Act 5: Cue in the latest actor.
I looked at the bookshelves, taking note of the different books lined up. Most were Japanese, some were English, and was that Italian? Curious, I reached and pulled the book out from the shelf.
"Italian for dummies" it said in English. There was also some Italian words written underneath the title.
Huh. I never thought they would own such a book. Dad-Iemitsu-wouldn't need such a book as he probably knew Italian by heart. Whatever, it was useful anyway. Praise small miracles. I added it to the small pile of books that I wanted to read to the side.
Currently Mom was out grocery shopping with Tsunayoshi. I turned their invitation down to join them; it would be the first time they had left me at home on my own. Mom had just nodded and told Tsunayoshi to wear his shoes. Mom was rather irresponsible at times. Leaving a young child of six alone at home could and may be disastrous. Luckily I wasn't really a child so I knew how to manage myself. Even so, to the eyes of the public, it was irresponsible of her.
Satisfied with the pile of selected books, I dragged them towards my room by cloth I placed underneath it. On reaching my bedside, I picked the top book and started reading.
Knowledge was power, I decided when I started school. So the most obvious point for me to gain this power was to start reading up. I wanted to be ready by the time the story of Reborn! starts. My current goals were to clear the language barrier of Japanese, English, and Italian. English, I have mastered to a certain extent though, so I had more emphasis on the other two languages.
Hmm, now that I've thought about it, wouldn't it be wise to learn some self defense along the way? I should be able to talk mom into letting me take classes. Wow, I really need a list.
~Timeskip 3 years later~
"Hieee?" Exclaimed Tsuna.
I stood there, in front of the noticeboard, blinking furiously as if I was trying to convince myself that I was seeing things. I scanned the names underneath class A title again. "Sawada Rellatia" was only printed there. No "Sawada Tsunayoshi" underneath it.
Someone shoved me away from the crowded board and I let myself come out of the crowd. Tsuna was pushed out already, though. The poor boy stood there in shock, mouth hanging agape. I went up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Tsuna-nii, what class are you in?" I asked him in a soft voice, frowning.
"I-its c-class D..." he stammered out.
Four classes down? It didn't sound so bad to me, just that the walk there would take longer than usual. But... I glanced back at my brother, who looked extremely crestfallen. It was the first time we've been in separate classes, and Tsuna had always relied on me for a lot of things. Not only in the school work they gave us, but the moral support as well. On his own, Tsuna was a very shy child. He won't do things unless made to, and I was the one who could persuade him to join in activities. I felt bad now, because being separated from Tsuna made me realize that I've stuck so long to Tsuna's side that he's become dependent of me.
"Tsuna-nii," I grabbed his hand, "I think this might help us, because, you know, 'Kaa-san has been saying we never make any friends. I don't think being stuck with each other for so long will help us make friends." The boy looked up at me with teary eyes.
"B-but I don't t-think I can m-manage without you a-around, Rell-chan," Tsuna said worriedly.
I shook my head, "No, Tsuna, I will visit you during recess and lunch time. I will still be around you know? You must call me if you need help."
Tsuna seemed to wilt a bit at this statement, but he decided to envelope me in a hug that I returned.
"T-then you must call on me for h-help as well!" He told me once we let go of each other. I gave him a nod of affirmation.
Then the school bell rang.
~breaking lines since forever~
New class? People there weren't as interesting as I thought. We were in grade what now? 4? I wasn't too sure, but at the same time I didn't want to care. On the flipside though, the new homeroom teacher was pretty efficient. She went through her introduction pretty quickly, set down ground rules, had us introduce ourselves, assigned roles in class, and even managed to set up a duty roster. I was a little surprised at the speed of how things were going, but I liked it. Minobe Hisako was her name.
Classes came and went, and I checked in on Tsuna who ran towards me when I appeared at the door of his class during recess and lunch. He looked so upset when I had to leave though.
This routine was set throughout the entire week, with me heading to Tsuna's class to visit and eat lunch with him, and classes going on. I liked Minobe-sensei very much, as she was a really no-nonsense teacher who did things very efficiently and was really organised. Although the whispers from my classmates said otherwise, as they didn't like her strict attitude. But then again half of the class were rather noisy sometimes and Minobe-sensei had to scold them.
The weekend passed smoothly, and the second week of school begun. Since the duty roster had spanned over the course of two weeks, I had the second Monday's duty of sweeping the floor of the classroom after school. I had told Tsuna about it earlier this morning, so that he could expect me being a tad bit late meeting him after school to walk home.
