"And you, what can you do?" Gigan Senchou positions her smoking pipe in front of Yona, who seemed momentarily surprised, but then smiles determinately.
("Oi, Dame-Tsuna. Get your ass up and go your goddamn paperwork already," A grumpy, but deep baritone voice startles the young Vongola Decimo out of his sleep. "HIEEE! REBORN!")
"I too will fight."
Brown eyes widen at the orange, almost red fire in beautiful violet eyes; her dragon guardians were also surprised, but unlike the silent Captain, voice their extreme disapproval.
"Hime-san! What are you saying!" Hak was shocked, what was his princess saying? She couldn't fight! She'd be in danger!
"That's right! We dragons will protect Hime-Sama! There is no need for you to sully your hands!"
"Ah. We will protect Yona." Shin-Ah's concerns were conveyed by his slightly shaky voice, but the Decimo hears it loud and clear.
"Yona-chan, someone as cute as you shouldn't have to fight," This was accompanied by Jae-Ha's reassuring smile, but inside he was panicking. What was wrong with his supposed King?! Hiryuu's reincarnation was supposed to be demanding, and controlling of his dragons, not a petite girl with a cute smile, and do something that would endanger her life!
"Enough!" Gigan Senchou's firm voice silences all their protests, even Yoon, who was opening his mouth to put in his two cents. Gigan Senchou appraises the girl, her body is petite, and her covering clothes conceal her lithe form, but Gigan being an experienced fighter for many years, she easily notices it... She breathes in her pipe, 'Ho~ Looks like this girl is quite the little fighter.' She sneaks a glance at her male companions, '...her friends don't seem to be aware of that. Why?' She looks at the girl; pretty, short red hair and violet eyes that seem young, but she is stunned by how much wisdom and experience there is in them. Her skin is smooth and flawless, a sign of a pampered life, but this young woman... didn't seem spoiled or pampered, no, instead she looks like she had gone through hardships that those four times her age couldn't handle.
(N...no... H-Hayato!" A desperate voice cries out, because please please please he cannot be dead he's my best friend oh no. His silver head is caked in blood, sending Tsuna's iron stomach over the edge.
It'S aLl yOuR faUlT yOu kILLed ThEm.
Mukuro lays, Chrome splayed across his chest with a hole right in the middle of her head, both looking entirely at peace. Takeshi... T-Takeshi has a dagger sticking out of his hand, leaning against the wall, his mouth showed the struggle he put up after Hayato was killed. Until death, he fought for his brother like no other. Tsuna dry-heaves, and it's only because his stomach is entirely empty.
Red liquid coats Ryohei's hands, and a hole sits right in the middle of his chest, with Lambo lying under him from when he shielded him from the bullet. Lambo shot himself from both the intense and overwhelming grief and the fact that he knew that he'd be tortured for information if he stayed alive.
The moment Kyoya falls on the floor, Tsuna, with lifeless and dull brown eyes, grabs the sticky pistol, and an ominous BANG! bellows and a body drops with a sickening 'THUD' on the floor.
And then he wakes up, and sobs for his guardians with a high-pitched, feminine voice, and the maids can't help but wonder why their six-year-old princess woke up in the middle of the night and cried for her Storm, Rain, Cloud, Mists, and Sun.)
"Well show me then. What you can do," Gigan Senchou's voice dares Yona ("Dame-Tsuna, get me coffee." "Reborn..."); challenges the Tsuna inside her. She smiles, "What will I have to do?" Gigan steps aside, to show the three young men behind her. "My best fighters, they won't be easy to beat. Choose one, and you'll fight them."
"Gigan Senchou...!"
"Silence Jae-ha. Even women have times when they must fight. Don't underestimate them. Do you want to trample over this young woman's determination?" Her response shocks Jae-ha to the point of speechlessness.
"Now, choose."
In front of Yona stands three men; one middle-aged man with a stubbly chin and calloused hands, she quickly deducts that his previous job must've been a fisher; another young man whose attention was taken entirely by his daggers ("Easily distracted but skilled, quite risky but effective in battle..."), and the third was a weak-looking young man with slightly long olive-colored hair. ("amateur and average.") However, despite the fact that she knew that she could beat all three men combined with her eyes closed, her Hyper Intuition buzzed violently at her, if not for her long years of practice she would've fainted by now. 'Grrrr... what the hell do you want?' Tsuna mentally asked, irritated at his HI.
"Look behind those men. What do you see?"
