So, uh…. How long has it been? You know, I say sorry every update and I feel really bad, but I hope you guys still like me TT_TT
Yamamoto and Squalo both stared at each other, not moving from their stance. They didn't have to speak, since they both knew the situation they were in. They just had to decide which consequence would be worth taking. Slowly, the two lowered their arms, and stood man to man, with no plan to attack. Their eyes turned serious, knowing they both had the same idea.
"I'm going to get Asteria." They said at the same time and darted toward the stairs.
"Hey! That's my job! You stay back and be an idiot!" Squalo yelled.
"Sorry, I made a promise to her. I'm not letting her go like this!" Yamamoto said shamelessly.
"Why!? You're not important to her!"
"I might not be, but I know she's important to me!" Yamamoto sped up his pace. Squalo's blood boiled and he shot one of his sword bullets at the stairs, making Yamamoto fall and get covered with the pieces. Squalo jumped down and got to the next floor. Before he knew it, Yamamoto was right behind him.
"I'm not that easy to get rid of." He smiled and ran. Squalo snarled at him, but ignored him, knowing he had to go save Asteria. The two darted for the second floor, trying to hear where the screams were coming from. Everything was pitch black and there was nothing to be found. Every time they took a step, there was glass crunching beneath their feet.
'Whoever did this broke every single light on this floor.' Yamamoto thought. He stopped his thoughts and started running. Squalo did the same, and two ran in to each other, thinking they were going in opposite directions.
"HEY! Pay attention to where you're going!" Squalo yelled at Yamamoto.
"Sorry, I'm as desperate as you are." Yamamoto said, not letting himself get angry. Squalo was about to yell at him again, but heard another scream. He tensed up, knowing she needed some light.
"Hey, who would do this to her?" Yamamoto asked Squalo, believing he would know what he could have done to her.
"How the hell is that going to help her!?" he screamed at him. Yamamoto was about to respond, but something cut his arm.
"Hey! What was that for?" he yelled and looked for Squalo.
"Huh!? What are you talking about?" another slice came to his wrist. Yamamoto held his sword, ready for anything.
"Are you going to fight me!?" he asked.
"Voi! If could see you, your body would be in pieces by now!" Squalo shouted. Yamamoto lowered his stance, knowing that was true.
"AGH!" Squalo swung his sword from side to side.
"God damn it, Belphegor! You're supposed to be on my side!" Squalo said. Yamamoto thought about who that was. He remembered it was the guy who pushed Asteria. He raised his sword again, knowing this guy was dangerous.
"Huh~? I'm just here to kill everyone." Bel sneered and threw a knife somewhere. It didn't hit either of them, but Yamamoto and Squalo backed up in to each other. They both turned around, clashing their swords against each other. They couldn't see each other, but they knew exactly where they were, and how they were standing.
"Squalo, if we don't fight this guy to-,"
"Don't you dare say that we're going to fight together." Squalo gritted between his teeth. Yamamoto felt a knife sweep past him, but fall on the floor half a second after.
"Did that one hit you?" he asked lightly. He didn't respond.
"Hey." Yamamoto heard a whisper behind him and there was a knife to his back. He whipped around and could feel Belphegor's breath on him. With no time to think, Squalo hooked his right arm to Yamamoto's neck and held him. Belphegor sliced Yamamoto's chest three times. Squalo raised his sword to Yamamoto's neck.
"Time to get rid of trash that's in the way." He said. Yamamoto gulped and thought that it was over.
'Asteria. I never did anything for you.' He thought as Squalo tightened his grip on his neck.
"Yamamoto! Get down!" he heard someone yell at him, and there was a huge explosion. Everyone fell, and Yamamoto dashed away from Squalo as fast as possible.
"Are you dead, baseball freak!?" he heard. He looked around, and Gokudera was there, with more dynamite in his hands, giving some light in the room.
"Gokudera!" he smiled and ran to him.
"Thanks man! You really just saved me right now." He laughed.
"How the hell are you laughing right now!? You almost died!" Gokudera yelled at him. One of his dynamite exploded, making the two fall. They coughed and started to get up, but there were two other guys above them.
"Yamamoto, don't die on me." Gokudera mumbled.
"Right back at you." He chuckled. Bel laughed.
