Clear to cloudy
Target 34: Raise the shining pillar
"Let the first match of the ring conflict… BEGIN!" The Cervello yell starting the fight between Ren from team Kotsukiba and Faust from team Zaccaria. Faust is about to attack when Ren holds out his hands.
"Wait! I surrender!" he tries and Faust tilts his head.
"Alright. Guess that was easy…" He says and turns around.
Zaccaria tsks at Faust's unknowingness. "Hey Faust! He's not allowed to surrender! So beat him! Don't fall for it,"
Faust turns again shrugging. "Oh… guess it can't be helped then," He says and holds his hands in an x shape in front of himself and Ren notes a green ring on his finger. It ignites with green lightning. Then flames seem to spread across his arms and they turn metallic green. "It shouldn't take long anyway," He says jumping forward.
"H-hey now. I said I don't want to fight," Ren tries, but Faust comes in close and hits downwards making Ren jump to the side and Faust's fist makes a large hole in the floor. Ren gulps. 'How'd he know I would dodge? Reborn-san said they play by the rules!' he thinks and Reborn grits his teeth a bit.
"This is bad…" Kotsu grabs his sleeve.
"Bad!? What do you mean bad?! Is Ren going to die!?" Kotsu yells and Reborn shakes his head.
"Not likely. You're not allowed to kill each other… What worries me is that I never knew if any of the rumors about Faust were true. According to some doctors at the Vongola branches where Faust has been stationed they've never seen him. Not even for a check-up. In other words. He's never been injured. And looking at that metal armor… it seems to be true. It's a fact… if anyone in the world who deserves the name invincible… it's Faust," Reborn explains and Kotsu gulps looking at Zaccaria, Ywan and their guardians.
"D-do they all have legends like that?" Reborn nods slowly.
"They do. Each of them is incredible in their own right," Kotsu starts getting slightly teary eyed looking at Ren as he keeps dodging Faust's attacks.
"Could you stand still or something?" Faust says in his indifferent voice, but as he expected Ren keeps dodging.
"I told you I don't like fighting even if it's just for a game like this," He says with a nervous smile as Faust keeps attacking.
Kotsu gets a bit teary. He finally got his happy older brother back and now he's going to lose him if he figures out it's for real.
"Ren… please…" Kotsu says as he starts crying. Faust starts getting closer and closer to actually hitting him. Ren sees his little brother crying and he grits his teeth.
"Lil' bro… don't cry. It's just a game right?," He says removing his attention for just a second and Faust lands a solid hit right in Ren's stomach sending him flying across the arena into the bubble right next to Kotsu.
"Heeey… I finally got him," Faust says smiling a little bit.
Ren's quite confused as he stands. "He… actually hit me… that hurt… H-hey! That's against the rules isn't it?!" He yells to Cervello and they simply shake their heads.
"I do not see anything wrong with hitting your opponent to knock them out. That is indeed how a fight works," She says and Ren looks confused, angry… many other emotions at once looking back to Kotsu, but right as he does Faust comes in with another solid punch and Ren gets pushed into the bubble which is quite squishy. Faust jumps back a bit and Ren falls to his knees.
Ren once more slowly gets up as he wipes the blood off his lip after spitting a bit from Faust's punch. At this moment he finally realizes. He had had this feeling after seeing Kotsu battle Geraldino, but he was just denying it… it was too… unreal to fit into his life… "This… this is for real isn't it…? It's been like that since the very first day…" He says slowly. He thinks back to the time he saw Tsugemora fight Veleno getting stabbed. Those needles were real… like the poison in them. He remembers 'playing' with Neve and Cenere. Those blades were real… they were really trying to kill him. Murphy fighting Salvatori… he could've really been shot. Ren feels disappointed in himself. Just a game? Get a grip. It was way too realistic to be a game. He should've tried to stop it. Every time… but those things aren't the things he's most disappointed of. He looks back at Kotsu who's crying for real also. He knows Ren could be in danger. He wants to do all the things for real. Save Cotton and all his friends. Keep them from danger… and he… he got angry at him for it. He made him sad without knowing the full story. The ring he got. He threw it away because he thought it was just a game… but it wasn't… not even close!
"Ren… please… don't die…" Kotsu cries and Ren's eyes widen. His little brother's sad because he's such a fool!
Ren turns to him turning his back to Faust. This causes him to tilt his head.
"Um… h-hey…?" He tries but Ren isn't listening.
Ren suddenly falls to his knees and slams his head as hard as he can against the ground beneath him causing him to start bleeding from his forehead. "KOTSU! I'M SO SORRY! I'VE BEEN A HORRIBLE BIG BROTHER!" He yells off the top of his lungs as tears run down his face.
"R-Ren…" Kotsu says slowly as he also realizes that Ren is now fully aware of how real this is.
"I thought it was all some kind of game and I was so happy that you'd finally made friends, but you were in real danger and I did nothing to help you. I just sat back watching as Geraldino tried to kill you. I should've done something. Anything! And when I finally did I did it all wrong! I shouldn't've tried to stop you! It's YOUR life… NOT MINE! I should do my best to support you in everything you do!" He yells and both Hibari and Reborn smirk slightly. "T-That's… that's what a big brother is supposed to do," He adds says and Kotsu starts crying too.
