Once again, I am back! I am so sorry for taking so long, but I am to have finally finished this next chapter. This one is a bit longer and hopefully a bit better than the previous chapters I have been writing. After this chapter, there should be one more for the ending unless possibly requested longer. Hopefully you guys enjoy this next chapter though and thank you to all of you who are reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing! Hope you guys all enjoy! And again I am so sorry for taking so long and disappearing once again! Until next time~!
Special thanks for reviewing to: Nina-Chan202! (First, I am so sorry for the wait for the next chapter! Second, I am so happy you like it! Thank you for such great compliments! I am excited to show both of what you said soon, including the guardians realizing their wrong [I can't wait to write too heheh] Thank you for your support!)
The Creature Chapter 4: Fighting Back
Takeshi shifted nervously for what seemed like the umpteenth while he stayed hidden inside one of their training rooms. He placed his hand over the device that rested in his ear as he asked, also for the umpteenth time, "Tsuna, are you sure about this?" A groan was heard on the other end and the rain guardian was quick to defend himself, "I mean I know we have to catch this guy, but you're still badly injured and recovering from being sick. Even without any of that, using you as bait is…I don't really like it Tsuna."
Takeshi heard silence over the earpiece and he was worried Tsuna might have passed out due to said injuries and sickness, when Tsuna's voice came through, "It'll be okay, Takeshi. We don't have any other option. For whatever reason, this guy seems to be focusing on isolating and attacking me. If that's the case, then using me is the best way and might be the only way of drawing him out. Don't worry; I'm in the hallway just outside of your room. If anything happens, you'll be right there for me to count on."
Takeshi flushed slightly at Tsuna's faith in him and hesitantly continued, "But…Tsuna…"
A light chuckle rang through Takeshi's ear piece. "It'll be alright, Takeshi. I promise to avoid fighting as much as possible if the situation allows it."
The rain guardian huffed in acceptance. "Fine. Though I'd prefer if you avoided the fighting completely."
Tsuna walked around the hallways carefully and slowly as he smiled sheepishly at his guardian's words. He understood Takeshi's worries, considering he was exhausted and in quite a lot of pain at the moment. However, he refused to lay down where there was a devious murderer walking around his home where his family and friends lived. Part of him wanted revenge on the man who had made him look insane, but he would even give that up as long as he could keep his family safe. It should be easy enough to draw him out; this man seemed to crave having the Vongola Boss in vulnerable and isolated situations. Tsuna wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at how appeasing he would be to this man now; he had been greatly weakened and isolated in less than a day. The young boss quickly shook his head to ward off his downward spiraling thoughts. He knew that his guardians' and Reborn's mistrust was because they were so concerned about what was wrong with him. Tsuna took a deep breath in as he leaned heavily on the wall beside him. Besides, Takeshi was here and Takeshi believed him. Even though Takeshi and he were separated, he could still feel his rain guardian's presence supporting him; that was more than enough for him to continue moving forward.
With a fire in his eyes, Tsuna continued to limp forward and heavily leaned onto the wall. If he had wanted to, Tsuna could probably move without needing support. However, looking this vulnerable not only helped him support his weakening body but also provoked the man who had basically taken to stalking him. Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to move forward. That man… Tsuna had absolutely no idea who that man could be or even what famiglia he belonged to. Truly the man was incredibly skilled, Tsuna had to grudgingly admit; after all he had not only fooled himself, but his guardians and even Reborn as well. It was for that reason though, Tsuna wasn't sure how they hadn't come across the man before. Maybe he had been a weaker enemy they had easily defeated in the past? Or maybe he's just someone who decided to appear now? Either way, Tsuna supposed there was no point in dwelling on it now. Tsuna took a deep breathe in and out as he pushed out all of his wandering thoughts. The young boss lifted his head as he continued to move forward. Right now was not a time to be pondering through all the details; right now he had to focus on drawing the enemy out and possibly a fight, though he doubted Takeshi would allow the man to come close to him.
Tsuna paused for a moment so he could check his surroundings once more, not just for the mysterious intruder but also for his guardians and Reborn. He was still expecting them to realize he had disappeared and start searching for him any minute now. Tsuna relaxed as he looked behind him and saw nothing there. He turned his head to start moving forward again, only to come face to face with the mysterious man. Tsuna yelped at the familiar cloaked body and threw himself backwards just as the man threw a fist where Tsuna had been standing.
