Chapter 7 - Smokin' Bomb
"My name is Gokudera Hayato."
Tsuna flinched, not for any reason that he himself was aware of. What the...
He noticed that the student now identified as Gokudera Hayato was going for the seat beside him. Their eyes briefly met, and Tsuna could see something in Gokudera's eyes. Determination. But not just any type of determination.
The determination to fight.
Gokudera, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel like he should know this person. Not like he had encountered him before, but he just felt like he needed to know that person. He immediately concluded that all he felt was that the boy was in his seat.
And so he promptly pulled Tsuna out of his seat by the collar and sat down on the chair the poor brunette was previously sitting on.
"I-Itaii..."
Gokudera promptly grunted, while Tsuna got into the empty seat beside him. Tsuna sighed, knowing that he might be a new addition to the numerous amount of people bullying him. Thank goodness he was planning to fight back a little from now on...
On the other hand Gokudera was glaring at Tsuna from the corner of his eye.
Why did hurting the boy feel so wrong?
"Alright, let's get on with our lessons!" the teacher announced, and Gokudera was broken out of his train of thought.
Tsuna sighed as he retreated to the school grounds to think a little. On the way, he bumped into the guys that he encountered the fateful day he met Decimo.
"OI! What idiot bumped into-" one of the grunts was saying until he realized it was Tsuna. In turn, Tsuna gave a little glare that only they could see. "Da-dame-Tsu-Tsu-" the grunt stuttered.
"Hmm?" Tsuna said.
The grunts immediately ran away, and Tsuna smiled to himself. Even if no one saw him, he felt rather good about standing up for himself. He walked out when a pungent odor suddenly permeated the air.
Carbon monoxide. Cigarette smoke.
He recognizes that smell from all the times he's gone to the shopping district. He'd be walking by a man - occasionally a woman - with a cigarette in-between either his lips or his fingers, and the odor would reach his nose. Tsuna glanced around and realized that the new transfer student was in front of him, cigarette in his mouth.
"Tch," he said, "so you're Sawada Tsunayoshi?"
Tsuna gulped. "Yes?"
"Che." Gokudera took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew out some smoke before replacing the cigarette back into his mouth. He then started to walk away, leaving a very confused Tsuna.
What was that all about? Tsuna was suddenly self-conscious about the time and tried to calculate the amount of time that has passed.
Damn! I'm going to be late for the next class! Tsuna rushed off to his classroom.
Gokudera got the cigarette out of his mouth and dropped it onto the floor. He stomped on it, effectively putting out the flame at the end of it.
He will die before the day ends.
Tsuna sighed as he walked home.
The new kid is an annoying pain in the ass.
Yes, from day one, Tsuna concluded that the new transfer student will be the death of him, if not his sanity. Tsuna pinched the bridge of his nose as he recalled what had happened.
It was P.E. class and the guys were playing soccer. Tsuna actually wasn't tripping, and the game seemed to go a lot better.
"Pass me the ball!"
Tsuna kicked it over to his teammate who kicked it into the goal. Tsuna's team cheered, and got ready for the next set. It took a while, but in the end, they won the game.
"Okay, great job everyone!" the teacher shouted, "Class is over for today! Dismissed!"
Some of Tsuna's teammates went over to him.
"Wow, Dame-Tsuna," one of them said, "you actually did pretty well out there!"
"Yeah!" another said, "You didn't trip!"
Tsuna rubbed the back of his head. "I guess it's just my lucky da-"
WHAM! Tsuna fell face flat onto the floor, all thanks to a soccer ball to the back of his head.
"Itaii..." Tsuna stood back up, rubbing his face of dirt. Tsuna went to face the little bastard who did it.
Gokudera Hayato, Tsuna thought quite bitterly. The boy, in return, merely muttered a little "Tch," before turning around and walking away. Tsuna scowled a little at the reaction.
What's his problem?
Tsuna grimaced. Hell just loves to send little demons into his life.
Ba-bum.
Tsuna abruptly stopped. He glanced at the surrounding before him, scanning calculatedly and withheld from turning his head to look behind him.
Someone's following me. Tsuna quickly jumped to the side. Just in time, for an explosion occurred at the place where he had been previously standing. He landed on his right foot before jumping away once again, the explosion almost tearing at his back. Tsuna landed once again on his right foot, hesitating before putting down the other foot as well. Tsuna desperately tried to look beyond the smoke now filling the air for the one throwing the bombs. He stood defensively on impulse; all that 'answer-this-question-right-or-go-BOOM' training actually paid off.
