Chapter Two
M.O.E.
Updated at last :D Because Chami is awesome. And disserves a hug! Love for all the wonderful reviews I got! 3
He processed Hibari yelling and Hibird's singing shift to what sounded like alarm before his mind went black.
"Dammit!" Hibari caught the herbivore before he could crack his skull open. He could sense the situation deteriorating at an alarming rate. Hibird was fluttering around his head in disarray and making terrified chirping noises. Hibari knew that it was a matter of time before the school was attacked or the sniper tried to shoot him down too. He needed to move, and fast.
Slinging Tsuna over one shoulder and Hibird clinging to his other, Kyoya took off for the school building. Not a moment too soon. He heard the fire of rifle and felt the bullet dig into the ground behind his heel. He quickly took note that it was actually not a bullet; he saw the sunlight gleaming on the miniature needle. The sniper was aiming to stun, not kill.
With the doors nearing rapidly, the chain-wire gates of the fence lurched. The lock managed to hold out against the first strike, but gave way under the second. Hibari caught a glimpse of men in black SWAT armor shouldering their way through the gate as he ran through the double-doors and turned the corner. Cursing profusely, he skidded to a halt when gunfire peppered the walls in front of him. Turning his back, the skylark sprinted down the adjacent corridor, blood boiling. Kicking open the nearest classroom door, he all but threw Sawada to the floor.
Had he been on his own, he would have shredded the intruders just for being in a mob, let alone the property damage. However, with a collapsed Tsuna to defend against a fully armed squadron, with help from an unidentified sniper, he knew better than to take the risk. Normally he would have done it anyway, but he knew this was also related to the mafia. He needed to communicate this to the rest of the school, or at least the other Guardians. The mafia wouldn't stop an attack simply because there were innocents inside.
Flipping open his cell phone, Hibari quickly discovered the line had already been blocked. He wouldn't be able to call for back up this way. Hibari groaned; this should definitely not be his problem to deal with.
Tsuna moaned as he slowly blinked open his eyes. He registered the throbbing in his head before being assaulted by a coughing fit. After a good minute of hacking it subsided. Breathing hard, Tsuna took in his situation once he was calm again. Hibari was alerted to the fact he was awake by the coughing and now stood in front of him. He could make out a classroom setting behind the skylark.
"How long have I been out?" Tsuna questioned, returning his attention to the teen in front of him.
"A few minutes," Hibari confirmed. "The courtyard is already taken over by gunmen, they might be in the building as well. The phone lines are jammed."
"Damn . . ." Tsuna quickly took in the information. These guys were quick, and had already gotten the drop on them. "We need a way to send a message to the others," he thought aloud. "Is the school's intercom system still working?" Hibari nodded. "Good, we can use it to send a message. But that means the enemy can hear us too. We'll need to use a code."
The Sky attempt to use the wall to push off of and stand, but quickly found out it wasn't working. He knew he wasn't going to last long; it was only a matter of time before he passed out again.
"Shit," Tsuna leaned against the wall for support, holding his head. "Hibari," at hearing his name, the skylark raised an eyebrow to show he was listening. "Quick, hand me that pen and notepad."
The Cloud Guardian fetched the items for the teacher's desk, handing them over. He was impassive about what the Vongola boss was planning, but he wanted these pests out of his school so he let the boy work.
"There," Tsuna declared, ripping out the paper from the stack. "The others will be able to understand the message, but it'll sound like nonsense to everyone else." He handed the plans over to the Cloud. "Relay those over the intercom. Try not to cause a panic."
Hibari skimmed over the message quickly. He smirked as he recognized the code the tuna fish was using. No one would be able to understand it; they had made it up last time the school was thought to be in trouble. It had been a false alarm then, be the skylark knew that the other Guardians would remember the meanings.
"One last thing," Hibari glanced up at the sound of Tsuna's voice. The teen never quiet recovered his breath from coughing and sweat was starting to form on his forehead. "Please follow the plan; the part for you at least." Despite his failing condition, Tsuna stared at Hibari firmly, who huffed but still agreed. Tsuna smiled before letting his eyes slide closed again.