"So you're still alive Decimo? Why don't we change that?"
Tsuna scowled at the man before him. He couldn't even see any of the man's features because of the cloak he was wearing. All Tsuna knew was that he was strong and was at least of the mist affinity; of course, he could still have other flame types as well though. "Who are you? Why are you doing all of this?"
The man simply chuckled ominously. "Details are unimportant. Right now all that matters is ending our little game." The man raised his arm again, which glowed like a vibrant fire much to Tsuna's surprise. Tsuna tried to jump up, but found his body completely ignoring him. The man threw his punch and Tsuna's eyes widened at his defenselessness.
"As if," a familiar voice interrupted, "I would let you hurt Tsuna anymore." Tsuna's eyes widened further but his body relaxed as Takeshi jumped between them and blocked the arm with his sword. His rain guardian thrust his sword upward with the man's hand on top before he slashed forward with his sword. The man quickly leapt backwards in order to dodge and snarled at the rain guardian. Tsuna didn't have to see the man's features to know he was very unhappy right now. "Tsuna are you okay?"
Tsuna looked up to see Takeshi glancing back over his should to check up on the smaller brunette. The boy smiled weakly as he nodded slightly. "As good as I can get right now."
Takeshi grimaced but nodded in understanding before he turned around to glare at the intruder. Tsuna could sense the man was glaring back at them with pure hatred at this point. "I don't know who you are, but this so-called game you're playing with Tsuna is over. I won't let you hurt him any further and I'll show you what happens when you think you can touch our Sky."
Tsuna's hyper-intuition rang loudly which caused Tsuna's eyes to widen. "Oh, is that so? Just because the Decimo was able to get a pawn back doesn't mean the game is over." Takeshi looked confused at the man until he heard a yelp from behind him. At the same time, Tsuna listened to his hyper-intuition and ducked down to the ground as a swishing sound was heard above him. Takeshi turned around quickly to see Tsuna ducked on the ground and the cloaked man behind him with an arm outstretched. With a feral growl, Takeshi rushed forward to meet the attacker but the man had already leapt away from the pair. Takeshi didn't rush after him though, not with Tsuna as his main target.
Instead, Takeshi lent Tsuna his right hand and pulled the smaller boy up. He gave him a concerned look, which Tsuna waved away. "I'm alright Takeshi." Takeshi didn't move away or let up his worried glance, but took in the way Tsuna set his eyes determinedly on the enemy. "I don't think we'll be able to get away with not having me fight though."
Takeshi tensed at that and grinded his teeth together as he glared at the man before him. The man had begun pacing slightly in the hallway before him, with his head facing in their direction. "Tsuna…"
The rain guardian felt Tsuna's hand placed on top of his shoulder. "I don't think we have a choice, Takeshi. Besides I trust you to have my back." Takeshi grimaced but didn't bother denying Tsuna was right. He had a feeling that even if he sent Tsuna to head towards safety, the man would just follow after Tsuna and completely ignore him. Takeshi grinded his teeth as he gave his boss a nod. Tsuna squeezed Takeshi's shoulder one last time before they both launched themselves at the man. This time Tsuna grimaced as he felt as if the man was smiling madly at their advance.
Tsuna went first as he had a feeling that the man would likely go after him first anyway, so at least Takeshi could counterattack for Tsuna. The brunette used his right arm to take a swipe at the cloaked man which caused him to take a step back. Tsuna noted that the man's hands were beginning to glow again much to Tsuna's horror. However, the man didn't get a chance to use them as Takeshi came up beside the two and slashed diagonally upwards towards the cloaked man. (Tsuna was slightly terrified that Takeshi hadn't even bothered with the blunt side, before he remembered how close he came to death last time.) The man surprised them as he suddenly disappeared in front of them.
Tsuna's hyper-intuition sent a pang through his head and Tsuna instantly flipped around and punched his arm diagonally up at the other man's fist which had been aimed at Takeshi's back. Tsuna's punch sent the other man's up in the air. However, the young boss froze as he saw the man's second flaming fist flying right at his stomach. Takeshi suddenly materialized in-between Tsuna and the cloaked man and pushed the man's fist down with a foot. He took his sword and, carefully so as not to hit Tsuna who was still right behind him, slashed at the man again only for the man to awkwardly fall backwards with his right hand still trapped under Takeshi's foot.
