A/N (important!) Okay, so I got a lot of questions last chapter about the timeline. The chapters are not in a chronological order, per say, because a lot of stuff happens at the same time. The last chapter was a flashback from Kusakabe! It happened before the scene with Tsuna in handcuffs.

Chapter Eleven

It's About Time

The Vongola Decimo weakly smiled before his foot lashed out, kicking the heavy doors with all his might, throwing the person behind them across the floor.

"Don't get caught," whispered playfully through the closing doors, the light tone layered with heavy implications and shadows.

As it would seem, locks are very hard to open without a key. Akane figured this out very quickly, but that wasn't the only thing he discovered. He also found that banging on a metal door was rather futile when the other side was incapable of opening it. On the other hand, there was more than one way to exit a school.

His head was heavy with misperceptions and doubts. His run slowed to a jog, than a walk. He was in the middle of empty space, the commons, where students relaxed on the benches during their free time. He eyes were transfixed by his shoes. Did he really want to do this? Adrenaline had pushed him forward while he was outside, but now that the fog had lifted in his mind, he wasn't so sure. That guy had a gun. Akane didn't know what was happening; he was just a bystander who was caught up in the storm. No one would blame him for running away – he hadn't know that girl, Chrome, for more than a few minutes. Who would say he was obligated to stand at gunpoint for someone he had no relation to? He could turn, walk back into the gym, and stay with the other kids, with no blame at all.

No one's . . . except his own. He realized it as soon as the thoughts started to circulate. He would feel guilty, he would care, and he knew it would be his fault if Chrome died. He was the only one who knew what had happened; the only one who could help. She wasn't even from this school - it was likely nobody would notice she was gone for a long time.

Confidence that this was the right decision flared in his chest. He stepped forward again, eyes shining with purpose as they rose from the ground. Then he fell to the floor.

Akane sputtered in confusion at the person who had practically ran him over, curses already on his tongue. They died there without being said as he recognized the person, and his blood turned to ice. He had just knocked over the vice president of the Disciplinary Committee, second only to the vicious man Hibari Kyoya. Akane squeezed his eyes closed and waited for death.

But it didn't come. A quick look proved the man was more interested in something else, his head swinging one way, then the other. Finding what he was looking for, he reached beneath a bench to pull out a metal, pipe-like object. A . . . tonfa?

The teen cast him one last glace, eyes flicking up and down Akane's profile. He was already moving, like had expected nothing to come of it, but had taken only a step before he halted. His eyes latched on to something in Akane's hand.

The drama king was momentarily confused by the strange behavior. Then he remembered what he held. Idiot! He screamed mentally. Of course carrying a weapon would cause a second glance from a Disciplinary member.

"Ah, I can explain, um," the defense bubbled forth from his lips without any conscious though.

"Is that . . . Chrome's trident?"

"Well, yes, but you see – wait, what?"

The vice president was suddenly on guard, suspicion burning bright on his features. "Why do you have that?" he questioned, bending down to snatch up said trident.

"Why . . ." Akane was at a loss for words. "How do you know Chrome?" He reflexively moved the weapon away.

The older male repeated his analysis from earlier, with more care the second time round. "What's your name?"

"A-Akane," he winced at the stutter. "Look, I don't know what's going on. . . . I just know that the trident belongs to Chrome, and she probably needs it back right now."

The man narrowed his eyes at that, more cautious than ever. His gaze drifted to where Akane had come from before reaching him again. He thrust a hand forward and Akane braced himself for a punch in the nose.

"Kusakabe," reached his ears and made his eyes blink open.

The hand hovered in front of him, waiting to be taken. Accepting gingerly, he was tugged back to his feet.

"I know Chrome," Kusakabe continued, "I suppose you could say we're friends. We work together. And I'm going to need to know why you would have her weapon." His attention derailed for a moment, going to the main doors at his back. "But not here. Come on, you can walk and talk."

Thus began Akane's retelling of the events that had transpired. When he had finished, he stared at Kusakabe, waiting for his verdict. After saying it aloud, he realized how absolutely insane he sounded, but Kusakabe's face gave away nothing. He wondered how long it was before he was inevitably pounded into the ground, or hauled off to the looney bin.

"Okay," the Vice finally said, nodding

". . . What?"

Kusakabe smirked. "I said okay, I'll accept your story. It sounds like something Chrome would do. Well, it sounds like something Mukuro would do."

"Who?"

"Not important," Kusakabe muttered, placing his hands on the gym door. "Listen," he started, "You're not the only one who had this happen to them."

