Chapter Text
Lunch time went by, as the small group was hanging on the recommended spot from the senpai earlier. The shade and the sound of fluttering cherry blossoms going along with the soft primaveral breeze made the food taste at least three times better. It was a very comfortable and tranquil place to spend time at. During this, Tsunayoshi, Irie and Enma pretty much filled in the other two on the events before their return, making Gokudera almost choke on his own food upon learning of your ability to get Hibari under control. Even Yamamoto was impressed in his own laid-back nature.
"Senpai was honestly god sent, I thought I was going to be sent to the infirmary on the first day." Tsuna's voice exposed his complete resignation, feeling helpless at how he could still not manage to handle Hibari's attitude. Even after a whole year of peace without the cloud guardian breathing behind their necks after he was forced into highschool, the next years didn't seem so promising. However, something did stick up, and was the fact Hibari seemed to be in second year. Most of them were sure he would be in last year, alas, it turned out to not be the case. As far as they are concerned, Hibari was one to do whatever he pleased, now even doing so in highschool.
"She was a pretty friendly person." A dazed Enma mentioned randomly, as his mind drifted to the memory of your smiling face. Both Shouichi and Tsuna agreed with the same expression on their faces. You had a warm and a presence that could hardly leave any bad impressions. Even the way you were so casual about the formalities was heartwarming. "I feel bad she ended up taking the responsibility of fixing the wall." The sky Vongola looked down, still bothered by it.
"We can help her out." Yamomoto's suggestion snapped Tsuna out of his thoughts, "She did say she was going to work on it during club activities. And senpai did invite us to crash at her club anytime. And since we still haven't joined clubs or anything, we can go and help." He was surely getting a point. Gokudera almost dropped his drink out of surprise at his well thought idea. They have the excuse and motive to get back at you for the kindness.
"Y-Yeah! I think I will do that." Tsuna felt like it was the right thing to do, making the Storm guardian follow along, moved by his boss' kindness. "If Tenth is going to help, I should do so as well!" Conviction is his tone, as if it was a fate imposed duty.
"Haha, I think I will join too. That senpai seems like a nice person." Yamamoto chirped, going with the flow. He seemed to be somewhat curious about you.
"Sadly I cannot go, I have to enroll in my new cram school and I have to leave right after classes are over." The bespectacled teen apologized, shooting a guilty gaze at the floor. "I promised Adel to get back early, I can't join either…" Followed Kozato, sharing Irie's guilt. Tsuna waved his hand in dismissal, reassuring them it was okay. "It's alright, I was the one who caused the mess anyways. And I don't have anything else to do after classes, so..." The advantages of having so much free time, as much as Reborn permitted him, came handy.
By the end of lunch, the Vongolas bid their goodbyes to the other two and headed back to class. The classes after remained as relaxed as before, with the slight turn of events, where – while going through the topic of class reps, Tsuna somehow had his hand forced up by an unknown force. He quickly managed to dodge that bullet by backing up quickly and allowing someone else to take the role. His life was already enough of a hassle to have also deal with such problematic role. The sky Vongola could only guess that strange event was Reborn's doing, whatever magic trick he managed to pull there. It was a gut feeling, intuition if he must, saying the hitman was lurking around, more close than he needed to.
With classes done and everyone preparing themselves to leave or take the time to explore the possibilities that the school offered, the Vongola usual trio decided to go their way to the art club, wherever that was. After asking around a bit, they made it to the fourth floor, where most of the cultural clubs held their activities. The bunch arrived at the most isolated corner of the floor, where many empty rooms waited for clubs to make their spaces into something useful, and at the end of it, stood the art club. "Excuse us…" Announced Sawada before opening the sliding and slightly stuck old door, just to find an image he would rather erase from his brain.
The small hitman posing as the famous Birth of Venus in the middle of the class, casually greeting his student and the guardians with his usual ciaossu. It was, as always, a bizarre spectacle. Reborn might be free of the Arcobaleno curse but the hitman remained as eccentric as he was from the very beginning.
"I didn't expect you to have an interest in art, Tsuna." Mocked the smaller while stripping himself out of the costume, enjoying the other's face of disbelief. Gokudera was unphased while Yamamoto simply found it entertaining. The ex-arcobaleno antics were still as fun as always. "I thought you would be coming here, you are so predictable." That raised a flag on Tsuna. Just as he thought! Reborn has been lurking around to pester him!
"Reborn, why are you even here!?" His attempt of complaining fell on deaf ears and soon was interrupted by the sound of the club's old door being open, your form appearing at last, messier than the last time they saw you. "Oh, Sawada-kun! I see you came by with your friends." You smiled, irradiating the same warm and amicable glow. Tsuna swore he felt he was going to end up going blind from all of that light coming out from you in every smile. "It seems like you already met with sensei."
Time paused for a cold second, thus breaking after Tsuna let out a surprised yelp. "SENSEI!?" Everybody turned around to look at the hitman, who nonchalantly jumped over your head. Something you clearly seemed to not mind in the slightest. "Yes, he is the one that told me about you all. I take you know him from the entrance ceremony or something." You moved over into the room, putting down the bucket of paint down and looking for a rug to clean your face and hands. "He is the new teacher that joined the school, Reborn-sensei. He comes from Italy. I met him last year but he started today to cover for another teacher." You introduced him, ignoring part of this information that was already something they knew.
"I'm Reborn, the new P.E. teacher, since Miss Okunobe had to take a maternity leave, so I'm her substitute." His face was obviously showing he was lying thru and thru without you noticing, just having an excuse to continue keeping an eye on his student and his guardians. Tsuna grumbled in defeat, fully aware he was now going to be pestered by his tutor yet another new year of school.
