Hey guys~~ I figured out the spacing! Yay! And did you like the previous chapter? I hope you did~ Here's the next one! Review, Review please!
Asteria had a gut-wrenching feeling. She did not want this battle to take place. She was watching what was happening around her; everyone was talking but she chose not to listen. All of a sudden, she saw a big boxing ring.
"Hey! This is perfect for senpai!" Yamamoto said.
"Yeah! The ring is my territory!" Ryouhei said. Asteria knew there was a catch to it. Lussuria was a martial artist. Ryouhei was thrusting his arms and walked towards the ring.
'I can't watch this.' She thought. Varia was telling Lussuria to hurry up and kill Ryouhei.
"Hey, we're not forming a team circle?" Yamamoto asked. Ryouhei turned in excitement.
"Yeah! I've always wanted to do that!"
Tsuna and Gokudera complained, and didn't want to do it. Yamamoto ignored them and pulled the two to his side. Ryouhei took Asteria's hand and smiled to her. He pulled her in the circle, and she was a bit surprised and didn't know what was going on. She's never seen things like this in action. Ryouhei started it off.
"Ryouhei! Fight!"
"Oh!" Yamamo said loudly. Gokudera and Tsuna stayed quiet and got out of the circle.
"Alright! I feel my blood pumping!" Ryouhei said and walked towards the ring. Asteria ran up to him.
"Ryouhei-san!" she said. He turned to look at her. She didn't know what to say. He put his hand on her head again. For a second, she saw Squalo growl.
"Remember what I said today. I can win, without hurting your friend." He reassured her. He stuck out his pinky.
"I promise." He smiled. She looked straight in to his eyes, and could tell he was serious. She instead of wrapping her pinky with his, she took his hand and held it with both of hers.
"Please…" she said quietly, "Do what you think is right for the family of Vongola."
Ryouhei nodded and slipped away. She watched him enter the ring, and finally noticed what the catch was to the ring.
"Wait, Ryouhei-san!" she said and ran over to the ring. One of the Cervello jumped in front of her.
"He has already entered the ring. He cannot have anymore contact with anyone." She said, coldly. Asteria didn't know what to do, so she went back to the group.
"Are you okay, Asteria-san?" Tsuna asked. She didn't know how to react.
"The ring's a trap." She said.
"Eh! What do you mean?" he asked. She didn't reply and stood by Yamamoto.
"The battle of the Sun: Lussuria versus Sasagawa Ryouhei. Begin." A Cervello announced and the lights on the ring flashed on. Everybody covered their eyes.
"Wha? Why did it suddenly get bright?" Tsuna yelled. Asteria closed her eyes.
"It's a fake sun. They're trying to make the situation as real as possible." Reborn said. He passed out sunglasses to everyone.
"Wait, we have to give a pair to onii-san!" Tsuna said, panicking.
"They won't let you," Asteria said in distress, "That's what I was trying to do, but they wouldn't let me tell him or give him anything."
Everybody remained silent, and continued to watch the fight. Ryouhei was getting hit multiple times and he couldn't do anything about it. He was punched in to the wires and screamed in pain. Some steam rose from his body.
"What was that?" Gokudera asked.
"The wires are electrical, and are several hundred degrees." A Cervello said.
"Mmm, you're gonna taste so yummy when you're cooked~." Lussuria said. Everybody shivered and got creeped out.
"Shut up!" Ryouhei yelled and punched Lussuria. He was thrown into the air.
"Ooh, what a sweet punch~!"
"But from what I felt… you're in the air!" Ryouhei yelled and got ready to punch. Asteria saw Lussuria stick his knee out.
"Ryouhei-san, don't punch!"
It was too late. His left arm made contact with Lussuria's left knee. Asteria knew his arm was now crushed. He fell to the floor. Blood began to gush out of his hand.
"Ryouhei-san!" Asteria yelled.
"You see~ my left knee is made of metal and has plates, meaning your arm is useless~." Lussuria said. Asteria felt her heart fall to the ground.
"And he's starting to get dehydrated from the amount of light there is." Reborn added. Everybody watched and didn't know what to say.
"You better get up, kora." Someone from above said.
"Colonello?" Tsuna yelled. Asteria looked up and tried to remember who he was. She could hardly remember. She saw the blue pacifier, but still couldn't remember where she saw him.
"Arcobaleno…" she mumbled.
"Sorry I was late, Kyoko waited for me to sleep… Ryouhei! Get up and show him your true strength." Colonello ordered.
"Hmm~ he can't fight anymore sweetie~." Lussuria said. Ryouhei started to get up.
