Chapter Five: Stand Up Again

"Shina-chan!"

Uh?

Shinako squinted her eyes feeling as if the light in the room had momentarily blinded her. "Shina-chan, how are you feeling?"

"Ky-Kyoko?"

"Ah, I'm so glad you're awake!"

Shinako blinked her eyes slowly as she tried to process her current surroundings along with Kyoko's smiling face. She turned her head to the side and her eyes fell upon the table with the pieces of broken Bo staff and immediately she became aware of her situation.

Ah damn, I lost, she thought with a defeated look as her mind started to flashback towards the fight from a few hours ago. She was surprised at how vivid some of the details were and one in particular stood out in her mind.

"Where's the piece of cloth?"

"Uh?" Kyoko looked confused and then panicked as she noticed the grimace on Shina's face when the former tried to stand up. "Shina-chan! You're bruised pretty bad you shouldn't be trying to stand up like that!" she lectured.

Shinako on the other hand didn't seem like she was listening to her concerned warnings "Kyoko-san, where's the piece of green cloth? I had one me right?"

"I…I wouldn't know, I just got here from visiting Oniisan, but I didn't see any cloth on the table…"

Shinako's face fell at her words. Did that mean that not only she had lost but had also failed to bring a decent clue with her?

Useless, useless, useless! She repeated, mentally beating herself up over that fact until she noticed something was off in that sentence. "Oniisan? Is Ryohei here? Did they get him too?"

"Get him? Shina-chan what are you talking about?" Kyoko questioned and chuckled a bit "Oniisan is here because he was a dummy and fell of a chimney. Apparently he had a really bad sprain." She explained and said explanation was so unbelievably crazy that it made Shinako's head hurt again.

That…that doesn't make any sense Kyoko-san! She concluded, but knew better than to smack her forehead. "Ah, but I have some bad news for you Shina-chan…" Kyoko's face turned serious and that alone showed something bad had happened, which only worried Shinako more. Nevertheless she stayed quiet despite all the anxiety building up inside her.

"It's Kusakabe-san…he was found today…apparently he came here earlier today to check on the injured and was beat up as soon as he left the hospital" she murmured and cringed at the well-beyond shocked look on Shinako's face.

"Kusakabe? Vice-chairman, Kusakabe Tetsuya?"

Kyoko just gave her a silent nod and feeling her head spinning Shinako laid back down on the bed.

Impossible, how could they have gotten to Kusakabe of all people?

And not just that. Shinako did that Kyoko had said Kusakabe had come to check on the injured which could only mean that she wasn't the only one here.

But with Kusakabe now in the hospital as well the last person she could warn about the Kokuyo students was Chairman Hibari Kyoya himself.

"Kyoko-san, and what about Hibari?"

"I don't know that, I haven't been to school today but if he had been caught I think the rumors would go around pretty fast."

Shinako couldn't believe it but for once she was relieved to hear that Hibari was alright. Heck, as much as she'd hate to admit it Hibari was quite possibly the strongest student in the whole school and if there was anyone she could picture beating those two it was him.

"Although…there was this rumor going around that he had gone to find whoever was responsible, someone said that he had found a clue." Kyoko added on "But if he really went, he hasn't comeback yet…"

It seemed as though every time Shinako's hopes raised they were then stomped on by what Kyoko kept adding. She said that Hibari had found a clue and that prompted Shina to think that maybe he had come across the piece of green cloth and that was why the item was missing. If that was the case and the clue did help Hibari figure out who was behind this whole mess then he would have most likely already gone to beat up the culprits; yet according to Kyoko no one had seen him yet.

No way, there's no way that guy got beaten, she told herself, He's probably napping on the rooftop as we speak.

No matter what, Shinako refused to believe that Hibari of all people could be defeated. Kusakabe she could understand but Hibari? That was too unbelievable.

"Kyoko-san, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure, anything Shina-chan!" she answered right away, donning a bright smile that brought some relief into Shinako. "I don't know if my mom brought me new clothes, but she tends to forget important things when she's distressed, could you bring me something new to wear if it's not too much to ask?"

Kyoko only nodded as she stood up "Of course Shina-chan, I'll be back right away!" she exclaimed, waving goodbye as she closed the door.

As soon as Kyoko left Shinako tried to stand once more. It hurt at first, not as much as the first time because she was being careful now and slowly but surely she raised herself back to her feet. Curious as to how her wounds where, she lifted the sweater she had been changed into only to grimace.

"Uau my stomach is ten different shades of purple, lovely." She muttered sarcastically under her breath. She was admittedly exaggerating as it wasn't obviously ten shades. Just about three or four at most.

Shinako looked towards the pieces of the broken Bo-staff and frowned deeply as she realized it was broken beyond repair. She forced herself to look away from it, in an attempt at not reviving memories from the fight, and instead chose to focus on the bag she recognized as her own, and guessed her mother had brought it.

She dug through her things until she found her cell phone. Time to check on whether or not the rumors about Hibari are true or not…

If it turned out that they weren't true and she had just disturbed Hibari's sleep or whatever it was he was doing, she was certain she'd be bitten to death; which wasn't such a welcoming thought for someone who had been beaten up a couple of hours ago.

