Ball 8:
Of Blood And Violence

She watched from on top of a wall as he was attacked. Punch after punch, kick after kick, he was outmatched and they knew it. Still, they showed no mercy.

"So weak, so weak~" He was even taunted as he laid there on the ground, breath coming out in pants as blood fell from his mouth, bruises decorating his visible skin (and surely under his clothes, too). "Is this the famous Namimori School Disciplinary Committee? They're nothing to be afraid of!"

"Who are you…?" He struggled to ask, looking at the two.

"It's always the same questions," she mumbled, sighing boredly, "who are you? What do you want? Why are you doing this?"

"If you're going to talk, you should at least help," the one with glasses said, looking at her. She stiffened and turned her head.

"I'm good…"

"Hey! This is my prey!"

"Just hurry up, Ken. This guy's not the one, so finish up."

"Alright~" Ken reached in his pocket, taking out a golden watch, "Don't hate me; these are orders from the top." Despite this, though, the look on Ken's face showed he had no remorse or guilt about what he was doing. Chikusa sighed, looking up at their third companion.

"Will you handle the next one?"

"Hm? What's this, Chikusa doesn't want to fight?"

"That's not it. It's just you refuse to do anything."

"That's a lie, Chikusa. I do stuff."

"Define 'stuff'." She paused, bottom lip tugging out into a pout.

"… Do I have to?" Chikusa sighed again, shaking his head.

"I'll do it, if you don't want to."

"Then have fun. I'll go report back." She pushed herself off the wall, landing evenly on her feet. "Don't cause too much of a commotion now," she said while waving.

"Ahhh? Where's Azuki-nee going?" Ken asked, standing beside the glasses-wearing boy, watching as she disappeared in the night.

"She's going back to Mukuro-sama. I'll handle the next target."

"Ehhh? But I wanted to see Azuki-nee fight!"

"Leave her be, Ken." With that, he turned and walked away.

"Oi! Kakipi! Why doesn't Azuki-nee have to do anything?" Ken quickly caught up with him, hunching forward with his hands in his pockets. He was disappointed, having never seen the white-haired lady fight.

"I don't know, but Mukuro-sama doesn't seem to have a problem with it, so I'm not going to question it."

Ken scoffed, glaring ahead of him, "Well, if Mukuro-san says so…"


Tsena laughed as she and Tsuna walked to school.

"You, join a club? Oh, that's funny."

"Shut up, Tsena," Tsuna sighed, looking at the fliers in his hand, "I already told her; I don't want to try these."

"Haha, take up kendo with me~" Tsena suggested, before giving an evil smirk, "It'll be a good excuse to beat you up – I meaaaan, for the two of us to have some great fun." She smiled innocently as Tsuna sputtered nonsense.

"You! Why would you want to – Tsena!"

"I kid, I kid," Tsena laughed, before looking up at the hitman that started to talk.

"If Futa were here, we could have him determine a ranking of which martial art best suits you."

Tsena frowned, "That's true, but we haven't seen Futa-kun in a long time…"

"And even if he were, I wouldn't want a ranking like that!" Still, though, Tsuna's face showed his concern and worry about the little boy. Where could he have gone? "I hope he's not being chased by scary people."

Tsena nodded her head, before suddenly sensing the tense air. "Huh?" Looking up, she noticed the Disciplinary Committee members around. "What's that about?"

"Since there was that kind of incident last weekend, it's natural that they would be tense." Reborn was indicating to the random attacks on various members of the Committee.

"I wonder if it really was someone with a grudge against the Committee."

"That's not it." Tsuna jumped before the two turned to see a certain skylark behind them.

"H-Hibari-san!"

"Mornin', Hibari-san," Tsena greeted the boy, who gave her a small nod of acknowledgement.

"Ciaossu!" Reborn also greeted him.

"Hello there, akanbo." Tsena was amused by the fact that Tsuna was freaking out in Hibari's presence, and it didn't help when the skylark was walking towards them. Yes, Hibari was one to fear, but only if you've done something wrong (in Tsena's mind, anyway).