"Let's have some fun."
Asteria slowed her breath, exhausted from all the screaming. She was trapped, not knowing where she was, and her sabre had begun melting away. The only thing on her mind was the sight of her bleeding father, and she couldn't get rid of it. She banged on the door of where she was trapped, begging for someone to hear her. Luckily, she didn't get any bad damage from the fight with Belphegor. If anything, she was so close to defeating him, it was making him lose his mind. She made sure he used up most of his knives on her so if he got away, he wouldn't have many to use.
"Asteria, calm down." She told herself. She had to stop pitying herself and get herself together.
'Everyone's going to die if you don't go back out there.' She gulped and tried to push the door open again. Nothing happened. She reached for her side and she still had one dart. She knew that if she just dropped it, the whole floor could explode, but she knew it was the only way. She took a deep breath and lightly threw it ahead of her. The power flew her backwards, making her fall and let go of her sabre.
'If you open your eyes, it's most likely dark. Don't scream. Don't get scared.' She told herself and slowly opened them. It was darker than where she was trapped, which she believed wasn't possible. She couldn't control her fear and screamed. She looked right and left, but there was no source of light, making her terrified of what could happen. She screamed again.
"Can you stop screaming please." She heard a quiet voice. She raised her head, looking for the owner of the voice.
"Mammon? Where are you?" she asked. She prayed that she would be on her side.
"I'm right here." She said, making the room too bright for her to keep her eyes open.
"Is that better for you?" Mammon said with an evil smile. Asteria opened her eyes again, hoping to see Mammon and be saved. What she saw ahead of her was entirely opposite.
"Pa…pa?" she whispered and saw her bleeding father ahead of her, and all the others of her old family, dead on the floor. It was the same. Everything from her bed to the wall decorations and the bodies. She was witnessing her dying papa once more.
"No, no, no, Papa!" she screamed, and reached out for him. Tears were falling out of her eyes, and she was unable to remember what was actually going on around her.
"Papa, please, don't leave. Please! I'll do anything to bring you back. Papa!" she kept shaking him. She wouldn't let herself believe he was truly dead. He was starting to fade away, and Asteria held him as close as possible. He disappeared completely, leaving nothing in her hands. She lay on the floor, sobbing, wishing for him to come back. She wasn't able to realize that Mammon was right behind her, with a knife to her back.
"I guess you've paid your debt now." She said and raised her arm. Before stabbing her, a tree branch grew from the ground and gripped her wrist, making her drop the knife.
"What?" Mammon looked around to see where the roots came from.
"Step away from the snow guardian." A girl said, stepping forward. She had a large trident in her hand, and an eye patch, hiding her right eye.
"Who are you?" Mammon floated and looked at her. She seemed so shy and powerless, Mammon didn't have a sense of fear in her. The girl didn't respond, and held on to the trident tightly.
Asteria was finally starting to bring herself back to the real world. The bodies were all gone, and she was lying on a floor of broken glass. She hadn't even realized the amount of cuts she got on her arms and hands. She curled her hands together, still crying about her father. But a flame of rage was growing inside of her, knowing it was all Mammon's doing. Her ring lit up and she got to her feet, looking for Mammon. She finally noticed the girl, who was now fighting with Mammon, with plenty of scratches on her face and body.
"The Mist Guardian." Asteria said out loud, and saw her strong eye. She reached for her sabre, which lost its blade. She tried to remember the build of the school and figure out where the closest water source would be. She dashed out of the room, knowing the restrooms were right next door, and turned all the sinks on. In a rush, she put the hilt to the water, making a blade of ice. She took a deep breath, and let one last tear out.
'Papa, please guide me.' She thought to herself and tightened her grip on the sabre. She ran back to the room with the mist guardian, just in time. Mammon was strangling her with some illusion, and Asteria jumped to them, and used the blade to cut the cords. They froze quickly, but she quickly smashed the ice on the mist guardian's side to make sure she wouldn't freeze. The girl looked at her confused.
"Hey, miss Mist Guardian. Could I help a bit?" Asteria gave a serious smile with a flame growing out of her hand. The girl let a breath out, and nodded. The two looked at Mammon, who didn't get affected by the ice.
"Hey, Asteria, it's your dream come true. A battle of only girls." Mammon sneered.
