Disclaimer: I don't own KHR.
Word Count: 7748
Intermission 8
"There will come a time where you will know more about me, but until then I want you to become strong," Kawahira began after ending a lesson with Natsume, accompanying the girl home seeing as it had been rather late.
The fair haired brunette beside him side eyed him, a brow raising in question. He brought a hand out from his yukata's sleeves, a fan appearing in his hand before he flicked it open, using it to fan himself, "You will have to rise above what others expect of you, you will have to lie about what you are capable of until the time comes where you must show your hand."
"Why?"
His gaze was steely when he glanced down at her and Kawahira thought about the dwindling power, about the need for stronger people and perhaps having a hand in raising one of those people, before he pushed it aside, "You are a Mist, Natsume, you are already expected to hide and coyly keep to yourself, secondly you are a female in a world that has constantly been dominated by males, you will constantly be looked over no matter what."
Here the girl frowned, "But –"
"Your brother is coming into himself is he not?"
"…I suppose."
"Learn to hold back, you know you cannot always be there for him."
The pair stopped a block away from Natsume's home, the girl looking thoughtful with her brows pulled forward, lips tilted down.
Kawahira snapped his fan shut, using it to tap his student's head, "Don't look so glum…."
"I – what about Reborn?"
The white haired man gave her a knowing smile, his plum eyes twinkling with mirth, "Do not worry about him, you go on and do as you have been for the last year."
The girl's shoulders seemed to sag down an exasperated look on her face, "He's so nosy, I've seen him trying to follow –" He smacked her a little harder with his fan the second time around, his other hand coming to her back and pushing her forward.
"As I have said do not worry, just do as you must – give enough, but not too much, what good would a shadow be if the focus of the light is too strong?"
/ | \
She carefully hid within the shadows that the overgrown plant life of Kokuyo Land offered, melting into them as the tall figures with the awkward gait walked after a man, who had birds coming to him every now and then.
Natsume was about to follow them when someone crashing around and pushing their way through the literal mini forest of Kokuyo Land caught her attention. The sounds were coming around where she was milling about and she brought her flames closer to herself, half lidded eyes looking around to see where the person would come through.
She had just finished speaking with Reborn and now she was supposed to wait, but she was sure she would instantly throw that plan out the window when Fuuta's small figure dashed in front of her, eyes wide and frightened as he tried to get away from whoever was after him.
"Didn't Fuuta go out with Mama today?"
"Don't do anything Natsume."
"Birds, follow the birds Reborn."
The commotion seemed to have caught the old man's and his minion's attention, the man making an odd slurping sound as he saw the small boy. He didn't have to say anything, only pointing the kid out before his minions moved on him, quickly getting to the boy and picking him up so he wouldn't run off anywhere.
"Now why did you think you'd be able to runaway young Fuuta?" the voice came from a dark skinned man who had scars curling from the right side of his jaw over his cheek, "You know we mean well –"
"No," Fuuta cried, tears streaming down his friends, legs kicking and doing his best to struggle against his captors, "I don't want –"
Lancia felt the shift in the air as did the twins and the old man; they looked around trying to find the source. They never got a face, only a burst of flames that sprung from their feet, taking the shape of clawed hands as it wound around them.
A figure stepped forth, one that they could barely make through the transparent hands that covered their eyes.
"Shh, go with her," the woman spoke and Lancia could barely make out another figure similar in height to her approach and the boy that had been sprung loose, dashed towards her, letting the other figure lead him away.
The sound of crunching leaves faded and all that was left was them and the mysterious woman, who held her arms out, hands open before slowly squeezing them shut. The hands that wrapped around them constricted and Lancia could feel the breath being squeezed out of him.
"You will do well to forget this," Natsume spoke over the groans of the men, who tried to scramble away from her hold, but she had dealt with Kawahira and Wonomichi (who was just as slippery as her teacher when he wanted to be). "Of course some of you can't continue on."
Was all Lancia heard before he blacked out, remembered the calming warmth that came over him, crooning at him to submit and forget, to relax and just be. Birds felt a similar feeling, calming and relaxing, but there was a warning there, that made him tremble and question himself before he succumbed to the darkness.
The twins tried their best to escape, scrambling against the hands that continued to squeeze them, trying to ignore the call that demanded for them to submit.
"Death comes to us all," Natsume spoke as a phantom pain of a bullet piercing her skull came about, she ignored it, instead focusing on tightening her flames around the twins, a sick feeling twisting in her stomach as their movements became less frantic and more sluggish. "It just seems to have caught up with you two much sooner than expected."
