hey guys! Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!
i am so sorry i didn't get this up earlier but i was a bit more swamped with school than i planned, and i actually did have my chapter finished earlier today, but was being what we in the trade like to call a "lil bitch" and i was physically unable to log in to upload the chapter, and then i didn't have access to the internet for many hours so i couldn't check to see if i was able to.
but i've got it up now, so here you go, my darlings! no song this chapter, just didn't fit in
enjoy!
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Reborn was proud of Tsuna.
Even though he knew that Tsuna had lied to him, knew that Tsuna was keeping secrets from him, he was so goddamn proud of him and Tsuna wasn't even his student. Watching him fight Rokudo…Reborn knew that Tsuna could win, knew that Tsuna would win. Of course, Reborn had far more experience than Tsuna, so he knew exactly how and with how much ease victory could be assured, but it wasn't Reborn's job to get involved with the fight. He would let the boy figure it out himself- the best information always came from personal experience. Just telling it to Tsuna wouldn't help.
Reborn didn't smile very often; he smirked a lot, but didn't smile. When he thought of how far Tsuna had come from the brave mute boy though, his smirk became a little more of a smile. Not quite a smile, but closer than it had been in a while.
Additionally, Tsuna was handling Hyper Dying Will mode very well for his first time actually employing it consciously in a fight. Maybe it was a little rough around the edges, had far too much room for improvement, and in no way embodied the detached, deadly elegance Reborn had pictured, but it was very Tsuna and being used very well. As always, Reborn knew the improvements he could make, little suggestions that might just turn the fight in Tsuna's favor, but Reborn knew that the singer didn't need his help.
Reborn leaned against the wall, tilting his hat a little more over his eyes. He could still see the fight though. He wasn't worried about anything. Wasn't worried about Hibari, or Yamamoto, or Gokudera, or Tsuna. He knew every aspect of the situation; maybe even parts Tsuna had yet to notice. Like the bombs all around Kokuyo Land. Like the fact that Rokudo most definitely had a back-up plan. It was pretty obvious; Rokudo was the type of guy where if he didn't arrogantly underestimate you, he made sure there was more than one way for him to win. He had not arrogantly underestimated Tsuna. Even though things could go terribly long, Reborn had faith in Tsuna and his growing capability. Things would turn out just fine.
Tsuna was facing down Rokudo's menacing aura, eyes emotionless, but narrowed dangerously. They glowed the same color as his Sky flames. Reborn knew exactly what Tsuna's Hyper Intuition told him; that aura? The dark aura Rokudo was taking so much pride in? Could be purified and destroyed in a second with flames as pure and strong as Tsuna's. It would be substantial against anyone else, practically undeafatable, but flames were determined by the strength of your heart and that was the one place Tsuna had excelled for all his life. And Rokudo was very empty inside. The aura wouldn't be a problem.
Tsuna dove in, attacking with flaming fists. Rokudo batted him back with a powerful trident, before Tsuna put some extra speed into it and got behind Rokudo. He landed a powerful punch to Rokudo's back. The pineapple-haired teen grunted, and stabbed the trident over his head and downwards, making Tsuna jerk back as Rokudo turned, his aura getting stronger than ever. Rokudo swung the trident forward and Tsuna blocked, before ducking under the trident. Rokudo swung the trident around Tsuna's body, slamming it into him and forcing Tsuna to step back. But not before the smaller teen landed a powerful hit to Rokudo's solar plexus. Rokudo took a few steps back, a small choking noise coming from his mouth. Tsuna kicked the handle of the trident, slamming the bar into Rokudo's chest and nearly knocking him off his feet.
Rokudo growled, flipping the trident in his hand in order to throw it at Tsuna. Reborn grinned as he practically saw the idea pass over Tsuna's face. When Rokudo tried to hit Tsuna with it again, his fighting getting faster, stronger, more intense, Tsuna sacrificed a blow to the shoulder in order to get in close and grab one of Rokudo's hands, which was holding the trident lower down. Concentrated flames on his hand caused Rokudo to scream loudly. Rokudo jerked his hand off the trident and brought the trident down on Tsuna, a surge of power coming with his crazy rage. Tsuna moved back in time, but it still managed to scrape him down the chest. The wound was very shallow, in fact. But the blue-haired teen didn't waste time jabbing it forward again. Tsuna dodged to the side, and the trident followed him.
