Gangstas andThugs : K H R

Chapter One : It's Goin' Down

I was running, running so fast my legs were on fire, my eyes stinging and my lungs about to burst. The walls of my throat were as numb as my clenched fists, white and cold. My breath was labored and my voice hoarse, but I didn't feel weak, and I didn't slow down. It was night, the sky was black. It was raining, but I couldn't tell, because I couldn't see or feel anything. There was a light ahead of me though; the only thing I could see, be it real or false.

That light, steady before me, making me unaware of the continuous stomp of my feet against the sidewalk. I was sprinting; towards what, I didn't know. But I was about to find ou-

"Tsuna!" someone whispered loudly, waking him up although he didn't budge. They must've thought he was still asleep, because they mustered up the nerve (and skill) to yell his name mixed in with a cough. He jumped at this, now fully awake. Sure enough, to Tsuna's right, Gokudera was giving him a raised-eyebrow look; and to his left, Ryohei's eyes were darting from him to the front of the room, back and forth. He knew what this meant and he rolled his eyes.

Mr. Cavallone was looking at him expectantly, but luckily half of the class was spacing out, not looking at him with that same expression. Hands on his hips, finger tapping in irritation, the teacher finally said, "Any idea what the answer is, Sawada?" He, of course, didn't hear the question he'd initially asked. He wasn't even sure what they were learning about in this chapter.

He grimaced as he used his sleeve to wipe the drool of his desk, wondering how long he'd been asleep. Not that it mattered. What mattered was: how could I be asleep with so much going on? Tonight...

"I know what the answer is," Gokudera said, pretty casually for addressing a teacher. They were always that way though.

Dino gave the boy an amused look, but shot him down with a curt, "I called on Sawada." Gokudera shrugged and propped his feet up on the desk, no doubt using that comment to buy Tsuna some time, and keep him focused. Tsuna didn't need either though, because his answer was:

"I'm gonna guess the answer is x divided by 2y." He laced his fingers together and put them behind his head, leaning back. The class, but mostly Ryohei, Gokudera, and Yamamoto, laughed at his answer, respectfully. Dino, however, was not laughing.

"The correct answer is the year 1965," he said matter-of-factly, looking back down at the textbook before smiling at Tsuna. "And this is history class, by the way." Tsuna smiled back mockingly and nodded shortly.

As a few more minutes went by, and Tsuna noticed how on edge his friends were. Gokudera was constantly fiddling with the ring on his finger, staring intently at the wall as if having a in-depth conversation with it. Ryohei was looking at his watch, then looking at the clock five seconds later. Yamamoto was biting the end of his now eraserless pencil, staring at the paper, although Tsuna knew he wasn't reading it. Tsuna himself felt, after that nerve-racking dream, a strange sense of calm.

The bell rang and the four of them were out the door before Dino had time to assign them homework, or get them in trouble.

The group made a bee-line for the front doors of the school, but ran into too many people along the way. "Good afternoon, onii-san!" Kyoko chimed happily at the sight of Ryohei, who nodded thoughtlessly to her. Tsuna said hello, but went ignored. It was always that way though.

"When are you going to give up on her?" Gokudera mumbled, risking putting a cigarette between his lips and discreetly lighting it. "She doesn't even know your name."

Tsuna sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "I know, but I'm okay with that. Not very many people know my name anyway," he added quietly, leading his posse around the corner of a hallway.

"Halt." The voice was dark, patient, and gave one a chill at the thought of being in trouble. They all recognized it immediately, especially when the tip of Gokudera's cigarette was cut off by an invisible force. They halted, as they were told, but not willingly. Gokudera threw the remaining piece onto the floor as they looked up to see the source of the voice.

"Possession and usage of tobacco products on campus," came the monotonous and unemphatic lecture from someone a couple of years older than them. The words, no doubt memorized from a handbook of some sort, were practiced and even-toned. "A serious violation of school policy." Gokudera groaned under his breath at the sight of the straight black hair and cold, blue eyes, now focused on him. "Demerit."

Gokudera snatched away the slip of paper being offered to him. The hall monitor, Kyoya Hibari, just stared at him, neither angry nor offended. Maybe he was pleased that he'd gotten the boy in trouble, for the third time that week. "Thanks," Gokudera sneered, moving past the prefect and heading again for the door. The others followed, Yamamoto stopping to pat his friend? on the shoulder and exchange a few words.

Outside, the group met in the bleachers, where Lambo and I-pin were waiting patiently. "What took you?" Lambo asked, but stopped and smirked when he saw the demerit in the silver-haired one's hand. "Ah, Hibari got you again, huh?"

