Kyandi: Hey, guys!
Roksana: She was suppose to hold onto this chapter until tomorrow.
Kyandi: I know, but I got too excited! I just had to post this and see the reactions I'd get.
Roksana: Yeah...there's two points in this chapter that she really wants to see reactions to.
Kyandi: They'll see. On an unrelated note...to animeanimal12, if you ever feel up to explaining your process towards your answer to me, I would love to know how you arrived at your answer.
Roksana: She will not, however, confirm or deny whether your answer is right.
Kyandi: That's just going to have to wait.
Roksana: We will reveal the answer, eventually.
Kyandi: Just not yet! With that said, everyone enjoy and review.
Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman REBORN.
Chapter 28 SOS
Lal Mirch left her room later that day, ready to head out and find Byakuran, only to open her door to find Gokudera and Tsuna on their knees, waiting for her.
"P-please! Please teach us how the fighting methods work in this era!" they insisted.
"What is this?" Lal asked, looking between the two.
"W-we have to become stronger, so..." Tsuna trailed off as he looked up at Lal.
"But...that is...well, we don't know how to use the rings...and, er..." Gokudera closed his mouth, not really sure how to go about admitting that he needed help.
"This is Reborn's idea, isn't it." Lal stated, sure that she was right.
Reborn appeared then, landing on Tsuna's head and slamming his forehead into the floor.
"Bingo! In order to gather the guardians, they need to level up their fighting skills. There's nobody more suitable than you." Reborn told her.
"I refuse. Go ask Yamamoto to do it." Lal replied, not yet aware of the situation involving Yamamoto.
"Well, about that..." Reborn said, moving from Tsuna's head to Yamamoto's shoulder as the boy stepped forward. "As you can see here, Yamamoto has returned to an ordinary baseball nut."
"Hello." Yamamoto greeted, Gokudera yelling at him to get on his knees too.
"In any case, I have not the luxury of playing with you boys. Just carry on sitting here quietly and you may even live longer." Lal told them, moving past them.
"Wait a minute! Please! We're being serious! It's not just because of what Reborn said-"
"Forget it, Boss!" Gokudera told Tsuna, cutting him off. "We don't have to beg for help from that kind of woman!"
"But-!"
"I don't think she has the qualifications for being a trainer anyway!" Gokudera added, cutting him off once more.
"Gokudera..."
"That's a rather special point actually. Lal Mirch was a trainer fro the Italian Special Forces, Comsubin. Even I would acknowledge her as a trainer." Reborn told them. "Well, that's also because she was the one who trained Colonello before he become Arcobaleno."
"Eeeehhh!? That Colonello?! His trainer!?" Tsuna exclaimed.
"S-she trained an Arcobaleno!?" Gokudera added.
"Wait, but can you become a trainer so young?" Tsuna asked.
"And, before Colonello was an Arcobaleno, he wasn't even born yet...?" Gokudera mused.
"An-anyway, there's no one else who knows the fighting methods of this era." Tsuna reasoned. "There's no one else!"
Lambo and I-pin showed up then, Lambo carrying a butt load of guns in his little arms while I-pin ran after him.
"Look, Tsuna! Look! Lots of fire power!" Lambo cheered.
"Wha-!? Lambo! Where the heck did you get those things from!?" Tsuna demanded.
"In a room way, way, way, waaay over there. It's like getting lost. So fun!" Lambo cheered.
"Please, for goodness sake, just sit still and be quiet!" Tsuna pleaded with the child. "Right now, I'm trying to ask for a very important favor!"
"Play with me, Tsuna!" Lambo insisted, as if Tsuna hadn't just said something.
To make matters worse, there was a loud, shrill scream from the kitchen.
"What is it, now?" Yamamoto asked.
"It came from the kitchen! Kyoko and Haru! There's trouble!" Tsuna said.
