Chapter 4 The Late Storm
Gokudera was very frustrated. He took a sip of alcohol and slammed the glass on the table. He then rubbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Then, in the half unbuttoned grey shirt and ripped jeans he wore for ten years, he managed to sleep.
But he was soon awoken by a presence that approached the shop. To Hayato, it smelt faintly like Shinigami, but too weak.
"Kuchiki Rukia?" An eye opened. Gokudera got up from his sitting and sleeping position.
The black haired girl peered at the guy who greeted her. He was frowning, had grey hair and bandages wrapped around both his hands.
There was someone there? I didn't sense anything. Rukia thought.
The Storm Guardian glanced at the girl. She was no threat at the moment. Pretty midget, in a blue dress who looked at him cautiously.
"If you're looking for the mad hatter, he's at the back," Gokudera said, sitting back down. He brought the glass to his lips again.
Rukia first thought was, What a rude guy! She took a step forward, wanting to kick him in the shin.
"Now, now, Miss. Kuchiki. Gokudera's one of my more regular customers. Not at all sociable, you know." Once again Urahara appeared out of nowhere.
"Shut up, stupid hat man!" Hayato growled.
"He's a rather special specimen. He has no spirit energy at all, making his presence impossible to feel. When I tried konso, it had no effect. His chain fell off quite some time ago, but he did not turn hollow. In fact, hollows are completely oblivious to him." Urahara smiled, scratching his chin. Then his trademark fan came out.
"Don't talk about someone when he can hear you, dumbass!" Gokudera snarled.
"But don't underestimate him, Miss. Kuchiki. I bet he can defeat a vice captain in this form. He sure packs a punch!"
Gokudera got up threw another punch, which Urahara happily avoided. He straightened his stripped hat.
"So, Miss. Kuchiki, what brings you to my humble shop?" Urahara asked. His was fanning himself, a grin on his face that spelled trouble.
Rukia glanced at Gokudera who had sat back down and was busy drinking from the glass. He knew that she must be used to the shopkeeper's evil smiles.
"Fear not, Rukia! Gokudera promised to protect Kurosaki with his life!" Urahara said flamboyantly.
The glass was slammed down. It was a wonder it didn't break or crack. "I did not!" Hayato yelled. "I just said I'll help you!"
Urahara Kisuke's grin grew. If one could see his eyes, they would have seen the glint.
"He is the Vongola Tenth's Storm Guardian after all."
Gokudera snorted and the smirk returned to his face. Rukia wasn't sure whether to feel secure or afraid. The Vongola were feared in Seireitei. It is said that their Guardians matched the power of the captains.
Gokudera snorted. He glanced at the sky. The grey clouds still haven't cleared.
"Do you think he would just let you leave to your execution? I know his type, reckless and stupid, two things that make a complete idiot."
"That's also what makes him a good friend." Rukia looked a little sad. "I just got too involved. And I got him involved too."
Gokudera sighed. "He could die if he went to save you." He was rather direct.
"But Kurosaki also has potential," Urahara said. "Given the proper training, he would survive, or even succeed."
Gokudera gave a reluctant nod.
"So Goku-chan will help me train Kurosaki Ichigo!"
"No way! Why would I want to train the carrot-top?!"
"Because you don't have a choice."
Gokudera crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He muttered what sounded like curses under his breath. The surrounding people could distinctively hear a murmured reply: For the Tenth.
"So, I'll leave that idiot with you?" Rukia asked, eagerly. But she sounded small. Her hands were clenched at her sides. She was acting different, maybe afraid. Being a noble, it was strange, but the man in front of her intimidated her.
"Whatever."
"Thank you."
After Kuchiki Rukia left, Gokudera ditched the gigai and worked on theories/battle strategies for the rest of the afternoon. The night came rather quickly. He sat on the wooden steps facing Urahara's backyard, Jinta and Ururu running past. It was frankly very annoying. He had to put up with Urahara and his crazies, and another orange one had to appear. It was pissing for the Storm Guardian.
Hayato took off his spectacles.
He smoked a cigarette.
Reiyatsu in the air became thicker. Gokudera could feel the shopkeeper's gaze on his back. He was unusually quiet for a few minutes. But the looks were creepy.
"They came more quickly than I thought."
Gokudera thought he stopped attracting trouble ten years ago. Heck, when he was alive he handled things so well as the Tenth's right hand man that people feared him. Then this had to happen. Tenth left almost everything in the hands of Gokudera and the Storm Guardian never really messed up. But there were doubts now. Without his boxes and his ring, Hayato felt, well, weak. Like something was taken from him. Like a big part of him was missing. Looks like he became hollow in a different way.
Gokudera had to move on to the afterlife somehow.
"It's complete."
Hayato raised an eyebrow.
"You doubt me, Goku-chan?" Urahara reached into his sleeve and brought out a box. Gokudera was skeptical. It took the mad hatter a lot quicker than he expected. "I couldn't duplicate the animal one unfortunately. Even with your notes, I don't expect it to be as powerful as the original."
