The Cloud That Bites The Skies
Summary: A scary person with a fearsome reputation finds Tsuna and Co on a normal, sunny day, bringing news of an assassination plot on Don Cavallone. Insanity ensues.
Monday morning was a nightmare for Tsuna and his friends, because none of them had gotten enough sleep since their adrenaline was still pumping through their veins after the unique clubbing experience from the previous night. Even by the time Dino-san dropped them all off to their homes - which for Tsuna, as the boss, was sometime around one in the morning - they were all too hyped up to fall asleep until the wee hours of dawn. Honestly, to the future Vongola boss, it felt as though he'd only just fallen asleep when his alarm rang for school. He was almost tempted to take up Reborn on letting the baby hitman deal with Hibari-san and just go back to bed, but no one had seen the prefect since last Thursday so he was kind of worried.
Also, if Hibari-san ever actually learned as to why they had all collectively ditched school that day, he'd surely bite them all to death, including Dino-san and maybe even Reborn! Tsuna didn't want to get bitten to death! He was too young! He hadn't even confessed to Kyoko-chan yet! Not that he necessarily would, but that's not the point.
The morning felt really weird once he managed to get out of bed. Bianchi was still asleep when he trudged down for breakfast, his Kaa-san was not as energetic as he's used to, since apparently she, too, had had trouble shaking off the excitement of the night to go to sleep and Reborn looked pensive again, but at least Colnello was around - which was also weird - and was somehow managing to keep Lambo in line.
Though, apparently, that was achieved through threatening the cow child with Kumo-san.
That thought actually made Tsuna pause as he munched on some toast. They'd all gotten a glimpse of Kumo-san last night - he'd been really hard to miss with an entrance like that, even if the man himself didn't seem to think of it as a big deal. Reborn even disappeared to have a drink with the man from the future and yet while he seemed in a considerably better mood than yesterday, he didn't look exactly happy, either. It's what made the youngest Sawada ask.
"Ne, Reborn, where is Kumo-san? Did you guys make it safely back home last night?" Reborn and Colonello had, after all, not been part of Dino-san's dash to get them all out before the real 'party' started.
His question, if possible, darkened Reborn's mood further.
Colonello answered for him. "We got separated when the maggots started running away, kora. Thirty of them, Cavallone's would be assassins, kora. We waited for that guy to come back after he dealt with them, but he never showed up. The velvet still had his car keys when Reborn asked for his slip number, kora. We hoped he would have returned here, but as you can see, he didn't, kora. Reborn's being a crybaby and missing his mama, kora."
Tsuna got really worried when Reborn didn't try to shoot back any insults or kill Colonello for talking to him like that. The narrowing of sky blue eyes told him the blond Arcobaleno shared his worry. "I'm sure he just found the rest of the assassins and was hunting them down. This is Kumo-san we're talking about! I'm sure everything is just fine."
"He said he'd be coming straight back here once he finished them off," the baby with the Yellow Pacifier said through what sounded to be grit teeth. "They all had Box Weapons, Tsuna, and we're not exactly versed well enough in them to know if the combatants are strong or not. Either way, he should have come back by now. He had new information that he should have delivered to the future Lambo so he'd know how long he can stay."
As if summoned just by that, the kid Lambo was suddenly replaced with his ten-years-later version, looking nervous already, dressed in a fine suit and with a bundle of papers and a box - one similar to the one he'd brought rings for Kumo-san the last time in - in his hands. His eyes seemed far more alert than they usually were and they were scanning the room for the recipient of his report.
He blinked in something like confusion when all he found was two Arcobaleno, I-Pin, Fuuta and Tsuna. "Young Vongola, everyone. I was kind of expecting a different setting for this meeting. Could you point me in Kumo-sama's direction?" When Reborn's face darkened, Lambo's did, too. "Did he go out on a dangerous mission all by himself again? Why am I even asking, of course he did. Boss will be having a conniption about this once he hears about it, but this might actually be for the best, regarding this meeting."
