OpalescentGold: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
Czárdás: a traditional Hungarian folk dance characterized by a tempo that crests from very slow to quite fast.
When Masami first heard of the little boy with the afro running around the school in a cow suit, she didn't even hesitate before tracking Tsunayoshi down. It seemed like all of the insanity in Namimori had something or another to do with him recently, which was awful, considering how small and stifling the town already was.
Well, it had more to do with Reborn, but then the hitman stuck to Tsunayoshi all the time, so it was practically the same thing.
Honestly.
"Eeeh? Lambo?" Tsunayoshi smiled sheepishly, scratching his head. "He's this five-year-old hitman from the Bovino Famiglia that showed up at my house one day. Then, my mother took a liking to him, and…"
"He hasn't left," Masami concluded, leaning against the window of the empty classroom. She tapped her tessen against her arm lightly, breathing through the thrumming tension beneath her skin.
"Yeah. Sorry, he's a bit of a handful and he keeps on causing trouble, but I think he's a good kid." Tsunayoshi fidgeted in place, casting a hesitant glance at her as if waiting for judgment. As if that was in any way helpful.
"Is he a part of your family now?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder to take in the streams of students leaving school grounds. Takeshi was at baseball practice today, and Hayato was stocking up on his bombs.
"I...I guess?" he replied. "I mean, Mom really likes him, and Lambo's pretty annoying but he doesn't have anywhere else to go, and—"
"If he's a part of your family, Sawada-san, then take responsibility please," Masami chided, straightening up in preparation for returning home. "You know what the rules are here."
Don't aggravate Hibari Kyoya.
Tsunayoshi winced, rubbing absently at a bruise on his right side. There had been a hole in his defense last Saturday and Kyoya hadn't hesitated to take advantage. "Okay, Masami-san, I'll try. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Hai. Sayonara, Sawada-san."
"Sayonara, Masami-san."
Tetsuya had always admired many things about the Hibari siblings.
First had been their strength. As a weak, feeble elementary school student down on his knees in the dirt in front of three of the older kids, head bent to hide the tears running and hands scraped, Tetsuya had known the value of strength.
When Kyoya had come swooping in like some vengeful bird of prey, mouth bared in a bloodthirsty smile and tonfa flashes of light, Tetsuya had looked up and pledged himself to the boy without hesitation. He hadn't ever regretted that decision.
Masami was strong, too, but hers was a different sort of strength. To this day, Tetsuya had only seen Masami fight once or twice at most. Violence wasn't how Masami solved most of her problems.
She could. But she chose not to.
Rather, Masami possessed an insidious strength. She understood how to deflect and manipulate, and the value of a little bit of steel here and there. When faced with an authority figure, Masami smiled and talked and was home free in minutes.
Second was the autonomy between the siblings. There was something to be said for being allowed to go your own way, yet forever know that someone would be there to back you up if you needed it.
And third was their independence. They did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. True, Kyoya used his independence to take naps and Masami took duty cripplingly seriously, but that wasn't the point.
However, sometimes, all three could be endlessly frustrating.
"Masa-san." Tetsuya stood in the doorway and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall to the right. It was ticking past five-thirty, and still, Masami sat at her desk, head bent over yet another form on budget cut and damage expenses.
Really, all of this work should be going to the Principal, but neither Kyoya nor Masami trusted that man with much of anything.
"Greetings, Kusakabe-san." Masami didn't look at him, eyes flying over the form. She made a note before signing it with a well-practiced flourish and placing it off to the side, where a substantial stack had already accumulated. "What can I do for you?"
He hesitated, trying to feel his way through the minefield he was attempting to navigate. Tetsuya might have been with the Hibaris for longer than anyone else, his knowledge of the siblings unsurpassed—for an outsider, that was—but they had a habit of being unpredictable at the worst of times. "School let out hours ago."
"Hmm...yes, it did."
"All of the teachers have left." The last one, a particularly diligent history teacher, had left at five o'clock, to be exact.
Masami signed another paper and put it aside. "So they have." The stack to her left wasn't looking any smaller.
"Officially, no one is meant to be in the school building at the moment."
"No, I suppose not."
Tetsuya suppressed a sigh and concluded that the tactful and subtle method wasn't going to work. "Masa-san, please go home."
"The Principal isn't going to kick me out, Kusakabe-san," she said, with only the slightest undertone of dry amusement, giving every impression of completely missing his point.
He didn't fall for it. Masami was the Queen of Artifice when she so chose. "The paperwork will still be here tomorrow."
"That is the point." She tucked an errant strand of long black hair behind her ear and frowned slightly at the form in front of her.
"You've been staying after school for the past four days. This isn't healthy."
Masami breathed a sigh and raised her eyes at last to meet his gaze. "Thank you for your concern, but I am quite alright. Once I finish with this pile, I will return home and get some rest. Please do the same, Kusakabe-san."
And, apparently, the matter was closed. Tetsuya rubbed at his forehead and wished Kyoya would interfere. Sadly, both of them were stubborn as mules when their mind was made up.
Kyoya looked up with a raised eyebrow when Masami entered the room with a lidded box in one hand and wrapping paper in the other. She set both down on the table and retrieved some tape.
"Masami."
"Yes?"
"What are you doing?"
"Wrapping a gift."
"For?"
"Sawada-san."
Kyoya blinked as Masami began to carefully go through the gift wrapping process. "It's the omnivore's birthday?'
"In two days." She paused for a moment and shook her head. "Although, I believe Reborn-san's birthday is tomorrow. They're throwing a party for him."
He grunted, disdainful of herbivores and their crowding. While he knew his sister didn't often mind, even she had her limits. And those limits had been retreating more and more every day now. "Will you be going?"
"No," Masami denied, cleanly ripping off a piece of tape. "I'll offer Reborn-san a gift, of course—it's only polite—but I see no reason to attend his birthday party."
"And the omnivore?" Kyoya didn't...mind the boy as much as he did the other herbivores, but there were few people he was willing to go to the extent of buying a gift for.
Sawada Tsunayoshi was not one of them, even if he was important to Masami.
"I don't enjoy parties," she murmured, finishing the wrapping neatly and starting to gather up the materials. "However, I will give Sawada-san his gift and wish him a happy birthday."
He nodded and went back to drinking his tea. Such effort from his little sister in regards to a small omnivore was more than sufficient.
Should Sawada Tsunayoshi not appreciate it, Kyoya would simply downgrade him back into a herbivore. And perhaps bite him to death a few more times.
"Greetings, Sawada-san."
Tsuna looked up, already smiling abashedly. Masami stepped into his hospital room lithely with a bow, holding a beautifully wrapped box in her hand. She looked very unimpressed.
"Good morning, Masami-san," he said, blushing. "I'm really sorry you had to go through all of this trouble just to see me…"
"There's no need to worry about it," she said, gliding forward. "I'm rather more concerned with how you got yourself injured the day before your birthday, Sawada-san."
Tsuna laughed, shifting uneasily in the uncomfortable sheets. "Weeeeell...that has a lot to do with Reborn actually. He shot me, and I ended up twisting myself into a pretzel. Somehow. It's okay; I'll be fine in a couple of days. "
"I don't believe I'm surprised," she informed him, placing his gift on his bedside table. "Nonetheless, happy birthday, Sawada-san. Congratulations. And get well soon."
"Yeah." Tsuna smiled, happy and content even though he was sore beyond what should have been physically possible. Even his mother had forgotten his birthday, so the fact that distant, aloof Masami had not only remembered but had also gotten him a gift and visited in person... "Yeah, thank you so much, Masami-san."
The back of her hand brushed against his in gentle acknowledgment before she saw herself out.
