Alriiiigghhhtt here is prologue 2!
Really, if you haven't read the rules yet (link to my forum found on my profile) I'm telling you to go and read them. It won't be that hard for me to find out whether or not you have read the rules properly or not. If you don't read the rules, I am not going to let the story progress.
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer is applied here.
Prologue 2- Haru in Danger!
It was 2 hours before Haru's mother came to the house to see her daughter on the ground with a pale complexion.
Of course she dropped everything she was holding and rushed over to her daughter, not caring for whether or not the groceries would break from the fall. Her daughter was more important than a few broken groceries!
No matter how many times she shook and shouted, Haru was not waking up.
In a panicked frenzy, her mother ran to get the phone and dialed for an ambulance to come to the house. After she made the call, she called her husband who was at the university to tell him what was going on.
He had gone to the university to pick something up that he forgot the day previous and was already on his way home when he got the call. Hastening his travel, he got to the home before the ambulance did.
The sight of his little princess lying on the ground broke his heart. What happened here? Did someone attack her?
Did she just hit herself and was no unconscious? Maybe she was in a really deep, deep sleep? All of these thoughts ran through his head, except for 'maybe Haru is dead.'
The two parents clutched one another tightly, scared for their daughter. The mother calmed down the quickest and she steeled up her nerves to reach her hand slowly to feel for Haru's pulse. It was weak, but it was there.
So she wasn't dead, that was a relief to find out.
Once the ambulance came over, the personnel came in and put Haru on a stretcher after doing a very quick inspection. Having no idea what was going on, they decided it would be wise to take her into the hospital to run more complex tests.
They had also advised that the police be notified just in case Haru was involved in something crazy.
After discussing things, Haru's father decided to stay behind and wait for the police, just in case the perpetrator decided to repay them a visit. He'd rather himself encounter the fiend rather than his wife.
The mother climbed into the ambulance with Haru and held her hand the whole way there, tears rolling down he face due to the frustration, anxiety, and fear of not knowing what had happened to her daughter while she went out to run a few errands that morning.
Essentially, this a quick recap of what happened the day previously.
Haru's father stayed behind and waited for the police to come in and investigate. He didn't leave for the hospital until the police left and he answered Kyoko's call.
Apparently Haru was supposed to call back an hour ago but she never did, so she was worried. That's when Haru's father filled her into what was going on and then he left for the hospital.
The doctors had no idea what was going on, but all they could say was that Haru was for some reason in a comatose state with no clues as to when she'd wake up from her comatose.
It was too late for any visitors other than family to visit so none of Haru's friends could visit her that day but they would be able to visit the very next day.
Kyoko had called Tsuna in tears about the news about Haru and he immediately called in an emergency meeting and inquired if anyone knew any information. Perhaps this was an attack from someone affiliated with the mafia?
If so, who could it be? Were there any visiting famiglia's nearby? Who could have a grudge on them and the knowledge to know of Haru's home address?
Who was going to be the next target? They had to be careful about their next choice of action. Tsuna had even contacted those in Italy for any answers if anyone could provide them, but there was no luck.
There had been no particularly suspicious actions from any of the enemy mafias in Italy. Just the normal mafia business.
Knowing that something was happening in Japan, it was a given that Dino boarded the first flight to Japan without giving much thought to his famiglia. His kohai was in need of help! Senpai was on his way!
Romario was close behind Dino and the two were on their way to Japan while the rest of the family had to stay behind and ensure that their base was safe while their boss was away. Since he was going to be with Reborn and the others, their boss was sure to be safe so they could do their work without any worries.
Dino could get to Japan early in the morning, and would be able to visit the hospital with the rest of the tenth generation Vongola guardians.
Everyone made plans to meet up in front of Tsuna's house and they would all travel to the hospital together.
When the next morning arrived, a group of people were gathered in front of Tsuna's house.
