A/N: Not much to say other than sorry for the shitty fight scenes and my inability to describe inner turmoil.

I'll be gone for the first half of August, so I won't be updating during then, and I won't be able to write during then, either, so until I get back, there will be nothing from me. Sorry, but where I'm going offers no internet, and I can only pack the bare essentials, which unfortunately does not include my laptop.

Have fun reading!

XxX

Silence descended as Tsuna narrowed his eyes on Massimo. The tengu laughed.

"Are you scared of me, human?" Massimo taunted, hands drifting down to gun strapped to his waist. "Have you frozen in fear?"

Tsuna shook his head.

Left!

Tsuna threw himself to the left as a bullet cracked the ground right where Tsuna had been, spraying grains of sand everywhere. Massimo tsked and cocked his gun again, flying backwards to maintain distance between him and Tsuna.

Tsuna dashed forwards, relying on instincts and the subtle tells that Massimo's body gave to indicate where he was going to shoot next. Adrenaline flooded his body, and his eyesight as well as his mind sharpened. He saw the gun twitched and the trigger finger tighten. With a burst of speed, he dodged to the right, deftly avoiding another bullet.

"Stay still, you brat!" Massimo shouted, getting ready to fire another shot. Tsuna narrowed his eyes and dodged the next shot as well. He eyed the gun, wondering how many shots exactly Massimo had. Three bullets had been wasted, and hopefully, there wouldn't be many left. The next bullet clicked his cheek, and he scolded himself for his distraction.

Massimo grinned. "First blood. And your blood will be the only one spilt during this battle!"

Tsuna refocused on the gun hand, watching as Massimo took flight to stay away from the approaching human. Tsuna's only chance to defeat Massimo was if he could get close and personal. Massimo was obviously not very built physically, and his wings strained to lift him. He would only do well in a fight of distance, where he could safely shoot and leave Tsuna helplessly on the ground.

"Too bad you're just human, huh?" Massimo asked, shooting again and missing horribly.

This continued for a while, with Massimo continuously wasting bullets and Tsuna focusing on the gun hand, reading movements and dodging.

Tsunayoshi, being physically capable is not enough. To become a truly experienced fighter, you must read your opponent, to predict their movements and to judge your next actions accordingly. Kyoya's voice echoed in his mind. However, Tsuna had only one option at the moment: to dodge. This would be a test of endurance and speed versus the amount of bullets Massimo held.

The battle dragged on, and as the sun rose high in the sky, each combatant grew more and more weary. Massimo was aiming more haphazardly now, and Tsuna was slowly but surely gaining more and more wounds. The sand was working against him, as it shifted and turned underneath his foot, and he had to exert more and more energy to change directions. It seemed like a hopeless situation for the human.

Abruptly, the firing stopped, and Tsuna looked up to see Massimo's somewhat horrified expression. It seemed as if the tengu was finally out of bullets. Tsuna's intuition sparked, telling him something that he wasn't quite sure of, before slipping away, leaving the human strangely unsettled.

Tsuna allowed a relieved grin to appear on his face. Finally, Massimo had no choice other than to directly engage Tsuna now that he'd run out of ammunition. The only way for a victor to be declared was if they got up close and personal.

Careful. Even the weakest tengu is still strong, Dame-Tsuna. Look for weaknesses, but trust that instinct of yours.

Tsuna analyzed Massimo. The tengu was slow in the air and even slower on ground. However, should he put all of his weight behing a punch, Tsuna had no doubt that he would go flying. Speed Massimo did not have, but he had power.

Massimo landed on the ground, looking disappointed and a bit more apprehensive than before.

Tsuna didn't give him a chance to recover.

The human dashed forwards, sand spraying behind him. His hands, wrapped in their protective gloves, grabbed Massimo's arm and, using his momentum, flipped the tengu onto the ground. Tsuna did not have the heart to kill him, but he would make sure that the tengu would forfeit. He just had to intimidate and injure Massimo enough.

Massimo scrambled to his feet, lashing out with a meaty fist.

