Kyandi: Greetings, Kyandiacs!
Roksana: Kyandi-sama has been busy writing this chapter on top of replying to reviews.
Kyandi: I love messaging readers. After all the funny reviews, I just had to message a few.
Roksana: In other words, if you frequently leave reviews, you might what to check your private messages.
Kyandi: Yep, yep. I hope you guys like this chapter. There's a bit of an out of character moment at the end.
Roksana: She thought it would be nice to add it.
Kyandi: Yeah, so, everyone, enjoy and review.
Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman REBORN.
Chapter 44 On The Run
On the way out of the base, Giannini gave Lal, Reborn and Yuni new covers to protect them from the Trinisette radiation. Apparently, with the Melone base now gone, the radiation was weaker, making it possible for them to now cut down the remain radiation by ninety-nine percent.
"Th-that's good news. Al least now, we can all move around the town." Tsuna remarked.
"But it's too dangerous to go back to the base, and we should expect to find a few of the enemy in town already. How do you intend to protect Yuni and Volkov, Tsuna?" Reborn asked.
"Eh...h-how...!"
Tsuna freaked out as, once again, everything was placed on his shoulders. Roksana, rolled her eyes as she heaved Ryoka up on to her hip.
"Look, I don't need to be protected. Because of the simple fact that Byakuran apparently needs me alive, I can afford to be a little more reckless. Just focus on Yuni." Roksana said.
"That you think you can be reckless at all, shows just how much you need to be protected, you idiot!" Gokudera snapped.
"Look who's talking. Don't talk to me about recklessness, Hayato, when you're the epitome of reckless and stupid behavior." Roksana replied, Gokudera snapping his mouth shut because, honestly...she had a point.
"Byakuran isn't going to let his men kill me. Anything else they can do, I can handle. So we need to focus on Yuni." Roksana reasoned.
"In that case...I guess...we need to hide Yuni in a safe place." Tsuna said.
"But where could we go at this point?" Roksana asked.
"My house, maybe...?" Tsuna asked.
"Your houses and Kokuyou Land have already been listed by Millefiore. It's too risky." Irie told them.
"I knew it..." Tsuna mumbled, his shoulders sagging.
"Then how about the place we used for the Varia battle?" Gokudera asked.
"Nakayama Hospital?!" Tsuna replied.
"That hospital was taken down two years ago and is now a parking lot." Irie informed them.
"What!? It's gone!?" Tsuna gasped.
"I know a few places that would be the perfect hiding spot, but none of them are anywhere near here." Roksana said, heaving a sigh.
She now regretted not let Dre, Ray and the others live closer to her.
"Oh! Then we have an idea!" Haru said, speaking up. "I'm friends with a realtor! She showed me a "secret hideout home" and told me I could use it if I ever decided to run away from home!"
"A realtor?!" Tsuna repeated.
After everything they had been through, something like a realtor, was just too common place of a thing to not sound weird. It made Roksana wonder what had become of her life.
"It could be unexpectedly well-hidden." Reborn remarked, Haru and Kyoko cheering.
With that, Tsuna couldn't really disagree with them. Especially since Haru and Kyoko seemed so proud of themselves for supplying the answer they needed for their situation.
"Th-then...everyone...let's...go to that realtor." Tsuna said.
"But we'll be detected if we move in a herd." Gokudera pointed out.
"We should split up." Bianchi agreed.
Roksana's grip on Ryoka tightened when the ground started shaking under their feet. It was obviously coming from the underground base. Yamamoto wrapped an arm around Roksana and Ryoka, covering the two as everyone took a dive, the entrance to the base exploding.
"What's going on?! Is the base blowing up?" Tsuna asked.
"What kind of battle are they having down here?! Cleanly and quietly my ass!" Gokudera added.
"I told you Squalo doesn't do anything quietly!" Roksana retorted.
"Hey!" Out of the now destroyed base, his left arm missing, was Squalo. "This'll end quicker than I thought. Take Yuni and run. Get as far away as you can."
