A:N: By the way, feel free to make any suggestions for any future chapters :)

~Sweetness~

Chapter 3 - It's Game!

"This is yours, right, Giotto-sempai?"

His upperclassman gave him a blank stare. The honey colored eyes ran down his face and onto his hand where the silver ring lay.

He suddenly got the urge to close his palms and hide the thing away.

"Yamamoto," the blond's voice sent a chill through his spine. "I was looking for this,"

A prickly current stung him as Giotto took the small object; the pure blood's skin felt like ice as they touched.

No...

His eyes were glued down as he watched the pale hand reach over.

No!

"Giotto-sempai!" he suddenly called out snapping his arm away.

Their hands accidentally hit each other and the silver ring flew in the air. The dark haired teen's breath stopped as the small piece of metal hit the floor and spun on the ground. A high pitched screech echoed in the moment as it finally stopped still.

"Sempai..." his eyes grew wide.

He looked up realizing what he had done. As he met the cold hard face of the elite, fear started to settle in the pit of his stomach.

"Alaude!" Shamal's voice rose in the back as the man stumbled out of his seat.

Thud! Something hit the wall.

The freshman was unable to tear away from the Italian's eyes, but he didn't have to look to know that the man was wrestling the other upperclassman against the wall. If the school nurse wasn't there to refrain him, he would've been pounded to the ground by the vp already.

Yamamoto's lip twitched knowing what he had to do. He slowly pushed himself out of bed still wary of the unmoving pure blood before him.

"Yamamoto," Giotto began to speak as he forced himself to walk, "do you know what the purpose of these rings are?"

The injured teen bent down to pick up the fallen ring on the ground.

"They're to distinguish the humans from the ones with the dark blood," he answered, "Only those with rings have sworn loyalty under the arcobaleno oath engraved in the special metal to try and live peacefully within the rest of society,"

Yamamoto picked up the enchanted object and the stone reflected under the room's artificial light.

"And the stone..." the glass glittered, "The stone is formed when the wearer's blood drips onto the metal and solidifies on the ring to form a jewel. It acts as a blood contract to bind us demons to their word. If we break it, we break it with our lives,"

A pang of pain hit his side as he got up and trudged back to the older teen. The pain quickly got too much with every step and he fell to his knees right in front of the spiky blond. In just a few seconds, he was reduced to all fours.

The sight of the older boy's black shoes was too shameful for him to bring his eyes back up.

"Asari told you well," the blond looked down at him, "but that's not all the blood stone is for. You're in high school now, so has Asari told you? The other reason we use them for?"

"Other reason?" The dark haired teen bit his lip.

"It's not only used to keep us from sin, but to also to lead us to sin," a smile drew on the older boy's face erasing the cold choking atmosphere.

"When two people of the dark blood submit to one another, they exchange rings to prove that they have already given their selves to another. It's a different type of contract. Each one has a different color stone that forms when their blood is encrusted on the ring to signify that the specific ring belongs to its original owner. Wearing someone else's color means that you have been taken,"

"But the stone represents your life!" Yamamoto couldn't help but interrupt. The new concept was too radical to accept immediately. " If it's taken from you and destroyed, then-"

"You die," Giotto finished for him.

The younger boy grew quiet.

"But that's why the exchange is so significant. You entrust someone with your life. You give every part of you to that person knowing full well that they won't let anything bad happen to you. Meanwhile, they live on with the burden of protecting you in every single second of their life as they carry your judgment in their hands.

See, it's not the ones that hate you that will kill you. It's the ones that love you,"

The blond's eyes had gone soft as he spoke. Still, Yamamoto couldn't understand what he was saying. Love? What did have to do with anything?

"Yamamoto," Giotto ordered, "look up."

The older boy's hands cradled his face and lifted it up forcing him to make eye contact.

His skin – still ice cold, Yamamoto thought.

He could feel something hard as the hand rubbed on his face. He looked to the side and saw a golden metal ring wrapped around Giotto's finger. What the?! Wasn't he holding his sempai's ring in his hand?!

"That's not my ring," the blond let out reading his thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

"I have someone that I want to submit to me," the hold on Yamamoto's face slowly got tighter, "and that ring that you have is something that I made years ago. It belongs to someone else now,"

"But Tsuna," the injured teen's face crumpled confused, "it was in Tsuna's room,"

If it was Giotto's ring, then shouldn't Alaude be the one to have it?! The boy's eyes shifted to the door where the platinum blond teen was being pushed against the wall.

"Yamamoto," the elite called his attention back.

The boy's bewildered eyes went back to the honey colored ones up above him.

"You don't have to hang around with Tsuna anymore. You've been released of your duty of watching over him. I will look over it myself,"

"But!-"

"I will take the responsibility of taking him from now on,"

…...

That was odd. Giotto wasn't in the student body office or the library. Usually, he'd be taking care of some of his duties, but he was nowhere to be found. He rummaged through the president's desk hoping he wouldn't mind; he really needed that form right now. As soon as he touched the huge stack of papers on the table, his phone rang. Giotto.

"Hello?" he answered stopping what he was doing. It's like he had ESP that he knew he was touching his stuff.

"G, I need a favor,"

"What do you need?" the red head kept his eyes on the unknown files on the desk.

"How good is your leg?"

"My leg? It's fine, why do you ask?"

"Can you run properly?"

