Taming the Skylark (A Katekyo Hitman Reborn fanfiction)

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn; Amano Akira-sensei does. Though, of course, the OC is mine.

Teaser: "I'll bite you to death." Everyone knew what this meant; except for Senritsu Nanami, who believed that it was only her underclassman, Hibari Kyoya's roundabout way of saying, "Notice me, senpai!" With him chasing her around the campus and, from time to time, even in the streets of Namimori, was she on the right track after all?


Challenge #5: All-out Combat

Despite Ogata's attempts of convincing Nanami that she had won the previous round, the latter insisted the opposite and decided to proceed with the 5th challenge. On a Friday afternoon, right after classes have ended, Nanami and Hibari met at the North building rooftop to have their final match.

"Finally gathered the courage to fight back, herbivore?" Hibari greeted her with a smirk as he passed through the door and brusquely strode to her direction.

Before Nanami even got to retort, Ogata warned Hibari. "Be careful with your words or I might disqualify you."

Nanami sighed, slightly regretting her choice of referee. "Ogata, your bias is showing," she said. He only gave a sorry look before retreating to the side and explaining to them the rules of the match.

"The person who gets the other one to submit or knocks them out will win," Ogata explained with an arm raised. He looked at the two, particularly at the president whom he wished the best of luck, and exclaimed as he waved his hand down. "Start!"

Hibari wasted no time and charged at Nanami.

Nanami only stared at him, the shadow on her face hiding the upward curve on her lips.

He always starts attacking from the right. She made a mental note and moved to his left at the last minute. Her eyes widened, however, when the tonfa came from the left. She barely had time to duck, but that response was also within Hibari's expectations. He kicked her right under the chin.

The impact made Nanami fly. Still, the brunette managed to land smoothly. She wiped the blood on her now slashed lip.

"Kicking a girl without hesitation," she chuckled with a strained expression. "You're not quite the gentleman, are you?"

Hibari smirked. "That's for confiscating my weapons."

Despite her nonchalant response, anger was starting to boil up within Nanami.

He always attacked from the right to have me fooled? she cursed inwardly, disappointed to have fallen prey to such an obvious trap. It was her fault for underestimating him—at least that she admitted. He was the one who beat those gangsters half-dead, after all.

Meanwhile, hiding behind the rooftop door were Reborn, Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto who came to watch.

"Reborn, aren't we going to stop them?!" Tsuna protested in an angry whisper. "Hibari-san is considered the strongest guardian! Senritsu-senpai is in danger!"

"That's true. That woman doesn't stand a chance!" Gokudera added.

Reborn sighed, momentarily glancing at the two before returning his gaze at the fighting duo. "What are you saying? She beat Hibari before."

"But Hibari-san didn't go all out!"

"Neither did she," Reborn argued and looked at his student. "Seriously, Dame-Tsuna. Have you never heard of the Senritsu Clan?"

Clueless, Tsuna shook his head. Yamamoto rubbed his chin in thought and his eyes almost immediately widened. "Don't tell me . . . the shinobi clan that ended the Sengoku Period?"

The hatted infant smiled. "That's right."

Gokudera gasped dramatically with eyes full of curiosity. "A NINJA—!" His scream almost gave away their hiding positions, if it weren't for Yamamoto who hastily put a hand on his mouth.

Tsuna shrieked, and Reborn was about to hit him with the handle of his gun when the sight beyond the door made him freeze. Yamamoto and Gokudera followed the master-student's line of sight and immediately wore the same expression of shock. Nanami had thrown Hibari to the floor.

"That one from earlier was my mistake. Don't get ahead of yourself." She swiftly took a set of spikes from the straps on her thighs and threw it at Hibari who just rolled away on time. With eyes following his every movement, Nanami purred, "Why the rush? I was just trying to pin you down."

Once Hibari saw an opening, he lunged a tonfa at her torso. Much to his surprise, she grabbed his arm and snatched his weapon away.

"I'll be borrowing this one," she said and used it to blocked the other weapon. "You're not the only person who can use a tonfa."

Tsuna gawked at the unbelievable scene. "Is . . . this supposed to happen?"

"What the heck," Gokudera grumbled, suddenly changing sides. "Fight, Hibari! You're disgracing the Vongola name!"

"She looks different than usual," Yamamoto said as he examined Nanami. Her current expression was cold and her eyes were locked on to its prey, completely devoid of feelings. He muttered, "It's as if Hibari just hit a switch on."

"He did hit her chin," Gokudera pointed out. "That might have ticked her off."

"Amazing," Tsuna mumbled, still in a daze. "How do I explain it? It's like Hibari-san's attacks won't reach her at all."

"Strongest offense against total defense, huh? No wonder they're at a stalemate," Reborn said. "But, it won't last long. The difference in experience will be obvious soon."

As if on cue, chains suddenly emerged from Hibari's remaining tonfa and headed straight for Nanami. The brunette tried to pin the chains down using her spikes, but they were all too small. They either got deflected or slipped right through the gaps of the connected metals.

Nanami clicked her tongue. She retreated to a corner, took two kunais from a bag that she had brought, and used them to pin the chains to the ground.

"She is a ninja!" Gokudera tugged Yamamoto's collar excitedly.

