Kyandi: Hey, guys! I'm so sorry!
Roksana: She could have sworn she posted this last night before going to bed.
Kyandi: I was a mess last night. Too much to do before I needed to be in bed early for an early doctor's appointment today. Which sucked!
Roksana: Kyandi-sama is not a big fan of getting blood drawn.
Kyandi: I hate needles!
Roksana: Understandably since you have small veins that are hard to get.
Kyandi: I got poked four times! Four times! That aside, though, please forgive me for not getting this up yesterday. My blonde root took over.
Roksana: You are not a dumb blonde.
Kyandi: No, but I have my moments. Anyway, thank you so much to all of you who leave me reviews. They make me laugh and make me so happy! Thank you!
Roksana: She rolls around on her bed just giggling giddily.
Kyandi: I'm happy! With that said, everyone, please enjoy and review! I'm going to go baby my needle-poked arm.
Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman REBORN. She does, however own a baby's whine when it comes to needles.
Kyandi: Leave me alone!
Chapter 40 Choice
The next day, finally seeing Roksana's point and taking her advice, Tsuna told both Haru and Kyoko about what was really going on around them. Feeling a little better now that he had told them the truth, Tsuna went to the strategy room to tell the others that he had finally given in and told the girls. There, he found Roksana, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, and Giannini with Dino.
"Yo, Tsuna!" Dino greeted when Tsuna walked into the room. "I came to check on how the training is going. Didn't you get all tired from housework?"
"Hmmm...because I got a clue on how to open the box from Kyoko, I don't think he will go wild again." Tsuna told him.
"Well, that's good. He almost gave me a bad hair day the last time." Roksana remarked.
"Finally!" Ryohei cheered.
"That's our Tenth!" Gokudera exclaimed.
"But I haven't tried it yet so I'm not sure yet." Tsuna told them.
Just then, a very loud, very annoying series of "La, la, la!" sounded from their master computer, making them all turn. Little Pacman-like images appeared on the screen.
"What the hell is it now?" Roksana asked.
"What is this, Giannini?" Tsuna asked.
"I don't know. Someone is interfering with the network." Giannini replied.
The watched as all the little Pacmen gathered in the center of the screen, merging together to become a chibi Byakuran. The image was then switched for the real Byakuran, who was in the middle of eating an elaborate sundae.
"How is it? Is it interesting?" Byakuran asked.
"It's the Marshmallow." Roksana declared, Byakuran chuckling at the nickname she had adopted for him.
"It's too boring so I cam to play! Want some?" Byakuran asked, offering the sundae.
"Bastard! Fooling around with us?" Gokudera snapped.
"Just kidding. Actually, I'm here for some business regarding "Choice"." Byakuran told them. "That's right. Even though we decided on the time, but the location is not set, right? Six days from now...twelve noon. Gather at Namimori Temple."
"We're going to fight in Namimori!?" Tsuna demanded.
"Yeah, what do you think?" Byakuran asked.
"I think you have fluff between your ears." Roksana replied, only amusing Byakuran further.
Was there anything she could say to annoy this man?
"Anyway, please prepare what is necessary and bring everyone there. At least, bring everyone one from the past over." Byakuran ordered.
"Wait...everyone!?" Roksana demanded. "Including Haru, Kyoko and the children? You must be out of your marshmallow mind."
"That way then it has meaning. If everyone is not present then you will be disqualified." Byakuran told them. The boys tried to argue, but Byakuran wasn't hearing it. "Then work harder on your training."
With that, the screen went blank.
Roksana was so annoyed, her fingers were twitching like she was tempted to strangle something. All of her friends stepped back away from her as she fought to keep a cool head.
"When I see him in person, I'm going to strangle him until the marshmallows between his ears, pop out of his eye sockets!" Roksana hissed.
"O-kay...I think it's cool down time for you." Dino told Roksana, Yamamoto wrapping arms around Roksana's shoulders to keep her in place.
