Thanks scarlet rose white for another review! And for wishing me luck on my finals, I got my results back a few days ago, and I passed all of them! Anyway new chapter!
Warning, the F-Word is used at the end of this chapter. Read with caution.
Disclaimer:
I don't own KHR! If I did, it would be like what you're about to read.
Chapter 6: We All Fall Down
"What do you mean?" Gokudera asks. "Who's Rei? Why does his brother want revenge?"
"Rei is, was, someone very important." I answer.
"Tell them." Sato says quietly.
"Fine. Reizo was the original leader of the Human Famiglia. He possessed the fifth flame we didn't tell you about. The Body flame, a mutation of Sky." Mari lays a hand on my shoulder. "He was... Killed. By the Vongola. It happened years ago, but..."
"I get it." Dr. Shamal says. "You couldn't save him, now his brother wants revenge, and you want to stop him from taking revenge in Reizo's name." He stares at me. "You loved him, didn't you."
I tremble, he's right after all. He was my first love. He was kind, smart, and strong. And then he died. I let him die. I might as well have killed him myself.
"Suzu-"
"It wasn't bosses fault." Mariko pipes up. "We were younger. How could she have stood up the the Vongola, at ten years old?"
"Apparently Nono thought our family was becoming a threat to the Vongola. So he ordered everyone killed. Mariko, and Kumiko lost their families in the attack. They were killed, murdered. We were only spared because we had unusual flames." I say quietly.
Mariko clenches her fists. "We can understand why the Vongola attacked. The Family was getting to powerful, but they slaughtered children whose only crime was being related to a mafia member."
Silence, shock is etched on everyone's face except for Dr. Shamal. "About the mutations, do you know how they came about?" He asks.
"Not much." I answer. "We know that the original Ricerca collaborated with the early Estraneo Famiglia. They experimented on captured enemies, exploring various flames. Gradually they identified a few mutations in the flames. Those who had the mutations were bred to produce more mutations. Eventually the one's that worked and that could be inherited became the present day Human Flames."
"Then, why is there no Thunder, or Storm mutation?" Gokudera asks.
"Those mutated flames were not compatible with anyone. Whenever they tried to cause the mutation, one of three things happened. Either the person developed the mutation, they didn't, or they rejected it and either died painful deaths, or went insane." I answer. "Even when the mutation succeeded, there was a chance of the person going insane. That chance grows greater the more the flame is used."
"Why?" Tsuna asks. He's taking this pretty well.
"No one knows. I think it's because of the ash. We can't get rid of it as well as normal flame users, and as it builds up, it has side effects. That's part of the reason Kumiko's so important. Her flame has an odd quality. It helps us cleanse Ash."
"Unfortunately, she then absorbs the cleansed ash. Her flame takes care of it eventually, but it can still cause problems." Mariko says.
"So what happened after the fight between Vongola and Ricerca?" Shamal asks. For all his perverseness, he has a cool head. I get the feeling he would make a great ally, or a horrifying enemy.
"After Reizo was killed, we fled." Satoshi answers. "Suzu rounded everyone up, and led our escape." He moves to stand behind me.
I continue. "After that, we stowed away on a boat, and found our way to America. We changed our names and lived there for a few years, always keeping an ear open for the Vongola or Ricerca."
Mariko picks up. "When we heard a new Family was recruiting, we thought nothing of it. Until we heard the name."
"Ricerca." Shamal guessed.
"Yep." I answer. "We did some investigating. We discovered that Reizo's brother is hunting the Vongola. He wants to destroy them like they destroyed the Ricerca. Sorry we lied about that." I apologize.
"I can see why you didn't tell them." Shamal says. "It's a lot to take in if you knew nothing about it."
"You knew?" I ask.
"I'd head rumors."
Of course. I need more time to asess Dr. Shamal before I give out more info. I quickly stand. "That's it. Really, we've told you everything we know." I say quickly. "Now you guys should all get to school."
"Juudaime, we should really get to class, we have a test today."
