Chapter 26
Tomorrow would be the start of the trial. But Tomoko didn't care. Whether Tsuna would win the case or not, she didn't pay too much mind to it. As long as her plan worked, it would be fine.
However, her father proved to be no idiot. She never missed the wary glances he would give her whenever she passed by. Her mother would handle it, doting on her wonderful daughter and scolding her husband.
Reborn was a different case. He wouldn't train her nor would he overlook what she was doing. He would only sit down and drink his cup of coffee, pensive and oblivious to the world around him. She had never seen him so deep in his thoughts, but what could she say? He was just there as a tutor, nothing more, nothing less (even though it did irk her that he wasn't teaching her anything new).
She cut into her pancake and placed it in her mouth, ignoring the awkward silence in the kitchen. Her mother was busy talking on the phone with an old friend from middle school or something of the sort. Lambo was glaring daggers at her from across the table, stabbing repeatedly in his pancakes; syrup was running all over his plate. Her father was eating calmly, ignoring in the same manner as she was doing.
"Have you found anyone yet?" Tomoko said suddenly.
Iemitsu paused for a second before swallowing another piece. "Yes, I did."
"Is he any good?"
"We'll see."
Tomoko stood up and placed her dishes in the sink. She went to the front door and tied her boots on.
"I'm going out."
"Be back before sundown."
She didn't say anything as she walked out of the house.
Jiang-guo stared blankly above him, his mind blank as well. He hated hospitals. He hated the smell of sharp cleanliness it held and the strong medicine. It reminded him of his mǔqīn's hospital room, a place that will forever haunt his memory.
I-pin, he thought, closing his eyes. I'm sorry. But...no matter how many times I say it, you won't come back. You will never come back.
He placed his hand on his right arm, tracing the smoothness of the tattoo that connected him to the Qing Long. Anger washed over him.
Mei-hui, I will hunt you down and make sure you never take another breath again.
He was suddenly alerted by a presence at the door. It sounded like scratching.
A dog? he thought as the door opened.
He heard the small clacking noise of the dog's nails against the floor as it came closer. He felt the side of his bed sink a little. He knew this dog. The animal was familiar to him, very familiar. He couldn't quite place it. It was on the tip of his tongue.
Suddenly, he felt something be placed in his hand, the dog's tongue licking his fingers once. A phone. He opened it and placed it over his ear.
"Hello, Jiang-guo," a voice said softly in Mandarin. "This is Biyu."
"Biyu?" That was impossible. She died yesterday. What...?
"These might be my last words and I have no strength to keep talking like this. So listen carefully. I apologize for not saving I-pin..."
She took a shaky breath. "I can only imagine the pain you are going through. I am but only a servant. I am not allowed to say this but..."
Her breaths were getting ragged. He instantly knew what she was doing. She was going against the omertà of the Qing Long. So that's how she died...
"Mei-hui...Hibari...sister..."
Jiang-guo widened his eyes.
"Hibari...Qing Long...boss..."
She started choking and he winced when he heard her scream shrilly in his ear. It was painful to listen to.
There were the sounds of doctors running in the background.
"Calm down!"
"What the hell is going on?"
"Get her to the - "
The phone went dead. A robotic female voice said in Mandarin, "Would you like to delete this recorded message? Press 1 to delete."
Jiang-guo threw the phone across the room. Why would Biyu tell him? What was he going to do with the information anyway? He didn't give a shit if Hibari was supposed to be the boss to the Qing Long. Actually, he was very much confused and frustrated.
So that was why Mei-hui wanted Hibari dead. He was becoming of age to be fit for the title of boss. She could be a bastard child or whatever; but that still doesn't change the fact that she killed his mother and I-pin.
The dog whimpered a little, nudging Jiang-guo's hand gently. Ah, he remembered now.
"Fang-yi," he said, reaching out to pat the dog's head.
Bayu took care of the dog in secret when she found it wandering in the streets of Shanghai. I-pin took her in and cared for the dog in place of Bayu. The dog didn't bother him much, but she made I-pin happy. That was more than enough.
"You don't have anyone now," Jiang-guo said softly, hugging the dog around her neck. She must've followed Bayu on her way to Japan and snuck in the hospital. She was always a smart dog.
"I-pin is gone. Bayu, too."
