Kyandi: Greetings, Kyandiacs!

Roksana: We have returned with a chapter that doesn't start from my POV.

Kyandi: Are you still upset that I started the chapter from Hibari's POV?

Roksana: This story is suppose to be about me, right? Why would anyone want to see his POV.

Kyandi: To get a glimpse at how he thinks and feels about you?

Roksana: Once again...who wants to see that?

Kyandi: Everyone but you.

Roksana: Whatever.

Kyandi: Anyone, I hope you enjoy the glimpse into Hibari's mind, even if it seems a little out of character for him.

Roksana: I'm not having fun.

Kyandi: Don't care. Everyone, enjoy and review.

Roksana: The jerk does not own Katekyo Hitman REBORN.

Kyandi: You are not helping your case, here...

Chapter 20 Guardian of Thunder

For as long as he could remember, Hibari Kyoya had been the type of person who never cared much for the presence of others. While there were a select few he could tolerate, that was about all it was. Things like friends, bonds, and close relationships, didn't really exist for him. For the most part, people either respected that, or were too damn afraid of him to say otherwise.

More the latter than the former.

No one ever tried to make him change, no one ever forced him or gave him reason to spend extended time around others. Outside of Kusakabe, he had very little to do with others, unless they could offer him a good fight or wanted to break the peace at his perfect school. Even then, he rarely ever found anyone worth the time and energy. The point was, no one had ever captured his attention, had ever made him consent to being more than predator and prey.

And then she had strutted into his life.

If Hibari had to put words to how he saw Volkov Roksana...she was confident, opinionated, vindictive, stubborn, clever, and, by far, one of the most infuriating, yet amusing people he had ever met. She was, by no means, one of the useless herbivores that crowded his precious school, but nor was she a carnivore, like him.

If anything, Roksana was an omnivore.

She bared her fangs and claws at anything and everything, so long as it posed a threat, devouring all in her path regardless of where they stood on the food chain, and had no qualms with playing with her food first.

And, in his opinion...that made her more dangerous.

From the first moment Hibari had met her, he had been taken by surprise again and again, and not just because she was the only person who ever dared to smack him across the face with a shoe. It seemed Roksana enjoyed throwing him for a loop. Something he didn't put past her. In fact, it seemed it was a daily goal for the girl. She just wasn't satisfied unless she was about to drive him up the wall. She knew exactly which of his buttons to push to get just about any reaction she wanted from him, and that only irritated him even more.

She almost always seemed to have her guard up, which made taking her by surprise a little difficult, she had a sarcastic retort to just about everything, and she had this one, little noise, a simple click of the tongue added to an "ahh", that she made at times that could just discredit everything that he said. It was enough to make him want to bite her to death. Of course, even his favored phrase had lost its impact with Roksana. It made him want to beat the crap out of her.

But, then there were those few times when she would drop her guard just enough to give a laugh or smile that was just so earnestly genuine, he couldn't help but pause. There were those time when they would nap together, where she would bring him lunches she had made especially for him, where she would give him this rare, brief look of fondness that no one else had ever spared for him.

Where she would call him by his given name, just to express how strongly she felt.

Not that he gave anyone reason to give him such a look, but Roksana was just...different.

Before he had known it, the girl had wiggled herself so far past his own defenses that he found himself feeling possessive, even defensive, of her, though he would never admit it to her face. When he had seen her state after she had gone after Mukuro in order to get him back from the illusionist, Hibari had felt his temper snap. Especially after he had seen her laid up in a hospital for two weeks, completely unaware of her surroundings.

If Hibari ever saw Mukuro again, he would kill him.

And then, Hibari had watched her fight against Luca.

He had thought the girl to be smart, clever, and while she had proven, time and again, that she was, indeed, very clever, Hibari was starting to wonder if all she had was cleverness and not actual brains. She had won her fight, and had thoroughly thrashed Luca, but she had allowed herself to be hurt too much in the process. Hibari had completely crushed the pencil he had been holding at the time, he'd been so angry.

Not that he really had much room to talk, considering he ignored his own injuries for the sake of a fight.

But that wasn't the point.

He expected more from Roksana, demanded more from her. It severely angered him when someone else hurt her, when someone, especially a man, decided to lay hands on her. Just thinking about how Luca had handled her, made him want to rip the man's throat out with his teeth.

And if he ever saw Luca, that was what he was going to do.

Though Hibari wouldn't admit it aloud, Roksana was his.

His to fight.

His to mess with.

His to touch.

Just...his.

So, after the fight, and the girl basically blowing him off, as well as flipping him off, Hibari had gone to her house, climbing through her balcony door, in order to see for himself, the damage done to the girl. He had found her asleep, her body covered in bandages, bruising discoloring her usually pretty skin. When they fought, just him and Roksana, Hibari normally reveled in delight at the sight of the bruises he left on her, saw it as proof that, for just a moment, he had managed to make it past her guard. Just like with the bruises she left on him, they were signs that the two of them were equals.

It was proof that she was the only girl that could match him.

To see such bruises left on her by another man...

Hibari was sure the anger and blood thirst he felt at that moment, was what had awoken her.

It had both amused and angered him, when she had automatically reached for a knife under her pillow, going on the defense despite her body's protesting, only to have the fight completely drain from her when she saw that it was him.