Akane regarded him with doubt. "Chrome doesn't seem like the kind of person to get kidnapped often."

Kusakabe laughed loudly at that. "No, no she isn't! She's actually very hard to kidnap." Akane took a moment to wonder why Kusakabe knew this. "But not like that. I mean that Chrome wasn't the only person who was taken. Which means . . ."

The gym came into view, looking mostly how they had left it. Most of the students seemed resigned to their fate, and had taken a seat on the floor with friends, clustered densely at the walls. A few brave souls stood in agitation by the doors, glaring at them like it was their fault the kids couldn't leave. Subsequently, the people leaning against said door, formally known as the Disciplinary Committee, returned the gesture with a vengeance. Most noticeably, however, was the cluster in the center. They were trying to be nonchalant, and were failing miserably. They scanned the room, picking through the crowd for someone.

"You aren't the only one looking to get them back," Kusakabe finished. He strode towards the group with long strides. One spotted their approach, nudging another person next to him, and by the time Kusakabe and Akane reached them, they had full attention. There were only three of them in total. Two of them shared a sports uniform, though the last donned the normal school uniform.

"So," Kusakabe bypassed introductions, "who are you guys looking for?"

"What do you mean?" one answered. He had chin-length brown-blonde hair and his hat sat askew on his head. He was openly suspicious of them. "Who're you?"

Kusakabe didn't bat an eye. "You're looking for someone. Who is it? They probably got attacked, right?"

Alarm rippled through their stances, sending them back a pace. "Yamamoto Takeshi," one threw out.

"Nagista! What're you doing?" the blonde whipped around, baffled by his friend. The boy who spoke – Nagista – met Akane's eyes unflinchingly. His chin was raised in defiance, like he dared Kusakabe to deny him.

The unexpected trust brought a hint of a smile to the disciplinary officer's lips. "I thought so," he nodded, "you're wearing a baseball uniform, after all. Don't worry, I know who all was targeted, but I don't know the details. But you," Kusakabe turned to the odd man out, the teen with black hair. "You're not on the baseball team, and three people per one person is pushing it. Were you with anyone who acted strange?"

The subject of attention exchanged a look with Nagista, who nodded back. "Gokudera Hayato," he admitted, "but he wasn't attacked! We were with him just a minute ago."

Surprise lit up Kusakabe's features. "Really? Where is he?"

Blue eyes drifted to the tile, and he shuffled his feet. "He told us to go ahead of him to the gym." Those eyes rose again and gleamed with worry. "Is he in danger? He seemed like he was panicking, last I saw him."

The older man's face fell. "Yeah, yeah he is." He quickly grabbed the boy's arm as he turned to look back. "Don't even think about it. If Gokudera sent you ahead, then he knew what was coming for him. He bought you time to escape, don't waste it!"

The teen swallowed hard, sluggishly moving his arm away to show compliance. "What's going on?"

Kusakabe signed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If Gokudera was panicking, then we're not in a good situation. Did he give you anything? That goes for you two as well; did Yamamoto try to pass anything on?"

"Gokudera gave me this," the black haired teen pulled a small box the size of his palm out of his pocket. "He also gave us some kind of message. He said someone knew what was going on, that's you, isn't it?" Kusakabe simply nodded, prompting him further. "He said: "The key-and-lock got flipped. The key holders got lost." What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Obviously it meant something to Kusakabe. His skin turned a shade paler, and he repeated the words to himself, lips moving silently. "Nothing good . . ." he replied eventually. "What did Yamamoto give you two?"

Nagista brought forth a long, green cloth case. He flipped the lid to show a wooden sword, commonly used for Kendo.

"Okay . . . you two have Shigure Kintoki from Yamamoto, you have Flame Arrow from Gokudera, you have Chrome's trident, and I," he paused, "have Kyoya's tonfa." He grimaced at the information. "No, someone's missing. Where's Ryohei?"

The boys glanced at each other, recognizing the name as the boxing captain. What did he have to do with all this? How was he related to these seemingly random people?

"We're going to have to find him."

That caught everyone's attention. "How're we supposed to do that?"

Kusakabe was already leading the way, back to the hallway where he and Akane had come from. "Oh don't worry," he smirked, "Ryohei's pretty noticeable. Oh, the name's Kusakabe, by the way." Introductions were rushed, and a temporary alliance was agreed upon.

Out in the open again, the boys felt tense. They spread out searching the open area of the commons and connecting hallways, but were careful to stay within view of each other. Jonah wandered towards the north corridor, which wrapped around the gym. Lost in thought, he barely caught himself when he tripped. Grumbling, he found rivets in the cement. Shouting brought the rest of the team over, and they all leaned over to access it. Marks were scored into the hard rock, no small task. They weren't very deep, fairly narrow, and about as long as the forearm. They crisscrossed randomly, hacked out in an onslaught of rash movement.

