"HAYATO! WAKE UP WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!" Katrina screamed. She shook Hayato violently with her gloved hands. The bands on her arms jiggled crazily and she tackled him.
"OH MY GOD, WHAT?!" he shouted.
"get up fatass! We're gonna be late!" she hissed. Hayato rubbed his groggy eyes and yawned.
"fine... Hey... Where's all my dynamite?!" he cried, patting his chest. Katrina threw a few red sticks at him and then pulled her hair back.
"I came back and you were passed out on my bed. MY bed. And, best part here, you left the cigar still burning. So, I dragged you over to YOUR cot and stripped all the dynamite off you. You'll get it all back once you prove to me you're responsible enough to have it." she grumbled.
"you took all of it?" Hayato raised an eyebrow. Katrina nodded and balanced a stick on her finger before shoving it in one of her pockets. "god I feel violated right now..."
"well suck it up and put on your uniform or whatever." she ordered. Hayato rolled out of bed and pulled on a short sleeved dress shirt and a pair of dress pants.
"shouldn't you be wearing a uniform too?" he asked blatantly. Katrina rolled her green eyes and then frowned.
"don't have to as long as I don't get caught without it. You know how slippery I am, I can pull it off. Plus, polyester does not look good on me." she replied.
"what if the all powerful jackass Nezu says something? Then what?" Hayato said. He shoved a few books in his backpack coolly.
"then I'll work my magic. My magical magicness which rules over all of the school teachers." she grinned diabolically. "as demonstrated yesterday."
"uh-huh... Come on, let's get out of here." Hayato grumbled. Katrina bounced up behind him and nodded. She pulled out a piece of paper and pointed at a line of text.
"what's home economics?" Katrina asked. Hayato sighed and then pulled the paper away from her.
"its a cooking class basically. You should know, you signed up for it, didn't you?" he remarked, wading the schedule up and tossing it on the ground.
"cooking? Oh shit..." Katrina slapped her forehead. She disdainfully plucked the ball off the ground and then followed Gokudera out the door of the ware house.
"why? What's so bad about cooking?" Hayato mumbled, still rather tired and groggy from his rude wake up call.
"I suck at it. Seriously, I could burn water. The last time I tried to cook..." her voice trailed off and she clutched her stomach. Hayato stopped in his tracks and turned to face her.
"I know one person who is a worse cook than you..." he said, staring at her gravely. His stomach pulsed at the thought of the person he had in mind. A wave of nausea swept over him and he turned green.
"do you... I told you not to bring that up in your thoughts Hayato! Do you listen to anything I say?!" Katrina growled.
"you were the one who brought up god damn bad cooking!" Hayato snarled, sweat dripping from his face.
"oh so now it's MY fault?!" she demanded. Katrina grabbed his head and shook it with extreme force. "leave it to you to make this about me! Blame everything on someone else thats the Gokudera way! If you just went up to her and faced your fear it would all go away!"
"YOU THINK I HAVEN'T TRIED THAT ALREADY?! WELL NEWS FLASH! I HAVE AND THE RESULTS WERE NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND! SO MAYBE, FOR ONCE, YOU SHOULD TRY AND BE A LITTLE MORE COMFORTING THAN WHAT YOU NORMALLY ARE! MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY AND FACE YOUR FEAR OF WATCHING SOMEONE WHO'S JUST A LITTLE BIT VULNERABLE AT THE MOMENT! " Hayato screeched. Katrina stepped back. She placed a hand over her thin lips and then looked down. Katrina stayed stationary as Hayato thundered down the street. She sank down to knees momentarily, dirtying the edge of her neon green tee shirt dress. Katrina frowned deeply and furrowed her brow. Immediately, she sprinted after Hayato.
Katrina placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. He slapped it away with a growl.
"Gokudera..." she mumbled.
"what?! Did you come here to make fun of me some more?! Maybe give me another piece of Dr. Phil advice?!" he snapped, gritting his teeth.
"I'm sorry... It's just that... You're like my family... And whenever I would come to work all sad... You'd let me throw some of your dynamite and you'd cheer me up by getting angry and telling me to face him myself... You'd tell me I could overthrow him easily and then ask me why I hadn't yet... And since I never had anyone else to idolize or look up too... To act like or want to be like... I just tried to do what you did... I'm sorry, Hayato." she muttered. Her hair had fallen down letting large curls of dark brown gather around her shoulders. Hayato stared blankly at her for a few moments. Her eyes cut deeply into his mind, like a saw blade into an inattentive man's fingers. She kept her gaze straight with his and frowned. No matter how hard he tried, Hayato could not stay mad at her. Not only had he raised her like a sibling, he also had a rather large soft spot for her. Especially her eyes. They seemed to claw at you and tear away at your anger or happiness, depending on her mood. Katrina's big, bright, green eyes seemed to envelop Hayato slowly. They swallowed him up until, as expected, he felt no need to be angry with her.
"you just need to work on reading how people will react more..." he murmured. Katrina wrapped her arms around him gingerly. He patted her back and smiled to himself.
"I'm just not used to being the shoulder to cry on. But I'll get better, I swear. I really am sorry Hayato, you know I am... Right?" she whispered.
"right..." he retorted. The first bell sounded and Hayato grabbed her wrist. "come on, let's go."
"thanks Hayato..." she whispered.
"oh, I forgot, how did your deal go last night?" he asked, lighting a cigarette. Katrina cackled evilly and then grinned. She reached into the side of her boot and pulled out a few small packets. Each was filled with white powder and blatantly marked 'cocaine'. Katrina then reached into her other boot and pulled out a wad of hundred dollar bills.
"you brought cocaine to school?! Don't be such a dumbass!" Hayato cried.
"no, actually this is just powdered sugar in cool see through packets. I found it at some diner I went to last night after the deal. I was bored so I labeled them cocaine. If I have a client, I might sell them off as the real deal. I've heard you can't tell the difference if you're desperate enough. Plus, if I throw them in with regular cocaine to make the packets seem heavier, I can make even more money and they'll never know the difference!" she winked. Katrina shoved the packets back into her boot and tossed the wad of bills to Hayato.
"those are real though. There's like three or four K in there."
"fuck... You made this much off one crate of crappy machine guns?" he said.
"yep! It's an arms dealers job to sell less for more. And I'm really good at over selling things so they seem better than they are! Gianni always told me, 'they're five point eight million guns in circulation at the moment, that's about one gun per every twelve people. A dealers question is, how do we arm the other eleven'. That was our motto. Arm the other eleven... I miss him... But anyway! You over sell everything you can! You heard me talking about the pistols I made the other day with 10th, right?" Katrina mused. She plucked the money out Hayato's hands. She smiled at it and shoved it down into her boot.
"of course," Hayato pushed through the main doors. "so you exaggerate things to get more dough?" he threw his backpack down by his locker.
"yeah, basically. If you really want to hear more about the rules of the dealing game, I'll tell you all about it tonight!" Katrina beamed. She kicked her locker open and shoved everything inside. Katrina ripped out a binder and a tattered notebook with 'English, Math, Science' scrawled on it. Next to the subjects was a drawing of a pudgy dinosaur eating someone, Hayato throwing a stick of dynamite, and Reborn with his gun aimed at Tsuna. Underneath her other scribbles was a large doodle of herself surrounded by money, guns, and candy. A few stains on the cover made it obvious she had been drinking soda while studying and hadn't cared to wipe up the spill.
"tonight as in a date?" Yamamoto Interrupted, placing and arm around Hayato.
"oh HELL no." Hayato snarled, pushing Takeshi's arm away. Yamamoto laughed and then smiled.
"I'm just kidding! Who are you? Are you that Kat girl I've heard so much about? The one who single handedly overthrew Nezu yesterday?" he asked kindly.
"yep! You must be Takeshi Yamamoto! I heard about you from Hayato!" she extended her hand. Takeshi took and shook it heartily.
"oh so you know Hayato too?" he grinned.
"yeah! I'm the other member of the Vongola family." Katrina paused. "I'm Katrina Castorini. But, if you like, you can call me Kat candy."
"oh! So Tsuna's cousin pulled you into that crazy little game too?" Yamamoto inquired. Katrina nodded joyously and then laughed.
"yeah, if you want to call it a game. You're on the baseball team right? The star, correct?" she smiled.
"I wouldn't say I'm the star. Baseball is a team sport so everyone has to work together to do a good job. There really isn't a star in baseball. I just do my best to win is all." Yamamoto chuckled.
"that's a very smart thing to say! I like you! Here," she pulled out a licorice whip and handed it to him. "take one of these."
"thanks! Well I better get to my next class! See you soon! Bye Hayato!" Yamamoto waved. Katrina waved back as well, smiling.
"he's so cute! And so sweet too! Normally I hate guys like that but he's an exception!" she cooed. Hayato slapped his forehead and grumbled.
"he's just an annoying air head. A pussy too... Him and his stupid baseball bat and his stupid little baseball hats... Makes me sick..." Hayato growled.
"jealous!" Katrina cried.
"I'm not jealous of that!" Hayato protested, putting enough venom in the word 'that' to kill and elephant. He scowled and then made a low growling sound.
"jealous! Jealous, jealous, jealous, jealous!" Katrina sang and sprinted down the hallway. Hayato chased after her, waving his arms.
"I'm not god damn jealous!" he shouted. Katrina disappeared into a classroom and Hayato followed in a disgruntled manner.
After a few mind numbing hours of English and science, Katrina headed for home economics. On her way to the classroom, she received a few high fives from random people who'd been in Nezu's class the other day. Each one either giving her a nod of approval or winking. Katrina slipped into her seat in home ec. and then pulled out her notebook. She scribbled a picture of Yamamoto with his baseball bat smiling proudly. Katrina shaded in his messy hair and then smiled, as if approving her own work.
"alright class! Today we have two exciting treats!" the teacher began. "first off, we're going to be making rice balls! And second, we have a new student! Her name is Katrina Castorini. Would you please come up here Katrina?" she asked. Katrina strode up to the front of the classroom and held her hands out before slapping them down on her thighs.
"are we done now?" she raised an eyebrow.
"well, why don't you tell the class a little about yourself first?" the teacher suggested.
"hi, I'm Katrina. I'm from Italy I don't like real food. I live off candy, are we done NOW?" she grumbled. Katrina crossed her arms defiantly and then tapped her feet impatiently against the tile floor.
"is that all you have to share?" the teacher replied.
"okay, look, this isn't kindergarten I'm not four and neither is anyone else in the class. Sorry to break it to you, whatever your name is, but this is high school. Grow, up." she snapped. Katrina smiled and floated back to her seat. She flipped open her notebook and drew a very violent picture of her teacher, Mrs. Holmes, getting stabbed.
"that is unacceptable behavior Katrina! But, because this is only your first full day, I'm letting you go with a warning." Mrs. Holmes frowned. Katrina flashed her a fake smile and a thumbs up. "now, let's get on with today's activities..." the teacher continued on in further detail but Katrina paid little heed. She continued to draw in her ratty book. First a picture of Tsuna as a giant fish, which made sense to her considering his name had tuna in it. Then a picture of Reborn and Leon scowling angrily at Lambo. A drawing of Hayato being surrounded by a giant explosion also graced the pages of her book. And finally, a full picture of the Vongola family. Including Reborn, Tsuna, Takeshi, Hayato, and herself.
"to your stations everyone!" Mrs. Holmes screeched, interrupting Katrina's Idle doodling. "Katrina, you'll have to work alone in the back kitchen. I'm sorry. Please don't mess anything up."
"aye aye Holmes!" Katrina chimed. She marched towards the very back kitchen and then grinned. An evil plan began to brew in her mind as she emptied a few of her pockets. One with bottles of coca cola, one with bottles of snow cone flavoring, and one with gummies. A diabolical expression spread across her face and she cackled. First, Katrina boiled some rice. Once it had been prepared, she boiled down a few bottles of coke and pulled the sugar packets out. She took what was left in the pot and dumped it into a cup measure. Katrina divided the gooey liquid evenly for four bowls. Then, she rolled a few gummy bears and gummy worms into each rice ball. Finally, she placed each ball into a bowl and coated the top with powdered sugar. Katrina grinned and then balanced the bowls on a platter. With only five minutes left in the period, she hurried out to the teacher.
"here you go." Katrina smiled, handing Mrs. Holmes a bowl.
"what IS this?" she asked, repulsed by the lump of white rice standing in a pool of sugary syrup.
"it's special! I made it myself, by my own recipe." Katrina winked. "try it Mrs. Holmes!"