"We were just on our way to school, and…" Tsuna held his hands up, looking wary as he tried to explain the situation they were in. He didn't want to face the wrath of Hibari. "We're not bad-mouthing you or anything."

"I've never experienced such a thing," Hibari said, as he hadn't heard Tsuna at all, standing beside Tsena, his calm stormy blue-gray eyes meeting her dull green ones, "But the sparks of fire must be extinguished." If it wasn't for the fact that Hibari scared Tsuna greatly, he would have been impressed that Tsena managed to hold Hibari's gaze. Then again, Tsena was as big of a freak as Hibari, just a tad bit more… tamed? No wonder the two got along… well (It's Hibari, who gets along with him besides his Committee members?).

"You do what you have to do to keep the peace of Namimori in check, Hibari-san," Tsena chuckled, not mocking the boy at all. She knew how much he loved his town and that he'd go to any length to ensure no one screws the order over, no matter how extreme. What she failed to notice, though, was a certain perverted doctor trying to sneak up on her. Hibari, sensing the lewd presence, was quick to attack. Metal hit bone as Shamal fell to the ground.

"Dammit… and I was so close…" Shamal whined quietly, his plans on groping – I mean giving Tsena a physical exam foiled.

"Huh?" Tsena blinked, looking at the doctor.

"Dr. Shamal!"

Shamal rubbed his head, sitting up and pouting, "Why'd you do that?"

"I felt an evil intent," Hibari answered simply, giving Shamal a bored look. "It must have been my imagination." With that, he retracted his tonfa and turned. Tsena blinked, looking at his neck. Was that… a mosquito?

"Er, Hibari-san," she mumbled, stepping to him and trying to catch the mosquito. Emphasize on 'trying' because as soon as her hand made contact with his neck, not only did the bug get away, but she found herself pinned to a nearby wall by a tonfa to her neck with a glaring Hibari.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Sorry, sorry," Tsena laughed nervously, raising her hands to show her defense. "It's just I thought I saw a mosquito and I, uh, guess I wasn't thinking…" She scratched her cheek, smiling awkwardly. Now that she mentioned it, Hibari felt an itch. He scratched his neck and stepped back.

"Touch me again and I'll bite you to death."

"Of course. Sorry, Hibari-san." Tsuna sweatdropped as he watched the two. Sure, he felt scared for Tsena, because that goofy smile and the way she handled Hibari was much like how Yamamoto would. He sweatdropped at the thought of Tsena turning into a mini-Yamamoto.

'The two spend a lot of time together, so of course Tsena would start picking up bits of Yamamoto's personality.' He reasoned.

'I think that's what they call a 'close-call'.' Tsena thought to herself, laughing nervously as she watched Hibari walk away. She turned to Tsuna, who was giving her a wary look. Tsena blinked her eyes at him, before the sudden song of their school anthem began to play.

"What the…?" The two look around, only to see Hibari pull out his cell phone. The Sawadas sweatdropped, thinking the same thing.

'Hibari-san's ringtone…?' He answered and had a short conversation with whoever on the phone, before turning to them.

"Isn't Sasagawa Ryohei one of your friends? They got him."

"E-Ehh!" The two shared a look, concerned. Tsena called out a "Thanks" over her shoulder before the two and Reborn hurried to the hospital. Tsena froze, though, stopping and looking around. Tsuna noticed and stopped, looking at her. "Tsena?"

Reborn frowned, also noticing it. Tsena tensed, turning around. "What will you do, Tsena?"

"…" The girl was silent, before she managed an awkward laugh and a fake grin at the two, "Go on ahead. I'll catch up later." Tsuna was confused, but didn't argue when Reborn kicked him in a face and told him to get a move on (he did complain about the kick, though). Tsena watched them go, before quickly jumping to the left. Right where she was standing were pins.

