Owl, Horse, Shark!

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Don't accuse me of doing so!

Note: 3 dots is a time skip. Italics are thoughts in first person.

Chapter 4: Paintball

"Ciao Signora Fiore!" Minerva waved cheerfully at the old lady as she passed the florist. She walked on the cobble ground as her shoes clacked with every step she took. Her eyes drifted to one shop to the other, recognising all the faces she saw.

Pace Fountain swarmed with small birds and the water glistened brightly in the sunlight. The sun forced her to look down at the ground and she stopped when she saw a maze of white walls.

Her eyes drifted to the walls covered in bright and ridiculously perfect looking paint platters of all colours. An idea suddenly shined in her head as her face lifted up into a smile as she turned around and rushed home.

…

"Paintball on the weekend?" Squalo repeated over the phone.

"Yep! You, me and Dino," Minerva cheerfully said.

"Saturday or Sunday?"

"Umm….Saturday because then we don't go to school on Monday with red marks all over us…."

"Fine," Squalo sighed, "I'll tell Dino then."

…

"Paintball on the weekend?" Dino repeated over the phone.

"Don't ask me, it was Minerva's idea…" Squalo murmured.

"Sounds fun, tomorrow right? On Saturday? So where is it?"

"Next to Pace Fountain, there's a whole labyrinth of white walls. You can't miss it," Squalo explained.

"Yeah OK, I'll see you there tomorrow," Dino put the phone down.

…

Squalo walked towards Pace fountain in a plain white t-shirt and white jeans with his hands in his pockets. He walked towards a door and slowly opened it. Squalo suddenly fell backwards as he heard a gunshot and something pounded on his chest.

Minerva ran towards him on the ground screaming, "SQUALO!" she kneeled down at him and Squalo looked at her concerned face. He heard Dino run over as well, "Squalo! Are you ok?!"

Squalo's eyes slowly closed as he coughed and he could almost hear Minerva grieving.

His eyes opened when he was suddenly kicked over and Minerva's concern withered away. "Squalo what the hell are you doing on the ground?" He sat up as Minerva tossed a paintball gun to him and laughed, "Did you really believe you were shot?" Squalo's eye twitched.

…

Dino panted as he ran through the labyrinth of white walls with an orange gun in his hand. He blocked his ears with both hands…gun shot after gun shot he wanted to scream, even if he was a boy. Two of his friends shooting each other with paintballs…no…more like pain-balls! Getting hit by a paintball was like getting hit with a baseball.

"KYAA!" Minerva screamed as a big fat purple paintball hit her shoulder and it bounced back. Her plain white shirt was already covered in paint splatters. Squalo sprinted through, waving in and out between walls. He caught sight of Minerva on her knees as he sneakily sprinted up to her and leaped up.

Squalo pointed his gun straight down at her when suddenly Minerva rolled over and pointed her gun up at him. Their fingers pulled on the triggers, two paintballs flew out and hit one another. They was a loud snap as paint spluttered on them.

Dino heard Minerva scream, it pierced his ears. Then he heard another two shots….they were close. He could tell, anyone could tell that they were close. He crouched down and leaned on the wall, occasionally turning his head to see where they were. What he saw startled him, shocked him…

He quickly jumped up and ran around the wall and pointed his gun at Squalo's back. "What did you do to Minerva?!" Dino shouted as his hands trembled and his eyes were enlarged. Squalo turned around with an evil grin on his face and he laughed, "Oh her! She's dead, gone, probably on the ground somewhere in this labyrinth!"

Dino couldn't take it. How could've he done that to his best friend?! "You bastard!" Dino dared to use foul language, "why did you do that to her?"

Squalo let his arms drop and he looked at Dino weirdly. His face very clearly read: really Dino, really?!

"Why Squalo…" Dino hands violently shook while his finger was pressed on the trigger. "How could you do that to Minerva!?"

"OH MY FUCKING GOD DINO I WAS KIDDING!" Squalo shouted at him.

"Eh?" Dino suddenly stopped trembling and managed to pull off a poker face. "Then where is she?" he asked.

Squalo heard a loud bang when suddenly Dino stepped forward and fell. Dino's eyes enlarged as Squalo watched him fall face first on the ground. He lay on the ground with the paintball gun still in his hand. Squalo looked ahead of him and saw Minerva pointing two guns at him. "Where did you get the second gun?!"

Minerva lowered the paintball guns, "Squalo, we're not the only ones here anymore."

"What?!" Squalo took a step back.

"There's another group of people here and they're looking for us…." Minerva explained.

"So this is just gonna be some giant battle royale?" Squalo asked.

"No, we'll make an alliance. You, me and Dino versus the other team."

"How many people are in the other team?"

"Ten of them…" Minerva lowered her head and looked down at the ground.

"There are only two of us though! If you wanted an alliance with the three of us, why did you shoot Dino?!" Squalo questioned.

"I don't know," Minerva shrugged and her voice lost all the seriousness. "It felt like the perfect moment. Not like he's unconscious…"

Dino slowly got to his knees while on the floor. "Dino, did you hear that?" Minerva said. He nodded and stood up and tightened his grip on the gun. "Yeah," he replied, "the three of us versus a team of ten…"

Minerva turned around to the sound of footsteps and raised her paintball guns.

OK this chapter is shorter than the usual 1000 words or so that's in every chapter. I haven't updated in two days though, plus I feel ridiculously lazy. It must be the Melting Moment I ate before! Dang it….Anyway, about this chapter...I TRIED to make it sound cliche...did it work? :D

Please review! :D