After Transmigrating to Become Lady Skylark - Chapter 63

Chapter 63

When Jin Chaoyan arrived at the hall carrying a plate of freshly baked Flower Cakes, she saw Hibari sitting on a cushion behind a low wooden table. Beside him was a dark chair with a matching cushion, upon which sat a tiny, snow-white hedgehog.

Hibird was perched on one of the hedgehog’s spines, appearing completely unafraid of being pricked. Seeing her approach, it flapped its wings happily: “Chaoyan~ Chaoyan~”

Hibird! Roll!

She handed the cakes to the boy, too captivated by the scene to bother with polite formalities like “Please enjoy.” Her eyes were completely glued to the adorable sight. “Waaah, Hibird, Mama’s treasure! And Roll, I finally see you again! You are just too cute!”

“Chuu~”

The little hedgehog, barely the size of an adult’s palm, tilted its head slightly. Its little nose twitched as it recognized her scent, letting out a short chirp to greet her.

Jin Chaoyan immediately whipped out her phone and began recording. After filming for a few minutes, she remembered something and turned a look of extreme anticipation toward the youth beside her, who was holding a flower cake and had also turned his gaze toward her at some point.

“Can I pet it?”

Hibari Kyoya glanced at the white spines on Roll’s back. While they weren’t fluctuating uncontrollably like they did in the Merone Base when injected with too much flame, they were clearly not meant to be petted. However, under her expectant, overly bright gaze, he could only ask calmly:

“How do you want to pet it?” He pointed out flatly, “Its spines are very sharp; they’ll prick your hand.”

Jin Chaoyan, who had lost all reason upon seeing cute animals: “…Stroke it along the direction of the spines?”

The boy gave a light laugh. Interest flickered in his eyes beneath his soft black hair; he seemed curious about what would happen next and responded compliantly:

“Then give it a try.”

Jin Chaoyan: “…”

The hand meant to pet the hedgehog trembled in mid-air.

She opened her palm and hovered hesitantly over the little white hedgehog, not quite daring to touch down. After a long pause, it was Roll who looked up at her curiously. With eyes exactly like Hibird’s—innocent and adorable—it stared at her unblinkingly. A moment later, its spines actually smoothed down neatly toward its back, presenting a submissive and docile posture.

Jin Chaoyan: “!”

So cute! My health bar is empty! Ahhh!

Due to this slight change, Hibird flew up from its original spot and landed on the boy’s head, tilting its head curiously as if it also wanted to see Jin Chaoyan’s “hedgehog-petting” journey.

With Roll working so hard to smooth its spines back, Jin Chaoyan felt that if she didn’t pet it now, she would be so guilt-ridden for wasting the little hedgehog’s effort that she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Pet it! Pet all its spines! Even if her hand was pricked through today, she was going to pet Roll!

Jin Chaoyan extended her right index finger, starting from the shorter, smooth spines at the very front and slowly stroking backward along the direction of the needles. After three careful rounds of petting, her entire being took on an expression of happiness so intense she looked like she was melting.

In this moment, she truly wished the marriage agreement would never expire. She could stop spending a single cent of Hibari Kyoya’s money and pay off her past debts while remaining married—just so she, Hibird, and Roll would never have to be apart.

The youth, having never seen her make such an exaggerated expression (as if spring flowers were blooming in the background), had a subtle look on his face. He finished his flower cake, took a sip of tea from a porcelain cup, and suddenly asked:

“What are you thinking about with that face?”

“Thinking about how, if we absolutely have to divorce, if the two kids can stay with me—” Jin Chaoyan narrowed her eyes happily, blabbing her inner thoughts without defense. Only when she met the boy’s strange gaze did she realize what she had said and stopped abruptly.

Hibari Kyoya looked around and asked uncertainly, “The ten-years-later me and you… actually had…”

“Sleep talking—”

Jin Chaoyan quickly retracted her hand from Roll’s back and interrupted his terrifying assumption with a serious expression. “I was talking in my sleep just now!”

Had what?! Impossible! How could we have children!

“…”

Hibari Kyoya fell silent for a moment. Before he could decide how to respond, there was a knock on the hall door, and Tetsuya Kusakabe’s voice sounded from outside:

“Kyo-san, Madam, news has come from the Vongola base. The Guardians are requested to gather at the location of the white device.”

Hearing this, the boy—his train of thought interrupted—gave a cold snort. “What does that news have to do with me?”

Jin Chaoyan breathed a sigh of relief, feeling heartfelt gratitude toward Sawada Tsuna. Worthy of the friendship they shared from getting beaten up together, she immediately spoke to divert Hibari’s attention. “Ahem, maybe the Millefiore people are attacking? Why don’t we go take a look?”

“Hmm?” As expected, the youth raised an eyebrow, his grey-blue eyes brightening significantly.

In the entire base, probably only Hibari Kyoya would react to the news of an “enemy attack” with the excitement and anticipation of a student hearing that school was canceled.

Jin Chaoyan went with Hibari Kyoya to the area where the white device was located.