Aw God, I don't know what's worse now…, she thought shaking her head slightly.

You could say Shinako was about 98% sure that Hibari was alright. She was sure that Kyoko, who had been worried about her brother and had stayed in his room most of the time, had misheard the rumors. She was 98% sure that Hibari hadn't found the culprits yet and that she'd be bitten to death for having called him and disturbed whatever it was he was doing.

She was sure about all of this, yet she couldn't have been more mistaken. Because right now Hibari was in far worse condition that she had been, after being subjected to the effects of the sakura-kura disease that had caused him to fall victim to Rokudo Mukuro's.

"Hn? You must be thinking that you could beat me if the sakura weren't here, kufufu" Mukuro began speaking in a calm, yet taunting tone as he stared down at the already badly beaten Hibari "That however is a misunderstanding. I've encountered many strong men like you before and I've sent them all to a place…" he paused for a mere second, in which the hair covering his right eye was brushed to the side, revealing the unnatural red color. "Very similar to Hell."

He laughed his trademark laugh before stepping over to Hibari once more, ignoring Fuuta who watched the whole thing "Let's continue shall we?"

Hibari could only glare in his present condition. He wasn't someone who would forget about this, no, he'd definitely get his revenge and right now all he had to do was endure this and wait for the right time.

"Midori tanabiku namimori, nodainaku shounaku nami ga ii"

Hibari's eyes widened only slightly and only for a fraction of a second as they moved towards his phone, laying on the floor after having fallen out of his pocket thanks to the beating Mukuro had put him through.

"Oya, looks like someone is calling you, kufufu" Mukuro commented in a light tone of voice as he moved away from the chairman to pick up the black phone "Oya, Masayoshi Shinako…ah, it's number six!" he added with the usual 'kufufu' laugh as he recalled the list in which the names of the strongest fighters in Namimori were featured.

"I'm surprise that she's up and about again, but maybe that's just because Ken went easy on her, she is just a girl after all." He began speaking to the sound of the Namimori school anthem, while watching Hibari's expression. Surprise seemed to cross the perfect's eyes as well, but it was impossible to tell. Besides, if it was ever there it had disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.

Mukuro on the other hand, now stood next to Hibari and dangled the phone above his face "Shall I answer? Do you want to give out any last words? I haven't quite decided yet if I'm going to let you rot in one of the rooms downstairs or if I'll beat you to death…then again a more creative idea might come to me; but what I can promise is you won't leave this place alive" Mukuro continued to speak with a calm, yet sinister smile, tilting his head slightly to the side as he kept his eyes on Hibari's face "So you might want to consider giving out some last words."

His words didn't seem to have any effect on Hibari, who simply continued to glare at Mukuro and the phone. He already felt humiliated enough and wasn't about to diminish himself further by actually answering this guy.

"No? Alright then," he ended up saying, after decided he had waited long enough for a reply from Hibari and simply threw the phone out the window. "Now that there are no more interruptions we can continue, kufufu"

Shinako chewed on the inside of her cheek with unease upon noticing that Hibari wasn't picking up.

This doesn't necessarily mean the worst, I mean, he could very well be ignoring me, which wouldn't be surprising at all, she thought and saved her phone back in the bag.

"But Kyoko-san…I wonder how long she'll take?..." she was starting to become uneasy about this whole thing and she didn't really want to waste more time. She needed to check for herself if Hibari had or hadn't gone to find the culprits and she needed to find someone that would explain to her what exactly was going on. She had that right after all.

So, without thinking too much on what she was about to do she left her room and went in search of Ryohei's room.

Thankfully they were in the same corridor so it didn't take her long to find it.

"Yo Shinako, feeling better?" Ryohei had greeted her with so much excitement that it was hard for her to associate that tone of voice to his bandaged figure laying in bed.

"I guess, you got caught too?"

"Yeah, right this morning." He told her, pausing for a moment as he took in a deep breath "Shinako, I'm really sorry. If I hadn't asked you to come over to explain those Math problems you wouldn't have been caught!" he apologized with a serious stare.

Shinako on the other hand simply shook her head "It's fine Ryohei, I have a feeling that sooner or later I would have been caught anyway. But, I do have a question for you, that's your school uniform right?"

When Shinako asked him about his uniform Ryohei was a little…confused to say the least but he nodded nonetheless "Um, yeah, why?"

Shinako simply smiled a little "Nothing, I'm just going to borrow it." She informed and without asking for permission picked it up.

"Wa-Wait a minute! You can't take my uniform! Besides why do you need it?"

"I was discharged."

"What? I want to be discharged too! That's unfair to the extreme!"

"Yeah…well, I'll return this to you whenever I get the change. Thanks!" she exclaimed, already rushing out the door before the lawn head could protest. She did hear some of his complaints even after she had locked the door.

And now I find a place to change…

It was only after she had changed that Shinako came to understand how significant the difference in height between her and Ryohei were. His uniform just looked ridiculously big on her yet this was the best she could manage right now.

