Ascendance
Summary: Final instalment in the Dark Ambition Trilogy. "Dame-Tsuna, don't lose yourself." Dark AR, involves TYL!Bazooka.
"Reborn!" He yelled, delighted.
The hitman was, surprisingly, an infant and was sitting on the kitchen counter behind them. Tsuna could tell that that Reborn actually was the Reborn of this future.
"Trust your intuition, Dame-Tsuna." The brunet could tell that Reborn was happy to see him – as shown by the gun being twirled on his finger; "You think something is wrong, that there is something more to everything that has happened: tell us."
"Well," Tsuna fidgeted slightly, "My older self agreed to me trying to rescue him, and yet –" He glanced at his Cloud Guardian, "- before he was imprisoned, he made Hibari-san to promise him to never let him out of Vendicare. My guess is that… Byakuran is somehow behind all this again."
"You made Hibari promise…?" Yamamoto frowned, thinking hard.
Lambo sat up, "You mean… younger boss coming here was rigged?"
Reborn nodded, "That is what I also think."
"So what do we do?" Chrome asked quietly.
Tsuna said hesitantly, "I…I feel that we should go ahead anyway… but that's just me." He finished, flushing.
Yamamoto nodded, "I agree with Tsuna."
"Let us go and rescue our boss to the extreme!" Ryouhei yelled excitedly.
Lambo said uncertainly, "What should we tell Enma?"
There's that person again, Tsuna thought, yet, disregarding any feelings I currently have about him, why does my intuition tell me that this Enma is bad news?
Hibari cut in, "Does it matter?" Tsuna silently agreed. The skylark began to move toward the entrance door. Just before he went however, he turned to Tsuna.
"Herbivore," He told him impassively. "That guy made me promise him something without waiting for me to answer. I will bite him to death, and that is the only reason I am coming along."
He opened the door, "However, I have to tend to some disciplinary issues right now. Don't take my prey away." Throwing one last glare at them all, he left, slamming the door.
Right after that, Reborn requested a talk with Tsuna privately. They went outside, and Tsuna was nervous, wondering what the infant would want.
"Dame-Tsuna," He began, "I have no doubt that you also think Enma is a threat."
"Yeah," Tsuna said hesitantly, "but…"
"Your jealousy has nothing to do with your Hyper Intuition." Reborn told him with a flicker of mockery on his face.
Tsuna bristled, "I'm not -!"
His future home tutor just continued, ignoring him completely. "I think Enma is manipulating your family using a secret psychic ability."
That stopped Tsuna short. "… Manipulating my friends using a psychic ability…?
Reborn whacked him on the head, "Don't repeat what I say, Dame-Tsuna! Anyway, you and your Guardians will go and eliminate Enma."
It took a few seconds for that to sink in.
"HIIIIEEEE?" Tsuna yelled out in surprise. Reborn hit him again, and he quietened, but only slightly.
"B-but I can't do that!" Tsuna protested; "Relying on just my intuition and a hunch -!"
Reborn hit him on the head yet again, "Dame-Tsuna, I have verified this with some of my contacts." The infant told him seriously, "It is certain that Enma has a power that can slowly sway emotions to his control."
"You can't be certain that he's using it on my friends though!" Tsuna said weakly.
Reborn suddenly gave him that look, "Dame-Tsuna," He said quietly, voice intense, "Your own family would never turn on you, much less be afraid and uncertain about you."
Tsuna swallowed; the infant hitman was right, but…
"Why wouldn't they?" Tsuna replied softly, looking away. "I hurt Kyokou-chan so badly, and caused Gokudera-kun to go insane."
"Because they are your famiglia," Reborn said, "Your father and I did not choose them just because they had the potential to become powerful enough to protect you."
Tsuna nodded, feeling tears prick his eyes yet again.
"We will go now," Reborn told him, "Ask your Guardians on the whereabouts of Enma." He turned away, and what he said next both shocked and touched Tsuna deeply.
