A/N : Hi…? I'm bringing back an update! I know it's been a month and I'm sorry but work is a bitch. Thank you for being so patient with me, and also thank you for 100 reviews! Wow, you guys rock. I love you guys so much, no homo.
Probably slightly homo.
Thank you so much for the faves and the follows as well, I never knew my story would be THIS popular. Uguh. If you saw me right now, I'm blushing red. Also, shout out to my beta reader evanescentfacade who was being such a dear. Oh, also, shout out to the person who asked Xanxus and someone flirting with Tsu while the others are around! :D
Warning : Curses, out-of-character (ESPECIALLY XANXUS because i kind of imagine him to be a dork in front of the person he actually likes so), ships (there's a little girlgirl action here, and then there's F27, also X27...what else…) and bad jokes.
More rants and replies on the bottom! *hearts*
Now, enjoy the story~
Tsuru was running an errand.
She was disguised as a boy-courtesy of Reborn, the master of cosplay-like that time she had visited Vongola. No, she didn't hate her identity as Tsuru, she just didn't want to be surrounded by people who wanted to talk to her. She also wanted to leave and return to the cottage as fast as possible because it was hot.
Right. Because it was summer finally.
She sighed, before pouting in annoyance. Why did the other Arcobaleno have to be so lazy on a day like this? She knew they could get up and buy whatever they needed but no, they had to ask-more like demand!-for her to go to Italy and pick up their stuff.
(Who the hell needs a freaking doll?! Oh, that's right. VERDE.)
So she quickened her pace, going as fast as she could without outright running and-
She hit a wall.
No, wait, scratch that. Not a wall. No wall was this warm. This was a human-like warm. Wait, was this someone's chest? Did she hit someone?! Oh god, she hit someone! Oh god oh god oh god-
She lifted her head, to find a very scary face staring back at her.
Oh god. She just didn't hit a person, she hit a mafioso who looked so freaking scary she wanted to cry and return to the cottage. She wished she had never left to do everyone else's errands so she wouldn't have had to meet this person! But of course, a sense of responsibility controlled her and with a heavy sigh inwardly, she knew that she had to continue on her errand.
"I-I'm so sorry!" She stammered, before she bowed repeatedly in front of the man. He didn't say anything, and taking that as a cue to leave, she immediately ran away.
Or tried to.
Yep, she couldn't run away. There was a hand grabbing her wrist.
She turned. The hand belonged to the man she had bumped into, who now looked like he was lost in thought about something. Maybe how to punish her?! Oh god, please not how to punish her! But now, she was wondering which famiglia he belonged to. If it was a big famiglia, she could safely said bye bye to her freedom.
"Hey, you." The gruff voice said, and she lifted her gaze to meet his crimson eyes. She watched him clear his throat, before a soft blush appeared on his cheeks.
Hold up, what-
"Do you have a Band-Aid? Because I just scraped my knees falling for you." He said, his voice slightly lower.
Tsuru paled slightly because, what the hell was going on?! "U-um, what-" The brown haired girl-who was dressed as a boy-asked, so very confused.
Xanxus feel butterflies inside his stomach. This boy, within his grasp, was so beautiful he could be a girl. Well, he wouldn't be opposed to some crossdressing, he could already picture the boy wearing a maid outfit, acting all shy and beautiful and-
Okay. Hold that thought. Xanxus was pretty sure that damned shark was already poisoning his mind. But first, he should make the boy fall for him. Or a least seduce him into his bed. It would be awkward if he just suddenly asked the boy to come to his bed, so flirting should be the way to go.
He didn't have that much experience flirting with boys-he usually flirted with girls-but he supposed that a few classic pick up lines shouldn't hurt, right? So, raking his mind, he found another one.
"Are you a banana? Because I find you a-peeling." He said, suddenly confident. Well, girls liked it when he acted like he owned the world. But from the sudden paling of the boy's face, he guessed he didn't like it?