Roksana heaved an annoyed huff, dropping her hands and letting Yamamoto keep her in place. It was almost as if they thought she was Hibari and would just run off to find Byakuran and carry out her threat.
"How could this...even Kyoko and Haru must go to the battlefield?" Tsuna demanded.
"At this rate, we won't be able to keep the secret." Yamamoto remarked.
"Looks like Tsuna's decision to tell them everything is not a bad idea." Reborn said.
Roksana knew this wasn't going to end pretty when Yamamoto, Ryohei and Gokudera turned to look at Tsuna.
"So-sorry, I said it. I think that Roksana is right and they must understand the truth." Tsuna told them.
Ryohei's reaction was punching the wall hard enough to crack it. From the way his body was shaking, it was easy to tell that he was angry. Roksana slipped out of Yamamoto's arms, making the boy look down in surprise at how easily she had gotten away.
"Kyoko...how could this..."
Ryohei grit his teeth, trying to control his anger.
"This guy, what is there to be angry about?" Gokudera demanded.
Roksana caught Ryohei as he flew forward, shoving his chest to push him back away from Tsuna.
"Chill out, Ryohei. Takeshi, a little help before I flip him on his face." Roksana called.
Yamamoto wrapped an arm around Ryohei's shoulders, pulling him back. Roksana kept herself between him and Tsuna, though.
"What to do with Kyoko!?" Ryohei demanded.
"She...she listened to me properly." Tsuna told him, Ryohei stopping his fighting.
"I think Tsuna's judgment isn't wrong, Ryohei. In our current situation, it's just a matter of time. Roksana even said this, didn't she?" Dino replied. "Speaking of which, how did Byakuran invade the network?"
"You amateurs!"
"And the shark make his appearance." Roksana said in a put out tone when she heard Squalo's voice.
Everyone turned, finding Squalo standing in the doorway with a huge fish in hand. A fish that he held out to Dino as a "Gift of greetings". Roksana was pretty sure the fish was a tuna and would feed them all nicely.
"You're pretty slow, Squalo. You student can't wait anymore." Dino told him, taking the fish.
None of them had to asked Dino what he meant as Squalo made a b-line for Yamamoto. When Squalo, with no warning, attacked Yamamoto, Roksana rocketed forward, already reaching for her sansetsukon, her eyes sharp and not amused. Dino grabbed her around the waist, holding her back as Squalo draped the now unconscious Yamamoto over his shoulder.
"That was unnecessary! Let me go, Dino!" Roksana insisted, trying to pry Dino's arm away from her waist.
"Are you trying to kill him?" Gokudera demanded.
"I really want to kill him." Squalo replied, turning to leave. "I will take care of this trash."
"Leave this to Squalo." Dino told them, having to heave Roksana off her feet to make it more difficult for her try to pull free. "He understands Yamamoto more than we do."
"Dino...let go." Roksana told him, falling still.
"Are you going to go after Squalo?" Dino asked.
"No, now let go before-" Roksana cut off as Ryohei punched Tsuna right in the face, Tsuna flying off his feet. "That...before that happens."
Dino let go of Roksana, the girl hurrying to Tsuna's side to check on him.
"I am a man too. With this fist, let's step forward towards the next level!" Ryohei declared.
Roksana turned to watch as Gokudera followed Ryohei out of the room, yelling at the boy. Heaving a sigh, she dropped her face into her hand. This whole thing was becoming a headache.
"Are you alright, Roksana?" Tsuna asked.
"I should be asking you that. Your nose is bleeding." Roksana told him, pulling a tissue from her pocket to hold it out to him. Tsuna took the tissue from Roksana and the girl got to her feet. "I guess it's back to training for me. Dino."
"Huh?"
Dino turned to look at Roksana when she called his name.
"You're sticking a round for a while, right?" she asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Good." Roksana reached out, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt to start dragging him after her. "You're going to be my training buddy for a little while. I'm going to make training with Hibari look like child's play for you."
"I don't know whether to be happy you're growing so strong, or be scared." Dino admitted as she drug him away.
Roksana's reply did nothing to help sooth his nerves.