Wait a minute-
Tsuna's thoughts were interrupted as a foul stench permeated through the air.
He knew that odor.
Tsuna briefly saw a wisp of silver hair before five more bombs were thrown at him. He back-flipped and landed well away from the explosions that followed.
No, not bombs, exactly. Dynamite.
A flash of emerald eyes. Ten more sticks of dynamite followed suit.
This isn't good. At this rate the neighborhood will come out to see what's going on... Tsuna ran the opposite direction the dynamite sticks were being thrown from. He ran quickly, dashing through streets, dodging the sticks of dynamite, trying to find a place where they can settle things. Tsuna sprinted forward as two sticks of dynamite erupted behind him, the odor seemingly getting stronger. Tsuna looked at the building ahead of him.
A large, abandoned hotel.
Tsuna scowled. It should do. He quickly ran inside and closed the door shut behind him. He locked the door, knowing that it would be opened, but decided that it could serve as a warning. The sound of it being opened would reach his ears and warn him of the bomber's presence. He was about to dash through the decrepit lobby room when a voice inside his head told him to stop. Specifically, Decimo.
Stop, Tsuna. It's a trap. Tsuna's eyes widened at this. What?
Look at the floor.
Tsuna looked carefully and saw that the floor was not smooth. Small bumps, barely visible, could be seen protruding from the floor, the dirt of the bulges messy, as though something was dug into the earth.
Land mines. Extremely pressure sensitive. The resulting explosion would cause the entire building to collapse on him.
Looks like he has more than dynamite up his sleeves.
Tsuna was broken out of thought. The smell of carbon monoxide was close.
Swiftly acting, Tsuna went as far away as he could from the wall beside the entrance, ran towards it, and leapt as high as he could towards it. As soon as his foot made contact with the wall, he pushed himself away from it as hard as he could, propelling himself towards the dusty chandelier that hung over the mine-ridden floor. He quickly grabbed onto it and swung himself over to the stairs, where there were no more mines.
Parkour, bitches.
He quickly ran over to the top of the stairs, in front of the broken elevator, in the center of the entire floor. He overlooked the railings just in time to see the door blast open. A silver-haired male stepped dramatically out of the smoke, four sticks of dynamite in each hand, a cigarette pursed in between his lips. Tsuna grimaced as he looked down at the other male.
"Well. I suppose this is a surprise," Tsuna said sarcastically.
"What business do you have with me, Gokudera Hayato?"
Gokudera Hayato scowled as he looked at the young brunette before him.
Oh, that man had to be sh***ing with him.
The brunet had a rather thin physique, to the point it looked feminine. Hell, even his voice sounded pretty pathetically feminine. Someone didn't hit puberty yet...
Sawada Tsunayoshi.
This pathetic excuse of a male couldn't possibly be his target...could he?
"Tch, you're Sawada Tsunayoshi?"
Gokudera could visibly see the other male gulp."Yes?"
"Che."
He really was his target.
Which meant he had to spill his blood.
Gokudera thought of the event that took place. He came to Japan from Italy to kill this kid?
He was deeply disappointed. Well, was. That was before he noticed that the little 'feminine' brunet was somehow able to dodge all of his bombs and avoid the mines he set in place ahead of time.
"What business do you have with me, Gokudera Hayato?" the brunette called out from his place. Gokudera restrained himself from blanching. How did this kid do all that he was able to do? But at the moment, Gokudera's thoughts were more along the lines of, 'How DARE that figlio di puttana mock me like that!'
"What business do I have with you?!" he growled.
"I'm here to f***ing kill you!"
Gokudera quickly deactivated the mines using a kill switch in his pocket before he dashed forward after the brunette. Tsuna, in turn forced the elevator doors open and climbed up the rusty cable wires. After swiftly climbing up at speeds that could rival a monkey's, Tsuna stopped at one of the floor doors and pried it open with his hands before climbing inside and shutting the doors behind him. He decided to hide inside one of the decrepit rooms. He went inside one, and found that the walls of the rooms were broken down, so all the rooms beside each other were all connected. Which meant that if the bomber went in even one of the conjoined rooms, he'd immediately spot Tsuna.
S***.
And what do you know, Fate just loves to mess with Tsuna, for one of the doors blasted open, and emerald eyes met caramel ones.
Double s***.
A few sticks of dynamite were tossed in his direction, and Tsuna did his best to dodge all of them. Unfortunately, his back got scorched from a stick that exploded a little too near to him, tearing off the cloth. The remaining cloth was thrown forward, leaving Tsuna's back a little burnt, and the boy shirtless, revealing a rather slim yet well-toned body.