"Ren… you're my big brother… d-don't kneel like that. I look up to you… not the other way around… even when you tell me I'm wrong or when I get mad at you or the other way around… I still want to be a good person like you… so don't kneel…"
"I have to. I shouldn't be allowed to ever look you in the eyes ever again,"
Faust looks back at Zaccaria. "What'm I supposed to do?"
Zaccaria tsks again. "Attack him idiot," He simply says and Faust seems to realize.
"Oh… I thought he was in timeout," He says and jumps at Ren hardening his fist as he winds it back.
"Kotsu… I will make it up to you. I promise," Ren says and his demeanor changes from sad to a much more angry one than he's ever been. He stands up and doesn't even glance back. "You… thanks to you my little brother's worried about me!" He yells and without even seeing where Faust is he suddenly jumps to the side spinning the opposite way and kicks Faust directly in the face with so much force the bubble waves slightly from the force of the impact due to the shock. Faust goes flying back to his own side of the giant bubble doing several backflips on the way. He lands and shakes his head, somehow looking completely fine.
"Woah… that really hurt…" he thinks and Ricci's eyes widen.
"That's the most insane kicking force I've ever seen. He didn't even use a box weapon or anything!"
Boris tsks. "I can kick harder than that…" he says pouting and Zaccaria nods.
"Yeah… but not with precision and speed like that. I think he might even have you beat in brute strength of his kick," Boris grits his teeth and flexes to prove his strength.
On Ywan's side he thinks for a moment. 'That kick… with such strength… it seems familiar somehow,' Ywan thinks looking at Ren. The person in question gets rid of his shirt in an instance.
Faust jumps towards him again with a hardened fist. Ren tries the same tactic again and Faust ducks under the kick. "No offense, but the same trick won't wo-" He starts but he's cut short by another kick from Ren's other foot and he's hit back again.
"That boy is quite powerful I must say," Kagetora says from the sideline. Faust notes something about Ren since he's standing with his leg out in kicking position with perfect balance. 'his legs are pretty long…' he notes and Ren starts stepping back and forth. 'A kick strong enough to make things sway from impact. With so much precision. And speed… there's only ever been one person like that!' Zaccaria thinks at the very same moment as Ywan as both of them realize what they're reminded of. 'The fourth-generation sun guardian. Amando!' they think.
Kotsu looks to Reborn. "D-did you know he would actually start fighting?"
Reborn nods. "He was chosen as the sun guardian for a reason," Kotsu punches Reborn on the arm. He doesn't even react except by looking at him strangely.
"Why'd you punch me?"
"H-he might've been wrong and regret it… but that's my big brother. He… he…" He starts.
-NII-
He thinks back to a long time ago when he was nine. He just came home from school and has a black eye. A young eleven-year-old Ren comes running to greet him, but his look changes when he sees Kotsu's eye.
"Lil' bro! What happened?!" He says and Kotsu starts crying a bit.
"I got into a fight…" He says sniffling and Ren hugs him and smiles.
"Don't do that lil' bro. Fighting is bad. It just leads to more fighting. You should laugh it off whenever someone wants to fight and walk away," He says and smiles and Kotsu nods slowly.
"Okay big brother,"
-NII-
Kotsu looks at Ren in the arena as he keeps fighting Faust. "That's not who he's supposed to be! He's nice and doesn't like to hurt people… but now he's fighting because of me. He's doing the very thing he hates the most!"
Reborn shakes his head. "Wrong. You're not seeing the bigger picture. Ren despises fighting. True. But there's one more thing he hates even more… seeing his little brother crying."
Faust attacks again but as soon as he comes close Ren delivers a strong kick forcing him to but up his arms to block pushing him back towards Zaccaria's side of the bubble. Ren meanwhile starts sweating from moving so intensely, but he just wipes it off. He then jumps forward and Faust prepares a punch once more and swings at Ren who ducks down kicking Faust's fist upwards and then spinning into a breakdance windmill move swiping Faust off his feet before placing one foot down and kicking up sending Faust flying across the arena again. The ladder lands and slides a bit, however he still looks completely unharmed.
Reborn nods. "He really is the perfect example of a sun guardian,"
Kotsu meanwhile has chosen to put aside his anger and watch Ren's fight. "Why's REN the perfect sun guardian?"
"The sun guardian is the pillar that stands tall, always. It destroys any misfortune with its own body and always shines brightly. Ren is the perfect example of that. His kind attitude is always there to support anyone and his body is incredibly strong from his years of training breakdancing. Despite what people think breakdancing isn't just about strength, but also durability. When doing certain moves in breakdancing it puts a lot of pressure on the body. Having done it for so long Ren's bones must be incredibly strong. And thanks to that training his sense of balance is also amazing. That's how he can keep swinging his leg at Faust continuously," Reborn explains and Kotsu looks at Ren. 'So this is… Ren when he's fighting…'