Chapter 33 Umbrellas, Mist, Rain, Clouds, and Sky
Chikusa Kakimoto silently observed the way Rokudo Mukuro interacted with the boy in front of her, who was called "Tsunayoshi." Mukuro-sama didn't try to hide it, but Chikusa could tell that he didn't seem to want "Tsunayoshi" to participate in the research institute's plans.
The contract between Rokudo Mukuro and them gave them a vague understanding of the boy's identity, but Lord Mukuro didn't reveal much. Chikusa only knew that this boy didn't belong here.
That's right. The boy named "Tsunayoshi" has eye sockets that are much deeper than theirs. He might be mixed-race. Those big eyes remind Chikusa Kakimoto of the exquisitely packaged candies that the researcher has on his desk. Last time, Inu secretly took a few back. That was the first time Chikusa had a real feeling about the sweetness in the book.
The person before him had brown eyes like the honey he had tasted before, a completely different style from the bitter and unbearable atmosphere here. Thinking that the candy would be contaminated, he immediately understood why Mukuro-sama did not want "Tsunayoshi" to come into contact with this place.
But if you don't want him to get involved, the best thing to do is obviously not to talk about these things in front of him, right?
In the faint connection between Kakimoto Chikusa and Rokudo Mukuro, he felt a more complex emotion. It wasn't just simple protection; rather, it seemed that Mukuro-sama wanted to drag "Tsunayoshi" into this hell and let him sink with them, but each time he tested him, he withdrew his hand first.
He couldn't understand.
The boy's body glowed with a light white light, and the presence of his soul made him look even more translucent. The dog licked its sharp teeth, like an ice cream candy, wanting to take a bite since it hadn't eaten enough for breakfast.
Sawada Tsunayoshi didn't say much today, perhaps because there were too many strangers here. After Mukuro finished speaking to him, he stared in one direction, lost in thought, his brows furrowed.
Rokudo Mukuro didn't pay much attention; they needed to refine their escape plan.
Sawada Tsunayoshi was there, but he didn't explain it very clearly.
It wasn't just about escaping, it was also his.
revenge.
"Xiao Gang? Wake up—"
Sawada Tsunayoshi woke up the moment he heard Hinata Shoyo's voice. He opened his eyes, sat up straight, and squinted again as the classroom lights made him squint. Hinata's worried face appeared before his eyes.
Sawada Tsunayoshi's bangs were all messed up from slouching for the entire class, revealing his clean forehead with red marks. He asked groggily,
"What time is it now?"
His friend touched his forehead with her palm to check his temperature, and became even more worried upon hearing this.
"School's out!"
"Huh?" Sawada Tsunayoshi was shocked. He turned around to look at the classroom and there were indeed not many people. Apart from a few students on cleaning duty, only he and Sho were in their seats.
"I slept the whole afternoon! The teacher still hasn't woken me up. Didn't they see I was sleeping?"
Hinata shrugged.
"I think the teacher must have seen it, since the seat is right at the front of the classroom."
"Xiao Gang, did you work too hard during the competition? I called you for a long time before you woke up. I almost had to take you to the infirmary!"
Sawada Tsunayoshi immediately shook his head, "The match was alright? It was mainly because the rainy weather was so comfortable that I fell asleep without even realizing it."
At this point, Sawada Tsunayoshi looked out the window. The sky was still covered with dark clouds, and raindrops were hitting the classroom glass, leaving streaks of water.
He stood up and started packing his things, while Hinata chattered away beside him.
"I borrowed something from the equipment room last week. How about I go return it now, and then Xiaogang, you pack your bag first, and we'll meet at the door?"
Sawada Tsunayoshi nodded, glanced at the math homework written on the blackboard, and stuffed the workbook into his bag to avoid looking at it.
When he changed his shoes and stood at the entrance of the teaching building, Hinata had not yet arrived. The equipment room was on the other side of the building, and it would probably take a while for him to come and go. Tsuna carried two umbrellas. Because he woke up a little late, most of the students had already left, and there were not many people here. He began to recall the dream he had just had.
He had tried so many times to enter the dream but failed, yet he easily dreamt of it while taking a nap in class. He scratched his head, completely baffled by the mechanism of this bizarre dream.
Mukuro and the others wanted to escape. Inu, that fierce-looking guy was called Inu, and he said he would wipe out everyone in the research institute, so they were definitely not just plotting an escape.
The people at the research institute did such bad things to them, and Mukuro wanted to take revenge. Sawada Tsunayoshi didn't dwell on this too much; he was more concerned about what Mukuro and the others would do.
The researchers were all adults. With their frail bodies, it was questionable whether they could even escape successfully, let alone retaliate against the people who conducted human experiments on them.
Sawada Tsunayoshi sighed, his feelings complicated. How could he help Mukuro and the others?
But he didn't even have the technique to get to Mukuro, and Rokudo Mukuro was unwilling to tell him his location. Besides, even if he could get there, he would only be a hindrance to Mukuro and the others.
Sawada Tsunayoshi was inwardly furious when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around, assuming it was Hyuga returning after delivering something.
It turned out not to be him, but a tall boy with black hair. Sawada Tsunayoshi recognized him; he wasn't a classmate of theirs, but probably a student from another class. He looked away.
But the boy stopped beside him and watched the heavy rain with him.
Tsuna tilted his head, looking at him in confusion. The boy noticed his gaze and laughed heartily.
"Well, I forgot my umbrella, hahaha!"
She can still smile so happily even without an umbrella!
