… Mist.
It was everywhere, and it was annoying. Sawada growled, pushing his way through the obscuring fog. It had rolled in almost before he had stepped out of the school gates, and it wasn't going anywhere. Either there was a freak weather change and a massive wall of it had decided to creep in, or it was following him. Neither possibility boded well with the Disciplinary Committee Leader.
He had seen Kyouya fall, and it was clearly the illusionist's doing. This mist too, then, must be. It was convenient that Sawada knew his way around the town (he didn't get lost on his way), and had good ears (he would hear cars approaching and get out of the way).
Stupid fog, he thought angrily, pushing forward. If Ryohei Sasagawa had enough gall to show up on his turf, well then, Tsunayoshi Sawada was about to do a little invading of his own.
…
Slipping through the ancient gate (sliced shards of what used to be a heavy padlock were scattered around, as were bits of the gate itself… oh well), he was struck with an odd sense of déjà vu. The mist, which had been clinging to his clothes like so many bothersome insects, had remained outside. He looked up. The sky was overcast now, like a dome of fog had been formed around Kokuyo Healthy Land. A barrier.
Disregarding the odd weather, he walked further into his enemy's territory. He stepped over the carcasses of a few dead wolves and raccoons (among other creatures), half-expecting to be jumped at some time by an idiotic thug, just like before. But nothing came. Everything was quiet.
When he went around a jagged-looking hole in the ground (he remembered coming to this park a long time ago; if he remembered correctly, a glass plant and animal dome had been in that spot, before being buried underneath a mudslide), a figure materialized out of the air in front of him.
Well, half a figure. Ryohei's body, from the torso up, was floating in front of him, the bottom half trailing off into dusty yellow particles. "And what might you be looking for in my area, Tsunayoshi Sawada?" he asked, an amused smile playing on his lips.
"Where is he," the other demanded. He was going to stand no nonsense; kidnapping would be seen as a direct assault on Namimori Middle School students, and if destroying Ryohei was involved, then, well, he had no complaints.
"Where is who?" Ryohei asked, letting out an amused snort. "I have no idea at all."
Sawada's eyes narrowed. Now wasn't the time for this. "Where is Kyouya Hibari?" he said slowly, spelling out and enunciating each syllable.
"I extremely don't know," Ryohei answered, chuckling and leaning back with his arms tucked behind his head. "He could be anywhere around here. This is an extremely large place, you know; easy to get lost in. But…" The half-body dissolved, as the crumbling building and courtyard melted away into a replica of his school. "Why don't we play a game, Sawada-kun?"
"I don't play by your rules," the brunet growled out.
A sinister laugh echoed around him. "Then there are no rules, only conditions for the winner to meet. And here they are: either you find the Vongola, or I break him. Whoever succeeds first, and all means are orthodox."
The laugh cut off without warning, and Sawada was left in silence again. He looked up at the clouded sky and sighed. There was nothing for it.
…
His plan had been to enter the building and immediately begin searching from top to bottom (er, bottom to top). However, that had been hindered by a slight predicament…
"Yo, dame-Tsuna!" some stupid first-year called, thumping him forcefully on the back. Caught by surprise, Sawada hopped forward a step.
"Would you be a pal and do the after-school clean-up for us?" his companion grinned. Neither seemed to notice the fierce glare that was sent at them.
Sawada had no idea who was really controlling the illusions that he was shown. However, one thing was certain, based on this totally disrespectful behavior everyone was giving him. So that's how it is, then… "Yeah, sure," he answered, agreeing if only to get them away from him so he could continue his business.
"Thanks, buddy!" the first laughed, thumping his shoulder again (he grimaced). "I'll pay you back eventually, okay?"
The two quickly departed, leaving Sawada alone. Inwardly, he seethed. He was going to send that stupid illusionist back through each and every one of his six hells, including Sawada's own personal serving. And he was going to enjoy every moment of it.
…
Imagine his surprise when he had been pushed into a classroom that wasn't his by a teacher that wasn't his. "Sawada-kun, class is about to start; you should get back to your seat," he had been told.
He was about to complain when he saw a head of brown hair that looked like his, but wasn't, talking to another familiar figure. Drat, he was being duped.
However, Sawada wasn't rash. He knew what moderation was, and he was willing to wait. He would have to bide his time, and that would make his win all the better. Sitting down, he waited until the herbivore's two friends re-entered the classroom. He saw the illusion of himself disappear as he entered and, satisfied, he decided to sit and wait. He passed the time by staring out the window.
…
As soon as break time came around, he all but ran out the door (he would have, if so many bothersome students weren't in his way, jostling him out of the line leading into the hallway). No doubt Ryohei was trying to toy with him, stall and hinder Sawada's movements while he took his sweet time in winning his game.
Sawada's face twisted into a sort of half-snarl/grimace/heavy frown as he pushed his way through the student body. It was true that he accepted the students as a part of Nami Middle that simply couldn't be changed (and anyway it brought liveliness to his day when he found the troublemakers amongst them). However...
