WARNINGS: None this chapter.
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Chapter Eleven – Commencing
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Tsuna felt slightly overwhelmed by the tight-knit crowds of people and the roar of conversation around him as he strode through the festival grounds.
It seemed like ages ago since he'd seen so many people congregated in one area. A hand on his shoulder pushed him forward gently to indicate that he had stopped walking unconsciously.
Followed by a sizable group of Committee members, Tsuna swallowed nervously as he walked alongside Hibari who seemed unperturbed by the attention they were getting. Once in a while the raven-haired teen would pause and address the owner of a stall. The mass quickly parted to make way when they saw them approach.
Chewing his bottom lip, he stared down at his straw sandals as to avoid the piercing and unmasked stares directed at him from the crowds. He never liked being the centre of attention for the wrong reason.
Still, it was a refreshing change to be outside even if it was to accompany Hibari while he worked. How this came to be escaped Tsuna. He thought he would never leave the confines of the sky-high tower.
Tsuna blinked owlishly when he realised he had continued on without them and backtracked to where a man with a nasal voice was screeching obscenities about the fees. Uncomfortable with the expected aftermath, the brunet turned away, staring at a flock of children crowding around a goldfish-catching stand.
The familiar hand touched his shoulder again and steered him away towards a makeshift bench consisting of several 2 by 4s and some crates. A little weary from the excitement exuding from the waves of people moving through the shrine grounds, Tsuna didn't protest, allowing Hibari to push him to sit down.
"Stay," the older teen said briefly before pressing something into his hand and taking off to confront the pandemonium stirred by his followers.
He looked curiously at the fluffy confection he was now in possession of.
Cotton Candy. How masculine of him.
The corners of his lips twitched upwards into a silly grin at the thought as he tore off a bit of the sweet with his front teeth. It dissolved into flavoured sugar crystals the moment it touched his tongue. His taste buds tingled; his recent meals were very traditional and a little too bland for his own tastes.
Leaning against the temporary pole erected for the purpose of stringing festive lights through the area, Tsuna steadily grew bored with waiting. He kicked his feet impatiently, wondering when Hibari would be back.
Perhaps he could go and find him. He shouldn't have gotten too far away and it wasn't like the shrine grounds were that big in the first place. The festival was generally very straight forward.
Satisfied with his reasoning, he pushed himself up, the half-eaten cone of candy floss clutched in a hand, and prepared to set off on his search when a voice penetrated the crowd and caught his attention.
"Tsuna-kun?"
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Dino streaked across the night sky, his blond hair a beacon in the darkness. He cursed, digging the heel of his boots into the rooftop as he nearly slid off the edge. He was always naturally clumsy when his followers weren't around but he knew this abnormal lack of orientation was due to something else.
A jitter of excitement produced by adrenaline racked through his limbs which he suppressed with a deep exhale. How unprofessional of him.
Perhaps this mission was a little too personal and delicate for him to handle. He was almost regretting how readily he had accepted Reborn's proposal even before he was briefed on the details.
"Dino, if it isn't too much trouble I would like your assistance in our operation."
"Whatever it is, you can count on me, Reborn," Dino replied, closing the office door behind him. He sat down on the two-seater sofa across from the little vampire.
"Always so hasty. Very well, I hope you remember that, as the head of the Cavallone, this decision will affect your entire clan's standing."
Dino nodded. Favours and requests between clans were scrutinized severely by outside clans. If two clans worked together too often, the council members would revoke the smaller clan's seat on the council and demand the assimilation of the clan as a working branch of the other. A clan's solidarity was crucial to its continued existence and thus a clan leader should never decide things on whims without fully understanding the consequences.
But the blond man trusted his ex-mentor. He was never led astray under his tutorage and this was a way to pay him back for all the years spent whipping him into shape as a leader. Besides, there couldn't be anything worse than their current state of affairs regarding Tsuna.
"Tomorrow is the summer festival. As you know, Hibari and his prefects patrol the shrine grounds where it is held every year to collect protection fees from the stall owners," Reborn began, counting the number of bullets Leon had produced over night and laying them out on the table. "He will no doubt be there for most of the evening, if not longer. Our operation should wrap up by midnight when the fireworks show ends.
"What I want to ask of you is to keep an eye on Hibari at the festival, watch his movements and report to us if he shows signs of returning to his estate."
"Is that all?" Dino inquired, puzzled by the reluctance Reborn had shown earlier. Reborn pressed his lips together into a thin, stern line.
"Not quite. If the situation calls for it, I need you to stall Hibari at all costs and by all cost I mean all costs."