"um... A-alright..." the teacher frowned. She stared at the bowl gravely and then pulled out a spoon. Mrs. Holmes prodded the brown substance at the bottom. She gathered up a small taste of the sticky goo. Katrina held back laughter as the teacher lifted the spoon to her mouth. She tasted it and then shrugged.
"it's sweet, a nice change from what I normally have." Mrs. Holmes said. She then pressed the spoon into the rice ball carefully. Mrs. Holmes pulled off a chunk, taking a few gummy bears with it, and then gulped. Katrina stifled giggles again and watched with eager eyes. The teacher chewed thoughtfully and then nodded. A smile danced on her lips as she swallowed and then Mrs. Holmes went back for more.
"it's really a revelation! Sweet and sticky with the savory rice undertone. I like it Katrina! A plus!"
"really?! I cooked something?!" Katrina beamed.
"something good too. I'm sure the boys will be snatching your balls up." she nodded. Katrina let out a cackle at the teachers statement and then she scurried back to her seat. The girl carelessly toyed with a spoon and gnawed on it. Katrina then popped a gumball into her mouth and chewed. It tasted sickly sweet and like watermelon. She sucked the flavor in and rested her head on her hand. Katrina began to drift off, slowly falling into a dream. She was standing on a giant cupcake, the rest of the Vongola family surrounding her.
"I, Reborn, officially make you, Katrina Castorini, a guardian of the head of the Vongola family." Reborn said. The rest of the family cheered and congratulated her. "though she was never a Vongola, she is a great hitman and an amazing arms dealer. It Is with the highest honor that I allow her to watch over Tsuna and the Vongola family." he finished. Hayato clamped a hand on her shoulder and smiled calmly. Another hand was put on her shoulder and behind her was adult Lambo. One of his green eyes was shut but he was wide awake. Katrina hugged the man and then hugged Gokudera.
"CLASS DISMISSED!" Mrs. Holmes screeched. Katrina snapped her head up quickly and she slammed it on the back of her chair. She grumbled and then picked up her notebook and rice balls. Katrina stalked out of the room and to her locker. She swung it open and tossed in the book before pulling out a well made knife. It's handle was the tail of a dragon and Katrina smiled at her work. She tucked the knife into one of the pockets on her dress and then walked away. She followed the other home economics students into the cafeteria tiredly. Having been up most of the night, dealing with a new client, she hadn't gotten much sleep. Purple and black bags lay under her bright eyes and she sighed. Most of the others dispersed to hand out their rice balls, mainly to the boys or girls they liked. Katrina wandered over to Hayato, Tsuna, and Yamamoto. She held up the platter with a grin.
"who wants to eat my balls?!" she shouted. Hayato and Takeshi started cackling and marched over to her.
"what exactly is that?" Hayato asked, slightly disgusted.
"boiled down coca cola. I also put gummy bears in the rice balls. Enjoy!" Katrina grinned.
"are they safe to eat?" Yamamoto inquired, poking the ball of rice and sweets. Katrina nodded unsurely.
"somewhat, yeah." she answered.
"I guess I'll try one..." Hayato shrugged. He grabbed a bowl and stared at the glop in the bottom.
"me too..." Yamamoto also picked up a spoon an a bowl.
"HEY TSUNA! WANT TO EAT MY BALLS?!" Katrina shrieked. Tsuna snapped his head over to see the ecstatic girl waving. He shook his head and then wandered away.
"oh 10th... He'll learn about me yet he will." she giggled. Hayato ignored her comment and dug his spoon into the hardening goop at the bottom. He sniffed it cautiously while Yamamoto had already tasted it.
"that's actually pretty good. Its different, I like that." Yamamoto smiled. He put another spoonful in his mouth and gave Katrina a thumbs up. Feeling challenged, Hayato immediately shoved a ton in his mouth. The sickly sweet taste enveloped him in a fog of candy flavor. He narrowly avoided gagging and managed to swallow the concoction.
"delicious," Hayato lied. "I could eat bowl after bowl of this stuff... It is so different but it is so good." he continued in monotone. Katrina moved her head close to Hayato's and then frowned.
"you don't have to lie about it, jealous." she whispered.
"what was that?" Yamamoto inquired, over halfway through the dish.
"nothing, Takeshi. What do you think?" she smiled warmly.
"it is really delicious, like Hayato said, and it's also really different from the normal rice balls." he replied. Katrina cackled under her breath as Hayato nearly choked himself shoveling the rice into his mouth. He was undoubtably trying to outdo Yamamoto and would go to any lengths to do so.
"amazing," Hayato belched, handing back the bowl. "splendid! They really have a nice sweet over taste and then have a good savory under taste. Very, very, good."
"mhmm...COUGH Jealous COUGH." she taunted. Hayato gave her a death stare and frowned.
"not..." he whispered under his breath.
"thanks for your balls Katrina. You should come by sometime and watch one of my games." Yamamoto laughed. He patted Hayato's shoulder and then walked back over to Tsuna. Hayato followed in an angry fog, dragging his feet and crossing his arms. Katrina danced by Hayato and then put her lips to his ear.
"jealous little Gokudera. All he wants is to be Yamamoto and to be actually cool." she whispered softly.
"cool my ass, he's just a stuck up brat..." Hayato growled back.
"a cute stuck up brat, though." Katrina winked.
"whatever..." he grumbled. Katrina whisked away, carrying the last rice ball and planning to eat it herself. "you should come by and watch one of my games sometime... Dick..." Hayato mocked softly.
"say something Gokudera?" Yamamoto asked.
"nothing at all..." Hayato snarled. Meanwhile, Katrina had walked over to an empty table and stretched out her arms. She yawned and then picked up a spoon.
"hey... Are you, that Katrina girl?" someone inquired. Katrina blinked and then tiredly nodded.
"yeah, I was the one being mean to Nezu yesterday." she mumbled.
"hi, I'm Ryohei Sasagawa. I'm the leader of the boxing club and you should join!" he grinned.
"oh! You guys have a boxing club here?!" she asked, waking up a bit more.
"yeah it's totally extreme! We need some more members. You know, strong and passionate people who are willing to stand up and fight! I heard about you from a few other people who happened to be in Nezu's yesterday, I figured that someone brave enough to stand up to that guy would be perfect for my club." Ryohei said enthusiastically.
"sounds awesome! I'd love to join!" Katrina agreed.
"NEED MORE." Tsuna roared. Katrina and Ryohei snapped their heads up. Tsuna was clad only in a pair of boxers and a spout of fire was spewing out of his head. Katrina grabbed the final rice ball and ran. Tsuna sprinted after her, arms outstretched and reaching for the bowl of food. He tackled her and clawed for the rice ball. Katrina shoved her boot into his face and gritted her teeth.
"NO. MY RICE BALL." she cried. Tsuna waved his arms around, desperately trying to grab the food. His stomach growled loudly and Katrina pushed him away.
"I don't want to hurt you but if you keep this up I will kill you!" she threatened.
"you can't kill the 10th..." Hayato protested.
"well then I suggest you remove him from my area!" Katrina shouted
"food..." Tsuna moaned. Slowly, the puff of fire disappeared and Tsuna slowed. "why is your foot in my face?"
"because you were trying to eat MY rice balls. That's why." Katrina replied. Tsuna moved away and then looked down at himself. He turned bright red and then ran from the cafeteria. Most of the children burst into laughter and pointed at him. Katrina brushed herself off coolly. She headed off to her locker as the bell rang.
after a few more slow hours,
Katrina jumped from her seat and thundered to her locker. She peered at her watch and then grinned.
"Hayato! I need your help." Katrina clamped her hand down on his shoulder.
"with what?" he asked. Hayato turned around, a few books in his hands.
"aww! You look so cute and scholarly!" she sang. Katrina poked his nose and smiled. Hayato swatted her hand away.
"so what's the problem?"
"well, the deal I made last night was great and the guys there asked me for a repeat deal. I need you to help me make it look like I'm sick so I can go home." Katrina beamed. Hayato sighed and then scratched at his head.
"okay, what do you want me to do?" he smiled deviously. Hayato remembered the wad of cash in Katrina's boot and he hungered for more.
"just take me to the office and play along okay? Then I'll meet you back at the warehouse after you finish the school day." she cackled.
"wait," he grabbed the back of her shirt. "who says I don't want to go along? It's not like Nezu actually teaches us anything and my other classes after this are easy as Hell."
"ohh, I see." Katrina winked. "in that case, here's the plan. You take me up to the office and say that I'm sick. I'll act really out of it and I have some green face paint in my locker I can use. Then, I want you to take the remains of my rice ball and keel down by the trash can. Drop the rice ball goo inside and then make some moaning sounds. I'll take a few other bits of rice ball and do the same thing. That way, they'll have no idea we aren't actually sick. After they start asking us if our parents our home we'll tell them that my mom is a single parent and a nurse and that your dad and mom are both teachers at a nearby university and they can't be interrupted for something like this. They'll probably ask us if there's anyway we can get home. Say yes and that we can walk back together. But tread lightly on your exact dialogue because this might go wrong..."
"I'll make sure it won't. Is the deal going to be dangerous, though?" Hayato inquired cautiously.
"I'm only trading weapons like grenades and mini guns for cocaine and cash, what do you think?" she rolled her eyes.
"perfect... Can I have my dynamite back?" he grinned. Katrina shoved a hand in her locker and pulled out a few handfuls of dynamite. "holy shit you brought it to school?!"
"I'm not one for being practical." she winked. Katrina tossed the explosives to Hayato and laughed.
"what's so funny?" he said.
"no one here thinks it's real is what's so funny," she paused to cackle. "no one even cares."
"let's go, put that face stuff on." Hayato ordered. He shoved the dynamite in his pockets and in his shoes carelessly. Katrina pulled a small box out of her messy locker and flipped it open. She pulled out a disk and clicked that open as well. Katrina pulled out a small brush and dabbed it on her cheekbones.
"get down here." she barked. Hayato followed her order and kneeled beside her. Katrina daintily painted a few smudges of green on his cheeks. She snapped the disk shut and then shoved it into her locker. Katrina pulled out the rice ball and the spoon from earlier. She whipped the goo together and then grabbed a few handfuls of it.
"put your arm around me." Hayato said.
"why? I don't want my arm near you." Katrina protested, snickering. "plus I have all this crap in my hands."
"just put your arm around me, it'll make it look like your actually sick and woozy." he replied, stretching his hand out. Katrina placed a handful of the glop in his palm and then smiled.
"like playing with mud but worse." she noted. Katrina placed her arm around him and groaned. She clutched her stomach with her free hand and let her mouth hang open slightly.
"oh god, are you okay? You look horrid." Yamamoto asked, approaching the two.
"no... My stomach hurts and I'm really dizzy." she lied, smiling weakly.
"yeah, thanks to your shitty rice balls were both in the rung." Hayato commented.
"oh you feeling suk too Gokudera? I don't feel a thing. Sorry about that... Anything I can do?" Yamamoto frowned.
"no, we're just heading up to office to go home. Thanks though." Katrina moaned.
"well, I'll see you two later than. Bye Katrina." Yamamoto smiled. He waved and then waltzed away.
"bye Katrina, I'm gonna go be stupid and play baseball..." Hayato mocked, sneering. Katrina slapped the side of his head, causing some rice to fall from her balled fist.
"don't be mean, he's nice. Jealous." she smirked.
"I am NOT jealous of him." Hayato stamped his foot.
"jeal-ous." she sang. Hayato growled and then jerked her along. They hobbled into the office and then set their plan into action.
"can I help you?" a secretary asked.
"yes, my friend Katrina is feeling rather ill." Hayato replied. The secretary, who was wearing a bright orange moo moo dress and was extremely large, lowered her glasses.
"should I call your parents Hun? Or do you just want to lie down?" she inquired. Her voice was nasally and she had rows of wrinkles all over her face. Katrina thought she looked a lot like a pug dog and stifled a giggle.
"my moms a nurse and she doesn't use her cell phone at work, so you can call her but she won't answer." she lied.
"I see... Well," the secretary's voice was also thick with a southern accent. "I guess you should just lie down then."
"alright..." Katrina mumbled. She cursed silently and nodded at Hayato. He nodded back and then prepared himself.
"oh god..." Hayato muttered. He clutched his stomach and then plunged his head into the trash can. Hayato dropped the rice ball goo inside and made retching noises.
"h-Hayato!" Katrina cried. She followed his lead and also collapsed onto her knees. Katrina shoved her head in the waste bin and scooped out the concoction of rice and sweets.