Or maybe the pick up line wasn't good enough.
Huh. He needed to step it up.
"Kiss me if I'm wrong, but don't dinosaurs still exist?" He said, smirking arrogantly at the boy. Oh no, he became even paler. Oh god, seriously, was it because of him or was it because of the pick up lines?! But the pick up lines were perfect. So it must be him. What was it? His face? Was it-
More pick up lines! Maybe throw in something about his smile? Girls like it when a guy compliments how she smiles. Maybe it'd work…
"Are you a camera? Because every time I look at you, I smile." He tried with a smile of his own-which looked more like a grimace than a smile-but the boy immediately averted his eyes. His smile immediately fell, and he sighed.
Okay, last weapon.
"You're so beautiful that you made me forget my pick up lines." Xanxus murmured. An expression of relief appeared on the boy's face. Xanxus' smile was back up immediately and he was ready to throw out more pick up lines, but then the boy bowed to him.
"I-I'm sorry! I'm taken!" The boy stammered out, before he rushed past Xanxus. Xanxus reached out to catch his hand again, but the boy was way too fast. Xanxus scratched the back of his head, before he sighed heavily.
"Oi, Xanxus. The hell you doing here?" Squalo. Xanxus groaned.
"Trash. Your advice sucks!"
"Wait, what the fuck?!"
Slightly farther away from Xanxus and Squalo, the Arcobaleno had watched the show. They all carried a different expression on their faces, the most prominent ones being anger (on Reborn's) and amusement (on Fon's). The chinese man had trapped Reborn in a hold to keep the hitman from rushing over and give Xanxus a piece of his mind. Violently. When the raven haired male finally gave up trying to escape the martial artist, he settled on glaring at the Varia leader's back, (slightly) content with torturing the man over and over again in his mind.
"A-peeling-pftt-" Colonello couldn't hold back his laughter. Well, their position was hidden, but it was still close enough to hear the wonderful pick up lines that the man was throwing. They were priceless. And wonderful blackmail material, of course.
"I know you're there. You idiots, why didn't you save me earlier, dang it?!" Tsuru yelled. Their heads turned to Tsuru's direction, whose cheeks were now so red they could've been compared to a tomato. The six of them began to snicker at the flustered expression on Tsuru's face, before they all emerged from their hiding spot. Tsuru grumbled, before she threw herself into the nearest person's arms, which happened to be Mammon.
"Viper, Viper! Save me from that man, his face was so scary oh my god-" Tsuru blabbered.
Mammon laughed at Tsuru, before she held Tsuru closer. "It's OK, it's OK. I'm here, I'm here." The illusionist said with a smile on her face. "Although…." A mischievous smile replaced the gentle smile on her lips, and Tsuru knew she wouldn't like what Mammon said next at all.
"Your lips look so lonely… Would they like to meet mine?" Mammon giggled, and the others could only laugh loudly as Tsuru groaned, her cheeks becoming even redder.
Xanxus turned to see what was causing the commotion behind him, and his eyes widened. The boy of his dreams, was wrapped in a woman's embrace, looking oh so intimate and so lively, along with five other people crowding around them both and looking at him with fond gazes.
Xanxus sighed heavily again. Turned out he never stood a chance. The boy already had more than ONE lover. No wonder he looked so pale.
"Trash, let's drink."
"But you drink all the time already, Boss."
"Tsu." Reborn called out, poking the younger's cheek. Tsuru let out a grunt in annoyance, before she opened her eyes slowly. Her amber-shaded eyes slid to Reborn's towering figure, a yawn escaping her lips. She was feeling rather tired this morning, just because she wanted to finish a book that was probably a bit too thick. But once she started reading the actual story in the book, she couldn't stop. The story was amazing, and she spent all night reading It. That was the reason why she was asleep on the couch, instead of in her own room.
"Get up. We're going on a mission and we're going to need your help." Reborn gruffly said, his words immediately capturing her attention.
