Title: Opposites attract
Summary: Tsuna and her friends had saved the world from Byakuran and are finally home. With the danger now gone though, she had to deal with the fact that in that future she had become a mafia boss and Reborn is as unrelenting as ever with taking the choice from her and insisting she becomes the boss. But! She didn't want to be one! It was then that the brunette received a curious message on her phone which will, unknowingly to her, lead her to the chance to get to know herself.
Pairing: fem!Tsuna x Koji
A/N: Age: Tsuna 14 – Takuya 14 – Koji 14 – Zoe 14 – JP 15 – Tommy 12 – Kouichi 14
Disclaimer: Digimon Frontier and KHR don't belong to me, but the plot does.
…only reason I need…
The DigiDestined minus Koji had come upon the wind factory corporation where they encountered the Kokuwamon who had been enslaved by the Goblimon. During their fight in order to free them, JP had found his very own spirit and had digivolved for the first time into Beetlemon, the legendary warrior of thunder. He had been able to defeat Snimon, the leader of the factory and Goblimon, on his own and due to the damage done to the building during the fight, the factory blew up, thus enabling the freed Kokuwamon to return home.
And while Tsuna was happy for J.P. having found his spirit, it meant that she was the last one without one. That also meant that sooner rather than later she would have to reveal her flames to them, because if not then she would be a liability to them. They couldn't protect her all the time to compensate her lack of a spirit and if they tried, one of them was bound to get hurt in doing so.
Whether her companions knew of her involvement with the mafia or not and whether they would accept her when they do, didn't matter to her she decided. To the brunette they were her friends regardless and as such she would protect them with her dying will. .
.
Meanwhile Zoey tried to argue with the food stall owner that they did have money to pay with (the reason there were thrown out), only to have the door shut in her face.
Bokomon approached the blonde and requested her to show him her money and took them from her hand to inspect them only to let them fall to the ground.
"You call this stuff money? Frankly I would have thrown you guys out too," he stated.
Zoey shot him an annoyed glare and picked the scattered coins up. She safely put it away in her pink colored purse and turned her attention back to Bokomon who was answering J.P. question on how digital world currency looked like and how to get some.
"It's simple, stop being so lazy and go to work."
"You want us to work? We're underage, we aren't allowed to work," Takuya complained to the small digimon.
"Can't you just lend us some?" Tommy asked.
Takuya and J.P beamed and promptly held their hands out to Bokomon eagerly only to deflate in their enthusiasm when they found out that the digimon was as broke as they were. The mood instantly shifted though as J.P. found a sign that read: Heroes wanted – All your meals for free.
Tsuna snorted in amusement when not even a second later Takuya, Tommy, J.P. and even Zoey took off towards it. She didn't think they were that hungry though her rather small desire for food compared to them could originate from all her stolen lunches back then before Reborn had come into her life.
And while Reborn also stole from her plate whenever he could, he never took so much that it would affect her health. Hmm, maybe it's just me? Is it that I'm so used to eating smaller portions of food, hence why I'm not as hungry as them? .
.
Thanks to her ability to fly with her flames Tsuna was rather adept in maneuvering in mid-air, so when their cart tipped over due to the gravitational pull, she was able to land perfectly well on her two feet. The other…weren't that lucky.
In order for the children and their two digimon companions to climb up the mountain the KaratsukiNumemon lived on, the three escorting them lowered a ladder for them to use.
Takuya was the first to climb up, then Tommy and following him was Tsuna. As the brunette followed the boys up, she was surprised to hear the telltale sound of a slap echoing. Glancing behind her, she saw J.P. climbing the ladder with a bright red handprint on his left cheek courtesy of a temperamental blonde.
Tsuna sweat-dropped and choose not to comment on it, instead deciding to continue up the mountainside.
When they were nearing one of the houses, the brunette could already hear Takuya, being the first one to reach their destination, chanting for food causing her to sign in exasperation; though exasperation turned into worry when she heard him cry out in hurt.
