Kyandi: Greetings, Kyandiacs!

Roksana: We hope all of you are keeping yourselves safe.

Kyandi: And are taking precautions!

Roksana: Make sure not to get sick.

Kyandi: I'd be sad to lose one of my precious readers.

Roksana: We're taking precautions, too, so be careful.

Kyandi: That being said, this whole thing has everything around me on lock-down.

Roksana: So guess who's stuck with no where to go.

Kyandi: This girl! I'm hoping to use that time to crank out a few more chapters a week, so everyone, enjoy and review.

Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman REBORN.

Chapter 21 Guardian of Storm

The next morning, Roksana, after ignoring the pleas of Dimitri and Maeve, left her house, heading out to pick up a rush order she had put in for a new sansetsukon. She could have sent one of them to get it for her, but after the rage of the night before, Roksana needed to walk off steam.

Not to mention that she was still annoyed by the fact that Hibari had been waiting in her room, fuming, when she had gotten home from the Scramble match.

He had refused to explain why he was angry with her, though she had a few good guesses. Whatever the reason, aside from man-handling her to get settled in the bed, he kept his temper under control and didn't try to kill her on the spot.

Roksana was pretty sure that was some of growth or improvement on his behalf.

After she had awoken that morning, she had kicked a still sleepy Hibari out of her room, much to his displeasure, and had prepared to head out for the day. Roksana had half expected Hibari to still be hanging out in front of her house when she exited the gates, but he wasn't.

"Beating up Dino probably trumps annoying me." Roksana muttered to herself as she headed for town.

Once among the busy streets of downtown, Roksana headed for the specialty craft shop that she ordered her sansetsukons through. It was a small, relatively unknown, shop that Roksana had stumbled across. Through them, she was able to get all the specially rigged weapons she could possibly want. After her fight with Luca, in which she had lost one of her sansetsukons, Roksana had put in a rush order. While it would be another week before that one came in, they already had another order she had placed, ready to go.

She picked up the order, chatted with the store owner for a little while before she headed out. Checking her phone for the time, Roksana decided to go ahead and get something to eat while she was in town. Deciding on where she wanted to eat, Roksana turned the next corner...and almost walked right into someone.

Jumping back with the reflexes of someone who was more use to expecting an attack than she should be, Roksana reached for her sansetsukon, her muscles already tensing despite their protesting. As her eyes traveled over the group in front of her, over the black uniforms, and barely concealed weapons, up to the faces that she was becoming more familiar with than she really wanted to, Roksana felt the fight drain from her body. Even if she wanted to, she could not stop the noise that left her next.

"Ugh!"

Leaving the sound to convey all the annoyance, disdain, and discontent she felt for almost running into the people in front of her, Roksana took two steps around them and continued on as if she hadn't seen them.

"Voi! Hold it right there, you little bit-"

Squalo instantly cut off what he was about to say when Roksana came to a screeching halt and turned the iciest glare on him that she owned. The others behind him all took two giant steps away from him. If Squalo was going to go down for calling Roksana a bitch, then they weren't going to be anywhere around him.

"I'm sorry, were you about to say "bitch"?" Roksana demanded darkly. "Do you really want to be in similar pain to what Luca is currently feeling?"

Squalo clicked his tongue in annoyance, refusing to show that, for a tiny moment, he had actually felt nervous about her threat. Roksana, though, wasn't stupid. She knew that any rational male would fear such a crippling injury that could cause them a lot of problems down the line.

Not that Squalo was going to let it show to a little girl.

"Whatever. I have better things to do with my time then to deal with you or your boss." Roksana said, half turning to leave.

The door that Squalo and his comrades had just came out of, chose then to open, the last person Roksana wanted to see, stepping out.

Well, if she was being truly honest, the last person she wanted to see, at the moment, was Mukuro, but that was a completely different can of worms she wasn't going to open.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear. The one time I decided not to carry my grandmother's demon warding charm." Roksana smarted off upon seeing Xanxus, giving a shake of her head. "Now I really know that I have better things to do with my time."

Roksana turned on her heel and took only one step before she heard the familiar sound of a gun being cocked. Roksana came to a stop, twisting to look back at Xanxus. Though his hands still remained relaxed at his side, she could see the gun in his right hand, ready to be raised and fired without a moment's notice. Roksana's eyes traveled down to the gun and then up to meet Xanxus' crimson eyes.

Just like the night before, Xanxus couldn't see a single ounce of fear, or even unease, in Roksana's two-toned eyes. If anything, the girl looked fed up, her eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"What? Are you going to shoot me? Before you do, you might want to address the fact that we are currently surrounded by seven snipers, and another thirteen men on the ground, all with their weapons trained on you." Roksana told him, idly pulling a lollipop out of her pocket to rip off the wrapper. The eyes of Xanxus and his men, started scanning their surroundings and those around them, quickly picking out men that were, to the civilian eye, subtly watching them. "Some of them are Cavallone men, keeping an eye on me because Dino knows Tsuna worries. Another few are my father's men. The price to pay for having a helicopter partner, and one is someone brought in by Iemitsu-sensei to keep an eye on me."

Xanxus' eyes fixed in on Roksana as the girl idly rolled the lollipop in her mouth, stuffing her hands into the pockets of the hoodie she was wearing. She, at least, didn't seem concerned by anything. Not the thought of a gun fight possibly breaking out, not the thought of all those men being killed because of her, and not the thought of Xanxus planting a bullet between her eyes before any of the men could react.