I loitered behind my classmates and waited for all of them to leave so that I would be uninterrupted when I started sweeping. I had just picked up the broom and started sweeping the back of the classroom when the front door slammed open. I started in surprise, and looked to see who had rushed in. A brown haired boy was digging around at the space underneath his desk, seeming frantic. My mind supplied his name-Hirasawa Yuuta. His hands slammed the table, making me squeak in surprise, and he looked up, violet eyes sweeping the room. He blinked when he spotted me.
"Ano, miss, did you see anyone come by my table? Like stood at it or something?" He politely asked, with thinly veiled anxiousness.
I thought about it, and then shook my head.
"T-then did you see a colourful cube lying around? Like those puzzle cube things?" His eyes grew desperate as he stared at me expectantly.
"Like a Rubik's cube?" I asked.
"Yeah something like that. Have you seen it?"
'It must be a special momento,' I mused, 'for him to act this desperate.' For Hirasawa's sake, I thought harder.
"I think it could be at the lockers?" I suggested, motioning at the objects behind me.
He dashed towards the back of the class where I was, and swung open his locker door. There lay a uniquely colored cube, all six sides in colours of the rainbow. Hirasawa picked it up and held it to his chest, murmuring something under his breath. He then turned towards me and out of the blue, hugged me. I froze, not knowing how to react. Hirasawa seemed to have realized what he'd done and let go of me, backing away.
"S-sorry! I just got really happy and stuff, cuz if I lost this for real," he showed me the cube and grinned sheepishly, "I would've been really upset."
"Uhmm, is it a special gift of some sort?" I dumbly asked, even though I knew I was right.
He nodded. "Yes, it is. It's the only thing my dad left me," at this he sighed, looking forlorn.
Riggghttt. I shouldn't dig further. "Ah, I see," I replied the boy.
Hirasawa cocked his head to the side, as if he was thinking, and asked "Are you on classroom duty? I think I should help you with it, as thanks for helping me find my stuff."
I blinked in surprise, then found myself smiling. "Thank you then."
~breakline, linebreak~
"Sorry Tsuna!" I told my brother as I walked towards him, "classroom duty took longer than I expected."
"I-its fine, Rell-chan. I didn't wait t-that long," Tsuna gave me a reassuring smile. His eyes darted to look at something behind me. "Uhh, Rell, w-who's that?"
I turned around, and saw Hirasawa. "What are you doing here?" I asked. Oh shoot, my tone came out harsher than I wanted it to be.
Hirasawa didn't flinch, but laughed nervously. "I came to thank you again...?"
I stared at him. He stared back.
Tsuna, on the side, looked between us and suddenly asked, "D-do you want to come over to p-play?"
We turned to look at him, and he "eep"ed.
"P-p-play?" I stuttered out.
"I-I meant like do our h omework t-together and stuff," Tsuna tried to cover for himself, "Besides, y-you said okaa-san wanted us to make friends a-and invite them over right?"
An awkward silence occurred between all of us. Then Hirasawa started laughing.
"Oh gosh," he said between his bursts of laughter, "you two are so cute."
The boy then slapped his cheeks, the sound echoing around the empty hallway. Tsuna and I stared at him in shock, watching him remove his hands from his face only to reveal two red palm marks on his cheeks.
"Sorry," Hirasawa smiled sheepishly, "It's been awhile since I've laughed. I couldn't control it so I had to hit myself. And besides! If you two are gonna regard me as a friend,call me Yuuta! Although I know Rellatia-chan's name here... What's your name?" He directed the question at Tsuna.
"S-Sawada T-Tsunayoshi, but y-you can call me T-Tsuna, Yuuta-kun," Tsuna shyly replied.
"And call me Rell, Yuuta-san. Our full names are a mouthful to say," I added.
Yuuta grinned, "Alright then, Tsuna-kun, Rell-chan! Lead the way to your house, if you will."
A/N: *Nervous laughter* Wow, this update was quite fast, isn't it? But hey, get to an interesting part and you'll get motivation.
Yes, I am going to be introducing a few other OCs relevant to the story, but it depends on where I want it to go. Hirasawa Yuuta is not the first so called "Main OC" that is going to be introduced. I mean, come on, Rell isn't going to be wih Tsuna forever. She has to have her own set of friends(though abit suspicious), alright. And if you guys have bothered stalking me(or know me personally), you may know that Yuuta might play an important part in Rell's side of the story. He will not affect canon that much, if that's what you're worried about.
My thanks to those that have reviewed, favourited and followed! I hope you guys can stick with me in the future chapters ^^
-RRH42
Word count: 1786