"Yeah. The cut's not that bad. I think it healed already," G suddenly became self conscious of the slight injury. "Do you need me to-,"

"No," Giotto quickly cut him off. "I need you to play basketball,"

"Basketball?" he raised his brows confused. "Are you... coming back?"

There was a strange silence over the phone.

"No," the other boy slowly answered, "It's a favor for the basketball team."

For a moment, G's hopes had risen. He was glad the spiky blond wasn't it the room with him so he couldn't see how disappointed he looked. His lids cast heavy as a tenderness mixed in with his eyes, his voice quiet.

"Just this once, we need to play," Giotto continued, "We're playing Kokuyo,"

"Kokuyo," the red head repeated trying to sound unbothered. "That's the team who placed second in the region,"

Apparently, the other boy had caught his feelings trying to hide it.

"G," he called out to him. G didn't answer. "We're playing Daemon,"

The red head's eyes suddenly grew wide. "Daemon?!"

"Yeah. I found out that he still plays. He and his brother are captain and vice-captain. But you still play, don't you?"

Yes, he still played, but Daemon? He couldn't help but get a little angry. There was no one else in the world that he didn't want to see.

"I know you don't want to see him," the Italian's voice tried to soothe his brewing anger, "but I need you. As my vice-captain,"

Old memories of their middle school days came nostalgically back at him. Giotto as captain, and him right by his side. He always had his back, no matter what. All the other guys in the team did but... The image of the pineapple haired boy in his head shattered.

What Daemon did was unforgivable! What he did to the team back then! G unconsciously tightened the grip on his phone. The right side of his face where he held his hand started to itch. As much as he lied to everyone saying that the mark on his face were tattoos, they were scars – burns from that time Daemon finally showed his true colors.

He was the only one there to see him loose his senses back then when he attacked. He knew he was always wild, but he wouldn't have imagined that the other boy had his sights at him. He should've known! He should've know that those innocent eyes were a lie. That Daemon only had sights for the taste for the finest blood. And G couldn't protect... Protect anyone...

…...

G stood there giving him a look.

"What's he doing here?" he turned to Giotto.

Tsuna looked at the older boy conscious that he wasn't there for any particular reason other than Giotto wanting him to come. Even Alaude looked at them funny when Giotto had asked to pull him out of class so he could come to the game.

"He's taking care of my rings," the spiky blond innocently smiled.

"Rings?"

"I-it's just for a little thing!" Tsuna stuttered. "He asked me to take care of it, but it's nothing really!"

The gaze of the red headed senior made it more uncomfortable. It was probably some lame excuse Giotto had made up and he just made it sound so much more weirder by trying to add to it. It was just that whole "you're married to me now," was getting to his head. He looked away as his ears turned pink.

"Oh, G-san," the vice-captain called out to the senior. "Are you wearing a ring too?" he looked down at the boy's hand, "rings aren't allowed during the game."

The red stone suddenly flickered in color for a moment as the tall blond told him to take it off. G looked at Giotto and down to Tsuna. Was he going to ask him to take care of his ring too? The red head tore his eyes away and took out his phone.

"Asari," he spoke up as the ringing stopped, "can you come to the front of the school? I need you to take something from me. No, I have to leave soon. Yeah,"

Tsuna watched as he talked on the phone and hang up.

"You guys are really particular about your rings, aren't you?" Dino joked. "What is that? Is it like a class ring or something?"

There was an awkward silence as neither seniors answered.

"Ah... Haha, sorry,"

The brunette almost felt bad for him. He would answer if he could, but he didn't know either. The blond scratched his neck trying to brush it off and turned to the team instead telling them to board the bus.

"Alright guys, it's almost time to go! Get on the bus and grab a seat!"

"Let's go," Giotto grabbed Tsuna's hand and pulled him to bus door.

Dino stood outside counting heads and was the last one to get on, except for G who kept outside waiting. A few minutes later, another senior came out at the gate and walked up to him.

"G," Asari called out, Tsuna had recognized him as part of the student committee when he looked out the window to peek, "what did you need?"

"Take care of this for me," the serious red head slipped the silver ring from his hand.

An unsettled look washed over the other boy's face. "Where are you going?" he looked the red head up and down at the white uniform.

"To a game. I can't wear it during the match,"

"Match?" the dark haired senior looked inside the bus and saw the white jerseys. "Basket... ball?"

His lips parted in confusion as he looked back to G.

"Yeah," for some reason he couldn't look Asari in the eyes. "We're going against Kokuyo. I'll be back by around five."

"G! We need to leave!" one of the guys yelled inside the bus.

The baller turned back slightly annoyed and headed towards the bus door forgetting to say goodbye to the guy he was talking to. The senior stood there, his eyes following the other as he walked away.

"I can't be there! I can't be there with you at your game!" Asari called out as he boarded. His brows folded in concern.

Concern? Or was it fear?

Whatever it was, Tsuna couldn't look away from the dark haired student staring from outside. G didn't speak and refused to look back outside as he sat down at the seat in front of him. He kept his head straight, the bus the started, and they left without another word.

…...

Yamamoto...

Tsuna looked out the window feeling guilty that they left just like that. Asari looked a lot like Yamamoto, their face and everything. And that expression the dark haired senior had looked a lot like Yamamoto's the other day when they were up in the P.E. field.

I told you. Just look at me.

