This will be just a filler chapter. I realized that I have been making them too long for my liking…but it had to be done. When I joined the rain match and this chapter together, it went on too long reaching over five thousand words, and I don't like that idea at all…
Now, enjoy!
Chapter 21 Quick Break
"Yamamoto…" Natsuki murmured. He was all but worried about him being next, what with the long haired assassin beating him flat back when they first met at the Namimori Shopping District.
Squalo smiled sinisterly, "VOI! I can't wait to tear you to shreds!" he said with satisfaction.
Yamamoto just smiled, "I'm excited I can't even sleep…" he replied.
It was then when one of Levi's men came. "Excuse me," he called their attention. "Captain Levi, someone as snuck onto the school grounds! Our men are being defeated one member after another!" he said.
Levi's brow furrowed, "Get rid of that intruder before I lose face in front of the boss!" he commanded.
"YES!" the man said as he turned to leave, probably to take care of the problem.
"Who might that be?" Natsuki wondered.
Reborn knew who that was, "Well, they seemed to have arrived a bit late…" he said.
Natsuki was curious, "They? Who is it Reborn?"
"He came back from training with Dino of course," he answered.
Natsuki, Yamamoto, Ryohei and Basil looked at each other, "You mean…" before Natsuki could answer, a yelp was heard.
In just a split second, a black blur sped up towards them, and saw the man from before fall to the ground. Soft footsteps were heard in the direction that the man had been thrown off from, and the perpetrator showed himself.
"Hibari-san!" Natsuki looked at him in panic. Up until now, he still didn't know how to tell him that his sister had been kidnapped by the very people in front of them.
Kyouya glared at all of them, his tonfas ready on his hands. "Trespassing on school grounds, as well as destruction of school property…and neglecting what I have specifically said to watch over," he glared at Natsuki. The blond knew that he already knows about the kidnapping and he was not happy, "You are all jointly guilty, and I'm going to bite you all to death!"
Natsuki shivered as he silently bid farewell to his soul. He was mad for the Varia trespassing, the destruction of the school property that he had been taking over, and for not watching over his girlfriend while he was away that was supposed to be the task of her own twin brother who had vowed to himself he will never endanger. This was going to be the end of him. He just knew.
The Cervello were not wavered by Kyouya's glare, "Are you a Ring holder for Sawada's side?" one of them asked. "In that case, we can't have you…"
Before she could continue, Levi butted in, "How dare you attack my subordinates?!"
"We can't have Guardians fighting each other outside the matches,"
Levi didn't listen and pushed the pink woman, "Shut up Cervello!" he said as he took out two of his parabolas and attacked Kyouya. But the prefect merely stepped aside and tripped him as he attacked.
Kyouya glared down at him, "Shall I bite you to death first?"
"VOI! Who the hell are you?" Squalo demanded.
Reborn answered for him, "He's the Disciplinary Committee Head Chairman, Natsuki's Cloud Guardian, Hibari Kyouya," he introduced.
Mammon smiled, "If he's the Cloud, then that means he is Gola Mosca's opponent," the robot replied with steam coming out of two tubes attached to its face.
Squalo readied his sword, "You seemed to be strong. How many pieces should I cut you?" he threatened.
Kyouya glared at him, "Are you the ones who took Tsunarumi?" he demanded.
The Cervello had enough of the impending fight, "Please stop this. If participants fight outside of the matches, they will be disqualified,"
"We have to stop his rampage!" Natsuki panicked.
Yamamoto decided to step in, "Come on now, I can understand why you're upset. If my girl is kidnapped, I'd be mad as well," he stated.
"You're in my way," he said as he swung his tonfa, but Yamamoto used his quick footwork and grabbed his tonfa, "That long haired guy is my opponent, so will you mind?"
All of them were quite surprised by his movement. But Kyouya had become more pissed than ever. "I'll bite anyone who gets in my way to death!" he said as he turned to face him.
Yamamoto started to panic himself, "Not good, I made him worse!"
"Hibari-san, please stop!" Natsuki pleaded. "It's my fault that Nee-san got kidnapped, so don't take it out on anyone!"