Tsuna smiled like a goof for the rest of the day. Reborn didn't even kick him for it, although he still had to finish his homework. He would keep this memory close to his heart. That, and the wilderness survival kit she saw fit to give him, considering how sadistic his home tutor was.
There was a Storm Arcobaleno standing on her doorstep.
Masami inwardly sighed and outwardly smiled. "Greetings, Fon-san," she said, sweeping a respectful bow. "Would you like to come in?"
"Very much so." Fon smiled placidly at her, oddly similar to her mother and herself, now that Masami was looking for it. "How have you and your brother been, Masami?"
"Well, I suppose," she said, preparing a pot of tea as was custom in this household. Hibaris tended to be traditionalists, if not perfectionists. Sometimes both. "What brings you to Namimori?"
It wouldn't happen to be a Sun Arcobaleno or a Vongola Decimo, would it? was what she really wanted to say, but that would hardly be polite. It would also show too many of her cards too soon.
"My apprentice has a job here," Fon replied, seating himself in seiza on one of the zabutons. "But she's young and I didn't want to leave her without supervision."
Considering that Fon was a part of the Chinese Triads, this 'job' sounded rather suspicious. And in the Mafia, 'young' tended to be children under ten. Such a mess.
"I see," Masami said, pouring the boiling hot water into an old teapot. "I wasn't aware that you had an apprentice, Fon-san."
He smiled calmly. "It's a new thing." And, most likely, not something he'd like to advertise, with his reputation and enemies. "She's very good, though, very talented. A wonderful apprentice."
"And her target?" If it was Tsunayoshi, all bets were off. Kyoya would agree on her with this; Tsunayoshi was a student of Namimori, after all. "Perhaps I might know of him or her."
Fon paused, gazing up at her with perceptive dark eyes. Masami refused to flinch away and merely gazed back sedately. There were few people she was willing to back down for. Granduncle or not, the Storm Arcobaleno was not one of them. Power or strength had nothing to do with it.
Fon nodded in acquiescence after a moment, as if she had passed a test, and said, "Okanaya Tsunesaburo."
Masami considered the name for a long minute and shook her head, taking care not to let her tense shoulders relax or give off any other tell. "Forgive me, but I have no recollection of this man."
"There's no problem." He was unmoving even as a small Chinese monkey sprang from Fon's hood and moved onto the table to stare at her with round eyes. "This is Lichi, my partner. Would you happen to have some fruit or nuts for him?"
"Certainly." Masami smiled at Lichi, petting his head for a second before rising to her feet for the treats. He really was very cute, even if the Storm Arcobaleno brought with him was more trouble than he was worth.
Now...what to do about the child assassin running around Namimori?
"Fon-san, do you foresee any problems that may arise from this arrangement?" Masami questioned as she returned with a tray of clementines and hazelnut. Lichi chattered excitedly until she placed the tray on the chabudai and he could pounce on it, stuffing his mouth at the speed of light so his cheeks bulged.
Fon looked thoughtful even as he frowned subtly at Lichi in warning. "I-Pin is very shy," he said at last. "And she has terrible vision, extremely nearsighted. Otherwise, I see no complications."
"...I see. Will you be staying here, Fon-san?" He was family, even if the Hibari version of 'family' was rather different from the normal definition. Although, to tell the truth, the prospect of one more person she would have to keep an eye on was...aggravating.
She clamped down on the impulse to do something quite rash.
"No, I'll have my own accommodations." He smiled reassuringly. "Kyoya still dislikes me, does he not? I do not wish to strain the atmosphere in your lovely home."
Masami said nothing to that, which was a confirmation in and of itself.
Standing on the rooftop a day later, Masami watched, blank-faced, as Takeshi threw the Human Bomb ten feet up in the air and I-Pin promptly exploded.
Literally.
Shy. Nearsighted. Explosive.
Add those three factors together in a small little girl and a good chemistry student would get a highly volatile mixture.
"No complications, hmm?" Masami sighed and then darted forward to catch the falling child before she could get hurt. She almost wanted to fling everyone off the roof herself. "Sawada-san, Yamamoto-san, Gokudera-san, paperwork. After school. If you please."
"Again!? But it wasn't even my fault this time!"
"Hahaha, let's work hard and finish quickly, alright?"
"You maiko witch, how dare you make Juudaime do paperwork!?"
"Doing paperwork is good training for a mafia boss, Dame-Tsuna."
"I'm not going to become a mafia boss, Reborn! Hiiieee! That hurts! Stop it!"
"Excuse me?" Masami smiled politely at Kamisaka, who, even with the support of Ibu and Tsuga, was shaking, face pale as paper. It might have been because of the mildly homicidal glint in her eyes. "Would you please repeat that?"
"Uhhh...well…that is…" Kamisaka swallowed heavily and probably would have dithered on some more had Ibu not jabbed his elbow into his gut. Hard.
"There's been a report of two dozen men in black suits surrounding the Sawada household, Masami-san," Tsuga explained without batting an eyelid while Kamisaka bent over with a grunt. "Several of them appear to be armed."
It was common now, for the more dangerous pieces of information to go through Masami or Tetsuya before they found their way to Kyoya. Fewer people got injured that way.
Not that anyone would have been able to figure that out at precisely this moment.
Masami folded her hands on the desk before her, lips pursing. Black suits. Sawada household. Why, it wasn't as if the Mafia didn't cater to stereotypes, she supposed. "Please don't interfere," she said semi-affably, spinning her chair around and rising to her feet. "I'll take care of this."
"Hai!" they replied in unison, snapping their hands up for a salute. She wondered briefly what exactly Tetsuya had been teaching them before dismissing the thought.
In her humble opinion, it was simply a bit too early for the Mafia to intrude on Namimori's peace, Vongola Decimo or not.
There were, indeed, far too many black-suited men surrounding the Sawada household with harsh faces and sharp eyes and hidden guns.
It was a good thing Masami hadn't been in the mood to interact with Sawada Nana anyhow.
She wasn't exactly in the mood for breaking and entering today either—perhaps she would ask for a dance with her brother later—so she flipped open her cell phone and put in a call. While she waited, Masami closed her eyes and focused on centering herself, muffling any lingering vexation beneath her usual composure.
It took longer than normal.
"Moshi moshi?" Tsunayoshi answered after two rings. He sounded more curious and resigned than frightened, an encouraging sign if she had been looking for one.
"Sawada-san. Would you like to explain why there is a crowd of mafia men surrounding your home?"
"Hiieee! Masami-san knows? How!?"
Silly, silly Tsunayoshi. "Never mind that. Please remove yourself from your house and escort me through your pseudo-bodyguards. We have much to talk about, I believe."
Through the phone, Masami heard him swallow hard. Smart boy. "I'll be down in a second."
"I'll be waiting."
True to his word, not five minutes later, Tsunayoshi was timidly opening his door and looking around futilely. One of the mafia men even came up to him to ask if anything was wrong—he was so dreadfully obvious.
Masami resisted the urge to sigh and obligingly stepped into view. Not five seconds later, every head in the vicinity snapped around to stare at her, some threateningly, some curiously, and more than few hands dropped to hidden weapons.
How unsubtle. Her fingers flexed.
She ignored them all to smile at Tsunayoshi and bow. "Greetings, Sawada-san," Masami said, spreading her fan open to cover the bottom half of her face.
Tsunayoshi swallowed hard, clearly nervous, but, after a quick glance around at the friendly but watching Mafioso, smiled back, warm and kind and in-control, and bowed back. "Good afternoon, Masami-san. Please come in."