"What do you have to report?" The World's Greatest Hitman demanded and the Lightning Vongola Guardian immediately complied, handing over the stack of papers with a surprisingly firm instruction that they were 'for Kumo-sama's eyes only'.
"We managed to get some security footage from the remains of the enemy base," Lambo paused, shooting Nana a glance but she seemed to be absorbed in fretting over the malfunctioning rice cooker to notice anything strange going on, so he continued. "We now know the exact number of people who went through and we managed to extract the data on how much Fiamma Voltage - the amount of Flames - was used for the trip. Irie-san and Spanner-san calculated that Kumo-sama would definitely be staying for the duration of the seven days, which is the machine's maximum capacity for a single trip. Which could turn out to be rather troublesome if he were to run out of rings if he has to hunt the assassins down one by one. Which is why I brought these with me."
Tsuna accepted the box when it was offered, feeling a little curious and peeking inside at the contents. Thirty rings, neatly lined in six rows, each one holding five rings marked with the class of the ring on a little tag attached to each one. All of them, presumably, Cloud Type.
"Kumo-sama tends to get frustrated when his prey runs from him and he can become rather snappish. You could say these are for both assistance and as a peace offering. Each of your Guardians and you yourself, young Vongola, should carry these rings on your person in case you run into one of Kumo-sama's fights or if he turns particularly violent."
"But there are only enough rings for six people to carry, not seven," Tsuna protested and Lambo shot him a confused look.
"Hibari isn't involved, Dame-Tsuna. Did you already forget?" Reborn asked as he kicked his student out of the blue. The hitman turned back to the teen Bovino. "Anything else to report?"
The Lightning Guardian winced. "Bucking Bronco found out about Kumo-sama's absence when he met Kumo-sama's younger self. He was predictably furious and is demanding of Irie-san, Spanner-san and Giannini-san to repair the device so he might retrieve Kumo-sama himself and ensure his safety. But Kumo-sama is a far scarier consequence so they are, of course, refusing him, since their lives are on the line. Unfortunately, Bucking Bronco managed to get his hands on some of the plans for the machine and has delivered them to Verde. They've struck a deal and it is only a matter of time before you have another visitor, this one perhaps even without replacing the past and future counterparts, as was per Bronco's request. He, apparently, wants to retrieve Kumo-sama himself while delivering younger Kumo-sama back to his own time. Needless to say, no one is happy about this. Except maybe Marshmallow-head. I heard he's even going out of his way to help Verde figure out how to do it as Bronco requested. Someone's going to get bitten to death when a certain someone finds out about what that Bucking Bronco did."
'Hibari-san is going to bite Dino-san's future counterpart to death and then Kumo-san is going to discipline him to booth!' Just the thought brought shivers and tears to the young Vongola heir. What a cruel fate awaited his self-proclaimed older brother! Tsuna definitely pitied the man, but he could acknowledge that the blond had brought it on himself. He just hoped Dino-san's future counterpart survives the consequences of his actions!
"That may actually be good news, since we don't know what happened to 'Alaudi Kumo' after last night's hunt," Reborn said contemplatively, crossing his arms. "We have no idea how to fight these opponents yet, so it would be good if he had some backup that did."
"I rather doubt there is a need to offer Kumo-sama assistance," Lambo from the future said seriously. "He's a lot stronger than you could imagine by just looking at his younger counterpart as a referencing point, even without Box Weapons or rings. His younger counterpart is, of course, really strong but the Kumo-sama you have met and housed is a monster of strength and ability, not to mention Fiamma Voltage and volumen. He's versed well enough in controlling his Flames that he doesn't need a conduit for performing easier tasks."
"Then why hasn't he returned yet, kora?" Colonello asked a bit impatiently, but just as Lambo was about to answer, that was the moment when the five minutes were up and a pink smokescreen left five year old Lambo behind, revealing that he was picking his nose.
