Chapter Four
The Eerily Quiet Chapter
Haruhi was in a very good mood as she woke up Monday morning. She happily got up and dressed herself in the girls’ uniform for Namimori Senior High—the boys’ uniform she had ordered would not be in for another two whole days—and ran down the stairs for breakfast. Haru was in the kitchen already, putting together the traditional first-day-of-the-school-year breakfast for her daughter.
“Look who’s all smiles this morning,” she said as Haruhi walked in and began devouring her food. “Hahi… the way you eat, let alone dress and talk and act, I’d think you were a boy.”
“I think the guys are rubbing off on me Mom,” Haruhi grinned, grains of rice stuck to her face. “I mean, we only do everything together.”
“Not that I don’t approve of you hanging out with Masaru-kun and Kiyohiko-kun, but why don’t you ever hang out with any of the girls from school?”
“Are you kidding Mom? Those two are much more interesting than any of the girls I’ve gone to school with. I think the amount of fun has doubled since Reborn-kun showed up!”
“Reborn-kun?” Haru asked, the name flipping a switch in her brain. She did her best to not show emotion at the mention of the hitman tutor. “Who’s that?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? He’s a little kid that moved in close to Yohi-kun and Masaru-kun’s house, so he comes over all the time to play Mafia… like Dad would for me when I was little.”
“Hahi? You never told me this.”
“I thought I did. Anyways, Yohi-kun’s the Boss and Masaru-kun and I are his Family members! It’s pretty fun. Gotta go meet the guys now; thanks for breakfast!” Haruhi grabbed her bag and kissed her mom on the cheek before rushing out the door.
“Reborn-kun, huh?” Haru asked herself. “I guess Takeshi has his successor then.”
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“There you are!” Masaru yelled at Haruhi jogged up to the gate in front of his house. “I’ve been extremely bored waiting for you to get here!”
“Where’s Yohi-kun?” Haruhi asked, snapping her fingers so that Masaru looked at her face and not her legs. “He isn’t doing some last-minute scrambling, is he?”
Masaru did not answer verbally, but instead pointed over towards the house as a resounding crash echoed out into the yard. Kiyohiko came rushing out of the house, hopping on one foot as he tried to shove the other on without untying the laces. A piece of toast with jam was shoved into his mouth and he looked to be highly flustered.
“Yo, Yohi-kun!” Haruhi grinned as her friend joined them in the alley. Kiyohiko frowned as he finally reached the gate and took a bite of the toast.
“I hate that thing,” he muttered, now walking along towards school.
“What thing?” Haruhi asked.
“That Reborn kid; I overslept because he ended up turning off my alarm clock!”
“I’m sure he has an extremely good reason for it,” Masaru argued. “I mean, he does seem to have a method to his madness.”
“Sure… you aren’t the one who has been woken up every day for the past week by a bomb exploding by your ear,” Kiyohiko groaned. He took another bite of the toast and scowled. “Let’s just get to school.”
The secondary schools in Namimori Town were mainly linked together as far as student population and admissions. A couple blocks away from the junior high, Namimori Senior High was the destination for nearly all of the students of the junior high. In fact, an old saying around the neighborhood was that those who passed the Namimori Junior High exams were set until college.
It felt comforting to Kiyohiko that he saw many familiar faces wandering around within the school boundaries. He had spent at least parts of the previous three years with them and was pleased they were going to be around for the next three. Kiyohiko enjoyed having a comfort zone—something that seemed to have been ignored for the past week—and he was glad to at least have this. Kiyohiko followed Masaru and Haruhi up to their classroom, 1-C, and almost jumped when he heard a voice call out once they entered.
“Hey there guys,” a girl’s voice said casually as the trio entered the room. The owner of the voice—Takizawa Saki—was an old classmate who had been in the same school as Haruhi since elementary and was one of the many used to the antics of the three teens. She had been reading a book when they entered, which was not unusual for the dark-haired girl.
“Yo, Saki-chan,” Haruhi grinned. “What’s up?”
“Same old, Yama-chan.”
“Any new meat this year?”
“Only one so far,” Saki said, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder so she would not have to look away from the book. “I think he’s half-Japanese or something, since he has this thing with his R’s and stuff when he talks and is drop dead gorgeous.”
