Guardians Unite!
As he entered the meeting room, Sawada Tsunayoshi could tell that his tutor, the famous Reborn, did not have any good news for him. Just really scary news. Technically, that was not surprising. Same old, same old. Didn't stop it from being sinister.
The sinister seven-year-old in question was sitting on a large office chair, arms and legs folded and the large eyes that had shrunken over the years hidden beneath the brim of his hat. The sight of him awakened once again guilt and fear in the soul of the tenth Vongola boss. This farce of defeating Byakuran in the future had been going on for five years already! They'd only managed to keep it quiet by screwing around with Irie's time manipulator machine: going back regularly and coming back. But this stretching of time was not without difficulties. Lambo and I-Pin were suffering... and the baby faces of the Vongola, the Arcobaleno, particularly Reborn, had been promoted to kids. Going back and forth in time had stretched them all.
The shrewd little hitman looked at the twenty year olds facing him. Yamamoto Takeshi and Gokudera Hayato were, of course, with Tsuna, having assigned the others with them to fortify this, the fiftieth, Vongola future base.
"Damn that Hibari! He didn't exactly make it easy for us! He nearly killed us instead!" growled a pissed Gokudera. "and it's not even as though the school's in use now, of all times!"
Five year's worth of battle against the Millefiore and the real Funeral Wreaths, suffering damage from raining shinuki flames emanating from the Mare and Vongola rings as well as the rampaging box weapons, the situation had grown so bad for the normal inhabitants that they'd had to be evacuated to wherever to escape the damage. A huge blot on the Vongola boss's conscience. An even bigger blot was the state of the town. Namimori itself had turned into a ghost town full of nothing but the ruins of what had once been a peaceful and charming little town. That is, of course, excepting the school. Namimori Middle had been spared the carnage by the Cloud Guardian, Hibari Kyouya, who had risked his life on many an occasion to keep it intact, and then went to great lengths to patch it up if ever it got so much as a scratch.
"Well, look on the bright side." Yamamoto tried a calming grin. "At least it'll give him an incentive to fight with us. When the time comes."
"It also gives him an incentive to fight us now! And right now we've got to concern ourselves with..." The right hand man was about to say "present" but that was way too ironic.
"Fair enough, but we have to look on the bright side anyway."
"Remind me, how did you make left-hand? You're too laid back about this whole operation, Baseball nut!" Gokudera shot at him. "We're open! No stealth anymore. Any imbecile would attack the school now, and who's in the school? We'd be annihilated in seconds!"
Yamamoto lost his grin, and took on a sombre grimace.
Tsuna, on the other hand, didn't comment. He'd grown accustomed, as you'd expect, to these forms of debates and had developed a means of taking a stance. He sat back in his chair, and listened to the raining of comments from both sides and then gave an opinion based on all the info. Suffice it to say, the guardians had also grown accustomed to this and at the end of this particularly small debate, they turned to face their leader, awaiting the final decision. Tsuna sighed before continuing.
"In the end, we have nowhere else to go. But Gokudera kun's right: we are a prime target." In any other situation, Reborn would have smirked. The young man had finally accepted and understood all that it meant to be a mafia boss. Reborn's protégé had hardened, but deep inside, he was still the big softie he had always been.
Silence fell across the desk.
"We've lost any advantages." He stated."The town's gone, leaving us as sitting ducks. Then we've used our boxes too much. He's analysed them and the arsehole knows how to counter them. The only thing we haven't thrown at him, and I add because we don't know how to, is the Original Vongola and Arcobaleno wills."
Yamamoto shot his friend a look. "Well, Mr Scientist?"
"Science doesn't work with this kind of thing."
"Well what about your occult stuff?"
"It doesn't mix!"
"Certainly," Reborn cut across the potential battle. "That we have lost all elements of surprise, and thereby any upper hand we might have had."
Silence fell again. "So we're sitting ducks and there's nothing we can do?" Tsuna tried to keep calm. "Or maybe you'll share what you have been plotting for a long while." The tutor student relationship meant that they both knew when the other was up to something.
"My! Aren't we nosey, No-Good Tsuna!" there was the typical smirk!
