A new chapter has arrived! Tadadadadaaaaa! Once again, I apologize for taking so long =-= I won't bother making excuses because I'm tired of making them.
Aaand OMG! I reached 3k reviews which is sooooo AWESOME! I congratulate Porcelain I For being the 3000th reviewer... I should probably give you a prize for that... hmmm... but then again the 2000th and 1000th reviewers didn't get any... ._.
Oh well, congratulations anyway and thanks for the review! It was highly appreciated! Thank you beloved readers!
Now! On to the story!
BETA'ED by the AWESOME The Ice Within ("the awesome" is not part of her pen name, btw. Thought you should now xD)
PREVIOUSLY:
Tsuna receives an unexpected visit from Mukuro as well as an unexpected confession of the illusionist knowing about what had happened at the future. This temporarily triggered the black flames, but fortunately Mukuro was able to hold it back. Their conversation ends with Mukuro telling him to leave which left Tsuna feeling unwanted. As Chrome transforms back, they left to look for the others. Once they caught up with them, they decided to go to Takesushi, but Tsuna announces he won't be going- telling them he didn't feel well.
As they arrived at the sushi place, Chrome discusses how she felt uncomfortable on sending Tsuna back to his time. But Gokudera and Yamamoto assures her they were doing the right thing.
The chapter then ends with Tsuna finding the culprits who kept following him and his friends and suddenly attacks them with a murderous determination.
Chapter 52
"…another massacre of foreigners who seem to belong from an illegal group..-"
With a press of the remote the TV turned off. Onyx eyes, however, remained staring at the blank screen.
"Another mass murder?" Bianchi sat next to Reborn before offering him a cup of coffee. Getting only a nod in return, she turned away and sipped the hot liquid from her own cup.
"Those being killed… they're from the mafia aren't they?"
Reborn tore his gaze away from the screen and turned to look at the stairs, "I have a bad feeling about this."
Bianchi did the same and asked, "Are you afraid that the one behind this would come after Tsuna as well?"
Reborn did not answer as he set his coffee back on the table and hopped off his seat, "I just need to check something."
Bianchi did not answer, but her eyes never left her lover as he slowly made his way upstairs towards Tsuna's room. She turned back to the TV and switched it on. She continued to listen to the news report and her eyes narrowed. It can't be…
Reborn silently opened the door to Tsuna's room and eyed the brunet, who was peacefully sleeping on his bed. The hitman had noticed that for the past few weeks, Tsuna had been sleeping a little too much lately. It bothered the tutor every time Tsuna's head lolled down during class-times or even meal times.
Not to mention that this daily rest of his was turning into a great hindrance to him as it strained the relationship between him and his friends. He had missed out so many activities with them that slowly they were drifting away from him.
Reborn had no idea if Tsuna had noticed this or not, for the brunet didn't make much comment about everything or anything that was happening around him.
When he would be awake, he would either- eat, read, daydream or use his computer.
His eyes then travelled towards the computer. Reborn noticed that Tsuna spent too much time with the said technology and he couldn't help but feel curious of what he had been doing during those hours of clicking and typing. He had asked Tsuna once but the brunet did not really give him a definite answer.
"Stuff…"
Was what he would usually reply. The hitman would always try to catch a glimpse but the brunet would turn it off at the exact moment when he'd look. Reborn once tried to let his guard down by mentioning to him about when he'd be leaving for the future. But much to his disappointment the brunet didn't look so bothered as he usually would have.
He looked at Tsuna and frowned. He couldn't help but wonder why the young boss kept sleeping so much.
He looked back at the computer and hopped on the desk. He turned back at Tsuna once more before switching the computer on.
He had done this a couple of times. When Tsuna was not home, or when he's busy, Reborn would turn on the computer to see what Tsuna had been hiding in it. However, locked securely with a password, he could never go far as to even head towards his files or log in to his user.
He would press the hint button and it would say "My future".
