Kyandi: Hey, everyone!
Roksana: We have to apologize again.
Kyandi: I'm dealing with a few personal issues, so updating might be a bit slow over the next week or so.
Roksana: We apologize in advance.
Kyandi: Hopefully, everything will work out and I'll be able to get back to normal posts soon.
Roksana: As an apology, for those of you who want to see what my future self would look like, later today, Kyandi-sama will be posting a drawing of my present and future selves on Twitter.
Kyandi: Just go check out my Twitter later today and see it for yourselves. I'll be posting a drawing of Roksana and Stella later, too.
Roksana: Should be interesting.
Kyandi: I hope so. Everyone, please enjoy and review.
Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman REBORN.
Chapter 53 Party Crashers
The assailant hit Roksana full bodily, stabbing a blade right for her heart while pushing her back. Roksana rolled with the man, wiggling out of the way of the knife. Shoving her feet between them and into the man's gut, she heaved, sending him flying over her and onto his face. Rolling back to her feet, she nearly tripped when her dress got caught under her feet. In a floor length dress and heels was probably not the best way to fight. Not if she didn't want to end up on her face, that is.
She could worry about that after she got Timoteo out of there, though.
"Ninth, I think now would be the perfect time to get out of here." Roksana told him over her shoulder, her eyes set on the man now scrambling to his feet to face her.
"You shouldn't try to handle this." Timoteo told her. "Not alone."
Roksana didn't even spare him a glance a she began to rip her dress, tearing it so that it now fell to about mid-thigh, making it far easier for her to move. It also revealed two sansetsukons strapped to her left thigh. Off the harness her sansetsukons were strapped to, she pulled a hair tie. She used that to tie her hair back to keep it out of her way.
"Ninth, I mean no disrespect, honestly, and I'm aware that, to you, I am nothing more than a child playing an adult's game here, but I assure you, I am more than capable of taking care of myself. This would not be the first assassin ambush I've had to live through. It's not even the first one in the last week or so." Roksana told him, securing her hair into a messy bun on the back of her head. She didn't feel the need to tell him that, in the last two weeks, this would be the third ambush and that one of those had been planned by his son and his followers. "Please, just do me a favor, sir, and give me the room I'm going to need to deal with this."
She didn't even give him time to answer before she was moving, moving faster than anyone he had ever seen in heels. The assailant followed her, and judging by the dark shapes that followed, their forms clothed similarly to the first assailant, there was more than one, though he couldn't tell how many more with all the smoke. Timoteo got to his feet and did as Roksana suggested. He came bursting out of the smoke, waving it from his face. Instantly, his guardians surrounded him.
"Ninth, are you alright?" Iemitsu asked, joining them.
Behind him came Basil, Dino and the members of Varia. All other guests had been cleared out of the ballroom, and outside.
"I'm fine. I was pulled out of the way before harm could be done to me." Timoteo replied. "The guest?"
"They're being cleared out as we speak." Coyote told him. "Right now, they're waiting outside for this to be dealt with."
"Where's Roksana?" Dino asked, a bad feeling building his in his gut when he noticed that Roksana wasn't with Timoteo.
"She instantly confronted them. From the looks of it, it's multiple assailants, and they're after Roksana alone. They completely ignored me and went straight for her." Timoteo replied.
"Not again." Lussuria remarked.
"Again? This has happened before?" Timoteo replied.
"The night she arrived. One of our subordinates had received a hit on her. We still haven't been able to figure out who the client is or how it got to our subordinates without going through us first." Lussuria replied.
A sudden yell of annoyance had them all turning as a man stumbled free of the smoke, his back hitting a wall. He was then pinned there by something that came flying out of the smoke with enough force to pierce the cloth over his shoulder and the wall behind him.
"Was that...?" Ganauche trailed off.
"That was Roksana's shoe." Dino confirmed, chuckling nervously.
The second shoe soon followed the first, the man practically fainting on the spot when the heel dug into the wall just an inch shy of his face. Dino jolted, all of them staring, not quite sure what to think about the girl's use of her heels as a weapon. A second man came flying out of the smoke shortly after, his face slamming right into the marble wall. Muttering curses to himself as he clamped a hand over his now broken nose, the man turned at the wrong moment.
Roksana came flying out of the smoke, slamming a now bare foot into his face, and, in turn, slamming the back of his head against the wall. Pushing off, she flipped backward, catching herself on her hands to flip herself back into the cloud of smoke. It was obvious that she was making perfect use of the cover the assailants had hoped to use against her, turning the tables on the would-be assassins. Before she vanished back into the smoke, though, everyone caught sight of the absolutely livid look on her face before she vanished back among the smoke.