Gokudera grunted.
"After all, you were the one who created the Sistema C.A.I," Urahara clicked his tongue. "Just too lazy to create another one."
"You insisted, dimwit!" Gokudera growled, grabbing the box. That was true. But Hayato didn't want to create a replica of his weapon. He had a perfect one waiting for him, somewhere in Soul Society.
"Don't worry, Gokudera. You'll meet your boss soon," Kisuke said, throwing the grey haired boy a ring with a big red gem. "Go save yourself a strawberry!" he chirped.
Hayato grabbed an umbrella after wearing his sneakers. He glared at the shopkeeper. "You didn't 'adjust' anything, did you?"
"You'll have to find out yourself!"
The red flame flared from the ring, along with the other skull rings, a thing the Storm Guardian didn't see or feel for a decade. Gokudera reached the end of the street, smirking and throwing the umbrella down on the pavement. Crimson flames grew.
Ishida lay defeated. If weren't for the given circumstances, Ichigo wouldn't care for he knew he was stronger than the Quincy. The redhead charged. Ichigo released his reiyatsu.
Abarai Renji froze in mid attack, taken off guard. The sheer force of it was pressing him down and he gripped his sword harder and gritted his teeth.
Kuchiki Byakuya looked unfazed as the spirit pressure rose. It was unnatural, but the boy was young, inexperienced. It was a joke, the man his sister gave her powers to didn't even know the name of his zanpakuto. The boy was weak. But Captain Kuchiki didn't want to kill a child. He flashed stepped past the orange haired boy, delivering two fatal blows with a speed that no one around could follow. Ichigo fell, slow-mo, chocolate eyes widened, blood pooling around him.
And his foolish sister ran him. Renji stopped her, his hand at her throat.
"LET GO, RENJI! What's wrong with me running to him? It's MY fault he died!" she shrieked.
The figure was hiding in the shadows. He loaded and aimed at the stunned redhead, green contacts gleaming. The streetlights flickered. "Flame arrow," he muttered.
Renji was blown off his feet and landed a couple of meters away, knocked out.
He fired another one. Kuchiki Byakuya side stepped in time. The red ball of flames singed his haori. He remained emotionless but was inwardly cursing himself for not sensing the attack.
"Next time I won't miss," the shadowy figure approached. The grey haired teen reloaded the gun strapped to his arm.
Kuchiki-taicho flashed and drew his sword. He knew he shouldn't take such a young spirit. But there was something, something about that smirk. Something lethal. Byakuya had no time to waste. As he brought the katana down, all it hit was wind and flickering red flames.
Sun bullets flew towards him from behind. Given Kuchiki's speed, he barely managed to avoid getting hurt. His shihakusho was full of holes though.
"Heh, I'm getting rusty," Gokudera said.
Five flames flared on his hand. Byakuya's eyes widened but no emotion showed. The smirk on the grey haired boy's face turned into a frown.
"You're different from the Shinigami scum I faced. But your thoughts are all the same," Gokudera growled.
Byakuya lifted his blade vertically in front of him. He wanted to finish off, fast. Get the battle over with. The pretty boy still has his nose in the air. Every second was pissing off Gokudera even more.
"Scatter Senbonzakura."
"Don't you dare look down on me!" the Storm Guardian yelled.
The light reflected off the shards as Senbonzakura engulfed him. Hayato only gained minor scratches as his shields surrounded him. It was fast, almost matching up to the captain's speed. He jumped back and fired, changing bullets in a second. Kuchiki did not react, using shunpo to avoid the attacks. Gokudera fired again. Cloud's propagation created a widespread attack which managed to gash him in the arm. He waved the hilt of his sword. Senbonzakura returned to its usual katana shape. Byakuya did his flash step again. Gokudera's eyes widened.
"I'm impressed. You managed to avoid it," the captain said, monotonous.
A cut appeared on the grey haired boy's stomach. He was covered in blood and had a sprained ankle.
A fowl curse escaped his mouth.
"Don't keep the fight to yourself."
Ichigo lifted his head. He couldn't move and was desperately gripping his broken sword.
"You still alive, kid?" Gokudera asked. Not for long, he knew. The carrot-top's chain link and soul sleep were fried. He'll be dead by the hour. A wave of pity swept over the Storm Guardian. "I don't like being late," Hayato growled. He ignored the pain in his abdomen and raised the flame arrow.
"Stop interfering!" Rukia yelled.
"You keep your trap shut!" Gokudera bellowed back. "I don't care about your Shinigami business, Miss. Princess! You bastards don't give a damn about the normal souls. I just want to punch your shitty faces every time I see them!"
"Then why are you focused on protecting that child?" Byakuya spoke.
