A/N: After this chapter, there's only one more and this part of the story is done…
I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about that…
Well, without further ado.
Enjoy.
Scene 40:
Getting Out
With their group of now four rushing through the labyrinth of corridors, the boys got a full-on taste of Tsuna's remarkable intuition as they were their way through the many different turns, making their way towards the staircase.
"What." She'd suddenly spoke up, yanking on Gokudera's arm. "Stop."
Bianchi immediately did so, forcing Gokudera and Yamamoto to do the same as the woman had taken to leading the way, being the one more attune to the layout of the corridors.
"Why?" Yamamoto asked softly, turning towards the petite girl.
Bianchi peered around a turn, waiting.
"Just listen to her," she said, not even looking at the two boys now standing close to Tsuna.
Gokudera did not appreciate her comment.
"What are you on-?" he didn't get to finish his question.
"Shh..." Bianchi waved at her brother. "Someone's coming." waved the two boys over, stepping back to allow them to see the small group of armed guards that passed by at that very moment.
Gokudera and Yamamoto stared wide-eyed at the group.
A few seconds later, Tsuna gave a short nod.
"Okay..." she breathed. "Go."
The group quickly set off almost before she had the chance to finish her word, taking off down the corridor whilst keeping their steps as quiet as they possibly could.
"How did you know?" Gokudera asked in a breathy whisper, pulling Tsuna closer to him.
"I don't know." was her short reply.
They'd barely traveled for more than two minutes before Tsuna spoke up again.
"Stop."
This time, there was no lull before anything happened. Bianchi barely had the time to stop moving before what looked like a large group of patrolling guards passed by their hiding place, their steps sounding almost like a marching army in the echoing tunnels.
"That was close..." Yamamoto breathed, staring at the wall in front of him as he collapsed onto the ground. Bianchi and Gokudera switched places after a short look, Gokudera taking up position at the corner, his gun raised in the air.
Tsuna didn't like to see her friend so prepared to step into harm's way like that…
She shook her head, her mind going back to the one time she and Bianchi were almost caught by a group of the guards, and she leaned closer to the woman.
"If we were caught." Tsuna glanced up at Bianchi. "Would you be able to do the smoke thing again?"
Yamamoto was the only one that looked confused at Tsuna's question, letting her know that Gokudera was aware of his sister's arsenal.
"No," Bianchi answered, steadying Tsuna as she momentarily swayed where she stood. "I only carry two masks." the corner of her mouth twitched although she did look she regretted it, even by a tiny bit. "I wanted an excuse to allow my more irritating members to be poisoned." she glanced at the young woman at her side, seeing the look on her face. "Besides," she said, rubbing her gently over the arm. "Even if I did use it, you would still be affected by it, so I won't."
"A good thing too." Gokudera scoffed, turning the group's attention towards him. "I don't think I'd be able to stand the smell of those things for more than half a second even with the mask on." he peered around the corner, eyes narrowing at the long line of guards that passed through the opposite corridor. "Why do you have so many fucking guards?" he asked his sister, irritation practically dripping from his tone.
Bianchi let out a long sigh, shaking her head as she rested her back against the concrete wall.
"Dylan insisted on having them," she answered in a low tone, looking out over the small group of guards barely visible from where they were standing. "If it'd been up to me, I would have surrounded the factory with a chemical minefield, but apparently, that idea wasn't trustworthy enough," she said the last part with an annoyed shake to her head.
The teens looked to one another, the same thought crossing their minds.
If Bianchi's loyalty to her group was weak enough to throw them to the curb without a second thought because the target was friends with her brother, maybe the men were right not to trust Bianchi's idea.
Plus, they rather liked the idea of not having to deal with chemical mist that could do stars-knows what to you.
Gokudera turned back towards his sister.
"How do you even afford them all?" he asked. "You're not using your allowance for them, are you?" he seemed almost appalled by the very idea.
Bianchi scoffed at his suggestion.
