Hey guys. This chapter's longer than usual, but it was necessary. Hope you like it! (yes, once again, I'm out of things to say).

Responses! I love you all so much!

dotYui: Alright, got it! Next time you don't like a character, make them suffer when they lose! And yes, that was a bit more violent than usual for you... -.-' Kazuki was fun to write about (not!) I just didn't know what to put for that fight! Ahh, so annoying! Yes, Kazuki did like Izumi's singing, by the way. Yes, both appear this chapter, and as for the last Zodiac...you'll have to wait a little longer for that. ^^

Reborn22: Split personalities, huh? Nice. ^^ Izumi will explain all...in a few chapters.

monochromez: No, I think you do a good job with it! More Kurohana in this chapter, I promise! As for her father...we're getting there. Honestly, for Hebi, I just don't know. For theses guys at least, I'm a little unclear with what I want to do with them after this. Kazuki knows many styles, some of which I will probably not mention ever unless it is convenient for me! -.-' I'm glad you liked it. I just came up with that last part for Jun out of the blue, and decided I liked it. ^^ Once again, thank you, and did you read my mind? No joke, I want Chiyo to be an akita. Wow...scary.

Rikulz: Oh god, I hate it when that happens. I've had it happen to me numerous times, both with PM's and reviews, and it's such a pain! I'm glad you're liking their fights, and as for everything else...we'll have to wait and see, now won't we? (Key word: we. I've lost all control of these characters. They just do what they want with this story now ^^)

Our Sky

Chapter 26: Explosion

"Hey, Reborn?" Retsu asked. They'd left Kazuki behind a while ago, and had been running ever since. Which is to say, he had been running ever since, while Reborn rode on his shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Not to be rude," the boy started irritably. "But if you could stop Leon from dripping off my shoulder, I'd be really happy."

Sometime in the last few minutes, Leon's crazy shape changing had stopped. Up until that point, Retsu had almost forgotten about the lizard, due to the fact that he hadn't changed into anything potentially lethal since the time at Jun's house. Now, he had turned into some sort of shimmering green blob with eyes, and Reborn had apparently decided to just leave the creature as it was. At the moment, that meant the puddle formerly known as Leon was left to just fall down his shoulder. It was incredibly annoying, not to mention it felt very unsettling.

"What's wrong with him anyways?" Retsu continued, shaking his arm slightly in hopes of throwing the light green goo off of him. No such luck.

"He's passed through the shape-changing part of his transformation," Reborn supplied. "Now, Leon is in his cocoon state."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means he's in his second and final stage of metamorphosis."

"That tells me nothing I-ack, Leon, get off!" the teen exclaimed, waving his arm with renewed vigor. The lizard had moved down to cover his entire hand and wrist, along with the bracelets he wore. Retsu could just make out the faintest gleam of silver through the translucent blob. He watched in fascination as one by one, all seven accessories shook violently, then fell away from his wrist in two parts, disappearing into the green depths. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he cried in horror, making a grab for Leon. "You broke them!"

The lizard slithered out of reach before the teenager could even get a hand on it, quickly returning to the safety of Reborn's outstretched hands.

"Don't yell at Leon," the baby reprimanded. "It's not his fault."

"Those were important to me!" Retsu yelled. "My dad gave those to me before he died ten years ago!"

Reborn's eyes narrowed. "I see..." was his only reply.

"You don't even care, do you?" the boy muttered, turning away and starting to walk. His pace was much slower than before, but at least he was still moving. The two moved on in uncomfortable silence, Retsu occasionally glancing down at his bare wrist with remorse. Despite how young he'd been, he could still remember the day he'd received the braclets.

Flashback:

"Happy Birthday, son!" a man bellowed in a good-natured way. He was big, even by an adult's standards. To a child, he seemed gigantic. His white hair was spiked up at crazy angles, and his blue eyes glowed with happiness and laughter. This was Retsu's father.

