Kei-Kei Yuki: Okay, I know I can't say sorry enough for everyone, who was interested in the story, only for me to stop after two chapters. But at that time, I just suddenly drop out of the fandom and I'm kinda happy, as I needed that break. I found some of the ideas that I kept, but I believe I lost some. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy~! :)
Beta By: Ana-DaughterofHades
Chapter Three
The Exams Began
Located deep within Evergreen Forest, which was filled with many beeches, sequoia, and chestnut trees, sunlight lightly shimmered through branches and onto the range of flowers that covered the rich soil ground. A cacophony of wild noises, which were caused by rummaging critters, added life to the forest. Faintly in the forest, screams of a person in distress could be heard from afar. "Reborn! Please stop shooting at me!" begged Tsunami; the young girl was currently running as if her life depended on it.
Jumping out of the bushes after her was Reborn, riding on top of an angry black boar. Its nostrils flared, speeding across the ground as it chased after Tsunami, who was also running from the bullets that were being issued from Reborn's gun. "Think of this as pre-training to get you ready for your school finals, Dame-Tsunami," answered Reborn, though there was a slight sadistic glint in his eyes that was missed by Tsunami.
"Then what's the big idea with the costume!?" Tsunami yelled back at him, when she suddenly tripped and fell on the ground, quick to turn her head towards the sky, only to see the boar soaring across it. An evil glint shined in its eyes as the boar was about to land on top of Tsunami if she hadn't rushed to her feet. She barely dodged getting shot in the leg by Reborn and squashed by a boar.
"Dramatic effect," Reborn answered coolly, dressed up in a southern cowboy outfit, shooting rounds upon rounds of bullets at the poor, exhausted, and distressed girl. She finally made it to the clearing where her house was located, stopping to catch her breath for a minute, when she heard Reborn's voice from behind her.
"No time for slacking off, Dame-Tsuna." A single charge from the boar sent Tsunami crashing through the front door, right at her mother's feet.
"Training seems fun, Tsu-chan~!" smiled Nana, drying the plate that was in her hands. Tsunami heard footsteps rushing out of the kitchen to stand by her mother.
"H-Hime! Are you okay?" exclaimed a worrisome Gokudera, bending down by Tsunami's head. Appearing in the doorway was Reborn, still riding on the boar that he hopped down from and sent it on its merry way back into the forest.
"Training went well today, Mama!" replied Reborn, stepping on top of Tsunami as if she was a mere carpet, ignoring how tired and exhausted she must be feeling.
"Devil! You're the Devil, Reborn!" exclaimed Tsunami when she felt Reborn's tiny feet standing on top of her head.
"Stop complaining, Dame-Tsuna. Your body is weak, so you must build up strength. A mage must have a strong body in order to perform powerful spells, right Mama?" Reborn directed his eyes up towards Nana, who was standing there with a smile, nodding her head in agreement.
"Yep! Performing magic spells takes a toll on the body, so Tsu-chan must build up strength; if not, your body will break down from the strain, and Mama doesn't want that to happen to her adorable Tsu-chan," stated Nana, while in the back of Tsunami's mind, she vaguely remembered such words being said from somewhere before.
"Dame-Tsuna, this is your fault for slacking off in class and not exercising your body properly." Reborn lightly kicked the back of her head before hopping down and making his way into the kitchen.
"Mama, what's for lunch?" asked Reborn, seeing Fuuta setting the plates on the table while Nana trailed after him, telling him what they were having for lunch. All the while leaving poor Tsunami on the ground, whose muscles felt too sore to even move.
"Hime, can you move?" Gokudera worriedly asked Tsunami.
"Honestly... I can't feel a muscle," groaned Tsunami, when a second later she felt herself being lifted up into the air by a pair of strong arms.
"G-Gokudera-kun! W-What are you doing?" A bright red blush consumed Tsunami's face, caught off guard by Gokudera's actions.
"Since Hime is too injured to walk, I'll carry you to the kitchen," informed the determined silverette, and before Tsunami could protest, he proceeded to the kitchen.
"Kya! How adorable~! You look like a pair of newlyweds. Maa, seeing such a sight reminds me of Tsu-chan's Papa. He was such a romantic~!" squealed Nana before getting lost down memory lane, images of Tsunami father's clouding her head.