"Are you kidding me?" she almost raised her voice, clearly offended. "Wasting valuable funding on something as stupid as guards I could take down in my sleep?" she looked at her brother, expression filled with mock disgust. "I do hope your view of me is higher than that, brother dear."
Gokudera gave her a look, silently asking her to get on with it.
Rolling her eyes, Bianchi let out a long sigh.
"Vincent got the money." she finally answered. "He's been making a living doing inheritance scams and hacking to the bank accounts of wealthy families to fill his pockets." she shook her head in absolute disgust. "He wants to become an Initiate to escape Lumiera's justice system."
There is was again, more terminology.
Tsuna and Yamamoto shared a look of equally confused expressions.
Next to them, Gokudera let out a dark chuckle.
"No Guild would ever accept someone like him," he muttered.
"No kidding." Bianchi agreed with a scoff.
"Guys," Tsuna muttered, making their group turn their attention towards her. "We've got to keep moving."
They nodded in agreement and swiftly continued down the corridor.
Finally, after several minutes of running, the small group made it to the staircase, springing up and into the abandoned factory. That in and of itself had been strange for Tsuna, suddenly being in such a large area with big albeit dirty windows shining sunlight down upon them. She hadn't realized that she'd paused until Gokudera and Bianchi both grabbed her, Gokudera her arm and Bianchi her shoulders, working together to both push and pull her through the building as they wove through the fallen bits of all and ceiling towards the back door they had entered through.
It still stood wide open.
And standing right, was a tall, hulking form that most definitely did not belong to that of Reborn.
The group stopped just as the guard spotted them, his eyes narrowing dangerously when his gaze landed on Tsuna and Bianchi among them, Yamamoto immediately pulling Tsuna behind him, his own hazel eyes narrowing in a cold, calculating look.
A look that had previously only been seen on the baseball field.
The guard raised his rifle towards them.
"And where do you think you're going with the princess?" he asked, his voice surprisingly light, yet gruff.
None of them spoke.
Gokudera raised his gun, prepared to fire.
He didn't get the chance to, in the blink of an eye, the guard stumbled looking down at his torso in shock as a small hole appeared in his shoulder, blood already oozing from the spot.
Distracted, the man left himself open to a swift blow from Yamamoto's bat to the stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs and sending him to the ground with a quiet grunt. The small group swiftly stepped over the downed man, Gokudera helping Tsuna make a short jump over the surprisingly large form.
Once they exited the door, she group looked towards the only place the shooter could have been.
And sure enough, there, on the edge of the roof, stood Reborn, a gun in either hand with that looked to be silencers attached to the barrels.
His dark eyes landed on Tsuna.
The next thing the group knew, the man had jumped off the roof, flipping once in the air before landing in a manner that could only be described as a "superhero landing".
He should not have survived, the fall was too high.
His legs should definitely not be intact acted the way he landed either.
Almost as if on instinct, Tsuna's flames rushed to her eyes, lighting up the flames of those surrounding her that had previously been hidden.
She could see the bright blue that pulsated, dormant, in Yamamoto, the misty kind of red that surrounded Bianchi, active but obviously out of the woman's control, the heartbreaking darkness that was Gokudera, and then there was Reborn. A stable, bright yellow firmly infused inside the man's long muscular legs.
Tsuna could feel her blood run cold in her veins as her vision returned to normal.
At this moment, she was just getting a small glimpse of the skill the man had been suppressing for the entire time Tsuna had known him.
She couldn't help but wonder just what else the man was capable of.
Though… she also couldn't help but be annoyed at the man.
He hadn't needed to do something like that.
"Show off..." she found herself muttering under her breath.
Reborn rose from the ground, handing Gokudera one of his guns whilst he turned his attention towards his student. The silverette took the silent order for what it was and immediately raised the borrowed gun along with his own, his olive eyes scanning their surroundings, looking for even the slightest hint of movement.
He slowly took in the state she'd wound up in, his gaze lingering just a little longer on the cut on her temple.