"oh my god. You guys need to get home immediately. Mr. Jason! Get in here and take this trash can out!" the secretary squealed. A husky looking custodian grumbled and stalked in.
"why?" he growled.
"these children just got sick all over it! It's covered in germs! Take it! Take it please!" she screeched. The custodian rolled a pair of blue eyes and then pushed Katrina and Hayato away. He grabbed the can and peered in.
"god, no wonder your sick. What the hell did you eat?!" he snapped.
"I made rice balls today in h-home economics... That was probably it... I'm sorry Gokudera!" Katrina cried. The disgusted custodian dragged the bin away angrily.
"alright then, tell me both your names I'm calling your parents." the secretary demanded. She was an obvious germaphobe and Katrina got an evil idea.
"okay," Katrina pretended to sneeze and cough a few times. She clutched her stomach and fake gagged three times. When she looked up the secretary had an extremely weak expression on her face. "oh dear... I think I'm going to be sick again!"
"oh dear! Um okay! Just go! Go! Go right now! I'll contact your parents later just get home and in bed! Do not come back until You are fully rested and completely healthy! Take the entire weekend and wash all your bedding and clothing! Don't touch anyone or anything around here! Go! Go!" she cringed. The busty woman took out a package of Lysol disinfectant spray and wipes. She washed down her entire desk and then sprayed the area around her. The secretary put on a pair of gloves and shoved Katrina and Hayato out of the office. She threw the gloves on the ground and then put her hands on her face in disdain. Katrina and Hayato hurried away and then burst into hysterics.
"did you see her face?!" Katrina cackled. Hayato slammed a fist into her shoulder, eyes teary from laughter.
"fuck yes I did!" he screeched. "priceless."
"oh Hayato that was beautiful! It was beautiful I tell you! Poor Yamamoto and Tsuna! They didn't get to enjoy that..." Katrina mused. She pulled some candy out of her pockets and gnawed on it.
"yeah, but not so bad for Yamamoto... He's to much of a goody goody to enjoy that. Pussy..." Hayato growled. He kicked a small pebble off the side walk and grumbled something inaudible under his breath.
"don't be so mean," Katrina slammed her body into his. "he's just a nice guy. Kudos on the acting by the way!" she cracked her knuckles and then punched the trunk of a tree. Katrina's bright eyes were beaming with enthusiasm and evil thoughts.
"thanks, not to bad yourself." Hayato smiled.
"ah! Here we are! My beautiful little shack. Oh how I love thee." she cooed. Katrina stepped on the sheet of metal again and the gate slid open. She danced inside and dragged Hayato along with her. Katrina carefully weaved her way through more booby traps, Hayato in tow. She threw the warehouse doors open and took a deep breath.
"the life of an arms dealer..." she beamed. "washing down five courses of hot lead with a napalm cocktail."
"you could put it that way." Hayato commented on her odd analogy. Katrina ignored him and simply led him towards her personal room. She swung another door open, revealing another area of the warehouse. The cement floor was littered with candy wrappers and scraps of metal. A few pounds of C-4 lay in the corner and a couple crates containing unknown supplies were stacked on a giant bed. Katrina ripped open a closet and pulled Hayato inside. She spun around a few times and then flicked on a light. Rows of shirts and dresses filled the walk in closet nicely.
"why are we in here?" Hayato asked, prodding a box.
"because silly! In arms dealing you dress for success. Suits, formal dresses, gloves, ties! All of that gorgeous stuff! Here," Katrina paused. She dug around in the back of the closet and pulled out a suit which hung in a dry cleaning bag. It consisted of a pair of black slacks, a black coat, a black tie, and a white dress shirt. Katrina also grabbed a pair of rat pack shoes and held them out for Hayato. "these are yours." she smiled.
"why do you have them?" Hayato inquired. He plucked the outfit out of her hands.
"well, remember a little while back? Right before you left for here? The day we went out for dinner and ran the sting on that other guy. You wore that suit and I wore this." Katrina dug around for a moment. She pulled out a black dress with thin straps. It was bunched up at different points and had a medium sized black bow on the top. Hayato immediately remembered the last few days he'd spent in Italy. The two had gone crazy those last days. They'd taken down at least seven targets together. The final mission they had done together had been taking down a courier for another mafia. He was carrying an important document with information about plans for taking down the Vongolas on it. But, instead of following orders and delivering the message on time, he'd stopped for a nice dinner. Hayato and Katrina had both hurriedly dressed up for the occasion. They'd rushed to the restaurant in their formal attire. They had followed the man out behind the cafe and shot him. However, the message they'd found had been extremely anti climatic. It had only been a few drawings and a rough sketch of a plan for world domination.
"I remember, how could I forget?" Hayato replied, snapping back into the present.
"it was an extremely memorable occasion, was it not? God, I sounded really British just then..." Katrina mumbled. Hayato laughed and unbuttoned his school shirt.
"I'll be right back Hayato! Just have to change. Don't come out of this closet until I say so." Katrina said. She floated out of the room, holding the black dress. Katrina flamboyantly changed into the formal outfit and then wallowed through a sea of candy wrappers to reach the mirror. She flattened it out a bit and then groaned. Katrina hated fluffy girl dresses like that one. The only kinds of girly things she liked were skirts and that was only when they were short and bright colored. She brushed it off and then let her hair down. A few disgruntled briefings later, she knocked on the closet door. Her spiked gloves made an odd screeching sound against the metal and she giggled.
"it still fits, unfortunately." Hayato grumbled, also unhappy about the attire. He slid the door open without much effort and then grinned.
"I feel like we're bringing sexy back, you know?" Katrina beamed.
"no, I really don't understand what you're saying." Hayato remarked.
"come on, I'll explain on our way there. Tuck your necklace in." she swatted her hand at him.
"no..." Hayato protested. Katrina groaned loudly and then whipped around. She grabbed the silver dog tag necklace and then shoved it down his shirt.
"dress well and we'll actually get somewhere with these guys." she mumbled.
"why? Explain to me why we have to dress so well for this." he asked.
"god Hayato," Katrina carefully selected a box and shoved it at him. He stumbled backwards under the immense weight of the crate and grunted softly. "allow me to tell you why. If we were to go in our normal street clothes, you in one of your shirts and a pair of jeans an me in my usual bright and colorful attire, they would probably think we were joking. No one makes a deal with someone who's not serious. That's like trying to talk to a clown, it's pointless. And the other reason is that this way, we let them know we are professionals. If we weren't badass and serious looking, we'd just look like a couple junkeys who got their grubby hands on some Uzis. No, no... We have to portray what we sell. What are guns Hayato? They are powerful, they are intimidating, they are sexy, they are seductive. Right now, do we not show all of these qualities? Are we not as good as the guns I sell?"
"okay... I see your point now." Hayato agreed. Katrina pulled out two pairs of sunglasses and put one on Hayato's crate. She slid the others over her eyes and then nodded to herself. Katrina paused by another mirror near the front door and she tossed a curly strand of hair out of her face. She slipped the sunglasses onto Hayato and then smiled at him.
"we are so hot right now." Katrina beamed. She swung her arms out wide and then danced from the warehouse.
"i am really hot in this, it's like four hundred degrees out here..." Hayato complained. Katrina stopped in her place and swung around. She stuck a finger in Hayato's face and growled.
"don't sweat in that suit Hayato... Don't sweat in that suit."
"um, I don't think that's really something I can help." Hayato shrugged. He adjusted the box in his hands and grunted.
"oh, hey, before we get there I should tell you how this is going to go down." Katrina said.
"that might be nice..." Hayato huffed.
"you have your cell phone right?" she asked.
"yes, I have my cell phone with me." he sneered.
"alright, here it is. The warehouse the deals going down in is just a bit farther south. What's going to happen is this. You and I walk kind of slow so it looks really cool to the other guys. That's the first thing right there. You have to walk like slow motion right before a bomb goes off in a James bond movie. Then, we go inside with the crate and talk to the big man. He'll ask us some questions about the guns and then probably do a test run. After he's done and he gives us what we came for, we just walk home. But not in James Bond slow mo. Oh! And I want you to talk in like a Swedish accent, something really badass. Got all that?" Katrina grinned. She ripped open a chocolate bar and happily gnawed it.
"Swedish accent? Really?" Hayato groaned.
"yep! Like a rich Swedish brat. Oh! And take out your cell phone like it was vibrating and pretend to answer it. Say something like, 'come' or 'we must go my sweet.'" Katrina beamed. Her eyes were now great pools of excitement and joy.
"god... Okay, is this the place?" he pointed toward another abandon warehouse. A single light was on and Katrina nodded.
"slow motion time in one, two, three..." she narrowed her eyes under the sunglasses. Hayato began walking at a decently slow pace and Katrina followed. "we must look so badass right now!"
"this does probably look pretty cool." Hayato smiled.
"NO smiling!" Katrina hissed.
"what? Why?" he said, confused.
"because straight faces let them know we're really serious." she replied hastily. By then, the two had made it to the warehouse doors. A man, who also wore a nicely tailored suit, opened the door.
"Kat candy, we meet again. But who the friend?" the man said.
"a business associate. I needed someone to hold the crate, did I not?" she retorted.
"come have him put it down inside. Then, have a drink with me I like to know who I'm working with." he ordered.
"we don't drink, sorry." Katrina remarked. The man led Hayato inside and pointed to a spot on the floor. Hayato dropped the crate and then crossed his arms.
"oh, I suppose that's right. Well, in that case, have some non alcoholic wine, I insist." he grinned. Katrina, now weary, moved closer to Hayato.
"if the man insists..." Hayato said, voice thick with accent. Katrina nearly lost her cool at that. She held back wild cackles just barely.
"yes, darling, if the man insists." Katrina danced her fingers around Hayato's face. His first impulse was to smack them away but he restrained.
"come then! Come to my table please." he led them to a small circular table. The man pulled the seat out for Katrina but did nothing to help Hayato. He then disappeared into another room. The man came out with a bottle of wine, which neither Hayato nor Katrina knew was actually alcoholic, and set it down. He ripped the cork off with his bare hands and then poured each of the tables residents a glass.
"so tell me about yourself, Mr. Business Associate. How could Katrina possibly use you?"
"I only hold crates for her and occasionally money. I own a few offshore bank accounts and fake identities. She also uses me for many other purposes." Hayato said, playing up the Swedish accent a bit too much. Katrina nodded along with his statement and then smiled.
"yes, Mr. Business Associate is a very helpful man." she cooed.
"I see, where do you come from?" the man asked.
"I come from Sweden." Hayato lied. He took a sip of the fine wine coolly. Katrina followed his example and also gulped down some wine. It was bitter but still good.
"Italy, I worked there as a hitman and an arms dealer. Ask anyone." Katrina said. The man folded his hands together and then leaned back.
"I did, I called up a few friends from Italy. I came from there too. And what I found was that you had a business associate back then named smoking bomb Hayato. I was curious so I had a photo sent and is the man in this picture not Hayato Gokudera?" he held up a small photo. In it was Katrina, arms wound around Hayato and Hayato's arms around her waist. That picture had been from the night they'd killed the courier. The two had needed a somewhat non suspicious way to be out back when the courier left. So they'd pretended to be young lovers. The second the courier had walked past, they had pulled out their guns. And that had been the end of it. But how someone could have obtained a photo like that baffled the two. Katrina gritted her teeth and Hayato balled his hands into fists.
"it is in fact Hayato Gokudera." she growled.
"and this man, sitting here, does he not look like Mr. Gokudera?" the man inquired.
"I am Hayato Gokudera." Hayato stood up. He let his voice go back to normal.
"and I'm Katrina Castorini." she also stood.
"we're both from Italy." Hayato said.
"we're both hitmen." Katrina beamed.
"and you are both romantically involved, are you not?" the man asked. He stood up and threw the table down. "and, you are now both liars. I will not work with liars, no I will not. So prove to me you speak the truth."
"and how are we supposed to do that?" Katrina asked.
"well, I have profiles on both of you. Profiles that tell me everything about you. I bought them from the Vongolas saying I was a potential client. Now, let's begin with you Ms. Kat Candy." the man said. He snapped and a group of what seemed to be minions brought the man a laptop.
"fire away, my friend." Katrina sneered. She sat lightly on the crate she'd brought. Hayato joined her coolly.
"first Boyfriend." the man Said.
"Lambo Bovino." Katrina remarked.
"you dated crybaby Lambo?" Hayato asked in monotone.
"it's a long story but he's totally hot in ten years." Katrina winked.
"truthful. Now it's your turn, smoking bomb. Name any siblings you have." the man said.