Duck!

Tsuna dropped to into a crouch and whipped out his leg, hitting the back of Massimo's knees and dropping the heavy tengu to the ground. He quickly put his foot on the back of Massimo's neck and pressed against it warningly.

"Forfeit, or I will snap your neck," Tsuna said, hoping dearly to the gods (well, they were his friends, so they better listen) that Massimo wouldn't call him out on his bluff. Tsuna wouldn't, couldn't willingly take a life. "Forfeit, for you own sake."

Massimo trembled beneath Tsuna and said, "Alright, alright, just don't snap my neck!"

Tsuna sighed in relief and took his foot off Massimo, ready to turn away and leave.

He didn't see Massimo's cunning eyes and shrewd smile, didn't see him raise his gun, cocked and ready to fire. He did, however, turn at the last second, eyes wide in surprise.

Massimo never ran out of bullets. That's what Tsuna's intuition had been trying to tell him, that Massimo still had one left, to not let his guard down, and now, that one wrong judgment was going to land a bullet between Tsuna's eyes. A handful of sand was thrown into Tsuna's eyes, blinding him momentarily, and Tsuna stumbled, erasing any chances he had of dodging the inevitable bullet.

"I never actually said I'd forfeit, though."

Tsuna felt dread settle in his stomach as Massimo laughed victoriously. There was a gunshot and a giant cracking sound, and Tsuna prepared for blackness to overtake him.

Seconds of stunned silence passed. Did…did Massimo miss?

Tsuna opened his eyes and rubbed them in an attempt to get the grit out to see Massimo equally as stunned, his gun laying several meters away, smoking and crumpled beyond recognition. Tsuna stared dumbly at it. Death had been at his front door, and to have it pushed so violently away was…numbing.

Tsuna looked out at his team to find the blue wall shattered, a large hole torn into the middle of the huge surface, and on the other side, Xanxus's smoking gun. Xanxus looked livid, and he cocked his gun again.

"Trash who lie and deceive should die like dogs," Xanxus snarled, ready to pull the trigger. Tsuna leapt to his feet. No, no, this was his match. He held a hand out, and Xanxus's eyes narrowed. Scars started spreading across his face, and Xanxus jerked his gun to the side.

"Move, Tsunayoshi."

"No," Tsuna replied, glancing out to see Timoteo, who had furrowed his brows. "Don't do this, you can't risk your chance and get disqualified!" he pleaded, turning to pin Massimo, trembling in true fear, with a tawny glare. "And you, don't do anything to antagonize Xanxus any more."

Massimo only nodded meekly.

Before Xanxus could take any further action, Timoteo boomed, "Due to interference from Xanxus, Tsuna is hereby disqualified from the matches, and the win goes to Massimo."

Tsuna breathed out, thoroughly disappointed in himself. How could have been so naïve as to let his guard down around a dangerous opponent? He shook his head as the walls fell around them and trudged to Xanxus, who had his narrow eyes trained on Massimo.

"Fucking scum," he growled vehemently, and even Squalo looked enraged. Fran had a blank face, although if Tsuna had looked deeper, there would have been a hidden disgust.

"If he was one of my subordinates, I'd gut him," Squalo said before wiping down his sword with a spare cloth he'd fished out of his leather jacket. "I'll take care of Tyr. The trash won't even know what hit him."

Tsuna shrank away from the three Varia members, huddling against a tree and sinking into a sitting position. He'd lost. Xanxus, Squalo, the rest of the Varia, the gods, they'd all put their trust in him, and he'd let them down. He'd never felt more horrible than he had at this moment in his life.

He'd let them down. H-he'd…

"Stop blaming yourself, runt. We prepared for this scenario, and we knew that you would lose. Reborn told me," Xanxus said as he offered a hand to the sitting human. Tsuna only stared at the large appendage, worn and shameful.

"Even Reborn didn't expect it of me, huh…" Tsuna muttered, and he yelped when a large hand cuffed his head. He looked up at Xanxus, who looked angrier.

