A/N: Hello all! Wow ain't that a long break? Thank you for all your reviews! I really appreciate them! I have considered the pairings and have decided to keep the romance(if there are any) to the minimum! Please read on to discover the little moments~!
Anyways! Here is the loooooong awaited chapter of Aozora no Melody~~
Disclaimer: I DONOT own D. Gray-Man or Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
"Bianchi," he whispered to her, well aware that the Tutor was taking notice of their conversation. He lowered his voice and moved his lips closer to the assassin's ear, so no one but Bianchi could even hear his voice.
"I want you to find out every single bit of information about Allen Walker and Howard Link. Every single bit. Even their favorite food, their favorite color, their preferred sleeping poses. I don't care. If it's about them, I want it checked."
"Well I guess it's time for Cloud and the other Mist." Allen announced.
Chrome gripped her trident tightly to her side and slowly edged to the middle of the battleground. Her wide single indigo eye followed Hibari with a careful intensity that didn't match the rest of her body language.
Hibari didn't look the least bit pleased about the arrangement. Everybody knew that the one he really wanted to fight was standing at the sidelines enjoying himself greatly. The reluctant Cloud Guardian raised his tonfas and got ready. The battleground was quiet as the two Guardians readied themselves for the fight.
"Here I come," Chrome's soft voice indicated the start of the battle. Like Mukuro, she started off with the illusionary fire columns.
"Che," Hibari snorted, dodging the fire columns with ease. With a loud clang, his tonfas collided with Chrome's trident. She winced at the incredible force Hibari exerted. Despite her appearance, she was not a weak woman. She conjured up a clone of herself and let it charge at the Cloud Guardian from the back.
Spinning around swiftly to avoid being impaled, Hibari spun around with a quick downward slashing motion, the flails that slipped out from the end of his tonfas making quick work of the clone. Using the momentum from his spin, Hibari brought his tonfas down and across Chrome's torso. Being unprepared, Chrome was forced to fall back.
"Umph!" she huffed as she hit the ground and skidded a little. Hibari didn't even wait for Chrome to get back onto her feet, he charged straight at the girl and delivered a swift kick that sent her flying into the wall behind. Hibari allowed himself to show a small smirk of satisfaction before he turned around and dashed towards the spectators.
It was clear, in the way that his stormy eyes were only trained on Allen, who his target was.
Allen sighed heavily as he watched the Cloud Guardian charge towards him. It seems like a fight was inevitable. He did a flip and landed behind the charging Cloud, a full roundhouse kick closely followed his landing. Hibari avoided the kick by dodging down and returned it with a volley of slashes with his tonfas.
The white-haired boy expertly invaded all of the strikes, even sneaking in a few hooks and punches of his own. Well, if the Cloud only had interests in fighting him, he might as well take advantage of the situation. The Tutor knew that this was just the tip of the iceberg for the Cloud Guardian's arsenal and merely warm up. He needed to up the pace a little.
Tsuna's POV
It was plain to everyone that the two teenagers currently fighting on the battlegrounds were just toying with each other. Despite the pace of the battle increasing with every passing second, Allen looked perfectly relaxed, even a little lazy. Hibari was also obviously holding back his attacks, gauging the other's movements.
Then suddenly, Allen's eyes took on a golden hue. His pale lips stretched into a wide maniacal grin. Immediately, he dropped his defensive stances and started throwing punches almost wildly. There was little thought in his movements and he seemed to be relying on an almost animalistic instinct. His previously calm and collected rhythm was now replaced by a wild unpredictable tempo.
Unlike the previous times when the golden-eyed Allen had appeared, this time, Tsuna couldn't find any differences in Allen's aura. Tsuna sighed; the Tutor was a mystery he couldn't solve for the love of his life.
Stunned by his sudden change of pace, Hibari could only defend as he was pushed back by the intense onslaught of attacks. Fueled by his irritation at being forced into a defensive stance, his Cloud Flame sprang to life and covered his tonfas. Not expecting his opponent's weapon to be suddenly covered with flames, Allen didn't have the time to react before his fist collided with the flaming metal.
Allen immediately retracted his hand with a hiss, jumping back to keep a distance between them. Allen crouched close to the ground, his manner not unlike an animal coiled and ready to spring. He ripped the burning glove off of his hand and threw it a safe distance away from him. The purple flames grew and reduced the glove to ashes within moments. Allen cradled his right hand, which was reddened and burnt from the propagating flames eating at his skin.
Allen looked up at his standing opponent, the maddened grin still etched upon his face. Hibari paused, observing the white-haired Tutor, curious as to what trick he would pull out next.
"Well, time to get serious," Allen's maniac grin slowly turned back to his usual polite smile as he got up from his crouching position. His eyes lost their golden hue and returned to being the familiar warm silver. He slid the other glove off of his hands, granting the spectators the full view of his black hand.