Reborn couldn't seem to crack the code as he first typed "boss", which wasn't the right one, and then "vongola-boss" and "mafia-boss".
He went on and on until he finally reached "robot" which still wasn't the right one.
The hitman wasn't dumb. He knew he could just hack the account, but where's the fun in that? And also, there was this tiny part in him where he actually doesn't want to find out the secrets the brunet was truly hiding.
I'm slowly losing myself…
Tsuna leaned into the comforting arms of darkness. He wasn't alone, but at the same time he was. He stared at the group of people in front of him, chattering excitedly and cheerfully.
He could approach them…
And yet he didn't…
His dull eyes drooped as he watched them slowly turn away.
It had always been like this. Nothing ever changes.
And right about now, they would start walking away, like they always do. But this time, he won't try and run after them.
No. He was done doing the impossible. He'll never catch up to them. He'll never make it. He was tired of reaching out. He was tired of false hopes…
I give up…
He belongs nowhere but in the darkness itself. It's time to give the soul back to its body. He had to leave now. He was not welcome anywhere after all. He just had to disappear, but how?
How?
Brown eyes fluttered open. It seems like he had fallen asleep again. He sat up and turned to his alarm to check the time and date. There are just those times his memory seemed to fail him- for an equally acceptable excuse that he can't seem to distinguish what's real and what's not anymore.
5:28 am; Thursday
He softly groaned before rubbing his face. He swung his feet at the side of his bed and just as he stood up, he suddenly finds himself on his knees. He gasped, feeling unusually weak.
Then, he realized something and gritted his teeth, cursing for making noises before hearing his tutor's voice.
"What are you doing up so early Dame-Tsuna?"
He really didn't want to wake the hitman. The last thing he needed was more suspicious vibes from the other.
He looked up, "I…I couldn't go back to sleep. So… I'll just probably start preparing for school."
Surprisingly, Reborn did not make any suspicious comment about this, but he kept his stare on the brunet before lying back down on his sling, "Don't skip breakfast this time, Baka-Tsuna."
Right…
Of course Reborn would have noticed his constant lack of appetite. And he was pretty sure he got thinner.
He pushed himself off the ground and groaned softly. Why does his body feel so sore? And not to mention, day by day, he felt weaker. He winced as a certain memory rose up in his mind.
Retreat! Retreat NOW!
AAAHHH!
Get him! GET HIM!
NOO!
The blood blocked his vision and the deafening screams pounded through his head, making him clutch it in pain. He shook as he let out a breath and looked up at the mirror in front of him. A pale and thin-faced brunet looked back at him. His hair was more disheveled than ever and his bangs had grown longer, almost obscuring his dull brown eyes.
How did he end up in the bathroom again?
He panted before putting a trembling hand on the mirror. He had changed so much.
He forced to straighten himself up and tried to smile. His lips twitched and trembled, but he knew he had to perfect this. Even if he had successfully distanced himself from the others, one close look and they'll find out what's wrong.
He needed to smile to fool them.
After all it always worked.
Always…
He wasn't aware of the tears that trickled down his face as he kept forcing himself to look lively rather than a zombie. His breath hitched and he found himself hiccupping.
He grabbed the nearby tissue and roughly wiped his face before going back to the mirror to force the damn smile back on his face.
He didn't know what he was trying to prove here.
Trying to smile, only to successfully look like a fool with the tears that streamed down.
Could it be the tiny hope within him that the others would still try and accept him and not push him away?
The tiny hope that the body he was currently residing was not rejecting his soul, as he feared it to be?
"I'll be leaving now." Tsuna said before shutting the door behind him. He carefully made his way towards the gate, hoping he would not trip from the slight tremor his body kept giving off.
Gokudera did not show up like he usually did. But he didn't mind, he vaguely remembered the bomber telling him about a morning meeting with his club mates… but didn't that happen weeks ago?
