Disclaimer: The characters and concepts presented are created and copyright of Akira Amano. The story is copyright of me, so do not use without permission.
The cabin doors blasted open. The frantic rushing of feet along with the wailing sobs of Haru woke Hibari upstairs from his nap, much to his own anger. Chrome was downstairs, watching television in the living room, and was the first to receive everyone.
"What's going on?" she timidly asked. Yamamoto breezed past her with a shade cast on his face from the grimly turned brim of his hat. "Haru, what's wrong?" she asked the bawling girl.
"Tsuna-san" she started quiveringly "and Kyoko-chan...got caught in the avalanche!" Chrome's eye shot open in fear.
"..." was her response.
"Oh, GOD!" Haru screamed. "They're dead!!"
"No they're not!" Bianchi shouted back. "They may still be alive. Just don't give up hope, no matter what!" Bianchi gripped Haru's wrists as she sobbed uncontrollably and ended up slapping her to calm her down. Haru snapped back from her sadness and started sniffling again. "We'll find them" Bianchi promised. Haru nodded, trying her hardest to crack a smile.
"Ryohei!" Gokudera roughly shouted from across the room. Ryohei nodded and a snow shovel flew through the air while Gokudera took off his jacket, letting it thud to the floor. He took up a shovel and they both started for the door.
"What goes on?" Hibari said from the steps, lazily wiping his eyes. "Why is it so loud dow-"
"Grab a shovel and get dressed!" Gokudera ordered on his way out, leaving only his shirt and determination to keep him heated. Hibari glared vehemently at the door, wondering why he should follow orders from some kid like him.
"Tsuna-kun and Kyoko-chan" Yamamoto started "got caught in the avalanche. I'm calling the ranger station."
"And they're going out with shovels?" Hibari questioned.
"I guess so" Yamamoto replied.
"We should do what we can" Reborn said, showing strange amounts of concern. "All of us need to move out and get stuff done. Yamamoto, you should call the manager as well." Yamamoto nodded as the line clicked to a voiced response. "Hibari, you go out with Dino and search."
"No" Hibari defiantly replied. "This has nothing to do with me. I won't waste time searching for a dead man..."
"Kyoya-san!" Dino shouted, standing up angrily. "You don't have much of a choice here. Your boss is gone! What will you do now?" Hibari's mind wandered back to the training he took with Dino, the rigorous time where he was taught about the rings, the mafia, and especially about Tsuna as his leader. Hibari sighed and turned around.
"If it's so important" he began to the weeping and tense mass, "then I'll go get dressed." Chrome glared at his back as it left with only a small tear in her eye.
"Okay" Yamamoto announced. "The rescue crew told us not to take drastic measures and they'll be here within an hour or so to search the mountain for Tsuna-san and Kyoko-chan..."
"It's a bit late for that then" Bianchi pointed out.
"RAAAAAAWR!" Ryohei bellowed. The tears in his eyes came only from the rush of adrenaline that forced his eyes to water as he moved. "Here I go! Super-fast-digging-to-find-Onee-chan-and-Sawada-san" and he paused to take a large breath in "EXTREEEEEME!"
"Just shut up and dig normally!" Gokduera shouted. While Ryohei's shouting got on his nerves a little, his almost instant digging to the grass was hugely impressive. He had already dug quite a few holes in the mountain side when Yamamoto arrived.
"Nothing" Ryohei grunted as he hit dirt. "I'll find them next time!" So he climbed up just as Yamamoto passed him by.
"Gokudera-kun!" Yamamoto shouted. Gokudera took a break from digging his modest little hole and turned to his very serious fellow guardian. "I called everyone I could. They all told us not to panic and not to go to unnecessary measures."
"It's a bit late for that" Gokudera said, taxing for breath. "You're right though. I just feel so useless now."
"It's not like this was your fault" Yamamoto said. Gokudera looked down at his half-dug hole solemnly, feeling the chill of the wind against his ill-protected chest.
"It sort of is" he admitted in lament. Yamamoto felt a need to say something, or do something to cheer his friend up. "They'll find him" Gokudera reminded himself sternly. "No matter what, they'll find him, and he'll be alright."
"They'll both be alright" Yamamoto added.
"EXTREME!!" Ryohei yelled a ways off.