Five-year old Retsu sat on the floor, playing with blocks. When he heard his father's voice, the toddler looked up in anticipation. The man lifted Retsu off the ground and slung him over his shoulder, then began to spin. The boy laughed and smiled, enjoying the ride. When his father finally put him down, he was dizzy but content.

"Must you do that?" Mayumi asked, walking into the living room. She feigned exasperation, but both males knew she was kidding. "What if you drop him?"

"He's got his father's hard head!" he proclaimed proudly, drawing a sigh from his wife.

"Let's hope he doesn't also have his father's brain," she muttered.

"But isn't it the brain you fell in love with?"

"Well," she said wickedly. "It certainly wasn't your looks."

"That hurt," the man said, eyes watering. He spotted his eldest son coming into the room from another door and immediately jumped up and clung to the startled boy. "Daiiiiiii! Your mother's being mean!"

The nineteen-year old just laughed, patting his father's back sympathetically. When he seemed to be done crying, the white haired man spun around and headed back to Retsu.

"Oh right! I have a present for you!" The boy looked on curiously as he reached into one of his coat pockets and withdrew a white box, which he then pressed into his son's tiny hands. Retsu tore the top off excitedly, then stopped. Seven small silver bracelets lay on the navy fabric inside the box, winking and sparkling in the light.

"They're pretty," the boy said in wonder. Delicately, he lifted them out of the box, sliding them onto his thin wrists one by one. They fit well.

"I thought you'd like them," the man said softly. "And they're special too. They're made of a very unique metal, which will grow as you do. So you'll still be able to wear them in ten years, or even twenty, if you're not sick of them by then!"

"Wow," was all Retsu could say, staring between his dad and the silver jewelry.

"I didn't get anything cool like that on my birthday," Dai complained, but he was joking. He was happy that his brother was happy with the gift.

"I'll never take them off!" Retsu stated adamantly. His father just laughed.

"That seems a little extreme, don't you think?"

"No!"

End Flashback

Four months later, his father was dead, killed in a car accident. Retsu had stuck to his promise from that day on, and hadn't taken them off for anything other than showers and when it was absolutely necessary. And now, they were gone.

"Will you stop sulking?" Reborn asked from his shoulder, tiring of the silence and unwittingly breaking the boy out of his thoughts.

"It's not something I can just get over," Retsu snapped. "Those were an important gift to me, and now I'll never see them again-"

"Whoever said that?"

"What do you mean?" The boy stopped walking.

"You're going to get them back, one way or another," the tiny hitman shrugged. Retsu was quiet for a moment, digesting this.

Finally, "You're sure?"

"There's a very good chance," Reborn said. "Now get going. At this rate, you're going to run out of time."

The teen nodded, knowing that was the best he was going to get. With a small smiled, he jogged off, carrying Reborn with him. They kept going for a while, until all of a sudden, Retsu pulled to a stop in front of a building. It looked the same as the other warehouses, tall and gray. Nothing special. Except for the person he'd seen running into it only seconds ago.

"There's someone in here," he stated.

"So go check it out."

"Why was I not expecting you to be worried?" Retsu commented dryly.

"Go!"

"Alright, alright!" Holding up his hands in surrender, he headed into the building, swallowing the nervousness that had suddenly clogged his throat. If he was right, this would be over sooner than they'd expected. If not...they might be in trouble.

The inside of the building was cold and dark, much like the outside. In the blackness, the boy could just make out a figure standing in the center. What looked like a rifle was slung diagonally over their back, and sad hazel eyes stared at him through the gloom. Dark hair fell around the familiar face of the young man, sticking up in a way that only one man's he knew could.

"Dai, is that you?!" the surprised boy cried out. The man tensed, hesitantly meet his younger brother's gaze. Retsu froze. "W-why are you here?" he finally managed to get out.

"..."

"C'mon, let's go," the white haired teen pleaded, taking a step forward and outstretching his hand. It's not safe-"

"Stop," Reborn ordered into his ear, pulling on the cartilage to get the boy's attention. His student's eyes flickered to him for a second, then moved back to the man in front of them when he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned, and was met by the sight his brother's rifle. Pointed straight at him.