Before either Vongola members could do anything, the man slammed his free left hand onto the ground which caused flames to erupt right beside them. Sky and rain swiftly leapt backwards in surprise. Takeshi let out a low growl as Tsuna stared at the man before him analytically. They didn't get a chance to do anything else as the man suddenly launched himself back at them. This time Takeshi charged to intercept the man first. With his left hand, Takeshi bent his sword in towards himself and lowered before he sent it slashing at the man. The man instantly jumped and used his right hand to push off the top of Takeshi's now-stilled sword, much to the surprise of the rain guardian before he flung himself off and over the rain guardian. The man began to charge towards Tsuna again with both his hands lit on fire. Tsuna's eyes widened as he began to push himself into a defensive style, when a painful tug on his stomach made Tsuna gasp and fall onto the ground.
"TSUNA!" Tsuna coughed up blood and noticed as red began to spread out from his wound again. Apparently he had reopened his wound; wonderful. Tsuna felt heat surround him and he looked up again to see the man almost upon him. Fear tugged at the young boss when he felt a familiar aura surround him.
The cloaked man cackled and lunged at Tsuna, much to the rain guardian's horror. However as the man brought his right hand down onto Tsuna, a loud clang sounded. "Kufufufu."
Takeshi felt relief as Mukuro appeared in front of the weakened Tsuna. "Mukuro!"
Tsuna looked up weakly at his male, mist guardian and managed to say even as he choked slightly, "M-Mukuro, t-thank you." The boss blinked when he felt his mist guardian's anger before he realized the man was mad at himself for not realizing the situation earlier. Tsuna wanted to relieve the man only to cough up blood even further, which caused his mist guardian to tense instantly. Tsuna had been in a squatting position but found his legs unable to hold himself any further as he slid to the ground.
The cloaked man cackled again and knocked Mukuro's trident to the side. Mukuro surprised everyone including the assassin as he suddenly kicked out at the man. The cloaked man was so surprised he couldn't defend himself as Mukuro's kick sent the man tumbling backwards; Mukuro rarely seemed to use his legs in battle, but Tsunayoshi's vulnerable position was rattling even the usually aloof mist guardian.
However, the cloaked man was only stunned momentarily as he placed his left hand above his head and lifted himself into a handstand before gracefully landing on the ground with his left leg first followed by his right. The moment his right leg landed, he pushed off and flew towards the pair again. Mukuro tensed and allowed his mist flames to wrap protectively around Tsunayoshi. It was unnecessary as the moment the cloaked man got close, he quickly ducked into a slide when a flaming arrow flew right where his head would've been.
"GET AWAY FROM JUUDAIME, YOU SICK FREAK!" Hayato's appearance snapped Takeshi out of his own daze where he had been stuck in place. The rain guardian's eyes narrowed as he quickly took to the downed cloak man. However, the man sensed Takeshi coming at him and quickly rolled several times to the right; a mistake he quickly regretted as he suddenly had to leap away from his position as a tonfa collided on the ground right where he had stopped rolling.
"I will bite you to death." The cloaked man grimaced as he quickly pushed himself to the wall opposite of Tsuna. Kyoya, Takeshi, and Hayato who had also sprinted forward after his shot began to surround and corner the man. The cloaked man noticed as both mist guardians now stood protectively in front of their sky, along with the lightening guardian who had just sprinted over. The sun guardian was also there but instead of fighting, sprinted straight to Tsuna. His flames glowed instantly on Tsuna's reopened wound.
"Hang in there little brother." Tsuna relaxed and felt like he could finally breathe again for the first time as his guardians surrounded him. Even as he relaxed though, Tsuna noticed the tension in each of his guardians which Tsuna vaguely realized was guilt. Tsuna wanted to say something so that his guardians understood that while he may be hurt, there was nothing to forgive. However, the ever so slightest shift sent a horrible pain aching through his body and all Tsuna could do was whimper. It caused his guardians to tense even further at the sound, and Ryohei's flames to shine even brighter.