Her fan very nicely concealed her satisfied smile as Masami swept past the bodyguards and into the Sawada household. So those lessons in Mafia Etiquette and Boss Behavior after training sessions with Kyoya were useful after all. Good to know. "If I may inquire as to what is happening, Sawada-san?" she murmured once they were out of earshot, turning to look at him at the bottom of the staircase.
"There's someone named Dino in my room," Tsunayoshi offered tentatively. "He was Reborn's last student, and he says he's here to meet me, 'cause, you know, I'm supposed to be the Vongola Decimo. He's the Boss of the Cavallone Famiglia, and these are all of his men."
"Please don't sound so unsure when giving a report," Masami advised, gesturing with her fan for him to go up before her. The Mafia was essentially a series of dominance plays, and it wouldn't do for Tsunayoshi to look weak. "Did you give a good impression?"
He visibly restrained a wince. "I think? I mean, I didn't trip or anything...and when they started picking on me, I stood up for myself. He's pretty nice, actually, after I got over the whole people-in-suits-outside-and-inside-my-house thing."
Hmm, not bad progress, but...she raised an eyebrow, prompting Tsunayoshi to stop at the top of the stairs. "He's Mafia, Sawada-san," Masami reminded him. "Nice or not, he is, and has remained, a Boss of a Famiglia for a reason."
Tsunayoshi sighed, drooping. For all of Masami and Reborn's efforts, his heart remained the same, soft and kind and much too vulnerable. "I know," he said glumly. Reaching out to twist his doorknob, he stopped abruptly and cast a searching look at her. "I-Is there anything I should—" He gestured meaninglessly, but she understood.
"There's no need," Masami said but smiled nonetheless. It was always amusing and somewhat endearing when Tsunayoshi attempted to protect her, ignorant to how truly involved the Hibari family had been in the Underworld for longer than he had been alive. "Please, go ahead."
Tsunayoshi nodded, frown still worried, and opened his door to reveal yet more black-suited-men. They parted obligingly when they saw him, revealing the blond with tattoos sitting like a king on his throne in the middle of Tsunayoshi's bedroom, Reborn drinking tea by the table next to him.
"Hey, Tsuna, who's this?" Dino asked with a smile. It wasn't necessary. Even with the facade of charm, Masami could pick up on the cool calculation in those dark brown eyes. 'Nice', indeed. "Is she your girlfriend?"
Tsunayoshi spluttered incoherently, and Masami resisted the urge to sigh. "Gi-Gi-Gi-Girlfriend!?" he squeaked. "N-No, o-of course not! Masami-san's definitely not my girlfriend! Not at all!"
"Hmm, me doth think the boy protests too much," Dino teased, obviously enjoying Tsunayoshi's flustered state.
"You should be happy you have such a talented girlfriend, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn added, deadpan.
"Eeeeeh!? Not you, too, Reborn! You know it's like that between me and Masami-san! She's not my girlfriend! We're just friends! Good friends, but not like—like that—!" Tsunayoshi rambled on, face going more and more crimson by the second and arms waving like noodles.
As entertaining as the sight was, Masami cut in before Dino could find any more ammunition. "Sawada-san."
Tsunayoshi shut up. With the fan obscuring her face, Masami purposefully didn't give him any cues to work with, but he wasn't stupid, regardless of some of his test scores. "Ah, right, sorry," he said. "Dino-san, this is Hibari Masami, my classmate. Masami-san, this is Dino, the Tenth Boss of the Cavallone Famiglia."
"Greetings." Masami bowed with a cordial smile, never taking her eyes off of Dino. "Welcome to Namimori."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Dino said, smiling and dipping his head back. "Are you a part of Tsuna's famiglia?"
"Not yet," Reborn piped up. "We're working on it."
"Reborn, we've talked about this!" Tsunayoshi frowned, forehead creasing. "I'm not going to become a Mafia Boss! And stop dragging my friends into this!"
Dino burst out laughing. "Ahhh...I guess you are a little like what I used to be," he said, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Eh?"
"In the beginning, I thought the mafia boss could go eat sh—"
Masami snapped her fan shut, the sound both loud and ominous.
Half a second later, Reborn leaped up from his seat and punched his former student in the face. "Don't be vulgar in front of ladies."
"Ow...!" Dino grimaced, rubbing at his cheek. "You haven't changed at all, Reborn!"
"Dino-san!" Tsunayoshi gaped, looking half-concerned and half-disapproving. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's okay, I'm used to this! Hahaha, and I guess you are, too..."
Masami sighed and opened her fan again. "Dino-san," she said when it looked like the man might start blabbering again, "I wish you the best of times in this town."
He blinked, startled. "I...thank you...?"
She smiled, sweet and sharp and rose to leave. At the door, Masami casually added over her shoulder, "Please remember that I'm counting on you to make sure Namimori remains safe and untouched."
She closed the door behind her. Somehow, she wasn't in the least surprised to hear reports of a gigantic turtle tearing up the Sawada household later.
"They're yakuza called the Momokyokai that have some influence over the area here," Reborn explained coolly. "Yakuza are Japanese Mafia. You middle school students won't stand a chance against them. Leave it to the police."
"Like hell I'd leave it to them!" Gokudera growled, running off at top speed like the hotheaded, if eager, amateur he remained.
"I'll leave the cops to you, little boy," Yamamoto called over his shoulder, not even a step behind.
Reborn looked after them with satisfaction before turning to Masami, who hadn't moved a centimeter. Her fan hid the bottom half of her face, but he didn't miss the faint amusement in her eyes, nor the spark of something feral behind her ladylike exterior. "You're not going to go after Tsuna?"
"That was Dino-san's whip."
A familiar laugh sounded behind them and a sneaker tapped down beside Reborn. "Okay, you got me." Dino grinned at Masami, bright and curious, as a bound Tsuna was dropped to the ground behind them. "What would you have done if you hadn't known that, though?"
"Nothing," Masami replied. "The yakuza know better than to touch Sawada-san."
Reborn observed how Tsuna winced, as if at some unpleasant memory, and speculated quietly to himself. He meant it when he had said that Masami and Yamamoto were natural-born hitmen, even though he knew that his soft-hearted student didn't like to hear the truth, but the two of them were also different and he was well aware of it.
On one hand, Yamamoto had the sheer talent, the instincts, the reflexes, and the determination. He had managed to dodge Reborn's shots, Gokudera's bombs, and the Bovino's grenades all at once, while dragging Tsuna along with him, while practically a civilian.
Masami, on the other hand, had the mind, the attitude, and the perspective. Her thought processes were methodical, her actions were efficient, her reasoning was clear-cut, her morals were shady, and she schemed but didn't hesitate to use violence when necessary.
Granted, they had both been conditioned in some way before Reborn found them. Yamamoto was an athlete, had been training with his own special brand of focus for a good amount of time, while Masami's mother, Hibari Rika, was an assassin who had probably trained her daughter from birth.
That didn't mean Reborn didn't want to see what would happen when, as two full-grown Mafioso, Yamamoto and Masami were sent out on a mission together.
Not to say that Yamamoto didn't have a spectacularly ruthless mind when the situation called for it, or Masami didn't have the skills necessary to beat Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto into the ground simultaneously, but that wasn't where their true genius shined.
So. What had put Masami in conflict with the Yakuza of this area? Hibari was the protector of Namimori, and while Masami didn't tend to make statements she couldn't back up, she tended to play a more shadowy role.
"What are you doing, Dino-san!?" His idiot student—the current one—chose this time to wail in outrage, straining against the whip furiously as Dino knelt down to free him.
"Sorry, sorry, I just had to test your family," Dino reassured, recoiling his whip. "Don't worry, Momokyokai is just some imaginary yakuza group Reborn made up. They'll probably give up and are on their way home now."