He walked down the streets and tried to block the brightness of the sun from his eyes. It was too bright (despite the fact that it was being blocked by a cloud). Fortunately though, his surroundings carried this cold air that marked the up-coming winter season. Wow, had it been that long since his arrival?
If he remembered correctly, he celebrated Christmas with the others last year. Does that mean he had been around for almost a year? Time flies.
No sooner did his schoolmates surround him, all heading to school. He unconsciously looked from side to side, trying to catch a glimpse from his friends but didn't see any of them. He sighed and entered the gates of his school.
It had become a routine to him to completely ignore his cloud guardian who also did the same as he passed by with his vice president trailing behind him.
Well not completely.
The young boss would always turn back, hoping he'd do the same, but he never did.
Tsuna did not make a comment of this and continued on his way.
He suddenly heard a familiar sound of a bat hitting a baseball and looked at the side in time to see Yamamoto by the field bouncing a ball in his hand. He could greet him, but decided against it and went on.
"JUUDAIME!"
Tsuna looked up and saw Gokudera waving at him. The brunet eyes brightened slightly, but quickly the light vanished as he noticed the crowd that surrounded the silver-haired teen. He forced a smile and waved as well, before heading towards the building.
He tried to ignore the slight hurt when he noticed Gokudera didn't seem to mind the sudden action.
As he finally entered the school building, he heard Ryohei's loud and enthusiastic EXTREME. He imagined the boxer probably trampling around the school grounds again.
No one greeted him as he arrived in the classroom. Kyoko and Hana (usually, Chrome would hang-out with them, but he noticed she had been absent a lot lately) were probably up at the rooftop chatting about girl stuff. Then again- it was too cold to stay up there, so they might still be on their way to school or something.
The brunet hung his back beside his desk and promptly collapsed on his chair. He leaned against his desk and buried his face in his hands.
For the past few weeks… this had been Sawada Tsunayoshi's daily routine.
"The baseball team's match is coming up this Saturday isn't it?"
"Yap. So I've heard."
"We're going to watch and cheer Yamamoto on and then have a picnic after their game. You wanna come with us?"
Tsuna slowly sat straight and glanced at the girls that entered the room. He tried to ignore the heavy feeling in his gut as he watched Hana and Kyoko made their way towards their desks.
He knew Yamamoto's game was coming up, as well as the fact about the picnic. And best of all, he also knew he wasn't invited. Well, actually they may have forgotten to invite him.
Kyoko's eyes suddenly landed on him. He saw them widen for a moment, and quickly he looked away. He knew that look. And he hated being given that look. It was that look when you remember something that was once forgotten.
And that just hurts when it is directed at you.
She heard Kyoko stutter at Hana about excusing herself and listened to her rush out of the classroom. He then guessed that the auburn haired girl was going to share her discovery to the others.
"And what was that all about?"
Tsuna looked up to see Hana, looking at him with a glare. But that glare faltered as soon as she noticed something.
He quickly smiled, "What do you mean?"
Surprisingly, she ignored this and leaned nearer to him, "Something's wrong with you."
"H-huh?"
"You don't look right. I think you need to go to the nurse's office."
"What? No! I'm fine." Tsuna insisted as he looked away from her piercing stare, "It's just probably the cold, whatever you think is wrong."
Hana frowned as she leaned away and crossed her arms, "Maybe I should tell your friends about this."
He quickly turned to her, "No! I'm fine, really!"
The look she gave him obviously told him she didn't believe him at all.
"Okay, fine! I'll go to the nurse's office. Just- don't tell them, okay?" Tsuna stood up and sighed as he saw her triumphant look. He made his way out of the classroom and left.
Why Tsuna did not just head to another direction or destination, he did not know. He could've pretended he went to the clinic by hanging around at the bathroom or something but he had a feeling Hana would find out he was lying, one way or another.
And well anyway, maybe visiting the clinic may not be a bad idea, especially since his head was starting to throb again.
