Sometimes, I think I take this story far too seriously. And here is some Hibari in this chapter.
Chapter 36
Kokuyo Kiriyuu
They were suddenly back in the Screamer Woods again; and the smoke withered away. He was alone, in the same t-shirt and jeans he was wearing back at the camping trip. Tsuna could do nothing but gape helplessly. Opposite him, in Kiriyuu's place, a woman with cascading waves of brown hair tumbling loosely past her shoulders stood silently. Her black blazer hugged her figure tightly, a gas mask strapped over her face, exposing a solid, emerald, soulless eye. Her fingers curled tightly, the moonlight gleaming off a sultry ring on her finger which began to glow a furious red.
"I have come 10 years from the future to exterminate the 10th generation of the Vongola." She said, removing the gas mask slowly to reveal her face. He remembered that scar on the left cheek, and her green eyes – but this time, the left eye was replaced with a glowing red pupil with the Dying Will flame, glaring right into him. "Starting with the 10th Vongola boss himself!"
And then an arrow that snapped out of her Dark Crossbow was hurtling towards him, and Tsuna screamed, bringing his arms up in front of his face protectively.
"AAARRRGHHHH! NO, KIRIYUU, NuuuoooOOOoooOO!!!"
He woke up in a cold sweat. His eyes darted left to right; there was no arrow flying at him, no trees, no Older Kiriyuu, no Terminator red eye. His room was dark, it was still only about 2am in the morning, and rain was pouring on his bedroom window. He groaned inwardly and rubbed at his eyes.
Just a dream…. Just a dream… He reassured himself as he flopped back in his bed. That was a weird dream -- TYL Kiriyuu exterminating the Vongola. When I met her, she was still pretty friendly (…well… sort of), and she even saved my life….
…Though, it still felt pretty realistic.
That Morning, in Namimori…
Tsuna was too afraid to dial Hibari; not as if he knew his number… or as if he really wanted to call Hibari anyway (urgh). He knew Kiriyuu's cell phone number, but her phone was switched off even though it had been at least three or four days. Her departure certainly sparked many questions, and school just wasn't the same anymore. Did Hibari do something to her (well, aside from ripping at her face with his tonfa)? She seemed so angry, and had so many troubles she wasn't willing to share with them. The least he could do was see if she was alright… but no, that was not it.
… Last night, there had been news that Namimori students were getting beaten up –
For Hibari; he woke up the next morning, received numerous, frantic calls from his Committee that a few prefects had been beaten up. Nevertheless, he casually got dressed for school as he normally did. In the bathroom, he opened his mirror cabinet only to discover a box of tampons were also stuffed in the cabinet, too; right in the top shelf, sticking out in front of his face with its multi-coloured plastic wrapper, complete with odd diagrams that were the instructions…. He hesitated to take it out and dump it in the trashcan, but…
Touching it felt like taboo.
Hmph.
Damn it… that girl… he knew - That stupid girl knew something he didn't, Hibari thought as he slammed the cabinet back shut. Otherwise, why did she choose to run away at this specific time? It was quite obvious that there was something extremely wrong with this situation. Hmm, let's see – Kiriyuu runs away, a few days later, people in Namimori get beaten up for no apparent reason. There was some kind of connection. Maybe she went into hiding, knowing what was going to happen. That was typical.
Last night, Hibari could not get to sleep for at least the remainder of the night. A part of him knew that Kiriyuu was probably gone for good, and he knew he shouldn't bother looking for again this time. Where would she stay? She would run back to him, like how she always did no matter what happened; except from the time when he found her at the bridge, but that was different. In the dead of the night, roughly at about 3am, there had been a thunderstorm, 90mph hurricanes and another typhoon along the houses of Namimori shoreline; quite bizarre weather reports, actually. Namimori was usually pretty safe. Well, it would be fatal for Kiriyuu if she decided to camp at the beach. They'd probably find her drowned, pale, bedraggled body covered in seaweed in a cove, discovered by children playing kicky-bag and had kicked their bag all the way over.
He stopped thinking about last night and went into the kitchen. He habitually made breakfast for two and laid the plate down. After breakfast, he dumped the leftovers, put on his shoes, made his way to school. Then more reports came in on the way.