"Tsunayoshi, it was we who decided that you were to enter. We took responsibility, and we all knew the most probable outcome of the situation. It was not your fault. Massimo was a sly, deceptive worm, complete and utter trash. You're much better than him," Xanxus said, pulling the human forcefully onto his feet and marching him to the next arena: a grassy plain, soft and flowing in the wind.

"Even you expected me to lose! Why did you let me fight, then? Why…" Tsuna ranted, feeling tears well up in his eyes. "I disappointed you!"

"No, you did not. Listen to me, runt!" Xanxus snapped, frustrated. "It wasn't your damn fault, got it? Reborn wanted you to gain experience, for you to grow as a fighter and as a man. You will face impossible scenarios, and she thought that this was a good opportunity for you to learn when to pick your battles. We agreed, and we let you fight because we trusted you. The only fault is ours, for not expecting you to forfeit when you should have and for underestimating how low that scum was.

"I trust you, Tsunayoshi, and that's why I wanted you as my last fighter. Because I was selfish, and I wanted one of my most important people to be beside me when I take this throne."

Tsuna felt his throat tighten, and he coughed, tears spilling over his cheeks. He gave a watery laugh, and when he glanced back up, he saw no anger in Xanxus's face, only a fierce expression.

"Even if I only lost you a match?"

"Even then," Xanxus said, but then he paused and scowled. "You would have won if you didn't have a bleeding heart."

Tsuna gave a more genuine laugh, and Xanxus looked faintly pleased that he'd managed to cheer up the human.

Timoteo drew their attention to find Squalo and Tyr, both with their swords out and grinning toothily at each other, already within the sealed blue cage. In addition to the transparent blue, though, there was a faint sheen of frost and ice, most probably a contribution of the Cervello.

"Hah. Their shitty wall needed to be reinforced," Xanxus snorted, smug at having shot through a nigh impenetrable wall. Tsuna shuddered at how much power Xanxus would have had to put into the shot to be able to do so.

He thanked the gods (it felt weird praying to the gods now, since he actually knew who they were) that Xanxus was his friend and not his enemy.

"The sixth battle will now begin!"

There was a flurry of activity, and before Tsuna's eyes could catch up with the movement, Tyr and Squalo were locked in combat, at each other's necks and snarling.

"Voi, you're going down, old man. Time for the new and better to rise!" Squalo shouted, and Tyr smirked.

"I'd like to see you try, brat."

Tsuna watched, unable to keep up with the fast movements of each combatant. He was only grateful he didn't have to fight Tyr.

"Beware the shark, scum!"

Squalo thrust his sword forwards in a series of rapid attacks, churning the air and forcing Tyr to back off to avoid being skewered to death. Tsuna's gaze was drawn to Tyr's left arm, which seemed too stiff for the rest of his flexible and strong body.

"What's wrong with his left arm?" Tsuna asked Xanxus, and surprisingly, it was Fran who spoke up.

"He doesn't have one. Neither does Squalo-senpai," Fran responded, and Tsuna turned his head, alarmed, to Squalo. He frowned when Squalo swung his left hand downwards, creating a rift in the ground, and Tyr jumped aside, swinging his own sword.

"He has a left arm…" Tsuna trailed off, trying to see any stiffness or unnaturalness to Squalo. Fran shook his head, and when he spoke, there was a tinge of respect.

"He doesn't have a left hand. He felt that, to defeat the Sword Emperor, who is missing his left arm, he had to even the odds and prove that, even with such a disability, he was stronger," Fran said, and at that moment, Tyr's sword grazed Squalo's left hand. The glove was torn off to reveal a mechanized hand.

Ah, that's why he rarely took off his sword… Tsuna realized.

"Oh? So you took your own left hand?" Tyr asked, amused. The two were panting slightly, eyes glued on each other as if the universe only revolved around them. Squalo smirked.

"Can't have you giving me a handicap, can I?" he asked. "It won't give you excuses when you lose!"

