Tsuna scolded him, "What if you've got some disease?"

"Relax, dad." Masayoshi rolled his eyes, "I'm fine." He caps the milk jug, "Call me when your friend gets here. I want a piece o' that cake!" He says, leaving the kitchen once more.

Hitomi sighs, shaking her head, "You guys can put your gifts in the living room." She says, pointing out towards the hall, "C'mon," She leads the three boys into the living room where the others are.

The room mostly looks the same except for a small pile of gifts in one corner near the couch's end table and a large banner with the words 'Welcome Back Kita' in sloppy letters and signed by most of the room's occupants was spread across the wall above the TV. Hitomi's game systems were also hooked up to the large flat screen television in the room and music played at a decent volume from a stereo that no-one could see.

Emiko is currently half-way seated on R.J's lap, trying to throw him—that's what he'd declared he was today—off of the track in Mario Kart.

"Dammit!" Emiko cursed, leaning over once more to seat herself on the floor fully while R.J. just laughed, speaking rapidly in Italian, no doubt dissing his cousin. Kamiko sat with Katsumi, eagerly discussing something or other that had to do with fashion. Teru sat on the couch opposite Katsumi and Kamiko, browsing through an app on her phone that promised hot singles, but she hadn't found any. Frustrated, she groaned, yelling at Emiko to keep it down and that she wanted a turn next.

Lucia sat on the couch, playing with a handheld video-game when she looked up, noting Hitomi's presence and the boys. "More people!" She yelped, making everyone turn to see the three boys.

Mild surprise was what made the room mostly silent, aside from the music playing on the stereo and the game music from the TV. Makimoto offered a nervous smile, rubbing the back of his leg with his foot. Ryota shoved his hands into the pockets of his ripped jeans and Nai beamed at the room's occupants.

"Hm," Emiko was the first to speak, eyeing them all suspiciously, "How do you guys know Kita?"

"I met her in knitters anonymous." He scratched the back of his head, when everyone gave him a shared look of confusion and curiosity, "I-I take my grandmother there every week and Kita is one of the helpers there. When we all found out Kita was in the hospital, the grannies knitted her something. I think it's a blanket, but I can't be too sure…"

Ryota rolled his eyes, dropping his bag near the pile, "She bailed me out." A silent question went around the room as to what Kita bailed him out from, but it didn't look like Ryota was going to answer the question. Nai placed his bag down next to Ryota's, smiling.

"I'm here 'cause Hitomi said she baked a cake!" His mouth watered, "I really want some cake. O-Oh, and, uh… well no, I'm mostly here for the food."

"Where's the food, I'm starving." Ryota asked just as the party seemed to come back to life. Makimoto joined Emiko and R.J on the floor while Lucia pulled Nai over to ask—or tell him off—about his sneakers.

Hitomi looked around the room at her friends, a slight smile on her face as the doorbell rang. She paused, heading towards the front door and quickly opening it. "Ah!" She gasped, her eyes watering almost immediately. "Kita!"

"Hey, Hitomi." Kita greeted, beaming at her. "It's been a while, ne?" She was enveloped in a hug before she even managed to finish her sentence. Kita smiled softly, wrapping her arms around Hitomi, "Ah, Hitomi-chan, I'm still a little sore from all the stiches, yeah?"

"O-Oh!" Hitomi instantly backed away, "Y-Yeah, sorry!" She felt a little guilty as she looked away. Kita only laughed, ruffling her hair and looking to her dad.

"I'll be around later for you, alright?" Kita nodded as the man left her and Hitomi standing in the foyer.

"C'mon!" Hitomi grabbed Kita's hand, "Let's go into the living room." Kita nodded and allowed herself to be pulled into down the hall and into the room.

"Why'd you want me to come over so sudden-?" She gasped upon reaching the room. Kita's eyes darted around, catching sight of everyone.

Emiko and R.J. were tag-teaming against Makimoto and Teru—although only Emiko and Teru were shouting competitively at each other; Lucia was cheering them on while Nai had seemed to occupy himself with Lucia's videogame and Ryota seemed to be reluctantly in a deep conversation with Katsumi and Kamiko while he picked at his plate of food. The sound seemed to bring everyone out of their own conversations and activities as they all stared at Kita.

Her eyes watered as she caught sight of the banner above the TV. "You guys did all this for me?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Emiko scoffed, "Not like we know anyone else named Kita…" R.J. nudged her with his elbow.

"Of course we did." Katsumi said, "You're our friend." Kamiko nodded along with what she said.

"We wanted to make sure that you knew we cared." Hitomi added, "Do you like it?"

"No," Kita looked down, shaking visibly, "I-I don't like it…" She looked up, pulling Hitomi into a hug, a large sob wracking her body and voice, "I-I-I love it!" Collectively, they all seemed to let go of a large breath they were holding.

"Hey, it was my idea too!" Katsumi stood up, "Where's my hug?" Kita rubbed at her eyes, crossing the room and pulling Kamiko and Katsumi into a hug.