Yamamoto, chuckling at the whole matter, took notice of the bucket you carried in earlier. "Is that for the wall?" Questioned, making you keep your calm expression and give a soft smile. "Yep, I got that done just now. So no more worries." Reborn noticed how Tsuna deflated knowing he came in late to repair his mistake, making the fedora kid smile. You also took notice of this and chuckled.
"Sorry you ended up doing it by yourself. We even came to help." The brunette admitted with a sheepish tone. His good will made you smile with endearment. "I appreciate the intention, so don't dwell on it. I just happened to fix it up partially during lunch and finish it after class." You comforted him as his friends patted his shoulder and tried to do so as well. "I guess there is nothing else to do." Gokudera spoke, looking around the club. It was a bit messy and full of color, and spacious too. So much for a reclused room on this floor. Yamamoto took some steps towards the wide windows, noticing what a nice view of the school's front it had. "What a nice club room." Commented, practically speaking for the three. You could tell he was more loose and sociable than the other two. Tsuna couldn't help but notice several paintings covered, except for one, taking a close look.
Seeing this, you walked closer, with Reborn still sitting on your head. "That one's mine." Pointed out, getting Gokudera's and Yamamoto's attention, making them also want to take a look. It was a blue field with a wide green sky, with what seemed like a boy standing in the middle, giving his back to the viewer and looking up at the beautiful yet strange colored horizon. The splash of hidden colors of the rainbow scattered around the field and the sky with inverted colors was quite unique. Somehow, Tsuna felt curious about the boy in the painting. "It looks really peaceful." Mindlessly commented, blinking twice before noticing what he said and soon feeling shy. You only laughed.
"I'm glad. I started this during the end of winter last year. I think it came together pretty well." You held some pride in your tone, as you always felt rather content with your works. Gokudera leaned in, looking rather intensely at it. "Why is the sky green and the field blue? It's a rather odd choice." A valid question, yet Tsuna felt a bit restless for having your work critiqued somehow.
"Oh, that? I just felt like doing so." A simple response with no offense taken. "Sometimes I imagine the world in so many different colors, breaking out of what people say it's this or that color." Your logic seemed to align with a subjective view of things. And gave them a glance on how your mind worked.
"∎∎∎ is a very talented artist. She won some prizes and first places last year." Reborn praised you, making you blush pleased while scratching the back of your head. "Maybe she can show you guys her other pieces another time." A spike of curiosity lit in their faces, wondering what kind of stuff you did to even get the hitman's praise. You nodded, not having any complaints. "I can bring them out of the storage another day for you, if you want."
"I would like to see more." Tsuna beamed, surprisingly invested into the idea. Yamamoto agreed and Gokudera as well with a sense of needing to seize your skills for some reason. "But first, you guys need to survive The Club Rush." There it was, the glint in the hitman's black eyes raising yet another red flag.
"Club Rush?" Gokudera questioned, folding his arms over his chest.
"It's how we call the club's scouting day. It will be held in three days. It's quite a battleground against clubs to get the first years to join theirs. It's usually very hectic, eheh." You still remembered the last one, it was an all-out war before lunch. "Do you guys have any idea of what you want to join?" You asked out of curiosity.
"Oh, I'm going straight to the Baseball Team. I wanted to join today but the teacher mentioned clubs would be taking the first years in three days after today." Takeshi mentioned, not even surprising his friends. Meanwhile Tsunayoshi and Hayato had no idea if they even wanted to. " If that's the case, I can introduce you to Takizawa-senpai. He is the current captain but doesn't plan to help out during Club Rush. He doesn't like imposing on others." Yamamoto got excited at your offer, quickly accepting and thanking the gesture.
"You can also introduce them to other clubs. I know you get along with many club leaders. Maybe Tsuna can finally stop being so lazy and improve his poor social skills." Reborn was quick to shoot both a suggestion and a blunt critique at the brunette, just forcing a sigh out of him. He knew he had no way out. "Sounds like a good idea. I know some senpais and classmates that are very passionate about their activities. Maybe we can find something for everyone." The brown-eyed young boss smiled at your attentive disposition, feeling strangely excited for the tour. "We can do it the day after Club Rush is over, during lunch. You can avoid the mess by sneaking from the sides. They mostly target students that are passing the middle of the entrance." You suggested and advised, all three nodding obediently.
"Oh, yes. Isn't Hibari coming over to review your maintenance work soon?" The mention of the infamous prefect by Reborn made the boys flinch, or more like, it made Tsuna flinch as the other two just tensed a bit. Soon, the sky vongola started to made his way out pushing his friends as well in a nervous manner. "Oh, well, we will be going now! We will come around for the tour and such. It was a pleasure, ∎∎∎-senpai. And thanks for everything today! Goodbye!" Quickly speeding his words to make sure to have enough time to leave the school building before meeting with Hibari. You only blinked confused and waved them goodbye with a little smile.
Once gone, you looked over Reborn who was now admiring your work yet again. "Sensei, you shouldn't tease them so much." Your visage turned your smile into a more amused one. The hitman glanced back, going along with your expression.
"It's my job to look after them and make them experience and learn from new things." His reply only made you chuckle. "Besides, I was hoping to take a look at your other work." Hands behind his back, pitch black orbs turning over to a covered piece by a cloth on the corner of the room, next to the window. You only smiled and moved over to said canvas, uncovering it. You started this one during break before school's new year began. Something you were excited to keep working on. Reborn admired it next to you, as you sat down in front of the canvas.
"I hope I can get to show them this one someday." You softly spoke, letting a soft hue of orange reflect on your shiny gentle eyes. The hitman smiled in a softer yet pleased way.
"Eventually. One step at the time, ∎∎∎." Responded before letting a comfortable silence fall upon the room while you both kept admiring the unfinished piece.