"You really think we give a shit?!" Squalo demanded.

"Frankly, I don't care. Shoot me, don't shoot me, whatever. I'm still walking away. Remember," Roksana fixed her eyes in on Xanxus' face. "You were the one that insisted on continuing the Scramble Matches, so shooting me now kind of defeats the purpose."

None of them had anything to say in return to that. Roksana had a point. Xanxus wanted her to replace Luca among them anyway, so shooting her would just be damaging goods. Judging by the look on Roksana's face, she knew it, too. Their expressions must have given away their surprise at her insight, for Roksana frowned.

"I might be technically blonde, but I'm not stupid."

With that, Roksana turned on her heel and continued on her way, waving over her shoulder with a shout of, "Best of luck tonight. You'll need it.". Roksana only made it a few steps before she leaned her head to the side, raising the box holding her new sansetsukon to catch the three knives that had been flying towards the back of her head.

Roksana lowered the box, peering at the weirdly shaped knives embedded in the wooden box. Turning back around, her eyes landed on Bel, who had been the one to throw the knives. Tucking the box under her arm, the knives still embedded in its surface, Roksana gave Bel a look that could be compared to a disappointed parent or teacher.

"Really? How childish can you get? Just for that...you're not getting your knives back." Roksana informed him before turning once more.

For Bel, the loss of his special made knives to a would-be target, was unforgivable. Bel started after her, following her down the busy street, yelling something about wanting to kill her and not caring who around them heard. Roksana rounded a corner, Bel on her heels. A few seconds later, a pair of women came rushing around the corner, glancing over their shoulders as they hurried away.

Curious as to whether Bel had just killed the girl, Xanxus started down the street, the others behind him. When they rounded the corner, Xanxus had to stop and blink down at the ground. In just a few short moments...Roksana had managed to knock Bel flat on his face, twisting the boy's arms up behind his back, and was now sitting on his back, pinning his arms in place, her legs crossed as she pried the knives free of the wooden box she was carrying.

"How the hell?!" Squalo snapped, looking down at Bel and Roksana.

"How the hell did you let her do this to you?" Levi demanded of Bel.

"To be fair, after the amount of assassins I've managed to evade and make fools of, if he's not willing to take it dead serious, he's not going to do anything but make himself look like an idiot." Roksana told them, examining one of the knives she had just pulled from her box. "There's a reason Reborn recruited me to join the Vongola. Though, it was more like pestering than recruiting, but that's technicalities and I'm not big on dealing with technicalities."

"If you're able to do this so casually, then how the hell did you get so injured when facing Luca?!" Squalo demanded.

"Oh, that? Yeah, that couldn't be helped. I was fighting with my eyes closed, you know. I was bound to get injured." Roksana retorted.

Truth was, tripping up Bel had been easy compared to fighting with Luca. Bel hadn't been expected her to be waiting on a balcony over his head when he rounded the corner, thinking the girl too injured to scale a wall that quickly. Luca had been on guard the whole fight, making Roksana really have to work to trip him up. She was sure, if he was taking it serious, that Bel would have been impossible for her to trip up.

Roksana pried another the knives free from her box, looking it over before, with a flick of her wrist, she threw it down, just missing Bel's cheek by a hair. She repeated the action with the other two knives, the last one opening a cut just big enough to spill a single drop of blood.

"There's your knives back, you big baby." Roksana told him, before getting to her feet. "Look, I don't care what you want to say or do during the Scramble Matches, but leave me alone during the day. I'm sore, I'm tired, I have too much work to do, and, now, thanks to your pitiful excuse for a Moon Guardian, I now had a miniature psychopath taking over my bed every night. I'm not exactly in a charitable mood, and, from what I've seen, dealing with the lot of you, is a charity case."

Covering a yawn, Roksana walked away, this time for good. Xanxus watched her as she vanished among the crowd, Squalo making a comment about how strange the girl was. Even in the face of assassins, she didn't even blink. Xanxus knew that came from years of facing down one assassin after another. Roksana's no long could muster up the energy enough to fear every assassin that came her way. No, her energy, her time, was better spent on dealing with said assassins, and, at the moment, that meant them.

It just made Xanxus want her as his Moon Guardian, all the more.

-0-0-0-0-

That night, Roksana was the first one at the school. She stood at the school gates, looking up at the dark building. After pulling her injuries earlier that day dealing with Bel, parts of her body were throbbing mildly. While part of her had wanted to stay home, she knew she had to be there for her friends. She would just make it clear that she was one injured girl who was not going to be forced into a huddle that night.

She was still standing there, examining the school building, when Ryohei and Yamamoto finally arrived, Ryohei's arm in a sling.

"Hey, Roksana!" Yamamoto called out, making the girl turn.

"Oh, hey you two." Roksana greeted.

Seeing her face, Yamamoto's smile dimmed slightly and he hurried to her side.

"Is something wrong? You're paler than usual." he remarked.

"Oh, yeah. I pulled a few of my stitches earlier today. My body is hating me for it now." Roksana assured him.

"You have to be careful." Yamamoto told her.

"I'm aware." Roksana replied.

"Yamamoto! Onii-san! Roksana!"

Tsuna showed up then with Basil and Reborn in tow. Roksana greeted him with a nodded.

"Eh? Where is Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna asked, looking around.

"What, I thought he would be coming with you guys." Yamamoto replied.

"He's not here yet." Ryohei added.