Zakuro appeared from the demolished base, Squalo refusing to give up even after losing his arm. Yamamoto tried to go back, to help Squalo, but Reborn smacked him in the face.
"Idiot Takeshi. Are you going to waste the valuable time Squalo has brought us?" Reborn demanded.
"He has a point. We have to get out of here. Squalo will find a way to survive. He's done it before." Roksana pointed out, laying a hand on Yamamoto's arm. "You have to believe in him, Takeshi. He'll live."
Yamamoto gave her a smile, grateful for the comfort. He knew she was right.
"Ha-Haru! Where is that realtor? Tsuna asked, turning to Haru.
"On Fifth Avenue, which is very close! Just past the shopping street!" Haru replied.
"There's no time to lose! Let's go!" Bianchi urged.
With no other real option at that point but to run, they all took off. Ryoka and Marc were able to, thankfully, keep up, Ryoka clinging to Roksana's hand so not to lose to her. Haru led the way
"This way! Kawahira Realtor is just around that corner!" Haru called back to them.
Roksana was sure she had heard that name before. She couldn't quiet place it, at the moment, with her mind running in different directions. When they reached the building, they found the doors locked and Haru started pounding on the door.
"Please open up! Grandmother! It's Haru!" Haru called.
"Did they go out of business?" Roksana asked.
Haru was just about to bang on the door again, when it opened and Haru fell inward. Kyoko instantly went to check on Haru, but Roksana's eyes were fixed on the man standing in the doorway, a bowl of ramen in his hands. Roksana couldn't explain the feeling she got from the man, but part of her felt like it already knew him, he just seemed so familiar to her. Roksana didn't understand this feeling and she wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
Whatever it was, she had a feeling that it tied in with all this Trinisette business in some way.
"Sorry to break it to you, but the grandmother you're looking for...kicked the bucket three years ago." the man told them. "Oh, but, she was all smiles when she kicked the bucket. So no need for sympathy."
"Th-that's...! Our last savior has died! Whatever shall we do!?" Tsuna asked.
"What are you standing around for, you lot? Hurry up and get inside. You're being chased, are you not?" the man asked, slurping up some more noddles.
"How do you know?" Tsuna asked.
"There now, I'll take care of the real Six Funeral Wreaths for you. Now hurry up." the man told them.
Now Roksana was convinced that her feeling at the sight of the man had all to do with the Trinisette.
"How does this guy know about the Six Funeral Wreaths?!" Tsuna demanded.
"I'll explain later. Get inside, quickly. A fellow named Zakuro is after you." the man told them.
Roksana had a feeling that something would happen and they wouldn't get their explanation. Given how her life had been thus far, it was only a given that that was how it would go down.
"This man is very suspicious!" Gokudera growled.
"I have to agree." Tsuna agreed from beside him.
"There now, for the moment," The man raised a leg...and kicked Gokudera and Tsuna inside. "Just believe in your old man, Uncle Kawahira. Forgive me, both my hands are preoccupied."
"Why you! Tenth, are you alright?" Gokudera asked.
"Y-yeah...wait...just now, he said Kawahira!" Tsuna exclaimed. "Where...have we heard it before?"
Gokudera and Tsuna both thought hard, before it finally clicked in their heads where they had heard the name. They had heard it from all the times I-pin had been hit by the 10-Year Bazooka. It was confirmed when the man, Kawahira, crouched to greet I-pin.
"Hello I-pin. You're very charming as a youngster too. But you'll become a very lovely young woman, someday. Though it would be nice if you could do something about the soggy noddles." Kawahira told I-pin.
"He's that Uncle Kawahira after all! He's somewhat different from what I imagined." Tsuna said.
"There's no time. Just do what he says for now. If he's lying, then we'll just blow his brains out." Reborn said.
"I...I don't think he is lying." All eyes turned to Roksana, who was still staring at Kawahira, the man meeting her eyes in return. "I don't know what this feeling is, but my gut is telling me to trust him...this time."