By the time they arrived, everyone else was already there, even Yuni. Seeing Hibari Kyoya, Sawada Tsuna let out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, Hibari-senpai is here too…”

Irie Shoichi, who was in charge of the teleportation device, nodded. “The device has been checked, and the time flow has been adjusted. We look forward to your good news.”

Only Hibari Kyoya, standing at the very back of the line to be teleported, looked at Jin Chaoyan with displeasure, silently asking: Where is the enemy attack you promised?

But as his gaze settled on the woman, it turned into confusion.

Jin Chaoyan: “?” She waved, about to say “Bye, see you in an hour,” but as she lifted her arm, she realized she was also glowing. She turned abruptly toward Irie Shoichi. “Eh? Wait, no, why am I also—”

In the next instant, the group in front of the device vanished completely.

Irie Shoichi seemed to have just realized what happened. He pushed up his glasses. “That’s not right… Spanner, didn’t we check the device? The data should be the same as the last transmission. Why did Hibari’s wife also—”

His voice cut off.

A cloud of pink smoke emerged from the floor. When the smoke cleared, a female student with long brown hair and bangs long enough to hide her glasses sat on the ground. She stared blankly at her surroundings for a moment before instantly curling up and hugging her head, trembling.

“Please don’t… don’t hit me…”

Spanner, who was sitting nearby helping to calibrate data, bit down on his lollipop, shattering it. In the midst of his crunching, his usually calm light-blue eyes widened slightly. He seemed somewhat shocked that the wife of that idiosyncratic Vongola Cloud Guardian would have had such a personality ten years ago.

After a moment, he looked at the girl hugging her knees on the ground, too afraid to get up, and turned to ask, “Shoichi, what do we do now?”

Ten years ago. In front of the Namimori Shrine.

Sawada Tsuna, remembering the voice he heard at the moment of teleportation, turned toward Hibari Kyoya, who stood apart from the crowd. “Hibari-senpai, was Chaoyan-san trying to say something just now?”

Upon landing, the boy’s grey-blue eyes had already discreetly swept the surroundings. Seeing no sign of Jin Chaoyan and remembering what she said about the “herbivore” who looked like her but wasn’t her ten years ago, he guessed her whereabouts and turned to walk away without hesitation.

“Wait, Hibari.”

Reborn had also heard Jin Chaoyan’s gasp and guessed the situation. He called out to stop him. “Given her strength, no one in this world can give her a hard time. However, there is something more important to attend to here. Please stay and listen for a moment.”

The youth’s departing steps paused. He turned and met Reborn’s gaze, grudgingly giving him this bit of face. He closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and said:

“Make it quick.”

Namimori Middle School, Entrance.

Jin Chaoyan hadn’t expected to have another chance to visit the world of ten years ago. She was still wondering how to bluff her way through if the swap happened during a class when she heard the dangerous crackle-fizzle of electricity!

Before her physical reflexes could move, her instinct realized this strike was too close to the weapon to dodge. She only had time to tense the muscles at the point of impact!

The dull thud of a baton hitting a body…

And the sharp pain spreading from the hit, traveling along her left arm muscles to her entire body!

Jin Chaoyan let out a grunt of surprise. Her mind went blank for a second, but due to the powerful restorative force of the Strength of a Hundred Seal (Yin Seal) activating passively, her consciousness remained clear. Because of this, the two bodyguards who had struck her were quite surprised to find she was still conscious:

“Hmm? Why did her appearance suddenly change? Her clothes changed too? Is it some kind of magic?”

“Don’t know. Just take her to the boss.”

The two bodyguards put away their electrified batons and reached down to grab the girl by the hair to drag her toward the sedan parked nearby to report. But just as their hands reached out…

Bang!

A gunshot rang out, startling birds on a telephone pole dozens of meters away. The students who were walking home nearby scattered like frightened animals.

A few minutes earlier.

In one of the black sedans parked a hundred meters from the Namimori campus, a five- or six-year-old girl pulled her mother’s hand, peering out the car window. “Is Father… looking for Sister to bring her back?”

“Jin Chaoyan isn’t qualified to be an heir. You don’t need to be so polite to her, Kazumiko.” The young woman flipping through a fashion magazine beside her patted her head and smiled at her gently.

“But…” The little girl swung her feet, which couldn’t reach the floor of the luxury car, looking fearfully at the black-clad bodyguards on both sides of the street. “B-but, why is Father bringing so many people to hit her? Hasn’t she always been very good?”

“She isn’t ‘good.’ I heard she’s dating some riff-raff at school and, relying on the fact that he has some skill, she injured your father’s most capable assistant. There are two kinds of children your father hates most: one is the weak and incompetent, and the other is the one who dares to challenge his authority—”

“Although I don’t know how that little trash transformed from one extreme to the other, it’s normal to receive a lesson.” The woman turned a page of her magazine, comforting her precious daughter in a casual tone.

But the little girl was not comforted. She nervously gripped the hem of her school skirt and whispered, “So, will Father hit me like that in the future too?”