"But that means…"
"Yes, I'm asking you to strain your relationship with Hibari, quite possibly to the point where you could no longer hold agreeable terms between your clans. If you help us on this rescue mission there is a high probability that you will be directly opposing Hibari."
"I…" Dino finally understood what Reborn was hesitant about. It had taken a lot to even be on neutral terms with Hibari. After all, Hibari wasn't a trusting guy by any standards. Dino honestly liked his former pupil (despite the way he was so unreasonably infuriating) and could see the immense amount of potential he held and the great things he could accomplish. The Cavallone wasn't a small clan by any standards but if Kyouya's clan was a threat to the Vongola, which was perhaps the most prestigious and highest standing clan of them all, having this amicable bond with the young clan was advantageous.
"I see that you understand. If you choose to take back your decision right now, I'll consider it but," Reborn said scooping the bullets into a small pouch, 'there will be no turning back if you stand with your earlier statement. I can only spare you half an hour to make your decision; I still have to brief the others."
"No, I understand," Dino said inhaling deeply. "I will stand by my word. Tsuna is pretty much my little brother since he is your new pupil. You can place your trust in me."
Reborn smiled appreciatively that also held a smidgeon of pride.
"I look forward to your efforts come tomorrow."
"I won't let you down."
The blond man peered down at the bustling traffic below, the glow of neon signs glaring into his eyes. Kyouya's ideals were wrong and if someone could correct them, it was him. Even if this had to be done the hard way, Dino would do it if not for Kyouya's sake, for Tsuna's.
And for me too, he added.
Steeling his nerves, he leaned forward and kicked off, attaining jet speed in three steps. The glow of the festival came into view, growing in size as he flitted.
Don't make me do it, Kyouya. Show me that you've learned something since Tsuna has been in your company.
Show me who you really are.
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Hibari repressed the urge to bring out his tonfa as the stall owner threw himself at his feet in a fit of pathetic sobbing. Before he could kick the grovelling man away a couple of his subordinates moved forward and dragged him off without prompting.
How sickening these herbivores were.
He scanned the mass of festival goers with narrow eyes for any disturbances. A couple people who caught his hostile glare flinched and hurried away.
How disgustingly crowded it was.
He hated holidays. He hated how the herbivores would travel around in droves for weeks prior to the actual date, meandering about aimless and noisy.
His thoughts drifted to the blood slave that he had brought with him on a whim.
Did he make the right choice in loosening his hold on the boy by allowing him to be exposed to the public? Or was he being paranoid because of that irritating man's words?
Surely Tsunayoshi would prefer to stay away from these common people. He had seen the smaller boy been pushed around by his so-called classmates at school. Surely he had developed a decent sense of abhorrence towards them from the many years of torment.
Nevertheless he had done it even if it was just for the evening.
There was a furious glint of light against the metal of his collapsible weapon as he brandished it at a passer-by. The man squeaked as the tonfa stopped a bare inch from his nose.
"Pick it up."
The man scrambled to reclaim the plastic wrapper he dropped and rushed away to the nearest garbage can. As the man wove through the throng he glanced back over his shoulder at Hibari repeatedly with a sullen look on his face.
Despicable.
Hibari didn't bother to retract his weapon and place it back into its respectable hiding spots in his jacket, allowing its presence to remind others of the consequences of littering. He turned away from another stall owner attempting to haggle the price of the fee with his vice president.
Already Hibari was longing for the quiet and far more pleasant company of Tsunayoshi, preferably alone together in his chambers. He licked his lips as his body reminded him that he hadn't ingested fresh blood recently. Deciding that he had left the boy by himself for long enough, he made his way back to the bench after confirming that Kusakabe had control of the situation.
Parting the crowd as he went, he briefly entertained the thought of abandoning his job and taking Tsunayoshi home early for a snack before he stopped in mid step. A voice reached out to him in the crowd.
"I didn't expect you to be such a whipped dog, Kyouya Hibari. Returning to your master already?"
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Tsuna fought his way through the crowd before he finally reached them. He bent over slightly to catch his breath after he had to squish his way through between two rather disgruntled people.
"K-Kyoko-chan-"
"Tsuna-san!" Haru squealed, throwing herself onto him. She clung to his left side eagerly, nearly tipping him over.
"H-Haru."
"Hahi! You remembered my name," she gushed excitably and slipped her arm around his.
"How have you been, Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko asked politely with a smile that made Tsuna's heart quicken.
"G-good. Just checking out the festival."
"So have we! Kyoko-chan and I stormed the competition in goldfish catching! Didn't we?" She waved a clear plastic bag. Six goldfish swam around lazily in the small volume of water it held.
"Competition?"