That's what he had said, but he hadn't seen him all day. He wondered if Yamamoto was going to stop by at his house to pick up his stuff, but even then, he would miss him since he was going to get back late. Tsuna let out a worried groan and slumped back in his seat as they kept getting further and further away from Namimori.

"What's wrong?" Giotto pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Hm?" the brunette turned to the boy sitting next to him on the bus, "nothing. I was just thinking,"

"About?"

"Nothing important," he smiled.

The reason he hadn't worried about the optimistic teen was because he'd been distracted all day. All because of a certain Italian dragged him everywhere. His eyes fell down to his hand where the two golden pieces of metal wrapped around his fingers. Was it bad for his mind to be distracted by Giotto?

"Nothing important at all,"

…...

Duties – gone. Promises – unfulfilled. Giotto – warming up against the fresh meat he targeted and chose in the seat in back of him. Asari – upset?

There wasn't anything else he could do.

So now he's here.

In the bus to Kokuyo.

He leaned back in his seat, his arms folded as he sat thinking.

"Woah! G-sempai..." one of the boys sitting on the aisle across gazed at him. "I remember you too! Wow, this is so cool! It's like three years ago all over again! Members of the legendary basketball team back in middle school now fighting each other for the regionals! Ah! This is so cool!"

The boy smiled childishly as he tried to contain his excitement.

"What do you mean 'fighting each other'?" a long haired blond tapped the excited boy from behind.

"Huh?" he looked up. "Oh, that's right! Dino-san went to another school in Ikebukuro!"

"Yeah," the older boy smiled, "We didn't have a basketball team so we couldn't compete,"

"Well, Daemon was in the same basketball team as Giotto and G-sempai back in our school. They were really famous! I don't know why they split up though,"

"Eh?" Dino sounded disappointed. "Is it true that only you still play?" he turned to the scarred red head. Earlier, Giotto had mentioned only one other person from the old team was still active.

G looked at him and saw the exposed tattoos on the vice-captain's arms; his eyes turned sharp. Someone who voluntarily marked theirselves...

"Yeah," he nodded, "It's only me and Daemon that plays,"

"Hm~ It would've been nice if both you and Daemon came to Namimori instead of Kokuyo. Then we'd both have you in our team," the blond smiled.

G couldn't help but disagree. "No," he looked away, "It's good like this. I actually prefer it this way,"

"Oh? So you could compete with each other?"

Compete? No. He didn't want to compete with him.

"I've been wanting to go against him ever since he left,"

He could feel the eyes of the other team members in the bus as he spoke. It didn't matter if they didn't get it. He wanted to be in the court standing right in front of that beast, one on one. Like back then. The warm orange glow inside the gym was still engraved in his mind after all those years.

"It must've been sad to see a friend go, huh?" the blond Namimori baller sounded like he knew the pain, "It's just you and Daemon left on the floor. I hope you win,"

"Mhm," he nodded.

He wasn't going to lose a second time.

…...

All of the guys got off the bus as they finally arrived.

"Kokuyo High!" Julie let out as he jumped off to the floor, "We haven't been here in a while!"

They all hurried to the gym with an enthusiastic look. G purposely kept at the back so he could see everything but the view of Giotto with his arm around the short brown haired boy was kind of blocking the whole view. Why did he bring the boy with him? He didn't feel right. The boy could be attacked and he wouldn't be able to protect himself!

"What are you blushing for?!" a loud voice laughed as one of the Namimori players wrapped his arm around another member.

"I-I'm not!"

"It's just two people making out!"

"Hah," G sighed as he looked the other way.

…...

"The other players are coming soon," the coach finished giving a pep talk. "Don't miss your chance to crush those birds from Namimori!"

"Yes, Coach!"

The cheerleaders stretched as they waited for more of the audience to come. Chrome listened to the other girls bicker as she stretched her legs on the floor about who was a hotter blond – Dino Cavallone from Namimori or their own feisty Ken Joshima? The topic somehow seemed to come up a lot.

"Chrome," M. M. crept up behind her.

"Hm?" she looked and saw the head cheerleader frowning.

"Mukuro wants to see you outside,"

"Mukuro-san?" she tilted her head. What for? She nodded and got up.

"Don't keep playing with him!" the red head called from behind her as she left, "If you're just playing with him, you better leave! If I find out, I'll make you leave!"

Chrome looked back as the heavy gym doors closed. Her threats somehow didn't scare her. In her head, M. M. just cared about their prized baller a lot. The eye patched girl wandered the hallway and looked around for the boy who called her. As she reached the stairs going down, a dark shadow came up behind her.

"Chrome," Mukuro whispered.

He tugged on her skirt making her turn around. She twisted her head to the dark haired boy as he slipped his hands against her waist. He leaned in close resting his chin on her shoulder, an expecting smile played on his face.

"Ah-" she barely managed to get a out word as he leaned in for a kiss. "Mukuro-san,"

The heat of her face set a blush across her cheeks as the boy slipped something on her fingers.

"Take care of it for me," he spoke in between breaths.

His hand covered hers to hide the two indigo colored stones on her fingers as they continued in the heat of the moment. This was the ritual before every game, and all she could do was nod as his soft lips began to engulf deeper into her. He suddenly began pushing against her, driving her back.

"Mhm! Mukuro-san!" she tried to get him to stop.

There were footsteps of people coming their way. What if people saw?! Her face started to burn.

"Haha! What are you blushing for?" a boy's voice rang in from down the stairs.