Tommy and her hurried up to join their friend and help him, however they didn't expect to see said friend arguing with none other than Koji.
As Zoey, J.P., Bokomon and Neemon joined them, Tsuna felt herself face-palmed when she heard Takuya asking Koji, if he was there for the food as well.
Her movement though caused Koji's attention to shift from the goggle wearing boy to her, so when she looked up her caramel colored eyes met his dark blue ones. Neither broke away from the other and Tsuna felt her heart speed up; she felt really weird, but not bad, so definitely a good weird though she didn't know what that meant for her. Her cheeks warmed but she didn't feel embarrassed, so Tsuna didn't understand why she was reacting in such a way.
Then her thoughts shifted back to a certain talk she had had with Zoey back in Zoyokaze Village; …now she felt embarrassed.
.
Turning back from digimon to human, Koji fell to one knee and breathed in deeply to try to regain his composure. When he heard his D-Tector sounding out he turned his attention to the device and pressed a button. In response to his action streams of fractal code were released and returned the village back into its former glory.
After Zoey was done admiring the scenery she stepped up to the dark haired boy and held out a hand to help him up though the guy ignored her gesture and stood on his own. Without so much as a backwards glance Koji turned around and went on his merry way.
Not one to be discouraged by his behavior considering who she had as guardians, Tsuna came to a stop next to the blonde and cupped her hands around her mouth.
"Koji! See you later! And thanks!" she yelled.
"I don't know if I find him nice or rude," Zoey commented.
The brunette sweat-dropped at her friend and watched him go. "He'll come around, I'm sure." At least that's what I believe and what my intuition is telling me I think.
"You're pretty understanding to the guy," her blonde friend said as she grinned and leaned close to her fellow girl with eyes alight with mischief. "Maybe someone's got a crush~ on mister rude?" Zoey teased.
Tsuna's eyes widened and her mouth was left gaping as her brain decided to take a hike and only broken sounds escaped her parted lips. In the end she only managed a high pitched 'no' as her face was flushed a bright red.
The next moment Takuya and Tommy arrived and the brunette was spared from any more teasing of her fellow girl in their group.
.
I'm not crushing on him, am I? Tsuna frantically thought and opened her eyes – when had she closed them? – to see that Koji had already turned away.
"My thanks to all of you for coming to help, and now it's time to eat," the chief-KaratsukiNumemon exclaimed.
"All right! Time to chow down," the entire group cheered minus Tsuna and due to their excitement forgot where exactly they were, causing them to fall into the house in one giant heap. Tsuna, who was carried along, let out a surprised squeal and shut her eyes tightly in response. She groaned when she felt the combined weight of her friends pressing down on her legs and lower back, while her head landed surprisingly soft; she dreaded to find out why that was.
Biting down on her lower lip in nervousness, Tsuna slowly opened her eyes and came face to face with a yellow-clad chest. Realizing the position she found herself in, the brunette blushed a hundred shades of red. Her face had been buried in none other than Koji's chest, while her arms were loosely wrapped around his waist. Her eyes were wide in shock as she snapped her head back in order to see his reaction concerning their situation.
Tsuna couldn't grasp the warm feeling that bloomed in her chest when she found him blushing just as hard as she was and not out of anger either. .
.
"Is that what I think it is?" Takuya asked, his eyes not straying from the source of his question.
"I don't know, looks like rabbit food," J.P. answered with a grimace.
"Well, at least rabbits get to eat," Zoey commented to the boys as she took one colored a light brown and bit heartily into her chosen meal.
Tsuna watched in amusement as they watched the blonde for her reaction and leaned forward in doing so. With the exclamation of 'Molto buono, si!' and 'Dig in, tastes like pizza!' the boys looked from her to the cabbage in front of them in surprise before trying one themselves.