"I really can't wait until 'Alaudi Kumo' starts disciplining this brat," the darkly dressed baby said almost viciously, though Tsuna could understand why he would be so pissed. Five minutes was not enough time to ask or answer all the important questions and it put them all on edge when important questions are cut off like that. "But I guess we can't do anything else right now other than wait to see what will happen. Go get ready for school, Tsuna, or else you'll be late."
That, of course, induced the normal flailing when the teen realized his 'home tutor' was right and he set about hastily dressing himself so he can go to school. Reborn jumped onto his shoulder as he was running out of the house and Colonello even went after them, being as usual carried by his seagull in flight. Somehow, he managed to get through the school gates before the tardy bell could sound off, though he had enough time to notice that the Disciplinary Committee seemed rather tense as they did their usual thing. In fact, they remained tense throughout the day, doing more patrols than usual, which made Sawada realize that Hibari-san must not have yet returned from wherever he had run off to.
He had been hoping that the Chairman would be back by now, ruling Nami-chuu with an iron fist - and tonfa - but it would seem he was still 'missing'. That was actually a bit troubling. This exceeded the amount of time Hibari-san had been missing even during the Mukuro debacle all those months ago. It made Tsuna worry that something might have happened to the prefect. Hibari-san was undeniably strong, the strongest of his Guardians even, but he was still human and there were now assassins with super powerful weaponry from the future running around.
Also, it was very much possible Mukuro was once again up to his old tricks, since he now had a medium to the outside world from his prison through Chrome Dokuro, the Guardian of the Vongola Mist Ring. He did seem to have a fascination with Hibari-san that was undoubtedly not healthy for the 'ruler' of Namimori.
After school, he managed to convince everyone to come to Koukuyo Land with him so they can check in with Chrome. Even if Mukuro's so called Koukuyo gang had nothing to do with Namimori Middle School's Disciplinary Chairman, it wouldn't hurt to warn the teens that some suspicious, dangerous people are milling around and Mukuro was, as established earlier, a bit fascinated (obsessed) with Hibari-san, so he might actually make his subordinates search for him to make sure nothing had happened to the object of his fascination.
Unexpectedly, on their way there, Dino-san's car pulled up and out stepped the man himself from the spacious backseat with Romario rolling down the passenger seat window to see the group. The blond was rather grim in the face, a steely look in his eyes Tsuna had never seen in the friendly man before. "Kusakabe says that he suspects you might know where Kyoya is. I managed to convince him to leave it to me instead of sending the Disciplinary Committee after you, so hop in and you better fill me in on everything that you know or I'll seriously leave you to the tender mercies of a tense, panicked for their missing leader Disciplinary Committee."
"We don't actually know anything, Dino-san," Tsuna insisted with some panic seeping into his voice, though it might be interpreted as the fear of what the Disciplinary Committee might do to him and his friends when it was, in fact, in fear of Dino-san actually learning of the truth of the matter. Kumo-san was sure to discipline them all should they get Dino-san involved when he was the target of the assassins. "It's more of a hunch to check something than actual knowledge!"
"Don't butt in, Dino. It's not really any of your business. This is Vongola business," Reborn said, rather harshly in Tsuna's opinion, from Yamamoto's shoulder, but the blond didn't let it deter him one bit.
"You also assigned me to be his teacher and even you, Reborn, can't so easily let go of that mantle towards me, even after all this time. Kyoya might be strong and he may have improved tremendously during our training for the fights against the Varia, but he's still just a kid and he could still get hurt."
"He won't thank you for thinking like that. He'll think you deem him weak."
"I'd rather he be around to be angry with me than for him to be missing," the Cavallone boss said firmly. "Kusakabe told me no one has seen him in days. That's not like Kyoya at all."
"You've only known him for a couple of weeks," countered Gokudera-kun, getting annoyed that their journey was being delayed like this. "How would you know?"
