Title: Extremes
Summary: They were building a pillow fort. That seemed innocent enough, but they were Vongola. They didn't do half measures.
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"Byakuran!" Tsuna gasps, flames flickering out as he tumbles into the Gesso leader's office by the floor to ceiling window. "Byakuran, please. I need help."
"What can I do for you, Tsunayoshi-kun?" the Gesso leader asks immediately, a bit concerned at Tsuna's desperate voice. "Perhaps some Chamomile tea? You look rather..." Byakuran trails off as he takes in the rumpled and exhausted twenty-two-year-old.
The expression Tsuna tries to hide so pathetically is heartbreaking.
"Frazzled," Byakuran decides. No one says he doesn't have tact. He stands from his swivel chair behind the large desk and walks up to a trembling Vongola Decimo to help guide the man to a couch.
"They... they just turned on me," Tsuna mumbles, letting himself be pushed along. "After all these years spent together..." Tsuna barks out a laugh but it breaks halfway through and turns into a sob.
Byakuran says nothing as he finally manages to get Tsuna to the couch. The brunet collapses, flopping over until he's spread along the entirety.
"Start from the beginning, Tsunayoshi-kun," Byakuran asks. "I can't help if I don't know what I'm helping with." The Gesso boss takes a seat at the edge of the couch near Tsuna's waist but he pauses then, unsure how to comfort the man.
The Decimo has an arm across his eyes and a defeated, blank voice - as if holding back tears. "Hayato... him and all of my Guardians... even the Varia." The arm falls to his chest and he gazes up at Byakuran, eyes glistening with unshed tears. "It was a coup."
Out of all the things Tsuna could have said, that answer was the furthest from Byakuran's mind. It had seemed like the Guardians would follow Tsuna, right up until their deaths and then beyond.
The Gesso leader's thoughts must have shown on his face because he gets a cynical laugh as a reply to his silent question.
"I know," Tsuna whispers, mind already far away.
"I'm sorry, Juudaime, I truly am. But with the way this is going, we won't win using your careless strikes."
"Hayato... what are you trying to say?"
"This isn't extreme of us, but we need a good, strong leader for this war."
"Ryohei... Takeshi, talk some sense into them!"
"I'm sorry, Tsuna."
The weapon flashes in an arc.
"I'll lend you my resources and men," Byakuran promises, his usual smile gone from the seriousness of the situation.
Tsuna pushes off the couch, leaping at Byakuran and hugging the life out of the mafia boss. "Thank you! Thank you, Byakuran. With your help, I know I can defeat the Arcobaleno."
Byakuran pulls back and stares at Tsuna in shock. "Tsunayoshi-kun, why are you fighting the…" Byakuran trails off as Tsuna sprints for the door.
"We'll need every weapon in the base!" Tsuna calls over his shoulder, already out of the room before Byakuran can blink.
The white-haired man smirks. It's nice of those Guardians to make Tsuna dirty himself with revenge.
This will be the tipping point.
The ridiculously large Vongola training room has been changed from its usual set up, the obstacle courses and equipment removed, and the windows open to let in as much light as possible. The room is filled with two major defensive structures at either side and multiple barriers in between.
The former Guardians of the Decimo stand in the far corner of one make-shift defence, an attempt to get privacy. Ken and Chikusa are off to the side, discussing kamikaze tactics.
The Varia are in another corner, grumbling to themselves. They hadn't heard of the decision to overthrow Tsuna, but by the time they did, the Decimo was already gone. If they broke off now to form their own separate group they would lose cover, and the Arcobaleno would easily pick them off.
"Was it the right choice?" mutters a sombre Lambo.
There's no reply, but Hayato looks away and Chrome worries the trident in her hands, shooting looks at Mukuro.
A war cry cuts through the air.
"Tsuna!" shouts Takeshi, instantly recognizing the voice.
They rush outside their fort to see a massacre. Byakuran's guardians have caught the Arcobaleno with a surprise attack, raining down killing blows with their thrown weapons before dropping from the industrial vents above to take out the survivors of the first wave. Tsuna's new team is now pummelling their prey viciously.
When they're down to the last Arcobaleno, the Gesso Guardians gather and focus their attack power, all of them needed to hold down a struggling Reborn for Tsuna.
"Don't do this, Tsuna," Reborn tries. "Not to me."
Tsuna pauses, unsure, but then shakes his head with a dark intensity in his eyes. The brunet steps up and accepts a weapon from Byakuran. "I'm sorry, Reborn, but you chose the wrong enemy," Tsuna says, staring down at the defeated Reborn with a blank expression.
