A/N: Thank you to fuwacchi, DarkRoadHina, The Fool Arcana, Kichou, xenocanaan, SnowieG27, Chocolate Ribbons, demon twin, ausumist, leogirl321, hiyomi, HibariTsunayoshi-kun, DatAznKid, aurla0, MikaUchiha666, stuffedninja101, XxMichyBabyxX and Senna-Namikaze! This chapter's extra long for you guys. :)
Thanks to Hitsugaya's GreenEyes for beta-reading!
Possession
Chapter 14: Secret
"Reborn! Why did you encourage Masami to come?" Tsuna asked him, nearly hysterical.
More of his friends were going to be hurt because of him now. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something happened to Masami. He was already feeling bad enough they had to leave Yamamoto under a bush while they went to defeat Mukuro. Not only did he have to leave Yamamoto but they had sacrificed Gokudera so that they could advance to the next floor to where Mukuro was.
Well... Tsuna turned to look at the woman beside him. At least he still had Bianchi. She was still okay.
She was presently walking in front of him and throwing poisonous pies at every door they passed by. He cringed at the noxious fumes permeating his nose and the sight of melting doors.
Reborn sighed. "If you don't want her to get hurt either, then you should finish defeating Mukuro quickly."
Tsuna pointed to the baby. "That's easy for you to say! You're not the one who has to defeat the guy!"
Reborn responded by grabbing the boy's finger and bending it with his hand.
"G-OWWW!"
"Masami told me to tell you guys that doing nothing would be worse than doing something," Reborn said. Tsuna blinked.
Masami-san... His mouth was set in a tight line of guilt.
Reborn sighed. "You should have more confidence in your family, Tsuna. This includes Masami." Tsuna glared. Again with the mafia?
"I'm not part of the mafia! None of us are part of the mafia!" he screeched. Reborn frowned and then kicked him in the shin.
"OW!" Tsuna cried out and went on his good knee. "That really hurt, Reborn!"
"Then rely on Masami as a friend. Not even as a friend will you rely on her?" Reborn demanded. Tsuna's eyes widened. They were friends. That was a sure fact. Masami had helped him from even before they were friends, when he was in the tree. Tsuna's brown eyes darkened as he thought back to her trying to help his stupid head get around his homework or when she had visited his house once to cook dinner on that one rare night his mom had gone out to a concert or something.
Reborn gazed at his student's thoughtful face before smiling. It looked like his no-good student was starting to understand a bit.
Bianchi turned to them seriously, orange goggles glinting in the faint light. "...This is the last door on the floor."
Tsuna and Reborn looked up to see double doors looming over them. They were on the uppermost floor, where the cinema was. Tsuna faintly remembered that this door may be the one to the cinema.
He felt really sick all of a sudden.
Reborn smiled. "Well, let's go."
Tsuna frowned sadly, clutching his stomach now. "Yeah...
Masami had said that she didn't want to just sit around and do nothing... but...
"What am I supposed to do in this state?" she asked, looking down thoughtfully at her hands. Masami hadn't thought as far as to what she could do once she came to the Kokuyo Health Land. It'd been more of an impulse than anything to jump on a bus going to the neighbouring town.
Crap. Masami stared more intensely at her hands, oblivious to how silly she looked from an outsiders' perspective; a little girl standing in front of a broken door and staring at her soft hands. Wouldn't she just get in the way like this? These people were dangerous criminals, not a bunch of kiddy punks who would run away at the first sign of danger. Masami sighed. She was pretty strong but not strong enough or confident enough to deal with first-rate criminals in the position she was in now.
If it was... back to about five years ago... she would rush in there with no hesitation! Masami's fingers curled inwards into fists. The calluses that had been there on her hands back then were gone, hidden by Rei's 'magic'.
"You have to promise me you won't take it off, all right?"
"...Okay..."
Masami slapped her cheeks, dispelling any useless thoughts. Right now she had to focus on why the heck was she here, not on any past memories!
The brown-haired girl was still debating on what to do when she heard something exploding on the uppermost floor. Her eyes widened for a moment at the rain of glass from the now-broken windows falling above her. She caught herself staring and shielded herself from the sharp shards. Some would have landed in her eyes if she hadn't realized she was staring. Masami tilted her head up again with an irritated expression pasted on her features.
Okay, screw it! she thought. She was just going to go in and make it up as she went. At the very least, she could use herself as bait or another target if help was needed.
Masami ran inside the back door of the building and gagged when the air hit her. It almost toppled her over. The scent of blood was so strong. The metallic smell wafting through the air almost made the girl want to throw up, but she held it in. Masami slowly breathed in through her mouth, calming herself down. This wasn't the time to be showing weakness. Steps unfaltering, she ran down the dilapidated hallways of the old building.
It was eerie. There was no one, it was entirely empty, yet...
Then why is the smell of blood so strong?
Masami gulped in air through her mouth and held a hand to her nose as she ran. It was more instinct than anything driving her to the front, where she assumed the main staircases were.
Masami could feel it; the presence of people above her on the upper floors. That was where she would hopefully find Tsuna and the others.
Why hadn't they asked her to come with them?
Masami was sort of hurt at how none of them had invited her. Namimori was her school too. And of course she would care about people getting beat up. She had been part of the Disciplinary Committee, after all. Thinking about the committee made her think of Hibari who was probably not dying like Reborn had said. The infant tended to exaggerate things.
Masami briefly wondered if she would find Hibari in a place like this then, but dismissed it almost immediately. He had most likely taken care of the problem and was back in the school on the roof, sleeping.
But it was still possible that her friends were still in the building, hurt.
DAMMIT, YOU GUYS! she thought angrily as she skidded to a stop to turn a corner. Why didn't you guys invite me? It's because I'm a girl, isn't it!