Tsuna had been spotted by Hibari walking through the street to school; all the other, remaining, non-victimized prefects were standing around too, looking nervously, in fact. "Eh? Hibari-san? Kiriyuu's… not… back yet?"
"No."
Tsuna glanced at Reborn, and back. He then wondered if Hibari was worried about Kiriyuu. He also wondered whether or not he should tell Hibari that he had a dream about Older Kiriyuu trying to kill him. Probably not.
"Hibari, I had a dream about Kiriyuu yesterday."
Oops. Tsuna mentally slapped himself. How wrong that sounded. Why did he do that? Especially when he decided that he was going to NOT tell him about the dream? And especially when Hibari and Kiriyuu were perhaps more than just cousins.
Hibari gave Tsuna a look.
A murderous one.
Reborn gave Tsuna a look as if he was a pervert. Tsuna then realised himself how wrong that came out. "N-No, it wasn't anything like that! S-She was… We were back in the woods, see? And she-she was, um… going to kill me with that crossbow gun she had and – "
Hibari didn't seem to display much concern, and promptly turned away from the duo. Tsuna sighed a breath of relief inwardly. Then Hibari's phone rang – it also had the school's anthem as the ringtone - Tsuna just cringed visibly. He turned back to Reborn.
"Why did you tell Hibari about your dream?" The infant asked him.
Tsuna bit his lip. "I… I think Kiriyuu's disappearance….may be related to her future self. Back in the woods, the camping trip… I think something must've happened."
Hibari suddenly turned back to the pair, and Tsuna immediately stiffened. "He's an acquaintance of yours, right?"
He blinked numbly in response. "Huh?"
"….Sasagawa Ryohei was attacked." Hibari said, flipping down his mobile phone once the conversation was over. He was actually a little relieved to hear no news from Kiriyuu; if she hadn't been beaten up yet or found with trembling with pneumonia in a cardboard box somewhere (it had already been two days). He watched Tsuna gasp – then the colour drained away from his face – he stepped back, his mouth gurgled, then he hurried towards the clinic.
Hibari watched Tsuna and the baby, then -
"Hibari-senpai!"
He turned round; it was his one of fellow subordinates who had been patrolling the north-western Namimori bus route borders. His eyes narrowed at the boy as he stopped shortly in front of him, breathing heavily. "Status report." Hibari said, "Hurry up."
"Hai, Hibari-senpai! ….Well, another student was just attacked in the corner of 8th Avenue! He's still conscious! He says it was a student from Kokuyo who attacked him!! And…. And…."
"And what?"
"……………. Apparently they've… they've taken Ottuso Kiriyuu as a hostage."
Silence. Hibari promptly frowned. "Move," he shoved the boy away from his path, stormed through the street as he pulled his prefect jacket over his shoulders.
…………
Kiriyuu, and M, left the house to meet up with Chikusa and Ken, who were supposed to meet them at the scramble crossing near Kokuyo High. Kiriyuu didn't take her diary; she wondered if it was normal to be scared of an inanimate object. And previously, she'd laughed at people with phobias of buttons and bananas, and here she was, terrified of her own diary. She still didn't know what happened back there but she didn't think she cared at all; M was teasing her mercilessly about it. You're losing it, Kiriyuu, M said. Don't worry, I won't tell Mukuro. M had also taken Kiriyuu's sniper rifle with her, wrapped in newspaper with elastic bands, even though Kiriyuu didn't want to bring it along, yet M took the matter onto her own hands and attached the sniper rifle over her own back. Kiriyuu was carrying food supplies and a wallet-full of her own pocket money.
To make her feel better, M even let her wear the helmet… not that it really did cheer her up… much.
"What is Mukuro's plan?" Kiriyuu asked, her voice muffled behind the ram skull.
"I told you not to ask any questions. Low profile, remember? It's like secret underworld activity, we're our own mafia. We make our own rules." M said, as soon as they arrived at the designated destination. The crossing was surprisingly empty of people; maybe because it was the hour when everyone should be at work or school.