"Master Colonello… I've been waiting for your words!"
"He's getting up!" Gokudera said.
"Yeah, but his sweat is steaming… and almost sizzling…" Yamamoto said.
"Aww, sweetie, why don't you just stay down~ you're so close to becoming part of my collection~!" Lussuria said, licking his lips.
"I'm not finished yet…" Ryouhei said, struggling to get up.
"Why not! Your punches don't work."
"Yeah… but those punches were thrown by my left arm." He said, finally up.
"Yeah, when he punched a guy who was attacking Fuuta, he only punched with his left." Reborn said.
"But why? Why only his left?" Tsuna asked.
"To rest his cells and put them in the best condition. And…" Colonello explained.
"Because he's the guardian of the sun." Asteria said, able to feel her fingers again.
"This fist on my right arm… is made to flip around the disadvantages made in this battle." Ryouhei said.
"What? What do you mean?" Tsuna asked Asteria.
"That's the sun guardian's job. To break down the misfortunes in the family with their own body, and shining warmth in their family."
"Aww, Asteria-chan, you know so much! But, even if his punches are strong, there's no point if he can't punch me." Lussuria said. He began to move his feet and circle around him very quickly.
"He can barely see already, how will he be able to fight him when he's moving that quickly?" Tsuna said. Ryouhei got punched again.
"Ryouhei-san!" Asteria yelled in fear of him being injured.
"I'm… fine…" he said and started getting up.
"Hey, New Girl…" he started. Asteria looked at him and noticed his aura began to change.
"I understand what you meant… about that compass…"
Asteria breathed and listened to what he said. He made a stance and got ready to punch.
"I know where you are..." he said and quickly turned around.
"Maximum Cannon!" he yelled and punched Lussuria's chin upward.
"He hit him!" Yamamoto yelled. Lussuria came back down, unhurt.
"Oh, so close!"
"What… if only it was a little more…" Tsuna said, upset.
"No… I got exactly what I aimed for." Ryouhei said. Everybody looked and saw some lights break and fall apart. He yelled and kept punching the air until they were all broken.
"Alright. I can finally fight you fair and square." He said and opened his eyes.
"Well, there's still no change in the fight. I'm just surprised how your punch was strong enough to break the lights."
"Lussuria, you may have been looking at his body for a while, but look at what's on it." Belphegor said.
"Oh my, is that… sand? No, no… it's salt!"
"What? Where'd the salt come from?" Yamamoto asked.
"Because of his sweat, you idiot!" Gokudera answered angrily.
"Well, that's not that hard of a trick~." Lussuria said and began moving again. He threw a punch, throwing the salt on Ryouhei's body up to the lights again.
"Wow… as expected of Varia Quality." Reborn said.
"What? Varia Quality?" Tsuna asked.
"Varia is an assassination group with jobs regular people could never do. In short, we're… I mean they're a group of geniuses that are made for killing." Asteria explained.
"Aww, what's that supposed to mean? You don't like us anymore, Asteria-chan!" Lussuria asked and looked at her. Her mouth couldn't open.
"Now, you heard her little one," Lussuria said to Ryouhei, "our skills are just too far apart!"
Asteria didn't know what to say and felt guilty for saying that in front of Ryouhei.
"Hey, don't say that until you truly accept my right fist." Ryouhei said.
"Don't you understand anything? I just copied your punch! I can see through it now!" Lusurria said, slightly annoyed.
"Hey, I'll never know until I try." He said.
"That's right, my disciple. Now seriously put all your power and strength in your right fist, kora." Colonello said. Asteria gulped and pulled off her ring. She put it in her hands and closed them.
"Alright, let's fight to the EXTREME!"
Lussuria started to move his feet again and circled around him.
"New girl, I appreciate your compass." Ryouhei said and punched again. We heard him scream and gush blood from his right arm.
"I thought I told you about my metal knee~." Lussuria said. Ryouhei fell to the floor, screaming in pain. Asteria closed her eyes and held her ring in her two hands. She put her hands close to her chest and gave all her hope in to her ring.
"Okay, it's time for me to kill now~ mmm! I'm so excited!" Lussuria said.
"Onii-chan!" a girly voice said from far away.
"K-Kyoko-chan! Why are you here?" Tsuna said in surprise. Iemitsu came from behind them.
"She was looking for Colonello and I brought her here."
"Onii-chan! What are you doing! You're all injured!" Kyoko said. Asteria looked at her. She could tell she was worried and didn't want him to get injured anymore.