Masami saw it up ahead. The lobby where most likely elevators (that did not work anymore) and surely stairs were contained in. She burst in through the doorway and blinked.
The stairs. They weren't there anymore. All that was left were the telltale signs of cement and stone in pieces on the ground of what used to be the stairs.
She flushed red in anger. Why were the stairs broken?
"Crap!"
"Thank god it's is over!" Tsuna exclaimed, tears threatening to spill. Hibari really was amazing to defeat Rokudo Mukuro single-handedly like that! His brows furrowed as he looked down at the prefect's unconscious form. Hibari had fainted the moment after Mukuro was defeated.
Reborn smirked proudly. "He was fighting unconscious during the last bit of the fight."
"W-we should take him to the hospital," Tsuna stuttered, recalling how Mukuro had said that most of Hibari's bones were broken. The prefect must be in a lot of pain right now, judging from the grimace on the boy's sleeping face.
"It's fine..." Reborn said, preoccupied by Leon who was changing shapes again. "The Vongola's special medical team is on their wa-"
A loud bang from a door interrupted Reborn. Three pairs of eyes turned to see a familiar girl looking around furiously, eyes seemingly still unused to the darkness.
Gokudera's cigarette dropped from his mouth. "Y-you!"
Tsuna gaped. "M-Masami-san! What are you doing here!" He hadn't thought she'd be able to get up here so quickly since the only way up the building was by an emergency ladder. Still... Tsuna smiled a bit. He was glad she had come late. Mukuro was already thoroughly defeated.
Masami swiveled around to see Tsunayoshi, standing there with Gokudera by his side.. Tsuna flinched as her eyes darkened considerably. In five quick strides, she was in front of him.
And in the next moment, Tsuna could feel a harsh blow against his face as he was punched in the face with her heavy fist. He was thrown back two feet and landed painfully on his back. He sat up slowly, groaning. The look of shock on his face was laughable. Reborn was a safe distance back from the panting Masami and decided to let out a little snicker of joy from his student's pain.
"You bitch!" Gokudera started for Masami, furious. "I'm going to kill-"
"SHUT UP!" Masami shouted suddenly. The silver-haired boy faltered at Masami's command, mouth matching his boss's open mouth. If there were any flies around, they would have definitely gone in. She was shouting at them? Her hair was shielding her eyes from their view but when she looked up, all of them could see it; the anger and hurt in her expressive eyes.
"You're all so stupid!" Masami grabbed onto Gokudera's collar just because he was right in front of her and began to shake him. "Why didn''t any of you ask for help!" Tsuna cringed on behalf of poor Gokudera, who was being shaken violently. "Is this you trying to show how manly you all are? Because if it is, you all completely suck at it!" She stopped shaking the very dizzy Gokudera and dropped him unceremoniously. He landed on the dusty hardwood with a thump. Masami turned to Tsuna, a vicious gleam in her eyes.
"HIII!" Tsuna clutched his hair. He really didn't want to deal with this right now. His entire body ached, his nerves were now completely shot courtesy of Mukuro, and now his face really hurt. He backed away a few meek steps but Masami was already in front of him. Tsuna closed his eyes and ducked his head. If she was going to hit him again, he only hoped it wasn't as hard as her the punch she just gave him.
...Reborn blinked at the scene. The he smiled. The instant changes in her mood were somewhat endearing.
"EHH? MASAMI-SAN?" Tsuna had totally froze from the shock. She was... Masami was hugging him? Squeezing him so tightly that his body became even more sore. Was it just him or did she get even stronger than before?
"Stupid, stupid..." Masami repeated, voice cracking from emotion. "I was so worried, you idiots..."
Tsuna's eyes that were wide from shock closed slowly. He had... never had anyone worry about him in such a way. He put a hand to her back in a clumsy hug. She felt warm and smelled nice, like soap that had a good fragrance but no distinct scent. Tsuna noticed in passing that even though she was about an inch taller than him, she seemed smaller. Yet she had come here looking for them...
Tsuna sweatdropped. But that punch just then wasn't 'small'...
"Sorry, Masami-san... We didn't want you to get hurt," he murmured. His other arm felt dead so all Tsuna could manage was an awkward one-handed hug on his side. He felt Masami's body shake with a small laugh that wasn't necessarily happy.
"No-good Tsuna," Masami said, anger no longer filling her tone. Guilt hit Tunsa even harder. It was the first time she used his nickname, despite hearing it around so much from students and Reborn.
For her to use the name, he must have messed up badly.
"Then you thought it was okay for you guys to get hurt?" She squeezed him even harder and he unconsciously gagged. "That's really no good at all if you guys get hurt then... Relying on people... it's okay to do it."
"I..." Tsuna didn't know what to say. He turned slightly and saw that Masami's eyes were closed and brows furrowed as she hugged him.
"...I understand," Tsuna said. He blushed as she gave him her usual smile.
"That's good." She laughed. "Don't forget it then." And with that, Masami let go of Tsuna. He wheezed, gulping in air he hadn't had when Masami was squeezing him. Meanwhile, Masami was scanning the room, searching for another laughing idiot to reprimand. She spotted something behind Tsuna.
Her voice trembled. "Is that... Yamamoto-kun?" She pointed to the body behind her underclassman. Tsuna turned to briefly look down at who Masami thought to be Yamamoto before turning to face her again. He shook his head and looked away. "It's actually..." He didn't finish, instead he stepped aside so that Masami had a clear view of who the person really was.
She felt her heart stop. It couldn't be, but in plain view was Hibari. The strong leader of the Disciplinary Committee was lying on the ground in a pool of blood.
How could he? How could he be unconscious like this?