The boys rushed to the kitchen, finding Kyoko and Haru there. Since the girls weren't fighter like Roksana and Bianchi, they had agreed to help by doing the cooking, chores and looking after the children. At the moment, the two were standing at the sink, the cabinet under it open to reveal some kind of fleshy, black glob stuck there. As Gokudera crouched to look at it, it suddenly broke free, crushing him under it. The blob, it turned out, was the future Giannini.
"How long are you going to sit on me?!" Gokudera demanded.
"Ah, so sorry about that." Giannini said, getting off him. "It's been a long time, gentlemen. I've become a very respectable man too. Now, I'm the best mecha-artist, you know. About two weeks ago, my father recommended me to come to Japan and overhaul all the systems in this hideout."
"You mean...you've been here all this time?" Tsuna asked.
"Yes. The barrier outside, and my clothes, too. Both were made by Giannini." Reborn replied.
"Then, what the heck are you doing in the kitchen?" Gokudera demanded.
"Ah, about that. That's because last week, I was fitting in the water pipes under the floor here. So, I was wondering where I could leave all my tools and parts." Giannini replied.
"Are you sure you're using the right skills!?" Tsuna demanded.
"Hn?" Yamamoto raised his nose, giving a sniff. "What's this smell?"
"Ah! Oh no, I'm sorry! I forgot to turn off the fire!" Kyoko said as she and Haru rushed to the stove.
"Fire! Fire!" Lambo chanted.
"Hey, stupid cow! Shut up already!" Gokudera snapped.
It seemed everything was going to hell in a hand basket. Tsuna wasn't sure how much more he could take. Lal and Reborn watched the mess from the doorway.
"Do you really think these greenhorns can survive long here?" Lal asked Reborn.
"Makes one wonder, doesn't it?" Reborn replied.
"Their prospects are zero. Even though they have the Vongola rings, in those hands, they will never win. I'm not so bored as to waste my time training a bunch of kids with no future prospects." Lal told him.
"Even if they've ignited the flames of the Vongola rings?" Reborn asked.
"What are you saying? That's not something you can learn in a day." Lal retorted.
"But, the fact is, two of them ignited the flames, and Gokudera even opened the box. Well, if you'd seen it, you'd know they were serious." Reborn told her.
"Stop talking nonsense! There's no way they could have done it!" Lal insisted.
"Log ago, that's what you said about that guy just because he was younger than you." Reborn reminded her, speaking of Colonello. "There's no way he could do it. His prospects were zero. Then, you left him. No? But, you must have seen it. Lal Mirch. When the time comes to protect those who are truly important to you, you will have a power that fears nothing, not even a curse. You can't afford to lose that. You have to get it back."
Lal thought about that for a moment, before turning her attention to the teenagers in the kitchen. Slamming a fist against the wall, she drew their attention to her.
"Listen up! The basic knowledge you need to know, and the fighting methods...I'll hammer them into your heads." Lal said, finally agreeing. "For some reason, the enemy has sent much more powerful squads here than we'd anticipated. The Black Spell that you fought...if the whole squad was there, you would have been goners in an instant."
"Ah...that's right, what's that Black-something or another?" Tsuna asked.
"The Millefiore family is a merger of two separate families! The up-and-coming Gesso family, led by Byakuran. And, a family with as much history as the Vongola, the Gioglio Nero family led by Uni. Furthermore, those who came from the Gesso family are now the White Spell, and they wear a white uniform. Those who came from the Gioglio Nero family are now the Black Spell, and they wear a black uniform." Lal explained.
"So...so that's how it is." Tsuna remarked.
"By the way, it's said that the White Spell specialize in precision and cunning battle tactics. Whereas the Black Spell have more fighters and ten to engage in direct combat." Lal added.
To Tsuna, it kind of sounded like the combination between Hibari and Roksana. While Hibari was more about direct combat, beating his opponent with brute force, Roksana was more cunning, coming at her opponents with sly tactics, always thinking one step ahead. If it worked so well for the two of them, Tsuna could only imagine how well it worked for a family of Millefiore's size.