"…We're our own mafia…" Kiriyuu murmured to herself; she really did like the sound of that. We make our own rules.
"Besides, Mukuro doesn't talk much about his plans, just tells us what to do."
They stopped at the edge of the street, where Mukuro's two lackeys from yesterday eventually emerged; the weird, animal-like one was named Joushima Ken, with tacky blonde hair and hairclips, sharp canines and an extra-long tongue. Beside him, was the quiet one with glasses, black hair, white beanie hat – Kakimoto Chikusa, if she remembered what M had said clearly. Joushima Ken was the one who liked to chew on people, and Kakimoto Chikusa was the one who looked like he was castrated. They were all wearing Kokuyo uniforms. Kiriyuu squinted her eyes as soon as they appeared and she'd just realised that Chikusa was the one she'd bumped into at the Summer Festival. Funny how she remembered that seemingly insignificant fact now.
Maybe it was fate that brought her to Mukuro.
"Hey, ya finally here. Been waiting long?" Ken began and she burst out of her thoughts, as he grinned at her with his tongue waggling out and about. "Nice helmet, pyon."
While Kiriyuu just blinked at him sluggishly and murmured her 'thanks, but it's not mine', M looked very disgusted by his behaviour and made a face. "Yuck, put that thing back where it belongs, Ken." She pointed at his tongue.
Kiriyuu wasn't doing anything, listening to M's crude remark.
Ken's expression soured in response, and he turned to Chikusa, who had remained silent the entire time. "What's her problem, pyon?"
"…. Never mind her." Chikusa muttered.
Ken shrugged inwardly, then turned back to Kiriyuu. "Kiwi-chan."
"It's Kiri – "
"Kiwi." He insisted with a spiteful leer, and Kiriyuu just looked back at the ground, accepting her new nickname without any other objections, "Mukuro-sama's got new orders for ya. You've to go back to the Health Land. Says he can't have you running around when you're still recovering."
"I think I'm okay."
"Oh, yeh? Then that means you don't need anyone to take you back, right? You remember your way?"
Kiriyuu looked at M, who snorted at 'Chicken'; in return 'Chicken' gave Kiriyuu another long stare. Kiriyuu nodded eventually; with M here, she was pretty sure she would take Kiriyuu back. "Yeah, I'm good."
"Great, we'll be back soon, yeh? You tell Mukuro-sama that. Don't get into trouble, pyon."
"Where are you guys going?" She asked.
Ken pulled out a list from the breast pocket of his blazer, still grinning, and he wiggled it in front of her face. "We got a hit list, pyon."
"Hit list?"
"People in our way. We have to get rid of them. Or teach them a lesson or two. That's what Mukuro says." It was M who replied, with a half-hearted sigh.
"Yeah, that's a hit list." Ken dangled the paper in front of her face again, "C'mon, Kakipoo. Let's get those little piggies." Ken began making his way back down. Chikusa just irked in response, and followed Ken silently down the street, after giving Kiriyuu another brief stare. Kiriyuu and M waved them off, and M turned back to Kiriyuu, grinning now. She elbowed the girl thoroughly, the grin widening.
"I think Chikusa has a little crush on you."
In response, Kiriyuu just rolled her eyes exasperatingly and looked away from the retreating backs of Chikusa and Ken. "Let's go back already."
There was slight hesitation from the other girl, and Kiriyuu turned to her expectantly. M gave her an awkward grin in response, "Oh, no, I'm staying, actually. I have my own errands to run. I'll see you back at Kokuyo. You know your way back, right?" M asked, having dumped the rest of Kiriyuu's belongings into her arms.
Kiriyuu looked back up in shock. "But I thought – " Her jaw dropped slightly as she took her own stuff back from M, but then – "… Yeah, I know the way… I, uh…think."
M frowned, "Okay, you look absolutely clueless; I'll take you back, alright? But this'll be the last time – and the first, actually – but after this, you're on your own."