"Hibari..." she whispered. Masami didn't speak and felt her legs automatically running up to the boy. Tsuna moved away obediently and looked at his upperclassmen strangely, wondering about their relationship. Masami seemed genuinely worried about the head prefect. He could tell from her eyes. It was always those dark brown orbs that could tell what she was really feeling even if everything else lied. His thoughts on them just being subordinate and boss were changing now because of the amount of worry reflected in her eyes.
Masami reached a hand to hover over Hibari's face before settling on his forehead to brush out some bangs. She had tried to touch him months ago, when he was asleep and he had woken up before she could come close to it. Now, her brows furrowed, he wasn't stirring at all. How hurt was he?
Tsuna seemed to know what she was thinking for he told her. "Most of the bones in his body are broken. And he's lost a lot of blood too..."
"...I see."
"Woman," Gokudera looked away from the girl. She wasn't crying, which would have been a whole crapload of awkward, but the melancholy radiating off her was enough to make him feel... nice.
"He'll be fine. This is Hibari we're talking about. He's as tough as a cockroach."
She nodded and smiled a bit, still looking at Hibari's face. "...Yeah. Thanks Gokudera-kun."
"Kufufu." Masami's head turned sharply towards the direction of the voice. A boy. There was a foreigner boy straining to sit up a mere feet away from them. Why hadn't she sensed him when she came into the room?
"How touching. Two lovers reunited with one another. And as for his condition, I've broken all of the bones in his body. He'll most likely die because he tried to fight me even after getting such a beating from me."
Masami stared blankly. One second. Two seconds...
HUH? What the hell?
"He isn't my lover!" she spat out. Tsuna and Gokudera looked at Masami, gaping. Reborn's smile was hidden under his hat. Tsuna cringed. The amount of hate in her eyes now...
Maybe they aren't in a relationship then... Tsuna thought weakly.
She huffed. Wasn't it normal for her to be worried about Hibari? She was his subordinate, after all. Well, used to be his subordinate She pursed her lips soon after. This guy must have been really strong then, for Hibari to be in this state, or maybe...
Masami smiled lightly. "You must have used a dirty trick to beat him," she said spitefully. She looked at the wounds on the stranger's body. "You look like you can barely stay awake too. I supposed that was done after you got a beating from him."
Mukuro smiled coldly. Tsuna and Gokudera shivered. The temperature in the room had dropped down several degrees.
"Oh?" Mukuro smirked. "The girl has some guts, I see. I can also see it, girl." He finished with a seductive purr at the end. Masami's eyes widened. Then the impact of his words hit her. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be.
No way. No fucking way.
He could see it. The bastard could see it. Mukuro smiled playfully in return. She ignored the inquisitive stares of Reborn, Tsuna and Gokudera. Her fists clenched and she looked down at Hibari's unconscious face for a reason unknown to her. Her fingers had stopped moving through his blood-encrusted hair. She felt her body become cold because really, it was too soon, much too soon, for this to happen.
Masami's secret was out.
"Hmm..." Akane grabbed a bunch of Masami's hair and pulled hard. The young girl grimaced but otherwise said nothing. She was already used to the teenage girl's tendencies.
"I wonder what colours I would have to mix to get this exact shade of freakish colour," Akane wondered out loud, still tugging on the unique-coloured hair. The teen turned to her 'partner in crime', Rei. He was paying no attention to the two females with him and was instead looking out the window, searching for their targets. They were in the middle of another mission. A mission that would pay well if they succeeded.
"Ne, ne, Reeii~" Akane wheedled out. She forced Masami to sit down on the chair beside her and began braiding the little girl's hair. "Should we get hair dye or something? Maybe contacts too!"
"I'm allergic to hair dye," Masami muttered out, wincing at the merciless tugs from Akane's fast-working fingers. "And my eyes get itchy if I have contacts in for too long, Akane-san..." She really did feel self-conscious about her hair and eyes when Akane kept pointing it out so often. Maybe she should just shave off all her hair. Bald was a nice look.
Masami heard Akane sigh.
"How boring~" The young woman turned to Rei. "What should we do then? Mana sticks out like a sore thumb." Something which was not good in their line of business for sure.
The boy finally turned to face his two companions.
"I'm working on something..." he explained stoically. "It'll be done in a while."
Akane finished tying Masami's braid and hopped up to Rei, wrapping her arms around him. Masami stiffened imperceptibly from her position on the chair.
"What is it?" she asked, arms still in an embrace around the boy.
He tilted his head ever so slightly.
"...Jewelry."
"Reborn, what is Rokudo Mukuro talking about?" Tsuna whispered loudly to the baby. A brief lapse in the action had let him recover from Mukuro's assault, mostly because he was preoccupied with conversing with the shell-shocked Masami, whom Tsuna thought was an ordinary girl, but apparently not, from what Mukuro was saying.
Reborn frowned. "I...don't know..." Tsuna waited for him to say more, but he kept silent, instead choosing to watch Mukuro's knowing gaze on Masami.
...
"It's the necklace," Mukuro stated. He was referring to Masami's necklace, which she had usually kept tucked safe inside her shirt. It had slipped out while she had been running. "The source of the illusion. That means the illusion on you is not yours but is an outsider's; a skilled illusionist from what I can tell. I haven't met many people whom can focus their illusionary powers in an object."
Masami was faintly aware of everything he was saying and also the fact that Tsuna and the others were listening. So this wasn't the time to be panicking.
"And so," she said evenly. "What was the point of saying all of that?" Besides being a bigger ass than you already seem to be!