"Wait, I thought I would be useless in a fight?" Tsuru asked as she rubbed the sleep away from her eyes.
Reborn scoffed. "You are. But you will be amazing in battle. Be ready in five and go to the dining room." And with those words, Reborn turned around and left Tsuru.
Tsuru tilted her head in confusion, but then she just shrugged her shoulders in resignation. "Oh well." She mumbled, before she went to her room to prepare for the so-called mission. Another yawn escaped her lips, and she scratched her head with an irritated expression. Why would he be waking her this early anyway? And why now? It was usually the day before the mission, right? Why so early? Is the mission even today?
Whatever.
"For this mission, Tsuru will be joining us." Reborn said, gesturing to the girl across from him. Tsuru waved with a small grin on her face. Colonello glanced at Tsuru, before a very worried expression appeared on his face.
"Are you sure? It's not like I doubt her abilities or anything, but I don't want her to get hurt…" The blond trailed off, his azure eyes staying on Reborn's onyx orbs.
"I trust her not to do idiotic things on the mission." Reborn replied easily, before he fixed a glare on the flinching Skull. The said man immediately cowered in the corner of the room, and Tsuru could only laugh nervously.
"This mission is just like usual, destroying a famiglia." It was hard to miss the rising bloodlust in the room. Tsuru shivered slightly at the thought of these people against her. She really hoped that a time where she is on the opposing side to them would never come.
"But after listening to rumors on the street," Tsuru could only wonder when Reborn had had the time to listen to rumors and a whisper of that's supposed to be my job passed through her mind but she stomped the thought down immediately, "This famiglia specializes in machinery and non-human artillery. We have no way to estimate the amount of firepower this famiglia has, so I decided to bring Tsuru with us. Her enhanced vision, hearing and senses along with her intuition should be useful." Reborn smirked at Tsuru who nodded.
"But Reborn, Shi isn't exactly built for fighting." Lal protested. "If she's going to be the scout, doesn't that mean she has to be on the front lines?" The ochre eyed lady asked, her lips turned downward at the thought of Tsuru on the front lines, not having any knowledge of what to do in case of emergency.
"That's why I'm assigning both you and Mammon as her guards." Reborn said. Tsuru glanced at both Mammon and Lal, clear confusion in her gaze. As he had expected. "Mammon will hide your presence. But if things goes south, Lal will protect you both, since you'll be in the middle of the battle instead of on the sidelines."
As he said the last sentence, his eyes moved from Tsuru to Mammon who nodded in agreement. Well, she did have her mist flames to protect her, but illusions would be practically useless against machines. So, assigning Lal to protect the two of them made sense.
"Verde will go to the main control room for obvious reasons," Verde nodded easily, already planning what to use to destroy the controls. Would hacking be enough? Should he plant explosives? How big will the main control room be?
"Skull will become the bait." Of course he was the bait. His part in the mission was always the bait. Looking at how 'invincible' he supposedly was, he wasn't really surprised that he became the distraction. But when Tsuru flashed a proud smile his way, he supposed that this time, being the bait was the coolest thing ever.
"Colonello and Fon will destroy the main resources." Both Colonello and Fon understood what he meant by resources. It meant kill the people inside the building, and the two of them nodded. The machines would be dangerous, but if there weren't any people to operate the machines, they would become useless. Or at least, they hoped that people were actually operating the machines.
"And I will be confronting the Don." They all agreed with this, since the title of the World's Greatest Hitman was something Reborn earned because Reborn was strong, and the boss was probably the hardest target to get to compared to the others' jobs. Reborn let his gaze wander towards his comrades, and smirked-a dark smirk that promised pain and blood.
"Meeting adjourned. We will be heading out this afternoon. Oh, and Tsu? Bring your kit." Tsuru nodded. She figured that she would be acting as medic this time. Oh, well. She hoped that her first aid kit-which was better than nothing-wasn't going to slow her down…
"So us three huh?" Lal asked, walking towards Tsuru who gave a half smile.