Reborn now decided to step in, "Hibari, if you go on a rampage here, then we will lose the chance to save Tsuna early, and we couldn't guarantee her safety anymore,"
Mammon smirked, "So this is the boyfriend of our hostage," he muttered.
"I will only stop if you allow me to land some hits on Sawada Natsuki and Ieyatsu Giotto without interference for not watching over Tsunarumi," he negotiated.
"What?!" Natsuki panicked. He did not like this. And knowing Reborn…
"Only three hits each, will that be fine?" Reborn haggled. Natsuki looked at him in disbelief. He was actually allowing him to beat him up? Three hits from the prefect can already send you three feet near Death's door!
Kyouya lowered his tonfas, "Alright," he then looked at the Cervello, "Will you repair the damage done to the school?"
The Cervello nodded, "Yes. We will take full responsibility,"
"Fine then," he said as he turned to Yamamoto, "I'll leave Sawada Natsuki's punishment for tomorrow, but don't lose to him before it's my turn to fight, Yamamoto Takeshi,"
"Hibari-san…" Natsuki called.
He shivered when Kyouya sent him a death glare, "I will deal with you tomorrow after school. You and Ieyatsu Giotto both," he declared. He then looked at Reborn, "Has Nana-san any knowledge of this?"
"No. We are conjuring an illusion to make everyone think that she was never kidnapped. We already called Maman and told her that she would be staying at Giotto's place for a little while longer because of some Council work," he explained.
Kyouya asked nothing more and left the building silently. But Natsuki and the others noticed his grip on his tonfa tighten and loosen every two seconds. They knew he was suppressing his rage and saving it either when it is his turn to fight, or landing three hits on Giotto and Natsuki.
Natsuki pulled his hair, "I'm going to die tomorrow!" he panicked. He knew when he says the full name of the person, he was mad at the said person. He used to call Giotto Kaichou, but now that he said his full name, he can tell that he was furious with the both of them.
"Relax, it's only three strikes and you're done," Reborn explained. "That's how mad Hibari is for what had happened to Tsuna,"
Squalo took their attention, "So sword brat, I will be looking forward in slicing you to bits tomorrow," Yamamoto glared.
"If Squalo wins tomorrow, the Conflict will be over," Mammon informed.
They all turned to leave via the window, "Prepare yourselves!" Squalo said before disappearing with them.
Natsuki sighed in relief, "They left…"
G. looked at Natsuki, "Kyouya looked pissed as far as I can tell. You better prepare yourself for tomorrow on what he will do to you for not watching over Tsuna while he was gone,"
"But she was at Giotto-nii's place at that time! I didn't even know they invaded there until he called me!" the blond reasoned.
"Which is why he included Giotto's name in his death list," he explained. "Even if Reborn haggled it to three hits each, you will be sent to the infirmary after that anyways," he then looked at his unconscious cousin, "I better get him home. I'll tell him to meet you guys tomorrow at school," he said as he left with Shamal in tow.
A running bond then came into view, but not before stopping G. and the pervert doctor, "Has Kyouya left already?" he asked.
"Dino-san!" Natsuki called. "He just left," he informed.
"How did Hibari discover that Sawada-chan was kidnapped anyway?" Ryohei wondered.
"Dino didn't sense his presence when we were in a video chat to tell him what happened to Lambo's match. He openly mentioned about her getting kidnapped, and Hibari burst in and attacked Dino, demanding that they return here immediately," Reborn explained.
"I didn't know he was there in the first place!" he reasoned. Dino looked at Natsuki, "But then, I'm sorry if you're going to be beaten up tomorrow though…"
Natsuki waved his hand, "No it's okay. I knew it would happen to me and Giotto-nii sooner or later…" he dreaded that day. In other words, he wished that tomorrow would never come.
…
Tsuna smirked as she looked at Belphegor, "Now I know how they managed to bandage Tutankhamen thousands of years ago before they placed him in the sarcophagus," she joked. She had just finished relaying what she saw in the camera that Mammon implanted on Gola Mosca when they brought Belphegor there. In reality, she was delighted that he suffered some wounds, making her proud of Gokudera. He had managed to turn him into a mummy prince.
