Disclaimer: Dooon't. Owwwwn. It.
Author's Notes: I'll try to update this as much as possible, but as my imagination is a stubborn brat and high school is looming over me, I might not be able to keep updating this every other day. Unless my muses decide they're going to have another field day (which was the main reason why I spat out so many chapters in a few days). I'll try as hard as I can to make up for it by making the chapters longer than they have been. And I'm thinking of creating a C2 community for Hibari, with and without pairings. Should I go through with that?
Chapter Summary: Tsuna has to think of a plausible lie to tell Hibari so that he can at least escape the consequences for the time being!
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A blink of an eye later, and Tsuna finds himself hurtling down the street in the sports car with Hibari by his side and Kusakabe at the wheel. The latter, by the way, is driving like a MADMAN down the streets toward Tsuna's neighborhood (Tsuna tries to think of how Kusakabe would know where he lives, but it's fleeting and Tsuna doesn't think much more on it). Which, he supposes, is entirely acceptable because he prefers to have the whole world know where he lives than have a bullet lodged into his skull.
But as Kusakabe didn't give him much time to breath, he holds onto Hibari for dear life while trying to reach the seatbelts and NOT crush the cake at the same time. Hibari is staring intensely at the road behind them to see if they were being pursued and despite not showing it, is incredibly uneasy because of the fact that Tsuna is latched around his waist like he's a lifeline while they're being jostled around in the car. Hibari makes a mental note to threaten Tsuna that should he slow him down in the future, he will indeed bite him to death to save some time. Hibari quickly glances to the lane to their right and to his distaste, there are two cars swerving in and out of the lane they were in, clearly chasing after them. Determined to shake them off, he pushes Tsuna off of him and clambers onto the front passenger seat.
"I'll take the wheel."
Kusakabe nods, his lips taut as he released the wheel, keeping his left foot on the gas pedal. Once Hibari has his foot near the pedal, he and Hibari switches places. Hibari takes firm hold of the wheel while buckling himself in, just like Kusakabe. The latter glances over his shoulder at Tsuna, the weak herbivore that he'd seen around a lot more lately.
"You better buckle yourself in, Sawada-san, if you value your life."
"Okay, I wi--IIILLLLAAAAAHHHH!!" His answer quickly turns into a terrified scream and he feels as if his life was flashing before him.
Because holy shit, Hibari gives a whole new definition to road rage. Tsuna yelps in shock as he was thrown against the window he sat by from the force and speed Hibari put behind the dangerous right turn he just completed. Many honks were heard and several individuals decided to express their shock and panic in extremely rude ways. Tsuna didn't blame them one bit and manages to fasten his seatbelt. Now came the holding on to the seat for dear fucking life.
Hibari swerves dangerously from lane-to-lane, and the men pursuing them were attempting to keep up and they appeared to be black blurs to Tsuna as he was obviously not given the time or chance to take a good look. The head prefect scowls and spun the wheel, lurching to the right and plowing straight through a cramped alley. Debris and garbage fly onto the windshield, but that didn't slow them down. Not at all. What totally slows them down is the dead end. Hibari hisses in frustration and utters a threat that would make Mukuro crawl and hide in a ditch and glances up at the rear view mirror.
Two cars come to a screeching halt at the alley's opening, and the men in the car step out, convinced that they have captured their targets.
But Hibari wasn't chosen as the Cloud Guardian for absolutely no reason, you know.
His eyes glitter maliciously as he put the gears in reverse, and Kusakabe is utterly aware of his intentions and voices his concern.
"Hibari-san, you're not going to make it--"
"Shut up and get down."
Tsuna opens one eye, still curled in a fetal position, confused as he had his eyes shut for the past five minutes (only a minute and a half has passed, but you lose track of time when you panic). Upon seeing Hibari's trademark leer, he shut his eyes again and squeaked. Hibari twists in his seat to get a better view, one hand on the wheel and the other hand on the back of Kusakabe's seat. He smashes his heel onto the gas pedal, and the three of them fly backward, heading straight for the cars blocking the entrance.