"And… I'm sorry I failed you as your mentor."
Tsuna suddenly remembered his own Reborn, in the past, saying that he would never let his student sacrifice his humanity for the Dark Ambition Flame.
Tsuna managed a watery smile, even if Reborn couldn't see it, "It's not your fault; besides, you should be talking to this world's Tsuna about this, not me."
"Of course," And Reborn was instantly back to his old self. The infant turned back to him, and Tsuna was unsure whether his eyes were shinier than usual.
"Ciaossu, Dame-Tsuna."
Enma wasn't quite what Tsuna expected. He was younger than Tsunayoshi, but older than Tsuna. He had this harried and pathetic air around him that Tsuna had had before meeting Reborn.
Tsuna thought back to how concerned Yamamoto had been when the brunet had asked about Enma's whereabouts. His heart plummeted at the realisation that the Rain Guardian's worry was centred more around Enma than his own boss. Then Tsuna frowned, why did I think of him as the Guardian instead of my Guardian…? Wait, why am I even thinking like a mafia boss!
He shook his head; now wasn't the time for that.
Right now he and Enma were standing three metres away from each other, on, surprisingly, the roof of the school Tsuna went to. Nothing had changed about it at all in this future.
"You guys will be fine, right?" Yamamoto asked; hand on the back of his head as he smiled hesitantly.
Before Tsuna could say anything, Enma replied, grinning sheepishly.
"Of course we will, Yamamoto-kun!" He told him in a reassuring voice. "You can go now!"
Tsuna felt a dark something in him twist up in frustration. He managed to suppress it with a small smile at Yamamoto. However, it didn't last very long, both the smile and the suppression when the dark-haired man only nodded in worry at Enma before taking off.
The moment his Rain guardian was gone, Tsuna did something he usually didn't do: he snarled.
"What did you do to my friends, you – you -!" Tsuna spat out, enraged.
"Whatever are you talking about, Tsuna-kun?" Enma asked, smiling innocently.
"Drop the act!" The brunet yelled at him.
Enma shrugged, "If you insist." At once, the friendly smile went sinister and his eyes reflected a deadly chill; the previously pathetic air around him instantly went oppressive and calculating.
Tsuna shook off his surprise at how easily Enma complied and lit up his flames.
"I'll ask again: what did you do to my friends?"
Enma chuckled darkly, eyes reflecting a threatening intention.
"I just… tweaked a few things in their minds… added a few dreams and… allowed it to grow." He said, smirking.
"What do you mean?" Tsuna asked sharply. "Are you telling me you really did manipulate their feelings toward me?"
Enma nodded vigorously. "Of course!" He crowed, delight clear in his voice, "It was a challenge, but I did it! I just planted such gruesome dreams of your older self destroying everything and everyone with that Dark Ambition!"
Tsuna jerked back, eyes horrified. "You gave them… nightmares?"
Enma nodded again, smile threatening to split his face. "It took a year, but the smallest seed of doubt grew in all their minds, and I seized that moment!" He suddenly frowned, "But your Cloud Guardian was too apathetic, too uncaring toward it all." He sighed, disappointed. "If there was doubt, then it must've been buried beneath all that impassiveness in his mind."
Tsuna felt a strange sort of pride for Hibari, but also sweatdropped. The skylark probably already had made peace with his boss's situation and then had thought of the dreams as only a nuisance.
But Enma continued, and Tsuna almost wished he hadn't. Almost.
"However, that Storm Guardian of yours…" Enma's eyes narrowed as if remembering past frustration. "He was the hardest nut to crack." He suddenly smiled in satisfaction, "But I got there in the end."
"What did you do…?" Tsuna asked quietly, a shadow over his eyes.
Enma laughed loudly, "His loyalty to you was his greatest weakness! So I changed the dreams I sent to him. Imagine, you, the person he was most loyal to – saying it was his entire fault that you were suffering! That everything bad that had happened was his doing!" Enma's eyes glittered as he feverishly pinned Tsuna with his gaze.
