A/N H-h-h-h-how's it hanging?

This chapter will be covering the main bulk of the Kokuyo arc. Yep, a single chapter for the whole Mukuro fiasco.

And if I happen to gloss over any and every fight scene...well maybe I'll try a bit harder in the future to make up for it (but really who is here for poetic renditions of fists in faces?)

Also I have feeling the relationships I'm going to be making might be a little sketchy hueheuheu...

But anyway, forward we go, on a journey to collect the characters we are oh-so obsessed with...


~Chapter 18 – In the Manner Which Things Unfold

"His name is Rokudo Mukuro," Iemitsu explained to the others in the room, flipping through a folder of intel that had been brought by one of his subordinates, "It seems like he was one of the kids experimented on by Estraneo that escaped a couple years back, so it would be unsurprising if he held a grudge against the mafia because of that."

"And he took Tsuna because of me?" Ieyoshi all but growled out. Already Bianchi and Basil had been put in the hospital due to anonymous attacks obviously orchestrated by the illusionist, a crude act that had done its job in provoking the Vongola heir. To top it off he had even gone through the extra effort of procuring a valuable hostage that would guarantee Yoshi's appearance in this grand play.

"Yes." His father confirmed with a serious expression. "Unlike the kidnapping incident, we will not be taking part in the coming battles," He gestured to himself and the two Arcobelenos beside him, "The higher ups are using this as a chance to test your strength and whether or not you are worthy enough to hold the title of Decimo." Of course, they still couldn't risk their only heir dying so if it came down to life or death he was given permission to interfere.

"Of course we aren't asking you to take on Mukuro and his gang alone," Reborn added, impatience tinting his voice, "It would be ideal if you had a full set of guardians able to back you up, but seeing as the ones you do have are incapacitated, I've called in two others to help."

"Those two?" Ieyoshi glanced to the side where an aggravated Gokudera sat, chewing on an unlit cigarette and toying with his lighter. Beside him unexpectedly, was Yamamoto, who had shown up at their doorstep moments after Reborn had called despite his earlier absence in the past month. "I understand Gokudera but…"

"I vouch for Yamamoto's skills," The sun Arcobeleno added, watching said teen intensely, "He has talent as a swordsman and more than enough resolve." The boy was oddly calm, his expression thoughtful and lacking any obvious anxiety despite the trouble Tsuna was currently in.

"Are you aware of the situation Yamamoto-kun?" Fon probed lightly.

"Ah, yeah," As if he hadn't been listening, he was slow to come out of his thoughts and respond, "Mukuro took Tsuna right?"

"Do you even care?!" Gokudera had obviously had enough with the other teens quiet calmness, snapping at him bitterly, "That's right, how could you? Seeing as you ran off the moment you heard she was involved with the mafia." The former baseball played didn't try to defend himself, didn't attempt to explain that he was training to be worthy. In this sort of situation where the tension was high and people began to feel its negative effects he knew it was best to try not to exacerbate it.

"Mukuro won't hurt Tsuna," He couldn't help but add, "It's not something he would do even though he's gone a bit far and snatched her."

"And what makes you so confident?" The martial artist pressed, maintaining his own unshakable calm.

"Well, uh," Restlessly Takeshi rubbed his hand against the back of his head, "I'm pretty sure he likes her… y'know, in that way." There was about a second of silence for his words to be taken in before the room exploded in a war of noise.


Unexpectedly the leader of their small group hadn't been Ieyoshi, despite his budding, boss-like aura. It wasn't Gokudera either, as if to dismiss the capabilities of his brain, and nor was it their chaperone, 'The World's Greatest Hitman' Reborn. Instead, the one who had been reluctantly placed in charge, was none other than their least mafia-affiliated member, Yamamoto Takeshi.

"What should I do…?" The former baseballer had only grown more troubled as the journey progressed, deftly flipping the cover of his phone open and then shut in the same movement, "It doesn't feel great to have to fight your friends…"

"You still consider them your friends?" Ieyoshi commented testily, "Despite the fact they're holding Tsuna hostage?"

"Maa, like I said before, Mukuro wouldn't hurt Tsuna, at least not intentionally…" For how long had he known the mysterious teen now? Almost a year now he recounted, finding the time surprisingly short for how long it felt, and he hadn't learnt at all what kind of person Mukuro was.

"You seem to be forgetting the fact he has already put people into the hospital!" Gokudera growled, more than a little angry that one of those people had been his sister, even if he didn't particularly like the woman.

"Ah, yeah…"

"They're certified criminals," Reborn added his expression as ambiguous as his tone, "Killing isn't something new to them and it would be best if all of you kept that in mind." Here Takeshi wasn't quite sure how to respond so he instead opted to say nothing about it. He sighed and brought out his phone, quietly browsing through his contacts and dialling without a second thought.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gokudera hissed, making a failed attempt to snatch the phone out of the other teen's hand.