He was amused because, one, in her condition, the knife wouldn't be anywhere near enough to hurt him, and two, because of the simple fact that the girl slept with a knife under her pillow. On the opposite end, he was angry because of the simple fact that she felt like she had to sleep with a weapon on hand. He wasn't sure if it was because of Luca's threat, or if it was because of what he had heard Tsuna's dad say about her past over the cameras.

After that many attempts on her life, he couldn't blame her for always having a weapon close at hand.

It explained why she had been carrying her sansetsukon when they had first collided in a fight over a year ago.

It explained why she was always so guarded, why she fought so well, reacted so fast. The girl had years of life experience to back up her fighting. Yet, here she was, relaxing because she knew he was the one standing there.

There was no way he was going to leave her by herself. Not with Luca's threat and not with the condition she was in. So, ignoring her demands to know what he was doing there and her telling him to leave, he had simply climbed into her bed with her, finding a position that was comfortable for him, where he could keep her close, before settling down. Thankfully, she hadn't argued with him on the clear invasion of personal space, and had quickly fallen asleep.

With her body's warmth seeping into him, and her low even breathing in his ear, Hibari, himself, had fallen asleep quickly too. For once, he was grateful that he was such a light sleeper.

It was the sunlight, filtering in through the black to red ombre curtains across her balcony doors, that awoke him the next morning. For a moment, he just stared at the canopy around Roksana's bed, before he shifted his attention to the girl still sound asleep at his side.

Roksana was still half draped across his chest, one of her legs hooked through his. Her hair, left unbound, was sprawled out around them, a stray strand tickling his nose. In the light of the sun, he could see just how bad her injuries were, her bruises having darkened over night, but that wasn't what caught his attention.

In her sleep, Roksana had a softer, relaxed, and unguarded look to her face that he had never really seen before. It was as if, when asleep, was the only time the girl ever truly left everything bare. With all the usual tension and seriousness drained from her face, it gave her a younger appearance, a softer one. In that moment, it was difficult to see the fierce fighter he knew her to be. Then again, to some, they couldn't see the fighter until she was in the midst of a fight.

Hibari wasn't sure how he felt about seeing her so open. It was new, of course, and it was hard to deny that she was pretty, alluring, in that state, but he liked the fighter in her, liked her sarcasm and her refusal to budge.

She was a challenge he never wanted to completely beat.

Hibari was drawn from his thoughts when a sleepy noise left Roksana, the girl stirring as she pulled herself from sleep. He watched as her eyes blinked open, squeezing shut against the morning sun for a moment before opening fully. Like the night before, when she had awoken, she didn't immediately focus on anything. Then her eyes came to a rest on his face and he could see the focus return to her eyes.

"Oh...it's you."

It was the same lackluster response he had gotten the night before, and, once again, it annoyed him a little. It was almost as if she was saying he was no big deal, no threat to her. He still had his promise to kick her ass for letting herself get so hurt, but he would wait until her other injuries had healed first.

He wanted the satisfaction of knowing that the injuries she had, belonged to him.

So he didn't do what he really wanted to do, and didn't throw her out of the bed and demand a fight. Instead, he just laid there as she took a moment to gather herself for what she was sure was going to be a very painful trip to the bathroom. After a new minutes, she knew she couldn't lay there any longer. Especially not on top of Hibari. She was actually kind of surprised that he had let her get away with it for so long.

"Alright, I have to get up." she said, more to herself. With a groan, she pushed herself up, her body screaming insults at her for its mistreatment. She pushed that aside, trying to focus on other things as she scooted herself to the edge of her bed. Hibari's eyes instantly fixed in on a scar, thick and vivid, across the back of her shoulders that he had never noticed before. "And you should leave. Before Dimitri finds you here."

When she got no reply from Hibari and the boy didn't move an inch from where he was still reclining into her pillows, Roksana turned to look at him. The boy had closed his eyes once more, looking perfectly comfortable where he was. Which had Roksana frowning.

"Did you hear me?" she demanded.

"I'm not scared of him." was all Hibari replied with.

"I never said you were, or that you should be." Roksana retorted. "While I've gotten him and Maeve to keep quite about this whole rings mess, if he thinks, for even a moment, that I've had boys in here over night, he will not hesitate to call my father and then I get shipped back to Russia. I'd like to stay in Japan and the last thing I need is for Dmitri, or my father, to think I'm doing indecent things at fifteen."

Hibari opened his eyes then, the twin grey orbs fixing in on Roksana's back as she slowly got to her feet. Grumbling to herself as she reached down to lightly touch the bandages on her thigh, Roksana limped across the room to the doors of her closet. She had just pulled open the closet door when Hibari appeared beside her, staring down at her.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him.

Hibari opened his mouth to say something, but there was a sudden knock on Roksana's door, making the two look towards the door.

"Miss Tsukiko? Are you awake?" came Dimitri's voice from the other side.

In the next instant, Roksana was moving, faster than Hibari expected her to move with an injured leg. All he knew was, in the next instant, Roksana was shoving him into the closet, closing the door in his face. Roksana turned, pressing her back to the closet door as Dimitri opened her bedroom door.

"Oh! Miss Tsukiko! You shouldn't be out of bed!" Dimitri instantly scolded upon seeing her standing before the closet door.

"I was on my way to the bathroom and was just going to change while I was at it." Roksana told him.

"You should have called for us, then, Miss. We could have helped you. You shouldn't be walking too much on that leg." Dimitri told her.

