The last chapter was a little short (1.2K words), so double update!
The twins followed Hibari into the school theater. Like the rest of the building, it was old and dusty. But most importantly, it was empty.
"Hibari-sempai… there is no one here…" Ieyasu said, putting his hand on his shoulder. "Let's go back. You need medical attention."
Hibari shrugged off his hand violently, without a word, and glared at him.
"Kufufufu… I wouldn't be so sure of that. He's quite durable." The familiar laugh echoed. The twins knew immediately who it was and swiveled their head to the source of the sound: the stage.
"Mukuro-kun… You did this? You attacked all these kids?" Tsuna questioned. She was confused, thinking of all possible reasons why he would hurt people like he did.
"Yes. It was I. I was the one who attacked those kids. I needed to catch people's attention about the Monochrome Carnival, after all."
"Do you even know who you're working for, byon?" Ken growled.
Yamamoto's eyes never left his opponent's. His eyes have adjusted, and he could see the human-lion hybrid. Yamamoto was looking for deceit in his eyes, but found none.
"What do you mean?" Yamamoto urged.
"Monochrome Carnival, byon. You should know that there is some shady stuff going on there..."
Yamamoto's eyes widened, thinking back to his conversation with his dad…
Flashback
"Monochrome Carnival?!"
Yamamoto was surprised when his normally relaxed dad shouted.
"Yes?"
"Takeshi, I have heard some rumors about that place. The place gives me the creeps. I have heard that some children have disappeared at the carnival." Tsuyoshi explained. He sat back to his previous position with his arms crossed.
"What do you mean 'disappeared'?" Yamamoto asked.
"I mean that some nights, some children are kidnapped. Some think they are murdered. But there are other rumors as well."
"What kind of rumors?"
Tsuyoshi sat and thought for a moment, a hand on his chin. "It's nothing," he relented. "It doesn't matter now. The point is: you're home, and we should be celebrating." He stood up, and walked to the fridge grabbing a bottle of beer. "So, tell me about your trip to China..."
Mukuro stepped out from behind the torn curtains, and towards center stage. "Oh, yes. The evil wrongdoings of that place need to be brought to light."
"What do you mean? What wrongdoings?" Tsuna asked frantically, followed by her brother.
"And how does that justify what you've been doing to Namimori Middle School?"
"All in due time, but for now, I think there is a certain skylark with the intent to murder." He purred, "now it's time for a deadly dance…"
Hibari's eyes narrowed, and he launched himself at him. Mukuro summoned his trident and parried the attack while summoning illusions of cherry blossom trees. Mukuro laughed as he saw Hibari physically weakened, but was cut off by an unexpected attack from him. Hibari sneakily feigned collapse, and launched himself into Mururo's blindspot, hitting him in the back of his knees. Hibari took the opportunity to aim a kick to his head, but Mukuro would not be tricked twice. He caught the leg and pulled, causing Hibari to lose his balance, and used the trident to stab his neck. Hibari twisted to the left at the last second, and kicked Mukuro off of him, making him lose grip of Hibari's foot.
"You're quite good…" Mukuro regained his balance. "But you're no match for my illusions."
Sakura trees begin to fade into existence, causing Kyoya to slow to a halt. The paralyzing effects of the treatment he received from Dr. Shamal was fully realized. Though, he didn't realize how much of a pain in the ass it would pose.
"Don't get cocky," Ieyasu hissed as his forehead bursted with dying will flames. He rushed at Mukuro, hoping to have the element of surprise of any sort, but the boy was more skilled than Ieyasu originally thought. Hook after jab, he chased Mukuro around the theater, yet none of the hits landed. Ieyasu eventually got tired, and slipped. Mukuro smirked, driving his trident forward until a fiery fist slammed into the side of his face.
"Don't forget about me." Tsuna stood over Mukuro's collapsed body. Her angry gaze gave everyone in the room shivers. No one except Ieyasu had seen her this angry. The orange glow of her eyes only proved to be more threatening.
"Ora, ora. Hiding behind your sister? Why don't we settle this fight, on equal grounds." He stood, and wiped the blood off the corners of his mouth. "Nagi!"
The girl materialized behind him, with her own trident. She twirled it and slammed it into the ground, creating an illusion of the ground separating, and filling the cracks with lava. They twins were pushed backwards on their own island. The illusion was powerful, even simulating the heat from the lava.
"Enough!" A clap echoed through the abandoned hall, immediately dispelling the illusion. Everyone's heads spun towards the stage where a familiar figure stood. He wore a checkered hat, mask, and suit.
"Checkerface!" Tsuna exclaimed. The rest were shocked into silence. "What are you doing here? Much less in public?"
"I'm here for the Rokudo twins. They have been causing trouble by attacking the citizens of the town, and affecting the trust people have on our peaceful operation," he elaborated.
"Us? Affecting the 'trust' people have on us?" Mukuro growled, while Chrome only shrinked back. "Why don't you tell them about the experiments on children you guys have been doing!?"
Checkerface frowned as he gave Mukuro his full attention. "We are investigating that currently, but the actions you have taken in the past few days have given our team immense trouble." He strolled off the stage, moving towards the group. "Pray tell, who gave you information about the experimentation?"