There was a snapping sound as she clenched her fist tightly, her flames reacting to the movement and squeezing the remaining life out of the twins, while the other opened up slowly and let the other two men fall to the floor.
It was quiet for a while as she stared at the bodies that she had willingly killed (Fuuta was an odd child, he had the ability to see much more than a normal person should, which made her wary, but he was a child who was supposed to be safe in her home). She could feel her hands shaking as she knelt down before them. She brought her hands up, holding them as if she was about to pray,
"May you find peace in your next life."
She stared a second longer, before she stood up and left.
It was going to be a long day today; she could feel it in her bones, for now she pushed the guilt and sickness she felt aside. It would be best not to think about it too much at least until she had her own moment of peace and could deal with the nasty emotions that wanted to rise up.
She sighed, her hand coming up to mess with the end of her pony tail and tugging at the strands of hair, all she had to do now was wait.
/ | \
The trio looked up at the gates of Kokuyo Land, Tsuna feeling apprehensive about the whole situation that had been dumped on him. Takeshi didn't actually know how to feel about what they were about to do, except that he could tell he was nervous (so maybe if he thought he was just having another big game this wouldn't go so bad?).
Hayato had already smoked through two cigarettes and was lighting his third, when a well-manicured fingers plucked the cancer stick from his mouth, when he turned to yell at whoever had done it he nearly choked on his tongue.
Bianchi was standing there wearing goggles for some odd reason and looking over the three teens, holding Hayato's lit cigarette between her fingers.
"What are you doing here?" Hayato nearly hissed at his sister, absolutely disliking the fact that she came and went as she pleased, appearing when he least wanted her to.
"I called her here," Reborn piped up from his perch on Takeshi's shoulder, looking ahead at the park and trying to pinpoint the one person he had sent ahead. "I can't get involved and Bianchi is experienced enough to be able to help you three."
"But Reborn-san!"
"Smoking Bomb Hayato you may be, you are still green," the hitman quickly shut down the silver haired teen, who didn't seem too happy to have that shoved into his face. The hot headed teen had calmed down some since coming to Namimori, but he could be riled up and would probably lash out before actually thinking about what he was doing.
Reborn wouldn't fault him for that, even if Hayato had learned some on the weekend training sessions that he had with Tsuna and now Takeshi, dire situations often made people fall back on what they knew best.
Which was why Bianchi was here as back up and to make sure nothing went too bad.
"The objective is to subdue Mukuro," Reborn told them once more, jumping down from Tsuna's shoulder and landing on the floor. "There's a big chance we may run into the people he has working for him, so be prepared to fight and remember anything goes."
The hitman turned to look at Tsuna, "Leon is indisposed at the moment, and you know what you have to do in case you need to call on your flames?"
Tsuna nodded, brown eyes speckled with amber showing that he was already concentrating on pulling on his flames.
"Everyone ready?"
He got various nods and he turned to lead them in.
There was the sense of someone watching them once they started walking through the abandoned park, following the yellow birds that passed overhead every so often. Reborn resisted the urge to tug his fedora down, instead letting himself fall behind Tsuna as the boy took the lead and began to lead the others.
The brunet's intuition was kicking in now, guiding him through the park and picking up the obvious clues that the path they were on had been constantly used.
A loud chirping sound came up ahead, followed by a disturbed giggle, when the group came upon an old man with a bucket hat. Tsuna couldn't help the chills (and disgust) that crawled over his skin when the man caught sight of them.
"Seems like my boys went out, but I'm sure we can still have fun right?" the old man said to them an odd glint to his eye.
Reborn didn't move, instead watching and figuring various different ways to dispose of the man before him. He may have an answer on how to do it, but what would Tsuna do?
He watched and he was completely unsurprised when said boy decided to just stand there and stare at the man, who just continued on giving them that creepy smile.
"Oh yes," Birds made a slurping sound, lifting his hands up and to the air, "My babies can work just as well."
The odd chirping they had heard earlier seemed to have multiplied, a literal cloud of yellow birds coming from the trees and surrounding them, something small held in their claws (and still from the crowd one or two always pulled away, flying further into the park, another coming back to replace it).
Reborn watched as Takeshi settled himself by Tsuna's left, saw how Hayato kept a little behind on Tsuna's right. Reborn noted the tension in Tsuna's shoulders, could feel the boy preparing to defend when the man gave the signal.