Yamamoto, Gokudera, Tsuna, Reborn, Lambo, I-pin, Kyoko with Ryohei, Dino plus Romario, Bianchi, and even Chrome accompanied by Mukuro managed to get to Tsuna's house.
It was a blessing in disguise that Hibari wasn't there with them, rather, did he even know about what happened to Haru? Did anyone think about contacting him?
Well, if something happened to one of the students at Namimori, Hibari was bound to catch wind of it, and come to visit Haru.
If something were to happen to her, it would make sense to think that it was mafia related. Perhaps he could fight a strong opponent and get revenge for someone daring to disrupt the peace of his beloved school?
Someone was begging for a biting.
The huge group left and made their way towards the hospital, still unsure of Haru's situation.
When they reached the hospital, Kyoko ran straight for Haru's parents, asking about Haru's condition.
"W-we still don't know what happened. Ye-yesterday, I-I came ho-ome to see that Haru was on the floor. She was completely unresponsive. They say she's in a coma and they don't know if she'll wake up." Haru's mother managed to say through all of her tears.
Her husband held her tightly trying to stay strong for the both of them.
Visitors were allowed to visit Haru so they all filed into her room as the doctor came to ask for her parents to talk to them once more about Haru's condition.
The girls were the quickest at running inside of the hospital room that Haru was currently residing in. A sharp intake of air was a shared action of most of them to see Haru laying on the bed with different things attached to her body as they were still trying to figure out what was wrong with her.
She just looked so pitiful.
Kyoko couldn't take seeing one of her best friends in such a condition and she clung to her brother, trying to fight the tears.
I-pin and Lambo ran up to the side of the bed to see Haru on the hospital bed. She didn't greet them with a bright smile like she usually would as she'd dig through her bag for treats to give them.
"H-Haru-nee… Wake up. You have to play with Lambo-sama now. Haru-neeeeee!" Lambo cried. Tsuna grabbed Lambo and I-pin who was silently crying. The two children latched themselves onto Tsuna and cried.
"S-she is going to be okay, right? N-nothing wrong is going to happen to her right?" She asked quietly, pleading for someone to tell her good news.
As if knowing that Gokudera would probably say the wrong thing at the wrong time, Yamamoto had nudged Gokudera's side kind of hard with his elbow. Knowing that it wasn't appropriate to make a ruckus in this kind of a place, Gokudera didn't say anything but he made a mental note that he was going to get Yamamoto back for that.
Bianchi gently patted the top of Kyoko's head with a warm sister fit for an older sister, "I'm sure that Haru will be just fine. I have never seen such a spunky and lively girl as her. She'll make a comeback." Bianchi told her.
Kyoko nodded her head, knowing full well that Haru was a ball of energy and just about nothing could keep her down. She was sure to beat this comatose state and be the lively girl that they all knew and loved!
"When she wakes up, we can go and celebrate with all the cakes she could possibly want." She rubbed her eyes, doing her best to keep her tears at bay. She had to be strong, for Haru.
Chrome held onto Kyoko's hand and nodded her head silently as if to tell her that she wasn't alone and that she would stay strong with her. They could both be the emotional support that Haru would need to get out of this situation.
"It appears as though the doctors have no idea what is going on." Reborn said as he was checking some of Haru's vitals.
Dino was also looking over Haru, trying to see if he could see anything. Nothing appeared amiss until he lifted the blanket ever so slightly to see if there were perhaps any signs of fighting on her arms or legs.
"Hey wait. What is that? On Haru's leg?" Yamamoto asked.
All eyes were on Haru's ankle that had the blue silken cord tied around it.
Kyoko tilted her head and tugged on her brother's shirt.
"Nii-chan, I don't get it. What is wrong with Haru's leg? I don't see anything." She said.
This came as a shock to the rest of the people in the room who could see the cord clear as day.
Why was it that Kyoko couldn't see it?
Chrome, Bianchi, and I-pin could see it.
"I don't know why Kyoko can't see it but… perhaps it has something to do with a dying will. Out of all of us here, she is the only one who can't use a dying will flame." Reborn said.