The impact slams Tsuna's head into Kusakabe's seat, hard enough to leave a bruise and disorient him for several long moments. Kusakabe has braced himself against the headboard, but he feels the force of the collision. Remarkably, the only one totally unfazed was Hibari. He quickly shifts gears and doesn't hesitate to ram one of the members into a wall, splitting the man in half and smearing his insides on the brick walls. He spins the wheel and takes off, speeding down the lanes. Tsuna rubs his poor, abused forehead and after several more turns, he is absolutely glad that Hibari's convinced that they have left the pursuers in the dust.
They have slowed down, although their speed is not slow by normal standards, but it was a significant decrease from forty-five seconds ago, and Tsuna is able to control his breathing now. At this moment, he prefers to be forced through Reborn's ridiculously harsh way of tutoring him instead of reliving this entire day. He already knows that wishing on it is a lost cause because he will become the tenth boss of the Vongola famiglia in the future.
After a period of awkward but acceptable silence, they reach Tsuna's house. When the car comes to a stop, the boy manages to look up and is instantly scolded for taking such a long time.
"Get out of the car, we've reached your house."
"O-Okay." Tsuna does as he is told and scrambles out haphazardly, snatching his cake as he falls out. When he gets up to thank Hibari, he notices that the boy has several deep cuts in his cheek from where the bullets grazed them. His shoulder is also bleeding, staining his white button-up shirt. "Hi-Hibari-san! Are you alright?"
"Just shut the door, herbivore, and get inside the house!" Hibari snaps at him, and Tsuna shuts the door, worry painted all over his face as he scurries up to the doorstep of his own house.
When he turns around to wave goodbye, they're already gone. It's as if they were never there.
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"IT WAS ABOUT TIME YOU GOT HOME!!"
Tsuna yelped as Lambo decided to jump and latch onto his face. Reborn and I-pin took the cake from his hands and rushed to the kitchen and Tsuna was left to pry Lambo off.
"STUPID TSUNA, TAKING SUCH A LONG TIME!"
"Hey, I don't need to hear it from you." Tsuna said, wearily, as he set Lambo down on the floor. Lambo pouted before rushing off with the others, eager to get a piece of the cake.
Even though the first and last thing he was able to get down today was a sip of soda, his appetite had vanished into thin air. After all, he had never been so close to dying before. Not even in his match with Xanxus where they fought mercilessly and he was pummeled into the ground. No, this was much different. He wasn't going to get shot by Dying Will bullets, but real ones. And there is no coming back after that, regrets or not. That's one of the main reasons why Tsuna didn't want anything to do with the mafia--that, and he didn't want to be some kind of crime lord, even though the history of Vongola was considered a legacy.
He unzipped his jacket and slid it off, tossing it to some uninhabited corner of his room and plopped onto his bed with a frustrated sigh. Not only did the bullets come too close for comfort, he still had to come with a plausible lie to tell Hibari because of his stupid slip-up when it came to Savanna's name. Hibari already had suspicions about how the journal might be in his possession (which it was), and he didn't need to fuel them any more because he was on Hibari's hit list as it was.
Still, there was still so many holes to fill in Hibari's childhood. What was his uncle like? Where did he learn to fight? How was it that Namimori Jr. High made such an impact on his life? From whom did he get his collapsible steel tonfa? What ever happened to his dad and Savanna? Why did so many delinquents look up to him, and why was the hospital ever so grateful to have him there?
Why?
Tsuna reached back, feeling around the edge of the pillow. The answers, most of them at least, were literally right beneath him. He slid his hand under the pillow, right where the diary was.
Or at least, should be.
Tsuna's eyes widened and he flipped over, trying to tell himself that he was hallucinating and that it was there, just that he'd missed it. After flinging the pillow off the bed and discovering that there was absolutely nothing but lint under it, he began panicking. He recalled putting it right there last night, and so there was no way he could misplace it. Unless...
Someone else was in his room.
Crap.
He was about to jump up from his bed, run around tearing the house apart until he found it. But that'd be the equivalent of standing atop the roof of his house butt-naked and screaming that he had a massive crush on Kyoko to the whole damn world. Which wouldn't be bad, he supposed, because he pretty much already did that in front of the entire school population, with the exception of having his boxers on. If he ran downstairs screaming, everyone would instantly know about the diary.
Or they'd assume it was his.
Shit.
Apart of him said, at least it isn't your problem now, but he pushed that thought out of his mind. He found it, he kept it, he held full responsibility over it whether he liked it or not. And now that it was in someone else's hands, he'd be screwed because if the journal found its way back to Hibari, the prefect would be convinced that Tsuna was passing it around as a form of blackmail. Shit! So, coming to a decision, Tsuna slid off the edge of his bed and walked over to the door, swallowing nervously. He reached for the doorknob...