"I would have loved to play a game," Birds smiled, hands slowly coming down to his sides, "But –" The old man sputtered, blood dribbling down from the corners of his mouth.
"Che, you talk too much old man, how about ya take a nap instead?" A voice spoke up, the man fell forward, the chirping of the bird's ceasing, before it came back full force in high screeches, the mass of birds diving at the blond teen with a scar running across the bridge of his nose before he was covered in feathers.
There was a buildup of power as the literal mass of yellow fluff swarmed the teen before they exploded back and the teen was eyeing them as if they were next. An obvious change had taken place, the teen looking a lot more animalistic than he had before.
Tsuna breathed in deeply, eyes a little wide.
Weren't these people supposed to be working together, so why did he do that to his own comrade?
"You have to learn that there are some people in this world who live by using each other," Reborn commented not at all surprised about what happened. "Joshima Ken, the same one who attacked your sister Tsuna – what are you going to do?"
Ken pulled something out of his mouth, switching it out with another set of teeth? There was a change in the air around the teen, who bared his teeth at them before he ran at them.
"Hayato distraction! Takeshi get ready!" Tsuna called, bringing up his arms, palms held out in front of him. The fast moving figure was upon them and Tsuna tried to keep track. It wasn't until his vision seemed to shift, that he was able to actually see.
Hayato's dynamite missed the teen, but Takeshi's swing clipped his shoulder followed by a crunch. The blond swiped at Tsuna, who grabbed at his wrists, brown eyes turning a brilliant gold color (and remember Tuna-fish if someone comes at you and your able to grab them, twist your body like so, make sure which direction you're throwing them down at and make sure that leg comes out so you can stay balanced) his father's voice was clear in that moment and he followed the instructions, throwing down the blond to his left and bringing down his knee into the teen's stomach.
Ken was thrown off, not expecting the short one to take him down, and he was quickly moving trying to regain his balance. The knee to his stomach didn't do anything, the brunet hadn't done it with any force and so he was easy to throw off.
The teen sneered at them, rolling backwards and shifting into a crouch as he prepared for his next attack.
"You won't get past me!"
Reborn couldn't help to think how pitiful, but he stayed back alongside Bianchi watching as the fight continued on.
Part 21: We Fight Pitiful Creatures
A clone had stayed behind with Fuuta as Natsume continued on in the park, making her way towards what she assumed was the hideout for the group they were looking for. It wasn't hard to slip past the girl who was milling about the picnic area, which made the rest of the walk to what she guessed was the auditorium almost peaceful.
She wasn't at all surprised to find the place in ruins; she of course had to find another way upstairs due to the staircase being broken down. She went through two rooms before she found one that had a ladder leading up.
Without much thought she climbed the ladder that took her to the second landing near the staircase. Pulling herself up she looked up and down the hallway, before turning around checking the third flight of stairs which were in much better shape than the ones before it.
About to head up, she paused on the first step when she heard a familiar tune playing, completely thrown off that someone would actually have the Namimori Anthem as their ringtone.
Midori Tanabiku~
Natsume stepped off the stair, heading down the hallway until she reached the door where the tune was coming from. Putting her hand on the handle and twisting let her know that the door was locked, so she let the pad of her thumb rest against the keyhole and let her flames flow through to twist the door mechanism open.
A light 'click' sound was made and by adding her weight to the door, she was able to open it. She squinted at the darkness, the hand that wasn't on the door coming up and casting an odd blue light over the room.
A small yellow bird similar to the ones that had been hanging around the old man Birds flew up to her, circling around her head, chirping out the Namimori Anthem as it flew back around the room landing beside a figure.
"Hibari! Hibari!"
Natsume looked a little harder and noticed that the lump that the bird had landed beside was actually someone's head, whose eyes had opened at the call of his name.
"Hibari-san," Natsume called to the upper classman taking small steps towards the shifting prefect, "What are you doing here?"
Gray eyes merely looked at her, before turning their attention downward as the prefect pushed himself up, making sure to grab his tonfas which had been laying on the floor.
"Sawada -"the prefect uttered once he straightened up, which made the dark haired teen wince, though he tried to hide it. "Namimori students are not –"
"The baby sent me," she interrupted the prefect, having a feeling that he was about to make up a rule about students not interfering with whatever was going on (even if she had been dragged into it by outside sources, Thanks Timoteo.)
The prefect only stared at her and she noted the way the corner of his right eye twitched, how his hands clamped down on the handles of his tonfas, before he held himself back.
Huh, that was weird.