"Hime-san?" She ignores Hak's concerned voice and moved around the three men, aware of almost everyone's sharp eyes. Her eyes widen to an impossible proportion, and she has to close his eyes and breathe deeply to keep her composure.
(A figure leans on the beautifully bloomed sakura trees, with kittens all lying all around him, looking quite comfortably snuggled, and Hibird sits on his soft black strands. His usually narrowed eyes are soft and his mouth is tilted upwards with a gentle smile. Only animals and (sometimes) the omnivore could make him smile so peacefully. Especially when the omnivore was sleeping and looked like a kitten...)
Similarly, the figure, albeit looks a little younger, leans on the wooden wall, his eyes closed aloofly, with his jacket resting on his back. Yona mutely raises her index finger and points at that man, and says with her calm, feminine voice, "I want to fight him." Stunning everyone, including the former-prefect, who snaps his eyes open.
Jae-ha is the one who starts, "Yona-chan-! That is not a good idea! That man is one of our best fighters- I can barely beat him because of my powers! He's not just any fighter-"
"I know."
Gigan Senchou hides her shock better than anyone else; the dragons, including Hak and Yoon, surprisingly stay quiet and look with serious eyes.
"You still want to fight him, despite knowing?" She asks, seeing the tiny redhead in a new light. Despite knowing that she was more than what she seemed, Gigan was still surprised. Hibari was not to be messed with, she knew that. The boy was violent and did not follow orders easily, but only if they heavily endangered his teammates; anything else, he fought without thinking.
He appeared on her ship at a mere age of eight, and she was shocked by how strong he was. He easily fought all of her men and destroyed them with his overwhelming power. He had some sort of special hate for Jae-ha, both because of the fact that the Green Dragon defeated him and because of his flirtatious attitude, which according to Hibari, reminded him of a rotten pineapple. Whatever that meant.
"Yes," Yona answers, looking at the Captain before turning her gaze to his Cloud, who merely grunts. "Hn. I'll bite you to death."
He clutches his dual tonfas and bolts towards Yona, ready to beat her but the redhead just dodges, surprising the spectators.
'Since when was Yona able to dodge such a fast blow?' Hak thinks with wide eyes.
He's been watching Yona since a very young age, but ever since he and Soo-Won got busy and stopped coming to the palace... she started changing. Not for the worse or anything, rather, she seemed more appealing even, more mature but still childish to a degree. Never letting her books go, becoming more down-to-earth and interacting with kitchen staff and maids. Even when Emperor II died, she merely shed one mournful tear but didn't break down like he suspected her to. Instead, she quietly asked him, "Hak, can I trust you?" before he said the affirmative. She then proceeded to grab his hand and run away from a hidden passage in the wall that he hadn't even known existed... She easily adapted to life in the wild and even cooked for them, which stunned him because she was a princess, she never prepared any of her meals; how the hell could she know how to?
And it was good. It tasted, dare he say, even better than food in the palace. She and Yoon often cooked together and it would taste delicious.
And that would make his heart beat roughly against his chest, because oh my god what is he doing? He thought he knew her like the back of his hand, but...
...Remembering all the times he saw that lonely, hurting glint in her eyes, he should've reached out to her.
When she turned eight, she got kidnapped, and there was this whole fiasco until he and Soo-Won gathered men and informants and they found her. That's when she started changing. He should've gotten to know the new her better.
Gritting his teeth, Hak turns his mind back to the fight. And he clenches his hands until they bleed. His princess is injured, scratches on her face and blood trickling from a skin abrasion on her forehead-
...And she's smiling.
Shin-ah stares at Yona's fighting form, she wasn't just going by her instincts; this was a martial art. The way she holds her arms against her opponents strange weapons, the way she deftly jumps to avoid the feet that were trying to trip her, how she positions her back to take the least damage when they painfully collide with the weapon. She was trained to be agile and fast since her body wasn't built for the punching and kicks. Instead, she targets her opponents vital spots.
'...Yona's strong.'
Ao watches curiously with a tilt of his head, before snuggling into Shin-Ah's cheek.
'I'm hungry...'
Kyoya smirks, his eyes were lighting like they always did when he faced a strong opponent. Though this carnivore's style was awfully familiar...
Kyoya had grown to be more intelligent than his younger self, actually thinking about his opponents rather than just fighting mindlessly. In his past life, he had grown close to his the omnivore Decimo enough for them to be brothers, though to the rest he was pretty much the same. His hatred for the pineapple herbivore, of course, only increased over the years. Of course, that wasn't to say that he and the omnivore didn't fight; they had weekly spars so that gave Kyoya time to memorize each and every one of Tsuna's quirks, and Tsuna the same for him.
