Chapter 13 : The Battle of the Rings
The smell of blood drifts into my nose. My eyes flutter open and in an instant, a sharp pain flows through my face. I try to sit up, but a bandaged hand pushes me back down.
"Shh. I'm almost done," is Belphegor's hushed response. Something slices at my skin painfully. Jumping, I arch my back away from it. He places his left hand on my neck to force me to lie down.
"D-don't you h-have anesthetics...?"
"Mammon said you would be okay..." Fucking baby! I'm glad he's alive and well, but seriously! Cheapskate! Bel pricks me again. I squeeze my eyes together. Although I can't see what he's doing, I can only imagine since he's trying to stitch it back together.
"Mah! Bel! Can't you be more gentle?!" Twisting my head to the left, I see Lussuria tied down to a bed, probably in the same condition as me. Bel grabs my face and cocks it back in place. I wince again.
"Keep moving and I'll cut you a new mouth~ Ushi shi," Bel giggles. Gulping, I tense up like a rock.
"I know you're so happy to see me! And Mammon-chan is here, too!"
...What about Squalo?
My 'nurse' brings out a needle and some transparent stitches. He grins at my terrified expression and soft squeak.
"I'll be gentle~ Don't worry~" I feel relieved. But that sensation quickly went away when he pulled at my skin with the needle.
"That looks terrible! I'm glad I had the Vongola doctors work on me," Lussuria comments.
"My work is better than any of theirs, stupid pervert." Bel frowns and accidentally poked my face in the wrong place. Lussuria, shut the fuck up before he stabs my eye on accident! I can't say that of course.
"Mhmm. Right. You just didn't want those 'filthy' doctors touching 'your peasant'. Don't deny your love~" Belphegor puts down the needle before grabbing a knife and chucking it at him. Lussuria screams in pain.
"My bicep! You cruel, cruel, little brat!" I frown.
"Bel?" He turns his head toward me. "Can we please finish this?" The prince grins.
"Ushi shi shi shi shi~ Is the pain too much? I'll be fast~" He quickly returns to his work, this time more calmly.
I run my fingers over the stitches on my cheek. From what I could see, Bel did almost professional work. It made me wonder how long exactly he's been cutting people and things with knives. And then I start thinking about him in a doctor's coat and it ruins my image of him. I giggle.
"What's so funny, peasant?" Bel appears in the doorway of the bathroom.
"You would look funny in a long coat!" He grins, happy with how easily amused I am.
"I look good in anything I wear."
"That was very vain, Bel..." I deadpan.
"Ushi shi shi shi shi~"
"...Hey, Bel?" He hums. "Where is Squalo?" The prince frowns.
"I knew you would ask about the shark captain." I wait for his response, but he doesn't say anything. My eyes drift to the ground. For a moment, I hoped that maybe, just maybe, Squalo was alive. As of now, I really hate sharks. Bel places his hand under my chin and forces me to look at him.
"The shark captain isn't killed so easily." He says. "Don't cry again. Stop thinking about sad things. I'll take you out for sushi." Forcing a smile, I nod. He pats my head quickly and grabs my wrist, dragging me out. We make it to the stairs when I hear a blaring ringing from my room. Pausing, I force Bel to stop moving.
Was that...my alarm clock? I let my mind process it before I slap my hand on my cheek.
"SCHOOL!" Running around frantically, I run into my room, grab my uniform and a towel before rushing into the bathroom. After I shut the door, I quickly take off my clothes. Someone knocks on the door.
"Peasant, why are you running around?"
"I still have to go to school!"
"...Skip it." He says, as if it's that simple.
"I just can't!" Bel doesn't understand, but he shrugs it off.
After taking my shower, I almost fly out of the bathroom and into my room before putting on my uniform. Then I, begrudgingly, put on my committee band.
'Annoying Herbivore'
By the gods, I will never forgive Hibari for doing that to me. Speaking of the cannibal, he's probably at school looking at his watch and smirking, anxious to punish me for being late. I grab some leftovers from the fridge as my lunch. Bel hands me my bag off the coat hanger and grins.
"Have a nice day at school~" he cheekily says. Giggling, I nod. He stops me with his arm before pointing at his cheek.
"Hm?"
"As a good housewife, you should give me a kiss before going to work~" My cheeks taint red and I duck under his arm before running off to school.
"Bye, Bel!" He watches me run down the street and hears me yell.
"Kyoya is gonna kill me!" His grin quickly dips into a frown. Whoever this Kyoya person was, he didn't like him. Abusing you is his job.
