Chapter Seven

I am Not a Tray of Nibbles

Blinking sleepily, Kiyohiko yawned and leaned back to lie down on the floor. He had just spent the last five hours studying classical Japanese literature, mathematics and world history. The only subject left to study was English, which he was already quite fluent in, which meant that he was in for another hour and a half of helping Masaru and Haruhi in the subject. Lucky for Kiyohiko though, Damiano had proven himself to be highly proficient in the subject since he started studying with them.

“Let’s get going right away,” Damiano said happily, taking out his English textbook from his backpack. “If we can get this one in a couple hours, then we can still go catch a movie at the Shopping Centre before it gets too late.”

“This is an extreme waste of a Saturday,” Masaru groaned in retaliation. He was absolutely itching to get outside and do something other than study before the sun set. The teen had been getting more and more anxious as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky.

“We have to get through this before we do anything else, Masaru-nii,” Kiyohiko said, still staring at the ceiling. “I don’t want you failing under my watch.”

“You worry too much Little Cousin,” Masaru frowned. Kiyohiko sat up straight.

“I worry only because you don’t worry enough!”

“…and you two need to get along a bit better so that we can finish this,” Haruhi said, her smile betrayed by the bite in her voice. “Mom actually wants me home for dinner tonight.”

“So then I guess it would be useless to invite you to stay,” Hana said, leaning on the doorjamb. The teens looked over at the woman, who seemed to have an unusual smile on her face.

“You’re acting weird today Hana-san,” Masaru told his father’s girlfriend. “First you bring us snacks without us asking and now you’re talking nicely about keeping Haruhi for dinner…”

“…Damiano as well,” Hana interjected. “Can’t be rude now.”

“Yeah… but Haruhi eats like a pig!” This resulted in a textbook to Masaru’s temple. “You’re extremely not used to cooking for that many people!”

“Shows what you know,” Hana smirked. “I guess I’m just going to have to call Haru-san over and ask if she could join us as well…”

“You’re extremely up to something!” Masaru said, pointing an accusing finger. Hana simply laughed and walked out of sight.

“I wonder what that’s about,” Damiano said after an awkward silence.

“With Hana-san, it’s hard saying exactly what’s going through her brain,” Kiyohiko said, casually flipping through the pages in his English textbook.

“Dad has something to do with this… I’ve got this extreme gut feeling,” Masaru grumbled. He leaned backwards until he was flat on his back and began balancing his pencil on his nose.

“Well, let’s get some homework done before she calls us down for dinner then,” Damiano said. “We can pair up and get through everything much quicker.”

“…and I take it you’ve got Haruhi-san…?” Kiyohiko deadpanned just low enough so that only Damiano hear. Damiano simply blushed and turned towards the tomboy in question, ready to begin the lessons.

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It was eerily quiet at the dinner table. Haru had come over for dinner, which allowed Haruhi to stay over as well. The teens were all silent as they dished out their food, not enjoying the rather awkward vibes Haru and Hana seemed to be giving out.

“Kiyohiko, have you seen Reborn?” Hana asked casually after a few minutes of silence.

“No, I haven’t,” Kiyohiko muttered into his food. “Frankly, it’s better that way sometimes.”

“So kids, tell me about how the school year’s been coming along,” Haru said enthusiastically. “I know Haruhi has been doing relatively fine, but how about you boys?”

“Coming along great, Signora Yamamoto,” Damiano said. “We just got in a full day’s worth of studying today. I think the sessions really pay off.”

“I think so too,” Kiyohiko added. “Masaru-nii seems to be doing better now that we’re all studying together.”

“Didn’t you two used to study together in middle school?” Haru asked.

“The only studying they did as a group was when Haruhi would come over and let Masaru copy her papers,” Hana smirked. “Don’t let them fool you Haru.”

“So much for you being nice today Hana-san…” Masaru grumbled. “At least now I know you weren’t replaced by an alien.”