"bianchi... That's all." Hayato cringed. Katrina patted his hand lightly and then smiled.
"untruthful. She's only your half sister," the man pulled a gun from his belt. He aimed it at Hayato's head and then laughed. "that doesn't count. Since that was untruthful... Now I have to kill you. I dont like liars. Not one bit. My mom was a liar, a cheater. She was always with men other than my dad, she was unfaithful. So, I ran away. She didn't take any part in raising me and she was constantly fighting with my dad. I came here to start my own mafia, I might say, not to toot my own horn but, it's going very well. Anyway, since you lie and cheat, you will die." he cocked his gun and cackled. "bye bye, smoking bomb." the man slowly pressed his finger down. He savored every second of that power. The god like feeling of controlling a persons life filled him like water fills a sponge. Hayato winced and didn't move. "open your eyes. I want to watch your face as you die." Hayato followed the order and opened his gray eyes. The next thing he saw was Katrina's giant spiked boot slamming into his face.
"that's for giving me goddamn bad cocaine douche bag!" she shouted. Katrina flexed her foot just right so the bottom spike shot out. They stabbed through the man's head, killing him instantly. A swarm of guards enveloped the two immediately. Hayato jumped from his perch on the crate, still slightly stunned, and pulled out a lighter. Katrina grabbed the man's pistol with determination and then looked around. Over twenty henchmen surrounded them and any pursuit seemed hopeless.
"fire at will." one hissed. Hayato backed up, stick of dynamite held in his hand, and bumped into katrina.
"Hayato," she whispered urgently.
"what?!" he growled.
"the guns don't work. I fixed them specifically so they wouldn't. The boss sold me bad cocaine so when he wasn't looking, I ripped out a few vital components. On the count of three, jump onto that crate then, throw some unlit dynamite and make a run for the door. Once we're out, the rest will be easy. Ready?" she whispered extremely quietly.
"one, two, THREE!" Hayato shouted. Katrina slammed her right leg into a man's chest, allowing a path for Hayato. She punched another in the temple, shoving the knuckle spikes into his head. Hayato chucked an unlit stick of dynamite down and a few henchmen ran. Katrina heard the sound of guns clicking unsuccessfully as she pried the dead body off her gloves. Hayato was already half way down the street by the time she reached the door. Katrina got down on all fours and went thundering after him.
"oh my god. H-HOLY SHIT!" Hayato screeched. He collapsed onto the ground and Katrina fell onto his chest.
"took the words right out of my mouth." she panted.
"WHAT THE?! HOW THE?! ... FUCK!" Hayato shouted. He leaned his head against a tree trunk and slapped his face. "did that REALLY just happen?!"
"yes, I'm pretty sure because there's brain goo all over my glove spikes! And there's blood on my boots! I need to go clean my self off!" Katrina slapped her face as well.
"holy shit Katrina. We just killed three guys and mortally wounded one. H-how are we going to explain this exactly?!" He gasped. Katrina smiled weakly and then laughed.
"we don't have to explain it to anyone... Not unless a cop comes by and starts interrogating us." she grinned. Hayato also started laughing, a kind of weak cackle broke the silence. The two of them began to giggle and grin as though they were on drugs. They worked themselves into hysterics over her statement. An easy going feeling washed over the couple like a wave and they simply laid on the sidewalk. Katrina peered at her watch, still chuckling.
"it's only one, let's go do something." she said. Just then, a police patrol car rolled up to them. Katrina froze in her place and shut her eyes tightly. Hayato grimaced, staring up at the shiny car. The policeman rolled down the window and frowned.
"so, what're you two doing out here? Shouldn't you be in school?" he grunted. Hayato glanced around nervously, considering the fact they'd just killed three men, and then pointed to Katrina.
"w-we're sick. The office sent us b-back early. My friend fainted and I can't get up." Hayato stuttered. He winced at the stupidity of his story and then cursed under his breath.
"oh god is she okay?!" the man cried.
"oh yeah! She's fine. You see, she has this terrible disease where she faints really often. It's called fainting disorder. She'll wake up in a second, no worries." Hayato lied.
"oh, I see. Do you maybe need a lift then? I can take you two home." he offered.
"no! We're just fine thanks. I'll get us home." Hayato protested.
"well, alright. I'm trusting you right now and if I find out you ditched school, I'll be really unhappy." the policemen replied. He rolled up his window and drove away slowly. Katrina snapped her head up the second her was gone. She exchanged a strange glance with Hayato and then the two burst into hysterics again. They stumbled down the street, ramming into each other occasionally.
"god I can't believe what just happened." Hayato mused, stumbling on the sidewalk.
"I know man! Thats was INSANE!" Katrina cackled. She slammed her foot down on the scrap metal and the gate slowly screeched open. Katrina bounced off the fence and rolled before extending her hands out at the perfect time. She sprung into the air and then cartwheeled across a large gap. Katrina slowed and then danced through a field of mines. Once finished jumping about, she pressed a few buttons and entered a code.
"COME ON FATASS! SECURITYS DEACTIVATED!" she shouted. Hayato wearily walked to the doors of the warehouse. Katrina flicked the lights on and then landed face first on the cot.
"make room..." Hayato grumbled. He shoved Katrina off the bed and flopped down instead. She opened her eyes slowly and noticed a small figure under the bed. It had huge black hair and two small horns on each side of it's head. The creature was wearing a suit with cow print on it, complete with a tail.
"LAMBO?!" Katrina shrieked. The little boy remained asleep, snoring loudly. Katrina pulled his tail and slid him out from under the bed. She poked his stomach a few times and the boy woke up.
"Katrina!" he grinned. Lambo clamped his arms around her joyously.
"why are you here Lambo?" she asked, stroking his hair. Lambo curled up in her arms happily.
"I'm here to kill Reborn! That way I can prove I'm good enough to be the boss of the Bovino family!" he cheered. Hayato flopped over to face upwards and then sighed.
"because last time you tried that it worked out so well." he grumbled. Katrina flicked him in the ear and frowned.
"be nice Hayato! Lambo is such a sweet little thing. He's so cute and fluffy!" she cooed.
"you know, I've always wanted to see what you look like in ten years!" Lambo pulled out a bazooka. He aimed it at Katrina's head and she dove away.
"no! No! And Hell, NO!" she growled.
"why?!" Lambo asked, waving the weapon around.
"because I don't want anyone to see me. I want it to be a surprise!" Katrina cried. Lambo began to sniffle. A tear formed under his eye and he started to pout.
"tolerate..." he muttered. Katrina slapped her forehead and groaned. Lambo burst into tears and had a tantrum. After five minutes of extremely loud crying, she finally gave in.
"fine..." Katrina huffed.
"fine what?" Lambo sobbed. Katrina ripped a piece of her dress off and walked over to the little boy. She daintily wiped away his tears and then sighed.
"you can shoot me with the ten year bazooka..." Katrina kicked the ground. Hayato laughed and then grinned.
"this'll be good." he said sinisterly. Katrina stuck her tongue out at him and stood up. Lambo grabbed the bazooka, beaming. He aimed it carefully and then shot at Katrina. A puff of hot air swept over the warehouse and a plume of smoke exploded. Hayato and Lambo leaned foreword expectantly. As the smoke cleared, it revealed a small pile of ashes.
"did you KILL her?!" Hayato spat.
"the ten year bazooka isn't capable of killing anything! But it does have flaws..." Lambo trailed off. Hayato, speechless, stared at Lambo. His eyes angry and burning bore holes into the boys forehead.
"really, Lambo? You just killed the only person-" something slammed down from above and cut Hayato off in mid sentence. The cot snapped and a puff of dust went up in the air. A soft hand was wrapped around Hayato's throat and a huge set of spikes were aimed at his eyes. He gasped for breath as his vision cleared.
"Katrina?!" he panted. The girl, who now sat atop him, bore insane resemblance to Katrina. She had the same brown hair and beautiful green eyes but something was different. Her face was thinner, her legs were longer, and her gloves were now extremely threatening, if they hadn't been so before.
"oh hey Hayato! What's up?! Sorry about this, I thought you were a target. Did that crazy little Lambo shoot me with his bazooka?" she waved. Adult Katrina removed the claws from his face and her hand from his neck. It was now that Hayato noticed the presence of a claw like scar running across her neck.
"y-yeah... Wow you look different." Hayato commented.
"you do too... You look way different in the future! And you too Lambo! You're quite the stunner at fifteen. Though I always knew you would be. Remember way back when we used to date? Crazy times those were..." she mused. Adult Katrina offered Hayato her hand but he refused. The huge claws and spike jutting from it were rather deterring. "oh! I forgot to put my hand claws away. Fucking bitching aren't they?! Eight inches long and freaking epic! And check this out!" she pressed a button and they sucked in until they were the length and size of her normal glove spikes.
"Katrina! You're so different in the future!" Lambo cried. Adult Katrina swung him up into her arms and smiled. She tickle the boys belly and then poked his nose.
"and you're so adorable! You haven't changed a bit in the future, except for the fact you're totally hot! Hayato looks different in the future too! But I won't tell you," she leaned foreword until her nose was pressed again his. "because it's a secret! And I don't want to spoil what happens for you! It's such a surprise. You are not going to believe it! I know I didn't when it happened." she paused to wink. Adult Katrina helped him up and then cackled.
"what's this 'it'?" Hayato brushed himself off. Adult Katrina burst into laughter and then patted his gray hair.
"it's a secret, like I said." she grinned. Another puff of smoke went out and then normal Katrina was back.
"whoa! Holy shit! The future is so cool!" Katrina beamed. She swung Lambo into her arms and then put him on her shoulder.
"what happens?!" Hayato inquired, now brimming with curiosity. Katrina poked his nose and then smiled.
"what happens in the future, stays in the future. What did future me look like?!" she asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"fat, ugly, what normally happens to someone who eats candy all the time. Unibrow, mustache, all that stuff." Hayato lied.
"I thought she looked pretty!" Lambo smiled. He balanced precariously on the top of her head and then toyed with a hand grenade.
"I think you look pretty too, Lambo!" Katrina crooned. She grabbed him and wrestled him down onto the floor. Katrina tickled his stomach endlessly and grinned. She wiggled her fingers all over him until he couldn't breathe.
"do you have any food in here?" Hayato asked.
"of course I have food! I'm not poor!" she boasted. Katrina grabbed his hand and led him to her room. She ripped open a refrigerator and pointed inside. The fridge was filled with soda, jelly, some assorted candies, and what seemed to be marshmallow cream.
"you call that food?" Hayato said blankly. Katrina places her hands on her hips.
"frankly, this is all I eat. That's how I got the nickname dumbass!" she retorted. Hayto pulled open the freezer and peered in. Containers of ice cream filled it and a few tumbled onto the floor. Katrina tossed them back in and quickly slammed the door.
"god... I'm starving and you don't have any real food. How do you even live on that?! You should be a shitty mess!" Hayato cried.
"I'm different is all... I'm special!" she piped.
"exactly, special as in freaking retarded." Hayato grumbled.
"guys! I have an awesome idea!" she shouted. "let's go to like IHOP or something! And get those pancakes that have gummy worms on them!"
"we don't have IHOPs here, dumbass." Hayato said.
"what's IHOP?" Lambo asked, cocking his head. Katrina plucked him up and held him.
"IHOP stands for international, or so I thought, house of pancakes." she smiled.
"okay, I'm starving right now so let's go find a restaurant before I kill you both." Hayato snapped. Lambo pulled out a hand grenade and threateningly held it up.
"you won't lay a hand on me or Katrina!" he ordered.
"aw, you do love me!" Katrina said, she tickled his cheeks like a mother with a newborn and cooed. Katrina had always acted like a mother for Lambo, especially back in Italy. She had raised him and helped him when his real parents didn't. Katrina had a huge soft spot for the boy and would protect him with her life.
"please can we go get something to eat?" Hayato groaned, taking a different approach on the matter.
"its only two thirty and I'm not going to risk getting caught by the cops. Oh! And I just remembered, Yamamoto asked me to go watch him practice after school." she grinned evilly. Hayato let a growl escape his lips.
"oh HELL no are we going to watch that douche bag practice." Hayato snarled.
"no one said you had to come." Katrina shrugged. She smirked and then licked her lips. Katrina pulled out a bag of gummy worms an began to munch on them.
"well then what am I supposed to do while you're gone?" Hayato snapped.
"get some food with Lambo maybe, I don't know." she cackled. Hayato cracked his knuckles and sneered.
"god I hate you..." he growled.
