Disclaimer: KHR characters and setting belong to Amano Akira.
Chapter 13: Illusions
A few days pass, and Jin, Sai, Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto find themselves returning to a usual routine of meeting at school and eating lunch on the roof. During those few days, Jin has gone back to his usual confident self, yet his smiles are less forced than before. It might seem that their days of chaos would finally end.
Of course, none of them have that kind of luck.
Hazé has been confused for a while now. Ever since Jin, his so-called 'boss-chan', accepted him into their little club, he has felt lighter for some reason. He hasn't gained his revenge yet, but elation fills him. Could it be that those two have become his friends? He smirks at the notion. Even to himself, that answer is classified.
Still, he can't believe that those two, Jin and Sai actually know what they've gotten themselves into. After all, who would be so stupid or crazy to go up against Shen? But that youthful energy just might be enough.
Lost in his musings, Hazé absently pushes through a crowd of people in Namimori's shopping district. However, as he's currently enshrouded in illusions, people take one look at flee, screaming delirious nonsense about demons and such. Absentmindedly, he snickers in amusement.
"Kehehe…"
With nothing to do, Hazé heads to the edge of the town towards Kokuyo, where it's rumored that the remnants of a deadly gang live. The rumors admittedly piqued his interest. Maybe it would keep him busy until the boss-chan decided to give him a job.
Hazé walks down the long asphalt road lined on either side by a tall gray wall and vast green fields. The peaceful rural atmosphere might deter others, but its familiarity strikes a chord within him. It reminds him of his home, or rather, his home in the far past.
He was the youngest of four siblings, unwanted because of his position as fourth. The second and third oldest, his brother and sister, paid him no mind, going as far so to tell others he didn't even exist. Not that he cared. They were insects to him. What happened to them? That's classified.
It was his oldest brother, Zhang, whom he cared about. But Zhang was often away from the family. Off at his job or something. He never told Hazé where he went. According to Zhang, his business was classified. Not that he cared. It was enough for him that his oldest brother told him stories of his travels.
And now Zhang was dead. His death, they said, was classified.
Not paying any attention to where he's walking, Hazé bumps into a small figure. A girl, he realizes. Zhang always told him to be courteous to girls. Running a hand through his hair, he sighs. "Kehehe, sorry, girlie," he mutters.
"Oya? Who do we have here?" a deep voice muses. Definitely not a girl's voice.
[A challenger appears!]
Hazé takes a step back, wary of this stranger before him. Whoever it is, he has dark blue hair parted in a zigzagged line down the center with a spray of hair in the back. The young man wears an open olive green school uniform with an upraised collar and a multi-colored blue shirt underneath. Catching Hazé's cautious attention, however, are the boy's eyes. One as blue as his hair, the other blood red with the kanji for '6'. A sly smile plays at his lips.
"Kehehe, that's classified," Hazé replies, hiding his wariness of the boy.
"Kufufu, haven't you heard of the name 'Rokudo Mukuro'?"
"Perhaps," Hazé answers. Inside, however, he panics at the name. Isn't that the name of the guy who escaped from that high-security prison, the Vendicare? "Kehehe, perhaps you can tell me, pineapple-head-chan."
"'Pineapple-head-chan'?" Mukuro echoes in a deathly silent voice, eyes darkened. A vein pops on his forehead. Oh, this bastard did not just call him that. His smile remains, but even Hazé can tell it's strained. An overwhelming aura suddenly explodes in the area, and the tension weighs heavily on Hazé's shoulders. A long-handled trident with three spikes materializes in Mukuro's hand. "Kufufu, there won't be anything left for the Mafia to bury."
"Kehehe, you're deadly mistaken if you think I'm in leagues with the Mafia," Hazé replies, smirking.
"Oya? Then who do you associate yourself with, stranger-san?" Mukuro asks, slightly curious. This man is a definite change of pace from the usual crazy Vongola. Perhaps he could have some fun.
"I am Hazé, Black Warrior and Self-Proclaimed Ace Illusionist," Hazé states. Following Mukuro's example, Hazé retrieves his partially-melted guan dao from hammerspace. The black metal has dulled from the heat of the Dying Will flames from the Vongola Tenth, but it remains an effective weapon. "Anything else is classified."
"Well, then, Self-Proclaimed Ace-chan, how would you like to see the Six Paths of Hell?" Mukuro continues, drawing out his trident. The kanji on his right eye shifts to a 'four', and violet flames envelop his red eye. Hazé's eyes widen at the sight, but he remains stoic.