“You did a good job keeping them together and here, Hana,” a small voice squeaked. The teens all froze up at the sound of the voice.

“Oh, no… don’t tell me…” Kiyohiko groaned.

“That is correct,” Reborn said, hopping up onto the table. He was brandishing Leon, who had morphed into a sniper rifle, and dressed in swamp camouflage. “Tonight, we have a training session.”

“What on earth are we going to be doing at night that we can’t possibly wait until the weekend for?” Kiyohiko grumbled. Reborn gained a glint in his eye and happily responded.

“Breaking into Namimori Junior High.”

“Oh… I can’t eat anymore,” Damiano whimpered. He sunk low in his seat and went ghost-pale.

“I don’t think I can condone this,” Haru said. “Reborn-kun, you may know what is best for the kids’ training, but if you land yourselves in trouble, I am not going to get you out of it.”

“Do not worry Haru,” Reborn said in an assuring voice. “The police will not even realize there was a break-in; I already disabled the alarms that alert the station.”

However, the police were not the least of the teens’ worries.

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“I don’t know about this…” Kiyohiko said as Haruhi worked on picking the lock to the gate. The sun had long set and everyone was there equipped with the things they needed to fight. “What happens if Hibari-san catches us?”

“Hibari-jiji’s out of town, so relax,” Masaru grinned. “Besides, all we have to do is get up to the roof and get that doo-hickey—”

“—gyroscope—” Kiyohiko interrupted.

“—yeah… we’ll find that thing and get out of there. I’m sure it’ll only take about fifteen minutes.”

“Giallo Arcobaleno, this is not going to end well,” Damiano hissed in a low whisper. “I swear, if this puts Signorina Haruhi in any sort of danger, I’m gonna…”

“You are going to what…?” Reborn grinned from his perch on Kiyohiko’s shoulder, still dressed in him camouflage. Damiano was going to continue, but stopped himself short when Kiyohiko noticed the taller boy bending down and threatening his shoulder.

“Got it!” Haruhi grinned as the lock popped open. “If there’s one reason why Bel-jiji was ever tolerable when I was little, it was because he taught me how to pick locks.” It was true; Takeshi had left his daughter alone with the Varia on more than one occasion while over in Italy when she was a child and one of the few things any of the assassins could stand doing with the child was teacher her to pick locks, cuss and everything else they could manage would end up getting the Vongola swordsman in trouble.

“See that Damiano, she puts her life in her own hands,” Reborn smirked. The half-Italian boy sighed and followed his friends into the abandoned middle school’s grounds.

“Stay close Damiano-kun, since you never went here, you could get lost,” Haruhi said once they reached the doors.

“He’s extremely not an idiot, Haruhi,” Masaru frowned. Haruhi just grinned, took Reborn and began running up the stairs towards the third level.

“Haruhi-san! Wait up!” Kiyohiko cried out as the boys all chased after her. They only got to halfway up the second years’ stairwell until a figure slammed down onto the stairs, separating the two groups. The figure had a staff clutched in his hands and a look of fierce disdain on his face that made all but Reborn gulp in fear.

“You don’t belong here anymore,” he hissed.

“Osamu-kun, don’t worry, it’s just us,” Haruhi said in an attempt to drive away the boy. Hibari Osamu was only a first-year in Namimori Junior High, yet his ferocity already had made him head prefect and the most feared being since his father, Kyoya.

The boy turned towards Haruhi and growled, the features he inherited from his father lit clearly by the moon. “I’ll bite all of you to death for breaking the rules in such a manner, thinking yourselves to be exceptions.” With just a twitch of his wrists, the staff broke apart to become two elongated tonfa. He lunged at Haruhi, only to have to spin around mid-attack and deflect a throwing knife from lodging itself in his back.

“Uh-oh,” Damiano gulped, caught red-handed with one hand still in his knapsack and a lit lighter wedged between his teeth. Osamu charged, sending the older boys running for their lives.