Tsuna flailed, eyes wide as he jumped to their feet, looking sideways at Masami, who was now leaning against the wall, fanning herself with her tessen. "No, they aren't, Dino-san! The Momokyokai are definitely a very real, very dangerous, yakuza group!"
Oh? Reborn considered this little tidbit of information thoughtfully. He had thoroughly scouted out the yakuza group beforehand, as was only proper, and had found them a rather small, weak group, befitting a test for Tsuna's potential Guardians.
But why did his student, oblivious to the darker areas of life and too timid to wander beyond the safety of his home and school, know these things? And with such details as well? Masami made perfect sense, but Tsuna...
"Eeeh!? Reborn, is this true!?" Dino whirled on Reborn, which was a bit disappointing. Obviously, he hadn't given the man enough surprises during their time together.
"Yup."
"Hieee!" Tsuna shook his head repeatedly and then turned to Masami, eyes wide with panic. "Masami-san—!"
Masami only arched an eyebrow before turning on her heel. Tension hummed beneath her frame, her usually graceful movements a bit stilted. "Come along, Sawada-san."
"Right!" Tsuna scrambled after her, which, while not the best of scenarios for a mafia boss, was acceptable for the time being because Masami was still stronger than his idiot student. In most ways.
"Huh." Dino stared after the two of them, brow furrowed. "Didn't expect that to happen."
"What do you think of her?" Reborn asked, curious. Even if he was Baka-Dino, there was a reason Dino was such a successful Boss, and it wasn't because he was a bad judge of person.
"Masami?" Dino began to walk after the kids, hands in his pockets. "Ehh...I don't think she likes me much."
"Understandable," Reborn chirped, jumping up to work on the wall beside him. "You're disturbing the peace of Namimori."
"Yeah, I guess." Dino laughed sheepishly. "She seems to boss Tsuna around though. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?"
"Masami's been mentoring Dame-Tsuna for longer than I have," Reborn told him. "It's probably habit for both of them by now." The girl may have graciously backed off for Reborn, but some things just became natural after a while.
"Is she strong?"
"Definitely." Reborn hadn't actually seen her fight yet, not all-out, but he had seen Hibari fight, and with the clear respect between the siblings, it was easy to assume that Masami could hold her own against her brother.
And that wasn't even getting into the long shadow the Hibari family cast on the underworld.
Dino nodded, voice turning serious. "Is she Guardian material?"
"That remains to be seen." Reborn had his suspicions. "She doesn't entirely match any of the conventional standards for Flame."
"Sounds interesting, but that's not really the largest problem, is it? Will she follow Tsuna? Sometimes that kind of mentor-student bond doesn't break nicely."
Reborn tilted his fedora down. "That's up to Tsuna."
Tsuna and Masami arrived at the yakuza base right when the stronger, heavily-tattooed members showed up. The beaten up thugs littering the floor were clear evidence of Gokudera and Yamamoto's rough and tumble methods of interrogation, and their superiors didn't look too happy about that.
In contrast, Gokudera and Yamamoto, standing side by side and glaring at the newcomers, looked absolutely delighted when they spotted Tsuna.
"Juudaime, you're safe!" Gokudera exclaimed with a smile, casually holding dynamite between his fingers.
"You look all right," Yamamoto observed, too, clearly relieved. He took a step back to peer more closely at Tsuna.
"I'm glad you guys are safe, too," Tsuna said, beaming with a mixture of rueful pride and embarrassment. His friends really were crazy strong.
"Hey, look, more of them showed up," one of the yakuza commented.
Another snorted. "It doesn't matter. You lot are going to pay for what you did."
Masami chose that moment to step out from behind Tsuna, smiling like an angel. "Greetings." She bowed shallowly.
The yakuza collectively—excuse his language, he was probably spending way too much time with Gokudera—shit themselves.
"Oi..." Gokudera said slowly, glancing from the yakuza to Masami and then back, "what the hell did you do to them, maiko witch?"
Masami smiled. "Oh, we had a ball, nothing more."
"Hahaha, sounds like fun," Yamamoto said, grinning. "Hey, did you guys have fun?"
"Yes," Masami muttered, glancing at the yakuza with gleaming eyes, "did you have fun?"
If it was possible for the yakuza to go any paler, then it happened. Their knees were shaking, their weapons were on the floor, and they were sweating like mad despite the cool breeze. Tsuna almost felt sorry for them. "H-H-H-HAI!"
Needless to say, there wasn't anymore fighting that day. Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Gokudera were all but escorted out of the yakuza base, followed out with a bunch of breathless apologies and offers of food, water, snacks, whatever they wanted. None of them were oblivious to the fact that all of the still-conscious yakuza were directing said words at Masami, who glided around like a messenger from the heavens, graciously assuaging their concerns.
"Hey, you guys are alright!" Dino called when they were on their way back home, waving a hand in the air. "Did everything go okay?"
Masami smiled at him, the sweet, pure smile she had given the yakuza. "Everything went fine."
Tsuna couldn't help but shudder.
"Onii-san? Are you alright?" Masami peered dubiously at her brother, who was languishing in bed, covers pulled up and face half-buried in his pillow. His hair was a mess, his eyes were glazed, and he was shivering slightly, a flush on his cheeks. It was eleven o'clock at night, and the only real reason she was awake was because she had been finishing the last vestiges of her homework. A groan had led to her peeking her head inside his bedroom, which led to this particular standoff.
"'m fine," he muttered, voice husky, and then promptly disproved his statement by erupting into a furious coughing fit, body curling up even further beneath the blankets.
Masami sighed and didn't respond, rubbing at her cold bare arms. Instead, she walked downstairs and to the medicine cabinet, frowning at the abnormal weakness of her legs. From there, she took a thermometer, a bag of cough drops, a bottle of paracetamol, and made sure to drop by the kitchen for a glass of warm water.
This was all routine by now. Kyoya might be the strongest fighter in Namimori, with the exception of Reborn and Shamal, but he had always had a weak immune system. Truthfully, Masami was only slightly better.
"Onii-san," she said when she was back by his sickbed. He glared at her weakly but took the thermometer from her. While they waited for the instrument to work, she had him wash down two pills with water and suck on a cough drop.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"...38.5 degrees," Masami read. She frowned. "I believe it would be best if you went to the hospital this time."
Kyoya didn't respond with anything more than a petulant grumble, but that was expected. About the only time he didn't complain or threaten was when he was actually feeling miserable. Then, he seamlessly regressed to a five year old mentality until he felt like his normal self again.
Well, she thought fuzzily to herself, better the hospital staff than me.
"Sawada-san's in the hospital?"
"Yup. Dame-Tsuna and Baka-Dino messed up."
"I see. Well then, I was simply calling to inform you that Onii-san is also in the hospital."
"If we're lucky, maybe they'll meet."
"Indeed."
"Oh, would you mind telling Gokudera about this? I don't have his number."
"I don't either."
"In that case"—and she could hear the smirk in his babyish voice—"it's a good thing you know where he lives, right?"
"This is becoming almost as familiar as Sawada-san's residence," Masami mumbled to herself as she waited outside Room 37's door once again. It didn't escape her notice that neither had been very familiar at all before Reborn had come around.
She supposed she was a very good, dependable, and willing leash for his unruly pseudo-students.
There was an audible fumble of locks before the door was thrown wide open. "What is it this time, maiko witch?" Hayato echoed her thoughts perfectly, leaning against the door frame with a scowl. "Did something happen? Is it Juudaime?"
Briefly, she mourned the previous silence. His loud voice hurt her head. "...Sawada-san's in the hospital."
He choked on air, eyes going dangerously wide. "Juudaime's in the hospital!?"
"Isn't that what I just said?" She managed a strained smile.