She rushed outside as fast she could which wasn't that great of a speed thanks to the injuries she was still supposed to be healing.

She remembered how last night she had ran quite a lot but back there she had been going pretty much on adrenaline alone and right now she didn't have that so she could move at a pace that was only a bit faster than fast paced walking.

Because of this it took her longer than what it normally would take to get to the school and as soon as she made it there she instinctively looked at the rooftop even though she knew that from where she was she wouldn't be able to see anything.

So instead of wasting more time she went inside the school building, headed straight for the Disciplinary Committee room where she hoped she'd find Hibari and finally be able to tell who the culprits where.

"Hibari?" she called as soon as she reached the room yet it was empty, causing her to frown.

I guess the rooftop is the next place to search in…

"Shina-chawn!"

"?" she exclaimed, instantly stepping aside to avoid him "Shina-chawn," Shamal began as he took her hand in a really dramatic manner, with an equally over-dramatic look in his eyes "You don't have to worry, is here to protect you from now on!"

Shinako sweatdropped as she slowly slipped her hand away from his and stepped further to the side "Eh, thanks, but no. Listen, Dr. Shamal have you seen Hibari?"

"Hibari, that fearsome Chairman?" he asked, yet Shinako didn't have to confirm it for him "I hear he's already gone to Kokuyo Land to beat up the culprits, but hasn't returned yet."

At that moment Shinako felt herself become light headed again "H-how did he find out?"

Shamal simply shrugged his shoulders "No idea."

Shinako on the other hand only frowned at that answer. This was one of those times where Hibari should have been delegating tasks. Even if he didn't like crowds he should have none better than to barge into unknown, enemy territory on his own and if he hadn't come back yet…well, that couldn't be a very good sign.

"Alright, thank you ." she said, doing a polite bow before looking up at the older man once more "Can I ask for a favor though?"

"Anything for my precious Shina-chawn!" he exclaimed, little hearts practically popping out of his eyes. Shinako sweatdropped once more and nodded a bit "I was wondering if you had any pain-killers, anything to help with my bruised stomach."

In what was probably one of the most awkward moments in her life Shinako did manage to get Shamal to give her something for the pain, which allowed her to pick up her pace a little more. And thanks to her insistence he also told her that there was a particular group of people that could help her.

"Sawada-san!"

"Eh? Masayoshi-san?" Tsuna exclaimed upon seeing Shinako running towards him. She still didn't look that great, as her forehead was still bandaged and she had a couple of cuts on her cheek as well; plus Ryohei's baggy clothing didn't help either.

"Masayoshi-san what are you doing here, shouldn't you be in the hospital?" Tsuna exclaimed once more sounding a bit panicked.

"I want to go with you guys to Kokuyo Land." She told him simply, managing a smile in between several taking deep breaths.

"EH? You can't! You just got out of the hospital!"

"Jyuudaime is right, just leave this to us!" Gokudera added on, causing Shinako to frown as she stood up right now "Listen, Sawada-san, Gokudera-san, Yamamoto-san, Reborn-san, I'm going to Kokuyo Land either way, the difference is that I'll either go with you or alone and the only reason why I came to see you is because I know my odds are better if I'm accompanied; but if in the end I have to go alone…I will" she spoke truthfully.

Tsuna was panicked, Gokudera was annoyed, Reborn looked pleased enough and Yamamoto just laughed like usual "I don't have any problems, it'll be fun Shinako-san, we're playing Mafia with another school!"

"Uh?" Shinako blinked her eyes at him "Playing…Mafia?" Now she was lost. Tsuna simply shook his head a number of times "I'll explain it better to you on the way there…" he assured.

"But, why do you want to go so badly?" This time the question came from Reborn, so after hearing out Tsuna, Shinako turned to him to give him his full attention "I have to rescue my Chairman. Even if sometimes I'm not proud of it, I [i]am[/i] a part of the Disciplinary Committee and since Kusakabe-kun and Hibari are out, I'm the only one who can restore the honor and pride of the DC" she stated simply "Plus, it would be very satisfying to show Hibari he's not all powerful and that even he needs help once in a while." She added, with a seemingly innocent smile.

Is that the real reason? Tsuna practically screamed in his mind while raising his hands to his head. Reborn on the other hand looked happy enough with that answer. "That's fine, but you can't go without a weapon," he said and pulled out another Bo-staff from hammer-space and tossed it over to her. "Uh? Another Bo-staff, thank you Reborn-san!" she exclaimed but then after the excitement of getting a new staff passed she looked up with a suspicious stare "But, why do you have a Bo-staff?..."

"That's a secret!"

That's a very suspicious answer! Shinako and Tsuna both thought at exactly the same time.

"Ah, who is this?" Shinako blinked her eyes and looked up at a woman with pinkish hair " And I'm going too, after all I'm worried about Hayato."

"Bi-Bianchi!" was all Gokudera managed to say before he held on to his stomach, causing Shinako to became rather confused. "Eh, Sawada-san?"

"Yes?"

"You'll explain this too right?..."

Tsuna only gave a solemn nod of his head "I will."