34

Tsuna looked down at the cursed spirit Toji had brought in for the job. It looked like a snake but instead of scales, it had blue skin as thick as armor on its underside. That wasn't unusual. The problem was with what was on the upper portion of it.

It—she—looked like a human.

Her face was twisted, stretched out thin and flat. Nonetheless, there were two eyes, a nose, and a mouth filled with sharp teeth. Black hair spilled down her shoulders and they hid the upper part of her body in a tangled mess. More hair spilled to the ground.

Megumi held his hands close together as he stood beside Tsuna. His jade eyes never left the cursed spirit. Tsumiki was busy behind Tsuna as she put ribbons and colorful little hairpins into his hair. She couldn't see the cursed spirit so she wasn't as anxious as her brother.

"It's alright, Megumi." Tsuna held the boy's hands in his. "Your dad's here."

Megumi glanced at Toji and he cringed. But he relaxed and sat down next to his sister to watch her work.

"What do we have here, Toji-san?" Tsuna asked as he handed another clip shaped like a cat to Tsumiki.

"It's a curse born from the desire of a mother that doesn't want to be parted with her child." Toji lifted her onto the coffee table in the living room so her hair wasn't blocking the way. "It's a grade four and not exactly violent. Its only desire is to protect its child."

"Child?"

Toji handed him a piece of worn out fabric. It might have carried a vibrant color once but now only a wash out grey remained. It wasn't big, only about a third the size of his palm. But as soon as Tsuna held it, the cursed spirit turned her attention to him.

"That used to belong to her kid. If you have that on you, she will think you are her kid and protect you."

Tsuna looked down at the cursed spirit. She had gotten closer to him and tangled her wrinkly fingers on the fabric of his pants. Her lips moved but only a hissing sound came out. Somehow, Tsuna thinks she was calling for her child.

She must have loved her child dearly to be able to manifest a curse from it.

Hair tangled upon his arm but Tsuna leaned forward to hold her. Her hair was wrapping into his skin and it was slowly starting to feel oddly suffocating. Megumi was fidgeting again but he hesitated because Tsuna didn't ask for help.

"...Tsuna," he called while dragging Tsumiki away as the hair poured over.

"It's fine," the brown hair teen replied with a reassuring smile. "This is no big deal."

The cursed spirit wasn't twisted enough to develop a killing intent yet. She wouldn't kill him. He untangled himself from the bundle of hair and let Toji store her back into his weapons storage. It wasn't the prettiest sight to watch a worm with a human face swallow a snake with a woman's head.

"Ew." Megumi shielded his sister's eyes even though the girl can't see anything.

"Is it gone now?" Tsumiki asked quietly when Megumi let go. The little boy nodded and Tsumiki returned to Tsuna's side happily.

"Tsuna! Stay still!" she ordered. "I'm not done making you pretty yet!"

"Okay." Tsuna sat back down as she got to work. He was sure his head looked like a zoo was having a party up there right now, judging from Toji's face. Megumi also couldn't meet him in the eyes as the little boy's shoulder trembled.

And suddenly, Tsuna felt like he should share some of this love and attention with the father and son duo.

"Tsumiki," he called with a sweet smile.

"Yes?"

"I think we should make Toji-san and Megumi pretty too, don't you agree?"

Tsumiki had stars in her eyes as she nodded excitedly. "Yes!"

And she picked up a handful of supplies as she closed in on the other two Fushiguros. Megumi looked horrified at the countless rainbow colored ribbons and animal hair clips approached him as he backed away. But Toji was faster than him, the man lifted his son by the back of his collar and placed the boy right in front of Tsumiki.

"Da—" he started but Tsumiki had reached him and he froze.

"Megumi! Do you like dogs or cats better?" She shoved the hair accessories in front of her brother's face with a huge grin. The clips were cute, overly cute. They were sparkly and full of pastel colors.

Megumi looked at Tsuna for help but the teen only handed Tsumiki a pair of hair ties with rabbits on them. "I think the rabbits would look better."

The look of utter betrayal on the kid's face was pure gold.

Tsumiki agreed. "Rabbits are cute."

So she started tying them into Megumi's hair. It wasn't an easy thing for a young girl as she tried to get the unruly locks of hair to stay in place. At this point, Megumi stopped trying to run and just stared up at Tsuna and his dad as if they sold him to the Zenins.

Toji faked a cough to hide his laugh as he backed away from the living room while his step-daughter had a new victim under her little claws. But Tsuna wasn't going to let him get away so easily. So he tackled the man and they both fell onto the sofa.