Her giggle went unnoticed as she took one that looked identically to the one Zoey had and stood from her place on the floor to join Koji. The brunette ignored the groups questioning looks and Zoey's teasing smile in particular and sat down next to the dark haired teen.
When met with his inquiring gaze, she just smiled warmly and went about her own meal. Tsuna was happy to note that her cabbage tasted like hamburger and continued enthusiastically until there was nothing left. Still hungry the brunette was about to stand up to get one more when she noticed a hand holding a crème colored one out to her.
Following the hand to its owner, she found him looking away from her, while continuing eating his own cabbage with his other hand. Blinking in surprise, Tsuna took the one meant for her out of his hand, which promptly went back to Koji's side and smiled brightly at the teen, "Thanks Koji!"
Her only response was a grunt from the guy though she wasn't bothered by this. The brunette took a bite and the flavor that greeted her taste buds was that of apple pie, much to her delight. She said as much and felt her stomach turn into knots when she saw him give her a small smile but a smile nonetheless.
By sundown the whole group sat in a circle and discussed the rescue of the KaratsukiNumemon-females.
"I know where Grumblemon is holding them captive," Koji said and pointed to an area on the center mountain a little ways up from the KaratsukiNumemon Village on the map spread before them.
"Just relax you guys; have no fear, leave everything to us: the five legendary warriors!" J.P. exclaimed proudly in response to their hosts' worries.
Tsuna glared at the plump boy's statement; she didn't like how she was excluded just because she hadn't found her own spirit yet. Bringing her gaze down to her lap, the brunette let out sigh and let her glare fade away. She couldn't really fault him since they didn't know the extent of her abilities which was of her own doing. It seems like the cats out of the bag soon enough…
Looking back up, she was surprised to see all the shell-digimon back away to the other side of the room.
"You mean all of you are legendary warriors?" the chief-KaratsukiNumemon asked nervously, though this seemed to elude the others except for Tsuna.
"Yeah! In the flesh," Takuya confirmed with a good-natured grin.
"Well, except me that is," Tsuna interjected with a raise of her hand, not aware of the worried gaze Koji send her way.
Once they confirmed the belief that the brunette's friends were in fact legendary warriors, the group of digimon put their heads together and began whispering furiously.
"Hey, what got them so worked up?" Tommy wondered about the weird behavior the group of DigiDestined and digimon companions were witnessing. One of said companions giggled and commented: "We're all having trouble believing you are legendary warriors too."
J.P. grinned, "I bet they're nervous," he stated.
"Ahem, it's time to go to bed," the chief-KaratsukiNumemon announced once he and his fellow shell-digimon were done whispering.
"And I say it's time for us to rescue the girls," Takuya countered as he stood up.
"Ah, no no, get some rest first and then you can tackle the job in the morning," the chief insisted, puzzling the group of eight. Weren't they anxious to get their girls back only a little while ago, Tsuna questioned silently, starting to feel suspicious regarding their odd behavior they now displayed.
"Uh, okay," her goggle-headed friend agreed for them, not really sure what else to say. .
.
"Hm," Koji grunted as he turned away, "they helped me first, but don't think I'll help you."
Hearing this, Takuya huffed and turned away also, closing his eyes to catch some sleep.
Tsuna meanwhile had a soft smile playing at her lips from where she was lying. She hadn't been able to sleep yet, due to having her Hyper Intuition nagging at her, so the girl had heard the entire conversation. She was glad they were getting along better now. Well…kind of. There's still room for improvement though. .
.
Tsuna was surrounded with the KaratsukiNumemon, who weren't concentrated on her but at something below and when she looked down she was shocked to see her friends, the only thing stopping them from meeting the ground several meters down being thin rope.
"I don't understand! What's wrong with that?" she heard Zoey's confused exclamation.
"Hey, what's going on?" Tsuna interrupted whatever conversation they had in order to try to comprehend why exactly her friends were in the position she found them in.