"I think I can handle going to the bathroom, on my own, Dmitri. Besides, the graze wound to my thigh doesn't hurt anywhere near as much as the gun shot wound to the right shoulder." Roksana told him.

"I imagine so. Alright then, go to the bathroom. I'll send Maeve up to change your bandages." Dmitri told her, turning to leave the room.

Roksana agreed, waving to Dimitri. It was only when the man had closed the door behind him, that Roksana turned back to the closet door and yanked it open. She looked down, finding Hibari sitting on the floor, a few articles of her clothing draped over his head from where they had been ripped free of their hangers. A dark glare was directed at her from under one of her skirts. It took all Roksana had not to laugh at the sight of Hibari with one of her skirts draped over his head.

"Huh, who knew...you look pretty good in a skirt."

Just because she was trying not to laugh, didn't mean she couldn't make a joke.

Hibari, though, didn't find it funny. He ripped the skirt off his head, throwing it to the side. Roksana holding out a hand to help him up, kept him from saying anything. Hibari looked up at her face before knocking her hand aside. He didn't need someone as injured at her, to help him up. Getting to his feet, he flicked aside a few more articles of her clothing.

"Sorry about the shove, but I really can't afford for them to find you here. Unless you want them to send me back to Russia, you'll leave without them seeing you. Now." Roksana told him.

Hibari stared at her for a moment, as if he was going to be stubborn or argue, but then he merely turned his back on her and headed for her balcony door.

"Don't push yourself."

With that from Hibari, the boy vanished out the balcony door. Roksana, rolling her eyes, gave her head a shake. Sometimes the boy was just too much. He wanted to act like he didn't care, but then he went and did things like this. She could call him on his bull later.

For now, she had to deal with letting Maeve clean her wounds.

-0-0-0-0-

That night, rain poured from the sky, casting a gloomy atmosphere over the upcoming Lightning Guardian match. Tsuna, after a whole day of worrying about both Roksana's condition and how Lambo was going to handle this battle, found himself standing outside Namimori Jr. High, rain bouncing off his umbrella. Ryohei, Gokudera, and Yamamoto waited with him, Tsuna watching as Lambo splashed around in the puddles made by the rain.

"It's finally the third match. We better tighten up more." Ryohei remarked, Tsuna agreeing.

"Geez, that dumb cow...he has no clue." Gokudera snapped, watching as Lambo continued to play in the rain.

"I wonder if there's some way we can withdraw." Tsuna mused.

"Don't worry Tsuna. If anything happens, we'll jump in." Yamamoto assured him.

"Don't worry! Tenth!" Gokudera added.

"Leave it to us!" Ryohei agreed.

"Actions such as that will be resulted in a disqualification." the voice of one of the Cervello, called their attention up to where the two women stood, dressed in raincoats. "Along with that, all who interrupt and the one who was saved will forfeit their rings to the opponent."

"Damn them. They've got to be kidding." Gokudera growled.

"Please look over there. That will be tonight's battle field." Cervello Two said, both women pointing to the rooftop where lightning rods or sorts, had been set up.

When the next lightning strike hit the robs, lighting up the surrounding area, Tsuna could not contain the squeal that left him. With a feeling of dread growing in the pit of Tsuna's stomach, they moved to the roof.

"What the heck are those?" Gokudera asked when they got a close up look of the lightning rods and the arena floor.

"Tonight's combat area will be fitted with lightning rods for the match between the Thunder Guardians." Cervello One told them.

"The battleground is called the Electrico Circuito." Cervello Two added.

Another lightning strike hit the lightning rods, traveling down their length until they hit the arena floor, lighting it up with dancing bolts of electricity.

"The floor is shining!" Tsuna yelled.

"The Electrico Circuito's floor has been coated with a special conductor. The lightning that strikes the rods will be discharged onto the floor at several times its normal potency." Cervello One explained.

"No way! You'll be burnt to death from just standing there!" Tsuna protested.

"They knew that a thunderstorm was coming tonight and set this up huh?" Gokudera added.

"Lambo-san wants to do that~!"

Despite the fact that he was only a child, Tsuna couldn't believe the stupidity that had just left Lambo's mouth. It made him wonder if Lambo thought the whole thing was just some kind of amusment park attraction or something. When Lambo started towards the lightning rods, Tsuna hurried to stop him, grabbing him suddenly enough to make one of Lambo's horns pop off.

"Hey, wait! Lambo! It's dangerous. Ahh...you dropped your horn again...!" Tsuna whined.

"Hey, don't make the Tenth worry!" Gokudera snapped at Lambo, snatching up the horn. Pulling a marker from his pocket, Gokudera wrote on the horn. "Now everyone will know that this belongs to you."

"He wrote "dumb"!" Tsuna yelled when he saw the word scrawled across the horn.

Tsuna didn't know how much more he could take. In a serious situation where Lambo could be hurt, the others could still make jokes or goof off. It made Tsuna wonder what Roksana would have done if she was there, which, of course, had Tsuna back to wondering how the girl was doing after collapsing the night before.

"Thunder Guardian, please go to the center of the battleground." Cervello One called.

"You opponent has been waiting for you for two hours." Cervello Two added.

Sure enough, Levi was already standing in the arena, waiting, as he had been for the last two hours. Tsuna couldn't believe that someone would stand around, in the rain, waiting for two hours.