The cloaked man snickered at the Decimo's position before he smirked. "Well, well it seems like I may not have to attack to finish the job after all." *BANG!* The cloaked man blinked in surprised. He was glad he had moved his head ever so slightly to the right as there was now a bullet planted in the wall right where his head had been, courtesy of one arcobaleno Reborn. The sun arcobaleno was crouched next to Tsuna's right shoulder with his gun pointed and smoking as well as his sun flames surrounding his injured student.
The strongest hitman narrowed his eyes dangerously on the intruder; a fury he felt for the enemy as well as himself raged inside him despite his calm exterior. They had been careless, and worst of they had ignored their sky despite his pleas. Tsuna had tried to get them to listen, but instead they had believed what a screen told them rather than having faith in Tsuna as he had always had in them. Now due to their carelessness and ignorance, their sky was critically injured and had only made it worse due to his loyalties in wanting to protect them. Reborn grit his teeth as his eyes sharpened on the other man; this would not go unpunished for any of them, especially for the piece of filth who tricked them into hurting their sky as much as he did. Still, Reborn greeted the man with as calm of a façade as possible, "Ciao. I'm afraid we haven't been properly introduced yet." As he spoke Reborn made sure there was plenty of killing intent focused on the man before him, and the sun arcobaleno noticed Tsuna's guardians doing the same.
The cloaked man chuckled as if Reborn had just said a funny joke. "That would be due to the fact that I only wish to be acquainted to the young Decimo, as his killer of course." The cloaked man scowled as he had to duck down as another bullet imbedded itself into the wall. The man straightened and Reborn could tell the man was re-evaluating how he should talk to the strongest hitman.
Reborn continued to the eye man coldly as he all but growled, "Do you think you'll get away with this? Do you think you'll possibly escape our wrath after all you've done to our sky?" Beside him Tsuna whimpered quietly, only loud enough for Reborn and Ryohei to hear him. Both of them let their flames grow a bit more to help with Tsuna's healing. Reborn didn't have to look at Ryohei to know the boy was getting frantic, mainly because Tsuna was only hurt so badly due to their disbelief in him.
The cloaked man chuckled again and this time Reborn noticed Kyoya and Takeshi growing incredibly tense; Reborn wasn't sure he'd be able to stop them from their rage with whatever the man decided to say next. Whether they were failures or not didn't stop their anger or protectiveness over everything of what happened. The cloaked man tilted his head to the left almost like a child with a seemingly innocent smile on his face. "Ara? Now, now, let's not put the blame on all of me. After all, I really didn't do all that much. Vongola is very self-destructive apparently. For the majority of the time, all I had to do was sit back and watch the show unravel. Besides, I only did the physical damage which was done to Decimo. It appears to me there was much more emotional damage done to the Decimo, which I certainly didn't cause." The whole group, even Reborn, froze at those words. As much as they hated the man for all he had done to their sky. He was also right; they had hurt Tsuna just as much as this man had even if it was in a different way.
A certain brunette suddenly gasped in surprise. "What are you guys doing?!" The panic in their boss's voice seemed to wake them up but not before Tsuna kicked Reborn to the side and pushed himself and Ryohei to the left as a flaming hand imbedded himself into the wall behind him.
"TSUNA-NII!"
"TSUNA-OTOUTO!"
Lambo and Ryohei who snapped out of it the fastest, both yelled out in shock as they realized what happened. Reborn's anger burned as he realized his injured dame-student had just been forced to protect him. Instantly, Reborn lunged but the man was quick to jump backwards only to realize he had jumped right into two very furious mists and one angered lightning. Surprisingly it was Lambo who charged forward; he was beyond upset at how his Tsuna-nii was treated and he would not stand for it even if he was the youngest of the bunch. The fifteen-year old growled threatening as his lightning flames lit up around him. The man surprised him as he lit flames on his hands and seemed to easily bounce off the teen's head. Lambo was shocked as he tripped slightly before he yanked his head around to look at the intruder. The cloaked man smirked until he felt a pain which hit his gut. He grunted and turned around to see an absolutely fuming cloud guardian. Kyoya used his left tonfa, which wasn't imbedded into the man's gut at the moment and swung it forward towards the cloaked man's face. The man scowled and quickly grabbed it with his hand. He winced as it made contact but stopped it from possibly destroying his skull.