"Okay." Tsuna says reluctently. And with that, the Vongola boys depart. Leaving me, Shamal, Kumi, Mari and Sato.
"Don't worry, I can keep a secret." Dr. Shamal says. "Everything that has been spoken will stay here. On one condition."
"And that is?"
"I want to know everything you learn about your flames, and the Ricerca, in return, I won't tell anyone anything."
"Fine." I say. Backup would be nice, but if Nono got involved the whole thing would turn into another massacre. We had to avoid that. "Let's go home."I say to my little family. "I could do with a really, really long nap."
The next day:
I wake up to a pounding on the door. Rubbing my eyes I stand, pull on a robe, and make my way to the door, grabbing my box on the way.
Before I even have a chance to ask who it is, the door cracks, splits down the middle, then disintegrates. Shoot.
"Herbivore..." I feel before I see Hibari's rage. Well, this is just delightful. "For skipping school twice in a row, dragging other herbivores into it, and then making a herbivore like excuse, I will bite you to death!" He lunges at me, tonfas in hand.
Shoot.
I dodge, but I can only dodge for so long, besides he's slowly pushing me into a corner.
Shoot.
Even on a good day, I'm no match for the self-proclaimed carnivore. But I just had an Ash issue, I still shouldn't use my flames. But If I don't, Hibari will do to me, what he did to the door.
Shoot.
If Mari, Kumi, or Sato were here, they'd have come running. Which means they're gone. Which means I have to deal with Hibari alone, tired, and still weakened from yesterday.
Shoot.
Well I'm pretty much screwed.
"W-Wait Hibari! I can explain!" He pauses.
"I was sick, and I collapsed on my way to school. Tsuna and the others were just worried about me, so they followed me to make sure I was okay. I can understand that you're angry, but please don't kill me, could you just, oh I don't know, attack without killing intent?" I gulp, Never have I met a human with so much killing intent.
"..."
He's silent.
And then, before I can even think to doge, a tonfa hits me in the stomach and I fall backwards, hitting my head on the hard floor. I see Hibari advance on me before I black out.
"Boss! Boss!" I try to open my eyes,.
"Onee-chan?" My vision is really blurry, and my head is killing me.
"Suzu, can you hear me?" Wait, that's...
"Sato?" I ask.
"Oh thank goodness." Mariko says. "We got home and found you on the floor with a huge knot on your head."
"Ah."
"And we found a note!" Kumiko chimes in. "It says, Herbivore, You have been punished. Next time I will bite you to death. The Carnivore."
"Great, just great. You know I think I'll just go back to sleep." I say.
"But boss!"
"No, shoo shoo, I need sleep. So far nothing good has come from me getting out of bed, so I'll just stay here thank you very much."
Finally after some persuasion everyone leaves. I flop down on my bed, exhausted and try to get some more sleep.
Mariko's thoughts
I trust my boss. I really do, but I'm beginning to wonder about her. We all know the reality that using our flames could kill us. Boss most of all. But she's become reckless lately. At first I thought it was only because we have to guard the Vongola, but then one of her emotions caught my attention. It was buried under a lot of other feelings. I never use my flame on my family, their emotions are their own and I shouldn't interfere. But just this once I broke my rule. I used my flame and peered into bosses heart.
She doesn't even realize it, but she's falling in love. With Yamamoto.
No, that's wrong. She does know, she just won't acknowledge it. Not surprising since the last boy she liked ended up dead...
But, if she's pushing herself to far, to protect a boy. I don't know what will happen. I'm the Heart, the loyalist flame. But if Suzu starts making bad decisions, decisions that endanger the Family, I will use my flame, and change her feelings. Because after all, the heart is what keeps the group united.
Suzumi's POV
It's a nice day. I'm outside watching the wind blow the grass. Breathing the fresh air. Satoshi is finally asleep, Mariko is practicing with her Sensei, and Kumiko is with her parents.
"Suzu onee-san!" Reizo is running towards me. At the last-minute he trips and almost falls.
"Ah, Reizo-sama, please don't call me that!" I lean forward and catch him instinctively. "And be careful!"