"Because I know Kyoya," Dino-san said with absolute conviction. "You can learn a lot about a person from spars, Hurricane Bomber Gokudera Hayato, and it helps that Hibari Kyoya is a very straightforward guy. He may keep his secrets, but he will always tell you things to your face honestly without bothering to censor or soften his words. Some traits in a person like that are easy to read, others not so much, but one thing I could immediately tell and that's that Hibari Kyoya would never just disappear like that, not as long as Namimori Middle School stands. Besides, we found this guy."
"Huh?" The teens all echoed as Dino-san reached into the folds of his jacket's hood and onto his outstretched finger hopped a cute yellow bird, small and fluffy. It chirped and flapped its wings before preening itself and completely ignoring the gawking group of kids.
"Isn't that Hibari's bird?" Gokudera-kun, who had first met the head prefect's new pet during the Mukuro incident since it had practically pointed the way to the trapped and battered Hibari-san, asked a bit incredulously.
"I've never seen him without it so far," Yamamoto commented, staring at the little creature in worry. Now everyone was worried for the prefect. Tsuna could tell that they were regretting not taking his own worries from Friday more seriously.
"Hibird rarely leaves Kyoya, so of course I got worried, especially when it didn't know where its master was so it couldn't lead me to him," Dino-san said grimly, petting the bird carefully. "When Kusakabe said you seem to know something, I set out to search for you so we can look for Kyoya together. Now tell me where you're going and let's go together. I want Kyoya safe and sound before I have to return to Italy."
So they piled in and told DIno-san a bit about the fight that had happened against the 'Koukuyo gang' a few months ago and Tsuna could finally see the mafia boss in Dino-san when the blond's face darkened with each new part of information revealed, especially when Mukuro's treatment of Hibari-san came up. Hibird actually started chanting 'Bite you to death!' when Mukuro's fight with a severely injured Hibari-san was being retold. Ryohei-oniisan, Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun, as well as Dino-san's men up front and even partially Dino-san himself were all dumbfounded when Tsuna and reborn revealed that Mukuro's fascination with Hibari-san came from the fact that the head prefect could continue fighting on the same level and actually beat Mukuro - though temporarily - even beaten up, starved for days and with a good number of bones broken.
"That really shouldn't surprise me," Dino-san had muttered and he didn't sound particularly thrilled, but he stayed quiet to hear the rest of the story. "At least now I understand why he seems to despise this Rokudo Mukuro so much. Though it worries me that this guy seems to have his minions keeping an eye on Kyoya."
"It might turn out useful this time, though," Yamamoto said optimistically, though none of them actually liked the idea, either. It was too creepy and too stalkerish for their liking. And while Hibari-san was really strong, he had been injured rather badly in the Ring conflicts, too, even if he seems to be of the mentality to just 'walk off' his injuries.
"We're here," Reborn said seconds before the car pulled to a stop in front of the rubble that was the entrance into the once budding and lively Koukuyo Land. The group remained silent as they made their way to the theater, where Mukuro had made his base last time around, not encountering any signs of trouble or hostility. Reborn, Colonello - who was still sticking around since he seems to be worried that two powerful fighters went missing in such a short time span - and Dino-san seemed to be uneasy by this and grew more tense and battle ready by the second, and it's not exactly like Tsuna and his friends were comforted by it, either.
It was almost a relief when they went in and started climbing to the room Mukuro had been hiding in, only to stop one floor below when a familiar 'Kufufufu' reached their ears, making them tense. "Oya, oya. What an unexpected surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure of Don Cavallone's and the Vongola Heir's visit?"
They all turned around to see Mukuro - no doubt possessing Chrome to do so - standing there with his signature trident, Ken and Chikusa flanking him on either side, his red eye almost glowing eerily in the low lighting.
"Oi, what are you bastards doing here!? This is our territory!" The wild blond in the green uniform snarled, but flinched back when Dino-san took out his whip and cracked it.
"Seems like we have a few wild beasts that need to be tamed," the mafia boss said ominously, his mafioso side showing again. Mukuro raised a hand to stop his subordinates from actually engaging in a fight they were bound to lose, since they were outnumbered three to one and Mukuro can only do so much for so long through Chrome.