The gates are shut when I reach them. Cursing silently, I throw my bag over and begin climbing.
"Why do I always find you breaking rules, woman?" Looking down, I pale when I spot Hibari staring up at me, arms crossed. Déjà vu! His eyes flit to my cheek and flash with something. He turns around and walks toward the school.
"I'm sorry! I had to get myself patched up and I woke up late and then my fam-"
"Spare your breath. Hurry up. There's a meeting in a few minutes." Hibari enters the building without another word. How strange...no punishment? I jump down and run in to catch up with him.
He was already waiting, as if he knew I would plan on walking with him. We fall in step with each other.
"Woman, does it hurt?" I blink. Hibari was asking me about my health?
"Man, did I hurt you? You being worried about me is out of character." He grabs his tonfas and smacks me on the back of the head, but softly. Another strangely out of character action.
"Answer my question."
"Aish! I'm okay. I got patched up well by my friend," I smile.
"Hm." After that, he remains silent. It isn't the silence that's strange; Hibari is naturally quiet. It's the way he keep glancing at my cheek when he thinks I'm not looking. I decide to say something about it.
"Kyoya, you don't have to be worried about me at all. I've gotten stabbed by Belphegor and Squalo lots of times. I got shot a year ago. This is just a scratch in comparison. It doesn't even hurt! See?" I poke it for emphasis, but wince. He raises an eyebrow.
"Okay, so maybe it still hurts a little!" Hibari smirks and looks straight ahead.
"Idiotic woman."
"That's rude! I'll have you know that I'm only second to last in my class!"
"...That's deplorable. You're on the Disciplinary Committee and you're soiling my name." A tick mark appears on my forehead.
"You're the jerk face that wanted me to be on the stupid committee!" He swings his tonfa and hits me again.
"Your reflexes are getting slower."
"I'm tired, sleepy and injured! Leave me alone!"
"Weren't you the one who said you felt fine?"
"Mmm! Oh, you be quiet!" Hibari opens his mouth to say something, but Kusakabe comes running toward the both of us.
"Cheyenne-san! Are you alright? I haven't seen you in days!" He worriedly asks.
"I'm fine. I just got into a fight." Hibari turns to me. We share a look: Kusakabe doesn't need to know.
"The meeting is starting soon. Hibari? Would you join us?" The prefect nods and opens the door. I didn't even notice we already arrived. Walking in behind him, I look over all the people in the room. Instead of the usual couch and desk in the middle of the room, there is a long table seating around 30 members. This isn't even all of them...
"Woman," Hibari speaks. I jump.
"Yeah?"
"Come sit down."
"Where?" There were a few empty seats.
"Beside me." A couple heads turn, but Hibari doesn't waver. Smiling, I obediently take the chair next to him. Kusakabe stands at the front gathering himself for the presentation. Grabbing a notebook and pen from my bag, I open it to a blank page.
"What are you doing, woman?" Giggling, I send him a teasing look.
"Taking notes, duh!" Another set of heads turn. Hibari smirks. "Shouldn't you be taking notes, too?"
"I don't need to."
"Alright, smartass," I roll my eyes, but keep the same smile on my face. Kusakabe chuckles when he sees the members with perplexed looks.
"Don't call me that, woman." He holds his tonfas up, threatening me. Some members watch anxiously. Hibari doesn't usually let a comment like that slide.
"Calm down. You know I'm kidding." Hibari hesitantly returns his weapons. After a few seconds of silence, I tilt my head in his direction.
"Hey, what's the meeting going to be about, Kyoya?" Now everyone in the meeting room is holding their breath. He never lets anyone call him Kyoya, but he continues as if I never even said it.
"Most likely the amount of people skipping detention. Starting with you," he sneered.
"I'm on the Disciplinary Committee! I should have immunity!" I whine. The members chuckle.
"You don't." He notices Kusakabe sending him a look. "Now be quiet. Kusakabe is starting."
"Okay," I whisper.
After the long meeting, I went to class. It lasted much longer than we all expected, but that was partly because of how much property damage there was. Lunch started a few minutes ago. And oh, joy, Gokudera is at the door. Smiling, I send him a friendly wave.
"Hayato! Hey! I came to say hi," I say, fingers interlaced. He looks at me, surprised, but his eyes flit around, facing anywhere that isn't me.
"Why?" I frown.
"Because you're my friend? I thought that was obvious!" Gokudera walks toward me.
"You're...not upset?"
"Upset? Why would I be upset?" I shake my head.