"Mist guardian, I'm giving you my full trust. Can you give me yours?" Asteria asked her. She was quiet, but Asteria didn't need to hear her. She ran up to Mammon, striking her sabre towards her, but she dodged it, not getting a single cut. The mist guardian whipped her trident around and struck it to the floor, making a world of ice and snow.
"Snow guardian, does this hurt you?" the girl asked. A strong wind passed Asteria and she drew a circle with her sabre.
"Nope. Not one bit." She said and in front of her was a large wall of ice, which she blew on. The wall shattered, and sharp pieces of ice swiftly went towards Mammon.
"Vento Di Ghiaccio." Asteria said, watching Mammon struggle to avoid all of them. The girl dove in and attacked Mammon with the trident, making her fall to the ground.
"Hey, mist guardian, can I know your name?" Asteria quickly went to her, worried she was hit by any of the ice.
"I'm… Chrome Dokuro." She said, making eye contact with her for the first time.
"Chrome… You have guts." Asteria praised her. Then she forgot she didn't say her own name.
"I'm Asteria. And as much as I'd like to get to know you," she said, looking over at Mammon, who was getting back up.
"I don't think we have time to be doing that." She said. The two gripped their weapons and both darted toward Mammon. Asteria didn't know what, but something grabbed her from behind, pulling her back to the floor. She winced in pain as she felt glass cutting through her back. Chrome had escaped the attack by Mammon and was trying to attack her with the trident. Nothing was working and Asteria was struggling to get up. She lightly tapped the things that were keeping her to the floor with her sabre, making them freeze. A light chill went through her body, but with her snow flame, she could prevent herself from becoming ice. Once she looked at her blade, she knew she had to defeat Mammon fast. It was melting away, and she had already lost her metal blade sabre. She jumped up to strike her again, but was pushed away by a hot wind.
"It's time you two melt away." Mammon said. Both Chrome and Asteria fell to the floor, suddenly unbelievably exhausted. Asteria was sweating, and was growing dizzy.
'Is this really the end for me?' she asked herself and tried to get up. Surrounding her was a room of red; full of fire. She was able to stand, but she knew that she could barely fight. She looked for Chrome, but she was nowhere to be found.
"Mist guardian…" Asteria quietly searched for her.
"Kufufu… It's time I step in." she heard behind her. With all of her strength, she turned around and saw the infamous Rokudou Mukuro. He stood before her with his piercing red eye, and a calm yet vicious smile.
"You can rest while I take care of this." He said. Asteria didn't know what to do, but there was only one thing her body was capable of; to listen to him. She stood in place and watched him attack Mammon with no mercy. Soon, the fire went away, and the room returned to normal.
'Rokudou Mukuro. Who exactly are you?' she thought to herself. She grew sick as she watched Mammon engulf herself in her own body and disappear. She felt guilty, since she had known her for a long time. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Mukuro approaching her.
"Well, well. If it isn't the lonely snow guardian." He said.
"Huh? What did you say?" she said, glad to be alive.
"It was nothing. Oh, here's the ring. Give it to Chrome when she returns." He said and drew his arm out. She reached to take it, but he stabbed her side with his trident. Her eyes grew large and she fell to the ground.
"W-why?" she found the energy to ask.
"You know very well how much strength you have just by being the snow guardian. You have a ring similar to the sky guardian, but you are the only one in the world capable of having that certain strength in your hands." He drew his face close to her.
"I can't have anyone in my way while I take over the world." He threw the ring in the air and took it and walked away. Asteria gritted her teeth and held on to where she was stabbed.
"Mukuro. I won't forgive you for this." She said.
"I won't need you to." He said and disappeared. Asteria was beginning to lose consciousness and had to figure out a way to live through the stabbing.
'Okay, the first thing is to stop the bleeding. My goodness this hurts more than the last time Bel got close to killing me.' She thought and took her coat off.
'This is going to hurt.' She told herself and wrapped the coat around her wound.
"One, two… three!" she said out loud and tugged on the sleeves. She clenched her jaws, not even having the energy to scream anymore. Her legs would barely be able to hold her up, much less walk to where everyone else was fighting. The blade of the sabre was melted anyway. There was no chance of her fighting anyone without dying. But explosions and yells were coming from above. She knew that Takeshi and Hayato were not safe. Her eyes were shutting, but she was fighting it with all of her might.