Perhaps he understood the situation after having been dealt his own beating, not that she would mention that (she didn't want to become Hibari's next punching bag).
"These are actual dangerous criminals, Hibari-san," she told him, stepping back and gesturing towards the door. When the prefect moved forward, she walked beside him and when the two made it outside the room she noted just how fucked up the teen actually was, "They aren't like the rag-tag Yakuza around here, they're –"
"Save it –"
"No," she glared up at him, the look he sent her not at all putting her off, "You didn't know the situation and look how you ended up, I'm trying to inform you before you decide to make another stupid decision."
Later on she would fret about why she had done that (and much, much later on she would realize it's because she was actually worried, because these fuckers were killers and Hibari was just a teenager no matter how strong he was and secretly she was mentally old enough to be his mother, even if it didn't seem like she was.)
Her sense of danger prickled and she thrust her hand out, creating a clear silver shield that had the yo-yo's that had been flung at them to deflect back to whoever threw them.
"Yo-yo's, really?"
Hibari didn't care, this was a threat that had easily been deflected by Sawada with what seemed to be a similar power to that fool Mukuro.
"I didn't realize it would be you, Ken said you weren't much," the teen shifted in place, scratching at the side of his face that had a bar code on it. "So I guess it would be best to dispose of you both now."
Natsume gave the beanie wearing teen a toothy smile, the hand she had used to put up the shield coming to reach out for the crystal around her neck.
"I'm sure Ken-chan was a little confused is all," she demurred, not at all sounding like she was feeling (so nervous, she didn't want to kill again, did she have too? No, no, she didn't – breath, breath, just do like in lessons with Kawahira, do enough to get him away). Slipping the necklace off, she let the crystal rest in her hand, the chain intertwining between her fingers.
She made a downward flick motion, a jagged bolt of indigo flowing from the tip of the crystal and towards Chikusa who threw himself to the side to avoid it.
"Hibari-san," the prefect glanced down at the teen, whose attention was still focused on the yo-yo bearing herbivore, "What will I have to do for you to not say anything?"
The dark haired teen blinked, a predatory smirk curling his lips as he looked from the girl to the other, "Show me what you can do Sawada."
Natsume breathed out slowly, mist flames curling off her figure as she let them loose, slithering down and pooling at her feet before stretching out towards the rest of the room.
"Sad for you yo-yo boy," Natsume called to Chikusa who eyed the shadow like substance that approached him, "I'll make sure you don't remember this."
Hibari watched as the unknown power spread, connecting with the other's shadow and curling up his form. It looked as if tiny hands were wrapping around the teen, tightening around his hands and urging for him to let go of his weapons.
Chikusa didn't know how to breath, he watched the flickering gaze of the girl in front of him (the one Ken had said wasn't anything), saw the disgust and guilt that crossed her face, before a crooning voice sounded in his mind.
(Do not resist, just surrender yourself to me, it will not do you well to fight me. Images of hunched figures, the Bloody Twins were gone, refusing to fall under and fighting against her. You will not remember, but you will learn not to cross me or my own again.)
And like Lancia and Birds had done, Chikusa fell to her.
"Hmph, I thought there would be more of a fight."
Natsume scoffed turning her gaze from Chikusa's prone form to Hibari's slightly hunched one, "Judge me, but if I don't have to get my hands dirty I won't."
And it was better for the prefect to think that she wasn't capable of fighting in close quarters, because like hell Kawahira would let her get away from staying back (Your as much as a Sky as a Mist, manipulate the area to your little hearts content and get on with getting the weaker elements under your spell, save the big moves for those who can stand against you.)
They stared off, Natsume not at all backing down from Hibari who seemed to have found whatever the hell he was looking for. The prefect nodded and began to head towards the staircase and walking up, not waiting at all for Natsume to follow.
"Oy, don't just go off on your own," she called after the prefect who just ignored her, moving up as if he was in perfect health, "You're injured for fuck's sake!"
"Cursing is against the rules, Sawada."
"Fucking fight me Hibari."
There was a pause, which was then filled by a chuckle, "Let's see if the little kitten has some more bite first."
What? Oh no, no no no no – she rushed up the stairs to try to catch up with the injured prefect, only to catch sight of his back as he entered another room. There was a faint sound of laughter, followed by the sound of fighting.
Natsume had barely strode into the room when she saw Hibari hit the floor, completely out while the blue haired teen smirked down at his prone form. Said teen looked up at her, his oddly colored eyes seeming to shine as he took her in.