Hibari released the chains from his tonfa and charged at Nanami, aiming his weapon at her head for an instant knockout (or a coma). Nanami blocked it with the other tonfa, but failed to dodge the sharps that flew from its hidden compartments. One grazed her cheek while the others hit her arm, making her drop the weapon that she stole.

Hibari caught the tonfa and was about to unleash its chains to claim his prey, but was put to a halt by a sudden scream.

Nanami glanced at the direction of the school entrance where it came from and rushed to the edge of the building. Hibari followed her, and the brunette scurried away the moment he reached her side. He gave her a questioning look.

"I thought you were going to push me," she admitted before turning her attention back at the scene.

"Hibari Kyoya, show yourself!" A man with unevenly bleached hair hollered from the school gate. Judging from his looks and the number of men who tagged along, it was easy to conclude that the man was a gangster—and the boss, at that.

What bothered Nanami was that he took one of their students hostage. "Come out or I'll hurt this girl!" he shouted.

Bastard. He's most likely connected to the three gangsters before and wanted revenge! Nanami thought and was about to head for the door when Hibari grabbed her injured arm. Ooh, how she wanted to cry in pain!

"Where are you going?" he hissed. "We're not done yet, herbivore."

"Didn't you see the commotion?! There are ruffians threatening our school!" she shouted.

"I will bite them to death after our fight."

Hibari was confident he would win, but Nanami wasn't letting up either. She gave him a mock look confusion. "But you won't be conscious by then, so how?"

The duo was about to enter Round 2 when a new entrant decided to join the fray.

"If I may interject," a baby in fedora and tuxedo suddenly appeared between Nanami and Hibari with a hand raised. The two froze.

Nanami knew the kid. There was no way she could forget him with that peculiar outfit. "You're . . . Reborn-kun, right?"

"Nee-chan," Reborn nodded at her then turned to the guardian he knew oh-so-well. "Hibari."

What? Nanami had to take a moment to think. Did the baby just address Hibari like that? Without honorifics or anything?

Probably due to exhaustion, the brunette almost forgot that she had just practically allowed a baby to witness a brawl. Just as she was about to ask Ogata to escort him away, Reborn spoke.

"Allow me to propose an alternative. Instead of engaging in a head-on fight like this, why not compete under the pretense that you're protecting the school?"

Unable to further hide her confusion, Nanami blurted out, "WHAT?"

"No need. I can bite her to death now and deal with the small fries later," said Hibari.

Another scream was heard.

Reborn adjusted his fedora with a smile. "I don't think you can afford to waste another minute, though. The students are in danger."

"What are the rules?" Nanami asked, deciding to ignore the peculiarities of the situation they were in. Allowing the bloodlust-driven Hibari to lead the conversation would get them nowhere, and they had to be somewhere important real quick!

Little did she know that Hibari was about to agree. After all, his priority had always been Namimori.

"The one who captures more enemies will be the winner," was Reborn's short explanation before Nanami rushed to her bag and drew out a few kunais and tied a rope on the railing. She searched for Hibari, only to find him already below and fighting the ruffians. He must have had used the chains on his tonfa! Nanami jumped off the building without further ado, bearing with the pain that shot through her injured left arm.

The school was thrown into chaos. Students were fleeing from the bad guys, and just as one was about to get caught, Nanami landed between them, dropping a kick on the gangster in the process.

Oops! She grimaced at the now unconscious stranger. Was that too much? Sorry!

After tying him up with a rope and instructing the students to hide in the building, Nanami proceeded to tie up the others that fell victim to Hibari's tonfas.

Soon enough, with the boss lying down in defeat before Hibari, the ruckus died down.

As if he just had his fill of prey, Hibari turned to Nanami with a triumphant smirk. Nanami only smiled back.

"Good job on defeating the gangsters, Hibari. Thanks to you, I managed to capture most of them," she said and gestured to the unconscious men bound to her web of ropes. Hibari rose an eyebrow in question.

A clap resounded across the grounds. "Well done," Reborn said. Tsuna and his friends trailed behind him. "Senritsu wins this round."

Despite the surprise of the being addressed without honorifics, Nanami managed a thanks. Hibari, on the other hand, hissed in disapproval. "What? I bit all of them to death."

"I said the one who captures more wins," he gestured to the pile of bodies beside the brunette. Reborn then smiled.

"Never forget to follow instructions, young ones."

[ Nanami: 3 | Hibari: 2 ]

"Do you think I'll accept something as foolish as that?" Hibari raised his tonfas and took a battle stance.

"A win is a win. Don't be such a wet blanket," Nanami jeered. She inwardly sighed in relief, thankful that Reborn interfered. If the infant had not, she would have probably lost the match and her position to Hibari. She then silently scolded herself for underestimating him too much.

"But, I must say, you did a good job protecting the students," Nanami said. With a pleased smile, she nodded and threw a red armband at the ravenette.

"Okay, Hibari Kyoya. You're now a member of the Disciplinary Committee!"


Author's Note: *cries* It's so difficult to write battle scenes! My draft, at first, was like: they go bam bam bam and Hibari goes boom boom boom! To be honest, I had no idea how Nanami could win the fight against Hibari because he's so damn strong and I don't want to make Nanami an OP character! *proceeds to thank Reborn for his interference*

Anyway, thank you everyone for the reviews, favorites and follows! :)

Next chapter: Detention for Hibari and Nanami? Bonding time for the new Disciplinary Committee! And what happened to Kusakabe?!