Mukuro's face dropped, and he went stone-still. "I…don't remember…" Mukuro clutched his head as he felt a headache come on. He couldn't remember where it all started. He only felt immense rage towards the Monochrome Carnival. This worried Nagi as she had rarely seen her brother as confused as he was. She knew exactly what he was feeling because she couldn't remember either. There were few who could get past their defenses.
"What do you mean you don't remember?" Ieyasu growled.
"My brother means to say, he's been tricked," Nagi stated, glaring at Ieyasu. "We all have..." she added softly.
"What?! No way!" Tsuna panicked. Mukuro was one of the strongest illusionists in the troupe. If someone were to trick him into acting out, they must be serious.
Checkerface came to the same conclusion. "Then, it's not Mukuro's fault, but we will still have to suspend you from performing for a while, and launch an investigation. I suppose it would help if we made an announcement. Mukuro, if you'd please come with me." he decided.
Checkerface led Mukuro out of the building, most likely to where the base is currently residing. The twins looked at each other, then to Nagi. She looked close to tears from being separated from her brother.
Tsunaru looked around for Reborn and Hibari. Instinctively, she looked at her brother, and he seemed to be wondering the same thing.
"He probably took Hibari to a safe place. He'll catch up. He always seems to know where we are anyways," Ieyasu huffed, shrugging his shoulders. Tsuna looked worried, but decided to trust her brother's judgment.
"It's ok, Nagi-chan. Let's go back to my mom's place and we'll get you some tea, okay?" Tsuna offered, setting a hand on her shoulder.
"Ken, Chikusa. What about them?" Chrome whimpered. The twins looked at each other in understanding.
"We'll see if they're still around," Ieyasu started.
"And if they are, we'll bring them back with us, and we can explain the situation," Tsuna finished with a nod. Nagi looked hesitant, but nodded in agreement. She was eager to see if her friends were safe.
Yamamoto had knocked the reckless boy out in a matter of minutes. He had adjusted the younger boy into a more comfortable position, using his shirt as a pillow. Yamamoto had taken a seat on the concrete floor next to him, making sure he would be fine after the admittedly brutal beatdown.
He had time to think about the things his father had told him, and what Ken had told him… Something about Monochrome Carnival kidnapping children? It sounded ridiculous because everyone seemed happy or at least content there. Furthermore, everyone was free to leave if they wanted to. The President would even plan a show at the city the leaving member would need to go to. He thought that maybe Tsuna and Ieyasu would know.
Speaking of the devil-or angel, he heard Tsuna's voice calling his name.
"Over here!" Yamamoto called. He hoped it was loud enough, and called again. "I'm in here!"
He heard the twin's footsteps, followed by one more. Both the twin's heads popped in, and he waved. They did their twin thing where they looked at each other and made a decision. This time, they jumped into the hole together.
"Hey, are you okay?" Tsuna, the bleeding heart, asked. As usual, she has genuine concern in her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I can't say the same about him, though," Yamamoto chuckled nervously. He motioned towards the boy on the floor.
Ieyasu was already moving towards Ken. "I got him. I'll see you guys back up there." he stated, picking the boy up, putting him on his back, and jumped out of the hole. He wouldn't have been able to make the jump if it weren't for the soft flames he used to boost himself.
"Can you make it up yourself?" Tsuna asked. Takeshi shook his head, a little embarrassed. "It's ok," she replied, "I can take you up. Just hold on tight."
She looped his arm around her shoulder, and jumped, also using her flames for a boost.
Once they were out, they could hear Nagi fussing over her friend.
"Ken…" she shook his shoulder. "Ken…He should be fine, right?" she asked Ieyasu.
"We just have to get him to the hospital," he replied.
Yamamoto looked guilty. "Sorry. I didn't want to hurt him, but he wouldn't stop." he interjected. Nagi looked at him in surprise. She didn't think that Yamamoto Takeshi would've been able to beat him.
"...No. If my brother was tricked, it would also make sense that Ken would be tricked. We are all greatly loyal to my brother…" she faltered. Nagi hoped that Ken and her brother were truly tricked. If they weren't, she still wouldn't want to keep fighting these nice people.
"Don't worry. Our president will take care of everything," Tsuna reassured with a hand on her shoulder. "If you can message anyone else, ask them to meet up at the house."
Nagi nodded, and began messaging Chikusa. She followed Takeshi and Tsunaru to Nana's house. Ieyasu split ways, taking Ken to the nearest hospital.
Reborn sighed at the two boys. Gokudera and Chikusa were both passed out from their fight. He had barely gotten back from dropping Hibari Kyoya off at his office in Namimori Middle School, and now he had to deal with these knuckleheads.
He heard a soft chime coming from the four-eyes. Searching through the pockets, he finally found the phone. The text was from Murkuro's sister, and it said to meet them back at Nana's house…
Reborn smirked evilly when he learned that the heiress was inviting the enemy into their own house. She was going to get punished for her carelessness. For some reason, he found himself looking forward to what he'd do to her.
He carelessly tossed the two over his shoulder. He might as well drop them off at the hospital before heading to Nana's house.
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