"No, no, what happened!? Who hurt Juudaime!? I'm going to blow them up! Is Juudaime all right!? Is he critical!? Is he going to live!?" Hayato shrieked, getting more and more high-pitched and frantic with each question. His fingers curled, like he wanted to reach for his dynamite or position them into claws.
She hissed out a breath, resisting the urge to rub at her temples. It was ridiculously cold, despite the extra layers of clothing she had thrown on. "His leg was injured, but otherwise, Sawada-san is quite alright," Masami said, forcing her voice to come out evenly. "Please calm down."
"Don't tell me what to do, maiko witch!" He dashed back inside his apartment and then back out with keys and a wallet. "I need to go visit Juudaime to make sure he's okay! Wait, fuck, I need a gift—a hospital gift—and it has to be amazing for Juudaime—"
"Roses are very nice," she injected mildly.
"Shut up!" He threw over his shoulder as he raced down the stairs. "What sort of roses should I get!? Red, no, black, orange, white, white! White symbolizes purity and innocence, which is perfect for Juudaime! I—why the fuck are you following me, maiko witch!?"
Masami merely blinked back at him, drooping slightly. "I would like to visit Sawada-san as well." And check on Onii-san. Maybe obtain some antibiotics.
"Fine, but don't get in my fucking way!" Hayato shouted, rushing out the main door. "Now, where's that convenience store—"
"To the right."
"I knew that!" He ran off at top speed, while she sighed. By the time Masami reached the convenience store they were talking about, Hayato was already at the counter with a stunning bouquet of white roses, glaring hell-bent at the poor cashier.
She blew out a breath and leaned against the wall of the store, hiding her face behind her fan and trying to catch her breath.
"You're still here?" Hayato muttered when he came out and saw her again. "Whatever. Which way's the hospital?" He seemed to have calmed down a little at least.
Masami pointed.
"I'M COMING, JUUDAIME!" And...off he went, leaving a trail of dust behind him.
Wincing, she took it back. He hadn't calmed down at all.
Trailing slowly after him, it took Masami around three point six seconds to realize that Hayato wasn't using the sidewalks or the crosswalks. In fact, if he continued along his trajectory, he would be running straight through the intersections, without a thought to the uncaring cars.
Her brain shorted out momentarily.
Hayato yelped as he was unceremoniously yanked onto the sidewalk by his arm and whirled around right as a car flashed by where he had been standing seconds before. "Oi, what the fuck—!" He cut himself off, face going blank.
"Gokudera-san," she said slowly, quietly, struggling through the nausea, "we have had this conversation before."
It was trying for her, it didn't make sense, and she would really appreciate it if he made up his mind between being smart and being stupid sometime soon, preferably after the world stopped spinning unreasonably around her.
Masami mentally counted to ten, trying to focus through the buzzing in her ears. Her fingers, ice-cold, curled into fists, and her cheeks were burning. She was hanging onto composure through pure obstinacy, and she knew it.
He hissed in a sharp breath, lips pressing together. Green eyes flashed. "Juudaime's waiting for me, and this has nothing to do with you," he snapped. "I didn't ask for you to do whatever the hell is it that you're doing, alright!? Just leave me al—Hey!"
The wave of dizziness hadn't been anticipated. Her traitorous legs buckled, and he caught her purely on instinct. She was, Masami recognized blatantly, shivering. Strange. Now that she wasn't standing anymore, it seemed hard to get back up again.
Oh.
"What the fuck!?" A cool hand pressed against her forehead, and he cursed again, shifting his hold so it was a bit more comfortable. "You're burning up; why the hell are you out and about? And you say I'm being stupid. Where's that crazy brother of yours?"
It took her a good minute to process the question. It took her another to seize upon the ill-hidden concern in his voice and wonder. Maybe, just maybe... "In the hospital," she muttered, blinking her way back into coherency. "He had a fever last night."
He scoffed. "Yeah, and obviously, you caught whatever bug he had, too. Come on, get up. I'm not carrying your ass all the way to the hospital."
She hated being sick. Disliked hospitals. Abhorred the claustrophobic feeling when she was trapped by white walls and chemical silence. "Thank you, but that's not going to be necessary."
Masami forced herself to find her footing again, a cold sweat breaking out along her nape. He had to steady her again when she wavered, vision flickering in and out at the corners.
Hayato's look was blatantly exasperated. Incredulous. "What, you're just going to walk all the way back to your isolated mansion at the edges of Namimori? That's pushing it even for you, maiko witch."
"Isn't Sawada-san waiting for you?" she asked dryly, pulling away.
"Don't change the subject," he groused but was evidently torn anyway.
Masami's response was to hail a taxi. While scarce in Namimori, few taxi drivers would deny her if she requested service. "Your flowers are going to be wasted, Gokudera-san."
He glared. "I know what you're doing." Shifting his weight uneasily, Hayato waited until the taxi pulled up before stomping away, grumbling about stupid witches underneath his breath.
"Please stay out of traffic," she called after him, words slurring slightly, and got back a snarled "yeah, yeah." As the taxi sped away, she noted how he carefully stayed on the sidewalks, even as he bulldozed his way to the hospital.
It was agreement. However thoughtless it was, it was agreement. At the moment, all she needed was to gain a foothold.
That was what her mother had taught her. And that was exactly what she had done.
Masami smiled through the haze of heaviness and closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the cold headrest. Perfect. This little bout of illness had gotten her somewhere after all.
If guilt and responsibility were what she needed to get Hayato to listen to common sense and keep himself from taking stupid risks, then she'd abuse that for all that it was worth.
New Years was spent quietly among the Hibari siblings. Tradition or not, it wasn't like them to make a big fuss, so they didn't. That didn't mean it wasn't a nice reprieve, anyway. No herbivores, no idiot shenanigans, no paperwork, no prefects to train and direct—she was very grateful.
"Happy New Years, Onii-san," Masami greeted her brother in the morning, smiling gently. She wore an elaborate red kimono with splashes of white baby's breath, her matching hair ornaments brushing lightly against her collarbone.
"Hn. Happy New Years," Kyoya responded, dressed in a black kimono with a blue sash. He didn't smile, exactly, but the corners of his lips tilted up minutely, and that was enough for her.
After they were done with their preparations, Masami sat on one side of the kotatsu, and Kyoya sat on the other. They hadn't bothered with the usual decorations, but they had a hot pot and osechi on the table.
On special holidays and their birthdays were about the only times their parents ever called voluntarily, disregarding Masami's recent inquiries. Not that either of the two really needed evidence that their parents still remembered them by this point, but it was nice regardless.
Okaa-san called first and said her well-wishes to Kyoya, which was returned briskly, and, after confirming that Onii-san was just as verbose as ever, Okaa-san asked to speak to Masami.
"Greetings, Okaa-san," Masami said into the phone, moving out into the living room so as to give Kyoya some space. "Happy New Years."
"Happy New Years. Masami, are you and your brother still involved with the new Vongola Heir?"
"Hai."
"Hmm. Very well then. I will be returning to Namimori this summer."
Masami paused, honestly startled. Her mother hadn't been home since...two years ago? Three? Three. "If I may ask, why?"
"The Vongola aren't the most powerful famiglia in Italy for nothing, Masami. If you're to get involved with them, you will need more advanced training. Your father has been educating you on Flames, I hope?"
"He has."
"Good. Inform your brother. I'll see you again in a few months time. Don't let yourself become rusty."
"Goodbye, Okaa-san."
Click.
Masami stared at the beeping phone for a moment before humming thoughtfully and returning it to its proper place. Interesting. She would have to shift her plans around a bit.
