Author's Note: This is set in their Junior year of High school. So Tsuna, Gokudera, and Takeshi are Juniors, and Ryohei and Hibari would be Seniors.
Diclaimer: I don't own KHR! Would I be writing a fanfic if I did?
Guys . . . GUYS, no one knows that reference? It's not moe as in cute, those were the best guesses so far. This chapter gives some more hints.
Chapter Three
Emergency Plans, Start
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!'
Yamamoto Takeshi shook off his momentary panic. He took a step back, stashing away in the shadow cast by the small dugout. He whipped his phone out of his bag, finding the contact he was looking for. He quickly sent the message, 'Number 80, you may proceed,' to them and pocketed his phone. He had made sure to hide his number went it sent. A responding ringtone sounded in the crowd. The crowd's noise stopped, dead, as Osamu hesitantly opened a message on his phone.
"What does it say?" someone whispered.
"N-Number 80, you may proceed," Osamu read aloud.
Chaos erupted once again, accusations and questions being flung at the unsuspecting baseball player. Yamamoto decided now was a good time to make his appearance. "Maa, Maa, lets calm down!" he called.
A hush fell over them again as one of their leaders spoke. Takeshi smiled comfortingly at them. "Osamu, your Number 80?"
"N-No," he stuttered, confused and panicked. "I just got this text randomly."
"There was probably some kind of error then," Takeshi soothed, letting his influence as Rain Guardian effect the stressed team. "We should do as they said and head to the meeting point."
"But where's that?" someone shouted.
"I don't know," he said, shrugging, "but we can probably find it if we head for the school building. There's going to be other groups heading there too, so we'll probably run into them along the way."
The team calmed down, nodding and smiling; it made sense to follow this plan. Osamu was forced to lead, having received the message, and the rest of the people fell in behind him. Granted, a few players voiced doubt in the situation, saying that they didn't know who it was that on the speaker and that they had no idea what 'M.O.E.' meant. However, they were quickly shrugged off by the majority, who chose to follow the message, and they gradually became quiet since no one was listening.
'Part one, success,' Yamamoto checked off, slipping back into the shadows, 'now for part two.'
The Rain watched the team move away towards the school. Once they were gone, he came out of hiding and swiftly made his way into the dugout. Plopping his bag onto the bench, he quickly unzipped it. He took out a smaller case from within the bag, the case for Shigure Kintoki. The real sheath was inside this one; this being a simple, light green cloth bag with a sling. Attached to the side were two small pouches; one contained his Box weapon, the other a spare. He set the sheath's strap over his chest, zipped up his baseball bag, and hung it on one of the hooks on the wall.
Reassured, Yamamoto hurried back out of the dugout, reaching into his pocket. His fingers touched the cool metal of the Vongola Ring at the bottom. Nodding to himself, he quickly headed towards the small patch of trees. He would cross the stream that hid inside, over to the other sports fields, and send off any of the players that were still there – if the field was empty, it just made his job easier.
He wasn't more than five steps from the tree line when he was stopped. "Yamamoto-senpai?"
Takeshi froze. Slowly he turned around, wincing, towards the owner of the voice. Two of his teammates crested the hill. They stared straight at him, erasing any hope they hadn't seen him. They hustled over at a jog. Yamamoto did his best to cover his grimace, but only mustered a weak smile. Upon seeing it, the under classman only grew more worried.
"Yamamoto-senpai?" one questioned. "What are you doing? Are you alright?" He was only a freshman, and newbie on the team. The Rain had been working on getting them to a first name basis like what he had with the other players. The brunette was surprisingly steadfast about his use of honorifics. Despite his lanky frame, he was overall well-built and worked hard.
The other adored the same concerned expression on his face. His short dirty blonde hair framed his face, though most was hidden under the baseball cap he wore. He was shorter than his companion, but if memory served him right, the boy was actually a sophomore. He was polite enough around teachers, but acted similar to Yamamoto when he on break. He was friendly, though often suspicious of people, and nice enough once you got to know him. He had a bit of a lazy streak that could still use some work.
Yamamoto tried his best to reinforce his smile; these two were his favorite underclassmen. They were loyal to him when they divided the team for a spar and often hung around during or after practice. The brunette was named Nagista, and the blonde Jonah. They were both clever and offered all sorts of potential; they were of the few people who voiced doubt at the orders the team received earlier. Yamamoto had to be on his toes with these two around, lest he be dragged into a confrontation much like this one.
He was still formulating a cover story when Jonah spoke. "You know what's going on, don't you, Takeshi?" he accused. His sharp green eyes told Yamamoto that what Jonah had just said was a statement not a question. "You're Number 80, right? What's going on, what's M.O.E.?"
"I feel like I've heard that somewhere . . ." Nagista muttered, "M.O.E. . . ."
Takeshi gave up on his smile and allowed it to fade. He locked eyes with the shorter male. The blonde lifted his chin higher and set his mouth in a determined line. He wouldn't take back anything he said, he never did. His eyes gleamed with resolve and he didn't back down, even under his senior's intense stare. He had never been subjected to as searching a look as the one Takeshi gave and he felt his will waver ever so slightly.