"Not now, Reborn! Just spill!" the Vongola boss was in no mood for the hitman's playful whims. "We're in the fight of our lives!": that wiped the smirk off Reborn's face.
"I have been working on an assumption." He said. "Hibari got Daisy's Mare Ring, Sun Variant, right?"
"Yeah..."
"And gave it to Ryohei."
"This we know, it happened years ago. In all due respect, Reborn san get to the point!" Gokudera was getting agitated.
"Well, we've made a tri siette, unless I'm much mistaken. At least, a part of it. The Arcobaleno wills, the Vongola Rings and now we have collected Daisy and Torikabuto's Mare Rings. We need the other five to gain the whole of the Tri Siette Policy, and in doing so, foiling Byakuran. In theory." Reborn sounded a bit too sure of himself for anyone to consider it a theory. And it was, in fact, a wholly plausible train of thought.
"So we need to take the other Mare Rings." Gokudera summarised. "And given the foes we're up against, that is no mean feat."
The glum silence that had fallen and dissipated throughout the course of this sober meeting fell again. No one wanted to admit it aloud, but they were all considering the easy option: abandoning the whole thing and returning to the past, leading ordinary lives and dying fighting Byakuran in the right time.
"I have a suggestion." Reborn said at last.
"That means you've already put it in place." Groaned Tsuna, placing a hand to his forehead in anguish. "What've you done this time you meddling baby?" Reborn shot his student an innocent wide-eyed childish look, something that didn't wash with any of the young men sitting opposite him. He kept it nonetheless.
"I just asked my best friend Verde a favour..." that certainly did not bode well for any of them.
"What did you give up this time?"
"Nothing really important. Just told him his research would change the world, but that he needed to help me if he wanted me to tell him about the Policy."
"You told him about that!"
"Of course. He's already working on it." Tsuna's hand connected to his face again. The politics between the Arcobaleno was not for him to meddle in. It'd bring him down into details he'd rather avoid.
"So what did you ask Verde?" Reborn smiled. Tsuna sighed. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"Nope. But you've got to handle it now."
"As usual."
Reborn pressed the intercom on the principle's desk. "Would Bianci please bring the two up here." The boys turned to look at each other. The seconds ticked in slow motion till at last Bianci opened the door.
"Reborn, you called?" she said sensually. Behind her, Chrome followed, looking slightly murderous.
"Chrome?"
"Have you any idea what you're doing, Boss?" yeh, her confidence level had leapt up by hundreds over the last five years. Tsuna hated taking the wrap for Reborn's stupid ideas, but he sighed.
"Please, Chrome. It's necessary..." and he would have loved to have been able to add: "at least I hope so." But as Boss, he couldn't afford to.
"Chrome chan, you heard him." Haru's stubborn voice floated into the room, preceding her. "it's necessary."
"I'm not happy about this! SAWADA!" Sasagawa Ryohei barged through the two women and walked right in front of his boss. "I thought you weren't going to get them involved!" he looked furious. Oh shit.
Haru ran at him. "Darling, don't!" she grabbed his arm. "I told you this was my choice!" they had been going out for a while. It was kind of strange, as concepts go. Everyone thought she'd go for the boss. But the fact that she was currently hugging Ryohei's arm wasn't the point of interest. Haru was wearing a suit...and a ring.
"Reborn...?"
"We absolutely need something new to hurl at the enemy."
"I refuse!" Reborn slapped the boy from across the table.
"You cannot refuse this! This is imperative. The world needs this!"
"I am not messing her..." and he could see Kyouko coming up too. "Or her in this!"
The lights turned off suddenly. A spotlight fell on the two girls. Stunned by the temporary darkness, the others shut up.
"Vongola Decimo's Guardian of the Rainbows desu, Haruchan!" yelled this latest member of the Guardians.
"And Vongola Decimo's Guardian of Hot Air, Kyouko chan." Added her best friend, and Ryohei's little sister. Both took up bond girl poses.
"Can't leave Chrome chan as the only girl desu!" Kyouko nodded her agreement. They still hadn't realised that the faces of the guardians around were lined and had small beads of sweat to show that they were in complete angst.