"Tsuna! You're alright!" Takuya cheered. The addressed girl blinked before sending the teen a reassuring smile.
"I'm fine, but why are you all tied up and hanging over the ground by a rope?" she questioned.
"That's what we'll like to know! And why is Tsuna not dangling beside us?" J.P. complained, causing mentioned girl to glare at him.
"What, you want her in the same position as us?" Koji asked the pump teen sarcastically.
"What? No! That's not what I meant," he sputtered, "I just want to know why that is and I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering," J.P. explained and Koji remained silent.
"The times for your games and lies are over; you won't be holding the miss captive anymore! Soon you'll be back with your ally," the chief-KaratsukiNumemon told them.
"Ally? What are you talking about?" Zoey's frustrated voice sounded.
"Yeah! And why would you think Tsuna is our captive?" Takuya questioned angrily at the suggestion. The small brunette was their friend!
"Don't play dumb, we know you're all in league with Grumblemon!"
"What?!" the group, including Tsuna, shouted in shock at the accusation. How did they come to that conclusion? : was the general thought going through their heads. Though before anything could be said, the stone to the DigiDestined's left was busted open with a huge dust cloud, revealing a newly formed cave opening.
"Are you finally telling me where you hide the fractal codes?" a nasal voice echoed through the cave and reached their ears.
"Who's that screaming in the cave?" Takuya questioned as the whole group's attention was focused at the newcomer also.
"No one can defeat me, for I am one of the legendary warriors: Grumblemon, the earth!" the digimon they now knew to be Grumblemon announced himself.
Upon learning of this information, to say they were surprised would be putting it mildly, though things made a lot more sense now. Well, at least to Tsuna they did.
"He's a legendary warrior too?"
"I didn't know there were evil legendary warriors as well," Bokomon commented, indirectly answered Takuya's question.
"Hey Grumblemon, if you want your allies to remain safe, you better free our woman," the chief-KaratsukiNumemon declared as he and his fellow shell-digimon held a sickle each and placed them dangerously close the rope holding the brunette's friends up.
"No, don't!" Tsuna appealed to the digimon only to be completely ignored.
J.P. was the first to look up when he heard her and widened his eyes in panic. "They are cutting the rope!" he cried, causing the others to immediately lift their eyes as well only to turn their attention back to Grumblemon when he spoke up.
"I'm confused; let them fall to their death, what do I care, I don't know them."
The KaratsukiNumemon exchanged glances before starting cutting the ropes, causing the ones on the other end of those very same ropes to panic and wiggle around, which by the way wasn't helping matters any.
A moment later though they panicked for an entirely different reason as they watched the happenings take place before their eyes. There, right above them was Tsuna who had grabbed the chief's sickle by the blade with her bare hand, effectively stopping him from continuing to cut the rope.
"TSUNA!"
Her bangs shadowed the girl's eyes and her lips were pressed into a thin line, whether it was from pain or anger, they didn't know. The brunette hadn't even flinched and her actions caused all the other KaratsukiNumemon to pause as well, though they didn't remove their blades completely, merely stopped cutting. Even Grumblemon watched curiously as to what would be happening next.
Her friends however were horrified when they spied a red liquid running down her clenched hand and fell in drops with the gravitation towards the ground.
"What were you thinking, stupid," Takuya scolded their friend in a shaky voice.
"Are you okay?" Zoey questioned, worried for the still silent girl. Tommy and J.P. shared the sentiment, while Koji had his hands clenched into fists and glared at the air, pissed off that the girl he was slowly becoming close to had gotten hurt for their sakes.
They were all relieved - Grumblemon not included – when the small brunette finally moved and were surprised, as well as shocked, to find a smile on her face.
Tsuna turned to face the chief-KaratsukiNumemon who was sweating profusely. "Are…are you alright, miss?" the digimon asked, the nervousness radiating from his small form clear. His round eyes hesitatingly met hers and instantly relaxed when he found no accusation or judgment in her warm gaze.