Fang-yi whined a bit, snuggling in closer to the boy's arm. Her coat was a bit rough, but with a good wash it would be fine.
"We only have each other."
He perked up when a familiar presence approached his room. Fang-yi growled dangerously, her body getting tense.
"It's you," he said. He shrugged and sank into his pillow, stroking Fang-yi's fur to calm her down. "I'm not in the mood to play games. You can go play with someone else."
"I can help you find your boss," the leng yu said.
"I work alone."
Strangely, the girl wasn't upset. In fact, he could feel the satisfaction and pride leaking from her cold aura. He just couldn't place why.
"First, though, I would like to propose some things for you."
Jiang-guo sighed almost mockingly. "I'm not in the mood, leng yu. I must take my beauty sleep. It'll help if you leave."
"Your dog will be leaving first before I do. No pets are allowed in the hospital."
"Ah, but I am a handicapped person." He waved his hand in front of his face. "It makes sense, no?"
The leng yu didn't say anything as her presence came closer. Fang-yi growled dangerously, daring the girl to come any closer. Jiang-guo held her down, stroking her in a comforting manner, his body tense.
Something was placed into the palm of his hand. It was small and felt cold against his skin.
"Become my cloud and you will achieve far greater than you might think. I will help you indirectly. You can operate on your own as you see fit, but you will serve me and only me."
Jiang-guo smiled thinly and threw the item back to her. "I do not work willingly. Find someone else for this item to belong to."
The girl was rather persistent. She placed the item in his hand again, her own fingers trembling as she did so.
"Please," she said in a whisper. "You won't need to do anything for me. Just protect. You can do whatever you want. That is why you are the cloud. You have no bounds and you cannot be tamed; but the sky will always be your only home."
She walked away to the door. "That ring will make you stronger, much stronger. Kill your boss. I don't care what you do."
Jiang-guo fingered the ring in his hand, tracing the smooth lines carefully. The leng yu already left. Fang-yi licked his hand reassuringly.
He remembered the feeling from the leng yu. He had the same feeling as well. Loneliness. Utter loneliness.
He patted Fang-yi's head and closed his eyes, clutching the ring in his hand. He could feel the power radiating from its small form.
A cloud, huh? he thought. Such a silly metaphor.
Tsuna blankly stared at the young man in front of him. "You're my lawyer?"
The man laughed. "Apparently so. Why? Don't worry! I know what I'm doing."
The brunette sighed quietly. His father seemed to have poor choice-making skills. He tensed when a large, warm hand laid on top of his. He looked up to see amber eyes stare at him with such gentleness that he thought that maybe, just maybe, this was the best choice his father ever made.
"Don't worry, Tsuna," the man said with a soft smile.
Tsuna couldn't help but weakly smile back.
"I might not have a degree in law but I got the basics down."
Tsuna huffed and looked away with an inaudible groan. Kami-sama, fuck my life.
The man chuckled before his eyes sharpened, snapping Tsuna back to attention. Those eyes promised something. He didn't know what.
"All jokes aside, let me introduce myself. My name is Dino. Your father requested for me to come here. I came from Italy. Now, let's talk about some things. For one, did you hit Tomoko?"
Tsuna looked down at his handcuffed wrists. "Yes." He looked up at Dino quickly, his eyes furious. "But it was her fault! She - "
He was silenced when Dino raised his hand. "Just answer the questions I ask you. I don't need the details right now."
"But - "
"Do you want to jeopardize your family?" Tsuna knew what he was referring to: the mafia. "The police doesn't know anything. Right now, the fact that you hit Tomoko is still clear to them. Your motive, I understand, but they won't. Trust me, your father and Lambo notified me of everything."
Tsuna gritted his teeth in frustration, but tried to keep calm. "Keep going."
Dino smiled reassuringly. "It's going to be fine, Tsuna. Just trust me."
Tsuna tried to keep himself from retorting as he bit his lips. "Okay."
"Your sketchbook," Dino said cautiously, placing it on the table. "Can you tell me about this?" He raised his hands up, a few wrinkles appearing on his black suit. "I won't judge."
Tsuna sighed. He might as well. "I..." His voice caught in his throat.
"Take your time."
Kami-sama, he sounded pitiful. He had thought that merging with his other self would change that but, apparently, it didn't. He wasn't even sure if the merging did him any good aside from a much refiner Hyper Intuition.