He opened the door of the nurse's office and noticed that the school nurse was nowhere to be found, "Uhh… sensei?"
No answer.
He shut the door behind him, deciding that maybe he could just lie down for a while.
He caught sight of the school nurse's record and quickly noticed that something was wrong. It seemed like the nurse was in the middle of writing— and one of the letters was messed up.
Tsuna suddenly heard a soft rustling from one of the curtains that covered the beds. He quickly turned and cautiously approached it. He reached out and grabbed the cloth and yanked it to the side with no second thoughts.
Caramel eyes widened as he saw a certain person sprawled on the ground, unconscious.
"Sensei…"
Then suddenly, the lights went off.
"Maa, maa… calm down." Yamamoto patted Kyoko at the back.
The two were currently sitting by the benches, talking about something obviously important, "I can't believe it. I forgot to tell Tsuna-kun! And oh! He looked so upset!"
"Let's just invite him anyway and then apologize." Yamamoto suggested, "He'll understand."
Kyoko looked at him then on the ground, feeling miserable, "Y-you're right… maybe I was overreacting."
"Why don't we go to him now?" The swordsman stood up as he looked at the field, "We're just about to finish up anyway. I bet coach won't mind if I leave early."
"You have been practicing more than your teammates have." Kyoko agreed.
"Can't have myself slacking off after all." Yamamoto grinned, "And I can tell Gokudera's doing his all for his club mates too. He's really enjoying his club, isn't he?"
Kyoko nodded with a smile, "Oniichan's been busy with his club too."
"Haha, actually, everyone seems to be busy…." Yamamoto suddenly faltered and frowned.
Kyoko noticed this, "Yamamoto-kun? Is something the matter?"
The baseball star picked up his things and swung his bag to his shoulders, "Let's… let's go find Tsuna."
The other could only frown at the sudden change of attitude, but nevertheless she followed him.
As they made their way to their classroom, they were surprised to find a lot of students crowding outside the Faculty room. The two exchanged looks, immediately sensing something was not right.
"Uh, hey, what's happening?" Yamamoto asked a nearby student.
"It's the school nurse, she keeps saying weird things." The student answered looking unsure.
Yamamoto frowned and tried to go through the crowd. He heard Kyoko call out to him, "I'll be right back." He told her before excusing himself as he make his way across. He had no idea why he was feeling interested as to what was happening. Usually he wouldn't mind things that are not his business… but… he just had this feeling.
Something wasn't right.
He was shocked to see two police officers talking to the nurse, who looked hysteric.
"You don't understand! I was knocked out by these two men!" She exclaimed, "And I know they're still out there!"
"Our men are on the case right now, ma'am. And so far there have not been any reports." The policeman explained, "They may have left..-"
"What if they were the ones behind the recent massacres?! Officer, this is no light matter!" The nurse looked frightened.
Yamamoto made a jolt as he heard this. He had heard about the disturbing massacres that had been happening around Namimori lately and everyone had been in high alert since then. Actually, Yamamoto and the others knew the true backgrounds of the people being massacred. They were Mafioso.
Reborn had warned them about it and had even sent Chrome to investigate the case, which is why the illusionist had been missing lately.
The Arcobaleno seemed disturbingly interested at the mysterious deaths of these people.
Gokudera had clarified to him why after their meeting about this.
"Reborn-san focuses on nothing other than Juudaime. Do you know what this means, baseball freak?"
He remembered those forest green eyes stare at him with intensity and slight fear, "There's a link between this incident and Juudaime."
Ever since that day, Yamamoto along with the others had been afraid that Tsuna might be the next target, but Reborn assured them that Tsuna was safe.
Rather than feeling assured, they couldn't help but feel something didn't seem to fit right…
"Excuse me…" A student accidentally bumps into Yamamoto, thus snapping him out of his reverie, the other hastily apologized to the baseball star before leaving. He watched as the nurse kept arguing with the officer before deciding to leave to talk to Gokudera about the incident.