"I-I'm not!"

Their steps began to get louder. Agh! The other team! They're here! Chrome pushed the the boy off her when she suddenly fell back on someone.

"Ah," she turned around and saw the familiar white jersey of the the expecting team. "I'm sorry,"

The tall red head with marks on his face she bumped into looked at her and nodded. Woah. Did Namimori get a new member? Her eyes followed his back as she watched him get back to the rest of his team and enter the gym. She stood there for a moment when it slowly came to her that the game was going to start soon.

"Mukuro-san," she let out as she was about to follow them in. "Hm?"

She looked at the hand holding hers and saw that the baller next to her was frozen. His face sunk into a deep expression as he glared at the last person who just walked in the door.

…...

So that was Mukuro? He hadn't seen him since he was in sixth grade. He really grew. Hopefully he wouldn't be anything like his brother. G looked over to see if Giotto was bothered but he was just playing around with the brunette again.

"Aren't you going to wish me good luck?" Giotto turned to the shorter boy.

He leaned in for a kiss when Tsuna blocked his lips with his hand.

"After!" the boy blushed. He was too embarrassed to do it in public.

There was a subtle surprise in the older boy's face as the brunette actually stopped him but it gently washed away. The Italian grabbed Tsuna's hand and kissed it.

"After," he smiled.

A faint scent started to float in the air and G had to look away. He was getting embarrassed just watching! This is just what happens when you don't wear your ring right?!

…...

"Have you seen?" Mukuro walked back into the gym and turned to his brother sitting at the bench.

"Yeah," the older boy smiled. "I've seen,"

Mukuro followed his oddly excited stare to the tall red head at the other team. The guy he saw earlier. The two stared at the crowd until he saw another familiar face.

"Giotto and G," he quietly named his brother's old acquaintances back in middle school.

Mukuro had gone to a different middle school since Daemon had a stupid incident in his final year at the school he originally wanted to go to, so he decided to switch. Still, those two were guys he shouldn't dismiss. Their ranks were higher than his.

"Mukuro," Daemon called for his attention.

"What?"

"You haven't actually seen Namimori's sacred jewel, have you? Even though you say your going to have the first taste, you haven't gotten even a single idea who the person is, now do you?"

The cocky tone as the other boy looked down at him pissed him off.

"Look," Daemon pointed to the short spiky haired kid talking to Giotto. "That's the one that I want to feast on,"

A low grumble clawed up Mukuro's throat as he studied the "sacred treasure."

That? That's their prey? A confident smirk slid across his cheek. It was a little bunny rabbit! He didn't look like he was part of the basketball team, and he didn't even wear a jersey either.

Why did they even decide to bring him here if he was so special then? The selected elites of Namimori seemed overconfident. Did they think they weren't going to attack when they were intruding in their home base?

Something shined bright as the brunette moved his hand to get something one of their team members was giving him. Two bright lights. Mukuro squinted his eyes. Two bright lights? More like two golden rings!

His eyes widened from the number. Why two? Pain seeped in his right eye as he tried to scan the other team's players for any other pure bloods, but there was only the spiky blond.

"It looks Giotto already claimed him," he let out.

The only other explanation would be that they gave him his own ring.

"Oh?" his brother laughed. "Just because he has two measly rings doesn't mean anything. It's funny to see how inexperienced you are,"

"Inexperienced?!" Mukuro jerked his head. "I'm very experienced!"

The noise level of the room suddenly quieted down and he suddenly realized that he spoke a little too loud. Mukuro looked around and the guys started laughing with his brother. He glared at his stupid brother and shifted his gaze onto to Chrome who blushed as their eyes met.

"Rokudo!" their coach yelled, "We don't need to know what you do with your girlfriend! I don't give a bullock's arse how experienced you are! Respect your girlfriend!"

The guys laughed even louder.

"Dang, Mukuro!" they teased. "Mr. Experienced over here!"

The pineapple haired baller bit his lip. Damn it! His brother could be such an ass!

…...

"Yamamoto,"

He kept pushing forward and throwing his legs to take another step. He finally got out of the basement and up the stairs to the bike rack; he wasn't about to slow down and stop.

"Ngh!" his ankle suddenly snapped making him stumble and push down a whole rack. The clanging of metal rippled down the line of bikes as they hit the floor.

"You can't even walk," Asari leisurely walked behind him. "Why do you need to go anyway?"

He gritted his teeth and and pushed against the wreck below him to get up.

"I need to talk to Tsuna," he picked up the bike on top.

"He's with Giotto right now. There's no need to see him,"

The dark haired teen ignored the upperclassman's subtle warning and threw his leg over the bike seat.

"What are you going to do when you see him?" the senior folded his arms. Yamamoto just kicked up his bike stand with his foot. "Do you even know where he is?"

The younger boy kept his eyes forward not even bothering to look at his senior before answering. "I'm going, sem-"

Crash! Asari suddenly pushed him off the seat and down to the fallen bikes. Yamamoto didn't even know what was happening until his body tangled with a mess of metal, his arm scraping deep with a headlight.

"Ngh!" he grunted feeling the sting.

He kicked the bike crushing on top of him when a pale face suddenly pressed close centimeters from his own. His eyes grew wide as he met the cat-like, dark pupils of his senior.

"I'm telling you that you will not be able to talk to him even if you meet him. It will be useless for you to go and try,"

Somehow, an overbearing presence exuded from the handsome teen that told Yamamoto to not disobey him. A thin line formed against Asari's lips as he studied the younger boy.