They clashed again, black wings twisting in the air and propelling bodies around the arena. Tyr was on the offensive, aiming at the left hand and trying to destroy it. Squalo parried, blocked, and dodged, the silver of his hair and his sword whirling at dangerous speeds. It was an intricate, fatal dance, in which one wrong move could spell out death for the other.

Tyr snarled in frustration and lunged, finally scoring first blood on Squalo. Squalo backed off in a burst of wind and flurry of black feathers. He wiped his cheek and stared at his hand contemplatively before looking back towards his opponent.

Calming himself, he pulled his composure together. No, it wouldn't do for him to get too excited. Tyr was the Sword Emperor, and he'd gained that title not from luck, but from skill. Squalo could not underestimate the man.

"Just a brat," Tyr sneered, leaning on one leg and looking condescendingly at Squalo. "When I heard that there was a brat who'd defeated 100 swordsmen, I'd assumed it was you. I didn't know they were so weak as to keel over in front of a runt."

Squalo clenched his hand and threw a shark-like smirk at the older tengu.

"You haven't seen anything yet, scum!"

Squalo dashed forwards in a burst of speed, sword descending in a wide arc, and the deadly dance continued. Tyr's countenance was becoming darker and darker, and the battle dragged on. Each slash and swipe was blocked and countered, each mistake taken advantage of and each weakness pushed to the limit.

Tyr spotted an opening. Squalo had left his right side open. With a victorious grin, Tyr stabbed his sword forwards, only to be met with knowing eyes and predatory grin.

"Gotcha."

Squalo knocked the sword aside. As the blade went spinning, it crashed into the blue wall and clattered uselessly to the ground. Squalo lashed out with a foot, kicking Tyr in the opposite direction of his sword. Tyr tumbled to a halt, and Squalo planted his foot on Tyr's chest.

Tyr stared upwards in surprise, if Squalo didn't know any better, pride. There was no more chance for him. He was pinned, useless without his sword, wings stuck underneath his body, and exhausted. He knew when a fight was lost. Tyr laughed self-deprecatingly and shook his head, bitter but accepting.

"My, you've gotten better. I remember when you were just a small brat, challenging me at every turn. I should have killed you then," Tyr said, voice strong and unwavering. He looked upwards at Squalo's shadowed face, remembering when he'd given the brat tips on how to use a sword when the kid had gone after him and when he'd spoken words of encouragement disguised in barbs and insults. The kid wasn't a kid anymore, though, was he? Squalo'd grown into a fine tengu, with the resolve to carry out his missions and the loyalty of an unwavering canine. Yes, if Tyr had to choose a successor, it'd be Squalo.

Squalo looked downwards impassively, and with respect in his voice, he said, "You did well with your throne, but now I'll be taking it."

Tyr nodded. "Take care of it, then."

With a swift stroke, Tyr's head was decapitated. Squalo bowed his head in respect towards the former Sword Emperor before raising it. He threw a victorious smirk at Xanxus, who snorted.

"Tyr has been terminated by Squalo. Squalo wins," Timoteo shattered the stunned silence, and the blue walls fell. Squalo left the corpse of Tyr behind and stood in front of Xanxus. There was a brief pause, with unspoken congratulations and thanks.

"Voi, don't lose your battle, boss. You're the only one left," Squalo said, and the serious tension between Xanxus and Squalo fell. Xanxus lashed out with his hand, cuffing his closest companion over the head.

"I'll win my match, fucking shark. Let's go," Xanxus said, striding away without a glance backwards.

"Took you long enough, stupid shark-senpai," Fran drawled, trailing after his boss, and Squalo's face turned red.

"Voi, fucking frog, watch your mouth!" he roared, chasing after the illusionist.

Only Tsuna looked back, glancing over a scowling Enrico and Massimo, skipping over the decapitated corpse bleeding on the grass (shit, he'd never, never unsee that sight, and he forcibly directed his thoughts away from the memory, because if he saw it again, he'd give up his breakfast and lunch right then and there), and gazing at Timoteo, who looked both proud and saddened.