"Fuck, Tsuna—"

Tsuna clasped his hand over Toji's mouth while he tried to pin the man down. "No swearing in front of the kids! Also, you're putting on a flower or a ribbon too. It's only fair."

"Life isn't fair, get used to it." Toji placed a hand on Tsuna's side and their positions flipped. Pressing Tsuna into the sofa, Toji snatched the flower clips out of Tsuna's hand and added them onto the collection that was already tangled in the teen's brown locks.

But he forgot that he wasn't just up against Tsuna.

Tsumiki and Megumi both leaped onto Toji from behind and they clipped whatever they had in their little hands onto Toji's black hair. The man stumbled a little as the weight came crashing down on him suddenly. That gave Tsuna the opening to kick Toji's leg out from under him and cause him to lose balance. All of them ended up on the floor, with Toji pinned at the very bottom of the pile.

"Payback," Megumi mumbled darkly at his father as he reached for the big red bows. The boy had dogs and cats smiling in his messy black hair too, because Tsumiki thought the rabbits would be lonely without their friends.

"Yeah, it's payback time." Tsuna took the ribbon from Tsumiki as she laid across Toji's chest, trying to keep the man still with her weight (even though they all knew that even if all three of them combined it wouldn't be enough to stop Toji).

"Are you all serious?" Toji complained loudly.

Tsuna and Megumi responded by adding the bows and ribbons to the man's hair.

But their efforts were quickly disrupted when Toji sat up abruptly. Tsumiki giggled and screamed as she rolled towards Tsuna.

"Fine," Toji pulled some of the ribbons out of his hair and he grinned. "It's going to be the last one standing then."

And the house was filled with the sound of children laughing and screeching. Pillows went flying and so did the box of hair accessories. A few cusses mixed with Tsuna's yelling as the battlefield carried over into the hallway and bedrooms.

"Megumi, corner Daddy!"

"Divine dogs."

"Hey, no jujutsu in the house! Shit! Come back here, you little git."

"Toji-san, I said no swearing!"

At the end of it, all of their hair looked like it had been through a tornado of glitter and cute animals. Megumi and Tsumiki collapsed on the divine dogs in a giggling mess while Toji sat cross-legged beside them on the floor. The kids had moved onto decorating the dogs now.

Tsuna dropped his head on the man's thigh as he laid on the floor.

"Happy now?" Toji asked with a huff. He had the big sparkling red bow on his head. His hand touched Tsuna's cheek and it felt warm despite how rough the man's skin was.

Tsuna smiled. "Yeah."

#

Before the storm fight, Tsuna stuck the fabric behind Gokudera's collar. Toji had already released the cursed spirit and it had been following close to Tsuna. But once the fabric was given away, she let go of him and approached Gokudera curiously. Confusion flashed across her whole body as she struggled to decipher why her child suddenly looked different.

But, in the end, she followed Gokudera onto the battlefield.

"Don't push yourself too much."

Cursed spirits don't show up on camera or modern imaging technologies. They can't be seen by mortal eyes either. So even as Squalo questioned them, Tsuna only smiled.

The Vaira had no proof. And the Cervello needed proof to make their judgments justified. They couldn't do anything now.

But Tsuna did feel a little bad for Gokudera. The other teen probably felt the touches of the cursed spirit. She was tangling her hair on him after the battle ended. It was probably her way of trying to keep her child safe.

So Tsuna took back the fabric and watched as the cursed spirit wrapped herself to him. He felt the added weight but still kept a smile on for his injured friend. Dino dropped by and Romario offered to take care of Gokudera's injuries after Shamal declined on the basis that he doesn't treat men.

And they learned about Yamamoto's opponent from the Bucking Horse.

A sword emperor. A man with great skills in swordsmanship and countless skulls weeping under his blade.

It was going to be a tough fight to rig.

The rain guardian's fight came and Tsuna's first thought when they saw the battlefield was that they were so screwed.

Hibari was going to lose it if he saw what they did to the school.

The whole inside of the area had been torn down into a wreck. Water poured down, leaked through the holes in the ceiling.

Holyfuckweareallgoingtogetbittentodeath!

But then Xanxus appeared on one of the upper floors and his glare shook Tsuna back to reality.

"You worms..." the black haired Varia boss muttered in a low voice. "Dirty tricks won't last long."

They don't need to last long though. They just have to work.

Gokudera was wrapped up like a mummy and Basil (his dad probably left the teen to supervise the battles on behalf of CEDEF) came to watch their fight too. They formed a huddle for Yamamoto while Dino watched.

"Yamamoto fight!" Ryohei cheered.

Tsuna was about to play his same trick again when Yamamoto grabbed his wrist. The baseball star leaned in close and whispered, "No, don't do it Tsuna."