Tsuna threw his hand in front of him before his face could meet the pavement and flipped forward. He twisted his body, so when he landed- legs bent, one knee a lower than the other, left hand on the lower knee, skidding backwards - he was facing Gokudera. Tsuna's hair was frazzled, sticking out a little more than usual, and he was covered in bruises from head to toe. He narrowed his eyes at Gokudera as he grit his teeth.
"Che!" More sticks of dynamite were thrown, and Gokudera's shout of 'Double Bomb!' fell upon deaf ears as the explosions resounded throughout the decrepit hall of conjoined rooms. Tsuna desperately tried to dodge all the bombs, all the while trying to calculate the fundamentals and patterns in the technique.
There's no liable way to dodge them completely in such a small area! The only way I could possibly nullify the attack is...
Tsuna licked the pads of his fingers, those on one hand before the next as the bomber started lighting the next set of dynamites, substituting his cigarette as a lighter for the fuses.
"Double Bomb!" Dynamite flew all over the place, and eventually hit the ground.
They didn't explode. Not so much as a little fizzle.
Gokudera looked at the scene in disbelief. What the-?
"Hm, that went rather well."
Gokudera turned his head just in time to see Tsuna's foot hit his face and throw him across the room. He hit the wall, and it cracked upon the sudden impact of the force. Gokudera forced himself back up. In the place where he previously stood, Tsuna was glaring at him, small hints of smoke coming off of each hand.
Now way! Did he put them all out?! I didn't even see him move!
Tsuna dusted his hands. "Well, that's insulting. Of course I put them all out." Gokudera looked on in disbelief.
"How did you know-?"
"It's evident on your face," the brunet cut in. "It was pretty easy to tell what you were thinking. Damn, I sound like Reborn," he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
The bomber, who had taken a few steps forward, widened his eyes. "Did you just say-"
He was thrown forward by a strong kick to the back, and after some time midair, his face hit the floor. He stood up once again, and let out a 'che'. Tsuna was right where Gokudera previously was, foot wavering in the air before he put it down.
How does he move so fast?!
Gokudera saw Tsuna bend down a bit, something of a slouching motion, and discreetly slid out a small stick of dynamite. He held it gingerly, for one side held an explosive adhesive. If he could just catch one of his attacks...
Tsuna busted his way out the door, taking Gokudera by surprise.
He's not going to try to finish me off? And what's with that strength... Quickly shaking his thoughts off, he headed out the door in pursuit.
Tsuna went out the door, trying to figure out how to get out of this damned place. He could swear that if any more explosions would be let out, the entire place would fall apart. Hell, he was even swearing under his breath at that instant.
"S***. F***. S***. F***..."
He continued chanting the two words trying to find a way out. But it was becoming hopeless. The windows were lined in tripwire. The slightest movement would activate a bomb trap. And after all the floors he's gone up, Tsuna doubts that even if he can find a way to deactivate the trap, he's going to survive that fall. He'd end up a flat tuna pancake. Yes, I intended for that to be spelled 'tuna'.
He went to the next floor to find one lone, long corridor. Only one door was upon the length of wall, and other than that, there was only the staircase leading to the floors above and below it. Curiosity getting the better of him (not to mention making him forget the situation he was in entirely) he went inside the large room.
It was huge.
The room seemed to continue on to the next few floors. A spiral staircase lining the walls led to several, large, metal catwalks crisscrossing the area above.
Insanity. Honestly. Who the f*** would make this? What in hell did they use this for?
His thoughts were interrupted as he heard footsteps thundering up the staircase, accompanied by the sounds of explosions.
Oh. Right. Being chased by a psychopathic madman who wishes to kill me. S***.
Tsuna raced up the stairs, skipping a few steps here and there, going for as high as he can climb.
Don't run away.
Tsuna immediately stopped in his tracks as the familiar voice resounded in his head.
But I have to get away...
No. We need to become stronger. This is the perfect chance.
What...?
Kill him.
WHAT?!
If you kill this person, you can become stronger. We will decrease the amount of hypocrites and sadists in this world, starting with him.
But I don't want to take his life!
But he just tried to take yours.
Decimo's voice was calm, yet seemed to make his head throb. Tsuna gripped his head, for the intensity of the pain was simply unbearable.
There doesn't have to be any blood. Just a quick snap of his neck should do the trick.
Tsuna bent over in pain. "AGHH! STOP IT!"
It won't take long.
"SHUT UP!"
Just let me take over, if you want to. It won't take long...
"SHUT UP!"