And was instantly hit in the face as someone slammed it open.
"OWWWW!!!" He screamed, cradling his forehead. As if he wasn't already injured!
"So there you are, Tsuna." He looked down at Reborn, silently cursing himself for not expecting him to be the first one to show up.
"No time, Reborn, I have to go look for something! I misplaced a book--"
"You mean this?" The bottom of his stomach disappeared as Tsuna stared at the dirty, brown, stained cover of the journal.
"Why did you take it!? Give it back right now!!"
"Why should I? It's not like it was yours in the first place. I should be giving this to Hibari, if anything."
"NO! Not yet!"
"Tsuna, you have no right to meddle in his business. If a member of your family does not want to divulge the secrets to his past and persona, then you are going against their wishes. It's only right if you return it to him immediately."
Tsuna gulped, feeling the beginnings of guilt starting to creep into his subconcious again. He really had no right to read it if Hibari wished for him not to do so. After thinking it over, he sighed, admitting defeat.
"Fine... I'll return it tomorrow."
"Perhaps a later day, though... his journal contains the lead on the fugitive that I've been looking for."
"...What?"
"Savanna." Reborn clarified and Tsuna felt as if he'd really gotten stuck in matters too chaotic for him to handle. "She's wanted in a grand total of twenty different countries, especially Italy."
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The memories from Reborn's confession began to weigh down Tsuna's mind and it was like finding a clue that would lead you to who was behind the crime, except it only lead him back to the starting point with a different path to follow. At least he had something to tell Hibari about... even if there was a possibility that the boy already knew, and Tsuna would just be wasting his breath. He sighed, sullen and gloomy. He wouldn't be stuck in all this crap if he'd just handed the diary back to its rightful owner the minute he spotted it.
But then he remembered that he tried that, and Hibari had already left the campus for some unknown reason.
"Hey! Tenth, are you alright?" Tsuna blinked and looked over Gokudera, who looked entirely concerned at the fact that Tsuna kept spacing out.
"Yeah, I am! Nothing to worry about here!" Tsuna forced himself to laugh as he flashed Gokudera a faux smile; he seemed to accept it, although he was still a bit worried.
"Alright, if the Tenth says so... you should get some rest if you feel weird!" Gokudera reprimanded, and Tsuna nodded. Of course, although he was mentally exhausted, not physically.
"Come on, Gokudera-kun! We'll be late for class!" Yamamoto chirped as he slapped a hand on Gokudera's shoulder. The latter snarled in annoyance. "And don't strain yourself, Tsuna-kun! Alright!?"
"GET YOUR HAND OFF ME, YOU BASEBALL-OBSESSED BASTARD!!" Gokudera screamed at Yamamoto, whom winced and recoiled a bit. Tsuna laughed at the two, glad that Gokudera hadn't whipped out his faithful sticks of dynamite. Yet.
"I'll see you two at lunch! Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto-kun!"
The three of them waved and headed to their respective classes.
Tsuna grumbled slightly, not looking forward to it at all as he was still failing the class. He got minutely better, yes, but it wasn't something to brag about. He prayed that something would happen and he could skip class, and give him some more time to read the diary. He absently reached for his book bag, right when the door slammed open, making everyone in the vicinity jump. The teacher stuttered and adjusted his glasses, gazing upon the intimidating form of Kusakabe Tetsuya.
"Uh--What seems to be the problem, K-Kusakabe-kun?"
"The Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee requests the presence of Sawada Tsunayoshi in the reception room immediately. He says it is an urgent matter and should Sawada-san be late, he'll be very disappointed."
Dead silence fell on the class, and everyone turned to look at Tsuna, whom felt extremely paranoid under their penetrating stares. Well, there goes his hopes of getting a bit of time to skim through the rest of the journal. He picked up his book bag and stood up, heading over to Kusakabe. The man shut the door and escorted Tsuna to the reception room in silence, and he was anxious as he thought about what would happen. Perhaps the prefect will bite him to death this time around?
"He's here, Hibari-san."
"Good. Leave us."