"and I love you! Now watch Lambo while I wash off my gloves and boots. Once I'm done we can probably go out and walk to the school." Katrina waved and walked out the door.
"OH MY GOD, WHAT?!" he shouted.
"get up fatass! We're gonna be late!" she hissed. Hayato rubbed his groggy eyes and yawned.
"fine... Hey... Where's all my dynamite?!" he cried, patting his chest. Katrina threw a few red sticks at him and then pulled her hair back.
"I came back and you were passed out on my bed. MY bed. And, best part here, you left the cigar still burning. So, I dragged you over to YOUR cot and stripped all the dynamite off you. You'll get it all back once you prove to me you're responsible enough to have it." she grumbled.
"you took all of it?" Hayato raised an eyebrow. Katrina nodded and balanced a stick on her finger before shoving it in one of her pockets. "god I feel violated right now..."
"well suck it up and put on your uniform or whatever." she ordered. Hayato rolled out of bed and pulled on a short sleeved dress shirt and a pair of dress pants.
"shouldn't you be wearing a uniform too?" he asked blatantly. Katrina rolled her green eyes and then frowned.
"don't have to as long as I don't get caught without it. You know how slippery I am, I can pull it off. Plus, polyester does not look good on me." she replied.
"what if the all powerful jackass Nezu says something? Then what?" Hayato said. He shoved a few books in his backpack coolly.
"then I'll work my magic. My magical magicness which rules over all of the school teachers." she grinned diabolically. "as demonstrated yesterday."
"uh-huh... Come on, let's get out of here." Hayato grumbled. Katrina bounced up behind him and nodded. She pulled out a piece of paper and pointed at a line of text.
"what's home economics?" Katrina asked. Hayato sighed and then pulled the paper away from her.
"its a cooking class basically. You should know, you signed up for it, didn't you?" he remarked, wading the schedule up and tossing it on the ground.
"cooking? Oh shit..." Katrina slapped her forehead. She disdainfully plucked the ball off the ground and then followed Gokudera out the door of the ware house.
"why? What's so bad about cooking?" Hayato mumbled, still rather tired and groggy from his rude wake up call.
"I suck at it. Seriously, I could burn water. The last time I tried to cook..." her voice trailed off and she clutched her stomach. Hayato stopped in his tracks and turned to face her.
"I know one person who is a worse cook than you..." he said, staring at her gravely. His stomach pulsed at the thought of the person he had in mind. A wave of nausea swept over him and he turned green.
"do you... I told you not to bring that up in your thoughts Hayato! Do you listen to anything I say?!" Katrina growled.
"you were the one who brought up god damn bad cooking!" Hayato snarled, sweat dripping from his face.
"oh so now it's MY fault?!" she demanded. Katrina grabbed his head and shook it with extreme force. "leave it to you to make this about me! Blame everything on someone else thats the Gokudera way! If you just went up to her and faced your fear it would all go away!"
"YOU THINK I HAVEN'T TRIED THAT ALREADY?! WELL NEWS FLASH! I HAVE AND THE RESULTS WERE NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND! SO MAYBE, FOR ONCE, YOU SHOULD TRY AND BE A LITTLE MORE COMFORTING THAN WHAT YOU NORMALLY ARE! MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY AND FACE YOUR FEAR OF WATCHING SOMEONE WHO'S JUST A LITTLE BIT VULNERABLE AT THE MOMENT! " Hayato screeched. Katrina stepped back. She placed a hand over her thin lips and then looked down. Katrina stayed stationary as Hayato thundered down the street. She sank down to knees momentarily, dirtying the edge of her neon green tee shirt dress. Katrina frowned deeply and furrowed her brow. Immediately, she sprinted after Hayato.
Katrina placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. He slapped it away with a growl.
"Gokudera..." she mumbled.
"what?! Did you come here to make fun of me some more?! Maybe give me another piece of Dr. Phil advice?!" he snapped, gritting his teeth.
"I'm sorry... It's just that... You're like my family... And whenever I would come to work all sad... You'd let me throw some of your dynamite and you'd cheer me up by getting angry and telling me to face him myself... You'd tell me I could overthrow him easily and then ask me why I hadn't yet... And since I never had anyone else to idolize or look up too... To act like or want to be like... I just tried to do what you did... I'm sorry, Hayato." she muttered. Her hair had fallen down letting large curls of dark brown gather around her shoulders. Hayato stared blankly at her for a few moments. Her eyes cut deeply into his mind, like a saw blade into an inattentive man's fingers. She kept her gaze straight with his and frowned. No matter how hard he tried, Hayato could not stay mad at her. Not only had he raised her like a sibling, he also had a rather large soft spot for her. Especially her eyes. They seemed to claw at you and tear away at your anger or happiness, depending on her mood. Katrina's big, bright, green eyes seemed to envelop Hayato slowly. They swallowed him up until, as expected, he felt no need to be angry with her.
"you just need to work on reading how people will react more..." he murmured. Katrina wrapped her arms around him gingerly. He patted her back and smiled to himself.
"I'm just not used to being the shoulder to cry on. But I'll get better, I swear. I really am sorry Hayato, you know I am... Right?" she whispered.
"right..." he retorted. The first bell sounded and Hayato grabbed her wrist. "come on, let's go."
"thanks Hayato..." she whispered.
"oh, I forgot, how did your deal go last night?" he asked, lighting a cigarette. Katrina cackled evilly and then grinned. She reached into the side of her boot and pulled out a few small packets. Each was filled with white powder and blatantly marked 'cocaine'. Katrina then reached into her other boot and pulled out a wad of hundred dollar bills.
"you brought cocaine to school?! Don't be such a dumbass!" Hayato cried.
"no, actually this is just powdered sugar in cool see through packets. I found it at some diner I went to last night after the deal. I was bored so I labeled them cocaine. If I have a client, I might sell them off as the real deal. I've heard you can't tell the difference if you're desperate enough. Plus, if I throw them in with regular cocaine to make the packets seem heavier, I can make even more money and they'll never know the difference!" she winked. Katrina shoved the packets back into her boot and tossed the wad of bills to Hayato.
"those are real though. There's like three or four K in there."
"fuck... You made this much off one crate of crappy machine guns?" he said.
"yep! It's an arms dealers job to sell less for more. And I'm really good at over selling things so they seem better than they are! Gianni always told me, 'they're five point eight million guns in circulation at the moment, that's about one gun per every twelve people. A dealers question is, how do we arm the other eleven'. That was our motto. Arm the other eleven... I miss him... But anyway! You over sell everything you can! You heard me talking about the pistols I made the other day with 10th, right?" Katrina mused. She plucked the money out Hayato's hands. She smiled at it and shoved it down into her boot.
"of course," Hayato pushed through the main doors. "so you exaggerate things to get more dough?" he threw his backpack down by his locker.
"yeah, basically. If you really want to hear more about the rules of the dealing game, I'll tell you all about it tonight!" Katrina beamed. She kicked her locker open and shoved everything inside. Katrina ripped out a binder and a tattered notebook with 'English, Math, Science' scrawled on it. Next to the subjects was a drawing of a pudgy dinosaur eating someone, Hayato throwing a stick of dynamite, and Reborn with his gun aimed at Tsuna. Underneath her other scribbles was a large doodle of herself surrounded by money, guns, and candy. A few stains on the cover made it obvious she had been drinking soda while studying and hadn't cared to wipe up the spill.
"tonight as in a date?" Yamamoto Interrupted, placing and arm around Hayato.
"oh HELL no." Hayato snarled, pushing Takeshi's arm away. Yamamoto laughed and then smiled.
"I'm just kidding! Who are you? Are you that Kat girl I've heard so much about? The one who single handedly overthrew Nezu yesterday?" he asked kindly.
"yep! You must be Takeshi Yamamoto! I heard about you from Hayato!" she extended her hand. Takeshi took and shook it heartily.
"oh so you know Hayato too?" he grinned.
"yeah! I'm the other member of the Vongola family." Katrina paused. "I'm Katrina Castorini. But, if you like, you can call me Kat candy."
"oh! So Tsuna's cousin pulled you into that crazy little game too?" Yamamoto inquired. Katrina nodded joyously and then laughed.
"yeah, if you want to call it a game. You're on the baseball team right? The star, correct?" she smiled.
"I wouldn't say I'm the star. Baseball is a team sport so everyone has to work together to do a good job. There really isn't a star in baseball. I just do my best to win is all." Yamamoto chuckled.
"that's a very smart thing to say! I like you! Here," she pulled out a licorice whip and handed it to him. "take one of these."
"thanks! Well I better get to my next class! See you soon! Bye Hayato!" Yamamoto waved. Katrina waved back as well, smiling.
"he's so cute! And so sweet too! Normally I hate guys like that but he's an exception!" she cooed. Hayato slapped his forehead and grumbled.
"he's just an annoying air head. A pussy too... Him and his stupid baseball bat and his stupid little baseball hats... Makes me sick..." Hayato growled.
"jealous!" Katrina cried.
"I'm not jealous of that!" Hayato protested, putting enough venom in the word 'that' to kill and elephant. He scowled and then made a low growling sound.
"jealous! Jealous, jealous, jealous, jealous!" Katrina sang and sprinted down the hallway. Hayato chased after her, waving his arms.
"I'm not god damn jealous!" he shouted. Katrina disappeared into a classroom and Hayato followed in a disgruntled manner.
After a few mind numbing hours of English and science, Katrina headed for home economics. On her way to the classroom, she received a few high fives from random people who'd been in Nezu's class the other day. Each one either giving her a nod of approval or winking. Katrina slipped into her seat in home ec. and then pulled out her notebook. She scribbled a picture of Yamamoto with his baseball bat smiling proudly. Katrina shaded in his messy hair and then smiled, as if approving her own work.
"alright class! Today we have two exciting treats!" the teacher began. "first off, we're going to be making rice balls! And second, we have a new student! Her name is Katrina Castorini. Would you please come up here Katrina?" she asked. Katrina strode up to the front of the classroom and held her hands out before slapping them down on her thighs.
"are we done now?" she raised an eyebrow.
"well, why don't you tell the class a little about yourself first?" the teacher suggested.
"hi, I'm Katrina. I'm from Italy I don't like real food. I live off candy, are we done NOW?" she grumbled. Katrina crossed her arms defiantly and then tapped her feet impatiently against the tile floor.
"is that all you have to share?" the teacher replied.
"okay, look, this isn't kindergarten I'm not four and neither is anyone else in the class. Sorry to break it to you, whatever your name is, but this is high school. Grow, up." she snapped. Katrina smiled and floated back to her seat. She flipped open her notebook and drew a very violent picture of her teacher, Mrs. Holmes, getting stabbed.
"that is unacceptable behavior Katrina! But, because this is only your first full day, I'm letting you go with a warning." Mrs. Holmes frowned. Katrina flashed her a fake smile and a thumbs up. "now, let's get on with today's activities..." the teacher continued on in further detail but Katrina paid little heed. She continued to draw in her ratty book. First a picture of Tsuna as a giant fish, which made sense to her considering his name had tuna in it. Then a picture of Reborn and Leon scowling angrily at Lambo. A drawing of Hayato being surrounded by a giant explosion also graced the pages of her book. And finally, a full picture of the Vongola family. Including Reborn, Tsuna, Takeshi, Hayato, and herself.
"to your stations everyone!" Mrs. Holmes screeched, interrupting Katrina's Idle doodling. "Katrina, you'll have to work alone in the back kitchen. I'm sorry. Please don't mess anything up."
"aye aye Holmes!" Katrina chimed. She marched towards the very back kitchen and then grinned. An evil plan began to brew in her mind as she emptied a few of her pockets. One with bottles of coca cola, one with bottles of snow cone flavoring, and one with gummies. A diabolical expression spread across her face and she cackled. First, Katrina boiled some rice. Once it had been prepared, she boiled down a few bottles of coke and pulled the sugar packets out. She took what was left in the pot and dumped it into a cup measure. Katrina divided the gooey liquid evenly for four bowls. Then, she rolled a few gummy bears and gummy worms into each rice ball. Finally, she placed each ball into a bowl and coated the top with powdered sugar. Katrina grinned and then balanced the bowls on a platter. With only five minutes left in the period, she hurried out to the teacher.
"here you go." Katrina smiled, handing Mrs. Holmes a bowl.
"what IS this?" she asked, repulsed by the lump of white rice standing in a pool of sugary syrup.
"it's special! I made it myself, by my own recipe." Katrina winked. "try it Mrs. Holmes!"