"She's angry." Dino remarked.
"Angry? I know that look. What she's feeling now goes beyond anger." Iemitsu replied. "We should get in the-"
Iemitsu cut off when there was a loud yelp of pain that he knew well.
It had come from Roksana.
In the next moment, Roksana broke free of the smoke on the opposite side of the room and made a mad dash for the door leading further into the mansion. Five men in black followed her.
"After them!" Timoteo ordered.
He didn't have to tell any of them twice. Reaching the other side of the room and the doors that Roksana and the men had vanished through, they were confronted with a sight they didn't want to see.
Blood splattered across the floor.
Roksana was injured.
If there was one thing any of them who had seen her in a fight had noticed, it was that when injured, Roksana tended to throw all caution to the wind in a bid to end the fight as soon as possible. If she stuck to that particular tendency, then she was going to come up with some kind of plan that would allow her to throw all of her chips in at once and deal the most damage.
Which meant she would need a wide space with high ceilings.
Following the trail of blood spots on the floor, it lead them down the hall towards the back of the building. When it looked like the blood trail would lead them another another ballroom that went mostly unused, the doors standing wide open, they split up in order to cover all doors leading into the room, Squalo leading his fellow Varia members up a flight of stairs to the balcony section of the ballroom. Iemitsu, with Dino, Basil, and a few Cavallone men, burst through the open doors, the assailants, who were spread out in the middle of the room, turning towards them.
Roksana was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Roksana?" Dino asked, looking around as Timoteo's guardians came in through the only other doors leading into the room.
"Remember, never look for Roksana at or below eye level." Iemitsu reminded him, his eyes going to the high, vaulted ceiling.
Hearing what he said, all eyes turned to the ceiling, but it was too late for the assailants to notice. Two of the five men were taken down as Roksana dropped from the ceiling above, slamming her heels down into their upturned faces. They crumpled under her weight, hitting the floor to act as her cushion. The other three turned to her, but Roksana wasn't sitting still. Jumping, she jammed a knee into a third man's face, feeling the satisfying crunch as his nose broke.
Falling back with him, Roksana rolled away from the man, grimacing as she landed, one knee hitting the floor as pain shot up her side. That was all the opening the remaining two men needed.
"Roksana! Look out!"
Roksana's head shot up as the two men swooped in on her.
Boy, did she had a surprise for them.
"Now, Notte." Roksana called, holding up her right hand.
There was a deafening roar, orange and silver flames flaring to life around the leopon ring on her right hand before those flames took shape of the very leopon whose roar filled the room. Notte landed between Roksana and the men, muscles rippling under the dappled orange pelt, fangs flashes as the large feline growled. Notte gave his mane of silver and orange flames a shake, tail tipped in similar flames, lashing back and forth.
Having never seen such a thing before, the assailants froze on the spot, putting a smirk on Roksana's smile.
"Notte," Roksana called, the leopon tensing in anticipation of the order to come. "Take them down."
Releasing a frightening roar, Notte pounced. Roksana pushed herself to her feet, reaching under what remained of the skirt of her dress, to pull out a sansetsukon, as the men's yells filled the room. With those two down, pinned under the large paws of Notte, Roksana walked past them to the one of the men she had landed on when she had dropped from the ceiling. The man was pushing himself up and was on his hands and knees when Roksana reached him. Holding out one end of the three part staff, pointing the capped end at the man, Roksana pushed one of the hidden triggers, the capped end popping open.
A small pod came rocketing out of the now open end, hitting the strip of exposed skin at the man's neck. A second later, the buzzing of electricity filled the air as the electrical charge she had fired, went off, the man stiffening as the electricity surged through his body. Roksana, expression appearing bored and moving at a leisurely pace, loaded another charge into the hidden chamber on the staff as the man fell limp against the floor. She didn't even glance towards the others as they came towards her, Dino's men grabbing the man with the broken nose and the other man who Roksana had landed on.
Iemitsu approached Notte, the leopon backing up to let him and Basil take the two men under his paws. Roksana didn't care about those four, or even the two she had left back in the main ballroom. Her attention was set on the man before her as he started moving again, shakily pushing himself back up on his hands and knees. With the new charge loaded, Roksana bent and reached out, grabbing the mask about his head and yanking.
Pulling it off, she revealed the man's face.
"Just as I thought." Roksana said, standing up straight once more. Everyone turned their attention on her, but her eyes were fixed on the dirty glare being directed her way by the man before her. "You're the one that has been helping Kitty to clean my room for the last week or so."