When Jonah started to fear cracking, Yamamoto broke eye contact. He had to hold in a relieved sigh. The baseball star, surprisingly, laughed. "Maa, looks like I've been ratted out!" he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, an embarrassed smile on his lips.
Nagista and Jonah exchanged startled looks. They hadn't expected for Yamamoto to admit to their accusations so quickly. Catching the looks, Takeshi simply smiled reassuringly.
"What, did you think being a student supervisor was something bad?" Takeshi chuckled. While they had actually been right to worry, it was amusing that they acted with such suspicion. It just goes to show: it doesn't take much to make students paranoid. "Geez guys, it's just an after school project!"
Nagista smiled and laughed along, self-conscious of how he had been so quick to be hostile. Jonah frowned at his teammates. He couldn't shake the feeling that the message was indeed an ominous warning, not just a notification. He listened to Nagista's and Takeshi's jovial conversation with deaf ears. Something just didn't feel right. 'M.O.E. . . . I know I've heard that somewhere!' Jonah growled to himself, 'Where was it? MOE . . . M. O. E. . . .'
Something clicked suddenly and Jonah gasped. His eyes widened with realization. The older baseball player turned to him with a curious look, the younger following suit. "I remember where I've heard that!" Jonah yelled.
Yamamoto frowned and gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about, Jonah?"
Said boy's victorious smirk was replaced with a fearful expression. "Takeshi . . ." he said softly, slowly. "What is project M.O.E? What is it really?" he added when he saw his senior ready to give him the same explanation.
Yamamoto's frown deepened. His friend's worried expression was never good. Surely he couldn't have solved the code so quickly? He knew that the code 'M.O.E.' had actually come from a popular TV show, but he didn't think it was aired in Japan. If it was, then it at least wasn't very popular. But with Vongola's luck, Jonah would be one of the few who knew the reference.
"I remember it from something I watched once," the Rain took this chance to curse Lady Luck and wonder whatever he had done to be hated by her, "My friend showed it to me. We watched a couple episodes, but they had something like that in there . . ." Jonah swallowed hard and shared a nervous glance with Nagista. "The thing is . . . it was the code for an emergency."
Nagista gasped and his racing thoughts showed through his eyes. His mouth moved as he silently tried to work it out. Takeshi clenched his jaw and fisted his hands in his pockets. "Ah!" His eyes snapped to the freshman. He had already put the pieces together. "M. O. E." he spelt, "Mode of Emergency!" He turned his scared eyes towards the junior.
Takeshi had officially given up on any remaining attempts of deceiving the underclassmen. He bit his lip and refused to choose a spot to look at, eyes darting everywhere. He settled for the ground. He rocked nervously on his heels. This was not part of the plan; they had expected people to figure out the situation, but not this soon! They should have at least gotten the groups into the gym before all hell broke out and the Guardians shouldn't have been caught in the crossfire. Well, the metaphorical kind at least.
"Hey! What is going on here?!" Jonah was quickly descending into panic and Nagista looked like he had been smacked with a fish. "Aren't you Number 80 or whatever?! Shouldn't you know?!" Yamamoto was considering knocking the two out at this point.
"Oh~? You are Number 80?" A singing voice interjected.
Takeshi stiffened, whipping around to face the new voice. A man flashily dressed in a grey suit walked towards them from across the outfield. He was smiling kindly, falsely, and his arms swung energetically at his sides like he had forgotten his age. He was easily in his late 20s – mid 30s.
"You are the one they called Number 80, yes?" he repeated. His eyes sparkled curiously, sending shivers up the Rain's spine. It wasn't the 'I-wonder-what-will-happen-if-I-put-Mentos-in-coke ' curious; it was the 'I-wonder-what-the-inside-of-this-person-would-lik e' curious. He stopped in front of the three teens, smile never leaving.
Yamamoto didn't move, nor respond. His eyes were cold and narrowed, and his lips were firmly set in a line. It couldn't be more obvious to him that this guy was enemy unless there had been a flashing neon sign above his head. "Who are you?" he demanded.
"Oh, that's not very nice!" The man cried, faking hurt. Yamamoto was disturbingly reminded of Byukuran. The man smirked and his eyes flashed with a negative emotion Yamamoto couldn't place. "Didn't Vongola raise you with better manners than that?"
Takeshi stiffened for a half a second before he smiled again. Shadows from his hair hid his eyes from the light, and he straightened his posture. His lips were turned upwards in a small, soft smirk. He chuckled lightly, the abnormally happy sound foreign in the previously hostile air.
"I'm afraid I'm not too sure who you're talking about," he hummed, his hands relaxing into his pant pockets and swaying unworriedly on his feet. "Vongola? Doesn't ring a bell," the stranger's eyebrow noticeably twitched. The two younger teens sent their elder a concerned glance. "But you know; the people down at the office might know something." Takeshi finally looked up, brown eyes flashing dangerously. "Why don't you go ask them?" He finished with a polite little smile, just to rub salt in the wound.