Roksana's friends looked at each other. If Roksana believe that, than they were inclined to believe her. After all, her instincts had yet to lead them wrong.
"Well then, let's hurry. Pick a hiding place behind any of the furniture inside. If you could just keep silent, I'll take care of the rest." Kawahira told them, Roksana ushering Marc and Ryoka inside.
As she passed Kawahira, Roksana looked up at him, her eyes meeting his before she moved on, that sense of familiarity making her mouth twist. Everyone else hurried into the building, each of them finding a hiding place. From there hiding places, they could hear Zakuro outside as he approached Kawahira.
"Hey! Did a group of around ten kids come this way?" Zakuro demanded.
"A person came flying from the sky!" Kawahira gasped in reply.
"Answer my question." Zakuro growled.
Ryoka moved closer to Roksana, burying her face in Roksana's chest as she squeezed her tightly. Roksana stroked the girl's hair, trying to comfort her while remaining on guard herself.
"Hyaa! I don't know! I've been standing here for quite a while now but didn't see any kids!" Kawahira replied.
"Idiot, don't lie to me. I may not look it but, I have an extraordinary sense of smell." Zakuro replied.
Roksana heard the door being yanked open. Yamamoto grabbed onto Roksana when she reached for her box weapon, just in case. He held her back, Ryoka's grip tightening on her as they listened to Zakuro stand there, looking around the room.
"You can't possibly think I'm hiding them?" Kawahira exclaimed.
"Tch, how troublesome. I'll just have to burn down one house after the next and smoke them out." Zakuro remarked.
Yamamoto really had to tighten his grip on Roksana then. If it was going to end up with them being caught in a burning house, she would jump out of her hiding place, and they couldn't let her do that.
"What did he say!? Burn down!? You can't!" Kawahira yelled, trying to stop Zakuro.
Roksana couldn't see what was happening, but she heard something hit the floor and then heard Kawahira call, "Safe!". Roksana had a good feeling that he had almost dropped his bowl of ramen.
"Idiot! Watch it!" Zakuro snapped at him.
"I-I'm sorry!" Kawahira replied.
"I'm not forgiving you. I'll burn you with your house." Zakuro told him.
None of them saw what happened next. All they knew was that Zakuro suddenly changed gears, as if zeroing in on something else. In the next second, he flew out the door, shouting, "Stop right there, idiot!" before rocketing off.
"Go fly to Mount Fuji. Chase after the invisible murderous intent." Kawahira remarked, everyone peeking out of their hiding spots. "The Six Funeral Wreaths are gone. We should be okay for the time being."
Everyone came out of their hiding spots, Roksana even more suspicious of this Kawahira man, but her friends were just too relieved to really dwell on it.
"That was scary, Mama. Where's Daddy?" Ryoka asked, looking up at Roksana.
"We'll see him again later. Your Uncle Dino will find a way to drag him back if he has to." Roksana told her.
She really wished Hibari would check in already and let her know how things were going at the school. That he hadn't told her that either he had encountered enemies, or he was taking a nap on the roof. If it was the latter, though, Dino would have contacted her, which left her with the former.
"By the way," Kawahira said, snapping Roksana out of her thoughts. "Byakuran is a very horrible man. To send assassins, to hunt down such a harmless girl. I don't think I can say harmless when it comes to you, though, can I?"
Kawahira turned his eyes to Roksana, her eyes narrowing in response
"Not really." Roksana agreed.
"How do you know so much about us!?" Yamamoto asked.
"Ah that's right. On my way to Namimori Jr. High, I met a students. Is he your friend?" Kawahira asked.
"He's talking about Hibari!" Tsuna exclaimed. "Dino-san went to defeat one of the Six Funeral Wreaths at Namimori Jr. High!"
"Are you sure that's okay? It would be nice if we could underestimate their power, but-"
"Hibari will be fine." Kawahira turned to look at Roksana when she cut him off. The girl's expression was serious as she idly stroked Ryoka's hair. "That's one thing he and Mukuro have in common. Both are harder to kill than a cockroach in a nuclear blast."