"Why am I not even surprised?" Mammon added, joining the two girls. Tsuru shrugged, but her face did brighten up at the thought of joining her female colleagues on the battlefield.
"It's going to be awesome." The brunette breathed out, earning a smile of amusement from her companions.
"It's kind of like girls versus boys." Lal commented with a smirk.
Mammon glanced at the youngest of the three of them, her lips pursed, "But are you going to be okay? This is your first mission with us after all…" She trailed off.
Tsuru nodded, a grin appearing on her face. "It's OK! I mean, I finally feel like I'm not a burden to you guys. I hope with this, I can prove to the others that I'm useful in battle!" Tsuru's eyes reflected the determination that was burning in her heart.
"Now, why don't we prepare for the battle, hm?" The cobalt haired lady asked, and she was replied to with a nods.
"Sky, Rain One and Mist are ready to go." Tsuru, now looking like a boy once again under an illusion, murmured softly. A soft buzzing replied to her status update, and with a nod to the other ladies, they all entered the building. Tsuru immediately turned on her eyes, ears and fingers, before she pressed her ears to the walls. She could hear the sound of gears turning, soft whirring and a gentle cracking, most likely from the joints of the machines. She located several-probably more than five-machines' location before she whispered into her com.
"Sky has found toys near the prologue. Requesting from Sun permission to proceed." Toys for machines, prologue for the front door. They created this little nicknames while they were planning, and they were really cute. They were easy to remember as well-because the prologue is at the front of the story and for the back door, they used the epilogue just because-not to mention it was pretty smart, if a bit obvious. Well, it was Reborn and Verde who created the code names, and Tsuru could only imagine how the two who were always fighting suddenly began discussing code names and euphemisms for objects so seriously.
"Wait for Cloud. They are on their way. Rain Two, status?" Reborn replied, his voice low. Tsuru suppressed a small shiver that ran down her spine from the sound of his voice. She shook her head inwardly in denial at the feeling. Why would she even feel like that? What was so special about his voice anyway?
"Entering through the epilogue at the moment. No dolls here." Colonello's steps were not silent. It looked like he was inspecting the place, locating any enemies, all while acting like he was about to have a picnic instead of infiltrating a famiglia. Fon's amused chuckles filled her hearing for a moment, before she let out a gasp in shock.
"Dolls. Dolls here. Not just toys, dolls are here too, oh my god-" Tsuru babbled, trying hard not to dissolve into panic.
Mammon entwined their fingers together and held her hand tightly, and Tsuru tried to take a deep breath. "Relax, Sky. They can't see y-"
"I know someone's there!" A voice echoed through the empty hallway, and the three of them froze for an instant.
Lal readied her gun. "We've been found. I don't think making us invisible lessened the possibility of getting caught. I think they can't see us, but they can feel us." She hissed into the communication device, and Skull let out a worried grunt.
"That would explain why in the epilogue we can't find any dolls." Fon said, his voice reassuring in an attempt to have Tsuru calm down. The chocolate haired girl wheezed, and Lal moved to her side.
She patted Tsuru on the head lightly before flashing a smile to the girl. "Calm down. We'll be fine. We're not called the strongest in the world for nothing." Tsuru nodded, her fists clenching tightly.
"Explain the current situation." Verde's voice entered the conversation, and from the sound of loud typing that echoed inside their little headsets it seemed like he had managed to reach the main control room. And when Tsuru tried to listen more closely, she could hear a sizzling, like something was melting. Sweat rolled down her cheek when she realized that something that had been manning the place was now slowly dissolving into nothing because Verde threw something acidic at it.
"It's probably because the dolls knew that we were coming and expected us to come from the prologue, because when we destroyed the Estra- them we entered from prologue instead of the epilogue, and that was one of the few publicly known times that we destroyed a famiglia, they concluded that we would use the same tactic on them and installed sensors that allowed them to sense mist flames because we have mist on our side." Fon reasoned smoothly.