"Ah! Excuse me, you dropped something!" The girl beside him spoke up before handing to him a folded paper, which Yamamoto found strange since he was sure he did not pocket any paper.
He took it nonetheless to check just in case.
Just as he opened it, he heard the police spoke, "Do you at least have a witness who could support you with your assumptions? Because if I remember correctly, you just suddenly barged in here to call the police claiming about strangers knocking you out, without much evidence."
The Nurse looked offended at this however, she looked hesitant as she answered "I-I think a student came in to the office looking for me before I got knocked out…-"
Yamamoto quickly left the crowd, his heart pounding in fear as he clutched the paper in his hand. He was in such a hurry to get to the classroom that he forgot about Kyoko who quickly went after him.
He couldn't help but wish he were wrong as he picked up his speed.
Once he arrived at the classroom he quickly scanned for a certain brunet. His fear rose, as he couldn't find Tsuna.
"You looked like you've seen a ghost." Hana spoke up as he passed by her desk.
He stopped to ask, "Have you seen Tsuna?"
Kyoko arrived, panting while looking confused as he looked back at Hana then at Yamamoto.
The baseball star bit his lip and glanced at the empty chair of the brunet.
"He went to the Nurse's office… why?"
Yamamoto did not bother to ask how long nor did he try to assure himself with optimistic thoughts for he quickly knew only a fool would turn a blind eye to the obvious predicament.
He took a sharp breath as he stared at the paper in his hand with horror, "We need to find Gokudera and the others."
We got him.
You know where to find us.
–The Heir of Orso
As usual, the first thing he noticed was the darkness. To Tsuna, that was not good because for some reason, this darkness was stirring something in him. His head pounded in pain as he squinted his eyes to get a proper view of where he was.
He could see tiny lights that prickled in the room and he could guess that those were windows.
Hello Vongola Decimo.
Tsuna would've jumped in surprise, if not for the ropes that tied him down. He seemed to be sitting on a comfortable chair with his limbs tied to the armrests and the legs of the furniture.
"Where am I? And who are you!?" He demanded as he tried to pull his arms free.
The process is almost complete, it won't be soon until you are fully consumed by the black flame.
BA-DUMP
Tsuna stiffened as he heard this. Sweat trickled down the side of his face as he felt the pounding in his head grow more painful. He panted and clutched his fists, "N-no… that's not true. Let me go!"
You sense it too, come on now. Do not deny that feeling of darkness you came to love.
"I said LET. ME. GO!" He was surprised at the light tremor that he felt from his surroundings as he said those words. He suddenly felt this big ball of energy wanting to be released within him. The familiar whispers in his mind came back and he couldn't help but tremble.
Yes, that's it… succumb to the darkness.
"No…" He weakly whispered as his eyes welled up in tears at the effort of trying to hold back the blood lust that was rising in him.
Remember those Mafioso you killed every night? Remember the feeling of having their blood soak you?
"THAT WASN'T ME!" He yelled, trying to let out his frustrations.
You're right… that was not you. That was the REAL you.
Torture… it was torture as he screamed in agony at the dark flames that begged for their release. Caramel eyes slowly turned crimson and suddenly, men who were tied in ropes were thrown in front of him.
These are the Mafioso who were told to assassinate your guardians. We captured them for you. Go ahead and kill them.
Tsuna could see them look at him fearfully. He snarled at the hot-searing pain that tortured him. He shut his eyes, willing to hold back the dark-side that had been manipulating him.
'Please… no more…'
I see you're still having… a bit of conflict.
Someone stepped up behind the tied men who were whimpering in fear. The person could not be seen for his face was shadowed by the darkness. Tsuna could only make out a silhouette. He wanted to demand who the man was but was stopped as he suddenly held up something shiny.
His eyes widened as he recognized what it was.