"um... A-alright..." the teacher frowned. She stared at the bowl gravely and then pulled out a spoon. Mrs. Holmes prodded the brown substance at the bottom. She gathered up a small taste of the sticky goo. Katrina held back laughter as the teacher lifted the spoon to her mouth. She tasted it and then shrugged.
"it's sweet, a nice change from what I normally have." Mrs. Holmes said. She then pressed the spoon into the rice ball carefully. Mrs. Holmes pulled off a chunk, taking a few gummy bears with it, and then gulped. Katrina stifled giggles again and watched with eager eyes. The teacher chewed thoughtfully and then nodded. A smile danced on her lips as she swallowed and then Mrs. Holmes went back for more.
"it's really a revelation! Sweet and sticky with the savory rice undertone. I like it Katrina! A plus!"
"really?! I cooked something?!" Katrina beamed.
"something good too. I'm sure the boys will be snatching your balls up." she nodded. Katrina let out a cackle at the teachers statement and then she scurried back to her seat. The girl carelessly toyed with a spoon and gnawed on it. Katrina then popped a gumball into her mouth and chewed. It tasted sickly sweet and like watermelon. She sucked the flavor in and rested her head on her hand. Katrina began to drift off, slowly falling into a dream. She was standing on a giant cupcake, the rest of the Vongola family surrounding her.
"I, Reborn, officially make you, Katrina Castorini, a guardian of the head of the Vongola family." Reborn said. The rest of the family cheered and congratulated her. "though she was never a Vongola, she is a great hitman and an amazing arms dealer. It Is with the highest honor that I allow her to watch over Tsuna and the Vongola family." he finished. Hayato clamped a hand on her shoulder and smiled calmly. Another hand was put on her shoulder and behind her was adult Lambo. One of his green eyes was shut but he was wide awake. Katrina hugged the man and then hugged Gokudera.
"CLASS DISMISSED!" Mrs. Holmes screeched. Katrina snapped her head up quickly and she slammed it on the back of her chair. She grumbled and then picked up her notebook and rice balls. Katrina stalked out of the room and to her locker. She swung it open and tossed in the book before pulling out a well made knife. It's handle was the tail of a dragon and Katrina smiled at her work. She tucked the knife into one of the pockets on her dress and then walked away. She followed the other home economics students into the cafeteria tiredly. Having been up most of the night, dealing with a new client, she hadn't gotten much sleep. Purple and black bags lay under her bright eyes and she sighed. Most of the others dispersed to hand out their rice balls, mainly to the boys or girls they liked. Katrina wandered over to Hayato, Tsuna, and Yamamoto. She held up the platter with a grin.
"who wants to eat my balls?!" she shouted. Hayato and Takeshi started cackling and marched over to her.
"what exactly is that?" Hayato asked, slightly disgusted.
"boiled down coca cola. I also put gummy bears in the rice balls. Enjoy!" Katrina grinned.
"are they safe to eat?" Yamamoto inquired, poking the ball of rice and sweets. Katrina nodded unsurely.
"somewhat, yeah." she answered.
"I guess I'll try one..." Hayato shrugged. He grabbed a bowl and stared at the glop in the bottom.
"me too..." Yamamoto also picked up a spoon an a bowl.
"HEY TSUNA! WANT TO EAT MY BALLS?!" Katrina shrieked. Tsuna snapped his head over to see the ecstatic girl waving. He shook his head and then wandered away.
"oh 10th... He'll learn about me yet he will." she giggled. Hayato ignored her comment and dug his spoon into the hardening goop at the bottom. He sniffed it cautiously while Yamamoto had already tasted it.
"that's actually pretty good. Its different, I like that." Yamamoto smiled. He put another spoonful in his mouth and gave Katrina a thumbs up. Feeling challenged, Hayato immediately shoved a ton in his mouth. The sickly sweet taste enveloped him in a fog of candy flavor. He narrowly avoided gagging and managed to swallow the concoction.
"delicious," Hayato lied. "I could eat bowl after bowl of this stuff... It is so different but it is so good." he continued in monotone. Katrina moved her head close to Hayato's and then frowned.
"you don't have to lie about it, jealous." she whispered.
"what was that?" Yamamoto inquired, over halfway through the dish.
"nothing, Takeshi. What do you think?" she smiled warmly.
"it is really delicious, like Hayato said, and it's also really different from the normal rice balls." he replied. Katrina cackled under her breath as Hayato nearly choked himself shoveling the rice into his mouth. He was undoubtably trying to outdo Yamamoto and would go to any lengths to do so.
"amazing," Hayato belched, handing back the bowl. "splendid! They really have a nice sweet over taste and then have a good savory under taste. Very, very, good."
"mhmm...COUGH Jealous COUGH." she taunted. Hayato gave her a death stare and frowned.
"not..." he whispered under his breath.
"thanks for your balls Katrina. You should come by sometime and watch one of my games." Yamamoto laughed. He patted Hayato's shoulder and then walked back over to Tsuna. Hayato followed in an angry fog, dragging his feet and crossing his arms. Katrina danced by Hayato and then put her lips to his ear.
"jealous little Gokudera. All he wants is to be Yamamoto and to be actually cool." she whispered softly.
"cool my ass, he's just a stuck up brat..." Hayato growled back.
"a cute stuck up brat, though." Katrina winked.
"whatever..." he grumbled. Katrina whisked away, carrying the last rice ball and planning to eat it herself. "you should come by and watch one of my games sometime... Dick..." Hayato mocked softly.
"say something Gokudera?" Yamamoto asked.
"nothing at all..." Hayato snarled. Meanwhile, Katrina had walked over to an empty table and stretched out her arms. She yawned and then picked up a spoon.
"hey... Are you, that Katrina girl?" someone inquired. Katrina blinked and then tiredly nodded.
"yeah, I was the one being mean to Nezu yesterday." she mumbled.
"hi, I'm Ryohei Sasagawa. I'm the leader of the boxing club and you should join!" he grinned.
"oh! You guys have a boxing club here?!" she asked, waking up a bit more.
"yeah it's totally extreme! We need some more members. You know, strong and passionate people who are willing to stand up and fight! I heard about you from a few other people who happened to be in Nezu's yesterday, I figured that someone brave enough to stand up to that guy would be perfect for my club." Ryohei said enthusiastically.
"sounds awesome! I'd love to join!" Katrina agreed.
"NEED MORE." Tsuna roared. Katrina and Ryohei snapped their heads up. Tsuna was clad only in a pair of boxers and a spout of fire was spewing out of his head. Katrina grabbed the final rice ball and ran. Tsuna sprinted after her, arms outstretched and reaching for the bowl of food. He tackled her and clawed for the rice ball. Katrina shoved her boot into his face and gritted her teeth.
"NO. MY RICE BALL." she cried. Tsuna waved his arms around, desperately trying to grab the food. His stomach growled loudly and Katrina pushed him away.
"I don't want to hurt you but if you keep this up I will kill you!" she threatened.
"you can't kill the 10th..." Hayato protested.
"well then I suggest you remove him from my area!" Katrina shouted
"food..." Tsuna moaned. Slowly, the puff of fire disappeared and Tsuna slowed. "why is your foot in my face?"
"because you were trying to eat MY rice balls. That's why." Katrina replied. Tsuna moved away and then looked down at himself. He turned bright red and then ran from the cafeteria. Most of the children burst into laughter and pointed at him. Katrina brushed herself off coolly. She headed off to her locker as the bell rang.
after a few more slow hours,
Katrina jumped from her seat and thundered to her locker. She peered at her watch and then grinned.
"Hayato! I need your help." Katrina clamped her hand down on his shoulder.
"with what?" he asked. Hayato turned around, a few books in his hands.
"aww! You look so cute and scholarly!" she sang. Katrina poked his nose and smiled. Hayato swatted her hand away.
"so what's the problem?"
"well, the deal I made last night was great and the guys there asked me for a repeat deal. I need you to help me make it look like I'm sick so I can go home." Katrina beamed. Hayato sighed and then scratched at his head.
"okay, what do you want me to do?" he smiled deviously. Hayato remembered the wad of cash in Katrina's boot and he hungered for more.
"just take me to the office and play along okay? Then I'll meet you back at the warehouse after you finish the school day." she cackled.
"wait," he grabbed the back of her shirt. "who says I don't want to go along? It's not like Nezu actually teaches us anything and my other classes after this are easy as Hell."
"ohh, I see." Katrina winked. "in that case, here's the plan. You take me up to the office and say that I'm sick. I'll act really out of it and I have some green face paint in my locker I can use. Then, I want you to take the remains of my rice ball and keel down by the trash can. Drop the rice ball goo inside and then make some moaning sounds. I'll take a few other bits of rice ball and do the same thing. That way, they'll have no idea we aren't actually sick. After they start asking us if our parents our home we'll tell them that my mom is a single parent and a nurse and that your dad and mom are both teachers at a nearby university and they can't be interrupted for something like this. They'll probably ask us if there's anyway we can get home. Say yes and that we can walk back together. But tread lightly on your exact dialogue because this might go wrong..."
"I'll make sure it won't. Is the deal going to be dangerous, though?" Hayato inquired cautiously.
"I'm only trading weapons like grenades and mini guns for cocaine and cash, what do you think?" she rolled her eyes.
"perfect... Can I have my dynamite back?" he grinned. Katrina shoved a hand in her locker and pulled out a few handfuls of dynamite. "holy shit you brought it to school?!"
"I'm not one for being practical." she winked. Katrina tossed the explosives to Hayato and laughed.
"what's so funny?" he said.
"no one here thinks it's real is what's so funny," she paused to cackle. "no one even cares."
"let's go, put that face stuff on." Hayato ordered. He shoved the dynamite in his pockets and in his shoes carelessly. Katrina pulled a small box out of her messy locker and flipped it open. She pulled out a disk and clicked that open as well. Katrina pulled out a small brush and dabbed it on her cheekbones.
"get down here." she barked. Hayato followed her order and kneeled beside her. Katrina daintily painted a few smudges of green on his cheeks. She snapped the disk shut and then shoved it into her locker. Katrina pulled out the rice ball and the spoon from earlier. She whipped the goo together and then grabbed a few handfuls of it.
"put your arm around me." Hayato said.
"why? I don't want my arm near you." Katrina protested, snickering. "plus I have all this crap in my hands."
"just put your arm around me, it'll make it look like your actually sick and woozy." he replied, stretching his hand out. Katrina placed a handful of the glop in his palm and then smiled.
"like playing with mud but worse." she noted. Katrina placed her arm around him and groaned. She clutched her stomach with her free hand and let her mouth hang open slightly.
"oh god, are you okay? You look horrid." Yamamoto asked, approaching the two.
"no... My stomach hurts and I'm really dizzy." she lied, smiling weakly.
"yeah, thanks to your shitty rice balls were both in the rung." Hayato commented.
"oh you feeling suk too Gokudera? I don't feel a thing. Sorry about that... Anything I can do?" Yamamoto frowned.
"no, we're just heading up to office to go home. Thanks though." Katrina moaned.
"well, I'll see you two later than. Bye Katrina." Yamamoto smiled. He waved and then waltzed away.
"bye Katrina, I'm gonna go be stupid and play baseball..." Hayato mocked, sneering. Katrina slapped the side of his head, causing some rice to fall from her balled fist.
"don't be mean, he's nice. Jealous." she smirked.
"I am NOT jealous of him." Hayato stamped his foot.
"jeal-ous." she sang. Hayato growled and then jerked her along. They hobbled into the office and then set their plan into action.
"can I help you?" a secretary asked.
"yes, my friend Katrina is feeling rather ill." Hayato replied. The secretary, who was wearing a bright orange moo moo dress and was extremely large, lowered her glasses.
"should I call your parents Hun? Or do you just want to lie down?" she inquired. Her voice was nasally and she had rows of wrinkles all over her face. Katrina thought she looked a lot like a pug dog and stifled a giggle.
"my moms a nurse and she doesn't use her cell phone at work, so you can call her but she won't answer." she lied.
"I see... Well," the secretary's voice was also thick with a southern accent. "I guess you should just lie down then."
"alright..." Katrina mumbled. She cursed silently and nodded at Hayato. He nodded back and then prepared himself.
"oh god..." Hayato muttered. He clutched his stomach and then plunged his head into the trash can. Hayato dropped the rice ball goo inside and made retching noises.
"h-Hayato!" Katrina cried. She followed his lead and also collapsed onto her knees. Katrina shoved her head in the waste bin and scooped out the concoction of rice and sweets.
"oh my god. You guys need to get home immediately. Mr. Jason! Get in here and take this trash can out!" the secretary squealed. A husky looking custodian grumbled and stalked in.