"Levi showed up two hours early again? I can't believe him." Bel remarked.

"Unlike you, he sometimes gets over-zealous." Mammon added.

"Over-zealous seems like an understatement to me."

Everyone turned when a new voice entered the conversation. Walking towards them from the door to the roof, an umbrella gripped in one hand and a black raincoat thrown over her bandaged form, was Roksana. She had another of her lollipops in her mouth, and, despite the multitude of bandages on her form, didn't seem to be in pain as she approached them.

"Roksana! Should you be here?! What about your injuries?!" Tsuna asked, rushing over to her.

"I'm fine, Tsuna. Believe me, I've dealt with worse. That man did nothing more than give me an uncomfortable night of trying to find a comfortable way to sleep. Speaking of which," Roksana turned her eyes to Squalo and his comrades. "Where is little Luca? In too much pain to walk?"

"Fuck off!" Squalo snapped at her.

That was all the answer Roksana needed, a twisted smirk curling her lips.

"Ah, the satisfaction of rupturing a man's testicle. It comes, not from the gratifying pop," Here, every male winced. "But from the knowledge that he's in too much pain the next day to walk. Not to mention that I probably just guaranteed that he's not having children."

"Let's just finish this already!" Squalo snapped, turning his back on Roksana.

This only made Roksana's grin bigger. Over the years, seeing guys faces after they had seen that she could, and would, rupture a testicle or two, had been what made her day. It was a bad habit, and her father swore it would insure she never got married, but it was just too funny to her.

"Come on, Sawada! We're gonna do the usual again!" Ryohei said, pulling Tsuna over to him. "You too, Volkov!"

Roksana smacked Ryohei's hand away when he reached for her.

"Not a chance. It was stupid enough doing it last night. Besides...I don't need you guys pulling open my stitches." Roksana told him.

With that pointed out, Roksana was left alone, Reborn coming to sit on her uninjured shoulder. The two watched as the others huddled up and gave a cry of "Lambo! Fight!". Lambo simply laughed and demanded to do it again.

"But is he really going to be okay?" Yamamoto asked, looking down at the grinning Lambo.

"I don't think he realizes that he's really gonna fight in a battle." Gokudera replied.

"Of course I know, you moron!" Lambo replied.

Roksana grabbed Gokudera by the back of the shirt, displaying a surprising amount of strength, despite her injured state, when she yanked him back to keep him from hurting Lambo. Tsuna took the chance to crouch in front of Lambo, laying a hand on his head.

"Lambo! Listen to me! If you don't want to go, you don't have to. I don't know why my dad picked you but...there's something wrong in having such a young kid fight. You don't wanna die this young, right?" Tsuna asked.

"My, my, my. Tsuna doesn't know? Lambo-san can't die because he's invincible." Lambo replied, sticking his pinkie finger up his nose.

"There's a typical child's response for you." Roksana remarked as Lambo turned to head for the arena.

"Wait. You can't shoot the 10 Year Bazooka, okay?! The adult Lambo forbade it. But if you're still going, taking this." Tsuna told Lambo, holding a pair of old, beaten and worn horns.

"Ew! I don't want it!" Lambo shouted.

"Just take it!" Tsuna retorted.

Roksana watched as Lambo cheerfully joined Levi in the arena, asking how to play with the lightning rods, like he thought it was a playground. Roksana knew there was a high chance of the whole thing ending up bad, but there wasn't much they could do about that. Lambo was their Lightning Guardian and they couldn't change that.

"Then now, the battle for the thunder ring, Leviathan vs. Lambo. You may now begin!" Cervello One called.

Almost instantly, Lambo bent to play with the conductor coating on the ground, Gokudera yelling at him to get away before he got himself killed. Not that Lambo listened. With another crack of lightning, the bolts were drawn to the lightning rod, traveling down it and into the coating, Lambo letting out a scream as he was electrocuted for his curiosity. The boy slumped forward, his hair actually smoking.

"We have to check if he's still alive." Cervello One said.

"There's no need...he's gone." Levi said confidently.

"I wouldn't say that yet." Roksana remarked, making everyone look at her. "After all the grenades he's accidentally set off, and all the stupidity he's taken part in, I highly doubt he's going to die from that."

Roksana really just couldn't see the boy dying so easily after everything he had done that should have killed him before that. Sure enough, with a loud cry, Lambo flopped himself back onto his butt, crying that it hurt.

"He's okay! He's alive!" Tsuna cheered.

"Told you so." Roksana said.

"It's a trait his skin gained after being continually struck by lightning as a child. It's called Electrico Cuoio." Reborn told them. "Electrico Cuoio is a type of skin that is a good conductor of electricity. Even if he's hit by lightning, the electricity will travel through only his skin and discharge into the ground and prevent any damage to the brain or any other internal organs."

"Wow, Lambo!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"He must not only take the lightning, but also the damage to the family, like a lightning rod. That's the role of the Thunder Guardian." Reborn reminded Tsuna.

"That dumb cow's body is perfectly personifying that task. Even though he's an annoying dumb cow, there's no other person better fit to become the Thunder Guardian than him." Gokudera remarked.

"Maybe this'll make Levi get serious." Bel wondered aloud.

"Yeah. Levi is completely dedicated to the boss. He accomplishes his jobs, is punctual, and became a guardian...all to get the boss's appraisal. If he hears there's someone better suited to be the guardian, he'll probably burn in the fire of jealousy." Mammon agreed.