Just to be certain, Tsuna contacted Dino, finding out that they had, in fact, confronted one of the Six Funeral Wreaths at the school.
"Yeah. Right before my eyes is this monster named Daisy. How's it going on your end? Yuni and Roksana are safe ri-"
"I don't need people checking up on me every two minutes, Dino! Worry about yourself!" Roksana snapped, getting a nervous chuckle over the line.
"Yes, but Zakuro destroyed the hideout." Tsuna told Dino. "Right now, all of use are hiding out at a place called Kawahira Rudousan. Ermm, how 's it on your end?"
"Hold on!"
Dino cut off the communication, leaving them waiting as he handled whatever issue had popped up. They waited for what seemed like forever before Dino reestablished communication with them.
"Tsuna, can you hear me?"
"Ah! This voice!" Tsuna exclaimed. "Eh...yes...yes...Is it true?! He said that Hibari-san has defeated Daisy of the real Six Funeral Wreaths!"
"I told you so." Roksana remarked. "That boy won't die unless he's dragging me along with him. Even then, I have a feeling he'd spite me and make me die alone."
All of her friends looked at her. Did she really not hear herself sometimes? Sometimes, with the way the two of them spoke about each other, it made everyone, even those who knew how their relationship was, question if the two were a couple.
Something both then denied profusely.
That aside, they now had a victory under their belts.
"The present crisis has gone." Reborn remarked.
"For the moment." Roksana agreed.
"The enemy is up against a wall now!" Gokudera declared.
Roksana didn't know about that.
There were still five other members of the Funeral Wreaths and Byakuran himself to deal with. For now, though, they had a place to hide and regroup.
"Well, I'll be leaving now. I'm going on a trip and shutting this shop for awhile so feel free to use anything as you like." Kawahira told them.
"Suddenly you...! Please wait!" Tsuna exclaimed.
"I haven't heard anything about you yet. Who are you?" Reborn asked.
"And why do I get such a strong sense of familiarity from you?" Roksana demanded, making her friends look at her. "I don't tend to forget a face."
Kawahira didn't turn to face them.
"I'm the son of the old lady who owned this shop and died three years ago." Kawahira replied.
Roksana had the strong urge to call bullshit.
"No, we're not asking about that!" Tsuna told him.
"You owe me for this one." was all Kawahira said before leaving, closing the door behind him.
The whole thing left a bad taste in Roksana's mouth, but she had bigger fish to fry at the moment and couldn't concern herself with it.
"More importantly, what're we doing!? He helped us and you pointed the gun at him!" Tsuna exclaimed.
"I don't like him somehow." Reborn remarked.
"On that, you and I are in agreement." Roksana added. "But, for now, we have bigger fish to fry."
The others agreed with Roksana and they gathered up to make a plan of action. Yamamoto was the first one to decide on what he was going to do.
"Yamamoto...you're really going back to the base?" Tsuna asked. "No matter what, huh?"
"Yep. Sorry, but you're not going to stop me. This is Squalo we're talking about, so I'm sure he'll be just fine, but I have to check." Yamamoto told them.
"I guess you're right. I'm sorry! We can't go with you, but..."
"Don't worry. He has us." Bianchi told Tsuna as he trailed off.
"I'll lead him straight to the base's secret entrance!" Giannini added.
"Me too." Spanner chimed in.
"Eh?! Bianchi! And Giannini! Even Spanner?!" Tsuna asked.
"This is a surprise! I would've thought Giannini would be too scared." Fuuta remarked.
"The Vongola base is the proud work of my sweat and blood! I can't possibly rest until I've seen its condition for myself!" Giannini replied.
"I have to see if there are any parts left that I could use in my Mosca." Spanner added.
"That's not really a good real, Spanner." Roksana said, shaking her head.
"And...? What are you going along for?" Gokudera asked his sister.
"Oh, Hayato! Are you that worried about me?" Bianchi asked, thrilled that that might be the case.
"Tch. Not likely!"Gokudera snapped in reply.
