Disclaimer/Claimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (including its plotlines, characters etc.) belongs to Akira Amano. Anything you don't recognize from canon—namely plotlines and OCs—belong to me, Prince SuperSharky.

Please enjoy~!

Chapter 1

And So It Begins

I sprint up the hill, skidding around the corner, hair flying, trying desperately to pull my skirt down. I guess I requested a size too small. I had also decided to order a male uniform, along with a girls'. I had fun mixing and matching this morning, oh yes I did. However, that's also the reason why I'm running now. I smooth my sweater vest in a futile attempt to look presentable. The tie from the male uniform flaps in the wind, and hits me in the face. I push my bag back onto my shoulder, panting.

In the distance that I'm (hopefully) fast approaching, there's the clamour of other stragglers like me. To my horror, the noise dies down at the dreaded sound: The bell rings. My response is well-justified: "Why did this have to happen on the first day of school?"

Yup, finally, I'm entering Nami Chuu. Maybe this time…maybe it'll be different. But, I know. I've stayed in place for too long. I'll need to move on soon.

"Midori tanabiku…"

The school anthem is already playing. "I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!"

The gates have already been closed. I grip the metal bars, peering around warily.

"Ha! As if a stupid fence could keep me out!" I roll up the sleeves of my dress shirt, then remember with a start, and roll them back down. I glance around, sighing, and then sling my bag across my chest. I back up, rubbing my hands together.

I take one last look around, and launch myself at the gate. Landing on the other side, I glance back at the fence smugly.

Not!

Of course I can't get over it. Do you see any normal people my age jumping gates that high? What really happens is: I leap at it, hands scrabbling for a handhold before I lose my grip, falling back to the pavement. The result is: I look like a complete idiot.

Behind me, cars speed down the road, blasting me with gusts of hot air. I struggle to keep my skirt down with a great scowl on my face. The only thing I can do is pace back and forth in front of the gates.

"Ahh…Everyone is present…Except for one…Does anybody know…Asunake Kariya? Is she here?" Sensei asks.

Yamamoto looks around. Kariya? Yeah, he knew her. Not very well, though. She'd moved here about half a year ago, and although she had a wide circle of friends, no one seemed to really know anything about her.

He'd talked to her once or twice, and she was nice enough. But…she always seemed so distant, so self-important.

After a few minutes of struggling, I manage to pull myself up onto the top of the gate. I sit there, feet dangling off the side of the fence. I grin to myself, revelling in the glow of my success. But inside, I know that I'm just stalling—adjusting my bag, fiddling with my tie—trying to put off the inevitable.

"You're late."

"Hrm?" I look down. My eyes meet steel grey ones, glaring up at me. Then I notice the red armband. "Fuu…ki...? Fuuki…oh! Disciplinary Committee!" I scratch the back of my head. "My bad, my bad! My Japanese is still…iffy."

"Get down. You're an eyesore, and you're disrupting the peace of Namimori."

He's so unfriendly. I frown and call out to him, "Hey, what's your name?"

He returns the frown and answers haughtily, "The only name I'm getting here is yours, after I bite you to death."

"Bite…me?" I ignore his tone, opting to look at him curiously.

He pulls out a pair of tonfas. "Eep!" I wave my arms frantically. "H-Hey! It's just a misunderstanding here! I'm a—I'm a visitor!"

"A visitor?" He looks me over, taking in the school uniform, "You're a student here. First year."

"Booked," I grin somewhat abashedly at him, "I'll get to class now. Can I please go?"

"Get down," He answers with a blank expression.

I'll take that as a yes. I scoot back and forth on the rung, getting a sick sense of vertigo just from looking down from the gate—barely three metres high.

He's becoming irritated at my hesitance—it's evident by the scowl directed at me, "Get down now, herbivore, or shall I drag you down from there?"

I clutch my bag, and squeeze my eyes shut. My internal pep talk is interrupted by the feeling of the gate shuddering beneath me. My eyes flash open at the sensation, and realize that he's finally lost his patience. He opens the gate roughly, the abrupt motion forcing me to jump off.