Back in Namimori…
Many questions stormed Hibari's conscious and he growled under his breath. First, he hated feeling lost and as if he had completely no control over this epidemic of attacks, and second, why the hell did his life have to revolve around Ottuso Kiriyuu at some point? He remembered back to the very first time they met - he knew it, he realised; he should've just slammed the front door in their faces when he had the chance. He did it to that Ryuki girl who probably was his real cousin when she came up to his doorstep with that overweight, wretched man of a social worker named Kenji – why the hell…? Argh, never mind. What's done has been done. Let bygones be bygones, right?
Hibari made his way to the corner of 8th Avenue – it was near the suburbs of Kokuyo – and there was the victim, surrounded by a group of neighbourhood locals. He shoved them away and ordered them to call an ambulance instead of just gawking there and gazing upon the splendour of a half-dead prefect with a random number of teeth pulled out.
It was Yagami; the prefect who had joined recently, having being recommended by his brother and emerged being only capable of goldfish-memory-that-lasted-3-seconds memory (after intensive intervention and Prefect 'OB' programmes) and always forgot to sign off his name in the list after school. He was also the one who was far too sensitive and compassionate for his goddamn good. How he was in the Committee was something worth to ponder about. The prefect opened his bruised eyes groggily, as he lay spread-eagled on the sidewalk.
"Hibari-thenpai. You're here."
Hibari watched him stonily, "Where is Kiriyuu?"
"Yeth, yeth. Phee wath here. Kiriyuu Ottutho wath here. I recognithe her fayth back at the training camp, but thumthing thelt wrong." He lisped, spraying saliva and blood all over the place.
He knelt down beside his comrade; the first rule – don't touch people who have been in an accident unless you were a trained paramedic or had a PHD in medicine or something because you'd risk unleashing more hellish pain on the poor sods without even realising. His lackey looked like he could've seen better days. His head and face battered and bruised, swollen to the size of a melon; his mouth chock-full of saliva and blood, with the several teeth missing just like the other victims.
Hibari asked, his eyes narrowing in progress, "I said: Where is she?"
The battered prefect let out a weak cough "…. I thaw her from a dithtance away though. Phee wath with… theef unidentified Kokuyo thtudenth. They were carrying thingth. I went down to thee. They took her, and… went… to Kokuyo Health Land, I think." He spluttered out.
Hibari loosely translated that as 'I saw her from a distance away though. She was with this unidentified Kokuyo student. They were carrying things. I went down to see' (the other part of that sentence was decipherable enough). "What was she doing with them?"
"I dunno I dunno. But… there wath thumthing…. Really different about her."
And then he promptly fainted.
…………….
"Here, take this." M had taken the skull helmet back and draped it over her head again, before shoving something small into Kiriyuu's hands.
"What is it?"
"Teeth."
"ARGH!" Kiriyuu dropped the little duffle satchel M had just provided her with. As it dropped to the floor, the string of the bag came loose, and indeed, teeth came clattering out. "Teeth?! Why the hell is there… human teeth?!"
"It's proof." M replied, "Mukuro wants proof that we are carrying out his orders. It's somewhat… um, political in a sense."
"Political?!" What was 'political' about collecting human teeth?! Some of them still had blood dripping off!
"You know… uh, what you learn in History…politicians wanting to assassinate rivals, other leaders, or chairholders, anyone with insane amounts of power because they are hindering them in their objectives; that they contact some kind of assassin and hire them and give them insane amounts of money, wanting their rival's severed heads as evidence that the deed has been done. Only we are using teeth." M retorted, scratching at her exposed ear. "Keep it for me for the moment, will you? I'm carrying enough stuff as it is."
Kiriyuu swallowed, holding the bag by the tip of her two fingers. "So…Why are we going through this alley? What's wrong with the street?"
"Shut up and don't complain."
They were walking through the back streets of Kokuyo despite it being broad daylight outside. Kiriyuu didn't even know if Namimori had shady corners in the neighbourhood like these. It seemed to house all sorts of people – homeless people, drug addicts, murderers, rapists perhaps, oh, and geeky stamp collectors who live with their mum. Maybe it was because M had Kiriyuu's sniper rifle attached to her back, but it was wrapped in newspaper, so nobody would know –
"That's your problem. You take things far too lightly. If some maniac suddenly ran up to us and ripped off the newspaper, then our cover would be blown, and we'd be known as the girls with a gun. And a sheep's skull."
