Summary:
Hibari is realizing his feelings for Sakura and his possessiveness causes her and him to get in a bit of a fight. Can they sort out their feelings and continue to work together?
On New Years in Japan, families and couples visit the closest shrine to pay their respects and wish for a good year. Sakura on the other hand had issues with this every year as it only reminded her of that cold winter night where she lost her family. Although she had a new adopted family with her Yakuza, it still wasn't the same for her. The new year was approaching yet the Yakuza Princess continued to lie in her bed unable to will herself to get up.
Downstairs she could hear the excitement of the house as the other Yakuza members were already starting to drink and begin to party. She didn't mind the noise in fact, it was warm and welcoming. It was her that was choosing to be bitter about it.
Meanwhile at Namimori shrine Hibari's Disciplinary Committee was well underway keeping the residents safe and happy during the event. Those who wanted to cause problems were promptly delivered to Hibari for discipline. But Hibari was bored. Although there were a couple of people for him to beat up, they weren't anything like a certain Yakuza Princess who actually put up a fight. He messaged Kusakabe to see if said Yakuza Princess had arrived with her best friend. Kusakabe quickly replied saying he had seen Hinamori Yuna with her family but had not seen Yakumo Sakura. Hibari glared at his phone then back at the bodies. It was getting too crowded there anyways.
He wandered Namimori with no particular destination. So he grew annoyed with himself when he realized he had walked all the way to the outskirts of Namimori where the curious Yakuza princess lived. He could hear the party at her home about a block away. It was a holiday so he had no right to enforce a noise ordinance. That was until he noticed the girl that plagued his mind all evening standing alone on her balcony. He scoffed at how unusual it was for her to be so alone. Hibari pulled out his phone and called her.
Of course Sakura on the other hand was enjoying the quiet calm view of Namimori before the fireworks were to go off to celebrate the new year. So she nearly jumped a foot off the ground when her phone chimed. The Yakuza Princess fumbled to pull it out of her pocket and struggled even more to answer it. She didn't even get a chance to check the caller ID. "Hello?" she asked. "Yakumo. Are you at Namimori Shrine?" he asked her knowing full well she wasn't. "No Hibari. I'm actually at home. I didn't realize I was supposed to report for duty there." she said, surprised. She was supposed to have the day off. "I'll be there in 15 minutes. Make sure you're dressed appropriately." he ordered. "Hibari, wait..." she raised her voice but it was too late, Hibari hung up.
It was needless to say, that the cherry blossom was quite upset. She glared at her phone for a good minute before caving and figuring out what she was going to wear. There was the default school uniform that would please Hibari but she wasn't in the mood to try to be cute.
The young girl settled on a large sweater that fully covered her down to her knees, She wore a short skirt under it along with white stockings as it was very chilling this New Year eve night. Her hair bounced with every step she took down the stairs. It was easy to escape from the house as the new years yakuza party was going on loudly throughout the house. No one noticed the princess putting on her loafers instead of her heels as she wasn't really feeling herself.
Outside the main gate of the house, Sakura clutched her phone and looked around for Hibari. She quickly noticed him under the street light leaning against the wall waiting. She took off running towards him. "Hibari...." she greeted him. He glanced down at her taking in her outfit. He had never seen her so covered up yet not covered at all. "You're late" he said, standing up straight. Sakura looked down at her phone. "Not true. I had three more minutes" she retorted. He ignored her as he started walking back towards the shrine. With a bit of a huff she followed him walking next to him.
The walk was quiet and calm as the pair made their way through the somewhat quiet streets. There were lots of homes staying up listening to the New Year's eve special on their T.V.s and celebrating. Sakura looked up at the sky, noticing how it was getting cloudy and the stars started to disappear. "Are you cold?" The princess blinked and looked up at Hibari, surprised that he asked her such a caring question. "No. I'm okay." she muttered. He looked down at her and she did look warm and comfortable.