He didn't think it had to do with anything, but that was the only thing he could think of that would explain her inability to see the cord.
"Dying… will flame?" Kyoko questioned.
"Guys. This may be more serious than we thought. Do you see it? It's slight, but can you see that the cord is shrinking? As if it is a fuse, ready to detonate a bomb." Dino realized.
The atmosphere in the room grew very heavy by the sound of Dino's words.
So this wasn't just some accident, Haru was involved in something crazy.
"Amazing! To think you managed to find that so quickly and notice that it's shrinking like a slow fuse! I really commend you." A middle aged man laughed.
He wore a silver mask that covered his face, and wore an earthy colored Hakama. In his hand was the box that Haru had with her just yesterday.
Before they knew it, Yamamoto rushed forward with his bat which could transform into a katana if he swung it quickly enough. He managed to transform the bat, but he found out from his downwards swing that he couldn't harm this suspicious figure who appeared out of nowhere.
It appeared as though his body would move away from the edges of the katana.
"Now now, you should calm down there. A mere human couldn't possibly think of harming me." The man laughed and waved his hand and Yamamoto flew backwards and bumped into Ryohei and Gokudera but they managed to support their friend without falling backwards.
This… entity before them wasn't normal.
"I didn't feel any resistance when I tried to cut him. Rather, it felt like his body moved enough so the sword wouldn't touch him." Yamamoto muttered under his breath, alerting them to what they were dealing with.
"Ah, the two youngsters over there, I'll let you know that your illusions won't have any effect on me either." The man slowly blinked his eyes and Chrome fell to her knees clutching her head with her hands in pain. Mukuro was too proud to fall to his knees like Chrome had, but he also had felt pain coursing through his head.
The pain was so immense that it was hard to even concentrate. He wouldn't be able to cast any credible illusions this way.
This man was dangerous. "Everyone stand down. Everything he has done, he has done without the use of dying will flames. Don't provoke him needlessly." Reborn warned them stepping in front with the crowd along with Dino and Bianchi.
As the eldest of the group, they had to protect the younger generation. Bianchi stepped up to protect her friend and her stupid little brother.
The man chuckled once he noticed the urge to fight leave the teenagers.
That is, until a chain pierced through his chest.
"I see we have another guest." The man laughed as Hibari made his appearance from the hospital window.
Could this guy please just enter a building normally? Why is it that he often liked to enter houses or buildings through the windows anyways?
Hibari clicked his tongue and retracted the chains once he realized that they had no effect on him. "Wao, what an interesting fellow you are. Makes me want to bite you to death."
The man continued to laugh as he approached Haru's hospital bed, continuing to be very wary of the actions of the people now huddled in the hospital room.
"I merely came here to offer help. I know of a way to save your friend, Haru. I'm sure the doctors have no idea what is going on. Haru's spirit is currently… elsewhere. Fighting a dangerous battle all by herself." His hand stroked Haru's cheek, inciting the anger of the others in the room.
Reborn was the only one who managed to visibly be keeping his calm.
"Speak."
The man smirked, tossing the box to Ryohei who looked to be the strongest physically.
Ryohei wasn't sure what was going on but he tried to open the box but it wasn't budging at all. Even when Gokudera, and Yamamoto tried to pry the thing open, it wasn't opening.
No matter what any of them did, it refused to budge.
With a flick of the wrist, the box appeared in the man's hands once more. With a flick of his thumb the box opened with a 'pop.'
Closing the box once more, he placed the box under Haru's hand and with just a single finger, the box opened once more.
"As you can see, this is a special box which can only open for people it recognizes as its master. I failed to remember when mortal human beings try to open the box, their spirits may leave their body and get sucked into the treasure hidden within the box." He shrugged and laughed comically.
He may have been laughing but no one else was joining him. This wasn't funny. What the hell did he do to Haru!?