"You mean, he's been working at the Varia headquarters this whole time?" Lussuria asked.
"Screw that! You fucking knew he was after you!?" Squalo demanded.
"I had a hunch." Roksana replied. "Most people, even experienced assassins, when they first see my eyes, tend to stare. That is...unless they've seen a picture of me a couple of times first. Every assassin that's been sent after me, has never blinked upon seeing my eyes. It's become a sort of tell for me. This guy didn't even blink the first time I met his eyes. When I saw that, I started watching him every time he came anywhere near me. That attack tonight...they waited until I was on the dance floor, my attention focused on something I love to do. All because this guy listened to me tell a maid that dancing was about the only thing about events like this that I liked."
"Well...this explains how that hit order got past us and to one of the grunts." Levi remarked.
"If you knew the whole time, then why didn't you expose me?!" the man asked, glaring at Roksana.
"I'm not a fan of pointing fingers when I don't have any more to go on than a gut feeling. Especially not when I'm surrounded by assassins whose answer to these kinds of problems, is death. If I had been wrong, I would have sentenced an innocent man to an early grave. Not to mention...I'm pretty sure Xanxus wouldn't have listened to me over a hunch, anyway." Roksana replied. Xanxus didn't deny it. "Honestly, though, you should have been a little more prepared. After all the ones that came before you, you'd think you would have learned from their mistakes."
"You-!?"
The man jumped to his feet, knife flashing in his hand. Before anyone else could step in, Roksana side-stepped the blades, grabbing the man's wrist. She gave the wrist a painful yank, making him drop the knife before she took out his knees, driving him to his knees. Another twist and yank, she slammed the man into the ground, planting a foot on the back of his neck to pin him there while she kept a firm grip on his wrist, yanking the arm back at a painful angle.
"Well, that didn't accomplish you anything, now did it?" Roksana asked, looking down at him as Notte growled at him. "And here I had decided to be merciful with you."
"You bitch!" the man retorted.
Groans left Iemitsu, Basil, Dino and his men, and all present members of Varia as a dark look fell on Roksana's face.
"Now, Roksana, let's not do anything we'll regret." Iemitsu told her, holding up his hands.
"You know what...I've changed my mind." Roksana said, ignoring Iemitsu.
"Roksana, don't-"
Iemitsu cut off, others grimacing as, with a twist and a hard yank, a scream of pain leaving the man, Roksana broke the man's shoulder.
"I really hate being compared to a female dog." Roksana hissed lowly, Notte baring his fangs at the man in agreement with her.
Roksana let go of the now useless arm and stepped back, removing her foot from the man's neck. The man huddled in on himself, gripping his arm and gritting his teeth against the pain. Turning his head, he looked up at Roksana.
"What now? You going to hand me over to the Varia to be dealt with?" he demanded.
All eyes focused on Roksana as she raised an eyebrow at the man. Easily, she crouched in front of him, putting her face closer to his, her gaze intense and locked in on his.
"Whether I hand you over to the Varia, or let Iemitsu-sensei or Ninth decided your fate, or decide to just let you go scott free, we both know that the result will be the same, don't we?" Roksana replied. The man's eyes widened as he caught on to her meaning. "You're boss doesn't tolerate failure, now does he?"
The man swallowed hard, that one little action paired with the sudden look of fear on his face, all the answer she needed. There was only one person she knew, who could inspire that kind of fear in a man who spent his life walking hand-in-hand with death.
To be honest, she didn't blame him for his fear.
"I have long since stopped trying to deal with all of you because I know that your boss will take the trash out for me, regardless of whether I let you go or not. As long as I survive...you don't." Roksana said.
"Then finish it! He won't just kill me, it won't be that quick and easy! And you know it!" the man snapped, his tone becoming hysterical now. "No one fails or defies him and has an easy death! Just kill me now!"
"No." Roksana pushed herself to her feet then, looking down at him with coldest look any of them had seen on her face. "I told you, I changed my mind about being merciful."
The man stared up at her in horror as she turned her attention to Timoteo. The old man raised his eyes to meet hers. The evening had taken a horrible turn, turning Roksana's playful smile to a look of icy indifference.
"I'm sure you'll do whatever you see fit, Ninth. After all, it was your party that he and his comrades crashed. And as far as that is concerned, I do apologize deeply for having brought this problem to your doorstep." Roksana told Timoteo, bowing her head to him. "Whatever you decided to do, though, the result will be the same. No matter where you put him and his comrades, unless you kill them, their boss with find a way to dispose of them. He's never failed in that regard."