"why?" he growled.
"these children just got sick all over it! It's covered in germs! Take it! Take it please!" she screeched. The custodian rolled a pair of blue eyes and then pushed Katrina and Hayato away. He grabbed the can and peered in.
"god, no wonder your sick. What the hell did you eat?!" he snapped.
"I made rice balls today in h-home economics... That was probably it... I'm sorry Gokudera!" Katrina cried. The disgusted custodian dragged the bin away angrily.
"alright then, tell me both your names I'm calling your parents." the secretary demanded. She was an obvious germaphobe and Katrina got an evil idea.
"okay," Katrina pretended to sneeze and cough a few times. She clutched her stomach and fake gagged three times. When she looked up the secretary had an extremely weak expression on her face. "oh dear... I think I'm going to be sick again!"
"oh dear! Um okay! Just go! Go! Go right now! I'll contact your parents later just get home and in bed! Do not come back until You are fully rested and completely healthy! Take the entire weekend and wash all your bedding and clothing! Don't touch anyone or anything around here! Go! Go!" she cringed. The busty woman took out a package of Lysol disinfectant spray and wipes. She washed down her entire desk and then sprayed the area around her. The secretary put on a pair of gloves and shoved Katrina and Hayato out of the office. She threw the gloves on the ground and then put her hands on her face in disdain. Katrina and Hayato hurried away and then burst into hysterics.
"did you see her face?!" Katrina cackled. Hayato slammed a fist into her shoulder, eyes teary from laughter.
"fuck yes I did!" he screeched. "priceless."
"oh Hayato that was beautiful! It was beautiful I tell you! Poor Yamamoto and Tsuna! They didn't get to enjoy that..." Katrina mused. She pulled some candy out of her pockets and gnawed on it.
"yeah, but not so bad for Yamamoto... He's to much of a goody goody to enjoy that. Pussy..." Hayato growled. He kicked a small pebble off the side walk and grumbled something inaudible under his breath.
"don't be so mean," Katrina slammed her body into his. "he's just a nice guy. Kudos on the acting by the way!" she cracked her knuckles and then punched the trunk of a tree. Katrina's bright eyes were beaming with enthusiasm and evil thoughts.
"thanks, not to bad yourself." Hayato smiled.
"ah! Here we are! My beautiful little shack. Oh how I love thee." she cooed. Katrina stepped on the sheet of metal again and the gate slid open. She danced inside and dragged Hayato along with her. Katrina carefully weaved her way through more booby traps, Hayato in tow. She threw the warehouse doors open and took a deep breath.
"the life of an arms dealer..." she beamed. "washing down five courses of hot lead with a napalm cocktail."
"you could put it that way." Hayato commented on her odd analogy. Katrina ignored him and simply led him towards her personal room. She swung another door open, revealing another area of the warehouse. The cement floor was littered with candy wrappers and scraps of metal. A few pounds of C-4 lay in the corner and a couple crates containing unknown supplies were stacked on a giant bed. Katrina ripped open a closet and pulled Hayato inside. She spun around a few times and then flicked on a light. Rows of shirts and dresses filled the walk in closet nicely.
"why are we in here?" Hayato asked, prodding a box.
"because silly! In arms dealing you dress for success. Suits, formal dresses, gloves, ties! All of that gorgeous stuff! Here," Katrina paused. She dug around in the back of the closet and pulled out a suit which hung in a dry cleaning bag. It consisted of a pair of black slacks, a black coat, a black tie, and a white dress shirt. Katrina also grabbed a pair of rat pack shoes and held them out for Hayato. "these are yours." she smiled.
"why do you have them?" Hayato inquired. He plucked the outfit out of her hands.
"well, remember a little while back? Right before you left for here? The day we went out for dinner and ran the sting on that other guy. You wore that suit and I wore this." Katrina dug around for a moment. She pulled out a black dress with thin straps. It was bunched up at different points and had a medium sized black bow on the top. Hayato immediately remembered the last few days he'd spent in Italy. The two had gone crazy those last days. They'd taken down at least seven targets together. The final mission they had done together had been taking down a courier for another mafia. He was carrying an important document with information about plans for taking down the Vongolas on it. But, instead of following orders and delivering the message on time, he'd stopped for a nice dinner. Hayato and Katrina had both hurriedly dressed up for the occasion. They'd rushed to the restaurant in their formal attire. They had followed the man out behind the cafe and shot him. However, the message they'd found had been extremely anti climatic. It had only been a few drawings and a rough sketch of a plan for world domination.
"I remember, how could I forget?" Hayato replied, snapping back into the present.
"it was an extremely memorable occasion, was it not? God, I sounded really British just then..." Katrina mumbled. Hayato laughed and unbuttoned his school shirt.
"I'll be right back Hayato! Just have to change. Don't come out of this closet until I say so." Katrina said. She floated out of the room, holding the black dress. Katrina flamboyantly changed into the formal outfit and then wallowed through a sea of candy wrappers to reach the mirror. She flattened it out a bit and then groaned. Katrina hated fluffy girl dresses like that one. The only kinds of girly things she liked were skirts and that was only when they were short and bright colored. She brushed it off and then let her hair down. A few disgruntled briefings later, she knocked on the closet door. Her spiked gloves made an odd screeching sound against the metal and she giggled.
"it still fits, unfortunately." Hayato grumbled, also unhappy about the attire. He slid the door open without much effort and then grinned.
"I feel like we're bringing sexy back, you know?" Katrina beamed.
"no, I really don't understand what you're saying." Hayato remarked.
"come on, I'll explain on our way there. Tuck your necklace in." she swatted her hand at him.
"no..." Hayato protested. Katrina groaned loudly and then whipped around. She grabbed the silver dog tag necklace and then shoved it down his shirt.
"dress well and we'll actually get somewhere with these guys." she mumbled.
"why? Explain to me why we have to dress so well for this." he asked.
"god Hayato," Katrina carefully selected a box and shoved it at him. He stumbled backwards under the immense weight of the crate and grunted softly. "allow me to tell you why. If we were to go in our normal street clothes, you in one of your shirts and a pair of jeans an me in my usual bright and colorful attire, they would probably think we were joking. No one makes a deal with someone who's not serious. That's like trying to talk to a clown, it's pointless. And the other reason is that this way, we let them know we are professionals. If we weren't badass and serious looking, we'd just look like a couple junkeys who got their grubby hands on some Uzis. No, no... We have to portray what we sell. What are guns Hayato? They are powerful, they are intimidating, they are sexy, they are seductive. Right now, do we not show all of these qualities? Are we not as good as the guns I sell?"
"okay... I see your point now." Hayato agreed. Katrina pulled out two pairs of sunglasses and put one on Hayato's crate. She slid the others over her eyes and then nodded to herself. Katrina paused by another mirror near the front door and she tossed a curly strand of hair out of her face. She slipped the sunglasses onto Hayato and then smiled at him.
"we are so hot right now." Katrina beamed. She swung her arms out wide and then danced from the warehouse.
"i am really hot in this, it's like four hundred degrees out here..." Hayato complained. Katrina stopped in her place and swung around. She stuck a finger in Hayato's face and growled.
"don't sweat in that suit Hayato... Don't sweat in that suit."
"um, I don't think that's really something I can help." Hayato shrugged. He adjusted the box in his hands and grunted.
"oh, hey, before we get there I should tell you how this is going to go down." Katrina said.
"that might be nice..." Hayato huffed.
"you have your cell phone right?" she asked.
"yes, I have my cell phone with me." he sneered.
"alright, here it is. The warehouse the deals going down in is just a bit farther south. What's going to happen is this. You and I walk kind of slow so it looks really cool to the other guys. That's the first thing right there. You have to walk like slow motion right before a bomb goes off in a James bond movie. Then, we go inside with the crate and talk to the big man. He'll ask us some questions about the guns and then probably do a test run. After he's done and he gives us what we came for, we just walk home. But not in James Bond slow mo. Oh! And I want you to talk in like a Swedish accent, something really badass. Got all that?" Katrina grinned. She ripped open a chocolate bar and happily gnawed it.
"Swedish accent? Really?" Hayato groaned.
"yep! Like a rich Swedish brat. Oh! And take out your cell phone like it was vibrating and pretend to answer it. Say something like, 'come' or 'we must go my sweet.'" Katrina beamed. Her eyes were now great pools of excitement and joy.
"god... Okay, is this the place?" he pointed toward another abandon warehouse. A single light was on and Katrina nodded.
"slow motion time in one, two, three..." she narrowed her eyes under the sunglasses. Hayato began walking at a decently slow pace and Katrina followed. "we must look so badass right now!"
"this does probably look pretty cool." Hayato smiled.
"NO smiling!" Katrina hissed.
"what? Why?" he said, confused.
"because straight faces let them know we're really serious." she replied hastily. By then, the two had made it to the warehouse doors. A man, who also wore a nicely tailored suit, opened the door.
"Kat candy, we meet again. But who the friend?" the man said.
"a business associate. I needed someone to hold the crate, did I not?" she retorted.
"come have him put it down inside. Then, have a drink with me I like to know who I'm working with." he ordered.
"we don't drink, sorry." Katrina remarked. The man led Hayato inside and pointed to a spot on the floor. Hayato dropped the crate and then crossed his arms.
"oh, I suppose that's right. Well, in that case, have some non alcoholic wine, I insist." he grinned. Katrina, now weary, moved closer to Hayato.
"if the man insists..." Hayato said, voice thick with accent. Katrina nearly lost her cool at that. She held back wild cackles just barely.
"yes, darling, if the man insists." Katrina danced her fingers around Hayato's face. His first impulse was to smack them away but he restrained.
"come then! Come to my table please." he led them to a small circular table. The man pulled the seat out for Katrina but did nothing to help Hayato. He then disappeared into another room. The man came out with a bottle of wine, which neither Hayato nor Katrina knew was actually alcoholic, and set it down. He ripped the cork off with his bare hands and then poured each of the tables residents a glass.
"so tell me about yourself, Mr. Business Associate. How could Katrina possibly use you?"
"I only hold crates for her and occasionally money. I own a few offshore bank accounts and fake identities. She also uses me for many other purposes." Hayato said, playing up the Swedish accent a bit too much. Katrina nodded along with his statement and then smiled.
"yes, Mr. Business Associate is a very helpful man." she cooed.
"I see, where do you come from?" the man asked.
"I come from Sweden." Hayato lied. He took a sip of the fine wine coolly. Katrina followed his example and also gulped down some wine. It was bitter but still good.
"Italy, I worked there as a hitman and an arms dealer. Ask anyone." Katrina said. The man folded his hands together and then leaned back.
"I did, I called up a few friends from Italy. I came from there too. And what I found was that you had a business associate back then named smoking bomb Hayato. I was curious so I had a photo sent and is the man in this picture not Hayato Gokudera?" he held up a small photo. In it was Katrina, arms wound around Hayato and Hayato's arms around her waist. That picture had been from the night they'd killed the courier. The two had needed a somewhat non suspicious way to be out back when the courier left. So they'd pretended to be young lovers. The second the courier had walked past, they had pulled out their guns. And that had been the end of it. But how someone could have obtained a photo like that baffled the two. Katrina gritted her teeth and Hayato balled his hands into fists.
"it is in fact Hayato Gokudera." she growled.
"and this man, sitting here, does he not look like Mr. Gokudera?" the man inquired.
"I am Hayato Gokudera." Hayato stood up. He let his voice go back to normal.
"and I'm Katrina Castorini." she also stood.
"we're both from Italy." Hayato said.
"we're both hitmen." Katrina beamed.
"and you are both romantically involved, are you not?" the man asked. He stood up and threw the table down. "and, you are now both liars. I will not work with liars, no I will not. So prove to me you speak the truth."
"and how are we supposed to do that?" Katrina asked.
"well, I have profiles on both of you. Profiles that tell me everything about you. I bought them from the Vongolas saying I was a potential client. Now, let's begin with you Ms. Kat Candy." the man said. He snapped and a group of what seemed to be minions brought the man a laptop.
"fire away, my friend." Katrina sneered. She sat lightly on the crate she'd brought. Hayato joined her coolly.
"first Boyfriend." the man Said.
"Lambo Bovino." Katrina remarked.
"you dated crybaby Lambo?" Hayato asked in monotone.
"it's a long story but he's totally hot in ten years." Katrina winked.
"truthful. Now it's your turn, smoking bomb. Name any siblings you have." the man said.
"bianchi... That's all." Hayato cringed. Katrina patted his hand lightly and then smiled.