Joining Kyoya at the kotatsu again, she picked up her chopsticks."Okaa-san will be coming to Namimori this summer," she informed him.
He narrowed his eyes at her. While not completely unwelcome, one of their parents returning would mean a minor loss of independence, which would be frustrating for both of them but likely more so for him. She was more concerned with her freedom. "Why?"
"She wishes to train us."
Kyoya frowned, disgruntled. "It's not necessary."
"Vongola," she reminded. "Mafia."
"Herbivores. I'll just bite them all to death." He tore savagely at his piece of beef.
Masami considered the best way to respond to that. "Reborn-san is Mafia."
His scowl deepened. "He's an Arcobaleno." Just like their grand-uncle.
"Perhaps," she said, "but it's better to be cautious than to be prey, Onii-san."
Later that day, Masami lounged on a zabuton and frowned. "Can a Sky harmonize with an unwilling Element?"
"It's possible. Highly ill-advised, but possible, especially with a very strong Sky and a very weak Element."
"What would happen?"
"Most likely? In the best case scenario, the Element in question would eventually grow content under the Sky and stop fighting the Harmonization. In the worst case scenario, the Element would tear itself into pieces, reject their Flames, and quite possibly destabilize the Sky itself."
"And some people do it anyway?"
"Skies are accepting people, but never forget, while that's ninety percent truth for all of the Skies I have met, it is also ten percent stereotype. Many Skies are also the Bosses of crime syndicates. They knew how to blackmail, threaten, and murder. Don't be tricked into thinking that just because someone is a Sky, they are harmless or kind."
"Stereotypes," she muttered, closing her eyes and leaning back. "If that's the case, then why buy into the connection between Flames and personality?"
"There's certainly some truth to it. No one has yet understood the connection between the two, but you'll find that there are similarities between people of the same Flame more often than not."
"...which Flame do you believe Onii-san has?"
"You're the one who has been living alone with him since kindergarten."
"It's possible he's a Cloud."
"Have you talked to him about this yet?"
"No. However, I have educated him on the different characteristics each Flames has."
"Think on it some more and ask your mother when she returns if you require more clarification."
"Hai, Otou-san. Happy New Years."
"Happy New Years. Goodbye, Masami."
"Goodbye."
A few days after that, Masami noticed another pre-teen following Tsunayoshi, this one bearing a long scarf and a ridiculous book. Fuuta de la Stella, the Ranking Prince, she was told after she asked Reborn. Having no inclination to get ranked, Masami avoided the boy.
She didn't bother to go to school on Valentine's Day either, knowing it would only aggravate her further. That didn't stop the poor prefect who was chosen to complete the momentous task of opening her locker from being buried in chocolates, of course, but it was the thought that counted, right?
Right.
Honestly, after the sixth confession under the shadow of the largest tree on school grounds, Masami had come to the sad realization that while Onii-san's fan club and the rest of the school were too frightened to approach Kyoya, the same didn't apply to her.
Oh, plenty of people were still wary of her, especially now that she was a prefect, but it was never enough in the face of youthful love. And she very much did not need that at the moment.
Sometimes, Masami wanted to go back to the nice old elementary school days. She usually ended up regretting those thoughts after a single patrol past Namimori Elementary.
One cold morning, Masami woke up to find the world outside her window coated in snow. The town was silent, as it should be on the true winter days, and small flurries continued to fall from the sky in a whisper of white. Icicles hung from the trees, and the white powder covering the ground was immaculate, undisturbed.
She breathed out a small sigh of appreciation.
Unlike Kyoya, who trained for an hour in the morning every day without fail, Masami wasn't a morning person. She would get up without complaint, and with tea, she was fine for the day, but if given the choice, she would rather sleep for a full eight hours.
Any less and without caffeine in her system and Masami was a terror. A well-mannered, exquisitely serene, supremely sweet-looking terror, but a terror nonetheless. Tsunayoshi and the prefects could attest to that, especially during the past few weeks, not that she'd let them notice a large difference.
But today seemed to be an exception.
Masami slipped out of bed and dressed in a pure white kimono. The tatami mats were cool beneath her bare feet, but she paid that no mind. Wool trailing behind her, she made her way to the kitchen, where she prepared a pot of hot green tea.
Tugging on some white socks, she made her way outside.
An hour later, Kyoya found her sitting out on the engawa, ankles crossed and hands cupping a steaming cup of tea. Splayed out before them, the garden was a vision of soft, crisp winter beauty. Their breaths were visible in the frigid air, and beyond the dancing snowflakes, all was still.
Onii-san didn't say a word but walked away on silent feet after stopping to take in the scene for a few seconds. The heavy weight of a kakefuton on her shoulders not long after that wasn't as much of a surprise as it should have been.
Masami smiled, soft and gentle as the snow itself.
"Breakfast?"
"Still warm in the oven."
"You're not coming with me on patrols today." It was more of a statement than a question.
She listened to the sound of peace and contentment, so rare nowadays, and agreed. "No, I'm not."
Later, Kyoya would come home with a smirk on his face and inform her that he'd had a great deal of fun aiming snowballs at unsuspecting people and watching them stammer when they whirled around, ready to scream bloody murder, only to recognize the Skylark.
Later, Masami would laugh and shake her head at her brother's antics. Few people knew it, but Kyoya actively enjoyed his reputation of doom. She would ask if anything interested had happened, and he would tell her a story of a humongous turtle and silly herbivores and a flailing omnivore chasing after a strange turbo-chameleon.
But that was later. And for now, Masami was happy to watch the snow fall.
(She wondered what other sights the world had to offer. She wondered if she would ever see them. She wondered if she could ever reach out and grab the opportunities dancing before her.)
Masami was going through her katas when the door to the training room was nudged open.
"Greetings," she said idly without stopping or looking up. "What can I do for you, Reborn-san?"
"Ciaossu, Masami. Would you like to go on a trip to the zoo with Hibari?"
She straightened up and snapped her fans shut, eyeing Reborn thoughtfully. Her brother liked animals, but... "Onii-san won't go unless everyone else has been chased out," she informed him. By force or not.
"That's okay," Reborn said, unperturbed, and two tickets suddenly became one. "Why don't you go anyway?"
She arched an eyebrow delicately. "Sawada-san wouldn't happen to be visiting today, would he?"
He stared at her without blinking and smiled. "Dame-Tsuna could use a suitable pet, don't you think?"
Masami smiled back peacefully and took the ticket.
She didn't want to go. She didn't want to partake in whatever chaos was certain to happen. She had five stacks of paperwork on her desk, she had prefects to train, she didn't want to have to clean up whatever mess would be happening this time,
Masami inhaled deeply and smiled, sweet and easy.
She finished the paperwork in record time. She passed out training schedules to the prefects, she informed Tetsuya what needed to be done, and she went to the zoo after promising Kyoya that she would take pictures of all the small animals and send it to him later.
Not in so many words, of course, but that was the deal nevertheless.
Twenty minutes in, while she was observing the gray wolves, she caught sight of Tsunayoshi. Kyoko happened to be with him, which explained a great deal. Reborn did appear to relish in messing around with his student's love life...or whatever remained of it.
"Let me fight a kangaroo!" roared an exuberant voice nearby.
Masami took one look at Ryohei and turned on her heel. She glided away and didn't look back. He had destroyed a wall of her home just three days ago. There was no need to indulge the herbivore and actually fight with him today.
The hedgehogs were cute. Nearby, a bull was preoccupied with a boy dressed in a cow suit. Retrieving her camera from her bag, Masami took a dozen photos of the hedgehogs from multiple angles and wandered off.
Halfway inside the bird house, a hand suddenly clasped down on her shoulder.