Mukuro smiled slyly. "I'll uncover that illusion of yours just for fun while I take over Sawada Tsunayoshi's body." She twitched and unconsciously grabbed onto Hibari's sleeve and clenched her fist. His attention was back on everyone now. Masami looked down incredulously as she felt Hibari twitch in her lap. He was awake?
"And after that, there will be no one left alive."
What-?
Masami had no time to even let out a gasp as Rokudo Mukuro took out a gun and shot himself in the head.
"EHH?" Tsuna screeched.
Gokudera blinked, shocked. "Did he just..."
"Yeah." Reborn tipped his hat until his eyes weren't visible. "I guess he rather be dead than be taken in alive."
Masami shook her head silently, still staring at Mukuro's corpse. He wouldn't just shoot himself dead after claiming no one would be alive. It has to be a trick.
A shout interrupted her thoughts and she saw Tsuna being surrounded by...Bianchi and Gokudera? Bianchi was spewing something out, like how she was Rokudo Mukuro and that all of us really wouldn't be left alive. She turned slowly towards him and his eyes widened. Her left eye was...
...it had the kanji of the number '6' lodged in her pupil. And then Masami could feel pent-up anxiety coursing through her as she slowly realized that that boy, Rokudo Mukuro, had had the same blood red eye with a character in it.
"Tsuna!" Reborn called out. "Hurry up and take care of it!"
"Take a WHAT?" Tsuna shrieked, tears coming out of his eyes. What was he supposed to do? His jaw dropped as Bianchi's trident pierced Gokudera. Gokudera fell back with a gasp but slowly stood up. Tsuna felt a tear slip down his face as he saw that now his friend's eye was red.
"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?" Tsuna cried out, barely dodging the incoming attacks of the pillars of fire.
"Tsunayoshi-kun!"
Tsuna turned to see Masami dragging Hibari off to the side near the stage. He paused. That's right. Neither of them had been possessed yet. He wasn't alone...
"I'll..." Masami grunted as she heaved Hibari once more. "I'll come there after I make sure Hibari's okay, all right?" she shouted. "Just wait a little longer!"
"EHH?" Tsuna dodged another pillar of fire. "No, don't come here, Masami-san!" he shrieked, but she wasn't paying attention anymore. She was hurriedly ripping the shirt she had on that looked too big for her into fat strips. What was she doing?
"EEK!" Reborn had kicked him in the head, waking him from his stupour and helping him dodge another pillar of fire.
"Reborn! What are you-"
Reborn frowned. "If you don't want any of your friends hurt, then fight!" his squeaky voice declared. Tsuna looked up at his tutor, astounded.
"Everyone's going to die at this rate if you don't do anything, Tsuna!"
Tsuna's eyes widened. The pillars had stopped and he saw the Gokudera was kneeling on the ground, panting and single eye still red, the animal boy and yo-yo boy were unconscious on the ground and Bianchi was the only one left standing. He turned to glance at Masami and saw that she was wrapping a particular nasty wound of Hibari's.
"Relying on someone... it's okay to do it."
But wasn't it horrible of him? To rely this much on people?
At this rate, everyone...
Tsuna's eyes hardened and Reborn could feel a smirk on his face as he saw the familiar glowing from Leon.
His partner was about to spit out a weapon.
Masami flinched as she felt Hibari twitch again on her lap. She bit her lip and tied a firm knot, securing the makeshift bandage. It would have to do for now. She reached beside her to grab another strip.
One more bad one, Masami thought, referring to Hibari's bleeding arm. And then I'll try to set his bones back into place. As soon as she touched his arm, Hibari's other hand grabbed at her wrist. Her eyes widened. Even with being hurt so badly, he could wake up? Masami winced as she felt him tighten his grip on her wrist. She could feel the bone creaking and threatening to snap. Her eyes softened. He was like a wounded animal.
Why was it so painful to see him like this?
"Hibari," she said softly. His grip stopped tightening. "It's me."
Hibari's eyes slowly opened, met her own brown ones and let go off her wrist. She rubbed her wrist, trying to hid her wince. Even now, he was still strong.
"Why..." Hibari glared at her as she picked up the cloth strip again. She looked down at his face expectantly. What did he want to ask?
"...Why are you here?"
It was Masami's turn to glare at his words. She pursed her lips as she began wrapping his arm with the strip. She didn't realize the intent way Hibari was looking at her eyes, which were slowly darkening into an almost black colour.
"I'm angry. At a lot of people right now. This includes you, Hibari," Masami stated. She was almost done with wrapping. She couldn't believe he was acting so... docile. It was a funny but accurate way to describe Hibari. How hurt was he to be letting her just touch him like this? She caught his inquisitive stare and scowled.
"I'm angry because you decided to come here alone," she started. "Even though I know you were most likely not going to be hurt -which you are now- I was still worried."
Hibari closed his eyes, sleep beginning to take over.
"You... really gave me a scare when I saw you..." Masami admitted before tying the knot to the bandage. Her eyes widened.
He fell asleep... She sighed and puffed up her cheeks in exasperation. She had been in the middle of scolding him too.
Still... I'm glad he's all right too. She smiled a little and brushed his hair from his forehead with her hand. His other arm was bent in a weird angle. She grimaced. It must be painful. Masami hummed, brows furrowed. Should she set it back? Somehow, she felt calm right now. Maybe it was because it was much quieter than it had been before.
Wait... Masami paused. Why is it quiet?
She turned around slowly. Her jaw dropped. Tsuna was facing 'Gokudera'... His expression was serious. He actually looked... reliable now. On his hands, he wore fancy-looking gloves made for fighting. When had he gotten those? Her mouth became more wide as she saw a flame on his head. It was orange in colour. She watched as Reborn glanced over at her.