"Kehehe, let's see how well that will work, Pineapple-head-chan," he retorts as black smoke rises from his feet.
Mukuro wastes no time in his attack, speeding forward with incredible speed, seemingly warping behind Hazé. Drawing his trident back, he drive the spiked end into Hazé, who chokes. Mukuro smirks at his supposed victory. However…
"Kehehe…" Hazé's head suddenly rotates around to face Mukuro, grinning from ear to ear. Literally, the edges of his mouth stretch across his face in a gruesome smile. "Where are you looking?"
Eyes wide in surprise, Mukuro leaps backwards right as Hazé disappears in a cloud of black smoke. Reappearing behind Mukuro, Hazé slashes sideways with his guan dao, but the pineapple—er…indigo-haired illusionist swiftly spins around and blocks the blade with the edge of his trident. The two remain at a standoff for a tense moment.
"You're more skilled than I originally thought," remarks Mukuro begrudgingly. Then he sneers. "But not as skilled as my skylark-kun."
In the Disciplinary Office, Hibari sneezes and realizes how much he'd like to bite a certain pineapple-haired illusionist to death.
Mukuro shoves Hazé backwards, and the white-haired young man stumbles on his feet. Then he drives rapid jabs at Hazé, who hastily draws up his guan dao and jerks it around to block the incoming strikes. In a puff of black smoke, Hazé disappears once more, reappearing on the edge of the concrete fence on the left road of the road.
"Kufufu, is your specialty running away?' Mukuro taunts.
"That's classified."
In response, Mukuro's kanji changes to a 'one', and the flames around his eye disappear. "In that case…" Straightening to his full height, he stabs the end of his trident into the ground.
Abruptly, the wall beneath Hazé's feet quakes, and luminescent lotus vines wrap around him. Hazé struggles to free himself with his guan dao, but a vine tears it away from his hands. A sharp jerk, and Hazé crashes to the ground. He glares defiantly up at the indigo-haired teen, who strolls up to him. Mukuro raises his trident, eyes glinting, and holds it poised above Hazé.
"Any last words, Mafia scum?"
"Yeah: What are you talking to?" Mukuro tenses, hearing Hazé's voice from both in front of and behind him. He swiftly thrusts the trident into Hazé, but in a cloud of black smoke, a sign takes Hazé's place. It takes Mukuro one second to read it and one second to react.
Look behind you, kehehe…
Mukuro spins on his heels in a second, spreading his weapon in a wide arc right as the partially dulled blade of the guan dao reaches him. However, both weapons freeze not a moment before reaching their targets' throats.
"Not bad, not bad," Hazé remarks, a pained smile on his face.
"Hazé!"
"Mukuro?!"
The two illusionists, without lowering their respective weapons, turn to see five figures running up to them farther down the road. After a moment, they realize the newcomers are Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Jin, and Sai, still in their school uniforms.
"Oya? it would seem we have company," Mukuro remarks. Upon reaching them, the five halt seeing Mukuro and Hazé at each other's throats.
"Rokudo Mukuro, what the hell are you doing?!" Gokudera demands.
"Don't associate yourselves with me, Vongola Storm," Mukuro returns. He turns away from a fuming Gokudera and looks at Hazé. "Just who are you really?"
"I am the end of the Triads." At this, Mukuro stares at him with distrusting frown. End the Triads? Jin's brow furrows in addition, wondering the same as Mukuro. The indigo-haired illusionist's smile returns at the thought, and he lowers his weapon. Warily, Hazé follows suit.
"Kufufu, perhaps we are more alike than I originally thought, Self-Proclaimed Ace-chan," Mukuro remarks. He takes a step back, closing his eyes. White steam seems to emit from his body then, as he returns his trident to his side. "Perhaps we shall meet again in the future…"
The smoke completely engulfs Mukuro, and his shadow appears to diminish into a girl's form. Like Mukuro's, the girl's violet hair is parted and is fashioned into a 'pineapple' style. Tied over her right eye is an eye patch with the design of a gray skull. She wears the girl's version of the Kokuyo uniform. When she full materializes, she starts to descend forward to the ground.
"Ah! Chrome!" Tsuna runs past Hazé, completely ignoring the boy in order to reach Chrome before she falls. Gokudera and Yamamoto hurry behind Tsuna, with Jin and Sai trailing behind in the rear. Hazé glances at the girl before turning to his boss.
