Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Amano Akira.
Chapter 5: Disappearance
Jin's absence at school the next day does not go unnoticed by anyone in his class. Even Sai seems unnerved by his friend's supposed disappearance. Tsuna and the others take the opportunity before school starts to ask Sai about it.
"Jin? I haven't seen him since yesterday," Sai tells them.
"I-I see," replies Tsuna. "I hope nothing happened to him."
"Don't worry, Juudaime!" Gokudera tells him. Tsuna and the others turn to him. "Ponytail isn't that weak. After all, he was able to block that crazy prefect's attack."
"That's right, Tsuna," Yamamoto agrees. "I'm sure he's fine!"
Tsuna is reassured, but only for a little while. By the time lunch comes, even Sai's become jumpy and more irritable than usual. Rumors spread like wildfires within the school, and now some students believed that Jin ran away to be with his fiancé.
"Like hell Jin would be with Miyo without telling me!" Tsuna can hear Sai mutter under his breath. Tsuna himself has a bad feeling about this, but doesn't know what to think.
"YO SAWADA!" Ryohei appears out of nowhere on the school's roof. "I HEARD FROM KYOKO THAT THE PONYTAIL BOXER WENT MISSING TO THE EXTREME! WHERE IS HE?!"
"Onii-san?!" Tsuna squeaks.
"Shut up, turf top!" yells Gokudera. "If we knew, he wouldn't be missing!"
"Calm down, Gokudera, sempai," Yamamoto tries to tell him. A shuffling can be heard nearby and they notice Sai standing up, fists clenched. He starts to walk off. "Ah! Sai?"
"I can't just sit here and do nothing," he mutters. "I'm going to go look for him."
"Ah! Sai-kun!" Tsuna exclaims, starting to move to him. To his surprise, Sai pauses and glances at Tsuna, smiling.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine."
He disappears through the door to the roof without another word.
Sai is gone the rest of the day, giving rise to new rumors. The Vongola trio glance at the empty seats in their classroom every once in a while, hoping the two friends will be back soon.
Sai arrives at the Sawada residence early in the morning the following day looking worried. His fist clenches a crumpled sheet of paper. Two empty sheathes hang on his belt. As he rings the doorbell, Tsuna, Reborn, his mother, and the two five-year-old assassins are eating a late breakfast. They pause in eating and look towards the front door.
"I wonder who that could be," Sawada Nana exclaims.
"Go answer the door, Tsuna," orders Reborn.
"Heh?" When Tsuna hesitates, Reborn slams his heel into the brunette's head, promptly sending him stumbling out of the room. "Fine, fine!"
As he heads down the hallway, Tsuna knows something's wrong. He's not even really surprised when he opens the door and welcomes in Sai.
"Sai-kun? Is something wrong?" Tsuna asks him.
"It's Jin," Sai replies. Handing Tsuna the letter in his hand, he continues. "I found this letter earlier at our apartment." Tsuna skims it quickly, his eyes widening in realization.
We have the ponytailed boy.
If you want to see him again, alive,
Come to Namimori Shrine today at ten.
Bring the Vongola Decimo. – Jijie Family
"T-this is a ransom note?!" Tsuna stammers. Even so, this is strange…
"Yeah," growls Sai. He slumps to the ground, placing his head in his hands. "I just don't know what to do. I'd go by myself, but it says to bring someone." That's right, thinks Tsuna. He wouldn't know I'm Vongola Decimo.
"U-um, Sai-kun?" he speaks up. "I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but I'll go with you. I can probably get the others to come too. Well, not Hibari-san…"
"Seriously?!" Sai exclaims, jumping to his feet. Placing his hands on Tsuna's shoulders, he thanks the boy. Tsuna asks the boy to wait near the stairs as he himself goes up to his room to retrieve important items.
Unbeknownst to them, a certain hitman tutor is silently watching and listening to their conversation with a smirk.
Before leaving the house, Tsuna pocketed his mittens and Dying Will pills. Along the way, Gokudera and Yamamoto meet up with them, not knowing the situation until Tsuna explains to them. Both newcomers have their respective weapons, dynamite and a bat. The entire time, Sai stays unnaturally silent, not even getting into an argument with Gokudera. Several minutes later, they're heading up to the shrine.
"Hm? That's strange," Tsuna says suddenly. He looks around, causing the others to give him questioning looks.
"What is it, Juudaime?" Gokudera asks him.