“…” The woman was silent for two seconds before patting her head. “Kazumiko is Mother’s only treasure. As long as you are obedient, your father won’t be so heartless to you.”

The girl wanted to say something else when she suddenly heard the gunshot outside. She clutched her head and began to tremble. Even the previously relaxed Mrs. Jin instantly became tense, asking the driver, “What happened? Who fired a shot?”

In the distance.

Jin Chaoyan sat on the ground against a street wall, her expression cold. Her left arm, which had been hit by the electric baton, hung limply. For some reason, even though the Yin Seal was working, the pain at the wound was strange. A thin layer of cold sweat broke out on her skin, but she endured it without showing it. She looked at a bodyguard kneeling on the ground, screaming because his palm had been pierced through. “Who sent you?”

The other bodyguards finally saw the gun in her right hand. After a second of shock, they all reached for the weapons at their waists. The woman gave a soft huff. Her right hand tossed the pistol into the air. Reaching for a spare magazine at her waist, she completed a one-handed reload in mid-air. She caught the silver pistol and, the moment they drew their weapons, fired again—

Bullets trailing purple Cloud flames erupted from the muzzle, splitting into multiple rounds and hitting the right hands of every bodyguard holding a weapon.

They instinctively retreated in unison. The bodyguards in the back couldn’t help but whisper:

“She’s clearly just a schoolgirl, why…”

“Report to Boss Jin! She doesn’t seem like an ordinary person!”

“Wasn’t it said that only her boyfriend is skilled? Are middle schoolers nowadays all this terrifying?”

Jin Chaoyan, who had never experienced this kind of pain, watched them retreat. She struggled to get up from the ground. Her red Sharingan appeared, helping her more clearly identify the effects of her previous strike. Seeing that some people only had bullet marks on their right sleeves, she knew her previous attack had partially missed.

However, what caught her attention most was the name they called out.

“Boss Jin?”

She thought about the attack she couldn’t dodge because of the sudden transmigration and quickly understood who they were after. She nodded. “Jin Goemon, is it?”

“Using this level of force against a child with heart disease… If my next attack misses as wildly as the last one, I’ll trouble whoever is closest to tell him—”

“He. Is. Dead.”

After meeting the First Vongola Generation who emerged from the rings at the Namimori Shrine and listening to some nonsensical trial, Hibari Kyoya walked toward Namimori without hesitation. He didn’t even have time to deal with the strange baby in a purple helmet who had been nagging behind him the whole way.

Even if the baby was the home tutor Reborn had assigned to him, supposedly to coach him through the First Generation trials.

“Wait, Hibari! Stop! From now on, I am your home tutor…” Skull ran on his short legs in the sunset, trying to establish some authority. The next second, the youth—having completely lost his patience—stopped abruptly, his tonfas appearing with a cold gleam:

“If you dare to shout at me again—”

Mid-sentence, the boy tilted his head sharply. Hearing the gunshot from the direction of Namimori Middle School, his movements paused. A hint of provoked excitement appeared in his grey-blue eyes, but it quickly flickered as a thought occurred to him. He turned and quickened his pace toward the source.

Skull, who almost got beaten up and was still trembling: “…I-I’m sorry! Truly sorry! I won’t do it again next time!” He hugged a telephone pole and shook for a while until the fear of being threatened by killing intent subsided. Seeing that the person he was following had vanished, he said to the empty air in a trembling voice:

“Y-you rude brat… nice m-momentum you’ve got!”

Five minutes later.

On the essential path to Namimori Middle School, Hibari Kyoya stopped. He saw people lying scattered across the ground, their forms and clothing suggesting bodyguards. Further down the road, a familiar figure stood before a black sedan.

Her light blue hair fell over her shoulders. A silver pistol was held firmly in her right hand, but the beautiful gold gown she had worn when she arrived was stained with dirt, and the thin gauze at the hem was torn.

Sensing someone approaching, Jin Chaoyan was about to blow the car door handle off and drag out the middle-aged man who now looked terrified—a far cry from his arrogant appearance at the family banquet ten years later. She thought it was a new reinforcement sent by the opponent, so she looked toward the newcomer coldly.

“Wow.” The boy who had finally arrived raised an eyebrow. When he met her eyes, he smiled and praised: “Nice momentum.”

Jin Chaoyan: “…QAQ”

She didn’t know what she was thinking, but the moment she saw Hibari, even if it was just this fifteen-year-old brat of a Chairman, she instinctively breathed a sigh of relief.

Like a bullied child who finally saw the parent coming to back them up.

As the pain in her left arm grew heavier, a thin mist of water rose in Jin Chaoyan’s violet eyes. Her voice carried a nasal tone, sounding somewhat aggrieved as she spoke:

“Chairman, these people were breaking Namimori’s discipline just now, bullying a student at your school—”

“What took you so long?”

It was clearly a complaint. But it sounded like she was acting spoiled.

Support After Transmigrating to Become Lady Skylark