"Sounds like a stupid reason to me."

The eyes of the Varia turned to Roksana, who was idly rolling her lollipop between her teeth. With a crack, she chomped the candy into dust, plucking the stick from her mouth.

"What was that?" Squalo demanded.

"I don't believe I stuttered." Roksana retorted, pulling another lollipop out of her pocket. "Fighting, winning, continuing on each and every day, just for the appraisal of another? That's utter stupidity. There are far better reasons out there."

"Like what?" Squalo demanded.

"Money." Mammon answered instantly, Roksana letting out a snort of laughter as she ripped the wrapper off her lollipop.

"No, not money. I have more of it than I know what to do with."

"Then what?" Bel asked.

"Survival." Roksana replied simply, sticking her lollipop into her mouth. "That you have to ask, just shows how badly you suffer from EWMS."

"What the fuck is EWMS?" Squalo snapped.

"Entitled White Male Syndrome." Squalo was sorry he had asked. "You should know what it is. I mean...your boss has it in abundance."

Roksana's grin grew to impossible lengths when a string of cursing left Squalo, the man waving his sword at her as he threatened her life. Not that it seemed to bother Roksana. After so many attempts on her life, someone threatening her life no longer bothered her.

Levi suddenly charging Lambo, kept any of them from throwing anymore comments or insults at each other. Roksana turned back around as Levi hit Lambo, not giving the boy a chance to run or defend himself. Hurt and panicking, Lambo did what he always did, even though Tsuna had expressly told him not to.

He shot himself with the 10 Year Bazooka.

Levi's next attack hit just as the bazooka went off, swapping Lambo with his future self, who was in the middle of eating dumplings. Roksana heaved a sigh when Yamamoto and Ryohei couldn't figure out that the man now standing in Lambo's place, was still Lambo. But, they weren't the only ones who didn't quite get it.

"Hey! What the heck?! There's an outsider in there!" Squalo protested.

"And people say I'm blonde." Roksana remarked, making him turn a dirty look on her.

"No, he's the ring holder summoned from ten years into the future by the 10 Year Bazooka." Cervello One said.

"Therefore, we recognize him as the candidate and continue the battle." Cervello Two added.

"Neerer, neerer."

Squalo swore he was about five seconds away from finishing Luca's job and killing Roksana, and the girl's grin was not helping him. He was sure he would kill her before the Scramble Matches were over. Judging from the mocking, knowing look on her face, he had a feeling she was counting on him trying.

"Lambo! I'm sorry! Your child form couldn't handle it!" Tsuna called out, pulling Roksana's attention away from Squalo.

"Please don't apologize. I had a feeling that it was going to happen. Anyway, young Vongola, when I absolutely have to do something, I can be a man." Lambo replied.

"Yeah, I know...I know!" Tsuna replied as Lambo picked up the horns his younger self had dropped.

"Don't stand out more than me." Levi told Lambo.

Not that Roksana thought that was possible. Levi was a pretty hard guy to miss with his face piercings, spiky hair, and over all presence. Lambo's older self was cute, in a pretty boy kind of way, and was a bit flashy with his cow-print clothing and horns, but Roksana would say that Levi stood out more.

"You're Varia? That's an impossible request. I'm star material." Lambo replied, equipping a newer pair of horns. "Thunder set."

Roksana could feel her hair frizzing and standing on end as another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. This bolt, however, went straight to Lambo's horns, rather than the lightning rods.

"He's able to hold that much electricity in his horns because of that body." Reborn remarked.

"That technique is that advance?!" Tsuna demanded.

"It's making my hair stand on end. That's an impressive amount of electricity." Roksana remarked, trying to make her hair lay flat.

Levi, growing more jealous and angry by the moment, finally pulled out the stops, pulling out a bunch of umbrella looking devices that redirected more lightning back at Lambo, over loading him with electricity.

"That's not good. Even with his body type, Lambo can't take that much electricity." Reborn told them.

"Please tell me he's not about to act like his younger self and do that whole "tolerate" thing." Roksana remarked.

And that was exactly what happened. Lambo started crying, doing his whole "Tolerate, tolerate" thing, it only getting worse when Levi speared him through the shoulder, injuring him further. Lambo's hand came in contact with the 10 Year Bazooka, which had been dropped by his younger self, and, just like his younger self, shot himself with it.

"The 10 Year Bazooka fired at the dumb cow ten years into the future?" Gokudera gasped.

"Wh...what's gonna happen?" Tsuna asked.

"Whatever comes out of that smoke, I have an intense feeling that I'm going to want to throw something at it." Roksana remarked.

Out of the smoke came a twenty year older version of Lambo. All eyes, curious after her last statement, turned to Roksana as the girl's head tilted to the side. She was silent for a moment, her mouth twisting, before she finally hissed a Russian curse under her breath.

"Der'mo! He's hot, and I want to throw something at him." Roksana remarked, starting forward as she reached for a knife poking up out of her stocking.

Yamamoto grabbed her, as gently as she could, before she could get too far, wrapping his arms around her shoulders to keep her in one place.

"How about we not throw knives at our own allies." Yamamoto told her.

"But he's hot and I like throwing things at hot guys." Roksana retorted.

"What is wrong with you?!" Tsuna demanded.

"I like to throw knives at guys I find hot and I adore rupturing guys' testicles, so...that's two things."