First and foremost, these were illusions. Fakes. He simply hated falsified things, and anyway he hated them simply for being illusions. Lousy illusionist. Furthermore, did they have to be so annoying right now? Honestly. Getting in his way, talking loudly, pushing and shoving each other, it was all just so irritating and sliced away generously at his patience.
He kept time with his wristwatch. All breaks between the fifty-minute classes were ten minutes to make a schedule that could be numbered in hours. He's spent roughly three minutes just getting out of the class, and five getting out of the hallway. Sure that Mukuro would send someone to usher him back to his "class," he turned corners and went up and down stairs. Coming to the door he needed, he entered without knocking.
The man who was inside jumped and turned to him. "Chair-" he began, but shut up immediately. "Sawada-san, is there something you need?"
Sawada frowned. Tetsuya Kusakabe, young Tenth boss of one of the Vongola's closest families. Ordinarily, Sawada would've jumped into a fight and tried to strangle the black-haired man then and there. But no. Moderation and wisdom. "Actually, there is," he said, pulling a smile that looked, for lack of any more fitting word or euphemism, absolutely murderous. "I'm looking for Hibari. Have you seen him?"
Tetsuya contemplated the question. "No, I'm afraid I haven't," he replied eventually. "He actually left the Reception Room close to the beginning of last period. He's probably patrolling." Crossing his arms, the apparent Vice-Chairman (who seemed to have replaced Reborn) bent his head a little to think harder, brows knitting together in concentration. "Chances are, he's either down in the grounds or up on the rooftop... either one would be plausible. Oh, Sawada-san, class is starting right now, perhaps you should–"
The sentence was never finished. When Tetsuya looked up, the door was open and Tsunayoshi Sawada was nowhere to be seen.
Never mind what I said before; here's the next chapter.
"I'm telling you, this is impossible!"
"And I'm telling you to do it anyway."
"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!"
Worriedly, Takeshi Yamamoto knocked on the door to the Hibaris' home. When nobody answered, he simply entered anyway (fortunately without having to kick the door down…). Running up the stairs, he threw the door open with a cry of "Tenth! Is everything alright! ?"
Groaning, Kyouya, who was sporting several magnificent bruises and a few dark marks that looked rather like burns managed to pull himself up into a sitting position and wave wearily at the black-haired mafioso. "Oh, hi Yamamoto-kun," he greeted with a small smile. "Didn't know you came in. And yeah, we're just studying."
"Then please allow me to assist you!" Yamamoto cried, practically throwing himself at the smaller boy. Kyouya shrieked in surprise a both went down.
On the table, Fong was standing by with a megaphone in hand on top of a black box. "Why don't you let him?" he said, smirking, before turning to the one in question. "Hey, Yamamoto, can you go grab some of Gokudera's dynamites? I need them for Dame-Kyou's training."
Elated, Yamamoto gave a hearty salute: "Of course, Fong-san! If it will assist the Tenth's learning!" before peeling out of the house and making a turn towards Gokudera's home/family pharmacy.
Running into the store, Yamamoto looked around and made straight for the man behind the counter. "Hey!" he shouted, rather grouchily. The dark-haired man looked up in surprise. "I'm looking for Gokudera, is he here?"
The man, Shamal Gokudera, grinned. "Yo, Takeshi-kun," he greeted, waving from behind his computer. "You're looking for Hayato? Haven't seen him; he left earlier this morning."
Disappointed, Yamamoto left to return to the Tenth's house.
Only to find that Gokudera had gotten there while he had been away. "You stupid baseball idiot!" he raged, marching in and shouting in the silver-haired boy's face. "Why weren't you where I could find you! ?" For the next few minutes he ranted and raved, throwing insults and threats and curses, many of which should not have been said.
Gokudera only laughed humorously. "Haha, hey Yamamoto!" he greeted. "Why, were you looking for me?"
"It's okay, Yamamoto-kun," Kyouya assured him. Yamamoto was still pretty upset, though.
That was, until the door opened again. "Oh, Takeshi," Squalo greeted. "I was wondering why it was so noisy up here, do you all want any snacks?"
"Gah, Aniki!"
In and instant, Takeshi's face paled and became an unnatural green shade as he crumpled onto the floor, clutching his stomach.
"Haha!" Gokudera laughed, watching with amusement. "Yamamoto really can't handle his brother, can he?"
Then the smallest turned to his tutor. "So, Fong… why did you want to borrow Gokudera's dynamites, anyway?" Upon hearing that, Gokudera gladly offered them several straight off the bat, which Fong refused to both the boys' surprise.
The infant smirked, and pointed to the black video camera that had been sitting on the table. The red "recording" light was on. "I just wanted to see Yamamoto flail."
I'll see you all in at least a week; hope you had fun!