"It's all right, Masami," the baby reassured with a smirk. "Stop looking so pale and do whatever you can to help Hibari." Masami absentmindedly touched her face. It was clammy. According to Reborn, she had paled too. She looked at her hands and was surprised to find them trembling too.
But... Masami wasn't scared because of Rokudo Mukuro. It was because...
I've seen a flame like that before. Back then... on those heads of those kids. She lay a hand on Hibari's cheek and felt it was burning? Or was it that her hand was cold? She felt numb and detached from the rest of the world. Having Hibari's heat helped quell the negative feelings.
But they're dead and I'm alive and-
"Masami!"
Masami jerked her head up to see Reborn looking at her. There was a frown on the baby's face.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Masami blinked slowly and a moment later, the question registered. She nodded.
"Yeah..." She ignored the worried look on the infant's face. "I'm fine. Just focus on helping Tsuna." The boy seemed to be doing well. Gokudera was currently struggling not to be pushed back by Tsuna, who looked determined to stop the silver-haired boy.
"All right then," Reborn said. Masami shut her eyes tightly and shook her head slightly. She had to focus on Hibari right now.
I should set it back... Masami eyed Hibari warily. Even though he was asleep, there was still the chance he'd do something.
Like grab my neck and snap it, she thought dryly. She pursed her lips with resignation before grabbing onto Hibari's arm with both her hands, one on either side of where the break was.
"Here goes," she whispered and closed her eyes at the same time she jerked his arm. She grimaced at the muffled crack and pulled back slightly, arms covering her face. After a minute, she realized she wasn't in any pain and slowly lowered her arms.
"I'm not dead," Masami said quietly to herself. Hibari hadn't woken up. "Wow..."
She examined the entirety of his body again. His head was still on her lap, one cheek against the rough cloth of her (or Yamamoto's) track pants. He was breathing with a watery sound as his chest moved up and down. Most likely there was blood in his lungs. She'd taken care of two of the worst bleeding flesh wounds but there were still various scratches on him that were leaking blood and she could tell from some bruises that he had more broken bones than the one in his arm.
Cold reality struck Masami and she screwed her eyes shut and put his hand to her cheek, as if willing him to stay alive by relying on her own life energy.
Hibari was going to die at this rate. She opened her eyes hesitantly, her mouth in a tight line as she dropped his hand. She couldn't do anything else for him...
"Masami! Look out!" Reborn called out to her. Masami turned her head towards the baby. Bianchi had gotten up again.
The woman suddenly shot towards her and Hibari, the weapon gleaming in her hand. The only reason Masami moved was because of the shout from Tsuna that pierced through the loud thudding in her ears.
Masami barely dodged "Bianchi's" trident attack while pulling Hibari, but that didn't seem to be Mukuro's intent as she realize as she stepped back. It went in slow motion as she watched, helpless, as the necklace with the dark purple gem in it around her neck was pierced by the silver trident. She landed with a thump on the ground with Hibari's body over her legs. But that wasn't what made her motionless as she watched Bianchi/Mukuro run towards her, trident poised in hand.
It was the telltale strands of her old dark pink hair obscuring her vision.
Crap... Masami felt the trident pierce her shoulder and she fell back. Her conscious was forcefully being taken by another stronger conscious that was more experienced.
She heard a voice before everything went black.
"...You really are an interesting girl, aren't you, Masami-chan?"
"Is she going to be okay?" Tsuna asked worriedly to Reborn as he stared at Masami on the hospital bed. After Mukuro had pierced her pendant, the so-called illusion around her had disappeared. The person laying in front of him on the white bed did not look at all like his upperclassman. Her childish face had been replaced by the appearance of a young woman. The most shocking change was the fact that her straight brown hair had morphed into wavy dark pink locks. He blushed slightly. It wasn't that she was particularly beautiful; good-looking enough, but not drop-dead gorgeous. But her features were really... delicate. Features that would make people look twice at her if she was walking down the street.
"She will," Reborn confirmed. "Masami wasn't hurt as bad as Hibari and the others." He tilted his head contemplatively. Admittedly, he had no idea why she was still sleeping despite the fact that everyone else was now awake and training their butts off for the ring battle. She had even gone into a coma right after Tsuna had defeated Mukuro.
Questions would have to be asked after she woke up.
As if on cue from her name, Masami begun to stir. Tsuna jumped back from his position near her bed just in time for her eyes to open. The girl looked blearily at the two figures in front of her. She blinked a few times to rid the sleep from her eyes.
Masami rubbed her eyes. "Tsunayoshi-kun and Reborn-san?" She briefly glanced around the sterile room. "Hospital?"
Tsuna nodded. "The doctors said your injuries weren't that serious, except for that wound on your shoulder, Masami-san." He gestured to her clothed shoulder where Masami could feel the clean white bandages pressing against her aching wound.
"...If that is your real name," Reborn said. He jumped up on her lap and blinked up at Masami. She flinched. Everything was either aching or hurt.
Tsuna noticed the uncomfortable expression on his friend's face. "Reborn!"
The baby waved it off. "She can handle a little pain. After all, she was injured when she saved you from falling and breaking all your bones." Masami cringed. The kid sure was observant.
Tsuna's eyes widened. "R-really? S-sorry, Masami-san! I hadn't even noticed and yet you..." He looked away guiltily.
"It's really nothing. I wanted to help you, Tsunayoshi-kun." She grinned what she hoped to be a reassuring one.
The boy was relieved. "Really?"
Masami nodded cheerfully. So cute... she thought absentmindedly.
Reborn nodded. "Now that we've established Tsuna really is no good, let's go back to you, Masami. Who are you?" Reborn questioned.
Tsuna gaped. S-so blunt!
Masami rubbed the back of her head and laughed nervously. "Ahaha... can I not answer that?"
