Reborn is following what leads he can find when his phone goes off from a text. He frowns for a second checking it, worried about the breach in protocol. The Ninth knows he prefers speaking through the phone, since it leaves less of a trace, but he supposes its not too odd for the Boss to be checking in in person with the current events.
"New intell suggests organised resistance. Retired hitman says Discipline Committee boss Hibari Kyoya is harbouring Tsunayoshi-kun. Please take care of it." Reborn reads.
He furrows his brows and thinks back to the boy he talked to at the beginning of the whole fiasco, and reluctantly acknowledges that he seemed to be too knowing for someone supposedly unconnected to the Sawada family.
Why, exactly, the Hibari scion wants with Tsunayoshi he doesn't know, but now that he has a definite lead he can at least answer a few questions.
And as soon as he gets the boy back into safe hands the better it will be for Vongola, and the rest of the Mafia world.
"It's not going to work." Takeshi murmurs worriedly. Tsuna doesn't look up from his book, but does reach out and pat the other boy on the shoulder.
"Sure it will. Shoichi-kun said it would." He says. In his corner, Shoichi hunches down a little more, a pink tinge to his cheeks.
Hibari snorts.
"If it doesn't work then that just means we fight." He says, uncaringly. Tetsuya flinches.
"You better not make it fail just so you can have a fight, Hibari-san." He says dryly, some of his tension fading in face of Hibari's unbothered response.
Most of the time he's pretty level-headed, but even for him this next plan feels risky. He can't help but wonder how the rest of the room isn't more nervous. Perhaps it just goes to show the level of insanity their lives have becomes now.
"If you want to make sure, you can go over the houses defense again." Tsuna says, turning a page. Tetsuya makes a face at going over all the traps again.
As well as Shoichi's personalised touches, the Hibari household is chockfull with snares, some installed into the houses very foundation and going back decades. Others have been added over the years, a mix match of different styles and levels of lethality.
Checking them is almost as nerve-wracking as waiting around for the first part of the plan to be initialised.
In chess there's a move called Castlling. It's when you take your vulnerable King, static up until this point, and swap it with a more versatile piece, the rook. Most use it as a defensive move, moving the King into a more protected spot on the board.
Some use it as an offense, giving their rook a more open space in which to capture enemy pieces. If you're very careful, it's possible to bait an opponent into going after a King that's slated to be Castled.
Yamamoto Tsuyoshi kneels down in his dojo and breaths deeply. His body aches with old injuries, but somehow he feels like he's back a decade, when he was off doing dirty deeds for dirty men.
It's been quite a few years since he's picked up his sword for anything more then basic maintenance and training. No matter how much he used to hint to his son, it hasn't been until these past few months that Takeshi has been willing to be taught. And now he will be taking on other students, although not of his family's style.
It's a little overwhelming.
It feels good though, to do something. To protect something again. He doesn't feel like he's cheapening his blade, like it did with assassination.
So decided he stands up and stretches. If he is to be teaching then he will need to be at the best of his ability. The town deserves nothing less.
His thoughts are interrupted by his son, padding into the room on mostly silent feet.
"Hey dad." Takeshi says when he sees him. "Up for some sparring?"
He takes one last deep breath and smiles at his son.
"Always."
Nana is gossiping with the ladies from the neighbourhood knitting circle when she gets the message. She makes apologetic noises that the women wave off as she checks it, a little moue at her lips.
"Is it your cute little terror?" One of them asks, crowding around her. She laughs and tilts the screen so they can read.
Hey Nan-Chan! Things are progression well over here, although a stray cat has wandered into the neighbourhood. It's got some mean claws but I think we can deal with it (。•̀ᴗ-)✧
Which reminds me, you should ask around about the best way to deal with angry cats, declawing just sounds so cruel.
See you soon!
"Oh my, so soon?" Murmurs one of the women. Nana laughs.
"Those friends of his can be so impatient sometimes. Looks like I'll have to talk to the suppliers again." She says with a sigh. The women around her titter.
"And we should make sure we have enough knitting needles." One of them winks. The group disperses, and Nana starts walking home.
She has people to call.
Rei is sidling between two buildings, breath even and footsteps quiet when a voice from above whispers down to her.
"Psst. Ghost-chan." She peers up and sees the moonlit silhouette of one of the group's runners. She doesn't remember his name, but thinks he might be working with the Discipline Committee when he's not running around passing messages.
"What." She asks blandly, still not used to half the town knowing her name.
"Boss says you're needed near base for some sticky finger work." The boy says, ducking down enough that she can just make out the tattoos winding around his fingers. She gives them a few appreciative looks and then nods.
"On it." She says, twisting her ring a few times and sliding back into the shadows. She hears the boy start as he looses track of her, even though she's still right under him.
She smirks and starts making her way downtown.
"I'm telling you, I saw it!" A dark head bobs up and down as the voice whispers to a friend. Cecilia nimbly bypasses the two middle school boys and starts moving towards the headquarters.
"No way, you're just trying to scare me." Complains the other one. The first boy throws his hands up and huffs.
"No way, man, it was huge. I swear, floor to ceiling green fire, it looked like something out of a horror movie!" He says, and Cecilia abruptly stops.
She pushes her hair away from her face and spins towards the two boys, who start when they realise she's coming back their way.
"Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt. Where exactly did you say you saw these green flames? It's just I work with the fire bureau and I think it might be interesting to my superiors." She says, kneeling down a little to get closer to their height.
The two boys look at each other with an uncertain air, before the first boy turns back to her and shrugs.
"Near that weird rundown warehouse by the industrial area. The one that's been abandoned for years." He says. Cecilia raises and eyebrow.
"What were you doing there?" She asks incredulously. Both boys shift nervously.
"It was a dare." The first one says quietly. The other one nods vigorously.
"The upperclassmen said they would buy us lunch for a week if we went in." He agrees.
Cecilia sighs.
"You two shouldn't be going into old buildings like that, fire is the least of your problems with those. What if it collapsed?" She says before standing up. She tries a smile and doesn't quite get it right.
"Thanks for the info though, I'll make sure to get someone out there to check it out."
Two boys go running off, bursting into a quiet coffee shop. The waitress waves them into the back and ignores their giggles before going back to her Sudoku puzzle.
"I can't believe that worked!" The first boy says, dark hair shaking as he laughs. His friend, glasses sliding from his face, laughs with him.
"Everything go ok?" A deep voice asks from the couch in the break room. A dark form in Discipline Committee attire, pompadour wilting in the heat is sitting on it, sharpening a blade.
Both boys salute. Around them a thin haze of purple mist evaporates.
"Mission accomplished!"