The one injury they both knew she hadn't received by whilst captured.
The man didn't linger for long however, resuming the silent inspection.
If it was possible, his obsidian eyes became even darker.
"You ran into trouble?" he asked, sounding almost angry, looking the part, even more, when he realized that Tsuna was the only one who looked like she'd taken a beating.
At the teacher's words, Gokudera released an angry growl.
"We found her this way," he stated, firing at a guard just about to round the corner, anger plain in his voice.
Nodding in understanding, though still very much angered, Reborn allowed his eyes to trail down Tsuna's body, his gaze zeroing in on her wrists.
Still very much red, badly bruised, and with minor cuts and scrapes lining her skin.
Looking up at his student, Reborn raised an eyebrow.
Without even looking, the man raised his arm, letting off a bullet in the direction Gokudera wasn't covering, immediately downing an approaching adversary.
Tsuna watched as the man's pupils flashed that familiar shade of bright, glowing yellow that she'd seen just seconds before, indicating the gathering of flames in his own eyes.
She allowed the man to run his eyes over her again, taking in the level of controlled flames coursing through her veins.
She noticed how he paused over several areas of her body.
Heart, lungs, neck, brain, eyes, before finally settling on her wrists again.
For a split second, Tsuna could have sworn she saw fear flash across her tutor's face, but it was quickly smothered by the slight smirk that took its place.
"You pushed aside your fear," he noted, voice filled with a complicated mix of emotions, like he was proud, but also fearful…
Why he would be fearful though… Tsuna didn't know.
"I didn't really have much of a choice," Tsuna answered simply, shrugging.
The others in the group just looked at them, having absolutely no idea just what the two of them were on about.
They were brought out of their confusion by the sound of soft pops ringing through the air, looking up in time to see Reborn lowering his arm once again.
He still hadn't looked away from the group.
Tsuna couldn't help but narrow her eyes at her teacher, shaking her head slightly at his behavior.
He was showing off, there was no other word for it.
Another shot rang out, from Gokudera this time.
"We'd better go back to the car, Reborn said, reaching out a hand to grab Tsuna by the shoulder.
It was at that moment that his eyes finally landed on the surprise addition to their group.
Hand still on Tsuna's shoulder, Reborn's eyes narrowed as he leveled the barrel of his gun at Bianchi's forehead, successfully freezing everyone in the group in place, wide eyes traveling between the gun and the dark expression on Reborn's face.
Tsuna noticed how Gokudera's shoulders stiffened as though he was keeping himself from turning his gun on Reborn himself.
Say what you will about Gokudera, Bianchi was still his sister.
"Why is she with you?" Reborn asked the teenagers, not taking his narrowed eyes away from the woman's stiff figure.
Looking at Bianchi, the teens found that she stood as though transfixed, her eyes wide and glittering with an unknown emotion as her cheeks flushed into a bright pink color.
Apparently, the woman was not going to speak up on her own behalf.
Deciding to take the matter into her own hand, Tsuna raised an arm to grab Reborn's raised wrist.
Reborn's attention turned back to his student as she manually forced him to lower his gun towards the ground, saving the seemingly dazed woman from having to stare down its barrel for longer than she had to.
Once the arm was down, Tsuna looked up into her tutor's eyes.
"Reborn." she addressed the man, speaking at barely more than a whisper. "Bianchi saved me from assault."
Reborn's expression took on a murderous air at her words.
"You look pretty assaulted to me." he retorted, taking in the bruise forming on her cheek.
Taking a deep breath, Tsuna threw a quick glance back towards her friends.
Turning back to her teacher, she stepped even closer to him, making Reborn frown all the more at her actions.
"I mean..." she whispered, throwing another glance back at the others, taking in their confused expressions. "… sexually."
Reborn's fingers tightened around Tsuna's shoulders.
He forced himself to calm down, shaking his head in exasperation before he looked down at his student, taking a deep breath.
"Just what else are you going to go through?" he asked, finally allowing his hands to drop.