"Maybe he was stopped by Shamal." Reborn suggested, claiming a seat on Yamamoto's shoulder. "It's impossible for Shamal to let his disciple enter a battle without any chance of winning. Probably his new move isn't complete yet."

"I doubt that. Hayato isn't the type that would let Tsuna down like that." Roksana remarked. "We should head on inside."

The others agreed, turning to follow her inside. Tsuna paused, though, when he, too, noticed just how pale Roksana looked that night.

"Roksana...are you feeling alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine, Tsuna. Like I told Yamamoto and Ryohei earlier, I just pulled a few stitches earlier today." Roksana told them.

"What were you doing!?" Tsuna demanded.

He couldn't imagine what she could have possibly been doing in order to pull her stitches when she should be too stiff to move like that. Roksana merely shrugged her uninjured shoulder as she turned to enter the school grounds.

"Oh, just playing tag with a couple of assassins."

When now of her friends moved to follow her, Roksana turned to look back at them. What she found was all of them staring at her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You were doing what with what!?" Tsuna demanded.

"Oh, yeah. I ran into Xanxus and his group earlier today while I was in town. I ended up annoying Belphegor, he threw his knives at me, and when I refused to give them back, he chased me. The idiot didn't even bother to look above him as he rounded the corner, so I landed right on his head. And he calls himself an assassin. I've been chased by better assassins than that. That being said, I pulled a few stitches, but it was so worth it." Roksana explained, turning as she waved the whole thing off. "I gave his knives back, but mostly because I didn't want to hear him complain."

Tsuna's jaw dropped, Reborn grinning to himself as Roksana waved the whole thing off as if it was nothing more than dealing with a local bully. Reborn knew he had been right to recruit Roksana to be apart of Tsuna's family.

As they entered the school grounds, Tsuna still badgering Roksana about having messed with any of Xanxus' men while she was in the state she was in, they were directed indoors, where the Varia were already waiting.

"Today's match is indoors?" Tsuna asked.

"Hibari isn't going to be happy about this." Roksana heaved a sigh, her hands going to her hips. "And I'm going to be the one who has to deal with it when the little sleep terrorist hogs my bed again."

"Wait, what!?"

Tsuna and the others turned to Roksana, who merely shook her head.

"It's not what you think. Hibari has been taking over my bed, the last few nights, and has been sleeping there. Don't ask me why, because even I have no idea what that boy is thinking." Roksana told them.

Just when they thought Hibari couldn't get any stranger, he did.

What they didn't know was that Roksana was well aware of the reason behind Hibari's hostile bed take-over.

She just didn't feel like sharing.

"That aside, we have another issue...where's Hayato?" Roksana asked.

"He will come for sure." Yamamoto assured her.

"I have no doubt." Roksana agreed.

Tsuna didn't doubt that Gokudera would, in fact, show up, but with an opponent like Bel, Tsuna couldn't help but wonder if, maybe, it would be best if Gokudera didn't fight.

"So what if he runs away? He'll be killed anyway." Bel called to them.

"When that clock points to eleven o'clock, Gokudera Hayato will be disqualified and Belphegor will win by default." the Cervello woman told them.

"I'm not concerned." Roksana's voice rang with confidence as she withdrew one of her infamous lollipop, pulling off the wrapper before she popped it into her mouth. "Hayato would rather bite his tongue off than let Tsuna down. He'll be here, so keep your pants on. Don't go being a baby like earlier."

"You're the one that started that fucking fight!" Squalo yelled at her, shaking a fist at her.

"I merely jumped down on his head. That hardly qualifies as a fight. If I really wanted to fight...he'd have left bloody."

The glint that entered Roksana's eyes as she focused them on Squalo, had the man stiffening. He had been around assassins long enough to know the glint of a killing intent when he saw one. She might not be an assassin, but she had dealt with enough of them to be confident in her skills. If she wanted to make one of them bleed, she would find a way.

Falling silent, everyone focused on the clock on the wall, watching as the second hand ticked away the last minute. Just shy of hitting eleven o'clock, the clock exploded, announcing the arrival of Gokudera.

"Sorry for the long wait, Tenth! Gokudera Hayato has arrived."

"Gokudera-kun!"

Everyone turned as Gokudera approached them, looking ready to throw down. Roksana reached up to remove the lollipop from her mouth, her eyes scanning him.

"Nice new look." Roksana told him, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Because you arrived before the arranged time," Cervello One started.

"We acknowledge your qualification to participate in this match." Cervello Two finished.

Gokudera ignored them and headed for Tsuna and his friends.

"You scared us to death. You look well...did you over sleep?" Yamamoto asked, smiling.

"That's impossible!" Gokudera snapped, before turning to Tsuna with a wide grin. "Sorry I'm late, Tenth. It took some time to prepare."

"I see." Tsuna replied.

While he was glad to see that Gokudera was there, Tsuna was still uneasy about him facing the so-called genius of the Varia. Roksana's eyes shifted to Bel when Tsuna turned to look at him. Seeing the grin on his face, she turned towards Gokudera, lowering her voice.

"Hey, Hayato." Gokudera turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "Be careful. His blades are particularly sharp."

"How do you know?" Gokudera demanded.

"I played tag with him earlier today."

Gokudera's reaction was far more verbal and loud than the others' had been.

"What the hell!? Why the fuck did you do that?!" Gokudera demanded. "Don't you realize the shape your in, idiot!?"