"His sanity went down the drain! Especially with the 'help' I gave him on that path!" Tsuna's heart jolted at his words. But it was Enma's last words that ultimately wiped any regrets about killing his from Tsuna's mind.
"Eh, insane or against you: it's a win-win situation."
Tsuna got his confession; he now knew what had happened to his Guardians – who had manipulated them so. In a split second, his righteous fury was unleashed. Instantly, his vision and hearing were filled with flames and their roaring outrage.
"Dame-Tsuna, don't lose yourself."
The enraged, but otherwise calm-looking brunet stopped an inch from pummelling Enma into oblivion.
Tsuna didn't turn to the infant, but remained standing over Enma's huddled, beaten up form. His eyes brightly reflected the blue flames sitting on his forehead.
"And why not?" Tsuna asked in reply to Reborn's plea; his voice was deadly.
Behind the heavily breathing brunet, Reborn frowned. The infant hopped down from his position on the edge of the roof, and walked up to Tsuna.
BAM!
Tsuna went flying away when Reborn's ten ton hammer came into contact with the back of his head. Enma stared in bewilderment.
The brunet made a small crater in the ground as he landed a few metres away. He sat up, looking dazed and confused – his flames were extinguished.
"Reborn…?"
As customary, the infant ignored him, and instead addressed Enma, eyes pinpricks of ice; a gun was already pointed at the redhead.
"Release them all from your hold." Reborn demanded. When Enma didn't answer, he cocked his gun.
"Now."
Finally, Enma said reluctantly through clenched teeth.
"…Fine."
The last vestiges of the dreary fog left his mind, and for the first time after a year, Gokudera was sane. He opened his eyes, but immediately closed them. Murky water surrounded him, and as he struggled to free himself from his bindings, he realised he was too weak for now.
As he calmed down slightly, he wished he hadn't. Broken flashbacks reached his mind, and he shook his head violently, eyes shut tightly.
"Gokudera-kun… it's your entire fault."
"You're not fit to be my right-hand man…"
"Just die!"
He remembered the nightmares, and the slow descent into madness. Something was echoing around him, but the memories pulled him under first.
"Where are you going, Gokudera?" It was Yamamoto, his dark, weary eyes full of concern.
Slipping… you're slipping, Gokudera Hayato.
"I failed the Tenth."
And he did. He let him get imprisoned in Vendicare; he wasn't fit to be his right-hand man – considering the fact how easily he went insane. He should have rescued the Tenth, not mope around trying to get himself imprisoned. What was wrong with him?
The echoes got louder, and, this time, Gokudera forced the images back to hear better. They sounded familiar.
"Sorry… so sorry… a monster… I don't deserve anything but death…"
The voice was familiar, and it only took Gokudera a split second to recognise it.
Tenth!
Gokudera's heart clenched; his voice was… broken, full of despair and agony…
I'll save you Tenth!
Hopefully, his boss would forgive him for not stopping him from getting imprisoned in Vendicare.
Tsuna…
Suddenly, he heard soft clicks, and his struggle for freedom renewed itself. However, he needn't have bothered. His eyes shot open once again as the liquid around him drained.
A light turned on, and Gokudera squinted against it.
"Who's there?" He said hoarsely, watching his small, glass prison open slowly.
The figure in front of him shifted slightly, and Gokudera's eyes winded as the light caught his face.
"Kufufufu~"
After Reborn and Enma mysteriously disappeared, Tsuna was left on his own.
"So Gokudera-kun only went insane because of Enma…" Tsuna said to himself quietly, trying to make sense of what he had been told. "And my Guardians turned on me because of him as well." His fists clenched, face scarily blank. He stood slowly, fighting the urge to go after the redhead to obliterate him.
Before he could, he heard footsteps behind him, and turned.
"Boss…?"