Following the wounds brought them to the staircase, where Nagista quickly identified a blood stain. The stair above it had collapsed in the middle, the gaping hole taking up half the surface area.

"That would be Ryohei," Kusakabe commented, and his companions looked to him in mild horror. What monster could just knock holes into a staircase?! They were glad that they weren't fighting him.

Kusakabe clearly didn't even give these thoughts the time of day, casually stepping over the break like it was nothing new. The underclassman shared a skittish glance before shuffling around it, taking the steps two at a time to catch up. The Vice President was stationed at the hallway entrance, looking around for any signs of a struggle.

"It looks like they didn't come up here," he commented, eyes scanning the floor.

"Where did they go then?" Josh wondered aloud.

Puzzled silence reigned before crashing and clanging sounds burst into life. The door to the janitor's closet jerked in its frame, the hinges creaking in protest. Muffled sounds like a voice came through, and the boys shared a distrustful look.

Kusakabe rested a finger against his lips in a sign to remain quiet. His other hand flicked behind him as he pressed his back to the wall. The other four understood and tensely waited behind him for more signals. Kusakabe ran over everyone's position one last time before resting his hand on the doorknob. His spare hand held up three fingers, counting down to one.

Three, the teens swallowed hard and braced themselves.

Two, their shoes scuffed nervously at the pavement.

One! Kusakabe threw the door open and he jumped out of the way. A girl came tumbling out, her ponytail exploding behind her. She squealed when she fell to the floor, clearly not expecting to be let out, and her green eyes were wide in surprise. Composing herself quickly, she swung her hips and manipulated her momentum into a cartwheel. She sprang to her feet and flipped around to face them in a flurry, her fists rising to her chin in a classic boxing pose.

Kusakabe gripped Kyoya's tonfa and gave it an experimental spin. He knew how to use them – it was expected after so much time with the skylark – but the girl's stance put him off. He couldn't be sure if she was a friend or foe; the boxing stance suggested a member of Ryohei's club, but maybe the enemy had sent a hit man with the same fighting style?

". . . You're not the kid," she said after a moment, "Who're you?"

"Don't you know to introduce yourself before asking for someone else's name?" Kusakabe gave a slight smile. He was putting a lot at stake with this gamble – a Made Man from the Mafia upheld a code, and being polite was a part of it. They were not savage gangs that worked in the open; they were too underhanded for that. Shadows and smiling masks were the norm.

"That's too bad," she frowned, "Manners get thrown out the window after a while. So again, who're you?"

Kusakabe threw caution to the wind and relaxed. He tucked his boss's precious weapon away into his jacket and held out his hand. "Kusakabe, Assistant Head of the Disciplinary Committee. Nice to meet you. We're looking for Ryohei right now, and I'm going to take a wild guess and say you were with him?" He nodded to the bright yellow sack slung over the girl's shoulder. "That's his bag, isn't it?"

She inspected his hand, like she thought it might be a trap. "Mai," she answered, not taking his hand. Her arms rested at her sides, but were tense and ready if she needed to fight. "Why are you looking for him?"

Kusakabe predicted as much. Distrust was bound to happen in such a sketchy situation. He tipped his head towards the staircase. "Let's talk and walk. The gym is much safer than here."

Mai gave in easily, agreeing full hearted with the sentiment. The Disciplinary Member explained the similar consequences that had brought this gang together as they drifted down the halls, the others watching their backs. Reaching their destination, he gave pause to the story. Mai had taken the tale well so far, as had the boys, and he was a bit surprised about how accepting they were. Or perhaps they were just humoring him. The latter was more likely.

Feeling safer in the crowd, Kusakabe had his underlings form a wall for privacy. They already knew most of what he had to say, so it didn't matter if they overheard. "I suppose you all deserve some answers, then," he started slowly, taking a place on the floor where his back could rest against the wall. The younger teens gathered around him in a semi-circle.

"Yeah, that'd be nice, for once," Jonah smiled wryly, and the others murmured their agreement.

"First off, I can't tell you everything." Complaints immediately greeted him, and he held up a hand to calm them. "You don't need to know, and I don't have the time for details!" The group shuffled awkwardly, like when a teacher was scolding them. "I'm going to tell you the bare minimum, and there will be a time for questions later . . . probably. Okay, so, what connects all these people? For all contents and purposes, these people shouldn't have noticeable connections; they work hard to keep it out of sight. If you haven't gotten it yet, they include: Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takeshi, Sasawaga Ryohei, Dokuro Chrome, Hibari Kyoya, and lastly, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

The kids looked surprised at the mention of the perfect, and even more at the last name in the list. They were chomping at the bit to question it, but they withheld themselves.