"No."
Her shoulders deflated. Jerk. "F-fine." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Umm... my name really is Sakata Masami, that wasn't a lie. And I'm a..." she cocked her head thoughtfully. "...a retired mafioso."
Mafia? Mafia? More mafia? I can't take it anymore! A friend he thought was normal was actually just another weirdo! And with that, Tsuna collapsed back with a thud. Masami blinked and then her eyes widened. "Tsunayoshi-kun?"
"No-good Tsuna fainted just from that?" Reborn shook his head and sighed. He then smiled at Masami. Masami eyed Reborn with suspicion, and with good reason. What did he want...
"Well, now we can talk, just you and me."
Masami twitched. I don't want to talk with you... The baby was too nosy.
"But before we get started..." Reborn smiled. "I should tell you what happened."
"Was Mukuro defeated?" Masami asked. The baby gave one quick nod and she sighed in relief. "Who defeated him?"
"My no-good student," he answered, a proud air around him. "The Vendice took Mukuro and his lackeys away to be jailed at the Vendicare." Masami frowned. She'd heard of Vendice once. Feared masked guards that protected the laws of the mafia world. She frowned and couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Mukuro. Reborn saw her expression.
"Don't tell me you feel sorry for the guy," Reborn said. "He nearly killed all of us." Masami grimaced at his blunt statement. She looked away guiltily.
"A little... I can understand why he's angry..." She recalled the strange powers he had. Something about his eyes, right? "He was experimented on, right? I can't help but get why he's angry, you know?" She looked at the baby imploringly. Reborn shrugged carelessly.
"It doesn't matter," he stated. "He attacked the Vongola. It's our job to defend against attackers that could possibly weaken the family."
Masami understood that. She really did. Maybe it was because she'd been in Mukuro's same circumstances that she felt more empathetic.
Or maybe Reborn's just a mean apathetic brat and I'm the normal one here. Yeah, that reason made more sense. Reborn tilted his head.
"You... Obviously you're one and the same as Rokudo Mukuro..." Masami's eyes widened and Reborn raised an eyebrow. "It's pretty obvious," he pointed out, purposely looking at her hair for a long moment before turning back to her eyes. They were a more, subdue pastel pink, with a thin bright red line cutting diagonal.
"But unlike him, you don't care for revenge." Reborn frowned at the girl. "Just how did you survive in the mafia world with a personality like that?"
Masami blinked, confused.
"...What... personality...?"
Reborn's face flashed with annoyance and he raised a tiny fist. He was going to hit her? She was already prepared when he brought down his arm but gaped when he didn't punch her. In a span of a moment, his fist had gone undone and he patted her on the head. She scowled. What was with people and patting her on the head?
"You're so thick, Masami." Reborn kept patting her head. Her hair felt nice. He knew he was right in complimenting it when they had first met. It was a rather unique but pretty colour now, even though she did stick out like a sore thumb.
"...But now I sort of know why now." He was still patting her head. Her bewildered expression slowly darkened, inwardly willing him to stop. "You didn't grow up normal, did you? So I guess you wouldn't know much about love and stuff." He finally released his hold on her head.
"Love..." Masami repeated flatly. "...and stuff." She knew who wouldn't be getting an award for most eloquent now. She yelped as he suddenly grabbed hold of a bunch of hair and pulled.
"What was that?" Reborn asked darkly, head tilted in a purposeful adorable manner that only made him look even more scary. She laughed nervously.
"N-nothing." There needed to be a topic change. And quick. She raised an eyebrow at Tsuna who was lying on the ground. Had he really defeated Mukuro?
"...Seriously?" Masami said out loud, still staring at Tsuna.
Reborn ignored her question. He also knew that it was pretty amazing that his student had done the deed. It would take a while before Masami wrapped her head around the idea too. Reborn smirked.
"Anyway, you did well, whoever you are. Everyone's okay, including Hibari. He was in critical condition when the Vongola medical team had arrived. They told me that if you hadn't stopped the major bleeding, he could have seriously died."
"Oh... Thanks..." The compliment was somehow ruined by the 'whoever you are'. Masami smiled. Everyone was okay...
"Who taught you first-aid like that?' the infant demanded, still sitting comfortably on her lap. She looked away. Reborn narrowed his eyes and stomped on the lap he was sitting on.
"Ow!"
"Who was it?" Reborn asked again, a hint of malice in his tone. Masami sighed and then turned back to look at him dispassionately.
"...Akane-san..." Masami grumbled reluctantly.
"You're kidding," Reborn replied immediately. She stared at him flatly with a, 'I knew you wouldn't have believed me, so what was the point in telling you anyway?' look.
Reborn blinked. Maybe the girl was telling the truth.
"She's good at patching people up," she explained. She caught the expression on the baby's face. "Yes, I know she doesn't seem like the type to care for people."
"...Huh..." was the infant's answer.
Reborn sighed. "Well, onto business, I suppose."
Masami stared at him warily.
"Your family?"
Reborn watched her reaction carefully. The young woman's hand tightened around the sheets under her hand. The grim expression on her face wasn't lost on him either. Very strange... and suspicious. Asking one's family between two mafioso was customary, to determine whether or not the other was from a rival family. Yet... Now she's thinking. How annoying, Reborn thought wearily. He was too tired to deal with this.
"Well?" he asked evenly.
Masami's lips parted as she looked at Reborn with owlish eyes. "Ah, um, sorry..." she grinned sheepishly at Reborn. "I'm not part of any family. I was more like a freelancer, if you had to name it something."
Reborn raised an eyebrow. He himself had been a jack of all trades sort before he had been recruited into the Vongolas. That's why he also knew that with a freelancer job came many secrets from each family they served that must be kept a secret, or else. He tilted his head.