It would be odd for him to strike up a conversation with her of his own free will especially since it wasn't about work, the committee or their next sparring match but he couldn't help but wonder, "It's not like you to be so quiet." he pointed out to her. She didn't look up at him this time and continued to keep pace as she answered him, " I don't like winter, or new years or christmas." That was unusual to hear out of someone so cheerful. "Is it because of your legs?" she shook her head. "I lost my family in winter. The car accident happened on black ice due to snow...in winter. This season brings nothing but painful memories for me." she coldly reminded him.
He was surprised by her answer and had even stopped in his steps. Her feelings about the cold season really brought out a different side of her. It had been five years but it was clear that under the proud, bright, cheerful, strong girl, there was still a crying child who missed her parents. Hibari felt oddly compelled to hug her and protect her like a weak herbivore. He reached out to her but stopped when they heard the bells and fireworks of the New Year finally arriving.
"Ah I'm sorry Hibari. It's because of me we missed the New Year countdown at the shrine." she said, frowning as she looked back at him. He shook his head. "It's fine. Come on, the others will still expect us there." he told her as he continued on, his hands shoved in his jacket pocket. He would need to learn to control himself in thinking that this girl was a weak herbivore that needed protection. She nodded and followed after him.
The crowd at the shine had indeed dwindled down since the countdown was already done. They had dispersed to bars to get drinks to celebrate or headed home to warm up before falling asleep. Hibari was quite pleased with this development as there was no crowd to unravel his temper. Sakura on the other hand looked around admiring the now empty stalls. "I guess since we are here, I'll make a wish at the temple." she told him heading towards the stairs. HIbari nodded and followed her up.
Sakura made her way to the hand washing purification pool where she washed away any toxins that might turn her good intention wish into a bad one. She then pulled out a 500 yen coin and washed that as well since, her business was that of dirty money. She noticed Hibari standing there and frowned. "You're not gonna make a wish?" she asked him. He rolled his eyes. "You don't actually believe any of it is real do you?" he countered. This time she rolled her eyes. "It wouldn't hurt." He sighed and then followed in the same practice, washing his hand, then a 100 yen coin before he joined her by the rope bell.
They both rang their bells, clapped their hands together and made a wish. Sakura's wish : To never let anyone experience the hardships and struggles she had to endure. Hibari's wish : That Sakura would never have to suffer again. They pulled away just as Sakura's phone chimed. She opened it and read the message from Yuna. She smiled and wished her a Happy New Year back. It was past midnight, coming up to almost one am. Hibari knew this as well from the temperature change and the chill in the air. "I'll walk you back. It's getting late" he told her as he headed towards the stairs to head down.
The walk back to the Princess compound was much quieter than their walk to the shrine. Sakura turned to look at him. She was about to thank him for bringing her out of the house. That she was enjoying herself for the first time all season. But she was cut off by the white snowflakes that began to fall all around them. "Snow?" she asked, sticking out her hand and touching it. Hibari walked closer and stared as the water flakes fell on her warm hand and disappeared. She looked up at him, meeting his gray eyes. He looked down at her soft brown ones and noticed that she was actually shorter than him, something he didn't realize because she was always wearing heels. "We should hurry before it gets worse" he told her as he turned away to head back to her house. For some reason he felt like he was wearing a beanie because his head was feeling really warm. Sakura on the other hand nodded and quickly followed after him.
They could both see her brightly lit up house where the New Year's party was still going on strong. Sakura stood at the edge of the sidewalk as she looked both ways. She then turned to look back at Hibari. A bright smile lit up her face. Hibari's eyes widened. "Thank you Hibari for tonight. I had fun." She then turned her back to him, double checked that there were no cars and then crossed. She didn't look back. If she had looked back she would have seen that Hibari unconsciously took a step towards her and even reached out his arm, as if she was going to disappear from him. And for some reason that scared him. It was such an usual feeling that he called out to her, "Sakura!" Hearing her name she turned to look back at him. She opened the large wooden gate of her home and waved at him to let him know that she was going to be safe inside.