Fiamma Volts were the unit of measure for Dying Will flames; they measured the output. Xanxus had told Tsuna in one of their lessons. It wasn't so much that Tsuna was out of flames, but he simply was not used to such an output. He'd had to step it up a little. So he knew that he needed to end the fight soon, or else he would probably not be able to keep up with Rokudo for much longer. Tsuna was strong, but he wasn't like Hibari. He didn't have the stamina to go all day and then keep going. In the next few minutes, Tsuna needed to put everything he had into it.
Previously, Tsuna had found the trident too strong for him to melt. It would use up too much energy and time and at that point, Rokudo still had plenty of options to win. If Tsuna had taken that course of action, there were not a lot of positive outcomes. However, now, Tsuna realized that this aura was very high-energy. Rokudo was putting everything he had into it, convinced he could win. Once Tsuna destroyed this aura, Rokudo would be too tired to keep up his paths and flames. Tsuna would be too, but then they would be down to hand-to-hand combat and Tsuna had that in the bag. And Tsuna had his knife and guns.
And the only thing that was keeping Tsuna from winning right now was that the trident was in the way.
So it would have to go.
When Rokudo jabbed the trident at him again, Tsuna grabbed it. And with a guttural noise from deep in his throat, he set the trident alight. Rokudo screamed in rage, and a fleeting thought in his mind reminded Tsuna that he didn't have to melt the trident, which would be extremely tiring. Earlier, he had mistakenly assumed that the harmony factor in Sky flames simply turned things to stone. But that wasn't true. It harmonized. And with all the wood in this building….
Tsuna had a very good material to harmonize with.
He wasn't quite sure what the trident was made of, but it didn't really matter, since that material would soon be no more.
The trident was quickly turning to wood, and Rokudo let out another yell of anger, clutching the trident angrily. But the end broke, which gave Tsuna some insight into just how angry and strong Rokudo was. With a strike, Tsuna destroyed the trident, and tackled Rokudo, Rokudo's aura disappearing as Tsuna attacked him with his flames. He knocked Rokudo to the floor, face down, and grabbing his arms, twisting them behind his back. As he did, his Hyper Dying Will mode lessened in flame output, but Tsuna refused to drop out. It was only logical. The removing of limiters was pretty rough- Tsuna's body had been trained, so that Hyper Dying Will mode wouldn't take such a toll on him, but he would still be more tired if he dropped out than if he stayed in. He just wouldn't use any more flames.
Rokudo writhed under him, trying to knock Tsuna off.
"WHY DON'T YOU JUST KILL ME ALREADY?!" He screamed. Tsuna just sighed. There would be no reasoning with Rokudo in this state. Reborn bounced over to Tsuna, smirking.
"Good work." Tsuna nodded at him. Even though he was nearly completely emotionless in his Hyper Dying Will mode, he still smiled a little at the compliment
"Thank you." Reborn nodded, and without hesitating, punched Rokudo in the head, effectively knocking him out. Tsuna got off of Rokudo, straightening up. As he did, Reborn held out a phone to him.
"It's Yamamoto." Tsuna nodded and put the phone to his ear.
"Yamamoto?" He asked.
"Whoa…You sound really different, Tsuna."
"I know. What's the problem?" Tsuna said in the same monotone. It must have been odd for Yamamoto to hear him in Hyper Dying Will mode for the first time. After all, it was a very different attitude in general.
"Um," Tsuna could imagine Yamamoto blinking his surprise away. "Thing is, me and Gokudera found more than a few bombs….So I'm pretty sure there are a lot of bombs around Kokuyo Land. Gokudera says that they are set off by a manual switch in some control room somewhere, probably. What do you want to do?" Tsuna started to think at a million miles a minute. If Rokudo had planned to set off bombs, that meant he had someone he was sure that they wouldn't find ready to set them off in the case of his defeat. But those bombs had clearly not been set off yet. So that person was too proud to set them off without letting Tsuna know he was going to do it, he was too scared, or he didn't want to sacrifice his own life. If that person was too scared to sacrifice their own life, Rokudo would have known, so he would have had a back-up plan. So Tsuna had two things to worry about; the back-up plan, and the back-up back-up plan.
"What happened with everyone in the Kokyuo Gang?" Tsuna inquired.
"Uh, we found everyone, I think, and knocked them out. It was just Ken, Chikuse, and some guy though." Tsuna nodded, thinking for a second.