Tsuna held back a girly gasp that threatened to escape his lips. It was as if Allen had placed his left hand in a fire and left it there until it turned charcoal black. He probably dumped it in acid too after that while laughing like a maniac. The skin was rough and looked scaly at points. His nails were even darker and seemed too sharp or long to be human. On the back of his disfigured hand, a green cross—probably made of some crystal from the looks of it—was embedded into his skin.
The only description Tsuna had for the hand's appearance was: brutal. It was the exact kind of thing that Tsuna would expect to see as the result of violent torture. From the faces of the rest of the spectators, Tsuna assumed that everyone had come to the same conclusion as him.
The Tutor didn't seem bothered by the reactions, or he just didn't notice them. The only reaction Hibari showed to the strange hand was a slight raise of the eyebrow.
"Hibari-san!" suddenly a weak cry came from behind the fighting duo. Chrome was trying her best to stand up again from her previous position on the ground. Her legs were shaking quite visibly from the effort and she was leaning heavily against her trident. "Your opponent is me!"
Chrome slammed the end of her trident on the ground, causing a great tremor, not unlike an earthquake. As the earthquake ended, clones of Chrome started flickering into existence everywhere. The space around the room started to warp as well. Dark indigo goo bleed out of the crevice and cracks on the walls and floors, spreading quickly and enveloping the whole room. The goo churned and bubbled, releasing purple steam whenever a bubble popped.
Tsuna watched in amazement as Chrome's illusions manifested but couldn't help feel worried that Chrome had forgotten to exclude the spectators in her battle.
The many Chromes charged towards Hibari at the same time, while Allen jumped out of the attack range back to Tsuna's side, a small smile on his face.
"The girl isn't as weak as I assumed," Allen smiled, his silver eyes fixed on one of the Chromes.
Tsuna had many questions to ask the Tutor, but they could wait until the fight is over. He forced himself to look away from the boy beside him and back to the fight.
Chrome's clones were doing quite well keeping Hibari busy. Random tendrils would shoot out of the indigo goo underneath them, attempting to spear or immobilize the Cloud Guardian.
Hibari's flame grew even bigger as he started to swing his tonfas faster. The flaming tonfas sliced through Chrome's clones easily, quickly leaving only the real Chrome standing. She was panting quite heavily, no doubt from the exertion of keeping up a large-scale illusion for too long. Hibari wasn't too exhausted but it was enough to make him pause for a second before charging at the real Chrome. The goo began to churn more violently, rising to create tall waves that are approaching Hibari at an alarming rate.
Hibari didn't blink an eye as he met the waves head on, charging through every one of them without being swept away.
"You are tired." Hibari stated softly as he slammed his tonfas into Chrome's body. In an instant, the illusions disappeared. They were back in the training grounds with Hibari standing over Chrome.
Tsuna hurried to help Chrome onto one of the beds. She had already passed out from the exhaustion.
"Allen," Tsuna immediately turned to the white-haired Tutor after placing Chrome down. "What happened to your hand?"
Allen lifted up his blackened appendage.
"Think of it as a blessed curse," he answered simply, not bothering to elaborate further.
Allen turned around and almost walked into Hibari. From the look in Hibari's eyes, Tsuna could tell that he wanted another match with the Tutor. The young Boss groaned internally, Hibari should catch a hint that the Tutor did not want to fight with him.
"Not now," there was a smile in Allen's voice but Tsuna couldn't see his face. Hibari's eyes narrowed as he studied the Tutor's face, the bloodlust leaving his eyes and was replaced with…caution? The Cloud Guardian caught Tsuna's eye and without a word, swiftly left the room.
Tsuna didn't stop Hibari's rude and sudden exit this time. For Hibari to abandon his own bloodlust, it wasn't one of his unreasonable whims.
"They are late…" Allen mumbled, a hint of anxiety present in his voice. Link perked up at the statement, straightening up on his bed.
"Who is?" Tsuna's curiosity was peaked. "The visitors you were talking about?" Allen nodded, his eyebrows were slightly drawn with worry.
"Tsuna," Bianchi appeared at the door, interrupting Tsuna before he could question Allen about the matter further.
"And?" Tsuna pulled Bianchi to the side to talk with some privacy.
"Allen Walker. Birth date unknown, birth place unknown. No known relatives living or dead. Nationality is British. Allen was the student and ward of a priest named Cross Marian. Cross was a close associate of Reborn but has lost contact for quite a long time now. Allen has been travelling around the world alone since. There are traces of him in many countries such as England, China, Germany and the most recent place is Japan. The natures of his activities in these countries are not clear and he has only been sighted alone. There are no records of him involved in any mafia-related business. He is assumed to be religious. His favorite food is mitarashi dango and his preferred sleeping position is on his back."
"Tsuna," Bianchi paused, her expression turned tender for a moment. "When I first saw Allen … he was a meek and small boy. He changed a lot."
"Is that so?" Tsuna didn't know how to react to Bianchi's sudden tenderness. He just awkwardly let her drift for a second or two. He was rather disappointed in the lack of details though. Mystery through and through. "What about Link?"
"Howard Link… the only Howard Link that matches all description of that man…is dead."