He stood there for a moment trying to comprehend what he was feeling. Why was he afraid of her disappearing? What would happen if something happened to her? This isn't the first time he was afraid of her disappearing either. He recalled that day she was absent and hadn't told him. Then there was that smile she had given him. She didn't smile like that with her friend Hinamori Yuna. No... she only smiled like that for him. He felt his heart starting to beat faster and he couldn't really understand what was wrong with him. He knew he wasn't sick as his body wasn't feeling sluggish.
He looked up at her bedroom balcony where he saw her turn on the light. He stood under the streetlight and looked up at her window. Took a moment but he saw her come out on the balcony where she held the railing with one hand and waved at him with the other hand. He smiled. Hibari Kyoya actually smiled for the first time in years with a real smile. Sadly it couldn't be seen due to the night sky and the bright streetlight. Sakura headed inside and Hibari took off down the road to head to his own home.
Maybe... just maybe, Yakumo Sakura left such an impression on the heartless committee leader that he considered himself finding a worthy rival and someone he could count on as well.
So much of an impression that Hibari had pondered over these strange feelings for the younger student for weeks. Spring had arrived and cherry blossom viewing was around the corner. Normally Hibari would attend such an event alone but this year he wanted to see it with a certain herborvie that didn't really need protection. He had even gotten some of the other disciplinary members up early to reserve a spot for them.
It was also soon to be the cherry blossom's birthday. He happened to be in town one day, when he saw a charm bracelet with little sakura's dangling. It was questionable but he ended up buying it as her birthday gift for her. He kept it in his pocket and oddly enough kept checking on it while he was waiting for her arrival.
His patience was interrupted by Tsunayoshi and his herd. A challenge was accepted and fights broke out due to the interesting's baby's recommendation. A loss and then Hibari felt something off about himself as he staggered away from the fight. It was like all the cherry blossom trees were taunting him. He felt light headed until he saw Sakura running up to him.
She was dressed in a proper kimono with a small bag hanging from her wrist. He pushed himself to stand up straight and not show her how weak he was feeling. That was until she was close enough that he could see the pattern on her kimono. This girl had the audacity to wear the same flowers of her name, on her kimono. A deep breath was taken and he held his breath feeling really nauseous. "Hibari?" he faintly heard her call his name. His sharp gray eyes met hers as he shoved the present into her chest. "You're late. I'm leaving" he told her, walking past her. Sakura on the other hand held the gift but turned watching him walking away confused.
It was too unusual for him to do such a thing that she called him by his distasteful nickname, "The viewing party hasn't even started, there's no way I'm late Hibi." she spat at him. He turned all his anger and frustration towards her. This girl who made him feel sick to his stomach, pissed him off, and confused about what was going on in his body had now dared to use that awful nickname. "I will not repeat myself." he managed to say leaving her there, with the cherry blossoms alone.
He had upset her too much to stay and enjoy the trees that she was named after. Instead she called Miki who responded by offering to kill Hibari for hurting her, but settled on picking her up instead. She had stayed by the main street and jumped in the car when he arrived. Miki, despite being a high school student, saw how upset she was. "How about we go on a date to cheer you up princess?" he suggested. Sakura had been looking outside the window as she spoke, "As nice as that would be, I rather go home. I don't want to be out anymore" she told him then looked down at her lap where she still had Hibari's present. Miki frowned. "Yes your highness." he said to her and drove her home.
Upon arrival the princess headed straight to her room where she locked the door. The maid who had dressed her had spent so much time making sure the Kimono was perfect. Kai who drove her a block away so she wouldn't be sweating when she met up Hibari, and her getting up early and preparing for this since he had invited her, was now all in vain. Sakura threw herself onto her four poster bed and sank into the mattress.