"Oh, dearie, we have a visitor. Sweetie, your big brother is losing now, and is going to get killed by me." Lussuria said to her.
"Onii-chan! You promised me you wouldn't fight!" she said. Asteria could feel the pain in her voice.
"I know… and I'm sorry to have let you down… but," Ryouhei said, trying to get up again, "I also said that if there comes a day where I have to fight again..." he got to his knees and let a breath out, "I won't lose." He said and finally got to his feet.
"Sasagawa!" Asteria said and ran over to where she was.
"Oh, Asteria-chan… What is my brother doing?" she asked, with sad eyes.
"Never mind about that," she answered and took her hand. She handed her ring to her.
"If you have a wish, or a hope of some sort for your brother… put it in this ring." She said. Kyoko had a bit of hesitation, but immediately closed her eyes and hands. She let a breath out and opened her eyes. The two looked at Ryouhei again and his eyes looked more determined.
"Goodness, you're an annoying child!" Lussuria complained and shuffled his feet.
"I'll show it to you… the real… MAXIMUM CANNON!" he said and punched. Lussuria thrusted his metal knee and everybody expected Ryouhei to fall again. We heard a painful scream and shattering. Everybody saw that Lussuria's metal knee was broken.
"It… it worked!" Tsuna exclaimed.
"How! My metal knee can never be crushed!" Lussuria yelled.
"Ushishi, looks like show's over. That perv makes me laugh." Belphegor said.
"Hey, Kyoko, let's go home, kora." Colonello said and started flying away.
"Wait, onii-chan's still-," Kyoko said as she was being dragged away.
"It's finished. And I'm sleepy, kora."
Asteria was given her ring back to her, and watched them leave. She knew it was better for her to not watch the rest. She turned and continued to watch the finishing of the fight.
"It was a great fight. Now hand over the ring." Ryouhei said. Lussuria began panicking and started getting up.
"No! I can still fight!" he said. Asteria didn't know how to feel. She saw Squalo walk towards her.
"I can still fight with one leg!" Lussuria continued saying. She knew what was going to happen, and wanted to stop it. She wanted to run over to Lussuria, but Squalo was right in front of her. He took his one arm to cover her ears and held her to his chest to cover her eyes. She knew Squalo was trying to help, but she screamed.
"No! Lussuria!" she kept yelling. Finally she heard a shot from the Gola Mosca. She screamed again.
"They just… killed their ally…" She heard Tsuna say. She heard Reborn say a few things, but she couldn't clearly understand what they were saying.
"Hey, be quiet. He's taken away now." Squalo said to Asteria and let her go. She fell to her knees, devastated at the result of the fight.
"Now we will announce the fight that will be held tomorrow." A Cervello said.
"Eh? We find out today!" Tsuna said, not wanting it to be him.
"Tomorrow's fight will be…"
"The battle between the Lightning Guardians."
"Ehh! Lambo? Can he fight!" Tsuna asked.
"We will see you tomorrow evening." The Cervello said and jumped away. The ring began to crash down. Squalo covered Asteria, but she didn't know anything happened. Squalo then got up and walked away, leaving Asteria. Her head hung and she couldn't process through her mind that Lussuria was gone. No more shopping with him, no more dancing with him, no more… Lussuria. She stared at the ground. She felt someone coming towards her.
"New Girl…" she heard. She didn't respond.
"I tried. I tried to get him out of the ring, like a real boxer would." She heard again. Then she realized, there was much more to come this week, and didn't want to be a burden on her family. She knew it wasn't his fault.
"Did you… keep your promise?" she asked and looked up. The person was kneeling in front of her, and he was covered in scars.
"Yeah, I fought for this family." He said. Her tears started welling up.
"Ryouhei-san!" she yelled and put her arms around him and just cried. She cried because she was happy that he was safe, and because Lussuria had been killed.
Yamamoto watched Asteria cry for a long time. He remembered what Shamal told him that day, but he could see that she wanted to say something to Ryouhei.
"Hey, it's gonna be alright, new girl." Ryouhei said, slightly blushing and patting her head. She nodded and continued to cry.
"But look, I have a part of what he owned," Ryouhei said to her, "This ring, half of it was his, right?"
Asteria pulled away and looked at him. He handed her his full ring. She looked at him and nodded. He helped her get up to her feet. She stumbled a few times.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Ryouhei asked her. She slightly nodded. He held her hand and walked over to the group.
"Asteria… are you okay?" Yamamoto asked, worried and a little jealous that Ryouhei was holding her hand. She nodded and remained silent.
"Can I ask something?" Tsuna said very awkwardly. She looked up at him with tear stained eyes. He mumbled to himself and scratched his head.