To his surprise, Tsuna actually narrowed her eyes at him in what could only be described as irritation, something rarely seen on her face.
"I'm sure you have a better idea on that than I do," she stated, voice almost at a growl as much rage her body could muster without seeping into that eerie calm practically radiated off of her tiny form.
It was quite a surprise for everyone around her.
Tsuna has had things kept from her for too long.
A series of gunfire sounded once again as Gokudera successfully brought down a smaller group of guards that had spotted them and taken of in their direction.
Reborn studied his student for a long time, taking in all the emotions flashing through her narrowed eyes.
"I don't disagree." he finally answered, keeping his words slow and deliberate, not even bother to try and hide it. He watched at Tsuna's eyes narrowed even further. "But we'll have to discuss that at another time."
He turned his eyes back on Bianchi.
The blush darkened over her face.
"Do you want to join us?" he asked, jerking his head down the path around the factory.
Bianchi looked very much dazed, but she did manage to bob her head into a short, shaky nod.
A small smirk spread across Reborn's lips.
"Then follow me." and with that said, he began moving away from the door, accepting the gun Gokudera extended towards him as he passed, Yamamoto quickly following after him.
Walking up to her, Gokudera put his hand on the small of Tsuna's back, making her briefly turn towards him. A shared look later, the two friends moved after the teacher.
For a moment, Bianchi remained as though frozen to the ground, her face a bright shade of red before she forced her head into a firm shake, bringing her out of the trance Reborn's very appearance had put her under.
Taking a deep breath, she followed the group.
Cautiously, the group walked along the road, moving around the building.
It was strange just how few guards were still around, only the few black dressed man entering their field of vision every other minute, only to be quickly disposed of by a quick shot from Reborn's gun before Tsuna's exhausted mind could even fully register that they were in danger.
As they walked, Yamamoto kept up his position right in front of Tsuna, whilst Gokudera brought up behind her, constantly taking in her slightly wobbly way of walking, almost waiting for the moment she would fall over.
Finally, the group reached the front of the factory, and the sight that reached them was one that forced them all into an abrupt stop.
Hibari Kyoya was still there, still fighting the remaining few guards that were still standing, large piled of the already beaten guards littering the ground around him, surrounded by scorched asphalt from detonated sticks of weak dynamites and grenades, mauled firearms and weaponry, the majority of them still looking to be in working order, and here and there, piles of shell-casings could be spotted among the limbs.
Wide eyes, Tsuna was reminded of the sight of the men through the purple smoke Bianchi had created, but the distinct difference with the bodies themselves, was that they were all battered, bruised and bloodied way past the point of recognition, some of them looking as though they had broken several bones, Tsuna wouldn't be surprised if several of them came out paralyzed in some parts if not every part of their bodies.
It was a truly frightening sight.
And yet, that was not the reason she'd frozen up.
The visual knowledge that Hibari Kyoya, the demon of Namimori, had come along with the rescue party, was far too shocking than the fact that he was capable of beating up more than a hundred men and come out relatively unscathed.
Hibari Kyoya beating up large numbers of people kind of went without saying.
With the sheer amount of guard the Riptides had gotten for themselves, Tsuna wouldn't be surprised if only a handful of the members were actually good at what they were paid to do.
Reborn glanced at his student, smirking at her reaction.
"He insisted on helping out, you know," he said, taking to stand right next to his student, the sound of his voice making her turn towards him. "Probably would have tried beating me up had I refused to allow him to be a part of the mission."
Tsuna blinked rapidly as she registered what he had just said.
Slowly, she turned back towards the scene that unfolded in front of her.
"Why would he do that?" she asked in a stunned whisper.
"I don't know," Reborn answered, stuffing his hand into his pocket. "He refused to tell me."
The tutor glanced down at Tsuna from the corner of his eye, watching as she stared at the feared demon of their small town.
Hibari grabbed the arm of the guard that had just tried to sneak up on him, throwing him over his
shoulder with a resounding cracking of bone as he collided with the guard that had advanced on his front and crashed to the ground.