"Tsuna…"
His Guardians stood awkwardly behind him, shame apparent on their faces. Only Hibari was absent. As well as…
Mukuro, he thought, but shoved that thought to the back of his mind.
Tsuna quickly smiled, realising he still had the murderous expression on his face. "Are you guys alright?" He asked, concerned.
There was a brief pause before Lambo suddenly hugged him, crying.
"Stupid boss!" He whined, "You should be worrying about yourself first!"
The other approached Tsuna after Lambo.
"I'm sorry, Tsuna." Yamamoto said, regret clear in his eyes. "I should have believed in you until the end."
Ryouhei and Chrome nodded grimly in agreement.
Tsuna sweatdropped, feeling some déjà vu in this situation.
"It's fine!" He told them kindly, "Besides, you should be saying that to this time's Tsuna, not me."
Yamamoto nodded, smiling, "Of course." He said easily, although his eyes were still haunted by guilt, as were the others'.
Chrome came forward and put a hand on Tsuna's cheek. Tsuna blinked, surprised, as he blushed.
"Chrome-chan…?"
"Tsuna," She said sorrowfully, "Don't ever have that kind of expression on you again."
The brunet frowned, "What do you mean?"
"That scary face to the extreme!" Ryouhei yelled worriedly.
Lambo just nodded into Tsuna's already wet shirt.
Tsuna grinned, "O-of course!" He sobered up a little, "What are we going to do now, though?"
"Save our boss, of course!" Lambo said, wiping the tears and snot from his face. He and Chrome let go of him.
"Right!" Tsuna smiled, then tilted his head in confusion, "Wait… where's Mukuro-san, anyway? I haven't seen him…"
Chrome said gently, blushing slightly at the name, "In Vendicare."
Tsuna's mouth dropped. "Him as well?" He shrieked.
"Stupid herbivore," Said a voice.
"Hibari-san!" Tsuna yelled out in surprise. The skylark stood beside the stairwell.
"Did you really think I'd leave you in that prison to rot before I've bitten you to death?" He said impassively.
The brunet blinked in surprise, "What did you do?"
Yamamoto gave a sheepish laugh, "Just because we had the slightest bit… ah, a whole lot… of doubt about you from Enma doesn't mean we'd abandoned you."
Ryouhei nodded vigorously, "We planned something to the extreme!"
"Mukuro was to wait in Vendicare until the right time." Lambo supplied, "Surprisingly, he was quite patient."
"Right about now…" Hibari drawled, "He should be getting that silver-haired herbivore out of there."
Chrome nodded determinedly, "Then we should go now to assist."
"I'll help!" Tsuna said loudly, eyes worried.
Yamamoto looked thoughtful, but before he could say anything, a voice called out.
"Dame-Tsuna!"
Tsuna jumped, and looked around wildly for the infant. However, after a few moments of searching for him, he got confused.
"Reborn…?"
"In your pocket," came the disembodied voice.
Tsuna dug into the aforementioned place and pulled out a mini headset.
"Ehh…?"
"Something Irie Shouichi came up with to reach across ten years." Reborn's voice said out of it.
"A-ah, okay, then."
"Anyway, Dame-Tsuna, you have accomplished what you've went there to do so –"
"H-how did you know that?"
"- you can come home now."
Tsuna stilled, "But Gokudera-kun and my future self…"
"Dame-Tsuna!" Reborn reprimanded, "Do you want time to implode?"
"Oh…" Tsuna remembered, "Right." He frowned, "But can't I help in any way?"
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up in response.
"You've done enough, Tsuna." Yamamoto said gently, "We're gratefully that you came to help."
"Awesome to the extreme!" Ryouhei shouted excitedly, punching the air.
Chrome bowed to him, blushing slightly, "Thank you, boss."
Lambo smiled lazily at him, "Thanks, young Vongola." He seemed to be vaguely embarrassed from his crying show from before.