He opened his mouth until a sharp ringing silence pierced his head. No, no, no. Not now. Why now?
He slammed his hands against the table, attempting to reach his sketchbook, but it was impossible due to the handcuffs binding him to the metal table.
"Tsuna!" Dino said, rushing to his side. "What's wrong?"
The man tripped over his own clumsy feet, dragging down the sketchbook with him somehow. Tsuna widened his eyes. He had to, he had to.
"Book!" he gasped out painfully. "Give!"
Dino seemed to understand and got up quickly, placing the sketchbook in front of him. He looked at him confusedly when Tsuna flipped it to a new page and clawed at it, his teeth gritted.
The pain was too great in his head. If he just had a fucking -
"Pencil!" he said through pants. "Pen! Fuck!"
He resorted to claw at his own palm, which was still bandaged. Dino started to look through his pockets with shaking hands.
"Pen, pen, pen," he muttered under his breath. "Shit. Aha!"
He took out a rather expensive-looking pen and placed it quickly in Tsuna's hand; his strokes became feverish as he immediately placed the tip on paper.
There was a rush of cars before he heard the sound of a motorcycle being revved up. A loud shriek of tires rang in his ears and honking horns were faint in the background. Guns were being shot repeatedly and a great gust of wind blew against his skin. The sound of police sirens were getting closer before it all faded away.
He let go of the pen in his hands as he tried to catch his breath. A sudden pain spiked up in his eye and he screamed in pain, trying to bring his hands up to get rid of the pain. He banged his head on the desk instead but he felt nothing.
He kept doing it, trying to get some other feeling to substitute the pain in his eye; there was still nothing.
"Tsuna!"
A pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders, a comforting hand rubbing his back in soothing circles. No words were spoken from Dino's lips.
The pain was unbearable and then, just like that, he felt as if something spilled inside of his eye. It was strange and cold. The feeling spread to his veins and his nerves tingled. He widened his eyes. He knew this feeling. This was when Mukuro took over his body with deep control.
A small giggle passed echoed in his head. "Hello, my adorable little tuna. Miss me? Too bad. I'll sing you a lullaby. Do you know why? You have to go to sleep."
Tsuna didn't have the strength to struggle. So this was what Lucy did. It was the same as Mukuro's method.
He felt the last of his control leave him as he started to swim back into the shadows' depths.
"You'll pay for this, Lucy," he whispered before darkness took him whole.
The woman laughed. "I have no money. Sorry!"
Dino looked back at the doors to make sure no one was coming in before he locked it. He was pretty sure that Tsuna's screams were loud enough for the whole building to hear.
He clutched the sketchbook tightly under his arm. "Who are you?"
Tsuna pouted. "It's me, your adorable little tuna fish."
Dino glared. "Talk. Now."
Tsuna's blue eyes gleamed. "Hmm, you still can't do shit without your subordinates." He winced with a groan. "Just let me talk with him for a few more minutes, will you?"
Dino didn't know what the hell was going on but he had a pretty solid idea. "Let him go."
"Oh, well," Tsuna said with a grin. "But I want to stay a little bit longer. Can't I?"
Dino took out his whip. Even if his subordinates weren't here, he could try something.
And fail, he thought with a small grimace.
"See? You still can't do shit. Come. Come at me. Give the tuna pretty scars. I'm sure he would love it!"
"Tell me what you're here for," Dino said with a scowl.
Tsuna's face went blank and, for a second, Dino thought that he had come back until a strange grin spread on his face.
"You know, I've been trying to get a hold of Tsunayoshi's body for a while," he said in an eerie tone. "He's much more stubborn it seems."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's simple really," Tsuna said. "The stronger he becomes, the more terrible the future will be. Once power is established, there is no peace."
Dino narrowed his eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Tsuna smiled bitterly. "I'm not a fan of how things are in the future."
"Who are you?" Dino said warily.
"Your only hope."
"You speak of the future. What is it like?"
"I can't say," Tsuna said, shaking his head. "I apologize for the damage I've done, but I'm under close surveillance by my boss. There was no other choice. I still have my boss have an impression that I turned into some psychopath along the way. I don't have much time left."