Suddenly, Tsuna's mind filled with white.
Flash
There was a little boy, barely older than seven with straight black hair standing right next to her, holding her hand comfortingly as they stood in front of an elementary school building.
Flash
A faceless boy was looking down at her, with what she knew was an encouraging expression even though she couldn't actually see it.
Flash
A small, black-haired boy moved with great skill through a small crowd of children all bigger than him even though they were all around his age, only a few of them younger, hitting and kicking them all with anger radiating around his frame, his face a blur.
Flash
A small hand lands on her head, ruffling her messy curls as she feels a strange yet familiar warmth rush through her form.
Flash
A small, slightly chubby but calloused hand reached down towards her, a slightly larger hand quickly followed on her other side. Her own tiny, chubby hands reached out towards the outstretched limbs, their fingers closing around them before she was yanked up from where she'd previously been sitting on the ground.
Flash
The same calloused, chubby hand was holding out something towards her, something glittering in bright colors. She could feel the awe as she looked at it, her chubby fingers reaching out to gently pluck it from the outstretched palm.
Flash
The glint of a pair of steel-gray iris' as they look down at her, though they looked cold, they sent a wave of absolute warmth rushing through her body.
Flash
The flashes had done through her head at such a speed that Tsuna had had legitimate problems keeping up with them, but somehow, she managed.
Only now, as she was suddenly hit with this piercing, pounding ache in her temple, she wished she hadn't.
The suddenness of it all temporarily caused the strength in her legs to waver, causing them to buckle under her minuscule weight, and she probably would have collapsed right to the ground had Gokudera not spotted it in time, grabbing her, holding her steady.
"What's wrong?" he asked, peering at the side of her face from over her shoulder
She shook her head, brushing off his concern.
"It's nothing."
Having spotted one of the guards creeping up behind Hibari, Reborn swiftly raised his gun and shot him before the man had a chance to hit the prefect with the electrified baton he was carrying.
Knocking out his current opponent, Hibari spun around just in time to see what had been the final opponent fall to the ground, a hole in his shoulder.
Eyes narrowing, letting out a small, winded breath, Hibari gave his tonfa a quick spin to get rid of the blood that had splattered them before turning to pin his icy glare on Reborn, clearly not happy that the elder man had removed the last one from his fight.
"I could have handled it without your help," he growled at the man.
"I'm sure you could have." Came Reborn's swift retort.
Hibari's eyes roamed over the group after having narrowed his eyes even further on Reborn, and his eyes fell on Tsuna. Steel gray orbs moved over her within a one-second time frame, taking in whatever injuries she may have on her body.
Of course, she knew there were a few.
The look he had in his eyes… Tsuna just couldn't place it.
She had been so caught up in her own mind that she hadn't noticed Reborn moving towards the prefect. That is, until Gokudera physically moved her forward over the bloodied asphalt, new and what appeared to be centuries old, his hands firmly planted on her shoulders as he gently pushed her over the asphalt.
Before long, the group was standing in front of the demon of Namimori.
For the first time since Tsuna had first seen the prefect in Middle-school, Hibari Kyoya actually looked a bit worn down. His once proper and ironed clothing wrinkled, speckled with dirt and blood, and some areas even ripped. However, none of the blood appeared to have been his own.
Even his hair looked a bit disheveled.
The prefect turned his attention towards Reborn.
"I'll deal with the rest," he said confidently, just the tiniest bit out of breath.
Reborn raised an eyebrow at this.
"How do you plan on doing that?" he asked, looking over the eighteen-year-old.
Tsuna and Yamamoto shared a quick look.
When Hibari says he's going to do something, you simply don't question it. You know he's going to do it, because Hibari doesn't say he will do ANYTHING he knows he won't be able to succeed in doing.
He might be known as a demon, but that didn't mean he wasn't an honest one with strong morals.
Sure enough, Hibari narrowed his eyes at Reborn's words.