"Smash the headset when you're ready, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn's voice said before the headset went silent.
Tsuna hesitated, and pocketed the electronic. He looked up at Yamamoto's surprised face, determined, "If I can't fight, then can I tag along, at least? I'll go as soon as my future self and Gokudera-kun are free!"
The Rain Guardian looked thoughtful, and Tsuna bit his lip in apprehension. Finally, the older guy nodded slowly.
"Sure, Tsuna," He said, a wicked grin carving its way onto his face. "But be ready to smash that headphone."
"Tenth! Are you alright?"
"H-Hayato?"
"Yeah, it's me, Tenth! Don't worry; we'll get you out of here!"
"What? Wait, don't!"
"Kufufufu~ Why ever not, Tsunayoshi-kun?"
"I'm too… dangerous. You both know that!"
"You are not, Tenth!"
"I am, Hayato. I-I killed Kyokou-chan…"
"You seem to be misinformed~"
"W-what do you mean?"
"You're not a murderer, Tenth! You didn't kill her!"
"I… didn't kill Kyokou-chan?"
"Severely injured, yes… but otherwise, no~"
"But the Dark Ambition Flame…"
"…is recorded to be uncontrollable."
"R-Reborn?"
"Stupid Dame-Tsuna; I found records of the Primo having used that Flame as well."
"P-Primo used it?"
"Kufufufu~ how interesting…"
"Yes, Dame-Tsuna. However, the Dark Flame only lasted for as long as needed. Primo's humanity came back eventually."
"…But there was a long-term cost, wasn't there?"
"Yes. Actually, it was one of the reasons why Daemon Spade thought the following bosses incompetent."
"And the cost for me was… all this."
"…"
"So it's true? Tenth can go back to normal?"
"Bakas,"
"Ouch!"
"Dame-Tsuna, haven't you noticed yet?"
"I-what?"
"Kufufufu, the baby's right~"
"You're back to normal again, Tenth!"
"Again, bakas."
"W-wait, this time's Reborn has already gone ahead." Tsuna yelled in surprise.
Yamamoto grinned sheepishly, "It appears so, haha. Also, Enma is in the Namimori Vongola HQ, held prisoner."
"That's a relief." Though Tsuna honestly didn't know whether he was relieved. Some part of him wanted to go over there and finish him off.
"We should get going now." Chrome interjected anxiously, clutching her trident tightly.
"We will rescue our Boss to the extreme!" Ryouhei yelled determinedly.
Hibari said boredly, "I need to bite him to death."
Tsuna and his future Guardians ran into trouble the moment they got within range of Vendicare. Honestly, Tsuna did not want to recall how they even got there. It was scary enough to even think about it.
Surprisingly, the entrance to Vendicare was a cave – located right outside of an Italian town.
And it was about to be demolished.
"This is it?" Tsuna asked in surprise, eyeing the run down entrance dubiously.
Lambo nodded, right eye closed lazily as always.
"They're all in there." Chrome commented softly, staring into the darkness as if hypnotised.
"Che." Hibari closed his eyes in annoyance.
"Well, then," Yamamoto approached the entrance. "Let's -!"
BOOM!
The cave exploded outward, and Gokudera and Mukuro came flying out; the latter gracefully – the former, not-so-gracefully.
"G-Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna yelped in shock.
The Storm Guardian's head shot up at his voice. His eyes widened.
"T-Tenth?"
"Well, it's young Tsunayoshi-kun~!" Mukuro chuckled delightedly as he brushed himself off.
"You two are looking well," Yamamoto said cheerily.
"Where's the herbivore and the baby?" Hibari interrupted, getting straight to the point.
"Separated," Gokudera replied, and Tsuna marvelled at how mature they were being. Then that went away when the silver-haired man cast a dirty look at Hibari – and did he see a tongue?
Gokudera himself looked haggard; hair wild and wet, and huge bags stayed under his eyes.