"Please release my friends KaratsukiNumemon, they-" the girl shook her head lightly, "we are no allies of Grumblemon, I promise," Tsuna requested softy, yet with a determined expression and stayed perfectly still as the chief observed her for any deceit. Finding none, the digimon slowly nodded his head in consent, earning him another warm smile from the brunette who slowly loosened her grip on his blade until she released it completely. Once done, she clenched her hand again to prevent her blood from flowing freely.
She was glad her pain tolerance was as high as it was or she would have already started whimpering. The girl did her best in stopping her pain from showing so as not to worry her friends to much.
"Keh, I'll just do the honors myself then," Grumblemon smirked gleefully and lifted his hammer, intend on smashing the teens and digimon into the stone. Intended targets', as well as Tsuna's eyes widened in alarm, only to sigh in relief when she saw her friends successfully evading the attack.
What she didn't expect was for the shockwave set off from the attack's impact to travel through the stone and reaching her. The brunette cried out in alarm and held onto the post for dear life, while the shell-digimon fled the area.
In their hasty retreat, one of the KaratsukiNumemon lost their sickle, which went through the air in an arc. Noticing this, Koji positioned his feet flat onto the mountainside to push off in order to swing towards the blade and managed for it to cut the rope binding his hands behind his back, thus freeing himself.
The dark-haired teen wasted no time and immediately initiated his digivolution into Lobomon. The warrior of light took hold of the end of the rope he just freed himself from and swung towards Grumblemon and nailed him with a kick that threw the digimon from his perch into one of the village's houses.
Meanwhile the KaratsukiNumemon had come back and freed the other teens plus their digimon companions and were apologizing to them with honest regret.
"We're sincerely sorry, it was a misunderstanding on our part," the chief apologized.
"No need to apologize. Anyway, we have more pressing matters on hand," Takuya commented, just as Grumblemon and Lobomon both passed them, descending towards the ground and on their way there, hit another house.
Seeing that the warrior of light was having trouble with his opponent, the other four in possession of a spirit readied themselves and digivolved into their respective digimon to help the guy out.
Beetlemon and Agunimon intercepted Grumblemon, while Kumamon and Kazemon went to Lobomon's side.
After that they went to go rescue the captive girls; the wolf-digimon joined the fight against the earth warrior. .
.
The brunette really disliked how she was reduced to watching, while her friends were out there fighting. Though she knew the only thing stopping her was her own reluctance. Tsuna could always join the fight and while she really wanted to, she also wanted there to be a need to use her flames and therefore exposing herself.
The girl gritted her teeth in annoyance. There they are fighting an opponent stronger than them, not just for themselves but for my sake us well and here I am, too afraid of their reactions to help my friends!
Tsuna reached into her front pocket and grabbed her gloves. With her eyes now lit a fiery orange in determination, she put them on. How could I be so selfish as to put off revealing myself for when it's convenient for me; they are my friends and they are fighting, that should have been the only reason I need. Screw the mafia, screw the secrecy oath! .
.
Not to mention she hadn't even noticed the danger yet, while the earth warrior wasn't looking at her but at them with a gleeful expression at their reaction to the threat to the small girl.
Lobomon and Agunimon couldn't hurry to her rescue even if they wanted due to their inability to fly, while Beetlemon wouldn't be fast enough, so the three of them watched anxiously as Grumblemon took a mighty swing, his hammer aimed at their friend.
They weren't even able to look away as the weapon neared its clueless target.
"TSUNA!" they screamed in unison, urgency and desperation in their voice as they prayed to whatever deity heard them for a miracle. .
.
So when she felt the pressure of the attack nearing her, the brunette ducked and rolled and in one fluid movement jumped of the edge; she was free falling.
I'll protect them with my dying will! The girl declared mentally and with her resolution set, entered into her Hyper Dying Will Mode. .
.