Sawada Tsunayoshi peeked outside and saw that the rain was still quite heavy; if he went outside, he would probably be soaked in less than a minute.
But since the other person had already spoken, Tsuna felt awkward not to answer.
"What about your family? Will they come and bring you an umbrella?"
The boy shook his head, but there was no sign of disappointment.
"My dad is probably busy taking care of the customers at the store at this time, so he doesn't have time to bring me an umbrella."
"I see." Sawada Tsunayoshi looked at the two umbrellas in his hands.
Yamamoto Takeshi, however, did not ask to borrow his umbrella, and instead brought up another matter.
"As athletes, they really should avoid getting wet in the rain."
"Huh?"
“You’re carrying a volleyball bag, right?” Takeshi Yamamoto shook the baseball bag hanging on his back.
"If I get caught in the rain, I'm very likely to catch a fever or cold when I get back. It would be bad if I missed baseball practice because I was sick."
“A fever is indeed a difficult thing to deal with.” Sawada Tsunayoshi nodded, shocked that the first thing this person thought about when he had a fever was that he couldn’t play baseball. It seemed that he was the same as Hyuga, except that this guy had a baseball brain.
"Okay, you can use my umbrella first."
Sawada Tsunayoshi took out his transparent umbrella. Anyway, he had another umbrella, and if all else failed, he could share an umbrella with Hyuga to go home.
Takeshi Yamamoto froze, then took the umbrella.
"Are you really okay? I was thinking of waiting here until the rain stops so I could go home."
Sawada Tsunayoshi breathed a sigh of relief as he watched him close the umbrella. "What if the rain doesn't stop?"
"Then I'll just sleep in the classroom for the night."
"Eh!" Sawada Tsunayoshi couldn't help but look up at this guy several times. The guy still had a smile on his face, as if he had no idea how terrible he had just said.
"Pfft, hahaha," Yamamoto Takeshi laughed out loud, his surprise so obvious. "Just kidding. My dad knows to bring an umbrella to pick me up when I haven't come home yet."
"Oh right," Tsuna realized, muttering under his breath in an annoyed tone.
"If you sleep in the classroom all night, you'll definitely get sick, and then you won't be able to play baseball, so go home and rest early."
"That makes sense."
Yamamoto Takeshi seemed to be deep in thought when the sound of footsteps approached them from behind. Sawada Tsunayoshi immediately recognized the sound as coming from the Hyuga clan.
Hyuga leaped and clung to Tsuna, saying, "I'm all better now, let's go home!"
Sawada Tsunayoshi, still in that position, turned to look at Yamamoto Takeshi. Yamamoto Takeshi had probably already guessed that he was waiting for someone here, so he wasn't too surprised.
"Thank you for the umbrella. I'm Yamamoto Takeshi from Class 2. You're Sawada from the class next door, right?"
Sawada Tsunayoshi nodded. Wait, how does he know who I am?
"Okay, I'll return the umbrella to you tomorrow morning."
In the end, Tsunayoshi did not open Hibari's umbrella. Hyuga put his arm around Tsunayoshi's shoulder, and the two of them walked into the rain under Hyuga's umbrella.
Once outside the school, Sawada Tsunayoshi began to mutter.
"Yamamoto Takeshi, that name sounds so familiar."
"I know, he's from the baseball team!" Hinata had already recognized the boy from earlier.
"Xiao Xiang, you know him!?"
"I don't know him, but he's quite famous in fourth grade. A lot of girls brought him water during the sports meet."
"Oh, I see. Xiao Xiang, you know a lot of people."
"It's because you, Tsuna, don't care about what's going on around you!"
"No, I don't think so." Sawada Tsunayoshi's voice was a little softer.
Takeshi Yamamoto, who was still at school, opened the umbrella.
Sawada, Tsunayoshi?
Well, he's quite an interesting classmate. Today it was Yamamoto Takeshi's turn to clean. He's quite popular, and some classmates were willing to share an umbrella with him on their way home. However, he felt bad about making others wait for him for too long, so he declined their offer.
I was thinking that if all else failed, I would just put my backpack on my head and run home, but instead I saw the classmates that other people were discussing this morning.
Sawada Tsunayoshi himself may not be aware of this, but he is quite famous, although his reputation wasn't good before. People would hear things like, "This guy is at the bottom of the class again," or "He's late for class again today."
It seems like he's been playing volleyball quite well lately, and his reputation is improving again.
Well, maybe they'll have a lot in common.
In the building across the street, Hibari Kyoya leaned on the railing, taking in everything that was happening at the entrance of the teaching building. The sight of the three people standing together seemed to be so jarring that he almost couldn't suppress his urge to bite them.
Fortunately, they parted ways quickly. Hibari glanced one last time at the umbrella in Yamamoto Takeshi's hand, then looked away listlessly. Kusakabe Tetsuo stepped forward and handed over a list.
"Lord Hibari, this is a letter from the principal of Namimori Junior High School."
Lark nodded and walked back to the principal's office, making one wonder if he lived there.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Actually, I didn't initially plan to write an elementary school version of Yamamoto Takeshi because I felt it would be too easy to write him out of character (OOC). I planned to skip directly to the main story. However, characters 18 and 69 have already appeared, and even 80 is in Namimori. I feel like if I don't write it, I'll wake up one night and find 27 standing at my bedside, pitifully saying to me, "Everyone is my good friend."
It's written! (How could they eat and take things at the same time?)
These two chapters, number 18, seem to have a single, present role. [cat emoji]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