"Ah, hello, Kusakabe-senpai?" Takeshi waved him off, unconcerned by the growing frown on Ieyoshi's face, "Is Hibari-senpai there? I need to talk to him regarding Tsuna." There was a response of 'Let me go get him' that was heard over the line, followed by the shuffling of movement on the other end.

"Civilians shouldn't be instigated in mafia business." Ieyoshi warned seriously. The swordsman definitely took that into consideration, but at this point he was starting to think that he was the most ignorant, the most civilian-like, of them all.

"Maa, if it's Hibari-, ah Senpai?" Hibari's steely voice cut off the other's attempt at reassurance, his words as crisp and biting as ever, "Ah sorry to bother- right, no, it's about Tsuna..."

"Reborn! You're going to just let Yamamoto spill this stuff to an outsider?" Yoshi turned his attention to the hitman, completely unimpressed by the look of interest on the man's face.

"Ah yeah, so apparently Mukuro's kidnapped Tsuna," He continued to ramble on, disregarding those around him, "Well there's a lot that Tsuna would be able to explain better than me, but the gist is that he's an escaped criminal and that he's uh, killed some people before- What? Oh yeah, um we're heading to Kokuyo now. Chrome said before that they made a base out of the abandoned amusement park there so I assume- Ah, he hung up."

"I can't believe you called the demon prefect," Yoshi complained inconsolably, "Is he even going to be of any help?"

"Ah well," Takeshi considered telling them about the rumours surrounding the prefect, and how they weren't completely off-base or about how he held a special fondness for Tsuna, but instead… "You said it yourself. Hibari is as much a demon as he is Namimori's guardian. For any sort of criminal activity, he's the one you go to first, and if it has anything to do with Tsuna, he becomes particularly motivated."

"Wait, what?" Ieyoshi struggled more with the concept of Hibari being interested in his sister, than the fact he was prioritised over the local police force, "Please don't tell me that they're, y'know- actually do me a favour and say he isn't interested in her like that."

"But then I'd be lying," His smile at this point was a bit cold, feeling the same dislike of such a thing as Tsuna's brother, "As far as I know, he's more interested in fighting her than dating her though." And what a relief that was… not that Takeshi thought he lost in the charms department.


Despite starting their journey earlier, it was clear that another had beat them to the scene, the stray bodies of unidentified assassins laying strewn across the abandoned grounds. "Ah, Senpai's already here…" The swordsman recognised the tell-tale signs of blunt force trauma, and the distinct bruising left by the steel tonfas the prefect was never without.

"How?" Gokudera asked, confusion rising over his persistent irritation, "When you called him we would've been more than halfway here."

"There's a chance he was in the area." Despite how thorough the prefect had been, Takeshi still drew his sword, the wooden shinai underwhelming, in this scene.

"Yamamoto!" The one that called him hadn't been anyone of their group, but he couldn't claim the harsh voice as unfamiliar.

"Yo, Ken," He waved, lips lifted into a flawless smile, "I'm here to pick up Tsuna."

"Yeah, I figured as much. The skylark's already made a mess of the place, y'know," He had confidence though, that his own boss would be more than able to deal with the young tyrant, "That brat over there the Decimo?"

"Yeah I am," Yoshi proclaimed with no small amount of pride, "Now tell me, where are you holding my sister?" Surprisingly, the blond convict lazily pointed to the building behind him.

"Basement of the leftmost building, Mukuro-sama's waiting for ya there," He wasn't a fool, and knew that it was beyond him to take all three of them on at once, "I'll have you stay though Yamamoto, it's 'bout time that stupid smile got beat off your face." And when he was done he could catch up to the other two, should any of the other's need his help.

"Well I guess that's how it is guys," His current teammates were far too eager to leave, and far too anxious to stay when given the allowance to go forward, "I guess I'll catch up to you when I'm done." Somewhat cockily, he waved them off, unsurprised at the speed they took off at and the anger he garnered from his carefree actions. As if he was something more beast than man the scarred teen lowered himself to all fours with a growl, his teeth and nails extending to mirror claws and fangs in an impossible way. Takeshi on the otherhand underwent no such drastic changes, simply sliding into a low stance that had the bamboo blade in his hand drop its dull illusion in favour of a hard, cutting edge.


Tsuna found no joy in the endless dream, no matter how much effort Mukuro put into crafting a paradise for her. From room to room she could go wherever she wanted, find whoever she wanted, and do whatever she wanted. There was a lack of nothing with the frightening likeness everything had to reality. For example, she had found a room that mirrored the kitchen of her home, coupled with an airheaded woman wearing a caring smile that matched her memories. And for all intents and purposes this woman could have been as much Sawada Nana as the real one with the only exception being that she wasn't. On a whim, she revisited the flower shop from the future, finding something oddly calming about the unfamiliar place. The man Mukuro had placed there was no different from the one she had met appearance wise, but he did little more than smile and bustle about likely due to her own lacking knowledge from which the illusionist could draw from. Even the scent of the flowers, which had been so pervasive before, were dulled to an indistinguishable floral scent. But Tsuna found this far more comfortable than the perfect, eerie mirror of her own home.