Reborn hummed softly at Fon's theory, before he let out a soft growl of, "Plan B."
Plan B, as was explained by Reborn on the way to the building, was to switch to an all-kill mode. Destroy everything, forgo strategy, just kill. If things turned even darker, flee from the building and Verde would destroy the place with a bomb. But on the way, Verde had said that he had forgotten the bomb in his laboratory, so there's was no other option but to fight. No other way but to kill.
"Shi." Lal poked her cheek, her voice quiet and worried. Tsuru finally unclenched her fists, before her sunset-shaded orbs turned to Lal who began to search for something in her many pockets. When she found what she was looking for, she handed it to Tsuru, which turned out to be a hunting knife along with it's sheath.
"I know it isn't much. But I hope that it's better than nothing. Just contact us if something goes wrong. I know that you're scared of knives, but for the our sake, please, use this to protect yourself. You are our home, and if you fall we will also fall bringing the bastards that brought you down with us." She didn't say to kill, but to protect herself. To protect herself for their sakes. To try to survive for them. Tsuru could live with that. She only hoped that after all of this was over, she could sleep at night without any nightmares.
She shut her eyes for a moment, before she opened them and found the knife still in front of her. With great reluctance, she took the knife from Lal's outstretched hand-missing the obvious relief on the general's face-before she nodded. "Okay." She agreed.
"Rain One. Ready to fly." Lal whispered into the com, before she signalled for Mammon to remove the invisible veil on her. Mammon nodded, and then Lal was out there, visible, and ready to kill in defense of her sky and for the mission's completion.
"I have to go as well, Tsu." Mammon said, gripping Tsuru's hand tightly. The brown haired girl looked conflicted for a moment, but then she took a deep breath and nodded. There was no way she would beg for the other to stay, because that would be selfish and could mean the end of their lives. She couldn't afford to be selfish, not now. She could later be selfish enough to baby them, but not now.
"I will move out as well then." Tsuru mumbled, before her eyes turned tangerine. With another deep breath, she hugged Mammon for a moment before her figure became visible as well. Her ears and senses were more sensitive than before, the vibrations from the machine stomping around and the footstep-no, scratch that, footsteps-of her enemies could be felt beneath her feet. She took off her shoes-because when her bare feet were touching the ground, she was not only much faster than when she wore her shoes, but more sensitive to vibrations, she knew this from all the training they had given her to kill before she left them behind, burning-and then she just ran as fast as she could without making any noise at all.
No enemies for now. She took a few deep breaths, before she swallowed her own saliva in other to calm the strong beating of her heart. She could hear ammunition being fired over her line, meaning that the others were engaged in battles, and she could finally feel the vibrations of enemies coming closer, closer and stronger, like a giant approaching her location slowly.
She hid herself behind a pillar, and when she could feel someone's breath practically on her neck-she was glad that her first enemy was a human because humans were easier to dispose of than machines, but she was also so damn upset that her first enemy just had to be a human who had a life that she needed to take and she didn't want to take lives anymore, damn it all-and silently, she snuck behind the person. Before the person could turn, she jammed the knife into his nape, pushing the knife deeper with both hands, cutting through the windpipe and when the person fell, limp and lifeless she tried to take a deep breath.
She had taken another life today.
She had taken another life today and she was not happy about it, at all.
This person might have been a mafioso, but he probably had a family out there, waiting for him to return, maybe a wife? A child? A mother? A father? A brother?
A choked sob left her lips. She had to be strong. For them, for her comrades that were also fighting to protect themselves she couldn't cry, she promised to herself that she would not be a burden, she knew that today she would be taking at least one life, she knew, and so with a whisper to herself in scolding-because the others would be so worried if they found her crying like this-she stood taller, with tears running down her cheeks, her expression turning darker.