Roksana glanced back down at the man at her feet, who was in the process of mentally breaking down, his own fate becoming painfully apparent to him. Timoteo looked down at the man too. To think, just a few words from this little girl, and the man looked like he was just seconds away from wetting himself.
Terrifying indeed.
"Don't worry, we'll handled them." Timoteo told her.
"I'm not particularly concerned." Roksana replied.
"I do have to ask what this is all about." Timoteo added.
"With all due respect, Ninth, and I'm not trying to be rude, I swear, but...I will have to kindly ask you to please don't pry. This is a personal problem, a political one. It would be far less problematic for you to not ask that question." Roksana told him.
"I see." Timoteo said, though he, like everyone else, wanted to pry. Unlike her friends though, he had ways of finding out without having to get the answers from Roksana herself. "Coyote, see to it that they are locked up."
Coyote nodded, all of the assailants being gathered and carted out of the room to join the others two who had already been taken into custody. With the threat gone, Notte padded up to Roksana's side, rubbing up against her.
"So this was one of the so called box weapons from the future fight." Iemitsu said, looking down at Notte.
"Yes. This is Notte. He's a leopon." Roksana replied.
"Moon and Sky flames...you can use both?" Iemitsu asked.
"I can. It shouldn't be surprising. Hayato can use five out of eight flames. I can only use two." Roksana replied, reaching down to scratch under Notte's chin.
"That is quite the guard dog." Ganauche remarked, leaning towards Notte.
The large feline growled at him, baring his fangs, making Ganauche pull back.
"He doesn't like to be compared to a dog." Roksana told Ganauche. "Thank you for your help, Notte. You can go back to sleep now."
Notte rubbed his head against Roksana once more before, in a flare of flames, he retreated back to ring form. Roksana adjusted the ring on her finger when, suddenly, Dino appeared beside her, grabbing her left arm to raise it and peer at her side.
"Uh...can I help you?" Roksana asked, obviously unamused as she looked down at Dino.
"You're hurt!" Dino replied.
Sure enough, there on her side, about half way between her hip and the bottom of her rib cage, the fabric of her dress was slowly starting to turn red, the fabric torn and ripped from where she had been attacked.
"I'm fine." Roksana said pressing her other hand into Dino's face to push him back away from her.
"Fine?! You're leaving a trail of blood behind you!" Dino replied.
"I am aware, so I don't need you to coddle me." Roksana told him.
"But what if it's a deep wound?" Dino asked.
"You, more than anyone, should know I'll be fine. You'd be amazed at what Moon flames can fix." Roksana told him, pulling her left arm free of his grip, to press her hand to her side.
Silver flames blazed to life around her hand as she shoved Dino back away from her. Dino pouted, giving her pointed glare that she merely ignored. It really was hard for her to see Dino as a mafia boss when he pouted like a five year old like that.
"Regardless of what your flames can do, I would feel better if you would allow a doctor to look at the wound." Timoteo said, making Roksana look at him. "For this old man's sake of mind."
Roksana heaved a sigh, hanging her head. Since he had kindly requested instead of ordered, she really had a hard time telling him know. Raising her head to look at him, a frown tugged on her lips.
"Someone's been giving you tips on how to get me to do things, haven't they, Ninth?" she asked.
"Perhaps." Timoteo replied, grin curling his old lips.
"I have a good idea on who it is, too." Roksana added, turning her eyes look up at Iemitsu, who was looking everywhere but at Roksana. "Do me a favor, Iemitsu-sensei...don't teach Xanxus that."
Iemitsu chuckled, dropping his large hand on her shoulder. His eyes darted over to Xanxus in the background as the man glared down at the would-be assassins that had attacked Roksana.
"I don't think you have to worry about that." Iemitsu told her.
He had a point, Roksana had to admit. Xanxus could never manage the "I'm just concerned about you" tone that Timoteo had used with Roksana. Not to mention that he would never listen to Iemitsu anyway, so she would be good. Roksana's eyes turned away from Xanxus as Ganauche stepped up to her side, laying a hand on her shoulder.
"Come on, kiddo. Let's get you to that doctor." he told her.
"I probably should go pry my shoes out of the wall, first so I'm not walking around barefoot." Roksana replied, looking down at her bare feet.
"Speaking of which...remind me never to anger you again when you're wearing heels." Dino remarked.
"Dino. Sweet, naive Dino," Roksana said, sounding like she was talking to a naive child who had just pointed out the obvious. "I'm always wearing heels. Might not be as tall as the ones I wore tonight, but just as sharp and just as useful in a fight."
Several of the others chuckled at the white-as-a-sheet look on Dino's face.