"Whoaho! What kind of wind has gotten into you? Suddenly, you're telling us so much!" Gokudera said.
"Don't worry! If you fall behind just once, I will gladly leave you behind." Lal told him.
While it seemed harsh, the boys knew they would do whatever they had to, to keep up with Lal. With that said, Lal started her lessons with the boys, starting with teaching them about igniting the flames of the rings to open the boxes. Lal was struck speechless for a moment when both Gokudera and Yamamoto managed to ignite their flames rather easily. In order to catch Tsuna up with the others, Lal told them that if all three of them couldn't ignite the flames in the next hour, she would call off training them.
While he struggled with it under Lal's guidance, it wasn't until Reborn stepped in that Tsuna found his resolve and was able to ignite the flame.
From there, Lal taught the boys about the different types of flame. Like the Vongola rings, there were eight different types: Sky, Storm, Sun, Cloud, Mist, Lightning, Rain, and, the rarest one of them all from what Lal told them, Moon. Each human, she explained, was born with several wave energies in them, the strongest one being the attribute that decided the color and kind of flame they had. From what Lal told them, the Moon flame was rare, that very, very few people possessed even a trace of the Moon flame, and among those who did possess it, it was proven that all were women.
Something about only women being able to ignite the flame of rebirth.
By that point, Lal had lost the boys. Tsuna was sure Roksana would have understood. She had, after all, during the Moon ring battle, said something to Luca about the Moon ring being something that only a woman could really handle.
From that point, Lal went on to explain that each box had a certain attribute, and, to open it, the attribute of the wielder, the ring, and the box had to all match. The Sky was the only exception to this rule, the flame able to open any box, except one.
A Moon box.
Lal said it was something about a special property of the Moon flame which couldn't be replicated by any other flame. When Tsuna tried to open a box that Yamamoto's Rain flame, Gokudera's Storm flame, and Lal's Mist flame couldn't open, the box simple shattered, leaving a chained up pacifier much like that of the Arcobaleno, sitting in his palm.
Upon seeing the pacifier, Lal snatched it away from Tsuna and ended the training for the day.
The next morning, they received an SOS over a highly secured Vongola signal. When they pulled up video of it, it showed Hibird flying over the town, the signal-emitter attached to one of it's legs. As they watched, the signal got weaker and weaker until the it vanished near Namimori Shrine.
"The shrine? What would Hibari be doing in such a place?" Yamamoto asked.
"The signal was getting weaker...it's possible that the emitter's battery just ran out of power." Giannini told them.
"What? The battery ran out?" Tsuna repeated.
"On the other hand, it could have fallen into the hands of an enemy." Reborn added.
"It could also be a trap set by our enemies." Lal added.
Both were possibilities and Tsuna didn't know what they should do.
"Then, what should we do?!" Tsuna asked.
"Whichever the case, that is our only lead to find Hibari. We can't just stare at it wistfully, can we?" Reborn replied.
"But, please take a look at this." Giannini said, pulling up a radar lit up with blips. "I've just confirmed the rings currently present at that location. In other words, that's only the least of the enemies on the surface."
"That many?!" Tsuna asked.
"Among them, there is one ring of tremendous power. It's probably a captain-class...the ring's purity exceeds A." Giannini added.
"It's probably Gamma." Lal remarked.
"Gamma?" Reborn asked.
"The 3rd Aphelandra Squad you guys fought before? That's their captain...Electric Gamma. He's the man who buried many of the Vongola's upper echelon." Lal explained.
"Such a dangerous person there?!" Tsuna gasped.
"Heh. Who cares if he's a Gamma or a Samma. No need to worry, Boss. We've been self-training since yesterday, and have learned quite a few things on our own. Power up!" Gokudera said.
"That's right!"
"Ehh!? I didn't hear anything! I was sleeping as usual!" Tsuna fretted.
"You're still injured, Boss! Of course you need rest!" Gokudera told him.
"Oh yeah, Gokudera, after our training, what were you making on your own?" Yamamoto asked.