Sometimes, Tsuna had to wonder about the state of Roksana's mental fortitude.

Not that he had long to dwell on it.

"Aah...this situation...if I'm not dreaming, I must be in the past, thanks to the 10 Year Bazooka." Lambo said, looking around.

"Is that really the dumb cow?" Gokudera asked.

"Lambo seems...really reliable." Tsuna remarked.

"I still want to throw something at him." Roksana added, Yamamoto chuckling but not releasing her.

Lambo turned to look at them, his eyes scanning each and every one of them.

"I didn't think I'd get to see you guys again. All your faces...how nostalgic. It's enough to move me to tears, but it seems like this is no time to be emotional. There's a very rough-looking person staring at me." Lambo said, turning his eyes to Levi.

"It doesn't matter who you are. I'm going to kill you." Levi told him.

"It seems my past self encountered quite a hassle. But I'm different." Lambo replied, bending to pick up the ring that his past selves had both dropped.

"Famous last words...both of you."

Levi shot Roksana a hard glare. The girl returned the glare by raising one hand, making a fist with her thumb sticking out between her index and middle fingers.

"Roksana!" Tsuna gasped.

He only knew what the gesture meant because Roksana had taught him, Yamamoto and Gokudera. Apparently, the gesture was the Russian way of flipping someone off. Though, there, in Japan, is had a completely different meaning. Which Tsuna had tried to explain to her, but Roksana refused to listen. Right now, though, Tsuna was just concerned with Roksana getting herself killed.

Levi, though, merely directed his annoyance towards Lambo, trying to repeat the same attack he had used on Lambo's teenage self. Levi, though, didn't take into account that being older now meant that Lambo could handle a great deal more of electricity. Lambo took all of the electricity now stored in his body and horns, and reversed it back into the special coating on the ground, the discharge shattering the windows below.

"He transferred that huge amount of electric current into the ground?" Levi exclaimed, surprised.

"Electricity is like a kitten to me. Do you understand now? I perfected the impeccable Electrico Cuoio." Lambo replied.

"Incredible! This is Lambo twenty years from now?" Tsuna gasped.

"He really is like a lightning rod." Reborn agreed.

"I really took a gamble on his potential in becoming the Thunder Guardian." Tsuna jumped in surprise when his father made a sudden appearance, Basil at his side. "It seems he's even exceeded my expectations."

"Oh, hey Sensei." Roksana greeted, looking up at Iemitsu.

"Shouldn't you be at home, in bed nursing those wounds?" Iemitsu asked her, smile on his face.

"Nope."

Iemitsu chuckled at Roksana's instant reply.

"Dimitri and Maeve don't know you're here, do they?" he asked.

"No, and neither does my guard dog from last night." Roksana retorted.

When her friends gave her questioning looks, she heaved a sigh and told them to forget it. She didn't really think it was the best idea to tell them that Hibari had spent the night at her house, let alone that he had spent it in her bed. Instead, they're attention was drawn back to the fight as Levi attacked Lambo again. Lambo used one of the horns his past selves had dropped, to block the stab towards his heart. Backing away from Levi, Lambo looked down at the old horns in his hands.

"I reported these missing to the police a week ago. I didn't think they were here. That impact just now knocked the paint off the surface. Their true form is being revealed. The insult Mr. Gokudera wrote when I was young." Lambo said, showing that one of the horns bore the words "dumb cow" under the paint.

"That's what I wrote just now." Gokudera remarked.

"What's going on?" Tsuna asked.

"Those horns belong to Lambo twenty years from now. The current Bovino boss let me have them a week ago. Those horns are the key to summoning Lambo from twenty years into the future, so I gave them to the Lambo from ten years into the future. Unfortunately, he never realized it, but it seems I achieved what I wanted anyway." Iemitsu told them.

Roksana fixed her eyes on the fight, watching as the two men clashed once again. Lambo from twenty years in the future, had, without a doubt, improved leaps and bounds over his younger selves. Sadly, though, time ran out on future Lambo's stay in their time and he was switched back with his child self, who promptly passed out.

"Lambo! It still hasn't been five minutes since he turned into his form from twenty years in the future!" Tsuna protested.

"It seems that the five minute time limit starts from the first time he uses the bazooka." Reborn replied.

Levi, though, wasn't going to let the fight end at that. Roksana, despite Lambo being the most annoying child she had ever met, couldn't stand by and watch someone needlessly beat up on anyone, let along an unconscious child. Yamamoto, Gokudera and Ryohei, agreed with her, all three preparing to fight to protect their comrade.

"Wait. You'll be disqualified if you interfere." Reborn reminded them.

"That's correct. One step into Electrico Circuto will end in your disqualification and confiscation of your ring." Cervello One told them.

"

What should we do if we can't help? Reborn! What should we do?" Tsuna demanded.

"All we can do is pray for him." Reborn told him.

"Screw that! Lambo is a child and unconscious. The fight should be called." Roksana retorted.

When Reborn said nothing else, Roksana grit her teeth, her incisor ripping through her lollipop with a sharp crack. She whipped around, ignoring the pain it caused, when Levi started stomping on Lambo, dealing him blow after blow. Each blow only increased Roksana's temper. Even Tsuna couldn't stand back and watch. When he turned, Reborn called out to him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Reborn asked him. "You'll be disqualified."