"Shut up," Belphegor said hoarsely. Tsuna could tell that he was annoyed by how he was being teased.
"Who will be fighting tomorrow?" she wondered.
Squalo looked up from his bandaging work to Tsuna, "That will be me against that sword brat who holds a sword like a baseball," he answered.
"Yamamoto," she corrected.
Lussuria then spoke, "You know, that kid reminds me of someone," he said. "Didn't we go here to challenge a woman who uses two irregular swords?"
Tsuna's head spun, "Two irregular swords? You've been here before?"
Lussuria slowly nodded as to not act up his body pains, "He went here after he heard of a skillful swordswoman and challenged her," he explained.
"VOI! She ended up dead by my hands anyway," Squalo added.
Tsuna looked at Squalo, "What was her name?"
"I think it was Mi-chan or something near that," Lussuria answered.
For some reason, Tsuna knew who that person is. Squalo will be screwed.
"Oh and another thing," Mammon said as he went to the nightstand of Lussuria's bed, "Your brother's Cloud Guardian showed up and humiliated Levi. He seemed to be hell bent on taking you back,"
"What? Kyouya arrived at the scene? I'm surprised he didn't kill the Cervello for allowing you to destroy school property,"
"They covered it to calm him down," Mammon replied.
Tsuna sighed, "That seemed to take care of the school. I don't know what will happen to my brother though," she said, worried about Natsuki and what Kyouya could possibly do to him.
…
The moment Natsuki arrived at the school, he dreaded his day. Kyouya was there on the gates, waiting for him with a terrifying death glare. He had not been able to sleep last night, since he was having nightmares of Kyouya skinning him alive. Who knew his mind could be that creative in nightmares. It was bad enough that it might come true.
"Sawada Natsuki," Kyouya called with his icy glare and voice. He turned to the back of the building, "Follow me,"
It took him two minutes to get there, and he stared in shock on what he saw. There, on the tree was Giotto tied upside down on one of the branches, his mouth gagged. He was wriggling like a worm. "Giotto-nii!" he shouted.
"He tried to run away from me the moment I barged into the office. Serves him right," Kyouya answered. "I already landed three hits on him for letting the Varia take Tsunarumi," he took out his tonfas, "And now your punishment is coming," he got ready to hit the blond twin with an intent to kill. No one loses his property and gets away with it.
Natsuki was shivering to his feet, faintly seeing his life fade away from him. but he had to take this. It was partly his fault that she got kidnapped after all.
…
Gokudera shot up his bed the moment his eyes opened. But the moment he did so, pain went across his body, and some of his small cuts opened. G. was there thankfully, and he ran to his cousin immediately, "Whoa slow down there, all your wounds will open if you struggle to move." He advised as he set down the tray of breakfast for his cousin just in case the silver haired teen gets up in time for the meal.
Gokudera grunted as he was helped by his cousin get back and lie down on the bed. For the first time since the battle with Belphegor, he felt comfortable on his soft bed and pillow. "How long have I been out?" he wondered.
G. sat down beside his bed, "A couple of hours. It's already eleven in the day, and I called the school that you had a little accident and couldn't come for a few days," he explained.
Gokudera looked at his cousin in his normal clothes, "What about your school?" he asked him, noticing that he should have been in his uniform attire.
G. smiled, "Well, I called to say I'm going to be absent to take care of you, since I don't trust the staff to keep your wounds under wraps no matter how loyal they are to our grandparents. They would tell them eventually and it will get the both of us in trouble," he informed.
Gokudera looked at his cousin. "By the way, are you guys trying to find where Hime-sama might be?" he asked.
G. was taken aback. They had specific orders not to tell Natsuki's guardians of the things that Tsuna had decided upon herself and the rest. Orders were orders. "Hayato, you know that we can't meddle with the affairs of the Vongola, especially when it concerns the choosing of successors," he stated.