The door flew open, and out of the smoke, the said man whom Decimo wishes for Tsuna to kill majestically stepped out.
I'm going to kill him.
I'm going to make sure that he'll face a painful and grueling death.
He and his kind.
They will die.
I'll make them rot in Tartarus.
Their evil race.
They deserve not to walk the face of the earth.
I will eliminate them.
For what they have done.
I will wipe them out.
I will kill them all.
It will all start by the death of this man.
He will pay.
They will pay.
They will all pay.
I will eliminate them.
They do not deserve to live.
I will eliminate them.
They will suffer.
I will eliminate them.
And it will all start by his death.
These were Gokudera's thoughts as he searched frantically for Sawada Tsunayoshi.
He had to kill him. He saw his capabilities.
Sawada Tsunayoshi should not live.
But, at that time, he could have killed me, finished me off...
No. He needed to die.
Sawada Tsunayoshi would die.
"SHUT UP!"
The shout came from the floor above him. Gokudera immediately went for it. He saw the long corridor, and the lone door. He decided to blast the door open. As the door flung open, he noticed that the door didn't make the usual metallic crack he heard whenever he blasted open locked doors.
Which meant that it wasn't locked.
Ah, damn, it wasn't locked. I could have just opened it. Ah, well. It wouldn't have been as dramatic.
He stepped out of the smoke and immediately spotted Tsuna. Their eyes met each other, and Gokudera was taken aback by the young brunette's eyes. They seemed to fade from their usual brown color to a bright amber variation, and then fade back. His eyes continually changed, and the emotion within them was deep, and changing as well.
Hate. Concern. Hate. Pain. Hate. Sorrow.
Tsuna suddenly jerked his head downwards and gripped his head as he tried to suppress a cry of pain. This was his chance. This was Gokudera's chance to kill him. His hand wavered over where he stored his special weapon. He thought that if Tsuna would eventually get to this room, that if he proved too much trouble, he'd use 'it' as the coup de grace.
But he couldn't bring himself to pull it out.
Something's wrong here. Is it because it's pathetic to injure someone while they're down? Something just didn't sit right with him.
As Tsuna looked up, his eyes now staying brown, Gokudera shook off his thoughts.
"It ends here." Gokudera cautiously pulled out a vial, about the size and shape of an Eclipse mint container. The liquid contained within it was a product of his hard work.
First, he went searching for pyritic schist. He ended up going to a coal deposit to search for some, and found what he was looking for. This pyritic schist was composed primarily of coal, silica, alumina, and iron sulfide, the latter in excess. His goal was to isolate the iron sulfide, transform it into iron sulfate, and would then extract sulfuric acid. He wanted to perform this task as discreetly as possible, so he decided to take extra precautionary measures. He definitely didn't want to end up having his background checked just because he waltzed into a shop and asked for sulfuric acid.
Sulfuric acid is one of the most widely used of all chemical products, and he had one goal to achieve with this. One product that will help him end it. Finding a quiet place in some secluded forest, he got to work. Using some of the resources in the forest, he was able to change the iron sulfide into iron sulfate and the alumina into aluminum sulfate. From these and other materials, he was able to make nitric acid. By means of a complicated process, he was able to extract glycerin from some soap. He then introduced the nitric acid to the glycerin, thus producing one of the deadliest explosives he's ever made.
Nitroglycerine.
Tsuna stared horrified at the vial in Gokudera's hands. He truly knew it to be nitroglycerine, and was either shocked, scared s***less, or both. Most likely both.
He quickly ran up the stairs and dashed into the next catwalk. Thank goodness Decimo stopped talking.
Gokudera, on the other hand, dashed for a cable he prepared that links to the very top of the 'room'. He cut the bottom of the cable as he grabbed it and held on. The mechanism acted like a pulley, a heavy weight on one end, and now, Gokudera on the other. He was quickly pulled up to the very top, and swung over to the nearest catwalk.
Right above where Tsuna was at.
Well, it wasn't actually right over Tsuna. There was a distance of about one foot before his outstretched hand holding the liquid would be directly over Tsuna's head. Unperturbed, Gokudera leaned forward a bit more.
Big mistake.
The railing suddenly gave out, sending Gokudera plummeting downwards. As if that wasn't enough, the vial of nitroglycerine slipped out of his grasp and was now hovering above him as he fell. Which meant that when he'd land, he'd get a face-full of nitroglycerine. That's not going to be pretty. Gokudera was preparing to die, contemplating about his life.
Goodbye, cruel world. Surely, I shall see hell...