"He's coming!" He immediately continued urgently. However, his warning came too late.
Once again, the not-doing-so-good Vendicare entrance, that had been blown to rubble, once again exploded, and out came –
"Byakuran's clone." Tsuna breathed. There wasn't much of a difference between the original and this one – except for the fact that the markings on his face were now gone.
"If it isn't the young Vongola Boss…" Byakuran purred, pulling up smoothly in front of them.
Instantly, his future Guardians closed ranks around him in a protective semi-circle. Surprisingly, even Hibari came into it.
As they did this, Byakuran eyed them with amusement.
"You know," He said leisurely, "I was the one who visited you in your dreams. It wasn't your future self, not really."
Tsuna eyes narrowed, and his Dying Will Flames appeared.
"You're going to fight me, now, are you?" Byakuran sniggered, "You'll fail, and you'll be led into using the Dark Ambition Flame like last time… You can remember what happened from there on."
Tsuna gritted his teeth, but Yamamoto put a restraining hand on his shoulder. Don't, the older male mouthed.
"Enma-kun will eventually escape," Byakuran said in a sing-song tone, eyeing them slyly, "His psychic power was useful after all."
"You bastard…" Gokudera growled, his box weapon with Uri inside already poised to open.
"Run, Tsuna," Lambo muttered behind him, "While we distract him."
Tsuna was about to protest, but Byakuran had already acted.
"It won't work~!" He said cheerily, and called out, clapping him hands.
"White Applause."
For a moment, there was silence.
Tsuna felt disorientated. He shook his head slowly, and raised his head, feeling his body ache horribly. Smoke surrounded him, making him unable to see anything.
He shifted, and began to sit up. Nothing was broken, as far as he knew. He thought back to what had happened.
How had Byakuran gotten that strong?
The smoke started to clear, and Tsuna's eyes widened in horror.
Gokudera lay in front of him, in a position that screamed he'd taken the blow for him. And sprawled in front of him was Yamamoto, a trickle of blood running from his mouth.
"Y-Yamamoto-kun… Gokudera-kun…" Tsuna whispered, feeling a panic attack about to come on.
He looked around wildly for the others.
Ryouhei lay not too far away with Chrome protected within his arms; they both seemed to be okay, but unconscious. Hibari and Mukuro were missing, as well as Lambo.
…Even Hibari.
Tsuna bit his lip, willing himself to stay calm.
"C-can't be…" Gokudera was struggling to get up, sharp eyes glaring up at something. Tsuna followed his gaze to where Byakuran was, floating in the sky like it was nothing.
"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna crawled over to him, "Are you alright?"
"Yes," The Storm Guardian answer, wincing slightly. He glanced at Yamamoto with a hint of guilt in his eyes, "That stupid baseball freak took most of it for me."
He glowered at Byakuran again, "But how did he…?"
"The original me had Ghost put most of the Flames he had gathered all in me instead of him." The clone explained gleefully, "So now I'm practically god-mode-ing all of your asses."
Tsuna bit his lip even harder, drawing blood. Around him, his Guardians lay, already wounded not a second into the fight.
I have to protect them all, he thought, but the only option left was…
The Dark Ambition Flame.
He instantly felt afraid of the idea. After all, look what it had done to his future self and the effects it had on his close friends!
But if sacrificing his humanity meant his friends lived…
"Your Guardians aren't enough to defeat me," Byakuran gloated, "Maybe, if their real boss was here, complete with the Dark Ambition Flame…"
"Don't listen to him!" Gokudera grunted, struggling to stand up, "He's just trying to get you to…"
Too late.
"I'm sorry." Tsuna murmured.
"Don't!" Yamamoto suddenly revived, coughing up blood, "Don't do it, Tsuna…!" He immediately understood the sudden resolve in his younger boss's eyes.
The brunet shook his head. "I have to." Although he had no idea how to actually do the trade, he tried. He concentrated on the need to protect his friends, the need to acquire enough power to defeat the enemy.