"Have you seen Reborn?" Tsuna says.
"The kid?" Yamamoto clarifies. "Yeah, he's usually with us, isn't he?"
"So, you miss me, dame-Tsuna?" a squeaky voice pipes up. They all glance around for the source, which appears to be a potted plant nearby.
"A talking…plant?" Sai questions. A face appears on it, and the boy stares at it in shock.
"Reborn?!" Tsuna exclaims. "Don't just sneak up on us like that!" A swift kick in the head by the plant's foot knocks him over. "Reborn!"
"Stop complaining, dame-Tsuna," the potted plant scolds. In a flash, it changes into a black suit-clad baby with a fedora and yellow pacifier. He turns to Sai. "Good morning."
"Y-yeah," Sai agrees. He's not going to question a talking baby?! Tsuna wonders.
Strangely enough, Reborn doesn't question Tsuna about where he's going for once. He merely jumps up onto Yamamoto's shoulder and begins to drink coffee. As they near the Shrine, they tense up, readying their weapons. But after climbing up the long flight of steps and walking through the red gate…
"EHHH?!" Tsuna exclaims. "There's no one here?!"
They glance around nervously, fingering their weapons, and Tsuna pulls on his mittens.
"Where's the ponytail-idiot?" Gokudera voices. "Wait, could this be a trap by the Jijie Family?!"
"I guess you could say that."
A group walks out of the forest surrounding the shrine, all wearing a similar black uniform and a badge with golden characters. The leader is a tall teenager with slicked back black hair held in place with a pin. They all hold a halberd-like weapon in their hands. Most of them have dark hair, and they all wear visors that cover their eyes. Some of them sneer upon seeing the group.
"So the other traitor of the Jijie Family decided to show up?" their leader laughs. Then he notices the Vongola trio and Reborn. "It seems we have outsiders against us once more."
"You!" Gokudera shouts. "You're that Hazé guy!"
"Correct, Vongola," Hazé replies. He notices Sai reaching for something that isn't there. He gives a signal, and one of his subordinates tosses him a pair of weapons. "Looking for these?" he asks, twirling the twin hook blades by their hilts.
Sai's eyes widen. "Where—What did you do to Jin?!" he demands.
"Oh? That traitor?" Hazé says lightly, reveling in the anger Sai is outputting. "For an ex-boss, he was pretty weak. We defeated him in mere seconds."
"You bastard!"
"Sai-kun, calm down." Sai turns quickly, about to retort, when he realizes Tsuna has changed. His once brown eyes have turned orange, while a matching flame burns brightly on his forehead. His gloves glow with the same energy. "They're lying."
"How can you tell?!"
"Tsuna has Hyper Intuition," Reborn supplies. "In other words, he can see through simple lies."
"In any case," Tsuna interrupts, "we won't let you get away with attacking Jin!"
Using the flames covering his gloves as a booster, he shoots forwards at Hazé. He strikes out at the man, missing just barely. Immediately, Tsuna sweeps his heel sideways, knocking Hazé away. Meanwhile, Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Sai are fighting the rest.
"Shigure Soen Ryu, Offensive Stance 3," Yamamoto intones, sliding his Shigure Kintoki off his shoulder and to his foot. He kicks the hilt of the sword swiftly, blade first, and it shoots through the crowd of enemies. "Last Minute Rain!"
They all dodge, but can't counterattack quickly enough to keep Yamamoto from his sword. Quickly, he switches hands and slashes through numerous enemies with the back end of his sword, calling out, "Shigure Soen Ryu, Offensive Fifth Form: Early Summer Rain!"
Not far off, Gokudera is having no trouble at all disposing of his enemies. Leaping into the air, he shouts, "Triple Bombs!" while hurling 24 dynamites at the black-clad men. The effect is thundering as the bombs meet their mark, although several escape the barrage. When the smoke clears, numerous enemies are sprawled out on the ground, unconscious. The rest who leapt backwards, start to laugh, but are stopped by Gokudera.
"You think you're all that?" he asks, smirking. "Look down." As they hesitantly do, they spot numerous bombs stuck to the ground. Before they can get a curse out, they too are caught in the roar of bombs going off. The result? Bodies scattered around like trash and flopping around like fish.