"Because the Tenth would've done it." Gokudera smirked. "That brat won't just take defeat like that. Even if he's an inch away from death, he's gonna crawl back up." He wiped the blood from a scratch on his cheek. "I told you…"
Rukia interrupted. "Then make sure he doesn't!" The girl was near tears. She shouted, "Or I'll kill you here myself, Vongola!" She raised her shaking hands, about to perform her kido.
"Wait, Rukia…" Ichigo muttered.
"If you try moving one step, I'll NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" Rukia yelled.
"You f**king Soul Reapers all think the same," he snarled. Every moment of the conversation was adding to his anger and frustration. Well, Gokudera Hayato hated Shinigami ten years ago. Those feelings just got stronger. "Don't underestimate the Vongola!" he yelled.
Byakuya took that moment to flash step, doing the attack which he did to Ichigo. Gokudera swore and fired a flame arrow in time.
A cut appeared on his chest. Then the Storm Guardian buckled and collapsed.
"Let's go, Nii-sama. Leave them, they're dying anyway."
Word travelled out that Abarai Renji, vice-captain of the sixth squad was bedridden due to third degree burns. It was horrible, the redhead's chest was black and everything. The other vice-captains were gossiping about it during the meeting. It would be an awesome subject to tease the red pineapple about. Apparently, while Kuchiki-taicho was reporting during the captain meeting, Kusajishi Yachiru somehow managed to obtain the details about the fight. She even knew Byakuya was trying to hide a limp.
Tsuna was flipping (again) in his seat.
The description of the attack and the attacker resembled someone he knew.
"Hey, Takeshi! You know it was grey and had a big gun with different booms coming from it! I heard the boom was red and yellow and purple!" Yachiru exclaimed.
"Really? Tsuna, doesn't that sound a lot like Go…"
Tsuna covered the mouth of Yamamoto with his hand while grinning sheepishly.
Kuchiki Byakuya left with burnt clothes and a broken arm, also a knee shattered with Gokudera's bullets. He didn't admit to those injuries anyway. Keeping up that emotionless façade, the captain was actually pretty annoyed. He knew it. The Vongola boy was merely scratched by his sword, literally. And the orange haired child wouldn't die. There was someone there to save him from that fate. His Shinigami powers would be gone. But if the Vongola was telling the truth, he'd be back.
Perhaps it would be better for the child to live.
Gokudera wanted to leap into that damnable gate so much. But he couldn't. After all, the Tenth would be ashamed of him if he did. I need to shape up before I go to Soul Society. He thought. He wanted to return to his boss' side like the right hand man he is.
Hayato got up, doing some healing with sun flames.
He stared at the strawberry kid for a few seconds.
He didn't like being late.
Most of all, he didn't like be spared.
Gokudera knew that Ichigo would feel the same.
Rain began to pelt down. It poured. Hayato stumbled to the corner of the street where he left the umbrella.
He clutched the gash on his stomach and held up the umbrella, shelthering the sprawled body as rain fell on him.
Water dripped down his grey bangs. "I thought rain was supposed to be tranquil," he muttered.
Hello
So how was the fight scene? Was it okay? Can you give feedback?
I think I have to make things clear here, the Vongola in Soul Society is a very powerful fighting force. They just don't care about the balance of souls as much as Shinigami do. They're formidable anyway. Here's what Shinigami think of Vongola.
Captains – know that they're powerful, just don't take them too seriously
Vice captains – Just cautious with the Guardians
Seated officers – fearful, somewhat, except for the eleventh squad I guess
Non-seated officers – They don't know anything, thus are arrogant, which led to Gokudera hating all Shinigami
Academy – treat Vongola as stuff they study from a textbook
Remember that Seireitei don't get along with the mafia. The Winter War would change those attitudes. Seireitei needs to give Vongola more respect!
About Gokudera VS Byakuya. Bya-kun's not as powerful in the real world as he is in SS. Gokudera doesn't have his original weapons and Uri so he's also 'rusty'. So under those circumstances, they're about the same level. Renji didn't stand a chance (Muhahahaha). However in SS, things change...
Those are my notes, I guess.
Here's there pairings, the voting is still on.
Tsuna and Chrome
Tsuna and Hinamori
Tsuna and Orihime
Ichigo and Rukia
Matsumoto and Gokudera
Yamamoto and Rukia
Mukuro and Orihime (suddenly got inspiration with that…)
Tsuna and Hibari
Yamamoto and Gokudera
Ichigo and Gokudera
No Yaoi
No pairings
Please pick from the above. You can vote for more than one.
This is vaguely what I'll probably choose. (I'm still not good with yaoi, bear with me)
Tsuna and Chrome / Tsuna and Orihime
Ichigo and Rukia / Ichigo and Chrome
Mukuro and Orihime
Yamamoto and Rukia
Matsumoto and Gokudera
So, that's it. Please review. I need reviews. They're like cookies that fuel my writing gene (is there such thing?) and they decide whether I'm gonna lose interest in the story or not. So review and make me happy. Review lots chompchomponthecookies Thanks for reading/reviewing and I hope you enjoyed it :)
ssapphireangel :)