"If you go against Giotto, you will not win,"

The dark haired teen tore his eyes away. I know that! He knew the Italian could kill him within seconds without him even realizing that he was dead. But this harassment wasn't helping him any! Asari refused to move, keeping him trapped against the fallen bike rack.

"Do you still want to go?" the upperclassman's breath blew against his cheeks.

"I need to see Tsuna," Yamamoto cast his eyes down, "I need to to see him,"

The sweet exotic scent tugged and played with his sense's memories. He had caught it waifing in the air just moments before he knocked from consciousness down at the basement, and the feeling as the scent slowly disappeared from him was maddening. It was like Tsuna physically slipped from his hands as he lost any trace of the brunette's essence.

Asari's voice almost became scolding as he tugged on the boy's injured arm. "Do you know consequence, Yamamoto?"

The thought of pain became too much.

The only consequence if he kept on going would be nothing. If he stopped trying right now, then... he wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that he'd be missing a chance.

If he lost Tsuna, if he lost the person he spent his life chasing after then... then... There was a stabbing pain deep in his chest that burned like acid.

"I don't. I don't know, but I don't want to know how it feels like to lose someone. I need to see him. I need to talk to Tsuna before I..." the younger teen didn't know how to continue. "I just don't want to know what loss is."

A sadness settled deep into the senior's eyes as Yamamoto spoke.

"Loss and sorrow is an experience everyone will experience as they grow," the older boy's tone returned to being soft.

He backed away from the younger teen and offered a hand to help him get up. As Yamamoto took it, Asari quickly jerked his fingers and dug onto his skin with almost a force to break his bones.

"Aaaaggghhh!" the dark haired teen let out a whelping yell.

What was he doing?!

His upperclassman quickly swung his hand in his mouth and brushed his thumb across Yamamoto's fangs.

"Ngh!" the boy pulled away clutching onto broken skin.

A hint of blood sent shocks of electricity across his tongue and Yamamoto suddenly regained himself. His senses became more alert and the cloak of fear shrouding his earlier judgment was blown away. A breath escaped him as he grew calmer and reexamined his hand. There were no scratch marks. It was completely clean. He looked back up to Asari.

"I'll take you to see him," the older boy jingled his car keys in his finger, "so you can see the grief you're going to experience. Tsuna wasn't yours to begin with, I hope you know that Yamamoto. He belongs to Giotto now, and none of us can change what has been decided for us. Maybe once you see him, you will accept that 'loss' you fear so much,"

The senior jerked his head signaling him to follow. As Yamamoto followed behind him, he couldn't help but see the unspoken burden weighing against the older boy's shoulders.

Loss...

It was a hard thing to swallow.

…...

"G," Daemon held an evil smirk as they lined up for the jump ball.

"Daemon," the other boy frowned.

"How nostalgic to see you again. I see your scars haven't gotten better,"

G's face started to burn again as the pineapple haired teen mentioned it. This guy just really knows how to piss people off. The red head glared at him.

"I heard you still play. Some of our guys see you at the courts we used to practice in sometime. How nice," a sarcastic tone hit him, "Were you planning to one day be beating me?"

The Namimori player just kept ignoring him; the two bent low ready to jump.

"Because it's not going to happen,"

"Ready?" the referee looked to both of them as they locked stares.

"Oh and by the way," Daemon squeezed in. "How's Asari?"

"Phweeettttt!"

The red head's eyes widened as the whistle blew. The Kokuyo baller laughed as he took off from the ground like a rocket reaching for the orange ball. G quickly regained himself and went after him.

"Ngh!" they both pushed at each other.

He might not be a pure blood, but he knew tactics, and basketball was still his game! Daemon took out his elbow and hit the other boy in the face.

"It's Kokuyo's ball!"

…...

Good luck. That's what he said but he might have just jinxed it.

"Oooo," Enma flinched as they hit Dino with another foul.

The tattooed baller slid across the floor and one of the jv members stood up by the sidelines.

"That's another foul! Take the other guy out already!"

The referee shook his head saying it was legal.

"Get another ref out here!" the junior member kept shouting.

Out in the court, Gokudera ran up to the man overseeing the whole game and grabbed his collar.

"Temme!" his threats kept going even after the guys pulled him off.

The team called for a time out as Tsuna looked up at the score board. Kokuyo was ten points ahead. The seniors gathered around near the bench with the jv to regroup.

"Calm down, Gokudera," Dino sighed with a hint of irritation. He grabbed his own shirt to wipe the sweat running down to his chin. "You guys too," he turned to the junior members, "this is another school. We have to respect them no matter what's going on. We're representing Namimori here,"

The younger members grew quiet as the long haired teen took another deep breath.

"They're fouling us up there," Julie spoke up. "And the referee doesn't even care,"

"He's just letting them beat us around!" Gokudera yelled.

"No," Dino shook his head, "they're making it so he doesn't see,"

"Then they're playing dirty!"

"Then we just have to do the same too," Giotto spoke up.

Naito looked at his idol confused. "You mean... Play dirty?!"

The spiky blond let out a deep breath. He could tell he was sort of breaking his image with Naito as a perfect role model, but he had to know he wasn't.

"Then, do you know how we could get around their plays?" Dino looked at him partly hopeful.

The Italian gave a nod.