She held her knife in one hand now, a gun-that she stole from the corpse that she had killed-resting in her other hand ready for action and a constant reminder as to where she got the gun and why she had it. And when she heard another a pair of footsteps, she gulped and sped up as fast as she could. But before she could even slash her knife or shoot her gun, the body fell-gracefully, oh so gracefully-and a pair of cerulean eyes met her gaze.
A small smile appeared on her face when Colonello entered her vision. She was so glad that she could cry (even after she cried earlier and she really needed to stop fricking crying, crying is a weakness in battle). The blond looked panicked for a moment, eyes trailing left and right, and when he realized she was alone, Colonello immediately understood the situation.
"Alone?" The blue eyed man confirmed, and Tsuru nodded.
"I just made my first kill after that time, Nello-nii. I'm sorry I'm crying, it just, it just didn't feel good at all." Tsuru whispered softly. Colonello nodded, before he patted the top of her head.
"It's OK. Just think it's either theirs lives or ours, Tsu. I would be worried if you felt good after you attacked them. It would make you the second coming of Reborn then, no?" The blond joked, and Tsuru smiled giggled a little.
"Yeah, no one wants to be the next Reborn, right?" Tsuru said, and then a voice scoffed from their headsets.
"I heard you talking shit, Sky, Rain Two. Where the hell are you two right now?" Reborn quipped. He sounded annoyed, irritated, and a little out of breath. Tsuru and Colonello laughed.
"I don't know. I think we're um… on the first floor, near the bathroom?" Tsuru looked around, not actually sure. Every door looked the same to her. She probably had to blame her sense of direction because she usually relief on her intuition so she wouldn't get lost, but now? Every doors was the same, and even her intuition wasn't saying anything at all. She grumbled inwardly.
And then her ears picked something up.
She dragged Colonello down, a bullet passing right by his head, before she whipped her gun up and shot the person hiding in the room that she had guessed to be the bathroom. She didn't't know where she hit him, but the shooter fell immediately, and Tsuru could only take short breaths. The exchange lasted less than thirty seconds. The line went silent along with Colonello who looked shocked, before Verde immediately voiced out his worry.
"What was that? Are you two okay?" He asked. Tsuru's lips trembled when she finally realized the sound of breathing had suddenly multiplied, and now a loud cacophony of breathing filled her ears.
And when figures began to appear left and right, she knew that they were trapped. "S-sky and Rain Two are in a box." Trapped like they're in a box.
"Not just dolls. Toys. Lots of toys." Colonello commented, his lips curving into a grim smile. Tsuru's grip on her gun slackened slightly, but she held on and a giggle left her lips.
"More toys than dolls." She confirmed, and then the two of them jumped when they heard a loud curse. Verde.
"Hold on. This code is so damn long you wouldn't even believe it." Verde cursed, and the typing turned even louder.
"Do you need help? I'm near your location." Fon said, voice slightly breathless.
He was probably running and fighting at the same time, because the sound of gun shooting was loud, and slowly approaching them, and Tsuru murmured a soft, "No."
"Let us try first. My pencil isn't much, though." Pencil meant weapon. Why did they decided on pencil, was a mystery that Tsuru didn't want to know the answer to. "Talk to you later, guys." And with that, she turned off her line. Colonello mimicked her gesture, before he readies the assault rifle in his grip.
"Einz, Zwei, Drei!" at the count of Drei, bullets began to rain down upon them, but they dodged most of the bullets. Of course, they didn't really escape the bullet completely, one nestled itself inside her left arm and a stray bullet had nicked Colonello's cheek. But the two of them knew that they couldn't back down, wouldn't back down.
Ignoring the pulsing pain from her arm, Tsuru immediately began closing the gap between her and the enemies with Colonello providing support from behind. Readying her knife, she evaded the split second shot from her enemy before she stabbed her knife deep inside his throat. The man spluttered for a moment, and she ducked behind his body, using it as a shield, as bullets aimed at her once again.