At the same time, Sai is fighting his own group of ex-Family. He snatched up the hook swords when Hazé had tossed them aside. Internally, he was fuming. How did that stupid boss of mine get himself in trouble again?! Leaning his head from side to side, he continuously evaded the jabs of numerous guan daos. His eyes flash a bright and clear blue as he leaps forward, blocking and disarming the men of their weapons with the blade and hook of his own. Lost in his thoughts, Sai suddenly finds himself surrounded. He sighs.
"You guys are weak," he states. Tossing the dual blades up in the air, they lock together at the hook and hilt. In one swift movement, Sai catches the connected blades and rapidly arcs the blades, creating a spinning shield and offensive attack. He starts spinning on his feet as well, knocking the blades into the ring of enemies and throwing them backwards. When they're all defeated, he glances around and disassembles the blades. "Feh! Too easy!"
Tsuna continues to jab and kick with his flaming gloves, only to be blocked by Hazé's guan dao. Finally, fed up, he crouches down for a low sweep, immediately kicking the enemy's legs out from under him. Behind him, a spear aims itself for his back, but he grips the handle without even turning around. His gloves flash brighter, melting the metal pole of the weapon. On the ground in front of him, Hazé swings his weapon down onto Tsuna. Swiftly, he catches it, liquefying the blade part. The weapon taken care of, Tsuna reaches down and pulls up Hazé by his collar.
"So, where is Jin-kun, Hazé?" Tsuna asks, his voice deep and threatening. Hazé doesn't answer for a moment, but then he smirks.
"It would seem I've been caught by the Vongola again," he remarks. Closing his eyes, he begins to hum, taking Tsuna aback. Black fog seems to emit from the guy himself, and Hazé has disappeared by the time it dissipates. Tsuna looks around but can't see him anywhere.
Reverting back to his normal state, Tsuna waits as his friends catch up to him. Taking a deep breath to calm his quickened breathing, he frowns.
"We did it, Juudaime!" Gokudera cheers. Noticing Tsuna's serious face, he sobers. "Juudaime?"
"What's wrong, Tsuna?" Yamamoto asks his friend, though he can already guess. The fighting finished, but none of them know where Jin is. Tsuna's about to sit and rest when he feels the coldness of metal touch his neck.
"Don't move, Vongola Juudaime," Hazé's voice warns. Tsuna stiffens. In this position, he can't reach his Dying Will Pills, and any attack the other's make would harm him.
"How dare you threaten Juudaime!" Gokudera growls, pulling out more dynamite.
"Let go of Tsuna!" Yamamoto shouts. His grip on the Shigure Kintoki tightens.
"You, over there, drop your weapons," Hazé commands. When they don't, he continues, "Or else I'll pierce through his neck." They do, and Hazé smirks. "Kehehe…Now what should I do…? Killing you guys isn't enough to make up for making a fool out of me. Kehehe…I know! I'll just—"
Fwap! Hazé abruptly goes limp, his eyes widening in surprise. As his grip on Tsuna loosens, Gokudera runs forward and grabs Tsuna, pulling him away quickly.
"Are you alright, Juudaime?" asks Gokudera worriedly.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna tries to reassure him. Nevertheless, Gokudera rapidly pats his boss, feeling for any injuries. He doesn't find any, so he relaxes. Looking back at where Hazé stood, his brow furrows at the sight of the white-haired man unmoving on the ground. He wonders, "What just happened?"
"Ah~, I was wondering where you guys went," a calm voice remarks. A bandaged fist rubs the right, massaging it after the attack. A bit worse for the wear, but still carrying an air of importance, the newcomer smiles at the group.
"Jin-kun, you're alright," Tsuna says, sighing. Jin chuckles.
"So, where did you guys go?"
A/N: First off, thanks to the people who favorited, followed, and reviewed my fic so far. I'm honestly greatful to you guys. I'm always worried that my OC's will get into 'Mary Sue' territory, and I check the litmus test every once in a while just to make sure.
To answer your question, OwOTunaFishAndPineapplezzOwO , the plot will mostly be the same as canon, but have more of a focus on the Jijie Family because I'm assuming that readers are mostly familiar with the canon story. And I'm glad you like Jin.
Also, if you're wondering about the names, it seems like I hear a name from an anime/manga/TV show, forget one of the characters has that particular name, then 'remember' it later. Yeah...
Anyway, about this chapter in particular, I'm not very satisfied with how it turned out. Some of the plot points don't really match up, and fighting scenes are not my forte. So again, remarks, complaints, compliments, criticism, suggestions, and/or all of the above are welcomed.
Thanks for reading.