His hollow blue eyes made Dino shiver. "I didn't have any other action to take. Tell Tsunayoshi that I am deeply sorry for what I've done. My hands are tied behind my back at this point. May I ask a favor?"
"I don't know if I can trust you."
"Oh, it's a simple one. Not much. If you meet Mukuro, tell him to kill me."
Tsuna suddenly gasped, his blue eyes filled with pain. "My body...shit, she found out." He looked at Dino with a sad smile. "Remember to tell...Mukuro."
His body went slack and Dino immediately went by his side. "Tsuna!"
The brunette lifted his head up weakly, his eyes back to its original color. "I think...I need to sleep now..."
He fainted, his body relaxing. Dino cursed and took out a pin, forcing it into the handcuffs. His clumsiness better be at rest or else he'll spit fire everywhere. When he heard a click, he quickly picked up Tsuna in his arms and unlocked the door, rushing outside.
"Where is everyone?" he said irritably.
When he walked out of the empty police station, his stomach sank when he saw the sight before him. Policemen were lying on the ground everywhere, dead and in their own pool of blood.
He saw a teen boy wearing a school uniform slung over a man's shoulder. A woman stood next to him, fanning herself with bored eyes.
"Long-wei, put him in," she said to the man who complied, shoving the teen inside a black car.
"Hibari-san," Tsuna said weakly from his arms, shifting slightly.
A gunshot rang in the air. Dino turned to see Ren leaning against the wall, his shoulder and stomach bleeding profusely.
"Fuck," the man said quietly, spitting on the ground.
The Chinese woman raised her gun at him, but Dino was faster. He lashed out with his whip, widening his eyes when he didn't fail. It struck her hand, making her drop her gun.
She only smiled and got in the car with a small wave of her hand. "Tatta."
The car screeched down the road. Dino took out his phone and quickly dialed a number.
"Romario, bring an ambulance immediately."
Tomoko stared at her ice cream listlessly. It was a bit chilly for it but she didn't mind. Maybe because they were both the same cold thing.
She smiled humorlessly before placing it in her mouth, enjoying the gentle breeze caressing her cheeks. She looked at the time on her phone. 3:12 P.M.
She dialed a number and waited patiently for the person to pick up.
"Look, Sawada, I'm going to perform in two minutes," a voice from the other end said, irritated. "Why do you have to call at such terrible time?"
"I apologize," Tomoko said simply. "Anyway, I need you here in Namimori."
"I have to - I know, Dante! Calm your fucking tits!"
Tomoko brought the phone away from her ear, wincing at the sudden shout.
"Goddamn, son of a bitch won't stop complaining," the person mumbled. "Look, here's the deal. Why don't you stop calling me and we're all happy, okay? I gotta go."
"Lucy," Tomoko said, "I need you here in Namimori."
Her voice was deathly quiet. The ice cream was starting to melt, dripping onto her fingers.
Lucy sighed. "God, I hate it when you go all puppy on me. I'll go right after I'm done with the concert is over. Happy?"
Tomoko smiled slightly. "As soon as you can."
"I don't want any gore-fest going on over there, you hear me? I can't handle gore. Gotta go."
She hung up. Tomoko put her phone away in her pocket and threw out her ice cream.
"Dame-Tomo," a small voice said. "What are you planning?"
Tomoko didn't say anything as she walked down the stairs of the park. She narrowly dodged a kick at her head.
"I have my own plans," she said blankly. "It has nothing to do with you."
"If it involves the Vongola then it involves me as well," Reborn said, looking straight into her eyes. "You visited Jiang-guo and gave him the Cloud Ring."
"So what?"
"You gave Maita the Storm Ring as well."
Tomoko brushed her jacket. "Yes, I did. Again, so what?"
"Are you going to fight Tsuna for the position?"
He knew. He practically knew her inside and out, which was unnerving.
"Yes," she said slowly. "I will challenge him for Decimo. If he wants it then so be it. I will not back down."
A/N Thank you for the reviews and favorites! ^^
leng yu - cold fish
If there are any inconsistencies and choppy scenes I apologize. This week has been stressful for me, haha. School's a bitch...-_-
I have the link to the Spanish version of the story on my profile in case you want to check it out.
About the Varia, they will have their role in the story. Don't worry! They will appear sooner or later. ^^
Please leave a review if you can. Much appreciated!
Thank you for reading! See you in the next chapter.