Chapter 7

Blowback

Reborn nursed a glass of wine as he sat inside the covert bar in Namimori. The master had nerves of steel opening one in this town of all places, but because of that, he was more aware of the happenings of the town than the average citizen. It was great for gaining information as well as for a hideout – a place where he could piece together the slightly alarming information, he'd picked up to try and settle the situation down.

Things became sticky due to his protégé's choices. The hitman was on a race against time as the Varia was a metaphorical ticking time bomb with Nono desperately playing ignorant due to his emotional ties. If he seriously trained Tsuna, giving him more ammunition, that would definitely be adding fuel to the fire- especially since it would be either Tsuna putting that knowledge to use or his guardians puppeteering him to do so.

His tiny fingers clutched on the listening chip he found in his disciple's self.

'It has Yamamoto's fingerprints. That potential rain guardian's behind the serial attacks against Tsuna's bullies. I don't think it has to do with a sense of justice, especially if he took damage as a price to control his accomplices… It speaks a lot for the possibility of Tsuna's influence.

Gokudera definitely noticed it. From my viewpoint, it's difficult to prove this conjecture, but that was the perfect time to establish communication with him- especially since their goals align somewhat.'

His eyes glinted. It wasn't like he was out of options for the increasingly complicated situation- far from it- his title was one that was well earned.

'The serial attacks have set off the hornet's nest. That would make Hibari Kyoya neutral currently. But it would be better if Tsuna's influence on him was reduced. That would mean that Irie would have to distance himself from the prefect.

It's not only those two who use spying technology as a means to an end. Leon's bug has been placed on Gokudera and his phone. Tsuna's storm shouldn't communicate with Iemitsu nor Mukuro, not if I'm playing the man in the middle. He won't be able to use Yamamoto to do the same if I monitor the two and intervene if they try to share sensitive information. The rain guardian shouldn't know for the same reason why dame-Tsuna's not undergoing tor- training' Reborn pouted.

'The mission would have been so much fun~ But, first things first- damage control.

As for Yamamoto… Tsuyoshi might be the best person to use to tether him. I'm guessing convincing him would be easy. The man's probably got his own suspicions regarding his son's sudden switch to kendo. Any evidence to convince him would be practically handled on a silver plate as long as Hibari succeeds in his investigation.

Sasagawa Kyoko's influence on her brother is potentially dangerous. Her brother is currently the only guardian's that can be a positive influence on Tsuna's growth.' He sipped on his drink with a bitter smile. It was ironic how it was like the sun attribute, both his and the boxer's interactions could be the only thing to break Tsuna from building the prison to trap himself for life. Rare as it was, Reborn did feel an increasing amount of concern for his student, especially since he was headfirst into what might as well be called self-sabotage. While it might align with Tsuna's intentions currently, his other guardians were practically helping him to build his own coffin and burying him into it. Despite the two suns being as different as different could be, somehow, it was like being a sun fit them.

Call it a feeling of forbearance, one honed from his various brushes with death, but Reborn felt cautious about Sasagawa Kyoko's ideas of protection. It was like seeing another version of his disciple being slowly choked into his future- current state. The hitman tilted his fedora to shade his eyes. It was like seeing Luce all the way until her end.

To think that they were doing this in the name of love…

Leon curled comfortingly around Reborn as the baby stilled, rage sending wisps of sun flames, darkening as if to match with the blood-soaked nature of Mafia, one that hid in the shadows- far, far away from Primo's dreams for Vongola. Then there was his student, the descendent of Primo, showing a potential to bring that dream to reality. And there was Nono, exhausted Nono, Nono who deeply admired Primo and what he stood for. The same Nono who rarely asked him for a favour, but was forced into a corner and had no choice but to do so. Finally, there was that idiot, Iemitsu who loved and protected his family in his own way.

Funny how there was so many things he had to protect right now, given his profession.

"Mochida-senpai's in Namimori hospital right now."

On hearing Yamamoto, Kurokawa hid the part of her that said it was what he deserved, after attacking Kyoko like that (the gall of him after stalking her like that for all those years) and replied bitterly,

"I've already heard already, Yamamoto. I've not been sleeping through all the incidents. The teachers have said time and again to be safe on the streets with the recent attacks. Why're you even bringing this up?" She took a glance at her best friend who seemed engrossed in a chat with the other classmates, a couple of seats away.

"I've heard that his father's been blowing a fuse in the parent-teachers committee meetup. He's been saying that the school environment is far too dangerous for students and trying out stuff like suggesting to expel the disciplinary committee and Hibari-san-"

Kurokawa snorted at that.

"-by reasoning out that former delinquents would have no idea of maintaining peace, only making things worse. I guess he's finally trying to increase his political influence, being Namimori's official representative-"

"Wait, that idiot's father was a politician?"