Reborn looks around for help but the rest of the Arcobaleno are dead. No one is coming to save him.
Tsuna takes the weapon without hesitation and aims straight for Reborn's head. The blow would kill the hitman instantaneously, without any pain. It's the least Tsuna can do for the man who raised him.
The pillow slaps Reborn with a puff.
Tsuna brings the pillow over his head and hits Reborn again, on the chest this time for a double tap. Then the Gesso Guardians release the hitman and Tsuna helps Reborn stand, looking smug as the hitman trudges to the 'dead' corner.
"Vicious," murmurs Kyouya with an appreciative expression.
There's a break in action as Tsuna consults with Byakuran on how their pillow fort will look. Soon the two bosses turn to their opponents as Bluebell takes charge of design. The Guardians emerge from their pillow fort then, the Varia grumbling but doing so as well.
"Juudaime," Hayato tries first. "We were in the wrong. Won't you forgive us?"
"It's too late, Hayato. We are now enemies." Tsuna looks sad as he says it, but determined.
Everyone takes up positions behind pillow barriers and mattress walls, each side with weapons in their hands. On a silent command, they charge forward, swinging pillows and tackling each other into piles of bedding.
It's an absolute massacre; bodies walking to the dead corner, people tripping over pillows.
Bel hisses at another monotone insult from Fran and drops his small throw pillows, flicking out his knives instead. Lussuria intervenes quickly but Squalo gets riled up and swings his long body pillow around. Xanxus drops his fluffy weapon as well and out come the guns.
Chaos descends.
Hayato rolls his eyes when Kyouya escapes after them, his dual pillows abandoned for tonfa. The Varia and one Skylark leap out of the windows, chasing each other, thirsty for blood.
Lambo jerks when a pillow pats him on the back. He whirls around, only to find a certain Mist smirking at him. "Mukuro, you traitor!" Lambo suddenly screams when the realisation hits, stomping his foot and snatching up a pillow.
Mukuro dodges the throw with a laugh, the weapon sailing across the room and hitting Torikabuto instead.
"You can't attack when you're dead," Takeshi reminds Lambo from the 'killed' corner. "We're not playing zombie rules right now."
Mukuro strolls towards Byakuran, a smirk on his face that only grows wider when he holds out a hand. Tsuna watches in horror as Byakuran shakes hands with the Mist.
"No," Tsuna breaths out, stunned. "No, you can't be…"
"You never win anyway, Tsunayoshi-kun," Byakuran says dismissively. "I had high expectations when I heard your precious Guardians over-ruled you, but it seems you are still far too soft."
Byakuran hefts a pillow and the rest of the people still alive turn to Tsuna in sync. Half of Byakuran's -Daisy, Kikyo, Zakuro and Torikabuto- and all of Mukuro's -Chrome, Ken, Chikusa- tighten their grip on their pillows. Everyone else is dead or 'playing' outside.
Tsuna plants his feet and waits for the first move.
Daisy takes a step forward and Tsuna throws a pillow. Daisy ducks but Tsuna smacks him with another weapon as the Sun user straightens. Then the brunet twirls and hits Ken in the stomach after ducking a swing from the other man.
"Oh God," mutters Hayato with a hand over his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter.
From the side lines the picture is ridiculously hilarious. They watch Tsuna charge forward recklessly, adorable as he smushes pillows onto people's faces to kill them.
Takeshi tries to breathe deeply so he won't either start laughing at the scene or tackle Tsuna into a hug at how cute the Decimo is.
Tsuna swings wildly at Mukuro, who doges easily, but the illusionist's smirk falters when Tsuna lets go of the pillow mid-swing so that it flies forward and hits the previous Guardian base. It knocks into pillow and blanket walls, making the whole thing collapse and bury both Chrome and Kikyo under a mountain of bedding. Now only Mukuro, Tsuna and Byakuran are left.
Mukuro turns to Tsuna in shock, only to see a smug smile.
Tsuna throws himself to the side when Mukuro hurls a pillow. Grabbing a discarded weapon, the brunet leaps up and bumps Byakuran on the chin in an uppercut. He then tackles Mukuro and mushes a pillow onto the Mist's face.
There's an incredulous silence as everyone realizes that Tsuna just won. That's never happened before since Tsuna tends to sacrifice himself or get killed when he's laughing too much. They must have really pissed him off with the whole overthrowing thing. Oops.
They grumble half-heartedly but they're smiling. Teams are picked and their forts are rebuilt. They have a few more hours to get through before the power comes back on.
Not that Tsuna had anything to do with that.