Masami's eyes widened as she stared at the barrel. "Reborn-san..." The baby had pointed a gun to her temple. The easygoing atmosphere had turned tense from before had vanished, leaving the air stifling and tense. She looked into the baby's eyes carefully. He's serious. Even though he had always threatened to kill her, it was always "playful" (as playful as Reborn could get), but this time, she could feel his unwavering intent to kill her.
"Do you have any secrets of rival families that the Vongola could use?" Reborn asked. That was a rhetorical question. "It's obvious you do though. The question of whether I shoot you dead right here and now depends on what you give to me."
Masami's eyes hardened. What a little bastard! She had always been wary of Reborn, but would never have thought the baby would resort to something like this. Families really were scary if they were able to corrupt a little baby into trying to wheedle secrets out of her. "Then shoot me," she said quietly. Her gaze at Reborn's eyes showed no fear. The gun did not waver. "Because I'd rather be dead than betray someone's trust like that."
To her surprise, instead of shooting her, Reborn dropped the barrel from her head. He smiled. "You passed."
What? What test? She stared, incredulous, at Reborn's so-called test.
"I was suspicious of you, Masami. That was a test of your character."
"...My character..." She glared instantly. Hey, wait a minute! "Did you HAVE to do it like that, Reborn-san? That was too much! I thought you were really going to kill me!"
The baby shrugged. "When I do things, I don't go half-assed," he pointed out plainly.
Masami thought back to all the instances when he was "tutoring" Tsuna. Ah, well, that's true.
Now that she was on the subject of Tsuna...
Masami looked down at Tsuna, who was still unconscious and dead to the world. She squinted. "Reborn-san, obviously you're part of the mafia, but is Tsunayoshi-kun really part of the mafia...? He is sort of..." What was the right word to describe Tsuna? "...not mafia material," she finished lamely.
"He's the one who will be inheriting the title of tenth boss of the Vongola, so yes, he is."
She had heard of the Vongola from Rei and Akane. The most power mafia family that ruled the underground world, was it?
She nodded mindlessly, smiling. "Oh, I see. That makes sense-say WHAT?"
Reborn ignored her question and how she was looking at him with surprise.
"Tell me more about your free-lancing job." He was very curious. Masami was young, only being about 15. He wanted to know what kind of experience she had dealing with the mafia. Honestly, how old could she have been to have been dragged into the darker side of the mafia? Despite the positive deposition Masami had about her most of the time, Reborn could clearly see it in those strange eyes of her. Had seen it when they had first met.
Eyes of a kid who grew up much too fast.
Masami blinked and looked thoughtful.
"It was really more so Rei and Akane-san did everything while I tagged along for the jobs. Akane still takes jobs..." Masami put her bare feet onto the linoleum floor and shivered. It was cold.
Reborn lifted up his hat. "What'd you do during the missions then?"
Masami tentatively stood up, legs wobbling slightly. She frowned while staring at the ground.
"Distract guards was the most dangerous job I was given on one occasion." Masami smiled slightly then. "They always tried to make sure I wasn't in the line of fire when it came to the more dangerous aspects... Even Akane-san worried." She caught Reborn's skeptical gaze, causing her to stare back at him flatly.
"If you look under the underneath, Kouno Akane is nice," Masami declared.
"Yeah... but you think Hibari is a good person, Masami..." From what Reborn could tell, Masami hadn't exactly led the most easiest life in the world. He imagined lots of traveling and the constant threat of danger looming over her. Being a previous free-lancer, the baby did know a bit about what it was like. It wasn't like he had forgotten the life he had before he became a baby.
Reborn was surprised Masami hadn't turned out like he knew her as now.
That pure heart of Masami's was good (if not a little peculiar) to see.
"What?" Masami asked, suspicious. What was the baby going on about now?
"Never mind..."
Masami scowled defensively. "He's not a good person. He's hateful and cocky and violent and-"
Reborn smirked. "Come on, Masami. There has to be some reason you can tolerate that 'hateful' guy." He watched as her lips parted slowly before they were set in a tight, stubborn line.
"He's..." she paused. "...Fine." She would relent just this once. "He's a good person only when he wants to be." She couldn't help but remember when he had let that group of students go or when he came for her when she was kidnapped or when he beat up those perverts or when he gave her...-
Masami touched her forehead. Surprisingly, the clip was still there. It was a sturdy as she had initially thought.
"Hmm..." Reborn smiled. He had some clue as to what Masami was thinking about. "When you're involved, right? Interesting."
Masami stared at him drolly.
"Whenever you say 'interesting', it makes me feel annoyed because you're being really secretive, Reborn-san."
The baby shook his head. The next thing Masami knew, she had a red mark on her cheek.
"OW!" He had kicked her!
"Akane is right," Reborn remarked. "You really do piss people off with the whole denseness thing going on, Masami."
Masami glared at the baby, because he was being totally confusing again.
The kick hadn't lessened the desire to glare either.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Akane is in the hospital. She came when she heard you got beaten up."
Damn it. She didn't want to deal with Akane just after she had finally woken up. She ground her teeth. "I wasn't beaten up." I was just pierced by an oversized fork.
Reborn tilted his head. "Personally, I think it's worse to be jabbed by a trident than getting beaten up. You should thank me for sugarcoating it, Masami."
It didn't make any difference since Akane was here anyway.
"Gee..." Masami's glare intensified. "Thanks."
"No problem."
They heard a loud familiar voice from down the hall.
"MAAAAAH-NAAAAAAAA!"
Masami rubbed her eyes tiredly.
Reborn waved to the pair of females who were now exiting the hospital. His pupil was beside him and still unconscious. Useless idiot.