"Get out of Kokuyo Land as fast as you can and get as far away as you can. Take the members with you. Call for reinforcements if you need help but get out as fast as you can. Me and Reborn can get Hibari out and we should be able to stop the bombs from going off, but I don't know for sure, so I need you guys out of the building. If they do go off though, I'm pretty sure Reborn and I can take cover and survive."
"Are you sure about this Tsuna?" Yamamoto sounded a little scared. "You could die."
"I'm not just saying this to make you feel better. I know that I do have several ways of surviving a blast, even an especially large one. I will most likely survive."
"Most likely?"
"It's as good as it gets." Yamamoto snorted.
"Okay. We'll get everyone out."
"Get as far away from Kokuyo Land as you can. We don't know how large the blast radius is."
"Got it. Just be careful Tsuna, okay? Promise me."
"I promise." Tsuna responded. And he truly meant it. He didn't intend to die, and he didn't intend to let Reborn and Hibari die. "I'll see you soon."
"See you soon, Tuna." As soon as Yamamoto hung up, Tsuna went over to check on Hibari. Reborn followed him, and Tsuna blinked at the body.
"You healed him." Not entirely, but Reborn clearly had done some work. Reborn nodded.
"Just enough so that he'd be able to pull through. Hibari is too stubborn to die. I just made sure he wouldn't bleed out." Tsuna nodded, and straightened, scanning the room. There must have been some door to reach the control room. He quickly spotted it. It was the same wood as the rest of the room, so it wasn't very noticeable. And it wouldn't have been that important while he was fighting Rokudo. He walked across the room to reach it, opening the door and peering inside. Reborn bounced over onto his shoulder, also peering in.
Are you kidding me.
There sat Ieyoshi, sitting at a wall of computers, buttons, and screens, hand above a button, a determined look on his face and a frightened look in his eyes. The button itself was in a square little thing, so that he could walk around with it.
"Well I didn't see this coming." Reborn declared.
Tsuna was finding himself completely unable to be angry at the moment. His current emotion was more of a; you have got to be kidding me I am so fucking tired of your shit Ieyoshi you are unbelievable and even more of a dick than I thought you were before and I didn't think that was possible.
A lot of exasperation, basically.
"We've won, Dame-Tsuna. It doesn't matter what you can do to me, because you still can't get over here before I push the button." Ieyoshi snarled. He was trying to be aggressive, but Tsuna saw right through him. Ieyoshi was a coward. And he was scared to death. He wouldn't touch that button.
"You're not going to push that button, Ieyoshi." Reborn said, rolling his eyes. Ieyoshi huffed, trying to paint a picture of confidence. "I suggest you put it down before we get angry. You are responsible for a lot of the pain that a lot of people went through, and I don't take kindly to traitors." Ieyoshi shifted something in his other hand, which was behind his back. Tsuna assumed it was a gun.
"You don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not above murder." Ieyoshi growled, glaring at Tsuna in particular. Oh, Tsuna knew that very well. Ieyoshi had tried to kill him even before Tsuna was a major threat to him.
"But you would never commit suicide." Reborn reminded him. Tsuna watched his brother tiredly. He wanted to get angry at his brother, to scream at him, to want to hit him, but he really just couldn't. He couldn't get angry because his brother had been so frightened that Tsuna might become Vongola Boss instead that he sided with an enemy. With someone who would probably wipe Namimori off the map without so much as a second thought. He couldn't get angry at such a pitiful person.
He really did want to be angry at him though. Because of the information that Ieyoshi had given to Rokudo, Yamamoto, Gokudera, Ryohei, Hibari, and the D.C. had suffered. Ieyoshi had hurt Tsuna's friends. But Tsuna just couldn't. Ieyoshi just…..didn't understand. Didn't understand things. He understood pain, anger, and fear alone, and Tsuna found that to be a miserable existence. Ieyoshi moved towards them, thumb poised above the button.
"Move." He ordered Tsuna, getting close to him. Tsuna knew that Ieyoshi would never give up his own life, but he also knew that Ieyoshi was prone to erratic behavior spurred on by anger, and Tsuna didn't want to make him angry and have Ieyoshi hit the button before fully thinking about the consequences. And he most definitely didn't want things getting physical, because given his luck, one of them would probably hit the button by accident. So he stepped aside.
Ieyoshi stormed out into the center of the room, holding his arms out. There was a gun in his other hand.