"The skull helmet isn't a big deal." Kiriyuu looked at her confusedly. "….And there are always maniacs in those streets and not in here?" She said, as she ducked under a lead pipe dripping with grimy water that had to drop onto her unsuspecting head that had to go under it at that precise moment.
M turned back to her partner, as they passed through a narrow opening between two buildings. "… Nobody can see us here, Kiriyuu. We're totally I.N.V.I.S.I.B.L.E. Like ninjas; masters of the killing art and darkness, forever lurking in their own shadows, hiding from human eyes contained within shinobi-ninjutsu ways."
"Eh?"
"Besides, Mukuro gave me permission."
"Permission for what?" Kiriyuu asked. Maybe it was better if she hadn't asked.
"To kill," M finished, and her grin broadened into an obscene sneer, "…If anyone is dumb enough to get in our way."
Kiriyuu stopped in her tracks as soon as she said that, and M was making her way back by herself, the sniper rifle bobbing up and down in its strap, layers of newspaper shifting around. The girl noticed the lack of Kiriyuu-presence, and turned back round.
"Kiriyuu, what's wrong?"
….The girl looked to the side dejectedly; she couldn't find the answer to that question. She didn't know what she was feeling. Without waiting for a response, M snorted and ignored her anyway, then continued her trek, leaving Kiriyuu to trail meekly.
But then she stopped.
"Shit, it's him." She growled under her breath.
Kiriyuu was still making her way blindly towards M. "What is it, M? Who is it?"
"Go back. Go back NOW." M commanded fluidly, without turning to her, but she ineptly pushed Kiriyuu backwards towards the way they came – and Kiriyuu rammed into a pile of 'Jenga-style' dustbin bags, and they all toppled over, bags opening and leaking out filth and grit. Chaos everywhere.
The quiet alleyway was not so quiet anymore.
……………..
Hibari stood back up – he whipped his gaze to a nearby alleyway immediately where the loud sound had resonated. The figure standing in the shadows quickly began to move away. Hibari frowned, pushed past the crowd again and stormed to the direction of the alleyway. "I saw you," He snarled, "Get back here. You can't escape."
……………..
"Whatever you do, don't look back. Keep running."
Kiriyuu flailed around helplessly, with M following back sharply. Kiriyuu was a panicking wreck, blood rushing to her head, and her heart racing to over a million beats, while M was cool and breathing evenly and not looking back. In fact, M was running faster. Kiriyuu didn't even know why they were being chased, and who they were being chased by, and she didn't dare look back either. The alleyway was dark and dank, seeing her way out was hard enough, let alone trying to avoid obstacles on the ground.
She whimpered and tried to keep up. M grabbed her arm and pulled her forward back in front of her. "Why are you so slow?! Are you like, 90 percent jelly or something?!" She screamed at her, and Kiriyuu whimpered helplessly once more. "This way."
M had bent quickly to her right, skidding to a ninety degree angle and ten picking up pace again. Kiriyuu followed suit, but she was wobbling around a lot.
"M… Wait up for me! D-Don't leave me behind…!"
………….
Hibari was close.
The figure then broke off into a manic sprint at a ridiculously fast pace, darting further into the alleyway just as Hibari threw one of his tonfas at matching breakneck speed and strength towards their direction. The tonfa missed just as the figure dodge-rolled and got back up quickly; the tonfa jammed rigidly in the wall.
He didn't know how many were there, but he could hear the girl screaming at her partner to run and she was slow and something about jelly, and then he heard a weak squeak from the partner. "You can't run from me." Hibari growled viciously in the low of his throat, ripping his tonfa out from the wall and tearing after the mysterious figure.
The figure tore down to the left; black leather boots clomping and thumping continuously against mud-filled puddles and uneven pathways - and he followed again, matching the pace equally; this person was fast – but Hibari could tell that the mysterious figure didn't know their way around here, judging by how much they seemed to be looking around frantically.