He smirked in amusement as he watched the shorter one trying to frantically cover up her backside and looked absolutely out-of-place wearing a hospital gown. Akane had refused Masami normal clothes on the grounds that it would be 'funny to see how she reacts!'.The girl was currently backed up against the hospital's gates and sliding against it awkwardly while following Akane.
"Ah...Oops." The baby blinked. He had forgotten to ask a lot more.
Reborn turned to his student and gave him a kick. Tsuna squealed but didn't wake up.
He sighed. "You're really a no good idiot, Tsuna."
"I'm a bit afraid because of the people that will be sent now that Rei's necklace has broken," Akane confessed to her smaller counterpart. Her tone was light and relaxed, belying her confession. She was walking with her traditional light steps, steps of someone used to sneaking around in dangerous places often.
"Because of your huge mess up, that annoying family will be able to find us more easily," she finished cheerily, meanwhile staring at Masami with reproach obvious in her eyes. "It's entirely your fault that I have to stay in this boring place for a while to keep an eye on you."
Masami nodded absentmindedly. "Sorry."
With each step, Masami could feel it: the cold stone thumped against her chest like a stick banging on a hollow can.
Masami glanced at the closed door of her room and winced when she heard some clattering. From what she was hearing, Akane was most likely exploring the fridge.
She focused back to her nearly-bare drawers. What should she wear...? Most of her wardrobe consisted of sweaters, jeans and t-shirts. She stared at the clothes of the open drawer and then shrugged. Closing her eyes, Masami decided to take a lucky dip into the pile. It wasn't like she was expecting something out of her usual ordinary. She already had a plain black t-shirt and zip-up blue sweater on. All she needed was a sturdy pair of jeans and she was set to... well, continue on with the rest of her day.
Her eyes widened at the article of clothing she pulled out.
Why did Masami have no good food?
Akane frowned at the supplies in the fridge. Milk, a small bottle of juice, and some fruit in the drawers. Nothing good. She looked in the cupboards and wasn't too surprised to find crackers and cup noodles in them. It was pretty bare, overall.
Maybe she should give the girl more money? This was sort of pitiful...
Akane brushed some imaginary dirt off the designer coat she was wearing and stuffed the hand into her pocket, fingers meeting cold hard cash, the results of a successful assassination.
Ehh, never mind. The girl seemed to be doing fine just like this.
Akane sat carefully on the table and waited for Masami to come out of her room. She snickered as she thought back to how the pink-haired girl had been acting when she was discharged from the hospital, like an innocent little doe separated from her mother.
Personally, I would have just walked like normal... Sure anyone would be able to see her underwear through the back slit thingy but it didn't seem to be that big of a deal. It wasn't as if she knew any people on the streets of Namimori. Akane lounged on the furniture, one leg swinging back and forth through the air, as she thought of the contemptuous family that would no doubt be able to find them much more easily now. She frowned, cursing Masami for her complete idiocy and carelessness.
How could she just break the necklace like that? The necklace: something absolutely amazing and, Akane had to admit, impressive. Not only could it disguise the user's appearance but could also affect various abilities to some extent. She thought back to what Rei told her. It had been so long ago. She could barely remember. And that fact she didn't really care about the necklace's abilities didn't help matters.
"Oh yeah..." Akane trailed off, recalling something. In Masami's case, it could limit that enhanced strength of hers. But even with the necklace off, she wasn't as strong as Hibari but maybe a full-grown adult (Akane put Hibari-kun on a higher strength level as a full-grown man!), but could put a good struggle up if needed. Akane squinted thoughtfully. Rei had mentioned something about tricking the brain or something to that effect because a human's brain limited a person strength. Technically, all people had more potential in their muscles to be stronger, it was just that the brains limited the amount of muscle power everyone used.
The necklace was an ingenious invention to be able to suppress what those experiments had done to Masami's 'brain limiter'.
Akane sprawled out on the rickety table and sighed adoringly. Just what she expected from the guy whom she had loved. She really did have good taste. She closed her eyes, casually listening to a faint 'tick-tick-tick'. She hadn't remembered seeing an analog clock...
...Hold it.
Akane's eyes snapped open and she sprung up to look at the origin of the strange sound.
She felt her heart begin to beat a mile a minute as she caught sight of the mechanism on the counter in across from the table. It blended in with the dark colour of the counter and was uniquely tiny for something of its complicated structure. Experience taught her that just because something was tiny, didn't mean it couldn't pack a punch.
It was obviously a-
"Aw, fuck!"
End of Kokuyo Arc
A/N: Mary-sue alert! Pink hair? D: For the writer's own twisted pleasure? Haha, but seriously, I didn't give her pink hair for the shits and giggles. X) You can theorize and I'll be more than happy to say yes or no.
Anyway, does anyone have questions they'd like answered in a "Haru Haru Dangerous Interview" about Masami and anything concerning her? It can't be questions like, "What's going to happen to her next?" or "Why are you so cruel to Yamamoto?" But yeah, feel free to ask. I'm making one (since I'm a dork) and thought if you guys want anything innocent questions (i.e. favourite food, colour, etc...) answered then I'll try to stick them in. Or maybe something about Rei or Akane? Ask them in a review perhaps. This is the only interview I'll be doing (since I'm a dork) so here's your only chance for some 'fun fact' answering.
Thanks for reading and please tell me what you thought of the chapter! Review and I may add a whole whack of MasamiXHibari fluff next chapter~ I enabled anon. reviews again. Have no idea how long they were turned off.
Next Chapter: Homecoming
"Where oh where will we put you?"
It would be too horrible of him to remind her of something like that.
"In two days, you'll be expected to go to the rooftop."
"...You are mine."