Tsuna turned back and followed his companions.

Tomorrow would be the day, Tsuna thought, and although he wouldn't be fighting, he anxious.

XxX

As they returned, Tsuna began to feel shame and guilt wriggle in his stomach. He'd have to face Reborn, who, although she already knew he'd lose, would no doubt look at him and scoff at how useless he was, and Kyoya, who'd only stare in silence before leaving, deeming him not good enough for his presence. How could he face the gods who'd trained him?

"Stop thinking, runt," Xanxus said as he pushed open the doors to the dojo. The group stepped inside, and Fran immediately headed towards the infirmary, most likely to gloat about his flawless victory to Bel.

Squalo, who'd been strangely subdued during the whole trip back, said he'd be retiring for the night before disappearing as well. Xanxus only glanced at Tsuna and ruffled his hair roughly before leaving as well, leaving Tsuna all by himself.

He sighed and trudged to his room, fully expecting disappointed gazes and judging looks. He paused in front of the room he was living in with the rest of the gods and paused, nerves getting the better of him. He closed his eyes and slid open the door.

As he walked in, he found smirks, proud looks, and some anger.

"It wasn't your fault, Tsuna-nii-chan, you did well!" Lambo rushed out in one breath, flying forwards and barreling into Tsuna's stomach. Well used to these kinds of impacts from the small beings, he felt more shame curling in his chest.

"I-I lost, guys," Tsuna mumbled, and although he was expecting it, he still wasn't prepared for the smack to his nose that Kyoya dished out.

"Tsunayoshi, you won that fight. That cowardly herbivore deserves to be bitten," Kyoya growled, morcing Tsuna's head up and glaring at the brown eyes that were tearing from not just the harsh blow to his nose. "If you dare feel bad about this, I think I'll need to take you out for another week and show you what real losing is."

"Haha, Kyoya, you're just scaring him!" Takeshi said, yanking Kyoya backwards and dodging the ensuing strike aimed at his head. He fended off the blows with his katana. "Tsuna did well."

"But I lost, you guys b-believed in me, and I went ahead and…I was careless, and I really shouldn't have been. This was serious, and I had your support on me, and I let you down," Tsuna babbled, his feelings since his fight rushing out. Despite Xanxus's reassurances, he still felt horrible. "A-and, you knew I would lose too! What's the point of sending me out there to fight for Xanxus? It was risky, and-!"

Kyoko flew forwards, a gentle smile on her face, with Ryohei beside her, glowing and radiant.

"Sawada, you did EXTREMELY well," Ryohei reassured.

Kyoko shook her head. "Tsuna-kun, you were against a tengu. By all rights, you should have lost five minutes into the match, but you would have won if your opponent wasn't such a scumbag."

"Kyoko!" Tsuna exclaimed, surprised at the amount of vitriol in her tone.

Kyoko shrugged. "It's true."

"Well, you're obviously feeling down. Would you like me to join you tonight?" Mukuro asked, and although the look on his face was leering, he seemed almost concerned. Hah, Tsuna scoffed inwardly as he felt the tension in his shoulders bleed out slightly and the nervousness drain from his body, 'Mukuro' and 'concerned' were unlikely to be in the same sentence when combined with 'Tsuna'.

Lambo scowled and, surprisingly, so did Hayato, who growled and lifted a small stick of dynamite. "Get near him with your perverted ways, and I'll blow you to smithereens."

Mukuro backed off. "Oya, no need to get violent."

Tsuna finally allowed himself to look at Reborn, who was once again polishing her gun. She completely ignored him, and he felt something inside him sink. Reborn was disappointed, Reborn was mad at him, he'd let her down…

"You did well, Tsuna. Much better than I expected. Well done," came the dry praise, and Tsuna blinked and whipped his gaze in her direction. She nonchalantly continued wiping down her gun parts, as if she hadn't just given one of her hard-won praises.

"Y-yeah," Tsuna said, feeling slightly relieved.