Hibari trailed the person down to the left, into those shady, smelly areas with so much junk and litter in every corner that it could practically match Namimori's Rubbish Dump; as the figure ran, the figure pulled down some binbags behind and threw some boxes full of broken window glass and other derelict pieces of furnishings; all which Hibari effortlessly swatted them away and continued his hot pursuit – he ejected out his hidden tonfa chain and it snapped around the figure's neck – the figure reeled backwards violently and crashed down to the murky grounds.
………..
Kiriyuu choked as the chain swivelled around her neck and sent her flying backwards. "M!" She rasped helplessly as her fingers latched onto the chain, trying to pry it off. "H-Help me! He's got me!"
M stopped running, and turned round; Kiriyuu was lying on the ground with a chain around her neck. She let out a frustrated roar at the trapped girl and turned back to her front. Kiriyuu gasped breathlessly and threw an outstretched arm out. M was leaving her behind?!
"M…!" She screamed helplessly, struggling violently with the chain.
"You got into this mess, you get yourself out. Don't drag me into it." M shouted at her furiously, but she could see Hibari's silhouette advancing towards them. Shit. No time. Kiriyuu would have to be sacrificed. But then she thought back to Mukuro.
No, she was the key to his plan.
M cursed furiously, then went back, unwrapping the sniper rifle from behind her back. "You." She snarled at the girl on the floor, "Are going to be the death of me, Ottuso Kiriyuu."
………..
The figure continuously tried to scramble for freedom, but a violent tug had them practically clawing frantically just to get away. Something clattered to the ground – a pile of yellowy-white teeth, fresh and drenched in blood, ranging from molars to canines - Probably belonged to another prefect from before, or even Yagami, no doubt.
"So, you were the one attacking students." He smirked, proceeded in reeling in his newly-caught prize. The figure wrenched away from him aggressively from the ground numerous times, throwing themselves back, but he was stronger. "You won't get away, no matter how much you struggle, herbivore. This will teach you to desecrate the peace in Namimori. I'm going to really enjoy biting you to death."
The figure suddenly turned round under the light; Hibari thought his face had actually drained of colour when the figure did. It was a girl. Kiriyuu? Her hair was shorter, tidier and layered, and the colour was deep black – and there was no scar. She could've cleared it by using intense make-up, however, and her hair could be dyed.
At first, no-one spoke, both sides just staring at each other.
…………..
Kiriyuu sat limply on the floor, as Hibari came forwards. What the hell…? He was the one who had been following them? But… why? What was going on? And M was -
M was in her spot, hidden behind a large dumpster, with the sniper rifle aimed towards his direction. She grinned, as she turned to Kiriyuu, put her finger over her lips. "Shh… Let him come forward slowly. I'll teach him to mess with us."
She cocked the gun.
Kiriyuu looked back at him, wide-eyed.
No. Not Hibari.
……………
"Hibari, look out!" Someone screamed.
He turned back round immediately.
The girl took this opportunity and quickly unwrapped the last hold on her neck out of Hibari's chain -- His chain went limp. She got back up to on her feet, and Hibari watched on as she rushed out of the alleyway.
"What the hell was that all about? I almost had him!" M shrieked at her, as Kiriyuu grabbed her out of her hiding place and yanked back towards the direction of the exit. The second shortcut to Kokuyo, Kiriyuu realised, as she saw the towering, derelict building she had come out from this morning earlier. M was still lagging behind her, clutching the rifle tightly in her arms.
"Go!" Kiriyuu yelled, shoving M in front of her this time. The only thing that adhered in her mind was that she just had to get away from Hibari as far as possible – even though she was furious that he was here. She was angry that whatever revolved around her had to revolve around him somehow in one way or the other. She hated it.
She hated him. But at the same time, she -
M scowled at her and she snapped out of her thoughts; M took first place now, miles in front of Kiriyuu, who was still looking over her shoulder cautiously. M ran inside Kokuyo, through the front gate. Home base. She was safe. Now it was Kiriyuu's turn. In the alley, Hibari turned back, and then he frowned as he realised what he had just did, took off after her again –
But by that time, he had already arrived at the outskirts of Kokuyo Health Land.
His frown worsened; Kiriyuu vanished through the gates, never turning back, making a beeline to the direction of a large, towering building a distance away.