"I mean, how else would he have gotten away with so much in the school? He's been paying a lot of donations to make the faculty turn the other way-"

"That's not fair! That guy! He hit Kyoko, you know?! Do you know exactly how much he harassed her?! To think that he's going scot-free-"

"Sorry, Kurokawa. I don't think you'd like to hear this but, the staff are putting Sasagawa's brother as the main culprit of that case-"

"That can't be possible. There were so many witnesses in that case-"

"I think they're using the fact that the crowd only showed up after you started yelling… It was either you or Sasagawa-senpai, and you've got great grades so…"

"…And the crowd had dispersed quickly because Hibari came to diffuse the situation, so they don't have the full picture…" Kurokawa said with dawning horror. Sasagawa Ryohei had a bad track record, so hearing that he triggered the situation wouldn't be hard to accept. The people who'd back him here would be the boxing club and his friends, but on the other hand, they're familiar with the beef the two have with each other. Added on to that, Ryohei doesn't explain the situation completely, so he'd get to the bare bones of it which doesn't help him one bit. She herself was known for her antagonism towards him, not to mention losing her cool during that confrontation… Would she be taken seriously if she fought back against the accusation? Since when has Mochida's father been working on clearing his son's innocence? How much evidence would remain untouched?

Mochida, on the other hand, is respected for reasons Kurokawa doesn't even want to comprehend even if it means she'd be treated like an idiot monkey. He's known for being in 'love' with Kyoko and has her brother being overprotective of her. Not to mention, his father would hire someone with a snake's tongue to defend his family's reputation…

If she tried contesting it, without power and connections (the kind that made adults look away from her friend's dilemma for ten years, the type that Hibari possessed, but chose to wield it so idiotically.), what were her chances in this town that lived in a bubble?

Her lips curled into a deep frown as she gripped her knuckles tightly. She understood why Kyoko did that, even if she didn't like it. But if violence was the only solution(if she had to be reduced into such a primal being, despite living in the modern society…), if it meant that Kyoko wouldn't have to stoop to such lows and if Ryohei would turn a new leaf like how Kyoko wanted it…

As Yamamoto looked upon the conflicting emotions on Kurokawa's face, his own face revealed a small smile.

Kusakabe sighed as he looked over the reports and files hung on the board as he marked connections and links that could lead him somewhere in the case. Hibari was napping on the terrace, leaving him to do the groundwork to give the other the juicy bits. It was always like this, but it never failed to make him complain a little to himself.

With Tsuna's case, Hibari had put off bring the brunette to 'justice' to see if he'd do anything interesting like that again. But, it was only a matter of time before the prefect would get bored before finally doing so, or in his words, biting the other to death.

Kusakabe had his doubts on whether this incident, quick as it came and blew up, was related to that kid. It didn't seem like it was Hibari's style to be interested in mind games and tactical wars like that. So, what was he waiting for?

The current case was nasty. There was sightings of the same group of people, even if they weren't always together near the places close to the incidents. While it was amateurish, the sportsmen from the different school didn't seem to have a motive to target the group of people. If anyone had a motive, it would be Tsunayoshi. But it was way too late for the boy to do something for the situation that he had left going until now. There was also no link between the brunette and the sportsmen.

'Those guys would be related to Yamamoto-kun, seeing that they were the team that the Namimori middle school were going against before he got into an accident. Why would he defend them if he knew who attacked him?

The ones who had gotten attacked were still in the Namimori hospital, with the institute being overwhelmed with the cases. It didn't help that most of them haven't come back to consciousness, except for Mochida-kun.'

Kusakabe looked towards the photos of the victims pinned onto the bulletin board like a sick analogy of a collection of pinned butterflies. The attacks were directed, aimed at inflicting as much pain as possible, like that group of amateurs were directed into it by someone. Shattered elbows, the place which was the strongest but had a high concentration of nerves; black and blue bruises on the stomach for the same reason. The attacks had no clear pattern in the injuries inflicted other than that. One of them, who had dreams of being a famous singer and actor, had their ear hit strongly with a metal bat, the diagnosis was that he'd never regain his sense of balance (affecting any possibility of graceful moves) along with a loss of hearing. The previous guy, with ambitions of being a basketball player, would have to undergo therapy to walk, but he'd never be able to run.

A straight-A student whose parents had great hopes to join Tokyo-U university, having done nothing but study in his free-time, attending an expensive tuition centre (costly enough to warrant loans that were a struggle to pay off). That student was hit on his head, suffered a concussion and retrograde amnesia (the doctors hesitated in telling the parents that it would be hard to determine whether the child could retain any information going forward, harder still about how much information he could retain from the past.)

One of them was an aspiring model, already taking gigs as a child model, sometimes appearing in the Namimori shopping malls posters. He was found in the place of his last shoot, an orchestra of recordings of backstage deals echoing around him, a plate with his pearly teeth(one of the reasons why he was popular, a dazzling and refreshing smile) extracted, one on a spoon near it. The teeth didn't match up in number with one of an average child, and as feared, it was later found in his stomach and Kusakabe nauseously hypothesized that he was force-fed those, after hearing about abrasions in his mouth and throat, indicative of force. There were anaesthetics still in his system, so he could only put together that this was done with him conscious throughout. Needless to say, the former delinquent couldn't keep it down after hearing that.