"There is another, but he's not involved, so I won't talk about him. These people you all know, and have been in contact with recently, save Tsunayoshi. They gave you something, right?" There was a general nod of confirmation. "You two," Jonah and Nagista jumped, "came with a message from Gokudera, as well?"

The baseball players shared a glance before electing Nagista to speak. "Yes," he said hesitantly, "he said that you would be able to understand the code."

"I can," Kusakabe agreed. "What he gave you was a ciphered message; on the off chance you got caught. What it means is complicated. "The key-and-lock got flipped. The key holders got lost." The "Key-and-Lock" that he mentioned was a precaution that this group of people had come up with. It was meant to be a defense if the school got attacked, which it did. That was the announcement from the intercoms – it was a signal to each person to move to their stations. In the plan, each person would gather students from an area and converge at the gym, where it would be easiest to protect them. The "Locks" are set up at each door to the gym, and can only be activated by a certain person, who has the "Key." If nothing else, it meant an enemy could be held off until back up arrives. Or so we thought."

Kusakabe gave a chance for the information to process.

"Gokudera had said the plan was "flipped." He meant that the strategy had been turned against us, and that the plan was now a danger. But now, it's already too late to stop it. It was compromised because "the Key holders got lost." By lost, he meant kidnapped. We had considered this when we made the plan, originally, but we didn't think that it could be used this way. As of right now, the locks that were designed to keep enemies out are still working."

"That's good, right?" Josh whispered hopefully.

"But they shouldn't be working." Kusakabe finished grimly. "The student supervisors all made it to the gym at one point or another, and activated their lock. The problem now is that they were all captured."

"So the Keys are gone?" Akane pitched in.

"No," Kusakabe rejected. "You have them now. The various items that you were handed are the Keys."

An unbearable pressure suddenly squished the atmosphere. The students were tense, and stared at the important items that resided with them with anything from horror to awe.

"That is why this situation is very dangerous right now. The Keys are all within the gym, which mean we can get out, just as planned. If the enemy's idea was to trap us here, then it has already failed. As it stands, they cannot get in with the locks in place, and the keys are out of reach, so what is the next step? I would think it would be to break the lock."

Anticipation spiked in the air as silence reigned. Mai worked up the courage to ask, "How would they do that?"

"Cut the power source," Kusakabe replied without a thought.

"Then are they coming here to destroy it?" Josh voiced.

"No, they don't need to," the eldest grumbled, shutting his eyes briefly. "They already have the power source. You do you understand now? The energy that keeps the locks running should have been cut when the supervisors were captured, because they all would be out-of-range. If everyone is away at the same time, the machine is programed to turn off. This can mean several different things." His eyes flickered open again. "They could be within range still, which is highly unlikely. It could also mean that there is some sort of secondary power source feeding in. But most importantly, it means they control the flow of power right now, and they chose to leave the locks on."

"That doesn't make sense," Nagista frowned. "While the power is on still, then they're locking themselves out."

"Exactly," Kusakabe sighed. "It is most likely they want to keep the students here, and that is why they are on." The leader of the rag-tag team pushed off the wall and twisted to pop his back. He stood and stretched his arms over his head. "That's all I can really tell you right now."

The students sat quietly for a minute more, mulling over all this new information. They slowly straightened their legs out again, and tried to remember how to stand and move. They felt way in over their heads, and they knew the feeling was right. This wasn't where they belonged. But where was this, they wondered?

"Kusakabe," Akane ventured, "can I ask one thing, at least? How are they connected? Who are these people?"

Kusakabe kept a poker face. "Can't say," he rebutted, a sour smile creeping onto his lips. "You'll just have to hang on and try to find out." With that, conversation fell away and the students of Namimori regarded each other in a new light.

"What now?" Jonah asked the question on everyone minds.

Kusakabe chuckled and tucked his hands into his pockets. "Well, that's up to you guys." He walked past them and through the line of Disciplinary Members, nodding dismissal to them. He stopped and turned halfway, his shoulder to them. "Do you want to find out where your friends are, or will you stay here?"

I had wanted to post this a couple days ago, but my internet died, so I couldn't XD I hope you enjoy some of the answers given in this chapter, I've made you wait awhile for them! Enjoy ~ Rose