"What did you mean by the compass? You kept mentioning it and I got curious." Tsuna said. Yamamoto remembered too, and asked the same.
"Yeah, you told him to always aim south."
Ryouhei smiled and gestured Asteria. She looked up and he signaled her to say something.
"Oh, um… south is the direction the sun's left hand lies on. It's also the hand of fire, and represents warmth and comfort…" she said.
"Yep. And I began to notice that he would always punch towards the northern direction." Ryouhei said.
"Ahh, I see!" Yamamoto said.
"Well guys, I better get back home. Kyoko's gonna start getting upset." Ryouhei said. Asteria looked at him sadly.
"I'll be fine. And I'll continue being the guardian of the Sun." he smiled to her. She smiled back weakly.
"Okay… just make sure you get those injuries looked at… I don't want you with those scars forever."
"I will. Running back home, to the EXTREME!" he said and ran off. Yamamoto saw Asteria's eyes follow him, and then turn back to the rest of them.
"Alright, everybody head home. Tsuna, I won't be back for a while~." Iemitsu said and walked away. Yamamoto was about to walk over to Asteria to see if she wanted to walk with him again, but Reborn interrupted.
"Gokudera, walk Asteria home tonight."
Yamamoto was surprised he didn't make annoyed actions.
"Understood. Asteria, do you need help walking?" he asked. She shook her head no, but took his arm anyway. This time Gokudera made a face without her seeing.
"Good night, Asteria." Yamamoto said to her, right as she passed by him. She looked at him with a calm smile and waved good-bye. He sighed.
"Yamamoto, you're coming with me." Reborn said. He was surprised, but walked with Reborn on his shoulder.
"So what are your questions?" Reborn suddenly asked.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"About Asteria. I know you have some. I might be able to answer some, depending on the question."
Yamamoto wasn't sure if he was allowed to ask him.
"Will you ever be able to ask Asteria?" Reborn said, reading his thoughts. He sighed.
"Yeah… I wanna know a few things…" he admitted.
"I knew it."
"Uh… why is Squalo so protective of Asteria?" he asked.
"That's Squalo's life duty. It was given to him by Asteria's papa." He answered.
"Oh… but why? Wouldn't he decline a job like that?"
"I can't answer anymore from there. You'd have to ask Asteria."
Yamamoto sighed in disappointment.
"Alright… then why'd you make me ask?"
"Because now you're even more curious and you have no choice but to ask her."
He sighed again.
"Okay. Then what about this question? How does she fight?"
"Ah, she's strange when it comes to fighting. She always says she spins with those three things, but she mainly dances. It's weird."
"Haa… you know, your answers are pretty plain." Yamamoto complained.
"Nope, I'm just saying what I'm allowed to say. You can ask her if you want."
Yamamoto felt like Reborn had cheated him. He just let a breath out and stopped asking questions.
"There's something else bothering you about her." Reborn said, kicking his head. Yamamoto knew himself, but didn't want to ask.
"No, nothing really." He lied.
"Quit lying." Reborn said and kicked him again.
"Alright, alright. Why did she immediately 'click' with senpai? I mean, we became friends fast, too, but they seemed like they knew each other forever." He said.
"That's just something Sun and Snow guardians have had from the first generation of Vongola. The elements sound like they'd contradict each other, but they're strong when they're together."
"Really? How does that work? Doesn't the sun melt the snow?" Yamamoto was greatly confused.
"Well, the sun is warm and makes the family happy. Snow covers and keeps the happiness inside. But, they only match in a family way. If you ask her, she'll think it's weird to think of Ryouhei in another way."
"Oh… okay." Yamamoto said, his jealousy leaving his body.
"Don't worry, the Snow guardian always ends up with a Rain guardian." Reborn said. Yamamoto tripped.
"What?"
"I can't guarantee it'll be you, though."
"Who said I wanted it to be!" Yamamoto yelled.
"You're a rain guardian. That's how it's supposed to be." Reborn stated and smiled. Yamamoto didn't respond, but had a feel of relief. He realized he was actually happy something could happen.
"See, I knew you'd react all happy." Reborn said.
"I didn't say I was!" Yamamoto argued.
"Shut up."
Yamamoto's head hung, and he deeply sighed.
'This asking questions thing was not smart.' He thought and walked the rest of the way home, alone.
Okay… so, sorry if it was a bit of a boring chapter. I decided to rewrite the battles with a few Asteria parts and possibly change a few parts. I hope you don't get the wrong idea or anything! And remember, Review, Review!