The man was taken aback for a moment before he hardened his nerves. He smiled back at the boy, all manners and business façades. "That sounds like something I can work with ~!" he sang, "But I'm afraid I don't know the way," the man held out his hand invitingly, "won't you show me, please?"
Noises of disturbed branches and tree limbs much bigger then twigs being snapped resonated through the woods at the students' backs. The Rain snapped his head around in time to spot the hulking, dark figures emerge from the trees. Three in number; they shared the same small, round head and gas-mask like features atop a bulky mass called shoulders and a torso. 'Moscas', the Guardian thought, swearing under his breath – the robots quickly formed a barrier with them on three sides and Mr. Manners on the fourth. His thoughts raced before slowly calming again.
Takeshi smiled wider. He had heard it, the almost inaudible noise beneath the crashing. The other hadn't, or at least had not thought anything of it; a quick glance at his companions proved that. With the Rain's eye focused on the man in front of him again, he put forth his most charming face.
"Sure, Sure! Not a problem, I'm sure that the staff will be able to help you find . . ." Takeshi paused, hand moving to scratch the back of his head and eyes moving to the leaves. "I'm sorry, who was it you're looking for again?" His fingers slowly slid through his spiky black locks, abandoning them once they reached his neck. He felt the reassuring touch of fabric brush against them. He turned back to the unsuspecting enemy.
The stranger grinned victoriously. "My, so helpful! Yes, I was looking for someone, or rather a group. I'm afraid I can tell you much about them, but they were called Vongola," the man's eyes sharpened, and he snapped his fingers. "But I believe you could tell us quite a bit!" He lunged forward, arms outstretched to grab the teen.
The Guardian was much faster, however. Light on his feet, he grabbed both underclassmen's sleeves, yanking them forward before they could comprehend the situation. The Moscas were in motion, arms swinging up to block the field in front of them. Yamamoto never paused, rushing towards the machines regardless. He ignored the others' shouting in his ears, the adrenaline burning in his vein making it harder due to heightened senses. Throwing his legs in front of him, he slid under the groping appendages, baseball style.
The other two weren't so approving of being dragged by their senior through the dirt. The learned to shake it off quick though, reacting quickly when they saw Takeshi jump back to his feet. They scrambled up, confused and bewildered but standing steady behind their friend. They watched him curiously as he swung the green parcel over his shoulder, and off his back, gripping it tightly in one hand by his side. The lumbering bodies were following after them, speed increasing dramatically has they continued to move. The strange man in the suit was left in the middle to brush himself off after his fall, hissing and spitting insults.
Jonah snapped his attention back to Takeshi as he began to move. He motion for them to follow, sprinting off to the side. In the back of his mind he was glad they were no longer being forcefully pulled along, though the feeling didn't last. As though jinxed, Yamamoto grabbed hold of his shirt once again, flinging them to the ground. He wondered briefly why before he threw his arms over his head as a huge explosion burst into existence. It ripped through the air, making his head ring and earth went flying.
He was jerked upright again by his upperclassman, Takeshi's gritting his teeth together and shoving them towards the trees. He caught a glimpse of red before the teen was behind him again urging him and Nagista forward. He still couldn't hear, head full of the blaring of the explosion.
It was until he reached the tree line that he realized he had lost the hand on his back, skidding to a halt and whipping around. He spotted Takeshi right behind him, his back to him. His face was distorted into a snarl, looking so unnatural yet frightening on his features. The elder baseball player noticed that he had stopped, eyes shifting from him back to the flaming wreckage. They turned back to him full of alarm, and Jonah felt panic shove it's was back up his throat. Muffled sound trickled back to his ears, horrible noise he couldn't make sense of. Takeshi was suddenly in front of him, one hand on his shoulder, the other forcing something in to his hands. Over his shoulder Jonah make out a dark figure shuffling towards them before a bright blue light block it out again. He closed his eyes against the flash. He felt his chin being grabbed and his head forced to the front again. He squinted his eyes at Takeshi, seeing his mouth move. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something black launch towards them. He felt himself being shoved, faltering back and twisting to catch himself instinctively. He squeezed the object in his hand clutching to it doggedly, even though he didn't know what it was. He pushed to his feet, moving before he understood what was going on around him.
In his muddled mind, Takeshi's words finally hit home, whispering "Run!" that, after a few seconds, he realized had been yelled, screamed. While he had been figuring this out, his legs had already started moving, sprinting after Nagista and deeper into the woods.
Not important just me talking:
Trololololol, yes I'm ending it there XD Anyone recognize MOE yet? No Tsuna this chapter, just a frustrated Yamamoto :P The teammates aren't really meant to be OCs, I mean technically they are, but it's just to push the plot along. If you still feel like there is too much involvement with them then, well, either tough it out or turn around now. There will be a lot of these little 'push' characters around. Uhhhhmmm, sorry for how horrible or choppy that middle part issssss, I rewrote it, like, 10 times. Anywho, review if you enjoyed it even just a little~