“Go get the thing-a-ma-bob, Haruhi!” Masaru yelled over his shoulder before jumping over a half-dozen steps to a landing. He bolted in one direction down the first-years’ hall, while Kiyohiko and Damiano decided to skid down the other end.

“Sure thing!” Haruhi said, making her way for the third-years’ floor, which would lead to the roof staircase. She finally reached the top and grinned as she saw the roof where, just a few months before, she was eating lunch and hanging out with Kiyohiko and Masaru.

“No dawdling,” Reborn said. “Find the gyroscope.”

“Gyro-what-now?” Haruhi asked, walking further away from the door. Glancing around, a small, spinning thing caught her eye as it glinted in the moonlight.

“Hiii… Reborn-kun, is this it?”

However, Reborn did not answer. Haruhi spun around, looking for the infant hitman, but could not find him. Moving quickly, Haruhi scooped up the little spinning object and bolted down the stairs to the first years’ corridor, where Damiano and Kiyohiko were doing their very best to dodge Osamu’s attacks.

“Get away from them!” Haruhi yelled, drawing her bokken. She threw the gyroscope at Kiyohiko and swung the bokken at Osamu, who promptly blocked with his tonfa.

“Now I don’t need to track you down,” Osamu sneered. He and Haruhi then began to exchange a few blows in rapid succession, neither gaining the upper hand over the other.

“Haruhi-san…” Kiyohiko groaned, upset that his friend did not make a run for it.

“I wish they’d hold still,” Damiano muttered. He had a throwing knife in his hand and was attempting to track their movements. “If I could only get a clean shot…”

“EXTREME FIGHTING SPIRIT!!” Masaru’s voice rang out. Osamu seemed to not notice the lumbering footfalls coming from around the corner and continued to battle it out with Haruhi. Masaru turned the corner and made way to punch the middle school boy from behind. When Osamu tried to turn around and block the attack, he was too late and the bright-yellow fist connected with his face, forcing him to fly backwards and tumble into the wall.

“Masaru-nii!” Kiyohiko gasped, pointing at his cousin’s fists. “You’re on fire!”

“Not just that he’s on fire, Osamu’s out cold!” Damiano squeaked. “I mean, you must have broken his nose and cheekbone doing that!”

“Masaru is the most capable out of all of you at the moment,” Reborn said, appearing next to the unconscious middle school student. “He has been able to somewhat harness the power of his Sun Attribute for battle, while I have yet to see anything out of the rest of you.”

“I don’t even see the point of us getting that thing…” Haruhi said, pointing at the gyroscope in Kiyohiko’s hand. “What was the point?”

“I had wanted you four to face an opponent that none of you desired to face,” Reborn said. “All of you know the ferocity of Osamu when he fights. I doubt Haruhi would have been able to finish him on her own.” Reborn stepped aside for Osamu’s pet Capuchin monkey Osaru to rush over to his master.

“I still extremely don’t get how the monkey lives with the kid,” Masaru muttered, staring at his hands as the fire emanating from them faded into nothing. “He’s an extreme psychopath!”

“Which is why I’m glad he’s not in the same school as us,” Kiyohiko said, inching over so that he stood behind his cousin. “That kid has always scared me; he looks and acts exactly like Hibari-san.”

Suddenly, Osamu began to groan and sat up. He stared at the foursome of teens and Reborn with an uncharacteristically inquisitive look. The boy then did something that sent shivers down the teenagers’ backs: he giggled.

“Hello there! Why are we all here at night? Is there some sort of school festival going on?”

“Just back away slowly…” Haruhi muttered under her breath. Everyone was staring at the kid as they attempted to creep away. Osamu blinked and touched his nostrils, which had blood all over them. His eyes lit up as he saw the red liquid all over his fingers.

“Cool! I’m bleeding!” he laughed. “You guys should see this! It’s awesome!”

He looked up to see that the others were not there. In fact, they had run off and did not stop until they were safe inside Kiyohiko and Masaru’s house.