Things would be tense for quite a while. Hibari didn't dare to talk to Sakura until the summer festival. How did they manage this? By putting Kusakabe in a tough position. He was exhausted passing messages back and forth between Hibari and Sakura. Sakura, being prideful and stubborn, even went as far as refusing to see Hibari in his office. Leaving poor Kusakabe in the middle. The pair didn't even spar during their little fight. And every time Hibari would try to talk to her, she would avoid the phone. Then when he showed up at her house, she would magically be sleeping over at her best friend's house.
So Hibari got smart. He had Kusakabe get all the members up early without telling the cherry blossom. Then he would call Sakura while she was sleeping and wouldn't suspect him calling her. That was the plan at least.
That morning Sakura rolled over hearing her phone ringing. No one in her house dared to call her this early for the sun hadn't even risen yet. She reached to her nightstand and grabbed the vibrating chiming pink phone. Her cherry blossom charms jangled as she opened the flip phone and pressed it to her ear. "What?" she demanded in her groggy voice. "Yakumo, report to Namimori Shrine." Hibari Kyoya's voice demanded her. She sat up in her bed like toast and as she felt her face heat up. She pulled her phone away from her ear to see that indeed the caller ID was none other than the man she loves. "Hibari..." she muttered his name all flushed. "Did you not hear what I said?" he asked her, annoyed. "Uh... yes sir. I'll head there now" she told him. He hung up and she was flying out of bed yelling for Kai.
Kai came running up the stairs thinking something happened to his princess. He opened her bedroom door and was surprised to see her closet door opened. "Princess?" he called to her. "Hibari called and we need to get to Namimori Shrine right away. Prepare the car." She ordered him from her closet. He blinked surprised that the princess would jump to the summons of someone. "Yes Princess. I'll have breakfast ready for you in the car." He bowed and took his leave.
Sakura came out of her room not even bothering with tying her hair up. She was rolling up her uniform skirt as she made her way down the stairs. All the sudden she missed the step and was sliding down the stairs landing flat on her ass. A small scream had escaped her and when she landed, a large thump was heard throughout the house. Kai came out of the kitchen surprised to see her on the floor. "Princess?" He asked her concerned. "I slipped." she let out an annoyed groan.
She got up with a groan when she heard the chime of her phone causing her to stiffen up. "Princess if he's going to be this demanding then I would like to remind you that you are the leader of the Yakumo Yakuza. You are known among all the Japanese Yakuzas as a princess. You should not be subjected to answer the calls of some nobody." he told her, his voice holding a bit of contempt.
Sakura was barely paying attention to what Kai was saying as she read the text from Hibari asking her ETA. She typed as her fingers would let her, letting him know she would be there in 20 minutes. She made her way to the shoe rank at the door putting on her favorite pink heels. "Kai, let's go," she said, opening the front door. He sighed. "Yes princess." he told her following her out to the car.
Upon arrival, Sakura quickly got out of the car and looked back at her guardian, nodding her head just before she shut the door. Then she went over to a very annoyed Hibari who was tapping his foot. "You're late" he said. Sakura wanted to chuckle it off but decided to keep her mouth shut when she saw the rest of the disciplinary committee cleaning up and setting up booths for the summer festival. Sakura quickly followed Hibari towards the main steps of the shrine.
Despite the two not talking for a couple of weeks, they seemed to be okay together. Sakura would have to cave this time, after all the summer festival was an event that Yuna was looking forward to and Sakura didn't want to disappoint her. Plus it seemed that Hibari had finally calmed down as well. Sakura took a glance at him and saw his eyes were focused today unlike the last time they talked. She found herself, smiling a little bit.
Kusakabe smiled when he saw the two getting along finally. "Good morning Sakura-san." The right hand man greeted the princess. "Good morning Kusakabe-san," she said smiling. Hibari's nose twitched. "The summer festival starts tonight and there is much work to do." he stated to them. Kusakabe handed Sakura a clipboard. "You two are in charge of keeping it organized and getting vendors settled in." he gave them their orders. Both of them nodded their heads. "The festival will last for three nights. I expect nothing but perfection" he warned them. "I'll leave it to you." he said and took his leave. After all, there was much work to do.