"You made something?" Tsuna asked.
"Were the tools you borrowed yesterday useful?" Giannini asked.
"Yup! Spot on! Boss, please take a look!" Gokudera said before showing Tsuna the box his future self had left behind. "My box customized! Perfect, isn't it?"
Tsuna was at a loss for just how fanatic about that kind of stuff Gokudera was. Haru arrived then, telling them that Kyoko had gone missing, leaving behind a note that said, "I need to go home, just once. I'll bring some snacks back for Lambo, too.". If they weren't sure about going out after the SOS from Hibird, they were sure then.
Deciding it was best to split into two groups, so they could find Kyoko and go in search of Hibird at the same time, they headed out. Tsuna sent Yamamoto and Gokudera in search of Hibird, while he and Lal went after Kyoko. Once outside the base, Gokudera and Yamamoto moved quickly, but no sooner did they arrive at the shrine, they were attacked by members of Gamma's squad. Taking them down proved easy for the two, but it had only given Gamma enough time to arrive on the scene.
"Didn't I hear something about the Vongola guardians being scared stiff, and running around in circles? Once again, you cute little fellas have come out to play." Gamma said, looking down at Yamamoto and Gokudera from where he remain floating in the sky, electricity bright around his feet. "No mistake...you're the Rain Guardian and the Storm Guardian, aren't you? Though you look younger than your photographs...much, much younger."
Gamma landed on the ground then, both Gokudera and Yamamoto stiffening up, ready for the fight it looked like they weren't going to be able to avoid.
"Do the Vongola drink some kind of youth-restoration elixir? In any case, rather than saying I'm here to fight you, it's really more like a reprimand." Gamma told them.
"I'm going to get this impudent, bad-mouth. Don't you dare interfere." Gokudera told Yamamoto.
"Yeah, yeah." Yamamoto replied.
"I still have the deposit I made for those earlier guys." Gokudera added.
"Deposit?" Yamamoto asked.
Gokudera didn't answer, just attacked. He thought, at first, that he had managed to get Gamma, but Gamma showed that he wasn't going to be that easy to take down. Yamamoto insisted that it would be better if he and Gokudera teamed up, but Gokudera refused, insisting that he would never team up with Yamamoto. As Gokudera faced Gamma, Yamamoto turned his back and walked away. To Gamma, it looked like two allies who really didn't get along. Even as Gamma brought out his own ring and box, his ring said to be as powerful as the Vongola rings, Yamamoto didn't move to help Gokudera.
When it looked like Gokudera was really about to go down, Yamamoto stepped in, only to send Gokudera flying with one well placed hit.
"Fuck you...what stunt are you pulling?!" Gokudera demanded.
"I'm here to beat that rotten temper of yours into shape. The more I think about it, the more angry I get." Yamamoto told him.
"What'd you say?!" Gokudera snapped.
"I heard that before you came to Japan and met Tsuna, you were a lone wolf who didn't trust anyone else. For that reason, I can understand why you're so loyal to Tsuna, who was the first person who opened your heart. But, if you open your heart only to Tsuna, all you're doing is putting pressure on Tsuna." Yamamoto told him.
"Wha...What the hell are you talking about! Fuck you!" Gokudera growled. "In the first place, a right-hand man is supposed to be-"
"The leader of the guardians whom the boss can count on the most, isn't it? You're supposed to pull the guardians together! Instead, you've turned away from them. What kind of rubbish is that! Right now, you have no right to call yourself his right-hand man." Yamamoto told him before turning to face Gamma. "Player substitution! Sorry to keep you waiting."
"No problem. I rather enjoyed the bickering." Gamma replied. "You know, when I was younger, I always chose an instant-kill without a second thought. But, not that I'm getting on in my years, it's not a bad idea to listen to what my opponents have to say. Otherwise, I'll quickly forget about the people I've killed, you know? I'd rather not forget about you two."