"Stop him, Hayato!" Yamamoto said desperately, being unable to move himself.
A chasm started to grow in Tsuna's mind, and he suddenly felt light and empty… as if something – his need – was pulling everything that would make him falter – his emotions – into it.
"Tenth!" Gokudera leapt forward, but something repelled him. Winds had started to swirl around Tsuna's form, preventing any access.
The silver-haired man fell back, and turned to Byakuran, "Oi! Stop that fucking wind barrier of yours, or I'll fucking -!" He yelled wildly at him, and the clone just chuckled.
"Or what?" He asked, amused, "What can you possibly do?"
CRACK!
Tsuna opened his eyes. The chasm disappeared as he came back to himself with a start.
What the…?
Tsuna stared down in surprise at the sudden hole in his jacket – where the headset was. At first, he thought it was Byakuran, but he too looked surprised and a tad angry as well. Then a voice came from behind him.
"Sorry, younger me, but I will not let you make that same mistake I did."
Tsuna started to turn, but all he caught were glimpses of black, brown, and a bright, burning blue before he fell into darkness.
Thank you… Tsuna.
"HIIIEEE!" Tsuna shot up from his spot on the bed, panic overriding his senses.
"Calm down, Dame-Tsuna." And that was Reborn, standing on his bedside table, looking quite happy.
"Tenth! Are you alright?" Gokudera popped up out of nowhere, with a relieved-looking Yamamoto.
Tsuna settled his breathing, swallowing loudly. "Yeah… I'm alright, Gokudera-kun."
But he frowned, how were things going with his future counterpart and his Guardians? Would they succeed?
"Have faith, Dame-Tsuna!" Reborn kicked him in the back of the head, and Tsuna fell out of the bed with a yell.
"I'm sure it will be alright, Tsuna." Yamamoto grinned, and Tsuna hesitantly nodded.
"O-Okay, then. I suppose…"
"I'm hungry, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn demanded, suddenly cross-dressed as a girl, "Feed me."
The other three only sweatdropped.
And that was all the closure Tsuna needed.
"That," Tsunayoshi panted, lying prone on the ground right next to his right hand man, "was the toughest fight we have ever been in."
"Really?" Ryouhei asked in astonishment, sprawled somewhere behind him, "What about that… Vente Family fight… to the… extreme!" He tried to punch the air, but failed miserably as his exhaustion caught up to him.
"Stupid… herbivores…" Hibari growled.
Tsunayoshi looked up and spotted him hanging on a tree branch; he chuckled, "Trees are where small birds belong, Kyouya."
Hibari spat out a glob of blood, "I will bite you to death… right after I heal." He glared down at Tsunayoshi before falling asleep.
"Yamamoto?" Tsunayoshi called worriedly.
"Yup… I'm good." The sword man called lightly… buried underneath a lot of leaves.
"Lambo-san…" The teen was stumbling around like a drunk, "Is… going to rule… the world!" He collapsed.
Gokudera managed to light a cigarette and put it in his mouth, "Che, damn cow…"
Tsunayoshi gave him a disapproving glance, "I thought I told you to quit?"
The silver-haired man coughed in surprise, "I… er…" The cancer stick mysteriously disappeared.
"Boss… are you alright?" Chrome looked the least hurt, although there was a neat welt over her right eye. She limped over to them.
"We're alright… for now." Tsunayoshi smiled, but frowned, "Hey... where's Reborn?"
"The infant is gone~" Mukuro drifted over, looking like he had no injuries at all.
"What?" Tsunayoshi choked out in surprise, "Now of all times?"
"Kufufufu~" Mukuro smirked, "I do believe he said that he was going to get a manicure."
Tsunayoshi only groaned.
OWARI
A/N: I can honestly say that I just completely contradicted myself in some parts of this, haha. Some parts of this story fail dramatically, but oh well~
Anyways, please review~ ;)