"You cannot be serious..." Gokudera whispered.
"I think he is..." said Yamamoto.
"He is, this is Reborn's plan." Sighed Tsuna. "What's worse is that I can't get out of this."
Tsuna had not confessed his feelings for Kyouko. The risk of death, both hers and his, would have been too much to bear. He decided to tell her once Byakuran had been defeated. No time in the foreseeable future, of course.
Suddenly the whole room started to shake.
"They're here! Everyone, calm. Guardians out!" Gokudera started shouting out the drill. Everyone was far too used to this by now.
Byakuran stood, encircled by his henchmen: Ghost, Bluebell, Zakuro and Kikyo.
"So, Vongola. Surrendering?" he smiled, popping an infernal marshmallow into his mouth.
"Not likely!"
Everyone turned to look. Haru and Kyouko were standing behind everyone, bond girl poses at the ready.
"Get behind!" yelled Tsuna. This farce had gone far enough.
"Trixie!" a little thing fluttered beside Haru. "Attack!" the little thing shot straight at Bluebell.
"Ahhh!" the kid threw her hands up. The little thing started jabbing at the girl and while she was being attacked, rainbow coloured lights started shining from her.
"Trixie's power is light diffraction. Cool huh?" smirked Haru. But no harm was caused to Bluebell. Bluebell understood that after a moment.
"You!" she bared her chest, preparing to insert her Mare ring into the box implanted there. But it wasn't there!
"Yamamoto, heads up!" Kyouko yelled, throwing a blue stoned ring at him. He caught it and stared at her. She winked.
"Hoho. What an interesting trick."
"No Fair!" Bluebell threw a tantrum.
"Bluebell." Byakuran was smiling. Never a good sign.
"Byakuran sama! They stole it!" she huffed. Then she noted the look on his face. "Oh no, don't! Please!"
"I have no further use for you, Bluebell. What should I not do?" he was still smiling that creepy smile. "Kikyo, if you don't mind."
"Ho ho. As you command Byakuran sama." Violet flame encrusted flowers grew all over the girl's back and within seconds she was no more.
"Very good."
"Bastard!" As usual, the Vongola were horrified by the behaviour of their opponents.
"Ho ho! I believe we have to teach our guests some manners." Kikyo lifted his hand, to reveal...nothing.
"Hibari san!" Kyouko threw another ring. Hibari glared at her
"My thanks." He said, nonetheless, placing it on his finger. She smiled. Byakuran was too, but his had venom and anger behind it. He'd realised that it was probably pointless to kill him too.
"Zakuro."
"On it." Replied the gruff ringless man. "Idjit! Where's the ring?"
"Ghost!"
"Mine's been gone for a while, Boss." Said the bored blond. "as if you didn't know."
This was getting oddly samey. Kyouko threw the rings to the respective guardians. A butterlfly was suddenly apparent on her shoulder. It was glowing a greeny turquoise. She caught people looking and smiled.
"Percy's been busy." She said, stroking the delicate if large wings. She held up an open box of the same colour as the shinuki flames that danced around the weapon it contained: the delicate butterfly.
"Trixie too." Smiled Haru as a fairy alighted on her shoulder, holding Byakuran's ring. She chucked it at Tsuna who caught it and immediately a bright light started flashing.
"The Tri Siette!" yelled Byakuran as the light turned into a large pillar. Then came crashing down on him. Screaming, Byakuran and the Real 6 Funeral Wreaths roiled in the incinerating Fiamma Voltage let off by the rings and the collected wills.
"You did it!" Yelled Irie Shoichi from a classroom window. "You did it Sawada!" the bodies crumpled into ash and all of a sudden Sawada Tsunayoshi woke up from a dream that seemed to have lasted forever.
"Tsu kun!" his mother yelled from the kitchen. "Lunch! And we have guests."
As he walked into the kitchen, the twenty year old Sawada Tsunayoshi gazed at the faces of his loved ones and trusted friends.
"Is it over?"
Reborn smiled, sincerely. "Yes." He said. "We won. Well done, no good Tsuna."
The end.