Hibari was sitting in a chair behind the red oak desk at the far side of the room, reading papers thoroughly. The ever-so familiar Hibird was perched on his shoulder, softly singing the school anthem. Upon spotting Tsuna in the room, it chirped and took flight, coming to rest on Tsuna's head. Hibari still hadn't glanced up from his papers but he curled his index finger, motioning for Tsuna to come closer. Tsuna did so, albeit hesitantly. Once he was close enough to see just what kind of papers Hibari was reading, he shuffled the papers and then rearranged them before sliding them into a manila folder and shutting it. That was when he glanced up at Tsuna.
"How is it that you know of Savanna?"
"Well, uh..." Tsuna stuttered as Hibari kept gazing at him intently. "Re-Reborn mentioned her name in one of his conversations..."
"If that's so, then what's her real name?"
Tsuna paled visibly and he swallowed.
"Um... it's...eh... uuhhhh..."
Hibari grabbed him by his necktie and slammed him on the table before yanking him closer so that their noses were an inch apart.
"You're a failure when it comes to lying, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Give me the journal, or I'll bite you to death, right here, right now."
Tsuna reached into his book bag frantically, but could not find it. He blanched.
"I-I don't have it!"
Hibari apparently didn't take no for answer and slammed him onto the table, his nails burrowing painfully into Tsuna's back through the thin shirt that he wore. From the corner of his eye through his brown strands of hair, Tsuna could see the dangerous glint of steel and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the pain to come. All he heard was the sound of metal against metal, and felt nothing but air. When he looked up, he found (to his sheer amazement) Reborn standing in front of him on the table, blocking Hibari with some nunchucks.
"Please refrain from hurting Tsuna, as he is telling the truth."
"Oh, is that right, baby?" Hibari whispered, the bloodlust in his eyes clearly not dissipating, although he held back as Reborn ordered.
"Yes. How long have you been monitoring Savanna's activities?"
"Two years." Hibari's lips thinned into a firm line and he eased up. The nunchuck that Reborn was holding morphed back into Leon, whom sat in his place on Reborn's fedora. "Her records end in 1982."
"Ah, I see." Reborn tapped his chin as he contemplated this. "How about this, Hibari... I'll tell you what I know so far about her, and in return, Tsuna gets to keep your journal and you'll help us capture her."
"WHAAAT?!!?!" Tsuna yelped, earning a boot-to-the-face from Reborn.
"Sounds like a deal, baby."
"Alright. Savanna's real name is Oria Valentino. She is the most-wanted criminal in twenty countries that I know of, and her birthplace was Venice, Italy. Specific date unknown. The Vongola famiglia has spent years trying to track her down and came upon a dead end when it seemed as if she disappeared off the face of the Earth. Therefore, this new lead is quite epochal. She is wanted for many crimes, including the murder of several prestigious family members, along with the dealership of illegal, commercial drugs. It appears that shortly after her birth, she was handed over to the Estraneo family."
Tsuna sat up upon hearing the name, his eyes widening in shock.
"From then on, the records are very vague. All we know is that she escaped their clutches shortly after they started experimenting on Chikusa, Ken, and Mukuro... and in her possession is a forbidden bullet. The first that the Estraneo family has successfully created."
"What bullet...?" Tsuna whispered shakily as Reborn frowned.
"The Rebirth Bullet. Not much is known about it other than..."
Reborn glanced up at Hibari.
"Should a person die and be shot with it within fifteen minutes after their death, they will be brought back to life."
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IT'S THANKSGIVING VACATION!!! A WEEK OFF TO DEVOTE TO ART AND WRITING, YESSSS!!!
Thanks to all the people that have read, reviewed, favorited, or added this story to their story alerts! I'm quite frankly, still shocked that all of you have kept reading! XD;;;
And to answer your questions, badexposition, I try to update daily but I'm definitely seeing problems with that in the future. Nope, I haven't completed this story (and honestly, I'm surprised I even made it this far). Yes, I'm mad at myself for making Hibari's childhood a bit cliche by fanfiction standards, so I'm trying to deviate from the rest as much as possible. And I wish my writing wasn't so to the point... I just can't find enough words when I'm writing something. XP Bad way to explain it...
Oh, and thanks for your suggestion, ChibiVi3tKitsun3. I have brought back Hibird (I'll have to punch myself for leaving him/her out for so long!) and eheheheh! You'll see what happens to Masahiro soon enough.