The Vongola Ring.
I know about your current predicament, Vongola Decimo. I have… my sources after all.
He gripped the cracked ring a little too tightly and Tsuna gasped in pain, "Don't-"
He wished he'd just fall into a coma once he breaks the ring, but he had a feeling that this time, he won't just drop on the ground unconscious.
No, the black flames would be granted full access to his soul, now that it was leeched to it.
Once the ring breaks, the only thing that will keep his soul linked to the body would be the black flames.
Come now, Vongola Decimo. It's time to repeat your little history.
He dropped the ring and wide hazel eyes watched as the man slammed his foot on it with a sickening crunch.
And Tsuna was suddenly surrounded by dark flames.
This was not good.
Reborn cursed himself for being an idiot.
"Hurry up Yamamoto, we don't have time." He told the baseball star. He was currently sitting on his shoulder as he and the other guardians ran towards the towns as quick as they can.
They had all cut classes, with the help of Reborn, as they realized about Tsuna's disappearance. However, the guardian's cause was entirely different from the Arcobaleno's.
Reborn, after all had found out about everything.
He was able to crack the password and to his horror… it was "death". To add more to his horrification, he finds researches and details about the different kinds of Famiglia, whom were consequently the ones who died.
He had always suspected it from the start but he refused to believe it but he had no choice but to face the fact after what he saw. How Tsuna was able to sneak out to kill those people, Reborn did not know.
Now, he had to face the consequences of not finding out sooner. Chrome had appeared to him, stating about a disturbance in the towns and suddenly, Gokudera and Yamamoto had arrived looking panicked and horrified.
And before he knew it, he had gathered all the guardians and instructed them to head to the towns, towards the burnt building that had never been touched nor renovated. No one ever bothered with the building since its explosion because that was the place where the bodies of the massacred people will appear. After reading the note Yamamoto had picked up (he was horrified to find out that the Orso family was still alive but then he knew he had to first focus at the most important task; which was finding Tsuna), he knew that was the place that had to be found.
"We're here!"
He just hoped they weren't too late.
Everyone quickly broke into the run-down building while trying not to get the attention of the passersby. It wasn't hard as Chrome immediately concealed them with her illusions. Hibari grumbled in annoyance as he kicked the last piece of wood that blocked their way.
The others exchanged anxious looks before entering the mysteriously dark building.
"To the fourth floor." Reborn hopped off Yamamoto's shoulder and headed towards the stairs.
The infant had Leon transformed into a gun as they steadily made their way up. He gripped his gun tightly as he kept hoping that they weren't too late.
That no one had died yet…
"One last floor…" He heard Gokudera mutter.
They suddenly heard a noise and this triggered them to quicken their pace. Reborn was the first to reach the top. He kicked the door that blocked their destination, "Tsuna!"
He halted as he saw the brunet who had his back on him. The familiar scent of blood immediately filled his nostrils and slowly, Reborn looks down the brunet's hand. He watched as something trickled down the pale skin.
He didn't mind the others who had arrived as well. He couldn't help but wish he had the mist flames to cover up what they see.
"Sa… Sawada?"
"W-what happened here?"
A soft gasp. "No…"
Slowly, the brunet turned to them and they were taken aback at the blood that trickled down his blank face and at the half-lidded crimson eyes.
Reborn then noticed the bodies in front of him… and so did the others.
"Juudaime… you…" Gokudera turned pale as he looked at the dead bodies then at his boss. He looked at him like he didn't know him anymore.
"The massacres… it was you…?" Yamamoto stepped back in disbelief.
They couldn't believe what they were seeing and the fear that crept up to them was suffocating.
Reborn stepped up, about to speak…
…but was cut off as Tsuna suddenly lunged at them with a sharp, bloody wood clutched in his hand.
End of Chapter
Hihi... review?
Have you ever heard Anywhere but Here by Mayday Parade? It's awesome! xD