"Because I called you a traitor and ignored you an-"
"Don't worry about all of that! I'm not bothered. Your reaction was natural."
"...I'm sorry, Cheyenne-san. I didn't expect you to be part of the Varia." He frowns and rubs his neck.
"I'm sorry, too. For not telling you that." I quickly change the subject to avoid this tense atmosphere. "I just want you to know that even if we're enemies, we're still friends," I giggle. The grey haired teen bursts into laughter and grabs my head, ruffling my hair.
"Idiot! Of course we are!"
"Argh! Let go, you overgrown octopus!" I push him away as he beams at me.
"Do you want to eat lunch with me and the tenth today? I made something good!" Grinning, I nod my head.
"I would like that." We walk out of the class, Gokudera excitedly talking about the coming battle.
"The Tenth will definitely win! I put my full trust in him!"
"No way. Xanxus is gonna win," I haughtily reply.
"I feel like your team is the bad guys, no offense."
"None taken. Truthfully, we are right now." The teen looks down at me.
"Right now?"
"We are a part of the Vongola. We're allies, but Xanxus wants to take his place as the true Vongola Tenth."
"But Juudaime is the Tenth."
"Didn't you hear the Ninth's explanation? He was chosen. By right, Xanxus is the rightful heir to the Vongola title and the only reason he didn't get it is because of the Cradle affair."
"The coup the Varia staged."
"Right. Had he not done that, he would be in Tsuna's place, getting training from Reborn probably and you never would have met him," I giggle. "You would have tried to kill Xanxus instead!" Gokudera turned pale.
"Oh shit..."
"That would have ended badly." We walk outside, probably to meet up with Yamamoto and eat with Tsuna.
"How long have you been Varia?" He wondered.
"Well, I've been there longer than Xanxus has, if you can imagine that."
"That's a long time!"
"My old boss used to be Tyr. It used to be me, Lussuria, Levi and Mammon but Squalo kicked his ass and became the new boss. Then Xanxus came along and took his throne. Bel joined us and is our ace and resident genius."
"That Belphegor guy is a freak!" A shudder racks his body. I laugh.
"He is, isn't he? I love him with all my heart," I say fondly.
"It's weird how you can like those guys. They're so damn loud! And they're freaks! That Squalo guy had a sword for an arm!" I shake my head.
"It's hard to explain why I love them so much, especially Xanxus. But I have my own reasons." Gokudera ruffles my hair again.
"I get it. I feel the same way about the Tenth." We share a smile and continue walking to the diamond where Yamamoto is practicing.
"Takeshi!"
"OI! Baseball nut!" The brunette swings his bat again, hitting the ball and running to first base. He waves at us.
"We're eating lunch with the Tenth!"
"Oh! I forgot!" Gokudera growls and waves his arms at him.
"How could you forget to eat lunch with the Tenth!?" I notice Yamamoto patting a teammate on the back and pointing toward us. He eventually puts away his baseball bat and joins us.
"Ah, sorry guys! I'm kind of stressed over the battle."
"It's okay, Takeshi. I don't blame you. I'm stressed, too," I put on a weak smile.
"How are your injuries?" I touch my cheek.
"Fine now. Bel does good work."
"That guy did that?!" Gokudera is in shock. Yamamoto slaps his back with mirth.
"You didn't ask?"
"I didn't assume that prince freak would be generous enough to help someone!"
"He's good with knives and wires. Stitching people together is the natural order of business for him," I shrug and laugh.
"He's talented. My dad respects him...Oh! Cheyenne, have you been practicing with the Fugu? My old man keeps saying you're better than me at it!" Yamamoto grins.
"That's right! I'm gonna inherit the shop, Takeshi! Watch out!"
"Not gonna happen! I'll start showing up more!"
"Whatever!" Gokudera interrupts. "Let's go eat with the Tenth, damnit! He's waiting!" We follow wordlessly.
Yes. Let's go eat with the Tenth.
After the long, but admittedly fun, day. I pack my bag and look outside. The sun is going down and the sky is painted orange. It reminds me that winter is quickly coming. Would I be able to spend Christmas with the Varia? Probably not. Sighing, I fiddle with my armband. Gokudera walks up to me.
"Wanna walk home together? Yamamoto has practice and Juudaime has an important training with Reborn," he offers. Shaking my head, I sigh.
"I wanna walk home alone today." Gokudera frowns at my downcast expression. He sighs and tousles my hair affectionately, not commenting on my mood.
"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow," he pats my head and walks off. I sling my bag over shoulder.