Roksana reached out then, giving him a solid flick across the forehead, making his curse under his breath. He gripped his forehead and demanded to know why she had done that. Roksana merely put her hands on her hips.

"I don't need your concern when you're the one about to fight the guy I sat on today."

Sometimes, Tsuna and his friends could not believe the things that came out of Roksana's mouth.

The two Cervello women kept Roksana's friends from replying to her comment.

"Then, we will now explain the battle field, but before that, please allow me to report that due to injury, we had no choice but to make a substitution for one of us." Cervello One told them.

"Courtesy of the spoiled Varia diva." Roksana butted in, an answering "Shut the fuck up!" being shouted at her from the Varia's end.

"She looks exactly like the one that was hurt." Ryohei remarked.

"I heard there are many people in Cervello that can be used for substitution." Reborn told them.

"That sounds like it would be a major headache, having a lot of people around who looked uncannily like me." Roksana remarked.

Silently, the boys agreed.

"The battle field for tonight, is the entire third floor of the school building." Cervello One told them.

"Of course that includes the eastern building that is connected with this building as well. Not only the hallway, but all the classrooms on this floor are included." Cervello Two added.

Roksana groaning, bending at the waist as she buried a hand in her bangs, drew all attention to her. She muttered lowly in Russian under her breath before she stood up straight again, her eyes fixing in the Cervello women.

"I do hope you guys are going to put right anything that gets wrecked. I'm the one that has to do all the paperwork associated with repairs in this damn school, and I'm the one that has to deal with Hibari's temper when someone wrecks his precious school." Roksana told them.

"Rest assured, all damage will be repaired before classes proceed tomorrow." Cervello One promised her.

"I sure hope so. The last thing I want is to have to deal with that boy's childish temper." Roksana remarked.

It made her friends wonder if Roksana realized that her temper was far worse than Hibari's.

"May we continue?" Cervello One asked.

"By all means." Roksana replied, waving a hand.

"As we said, the battle field will include all of the third floor. However," One of Roksana's eyebrows twitched when windows down the hall suddenly shattered, desks and glass scattering across the hallway floor. "In various places on the field, we have installed this hurricane turbine."

One of the Cervello women wheeled in a turbine. Roksana only took one look at the thing and knew that it was going to cause a whole lot of damage. It made her heave a sigh. Regardless of whether or not they fixed the damage, Roksana knew that Hibari wasn't going to be happy.

"The hurricane turbine has four openings used for producing wind. It's a storm device that can blow a super strong wind randomly from the four openings." Cervello One explained.

"If the wind hits you directly, it'd be possible to be blown outside!" Ryohei remarked.

"That's overdoing it." Yamamoto agreed.

"I can already tell...I'm not going to be getting sleep tonight. Hibari's going to be pissed." Roksana said, heaving a sigh, that conveyed both her annoyance and the exhaustion she felt just thinking about it.

Yamamoto, careful of her injuries, gave her shoulder a pat in sympathy. That was the price to pay for the second-in-command for the Disciplinary Committee. When Hibari was angry, she was the first person that had to deal with it.

"And this battle has a time limit." Cervello One continued. "Unless either of you complete the Ring of Storm and possess it within fifteen minutes after the start of the match, the time bomb installed in the hurricane turbines will explode one by one and blow up the entire floor."

"N-no way! Then if this match's result cannot be determined, the two of them will..."

"Probably die." Cervello Two said, finishing Tsuna's sentence for him.

"That means neither of them qualified for the position of guardian." Cervello One added.

"You know, that sounds an awful lot like you guys don't care if even the ring is destroyed, and, in my opinion, there's only one person I know who thinks the guardian rings don't matter." Roksana remarked pointedly.

"Xanxus!" Tsuna gasped.

"Yeah, him." Roksana agreed.

"Looks like he became serious." Reborn remarked.

"The more I learn about this man, the more he seems like a rich, spoiled brat to me." Roksana remarked.

"Maybe, but a death match...doesn't that sound interesting?" Gokudera replied, grinning.

"Hrm? What was that sound of windows shattering just now?" A frown fell on Roksana's face as Shamal, of all people, made his entrance, slinging an arm around the shoulders of both Cervello women, his hands latching on to their chests. "Is anyone hurt?"

Roksana didn't blame either woman when they both smashed an elbow into his face, blooding his nose and knocking him off his feet. In fact, she felt like applauding them. Shamal, though, ever the lecher he was, was not effected like his mostly likely broken nose.

"Ah, they're good. This elasticity is a sign of good health." Shamal remarked, before his eyes landed on Roksana. Popping back to his feet, he quickly approached her. "Ah, I heard you were recently injured. Allow me to check your injuri-"

The moment he landed a finger on her, Roksana seized him by the belt and by the collar, sweeping his feet out from under him to throw him through a nearby door with a force that even had Squalo's jaw dropping. Roksana stood up straight, dusting her hands off as she glared down at Shamal.

"Touch me again, you slimy pervert, and you'll become one of the very women you harass." Roksana promised.

"You're suppose to be injured...how'd you..."

"A little pain isn't going to keep me from teaching a sleaze ball his place. For crying out loud, I'm only fifteen!" Roksana snapped, cutting Shamal off. Though, she wasn't going to lie...her injuries burned like hell. Half turning away from him, she wrinkled her nose at him in distaste. "Creepy old man."