"And you want to talk about me being oblivious about feelings?" Roksana asked Gokudera, making the boy shoot her a glare.
"There'a a big difference here!" Gokudera snapped.
"How so?" Roksana demanded.
"I'm not the one in love with a battle crazy lunatic!" Gokudera snapped.
"I am no in love with Hibari." Roksana replied.
"You called him your partner earlier!"
"Yeah, my sparring partner. Get your head out of the gutter. I'd rather punch that guy than kiss him." Roksana said, her hands going to her hips.
"You've already kissed him!" Gokudera retorted.
For a moment Roksana just glared at him, her eyes narrowing, making Gokudera take a step back from her.
"I don't have to defend myself on this, Hayato. Drop it." she said finally, turning away from him.
As far as Gokudera was concerned, Roksana was trying, and failing, to hide the fact that she had developed feelings for Hibari. With both Hibari and Roksana being the type to not openly admit these types of things, it made them all wonder who would be the first to admit it, or if the two would go the rest of their lives never admitting it and just be stuck in the weird relationship they had now.
Either way, it was bound to be amusing to see how the two developed.
That aside, they got back to the subject at hand.
"If we let the enemy find us now, all our hard work will have been for nothing. Let's send them out with the utmost of care!" Tsuna told everyone.
Yamamoto moved to the door, sliding it open to peer outside while Roksana went in search of a bathroom for Ryoka.
"I don't sense any hostility...looks clear." Yamamoto said. "Well, then, I'll be off! Take care of Yuni. Lambo's sleeping, but you tell him bye from me."
"Uh-huh!" Tsuna agreed.
"Ah...everyone..."
Bianchi cut Yuni off, bending down to frame the girl's face with her hands.
"You don't need to thank us. We are doing this of our own volition. Besides...you had Roksana's approval from the get-go. We've all learned to trust her instincts." Bianchi told Yuni, before turning to look up at Haru, Kyoko and I-pin. "You girls take good care of Yuni as well, alright?"
"Alright!" the girls told Bianchi.
Lambo tried to go with Yamamoto and the others when they left, but Gokudera stopped him. They waited for a while before Tsuna checked in with Yamamoto.
"How are things going, Yamamoto?" Tsuna asked.
"I can't believe Giannini built an entrance to the base in a place like this! Looks like we can get in! No problem." Yamamoto replied.
Relieved, Tsuna's shoulders shagged.
"Whew...looks like they're going to get into the base just fine." Tsuna told the others as he looked around. "Where's Roksana and Ryoka-chan?"
"They went looking for a bathroom." Haru told him.
Tsuna nodded, turning his attention back to the others.
"Dino-nii says he'll be staying at the school for a while since Hibari-san isn't coming back." Fuuta told them.
"I see..." Tsuna trailed off as Lambo, being Lambo, started making a lot of noise. "Could you be quiet, Lambo?!"
"Bahh! No way!" Lambo retorted. "Play with me!"
While Lambo continued to annoy Gokudera, Tsuna and the others noticed something wrong with Yuni.
"You're not looking to great. Is something wrong?" Reborn asked.
"Her face is all blue!" Lambo pointed out.
"Chrome-chan isn't looking good either." Kyoko pointed out.
"There's someone...something...nearby." Yuni told them.
"An enemy?! Battle positions, everyone! Seal off the entrances!"
All of the boys went running for the front of the shop, ready to fight anything that came through the doors.
"It could be Zakuro come back for us!" Basil pointed out.
"Yeah, sounds possible." Gokudera agreed.
"No...it's...closer...much closer." Yuni told them.
"What the...!? Yuni, get away!" Everyone turned as Roksana came charging into the room, running straight for Yuni and Lambo. "That's not Lambo!"
Roksana scooped Yuni up, pulling her away from Lambo as his body began to fade away. She wasn't fast enough as what they thought was Lambo, was replaced with Torikabuto, who grabbed both girls, Ryoka screaming, "Mama!" from the edge of the room.