"Yamamoto-kun?"

"I don't really know what it is that you have planned but I want to fight this battle where both sides are without handicaps. It's not really a win otherwise." Yamamoto released him and there was a smile on his face. "I'll come back alive so don't worry. See you later."

Tsuna's hand trembled. But as he stared at the serious look on Yamamoto's face, he sighed and dropped his arm to his side. "Please come back in one piece."

"I will."

And they vacated the arena.

The first few minutes of the fight was...how should Tsuna put it?

"He's a natural," Toji commented.

Yes, Yamamoto was a natural born assassin. Squalo was good and fast, but Yamamoto looked like he was holding his own so far. The Shigure Souen style of swordsmanship he learnt from his father was helping him defend himself against Squalo's gunpowder and sword.

But...

"It's not enough," Tsuna mumbled when he saw Yamamoto charging forward. Squalo wasn't wounded even if Yamamoto switched to offense.

The silver haired swordsman got up from the water and he asked, "Why did you use the back of the sword instead of the blade?"

Yamamoto lifted a smile. "I'm here to win, not to kill."

"That baseball idiot!" Gokudera cursed besides Tsuna. But Tsuna couldn't say he didn't like Yamamoto's way of thinking. It was naive but if they could, he didn't want blood on his friends' hands either.

On the field, Squalo started laughing. He raised his sword and attacked. "Hey! Aren't you underestimating me too much?"

And both swung their swords at the same time. Columns of water raised into the air, shielding their views. As the water spilled to the side, so did Yamamoto's blood. There was a gush on his shoulder.

"Let me tell you something, kid." Squalo wiped his wet bangs out of his eyes."That Shigure Souen style of yours, I have defeated it before. They said it was a flawless technique but I saw through all of it and sliced the master and his apprentices to ribbons!"

Experience.

That was the thing Yamamoto lacked. From what Dino said, Squalo defeated countless swordsmen before. Meanwhile, Yamamoto just started learning how to hold a sword a few days ago.

In battle, that gap in experience translates into blood and wounds. Yamamoto had injuries on his face and chest. His clothing clung to his skin as they absorbed the liquid. His arm was also shaking, he didn't have enough strength to hold off the numbing feeling from catching Squalo's violent attacks.

And as Tsuna watched the battle unfold before their eyes, he decided they should step in. Toji must be thinking the same thing because Tsuna could see the cursed spirit around the man's body opening its mouth.

Yamamoto said he wanted a fight where both sides are without handicaps. Well, what happens if both sides receive a handicap? The playing field would still be even then, wouldn't it?

But Tsuna wasn't trying to give Yamamoto an advantage.

They were just buying time.

A dozen fly heads came out of the cursed spirit and they were released into the battlefield. Now, cursed spirits were attracted to cursed energy...and who would have more cursed energy than the people locked in a fight to the death? No one.

So the little monsters flew down towards the two swordsmen. They tangled and settled onto Yamamoto and Squalo's shoulders while some clung to their thighs. And Squalo's face changed as he frantically grabbed at the space above his shoulder.

"What is the idiot long hair doing?" Belphegor asked. He didn't look much better than Gokudera but the blond was still standing.

"Voi! Those brats are playing dirty again!" Squalo swung his sword around, but all he cut was air. "My body feels heavier."

While still wavering slightly, Yamamoto got up and caught his breath with the Vaira swordsman busy catching the invisible evil. The black haired teen frowned as he asked, "You felt it too?"

Squalo stopped moving as he narrowed his eyes on Yamamoto. "You too? What is that boss of yours thinking?"

What is Tsuna thinking?

Yamamoto doesn't know. But he does feel his shoulder getting a bit heavier than it supposed to. He thought it might be because of the blood loss and fatigue. In reality, it looked like Tsuna did something again.

The fight wasn't unfair. He was subjected to the same disadvantage as Squalo.

Only Tsuna could come up with something so absurd.

But now he had a chance to stop and think, he knew what his dad's words meant. The Shigure Souen style was invincible and flawless.

So he cracked a smile despite the blood pouring down his right eyelid. "The only thing I know is that the Shigure Souen style is completely invincible and flawless."

His words didn't register well with Squalo or their audience.

"What a stubborn bluff," Mammon commented. "He can't do anything with that body."

That seemed to be exactly what Squalo was thinking too. "You trash! Maybe i'll start dismembering you by cutting off your mouth first."

They charged at each other. Blades drawn and as they collided, it wasn't Squalo who landed a hit. No, Yamamoto's katana made contact with Squalo's body first. Blood leaked from the silver haired man's parted lips as he crashed into the water.