Yamamoto smiled an apology to one of his many baseball friends and quickly fell to the back of the pack. He dropped his false smile and instead frowned at the forest outside the yellow-topped fence. He didn't have the Hyper Intuition that Tsuna had, but he had been picking up on an ominous aura all day.
Upon hearing the sharp tone of the whistle on the other side of the field, Takeshi slowed to a walk. He had baseball practice right after class ended, which was why he wasn't able to accompany Tsuna and Gokudera on the way home. Gokudera had actually had to stay after too – something about a bribe and one science club or other. He hoped that his gut was telling him wrong; he didn't want Tsuna to walk home alone if there was danger close by.
"Oooii, Takeshi!" Yamamoto was dragged out of his thoughts by the voice of one of the other baseball players. He recovered the veneer of a smile from earlier, effectively masking his worry. He picked up his pace slightly and jogged over to join the others in the dugout.
The same player that had called him over – an upper-classman— slung his arm around Yamamoto's shoulders. "Ne, Takeshi, we haven't all spent much time together – as a team. What do you say to coming with us? We're all going over to that little shop in town to get pizza."
Yamamoto laughed bashfully, rubbing the back of his head. "We haven't, have we?" He ducked out from under his friends arm and started the search for his bag. "But I don't know if I can." He shoved away what was possibly the eighth incorrect bag so far. 'I thought I left it over here' he thought with a frown. "Stuff to do, you know? Have to study for that test . . ." he trailed off. This was starting to get stupid; he had search practically the whole dugout without the smallest indication of where his bag was.
"I'm not sure I do know."
Takeshi froze at the chilly tone of voice. He turned to his teammate, a small smile – one that could have been taken as nervous – on his lips. "What?" he questioned. Maybe he was not paying enough attention and had miss heard them.
The upperclassman smirked, resting his elbows on the railing behind him. "I said, Takeshi," he repeated, "that I'm not sure if I do understand. Aren't we a team?"
At this point the other players in the dugout were beginning to take interest. The upper classman, Osamu, was one of the more noticeable players of the team. The other members let him take the lead and naturally fell in behind him. Both he and Takeshi stood out as the 'leaders' of the team. Automatically, the sudden tension between them caught the curiosity of the others.
"Of course we're a team," Yamamoto chuckled, struggling to maintain light hearted. "What are you getting at?"
"Well then, you should come with us, obviously!" Osamu heartily laughed. Despite his up-beat words and actions, the Rain Guardian could practically feel the irritation rolling off the guy. "You've been ducking out on us a lot lately! Maybe you should come with us, just for a little while, ne?"
'There it is.' Yamamoto couldn't tell if the words were an invitation or a threat. The on lookers quickly took note that his smile had shrunk again, now completely closed-lipped.
His smile could also be taken as a warning, to those sharp enough to pick it out.
"I would love to go with you guys, really," Yamamoto addressed the whole of the dugout with this, eyes flitting between teammates before settling on the challenger again. "But I can't. I need to study for tomorrow's test." He finished with his signature grin, head tilted slightly to the side. The smile contrasted the obvious hint in the stressed words.
The crowd shuffled nervously, murmurs sparking. Yamamoto Takeshi did not get annoyed. It was almost unspoken rule that the whole of the team recognized. It went along with Yamamoto's character. He was up-beat, happy, and never lost that smile while off the field. On the field, his personality, however, did a 180. He was serious, focused, and while he never was mean, he was powerful. They pitied the receiving end of one of his pitches.
Yet here, off the field (not even after a game) Yamamoto Takeshi was showing the tell-tale signs of hostility. The team knew he was human, obviously, and he reacted with anger when pressed. They simply had never pressed so hard or in the correct direction to ever see Yamamoto's rage. There was one story, one and only one, of him being furious. It was when someone had harassed his friend while he was there. The person ended up with some serious injuries.