It slams shut behind me as I land awkwardly, rolling my ankle. I crouch down, wincing as a streak of pain shoots up my leg. I cringe, but it passes briefly, and I straighten up, glaring at him.

He smirks. I don't have time to respond—he doesn't give me time to respond—as the first tonfa strike drives itself into my stomach.

"I don't like your attitude," He follows up with a vicious blow to my head.

My vision whites out as I spin around from the force of his blow, collapsing in a graceless heap on the dewy grass. I stay down for a moment, disoriented. My vision comes back slowly, and I shake my head to clear it.

"Wear the proper uniform next time, herbivore. And don't be late again," He warns in a menacing tone. He brings the tonfa down once more.

I raise my arm to fend off the hit. The blow glances off my forearm with a metallic sound.

He pulls back a bit, a look of mild surprise adorning his face, and I grin, getting shakily to my feet. "Oh…I see. You're Hibari Kyoya, The demon of Namimori! Fuuki Iinchou…Disciplinary head of Nami Chuu…ne?"

He raises an eyebrow at me.

I frown at his silent response, "Are you one of them?"

He composes himself quickly, smirking mysteriously, "Herbivore, get to class."

As he raises his tonfa to strike, I move to pull the concealed weapon from my sleeve, but with a sickening shock of fear, it gets caught on the cuff of my shirt. In that split second, my eyes widen, and I shrink back, but to no avail—the tonfa smacks me full in the face.

"And another rule. Only I'm allowed to bring weapons to school."

I go flying into the gate, back colliding with the iron bars. I fall onto the dirt path; dazed, I groan. My body throbs with pain. When I garner enough adrenaline to look back up, I find that he's already gone.

I snarl, picking myself up off the ground, pushing the scabbard back up my sleeve. I dust myself off and try to make myself look presentable, but what's the point?

That guy, he pisses me off! I smirk angrily and pop my collar, loosen the tie, and muss up my hair. Bring it, Hibari Kyoya!

Next time, I'll challenge you.

But upon reaching the door, I fix my clothing back up. I want to face him as an opponent, not as a bratty kid who's in trouble.

Taking a deep breath to steel myself (as well as giving myself a moment to think), I knock on the door to the classroom—Class 1-A—and wait.

I hear the muffled voices inside stop, and a shadow approaches, sliding the door open for me. The man has a stern look on his face. "Asunake Kariya?"

My shoulders droop, and I give him an innocent look. "Yes, sir. Sorry I'm late. I was caught up with something...urgent. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again!" I smirk internally. I didn't lie.

His facial features soften just a smidge. Bingo.

"Alright, come in. Just make sure it doesn't happen again. Introduce yourself to the class."

I walk up to the front of the class. It's time for a fresh start. How shall I project myself this time?

I smile at the students. "Good morning everybody!"

They return my smile, and some even mutter a reply back.

"I'm Asunake Kariya, but you can call me whatever you want. Just to let you guys know, I recently moved here...well, about a year ago...but my Japanese is still a bit...not good, so I won't use honorifics, because I don't want to get them wrong. I call everyone by name...so sorry if I come off as rude," I laugh. "Well...yeah," I look up at sensei, "Can I sit down now?"

"Yes...take that one," He points at an empty desk.

Glancing at their faces, I recognize Yamamoto and Sawada from elementary.

The class murmurs.

"She arrived late..."

"What nerve..."

"She referred to herself with 'boku'..." [1]

"Her uniform, too..."

"Look at her. She must think that she's above the rest of us."

Is that so? I sit down. So that's the kind of impression I gave...

I return Yamamoto's smile, and I begin my first day of middle school.

A/N:

[1] In case you were wondering, most girls refer to themselves as 'watashi' or informally, 'atashi'. And although 'boku' is a gender-neutral pronoun, mostly males use it (e.g. Hibari Kyoya, Irie Shoichi).

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