"Shut it, you damn cow," Gokudera hissed as he took a seat, using an insult that never got old for him and only offended Lambo's sense of style. The others exchanged glances amongst each other for a while longer before the long-awaited topic came up.

"Is everyone ready for tonight?" Tsuna asked, capturing everyone's attention. There was a small pause, before Yamamoto stood.

"Actually, no. I need to pick something up at the pawn shop," he said, and everyone rose with him. A trip to the pawn shop was much better than sitting in their fifth hour class, and someone was bound to catch them if they hung around too long. They headed down the steps, and Tsuna got a chill at the bottom step.

The wind picked up as he turned to face the east, where, somewhere over the trees and hills and tall buildings, the opposing school was having class. He tightened his fists by his sides and exhaled sharply. His eyes narrowed and he could pretend to see his enemy, wondering if they were feeling the same trepidation. He would have to wait, and so would they.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - School M - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"And so," Xanxus began, raising his voice to an unnecessary volume as he scribbled something on the blackboard. "E equals MC squared." The chalk hit the rail with a clack, and he turned to face his class, placing his fingertips on the cluttered desk surface and leaning forward. His red eyes scanned over the students and he stared hard at them. They stared back, and there was a long silence. A cloud passed idly over the sun, shading a part of the room. The clock ticked incessantly on the wall.

"I don't get it!!" a student groused, leaning back dangerously in his chair. He removed his feet from the desk and let the chair fall forward, back in place. The disruption stirred the rest of the class as well. The others started moving their books into their bags and raising their heads from their desks, waking up one by one. A small amount of conversation emerged, too.

"Well, that's too bad!" Xanxus commented unempathetically, straightening up and crossing his arms. "Because you know what happens to students who don't get it? They fail!" He took a look at his lesson plans as the class continued to ignore him for the most part. "Although, you were all destined to fail anyway."

"Yeah, with a teacher like you," a student quipped, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Xanxus slammed a palm down on the desk and used the other hand to point at the kid who'd made the comment.

"Watch it, you," he warned, narrowing his eyes. The bell rang and everyone got up. "Alright, your homework is a five-page essay on everything you learned today! No, double that, only make it on everything you learned this year!" The students moaned collectively as they filed out of the room. A single girl stayed back, approaching Xanxus's desk with great caution.

"Excuse me, Mr. Xanxus," she said politely, avoiding eye contact. "I...I don't mean to sound rude, but, with all due respect, sir," she looked up at him with her one eye, the other masked by an eye patch. "I didn't really learn anything today."

The other teacher in the room, who had been typing on the computer, stifled his laughter at the girl's comment, but went right back to typing when Xanxus glared at him. "Well, it's all in the textbook. Just read that," he advised. The girl still wasn't convinced.

"But sir, you didn't assign us our textbooks this year," she murmured, looking at the floor.

"I didn't?"

"Chrome! Let's go!" The girl looked at the doorway, where three people were waiting for her impatiently. She bowed kindly to her teacher before hastily running to the door to leave with her friends.

Chrome placed herself between the boy who said he didn't get Xanxus's lesson and the one with the glasses. "Do you guys know how to do our homework?" she asked, still confused on the topic. They both remained silent, neither of them having any intention to so much as start the assignment.

Seeing that she wouldn't get a response from either of them, she turned her attention to the leader. "Mukuro, are you doing the assignment?" The boy stopped, causing the other three to do so as well. "Mukuro?"

"No, Chrome," he said, turning around to face them. A small smile was on his lips as he shifted his varicolored eyes to a nearby window. "The four of us have some very important business to take care of tonight." There was a short silence as Chrome looked down in thought, biting her lip. Mukuro saw her discomfort and placed a hand on her head. "So there won't be any time for essays. Let's try to stay focused." He led the group through the hallways, but they had to split up for their next classes.

"Ken, Chikusa," Mukuro started, addressing his two quiet friends. "Meet us in the lounge later this afternoon, during the staff meeting. We have something to discuss." The two nodded, heading off to class. Mukuro gave Chrome one last reassuring look; but it did anything but settle the girl's nerves.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - School K - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

School was out for the day, but the group was forced to return anyway, since their rooms were in the building. The college, dormitory system was strange for a high school, but in this area, it was the most convenient. The afternoon was drawing to a close, and night was rising into view. Everyone felt sick to their stomaches, but not because of fear. Rather, excitement.

Ryohei passed by a friend of his on the way to his dorm room. "Bianchi," he said, stopping her.

"Oh, I was looking for you," she said. She handed him a flyer, advertising something sports related. But the reason for their meeting was much different. Ryohei could see the worry gathering behind the pretty girl's eyes, her lip daring not to tremble.