Gokudera was yanked towards the catwalk, and he staggered backwards. A hand shot forward and caught the nitroglycerine before it could hit the floor. Gokudera looked on in disbelief.
Sawada Tsunayoshi. The guy he just tried to kill just saved his life.
"Why?" Gokudera asked, "I tried to kill you...Why would you save me?"
Tsuna looked at him solemnly, before he gave a comforting smile. "Because..."
"Because everyone deserves to life their life, regardless of deeds."
Inspiring. Gokudera couldn't remember the last time he felt like this. He felt so...warm.
Finally, someone actually accepted him. Someone actually valued him.
Tears welled up in Gokudera's eyes, and he tried his best to wipe them off completely from his face. Tsuna immediately became concerned.
"Why are you crying?"
Gokudera briefly looked up, eyes filled with tears. He dropped to his knees.
"No one...has ever been so nice to me...Finally...someone who values my existence..." Tsuna was briefly surprised, but then gave a comforting smile as he kneeled down to Gokudera's level and put a hand upon his shoulder.
"No need to cry anymore. I'll be your friend."
Gokudera walked through the streets of Sicily, cigarette in his mouth...as per usual. Suddenly, a tall man in a black suit and fedora appeared before him. Gokudera scowled.
"Who are you?!" he snarled.
The man merely smirked. "You want to be accepted into a famiglia?" Gokudera's ears perked up at this, but still kept his guard up. "Yes?"
"Go to Namimori, Japan, and look for a boy named Sawada Tsunayoshi in Namimori Middle. All expenses for the trip will be paid by me." The fedora wearing man smirked.
"Che, and what will I gain from looking for him?" Gokudera said.
"If you kill him, you will be accepted by the Vongola famiglia." Gokudera immediately brightened. The Vongola famiglia was one of the strongest famiglias in the world, and he always wanted to join them. But he needed more of a benefit.
"And, he's an experiment." The man added. An experiment? How could he refuse now?
"Alright. I'll take it."
The man nodded and started to walk away.
"Hey," Gokudera suddenly said, "Who are you anyway?" The man stopped in his tracks, and turned his head to the side ever-so-slightly.
"You don't know? I'm the greatest hitman in the world, Reborn." And with that, he disappeared.
"...And that's what happened," Gokudera finished. Tsuna nodded.
Reborn, that ass. What the hell was he thinking? If he was trying to get me to be the boss of Vongola, why the hell did he send someone to kill me?
Tsuna shifted his weight from where he was sitting on the catwalk.
"So let me see if I got this right," Tsuna said, "You've been living all alone most of your life, and you're an expert in terms of explosives. You wanted to join some famiglias, but for some reason they didn't take you in. So when Reborn," (note the hint of irritation in his voice) "gave you that offer, you decided to go for it?" Gokudera nodded.
"But, then you saved my life," Gokudera said. He gave a soft smile. "I'm very grateful."
"So you're not going to try and assassinate me?" Gokudera shook his head.
"When Reborn mentioned that I was...an experiment, why did that make you accept?"
Gokudera looked to the side, deep in thought. Tsuna put both of his hands up.
"Ah, but you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said. Gokudera shook his head. "No, I want to tell you."
"It all started when-"
Tsuna's head connected with the metal catwalk, thanks to a giant green hammer.
"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said, "how dare you call me an ass. For that, I'm going to train you harder." Gokudera was in shock. Where the hell did he come from?
As the hammer was lifted, Tsuna looked up at Reborn in annoyance. Why do the gods hate him? Honestly, what did he do?
"I sent Gokudera to kill you to test your abilities," Reborn said as he magically kept the hammer somewhere in his pocket. "I also want him to become part of your famiglia."
What is he on about? Tsuna thought as he sat up. Wait...
"I don't want to join the Mafia!" Tsuna said, half-shouted. Reborn simply smacked the back of his head...hard.
"I'll make sure you do." And so he disappeared like the bad-ass hitman he is. Tsuna rubbed the back of his head. Ow. Gokudera looked on in concern and bewilderment. "Are you okay?" Tsuna nodded.
"I've gone through worse."
He really has.
Blood. Everywhere. Everywhere he went.
Pain. Blinding pain. It wouldn't go away.
Death. So much death. Was it inevitable?
The work done by his hands?
Tsuna shook off his thoughts and noticed a note before him. He picked it up and read it.
Dame-Tsuna
If you aren't home by 5:30 PM, I'm going to train you for five hours with knives.
Reborn
Tsuna stared at the note dumbfounded before he checked the time.
5:28 PM.
"I need to get the hell out of here."