"Well, you see...attacking from the outside and having you run away is awfully tiresome, so I took a different tack." Torikabuto said as Roksana struggled against his grip. "I didn't expect this one to be completely unaffected by illusions."
"Lambo! Under sofa!" I-pin called, finding the child tied up under the sofa.
"Wh...what's going on?!" Tsuna demanded.
"Looks like he took his opportunity when Yamamoto and the others were leaving, disguised himself as Lambo and snuck in among us. He was fortunate that Volkov had left the room at that time or she would have spotted him instantly. He much have hidden the real, sleeping Lambo under the sofa shortly afterwards." Reborn said.
"If someone does get these sleazeball's hand off me quick, I'm going to lose my temper!" Roksana said. struggling so fiercely that Torikabuto was having a hard time keeping his hands on her.
Torikabuto moved quickly, before he lost his grip on Roksana, rocketing past her friends and outside where Kikyou and Bluebell were waiting in the sky.
"We meet again." Kikyou said, his eyes landing on Roksana.
Roksana frowned as the first thing she noticed was that Kikyou had gotten the gashes she gave him, healed. His face was flawless once more, annoying Roksana after all the work she had put into giving him those gashes in the first place.
"I see you healed your face pretty quick. Too bad you couldn't do the same for your personality." Roksana retorted.
"You certainly talk big for someone who got captured!" Bluebell told her.
"No one was talking you, blob fish." Roksana retorted, Bluebell's jaw dropping in disbelief.
What could Roksana say?
Coming up with insults was a specialty of hers.
Kikyou stopped Bluebell before she could do anything to Roksana. After losing Yuni and Roksana once that day, Kikyou didn't think Byakuran would tolerate any damage done to either of them.
"You can leave the rest to us, Torikabuto. Yo go on ahead with Yuni-sama and Roksana-chan." Kikyou told Torikabuto.
"The hell he can." Roksana snapped, renewing her struggle.
Even from the ground, they could tell that Roksana was giving Torikabuto hell, wiggling and struggling, shoving and elbowing, anything and everything in order to free herself. With Yuni so close though, Roksana didn't want to risk using one of her box weapons. She didn't want to accidentally hurt the girl in her bid to be free.
Which, she suspected, was the reason why Torikabuto was holding them so close to each other.
While Torikabuto struggled with her, Bluebell attacked the others. Torikabuto pulled them further from her friends, really causing Roksana grow angry. As her temper grew, her flames burst forth from her ring with an intensity that blinded Torikabuto and distracted both Kikyou and Bluebell. That moment of distraction was all that was needed for the most unlikely of saviors.
Roksana gasped as two electric foxes rammed into Torikabuto, causing him to drop both Yuni and her. Yuni was caught by none other than Gamma himself, while Roksana quickly ignited her flames in her feet to save herself from a nasty fall. As she corrected herself, she was confronted with, not only Gamma, but Tarazu and Nosaru. The last time Roksana had seen the two, they had been laying on the floor after she had knocked the crap out them.
Roksana didn't have long to dwell on that as Torikabuto was ordered to retrieve Yuni and her. There was no way in hell that Roksana was going to allow that, especially after Torikabuto defeated Tarazu and Nosaru and even managed to stop Gamma's box weapon. She was just reaching for her box weapon when Tsuna took over the fight.
When Tsuna stepped in, Torikabuto revealed the box weapon embedded in his box. Dino had told them how Daisy had had something similar. Once he inserted his flames, the box changed Torikabuto into a large moth that instantly had the world around them turning on end before he vanished completely. Tsuna looked around, trying to locate Torikabuto.
"It's useless. Once you've blinked after seeing the eyes, you can't escape the illusion. Even with your super intuition, you won't be able to find h-"
"Found you, bastard!"
Kikyou cut off, turning as Roksana rocketed right into Torikabuto, her feet slamming into him.
"How?" Kikyou asked, truly surprised.
"That must have been something Byakuran wasn't able to find out in the other worlds." Roksana remarked. "The reason people called my eyes cursed is because...illusion don't work on them."