"Be afraid. Be very afraid."
-0-0-0-0-
Over the next six days, they all trained harder than they ever have before. The night before the big battle, Spanner and Irie made it to the hideout, the two so exhausted that they went straight to bed. Roksana checked in on the two before she went to bed herself and never burst into laughter when she saw that Irie had fallen asleep in the middle of changing clothes and was asleep on the floor, leaning against the wall, his shirt half pulled up.
She felt bad for him, but she also couldn't help but laugh.
The next morning, Roksana was heading to meet up with the others when she came across Irie talking to himself as he walked the hallway.
"Ahh...those girls certainly are vicious. My ears are still ringing. No...I must wake up properly! This is the day of the showdown! You have to set a good example to the younger ones, Shouichi!" Irie told himself.
"Talking to yourself in the middle of the hallway isn't a good way to start."
"EEEII!"
Irie jumped nearly out of his skin, whipping around to find Roksana standing there behind him, hands on her hips and Marc and Ryoka peeking around her legs.
"O-oh...Volkov." Irie said in greeting.
"Stop right there. For one, you're being way too tense, like you think I'm going to attack you at any moment. I don't usually make it a habit of attacking family. For two...it's Roksana. Family calls me by my given name." Roksana told him as she moved past him, patting him on his shoulder. "You should hurry up. According to Tetsuya, Reborn has special uniforms for us."
Irie, smiling in relief that one of Tsuna's scariest guardians had accepted him, followed after her. They split up so Roksana could go get changed. When making the uniforms, Reborn, apparently, had taken Roksana's style into account.
Instead of a skirt or pants like all the other girls got, Roksana's "suit" had thigh-high shorts with laces holding the sides together. Her dress shirt was made into a halter-top fashion. It would give Roksana less resistance when she moved. Roksana pulled on the clothes, rolling on her thigh-high, black stockings with lacy black bows at the top, tugged on her boots and snapped a belt around her waist from which hung her Vongola box. She had been supplied with a special thigh belt for her other three boxes and attached them to that.
She slid her sansetsukon in to the back of her belt, pulled on her suit jacket enough to let it hang from her elbows. When she walked into the meeting room where the others were waiting, she was adjusting her pigtails. Her tie was worn loose around her neck, the first two buttons of her shirt undone.
"What the hell did you do to your suit!?" Gokudera demanded.
"Reborn had it made this way. If I was to wear something like your's, my mobility would be effected. Trust me...we don't need that." Roksana told him.
"Mama! Lookie! Uncle Marc and I have suits too!" Ryoka cheered running up to Roksana wearing a suit just like Haru's and Kyoko's.
Marc was wearing his own little suit, Roksana smiling as she looked down at them.
"It looks amazing, baby, but I...I really don't feel comfortable taking you two with me." Roksana said, crouching in front of Ryoka and Marc.
"Don't worry, Roksana. I'll keep a close eye on them." Bianchi assured her.
"Thanks, Bianchi." Roksana told her before focusing on the two children in front of her. "You two listen to Bianchi and stay with her. No matter what happens, you two stay safe and stick together. Okay?"
"Yes, Mama." Ryoko agreed.
"Please be careful, Sis." Marc told her.
"I will. Don't worry about me, Marc. I promised you I wasn't going to leave you alone." Roksana told him.
With that done and everyone ready, they all headed out for Namimori Shrine. Arriving there, they found a tent covered contraption waiting for them.
"Some kind of festival float?" Haru asked.
"It's a festival!?" Lambo asked.
"Stay back!" Gokudera insisted, thinking it might be come kind of trap set by the Millefiore. "It could be the Millefiore!"
"Oh, I'm sorry...I forgot to mention. This is our base unit." Irie said, chuckling sheepishly as he rubbed his head. "I transported it out here earlier this morning. Your bikes are all safe inside, as well."
"So this is what you were working on for ten days straight!" Haru exclaimed.
"Doesn't look too impressive, does it...this thing better not look like a piece of junk on the inside!" Gokudera told Irie.