Haruhi looked back at the last seat in the row and smiled. She instantly recognized the black hair that looked almost purple in the light and the almost-permanent look of nervousness he wore upon his face. He was in the very back corner, reading a volume of manga to himself, trying his best to look inconspicuous. It had been years since they had last seen one another, but that did not matter to Haruhi as she ran right to the back of the room and put the boy into a headlock.
“Damiano-kun!” she laughed, making the boy jump at the sudden contact. “Since when have you been going to Namimori?”
“Uh, Signorina Haruhi, please let go,” Damiano said, blushing furiously. “You’re squishing me rather close to your chest.” Haruhi released the boy with a smirk.
“Yeah, she’s got boobs and legs now. Extremely strange, ain’t it?” Masaru laughed as he and Kiyohiko made their way to the back. He took the seat kitty-corner from Damiano, while Haruhi sat down in the seat behind him and Kiyohiko took the chair in front of the newcomer. Haruhi smacked the back of Masaru’s head for good measure.
“How long has it been, Damiano-san?” Kiyohiko asked.
“At least three or four years,” Damiano replied. “Mom had sent me over here since she heard from Signore Tsunayoshi that you were about to start your Vongola training. She said it would be a good idea for me to hang around, thought I’m not quite sure as to why.”
“Oh, what’s Chrome-san been up to lately?” Kiyohiko enjoyed hearing about the female half of his father’s Mist Guardian, since she had always been such a nice lady towards him. Damiano’s twin sister Foschia, on the other hand, was an entirely different story.
“Oh, nothing out of the ordinary. She goes on missions every now and then, so I get left with Signore Chikusa and Signore Ken. Sorella is always busy with the Varia now, which has proven to be excellent for my health.”
“Now I remember… Foschia was always beating the two of you up, wasn’t she?” Masaru asked, motioning towards his cousin and Damiano. “Haruhi and I had to save your non-extreme butts more than once, you know.”
“How could I forget?” Kiyohiko sighed, wishing the topic of Foschia had not been brought up. While Damiano was just as caring, kind and pleasant as his mother, Foschia Dokuro was a hellion of the worst kind. Mukuro (whom Kiyohiko was decidedly afraid of) had taken her under his wing at an early age, cultivating her sheer strength and determination into one of the sadistic fighting machines to ever walk the face of the Earth… at least in the young Vongola’s opinion. She had joined the Varia at the age of thirteen, which was unheard of for most members. Both of the twins may have inherited their mother’s looks, but it was Foschia that became the warrior prodigy.
“You three know this guy?” Saki asked as she came towards the back of the room. The four looked up at the girl, who seemed quite amused.
“He’s an old friend; our parents work together,” Haruhi said. Damiano stood up and shook Saki’s hand with a slight bow. The boy towered over her, just barely at six feet compared to her five.
“Good morning,” he said. “I am Damiano Dokuro, or I guess it would be Dokuro Damiano now, and I am pleased to make your acquaintance Signorina…?”
“Takizawa Saki, but just call me Saki,” the girl blushed. She let go of Damiano’s hand and asked nervously, “So you’re a foreigner?”
“Yes, from Italy,” Damiano said. “My mother is Japanese, but we’ve lived in many different places since I was little. Italy was the one place we kept on coming back to though. We have even lived in Japan a couple of times before.”
“Really…?” Saki asked, blushing even more. Haruhi had to contain her laughter over the scene. “So what made you come to Japan?”
“I wanted to learn more about my mother’s culture, since my sister doesn’t seem very interested,” Damiano lied. “Both of them are still back in Italy, so I am glad that I have friends here to help me out.”
“That’s good…” Saki said, at this point just staring at the now uncomfortable Damiano. It took a few moments before Kiyohiko tugged gently on her sleeve in order to get her attention.
“It’s almost time for class, so I think you’d better sit down. Don’t want to make a bad impression,” he said.
“Oh! You’re right Sawada-kun! Thanks!” Saki went back to her seat, which allowed Damiano to slump back into his.
“Great…” he groaned. “So much for not drawing attention to myself.”
“Saki has a weakness for the tall ones,” Haruhi explained with a laugh. “I bet you’re the tallest guy in the class; you’re not going to stay inconspicuous for long, Gaijin-kun.”
“It’s not fair,” Damiano groaned as he allowed his forehead to slam onto the desk. “I’m gonna stick out like a sore thumb and get bullied again.”