"Ahaha, putting the laughter aside…" He pulled the pendant out of the box and threw it in Kyoko's direction but Ryohei caught it instead of his sister.
"Nii-chan! Drop it!" Kyoko was scared that he would share the same fate as Haru. If that were to happen, she didn't know what would happen.
The man laughed once more, angering everyone to the point of them wanting to annihilate the whole hospital room with him still in it, however that would put Haru at risk.
Ryohei looked at the pendant and he didn't feel anything weird happening to him, so he felt it must be safe. He handed it to Kyoko to look it over and at first nothing happened but when she touched it, the once golden pendant changed to a dull gray color, scaring Kyoko into tossing the pendant back to Ryohei.
Once he caught it, the pendant returned to a golden color.
"You see, only those who can make use of their dying will can be able to help Haru in the middle of the war that her soul was sent into." The man said referring to how the pendant changed colors when Kyoko who couldn't use a dying will held it. "Of course not everyone who can use dying will flame will be accepted by the pendant. Hold onto the pendant and will to help Haru. If the pendant can accept your feelings, you will be able to help her."
Looking down at the pendant in his hand, he wanted to help Haru. She was one of his sister's precious friends after all. He didn't talk to her all that much but he knew that she was a nice and friendly girl. She would come over for sleepovers all the time and she was always very polite.
Not only that, she would sometimes bring gifts over from her mother. These could range from cakes, or fresh fruits. She was always willing to humor him when he was obsessing over the brilliance of the sport boxing.
Filling his mind with the desire to help her, and him essentially always being in dying will mode no matter what he set out to do, he felt warmth gathering near his chest and then coming out of his chest.
A small dying will flame lit in the center of his chest and dropped onto the gem in the middle of the pendant.
The pendant glowed the color of his dying will flame and spit something out. It looked like an arm bangle with a gem in the center of it with the same color as his flame.
"Congratulations young man. The pendant has accepted you. Please, do wear that bangle on you at all times."
Ryohei felt a bit spooked out by this, since it was like a piece of him just decided to leave him and then returned with this weird form. He slipped the arm bangle onto his arm and looked around the room. He looked at the others in the room to see who wanted it next.
Bianchi just snatched the pendant from him and she did the same thing as Ryohei but nothing was happening.
"It appears as though you aren't compatible with the pendant." The man said. Frustrated, she handed the pendant to Chrome who yielded similar results.
Chrome handed the pendant to Mukuro who was easily able to make the pendant accept him. His object was a chain that he could attach to the belt loops of his pants.
Not wanting to lose to him, Hibari snatched the pendant from him, and yielded similar results. His object wasn't something he could wear but it was a pen.
What a smart pendant, he wouldn't allow himself to wear a piece of jewelry or something similar during school hours.
Yamamoto, Gokudera, Tsuna, Dino, and even Reborn were able to have their dying will drop into the pendant and have something get spit out at them as well.
Bianchi felt upset by this, noticing that the pendant was only accepting the males and not the females. How sexist. Why is it, that it was always the boys who had to help the females out? Why couldn't females help each other out?
It always had to be a guy?
"To the females in the room, I apologize. It appears as though the pendant only wants to accept males this time around. The last time, it only accepted females. Such a picky thing it is. If you also wish to help Haru, all you need to do is simply pray for her. Sending her your honest thoughts will be enough. She will sense your feelings."
Even with this, Bianchi and Chrome couldn't feel satisfied but they just had to accept things as they were.
The man was handed the pendant and he examined it carefully. "You need more people. This simply isn't enough. Only when the pendant has received enough 'players' to aid Haru on her journey will it change its shape. You must go and find some more participants. Before it's too late. The more people you can find, the slower this blue cord will shrink." The man lifted the cord to show them that the pace it was shrinking at was quickening.
"What happens when it disappears?" Reborn asked, wanting to know how dire the situation was.
"Well… if the blue cord disappears… in that case… I would have to say my goodbyes to the young Haru. I'm sure you know what I mean by this, correct? If you can find participants, the rate the Cord would disappear with would slow down."