"I did everything I could!" Irie replied.
"I'm sure it's great." Roksana told Ire, pulling out her cellphone to check it.
It was then that Tsuna realized that they were missing Yamamoto and Hibari.
"What are those two playing at!?" Ryohei demanded. "This is the final battle!"
"They couldn't have decided not to come, could they?" Giannini asked.
"There's always the possibility that their training wasn't successful." Reborn remarked.
"Yeah, I don't think that's the case." Roksana remarked, starting at her phone screen.
"She's right! It'll be fine! They'll be here any minute!" Basil insisted. "At any rate, not a single member of the Millefiore has showed up yet, so there's no problem!"
"Don't jinx us, Basil." Roksana told him.
"Hmmm..."
"Spanner, if you're about to tell us something bad, I'm going to flip your laptop." Roksana said when Spanner made the noise.
Spanner glanced up at him, taking two giant steps to the side until he had placed Tsuna, Marc and Ryoka between them. With the insurance of his human shield, Spanner turned his attention back to his computer.
"There are Dying Will flames approaching...and they're incredibly huge. They're closing in fast." Spanner told them.
"I hate you both." Roksana said, looking from Basil to Spanner.
The thing was...neither could tell if she was joking.
"Hm...that's odd. They ought to be right on top of us by...up there!" Spanner said, suddenly looking up.
All of them tipped their heads back, looking up as storm clouds gathered over their heads, getting thicker and thicker until the center of them parted, a light falling on their group as a large machine shaped like Byakuran's head, appeared.
Out of all of the reactions, Roksana's was possibly the funniest and most spot on.
"Unholy mother fucker!"
Watching Roksana, straight face, scream that to the sky, was a sight that was... a little difficult for them to describe.
"An illusion?" Gokudera asked.
"I don't think it is...Roksana?" Chrome asked.
"No, that unholy thing is definitely real." Roksana told them.
"I'm reading metallic signatures. It's a gigantic apparatus." Spanner added.
"Hmm? I thought I told you to make sure everyone was here." came Byakuran's voice from the thing over their heads. "Ah, well, never mind. You're only putting yourselves at a disadvantage, after all."
"You're the one breaking the rules here! That apparatus is far too big to serve as a base unit!" Irie called out.
"You always like to jump to conclusions, Shou-chan." Byakuran remarked. "All this is for is to transport you all to the stage where we'll be holding our game of choice. A hyper-flame ring transfer system."
"Transfer system...?!" Irie repeated.
"That thing you used to get rid of the Melone base?!" Gokudera asked.
"In other words, the battleground isn't here in Namimori." Reborn pointed out.
"Yup, that's right. However, as you already know, this apparatus doesn't activate all that easily. So it's also going to serve as a little test, to see if you're qualified to take part in today's game. Five million Fiamma Volts! That's the amount of energy required to transport all of you to the Choice stage." Byakuran told them.
"F-five million Fiamma Volts!?" Irie repeated.
"That's twenty times the output of the max power X-burner!" Spanner added.
"You see, this transfer apparatus is a real energy hog. So I thought I'd get all of you to provide the necessary energy yourselves. Think of it as your ticket to the game, if you like." Byakuran told them.
"But that's...that's outrageous!" Fuuta called.
"How are we supposed to provide twenty times the output of the X-burner just like that?!" Giannini asked.
"Just produce the flames whenever you're ready, and the apparatus will collect them. And, not to put any pressure on you or anything, but if you fail to produce them, that will count as a failure, and I might have to do this to the the town." Byakuran told them, before firing off a laser to hit the mountains outside of Namimori.
"What do you think you're doing?! Byakuran!" Tsuna yelled.
"Oopsie! Sorry 'bout that! I guess my face slipped?!" Byakuran said, laughing.
"I can see how this guy might be able to rule the world through fear." Reborn said.
"Well then, quickly now! Get those flames burning! There's not much left before twelve o'clock, when the game begins! Once the light shining down from me disappears, that's time up!" Byakuran informed them as the light shining down on them started to narrow. "Come along, then! What's the matter? Getting scared?"