"Be careful, Tsu!" Colonello yelled, and then the sound of gunshots followed his voice. Tsuru smashed her gun to the right hitting the man about to punch her in his genitalia-how did her hand know where to go?-before she cut through one of his arteries as he bent over in pain, she then dived to her left and slashed a woman's ankles. The girl yelped and when she fell, Tsuru raised her knife and the female was down for the count permanently. As the woman's corpse toppled to the right Tsuru picked up her knife and began shooting her gun once more after reloading.
"You never told us this many were surrounding you, idiot!" A voice yelled, and when she turned to see the newcomer, a man shot her in the thigh and she bit her lower lip to keep her from shouting. Another shot was heard, and all of the enemies who were still standing suddenly fell, save for Colonello who was breathing hard.
"If you'd just informed us how much trouble you were in we would've rushed here!" The voice growled, but the pain from the gunshots on her arm and thigh were so painful, the pain starting to blur her senses. She couldn't even really hear what they were saying.
Her eyes turned back to caramel, her ears stop whirring, and her fingers were feeling normal once again, but she still couldn't understand what in the world they were talking about. She caught bits but couldn't piece it together, and the conversation remained unsolvable like that rubix cube she hated so much.
But she did register the warmth on her forehead and the warmth that had enveloped her body, and everything turning black.
"She's such an idiot." The first thing she heard after she woke up was the voice of Reborn growling under his breath. She lets out a soft whine, a sound close to a 'noooo' and when her eyes slowly-finally!-opened, the sight of six people towering over her entered her vision.
Tsuru blinked, letting her eyes to get used to the dim light of the room, before her eyes flew open in shock. She glanced right and left, starting to understands her situation. "Um… is this the cottage?" She asked, her voice unsure after just waking up.
Skull, who was sitting right next to her head nodded rapidly. "I-it's your room, nee-chan," He stuttered, before he burst into tears, "I-I'm so glad you're-sob-okay-!"
Tsuru stared at the crying Skull for a moment, before she tried to sit up. Colonello immediately helped her into the position, before she smiled weakly to the blond who nodded back at her. She gently wrapped her arms around Skull who was still weeping, her fingers gently patting the top of his head, silently noting how soft his hair was despite being under a helmet so often.
"Please don't cry, you're going to make me feel guilty." Tsuru mumbled, and she could feel Skull nod slightly and his sobs turn to hiccups.
"Damn right you should feel guilty." Reborn growled, and Tsuru turned her gaze to Reborn who looked downright livid. Tsuru flinched at the obvious anger in his voice, and slowly she released her hug with Skull to tremble and fidget, her gaze fixed on her lap.
"What were you thinking?" Reborn asked, ire and disappointment clouding his voice. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks because she wasn't thinking. Since she was shot in the arm, she wasn't thinking at all. It was all intuition and adrenaline, she ran high with fear and dread and the wish to be safe, to stay at their side and she wasn't thinking of pain, worry, strategy, nothing.
"I-I wasn't thinking." She admitted, her voice soft.
"This warrants a punishment. From now on, you're staying here. You're not going to go on missions anymore because you're reckless, you don't think, and you're a damn idiot for making us worry!"
Fon let out a gasp, but Tsuru could only nod slightly as tears kept rolling down her cheeks. "I-I understand.." She whispered, her voice quiet.
Reborn let out a scoff, before he turned and left the room. Heavy silence hung above their heads. One by one, they all left the room. Everyone but Fon.
"How are you feeling?" The chinese man asked, his voice soft. He walked slowly towards the bed where Tsuru was still crying her heart out. And gently-as gentle as his rough, dirty hands could be-he pulled her into his embrace, pressing her head close to his chest.
"Even if I-I was reckless and being idiotic-the feeling of blood on my hands-I-I took a life-I took a life, Fon-I took a life of another-like them-sob-like them-!" She gasped out between her sobs, before her voice cracked and tears began to soak his clothes. But he really didn't care, he simply held her closer, closer than ever, letting her cry because her hands were now stained with another's blood. Granted, a mafioso's, but a human's blood nonetheless.