“Not while you’re with us, Damiano!” Masaru said enthusiastically. “You’re best bet is to join an extreme after-school club like me and prove that you’re not a man to be messed with! I’m going to go out for the boxing club after school lets out!”
“The baseball team is already expecting me at the diamond after school!” Haruhi said with a smile. Damiano’s face twitched slightly and he turned to Kiyohiko, who sighed.
“You can come home with me; the bullies know that if they mess me up, Haruhi-san and Masaru-nii will hunt them down and tie them to the top of a high-rise flagpole by their pants,” he replied. The teacher walked in and called the class to attention, leaving Damiano to whisper his reply.
“Sounds good to me.”
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It was after school had let out and Kiyohiko was already on his way home with Damiano. It had been close to mortifying how many people were paying attention to the group now that Damiano was with them. They had to skirt by a few of the senior gangs and hope for the best once Haruhi and Masaru were no longer around to protect them.
“Thanks for walking home with me Don Sawada,” Damiano said. “I’m afraid I’m still not very good with the people around here.”
“Not a problem. Just call me Yohi; we are friends, right?”
“Alright, Don Yohi.” Damiano paused for a moment and frowned. “How has it been for you here in Japan anyways? Has the country treated you well?”
“Well enough, I suppose,” Kiyohiko laughed. “I still didn’t get out of having a Vongola tutor come after me though. I was kind of hoping that if I was over here, then Dad would find a new successor.”
“It’s always been known that you are going to be the one that will become Vongola Undicesimo,” Damiano said. “The Varia doesn’t like it one bit. Sorella says that Signore Fausto has a fit about it almost weekly at the worst, since it was his father that was adopted by Vongola Nono. It is a good thing that Signore Xanxus keeps his son in check, or else things could be a lot worse.”
“Don’t remind me,” Kiyohiko sighed. He knew it wasn’t Xanxus, the top Varia official, who kept the up-and-coming Fausto in check—that just was not his style whatsoever. Tsuna was the one who made sure that the twenty-one-year-old and his band of frightening hooligans away from Japan and not at Kiyohiko’s throat.
They stayed silent for a while afterwards while they walked along the streets of Namimori Town. The two were just content with the other’s company, knowing that they both were going to have plenty of time to talk once the school year pressed on and Masaru and Haruhi came up with crazy things for the four of them to do together. Kiyohiko, however, thought of something once they were stopped at a crosswalk.
“Damiano?”
“Yeah, Don Yohi?”
“Why did you come to Japan anyways? I’m serious.”
“Mom told me to come,” Damiano said as they were given the green light to cross the street. “It was either here or living with Signore Ken and Signore Chikusa once they moved to England; the decision wasn’t very difficult.”
“What’s wrong with Ken-san and Chikusa-san?” Kiyohiko asked. “I thought they were really kind of nice. Well, Chrome-san has left you and Foschia-san with them ever since you were little so they couldn’t have been that bad…” Damiano groaned and slumped his shoulders.
“Were do I start? Signore Ken is just a filthy womanizer who has been getting worse as the years wear on. He’s rude and disgusting and fights with his Woman of the Week over at the house. Signore Chikusa is just plan creepy and I think he spies on everyone. The sooner I could get away from them the better.”
“Then I guess Japan was the best option out of the two,” Kiyohiko replied, quite sorry he had asked.
“Well, Signorina Haruhi is here too… which is a plus,” Damiano added.
“Sorry to break it to you, but Haruhi only wears the girls’ uniform on special days like the first day of school or graduation and things like that,” Kiyohiko laughed. “I don’t know how she did it, but she was able to convince the principal that he could wear the boys’ uniform all the other times and participate on the boys’ baseball team. Don’t turn into Masaru-nii on me now.”
“Wow, she’s on the boys’ team?” Damiano chuckled. “She is cooler than I remembered!”
“It’s Haruhi-san…”
“…who was the one who kept on sticking up for me when Sorella or Signore Fausto would come looking for someone to beat up! I’ve thought that she was the coolest ever since we were kids!”
“Haruhi-san is nuts,” Kiyohiko stated. The blissful, distant expression on Damiano’s face did not let it seem like he was listing at all.
Shit.
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A/N: Now that I’ve tortured you with a Reborn-less chapter, I promise the next one shall be tons and tons of him. :D You have my word.