"Tsu-chan, Papa and Mama are ranked the number one most lovey-dovey couple," commented Fuuta, already taking a seat at the table.
"Ah, that's right. Both full-blooded elves and half-blooded elves sometimes possess special abilities. I take it yours is ranking?" inquired Reborn, turning his attention towards Fuuta, while Nana was preparing drinks for everyone.
"Yep!" Fuut answered with a cute smile. Meanwhile, Tsunami found herself being in Gokudera's arms a little too long and looked up at the werecat, only to see a dreamy and faraway look in his eyes, hearing him mumble, "Married to Hime... Newlyweds..." The silverette's cheeks started to flush a light shade of pink from whatever he was imagining.
"G-Gokudera-kun... you can set me down now." Tsunami's voice seemed to have snapped Gokudera out of his daydream, though when he looked down at Tsunami, the shade of pink in his cheeks darkened, setting her down in her chair first, before taking a seat next to her.
"For lunch, we're having Mama's Special Monte Cristo Sandwiches and for dessert, Mocha Crepe Cake." Nana placed a large stack of triangular cut sandwiches in the middle of the table, along beside it she placed the dessert, before issuing out a cup of tea for everyone.
"Dame-Tsumi, eat up 'cause after lunch it's back to training." Upon hearing Reborn's instructions, Tsunami lost a bit of her appetite, placing the delicious sandwich back on her plate.
"He's gonna kill me," groaned Tsunami, who began to think that he was trying to kill her instead of train her.
There were only three days before finals began and during this duration, Reborn used this time to train Tsunami. Which consisted of him chasing her around the forest as she ran for dear life, dodging bullets and any other fierce angry creatures that Reborn picked up. He even tied large bags of flour around her waist in order to increase both her strength and speed at the same time. By the time finals finally approached, Tsunami was tired and was ready for all of this to finally be over so she could finally get some rest.
Sitting in the bleachers of the large auditorium building, which was mainly used as a practice room to help train students in their magic but for today it was being used in order to host the first exams of their finals, Tsunami saw how many students filled the large room, some sitting by friends and talking amongst themselves. Tsunami sat far off by herself with Gokudera sitting in her lap, but she was startled when something from the ceiling fell into her lap, right beside Gokudera.
"R-Reborn?! What are you doing here?" Tsunami asked the infant, who began to make himself comfortable.
"I'm here to watch you, after all, I am your-" Reborn was unable to finish his sentence when Kyoko and Hana made their appearance, greeting Tsunami, who shyly greeted them back.
"Tsuna, why is there a baby in your lap? Who is he to you?" asked Hana, who was the first to pay attention to the small infant sitting in Tsunami's lap as both girls took a seat next to the brunette.
"He's my-"
"I'm her tutor, Reborn." Instead of Tsunami answering, Reborn answered for himself, earning a poker-face expression from Hana and a giggle from Kyoko.
"He's so cute," complimented Kyoko.
"Weird if you ask me. I would ask for more information, but something is telling me not to." Hana folded her arms across her chest. Most of the students were seated inside the building, ready for the first exam, when Tsunami caught sight of Yamamoto Takeshi arriving late. The teen searched quickly for a seat when he made eye-contact with Tsunami, who timidly broke eye-contact with him first.
"Ah, it seems Yamamoto Takeshi is making his way towards us," informed Hana. Tsunami felt a warm, cheerful presence take the empty seat on her left side.
"Yamamoto-kun! Why are you running so late this morning?" Kyoko politely asked him, while Tsunami, on the other hand, felt a little nervous. She never interacted with Yamamoto before, but she knew of his popular reputation, amongst both males and females at the school. The times that she did catch a glimpse of him, he was always talking with others, a smile on his face. A smile for some reason Tsunami saw as fake. Sorta like a mask that he hid behind, but for what reason, she had absolutely no clue and was a tad bit curious why he did it. Why wear such a mask when you are loved by so many?
"Oi, Sawada Tsunami, right?" Tsunami came back to her senses when she heard Yamamoto address her. "We never really talked much before but I hope you don't mind me taking a seat next to you?" He sheepishly scratched at the back of his head, a grin plastered on his handsome face.