"But you are alive now, that's what's important." Fon assured, his fingers buried in her amber-shaded locks. His chin was now resting on top of her head, he sighed when he felt that her was trembling.
But then she shook her head, jostling him slightly from his position. "But now I'm just-just like them-I took another life-for me to stay alive-it shouldn't be this way, it shouldn't be this way-" She whispered, so soft he had to strain his ears to hear.
"This is life, Tsu. In this dark, dark world, it's eat or be eaten. We still need you here, I still need you here. We can't let you be eaten yet." Fon paused for a moment, "I'm sorry about Reborn's words. This is your first mission with us, and it turned out to be your last."
Tsuru could only laugh hollowly. "What are you saying Fon? I was scared, I should've been thinking with my brain not with my instincts, and I also got Nello-nii hurt as well… It's all my fault, not yours so don't apologize." Her tears slowly stopped, leaving quiet sobs to fill the air. Fon let Tsuru's head rest against his shoulder as her breathing deepened, slowly falling asleep.
And when he was about to move Tsuru so she could lay down and finally have the rest she needed, her hand that was clutching at his clothes stopped him. So with a sigh, he position Tsuru to be more comfortable against his shoulder with his back against the wall. He entwined their fingers together-a hand that had killed, but his hand had too, and far more than hers would ever kill-and slowly, he laid his head on top of Tsuru's.
Today's events finally catching up to him, and slowly, slowly, he fell asleep.
A/N; Guys. You are too kind. Literally too kind. I don't deserve you guys as my readers oh my god /cries/ on the other note, by the time this chapter is released, I probably already finished whatever making me busy, so expect once-a-week chapter like before. Or at least, I hope it's going to be once-a-week. Hehe.
Proud to say that I released two books in Indonesian. One is fully mine while the other is a collaboration with my friends. And you know what? I won't have even been able to finish the damn thing if it wasn't because of you guys. You're my inspiration and also my energy. I read your reviews when I'm feeling down, and it helps so much. You guys are the best, because 100 reviews, ladies, gentlemen and others! :D
And by the way, I got my first other-than-the-language-i-know review! I can catch happy birthday, but I can only understand Spanish slightly, so. I'm so happy, another milestone is passed now! *jumping around in happiness* \:D/
Replies to anon reviewers!
KiMaChi ; An update indeed! It's been a month now, so I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. I promise I will drag original!Tsu more into the story, but at least he appears on this one. :D oh my god, okay. I will write them to be more possessive next time, haha. Soon turns to be a month, so I'm kind of sorry.
Crucifix HiME ; I wonder why you re-read it twice… thanks for reviewing!
Awww ; It's not like I hate Nana or something (I actually adored her when I watched the anime the first time), it's just that I need a reason why she was sold and Nana turned out to be the best idea. I could do Iemitsu, actually, but there's already a lot of Iemitsu bashing, so yeap.
BloodyClownz13 ; Let's just say….nothing good. Haha. I'm joking. Ask and it shall appear? :3
kK ; I feel you, friend. I feel you. *stares longingly at some fics* I feel you indeed…
If after 24th May I didn't update once a week, please blame the handsome sword men who wandered into my life. *stares at Touken Ranbu* I'm still waiting for my Jiji, game.
I'm joking. Rest assured that this fic will be my main priority once again since I don't want to disappoint you guys. (And I still want to see how you react with my ending, although it's still far, far away…)
Now, I ask. Do you want to see the story from Vongola side as a filler? No, not CEDEF. If I'm writing CEDEF, then Colonello + Lal are bound to show up and-no. When I say Vongola, then Vongola. So from Nono and Decimo, mostly. Answer on the review or PM, I don't even care. So yeah! :D
Ciao, guys!