"But Suzu..." I check him for injuries.
"No but's. It's not proper. You're my boss, and I'm just your Guardian."
"But, Suzu is my onee-san" He smiles at me, he's the same age as me, but he's so carefree. "Suzu is a very important person to me!"
I smile. "Fine, but not in public, you're the next head of the Ricerca. We have to maintain some sense of dignity."
"Okay, Onee-san!" He giggles, and pulls me off to explore the newest place he found.
I wake up smiling at the pleasant dream. Reizo had always considered me his big sister, and would never call me anything more proper than onee-san. That day, I had been so happy. My entire family was safe, and happy. I sigh, wondering why I had that dream now.
But before I can contemplate the dream, I feel a headache. The feeling is familiar, and I immediately recognize the beginnings of a vision. I close my eyes and let my silver flames drag me down.
Upon opening my eyes, I see that It's nighttime. Future me is standing right in front of the entrance to Namimori middle, talking to someone. I can't see who it is. I Move forward at the exact time future me shifts, and I see-
Renzo?
For a moment I'm frozen, I knew he was hunting us, but I didn't think he would actually come to take part.
Future me keeps talking to him, but I don't have time to decipher what I'm saying. I can already feel the elastic pull, jerking me back to the present. Trying to stay is impossible, it just exhausts me, but I can't just leave. There are to many questions.
Focus, I think, What time is it?
I can't see anything to tell me the time, so instead I look up. Full moon, about midnight. And then everything blurs, and I'm back to the present.
I check my watch, almost midnight. But there's no full moon. So my vision doesn't take place tonight. Now to figure out why I was with Renzo at the school. And I need to hurry, because checking my calendar, I see tomorrow is a full moon.
I'm distracted all day. Even Ryohei notices, and he's not exactly the sharpest crayon on the box, if you know what I mean.
I'm asked several times if I'm okay or not, and I give the same answer each time. "I'm just a bit tired." No one would doubt that, I'm facing a possible Mafia war with my old family. Anyone would be tired, besides it's not a lie, I am tired. Exhausted actually. But when I get home, all my sleepiness fades at seeing the small envelope on my bed.
I open it and read the lines.
Dear Himura, Suzumi,
I will be expecting you at the middle school at midnight tonight. We will discuss your surrender. Please come alone, it would be a shame if I had to murder my old friends.
The Tenth Leader of the Ricerca.
Surrender? He must think I'm an idiot. No. He knew me, he knows I won't simply surrender. He must have something up his sleeve. Alright, I'll show up, but I won't surrender.
"Get ready Renzo." I whisper. "If you think I'll go easy on you because of Rei, you're mistaken."
When I arrive at Namimori middle, it's almost midnight. The full moon is shining brightly on a single dark-haired figure standing at the entrance.
I approach. "Are you alone?" Renzo asks.
"Yes."
"Any weapons."
"Yes."
"I expected no less of you Suzumi." Renzo remarks. "I guess you got the note."
"Of course."
"Now then, I called you here-"
"I know why you called me out here. You want me to hand over the Decimo, his guardians, and the Human rings, for the 'safety' of my family." I interrupt. "My answer is no."
"You always were a tough customer, Suzumi. What if I could offer you something else."
"My answer is still-"
"Even If I could reinstate you into the Ricerca."
"No." I turn to walk away.
"What if I could give you Reizo?"
I freeze. "Reizo's dead." I spit. "Don't you fuck with me!"
"What if he's not dead?"
At that moment I feel my tattoo burning. The pain sears across my face, arms, legs. It feels like I've been lit on fire.
"Suzu-chan!" I hear a familiar voice call out.
My eyes widen.
No, no, no, no, it can't be, he's dead.
And then I see a face. Blue eyes and hair.
A silly grin plastered on his face.
The too small nose and too big eyes.
His familiar smell, and laugh.
It's Reizo.
A/N - I have no idea when I'll update again, but it will probably be awhile. Sorry about that. But feel free to leave a review, it really does help me even if it doesn't seem like it.