"Not everyone is here yet." Tsuna replied.
"Oh? Nice to see a healthy respect for the rules. Or could it be that this is just an excuse for your inability to produce the five million Fiamma Volts?" Byakuran taunted.
"No. They'll be here." Tsuna insisted.
Roksana glanced down at her phone as Byakuran chuckled.
"I'm afraid your time is up." Byakuran retorted.
"They're coming." Tsuna insisted.
"Tsuna."
Tsuna turned his eyes to Roksana, who gave him a nod. A moment later two flame fueled figure shot towards them. One was Hibari and the other was Yamamoto. With the arrival of their last two members, everyone drew their Vongola boxes, inserting the flames to open them. The resulting flames combined together, rocketing toward the apparatus. To the surprise of Byakuran, as well as Giannini, Spanner, and Irie, they were able to produce twice the amount of Fiamma volts than they needed to.
Before anyone could turn and see what animal Roksana's box weapon took, she closed her box, hanging it from her belt once more. She was perfectly happy to keep it a secret from them for a little while longer.
"You're late!" Gokudera snapped at Yamamoto and Hibari.
"Sorry, my bad." Yamamoto told him.
"I came here on my own, I have nothing to do with you guys." Hibari said, even as Ryoka threw herself at him and was hanging from his neck.
"Sure you did." Roksana replied to Hibari, walking up to take hold of her daughter. "Ryoka, don't hang from your father like that."
How Roksana had gotten to a point where she could so calmly refer to herself and Hibari as the child's parents, was beyond her friends.
"Hey, Sawada, you knew they were gonna come!" Ryohei stated.
"No. All I know is that if we're not complete, we can't win against Byakuran." Tsuna replied.
"Not to mention that I have the both of them chipped." Roksana added, showing everyone the GPS tracker app on her phone that showed two spots blinking right on their location. "I have to keep track of you guys somehow."
Hibari turned his eyes to Roksana who simply tucked her cellphone into her back pocket. It suddenly made sense how Roksana had no problem finding him.
"That's good. Well done surpassing five million Fiamma Volts. You passed. Well then, let's get Choice started. First, we'll do the field for Choice. I praise that wonderful flame of yours, so let's leave the field up to you." Byakuran said, cards appearing around Tsuna. "You heard the rules of Choice from Shou-chan right? Choice is a game of choice. If we don't choose the playing field and the players first, we can't start. And it also depends on a person's fate. Alright, pick a card Tsunayoshi-kun. That will be the "choice" for you."
"But the cards are created by the enemy." Giannini complained.
"It's alright. Choice is the only game where Byakuran won't cheat." Irie told him.
Tsuna chose a card, picking a "lightning" card from the mix. With that done, in the next moment, the light shining down on them became blinding. Roksana felt her feet lift up off the ground, the girl instantly latching onto Ryoka and Marc, before she felt like she was falling. When she landed once more, it was thankfully on her feet.
"Everyone alright?" Roksana called out, checking on Ryoka and Marc.
Everyone called back that they were good. Roksana heaved a sigh of relief. Not that her relief lasted long.
"Ouch, that used up an awful lot of flame." Everyone turned as the smoke around them cleared, showing that they were in the middle of a city of high-rise buildings. Standing there, waiting for them, was Byakuran and his guardians. "Kinda feels like we've met a couple of times already. It's the first time we met, Tsunayoshi-kun?"
"Byakuran! And the real Six Funeral Wreaths!" Tsuna exclaimed.
"That's because this is where we do this battle. Don't you think it's a good location?" Byakuran asked.
"There are lot's of people here, we can't fight in a place like this!" Tsuna retorted.
"I thought you would say that so I cleared out everything. There's not one here except us." Byakuran told him.
"What does that mean?" Gokudera demanded.
"Okay, I'll explain." Byakuran told them.
A little girl, who looked like she was only a little older than Ryoka, peered out from behind Byakuran then, giggling as she set eyes on Tsuna and his friends.