"Did you use another style of sword?" he shouted angrily as he got back up. Silver locks of hair poured in front of his face while droplets of water rolled down his face.

"No, that was the Shigure Souen style."

The Shigure Souen style was invincible and flawless. It was a style that progressed and regressed with each generation. The successors carry on the moves developed by their predecessors and create new forms.

Squalo wiped his mouth on his sleeve. His movements were slightly more sluggish due to the number of fly heads on his body. They really do love him. It must be because he was emitting more intent to kill than Yamamoto.

"Either way, I have seen the move now so it won't work on me twice." That was true. Squalo was a genius with swords. The man raised his sword again. "Don't make a mockery of this match by attacking with the back of your sword. Come at me with all you got."

So Yamamoto placed both hands on the hilt of his sword and raised it in the air like it was a baseball bat. "Then I should show you the Shigure Souen style's ninth form."

"Ninth?"

Tsuna thought there were only eight forms that Yamamoto knew. So that means…

"Yamamoto is going to create a new form on his own," Reborn finished his thought. The hitman was sitting on Dino's shoulder as he studied the battle on the screen in front of the audience.

It was a risky thing to do. To try and perfect a triumph card during a real battle was suicidal. But with great risks, there comes opportunity.

Squalo moved first, his slashes parted the wave of water as he closed in. "Die!"

But Yamamoto wasn't a sitting duck. He vanished.

No. Maybe vanished wasn't the right term.

The teen appeared behind Squalo.

At the last moment, Squalo's hand snapped back into an impossible angle and stabbed through Yamamoto's heart.

"An artificial hand," Toji said as he leaned in closer. "Now that's interesting. Too bad it didn't hit."

Gokudera looked at him weirdly. "Didn't hit?"

It was true. Water poured down on Squalo, drenching him while Yamamoto appeared on the other side of the swordsman.

Reborn smiled a bit. "It was an illusion projected onto the surface of the water."

And the back of Yamamoto's sword smacked down on the back of Squalo's neck. The man fell forward, face first down into the water. He tried to move but his body was too heavy. His uniform had soaked up too much water and the weight never seemed to leave his shoulders.

As Squalo splashed into the wet floor, Yamamoto raised the ring in his hand towards the camera.

"I won!" he huffed.

Tsuna and his group all looked happy. But the same can't be said for the Varia. Xanxus's laughter could be heard as he degraded his own ally for losing.

"The trash outlived his usefulness."

Tsuna didn't know if that was mafia enough but he didn't like it. Still, Squalo followed Xanxus willingly so it wasn't his place to teach the men to respect their comrades. If eliminating the weak was the philosophy they lived by, then they couldn't object when they themselves became the weak and must be terminated can they?

The Cervellos announced the depth of the water was enough to release the sharks and that stopped the Varia members from going down to end Squalo on Xanxus's orders.

"Yamamoto Takeshi, you should exit the battlefield while you can."

"Wait, what will happen to Squalo then?" the baseball star asked as he eyed the collapsed man beside him.

"His safety is not our responsibility."

The words were cruel.

Yet Yamamoto smiled. "Thought so. Well, here we go then."

He tried to support Squalo off the ground. But in the state he was in, he wouldn't be able to move very fast. Not when his injured body has to support both his and Squalo's full weight along with their swords. And the fly heads.

"Are you an idiot!" Gokudera shouted into the sound system. "The blood is going to attract the shark to you."

"It's only natural to rescue someone in this situation isn't it?" Yamamoto replied as he hauled and half dragged Squalo over the rubble.

And they watched as he stumbled his way towards the exit. But the shark was closing in fast and the floor beneath the two swordsmen collapsed, sending down a few feet, closer to the shark as the water continued to rise.

"Crap," Yamamoto said as he steadied himself on the crumbling ground. They were losing their footings fast.

"Put me down," Squalo's voice sounded along with the sound of pouring water. He had recovered his consciousness. "You're tainting my honor as a swordsman."

"But..."

"Voi, you're noisy." Squalo attempted to kick Yamamoto away, but the fly heads tangled upon both of their bodies didn't allow him to put any good distance between them.

Yamamoto climbed back to his feet and reached towards Squalo just as a large shadow surfaced from the water. It broke through the rushing water and opened its gigantic mouth, ready to swallow both of them in.

"Yamamoto!" Tsuna shouted.

Red tainted the battlefield. Blood spluttered and gushed everywhere before being taken away by the raising water. Yamamoto and Squalo were still in the same positions they were in, only they were drenched from the head to toe in blood.

Two halves of the shark laid beside them. Organs spilled onto the little solid ground left while Toji stood on a small piece of rock still poking through the surface of the water.