"Asteria." She heard. Her eyes were closed but she could see an image of a woman in front of her.
"Who are you?" she asked, suddenly scared. She curled herself up, preparing herself for the worst.
"Go and protect them." The woman said. She was still just a silhouette, but had a light gray color, and a soft voice.
"But I won't be of any help at this point." She looked around and the room had turned in to a world of snow. The wind was strong and Asteria raised her arm to cover her face.
"You have your sabre. You just need faith in yourself." The woman placed her hands on Asteria's cheeks. The hands were unexpectedly warm.
"Faith. You have it in others. Grow the strength to have your own." Asteria saw a quick glimpse of the woman's eyes.
"Who are you?" she asked, but without leaving an answer, she disappeared. The world was back to normal. She thought about what she said. Faith in herself. With her eyes shut, she kept repeating those words. Slowly, she stood up and looked at her hilt. She didn't have the time or the power to go find water again. Her blood was seeping through the coat and she took her hand to cover it. She winced, the pain flowing all around her body.
"All I need is some form of liquid." She tried to think. She looked at her wound, and gripped her hilt. Then a lightbulb lit up above her head.
"Due to Rokudo Mukuro putting together the mist half rings, Mammon is now disqualified." The Cervello announced.
"Vooii! Hurry up and finish them off!" Squalo yelled at Belphegor. Yamamoto used his sword to deflect the knives, and was beginning to be able to see much better. Gokudera was the same, but he had nothing to defend himself. The mist ring was won by his team, but there was no sight of Asteria yet. He had to find a way to at least get out of there to find her, but he couldn't leave Gokudera behind on his own either.
"Hey, Yamamoto! Just go! I can handle these guys on my own!" Gokudera yelled from the other side of the room.
"What!? You're crazy!" he said.
"I don't care. Asteria's by herself and if anyone's gonna save her, it's gonna be you." Gokudera dashed to him. He could tell he was being serious.
"Alright. I'll be right back!" Yamamoto said and ran for the stairs. But he ran in to someone and fell on the floor.
"Not happening." Belphegor snarled. Yamamoto didn't want to waste time fighting him, but he knew there was no other way of getting to Asteria. The screams from below were gone and there didn't seem to be any fighting. But he could just tell that she was in some form of danger. His ring was quivering more than ever, and there was something letting him know that she wasn't okay. He kept wondering what it was, and his thoughts of her were distracting his fighting. He closed his fists and drew a breath.
"Gokudera! Just let Squalo go!" Yamamoto yelled this time.
"Huh!? Are you going insane! And disappoint the tenth and die after that!? It's not gonna happen!" he yelled back and threw more dynamite. Yamamoto stood strong and held his sword tightly.
"It's the only way…" he said quietly to himself, "It's the only way of helping Asteria!" he yelled with frustration.
"Yamamoto, you…" Gokudera said and lowered his arms. The room was quiet for only a moment.
"That idiot has to die sooner or later!" Belphegor yelled and threw knives at Yamamoto. Too lost in his thoughts, he didn't have time to react to them. He just covered his face with his arms and hoped for the best. But none of them hit him. He heard things shatter on the floor.
"Huh?" he wondered and looked up. In front of him was Asteria; holding on to her side, and holding a sabre with a red blade.
"A-Asteria!" Everyone said.
"Sorry to disappoint you Bel. It's gonna be later." She said and swung her sabre to hit him. He jumped backwards, unhurt. He stuck his tongue out.
"Missed~!" he said.
"Did I?" she said and caught something in the air.
"Hayato." She said and threw something at Gokudera before Belphegor could attack her.
"H-how did you get the ring!?" he asked. She softly smiled, but her eyes closed and she started to fall. Squalo caught her right before she hit the floor.
"Asteria! Hey! Hang in there!" he yelled at her. Yamamoto stood up, surprised Bel wasn't attacking anymore.
"Due to Gokudera Hayato putting together the half rings, Belphegor is now disqualified." They heard over the speakers. Belphegor clicked his tongue. Yamamoto went towards Squalo and Asteria, knowing he wouldn't get any surprise attacks anymore. He watched as Squalo softly set her on the floor.