Shamal just gave her a smile like she hadn't just thrown him through a door or insulted him. Roksana rolled her eyes, moving to put Yamamoto and Ryohei between her and Shamal, tugging close the black trench coat she was wearing over a belted, halter top, grey dress. Angry, Gokudera stepped between Roksana and Shamal, glaring down at the man.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Gokudera demanded.

"Well...you see, I heard the sound of windows shattering and thought someone might be hurt, so I came. I thought I'd see your match in jest, too." Shamal replied, Gokudera cursing under his breath as Shamal got to his feet and turned to face the Varia members. "And so, I'm on this side. Nice to meet you, those guys over there with the mourning clothes!"

"Are you drunk or something?" Roksana demanded.

Shamal merely gave her a goofy grin in reply. Sometimes, it was extremely difficult to see Shamal as an adult. He acted far too much like a teenage boy, at times. All hormones and no brains.

"Good. Then let's start the usual before each match!" Ryohei cheered.

"Not a chance. I'll cheer from the sidelines where I won't pull anymore stitches." Roksana told them.

Ryohei and Yamamoto let her slid, but wouldn't listen when Gokudera tried to protest. This time, even Tsuna was all for the group huddle.

"Um...how do I put it? I don't really know how to express it. But this match relates to all of us. I don't want to lose anyone. So isn't it better if we act as a group?" Tsuna turned his eyes to Roksana at this point, the girl raising an eyebrow back at him. "All of us?"

Looking at the somewhat awkward and pleading look on Tsuna's face, Roksana heaved a defeated sigh, dropping her face into one hand. When he looked at her like that, asking her nicely instead of ordering her, she had a hard time saying no.

Well...doing it willingly one time wouldn't kill her.

"Tenth...you are this considerate for the family...why didn't I understand at all!? Let's do ti! Please let me!" Gokudera insisted.

"Uh...okay. Let's do it. Roksana?" Tsuna asked, turning to look at the girl.

Roksana peeked through her fingers at Tsuna before finally dropping her hand. Her hands went to her hips as she twisted up one side of her mouth.

"Just this once, and only because you asked nicely." Roksana replied, putting a smile on Tsuna's face.

"Let this join, too."

Tsuna's smile was wiped off his face when Reborn threw something at him, the item hitting him right in the face. Picking it up off his face, he looked down at the little tail-looking thing.

"What's this?" Tsuna asked.

"This is the cloth that fell from that dumb cow's tail when he was battling yesterday." Reborn replied.

"So it's kind of like he's with us." Roksana remarked, looking down at the fake tail.

"Doesn't it remind you of the days when that dumb cow was still around?" Reborn asked, agreeing with Roksana.

"Don't say that as if he were dead!" Tsuna snapped.

"But I think it's great. Let Lambo join the circle, too." Yamamoto remarked.

"Even though he's a dumb cow, he's still better than nothing." Gokudera admitted.

"Even though he's not here, he's with us in spirit!" Ryohei agreed.

"It makes it feel like the whole team is here, even if we aren't." Roksana added.

Tsuna looked at each of them in turn, a smile curling his lips once more. With that, they all huddled up, Roksana finding herself situated between a grinning Yamamoto and an equally happy Ryohei.

"I can't believe I'm doing this again." Roksana muttered, making her friends all smile.

Bracing their feet, and making sure not to pull on Roksana and further strain her injuries, they gave a loud cheer of "Gokudera, fight!". Breaking their huddle, Roksana heaved a sigh. She could just imagine Hibari watching them through the security cameras and grinning at the sight of her having to take part in the huddle once more.

"It's not so bad, is it?" Tsuna asked.

"Speak for yourself. You're not the one that has to deal with Hibari later on." Roksana retorted.

Tsuna could have pointed out that that was her own fault, since she was the one that had insisted on being friends with Hibari and who had joined the Disciplinary Committee, but he kept that to himself. He was sure that Roksana would appreciate it.

"Then the two of you, please come to the middle." Cervello One called.

"I will never bring disgrace to the title of the Tenth's right hand!" Gokudera assured Tsuna before joining Bel in the middle.

"By the way, since the battle area is too enormous, we've installed video cameras in every classroom. You can observe the match at the bleachers beside the school building." Cervello Two told them.

"At the same time, in order to prevent interference to the match, an infrared ray sensor device is set up between the bleachers and the battle area." the other added.

Roksana stiffened, pulling Tsuna back a step, as a wall of red laser appeared before them, cutting them off from Gokudera.

Roksana frowned as the looked at the lasers. She was almost sure that things were being set up so that they couldn't help Gokudera if Bel was about to kill him. It put a bad taste in her mouth when it was obvious, at least to her, that the Cervello were on Xanxus' side and were stacking things in his favor. She really wanted to call them on it, too, but that was the thing about assassins and those they worked with.

They never played fair.

"Hey, Hayato," Gokudera turned when Roksana called out to him. "Remember what I told you. Watch it. Assassins never play it fair."

"Yeah, I got it, thanks."

Roksana gave him a nodded, turning to join Tsuna and the others watching the monitors. With that, the match started. Gokudera was the first to move, the explosion from his bombs, rocking the building. Bel, though, wasn't going to be taken down that easily. Gokudera was forced to throw himself to one side, avoiding the very knives that Roksana had warned him about. Gokudera threw more bombs when Bel revealed himself, but Bel didn't bother to try to move or dodge.