He was putting away a sword tainted in red as he whistled.

"You?" Yamamoto's good eye widened as he stumbled back onto the ruins on his behinds. The close call made his mind a bit dizzy. "Why would you save us?"

"You really need to lose some of that naivety if you want to live a longer life." Toji scowled with annoyance. He went over to their side and grabbed them off the ground, one in each hand. "Also, I don't want to deal with the water works from Tsuna if we need to go to your funeral after this rubbish. So count yourself lucky."

"Voi! Put me down, you scum!" Squalo tried to struggle as he was being manhandled like a stray cat that needed shots. Toji just rolled his eyes and slammed the silver haired swordsman's head into the pillar beside them. There was a loud bang, a groan, and Squalo went limp again.

"Um.." Yamamoto swallowed hard.

Toji shoved the teen closer to the wall threateningly. "What, you're going to complain too?"

Scratching his head, Yamamoto laughed. "Haha, I'm good. Thanks for saving me."

Toji grunted as a response and he set off towards the exit with the extra luggages. It didn't matter if there was no solid ground beneath his feet, he ran across the surface of the water as if he was on a normal track field.

"...He sure is a freak," Dino commented with a twisted look on his face, as if he had eaten something bad.

Reborn and the Varia didn't make a sound but they were probably thinking the same thing. It was one thing to be fast. It was another to be able to pull off a feat like that.

Once they reached the outside, Toji released both Yamamoto and Squalo on the ground roughly.

"Yamamoto-kun!" Tsuna came running towards them.

The black haired teen waved at his friends as he let go of his sword and laid down on the dry ground. He gave them a thumbs up with a smile. "I'm back alive!"

"Don't make us worry for nothing, you stupid baseball maniac." Gokudera kicked Yamamoto's leg while Ryohei extremely tried to help Yamamoto up with Basil's aid.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Tsuna saw Dino approaching Squalo but the blond looked uncertain if he should help or not.

Did they know each other?

But the Cervello's voice prevented him from thinking any deeper.

"We shall announce the results of the rain battle," they said on the monitor screen. "The victory of the battle for the ring of the rain goes to Superbi Squalo."

Hearing the results, everyone all turned their attention to the Cervellos.

"Wait, what?" Royhei looked up at the screen. "But Yamamoto won!"

"We said it before, no interference from the other guardians are allowed in the battle. Any such action will result in disqualification. The Heavenly Tyrant entered the battlefield before we, the judges, announced the victor officially. Squalo was still conscious and thus, the battle shall be considered as still in progress at the time of interference." The explanation was cold and hostile. "Subsequently, the ring of the sun will be confiscated too."

"The hell with that!" Gokudera shouted angrily.

Tsuna and Toji both frowned too. The man's hand reached for the side of the cursed spirit's mouth as he took a few steps towards where the Cervellos would be. But Tsuna stopped him.

"Let go, I'm going to go chop off a few heads. That should help those idiots see some reason."

Tsuna wrapped his arms around Toji's waist and grabbed hold of the man's hands. He weaved his fingers in between Toji's too to make sure the man wouldn't be able to hold a weapon. "No. That's exactly what they want."

His own words were trembling a bit as he tried to not get frustrated himself.

The Cervellos wanted a reason to give Tsuna's side a handicap. Since they couldn't catch them cheating red handed, they won't let go of this opportunity to pin this on Toji. No matter the sport or competition, killing the judge never put one in the more favorable light. Especially not when the jury was biased.

It was Xanxus's laughter that made all of them snapped a little out of their anger towards the Cervellos.

"Looks like the tables have turned now, Sawada Tsunayoshi." Xanxus got up from his chair and he leered at the young group of teens before him. "Careful, cause I intend to make my words come true once I have the Vongola name behind me officially."

The remaining Varia members all agreed.

Taking a deep breath, Tsuna stared up at Xanxus. "Take your men and leave, Xanxus."

The cruel smiles on the Varia boss's lips really made Tsuna want to take something metallic to his face. But Xanxus didn't put them further, he merely watched as Toji tutted and untangled his hands from Tsuna's. He threw the ring of the sun and the rain over. Mammon caught the rings and they began to retreat.

"Wait!" Yamamoto yelled with shadows over his features. "What about Squalo?"

"Do whatever you want with him. The Vaira has no use for useless trash."

And Xanxus left without ever sparing another glance at his fallen comrade.

His words made Yamamoto look down and the teen cursed slightly. "Damn it...guys, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Yamamoto-kun." Tsuna comforted as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You did nothing wrong."

The only wrong was that they underestimated the slyness of the mafia.