The first night of the festival went off without any problems. Even the vendors paid their protection fee to the Disciplinary Committee. Yuna and Sakura arrived dressed up in proper Yukatas as many other girls were as well. Yuna was walking around stall to stall asking Sakura to win prizes for her. Of course the best friend obliged. Sakura used her Yakuza lessons and won Yuna a lot of prizes. Seeing the happiness on Yuna's face made it worth working hard that day for this moment.
"Ah Sakura, I'm hungry." Sakura looked over and Yuna. On queue, Sakura's stomach growled as well. They shared a giggle before the cherry blossom noticed the young Vongola leader and his familia selling chocolate bananas. "How about some chocolate bananas?" she suggested. Yuna's eyes lit up as she spun around to see the stall. "Yes!" she cheered and took off. The princess followed after her.
Tsuna looked over and saw Sakura and her friend. "Sakura-senpai, Hinamori-senpai!" the short brown hair boy greeted the two. "Two chocolate bananas" Sakura ordered. "Right away" he commented and turned around. Yamamoto smiled, "That'll be 1000 yen" he told her. Sakura opened her wallet and pulled out the exact change. "Thanks" he said. Tsuna came back at that moment and handed them the treat. "Thank you." he said. Yuna and Sakura both smiled and giggled then took their bananas. Their pair headed off. Yuna found another game to try out. Sakura followed her.
While Yuna was distracted, Sakura took the chance to do her duty and watch over the young Vongola leader. She noticed him alone and her eyes narrowed. It's dangerous to leave that much money with a single person. Especially with someone as dense as the Vongola leader. Sure enough Sakura saw the thief grab the lock box of the money and took off towards the shrine.
The Yakuza in her kicked in as she handed Yuna two thousand yen. "I'll be right back," she said, taking off after the thief as well. "Sakura?" Yuna called at her friend but held the money close to her.
Sakura ran through the crowd passing and moving through the small holes of people thanks to those years of dancing and gymnastics. Quickly she caught up with Tsuna and the thief where they were greeted by some older students. The princess stayed close to the edge of the stairs until she saw the older student pull out a butterfly knife and grabbed Tsuna.
"Those are dangerous and children shouldn't use them," Sakura said, grabbing the butterfly knife. The student looked quite annoyed and went to grab Sakura but she easily took the knife, flipped it a few times and then sliced a nice clean strike down the man's arm. He let out a screaming cry before he dropped to his knees cradling his arm. Sakura took this chance and stepped on him forcing him completely to the ground.
Tsuna was on the ground flat on his butt and scooting away, for he never knew that his senpai was scary. "Wao, what do we have here?" It was like a switch as Sakura bounced off the older student. "Hibari." she said cheerfully. Tsuna looked up at Sakura then back towards Hibari. The thought that Hibari and Sakura came to save him crossed his mind but disappeared as quickly as it arrived. "Good work Yakumo. Finding the thieves and gathering them for me is excellent work." Although that's not what Sakura did, she still took the compliment. "Thank you," she said smiling.
The older student wasn't having it as he stood up. "You three are fools. There's no way you can beat all of us." he said glaring at them. Sakura turned to look at the trash. She scoffed and took this moment to cut off her yukata just above her knees. This would free up her legs to properly fight. Hibari on the other hand held his tonfas in a very relaxed manner. The only one that looked out of place now was Tsunayoshi who was finally on his feet. Reborn shot Tsunayoshi which then made him ready for battle as well.
The three of them made a very interesting group as two were very hard hitting fighters, and one unpredictable fighter. They stood well on their own but there were still too many to defeat. Sakura felt Hibari against her back, the butterfly knife still open in her left hand. Hibari felt her back against his and somehow it was reassuring. "Don't back down now." he ordered her. "You don't get to order me around tonight, Hibi" she shot right back at him.