He followed her once more. Before Hibari could step forward and continue up the path, he stopped, as he sensed movement in the bushes from within the derelict Health Land. He realised there were hundreds of other Kokuyo students waiting to get a piece at him; Hibari Kyouya, Namimori High's Head Prefect. He raised his tonfas up in an offensive stance again; he knew that he could take these students on easily, but still, everything felt planned, and he wondered what was really going on.
It was simple - Kiriyuu had lured him into a trap.
Back in Namimori...
An hour later and a bloody Gokudera came washed up ashore of Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Reborn. He had been just attacked, by a guy in a beanie hat wielding a pair of lethal, spiky yo-yo's, no less. What's worse was that Hibari had left somewhere and still hadn't come back, Kiriyuu was still nowhere to be found, Ryohei was in the clinic with missing teeth, so was Kusakabe-san. Gokudera was in the Health room. Haru had tried to catch Tsuna with a fishing net, and Kyoko was starting to get really worried, too.
Tsuna was nervously pacing the room up and down. "Argh, what to do, what to do? Gokudera's hurt real bad…. So is Ryohei nii-sama… AAHHH! I'm an idiot!" Tsuna crouched down on the ground, clamping his hands over his head, his eyes squeezed shut firmly. He remembered back to the fight between Gokudera and the strange yo-yo guy from Kokuyo. "Why couldn't I move?! It'd been fine if I had just moved!"
Suddenly, something plopped on Tsuna's head, and he looked up. It was Reborn, attached to the ceiling by Leon – who was now in some sort of weird jelly, gelatinous-putty stage of his chameleon life (if that's what it was called…).
"What the heck is that?!" Tsuna squawked, gawping at his tutor.
"Leon's finally settled down and entered a cocoon state." Reborn replied blatantly as he swung down, landing in front of Tsuna. "I've been investigating a jailbreak incident that happened in Italy."
Tsuna blinked. "H-Huh? Jailbreak??"
Reborn nodded, "Yes…. Apparently, the mafia has been pretty reluctant and discreet in providing information, but… it was roughly estimated two to four weeks ago -- there was a jailbreak at a high security prison reserved only for the most terrible of mafia criminals who have committed the most heinous crimes. The escaped convicts killed several wardens and even other prisoners."
Tsuna's jaw dropped. "W-What??!"
"After that…."Reborn continued, "The mafia's information network tracked down the ringleaders behind the jailbreak. They were two subordinates under a young man named Rokudo Mukuro, and they were headed for Japan."
Tsuna went deadly pale and squeaked.
"Following that, three students returning from abroad transferred into Kokuyo Junior High. A gang of hooligans was formed not long after. The gang leader's name is Rokudo Mukuro."
"WHAT?!" Tsuna shrieked, "Could it be, this Mukuro is….?! Could it be the same person --?!"
There was a brief silence. Reborn watched Tsuna with half-lidded eyes, then sighed. "How many people do you think are called 'Rokudo Mukuro'?"
"Oh. B-But...W-Why's someone so frightening targeting Namimori High??!" Tsuna perked back up. "…. Hold on a minute… if that's the case, our opponents… are also in the mafia?"
"The opposite, Tsuna." Reborn began and Tsuna went pale all over again, "These people have been exiled from the mafia."
In Kokuyo Health Land…
Kiriyuu and M were panting breathlessly; they had reached Home Base successfully, and Kiriyuu was looking over her shoulder. "I think we lost him. He's gone."
"Damn right he is." M grumbled out, "… I hate running," She straightened herself shortly, smoothing down her hair and skirt.
"I... ran. I ran again." Kiriyuu mumbled out dolefully. "I can't stop running away from him."
M crossed her arms, frowning at her. "Whatever...Well, time to go back."
"What? B-But Hibari – "
"I have my own errands to do, remember? Don't worry, I'll go a different way." The girl replied in a flat, matter-of-fact tone, rolling her eyes again at Kiriyuu, "...By the way, what is the dough with you and this 'Hibari Kyouya?"
Kiriyuu looked at her as if she had seen a ghost. "…..We were…. (cough) House… err…. mates." She cringed ultimately.