Just as Gamma shot electrically charged balls at Yamamoto, the boy preparing himself to counter attack, Gokudera kicked him out of the way.
"Gokudera! You-!"
"You want to died from an electric shock?!" Gokudera demanded, cutting him off. "If you died, the boss would be devastated!" Gokudera snapped at Yamamoto before he could finish his sentence.
"Hey, guys, there's only one half-time per game. Give it up! Both of you are going to die here." Gamma told them.
"Certainly, we'll die, one after the other. If we fight you one-on-one, that is. That's why the Boss sent us out in pairs. Bah. To me, it's more like being given the burden of looking after Yamamoto." Gokudera said, glancing over his shoulder at Yamamoto. "Are you going to keep slacking, Yamamoto? It's about time we worked together, and beat the crap outta that guy."
"You bet! I've been waiting for it!" Yamamoto agreed.
Together the two moved, dodging Gamma's attacks while trying to land one on him. With Gokudera covering for Yamamoto, he made a smokescreen, trying to give Yamamoto the chance to close in on Gamma. Gamma merely opened another box, this one a pair of foxes. To give Yamamoto a clear shot, Gokudera fired a shot to repress Gamma's flames, giving Yamamoto the chance to land a hit. Unfortunately, since Yamamoto hadn't backed up his slice with his flames, Gamma was able to block the slice and counter attacked, knocking Yamamoto down and out.
Gokudera was next, Gamma provoking him until he lost his head, giving Gamma the chance to close the distance between them. With Gokudera down and pinned, Gamma tried to force information out of him, though Gokudera wasn't answering the question presented to him. Yamamoto, launched a surprise attack on him, still not completely done in, but in his state, it was all too easy knock him down again. It was looking bad for the both of them.
Tsuna and Lal arrived to find none other than the future Hibari, fighting with Gamma with a ridiculously large hedgehog while Gokudera and Yamamoto lay ont he ground in a blood mess.
"You two are really late." Hibari remarked in passing, carrying on his attack.
One last hit was all it took to lay Gamma just a low as he had laid Gokudera and Yamamoto. When the man was out cold on the ground, Hibari turned to look at Tsuna.
"What have you been up to, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" he asked, Tsuna greeting him happily. "Yamamoto Takeshi and Gokudera Hayato are in the forest over there."
Tsuna rushed over to the two, finding the future Kusakabe already there with the two.
"It's alright. Their lives are not in danger." Kusakabe assured him. "Still, we need to get them treated quickly...let's take them to the hideo-"
The sound of approaching fighting, cut Kusakabe off, all of them tensing, ready for another fight. Right before Hibari could pull his box weapon back out, though, a loud curse in what Tsuna was sure was Russian, reached them. What came crashing through the trees after that, had Tsuna's jaw dropping.
Two men, dressed in the same uniforms as Gamma, came flying through the trees, their faces being driven into the dirt by a pair of heeled boots. Eyes traveled up from the black, knee-high boots, over dark purple, thigh-high stockings, to the pair of black jean shorts that fit her like a glove, to the purple crop top with a black, sleeveless, lacy kimono cardigan. When Tsuna's eyes found the signature silver blonde pigtails and lollipop stick sticking out from between full lips, he gasped in joy.
"Roksana!" Tsuna called, making the girl turn to look at him.
While he had thought he would run into the future Roksana, he was still relieved to see his time's Roksana. The girl, though, looked dirty, a little banged up, and, judging from the circles under her eyes, she obviously hadn't slept in a few days.
"Tsuna, finally! I've been stuck here in the future for days now, looking all over the place for you." Roksana told him, turning to hop off the backs of the two men she had just taken down with no more than her feet and hands. Her eyes landed on Gokudera and Yamamoto then, the girl ignoring the thoroughly shocked look on not only Kusakabe's face, but Hibari's too, hurrying over to them. "My God. I'm gone for a few days and the three of you get yourselves all beat up."
"Y-yeah, a lot has happened." Tsuna told her.
