Chapter 27: A Game of Power

The room was of a false luxury.

The warm comforters, the soft mattress, and the hum of orchestral music piping through the speakers – these were all a lie. Golden eyes looked up – the ceiling was bland and lifeless, unlike everything else on eye-level. Perhaps Byakuran only ever considered details that were within his line of sight when he ordered for this room – no, prison – to be constructed.

"Ah," Natsusa let out a small breath. How many days had it been? She did not know – 3 weeks or 3 months? She ran her hand down the frills of her skirt, and then let it rest beside her head once more. She licked her dry lips, bringing her other hand up.

An ugly wound ran down the entirety of her left lower arm; it was only that dull pain that throbbed through her arm that reminded her of her mortality.

It had to be a considerable period of time she's spent in this room. The more time she spent, the more hope was robbed of her. Deep inside her, Tsuna lay asleep; desperate to save her last, third and most innocent life, she forcefully tucked her alter ego away in the deep recesses of her heart.

Footsteps.

"Byakuran," she gritted her teeth. Yet, unlike the first time she came awake in this room, meeting him, she barely made an attempt to move.

"Ahh, Byakuran," her golden eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a deep, sardonic smile.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Byakuran set himself down on the bed, next to her resting body.

"And what might entertain you today? A hug, a kiss, or a deep embrace?" Natsusa's hand slipped up the frills of her dress, exposing a white thigh.

"Flashing your skin this early in the morning? How strange of you Natsusa. I always thought you were the kind who would rebel. Succumbing to fate was never your calling, yes?" Byakuran licked his lips, climbing over her. His long fringe fell across his face, shadowing his malevolent, mocking glare.

"So, which of the three will it – " Natsusa began, but was cut off.

"Tut, so, what shall it be today?" Byakuran placed finger on his lip.

"Tch," she snarled. He had not forgotten any precautions. Yet again today, he could not hear her voice – the voice that was capable of enrapturing her opponents. Once more, this visit would be a useless endeavor to escape the lab. But Natsusa had given up on waiting.

"I'm running out of patience," she said slowly.

The air rumbled.

And then –

Natsusa lunged upwards and pushed Byakuran back. A powerful gale followed her action, knocking a delicate glass vase from its table.

"Oh! This is fun. So you picked violence today? That's rare," he was now manic, and his mouth let go of a loud guffaw.

"Entertain me, entertain me more!" he clapped as he tumbled back.

"Don't you dare mock me!" Natsusa growled again, and then launched herself at him. Her fingers were stretched out like claws, ready to grab flesh and rip them apart. There was so much hatred that clouded her mind; it was hard to think straight when one's vision was shaking from anger. Her throat let out a feral snarl. Soon – soon, Byakuran's flesh would be torn apart by these very hands.

"Hmm, interesting, but not today," her captor handled her attack with ease, welcoming her lunge as a cool embrace. To frustrate her even further, he even began to pat her unkempt hair.

"There, there, my dear pet. Today will be a series of experiments. I'm afraid I can't have you awake for a moment longer," he purred, insincerely trying to pacify the small, wild beast. Natsusa's eyes widened as she felt a sharp tip penetrate the back of her neck. Soon, any of her remaining energy drained from her.

The wild beast was sedated.

"How could Tsuna have gone like that?" Iemitsu roared.

At the table, every man responsible for her safety looked down.

"I believe we were off our guard," Yamamoto muttered under his breath.

"Damn well you all were! This – this is incompetent!"

"You might as well say everyone here – including you, Iemitsu – is incompetent," Reborn spoke loudly; "after all, none of us could ever come to the conclusion that Mukuro would betray us."

"Wrong, it is most appropriate to assume that Mukuro would betray us, given the circumstances upon which he joined Vongola," Iemitsu growled slowly.

"I was foolish in giving him the benefit of the doubt," Reborn muttered. He lowered his fedora, but simply to hide his amused eyes.

"Now all that's left is to get her back, isn't it?" Gokudera grumbled.

"Please contain your excitement, Gokudera, but it would be foolish to march into the enemy's base without a plan in sight," Reborn lifted his head, sending a mocking glance over to the silver-haired fool.

"The only plan I approve of is biting those people to death," Hibari growled. He did not have the patience to sit still, have tea and discuss plans while the person they were tasked to protect could very well be dead by then.

"Halt, Hibari. Tsuna won't be killed. She can't be killed. We still have the luxury of time, but only for this moment," Reborn piped in again.

"After all, she's holding far too valuable of a key for Byakuran in her body – "

A loud bang resounded through the room, followed by cracking glass.

"Don't you dare suggest – "

"I daresay she'd be doing us a favour if she killed herself. At this point, I suspect the best way to provoke Byakuran is really, to kill Tsuna," Reborn tipped his hat, and then gave a playful glance towards Iemitsu. He was now seething with rage, as deep crimson spread from his cheeks to his ears.