"I want you to beg me not to hit it." Ieyoshi shouted, and Tsuna realized things could go very wrong just as the twisted expression flashed across his face. Ieyoshi had always been kind of a megalomaniac, but Tsuna was afraid that he could have been encouraged by the blue-haired psychopath lying on the floor. An extreme megalomaniac holding a button to set off bombs was not a good thing. Besides, in an extreme case, even though Ieyoshi valued his own life above almost anything else, it was also possible that Ieyoshi might value winning and getting a final sense of gratification more. In a moment of erratic anger, that was probably true. "I WANT YOU TO NEED SOMETHING FROM ME FOR ONCE IN YOUR GODDAMNED LIFE!" Ieyoshi's expression twisted as he screamed at Tsuna. If Tsuna hadn't been in Hyper Dying Will mode, he would have flinched. But he was more capable of holding onto his emotions.
Describing Hyper Dying Will mode as emotionless wasn't correct, though it very much seemed like it sometimes. It just made him…more in control, so that he wasn't as affected by his emotions.
"Iey-kun." Tsuna said softly.
"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE." Ieyoshi said, taking a step back. "YOU ALWAYS GET EVERYTHING!" He started to rant, holding the hand with the gun up so he could pull on his hair. "DAD'S LOVE, THE TALENT, THE FRIENDS, AND THE VONGOLA BOSS POSITION! AND EVERYTIME YOU JUST ACT LIKE THE VICTIM WHILE YOU TAKE EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME!" He spun around, tugging on his hair. "OH, EVERYONE TELLS ME I'M THE BEST. I'M THE BETTER TWIN. UNTIL YOU COME IN, OF COURSE. AND THEN NO ONE SAYS IT, BUT OF COURSE I KNOW THAT THEY THINK YOU'RE BETTER. THAT YOU'RE THE MORE DESERVING ONE. I'M FORGOTTEN IN ALL THE COMMOTION YOU CAUSE AND I'M SO FUCKING SICK OF IT!"
"Iey-kun-," Tsuna tried again, but dropped off at the look on Ieyoshi's face. Ieyoshi let out a small laugh.
"God, it's just so stupid! You don't deserve it! You don't work for it like I do! You don't even want it! And I always want it so badly, but of course, I'm never good enough! I'M JUST THE SAWADA TWIN WITH THE BAD ATTITUDE!" Ieyoshi shrieked. "AND THEN I TRY TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, TRY TO MAKE YOU SEEM LIKE A LOSER TO EVERYONE ELSE, AND THEN YOU'RE PAINTED AS THE GODDAMNED VICTIM THAT EVERYONE WANTS TO SAVE! YOU DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO SAVE YOURSELF!"
Tsuna was simply stunned. He hadn't realized that Ieyoshi hated him this much. And in fact, the way Ieyoshi was putting it, made him want to feel guilty. Ieyoshi made him out to be the villain. But that wasn't how it was. Ieyoshi had a bad attitude, abandonment issues, and a sense of entitlement that made him feel justified in victimizing himself and hurting others. But what Ieyoshi didn't realize was that those were things he felt and had; they weren't him. He let his issues and emotions consume him entirely, until there was nothing left but bitter jealousy. Tsuna felt bad that Ieyoshi had felt that their dad had loved Tsuna more than him. To be quite honest, Tsuna had always thought it was the other way around. And he felt bad that Ieyoshi had always felt second best and forgotten. But that still didn't excuse Ieyoshi's actions. Ieyoshi pointed at him.
"You cannot begin to comprehend how much I hate you." Ieyoshi hissed. "You have single handedly destroyed my life and taken away everything I wanted. So now I'm going to take yours. But first I'm going to destroy what you want." Tsuna's mouth was moving before he could hardly think about what he was saying.
"Well, boo fucking hoo Ieyoshi. Shockingly, everything is not about you." Ieyoshi's eyes widened, before narrowing and letting out a screech of rage.
"YOU OF ALL PEOPLE DON'T GET TO TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!" Ieyoshi spun around, aimed the gun, cocked it, and fired it at Rokudo. Tsuna understood immediately. It was the whole Estraneo thing. That Tsuna wanted to stop Estraneo and make things right with Rokudo. Tsuna was angry at Rokudo for hurting the people he cared about, but what Tsuna wanted more than anything was to stop that cycle of hurt. And killing Rokudo meant that Tsuna would lose someone else to the Estraneo. To that cycle of hurt.