"I've got contacts," he answered swiftly. "I'll deal with them."
For a long moment, Reborn just stared at the younger man, eyes not moving away from the prefect's steely gaze.
Eventually, he relented.
He nodded in agreement, turning his attention from the eighteen-year-old boy's stare, instead directing them over to the rest of the group.
"Let's go to the car." he practically ordered.
Hibari wouldn't have this, however.
"Actually," he spoke up, making the group turn back towards him. "I'd like to speak to Sawada alone before you leave."
Immediately, Tsuna felt Gokudera stiffen behind her, his hands still resting on her shoulder tightening around the fabric of her sweat-shirt.
Reborn, however, raised an eyebrow at the prefect.
"What happened to Rabbit?" he asked with what Tsuna recognized as a teasing tone.
Hibari did not appreciate his comment.
"Shut up." he snapped.
Gokudera chose that moment to spoke up, leaning partially over Tsuna's shoulder.
"What are you-?"
Whatever he was going to say, it wouldn't end well given the expression on Hibari's face.
"Gokudera-kun." Tsuna quickly cut him off, keeping her voice calm, bringing her friend down from the explosion of fury he was about to unleash upon the prefect. Which really, really wouldn't end well. "It's alright."
She looked over her shoulder at her friend, taking in his conflicting emotions flashing across his eyes before his shoulders finally sagged in resignation.
"Fine..." he muttered, allowing his hands to fall from her shoulders.
As the group moved away, the delinquent pointed a finger at the prefect.
"If you keep her back for too long, you'll regret it."
Hibari only raised his eyebrow at his words.
Tsuna had no idea what the prefect was thinking, his emotions flashed too quickly, his face was too cold, but she could have sworn that she saw a momentary flash of approval, a brief twitch to the corner of his mouth as he followed the group with his eyes.
Eventually, she was left alone with him.
Well, not alone, they were still surrounded by piled of unconscious guards but they didn't exactly count, now did they?
Tsuna could feel the prefects eyes on her, but she couldn't bring herself to loop up, the very feel of his steel-colored eyes on her was making her uncomfortable, but there was no way it would be alright for her to voice these thoughts.
She tensed when he finally moved.
He lifted one of his hands from his side, reaching up to her bloodied face.
She stiffened, consciously holding her breath as the calloused hand hovered over her skin. A thumb brushed the hair away from her temple, making her cut all the more visible to the eighteen-year-old in front of her. He moved his hand again, hooking a finger under her chin to take in the scrape on her cheek... the developing bruise… the cut on her lip…
For a moment, Hibari just stared at her, studying her cuts.
Finally, he let his hand drop.
"These people are lucky." his dark voice echoed over the fallen bodied, bouncing off of the concrete structured surrounding them, Tsuna could feel her shoulders stiffening more and more with each word that reached her ears. "Your wounds are little more than superficial." He glared at the fallen men surrounding them. "If they hadn't, these men would have faced much more punishment than the one already in store for them."
Slowly, Tsuna nodded along with his words.
Feeling a little more daring at Hibari's less-than-hostile tone, Tsuna allowed herself to meet the prefect's eyes, to study his face as he was hers. Immediately, her eyes fell on a small cut running over his left cheek-bone.
Her arm moved on its own accord, rising from her side and up to his face.
Before she could stop it, her fingertips brushed against the small piece of torn skin.
It wasn't a deep cut, it wasn't even bleeding, but to know that his skin had opened at all spoke about how someone had actually been good enough to land a physical blow on the demon of Namimori, be it through actual hand-to-hand weaponry or a bullet.
She didn't get to think about it for much longer.
A second after her fingertips made contact, Hibari's own arm flew up on what could only be a well-practiced reflex, latching onto Tsuna's wrist, his fingers wrapping around the area just bellow her reddened skin.
She froze up at the touch.
"S-sorry." she stuttered, eyes snapping to the ground.