"Ooi! Let's just get a plan out first, then talk about killing Tsuna later!" Sasagawa barked.

"Shut up, dingo brain. Do you even know what you're suggesting…" Lambo's voice trailed off as he twirled his horn accessory in his fingers.

"Well, as it is, it's already three days since her disappearance. Not a clue on Rokudo Mukuro. And – "

Reborn held a shining silver pill between his index and his thumb.

"It's a bit soon, but the anti-technology is crafted,"

"How did you get it out so soon?" Iemitsu stared at the pill in disbelief.

"There was already a few in the making when we requested for it," Reborn replied flatly, "I guess it came at a very bad timing."

"Hold on," Gokudera interrupted, "You said Tsuna holds a key in her body."

His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What are you hiding from us?"

"Ah-ha."

A final, bemused snort escaped Reborn, before he leaned back into his chair again.

Natsusa awoke again in that room of false luxury.

Her body – no – her mind felt violated. At that point, Natsusa was so revolted that she could barely move. She knew. She inherently knew the things they were doing with her body – no – her mind, when she was asleep. There were roots that entrenched themselves in her mind, crawling along it invasively, and like a leech, trying to suck information out of it. Natsusa was never passive, so she rebelled. And that rebellion caused her pain. Those roots undermined her mental fortitude with every passing second, crumbling her emotional barriers. Soon, they would reach Tsuna –

"No!" she growled in pain again.

They can't. They can't.

"Ah…Ahhh," she moaned in agony, clenching the bed spread below her. The roots were ever so pervasive, but every time she tried to block them from exploring her head any further, she thought she would go mad from the pain.

"Geh!" Natsusa broke out in cold sweat. Her eyes were pinched shut – she could not afford the distractions of visions entering her head. She groped the sides of her bed desperately, rolling around in pain, until she fell to the floor.

A sharp sting registered in her knee, and she felt the roots pry her mind apart even further as she got distracted.

Natsusa was driven by madness.

She opened an eye slowly. As she did, she saw that a small glass piece had lodged itself in her knee, and now red blood gushed from it. She bit her lips, and then removed the glass with a swift pull. Byakuran had not bothered to clean up the mess she made earlier.

Then an idea struck her.

"Ahh, Byakuran!" she laughed bitterly. The mania had surely taken over her mind. "Byakuran, Byakuran, Byakuran! Bya - …"

"Have you missed me in the time we spent apart?" A deep voice penetrated the air. Natsusa lifted her head to see Byakuran leaning against the wall, eyes laughing.

"Oh, how I've missed you – "she sang, picking up the biggest glass piece she could find.

"Uh, you know, if you're planning to murder me with that – "

"Haha! But who said I ever wanted to murder you?" Natsusa was still sprawled over the floor, fresh blood emerging from her sullied knee.

Byakuran lost his composure when he saw her next action – she pressed the sharpest end of the broken glass against her neck threateningly.

"Don't you…"

"I know!" she laughed, "You need me. But I don't need you. My own death will grant me revenge far greater than killing you would! Because you need me! That's what you get for breaking me!"

Byakuran's face contorted into a mixture of anger and fear. If she killed herself now, then everything he worked for – the Millefiore – would go down the drain. He could not hear Natsusa's mad words, but he could tell from her body language. She had it all figured out – she knew that she held the key that he required. And now she was dangling this key right over a cliff.

Desperate, Byakuran uttered pleadingly, "D-don't kill yourself. You want those… those things removed? Tell me, I'll remove them…"

Natsusa's eyes again lit up in glee. Using her free hand, she pointed to her ear.

"Yes…I want those things of yours removed… both of them," she grinned.

Byakuran could read her lips. He knew that he would expose himself to danger if he played into her game – he knew exactly what sort of destructive power she could possess through her voice. However, the choice was between letting her escape and losing her forever. He would rather search for a needle in a haystack, than to find out that the needle was destroyed. After all, he outwitted the Vongola once, he could do it twice.

Natsusa smiled sweetly again when she saw that he was removing the sound limiters in his ears – his shield against her vocal powers.

Ah, he had played into her trap. Now, it was time to retaliate.

A/N: It gets confusing here. Especially for me. Because I haven't touched this fic in 13 months. I offer not justifications for really abandoning this fic, but really? I just dropped my interest in KHR mid-Shimon arc. However, this is thankfully an AU, so while I am not particularly acquainted with the canon universe, at least I can have things go my way. So uh, major thing here - I won't be introducing any new characters that came in after the Shimon arc (while I did finish the story all the way up till the..family battle royale arc thing, I can't be bothered to memorise the names of those bandaged frog looking what-men new characters that sensei introduced). And next, I apologise for any discrepancy in character values because of my long absence from this franchise in general. I will still wiki the story and read a few chapters to get a general grasp of the characters still, but note that from this point on...

Anything can happen, and that includes to the main characters - plot-wise. That's where I'm drawing the line between canon and AU.

Well then, thanks for the reviews and cheers!