"Ms. Balotelli? Are you leaving?" The teacher asks.
"Yes."
"Would you please give these to Hibari-san? He asked them to be personally delivered, but I have a family emergency," he almost begs. Although I didn't feel like dealing with Hibari, I put on a smile and grab the stack of papers.
"Of course, sir." He nods.
"Thank you so much! Have a nice evening! Be sure to read chapters 49-52 in your textbook!" The teacher quickly leaves. I look at the stack. They're our mid-semester grades. Grinning, I flip through until I find my name.
Balotelli , Cheyenne
Maths/Sciences : F
Social Studies : F
Japanese : B+
Foreign Language : B+
Arts : F
Fitness Education : A+
Not bad! For someone who rarely attends class and has never gotten a proper education, my grades are pretty good! I have to show Hibari the great news! I grab my grades in my left hand and the papers in my right before skipping off to his office.
When I reach the hallway, a member leaves the office. They notice me and nod.
"Ballotelli-san. Are you reporting to Hibari-sama?"
"Yeah! Is he there?"
"Yes. Would you like me to turn in the papers for you?" He offers. Shaking my head, I smile.
"That's okay. I wanted to show him something anyway." The member looks baffled, but shakily nods and goes on his way. I grin and slam the door open. I'm greeted with an angry Hibari, hands interlaced in front of him.
"Kyoya! I've got to show you something!"
"Was it necessary to slam the door open?"
"That's how excited I am-look!" Placing the paper on his desk, I let him look over my grades. He frowns. "Aren't they great?"
"No. You are failing three classes."
"But I have an A plus in Fitness Education!"
"That does not count."
"You don't count!" I cross my arms. He exhales from his nose.
"Go home." Giggling, I hand him the rest of the stack of grades.
"Okay, Kyoya. I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?" He nods, but before I leave the room, someone knocks on the door. I look back at him and he continues to glare at the door.
"Open it," he says. I unlock the door and one of the pink haired sisters enters.
"Eh? Did something happen?" I ask. Hibari stands up.
"The cloud guardians are expected in the Namimori courtyard within the next ten minutes," she states. Then, just as quickly as she arrived, she leaves. What? What could they possibly want us for?
Could it be because of Gola Mosca interrupting the battle?
"Let's go, woman." Hibari walks out, waiting for me to follow. He frowns.
"Kyoya, what do you think is happening?" He doesn't respond, but I see him touching the tips of his tonfa, a tic I'd seen him do a few times when he was anxious. Whether he's nervous or excited, I don't know.
"I'm tired of these herbivores interrupting my paperwork."
We arrive to see Tsuna's gang there.
"H-Hibari-san?! Cheyenne-san?!"
"What do you want?" Hibari commands. What is going on? Looking around, I see Bel and the rest of the Varia in the distance. Frowning, I leave Hibari's side to ask Belphegor if he knew what was happening. It's one thing for the Vongola to be here, but the Varia, too?
"Bel? What are you doing here?" He impishly grins.
"It's starting~"
"What?"
"Now that all of the surviving guardians are here, we can commence the battle of the rings." I gulp. So soon? "Can all of the guardians go to their original battlefields?"
"You're making us fight again?!" Gokudera yelled, outraged.
"This is a ring battle for all of the rings, so yes." He growls, but starts walking to the upstairs hallway. Bel starts walking off, but turns around to place a hand on my head.
"Don't lose this time, peasant. Ushi shi shi~"
"I won't! And you can't lose either!" He punches my injured cheek, making me squeak.
"Do you really think there's a possibility?"
"Mmm. I don't know..." I grin cheekily. Bel let's go.
"Bye, peasant." He follows Gokudera, who yells at him to go away. Everyone else goes to their designated spots, except for me and Hibari. I wanted to see if Squalo would show up.
"The shark captain isn't killed so easily."
"What are you waiting for? Let's go." Jumping, I sadly nod and go with him.
It was just us now. No spectators. No referees. It feels a lot less like a battle and more of a scuffle. Hibari kept staring at his watch as if it's going to burn him. I yawn and cross my legs, getting comfortable on the ground.
"Woman, this is a battle. Now isn't the time to lounge so casually."
"I know, but it's just you and me. I feel more relaxed," I answer honestly. He smirks and walks closer to me.
"So you're saying you fee-" he doesn't finish his sentence, doubling over and clenching his arm. I quickly stand up and run over to see what's wrong. He's groaning and writhing in pain. Why wasn't I affected? Did the Varia sabotage our opponents?