"Dead?!" Tsuna exclaimed, a little louder than he would have preferred. "Are you sure?" Bianchi nodded, unfolding the piece of paper she held in her hand. Tsuna hurriedly took the paper from her. Printed on the paper was a picture of an oil portrait. The man depicted was undeniably Howard Link—those two moles just scream 'I'M LINK'—dressed in a set of long black robes.
"Howard Link was a priest working directly under the Pope in the late nineteenth century. His greatest achievement was watching over and maintaining control over a demonic beast. According to the texts, he was mauled and killed later by the beast."
"Impossible… so we have no way to identify him?" Tsuna asked, turning to look at the man in question. Link was conversing quietly with Allen and did not seem to notice them. "Or is he using some kind of technology similar to Lambo's Ten Year Bazooka?"
"What are you going to do?" Bianchi asked after Tsuna fell silent.
"Reborn sent Allen to us as a replacement and I'll trust his judgments. I have an uneasy feeling about them, but I'll leave it aside first." Tsuna sighed, handing the paper back to Bianchi. He rearranged his facial features into something less troubled before stepping back into the grounds.
"Is anything the matter?" Allen asked, his manner politely curious. Tsuna just shook his head. Suddenly, Tsuna felt something in his shirt, ticklish and small much like a rodent, scurrying up his body.
"Wha?! Wha!" Tsuna exclaimed, jumping from foot to foot as he tried to rid himself of an unwanted tickling creature. To his surprise, Timcampy the golden golem emerged from his collar, flapping its wings and exposing its tiny teeth at him in a mocking grin. "How did it get in my shirt!" Tsuna hurriedly patted the rest of his clothes, making sure that there aren't any more creatures.
"He does that sometimes," Allen murmured absentmindedly, his black fingers stroking Timcampy's smooth head, his eyes unfocused.
Just as Tsuna was about to wave a hand in front of Allen's face, Allen jerked and whipped around to face Link.
"They are here." He breathed.
"Lord Sawada!" a security guard ran into the training ground, panting and heaving. "You have to come and see! It could be an invasion!"
Tsuna's eyes widened. This is the worst possible time for one of those! A time when most of the Vongola Guardians are wounded or exhausted…Tsuna turned his wide eyes to Allen, who was already running towards the door with Link right behind him. Reborn trusted Allen…but this timing was too perfect, Tsuna couldn't help but question if it was Allen's plan to immobilize his Guardians.
"Juudaime!" Gokudera called, struggling to get out of his bed. "We'll come with you!" he was tired but god forbid him let his precious boss face an invasion alone! The rest of his Guardians—able-bodied or not—all got to their feet and were rushing out of the grounds without even listening to their Sky's protests.
Yamamoto threw him a reassuring laugh as he limped; Ryohei punching and yelling; Mukuro smirked and led his gang, leaving Chrome to rest in her bed.
Tsuna sighed and ran out with them, helping to support Gokudera a little as he was still a little wobbly.
What they saw was eerily beautiful.
Above a small patch of plain grass that was surely on Vongola property was what appeared to be a slow shower of glowing black diamonds. The small, glowing hexagonal-shaped black shapes seem to materialize from the sky and fall down, slowly growing bigger until it stopped just an inch above the ground. The largest piece was roughly the height of a grown man.
"Too late, they got here first." Allen said through clenched teeth. Tsuna didn't even notice that Allen was there. He pulled his attention away from the mesmerizing scene to peek at the Tutor.
Allen's expression was terrifying. His face was cold but his eyes were filled with unrestrained hatred as he glared at the largest black diamond. The malicious intent and raw bloodlust in those eyes chilled Tsuna to the bones.
There was a rush of movement from the black diamond. Its surface rippled like water and out burst a cloud of…
"Butterflies?" Bianchi voiced.
A swarm of seemingly harmless black butterflies flew out of the diamond and begin to circle it in a mini tornado of insects. The surface of the diamond rippled again. This time, a foot appeared. A few dozen butterflies flew underneath it and formed some kind of butterfly platform. The rest of the body slowly emerged from the rippling surface to reveal a man.
The man was wearing a white sleeveless coat that showed a good portion of his well-muscled chest and a large scar across it. Black pants and knee-high black boots clothed his long legs.
Long curly dark hair was gathered into a loose ponytail, a few locks hanging to frame his charming face. But his most noticeable features were definitely his grey skin, golden eyes and a row of cross-shaped scar across his forehead.
He smirked; golden eyes locked onto Allen's grey ones.
"Do you miss me, brother?"
Whoop whoop! Completed! You were expecting Exorcists, weren't you? Hoped you guys liked this chapter! See ya in da next chappie!
Tsuna: Allen, you have a brother?
Allen: *grumble grumble* Brothers and sisters I would rather not be associated with…
Tsuna: I wonder what it feels like to have siblings! …must be scary…
Allen: I have never been in a room peacefully with anyone of them… the most annoying bastards in the whole world… *grumble grumble*
Please review! (Whoop whoop!)
Arigato!