"G and I know a play that can get through them, but we need an opening. No one else knows this, but both Mukuro and Daemon have bad eyesight. Their right eyes are pretty bad so going up against their side will give us a small advantage. They won't react as fast when we go to their right,"

"I don't think that'll be enough to get us through though," the tattooed teen kept a worried face, "it's not just the two of them that's good, they still have the rest of the team,"

The Italian gave them a confident smile. "We have our team too. We just have to work as a group to get the upper hand. G and I will take care of the brothers while you guys man the other members. Remember that Kokuyo's pretty fast so we have to keep passing to each other until one of us can make the shot. Gokudera, Julie,"

"Yeah?"

"What's up?"

"I want you to two to stay open as much as possible. Naito's a lot faster if he has to get away so he should be the one to distract the faster players. You two have better accuracy anyway, so if any of us gets trapped, we can rely on one of you to make the shot,"

"Mhm," the two boys nodded.

"And Dino," he turned to the battered blond. "You should switch with Naito on the bench to rest up for a bit,"

The other boy didn't like the sound of having to sit out but gave a reluctant nod. "Alright. I'll be counting on all of you then" The vice captain looked at all at his team members and wrapped his arm around their shoulders. "Go knock 'em dead, guys,"

"Hai!"

…...

This brat was quick! Chikusa elbowed the red head in the gut and grazed him hard enough in the shoulder to push him down.

"Naito!" one of his teammates shouted.

He took the chance of the distraction and passed the ball to one of his own teammates.

"Ken!" Chikusa threw the ball.

The boy smiled as the ball fell into his hands and immediately headed up to the other side of the court. The mischievous look in the blond's eyes meant he was going to show off – he was going for a dunk. One of the Namimori players saw through the play and hurried to catch up him.

"No you're not!" the boy with glasses sprinted to the basket.

As they reached Namimori's side, both took off at the same time.

"Aaggghhhh!" the taller boy stretched out his arms as he jumped to block the score.

…...

The other guy was tall, but that didn't mean anything when he was king of the air!

Swoosh! The net swayed as he got the ball in.

A wolfish smile engulfed his face as he pushed down from the rim and kneed the other boy in the face. Bam! Right on the eyes! A hard noise cracked as they both reached the ground.

"Hmph," Ken landed safely on his feet as he watched the other fall heavily on his arm.

Click. The scoreboard went up. Another point for Kokuyo.

"Agh!" the baller with the goatee started to roll on the ground. "My eyes! Argh!"

"Julie!" his teammates ran to him.

"Asshole! What did you do?!" a silver haired boy went up to the blond and grabbed his collar.

"I didn't do anything!" he smacked the boy's hand away. "Tch,"

"Get up," Giotto tried to sit the fallen boy up.

The player kept his hands on his face as a red liquid started to ooze out of the spaces between his fingers.

"Urgh!" he grunted as the spiky blond forcibly peeled his hands away, "my glasses... It freaking hurts!"

"It's alright, just let go,"

The Italian kept wrestling him when suddenly he froze; his honey colored eyes turning wide. A loud gasp caught his whole team as he revealed the boy's face.

"Julie..." Enma's face turned scared.

A piece of the lens poked deep into his left eye as it dented in from the frame. His palm had left a messy crimson smear at the upper left side of his brows and blood started to flow down to his cheek. His hand started shaking.

"H-how is it?"

No one dared answer.

Gokudera was the first one to act as he clenched his fists.

"You bastard!" the silver haired hot head jerked and swung at the blond again landing one right on his chin. "You did that on purpose!"

"Are you kidding?! Your friend's face got his face in the way!" Ken wiped his mouth and spat on the floor.

"To hell with you guys!"

Gokudera came at him again and a whole fight started.

…...

The two boys went at each other on the floor and Giotto rushed to get Gokudera off.

"Stop! Gokudera!" he pulled the younger boy off.

His junior threw his arms wildly and took a last kick at the other player in black as he was forced off. Giotto tried to calm him, but as soon as the Kokuyo blond was free, he immediately sprang back up and swung at the two players. His sharp nails almost grazed the Italian's neck as he backed away.

…...

The gym! Where was their school gym?!

"This way," Asari pulled on his arm.

They rushed up the stairs to another building as the sleek haired senior led the way. It seemed like he'd been here before as they smoothly swerved at every corner like there was a clearly drawn path on the floor. When they finally reached large heavy doors, Asari stopped in his tracks.

"Here," he turned to him. "This is the gym."

Yamamoto looked at the large entrance before him and back at the senior. He was waiting for Asari to go first, but the older boy didn't budge. His feet stayed planted on the ground and though his expressions remained calm, there was a hint of fear laying behind the pale face.

The younger teen gave a nod as he opened the door himself. A loud gasp escaped the room as he went in.

"Stop!" it sounded like Tsuna's voice.

…...

"Gokudera! Stop!" the blond tried to peel him off.

In the corner of his eye, he saw another member about to come and help jump Ken when Chikusa came up and blocked them.

"You jerks!" one of the Namimori jv members screamed from the bench. He hopped and ran to the commotion and the rest of the members followed him. "AAGGHHHHH!"

Daemon gave a heavy sigh as the horde of students with white jerseys came and joined the fight. Well... He was getting tired of this anyway.

"Hagh!" he ran up behind Giotto and knocked him on the head.

The spiky haired player fell down on the floor dizzy.