A second later, as one of the hurricane turbines kicked in and blew out the row of windows into a classroom to Bel's left, it was shown why. The strong winds from the turbine knocked all of the bombs away from Bel. Another turbine kicking in, had Gokudera dodging to avoid a classroom door flying towards his head.

"This is too exaggerated! The random strong wind! He can't use his bombs like this!" Tsuna gasped.

"That applies to both side." Reborn told him.

"I don't know about that."

All eyes turned to Roksana as she watched the screens.

"What do you mean, Roksana?" Yamamoto asked.

"Look at Belphegor. He's perfectly comfortable, and didn't even budge when that first turbine kicked in. It was like he could sense the wind before it actually hit. If he can...he can use it to his advantage. Much like how sailors who can read the wind, can use it to their advantage. If Hayato can't adjust and learn to do the same thing, this is going to be difficult for him." Roksana replied.

As if to prove her point, Bel dropped a couple of knives into the strong wind of another turbine, and, before Gokudera could track or dodge, they came flying at him as another turbine kicked in, changing the path of the knives. Gokudera jumped backward, letting the wind slam him into another wall of windows between the hall and classroom in order for him to avoid the knives. The glass behind him broke, sending him tumbling into the classroom.

Bel followed Gokudera into the classroom, calmly dropping another knife into the flow of a turbine, letting it carry it until it slashed right by Gokudera's face, opening a gash in his left cheek.

Something like reading the air current...that's impossible!" Tsuna insisted.

"Not really." Roksana replied. "I've seen several assassins that can do seemingly impossible things."

"Making use of a situation that was thought to be a disadvantage, he has the ability to perform this extraordinary idea perfectly." Shamal agreed. "I must admit. He's unmistakably a genius."

"As well as a major pain in the ass."

It was a mood they could all agree on. Even Bel's own comrades could agree with her.

In the midst of the turbines throwing everything all over the place, Bel spoke to Gokudera.

"Do you know the purpose of the Guardian of Storm? Continuously at the heart of attack, the storm of raging waves that never rests. I can do it, but...you can't." Bel told him, grinning widely.

Roksana scoffed upon hearing this, crossing her arms over her chest. It made her want to laugh sarcastically that Bel actually thought that. After all, both Lussuria and Luca had thought the same thing and had lost. Roksana was sure, no matter what it took, that Gokudera was going to win.

Three minutes into the match, though, and all Gokudera could do was dodge the onslaught of knives. Trying to give himself a moment to think, Gokudera set a trap, the smoke of the bombs giving him a chance to duck into Bel's blind spot. Even then, some of Bel's knives still found him.

"Where did those come from!? Bel is still in the hallway!" Tsuna gasped.

"Then he shouldn't be able to see his opponent!" Basil added.

Roksana's mouth twisted as she watched the screen. There had to be some kind of trick to it, she knew. All assassins had their tricks and Bel was no different. There had to be something more to it than the eye could see. Even as two more knives made contact, cutting gashes into Gokudera's left shoulder and side, Roksana could see it on Gokudera's face.

He knew there had to be some kind of trick he could figure out.

Crossing her arms, Roksana, too, tried to figure it out. How were Bel's knives finding their way to Gokudera, even without the added assistance of the turbines' wind? Watching how the knives moved, curved around corners and twisting in mid-air...

"...It's almost like my chain-and-sickle..."

Tsuna and the others turned to look at Roksana as she spoke lowly. The girl was staring at the screen intently, but with her own words, her eyes widened and she slammed a fist into an open palm.

"That's it!"

"What's it?" Ryohei asked her.

"That's how Belphegor's doing it!" Roksana said, turning to look at the others. "The knives are attached to wires. When he pat Hayato's shoulder before the start, he must of attached one end of the wire to him to help guide the knives from him to Hayato!"

"Are you sure?" Tsuna asked.

"I'm almost positive. The knives...they move just like my sickle does with I manipulate my chains." Roksana replied, turning to look back up at the screen. "I just hope Hayato figures it out. He's a smart boy, despite how he acts sometimes. He should be able to figure it out."

Thankfully, Roksana was right.

With Bel's next attack, they found out just how clever Gokudera was.

With the knives seemingly hit their target, it threw it up against the classroom windows, sending it crashing through and out into the hall. Tsuna gasped in concern, but they were soon showed that what they thought was Gokudera, was really a human body model from the science lab. When it moved, Roksana had to lean to the side as Tsuna let out a high pitched squeal noise.

"It moved!" Tsuna squealed.

"Tsuna, instead of blowing out my eardrums, take a closer look at the head. It's a wire." Roksana told them.

They watched as Gokudera approached the dummy, pulling on the wire to lift the thing up off the floor.

"This is your technique's true nature." Gokudera revealed. "Before the match, when you patted me on the shoulder, you also planted a string invisible to the naked eye. Thanks to that move, it was like being injected with a full-body anesthetic that numbs you to weight. Then you stretched the string and attached the protruding part of the knives to it before throwing them. In the space between origin and target, as though drawn on tracks, the knives flew along the string. This time, I switched the string's end onto the human body model."

"Just as I thought." Roksana remarked.

"So...so that's why all the knives seemed to be drawn towards Gokudera-kun." Tsuna exclaimed.

"Just like a monorail." Shamal agreed.

While Gokudera had managed to figure out Bel's little trick, there was still the time limit and the turbine winds to worry about. But Roksana had already remarked on just how determined Gokudera would be in the presence of Tsuna. He would keep fighting as long as Tsuna needed him to. Determined to put an end to the fight, Gokudera showed them the new move he had learned working with Shamal.