Weirdly enough, the cases without bat imprints invoked no form of recognition from the sportsmen, so it meant the ones who were more in contact with the brunette were personally handled. It made sense because they were horrific enough to warrant someone with a grudge or cold-heartedness of a high level to pull off something like this.

Kusakabe had a piercing headache about revealing the information about the culprits who looked as terrified as ones who were threatened into this looked like. They kept their mouths silent and Kusakabe could only hope that Hibari would gain enough interest, in this case, to beat the information out of them.

Surprisingly, Mochida Kensuke was the one who was mostly unaffected by this case. He was currently kept in the hospital for a night of surveillance to check for any symptoms that could strike later. If the victims were Tsuna's bullies, then wouldn't it make the kendo captain the biggest target if they were ordered in the level of impact they had on the brunette. Kusakabe hated to describe it like this, but the killer seemed to be Tsuna's guardian angel.

Trying to keep his mind off the gruesome state of the victims, Kusakabe looked towards his phone, hoping for Irie Shoichi to get back to him with the evidence and his view of the case. It was like their roles were switched all of a sudden. This time, it was the Elvis-wannabe nervous with a painful stomachache. Irie had one look at the case file before looking uncharacteristically serious, with any and all of his cowardice vanish from him.

"I've seen these guys before. They were the guys who used to bug Tsuna and I when they spotted us hanging out. Then they immediately took the robot prototypes we were trying out together- hey don't look at me like that, you'd understand the brilliance of a Gundam suit if we were able to complete it! But those guys- those guys took it as a big joke, stuffing it like a turkey. Just because we've been locked there before…"

Kusakabe had given Irie a pitying look which the other hurriedly countered by saying,

"Look, just because we were easy targets, it didn't mean we just took it. A year ago, we brainstormed and bought a heck lot of grapes from the market and Tsuna dumped a pack of yeast, which his mom bought, into it and we stepped on it with a vengeance. We wore socks that were at least one year old, Tsuna's had moss and some random culture growing off it.

Just imagine, after we let it ferment for a night, all we had to do was replace the contents of the juice full of our smelly feet with their juice packets and wait."

"This sounds awfully familiar… Wait, then it was you guys fault that we apprehended them for illegal alcohol consumption?!"

Irie looked awfully proud for slinking between the line of prank and alcohol poisoning, with memories of them having apple-red cheeks that could give blushing maidens a run for their money, wobbling around like Bambi while not being able to put together even one insult on the sight of them. He coughed and continued,

"That was just a prank and surprisingly, we got away with it, but it was never at this level. Well, it'd be utterly distasteful to call it one…" and then he muttered, "Seriously, one after the other. I won't let things get worse." It was a promise.

Hibari was pissed off, to say the least. The broken spirits that were present in the hospital irritated him to no end, making them sink lower than even herbivores. Right in his turf. It even taunted him with the illusion that Tsunayoshi was the one behind the case- that weak herbivore.

Careless evidence that leads them straight to the 'culprits' who were nothing more than sheep. His eyes picked up on it immediately, the listening bug clipped haphazardly on their hair. It probably was the type to trigger and send a signal if removed. Irie mentioned that as long as it remained, it was possible to trace it back to the source, the mastermind behind the case.

But because of that, they were in a standstill, the mastermind right before them hearing them making progress in the case while placating those herbivores. To them, the disciplinary committee and the one behind this might as well be choosing between a rock and a hard place- but at the very least one of them wasn't their enemy outright. It was obvious that if the connection broke, the other was planning on making the situation much, much worse for those guys while maybe absolving himself of any and all guilt.

Mochida Kensuke was probably the bait for them to show that if they played along, they'd get away without the horrific damage. Those herbivores had grown pale white when they saw what happened to those victims. After all, it triggered his father to make a threat on the disciplinary committee. It had been a long time since someone had the guts to stand up against him.

Hibari would like to give them something much worse if they thought the one pulling this shit was somehow more intimidating than himself. He darkly grit his teeth in a seething rage. While the bugs were one of the trace to the puppeteer, there was another one, hidden in the case evidence but it was better for leading the other into thinking that there was the only way to reach him.

If Irie didn't find it, Hibari would personally bite him to death for leaving that guy to stay smug for so long. Tsuna's connection to this was one of the strongest incentives for that redhead to give it his all, and if he still couldn't manage that, then Hibari would have to put him out of his misery- dragging that guilt along. It was Hibari doing a favour for him, so he better pay his dues.

Until then, it was time for them to see that they couldn't do as they please, taking him for a ride. It was plain as hell to see that they had an obsession with Tsunayoshi. In that case, regardless of whether it was the brunette taking upon his provocation to see exactly how far he could go or him being another victim of this case, it was only natural that Hibari bit him to death.