"That can't be." Kikyou said.
"I can see every move this bug makes. Thanks to these eyes of mine, no matter where you run or what trick you use...you cannot hide from me. You were merely lucky you didn't end up going up against me in Choice." Roksana said, her eyes fixing on the spot where her friends were sure Torikabuto was. Roksana opened her box weapon then, Tsukuyomi bursting free of the box. "Tsukuyomi, Cambio Forma."
With the Talons equipped, Roksana flexed her fingers, flashing the weapon that had replaced her nails. If she could see Torikabuto as she claimed, Kikyou knew he couldn't afford to let her fight him. He had to intervene. So as Roksana launched herself at Torikabuto, Kikyou stepped in the way, countering her attack, only to wince as her talons ripped through his plants and into his arms.
"Shame that wasn't your face." Roksana remarked, the look in her eyes promising him that the next hit would, once again, be to his face.
Kikyou wasn't quiet sure what her problem with his face was, but he didn't intend on giving her the chance to attack it once more. She had barely missed his eye the last time.
While Kikyou and Roksana clashed, Tsuna focused, once more, on trying to locate Torikabuto. At this rate, he would be attacked or Torikabuto would take off with Yuni.
"Boss, to the right of the Sky girl!" came Chrome's yell. Without thinking twice, Tsuna did as she called and landed a hit on Torikabuto. "Down! All the way down!"
Kikyou turned, surprised that yet another person had been able to locate Torikabuto, but only caught a glance of the eye lens-like weapon that Chrome's box weapon turned into before Roksana attacked, her talons barely missing him as he yanked back.
"If you don't focus, pretty boy, I really will take out those pretty teal eyes of yours." Roksana told him. "You picked this fight, now finish it!"
Kikyou's eyes darted from Tsuna to Roksana. While their box weapons, which they had no prior information on, were one thing, the thing that made them truly fearsome, was their fighting style. He needed to get away from Roksana and back to his comrades.
"Let me help, Torikabuto. You could have won a one on one, but he got support. This is how the Vongola Family fights." Kikyou called to Torikabuto.
"That's sure as hell how we fight!" Roksana retorted, slamming into Kikyou. Kikyou raised his arms to block the kick. "Too bad for you because that means...I'm not alone either."
Kikyou was forced to pull back from Roksana as Reborn, riding on the back of Basil's dolphin box weapon, joined the fight.
"The strength of the Vongola Family lies not in their individual abilities, but the coordination of the family, together." Reborn said as Roksana came to hover at his said.
"That's right! Especially when your ally is in a bind!" Ryohei said, joining the fight too. "It's when my ring burns to the extreme!"
"That's great, but I wasn't in a bind." Roksana remarked tartly.
"Boo! That's it! Now I'm angry!" Bluebell yelled, opening her robe to reveal the box weapon embedded in her body.
Before she could use it, though, Kikyou stopped her.
"Hold it right there. It'd be easy to just destroy the lot of them, but we need more manpower to ensure we can capture Yuni-sama and Roksana-chan unharmed." Kikyou told her.
"Huh!? Then what're we gonna do?" Bluebell asked.
"We're retreating for now. We'll regroup, and it'll be easier to pull off then." Kikyou told her.
"No way, no way, no way!" Bluebell protested.
"Take a look there." Kikyou told her, gesturing towards where Tsuna completely blew away Torikabuto, revealing him to be no more than a mask possessing an old and withered monk.
Kikyou collected both the now cracked mask and the monk before flying away as quickly as he could with Bluebell. With the three now gone the damage to their group became apparently clear. Ryohei nearly fell out of the sky, Gokudera was hurt, as were Tarazu and Nosaru. Roksana didn't like the looks of things, but she was glad to see that both Ryoka and Marc had escaped the whole thing without a single scratch on them.
"We've taken quite a lot of damage." Reborn remarked.
"We have. This is going to be a long night." Roksana remarked, looking up to where the sun was setting.