"Well, well, if it isn't the young Decimo's sister," the teen spoke, dipping his head in her direction, though she could tell from both his intent and his words that he was mocking her. "I'm sure if you're here the other will follow."
She didn't say anything, just calmly approaching him, never once taking her eyes off him, mind thinking on what she could possibly do (Rokudo Mukuro, a boy, just a boy, powerful, doesn't care, will do anything, will try anything.) She couldn't be distracted right now, she had to concentrate and make sure he didn't slip into her mind.
"I'm kind of happy that I was right about the pineapples," she said to him, eyes flicking up to his hair and the odd way it was put up, missing Mukuro's facial features twitch at the word 'pineapple' being directed at him.
"Oh ya, why would you think that would apply to me?"
The sarcastic response she had thought of probably wouldn't be a good idea to say, at least until she knew what he was truly capable of. Feelings and intent could power through illusions and she had no idea what his anger would do to them.
So she gave him a tight smile and shrugged her shoulders, "It seems you know me, but I have no clue who you are."
The teen – Mukuro, though she obviously didn't know that, because Mukuro was supposedly the other man with the scars, not this pretty boy – rose a brow, his mouth quirking into an insincere smile, "How rude of me, I am Mukuro Rokudo."
Natsume nodded at him, hands clasping in front of her, "I would say it is nice to meet you, but it's obviously not," he gave her chills honestly, his eye creeping her out more than the air he tried to put out. That eye was vile and tainted, completely wrong and it had warped the teen before her, taking all the negative feelings he had harbored and letting them rear their ugly head.
She didn't have to be close to feel it, not when her Sky was figuratively poking at the powerful mist before her and feeling him out.
The two continued to stare at one another, sizing each other up, not at all minding the explosion that went off, a bit too close for comfort, nor the shouts of various voices accompanying it.
"As interesting as this seems, I'm afraid I have to be rid of you," a spear with the head of a trident materialized in his hands and she looked on, hands still clasped as she felt his power surge, the odd figure in his right eye changing.
The room around them warped, fire and ash swirling about and as Mukuro waved his trident in her direction the fire followed the course, curling itself in the air before turning on her. She stared it down, gazing at it curiously as she brought her left hand up and held it up, palm facing the oncoming fire.
When the fire hit her palm, it split down the middle, the fire going around her, so she curled her left hand, palm face up towards the ceiling as her right hand came up in a fluid motion the necklace dangling from her wrist as she made a forward pushing gesture.
There was a switch to the fire, where it became water and under her control; the fire that had gone around her curled back and headed back towards Mukuro who looked uncharacteristically gleeful. She could feel herself start to sweat, taking things that others had created and turning them for her own use was always exhausting, she rather much preferred doing what she had done earlier to others simply because it came easier to her.
Then again, the others wills were weak compared to Mukuro's.
She huffed; stepping forward not at all waiting for Mukuro's counter as he cut off the illusion by switching the number in his eye once more. The room reverted back to its natural form, but she did not wait for him to move, letting her flames once more pool around her as she moved forward, clones appearing beside her as Mukuro blocked her incoming fist, a laugh escaping him as he caught on to what she was up to.
She looked over her shoulder to see if the one clone she had appear behind did as it was commanded to do and felt relief when she saw that Hibari was out of the way. She leaned back from a swipe, her attention being brought back to the fight at hand, and without another thought the clear crystal in her hand shown, a short staff now in Natsume's hands with the crystal resting at the tip.
"A little mageling, is that how you view yourself?"
Natsume didn't say anything, instead she pointed the top end where the crystal sat and like with Chikusa a couple minutes ago, jagged indigo lightning expelled from it. He spun his own, deflecting the attack and managed to bring it up in time to block the downward strike that came after.
He was a little taken back by her strength, but overcame it once her forward momentum was lost and he used his height to push her back. His eye changed again and snakes came from the sleeves of his sweater, wrapping around her wrists and the staff to keep her from making any other movements.
"Kufufu, almost~"
He let the serpents crawl over her body, pushing forth his own intentions to keep her in place. Seeing her still and her eyes widening in realization of her predicament, he laughed again, before he reached out to her and cupped her cheek.
"You would do as a fine replacement in case the young Decimo is not to my liking."
He felt her shiver from his touch and he was about to tell her that there was no need to fear him, that he took care of those that followed him, only for her to dissolve into a shroud of mist, where it seeped up his arms and urged him to keep his place.
"I'm sure, of course there is no need for that," the girl spoke from behind the one he had thought he caught. She stepped underneath his outstretched arm, giving him a small smile as she mimicked him and reached out to cup his own cheek. "Now before the others arrive, will you do me a favor?"