Hibari however, glances at Tsuna's wrist from the corner of his eye, his eyebrows drawing together into a frown.
He moved her arm away from his face, turning it in a way that revealed her red wrist to him with surprisingly gentle hands. He glanced down at her for a moment before he allowed his hand to move up, wrapping his fingers carefully around the red, partially cut portion of her skin.
Tsuna's eyes widened as she felt this, head snapping up to look at the prefect.
Thankfully, it didn't appear as though her skin was burning him, but he did frown at the contact.
He looked up at her again, meeting her eyes full on.
"Why does your skin feel feverish in this particular spot?" he asked, voice carrying a tone of suspicion as he looked at her.
She frowned right back.
"It's been quite some time..." she mumbled, looking down to where he was holding her, mentally going over the technique for getting out of grips like that that Gokudera had shown her months before in case she needed it. "Just how hot were those flames?"
It wasn't until the second that followed that Tsuna realized that she probably shouldn't have said that.
The exhaustion must finally be getting to her…
Hibari no longer attempted to hide his anger, his face morphing into an expression of pure, cold fury as his head snapped to meet her eyes.
"They used flames on you!?" he growled, his voice louder than she'd ever heard it, not to mention thunderous. How he managed to make sure that his words didn't echo over the courtyard, Tsuna had no idea, she was probably the only one that heard him. Well, her and the hundreds of battered and bleeding guards surrounding them on the asphalt.
She had a feeling they would not be inclined to speak about it any time soon.
Slightly bewildered, Tsuna shook her head.
"No." she answered.
Hibari raised an eyebrow at her.
"Even if they had, flames have no effect on me." she found herself saying, knowing that Hibari would not appreciate having any form of information kept away from him.
He gave her a questioning look, expecting her to give him more than that.
But no…
That was too much, and this was not the place for such conversations.
She shook her head, slowly twisting her wrist out of his grip.
"I'll explain it later," she promised, taking a step away from the Prefect.
For a moment, it looked as though Hibari wanted nothing more than to object, to demand an answer, an explanation from her. But he finally relented, his shoulders sagging as he let out a long breath.
Though his eyes never lost their steel.
He pierced her with a serious look.
"I'll make sure you do," he stated firmly.
"I know you will," Tsuna confirmed with a court nod.
Nodding back at her, Hibari jerked his head to the side, motioning with a glance towards the direction the others had disappeared off to.
"Go," he ordered, though his tone was gentle.
Knowing that going against the prefect's orders was as good as signing your life away, so with a graceful bow, Tsuna took off in the direction he'd motioned towards, her body legs breaking into a light jog as she rushed over the cracked paved ground under their feet.
Hibari watched her as she went, eyes trailing over the exhausted and slightly tense movements of her muscles, his face morphing into an expression of well-hidden concern, his own muscles tensing up as he physically kept himself from just rushing after her.
That wouldn't do, it would serve no purpose aside from possibly scaring the life out of her.
As it turned out, Tsuna already had a form of help waiting for her just a hundred meters from where they had been talking.
Gokudera had remained behind, leaning against the wall that served as the barrier keeping their car out of sight.
He pushed himself off of the wall as Tsuna came up to him, putting his hand at the small of her back before the two of them disappeared around the corner, leaving Hibari alone in the large factory courtyard.
Not even a minute later, the distinct sound of a barely audible engine reached Hibari's ears.
Finally, they were gone.
Letting out a long sigh, Hibari rolled his shoulders, getting rid of the slight ache that had formed in them before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek black phone.
Swiping his fingers across the screen with practiced movements, he pressed the device to his ear.
"It's me," he spoke into the receiver. "I need to talk to the chief."
A/N: The second to last chapter had been uploaded, then I'll get to fully, officially, focus on the already partially planned-out sequel.
We'll see how long I take finishing just planning the thing, so far I've only got the beginning fully laid out and bits and pieces for the rest of the story-line, but at least I have started planning the thing!
Anyway, until next time.
This has been:
A message from Her Ladyship.