Only Takeshi's instincts kept that hand from being severed at the wrist. "Woah!" he gasped, jumping back. "Hey, it's okay, it's only me, Masami!"
Masami blinked slowly and snapped her fan closed again. "Yamamoto-san." Since when did she lose control of her instincts like that? Randomly attacking people just because they startled her was more Kyoya's quirk than hers.
Mistakes like this weren't acceptable.
"My sincere apologies." Turning around fully, she bowed, brow slightly wrinkled. She didn't even know what was wrong with her, which meant that she didn't know herself like she should, which—her fingers tightened on her gunsen. "My reaction was unwarranted."
Takeshi being Takeshi, he only laughed and waved her off. "It's fine, it's fine. It's my fault for surprising you. I won't do it again. The birds here are pretty cool, huh?"
"Yes," Masami concurred, letting the subject shift because it would be useless to start psychoanalyzing herself in the middle of the very crowded zoo. "Would you like to take a picture?"
"Sure!" He snapped a few photos of a falcon and an owl with a grin before handing the camera back to her. "Did the little guy ask you to come for Tsuna, too?"
"He did." She began to drift out of the exhibit, Takeshi keeping pace with her. "I believe Sawada-san is having a fine time with Sasagawa-san at the moment."
"Oh, Senpai? I thought I saw him by the bear exhibit."
"...no, the other Sasagawa-san."
"That's kinda confusing, you know. Is there a reason you're so formal all the time?"
Masami shrugged, catching sight of a sign that proclaimed that lions were to the right and tigers were to the left. There were, she noticed, far more people gathered around the lions.
"It was what I was taught," she said vaguely, taking the left path. The decorum was really more out of obligation than any sense of genuine respect anyway, at least for most individuals.
"Huh. Is that where Hibari got his herbivore thing from, too?" He folded his arms behind his head.
"You could look at it that way," she replied. "Do you prefer lions or tigers?" Maybe she should have asked him the question before choosing for them? But crowding, more crowding—enough said.
"Ahhh...I like both," Takeshi said, smiling easily. "I hear tigers tend to be more temperamental though."
She laughed. "It isn't illogical. Lions are pride animals. Tigers are solitary."
"And you like tigers better?" There was no judgment in his voice, only a calm curiosity.
"I think they're more interesting," Masami corrected, leaning against the fence and peering past the wire grid. Five white tigers lazed around while the sixth, the largest male, prowled around its cage, dark eyes searching. It spotted them soon enough, and its lips pulled back in the slightest of snarls.
"Don't think it likes us very much," Takeshi noted.
"No." She didn't bother trying to take a picture of the majestic animal. It would be a degradation. "Where would you like to go now?"
He didn't ask why they were leaving so soon after their arrival. "The clouded leopards are over there. Wanna go take a look?"
As they left, Masami glanced back over her shoulder precisely once. The tiger glared back at her, coiled power and simmering rage. She almost wanted to reach out and touch that ferocious wildness.
"Hey! Aren't you going to apologize for bumping into me!?" A loud, belligerent voice reached their ears two minutes of comfortable conversation later. "Hey, kid! Don't ignore me! Say something!"
"Think there's trouble?" Takeshi asked.
She scanned the area and detected silver hair within seconds. "I think there's Gokudera-san," she murmured. He really did like picking fights, didn't he? She was almost more resigned than upset. "He shouldn't cause a commotion in such a public area."
"With his fireworks, right? They're pretty good." Takeshi grinned and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey, Gokudera!"
Hayato twitched, a mere second away from lighting the dynamite stick he held in his hand with the cigarette in his mouth. "Tch. It's the baseball idiot and the maiko witch. Why couldn't it be Juudaime?"
Laughing, Takeshi ambled forward and flung an arm around Hayato. "Relax, Gokudera. Tsuna's here, too. I'm sure he's having fun."
"Don't fucking touch me, baseball idiot!" Hayato snapped. "I'll blow you up!"
"Oi, chill with the fireworks. Masami said we shouldn't cause trouble here."
"Pardon me," Masami said very calmly to the thugs that had been yelling at Hayato.
"I don't have to listen to you! And I definitely don't have to listen to her!"
"Gokudera-san happens to be—"
"Okay, okay, calm down a little, alright?"
"—an acquaintance of mine, so I would appreciate it if—"
"Hell no! Get the fuck off of me, you idiot!"
"—you would cease antagonizing him." She smiled, angelic.
"O-O-O-Of course!" the thug stammered out, eyes so wide she could see his veins. He backed away steadily, pulling his lackeys with him. "S-Sorry for the trouble!" Aaand off he went, leaving behind a trail of dust.
There was a brief period of silence before Masami turned around to see Hayato and Takeshi frozen in the act of trying to restrain each other, staring at her.
She opened her fan to hide the bottom half of her face, knowing full well that her smile was more lethal than polite by this point. "Is something wrong, Gokudera-san, Yamamoto-san?"
"Yeah. Witch, what the fuck?" Hayato took a step back from Takeshi, throwing in a glare that said stay away, before continuing to squint at Masami. "First it was those damn Momokyokai, and now this!? Why is every shady dude around scared stiff of you?"
"I kinda want to know, too," Takeshi added, rubbing the back of his head in a chagrined manner. Despite that, his eyes were clear and dark and sharp.
Masami gestured with a twist of her wrist for them to follow her as she strolled down the rest of the path. She wanted to move. "Onii-san can be a scary individual," she said mildly.
"Yeah, but those guys weren't scared of him, they were scared of you," Hayato argued, increasing the length of his strides to catch up to her, gesturing wildly with his hands.
Takeshi ambled along on her other side, head tilted a bit to the side. "Those Momokyokai guys seemed to know you personally," he commented. "Did you have an argument with them or something?"
"I told you, we had a ball." Masami raised her camera and captured three shots of the dozing leopards. "Where do these cats normally live?"
"They're pretty widespread," Hayato said, matter-of-fact. "The neofelis nebulosa species range from countries of the Himalayas to Malaysia. They thrive in heavily forested areas, which is why they're pretty rare nowadays."
"Wow!" Takeshi grinned, clearly impressed. "You really know a lot about these guys, huh!?"
"Yeah, well, it's nothing special," Hayato muttered, crossing his arms. There was a hint of red on his cheeks though, and he glanced to the side rather than look at Takeshi when he said, "You would know this, too, if you ever bothered using your brain."
"I would be impressed, too," Masami drawled, leaning against the small bronze plate nearby, "but all of that information is right here."
"Oh, shut up, maiko witch!" Hayato spat out, glaring death daggers at her while Takeshi burst out laughing.
"Zoo district report," the broadcast system suddenly blasted, "Some lions have escaped due to unexpected attacks destroying the cages. The current situation is very dangerous. All visitors, please proceed towards the exit for your own safety."
Approximately two seconds later, a very, very familiar shriek rose into the air. "HIIIEEEE!"
"Juudaime!" Hayato shouted, already sprinting towards the sound.
"Tsuna!" Takeshi called at the exact same time, running off as well.
Masami stared after them for a moment, conflicted. Should she...? Her fingernails dug into her palms. But—But no, she was sure Hayato and Takeshi and Tsuna were more than enough to take care of a few lions, especially with Reborn in the mix.
Shaking her head, she meandered away to take pictures of monkeys instead of getting involved in that problem.
It probably said something about the direction her life had been going in recently when she wasn't even surprised that Fon joined her five minutes later, Lichi chattering away to its distant relatives.
If he noticed that she was a tad less accommodating than usual, he didn't say a word.
Tsuna was pretty much resigned to having to fight Hibari for anything and everything he wanted. It was practically expected by now, even if the favor in question at the moment were the sakura trees Hibari had apparently claimed for himself.