Kyoko held onto her brother tightly, worried about her friend. She was going to die if they couldn't find other participants quickly enough?
Panicking, Tsuna ran out of the hospital room with the pendant, thinking about anyone who could possibly help their cause. The nearest group who were able to use their dying will was… the Shimon famiglia.
After briefly explaining the situation to them, the pendant was passed around to all of them and it seemed as though only Enma was compatible with the pendant. Even with him joining as a participant, the pendant hadn't gone through any changes.
Dino took the pendant this time and said that he would take it with him to Italy to see if he could find anyone else to help their cause.
No one in his famiglia were compatible with the pendant. Curious about the situation, Squalo visited for information. Seeing as Haru was going to be wrapped up in some kind of a war, it would make sense to ask the super human Varia for help, right?
Dino asked Squalo to see if he was compatible with the pendant or not, and if he was, pass it around Varia headquarters to find someone else who was compatible with it.
Squalo did as he was asked because Dino refused to tell him all of the details until it was proven whether or not he was compatible with it or not.
It seemed as though he was compatible with the pendant as his dying will dropped into the pendant and spit out what appeared to be a badge of some sort that could be pinned onto a shirt or a jacket.
It did sort of seem like it would be something that fit him.
Dino explained the whole situation to Squalo as they made their way to the Varia headquarters. The enemy was of unknown origins and he seemed to be pretty powerful.
He may have been the strongest opponent they have had to go up against yet.
It took a while, but the whole Varia had their chance to test their compatibility with the pendant. Out of everyone in the base, only Xanxus, and Belphegor were compatible.
It took a lot of convincing to have Xanxus test his compatibility with the pendant, saying that 'this is a waste of my time. Move out of the way, trash'.
It wasn't until Dino mentioned that all of the tenth generation guardians were compatible that sparked Xanxus's competitive nature to attempt it himself.
If those brats were compatible, there was no way in hell he wouldn't be either, those pieces of trash.
As soon as the pendant spit out a ring shaped like a crown was spit out, the pendant changed its shape into a skinny bracelet.
Having access to a speedy jet, Dino flew to Japan with Squalo and Belphegor who simply wanted to visit Japan to eat the good food and to bother Gokudera.
While on the flight, Dino called Tsuna to tell them that they managed to find enough participants to transform the pendant into a skinny bracelet. They decided that they would visit Haru again in the hospital, sure that the man would appear before them again if they did.
Everyone gathered to the hospital as soon as they could and sure enough the man appeared before them once more. It didn't take too long since everyone was already gathered at Tsuna's house anyways.
"Wonderful! You managed to find enough participants to join the game in such little time. Impressive." The man took the bracelet and slipped it onto Haru's wrist and it tightened itself so no one would be able to slip it off of her wrist again.
The blue cord slowed down the rate that it was disappearing in at a rate that it looked static.
"So… this is the blue cord I heard about." Enma and Squalo both observed this blue cord that was supposedly Haru's life line.
From what Squalo could tell with his instincts as a master swordsman, this man before them was not ordinary.
It would take some crazy measures to probably take this guy down. He could see why they were all so worked up about this guy in the mask.
It sort of reminded him of the time when the Arcobaleno were fighting each other to have their curse released.
That shitty bastard in the mask was so irritating. This guy was different though.
The air that surrounded him wasn't human. This guy may have a human form, but he wasn't a human. Dino told him that he was probably a spirit or something, but he wasn't sure.
Things started to click in his mind. Things would get tricky if they attempted to wage a war against them. Especially since it was as if he had Haru hostage in some alternate universe that she was 'currently fighting' in.
If he was able to do this to a regular civilian, what would he be able to do with those in the mafia? This threat simply could not be ignored.