By adding a little rocket fuse to his bombs, he was able to make them fly true, straight through the fierce winds of the turbines. The attack finally hit Bel, leaving him a bloody mess.

Which, they quickly found out, was a bad thing.

At the sight of his own blood, it was like the already unbalanced boy, completely snapped. In that state, he charge head-long into Gokudera's attacks, speeding past the explosions, grin on his face. Now getting serious, Bel attacked Gokudera, managing to cause more, minor gashes on Gokudera's face. Once Bel was in close-quarters, though, Gokudera pulled a miniature bomb out from under his bracelet, throwing it up in Bel's face while covering his own. The explosion knocked Bel back away from Gokudera while slamming Gokudera into the ground.

The of even more of his blood being spilled, just had Bel laughing like an idiot while sitting on the floor bleeding. Injured and seeing that Bel's own injuries weren't getting to him, Gokudera tried to put some distance between them. Bel chased after him, following Gokudera into the library.

"The library only has that one entrance!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"That Gokudera is planning to decide the match this way." Reborn remarked.

"I think it's fitting." Reborn glanced over at Roksana. "After all, the world's scariest beast...is a human cornered with no other options. Desperation brings out the psychopath in us all."

"Personal experience?" Reborn asked, making everyone else look at Roksana.

Before their eyes, Roksana's face turned into a blank mask, the girl's eyes darkening as her lids fell to half mast. Her eyes shifted to Reborn and the look in those guarded eyes was all the answer Reborn needed.

"Something like that."

Refusing to answer any of the surely endless questions her friends could be itching to ask, Roksana turned her attention back to the match. She watched as Gokudera and Bel clashed in the library, Gokudera obtaining even more cuts. Even standing where she was, watching through a camera, Roksana could tell something was off.

Bel wasn't aiming for any vital points.

Was he merely just playing with Gokudera?

No, Roksana didn't think that could be the case. There was a time limit, after all. Bel didn't have the time to toy around with Gokudera. It was quickly revealed to them why Bel wasn't aiming to out right kill Gokudera. The princely boy, it turned out, had set a trap, weaving his wires around Gokudera until he had completely trapped him in a web of razor sharp wires, shredding the bombs he had thrown and spilling gunpowder all over the floor.

Gunpowder that Gokudera then used to free himself from the web of wires.

By igniting the gunpowder, he blew up the bookshelves around him, the wires going slack. Using those now slack wires, Gokudera used them to guide his bombs back to Bel just as Bel had used them to guide his knives earlier. The resulting explosion completely destroyed the library and left Bel laying in a pile of rubble. Gokudera, now starting to get dizzy from blood loss, Gokudera stumbled over to Bel, the Cervello women reminding him that the match wasn't over until he took Bel's half of the ring and completed the Ring of Storm.

As Gokudera reached down, grabbing hold of Bel's half of the ring, Bel's arm snapped out, the boy latching on to Gokudera's half of the ring. With only three minutes left before the turbine bomb went off, the match became a grappling match between the two.

Right at the fifteen minute mark, the first turbine exploded.

Apparently, the bombs would go off in a sequential order, starting with the turbine the farthest from the library. According to the Cervello, the library would blow in about a minute. The closer the explosions got, the more Gokudera fought. It got to a point where Shamal called to Gokudera to just give up the ring and withdraw. Gokudera argued the whole way. It wasn't until Tsuna spoke that Gokudera listened, but by then, it was too late.

The bomb in the library blew and they lost video feed.

"No...no way...it's not true." Tsuna whispered, his knees giving and the boy dropping to sit on the ground. "How could this happen...why...Gokudera-kun..."

"I wouldn't give up to despair just yet, Tsuna." Roksana told him.

Tsuna looked up at Roksana who merely nodded her head off down the hall. Out of the smoke clouding the air...stumbled Gokudera. The boy collapsed just yards from them.

"I'm sorry...Tenth. The ring was taken. I wanted to see the fireworks again, so I've come back." Gokudera told them as they hurried to his side.

"Thank goodness...Gokudera-kun. I'm really glad!" Tsuna told him.

"But I lost!" Gokudera insisted.

Roksana crouched next to Gokudera and lightly knocked her knuckles against his head.

"Tupoy, that doesn't matter if you die in the attempt to get it." Roksana told him, calling him an idiot in Russian. "What good is the ring to us without the guardian, huh?"

Gokudera, seeing her point, merely turned to Yamamoto, telling the other boy that it was now all in his hands. Though Gokudera was awkward about how he passed the torch on to Yamamoto, the other boy understood what he was trying to say.

"Since the Ring of Storm was obtained by Belphegor, the victory of this match goes to the Varia." Cervello One called, declaring the end of the match.

"Heeey. What a laughable ending." Roksana looked up, standing to her feet as the Varia members approached them, Squalo calling out to them. "With this, your lives are finally guttering like candles in the wind."

"Besides, so far your holders of the Rings of Mist and Cloud still haven't appeared. If your contender doesn't turn up, we'll win by default, and everything will be over." Mammon added.

"Now that you mention it, when are Hibari-san and the Mist person going to-"

"Don't worry about it." Tsuna turned to look at Roksana as she cut him off. "Our Cloud Guardian will show up, even if I have to drag him, kicking and biting, the whole way."

"Do you really think you can in your state, Roksana?" Tsuna asked, concerned that the girl would reopen her wounds.