"Hey, brat!" Roksana looked up as Squalo called out to her from across the room where he stood with the assailants. "I thought you always fucking ruptured a guy's balls for calling you a bitch."
"Normally, yeah," Roksana replied, making every man in the room focus in on her face as she so matter-of-factly stated that. "But, given the circumstance, and what's awaiting him, I think a broken shoulder gets my point across just fine."
Squalo grunted in agreement, turning back to his job. Ganauche lead Roksana away then, Basil promising to bring her her shoes and clutch. Timoteo had a doctor brought in to see to Roksana while he checked on his guest. Thankfully, the assassins had been completely focused on Roksana, so no one had been injured other than her. His guest, gratefully, understood and he was able to send everyone home on good terms.
Once everything was settled and quiet once more, Timoteo and the others went to check on Roksana. Basil and Dino were with Roksana, the doctor just leaving the room, case in hand when Timoteo, his guardians and Iemitsu arrived.
"How is she?" Timoteo asked.
"She'll be just fine. The wound, while long, was shallow. Only required a few stitches at it's deepest point. She's young, though, in splendid health. She'll heal just fine." the doctor told him. "After all the excited and adrenaline, though, along with the medicine I gave her for pain, she's out cold."
Timoteo thanked him before entering the room.
Roksana had been taken to an upstairs drawing room. The girl was laid out on a small, antique settee, her legs draped over one arm rest while he head was pillowed on the other. She had been changed out of her ruined dress and into a spare shirt from one of the men. Like the doctor said, she was out cold, her shawl draped across her lower half. Upon seeing her, some of the men stop to chuckle.
"Is that a knife in her hand?" Nie asked.
"She grabbed it out of her clutch before she fell asleep." Basil replied.
"I'm not surprised. Kyoya once said that she sleeps with a knife under her pillow." Dino told them.
That she felt the need, even among comrades, spoke volumes to the girl's situation.
Timoteo heaved a silent sight before looking around.
"Where is Xanxus and the others?" Timoteo asked.
"They went back to the Varia headquarters. Said they'd leave her here for the time being. Given that this makes two attempts on her life from within their ranks, I'm inclined to agree with that judgement." Iemitsu told him.
"So am I. For now, we'll house her here." Timoteo said, calling for a maid to ready a room. "I'm starting to wonder if agreeing with Reborn on her training here, was the right thing to do."
"Given what I know of her background, Ninth, deciding to just send her home, wouldn't have changed anything. She has survived hundreds of assassination attempts over the years, regardless of where she was at the time." Iemitsu told him.
"With that being the case...how come no assassins have attacked her in Japan, yet?' Dino asked.
"That's a good question. If they're willing to take the chance here, with the current guardians of Vongola, Cedef, and the Varia here, not to mention the various allies that were here at the party tonight, then why aren't they willing to take the chance with her in Japan?" Coyote asked.
"It just might have to be a question we pose to those assassins." Iemitsu said.
The maid came back then, telling Timoteo that the room was ready.
"We'll worry about that in the morning. For now, she needs rest." Timoteo said.
"She won't stab me if I carry her to bed, will she?" Ganauche asked, eyeing the knife in Roksana's hand.
"I don't think so. She's pretty out of it. But good luck prying that knife from her hand." Dino replied.
It took a few minutes of wrestling and prying for them to finally get the knife out of Roksana's hand so Ganauche could carry her to the room. As the man carried the girl from the room, Timoteo turned to Iemitsu and gave him a stern order.
"I don't care what she has said...find out who's behind this and deal with it."
If Roksana wasn't going to tell them anything, then they would just have to figure it out themselves. With Iemitsu's agreement, they could use all of Cedef's connections to find some kind of information. Something, anything, that would help them save Roksana before any more assassins could try to claim her life.
One way or the other, they were going to find out.
END
Kyandi: I have a feeling you'll have a better stay with Ninth and his guardians than Xanxus and the Varia.
Roksana: As long as they don't wake me up in the morning attacking me, then I'll agree. By the way, whoever said I should call Xanxus, Xan-nii or Xanxus-nii...yeah, that's not happening.
Kyandi: I would die of laughter if you walked up to Xanxus and called him something like that.
Roksana: And I would just die. Do you really think Xanxus would let me get away with that?
Kyandi: Depends on how you say it. If you say it in a mocking way? Hell no. Now if you said it in an honest way...I don't know, he might.
Roksana: I highly doubt that.
Kyandi: You never know. Anyway, I have things to do and a drawing to post.
Roksana: So wrap up time?
Kyandi: Yep. Everyone, enjoy and review.
Roksana: We'll try to be back tomorrow. If not, then the day after, for sure.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!