"I-I don't mind at all." Tsunami shot him a shy smile and sensed that the guy really did possess a kind heart.
"Haha, that's good! Oh, and the reason why I'm late is that I overslept," confessed Yamamoto, sheepishly scratching the back of his head again.
"Overslept?! Do you not know important today is? Then again, depending on your grade average that was issued out to everyone yesterday, not everyone here has to pass all three final exams. Kyoko's average came out to be a B, so she only has to pass one of her exams," informed Hana when Kyoko happily chirped in.
"Hana's average was an A. So it doesn't matter if she passes or fails any of her finals," Kyoko informed them; both Yamamoto and Tsunami stared at Hana with awe in their eyes.
"Then again Kurokawa is the top of our class, but wait-If finals don't affect you graduating or not, why are you here?" asked Yamamoto; Tsunami had been wondering the same thing when Hana pointed a blank stare at them and said,
"Because I hate to fail... at anything."
'Wow, hardcore determination,' the two thought simultaneously when Yamamoto looked down at Tsunami's lap."Oi, Tsuna, why is there a glaring cat and an infant in your lap?" he asked. Looking down at her lap, Tsunami saw Gokudera glaring at Yamamoto, while Reborn just sat there looking out ahead.
"The infant claims that he is Tsunami's tutor, and yet, for some strange reason, something is telling me to believe him. So I might be going crazy. The cat is Tsunami's pet," Hana answered for Tsunami, who seemed too nervous to hold an actual conversation with the popular teen.
"Pet?" Yamamoto inquired, not minding the information about a mere infant claiming to be Tsunami's tutor. When he glanced back down at Gokudera, he reached out a hand to try to pet him, only to have Gokudera scratch him.
"Gokudera-kun! You shouldn't scratch others," Tsunami lightly scolded the gray kitten, who looked torn between glaring at Yamamoto and listening to Tsunami.
"Maa, what do you expect, Dame-Tsuna? They have a cat and dog type of relationship," Reborn smirked. Tsunami was curious about what he meant when the appearance of Nezu-sensei quieted things down.
"Alright students, today all of you will be having your first exam. Those of you who have an average equal to an "A" are eligible to graduate with or without taking all three exams." Once this was announced, the auditorium was filled with students muttering, most of them expressing envy for those who did not have to partake in taking the exams to pass. Tsunami couldn't help but share some of that envy, even though deep down she knew it was her own fault for constantly slacking off that caused her to end up in the predicament she was in.
"Quiet down students! Now for those of you whose average equals a 'B', you will only need to pass one of your exams, while if your average is a 'C', you need to pass two exams, but... if your average equals a 'D' or below, then you must pass all three exams if you wish to graduate!" After Nezu-sensei's announcement, all the students began talking amongst themselves again. Hana was the first to speak in their small little group.
"I feel for anyone who must take all three exams in order to graduate."
"Why do you say that, Kurokawa?" Yamamoto asked; neither noticed how Tsunami's face began to turn pale, listening to when Hana began to explain.
"Because the one issuing the exams this year is Nezu-sensei and he won't go easy on anyone who is nothing more than a complete failure in his eyes. He is biased and does things slightly unfairly. Honestly, I don't like him as a teacher much." Hana wore a frown on her face, before asking Yamamoto about his grade average.
"Luckily, my average is a 'C', so I only have to pass two exams in order to graduate! What about you, Tsunami?" Yamamoto asked her, though only now did the group notice Tsunami's deadly pale complexion.
"Tsu-chan, are you okay?!" asked Kyoko, concerned.
"Tsunami, do you need to go to the nurse's office?!" Joining her was Yamamoto, even Gokudera stared worriedly at Tsunami, though it was only Hana that stared at Tsunami briefly before her hand landed on the brunette's shoulder.
"...Hang in there...for all three exams." Only Hana seemed to have understood why Tsunami looked as if she was the walking dead. She felt slight pity for the brunette, knowing she was one of the ones that Nezu-sensei seemed to dislike the most.
End of Chapter Three
Once again, sorry for the long wait~! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!:)