"Catch me up later. I've been on the run for days now, and I don't trust sitting still right now." Roksana told him before she finally noticed Kusakabe. Looking down at the man still crouched on the ground, Roksana blinked. "Kusakabe? Wow, you really haven't changed all that much."
Kusakabe couldn't respond to her, his jaw was still hanging. He could only look from Roksana to Hibari. Seeing his glances behind her, Roksana turned, her eyes finally meeting those of the future Hibari. Just like Kusakabe, Hibari's eyes were open wide, his expression betraying his shock without the hanging jaw. Roksana looked between the two, wondering what was up with them.
"Why are you two staring at me like that? You look like you've seen a ghost." Roksana remarked.
She turned to look at Hibari again, watching as a muscle clenched in his jaw before, without a word, he started towards her, a determined look on his face. Roksana shifted to fully face him, hand hovering over her sansetsukon. Whenever Hibari had that look on his face, he started a fight or something like that. After days of no sleep, little food, and constantly running and hiding to survive after clashing with weird guys in black uniforms, she was not in a mood for a fight.
"What are you looking at me like that for? Future self or not, I will still smack you across the face with my sho-"
Roksana was cut off when Hibari stopped in front of her and, instead of attacking her, seized her by the waist, yanking her into the hard line of his body, his other hand coming up to her face, his thumb forcing her chin back. Tsuna freaked out, his jaw dropping once more as, before Roksana could say a word...Hibari kissed her.
Tsuna, Kusakabe, and Lal were forced to stand there and watch as Hibari forced Roksana's lips to part, his tongue sliding into her mouth to tangle around her own. Roksana, stunned into freezing on the spot, took a moment to process the fact that Hibari had his tongue in her mouth before she jolted as he tilted his head and deepened the kiss even more. Making a noise of protest into his mouth, her hands started twitching, her fingers curling and uncurling as if she had no idea what to do with them.
And Hibari wasn't letting up.
Ten second past, then twenty, then thirty. Roksana's knees started wobbling at the minute mark, her fighting getting desperate as Hibari latched onto the back of her head to keep her in place. Around a minute and a half, Roksana went limp in Hibari's arms, the lack of air from panicking mixed with the embarrassment, finally going to her head and causing her to pass out. Hibari finally released her mouth, finding the girl's face blood red as she hung there.
"Wha-what was that!?" Tsuna demanded, his own face red as he finally found his own voice.
Kusakabe heaved a sigh, hanging his head as he gave it a shake. Looking back up at Hibari, he could swear the man couldn't have looked more smug and proud of himself.
"She's going to be furious with you, Kyo-san, when she wakes up." Kusakabe told him before turning to Tsuna. "That being said, I can understand his reaction. It's been too long since we've seen her."
Surprised to hear this, Tsuna turned a confused look on Kusakabe, noticing that a sad look had come over Kusakabe's face, while there was a strange look in Hibari's eyes that Tsuna had never seen before. Afraid of what those looks meant, Tsuna asked the question.
"Did Roksana...move away?" Tsuna asked, praying, hoping they would say yes.
Judging from the look on the two men's faces, he had a feeling that wasn't going to be the case, at all. What came out of Kusakabe's mouth next, had Tsuna feeling like ice had just been dumped into his veins, while his stomach bottomed out.
"No, she didn't. Sawada-san, in this era, Roksana-sama...is dead."
It seemed the bad news just kept coming.
END
Kyandi: I'm not sorry!
Roksana: What she means to say, is that my death in the future, is for a reason.
Kyandi: I few different plot reasons, but you'll see them all soon enough.
Roksana: She has another surprise about my and Hibari's future together for all you coming up, as well.
Kyandi: And it's a dozy!
Roksana: She's a little too happy about it in my opinion.
Kyandi: Yeah, well, I can't blame you for not being as happy about it.
Roksana: No spoilers, right?
Kyandi: None! So, everyone, enjoy and review.
Roksana: We'll be back tomorrow, for sure.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!