"What's this? They're just kids. Even without using a box I could kill them." she said, summoning forth her flames.
"No need to get excited, Bluebell." a man with mint colored hair said, instantly killing her flames. "Byakuran-sama's been looking forward to this festival. Let's just enjoy ourselves."
Roksana's hand snapped out as Hibari tensed beside her, ready for a fight, his tonfa already in hand. She laid her hand on his, giving him a look when he glanced at her. The man who stopped Bluebell, zeroed in on Hibari.
"It seems the Cloud Guardian, like me, is you in the school uniform. I'm Kikyou, pleased to make your acquaintance." the man said.
"Let's start right away." Hibari insisted.
"That's why I told you that won't work, Hibari-chan." Byakuran said.
Roksana felt Hibari tense even further and knew that he was close to attacking. Heaving a silent sigh, Roksana turned towards Hibari, everyone watching as she picked Ryoka up.
"Ryoka...hang onto your father for while." Roksana told the child, draping her from Hibari's neck.
"Okay, Mama!" Ryoka replied, hugging Hibari's neck to hang there.
Hibari's eyebrow twitched as he found himself freezing on the spot so not to hurt the child now hanging from his neck like he was a jungle gym. It was almost humorous to the others how effectively Hibari was rendered nearly harmless by an eight year old child.
With that done, Roksana turned back, gesturing for Byakuran to continue. Chuckling to himself, Byakuran pulled out a roulette device.
"The next "choice", need to start. I'll project it so everyone can see." Byakuran told them.
Two screens were projected then, showing eight slots under each group's crest, each slot bearing the crest of one of the guardians.
"What's this list of symbols? The crest...attributes?" Gokudera asked.
"Place your hand with the ring on the side of the gears, Tsunayoshi-kun. Come on, like this." Tsuna copied Byakuran, flames igniting from the top of the roulette. "When I say "choice", the gears will spin to the right. Choice."
They all watched as the gears turned. When they stopped, numbers appeared at random under each of the attribute symbols. Those numbers were then displayed for all of them to see. Under the Vongola, there was one Sky, one Rain, one Storm, two under an empty box, and one Moon. Under the Millefiore, there was one Sun, two Mist, and one Cloud.
"With this, it's decided. The battle participants." Byakuran said.
"What do these numbers mean?!" Ryohei asked.
"Beside the symbols for each element...I see! The number of participants for that element!" Irie proclaimed.
"Nice intuition you've got there, Shou-chan. That's right! The choice made by the gyro roulette indicates the number of warriors who will be battling on the field for each given element." Byakuran confirmed.
"You're deciding number based on element?" Yamamoto asked.
"But the total number for the Vongola and Millefiore is different!" Tsuna pointed out.
"It's a special rule~! So you've got one each of Sky, Storm, Rain and Moon...pretty nice draw, I'd say, Tsunayoshi-kun!" Byakuran said.
"Hold it! What about that square thing at the bottom?! I don't know any element like that!" Gokudera said.
"Oh, that's "non-elemental". In other words, it represents the people who don't have any rings. You've drawn "two" of those. So you have to pick two of your non-ring bearers to participate." Byakuran told them.
"So that's why you wanted us to bring everyone." Reborn remarked.
"Everyone has to participate in the fighting...? That's just...!"
Tsuna cut off as Roksana suddenly shifted, no longer facing forward. Turning, he found out why. Once of Byakuran's guardians, a creepy person with a scar across their face and holding a bunny, now stood in front of Bianchi, Haru and Kyoko.
"My name's Daisy. This is...for you." Daisy said, holding out a dead flower to Kyoko.
Kikyou quickly, and none too gently, yanked Daisy back.
"Sorry about that. I only took my eye off him for a second. Daisy, you see, just can't get enough of things that perish beautifully, like you people." Kikyou told them.
"No~w then...how about we both announce which members will be taking part, hm? Oh, this is the one part that we actually decide ourselves." Byakuran said, getting them back on topic.