Tsuna jerked forward, hand lighting up with Dying Will flames. He couldn't let Ieyoshi kill him. But just as he moved, he realized that Rokudo was no longer there. So he hadn't been unconscious. Ieyoshi blinked.
"What the hell?" He demanded angrily. An arm wrapped itself around his throat from behind, causing Ieyoshi to scream and Tsuna to lunge forward. It was Hibari. Or at least it was Hibari's body. The eyes were Rokudo's. The button dropped from Ieyoshi's hands.
"Hello there." Rokudo said, tilting his head to the side and smirking. Ieyoshi's nails tore bloody ribbons on the arm around his throat as he kicked his feet and struggled, gasping for breath. It was actually rather odd; it was Hibari's body, but with Rokudo's mannerisms, it looked nothing like him. Tsuna stared down Rokudo.
"Let him go." Rokudo gave him a curious look.
"Why?" He rolled his eyes. "I really don't understand you Tsunayoshi-kun. Why would you want to save him? He wants to kill you, to destroy your life and your friends. He has tried to kill you. Why would you want me to let him go? I can just kill him right now and simplify everything. And then, if I kill him, you're Vongola Boss and you're too tired to keep me from possessing you. I could leave your friends alone, as most of them are not mafia. You would get what you wanted, I would get what I wanted."
"What you wanted?" Reborn inquired. Rokudo grinned.
"To stand atop the mafia world and tear it down brick by brick." He tapped Ieyoshi's shoulder. "I always knew he was the real candidate to be the Vongola Boss, but you're the one with the power and the friends in high places."
"Friends who wouldn't hesitate to kill me if they believed I wasn't worth the risk." Tsuna responded calmly. Reborn hopped onto Tsuna's shoulder, grinning. "I've got one of those friends sitting on my shoulder right now."
"Aw, you think we're friends. How cute." Reborn said, ruffling Tsuna's hair. "I would characterize our relationship as more of a lord to a serf. But you're right about one thing. I won't hesitate to kill you."
"You are so sweet." Tsuna said sarcastically. He met Rokudo's eyes. "Fine then. If it takes so much effort to not snap his neck or burn him alive, I just don't want to trouble you." Reborn snorted. "I prefer if you don't kill him because he is my brother after all, but in all honesty he is more trouble than family is worth and I'd probably end up having to kill him anyways." Tsuna said in a deadpan, staring flatly at Rokudo and his brother. "This way, at least I don't have to trouble myself later and he can't push the button. So if it's so much easier for the both of us, you should just kill him now. I would be Vongola Boss anyways and you know it so why the hell not. Go crazy. Have fun. Bye, Ieyoshi. I'd like to say it was nice knowing you, except it wasn't." Reborn let out a loud laugh. Ieyoshi stared at Tsuna, mouth open, looking highly offended.
"You're so much funnier when you have trouble connecting with your emotions. Though, everything you said is true. And if you didn't kill Ieyoshi, I probably would." Rokudo raised an eyebrow, but shrugged.
"It's settled then. I'll kill him."
"NO!" Ieyoshi shouted, trying to jerk out of Rokudo's grip, but Rokudo held tightly. Ieyoshi sank his teeth into Rokudo's arm, but Rokudo just smirked and held Ieyoshi tighter. Ieyoshi's face got red as he struggled, shrieking incoherently. "LET ME GO!"
"Why? You were planning to double cross me anyways and I already told you what I do to traitors ~" Rokudo ended in a singsong, grinning.
"GODDAMNIT, LET ME GO OR I SWEAR TO GOD-,"
"You'll what?" Rokudo inquired. "Kill me? Or will someone else kill me? Because it seems like everyone here has finally agreed on something and it would be tremendously ambitious of the rest of Vongola to kill me if it remains as weak as it is now. Maybe if your brother took over they could kill me, but I plan to kill him before that happens so that ain't gonna happen." Tsuna frowned.
"I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on that matter." Rokudo shrugged.
"I don't negotiate with mafiosos. Sorry."
"I'll hit the button! I swear!" Ieyoshi screamed. He waved his feet, trying to hit the button. Rokudo yanked Ieyoshi back a little, smirking.
"Nice try. But you wouldn't kill yourself anyways."
"YOU WANNA FUCKING BET?!" Ieyoshi slammed his foot into Rokudo's shin, before slamming his head back into Rokudo's face. Rokudo cursed as blood spurted from his nose, his grip loosening ever so slightly, but enough to let Ieyoshi slip away, stumbling, and slam his hand down onto the button. Rokudo's eyes widened, as he lunged towards Ieyoshi, shrieking angrily.