'...this carnivore... could it be...?'
He suddenly felt the familiar calm aura of acceptance and...Harmony from the redhead. 'No...way...' He was stunned, so stunned, that he jumped backward in alarm. Everyone watches in mixed confusion and relief; the prefect was winning, why did he suddenly back away?
"Who are you?" He hisses, livid. But only Yona, no, Tsuna can hear the underlying tone of mixed grief and hope. The redhead feels her heart clench painfully in unpleasant feelings of guilt. 'I'm so sorry... so sorry for letting you all die... for leaving.'
Her footsteps are painfully loud in the quiet ship, only the sound of the waves crashing into the ship and the seagulls' 'QUACK's fill it. His Cloud backs away as his Sky approaches, in some sort of fear.
Fear of hope.
Tsuna then smiles. Not his usual soft and gentle (occasionally fake) smiles, but one full of grief and apologies but quiet acceptance. Kyoya momentarily falters but then recognizes the Rain and Sky flames in the air.
"Me? Well, I'm Yona. Nice to meet you, Kyoya."
Kyoya. Not Hibari. Because to him, it was always Kyoya.
The Pirates are all busy wondering, with a mix of fear and awe, 'How did she know Hibari-shisho's first name? And is she crazy? Is she trying to die?! Nobody is allowed to use his first name, not even Gigan Senchou!'
'What...is this..? My heart... is warm. It's so relaxing...' Shin-Ah.
'Hime-sama/Hime-san/Yona-chan? What is she doing...?' Kija, Hak, and Jae-ha.
'Yona has Iksoo's aura... That really calming aura that would lull me to sleep when I was a kid...' Yoon.
'Heh, the Miss is more than she appears...' Anonymous.
Kyoya? Well, Kyoya doesn't see red hair and violet eyes; instead, he sees spiked fluffy brown hair and warm brown orbs, with orange often gleaming in them, conveying his strength. He sees acceptance and understanding rolling off in waves, wrapping like blankets around him. Feelings of happiness and joy overwhelm him. Yet it is not an unpleasant feeling.
His tonfas drop to the floor with a dull 'CLANG!' as he steps closer to the redhead, who still has that silly smile on her face, and proceeds to push the back of her head into his chest.
...
Silence...
...and then...
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO HIME-SAMA!?" A certain white snake yells out, scandalized.
(Ahem. Excuse me. In historical times, it was not acceptable for two members of the opposite sex to show any romantical contact with other than words.)
A certain thunder beast has a deadly aura that promises pain for anyone who dares approach him, while Jae-ha tries to pacify him.
"Hmph. Pathetic dragons." Yoon says irritatedly, but his similarly deadly aura did not help much.
Shin-Ah turns to his friends, his expression unknown, until his voice rings among them, his tone confused. "...What are they... doing?" Silence rings in the group, who are all shocked by the fact that Shin-Ah does not know what a hug is. Kija turns to him, comical tears dripping from his eyes. "Oh, my brother! How tragic! Nobody taught you what a hug is! Don't worry, your Kyodai will teach you everything from now on!"
"I hope he doesn't really mean everything..." As Jae-ha is clearly insinuating something rather displeasurable, Hak takes the liberty of almost killing him.
"Ouch!"
"Oi, you stupid dragons, stay quiet if you want to know how Yona knows this man," Yoon snaps at them, and their eyes sharpen as they turn their attention back to the man embracing their princess.
Annnnnnd... Yona is embracing him back.
"H-hehe, c-calm down, H-hak..." Jae-ha trails off fearfully before a knowing glint passes in his eyes, 'I see... So Hak likes Yona-chan... no wonder he was so adamant about not coming to meet Gigan Senchou...'
'...but. What is going on with Hibari? Why is he acting like this? I've never seen him like this the past 12 years I've known him... and he doesn't like Yona-chan... at least not romantically... he doesn't have that glint that love-sick idiots usually have, but instead a protectiveness... Maybe Hibari is just that different from other people and doesn't show affection easily for his lover...'
Hibari backs away after a second, and much to everyone's surprise ruffles Yona's red hair with a soft smile and unnarrow eyes. It feels just as soft as it did in the other world. "Hn. Small animal."
Yona smiles, all too used to Kyoya comparing her to a small animal, much to Tsuna's past annoyance.
A jealous tick appears on Hak's forehead at the warm smile Hime-san sent the bastard.