"But Hime-sama is our Regina della Sentinella. Isn't it our task to locate our leader?" he reasoned.
The red head sighed, "Not this time Hayato," he answered solemnly. It appears that Natsuki and the CEDEF leader was hiding the fact that they had asked for the help of their organization with this. "We cannot reveal ourselves, and if we even dare to rescue Tsuna, it would mean exposing who we are. So far, Natsuki and the others knows that the only ones involved in the mafia and has knowledge of the fact are me, Daemon, Lampo and Giotto. No one could know or else we'll risk getting decommissioned at an early time." He explained. Gokudera became silent. Of course he knew it clearly! They are never to pry into the mafia family even if they wanted to unless their Regina gives the order. "Besides," G. continued, "It's your job to rescue her right now, and all of us have faith in you guys that you would bring her back," he stated. "That is your final assignment,"
Gokudera then realized something, "And after that…we will officially become the guardians of the Tenth and our place in Sentinella will only be as Confidante in ranks…" he realized.
G. looked at his cousin, as if the silver haired teen was dreading that day, but he knew and everyone knew that if they become the official guardians, they will be ranked down only as a Confidante, or assets/informers on the outsides and insides of the family they are in should the need arises, but still, they will be part of the organization, only in the external parts.
"You know this would happen sooner or later Hayato. All of you, the moment you accepted to become one of Natsuki's guardians, means that you are ready to get out of your shells and become someone other than the shadows of Sentinella. It's bound to happen," he explained. Even though he knew the outcome of their loyalty to the Vongola Decimo candidate, he never pressed that matter to any of them, and the rest as well didn't, so that they could freely make their choices without their prying.
Giotto, G., Alaude, Daemon, Knuckle, Asari and Lampo were the very first ones that Tsuna had trusted after she was visited by a baby in black who had bandages on his face three years ago, saying that she has potential in becoming a Watcher, a gatherer of knowledge for the mafia world, and most especially, for Vindice. True Tsuna has had a knack of technology hacking skills, learning from Irie and trial and errors, and Tsuna always had the desire to know things that most people don't.
It wasn't everyday she was visited by a baby wearing a white pacifier around his neck. At first, Tsuna wanted to refuse, but when she has had a private talk with the baby, whose name was Bermuda, she had gradually agreed to succeed the retired former Regina della Sentinella. For the next three months that she has agreed to it, the former leader has told her the ropes and secrets of the organization that must only be revealed to the most loyal of the members. Tsuna had never wanted her cousin and friends to get involved in these matters, but all of them agreed that they will not leave their Principessa alone to do some underground work. They will stick with each other, just like what they had done when they were barely six years old to protect her like she was still five and ignored. When the others had come along, well, that was a different story altogether.
"I know that…I just never thought I would feel this uneasy in realizing it, I thought I was prepared for it the moment I swore loyalty to the Tenth," Gokudera answered after a short silence. "But I never regretted my decision in serving the Tenth," he declared.
G. smiled at him and ruffled his hair, "Well, you better get some rest for tonight. Takeshi would be the one fighting and you wouldn't want to miss your boyfriend battle it out to the death," he half-joked as he left the door, but not before hearing his cousin curse at him. Oh how he loved teasing the teen.
…
Sasagawa Kyoko was just walking down the halls with his brother when they caught a glimpse of Natsuki and Giotto, both coming out of the infirmary, each having three bandages on either the nose, jaw and cheek. She could tell that one of them sported a bandage on the gut as well, but is hidden by their uniforms. She and Ryohei could tell that they had been beaten up by the younger Hibari. Ryohei had told Kyoko that Kyouya had arrived at the school right after the Storm match, and the first thing that registered in Kyoko's mind was that the Head Prefect would beat up both Natsuki and Giotto for not watching over her, which Ryohei confirmed, was right.
"Natsuki-kun, are you okay?" she asked worriedly. For some reason, Natsuki turned red all of a sudden, she wondered if he was sick or something and that wouldn't be good since he would be scheduled to fight in a few days.