The cloaked man reached with his other hand and grabbed onto the hand which held a tonfa to his gut and pushed slightly so that the cloud's weapon was no longer in his gut. Both men increased their flames as they glared at each other; the cloaked man was surprised to feel such fury from such an aloof cloud.
Before the cloaked man could do anything else about his compromising position, he felt an intense killing intent right behind him. The cloaked man shifted slightly to the right side so that the trident slid by him, only to feel vines wrap roughly around him. Before Mukuro could attempt to stab the man again, the man let out a cackle and disappeared right before the two strongest guardians, much to their surprise.
The group all froze as they wondered what happened, except for a certain rain guardian who sprinted towards Tsuna. The raven-haired man had seen it enough to know what would happen next as he rushed to get back to his sky who seemed to be the only target for whatever reason that was.
Ryohei had pushed Tsuna against the wall and was so focused on Tsuna's wound, he hadn't noticed when the man landed right next to them on their right. Tsuna, however, noticed instantly. The brunette managed a yelp of surprise as he shouted a warning, "Onii-san!"
The boxer flung his head up in surprise and was shocked to see the man next to them with his burning hand aimed right at Tsuna. However, Takeshi had used his flames to push him hard so that he suddenly landed between Tsuna and the cloaked man. Takeshi growled out at the intruder, "Predictable." The rain guardian then used his left hand to slash his sword fully enveloped in his flames backwards right at the man's stomach. This time the cloaked man was far too surprised and could only take the hit with a pained yell before he flew backwards past the rest of the guardians and down the hall, where he landed with a painful thud. Takeshi turned around and placed himself completely in front of his sky.
The rain guardian heard his sky mumble a small, "Thanks Takeshi." Takeshi didn't say anything and instead laid his flames gently on Tsuna to ease his pain, while he kept himself facing the fallen intruder. The group watched as the no-longer cloaked man stood up, albeit very shakily. They blinked in surprise as his face was now clear for them all to see, yet did nothing to solve the mystery of his identity. He was an older man that aged somewhere in his late fifties, with a grey, skinny mustache and grey, balding hair. His eyes were a dark brown which showed a deep resentment brewing in them. Silently, the group was surprised that the man managed to use his flames to block the hit Takeshi gave, but they continued to glare at him defensively outwardly.
Before any of them could do anything, the man cackled loudly again. Instantly the Vongola are set on guard but the man just smirks and his eyes gleam with a crazy intent. "Vongola Decimo will pay." Hayato and Chrome growled and sent their attacks straight at the man, however the intruder cackled and disappeared leaving nothing but air.
Hayato cursed as everyone's anger grew ten-fold. Hayato, as the right-hand man, quickly took charge. "Mukuro, Kyoya, you two go after him. Lambo, Chrome you two go and see if Shoichi and Spanner know what the heck is going on. Takeshi, Ryohei, you two-."
"Hayato, stop." Hayato paused and looked at Takeshi in confusion and slight annoyance. He was about to snap at Takeshi for his interruption when the baseball-idiot turned his attention behind him.
Hayato was still confused for a moment until he noticed the familiar, spiky hair on the other side of the baseball-idiot. His eyes widened in realization and he tearfully cried out, "JUUDAIME!" All the rest of the guardians froze and turned around to face their injured sky; Ryohei, Reborn, Lambo, and Takeshi were already hovered over their sky while all of their flames, except for Lambo, washed over him and healed him.
Tsuna looked incredibly pale, but it seemed Ryohei and Reborn had managed to stop the bleeding for now. There was no doubt the young brunette was in a lot of pain. Still the brunette gritted his teeth and managed to mumble an order out as boss for his guardians, "I-Invest-tigate f-first. T-then, a-action."
Reborn squeezed his student's shoulder gently. "Understood, Decimo. We'll take of it; leave it to us, Dame-Tsuna."
Tsuna smiled weakly and didn't bother with a nod as he added, "K-k-keep t-them safe." The guardians eyes widened in surprised, but they didn't get a chance to respond as darkness began to wash over his vision. Tsuna could vaguely heard his name being called and his last thought was of how familiar the intruder's face had been. Then, darkness.