"Huh… Didn't expect to see you here…" Tsena looked ahead, watching as the boy stepped forward. His face was blank, even his dark blue eyes were dull in color and emotionless. A white beanie covered his short blue hair, glasses framing his eyes, and a barcode on his left cheek. He was wearing a green school uniform, one she recognized as Kokuyo Middle's.

"Chisuke," Tsena mumbled, frowning, "What're you doing here?"

"Still calling me Chisuke after all these years... Nesta?" He lifted his glasses further up his nose, "I've told you, my name's Chikusa. Although, you go by Tsena now, right."It was more of a statement than a question. He pulled his other hand from his pocket, revealing the pink yo-yo with holes in it. Tsena tensed, frowning.

"Guess you're not here to catch up, huh, Chisuke." Tsena braced herself.

"Afraid not, so don't hate me for this." With that, he attacked.


"He's coming closer," She mumbled, watching as the boy entered the building. "What'll you do, Mukuro-san?"

"Oya oya, still with the formalities, even if you're older," the boy teased as Azuki sighed. "Old habits die hard, as the saying goes."

"Yes, indeed it does."

"The real question here is: what will you do, Butler-san?" He said, his words having more meaning than they're supposed to.

"I told you, I'm not a butler, I'm a chef."

"True enough, since you only played butler with one person."

"Mukuro-san," Azuki sighed again, her voice showing her warning as she frowned at him.

"Kufufufu, I'm only joking, Azuki."

"Gwah!" Their conversation was cut short by a Kokuyo student crashing into the room in front of them.

Hibari entered the room, looking unamused.

"Hello. Thanks for coming," Mukuro greeted him. Already Hibari was annoyed with him. The way he just sat on his couch so casually, as if he wasn't a threat. It annoyed him, made him angry. He couldn't wait to bite this person to death.

"I've been looking for you for quite some time. Are you behind this prank?" In the dim light coming in from the broken windows behind the couch, he managed to make out two figures, one sitting on the couch and another standing behind the couch and beside the boy. Hibari briefly wondered if he would have to bite the other person first, but when the figure made no move to get involved, his focused all his attention on the one speaking.

"Something like that," he said simply, "And I'm also the new order in your town."

"You must be talking in your sleep. Namimori does not need two sources of discipline."

"I agree completely. I will become the new order, so you are unnecessary."

This guy was really annoying Hibari. He was so calm and sure of himself, joking with Hibari, toying with him. "I can't have that." He raised his tonfas threateningly, "I'll bite you to death right here." Hibari walked forward, noting how he made no move to stand, "So you want to die while sitting?"

"Kufufufu." Even his laugh was annoying, "You certainly are funny. There's no need to stand; that's why I'm sitting." Hibari twitched, his eyes narrowing even more. He looked once more at the person standing beside him, wondering if the figure was finally going to make a move. "Azuki won't attack you, so you don't need to worry about her."

Hibari wouldn't complain, this 'Azuki' wasn't as annoying as the other. "I'm going to stop talking to you." After all, he would bite Azuki after this arrogant fool was handled.

"Do as you wish, but unless you take the opportunity now, you'll never speak again." And as if on cue, Hibari froze. His body tensed, feeling heavy. "Hmmm? Is something the matter? You look a little sick."

"Shut up," Hibari growled.

"You must not have realized who you had picked a fight with." His matter-of-fact answer, the smirk in his voice… Hibari just wanted to smash his face in, "I was surprised, too. To think, a first-rate hitman such as Trident Shamal was over here."

"What are you talking about?" Hibari lifted his head, not knowing why he swayed a little as he moved. Something was wrong, but what was it?

"His specialty is using mosquitoes which has various untreatable sicknesses to kill. Trident Mosquitoes." Hibari's eyes widened a bit.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just I thought I saw a mosquito…"

So Tsena had been right. And the man he knocked down, Tsuna called him 'Dr. Shamal'. He growled, unconsciously looked down to where the bite was. He looked up ahead, his vision getting blurry.