"I thought that thing would've completely melted by now!" Squalo yelled unintentionally.
"It did. But you know what's amazing about this? It doesn't have to be water. As long as it's liquid, it'll freeze and become a blade." She said.
"Don't tell me… Where are you bleeding!?" Yamamoto asked. Asteria let her arm relax and blood was coming out of where she was holding. Squalo's and Yamamoto's heart shattered when they saw how bad the wound was. The coat was barely holding in the blood anymore.
"Asteria! Who did this to you?!" Squalo said. Her eyes were closed and she was completely unconscious.
"Hey! Wake up!" he kept screaming to her. She was still breathing, but the two knew that they didn't have much time to wait.
"VOOOIII!" he pointed his sword at Gokudera, "Take her outside to Shamal now!"
"Huh?" Gokudera stood confused. Squalo turned to Yamamoto.
"Our fight's not done yet." He growled. Yamamoto gulped and got ready to fight. He took one more look at Asteria, who was being rushed out of the building. He gulped, worried about the outcome.
The two were fighting for what felt like hours. Neither of them was without scars, and they were both desperate to see Asteria. The clashing of the swords wouldn't stop, and the successor of the rain ring was yet to be decided.
"Hey! Hurry up and show me that last form of the Shigure Souenryu so I can finish you up!" Squalo yelled at him. Yamamoto could've sworn that this was the millionth time he said that. He wondered why he kept mentioning it and said that he knew it. What he couldn't figure out, though, was the name he called it. It was completely different from what it really was. He kept going over what his dad taught him, and went through the last form, even though it would come to him naturally.
"Okay, Squalo. Shigure SouenRyu," he said and made a stance as if he was up to bat, "the eighth form!"
"Vooi! How do you expect to win playing baseball!?" he yelled at him.
"Oh, trust me," He smiled, "you'd be surprised." He took a final deep breath, thought of Asteria, and prepared his heart for the chance that he'd never see her again.
"Hey, I think she's waking up." Asteria heard. She had no idea what was happening. All she could remember was seeing that woman in the blizzard.
"Asteria?" she heard again. Her eyes wouldn't open. Her body didn't have any energy to do anything anymore. Someone softly placed their hand on hers. She couldn't tell whose it was. She tried to take a deep breath, but an excruciating pain came to her left side.
"Oh my God!" he gritted her teeth and opened her eyes. She looked around and saw Gokudera and Yamamoto and Tsuna in front of her. Their eyes had worry, and she was confused.
"Hi." Yamamoto smiled to her. The grip on her hand became slightly stronger.
"Where am I?" she asked and tried to sit up. The pain came again and she fell back.
"And why am I in so much pain?" she placed her hand to where the pain came from.
"You're in the hospital, you had a pretty deadly injury." Tsuna explained. Asteria lay quietly, her memory beginning to come back to her.
"Mukuro…" she said quietly. She closed her hands and anger flowed in her blood.
"Mukuro? Like, THE Rokudo Mukuro? What happened?" Tsuna asked, more confused than her now.
"He… He actually tried to kill me." She realized.
"He was here?" Yamamoto said. She nodded.
"Yeah, but he was this girl, uh, Chrome Dokuro first. And he was actually helping me and saved me from Mammon. Then this happened." She looked beneath her hospital gown, and her entire waist was wrapped in bandage. She looked at everyone else, and they were the same everywhere else. Her eyes widened, remembering the cause of all of these injuries.
"The battle!? What happened?"
"Oh that?" Yamamoto grinned. He put his hand up and showed her his full ring. Gokudera did the same.
"We… We won." Tsuna said to her. Asteria was in shock.
"You did? You actually defeated Xanxus?" she asked.
"I guess?" he tilted his head.
"You should've seen it, Asteria! Jyuu-daime was amazing!" Gokudera yelled.
"And Asteria." Yamamoto said. She looked to him, knowing what news was coming.
"Is Squalo-,"
"Squalo went back to Italy safely." He said. A smile grew on her face again.
"He's alive?" she asked. He nodded. She let out a breath of relief.
"It all ended well." Reborn jumped by her.
"Oh, hi."