Sometimes, he wondered why Hibari was so unreasonable when Masami was so reasonable. Then, he remembered the grievous training he'd received at the younger sister's hands—somehow, somehow, Reborn's was worse—and he hastily revised his thoughts.
The Hibari siblings were both impossible in their own different ways. And Tsuna was the lucky guy who had to deal with both of them.
Yay...(not)...
Again. Why was this his life!?
"Whoever has their knee touch the ground loses," Hibari ordained, sounding more bored and disdainful than interested.
"Let's do it, Juudaime!" Gokudera insisted. "Actually, let me do it!"
"Those are the rules. I want to see the sakura trees, too." Yamamoto shrugged, smiling.
Tsuna groaned and gave Reborn the stink-eye before turning back to the prefect. "Hibari-san, we just fought yesterday," he pointed out, thoroughly exasperated. He still had the colorful bruises from that, too.
Hibari only smirked. "Take it or leave it, small animal."
"Reborn! We're going to get wrecked!" Tsuna wailed despite knowing all his protests would be disregarded.
"Don't worry, that's why I called over a doctor," Reborn said calmly, sitting on a lower tree branch.
"That guy only helps women!"
"Heey...aren't you feisty," Shamal grouched, sidling up to Hibari like the creepy pervert he sorta was. "Don't you have a sister? She was, hmm, feisty, too."
The clearing went dead-silent.
Tsuna barely noticed the absolutely livid look on Hibari's face over the blood roaring in his ears.
It wasn't—
He knew that Masami was a very pretty girl. He was aware that some boys in his class had a crush on her. He had overheard some of his classmates debating over whether Masami was prettier than Kyoko, and vice versa.
Tsuna knew all that.
It was just, to him, this was Masami. Masami, who was his first friend and his kinda mentor. Masami, who was secretive on a good day and utterly unreadable on a bad day. Masami, who was subtly kind and gently mean and beautifully strong, and—
Tsuna had never thought of Masami like that.
And, of course, Masami could protect herself. Tsuna could barely stand a chance against her in their spars even now, and ever since that frigid winter day when Masami had torn apart an entire yakuza base by herself, Tsuna had understood that she was harder, colder, than he was, probably more so than he could ever be.
Tsuna didn't need to protect Masami from anything. Masami had always protected him, from bullies and yakuza and his own dame-ness.
It had been more than three years since he had first sat down on that rooftop and dared to eat lunch with the most terrifying girl in school. Since then, Tsuna had learned that Masami liked music and history, was traditional, pleasant, and oh-so-graceful, disliked mangoes and uncertainty, and that was pretty much it.
Masami wasn't Hibari, who was more untouchable than the clouds, but she was elusive and faraway and wild, too. Just in such a style that you never noticed until you tried to describe her and came up short.
In the short time that they had been with him, Tsuna could freely say that he knew Gokudera and Yamamoto much better than he knew Masami. He could even acknowledge that they were so much more open, so much more...his than she was, had ever been, but—but—
"Dr. Shamal." Tsuna took a step forward, distantly aware that everyone was staring at him, including Hibari, who hadn't had the chance to eviscerate Shamal yet but not really comprehending it in the strange heat that enveloped him.
"Please," he said, quiet but absolute, "don't ever talk about Masami-san like that."
If he had been focusing on his tutor, he would have seen Reborn's lips tilt up in a small, satisfied smile as he surveyed the golden orange color of his student's eyes. But he wasn't, so Tsuna only saw how Shamal turned to look at him, something keen and assessing surfacing beneath his drunken exterior.
'Assassin,' his mind reminded him. 'Trident Shamal, he's not just some womanizing pervert.'
"Maa, so young and already lecturing," Shamal sighed, the pout his lips twisted into disturbing on a soul-deep level. "You aren't a man yet, so you wouldn't understand. One day, the unquenchable flame of desire will begin burning in you as well!"
"Jeez, just shut up already, won't you, you pervert-doctor!?" Gokudera barked, teeth bared and dynamite in his hands. "Don't bother Juudaime with your stupid fantasies! Besides! The maiko witch is underage, you damn pedophile!"
"Pssh. You need to lighten up, Hayato." Shamal paused and took in Tsuna's mulish expression before sighing again and raising his hands. "Alright, alriiight. I'll leave the girl alone, happy?"
"Yes." Tsuna took a deep breath, feeling like he was waking up from a dream now that he had the man's agreement, slowly ascending from the heart of that fire to face the fuzzy, terrifying world. "Eh...?"
"Well, I'm not," Hibari said and slammed his tonfa into Shamal's face. Hard. Hard.
"NOEHNFUGYAH!" Shamal shrieked as he was tossed backward, through several trees, and crashed into the trunk of a particularly strong tree, sliding down with a broken groan.
Tsuna winced. He could tell from experience that Hibari hadn't been holding back at all. Shamal would be lucky if he didn't end up with a concussion.
"Idiot," Gokudera muttered. "He deserved it even more usual this time."
Hibari focused acutely on Tsuna and smirked in a decidedly more alarming way than usual. "You're sharpening your fangs, omnivore," he announced. "I expect a decent fight today."
Tsuna whimpered, all previously found bravo fading away under the Skylark's bloodthirstiness.
"Onii-san?"
Kyoya grunted as he walked the final steps to the bench and forced himself not to collapse on it. He still had his pride, cheap tricks or not. He sat down with only a fraction of his usual grace but with every movement under control.
That done, he turned to look at his concerned sister.
The sakura kanzashi in Masami's hair dangled. A simple white sash tied her equally white yukata together around her waist, contrasting the embroidered pink flowers and green vines. Her ankles were crossed, her fan was open, and her eyes were calculating.
There was a barely noticeable tension tainting her normally placid aura, but he didn't say a word. Yet.
Any other herbivore in their territory would have probably said something idiotic along the lines of 'are you okay?' or 'do you need help?'. Masami only looked him over slowly, nodded at whatever she saw, and said, "What happened?"
Kyoya leaned back and, in the precise, blunt language their mother had hammered into them when giving a report, outlined the past ten minutes. His eyes were closed, but he had no doubt that even if they had been open, his sister's face would have told him nothing.
That, too, was something Rika had taught, although Masami had been slipping a bit recently.
When he was done, Kyoya was more than happy to simply doze in the silence that fell, knowing Masami was doing some more convoluted thinking with the pieces he had given her. He didn't even try to keep up with her thought patterns; it would only give him a headache.
"My," she said at last, "Sawada-san is growing into his own, isn't he?"
He hummed noncommittally. "He's not a carnivore. Not truly."
"No. Not yet." And Masami smiled like she was going to slit someone's throat and dance over their grave.
OpalescentGold: Nothing particularly exciting here, but things are building up. Everyone has their breaking point, after all. Tsuna's advancing, slowly, like a snail, but he's getting there, and Reborn's scheming. As always.
Chabudai: tables with short legs.
Gunsen: lightweight but strong folding fans.
Kakefuton: a thick comforter.
Kanzashi: hair ornaments used in traditional Japanese hairstyles.
Kimono: Japanese traditional robes worn so that the hem falls to the ankle, with attached collars and long, wide sleeves.
Kotatsu: a low, wooden table covered by a futon with a heat source underneath.
Maiko: trainee Geisha who typically undergo training from their mid teens to early twenties.
Osechi: traditional Japanese New Year food.
Seiza: formal way of sitting, kneeling with legs folded underneath.
Tatami: mat floors traditionally made of rice straw.
Tessen: heavy folding fans with outer spokes made of heavy plates of iron.
Yukata: a casual summer kimono.
Zabuton: thin pillows used as cushions to sit on.