Mukuro narrowed his eyes as he noted how hers became brilliant amber with speckles of indigo, "Let's keep this our little secret yes?" You will not speak of this to anyone, unless I say so. I want you to remember the little I can do and imagine what more I can accomplish. Mukuro blinked, frowning at the teen in front of him, the sound of voices got his attention and so he moved before the others that were coming could interrupt.
Mukuro slammed the end of his trident on the ground, the floorboards caving in and cracking as a line split towards her.
Natsume braced herself, not at all hearing Tsuna's voice when he called to her when a hand made up of indigo flames reached out from the caverns that had been created and wrapped around her. She didn't get a chance to free herself because Mukuro was suddenly right there in her face, once more touching her cheek and pulling her towards him.
"Such a cute little thing isn't she?" the blue haired teen asked the brunet who stared wide eyed, noting the disgusted look on his sister's face as Mukuro put an arm around her shoulder, the tip of his trident uncomfortably close to her face.
(No one had ever tried to use Natsume against Tsuna, usually the bullies went straight for Tsuna and ended up meeting Natsume halfway towards him when she realized their intent.)
There was a bright light that came from the doorway as Tsuna's usually sweet smiling face twisted into anger, his eyes glowing and literal licks of fire curling between his knuckles and up his arms (where those gloves he was holding? Was that what the bright light was?)
Mukuro smirked, "She'll be safe as long as you do as I say, young Decimo."
"Right," Natsume breathed out, squirming against the giant hand holding her, where it squeezed her tighter upon reflex. She breathed in slowly as Tsuna began to glance between her and Mukuro, narrowed eyes showing concern for her situation and when she caught his gaze she shook her head slightly.
"So you are the real Rokudo Mukuro," Tsuna began, his voice quivering while his hands furled into fists, crinkling the thin leather gloves in his hands.
The blue haired teen tried to give him what he thought was an amicable smile, but Tsuna could already sense his intent.
"Put the gloves on Tsuna," Reborn's voice came from a ways behind, the hitman finally parting from the shadows and revealing himself.
Natsume felt cold as she looked over at the hitman, already knowing her skin resembled that of a chickens from the chills that she felt. His shadow wasn't warping like it did a couple of days ago and even though he was supposed to stay out of it, having someone like Reborn hanging over – watching and judging – didn't sit well with her.
At least if anything went wrong he was there.
Then again if anything did go wrong she'd probably be dead.
There was a calling she felt deep within her, her attention turning to her brother who had finally slipped on his gloves. The simple dark brown gloves he had had changed beneath the flames that he was expelling now resembling fingerless leather gloves with bracers that extended nearly all the way up to his elbow.
Without batting an eye she focused on the feeling, knowing Tsuna was also experiencing something similar when one of his brows rose (it was like that one time months ago, Reborn was pushing them and pushing them and they couldn't continue on, they had to do something, they had been desperate and then there was a sense of knowing, of moving together and a hell bent feeling on showing Reborn how they currently felt.)
"I highly doubt any type of gloves will do anything at this moment," Mukuro tightened his hold on Natsume, "Are you willing to hurt –" he didn't have a chance to finish his sentence as Tsuna jumped forward, flames flaring alongside Natsume's which helped in breaking the illusion that held her.
There was the sound of something hitting metal; Natsume couldn't see what was going on anymore as she rolled away.
"Natsume!" That was Takeshi, his footsteps pounding against the floor as he ran his way over to her, small explosions coming from who she assumed to be Hayato giving Tsuna cover as he tried to probably evade Mukuro's illusions. "Hey, hey I got you," the baseball player kept his bat to his side as he helped Natsume up, the girl sighing out a 'thank you' as she got on her feet.
Honeyed eyes looked over the teen, checking for any cuts or bruises, but didn't see any though he noted how exhausted she was looking by the way she was slightly slouched as she made her way over to the downed figure of Hibari. She crouched beside the prefect, making sure to keep Tsuna at the corner of her eye as Takeshi came to stand in front of her, back to her and his baseball bat (did it also turn into a sword?) in hand.
A gun going off happened at the same time Hibari called her and Natsume was torn between what she should give more attention. Relief seem to emit from Takeshi, but the teen could still feel that something was wrong.
"Sawada –"the prefect called her again, so she turned to look at Hibari, who was trying to push himself up. Natsume tsk'ed at the prefect about to make him just lay down because he should not be moving at all, only to be clipped in the chin with his tonfa as he swung up.