I hear the sisters talking through the loud speaker.
"A poison has been injected into the systems of every guardian. Their goal is to grab the rings on the pedestal, that is, if they can. If the rings are not all collected, they will die of poisoning."
I look down at Hibari, who is still suffering.
Growling, I yell, "THIS IS FUCKING TWISTED!" Hibari looks up at me, angry, but with not enough energy to retaliate. And why, of all people, am I not affected by the poison? Did the Varia cheat? I turn to my watch and no, everyone else is in just as much pain as Hibari.
"I don't get it..." Hibari tries to pull his tonfas out to attack me, but I just push them back. He weakly glares. Shaking my head, I tell him, "I'm not fighting you like this, Kyoya. I have to find a way to help you and everyone else."
And fast.
"..." He weakly places his hands on the ground and tries getting up, only to fall back down.
"Kyoya..." It pains me to see him like this. Getting up, I look at the pole holding the cloud ring. There's only one way I know how to help him and I know Xanxus is going to kick my ass to Italy and back, but I don't care. I grab one of his tonfas.
"Do you mind if I borrow this?" He glares in response. Positioning it along the groove of my arm like he does, I wind back my swing and hit the pole with as much power as I can muster. It dents it. Grinning, I'm proud that my method is working. I do that a few more times until the pole toppled over and the ring falls.
I hold it in my finger tips for a moment. What would be the point of me having it? It doesn't help me at all. At the end of the day, I'm not the best fit for the title of 'cloud guardian' anyway. Jogging back over to Hibari, I hold his wrist and slide the ring into his watch. In an instant, he pants with relief as sweat pours down his face.
The brunette lies on the ground for a minute before sitting up and staring at me.
"Why? The point of the battle is to win, not help each other. I don't need your pity, woman," he frowns, but doesn't move to hurt me.
"I can't stand seeing you like that. I still remember in Kokuyo high I couldn't help you. I felt useless. I'm tired of feeling useless, so suck it up and accept my help!" My words got louder as I finished my sentence. It's the truth, at least. Hibari watches me like a hawk.
"Hm." He finally smirks. "Well, then let's go, loser." After standing up, he grabs my arm and pulls me up. "It's time to get the rest of the rings." He drags me behind him, but I quickly stop.
"Kyoya! You know I can't help the Vongola! We're supposed to be enemies!"
"Who said I wanted your help? I'm taking you hostage, since I won the battle," he urges me forward. The smug look on his face tells me he has a plan. I nod and follow. We walk to the hallways, which happen to be closest to us.
A large pole made a hole in the side of the building, revealing Gokudera lying inside. What about Bel? I panic and look around for the prince, but I don't see him anywhere. Hibari lets go of me, presumably to go searching for the ring.
"...ring~" I hear a whisper somewhere close and I run to it. It's Bel!
"Bel! You got the ring? You're amazing!"
"Ushi shi shi shi shi~ Well, I'm the prince, after all." Smiling, I go to inspect if he has any injures when Hibari appears out of nowhere and kicks the ring out of his watch. Bel stares at his now empty watch, then turns his head to Hibari.
"Wow~" He stands up and pulls me behind him, an arm blocking me from moving. Hibari glares and pulls out his tonfas. "That's surprising. How are you moving?" The cloud guardian smirks and twists his wrist for Belphegor to see.
"I have the ring." Bel doesn't question it, but he pulls out a knife. I gulp. The other times they fought didn't come close. Now it would be a true test of who is stronger.
"I've heard you're a genius. I want to see if that's true."
"Shi shi shi. Don't ask me something we all know. Of course I'm a genius-!" He throws a knife at Hibari, who dodges. It turns around and almost hits him in the back, but he blocks it with a tonfa. My eyes widen. No one can block Bel's knives!
"You know my tricks. Ushi~ Let's see how long you can last."
"Then let's start, Mr. Genius." Hibari prepares for his opponent to attack first. Bel forms his hand in a 'T' shape, signaling a time out. He turns to me.
"I think you should make like a princess and go to another castle," Bel jokes. He's right, this is getting serious. I grab his shoulder.
"Do your best." He grins.
"What do expect from a prince? Ushi shi shi shi shi~" Running off, I leave them to battle. Bel and Hibari, whoever wins, can take care of themselves. They're both the most hardheaded people I know.
I would help Mammon next. He's the closest.
If there are any errors, PM me and I will rectify them as soon as I can! If you have any character/episode/plot you want me to write about, tell me and I might include it! Please leave a review! I love reading them!