"Byakuran-san...since I don't have any rings, I can count under "non-elemental", right?!" Irie asked.
"Hmm...Well, I suppose I'll allow it." Byakuran agreed.
"Well, in that case, Tsunayoshi-kun...I suppose that's our members decided. The participating Vongola members will be, for the Sky, Tsunayoshi-kun. For Storm, Gokudera-kun. For Rain, Yamamoto-kun. For the Moon, Roksana-chan. And for non-elemental, myself and Spanner." Irie said.
"Hey, hold it, Irie! Who the hell put you in charge of us, huh?! Our boss is the Tenth!" Gokudera snapped.
"Hayato."
Hearing the warning tone in Roksana's voice, Gokudera stiffened. It only took one look at her expression to know that she would hurt him if he didn't calm down.
"But I agree with his choice of members. This way, everybody has battle experience." Reborn said, completely shutting Gokudera up.
"Hold it! What about me?! I want to take part as well! What was all my extreme training with Garyuu for?!" Ryohei demanded.
"Just sit back and accept it for the moment. The opponent has the same restrictions. This is how Choice works. And the results of our gyro roulette spin aren't bad at all! not only do we have more members than they do, Byakuran-san himself isn't taking part!" Irie told him.
"You think that's reason enough to convince me? I'm taking part." Hibari insisted.
A little bit of his usual intimidation was taken away by the fact that he had a child hanging from around his neck still. While he was aware of this, he wasn't backing down. Especially since Roksana was taking part.
"Hold it, Kyoya." Hearing Dino's voice, they turned to find the man approaching them. "Honestly, I don't know what to do with you sometimes."
"Dino-san!? When did you...!?" Tsuna asked.
"Oh, I snuck in during the transfer. I've been here the whole time. I'm your tutor...how could I miss out on this?" Dino said before turning towards Hibari. He thought it best not to comment on the child hanging from his neck. "Think about it. Once Tsuna and the others beat the Millefiore guys, you can fight with anybody you like after that, right? Have a little patience, yeah? Okay?"
Roksana fought back a laugh when Hibari actually agreed to this. If only he was that easy to convince when it came to kicking him out of her bed.
"Tsuna, make your decision. Are you going to go with those members?" Dino asked.
"Huh? Y-yes!" Tsuna agreed.
With everyone on their side finally in agreement, Roksana turned towards Byakuran's group to find that one of their members, the man they had seen taking a bath in lava, wasn't taking the news that he wasn't picked, too well. He had sagged against the ground, looking like a child who was pouting.
"Well, then, I'll go ahead announce the participating members for the Millefiore side." Byakuran said, continuing. "For the Cloud, I'll select the lovely leader of the real Six Wreaths, always reliable to a fault, Kikyou. For Sun, the corpse who lives to kill...Daisy. And for Mist, the Phantom Giant who proclaims the truth, Torikabuto."
The last man Byakuran named, was a man covered from head to toe, wearing a mask over his face.
"But that's not enough members!" Basil pointed out. "You're suppose to have two Mist participants!"
"Oh dear!...is what we're not going to say. As I mentioned before, each of the real Six Wreaths has a hundred A-ranked subordinates. our second Mist participant is already here." Byakuran said, another man appearing, this one in ninja-like clothes and a mask. "Torikabuto's subordinate, Saru! No~w then, here comes the most important part: how to win the game! There are plenty of different rules that Choice can be played by, but let's go for the most simple and effective...the Target Rule."
Putting it simple, one member of their participants was randomly selected to be the "target". To win, the opposing team had to locate and take out the target. For the Millefiore, it was Daisy, and for the Vongola, it was to be one of their non-elemental members, with Irie stepping up to the plate. With that done, Daisy and Irie were both marked with a target flame that ran off their own flames. When the flames went out, tha team would lose.
"As you already know, the prize for winning this ultimate game of Choice is every one of the Mare rings, every one of the Vongola rings, every one of the Arcobaleno pacifiers, and the Vongola Moon Guardian. In other words, the ultimate power that created this world...the Trinisette and the key to using it. It's time for this mafia battle for the genesis of a new world to begin!" Byakuran said.