Moving through rooms with no particular thoughts in her mind, Tsuna pressed herself not to linger in places that made her heart ache, and eventually found herself in a place that lacked any presence and influence from the illusionist. The dreamscape was a familiar one, an endless field of pristine white lilies under an empty blue sky. And like before she found a familiar man waiting for her, Primo's mysterious phantom smiling as if anticipating her arrival.

'Come.' He might've said, hand outstretch as his mouth formed the words. All Tsuna heard was static, rough, choppy and indistinguishable, yet vastly different from the silence of last time. And judging by the surprise on his face, she wasn't the only one to notice the difference. But currently there were more important things to worry about than the unheard voice of a ghost.

There was a crack, like thunder rolling in the distance, unseen in the sky but loud enough to shake the air. It was the sound of metal as opposing forces clashed, of tempered steel screeching against itself, sounding inconsistently with no rhyme or reason. "Stop," The girl implored with futility, "Please stop fighting." The hiss of a fire joined in the cacophony, the roar of a blaze amongst the harsh sounds of battle, and very quickly it became too much.

'…' More garbled words came out of Primo's mouth, reassurance if his gaze was anything to go by. Again, he extended his hand, tapping his ear and pointing of into the distance. 'Here, this way,' she could have imagined a soundless voice whisper 'You'll find them over here.' Ietsuna trusted him on an instinctual level, laying her hand within his larger one. There wasn't really a solidness to it, as expected of a figment of her mind, but it did feel remarkably warm.


She woke with fire in her hands, not to the sounds that had been ringing in her mind, but to something far more sinister. She woke to the underwhelming end to the detestable battle that left her feeling more appalled than relieved, hearing the pained gasps and groans of her friends muffled by the deafening rattle of chains. When her eyes fluttered open, unhurriedly with a forced sense of calm, the first one she saw was Chrome. The girl, who's lap she laid in, turned her horrified gaze away from the scene and towards Tsuna, who by all means should have been trapped in an inescapable illusion.

"Ietsuna-san…" She called softly, with an undeniable plead in her voice, "Mukuro-sama… please help him…" The amber eyed girl sat up, and took in the scene silently, sweeping past the evidence of battle and landing on the striking, black-robed figures. Their presence overwhelmed the scene, looming over the fallen figures of her friends. Her brother stood to the side, cut up and bruised up but otherwise fine, and beside him, watching, stood Reborn his impeccable suit standing out just as much as the raggedy cloaks.

"Tsuna!" She ignored her brother with little effort, her eyes instead trained on the figure wrapped cruelly in those ominous chains.

"You, what are you doing?" Tsuna asked, slowly rising to her feet. Takeshi was here, battered and bruised, holding up Gokudera who looked far more injured. Hibari might have been the most hurt despite being the strongest of the three, bringing him to that despised position on his knees with only his pride to keep him from collapsing. And yet there was still someone worse off. "Release him." She demanded, fire burning in her eyes.

"Don't try Tsuna," Reborn warned, "Those are the enforcers of the commandments in the mafia world, the Vindice. It would be…troublesome, to be involved. Just leave them alone."

"And what will happen to him then?" Tsuna spared him an impassive glance, still feeling the reassuring heat in the palm of her hands.

"His crimes will be put to trial and he will be punished accordingly." The only thing left in question was the severity, but knowing the mafia, it couldn't be anything good.

"No."

"No?" The hitman echoed, two parts incredulous and one part apprehensive.

"No," Her eyes flickered down to her clenched fists and the orange fire wrapped around them, before up to the bandaged faced of the Vindice responsible for the chains around her friend. "Release him." She repeated once more.

"We cannot," The gravelly response came, "Rokudo Mukuro is to atone for his crimes-"

"What crimes?" Ietsuna interrupted impatiently, taking a step forward, "Surely the death of Estraneo scientists wouldn't warrant this." They had brought their doom unto themselves, "Nor should you impartial judges mind the affairs of Vongola."

"He is to be punished for his actions against you," Was the reply she received, "For his intent against Ietsuna Sawada, the Sky Arcobaleno candidate."


A/N Thank you for reading!

So the plot thickens (and away from canon we go~)

Takeshi is a bit of a star player this chapter as Tsuna is otherwise indisposed. And I like the idea that he would have Kusakabe's contact info (Tsuna does as well, but she also happens to have Hibari's mysterious number).

I'll also be taking y'all on a journey into the unknown hehehe... as we explore Tsuna being an Arcobaleno candidate.