"Why don't you answer my question, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" There was a hard edge in the illusionist's voice and Tsuna complied, more so to prevent an actual fight than because he was all that intimidated by Mukuro, not anymore.
"Ano, do you perhaps know where Hibari-san might be? You haven't seen him lately?"
The other half of the Guardian of the Mist Ring actually blinked in very obvious confusion, going as far as to tilt his head to the side. Something in Tsuna told him this was very genuine. Mukuro wasn't trying to trick them. He was honestly surprised by the question.
"Where do you get the idea I would even know where the Skylark may be at any other time, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"
"Don't pretend that you don't keep an eye on him," Reborn said in a no-nonsense type of voice. "I rather doubt it's everyday someone manages to intrigue you like that."
"Very true. However," the guy who had gone through Six Paths of Reincarnation said while slowly closing his eyes and then opening them at only half mast. "I am no stalker. From time to time, I would have Chikusa and Ken check up on him. I want him in top form when I eventually get out of my prison so we can settle, once and for all, which one of us would win in a fair fight. That does not translate to me obsessively keeping track of all of his movements. That's a sure way to get my subordinates killed and I am not like the mafia to sacrifice them so casually."
"Then you don't know where he could be, kora?" Colonello, ignoring the slight against the mafia, demanded.
The pineapple haired teen just shrugged. "Not a clue. Have you even checked all his favorite spots? Though, I have heard through Chrome that there's a big commotion in Namimori these days. Something about a large unknown mafia assassination group arriving with strange weaponry. Follow the rumors and I'm sure you'll find the Skylark. He seems rather displeased whenever something disturbs the discipline in this small ?" Mukuro blinked again, looking something between amused and startled. "Oya, oya. What's this? Why give me such a glare, Haneuma Dino?"
A look at Dino-san sent chills down Tsuna's spine.
"You know well enough," answered the whip user, hand tightening on said weapon.
"Oh? Could it be because of what I did to your beloved Skylark?"
"Is it really a good idea to taunt him?" Reborn said, in a dangerous tone this time, making Mukuro stop and consider them all.
He closed his eyes serenely again. "I guess not. Besides, I would rather not trouble my cute little Chrome when I am so close to running out of time for this little visit. If that is all, you know the way out." And with that, the illusionist turned around and marched away. The yoyo user had to call the beastly blond away when he didn't immediately follow, but soon the Vongola and Cavallone group found themselves alone, heading back towards the car.
"You two look really pissed, kora," Colonello observed once they were in the car, on their way back to Namimori to drop everyone off.
"Yes, I extremely noticed, too. But you shouldn't worry!" Ryohei-oniisan, who had been strangely silent this whole time, finally spoke up. "Hibari is EXTREMELY strong and can EXTREMELY take care of himself. And Kumo seems to be equally EXTREMELY strong-" The rest of his words got muffled when Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto both jumped to cover his mouth before he could spill more information, they and Tsuna sweating nervously at the thought of Kumo-san's reaction should Dino-san get involved now.
But, thankfully, the blond seemed to be lost in - worrisome - thoughts, probably regarding Hibari-san's disappearance, so that was a blessing.
"I don't like this," was all Reborn said, aimed at Colonello. "If one of them doesn't come back by tomorrow morning, I'm going out to start searching for myself."
"I'll help, kora," the blond Arcobaleno offered just as the car came to a stop in front of Tsuna's house.
"Sorry we can't drop you off individually, but I need to get back to my hotel room and arrange some things," Dino-san said with a forced smile on his face that made Tsuna's own face muscles ping in pain. "Please call me if you find out anything regarding Kyoya, okay?"
Tsuna mustered up some version of a smile for the older male that he was sure fell short of any semblance of reassuring. "Of course, Dino-san."
He wondered why this promise, though not regarding Kumo-san at all, felt like lying.