"Perhaps, We should return to the others." Reborn told her.
Roksana agreed. With their last possible hiding place blown away, they would have to find somewhere else to hide. Rounding up everyone, they went to the only place they could.
Deep into the woods.
Once there, Kyoko and the girls went to work treating the wound while the others tried to settle in for some rest. It was during this that Nosaru and Irie started yelling at each other.
"What's with the number of brats? Everywhere I look, brats, brats, brats! Hard to believe that Millefiore was being troubled by a bunch of brats. And what's more, I'm happy to meet you again, traitor that betrayed the old Melone base." Tarazu said, looking at Irie.
"Wh...how are you any different when you betrayed Millefiore too!? It's not like I ever thought I'd be seeing you savage people ever again!" Irie shouted at him.
"What did you just say?! Are you trying to provoke my brother?!" Nosaru demanded loudly.
"Shut up." Everyone froze when that chilly voice reached them. Irie and Nosaru turned towards the speaker, both going white in the face when they met the down right livid and chilly glare of Roksana. "If all of you don't quiet down, I'll de-ball all of you, do I make myself clear? Wake my daughter or my brother and I'll make sure you regret the day you were born."
Nosaru and Irie instantly closed their mouths.
When she was sure no one was going to raise their voices again, Roksana turned and headed back to where Ryoka and Marc were sleeping, the two draped in a blanket to share. Roksana settled herself down next to them, away from the others, idly reaching out to sweep a few strands of black hair out of Ryoka's face. Sitting there, watching the two's sleeping faces, Roksana nearly jumped out of her skin when the headset in her ear suddenly clicked on, a voice speaking to her through it. It was the one connected only to the one she had given Hibari, so she knew who it was right away.
"You awake, woman?"
"Thanks to you, I am now." Roksana retorted, a light smile on her face.
She was not about to admit that she was happy to hear his voice. No, it was not happiness she was feeling, of that, she was sure.
"You in one piece still?" Hibari asked.
"I managed. And you? I heard you had to fight a lizard." Roksana remarked. "I also heard that you called the lizard and Dino "bitches"."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Hibari replied.
Of course he didn't.
"Well, whatever. As long as you're still breathing, I suppose. Your daughter has been asking for you. You could stand to show your face, if for no other reason than she wants you to." Roksana told him.
"...If I feel like it." Hibari replied.
That it hadn't been a flat out no, was a win in Roksana's book.
"Sure...Tomorrow is going to be a big fight. Don't miss it." she told him.
"Don't get yourself killed."
"Why, Hibari, if I didn't know any better, I would say that you actually sound like you care." Roksana mocked.
"I'll bite you to death."
"That would defeat the purpose of telling me not to die."
Silence reached her from the other end, making her grin to herself. Looking up, she glanced around, making sure that none of the others were close and could over hear her before she spoke again.
"Listen up, because I'm only going to say this once, and I'll deny it if you ever bring it up, but...be careful, okay? And...make sure you come back." Roksana said, Hibari blinking in surprise on the other end of the line. "I would miss having my punching bag if you let something happen."
Feeling embarrassed and awkward, Roksana told him to get some sleep and cut the line of communication. She would deny she had ever said it if he brought it up.
After all...who in their right mind would admit to being worried about an anti-social, fighting maniac like Hibari?
END
Kyandi: Yeah...why were you worried?
Roksana: Because he's crazy enough to get himself killed in a fight. You know him. Once he starts, he doesn't stop until he wins.
Kyandi: Yeah...I would worry that the boy doesn't have a working brain if I hadn't seen how clever he really is.
Roksana: Makes no sense, right?
Kyandi: Yeah, none. Though, I do still find it funny that Hibari called Dino and Daisy "bitches".
Roksana: I don't normally like that word...when it's used against me, but in this case, it was funny.
Kyandi: It think it's funny because of who's saying it.
Roksana: Very true.
Kyandi: Okay, so I'm sleepy, so,everyone, enjoy and review.
Roksana: We'll return tomorrow.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!