"Just know how lucky you are. You almost died." He said.
"I know, but I didn't. And now, I can go home~." She said and tried to get up.
"Agh!" she shouted and grabbed where she was stabbed.
"Idiot. It's only been two days. There's no way you can get up." Reborn scolded her.
"I've been out for two days!?" she yelled. "Why didn't you wake me up!?"
"We freakin' tried! We thought you were dying, remember!?" Gokudera got in her face.
"It was that bad? How did I manage to walk?"
"We were wondering the same thing." Yamamoto said. Asteria looked at him. She realized it was his hand that was on hers, and that it never left her.
"When you came to save us from the knife guy, we didn't know whether to be relieved or worried." He said.
"How did you manage to get the ring from him anyway?" Gokudera asked.
"Oh, that? Well, when I first defended you, small bits of my blade was being broken off to the air, and I made sure the pieces were going toward his chain. And he's too stupid and focused on killing everyone that he didn't realize that his chain was slowly freezing. When I made him jump backwards, it broke, and the ring luckily flew toward me." She explained.
"Wow…" Tsuna sat with his brain barely comprehending what happened.
"You're really crazy for doing that." Yamamoto laughed.
"Thanks?" she laughed back. She couldn't explain the amount of relief she had. No one was badly injured, the Vongola actually won, Squalo was alive, but she felt like there was something missing.
"Are you okay, Asteria-san?" Tsuna asked. Before she could answer, there was a big shake from the floor, and the door slid open so powerfully, it shut again. They all heard a shout of frustration, and before they knew it, the entire door was punched down.
"New girl! You're alive!" Ryouhei yelled.
"That's what was missing!" Asteria pointed to him. The nurses in the hall didn't know what to do, so they all walked away and pretended to not see anything.
"I saw what happened, new girl!" he walked in. "I wanted to go knock that Mukuro guy out, but they said that if I went in the battle, we would all be disqualified. So I trusted my gut that you were gonna be okay, and you are!" he said with utmost pride.
"Idiot! You can't trust your instinct about someone's life!" Gokudera yelled at him.
"Shut up! It all worked out, right?" he yelled back. The two growled at each other.
"Hey guys, are you busy on Saturday?" Yamamoto asked out of the blue. Gokudera and Ryouhei whipped their heads around.
"Huh?!"
"Well, there's gonna be a summer festival, and I thought maybe we should all go. And you'd be able to walk by then, right?" he asked Asteria.
"A festival?" she asked, confused about the idea.
"Yeah, they're super fun. There's food, games, fireworks, and we wear yukatas and everything. Let's all go, guys." Yamamoto pushed.
"No." Gokudera immediately said.
"Why not?" Ryouhei asked. "Summer festivals are part of a man's pride."
"Since when!?"
"I think that's a good idea." Tsuna said.
"Yeah! Carry that pride, Sawada!" Ryouhei swung his arm around him.
"N-no, I just want to go to the festival…" he sweat dropped.
"I'll accompany you there, jyuu-daime!" Gokudera saluted.
"So," Yamamoto leaned a little closer to Asteria, "Do you think you'll regain enough energy by the festival?"
"I'll be out of here by tomorrow." She said confidently, excited about the event.
"Great! It's getting me excited!" Yamamoto cheered.
"Me too! I gotta go do some push-ups!" Ryouhei yelled and ran out. Asteria tried to sit up to say bye to him, but the pain was the same.
"Why does this hurt so much!?" she yelled.
"Asteria, you were stabbed. You'll have to be here for another two days, at least." Reborn said. She groaned, wishing she was stronger.
"Take your time, the festival is on Sunday too, so you can recover completely." Yamamoto said. She sighed.
"Okay, fine. But Reborn, do me a favor, if you see Mukuro around, kill him please."
"Nah, that's your job." He said. She rolled her eyes, and lay back. She couldn't believe that he really tried to kill her, and that she didn't see it coming either. But the biggest mystery was that woman she saw. She seemed so familiar, but she didn't recognize the voice or the quick glimpse of the eyes. She needed to figure out who she was as soon as possible. But before that, she needed to recover, be able to get out of bed, and go to the festival with Yamamoto and everyone. She looked at him, who had all smiled, and she reciprocated, excited more than ever for Saturday.