"Stop crying, it's not that big a deal," Emiko rolled her eyes grunting when R.J. nudged her once again. She sighed, standing up and approaching the three girls. Kita immediately dragged her into the hug too. After a few minutes, Emiko pushed away, "C'mon, let's eat."

Kita sniffled, rubbing her eyes once more, "What'd you guys make?"

"Hitomi made a cake," Emiko looked everywhere but at Kita, her own eyes glossy with unshed tears.

"And my mom made those pigs in a blanket!" Katsumi said, "And there's chicken and sushi and everything else you like!"

Kita's eyes sparkled, "Let's eat!"

Plates lay scattered around the living room with varying degrees of food on them while most of the group crowded around the two couches and on the floor, playing and watching Super Smash Bros. all of Kita's gifts lay unopened where they'd been, as everybody had mostly forgotten about them.

Solana heard the doorbell ring, going to answer it while everyone was occupied. "Oh," She smiled, looking at the two with surprise, "Lambo! And… his friend…?" She looked Lambo up and down before whispering, "Isn't she a little young for you?"

"She's not my girlfriend, Sola-san." Lambo shook his head, sticking his tongue out at her, "This is Regina, she's the daughter of a friend of mine and she'll be staying with me for a while. She's going to go to Nami-chuu, so I wanted her to get acquainted with the girls."

"Oh, well that's fine," Solana smiled, opening the door wider, "It's nice to meet you, Regina. I'm Solana Sawada." Regina looked up, scoffing at her and walking by. Solana's eye twitched. "She's rude, Lambo."

"Her mother spoiled her," He shook his head, "She's a pop star in America—have you heard of her? She sang a song called 'Candy-Colored Tears'."

"Maybe," Solana tapped her lip, "Probably not," She shrugged and walked away. Lambo followed her, stopping when he saw where Regina was standing.

"Hey kids!" He yelled, clapping his hands. All of them turned, looking at him. Hitomi and Ryota's eyes lit up at the sight of him.

"Lambo-san!" Hitomi greeted, running over to him and jumping at him. He chuckled, ruffling her hair. Ryota offered a wave but didn't move to get up from where he was seated—wedged between the armrest of the couch and Masayoshi.

"Hey, kid." He greeted with a small smile, "What're you guys doing?"

"Having a party for Kita." Hitomi answered, looking back at the group. "What're you doing here? I thought you were still in Africa?"

"I came back early." He replied, reaching into his coat pocket, "Brought you a gift, though, kiddo." Before he could pull it out, Regina cleared her throat loudly, all attention on her.

"Oh," Hitomi pulled away from Lambo to look at the girl. Two high and curled ponytails framed her face while bangs were pinned into place by expensive looking hair-clips. Her green eyes looked dull while freckles stood out against her pale skin, her mouth contoured into a frown, "Hello."

"Yeah, hi." Regina crossed her arms as if she were expectant of something else. Hitomi looked at her, then to Lambo and then to her friends, who all shrugged and shared looks of confusion, "Lambo, why are we here?" She tapped her foot impatiently. "I thought you said you were taking me to the salon."

"To meet new people." He answered simply, "Everyone, this is Regina. I'm going to be her guardian while she's here in Japan. She'll be attending Nami-chuu with you starting next week. Besides, you went before you got on the plane, your father told me so." Regina scoffed, looking down on the rest.

"Oh," Katsumi spoke first after the room was silent for a while, "Well it's nice to meet you."

"I'm sure you are, after all, who wouldn't want to meet me? I'm the greatest thing to walk into your miserable lives." She replied, turning her nose up. "I'm hungry, is there anything to eat in the god-forsaken place?"

"W-Well we've got some food left over in the dining room…" Hitomi suggested, "I can show you if you want…?" She opened her mouth to complain, but a glance at Lambo told her to keep her mouth shut.

"Fine," Regina sighed, "I'll have to make due, I guess." Hitomi's eye twitched as she motioned for Regina to follow her.

"She's a little stuck-up." Lambo spoke, prompting a snide comment from Emiko, "But she's got a good heart, hopefully her attitude won't put you off."

It wasn't long that Lambo stayed with the group, despite Hitomi's protests and Ryota's milder protests, he eventually left them to go talk to Tsuna though everyone, barring Makimoto and Regina, knew why.

Regina sat on the couch away from the others, her legs crossed as she looked at her phone, keeping contact with them to a minimum and as far as everyone was concerned, that was for the best. She'd turned down every attempt they'd made to get her to join them, even going as far to tell Nai off for his strange clothing (which sent him running to Hitomi, who had to reassure him that it wasn't that bad, while also telling him that maybe he shouldn't take his father's clothing advice) when he approached her and that saying that Makimoto's smile was too bright and it was annoying her. Soon after that, Makimoto had left, followed by Nai—mostly because Ryota was starting to get angered by her dissing them and it was getting late.