"Get some rest, tomorrow's the day," Kyoko said, pushing him with her miniscule amount of strength in the direction of the bed. He allowed himself to be guided and collapsed on the covers.

"Not before he showers, no he doesn't. Get yourself clean, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn growled, and Tsuna leapt off the bed and hurried to the bathroom.

When he returned, hair sopping wet and rubbing at it with a towel, he noticed Kyoya already napping on the pillow and gods spread out all over the bed. He stood in front of it, puzzled as to how to get them to move without waking them.

"Just get in, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn commanded from the covers. She violently kicked Lambo aside, who whined and merely rolled over so that Tsuna could peel back the covers. He slipped in, and the moment his head touched the pillows, all of the gods migrated towards him as if drawn towards a magnet, even the dead asleep Takeshi and Hayato. He blinked, puzzled at the general exodus towards his body. Kyoya turned onto his side and whapped Tsuna on the cheek gently.

"Go to sleep," the war god murmured, eyes still closed. Tsuna felt exhaustion from the day seep into his bones, and his eyes slid closed, surrounded by small warm bodies and the reassurance that they provided him.

XxX

As dawn rose, Tsuna slowly awoke to something fluffy tickling his nose and the strangest sensation of being weighed down. He blearily blinked his eyes open to be faced with a yellow ball of fluff.

What the…?

"Hiiiie!"

There were jerks from the weights on his body, and as he flew away from his bed, the yellow thing flew away, chirping indignantly, and there were many irritated mumbles and threats directed towards his person.

"Tsuna-nii-chan!" Lambo whined, struggling to escape the sunlight filtering through the blinds by diving under the blankets.

"Tsunayoshi, I will bit you to death for interrupting my sleep."

"Kufufu, this isn't exactly what I had in mind for when you scream in bed."

"Dammit, it's too early for your perverted jokes, go away."

"Sorry, sorry!" Tsuna said, ducking from the various looks of irritation and glares sent his way (as well as a stray bullet). He focused on the yellow bird that had woken him up and jolted when he recognized it.

"It's one of Birds's birds…" he said in slight horror before looking around for the old man, expecting him to just pop out from behind the bed.

Hibari popped an eye open to see the yellow chirping ball of feathers. It flew around Tsuna before settling in his hair, to the brunet's extreme discomfort and terror. The war god narrowed his eyes at the bird, and the bird only chirped back.

Tsuna froze at the slight weight in his hair before shaking his head violently and dashing out of his room. When he arrived in the kitchen of the dojo, he screeched to a halt and saw Fran and Squalo already seated, eating something that looked vaguely like very, very burnt eggs and bacon.

"There's…a bird…in here!" he panted, and Fran only raised an eyebrow.

"Then chase it out, good-for-nothing human," the teal haired tengu drawled before shoving the disgusting goo into his mouth without a change in expression. "I can't kill all the birds around here."

"But isn't Birds dead?!" Tsuna asked somewhat hysterically, and Fran frowned.

"The perverted old man's dead. It must be a bird that wasn't killed," Fran said before turning back to his eggs. He furrowed his brows and dumped a boatload of salt onto the stuff as if that would make it taste better. "Your eggs taste like shit, shitty shark-senpai."

Squalo scowled and spat through a mouthful of blackened eggs, "Then you cook next time."

Tsuna sighed, still shaken by the bird that had been a living bomb the day. "I'll cook, just let me brush my teeth."

Fran brightened, not that it made much of an impact on his apathetic face, and Squalo narrowed his eyes. "You think you can cook better than me, shitty brat?"

Tsuna snorted and turned back to his bathroom. "I know I can cook better than that," he muttered.

When he returned, surprises among surprises, he found all the gods still asleep and…the bird was sleeping next to Kyoya.

Did it have a death wish?!

Tsuna blinked as the bird nestled closer to the war god, who only laid a hand in the soft nest of feathers, and the brunet decided that he'd had enough chaos for the morning and ignored the entire sight. He went through his daily routines before returning to the kitchen. He wasn't at all surprised at the severly burnt eggs in the trashcan, nor was he surprised at the expectant gazes of not only Fran and Squalo, but also Bel, who was wrapped in bandages but still smiling, and Mammon, who was perched on Bel's shoulder.