"Oh, please. I could be on death's door and I would still be able to handle that boy. Don't worry about a thing, Tsuna. He'll be here when it's his turn." Roksana assured him.

Tsuna hoped she was right. Though he didn't want to see her get anymore hurt than she already was, he knew if there was one person, in all of Namimori, that could handle Hibari and get him to do something, then it was Roksana.

"Then, I will announce the match-up for the next battle." Cervello One told them.

"Tomorrow night's battle will be...the battle between the Guardians of Rain."

At this, a grin curled Squalo's lips.

"I've been waiting for this moment. I can finally have some real fun! Don't you dare run away just because you remembered the overwhelming difference in strength from last time." Squalo told Yamamoto.

"Hahaha! You don't have to worry about that. I'm so excited I won't be able to sleep." Yamamoto replied.

It was then that a Varia underling showed up to inform them that someone had breached the perimeter of the school building and that Levi's squad of underlings was being picked off one by one. Roksana had a feeling she knew who it was and heaved a sigh, drawing attention to her as she slapped a hand to her face.

"I told you he wasn't going to be happy." was all Roksana said.

Most of those around her turned questioning looks on her, but they soon got their answer.

Everyone turned as an underling came flying down the hall. Around the corner, came Hibari, looking displeased as usual.

"Hibari-san...he's here! He really came to join in the Scramble Battle for the rings!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"I wouldn't get ahead of yourself if I was you, Tsuna." Roksana told him.

"Unlawfully breaking into the school and, moreover, vandalizing the premises. By reason of joint responsibility, everyone here will be bitten to death." Hibari told them.

Roksana heaved another sigh, feeling completely done with the whole situation. Hibari ended up picking a fight with Levi, who was angry about Hibari's treatment of his squad. Even after the Cervello warned them that any fights with each other outside the Scramble Matches would end up with them being disqualified, Hibari didn't want to listen to reason and stop. It took Roksana stepping in while Hibari was distracted with Yamamoto, to put an end to Hibari's fixation on everyone else but her.

Everyone stared, some wincing, when Roksana pulled her ankle boot off her foot and stepped up to Hibari. The boy only saw the swing coming at the last second, the shoe already connecting with his right cheek before he could stop Roksana. It amazed him how much strength she still had despite all of her injuries. She hit him hard enough to knock him on his butt.

"Bad boy!" Roksana snapped at Hibari, leaning over to shake her shoe in his face. "I haven't have to smack you with my shoe since that time you rudely grabbed my ass, and your head is so thick and hard that I had to put a lot of energy into that swing. Maeve is going to have to sew up some of my wounds again."

"Wait, he did what!?" Gokudera demanded.

"Not now, Hayato." Roksana told him, shaking the shoe at him, her eyes never leaving Hibari's. "Listen up, you little sleep terrorist, I've put up with you invading my bed for the last couple of days, and I put up with a lot of other crap from you, as is. In fact, I let you get away with a lot that I don't let anyone else get away with. This, however, is not going to fly. You will not jeopardize this whole battle simply because you like acting like an impatient child."

Hibari's frown deepened with every word she said. He didn't even care about the weird looks everyone else was casting their way. The thing was, there were several things Roksana had said that had everyone wondering just what these two's relationship was behind closed doors.

"Do I make myself clear?" Roksana demanded.

The look on Hibari's face suggested that he would rather bite off his own tongue than listen to her, which only had one of Roksana's eyebrows twitching. To prevent the two from fighting, which would lead to someone bleeding, Reborn stepped in, telling Hibari that is he would take part in the battles and would be a little patient, than, in the near future, he could have another chance at a fight with Mukuro. That insured Hibari cooperation.

"All of the damages to the school building must be repaired." Hibari said.

"Yes. We the Cervello will be responsible for that." one of the Cervello told him.

"Is that so...I've changed my mind." Hibari announced.

"Really?!" Hibari turned to look at an annoyed Roksana. "You've got to be kidding. When you act like this, I have to wonder if maybe you like Mukuro more than me. You know...I still have that kimono. If you like Mukuro that much, maybe I should put it on and sho-"

Before Roksana could finish her sentence, Hibari rushed her. In the next breath, Roksana found herself roughly tossed over Hibari's shoulder. Tsuna squeaked as Roksana's expression went from slightly annoyed, to down right pissed off. Hibari settled here there, over his shoulder, and started off down the hall.

"Hibari! Put me the hell down! This is demeaning! You're pulling open my wounds...I'm am so going to smother you in your sleep!"

Everyone watched, in stunned silence, as Hibari rounded a corner, vanishing with Roksana in tow. Silence, for a moment, stretched between the two side, neither quite sure what to make of the weird turn of events. It was Gokudera who finally broke the silence.

"What the hell is their relationship!?"

While none of them had any answers, they were sure of one thing.

However things played out between the two...someone was going to end up hurt.

END

Kyandi: This isn't going to end well.

Roksana: For him it won't.

Kyandi: The two of you are strange and that's why I love to write you.

Roksana: Yeah? Well, for the embarrassment he caused me, he's going to regret it.

Kyandi: You're the one that taunted him, first.

Roksana: That's beside the point. If the boy can't take a little teasing, then he needs to grow up.

Kyandi: I suppose. Anyway, I have other chapters to work on, so let's wrap this up.

Roksana: Sounds good to me.

Kyandi: Everyone, please enjoy and review.

Roksana: We'll return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!