"Not so hot without your ring, huh?" he smiled.

The Italian's eyes remained clouded and he took the chance to trap him on the floors with his legs. His knee pressed heavily against Giotto's stomach as he grabbed his shirt and started wailing on him.

"Giotto!" G saw the sneak attack.

The loyal subordinate ran to his side but got tackled from his side.

"Urgh!" he gunted as he kicked off the other player who sent him to the ground. He rolled over and immediately pushed himself back up.

The red head glared at the other boy in the black basketball uniform as they both crouched ready to pounce on each other.

"You're not getting away from me," Mukuro's right eye seemed to glow like that of a cat's at night.

…...

His fist kept slamming and blanking him out.

"Rings," Daemon's voice was happy as he ranted. "That's the problem with you vampires. You seal away your powers in meaningless objects like rings. And what happens when it's gone? All your strength as a transcendental being is stripped away from you!"

Bam! Another hit. The blue haired player started laughing.

"Now your just another normal man. How does it feel?"

His self righteous talk gave him time to recollect himself and the Italian managed to take a swing at the other boy.

"Get off!" he yelled.

The blunt pain pressing against his stomach lifted as Daemon jumped off him. Giotto couldn't help the deep breaths fly out of his lungs as he tried to stand up. Argh! No good! His sight wobbled as he tried to hold his head. Every step he took, it was like the floor was shaking from an earthquake. He couldn't keep up.

He hardened his pupils to stay focused but he was seeing triples. Why was Daemon so strong? He looked the confident baller up and down. He had no rings either. So how? How was it possible he could injure him so much?!

"What... what are you?"

"I don't have time to play," the Kokuyo ace smiled at the nonfunctional elite, "so I'll go right ahead and take what I was trying to steal last night. You can't stop me the way you are. I wonder how the little brunette would taste like,"

A quick dark stream flashed by him as Daemon disappeared.

"Tsuna!" he screamed.

…...

"Stop!" he screamed as all the junior members left his side and joined the fight.

Tsuna's face twisted in fear as everyone rushed from the sidelines and onto the court wailing on each other. What the heck was going on?!

"You damn Namimori assholes!"

Slam! Everyone was just decking each other just to lay a hit. But how about Katou?! His eye was still bleeding and he needed to get out of that blood fest! Tsuna got away from the bleachers in search of the injured boy.

"Julie!" he shouted his name. "Julie!"

"Right here!" a voice caught his attention from the side.

He looked over and saw one of their own players resting against the wall.

"Julie!" he ran up to him. He squatted down to his side and grabbed his arm. "A-are you alright?!" The sight of the still pouring blood petrified him. "We have to get you out of here,"

The taller boy still covered his bleeding eye with one hand as they tried to get up. He pulled the baller's other arm and placed it over his shoulder for extra support. But before they could take a step forward, there was a sharp scream as Giotto yelled his name.

"Tsuna!"

He jerked his head. A dark blur came at him faster than the speed of sound as a sonic boom deafened his ears.

Crack!

…...

Crack?

Something broke. The sound of his neck breaking made his heart skip a beat. A hard force sent him flying as his head lay limp. He couldn't make it move as it skidded across the gym floor. Snap! Something else fell loose as more pain gave birth to even more excruciating pain at his neck. He bounced to a stop as he hit the wall.

What the hell was that?

…...

What? A gasp escaped him as he couldn't even see what had happened.

"Yamamoto," he whispered his name in surprise as the boy stood in front of him.

A fierce look painted his face as as the dark haired boy barred his teeth in front of him. His friend bent low in a low protective crouch as if he was ready to pounce at the thing he just sent flying. For the first time, there was a frightening aura coming off from the usual happy teen.

"Yamamoto," Tsuna was still in shock, "what are you doing here?!"

Where did he even come from?! He just suddenly showed out of nowhere and saved him!

"Tsuna," the dark haired teen slowly stood up and reached his hand out in front of him. "Stay back,"

"Tsuna!"

The brunette turned away to see another person coming up to him. His disheveled uniform was a new look for the upstanding president.

Giotto ran up to him and grabbed his shoulders.

"You're okay?" he panted.

"Yeah, I'm fine,"

The Italian's face took a beating which made his face look even more exhausted. The weight on Tsuna's shoulders quickly became heavier and Giotto suddenly collapsed.

"Giotto!" Tsuna called out trying to keep the boy up with his one free hand.

He couldn't take the weight and all three boys fell to the floor. "Agh!" Tsuna took Julie down with him.

The spiky blond's unconscious body trapped his legs on the floor so he couldn't get up. The brunette couldn't push him off and Julie couldn't get anywhere unless someone guided him out of the ruckus on the court. They were now permanently stuck on the battle ground.

He could only look up to dark haired teen who suddenly appeared for help. His vision was confined so he could only see him from the back as he stood in front of them, but from down there, it seemed that his friend's shoulders were broader than he remembered. He seemed harder. Someone a little different.

"Tsuna," Yamamoto suddenly called out out to him.

"Y-yeah?"

"If you care about me, please take off your ring,"

"Huh?" he didn't know what to say. Where did that come from? "My ring? What do you mean?"

Yamamoto turned back. His eyes were glowing and the black in the middle narrowed into a barely visible slit.

"The one Giotto-sempai gave you. Please take it off,"

Tsuna only put on a confused face. Why would-?