"Make a breakfast fit for a prince, commoner," Bel commanded, and Tsuna sighed and headed for the stove. Not fifteen minutes later, almost magically, there was a plate of pancakes, fluffy eggs, and bacon fried to perfection.

"Let's steal him," Mammon said, stabbing a small bit of egg with the smallest fork Tsuna'd ever seen and bringing it up to his downturned mouth. "I'll even pay him. Not much, but I'd pay him to make breakfast."

There was a silent agreement all around, and Tsuna huffed a laughed and plopped himself down to breakfast.

Everybody knew that this was the last peaceful moment they'd have before their lives changed…for better or for worse.

XxX

"The last battle will begin shortly. Combatants, please get ready," one of the Cervello announced, and Xanxus stood, apathetic and ready for the fight. All of the Varia (barring Mammon) had managed to come today, although Lussuria was swaddled in bandages and in a wheelchair, and Levi looked worse for wear.

"Voi, don't lose, shitty boss, or I'll have to kick your ass," Squalo roared and had to dodge a wine glass (Xanxus had actually brought a whole arsenal of alcohol glasses this time, prepared to throw at his second-in-command).

"Shut the fuck up," Xanxus growled. He turned to Enrico, who was standing cockily in the middle of the arena.

This time, the lines in the ground were much thicker, most likely to keep Xanxus from tearing the place down, and allowed for a larger arena. The ground was made of hard packed dirt, with little vegetation growing.

"Good luck, Xanxus," Tsuna called out softly, and the boss turned to peer at Tsuna before snorting. He turned, his broad shoulders lined with determination and confidence.

"Don't need your luck, brat," Xanxus said and ambled into the arena. The blue walls, thick and lined with diamond hard ice, rose, encasing the two combatants within.

There was a tense pause, with jeering from what remained of Enrico's party. Timoteo stood, concern hardening his figure and the inevitable death of one of his descendants looming over his head. He closed his eyes, mourning the death of family, before opening them. The countenance of a leader fell upon his face, and he announced in a hard voice:

"The seventh battle, which will decide who becomes the successor of the tengu clan, will now begin!"

Xanxus stood lazily, dark eyes tracing Enrico's movements. The older man encased his hands in orange flames. Xanxus only narrowed his eyes but did not react to the obvious taunting.

Orange flames, the mark of all full-blooded tengu of the first tengu head's descent. All of his progeny could use these orange flames, which could destroy on a massive scale.

Everybody but Xanxus, at least. Enrico was flaunting his position and status as a full-blooded tengu, more fit for the position of head of the tengu than Xanxus was.

"You should just back down. Even if you won this, which I doubt you will, you will never get the support of all the other tengu. The only one who can take the reins of the tengu clan is I, not a half-blooded creature with no parents," Enrico sneered. His wings rose, blocking out the sun with their breadth. Xanxus allowed his own wings to grow. Scars began making their way across Xanxus's face, and his eyes grew wilder.

"Fucking trash, you'll rue the day you were born," Xanxus snarled, drawing out his guns and cocking them. His hands gripped at his guns, and his wings beat powerfully.

"At least I'm not a smear on our family line," Enrico countered, and the orange flames gradually started encasing his entire arms. Xanxus knew that one hit from those flames, and he'd be blasted away. His half-human body would not be able to take such a hit point blank.

The two stared each other down. Tension rose in the air, before there was a loud shot in the air.

Both tengu were off like the wind, and the final match that would decide whether the tengu clan would rise or fall began.

XxX

A/N: Well, there you go. I hope you're satisfied with Tsuna's fight! I wanted him to lose because hey, tengu vs human, Tsuna's actually human. This is a reminder that that is what he is, and a reminder that he will not always win, even though he is the protagonist. Reviews are appreciated, as always, and tell me if I made any horrible mistakes!

Best regards,

haplessgrapefrut