"Maa, get a hold of yourself. I'm over here," He teased Hibari, who tried to keep his vision focused ahead. He wasn't aware of the fact that he was swaying from side to side, struggling to keep on his feet. He could hear the boy talking, saying something about a disease called 'Sakura-kura' and sakuras, but he couldn't tell for sure what he was saying. He could smell though the faint scent of sakuras. Looking up, he saw said plant above him, pink petals dancing in the wind and gently falling to the ground. His body acted on his own, and he hated that stupid laugh the boy gave.


"Tsena!" Tsuna was shocked to see the girl passed out on a bed. She looked like she was in bad shape, bandages decorating her with various IV's attached to her arm.

"Are you a friend?" A nurse asked, frowning at him.

"N-No, I'm her brother…" He mumbled, looking at her. She noted and sighed, looking down at Tsena.

"She was in a fight, that much is certain, but we found poison in her body."

"Tsena's been poisoned?" Tsuna exclaimed, shocked, "Will she be alright? Does she have an antidote?"

"We're doing all we can, but it's an unknown poison to us. She might not…" The nurse bowed her head, walking out of the room. Tsuna panicked, looking at Reborn.

"Reborn!"

"I'll contact Shamal right away," the baby said, face serious. Tsuna turned back to the list in his hand. "Her name is on there, isn't it?"

Tsuna nodded, "So that means…" Tsuna looked over the list, before his eyes widened, "I don't believe it!" The next person… what was he supposed to do? "What do we do, Reborn?" Tsuna was panicking, because not only was his sister poisoned and beaten, but the next person was another close friend he cared for.

"This is becoming dangerous," Reborn mumbled, frowning, "You should go. I have to look into something."

"Ehhh? Me?" Tsuna took a step back, before looking at Tsena, "But…"

"Don't worry about Tsena. I'll call Shamal, so go."


"So how was he, Mukuro-san?" Ken asked, rolling the bowling ball down the lane and scoring a strike. "The Nami-Chuu boss. Was his name Suzume? Or was it Ahiru?" He laughed, turning to the boy.

"He was a 'miss'," Mukuro answered, taking the drink Azuki offered, "He's laying down over there for now."

"I wonder if he's still alive." Ken smirked, also taking the drink Azuki got him. "Azuki-nee! Why didn't you take on that target!" He whined, frowning at her. Azuki blinked her eyes, frowning and not answering.

"Azuki isn't on our side, Ken," Mukuro answered for her, "But she's also not against us, either."

"Ehhh? That makes no sense." Ken glared at the lady, pouting now.

"Hm… I guess it could better be explained as… she's still loyal to one person." Mukuro smirked as Azuki gave him a look. He enjoyed teasing her about this, too. "By the way, where is Chikusa?"

"Kakipi went off hunting for the next target."

"Mm… did he have fun with his other target?" Ken grew silent, his mouth dropping into an unusual straight line. "Oya oya? What's this, does Ken miss his Nesta?"

"M-Mukuro-san!" Ken jumped, waving his hands around, "It's not like that!"

"It's okay, Ken," Mukuro chuckled, "Dear Nesta was close to all of us."


lol wow, this is short o-o; Hm... Oh, akanbo is baby in Japanese XD I like it better than saying "Baby" cuz yaoi has infected my brain - I mean cuz I can :D And lol you ever noticed how much people change when they hang with someone so much? So yeah, Tsena handled Hibari like Yamamoto would since I love 8018 - I mean since the two hang out so much. It has nothing to do with my craving for 8018, nope, nothing at all. Stop looking at me like that.

icysu22: Yes, since Charlie the Unicorn was mentioned, a magic portal opened up and created a nice Hibari :D
MikaUchiha666: lol thanks XD
AkaMizu-chan: lol I didnt think it was so great ewe;; I jus rlly wanted to make fluff QQ XD Thank you and I will~
Darkened Fire Dragon: I love fluff too 8'D Fluff is ftw XD And yes, more fluff must come ewe;;

lol so liiiike, I finished watching KHR and I was sad face D: I wanted moar! QQ Cant wait for the new one~ XD Oh, btw, what kind of flame do you think Tsena would have? ewe;;