.
What do people feel when they're dying?
Some people say, "I don't want to die," and think, I'll do this and I'll do that...I'll survive.
Resolve.
Some people get angry, feeling like, I won't let my life end like this.
Wrath.
Some people feel sad, and think, If I could have...If only I was more...If only...
Melancholy.
Chapter Nine
This Girl is..
Maya woke up in an unfamiliar room. Her entire body ached like she just faced off against Chikara. Did she? Was she stupid? That girl was an ogre in human form, she would have been demolished! She groaned. Did she run her mouth off again and angered somebody?
Pain. She was used to it. She was by far the weakest person in the Main House and it was inevitable that would get beat up by herbivore-allergic brutes that were the Hibari.
Tears pricked her eyes. Useless girl. What did you do this time?
...Maya...Ma...ya...
Maya.
"Kyoya...sama?"
Suddenly, there were images in her head. Tridents. Black hair. Red and blue eyes. A man and a girl. Blue flames...
"Kyoya-sama! Ah!" Sitting up abruptly send waves of pain in her abdomen, but she ignored it. It was nothing. She had to...She had to...
"What did I do?"
.
"You lost control of your emotions, that's what you did," Kushima scolded. Sighing when she saw the girl sitting up, obviously in pain, she kneeled down beside her and gently made her lay down.
"Lady Kushima?" the girl said questioningly.
"Really, the both of you...all you do is make me worry."
.
"What are you doing here?" Maya asked tentatively.
"I heard about the fiasco you made." The grin she made was dark and worried. "You have really made a mess of things, little bird."
Maya flinched. "But I-I don't really know what happened. It was-"
"You manifested Dying Will Flames." Maya blinked questioningly. "It's the most protected secret of the Underworld. It's a high-density energy refined from one's life force. In many ways, it is very much like a physical flame, only it is ignited from a person's emotions, most commonly from their 'dying will', thus the name."
Maya wasn't sure what to think. It all sounded pretty, uh, supernatural to her, and while the Hibari are people of tradition, they are also logical and scientific. They didn't even have a religion.
"I know it sounds unbelievable," Kushima continued, noticing her disbelieving expression. "But there's no other way to describe the flames you made, little bird. From what I heard, it seems to be of the Rain element, which was probably why you managed to knock out Kyoya." Kushima beamed proudly. "That was impressive, by the way. Although it does put a damper on my plans for you." The Hibari Matriarch sighed. "Well, there's no helping it."
"Um.."
"Maya," Kushima interrupted, turning serious. "By now, this information has no doubt reached everyone in the Underworld: a Hibari girl that has Dying Will Flames. That by itself is nothing new, many of us are able to release Dying Will Flames in varying degrees, but what will no doubt capture their attention is the other fact."
Maya gulped. "I..I though I was no longer Hibari." She didn't really understand this Dying Will business, but if having it means she can go back to being in the Family...
Kushima smiled grimly. "I'm afraid that can no longer be possible. As of now, there must be at least ten people out for your neck, and being a Hibari will be your only defense."
Maya paled. "Why-why would people was to k-kill me? I'm just-" I'm just me.
"The world is always after those who are different, Maya. And you're one of a kind. You're a sky."
.
"Ne, Reborn. Are Sky-users really that rare?" wondered Tsuna. He knew many said it was the rarest form of Dying Will Flame, but it didn't really feel like much of a rarity. He had it, Dino had it, Xanxus had it. The former bosses of the Vongola had had it. Byakuran, Yuni, even Naito Longchamp. He knew more Cky-users than he knew users of the other flames individually. Granted, a lot of them were dead.
"Think of the number of times you had a perfect score on Math, Dame-Tsuna," was the cool reply.
Tsuna yelled in surprise. "Eh? THAT rare?"
Reborn sighed and kicked him at the back of the head.
.
"I need to talk to Hibari, is he awake?" Yamamoto asked Kusakabe. The Vice Chairman nodded grimly. "He's up, but he's really in a bad mood. I don't think it's a good idea to be near him right now."
Yamamoto laughed his signature laugh. "I don't mind. I just really have something important to discuss. Will you...?"
Kusakabe studied the boy's face. Yamamoto was often happy-go-lucky, and he took things aside from swordsmanship and baseball in stride. Sometimes, Kusakabe even envied his carefree attitude. But the Yamamoto in front of him was not the oblivious boy he usually was.
"What is it?" he asked, concerned.
"Nothing important, just.." Yamamoto smiled. "Please?"
Kusakabe sighed. He was probably going to regret this, but...
"Go on. Don't die."
Yamamoto chuckled. "I'll try."
.
True to Kusakabe's words, Kyoya was in an extremely bad mood. First he woke up feeling lethargic, his muscles barely holding him upright. Then he found that his mother had apparently 'taken Maya somewhere'. Maya who, last he remembered, was surrounded by flames.
What was that? He knew the little animal had the ability to manifest fire on his forehead sometimes, and during those times he was stronger than his usual self, but he hadn't though much of it. He just assumed it was some trick by that baby tutor of his. Now Maya.
Arguably, the two were not alike. Sawada Tsunayoshi had orange flames. Maya's was blue. Though...was there orange there somewhere?
The vase broke as it slammed against the wall. Kyoya growled under his breath.
"Woah, Kusakabe wasn't kidding," muttered Yamamoto. Kyoya narrowed his eyes at the boy coldly. "What are you doing here, herbivore?"
"Eh? I eat meat, you know." Yamamoto grinned. "I just came to talk."
Kyoya considered this. There was something different about the boy in front of him. His stance was tense, and his laugh was fake.
Fear? No. Yamamoto Takeshi was strong because he was a stupid man who did not understand such things.
"What is it?"
"Well..."
.
Sky? Maya was a sky?
"I'm human though," Maya argued innocently, inspecting her arms.
Kushima was unimpressed. "Don't act dumb, Maya, it's unseemly."
"But...what you're saying...how am I supposed to believe that? I'm just...There must be a logical reason. Dying Will Flames, forgive my bluntness, but it sounds too much like a fairy tale, Lady Kushima."
"Fairy tales are legends, Maya," the woman said softly. "Legends are stories, and every story has a glean of truth in them. Did I not teach you that?"
Maya lowered her head.
"Listen closely, Maya. Everyone possesses a Dying Will Flame, but only a select few can truly use them. It takes years of training, a strong resolve and a ton of luck for the Dying Will Flame to come out. Sometimes it's a blessing. But one thing is fact, the Dying Will Flame is hugely connected to the dark side of the world and now that people is aware that you have it...
You're never going to be able to leave."
.
"What does that mean?"
"It means, you will never be just a normal girl. You're a flame user."
"I've never been a normal girl," whispered Maya. "And I've never wanted to."
"Well, then it's fortunate you don't have to."
.
Maya didn't really understand what the Dying Will Flames do, and what it means, but what she knew was she now possessed something that makes her different. Something that makes her strong.
I wonder what Kyoya-sama would think.
She grinned, feeling the happiest she had been for a long, long time.
This is the first time she had ever manifested her flames, so Maya has never been able to defeat anyone. Though in the canon, basically everyone has Dying Will Flames, it's been stated that not everyone can do that. And being a sky is really rare. People look at rare things and feel either in awe or envious, so it's natural people would seek to harm Maya. Of course, there are other reasons, but we'll explore that later on.
Anyway, what really drives Maya is her desire to be 'special' in a way that doesn't make her the underdog. She has been at the bottom of the food chain her entire life, so she has a lot of angst hidden inside of her.