"Those boys were asking for it! They kept laughing at us after the first three tries but we showed them!"
"That's great…" Tsuna said trying to detach the girl from his arm only to have her hold on tighter.
"I have a question for you, Tsuna-kun," Kyoko said, the smile on her face fading a little. "Have you seen my brother lately? He hasn't been home for days. Of course, he did call a few times to let us know he's alright but he never talks for long and he won't tell us what he's up to. I know I shouldn't pry…but I'm worried."
"I haven't seen him since that day he, well, you know," Tsuna said vaguely. He didn't want to bring up their temporary imprisonment. "But I'm sure he'll be fine," he added after seeing her smile disappear completely. "He knows how to take care of himself."
"I guess you're right," she agreed.
"Smile, Kyoko-chan! A frown doesn't fit on your face at all," Haru said. "If you start looking down I will too! And frowning hurts my face if I do it for longer than three minutes."
Kyoko chuckled softly into her hand, a glint of amusement returning to her brown eyes. Tsuna thanked Haru inwardly for cheering her up so quickly and easily.
"Uh, Haru, would you mind letting go? I thought you didn't like me." The first and last time they met, Haru had shown a certain amount of dislike for Tsuna. Her current attachment to him was baffling.
"Haru cannot do that!" she exclaimed with a determined look in her eyes. "Haru is not going to let the thief get away!"
"Eh? Thief? What?"
"'Wait! How could you do such a thing?! They haven't done anything wrong! You must let these fair damsels go at once!'" Haru blurted out loud, releasing Tsuna from her hold to make full body gesticulations to accompany her words.
"What are you doing, Haru?!" Tsuna hissed, embarrassed as people around them turned to stare.
"Those words you spoke were like something out of a movie. It was so courageous of you to speak out at that heartless man to save our lives," Haru said, holding her flushed cheeks in her hands. "I never knew you had it in you, Tsuna-san."
"…I don't think it happened like that. Well, definitely not that last part."
"Nevertheless, with those words," Haru hugged her torso and sighed blissfully, "you succeeded in stealing my heart."
"What?!"
"Just the thought of that moment makes Haru's maiden heart beat faster. Oh, you cad, you thief."
"What- but I- this…Kyoko-chan, I don't-," Tsuna stuttered while waving his hands about. "This is a misunderstanding!"
"I was even thinking about you when I dressed for the festival! Do you like it?" She turned on the spot to display her red summer yukata patterned with tuna fish.
"It's…very nice," he said. Honestly, it did look right on her. The thought of that was more than a little disturbing to him. "Kyoko-chan's is very nice as well," he added, eager to change the topic as Haru blushed from his words and giggled.
"Thank you, Tsuna-kun. Yours is very nice too." The one he was wearing was cornflower blue with white designs curling at the hems. Hibari had ordered him to change into it in front of him before they left for the festival. Tsuna felt his face heat up at the memory.
"So did Hibari-san bring you here?" Kyoko said, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"What?" How did she assume that?
"I mean, you seem pretty close to Hibari-san. I don't normally see you at the festivals so I thought he might've asked you to come along this time. He always comes to the festivals."
Since Tsuna didn't have many friends (in fact he had none), festivals were something he overlooked as it would be boring to go alone. He started to stay home after he stopped allowing his mom to drag him there every year. The only part of the festivities he still enjoyed was the fireworks which he could view if he leaned out his bedroom window but even that he did little of in the past few years.
"Well, to tell the truth, he did," he said, deciding to answer honestly. There was no reason to lie.
"Hahi! I knew it!" Haru said, biting back a sob. The devastated look on her face was disheartening. "You're on a date with Hibari-san!"
Tsuna sputtered and retorted, "No, I'm not! What gave you that idea?!"
"Oh! Woe is me that I should have such a strong rival. I should've known, they always go to the silent, strong type. Still, Haru knew that even though Tsuna-san had stolen her heart, she still needed to capture Tsuna-san's," she continued without listening to a word Tsuna was saying.
"This isn't a date! There's nothing going on! And what's this about capturing my heart?!"
"Hibari-san gave you that, didn't he?" Haru asked, whipping around and pointing at the half-eaten cone of cotton candy Tsuna was still holding. He had forgotten all about it.
"Well, yes, but-"
"Giving gifts already! He's ahead in the game. How devious of him," she moaned to herself, holding her head in her hands. "Why didn't I think of it first?
"Haru-"
"Even though Haru is a woman, Haru will still give her best effort to be Tsuna-san's number one!" she declared, catching the attention of several passer-bys who looked upon them curiously. The teen blushed under their combined scrutiny and the murmurs as they swept by in bouts of suppressed laughter.