"What's going on?" the teen whispered, eyes wide with fear and shock.

"Retsu," Daisuke murmured, finger hovering menacingly over the trigger. "Please forgive me."

Click.

BOOM!

~OS~

Why do I feel like I haven't gotten anywhere in the past ten minutes? Kurohana wondered, slowing to a walk. The buildings all looked the same, true, but this particular street seemed to go on forever. There were no roads leading off of it, not even a wide enough alley to go down. Is is just my imagination, or something else?

A chill ran up her spine at the thought, and something occurred to her. What if Hebi's not really knocked out? What if I'm stuck in an illusion?

To test her theory, she picked up a rock near her feet, one she'd run over countless times in the last few minutes, and hurled it ahead with all her strength. It flew through the air, completely normal, until a spot about thirty feet away. There, it shimmered and disappeared. Behind her, she heard a faint clinking noise, and knew that the stone had landed. She sighed.

"I know you're there Hebi, so show yourself!" Kurohana snarled. For a minute, nothing happened. Then, out of thin air, the man himself appeared right in front of her. He was cradling his collarbone, and she couldn't help but smirk. Guess that part wasn't an illusion, huh?

"It took you long enough," he said. She shrugged, absentmindedly twirling her makeshift staff.

"Whatever. I didn't think you'd actually show up so close," the girl observed. "Seems like kind of a bad idea."

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?"

"That's why I said it," she answered bluntly. "Well, doesn't really matter to me. I can kick your sorry ass all the way to next week and back in no time flat. It was your choice to show up though."

"I see time has done nothing for your smartass attitude," Hebi said snidely.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Kurohana smirked, taking a menacing step forward. The man, in turn, took a step back. With deadly speed, the girl jumped forward, pipe raised. To his credit, her opponent seemed to be expecting this, as he smiled evilly in response.

"Oh, attack me all you want," he said. "But could you hurt your friends too?" His face twisted grotesquely, and when he looked back up at her, it was Kazuki's face he wore.

She barely even hesitated. "What friends?" Kurohana asked, driving the butt of the staff into his stomach. He blanched, features quickly returning to normal as he crumpled to the ground. This time, she was taking no chances, and delivered a swift blow to his temple. The girl regarded the unconscious man with a bored look on her face. "If you're gonna waste my time, at least put up a goddamn fight," she said, voice dripping with contempt. "Illusionists. Once you take away their tricks, they're nothing."

But even so, why did I go for the stomach? she thought, staring down the hand holding her weapon. His face was what I was aiming at originally. So why couldn't I attack it anymore once he turned into the stupid blondie?

Shaking her head to clear the thoughts, she fixed her gaze upon the street in front of her. The girl saw a person disappear into a building only yards away. They seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on who it was. Behind him, the white haired brat ran out from another street and followed them in. She heaved a weary sigh, lazily making her way over.

May as well check out what's going on, she mused. Quickly enough, Kurohana reached the open warehouse door and peeked in. The kid, Retsu, looked like he was frozen to the spot. The same person from before was pointing a black, modern-looking sniper rifle at him. The hell?! Alarm bells blared in her head, so much so that she barely caught the last words.

"Retsu, please forgive me."

What the? He wasn't actually going to do it was he? There was a clicking sound, impossibly loud in the quiet space, but she didn't even register it. Before she even knew what her feet were doing, Kurohana found herself flying at the boy, knocking him to the ground just as an explosion rocked the building.

~OS~

"The one an' only."

Those were Izumi's first words. He was smirking like mad, and didn't even seem to be struggling with the immense pressure the other man was putting on him. His backpack was slung over his shoulder, but the orange haired boy was only using one of his many knives.

"What the hell are you doing here, brat?" Shiro snarled.

"I missed ya too," Izumi replied, laughing. The man just glared.

"You couldn't possibly be thinking of helping him, could you?"

"Maybe I am, maybe not."