"YOU FUCKING MORON!" Tsuna knew the correct response was most definitely not to sigh, and yet….
There were two small beeps.
Tsuna lunged for Hibari's body, grabbing him, and skidding straight into the corner, with Reborn hanging on.
Everything exploded into fire.
The force of the blast threw them off their feet, slamming them into the wall while wood and flames covered his field of vision. Tsuna heard a loud creaking, right before the floor beneath them broke, and they fell to the floor below, slamming into the grown, hard, with Tsuna, gripping HIbari's body again. Rokudo had left it as soon as soon as the bombs exploded.
Tsuna knew he had been hit with some shrapnel, but he couldn't really feel it at the moment. There was a ringing and a roaring in his ears, but he could hear shouting. He wasn't sure who it was from though, since the ringing was so loud. Tsuna put his hands together and slammed them onto the ground, Sky flames exploding outward to create a protective shell around them. It wasn't that good but it still protected them partially. He screamed as the fire burned through the cloth on his back and burned his skin. Or at least he thought he had screamed. He couldn't really feel it. He blinked, all the bright fire making it hard to see. He was so disoriented, unable to hear or see properly and the smell of burning objects and flesh was almost overwhelming.
He could hear creaks and slams of wood though as different parts of the building fell apart. Beams crashed down, floors caved in. Tsuna was already sore from where they'd fallen. Sparks flew everytime something crashed.
Tsuna needed to concentrate, he needed to think. He needed to get the strength of his shield up, it wasn't good enough. He could still feel the fire on his back, whether or not it was still there or not and the heat was almost overwhelming. He especially needed to protect Hibari's already battered body. But he couldn't stop thinking about everyone else. What about Gokudera and Yamamoto, had they gotten out? What about Ieyoshi? What about Rokudo? What if there were other people in the beginning? Oh God.
Rationalize, rationalize, rationalize.
Why wasn't he being rational enough? His thought process felt…different from what it was before?
When the thought hit him, he wanted to scream.
He wasn't keeping his Hyper Dying Will Mode up.
Well, obviously. He was having to keep up a shield to begin with, it was too much strain and concentration, considering he had already been close to slipping out of his Hyper Dying Will Mode.
"Goddamnit." He muttered.
Rationalize, rationalize, rationalize. Try not to panic, he told himself. It'll be harder to keep it together.
Reborn will be fine. I'm protecting Hibari. I'll be mostly fine. I told Gokudera and Yamamoto to get out a while ago, and they already should have been out. These bombs seem like a lot of fire. Considering the general structure of the building seems to still be holding together, the blast radius is probably not that large. They should be mostly okay, if not completely safe. Rokudo probably went up to get his body from wherever he left it to keep it safe. For a guy that can just live in different bodies, he's pretty vain. I don't think he would leave his body behind. He likes it too much. Ieyoshi….
Tsuna cringed and shut his eyes, shaking his head. He really didn't want to think about it.
But Ieyoshi's dead. Probably burnt in seconds, if not crushed. That room was falling apart pretty quickly. Maybe he survived when the floor fell, but this entire building is fiery and he doesn't have me to protect him. Chances of him being alive are slim, since he probably never planned to push that button. He had no back-up plan and he certainly didn't have anything like a back-up plan for his back-up plan. No one would have saved him. It's better if I start operating under the assumption that he's dead, unless I have some proof otherwise.
It was final. It was simple. It was probably what Tsuna's bastard of a twin brother deserved.
It was still terrible and it was still tragic.
Despire everything that asshole had put him through, Tsuna still wanted his brother to live.
But I can't go and try to save him. He's probably already dead and I have people to protect. People that are worth more than him.
It was such a strange, alien thought. The notion had passed across his mind many times before, but he had never really put it into words. That he had created a family worth more than his first one. But it was true. Hibari mattered significantly more than Ieyoshi. Hibari came first.
Tsuna coughed, hard. There was too much heat and smoke.
"TSUNA! FOCUS!" He heard a very distinctive voice in his ear. Reborn. "FIX YOUR SHIELD OR WE DIE!"