Giotto and Ryohei noticed the blush on Natsuki's face, and Kyoko's oblivious face that was filled with worry over the blond younger Sawada. "Uh…yeah, I'm okay…" he replied timidly.
Giotto held his bandaged cheek, "Kyouya really gave us a hard time considering he only gave us three hits each, and each were more painful than the other…" he stated. "He really hits hard…that bastard…" he cursed.
"But it's my fault anyways Giotto-nii, and I'm sorry if you got into this mess as well," Natsuki apologized. Though he couldn't help but think if he was in the stand of the prefect, and he left his girlfriend under the roof of his cousin only to get abducted, he would be mad too, what more if the supposed brother of the girl hadn't done anything to save her? He could understand him fairly well…he guessed.
Kyoko went to touch the falling band-aid on Natsuki's cheek, "You better not touch your wounds or they'll get infected," she said as she placed it back gently, making the boy turn even redder.
Both Ryohei and Giotto snickered at the embarrassment of the blond and the obliviousness of the Sasagawa girl that he was blushing because of her. Other than be protective of his sister when it comes to getting close with boys, it was really okay with him if she was close to the twin of the older Sawada. He would even be happy to say that he should court his baby sister if he wanted to. But he was not going to voice that out just yet. Tsuna said to him that she will give the signal when to make those two together when the whole ordeal was over. That was before she got kidnapped though.
"I-I'm fine, r-r-really…I-It's nothing…" he sputtered. After Kyoko fixed the bandaged, he excused himself, "Uh…I have to get to class…" he said as he ran to his classroom. It was just the right moment when Fran ran into him.
The moment Fran laid eyes on him, his eyes widened in shock, "Whoa, who beat you up at this early hour?" he wondered. Natsuki was about to answer, but Fran continued when he raised his hand to signal him to not talk, "Don't answer, Hibari-san beat you up the moment he discovered that, didn't he?" he guessed.
Natsuki shrugged, "Let's just go," he said as he dragged him inside the classroom, but not before the apprentice greeted the three of them as they disappeared in the hallway.
Kyoko looked at the hallway where Natsuki and Fran disappeared to, "What is that all about? Is he sick or something? His face was getting redder,"
Giotto snickered, "He's not sick at all Kyoko," he answered.
"He's just EXTREMELY flustered," Ryohei added.
Kyoko looked at the two men, not getting what they had meant. Giotto turned to Kyoko, "Don't worry, Natsuki appreciates that you were concerned about him," he said.
Kyoko looked a little flustered, "Really?" she asked, "I always thought he is not good with girls. Tsuna-chan always said that he was always like that…"
Giotto and Ryohei both wore smiles. The gutless and the oblivious, "Yup, he's always like that when he is near girls besides Tsuna," he explained.
…
Yamamoto carried the Shigure Kintoki that his father had handed him earlier after hearing that he will fight that very night like a baseball bat. He had discovered from Dino that the long haired man, Superbi Squalo, had defeated numerous swordsmen with different kinds of fighting styles. He just hopes that what his father had taught him all about the Shigure Soen Ryu will be standing until the match ends. It was really not his style to question his father, but after hearing that tidbit from the Cavallone Boss who had been his schoolmate once upon a time, he really couldn't place it in his head that he had every chance of defeating the man.
Ugetsu came inside the Asari-gumi dojo, the special dojo that had been built just for the family, and only they had the twenty-four-seven access to. It was useful for the most part because it was more spacious than any dojo ever built. "Hey Takeshi," he greeted.
Yamamoto, who was lying down all the while, sat up when he saw his cousin come in the dojo. "Ugetsu-nii," he called. "What are you doing here?"
Ugetsu smiled at him, "Tonight is your fight, is it not?" the younger boy nodded, "Then I would like to accompany you," he said. "I had always wanted to see you fight with the Shigure Kintoki for real, and to see that last style~!"
Yamamoto smiled at his uncle's enthusiasm. "Yeah, I can't wait to use the style as well…but I guess your sword style is more unique since you use four irregular swords," he mused.