"Fucking shit," she cursed, Takeshi turning in to see Hibari try to balance on his knees and lash out at Natsume a second time.
"Oho~" left the prefects mouth, eyes taking on a different color before they blinked back to their usual dark gray, sliding shut as his body crumpled down once more.
She looked up at Takeshi, who looked uncharacteristically serious when he crouched beside her and looked at Hibari, "You okay?" he asked her and she gave him a halfhearted smile while bringing a hand up to rub her chin.
"I suppose so."
An explosion rang out from the other side of the room and Takeshi was already moving, knowing that Natsume would be fine for now as he made his way over to Tsuna's side, in time to hear clearly what the silver haired teen and the brunet were saying to each other.
"Hayato? No…Mukuro?"
"Kufufu~ such a good guesser aren't you Tsunayoshi-kun?"
"What's happening now Tsuna?" Takeshi asked, ready to swing at Hayato as well if he tried anything else.
Tsuna's brows furrowed, his displeasure evident by the way his lips tilted down at the corner, "Be careful Takeshi, that's not Hayato anymore."
Hayato gave them a bland smirk, his head tilting uncharacteristically to the side, "But it's still your friend, so what will you do Tsunayoshi-kun?" here the Mukuro-possessed-Hayato pulled out some more dynamite and had them at the ready. "I've said the Mafia is a cruel place, where even the best of friends can turn against one another, will you raise your hand or will you let this one take you down?"
"Don't hesitate Tsuna –"
"Oh is the arcobaleno finally going to involve himself?"
"This is not my fight."
Mukuro seemed much more chipper than before as he narrowed his eyes at Tsuna, who was outright glaring at him.
"You said you wanted the Vongola Decimo," Tsuna began, his voice hitching a bit and he took a deep breath to calm his nerves, could feel his finger nails digging into the thick leather of his gloves. "Well here I am, I won't deal with you unless you are your own person."
It was odd seeing Hayato grin so sinisterly, to see him toss his head back as he outright laughed, the sound quickly cutting off as his body fell back.
"So what will it be then?" A voice breathed against his ear and Tsuna caught Reborn's gaze, his intuition soaring as he saw Reborn's small hands finger one lone bullet.
Could Reborn possibly know what he was asking, Tsuna wondered as he looked away from his tutor, his chin nearly resting against his chest as his eyes slipped shut for a moment. He could feel Takeshi gearing up to take another swing at Mukuro, but holding himself back in case the illusionist pulled the same trick of disappearing again and he instead hit Tsuna.
Tsuna could feel Natsume, her nerves kicking in as she watched, unable to do much of anything (though he knew she could do much more than she let on, he didn't understand why she held herself back now, when before she was willing to go all out.)
As Tsuna turned to face Mukuro, a single shoot rang out, catching him right in the middle of his forehead. There was a slight pain as he felt his body fall backwards against Mukuro, who felt confused and angry (because how was he supposed to use a dead body now?) as he merely held Tsuna up.
There was a calm that permitted the air, before it was rent up in pure Sky flames.
Without much thought Tsuna moved, grabbed Mukuro's wrist and flipped the teen over his shoulder, his left hand held out right in front of the teen's face.
Surprise.
Anger.
..regret?
"Oho? Is that what you've been planning this whole time?" but still just as confident, as if there wasn't a palm full of Sky flames ready to devour him held just a couple centimeters away from his face. "What will you do now, kill me?"
No, Tsuna didn't have it in him (at least not yet).
"Something better," Tsuna murmured quietly, amber eyes gazing intently into heterochromatic eyes. He flexed his palm the flames burning even brighter as they took on a life of their own and leapt at Mukuro, enveloping the teen who tried to get away.
But Tsuna's flames already knew what to do and Tsuna knew that whatever darkness Mukuro harbored, whatever taint he had sustained it wouldn't be washed away so easily.
For now though as the flames finally faded away and left behind a peaceful, sleeping boy, he thought the little he had done was enough.
His mother had always said to give everyone a chance, no matter what and something within him told him to give Mukuro one last chance.
As his vision began to blur, Tsuna just hoped he had made the right decision.
/ | \
While the others were tended to, Natsume stood back, arms wrapped around herself (she still felt the chill of the Vindice, unnatural beings). Tsuna had passed out once everything had finally settled, not handling the strain of that bullet Reborn had shot at him, Takeshi was being checked over to make sure he wasn't too hurt, and Hayato (with a worried looking Bianchi hovering about) was being lifted into one of the ambulances that had shown up.