"Please," he begged. The muscular teen's expression softened as he clenched his fist. "Please,"

Loud grotesque cracking of bones interrupted their conversation and they all snapped their heads to the guy at the wall. A blue haired baller wearing Kokuyo's basketball uniform slowly rose from the floor twisting his neck.

Crack. Crack. It was as if he had no support there at all.

"Sorry to interrupt, but you interrupted me," the boy rubbed his neck. "You fucking brats,"

The blood lust in his glare sent chills crawling down Tsuna's spine as he got tangled in Daemon's spell of anger.

"It's alright," a hand made him jump.

The frozen brunette looked up and saw the senior Yamamoto look-alike. His handsome face sent down a comforting smile as his hand rubbed the boy's shoulder.

"Asari-sempai,"

Why was he here as well?! Asari-sempai and Yamamoto?!

Even though the senior was calm, Tsuna couldn't help but feel as if Asari's heart was beating - beating fast even though he was just standing there. He could feel the frantic pulse travel through his long fingers. His skin seemed paler than it was when he saw him at the front gates too. Still, the senior looked forward at the creep who was glaring at them.

"Nufufufu," the pineapple haired baller started to laugh in hysterics, "Is Asari here too? What a reunion,"

Asari's grip on the Tsuna's shoulder tightened.

"Top grade blood right in front of me, is this a gift? Are you all coming to serve yourself in a silver platter right in front of me? Nufufufu. Ah... Blueberries..." he sighed happily, "but I already tasted you," Daemon looked past Yamamoto to the group in back of him.

"Pure bloods. The thing about pure bloods is that they give off a certain scent whenever they're ripe. Sweet. Entoxicating. Like they want to be eaten. And they're so delicious too," he licked his lips. "The purer the blood, the sweeter they taste. Nufufufu! And there's a really sweet one that just turned right for eating,"

The Kokuyo baller directed his gaze right at Tsuna and he disappeared again.

"Argh!" Yamamoto let out a grunt as he disappeared too.

A sudden black clash appeared in the middle of the court and the two boys reappeared again punching each other. They kept repeating and repeating as Daemon finally got a grip on the other boy's sleeve and threw him aside to another person.

"What's wrong? You were so energetic yesterday!" the older boy teased as he clashed against an ordinary student.

Tsuna remained unable to move as he watched the beating.

"You can stop this," Asari whispered in his hear.

"What?" he looked up at his senior. "H-how?"

Everywhere around them was a whole mess of angry pissed off kids trying to gut each other. This was a riot!

Asari's eyes pierced at him like he was the last hope.

"Just say 'stop,'"

"I already told them to stop!" Tsuna looked at him lost.

The older boy grabbed his nervous hands and soothed them with his own.

"Not with me. You have to say it with me. There are a lot of things you can do, Tsuna. You just don't know it,"

His words kept him lost.

"You have me and Giotto,"

"But Giotto's unconscious,"

"Just as long as you have blood, it'll be okay,"

Blood? Daemon was talking about blood. But what the heck was he referring to when he said he tasted other people's blood? And he wanted to drink his too?!

Tsuna shifted his eyes away for a moment and looked at Yamamoto's fight. The blue haired student came at him again. Yamamoto tried to get him at the side but he easily dodged it and punched him on the face. Blood. A gush of blood flew from the dark haired teen's nose as Daemon landed another hit. Yamamoto was losing!

"If you want it to stop, just say it," Asari brought his attention back. The senior's slender fingers intertwined with his and clasped it tight. "Hold my hand and Giotto's, then say it. Command everything to stop,"

Tsuna bit his lip hesitating but reached for the Italian's limp hand; his skin still felt warm from all the fighting. As he slipped his fingers between the spaces of Giotto's hand, there was a hot bubbling feeling sizzling through his veins. It felt like a bubble full of warm water was coating the three of them as they connected. The yells of the angry students muffled away. He couldn't see anything but Giotto and Asari.

Stop. He could hear Asari's urging voice. Stop. His lips couldn't help but repeat it.

"Stop..."

Louder.

"Stop."

Louder.

"Stop!"

A prickling of electricity traveled from his lips and rippled throughout the room. He could see the ripple of blinding light, and as soon as everything was engulfed by it, there was a flash.

Tsuna closed his eyes and when he opened them again, every person in the court was frozen. He scanned the room disbelieving. Students were held in their position unmoving like they were stuffed with ice. Were they? Were they now ice sculptures? A glaze of reflective shine coated the students.

There was a kid from Kokuyo punching a Namimori student. A cheerleader was running out the door. A guy was stuck jumping in mid air as a another threw him. It was unreal. The brunette was going to get up to study them when a weight on his lap pulled him down. Giotto?

"Yamamoto," he looked down.

A battered teen groggily opened his eyes. "Tsuna," he smiled.

There was dry blood caked on his upper lip.

"You're okay," he was about to reach his injured face when Yamamoto grabbed his hand.

His yellow eyes landed on the two golden rings sitting on his fingers. Having one squeezing his left ring finger made it embarrassing.

The teen's rough fingers reached over to the yellow metal.

"Take it off," his voice was barely audible. "Please take it off,"

Tsuna sat still as the boy moved the rings on his own.

"Please,"

Yamamoto's hand dropped as he finally slipped it off his hand. A forceful ringing sound echoed the gym as the sacred metal hit the floor.

"Tsuna, I love you. So can't you take mine instead?"