Small explosions went off causing all three of them to stand up a little. "Juudaime!" "Support has arrived" Gokudera and Yamamoto appeared through the thick smoke. Sakura slightly coughed as she adjusted her eyesight seeing the other members of Tsunayoshi's familia. Watching from afar Reborn was quite interested in how all of them would work together as a team.
The reward would be the money that these older teens stole. Hibari wanted it for the committee fines. Luckily Sakura also wanted the money for the boy she was crushing on.Tsunayoshi, Gokudera, and Yamamoto wanted to prevent Hibari and Sakura from getting the money.
The fight continued more intense than before. The Yakuza princess and Hibari were so in sync with one another that Hibari would strike above and Sakura would be seconds behind him attacking from below. Tsunayoshi's familia on the other hand struggled at first to stay in sync but as soon as they felt the grove of one another, they too took off even more in sync than the Yakuza princess and disciplinary committee leader. It took a bit of time, but all five of them won. The older teens were defeated and lying on the ground in a bloody pulp. Hibari was about to take the money when he felt Sakura's hand on his shoulder. He scoffed and went ahead to let the other three take the money. They went ahead to meet up with Kyoko and Haru to watch the fireworks.
Once gone Hibari turned his attention to Sakura with a bit of an attitude. She chuckled at him and pulled out her wallet which surprisingly didn't fall out of her obi. "You scare me sometimes with your expectations of me" she told him, pulling out two hundred thousand yen and handing it to him. He scoffed as he double checked the amount and nodded. "This will also cover the money for some of the other stalls." he told her, pocketing it.
The princess went to open her mouth to give him some sort of smart ass response when a firework went off right above them. "Ah." she said surprised and looked up at the fireworks going off one by one. Hibari too looked up and saw the fireworks. Usually he watched them alone but tonight he didn't mind Sakura's company.
Sakura was completely distracted by the fireworks but Hibari took a glance at her. He knew very well that the cherry blossom was annoying, aggravated him., entertained him, and helped him be a better fighter. Then he remembered how much it bothered him when he wasn't in contact with her, when he didn't know where she was, and when he had no clue where she was or what she was doing on his time.
The fireworks started to end and Sakura turned to look at Hibari. She had to get back to Yuna. When her brown eyes met his gray ones, he realized that he had been staring at her. "I need to head back. My friend is waiting for me." she reminded him. "Alright, you're excused." He agreed to release her. "Good night." she told him turning to head back to reality. Subconsciously he reached out for her. He didn't want her to leave all of a sudden. He wanted her to stay with him Even if it was just for another moment. "Saku..." but he was cut off by her ringing phone.
Sakura pulled out her phone and answered it. "Ah Yuna, sorry about ditching you. I got caught up in disciplinary stuff." She was quiet for a moment. "Yeah, I'm by the shrine. Let's meet at the bottom of the shine stairs." she commented giggling. She turned to look back at him, gave him a smile and waved bye to him as she disappeared out of sight.
It was at that moment that Hibari realized that he was too used to having the Yakuza princess by his side. It was at that moment that he realized he wanted Yakumo Sakura all to himself. It was at that moment that he no longer wanted to share her with anyone else, not even her best friend. It was at that moment a mixture of emotions surged through his body and mind. It was at this very moment that Hibari Kyoya fell in love with Yakumo Sakura and didn't realize it just yet. But one thing was for certain, Hibari Kyoya and Yakumo Sakura both were in love with one another and didn't know it.
Daily arc fin ~end of chapter 60
Notes:
This brings us to the end of the daily arc and the end of chapter 60 in the manga. Next chapter we will start Rokudo Mukuro arc. This arc we will see more of Yakuza Sakura and how her hobbies come into play with her as a Yakuza leader.