"Others?" Yona asks, Hibari merely grunts. "Hn." (I don't know.)
Yona chuckles, "I see." Tsuna had gotten used to reading Kyoya's expressions from spending a lot of time with him.
"Hn. If you find the rotten pineapple herbivore, tell him I'm coming to bite him to death," Yona bites back a laugh, amusement flashing in her eyes. "Kyoya, are you... cheating on Namimori? I can't believe it! Even though you half-killed anyone who placed a scratch on its walls~" She teases mischievously.
"Tch. Herbivore." He clicks his tongue and shuts his eyes, expression growing more neutral than the vulnerable one he had earlier. Yona turns to him, a gentle smile on her face. "But I'm glad. That you've found a purpose again."
Kyoya blinks, momentarily shocked, and says slowly, "...So you're not disappointed that I'm not coming with you?" Yona mutely shakes her head, "Your true purpose was never protecting me, Kyoya; It was always Namimori, and now it's Awa. It's true that I'm sad because I won't be able to see you a lot, but being aloof and distant is your thing. So, go do it. A cloud is always free in the Sky, Kyoya, always unbound by all chains."
He feels that wave of acceptance again because Tsunayoshi understands, he always has. His strength was never his HI or his physical strength or his connection to Primo. It was always in his heart; even before he met the Akambou, he was always strong. Tsunayoshi's strength just needed to be supported, encouraged until it grew to face even the strongest carnivores.
He places his fist on his heart, a military act, and bows lightly, much to the others' shock. Hibari never bowed. They were getting seriously confused by everything going on. Gigan has a contemplative expression on her face as she blows a puff of smoke; could it be that the redhead was the 'Tsunayoshi' and'Omnivore' that Hibari always muttered about? The only person he ever respected? But Hibari always referred to him as male...
"Saa, Kyoya. Let's take back Awa, shall we?"
Hime-san," Hak looks worriedly to the ships before passively thrashing the incoming man away. "What's taking so long?" He mutters, somehow missing the arrow coming for his head. He turns just in time to see the bastard tear the arrow in half with his weird-ass weapon. "Hn. Pay attention during battle, herbivore."
An angry tick reappears on Hak's forehead. He smirks irritatedly, "You're that bastard again." A tonfa snaps through the air, positioning inches away from his throat. "Are you picking a fight, herbivore?" Hibari hisses, inwardly thinking that Tsunayoshi shouldn't be taking this long. The other herbivore must be holding him back. (Yoon.)
"Ho~ And what if I am?"
"I'll bite you to death."
"Bring it on."
The bastard turns away, surprisingly. "But I'll do it later. We have to wait for the omnivore now." What a weirdo; who calls people herbivores and omnivores anyway.
"Hime-san must be in trouble," He comments worriedly, but the bastard only smirks. Asshole. "She," He puts an emphasis on the female part, "is stronger than she seems." He simply says.
And the firework launches in the sky.
When Hime-san and Yoon come back, they're not even injured, not a speck of blood or scratch. Yoon seems a little unnerved, but also feels like he grew closer to Yona that day.
What happened still remains a mystery though.
The rumors of Yona and her group leaving Awa spreads quickly, as well as the rumor of her killing Kum-Ji. All the pirate members, now retired, take their turns saying goodbyes in their own, trademark ways. Yona's eyes are still a little puffy from the crying it did when she said her goodbye to Gigan Senchou, who she had grown close to, even seeing his own mother's scary ways similar to her.
Nana could be very scary. She had a reputation in the mafia as 'The Saint', that began when three grown men broke down in tears during her interrogation. Her manipulating mother-like qualities were not to be messed with.
And when Kyoya's turn came, the dragons grew... fierce.
"Don't you DARE touch Hime-sama again! You pervert!"
"Hime-san, I'll kill him for you..."
"OI! Rai-joo! Calm down!"
Yona ignores all protests and pulls Kyoya into a warm hug, and Kyoya immediately relaxes in her arms as he buries his head in red locks. Despite their different appearances, Tsuna and Yona's embraces were very similar and very familiar to the prefect.
Yona then pulls away, and says five words, stunning everyone in the hearing range:
"I'll see you later... Kyo-nii."
...
...
...
"EH?!"
"Hn. Come back later."
She smiles brightly at him, "Yeah. When the whole famiglia is gathered... I will."
And their journey continues.
(In a forest, a young man with thick, yellow hair and warm blue eyes, and a cheerful smile always present on his face looks at the chattering Happy Hungry Bunch, and smiles.)
'This will be more interesting than I think.'
END.