No one knew how much of the rumor was true, is any of it was. But they, his teammates, would understand best the damage the teen could inflict. They had played with him before, they knew the power that Yamamoto could wield if he so chose to. All of them feared and respected it.
Osamu, dense as he was, could take the hint. Swallowing, his fingers curled and uncurled nervously on the railing. "Uh, yeah, sure, that's fine!" Osamu had never seen something like this, but he would like to have all his limbs attached and uninjured, so he backed off. "Some other time then!"
"Yeah, maybe later!" the Rain's smile opened up again, no longer hostile. Both males showed obvious relief as the conversation broke off. The dugout could breathe peacefully again, quickly moving to finish packing their things. The crowd dispersed and trickled out onto the grass. The murmurs didn't quite stop though, and many curious and fearful looks were shot Takeshi's way. As the players from the other bunker worked their way over, they were quickly informed of the encounter.
Yamamoto was glad for the shortened practice. All the teachers had been called away towards the end of school, leaving the last ten minutes up to a study hall. The clubs that were led with teacher supervision were dismissed, but the clubs that were student led were still functioning normally. Most, if not all, sports teams could function without their real coach for the day, so the baseball team had one of the kids that couldn't play (injury) serve as the temporary coach. Of course, without supervision the kids didn't put in 100%, and they stopped fairly early for the day.
Takeshi swung the shoulder strap of his bat case in place and exited the dugout. The speakers hoisted on the top of the flag pole caught everyone's attention as they started to crackle. Who would be sending a message through the intercoms not only after school, but when there was no staff on hand?
"Attention, all students on the school ground," the voice was clearly male, though the intercom system was trying its hardest to make a butchery of it. "We have an important announcement for the student supervisors on campus." Yamamoto's eyes snapped up to the megaphone. It couldn't be . . . "We would ask all students to cooperate in the following. The after school project 'M.O.E.' will be taking place as of now." 'It is' Yamamoto thought, throat going dry. "To all student supervisors, please listen carefully for instructions. Number 59; please guide your group to the meeting point. Number 80; send your group to the meeting point, and check the other areas around yours. RY; clear your area and guide your group to the meeting point as well. Number 59; once your group is at the check point, assist Number 80 in the check of that area. Once your area is clear, Numbers 59, 80, and RY remain at the meeting point and wait for further instructions. Number 18; proceed to the north entrance and wait for further instructions. Number 69 or 96; proceed to the south exit and wait for further instructions. Number 27 is currently at the meeting point, but not currently active. Number 27 is down. Repeat, Number 27 is down. R and L are attempting to be contacted. Repeat, project 'M.O.E.' is now starting. That is all; please follow your instructions as given."
The megaphone cracked and sputtered one last time before dying. Silence hung over the baseball team currently resting under it. Chaos exploded moments after. "What's 'M.O.E.' mean?", "What's going on?", and "Who are the supervisors?" spread through the crowd like wild fire.
But Yamamoto didn't hear it. One part of the message was being replayed in his head, over and over. 'Number 27 is down. Repeat, Number 27 is down.' It was like a sick song that glitches on the CD and was stuck at that part. 27. Number 27 was down. . . .
Yamamoto shook his head. Now wasn't the time. M.O.E. was in motion even at that second; he need get to moving. 'Oh shit!' he thought. 'Please let us get through this alive!'
This chapter focused a lot on Yamamoto. Why? I don't know, I just like making dramatic things happed to him XD I hope he didn't come off as too OCC! I feel like his personality takes a bit of a darker turn in my stories, but that's mostly because I like him when he's serious. Tell me if you like it, ne?
I couldn't help the reference ether. I just had to. Anyone who can tell me what MOE means or where it's from gets a cookie. If they get it themselves, because I nether have cookies nor a way to give them to you. You just get internet cookies!
Anyone who wants to beta this just say so in a review please ;) ~Rose