"I CAN'T-," Tsuna broke off coughing. Goddamnit. He couldn't fix his shield. He didn't have enough power left and he was slowly but surely slipping out of Hyper Dying Will Mode. He just didn't have the energy to keep it up. Had this been Rokudo's plan all along? Had he known he would be defeated, but at too great a cost to Tsuna? So that Tsuna wouldn't be able to survive this?
Tsuna resisted the urge to bang his head against the ground. He didn't need to be thinking about this right then. He needed to be strengthening the shield. Reborn was right. He needed to find a way.
Or….
Could he get Hibari out of the building? If he could get Hibari safely out of the building, Tsuna was at the point of making a mad dash for the exit.
Maybe…
Tsuna twisted his head to glance at Reborn.
"Can you get Hibari out?! Safely?" Reborn shook his head. GODDAMNIT. Tsuna needed a better plan. Tsuna raked a hand through his hair.
I don't know what to do, I don't know what to do, I don't know what to do, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO AND I DON'T WANT TO DIE HERE!
"Please no." He whispered to himself. He coughed again, and felt himself finally fall out of Hyper Dying Will Mode. NO NO NO NO NO.
He struggled, trying to shove the rest of his energy towards remaining in HDW Mode, but it wasn't enough. He was too tired, and too untrained still. He'd worked so hard, and it was still not enough, because Rokudo Mukuro was a clever bastard and he'd thought far beyond what Tsuna had. Tsuna would have liked to believe he could have handled this, that he'd done a good job, but he'd charged in with no plan whatsoever and this was his downfall.
An overwhelming feeling of fatigue was infiltrating every part of his body. He struggled to keep his head up, exhausted beyond belief. And then came the pain.
Sharp, stinging pains in all his joints and a dull throbbing everywhere else in his body. Tsuna bit his lip, to stifle a cry of pain.
I'm such an idiot. I'm such a goddamn idiot and now Hibari and Reborn are going to die because of my stupid mistakes.
He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, but all he could do was collapse to the ground, no longer able to keep himself up, and flick his eyes upwards as the shield dissipated and swirling fire descended down on them. He could vaguely hear Reborn yelling in his ear, but he shut his eyes before he had to watch himself get burned.
XXXX
Reborn could have laughed out of relief. Things had a funny way of working themselves out. Especially for Vongola. He crossed his arms, satisfied, as he looked at the shell of ice around them.
Every single flame that had threatened Tsuna and Hibari in the immediate vicinity (i.e. a four foot radius) was now completely frozen, leaving the two of them mostly unburnt. Hibari had seemed a bit singed, of course, and Tsuna was definitely going to need some major medical attention for some of his burns, but he was mostly okay. He wasn't going to die.
Zero Point Breakthrough. It was the perfect defense. Created from Dying Will Flames and could only be melted by Dying Will Flames. The fire outside could no longer get to them. Reborn grinned at Tsuna. Threatened, collapsing, and terrified, something in him had clicked and defended him. There had been just enough Hyper Dying Will and Hyper Intuition left in the kid to pull it off. It was a massive deus ex machine, but hey, Reborn wasn't going to complain. He'd actually been afraid for a moment. Not of his own death; he'd known he could survive. But he had been afraid that his student was going to burn. He had watched so many of his students die in the very long time he'd been alive and he hadn't wanted to see death take another.
He sighed, glancing back down at Tsuna again.
Phone would be in the pocket.
He reached down and pulled the phone out of Tsuna's pocket, before dialing Kusakabe. Kusakabe could get the fire department here quickly and they would be out of here in less than an hour. The phone only rang a few times before it was picked up and Yamamoto's hurried voice came on.
"TSUNA ARE YOU ALRIGHT? WE SAW THE BUILDING EXPLODE AND WE'RE GETTING THE FIRE DEPARTMENT THERE RIGHT NOW JUST HOLD ON, WE'LL GET YOU OUT-,"
"Yamamoto-san, please stop shouting." Kusakabe came on calmly, before asking in a concerned tone, "Are you three alright?"
"Don't worry, we're fine. We're protected, in a way, but I recommend you get the fire out quickly."
"Got it." Kusakabe responded. "They're on their way."
XXXX
so, how'd you like it?
yeah, we're going to find out what exactly happened to Rokudo and Ieyoshi, i won't say if Ieyoshi is dead or not, but just keep in mind that he might be. expect anything.
i'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon but seeing as i haven't written any part of it yet it might be a while
merry christmas/ happy holidays!
I EXTREMELY LOVE YOU!
CIAO!