Hibari had long since been carted away, the most heavily injured out of all of them and she was left with little to nothing to show for what she had done that day (minus the fatigue and a crash from all the adrenaline.)
"You and I are going to have a talk on what it means to not get involved."
Apparently she was going to get chewed out right then and there while everyone else was preoccupied, how lovely.
She shrugged, giving off the impression of 'what can you do', Reborn could feel a tick starting to develop, but he quelled it, not at all giving into some rather scathing thoughts and urges to just shoot.
"Now, Natsume."
Teenagers, for Cristo's sake.
She pursed her lips, brows furrowed as she turned to look at Reborn, "What is there to talk about, everything already happened."
And luckily everything turned out fine, Mukuro and his cronies were back at Vindice, Tsuna and the others were fine.
"You were alone and moving around Kokuyo without really knowing where your enemies were."
He could see her jaw clench, could feel that stubborn wall she had held up against him when he first arrived being put up again.
"I knew what I was doing."
Reborn scoffed, couldn't help it, "Do you know exactly what you were doing?" he asked in retort, he knew she could handle herself in most situations, but in something like this? She was untrained, he wasn't entirely too sure on the extent of her flames, and he also did not trust whoever it was she was learning from (because if it had to be kept from him, the actual tutor, they weren't trustworthy).
"Yes, I'm not stupid, I know what I'm capable of and what I'm not," she snapped back, eyes narrowed at him. "If I didn't think I couldn't, I wouldn't get myself involved."
"So what did you do then, please elaborate," his response was terse and it seemed to change something in her.
Gone was the anger, her face had lost its flushed color seeming gray at whatever crossed her mind and Reborn wondered if something else had happened that she had been made to forget and now it had come forth.
Confusion clouded her eyes and she looked away from him, biting down on her lip, her arms which had dropped down at her sides coming up to wrap around herself again.
"The Bloody Twins are dead."
Reborn walked up to the girl, his hand reaching out and tugging on her jeans, "Sit down." She listened and she seated herself, gone was the little spitfire from a couple seconds ago and in her place was a girl who was trying to figure out exactly what she had done. "Did you do that?"
She nodded, mouth pressed into a thin line, "Look at me and speak, did you kill the Twins Natsume?" She looked at him, hazel eyes bright and he could almost guess how she had done it.
"Yes," she uttered out, more of an exhale of air than an actual sound. "They had Fuuta and I'm sure they would have done a lot worse." She brought her knees up to her chest, resting her arms against them and then her head, not once breaking eye contact with Reborn. "I didn't even have to touch them, I just –"she finally broke away from Reborn's gaze and hid her face in her arms, "I just held onto them until they stopped moving."
And he was painfully reminded that these were children, ever so slowly being tainted by his world. Reborn quietly sighed, standing beside the girl as she tried to hide away the mess of emotions that had surfaced up because of him.
He knew this wasn't the first time she had done this, but it was the first she had consciously done it instead of a reaction to feelings and a want to protect. She obviously wouldn't go to her friends about this and tell them what was bothering her if she didn't get over it, she wouldn't talk to the boys about it either.
She had only told him because he had practically demanded she tell him what she had done and he knew that if he hadn't, she would have kept it to herself until someone either figured it out or blamed the Bloody Twins death on one of the other criminals.
"You know you don't have to go through with this anymore," Reborn began, choosing his words carefully. "You don't have to get further involved."
She scoffed, "I'd rather know exactly what's coming for us than be taken by surprise later on." She lifted her head up, wiping away the tears with the back of her hand before she turned to look at him once more. Her eyes were a little red, lashes still wet, but there was a hardness there, one with promises and a resolve that wouldn't break.
He kept from smiling up at her, instead keeping his expression blank, "And what if another situation like this happens again?"
Here she gave him a bitter smile, "I'll do it again."
AN:
Isn't there a Nikki Sixx that's called Welcome to my Nightmare, well welcome to this hot mess. I actually really like this, we get some of Kawahira's intentions, I think we get more questions than answers and more 'Hey Sorugao how are you gonna come out of this now?' Well let me tell you, I am trying to figure that out. The ending is what I really don't like, but I am (slightly) happy with everything else.
Anyways, thanks for all the reviews, favs and follows. Quesitons, conerns, if ya'll see anything that seems wrong/worded funny, lemme know and I'll get to it as best as I can.
A very stressed out and happily avoiding all issues,
Sorugao