"untruthful. She's only your half sister," the man pulled a gun from his belt. He aimed it at Hayato's head and then laughed. "that doesn't count. Since that was untruthful... Now I have to kill you. I dont like liars. Not one bit. My mom was a liar, a cheater. She was always with men other than my dad, she was unfaithful. So, I ran away. She didn't take any part in raising me and she was constantly fighting with my dad. I came here to start my own mafia, I might say, not to toot my own horn but, it's going very well. Anyway, since you lie and cheat, you will die." he cocked his gun and cackled. "bye bye, smoking bomb." the man slowly pressed his finger down. He savored every second of that power. The god like feeling of controlling a persons life filled him like water fills a sponge. Hayato winced and didn't move. "open your eyes. I want to watch your face as you die." Hayato followed the order and opened his gray eyes. The next thing he saw was Katrina's giant spiked boot slamming into his face.
"that's for giving me goddamn bad cocaine douche bag!" she shouted. Katrina flexed her foot just right so the bottom spike shot out. They stabbed through the man's head, killing him instantly. A swarm of guards enveloped the two immediately. Hayato jumped from his perch on the crate, still slightly stunned, and pulled out a lighter. Katrina grabbed the man's pistol with determination and then looked around. Over twenty henchmen surrounded them and any pursuit seemed hopeless.
"fire at will." one hissed. Hayato backed up, stick of dynamite held in his hand, and bumped into katrina.
"Hayato," she whispered urgently.
"what?!" he growled.
"the guns don't work. I fixed them specifically so they wouldn't. The boss sold me bad cocaine so when he wasn't looking, I ripped out a few vital components. On the count of three, jump onto that crate then, throw some unlit dynamite and make a run for the door. Once we're out, the rest will be easy. Ready?" she whispered extremely quietly.
"one, two, THREE!" Hayato shouted. Katrina slammed her right leg into a man's chest, allowing a path for Hayato. She punched another in the temple, shoving the knuckle spikes into his head. Hayato chucked an unlit stick of dynamite down and a few henchmen ran. Katrina heard the sound of guns clicking unsuccessfully as she pried the dead body off her gloves. Hayato was already half way down the street by the time she reached the door. Katrina got down on all fours and went thundering after him.
"oh my god. H-HOLY SHIT!" Hayato screeched. He collapsed onto the ground and Katrina fell onto his chest.
"took the words right out of my mouth." she panted.
"WHAT THE?! HOW THE?! ... FUCK!" Hayato shouted. He leaned his head against a tree trunk and slapped his face. "did that REALLY just happen?!"
"yes, I'm pretty sure because there's brain goo all over my glove spikes! And there's blood on my boots! I need to go clean my self off!" Katrina slapped her face as well.
"holy shit Katrina. We just killed three guys and mortally wounded one. H-how are we going to explain this exactly?!" He gasped. Katrina smiled weakly and then laughed.
"we don't have to explain it to anyone... Not unless a cop comes by and starts interrogating us." she grinned. Hayato also started laughing, a kind of weak cackle broke the silence. The two of them began to giggle and grin as though they were on drugs. They worked themselves into hysterics over her statement. An easy going feeling washed over the couple like a wave and they simply laid on the sidewalk. Katrina peered at her watch, still chuckling.
"it's only one, let's go do something." she said. Just then, a police patrol car rolled up to them. Katrina froze in her place and shut her eyes tightly. Hayato grimaced, staring up at the shiny car. The policeman rolled down the window and frowned.
"so, what're you two doing out here? Shouldn't you be in school?" he grunted. Hayato glanced around nervously, considering the fact they'd just killed three men, and then pointed to Katrina.
"w-we're sick. The office sent us b-back early. My friend fainted and I can't get up." Hayato stuttered. He winced at the stupidity of his story and then cursed under his breath.
"oh god is she okay?!" the man cried.
"oh yeah! She's fine. You see, she has this terrible disease where she faints really often. It's called fainting disorder. She'll wake up in a second, no worries." Hayato lied.
"oh, I see. Do you maybe need a lift then? I can take you two home." he offered.
"no! We're just fine thanks. I'll get us home." Hayato protested.
"well, alright. I'm trusting you right now and if I find out you ditched school, I'll be really unhappy." the policemen replied. He rolled up his window and drove away slowly. Katrina snapped her head up the second her was gone. She exchanged a strange glance with Hayato and then the two burst into hysterics again. They stumbled down the street, ramming into each other occasionally.
"god I can't believe what just happened." Hayato mused, stumbling on the sidewalk.
"I know man! Thats was INSANE!" Katrina cackled. She slammed her foot down on the scrap metal and the gate slowly screeched open. Katrina bounced off the fence and rolled before extending her hands out at the perfect time. She sprung into the air and then cartwheeled across a large gap. Katrina slowed and then danced through a field of mines. Once finished jumping about, she pressed a few buttons and entered a code.
"COME ON FATASS! SECURITYS DEACTIVATED!" she shouted. Hayato wearily walked to the doors of the warehouse. Katrina flicked the lights on and then landed face first on the cot.
"make room..." Hayato grumbled. He shoved Katrina off the bed and flopped down instead. She opened her eyes slowly and noticed a small figure under the bed. It had huge black hair and two small horns on each side of it's head. The creature was wearing a suit with cow print on it, complete with a tail.
"LAMBO?!" Katrina shrieked. The little boy remained asleep, snoring loudly. Katrina pulled his tail and slid him out from under the bed. She poked his stomach a few times and the boy woke up.
"Katrina!" he grinned. Lambo clamped his arms around her joyously.
"why are you here Lambo?" she asked, stroking his hair. Lambo curled up in her arms happily.
"I'm here to kill Reborn! That way I can prove I'm good enough to be the boss of the Bovino family!" he cheered. Hayato flopped over to face upwards and then sighed.
"because last time you tried that it worked out so well." he grumbled. Katrina flicked him in the ear and frowned.
"be nice Hayato! Lambo is such a sweet little thing. He's so cute and fluffy!" she cooed.
"you know, I've always wanted to see what you look like in ten years!" Lambo pulled out a bazooka. He aimed it at Katrina's head and she dove away.
"no! No! And Hell, NO!" she growled.
"why?!" Lambo asked, waving the weapon around.
"because I don't want anyone to see me. I want it to be a surprise!" Katrina cried. Lambo began to sniffle. A tear formed under his eye and he started to pout.
"tolerate..." he muttered. Katrina slapped her forehead and groaned. Lambo burst into tears and had a tantrum. After five minutes of extremely loud crying, she finally gave in.
"fine..." Katrina huffed.
"fine what?" Lambo sobbed. Katrina ripped a piece of her dress off and walked over to the little boy. She daintily wiped away his tears and then sighed.
"you can shoot me with the ten year bazooka..." Katrina kicked the ground. Hayato laughed and then grinned.
"this'll be good." he said sinisterly. Katrina stuck her tongue out at him and stood up. Lambo grabbed the bazooka, beaming. He aimed it carefully and then shot at Katrina. A puff of hot air swept over the warehouse and a plume of smoke exploded. Hayato and Lambo leaned foreword expectantly. As the smoke cleared, it revealed a small pile of ashes.
"did you KILL her?!" Hayato spat.
"the ten year bazooka isn't capable of killing anything! But it does have flaws..." Lambo trailed off. Hayato, speechless, stared at Lambo. His eyes angry and burning bore holes into the boys forehead.
"really, Lambo? You just killed the only person-" something slammed down from above and cut Hayato off in mid sentence. The cot snapped and a puff of dust went up in the air. A soft hand was wrapped around Hayato's throat and a huge set of spikes were aimed at his eyes. He gasped for breath as his vision cleared.
"Katrina?!" he panted. The girl, who now sat atop him, bore insane resemblance to Katrina. She had the same brown hair and beautiful green eyes but something was different. Her face was thinner, her legs were longer, and her gloves were now extremely threatening, if they hadn't been so before.
"oh hey Hayato! What's up?! Sorry about this, I thought you were a target. Did that crazy little Lambo shoot me with his bazooka?" she waved. Adult Katrina removed the claws from his face and her hand from his neck. It was now that Hayato noticed the presence of a claw like scar running across her neck.
"y-yeah... Wow you look different." Hayato commented.
"you do too... You look way different in the future! And you too Lambo! You're quite the stunner at fifteen. Though I always knew you would be. Remember way back when we used to date? Crazy times those were..." she mused. Adult Katrina offered Hayato her hand but he refused. The huge claws and spike jutting from it were rather deterring. "oh! I forgot to put my hand claws away. Fucking bitching aren't they?! Eight inches long and freaking epic! And check this out!" she pressed a button and they sucked in until they were the length and size of her normal glove spikes.
"Katrina! You're so different in the future!" Lambo cried. Adult Katrina swung him up into her arms and smiled. She tickle the boys belly and then poked his nose.
"and you're so adorable! You haven't changed a bit in the future, except for the fact you're totally hot! Hayato looks different in the future too! But I won't tell you," she leaned foreword until her nose was pressed again his. "because it's a secret! And I don't want to spoil what happens for you! It's such a surprise. You are not going to believe it! I know I didn't when it happened." she paused to wink. Adult Katrina helped him up and then cackled.
"what's this 'it'?" Hayato brushed himself off. Adult Katrina burst into laughter and then patted his gray hair.
"it's a secret, like I said." she grinned. Another puff of smoke went out and then normal Katrina was back.
"whoa! Holy shit! The future is so cool!" Katrina beamed. She swung Lambo into her arms and then put him on her shoulder.
"what happens?!" Hayato inquired, now brimming with curiosity. Katrina poked his nose and then smiled.
"what happens in the future, stays in the future. What did future me look like?!" she asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"fat, ugly, what normally happens to someone who eats candy all the time. Unibrow, mustache, all that stuff." Hayato lied.
"I thought she looked pretty!" Lambo smiled. He balanced precariously on the top of her head and then toyed with a hand grenade.
"I think you look pretty too, Lambo!" Katrina crooned. She grabbed him and wrestled him down onto the floor. Katrina tickled his stomach endlessly and grinned. She wiggled her fingers all over him until he couldn't breathe.
"do you have any food in here?" Hayato asked.
"of course I have food! I'm not poor!" she boasted. Katrina grabbed his hand and led him to her room. She ripped open a refrigerator and pointed inside. The fridge was filled with soda, jelly, some assorted candies, and what seemed to be marshmallow cream.
"you call that food?" Hayato said blankly. Katrina places her hands on her hips.
"frankly, this is all I eat. That's how I got the nickname dumbass!" she retorted. Hayto pulled open the freezer and peered in. Containers of ice cream filled it and a few tumbled onto the floor. Katrina tossed them back in and quickly slammed the door.
"god... I'm starving and you don't have any real food. How do you even live on that?! You should be a shitty mess!" Hayato cried.
"I'm different is all... I'm special!" she piped.
"exactly, special as in freaking retarded." Hayato grumbled.
"guys! I have an awesome idea!" she shouted. "let's go to like IHOP or something! And get those pancakes that have gummy worms on them!"
"we don't have IHOPs here, dumbass." Hayato said.
"what's IHOP?" Lambo asked, cocking his head. Katrina plucked him up and held him.
"IHOP stands for international, or so I thought, house of pancakes." she smiled.
"okay, I'm starving right now so let's go find a restaurant before I kill you both." Hayato snapped. Lambo pulled out a hand grenade and threateningly held it up.
"you won't lay a hand on me or Katrina!" he ordered.
"aw, you do love me!" Katrina said, she tickled his cheeks like a mother with a newborn and cooed. Katrina had always acted like a mother for Lambo, especially back in Italy. She had raised him and helped him when his real parents didn't. Katrina had a huge soft spot for the boy and would protect him with her life.
"please can we go get something to eat?" Hayato groaned, taking a different approach on the matter.
"its only two thirty and I'm not going to risk getting caught by the cops. Oh! And I just remembered, Yamamoto asked me to go watch him practice after school." she grinned evilly. Hayato let a growl escape his lips.
"oh HELL no are we going to watch that douche bag practice." Hayato snarled.
"no one said you had to come." Katrina shrugged. She smirked and then licked her lips. Katrina pulled out a bag of gummy worms an began to munch on them.
"well then what am I supposed to do while you're gone?" Hayato snapped.
"get some food with Lambo maybe, I don't know." she cackled. Hayato cracked his knuckles and sneered.
"god I hate you..." he growled.
"and I love you! Now watch Lambo while I wash off my gloves and boots. Once I'm done we can probably go out and walk to the school." Katrina waved and walked out the door.