"I know that...but...I-I have to protect Lambo!" Tsuna insisted.

"Tsuna," Tsuna looked at Roksana. "Do what you're going to do. I'll give you an opening." she told him.

Seeing the looks on both Tsuna's and Roksana's face, Reborn knew he would never be able to talk either out of what they were thinking. Tsuna could just be stubborn and Roksana...well, she didn't take orders very well.

"Do as you will then." Reborn told them.

Tsuna ran off, leaving Roksana to do what she was going to do. Roksana started towards the arena, her friends yelling at her to stop, but Roksana didn't listen. She came to a stop just outside the Elctrico Circuto. Levi, whose back was too her, knew the instantly she fixed her eyes on his back. He could feel a chill began to creep its way up his spine. A dark, intense feeling washed over him, making goosebumps rise on his flesh and sending a feeling of dread straight to the pit of his gut.

Levi froze on the spot, slowly turning as the feeling got worse. What he was confronted with, when he fully faced Roksana, had his body freezing on the spot, despite what he told it. His eyes locked in on Roksana, and, for a moment, in the light of the next flash of lightning, he could of sworn, just as Luca had the night before, that the green in her eyes glowed. But that wasn't the only reason he froze. The look on Roksana's face was down right bone-chilling.

It was almost as if he was staring death in the face, that was how chilling her look was.

"I'm only giving you one warning," Roksana begun lowly, the cracking of her knuckles adding an extra bit of dread to Levi's gut. "Walk away from him...Now!"

"You can't enter Electrico Circuto or you'll be disqualified." one of the Cervello reminded her.

"I don't need to enter there to get my point across." Roksana replied, cracking another knuckle and watching Levi's eyes dart down to her hands for just a moment. "He is well aware of my point. Besides...I'm not what he needs to worry about."

Levi's attention swung away from Roksana then, just in time for the lightning rods to come crashing down. One look at the rods told everyone that it wasn't the wind that had knocked them down. Some outside force had melted them at their thinnest section to send them crashing down. And the prep that appeared from the smoke...was Tsuna.

"If I have to watch my precious comrades die with my own eyes, I wouldn't be able to atone for it. No matter how many times I died." Tsuna told them, Roksana agreeing with him.

"I see. An electric circuit's conductor is made of metal and has the ability to transmit heat. The heat traveled to the lightning rod's thinnest point and melted it, causing it to be unable to support its weight and fall." Mammon remarked.

"But you didn't tell me, Squalo, that there was someone who could emit such a big flame." Bel remarked. "Or that there was someone who turn their flame into such an intense feeling of dread."

Squalo's eyes darted from Tsuna to Roksana, unable to say anything back to Bel. When Squalo had first seen Tsuna, he had been nothing like this, and while he hadn't seen Roksana before the night before, with the intense feeling she could emit with her flames, all without noticing, he should have been aware of her before hand.

Was it Iemitsu's doing?

Squalo was sure that was the case when it came to Roksana, but not Tsuna. No, he was sure Tsuna's growth was all due to Reborn.

"No matter how important they are said to be, the Vongola rings, the position for the next boss...I can't battle for such things. But...my friends...I don't want my friends to be hurt!" Tsuna declared, his Dying Will flame dying out.

It surprised everyone, but put smiles on his comrades faces. Roksana, however, was suddenly moving, Tsuna's eyes widening as she charged him, hitting him square in the chest just as another person spoke.

"Stop that rubbish."

Gun fire sounded through the air, just missing Tsuna as Roksana shoved him out of the way. The two crashed into the ground, Tsuna hearing a tiny, but definitely pained noise leave Roksana, the girl biting down on her self control in order not to cry out in pain.

"Tenth!"

Gokudera's yell sounded as Roksana sat up, instantly positioning herself over Tsuna as he sat up, turning one of her most frightening looks on the person who had fired the shot. Standing over their head, was Xanxus himself. The man directed a glare down at Tsuna, getting a surprise when Tsuna returned the glare. Of course, at this point, after watching her yesterday, he expected the glare that he received from Roksana.

"What's up with that expression? Can it be that you are seriously thinking that you can defeat me and become the successor?" Xanxus demanded of Tsuna.

"I didn't think about that kind of thing. I just...don't want to lose any of my friends in this battle!" Tsuna replied.

"I see...you!" Xanxus growled, gearing up to attack again, Roksana's metaphorical hackles rising in response.

One of the Cervello jumped in, trying to stop Xanxus, only for him to send her flying away with a blast that was probably meant for Tsuna. Standing to her feet, Roksana placed herself right in front of Tsuna, shielding him from Xanxus.

"I haven't lost my temper. Rather, I'm becoming quite excited." Xanxus remarked, giving them the creepiest smile Roksana had ever seen.

"Well, then go home and take a cold shower." Roksana called up to him.

That only seemed to make his grin grow.

"Now I finally understand the reason that the old geezer chose you as his successor, even if it was only temporary. Whether it's this rotten talk, or that weak flame...you and that old fart are similar in many ways." Xanxus said, before letting out a hearty laugh. "We'll have a tragedy, no, a comedy here! Hey, you women. Continue."

The last comment was directed at the last standing Cervello.

"Yes. Then we will announce the result of the match. Leviathan wins because of Mr. Sawada's interruption in this guardian battle. Since Miss Volkov did nothing more than speak, she keeps her ring, but the Ring of Thunder and the Ring of the Sky will be given to the Varia." the Cervello announced.