"Yo, boss-chan~," he greets Jin. "It's been a while, kehehe."
"Indeed," Jin replies, frowning slightly.
"Enough with the small talk," Sai growls. "What the hell did you mean back there?"
"That is classified, Azure Dragon-chan," Hazé replies, smirking. "You don't really think that just because I'm the Black Warrior that I'll tell you everything about myself, do you? Kehehe…"
"Why you—!"
"Sai," Jin warns his friend. He looks at Hazé and reminds the illusionist, "You are not the Black warrior yet, Hazé. That is precisely the reason for us finding you." Sai whips his gaze to Jin, mouth partially agape.
"So…it's time?" he asks.
"Wait, what's time?" Hazé speaks up, frowning.
Placing a finger to his upturned lips, Jin replies, "That's classified." Seeing Hazé's look of pure disbelief, Jin tilts his head slightly to the side teasingly. "Just kidding."
"Something wrong with boss-chan?" Hazé inquires of Sai.
"Dunno," the navy-haired boy answers. "He's been like this since the beginning of this week."
"Back to the subject, then," Jin continues, serious once again. "In order to initiate Hazé into the position of Black Warrior, we must return to China promptly."
"When do we leave?" asks Hazé, crossing his arms.
"Tomorrow."
"Ehh?!" Tsuna exclaims, nearly falling backwards in his seat. "Jin-kun and Sai-kun are leaving?"
Nodding, Jin replies, "Only temporarily, though, Tsunayoshi-kun. We must leave for…family reasons." Eyes dart to the edge of his vision, and he notices other students walking over to his desk.
"Is it true, Jin-kun?" a girl asks him, eyes moist. "You're leaving Namimori already?"
"Only for now, my dear," he tells her, using two fingers to raise her chin to look her in the eyes. Jin gestures to Sai and himself then. "We were invited to see the Eventide concert with Mei-chan. It would be rather discourteous to refuse such an offer."
"Kyah! You get to see JJ in person!" another girl squeals.
"Who?" wonders another.
"You've never heard of him?"
"His full name's Dominic Jay Jeong, but he goes by 'JJ'. He's just the cutest K-pop singer in Seoul right now!"
As the other students go on to discuss their favorite bands, Tsuna marvels at the easiness with which Jin is able to divert the conversation from himself. Still, he can't help but feel a little sad that the Jijie duo will be leaving soon. Of course, by family matters, he knows they mean Family matters.
"It has been fun, Tsunayoshi-kun," Jin's voice cuts into Tsuna's thoughts. The brunette looks up to see Jin extending a hand. Seeing the exasperated look on Tsuna's face, Jin chuckles lightly and takes the hand, shaking it heartily.
"Don't touch Juudaime so familiarly!" protests Gokudera.
"Don't yell at Jin!" returns Sai.
Yamamoto laughs, remarking, "It's just like when we first met!" Tsuna watches in disbelief, and Jin smiles softly.
"Will we see each other again, Jin-kun?" Tsuna inquires.
"Should fate allow it, I should hope so," the ponytailed boy replies. "But even if fate doesn't allow it, I am certain we will meet again. After all, we're friends, right?"
Hearing this, even Gokudera and Sai stop their squabbling to focus their attention on Jin, who has a contented gaze in his eyes. The others return his smile (except for Gokudera, who merely smirks).
"Right."
A/N: First of all, sorry this is so late. I've been really busy with tests and school and miscellaneous excuse, and recently, I've come down with a writer's worst enemy: writer's block. I initially wanted this to be about Hazé's initiation to the Jijie Mafiad (that's what I'm calling it now), but I couldn't figure out how to transition it. Thus, this chapter.
By the way, anyone read the most recent chapter of Reborn? Honestly, I was kind of disappointed at first, but then decided it was pretty good for the end of an arc, all heartwarming and stuff.
On another note, completely unrelated, do you think it's possible to hear others' thoughts through dreams? That is, I've been 'dreaming' of unwritten reviews about different things, some about not enough KHR character screen time and most recently, about the date in the previous chapter. I don't really know the times/setting in the manga/anime, so I figured it would be okay to skip to April. If you have any thoughts on this, please share.
Anyway, reviews, complaints, comments, suggestions, faves, follows, and/or all of the above are always welcomed. But, as always, thanks for reading!