"You'll back me up, wouldn't you, Kyoko-chan?" she said, turning sharply to address the other girl. Smiling at their antics, Kyoko nodded in agreement.
"You can do it, Haru-chan."
"You're such a good friend, Kyoko-chan!"
Haru rushed forward to clasp hands with Kyoko as Tsuna watched in silent horror, mind spinning from Kyoko's prompt encouragement towards the other girl. Aware of his shell-shocked state though not the cause, Kyoko decided to change the subject.
"How long are you staying for, Tsuna-kun?"
"Pardon?"
"Will you be watching the fireworks at the end? Or are you going home soon?"
Tsuna blinked. He hadn't thought about that. How long was Hibari going to take with his work?
"I didn't ask-" Wait, what is he doing? This was his chance.
He was no longer in Hibari's company.
He could leave right now if he wanted to.
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Tonfas pulled out and adopting an offensive fighting position he whirled around at the sound of his name. His blue eyes flickered from face to face, searching for the owner of the voice in the crowd. Though it didn't sound familiar, the tone and formality it was spoken in did.
"Kufufu, aren't you defensive? No greeting? It's been a while since we've last met," the voice said.
"Show yourself."
"I already am, or did I damage your eyes too during our last battle?"
He looked directly in front of him and found a small boy staring back. The coy smile on his face was eerily familiar. One of his eyes flickered and turned crimson, the character for six replacing the pupil.
"You."
"Of course. Who else did you expect?"
"What do you want?"
"Patience, there's no need to be so riled up. I'm only here for a civilized conversation."
"There's nothing to talk about."
The boy chuckled and the sound grated on Hibari's nerves.
"Leave this place."
"That's the kind of attitude that will get you no where. So possessive. It will be your downfall, I'm certain of it."
"Leave, Mukuro Rokudo."
The boy shook his head in a disbelieving fashion. Hibari's grip on his tonfas tightened, readying himself for an attack.
"In some ways you haven't changed at all but the changes that have occurred," he said leisurely, "have been most disappointing. I am, of course, referring to your relationship with that boy you were so eager to return to a moment ago. Though it's terribly cliché I must quote, how the great have fallen."
"Leave," he grounded out again. He had no desire to prolong this meeting.
"I wouldn't speak in such tones if I were you, Kyouya Hibari," he chided lightly, turning his attention towards the direction of Hibari's estate. "I suspect my followers are stirring up a storm right about now."
Several people gasped as the boy sidestepped the blow Hibari dealt with his tonfa, leaving a dent in the stone path. The violent impact made everyone in the vicinity pause and stare at the tense scene before them.
"Kufufu. Should you be wasting time picking a fight with me? Shouldn't you be winning the approval of your little slave boy? I can imagine what he truly thinks of you. The lengths he'll go to survive in your presence, I'm impressed by how he managed to wrap you around his little finger so quickly."
Eyes darkening to a stormy azure, Hibari raised his weapon to strike again but he hesitated at Mukuro's next words.
"Really, let me remind you, this is not my real body, if the fact that I'm a small boy doesn't tip that off."
"What of it?" Apprehension swelled the teen's stomach as Mukuro smirked and drew out the silence.
"I'm just saying that you should keep important things close to you if you catch my drift."
Staying rooted to the spot, Mukuro let out a bellowing laugh as he watched Hibari disappear hastily into the crowd.
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Crouched on the fragile shale of the wall that surrounded the compound, Gokudera gritted his teeth as he watched the second hand of his watch avidly. It was nearly time.
Though he preferred to take on the task of directly rescuing the Tenth, he could see logic in Reborn's decision to put him at the front of the battle as the main distraction. The range his dynamite provided was ideal to keep his position hidden while still wrecking havoc to occupy any of Hibari's underlings that had stayed behind to guard the place.
He looked upwards at the tower they pinpointed as Hibari's private rooms and the location where the Tenth was being held.
He was so close yet…
The half-Italian clenched his fist around a bundle of dynamite he had taken out of his jacket. He couldn't jeopardize the whole mission by being selfish after days upon days of planning. His fingers inched towards his breast pocket where a fresh pack of cigarettes were kept, pulled one out, and fumbled for his lighter.
He glanced down at his watch again.
In a swift, practiced movement he lit the wicks with the burning ember at the end of his cigarette. Loud voices in the compound startled him as he heard commotion coming from the front entrance.
Remembering himself, he drew his arm back, looking to the tower for the last time. It was no time to be distracted. A silent promise to make this operation successful for the Tenth's sake composed in his head.
The sky was alight with dynamite rain.
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To be Continued...