M raised an eyebrow, then uncrossed her arms. "…Housemates? Riiiiight. Are you sure? He gave you a scar. I think you were more like mortal enemies at each other's necks."
Kiriyuu scratched at her scar-less cheek again, then merely nodded weakly. "Yeah, guess we are enemies." It's kinda true…
"Shoulda killed him when I had the chance…" M grumbled under her breath, and she brushed past Kiriyuu amongst the undergrowth they had been snooping around in, making her way back towards the entrance to Kokuyo Health Land.
Kiriyuu looked up in confusion, and a strange, uneasy feeling swept over her. "…What did you just say…?"
M turned back round. "Oh? Nothing… You better go back in already. Hurry up."
The girl nodded weakly once more, then began to linger back up the path to the back door of the building, still throwing cautious glances to M, who had now made her way to the gate, ducking low into the bushes where nobody could see. From her spot, she could see Hibari there.
He was busy fighting the horde of controlled Kokuyo students.
She smiled.
There goes Phase 1 of Mukuro's plan… And mine.
……………
Hibari understood what Yagami by there was something 'different' about Kiriyuu.
Strange, Namimori and Kokuyo weren't rivals, but this didn't seem to be the case anymore. He dispatched them all easily while trying to get to that particular Kokuyo-Kiriyuu, and when he was done, he licked his upper lip clean of blood. She was the prize at the end; but first, he had to dispatch of more Kokuyo underlings. Kiriyuu, Kiriyuu, Kiriyuu, he thought as he beat up a random student into submission. Everything revolved around her somehow now. An axe-wielding student suddenly came swinging at him madly with hefty heaves of his bulky arms, but Hibari practically sent that guy ricocheting to the moon, seeing stars as his body flailed to the ground, having been beat up by Hibari's tonfa.
At the end of the conveyor belt of students from another school wanting to be bitten to death, Kiriyuu would probably be there.
But he was wrong.
Hibari promptly marched inside; now ready to face the 'final boss'. He kicked over a stool in his way deliberately, hearing the loud 'clang' of metal wobble all over the place, echoing deeply. He was going to get the bottom of this. He was going to find out about Kiriyuu. He was going to put an end to this to this Namimori carnage. He'd stopped - Someone was at the end of the room. Another mysterious figure.
"It took a while to find you." Hibari said, glowering silently, "are you the ringleader behind this?"
There was a slight pause.
"….Kufufu. Something like that," was the mysterious person's reply. "Next, we'll bring a new order to your town."
Hibari felt his last shred of patience wither away; in the darkness, he could tell this person was smirking at him. "Namimori does not require two leaders."
"Indeed. I agree whole-heartedly." The person then replied casually, "Since I'm taking over…. We don't need you."
Hibari frowned. This person was first in the death-list.
The mysterious figure continued his speech, as he put his hands together under his chin, as if he was in deep thought. "If you're wondering - Yes, that was little Kiriyuu who led and trapped you here, and made you fight all those students."
His frowned deepened thoroughly, "What did you do to her?"
"Me?" The voice teased at him mirthlessly, "I didn't do anything. Kirie-chan's quite capable of making her own decisions. You see… when someone like Kirie-chan harbours so many negative emotions, their frustration and bitterness turns into resentment… then anger… Hatred…until finally… all that negativity combines into something extremely beautiful and extraordinary."
Extraordinary? Like what?
"They have this wonderful, impulsive desire that needs to be fulfilled soon or else they'll never forgive themselves."
Hibari frowned inwardly once more.
"What keeps these people going… though what they believe is keeping them sane, is actually in fact, pushing them towards the edge of insanity… Because revenge…" The voice said, followed by a long pause, "… Really is the most powerful motivator in the world, after all."
Hibari waited. Revenge?
"… So if you're also wondering - yes, she does not want to associate herself with you anymore."
Hibari further irked.
"… I get to take your girl, and this town."
He could tell this stranger was smirking at him. Immediately, Hibari thrust his tonfas back into his grip, holding them up at this outlandish, unseen foe.
The strange figure smiled.
"…. Right here, right now…." Hibari began, smirking back in response somehow, "I'll bite you to death."