Hitomi stood at the door with the girls, frowning, "C'mon, guys…" She really didn't want to be left alone with her—especially since R.J. and Teru seemed to make themselves scarce when it came down to it, also adding onto the fact that Ryota had (surprisingly to Hitomi) said Masayoshi needed to help him with his homework and so her brother wasn't there and then they (her ever-so-faithful guardians) were leaving her to deal with this girl by herself.

"Text us, yeah." Emiko said, pulling out her phone, "Because I can't be in a room with that rude chick any longer or I might blow her up. She's so fucking rude."

"Yeah, who is she even? Some washed up pop star from America?" Katsumi frowned, "She said my dress belonged in a bargain dumpster!" She looked down at the floral print dress, "I happen to like my dress!"

"We like your dress too, Katsumi." Hitomi agreed, patting the girl on the shoulder "Fine, goodnight, guys. I'll text you if I happen to survive."

"My dad'll give you guys rides home." Kita said as the four girls turned away from the porch and Hitomi closed the door. She shook her head before heading back into the living room where Regina was walking around. She paused for a moment, but didn't stop or act embarrassed, instead she moved about as if it was her own place.

She stopped, standing in front of the TV as she examined the banner. "Hm," Regina turned to Hitomi, "Who was coming back?"

"Our friend Kita," Hitomi said, "The kinda crazy one with the highlights? Yeah, she was in the hospital because… she got hit by a bus!" Hitomi mentally face-palmed herself. Leave it to Kita to think of such a dumb excuse. "So we were welcoming her back."

"Must be nice…" Regina mumbled, looking away before she turned and looked at Hitomi again, "How do you know Lambo?"

"He's a friend of my dad's."

"You keep using that word."

"What word?" Hitomi steps further into the living room and over to the TV, beginning to wrap up her controllers and clean up.

"That F-word."

"Friends?" Hitomi blinks before she turns to look at Regina who seems physically repulsed by it. She nods, "What's wrong with it? That's what they are… that's what Kita and the others are to me. We're all friends and, well," She stands up, "I think it's always nice to have a friend."

"Mama says they only slow you down." Regina crossed her arms, "They only take and a pop star like me doesn't need them 'cause they won't be there for me in the end."

"That's dumb." Hitomi says before she can even think about it. Her eyes widen before she shakes her head, "I-er, well sorry… I just…"

"Hmph," Regina turns up her nose, huffing haughtily as she sits down on the couch. "We all have our own opinions."

"Yeah…" Hitomi finishes what she's doing as the room lapses into silence. She turns, looking at Regina, "Well, if there's anything I learned, it's that friends do take… but they don't take your stuff—well, they do, but that's not the point!—they take away your… your bad points I guess… they take away your loneliness… and from the looks of it, you could use a friend."

Regina looks at Hitomi, eyes narrowed, "Don't tell me what I need. You're not the boss of me, you're not a star like I am! I'm not lonely. I'm perfectly fine…"

"Right…" Hitomi tucks hair behind her ear, cheeks burning in embarrassment, "Well the offer still stands." She says as she makes her way towards the door, "Because if you'd let me, I'd like to be your friend. Goodnight, Regina-san."

Hitomi leaves Regina there in the living room while the girl ponders what Hitomi said. She huffs, "I don't need friends. All I need are my followers and money."

Lambo turns to face Tsuna, "Looks like Hitomi's already started."

"Not to be rude, but that girl's kind of mean." Tsuna said, shaking his head, "If she didn't show prowess at her flame, I wouldn't have even considered her."

"She's not a bad kid." Lambo said, "She's just clouded by fame and spoiled. Seeing the way things are done around here, maybe she'll lighten up."

"Maybe," Tsuna says, shaking his head, "All she needs are fans and money? That's a little shallow, don't you think?"

"She's more than that." Lambo said, "But for now we'll just have to wait and see what becomes of her." He rubs his chin, "Then we can decide if she's better suited for somewhere else—like the Varia."

"Maria has been pushing for more members." Tsuna admits, "But Lorenzo seems fine with the number they've got… but then again, Lorenzo is mostly fine with anything that's not Xanxus."

"I'm gonna go, Tsuna." Lambo stood up, "No doubt she'll be angry with me for taking so long." The lightning guardian tapped the folder, "Make sure you look at that, okay?" Tsuna nodded, waving him off as Lambo left.

"…I hope your intuition is right about this one, Lambo…"

And that's that! Well this was a long chapter and pretty much, nothing really important happened, barring Regina's appearance. I'm pretty sure nobody remembers her slight appearance in one of the previous chapters, but that doesn't matter, because she's here now! And hey, we get to see some other kiddies too! Makimoto, Ryota and Nai made an appearance, as well as R.J., Teru and Masayoshi! This was a cute chapter, I'd like to believe. The next one will be more centered around Regina, however. And I tried to portray her personality the best I could at the moment, so hopefully she came off the way I wanted her to. Well, see you next time!