"Let's get him" Yamamoto started "and get back to the cabin. We can try to help when they get here as much as we can." Yamamoto placed a hand on Gokudera's shoulder, and by some unknown coincidence, Gokudera was calmed instantly. He looked up and nodded, and the two boys went off together for the cabin.
"Kyoko-chan!" Ryohei shouted once more, shooting up large wads of heavy snow up the hill. "Sawada-san! Where are you!? YELL IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!"
"Oh right, him..." Gokudera grumbled. "Let's leave him here. He's doing a great job on his own."
"Alright" Yamamoto agreed. The left anyway, leaving Ryohei to dig desperately for Tsuna and Kyoko.
"Tsuna-kun" a soft voice cooed in the darkness, "...I'm scared..." The snow broke away, and in the lightless darkness a hand felt around for the provider of the voice.
"I'm scared too" a tender, warm voice replied. His hand continued outward, reaching through the narrow tunnel until it finally found hers. Kyoko, huddled over herself in the small cavernous hole made from the shelter of the rock, pulled her hardest and Tsuna came tumbling out of the wall in front of her.
"Gah!" he exclaimed, gasping for air. "It's still really dark!" Kyoko took the liberty of pulling back his hood, and now it wasn't dark. It wasn't bright either, but what light there illuminated Kyoko's face with a pale kind of blue coming from above. Tsuna was stunned for a moment, completely at her face's mercy, until he felt his legs give out. "I think there's snow in my pants!"
Kyoko helped him up onto his back and pulled him in. "You're covered in snow!" she noted. Tsuna coughed in the dry, icy air, trying to work some moisture in his mouth. Then he realized that there was moisture all around him.
"Now what?" Tsuna asked as he got up himself. His head hit the low roof of the cave he was in, which was surprisingly hard, and he reeled back down to his back slowly.
"It's quite hard" Kyoko informed him. "I managed to dig out the rock, though. I thought it'd be warmer."
"That was smart, Kyoko-chan" Tsuna complemented, rolling onto his stomach, feeling what was definitely snow roll about inside his jacket. He looked up at her, and she was biting her lip. Tears were forming in her tightly-shut eyes. Tsuna didn't question her distress, because he felt it too. He was crying too, but he didn't know it until the moisture reached his lips.
"Tsuna-kun..." she wept. "We're going to die...aren't we?" Tsuna didn't know how to gently answer her, but he knew he should try.
"Of course not" he replied, his voice unintentionally quivering. "We'll be fine here..." Of course, there wasn't any confidence in his voice. Kyoko grasped at herself and huddled over, stifling her sobs as best she could. Tsuna became swayed by her emotional reaction and tried to move in closer. The closer he edged in like a worm the more he felt like a worm.
What am I doing!? He demanded of himself. Kyoko-chan and I just got caught in an avalanche. An AVALANCHE! I've only ever read about them for a report once, now I'm stuck in one? Furthermore, I'm alive!? And I was about to take advantage of Kyoko-chan too, wasn't I? Yeah, I was. When did this Mafia crap sink in so much that I became such a degenerate person. Kyoko-chan's just scared, and I was about to- But his thoughts stayed incomplete. His mind became blank. Kyoko lunged forward and started crying with her arms tightly around him.
"Tsuna-kun!" she sobbed into his chest. "I don't want to die!" Tsuna could feel her tears of despair dampening his coat. The cold snow and ice in it didn't matter to him anymore. So he took off his coat, shook out the snow and gave it to Kyoko, draping it on her back. Kyoko looked up but only saw the back of head next to hers, as Tsuna comforted her with a desperate hug, bitting back his tears futility.
"We'll get through this" Tsuna said confidently. "I promise Kyoko-chan...I'll make sure we get through this." His stern inflection, his determined voice, and his warmth all calmed her. Although her lips still quivered, she was able to relax into Tsuna's chest a little in their little hole.
"Tsuna-kun" she whispered, "thank you." Her soft voice was made loud by the tight walls of the hollowed out space.
"KYOOOKO-CHAAAAN!" Ryohei screamed. His shirt was now off and discarded upon a tree, the heat and moisture of his own manly sweat keeping him warm. That and early stages of hypothermia. "SAWADA-SAAAAAN!! I'LL FIND YOUUUUUU!!"
"Okay" Gokudera observed from a distance. "Now we should bring him in."
"Yeah" Yamamoto agreed. The rescue teams were only ten minutes away anyway, and Ryohei wasn't even digging up the right mountain anymore...