Of course, before they could start, Byakuran introduced their judges, the Cervello. Roksana didn't know who these women really were, but she really didn't have the time to over think it. It was also revealed that Squalo had hidden himself in their base unit. With that all out of the way, they were told to enter their base unit, which would be transported to a random part of the city while the non-participating members would be taking to a observation deck of sorts.
Turning to join her comrades while Hibari was forced to take Ryoka and Marc, Roksana was only stopped when Byakuran called out to her.
"Moon Guardian."
"My name is Roksana." Roksana retorted, stopping to turn and look at Byakuran.
"Of is." Byakuran said, grinning at her, while her expression remained unamused.
"This is their so-called Moon Guardian? She doesn't look like much to me." Bluebell said, approaching Roksana to look up at him.
Roksana looked down at the girl, her sharp eyes meeting Bluebell's. Meeting the intense gaze of Roksana's eyes, seeing the two different colors that made up her irises, Bluebell froze under her gaze. As Roksana's eyes narrowed, Bluebell rushed back to Byakuran.
"Says the girl that can't even meet my gaze." Roksana retorted as Bluebell peered out from around Byakuran.
"You have cursed eyes!" Bluebell yelled at her.
"You're point?" Roksana retorted, too fed up with the term used for her eyes to bother trying to deny it. "If you have something to say, then, please, say it."
"I merely wanted to say that I can't wait until you join us. It should be fun." Byakuran told her.
Roksana met his gaze for a moment before a curt laugh left her and an grin curled her lips as she pulled a lollipop out of her pocket. Unwrapping it, she popped it into her mouth, half turning away from him.
"Doubtful. Even if we do lose, regardless of what you have declared, I won't just go along with whatever you say. You'll have to catch me first. That's not likely." Roksana said, her incisor ripping through the candy in her mouth as she bite down with a loud crack. "Better men than you have tried and failed."
"Roksana!" Tsuna called.
"Coming!" Roksana called back before fixing her eyes on Byakuran. "I don't know why you want me, but I make it a habit to never do what someone else orders of me."
Byakuran chuckled at that.
"Did you know that in every parallel future, you're dead?" Byakuran asked. "It seems you're a very self-sacrificing person."
Roksana leaned her head back, staring at Byakuran for a moment. She wasn't entirely sure what he was going on about, but that didn't matter to her.
"And your point is?"
Byakuran obviously hadn't seen that answer coming, for his smile vanished in the face of her utter indifference. Looking at him and his guardians, she could tell that they thought she was crazy.
"A little bit of information for you...I never claimed to be sane. Case in point...I'm talking to a marshmallow." Roksana told him simply, turning to walk away, raising a hand over her shoulder in a wave. "Best of luck though...you're going to need it."
Byakuran and his guardians watched as Roksana walked away, calling out to Hibari before he could get too far away.
"Hibari! You better keep an eye on our daughter. If she or Marc gets hurt, I'm smacking you with my shoe again." Roksana called out. Hibari's response was threatening to bite her to death. "Bite me again and lose your teeth."
Roksana still didn't know how this was going to turn out, but she would be damned if she just rolled over and let Byakuran have his way.
After all, who wanted a marshmallow for a world ruler?
END
Kyandi: Pfft! "Unholy mother fucker"!
Roksana: Of course you find that funny.
Kyandi: I find it hilarious! I can just imagine you standing there, looking up at the sky all straight faced, and screaming, "Unholy mother fucker!". Ha!
Roksana: I was sure you would be laughing more about me hanging Ryoka off Hibari.
Kyandi: That was funny too! Just imaging the look on Hibari's face as he stands there with a smiling child hanging from his neck...PFFTT!
Roksana: Not too loud. If he hears you, he won't be happy.
Kyandi: Oh! Right. Well, I have some commissions to get to today, so, everyone, please enjoy and review!
Roksana: We'll be back tomorrow!
Kyandi: Bye-bye!