Ugetsu laughed, "That's thanks to Mio-neesama, she was the one who gave me the idea of using four, kind of like times two of her weapons," he explained, "But my sword style is haphazard, that's why I can't possibly teach you the style I use,"
Yamamoto laughed, "Dad would freak if he ever finds out that you are teaching me a different style anyways, but I'll stick with his style,"
…
When they all walked to the entrance of Nami-Private, all were worried at the baseball star on what will transpire in the battle.
"Is he sure that he will use the sword style that Yamamoto-san taught him, Ugetsu-san?" Natsuki wondered.
Ugetsu merely smiled at the worried faces of Natsuki and Basil. G. had said earlier that he will drive Gokudera to school should he get a little better, but seeing that he still had no calls, it was close to impossible. The last time he heard from G. was at their lunch break. G. had called in absent because he was taking care of his cousin who was injured severely after an accident. He had said that the moment the silver haired teen moved, some of his wounds opened slightly, and his body was in pain. "No worries. What Tsuyoshi-nii had said to Takeshi is the full truth, and don't you ever forget that," he advised.
The moment they arrived at the entrance of the school, a familiar shout was heard, "VOI!" Squalo appeared at the top of the entrance of the building, "I praise you for not running away, sword-brat," he said, "I'm going to slash you up like a sashimi,"
Yamamoto kept a straight face, "It won't end that way, Squalo," he said as he slashed the shinai, and suddenly, it turned into a katana. "I'm going to take you down with the Shigure Kintoki," he said as the sword glinted in the moonlight. Ugetsu could only smile at his nephew and his determination of using the sword style. But on the back of his mind, he could swear that he had seen that face once before.
Squalo eyed it with interest, "A transforming sword?"
"So you are really going to use the sword style?" Natsuki asked.
Yamamoto merely smiled, "If the old man said it was invincible, it must be," he reasoned.
Squalo scoffed, "I've killed hundreds of idiots who claimed that their sword was invincible!" he bragged.
Then something hit Ugetsu…he really has seen the man before…but if he tells Yamamoto, he might go on a rampage…
Squalo looked at Ugetsu, "Hm, hey brat, have I seen you before?" he wondered.
Ugetsu glared. Yamamoto looked at his uncle with questioning eyes, but they were interrupted by the Cervello who instructed them to go to the place where the battle will start. Squalo on the other hand, asked for assistance in locating where the place is found.
…
Tsuna was already waiting for the others to arrive at the arena. It was a miracle that Kyouya had not snapped after turning the building B into a tower of flowing water. But she guessed that he might have discussed it with the Cervello already that would make them responsible for the reconstruction of the things that they have broken overnight. She could see that Kyouya and Alaude were watching from the rooftop water tank to get away from crowds. Dino and his assistant Romario were already there, along with G. and a heavily bandaged Gokudera who was about to pick a fight with Belphegor for brandishing the whole Storm ring in his face while G. tried his best to restrain his cousin when Yamamoto and the rest arrived at the scene.
When they arrived at the location of the fight for the Rain guardians, all of them stood in disbelief on the way they had made a section of the building of the school look like an abandoned tower where water flows endlessly. It wasn't looking good when there was a steel door that serves as the only entrance of the very arena.
Before Yamamoto got in, Squalo showed himself up to them. "VOI! I'll be having fun in cutting you to pieces!" he declared.
Ugetsu glared at him, then he looked at his nephew, "Takeshi, listen, no matter what, do not lose your cool, okay?" he advised.
Yamamoto merely laughed, "Who do you think I am Ugetsu-jii?" he said.
Before entering, they all formed a circle. Natsuki watched with worry filled in his eyes as the steel door closed around him and Squalo and the Cervello announced the fight to begin.
Tsuna stayed quiet the whole time, thinking that she should just watch over Yamamoto and give him her silent support on the sidelines.
And that's it for this chapter! It's a little rough…but then, it makes a little more sense. I don't think I got the part about Kyouya beating up Giotto and Natsuki right…I just didn't have the mind to edit the scene anymore since my semestral break began…
Oh well, I'll make it up to you guys sooner or later.
But for now…REVIEW~!