Realization dawned on Shiro's face, and he smiled gleefully. "Then that means I can kill you and not be in trouble."

"I suppose," the boy shrugged, then turned back to Kazuki, smiling brightly. "Are ya alright? You're Kazuki-san, correct? One a' Retsu's friends?"

The blonde could only nod dumbly, adding in at the end, "Just Kazuki's fine."

"Alright! Then just Izumi's good with me!" the younger teen said cheerfully, holding out a hand to help the other up. Kazuki tried to sit up to grab it, but nearly cried out at the sharp flash of pain that shot through his ankle. He dropped back to the ground, unaware of the stormy look that crossed Izumi's face as he looked back at Shiro.

"Did ya do this?" he asked icily, rolled green bandana slipping down to partially cover his eyes.

"And if I did?"

"...Then I'll have to pay ya back, won't I?" the boy stated, meeting the others gaze with calm eyes. Shiro knew though that behind that facade burned a fire of determination and will to win. And that was what had always scared him about the smaller male. During a fight, nothing seemed to psych him out. Always waiting, watching, calculating with those calm orange eyes. It both annoyed and irritated him, because he could never read Izumi's moves. The kid never showed emotion in a fight, so how could he?

Izumi held up a single knife, the same one he'd used to block the man's attack earlier. "This knife," he said.

"What?" Shiro asked, confused yet wary.

"This is the only knife I'll use to hit ya."

"And if you use any other?"

"Then I'll admit I lost."

This wasn't like the brat. This was too risky, too much of a gamble. What was going on in that little head of his?

"Ya don't trust me, do ya?" Izumi asked, breaking the man out of his thoughts.

"Not at all." Then, despite all his reasoning, his sense of survival, and his better judgment, "But I accept anyways. You've got one knife, and then you're done."

"Yup."

"Bring it on."

Kazuki watched this entire exchange in fascination. What kind of people were they, to bet on things like life so easily? He'd never seen anything like it.

Izumi circled his opponent, expressionless. He came to a stop again a few feet away from Kazuki, his grip on his knife tightening. Then, so suddenly that it was almost impossible to see, the boy reached back into his bag and withdrew two more knives. Fast as lightning, he threw them at Shiro. Thanks to his battle-honed reflexes, the man managed to get out of the way just in time to avoid being hit.

"Ha!" he cried. "I wi-" He stopped, staring in shock at the knife in his chest. "Wha? But-"

"I only used that knife to hit ya," Izumi said coldly. "The others were never meant to. Therefore, I win."

"Y-you sneaky...little...bastard," Shiro gritted out as he fell to the ground, unconscious.

It was all over in a flash, so fast that Kazuki had to convince himself that he'd seen it. It was scary, but amazing at the same time. How'd we ever beat him? the boy couldn't help but wonder.

"That was amazing!" he exclaimed out loud. Izumi, who seemed to have woken up from whatever kind of trance he'd been in before, blushed.

"It's nothin' special," the orange haired teen mumbled.

"No, it was really-" the blonde was interrupted by the clicking sound of a gun being loaded.

"Don't move!"

~OS~

Jun surveyed the scene in front of him and made the expected assumption. One guy lying on the ground, either unconscious or dead. A friend, injured and next to a confirmed enemy holding a bag of knife. End result of the thinking: There had been a fight which Kazuki had won, then had been attacked by one of the man's friends, and was now in danger.

"Don't move!" he yelled, aiming the gun straight at Izumi, who jumped.

"Me?!"

"Jun, calm down!" Kazuki cried. "I know this looks bad, but let me-"

BOOM! Before the blonde could continue, the sound of an explosion, and one that wasn't too far away, came. Loud enough to stop all speech and leave all of their ears ringing.

"What the hell was that?!" Jun shouted, uncovering his ears.

"I-I don't know," Izumi stammered.

"Ah!" Kazuki exclaimed, drawing both their attention. "That came from the direction that Restu went in!"

More description on how they all got there next chapter!