"Everything's going to be fine," he promised her, smiling as best he could for the girl. She nodded, inhaling deeply.

"I hope you're right." Hibari passed by the two, eyeing them suspiciously. "Please, look out for my brother," she implored with haste before trying to look like she was talking about the flyer. "I must be going. All of you, take care." Ryohei nodded.

Somewhere else in the building, Tsuna and Gokudera were headed for their room. The office aid, Basil, rushed past them. "Hey!" Tsuna hollered, making the boy jump. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Ah, Sawada!" Basil was a student who worked personally under the superintendent, or Tsuna's father, so they were familiar with each other. "I was on my way to a staff meeting. Your father paged me a few minutes ago, and I'm afraid I'm already late!" he added, glancing at his watch. "I'll talk to you later!"

"A meeting, huh?" Gokudera shook his head. "I don't like the sound of it, but I guess it's not our problem right now." The boy looked at Tsuna as they arrived at the latter's room. "You nervous?"

"Yeah," Tsuna admitted, turning his head to the side and focusing elsewhere. "But it's about time we got even with them. I'm ready." Gokudera wished Tsuna good luck before going to his own room, but he couldn't help but catch a glimpse of Basil heading into the lecture hall for the staff meeting, and a feeling of malaise was upon him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - School K: Lecture Hall STAFF MEETING - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The door closed as Basil stepped sheepishly inside, smiling nervously at Iemitsu, who nodded. "Now that everyone's here, let's begin."

A long table extended down the center of the room, and member of the staff of either school were seated on both sides. Dino was the first to speak. He interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them, elbows on the table. "I called on Tsuna today. He was asleep."

The School K Principal chuckled lightly at this, nodding. "That's to be expected. I guess they're going to need all the energy they can get for tonight, hm?" The Vice Principal by his side stirred, his blue eyes looking at his superior with concern.

"But Reborn, are you seriously going to let those kids go through with this?"

"Colonnello, it's no concern of ours what becomes of those students," Lal Mirch informed him. "We're only responsible for what they learn. Their outside life is their business. Am I wrong, Mr. Iemitsu?"

"That is correct, but..." Iemitsu was no doubt having a hard time facing the fact that his son was about to engage in a street fight that evening with members from a school in the same district. Xanxus picked up on this.

"Why don't you deal with this issue as a father, rather than as a superintendent, and spare us all the boredom of this meeting?" Although his co-workers snickered quietly at this, Marmon thought otherwise.

"I advise you to check your tone, Xanxus," he said warily, noting Iemitsu's rising chagrin immediately. "After all, jealousy will get you nowhere." He added the last part for the sake of entertaining the other two, who laughed in agreement, and reminding Xanxus of his place. The man just shifted in his chair and sighed bitterly.

"What are we going to do?" Basil asked.

"Just let them fight to their deaths, for all they're worth!" Squalo snarled, finally contributing to the meeting. Iemitsu rose from his chair and opened his mouth to yell at the teacher, but Squalo wasn't done. "Lal's right; their personal lives are not ours to interfere with. They're students, and we're teachers." Tilting his head with a wry smile, he added, "If you're that worried about your son, don't make it a school issue." Xanxus didn't understand how Squalo could get away with making nearly the same comment as he had earlier, but it wasn't worth thinking about.

Basil ushered Iemitsu back down in his seat. Shamal leaned back in his chair with his eyes focused harshly on Squalo. "You're willing to risk the reputation of these schools, of this town, and let these kids just about kill each other?"

"What reputation?" Belphegor walked closer to the table, his hands behind his back. "These schools you're so proud of have the lowest grade averages in the entire country. I'd say students who fight are just as bad as students who fail."

"The condition of the school's grades is entirely the fault of the teacher's ability to administer the learning material," Iemitsu remarked pointedly, directing his glare at Xanxus. Once the dark-haired one noticed this, he shrugged and closed his eyes.

"Hell, you hired us."

"Alright, that's it." Iemitsu's patience snapped and he dropped the pen he'd been holding on the table. "We'll discuss this in more detail after a five minute break." The emphasis on the word break was also directed at Xanxus as Iemitsu cracked his knuckles and left the room. The others stood and headed for the lounge for coffee while Xanxus remained seated, smiling despite himself.

Squalo stayed back and looked at Xanxus, recognizing the smirk almost instantly. "You're close. I can tell." Xanxus regarded him with a small nod, but Squalo was not so easily dismissed. "How much longer do you think it'll be?"

This question brought Xanxus to his feet and the two faced each other. "Next year," Xanxus started, unable to contain his enthusiasm. "Next year, you'll refer to me as your superintendent. You can count on it."

- ch. 1 end, Thursday, 2/21/08, 10:01 p.m.