"Now, I should at least explain the situation. When Haru opened this box, the gem in the middle of the once-pendant got a bit too excited and it extracted her spirit from her body. That is why she's in a comatose state. Being the greedy thing it was, it sucked her in after extracting her spirit. It wants to suck her in completely and eat her, but she's fighting against it right now. That's where you all come in. By lending her your power, she can put up a better fight against the gem." He started explaining.
That made sense as to why dying will flames were needed in order to lend Haru help. Though why did they need so many people?
"The gem isn't something that can be underestimated. It will take a long time of fighting in order for Haru to become free from its clutches. It will weaken over time, and if Haru's will power is strong enough she can break free. It would be too dangerous to have one person shoulder all of the dying will flame burden, so the gem always takes a decent number of participants to help her."
This answered the question of why they needed so many participants.
How long would it take for Haru to break free? What if she couldn't break free when the gem weakened? Would Haru be stuck forever? Could they do anything else to help her?
"Right now, Haru is playing a game. A game where her must bear her heart and trudge through many trials. She mustn't lose heart while playing the game. If she does, the gem will become an even stronger force for her to fight against. Depending on the results of her game, she may wake up every once in a while, but unless the bracelet slips off her wrist by itself, her spirit is still stuck within its clutches."
So from this they could gather that if the game was progressing well, she may wake up for maybe a few hours or a few days but unless the bracelet slips off her wrist, she isn't completely free from the dangers of her spirit being sucked into the gem forever.
"If she ever does wake up, she likely won't remember anything. You must not tell her about what you've done, because if you do, who knows whether or not her heart will reject the truth? If she rejects it, she won't be able to return to the game and she'll be sucked into the gem and remain in this comatose state for the rest of her life. Of course, if she dies while playing the game… I don't need to go much further do I?" The man chuckled to himself when he saw the varying looks on all of the people in the room.
Looks of worry, determination, and even fury.
"Lastly, the objects that you received after donating some of your flames, you must keep them on you at all times. It will sap your dying will flames at different points in time and with different amounts. Sometimes it may take a small amount and sometimes it may try to take a large amount of dying will flames from you. Do not worry, it will never take enough that it would endanger your life. The most that would happen is feeling sick or drowsy." The man finished explaining the gist of the situation at hand.
They were aiding Haru by lending her energy to use in her battle against this weird gem. The only thing they could do is wait around and hope for the best.
Looking at the blue cord that was tied around Haru's ankle, the man could offer a rough guess to how long Haru had before she would be a lost cause. A month at most.
"If Haru cannot win the war game she's in within a month, I would say 'goodbye Haru, it was a pleasure knowing you.' Hopefully she's strong enough to overcome this obstacle. I bid you all a farewell." The man bowed and disappeared into thin air.
Kyoko held onto Haru's warm hand, wishing that she would wake up and laugh like she always had. She missed seeing her energetic friend who she could discuss cakes with.
She had to stay strong for her friend. She could do this. "It's okay Haru. I have faith in you. You can do this. Afterwards we can go and eat all the cakes you want." Kyoko whispered.
"Come on Kyoko. Let's go home. We should let Haru rest." Ryohei tapped Kyoko's shoulder. With that everyone left the hospital room. Squalo had to go and fetch the dumb prince who was likely stuffing his face with sushi or something.
Afterwards they could return to the base and explain the full situation to Xanxus and hope he'll comply. It was a worry to know whether or not he would actually listen to the condition that he would have to wear the ring at all times.
All they could do now was be on standby and hope for the best.
Haru continued to lay on the hospital bed, her spirit lost inside of the gem which sucked her in.
Next is prologue 3 and then this story can officially start. Everyone should have read the rules by the time chapter 3 comes out. I'll be keeping track of who I'm sure has read the rules.
Until next time folks.
-Neospice12
PS: In case people were curious to know:
Canon characters: Ryohei, Yamamoto, Gokudera, Reborn, Hibari, and Mukuro.
Easy Unlockable character: Enma
Medium Unlockable character: Tsuna and Dino
Difficult Unlockable character: Squalo, Xanxus and Belphegor.