"That's wrong! We shouldn't be disqualified! Sawada-dono didn't enter the battlefield!" Basil protested.

"You are disqualified due to the damage done to the field, since it's considered obstructing the match." the Cervello said, taking the ring from Tsuna. "We are the rules."

The woman took the rings to Xanxus, presenting them to him. Xanxus took the Sky ring and connected his own to it to complete the ring.

"It's only natural that this ring is here. Who else other than me can be the boss of Vongola? The rest of the rings don't matter. I can order you guys to be killed under the name of the Vongola any time now. Still, it wouldn't be fun to just kill you, the one chosen by that old fart. There'll be plenty of time to kill you later, after letting you taste real despair in this Scramble Battle for the rings. Just like that old fart." Xanxus told them.

"Xanxus! You bastard! What did you do to the Ninth?!" Iemitsu demanded.

This only had Xanxus laughing all over again. Even Roksana was getting annoyed and angry with Xanxus.

"Isn't investigating that matter your job, outside counselor?!" Xanxus replied.

"Y-you bastard. Don't tell me...!"

"Calm down, Iemitsu. There's no evidence." Reborn told Iemitsu.

"You, too. Put that gun down." Iemitsu replied.

"What does this mean...? What did Xanxus do?" Tsuna asked, obviously not getting it.

"Rejoice, morons. I am giving you guys another chance. We will continue the rest of the matches as usual. If by any chance you guys can win this battle by majority, I will give you the Vongola rings and the position of boss. But if you lose, everything you hold dear will be eliminated. Except for you, girl." Xanxus' eyes landed on Roksana, the girl returning his look with a fierce one of her own. "If your precious candidate loses, you will become my Moon Guardian."

To Xanxus' surprise, a change came over Roksana. It started with her lips merely twitching, then a small giggle, and, then, before he knew it, Roksana was nearly bent double as she laughed, her laughter so fierce, it brought tears to her eyes. Tsuna stared at her back like she was crazy, a frown falling on Xanxus' face as she reined in her laughter.

"Oh, you poor bastard!" Roksana said finally, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Whatever made you think, even for a second, that you could ever possibly have anything to entice me to accept that deal?! You're stupider than you look."

"Roksana!"

This yell came from, not only Tsuna, but several of her comrades. Not that Roksana was going to back down. It had already been long established that, when it came to a contest of whose will and wrath was stronger, Roksana always won, hands down.

"Listen up, I'm only saying this because, apparently, everyone here keeps forgetting this one fundamental thing about me. I do not take orders...from anyone. Regardless of what you do, despite whoever you think you are, I already made my judgement of the only person I will even remotely respect enough to possibly take orders from, and that's not you. So go ahead and wage your petty little war, try whatever underhanded tricks you want, because, just like I told Luca, if you want to mess with me...I will haunt your fucking dreams. So I dare you...try to order me around again."

Xanxus' eyebrows shot up as the same intense, heavy feeling that Levi felt earlier, washed over him. In that moment, he could feel Roksana's flames, heavy with rage, building up within the girl. He met Roksana's eyes, unable to look away as she made sure he understood her warning. She wasn't going to back down just because he was some ridiculously well-known and strong assassin. If he thought he could intimidate her, than he had another thing coming. If he wanted to threaten her friends and her family, than she was going to make sure he knew just how big of a mistake he was making.

"I hope I've made myself perfectly clear." Roksana added.

"Yeah, perfectly." Xanxus agreed.

With that, the Cervello announced that the next battle would be between the Storm Guardians, pitting Gokudera against Bel. Once that was done, Xanxus left, Tsuna rushing to check on Lambo. Roksana stayed where she was, watching as Squalo and the rest of the Varia left as well. Iemitsu, with Reborn on his shoulder, approached her again.

"Do you realize what you did, challenging him like that?" Iemitsu asked her. "In your condition?"

"I'm not particularly concerned, Iemitsu-sensei. I've never been one to care about my own self preservation over that of others and I don't particularly care for someone basically treating me like a possession that can be passed from one person to the next. He threatened everything I hold dear." Roksana turned her eyes to look up at Iemitsu, surprising him and Reborn with the dead serious, fiery intense look in her eyes. "If someone wants to come after my family and friends...I will demolish them. There are no "if"s. I don't care who or what it is. I've put up with a whole lot worse than Xanxus to protect my family. I'm done playing other people's games. If that means I risk his wrath, that I risk my own life...well, two can play that game."

Iemitsu wasn't sure if she really could play games on Xanxus' level, but he knew her well enough, so far, to know that she sure as hell would try. Roksana was angry, both he and Reborn could see that, and when she was angry, people paid for it. Xanxus had just pushed a button that he shouldn't have, and had only added insult to injury.

For that, Roksana would make him pay.

End of story.

END

Kyandi: After having your life threatened enough times, I imagine it's a little difficult to be afraid of threats.

Roksana: You have no idea. You just become desensitized to the whole thing.

Kyandi: That being said...I wouldn't be openly calling Xanxus stupid.

Roksana: Yeah, well...I call them like I see them.

Kyandi: Which is the only reason Xanxus has any amount of tolerance for you.

Roksana: Twisted creep.

Kyandi: Agreed. Anyway, I have to get going, so, everyone, enjoy and review.

Roksana: We'll return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!