Hey hey hey! Guess hoo's back? Us. That's right. Bringing to you a new chapter.
Wowza. Aren't you impressed? We finally brought out a new chap. After what? 3 months almost. Hahahahah. Sorry.
We got some confrontation all up in here. So maybe leave a comment to say how you felt about it? Pretty please?
And as always the disclaimer that no one reads: Do we own KHR? Nope. Uhh currently, the things we own are 6 OCs.
Ch 23- GO!
"Giannini just received word from Italy about the main battle." Reborn started, "Looks like Xanxus managed to defeat his opponents."
"Finally, the news we've been waiting for. I don't want to be a wet blanket… It's too early to celebrate." Shouichi sighed in relief, holding his stomach. "Even if you've defeated their general, the strength of their army is far superior to yours. If the Millefiore appoint a new general and draw out the battle…"
"There's no need to worry about that. The enemy has begun to retreat." Reborn finished taking a sip from his virtual espresso.
"Oh, no. This is merely a little break." A voice appeared out of nowhere. "Both the main battle in Italy, and the melone base in Japan...you have been the most entertaining."
Soon a virtual hologram of Byakuran appeared in the middle of the area.
"Shit. This already?" Aoyuki muttered, staring at Byakuran's image. "Please don't say anything about us…"
"This pre-game battle had a very important purpose you know." Byakuran smiled. "Like you've shown me the true abilities of the Vongola's most powerful squad. And Shou-chan's desperate act of lying to me."
"! Th-then, you mean…" Shouichi started, beginning to panic.
"Yup." Byakuran sang, "Busted~."
"...What you're doing is… wrong!" Shouichi stammered, sweating at this new knowledge.
"But, Shou-chan, you like living on the edge don't you? The Vongola Tenth generation boss is still a greenhorn, yet you've cast your fate in him."
"That's why, I thought it's about time we had a proper match. An official test of strength… between the Vongola family under Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun's command, and my Millefiore family. Of course the Trinisette will be the stake. The time is right too. A farewell party to bid Shou-chan and his old world goodbye and…"
"Okay…" Sakurako slightly turned over to Aoyuki, "He talks too much."
"Yeah, he absolutely does. It didn't seem so much when we were reading it though. I guess, it was longer in person. Ugh." Aoyuki glared at the hologram before facing Sakurako.
Sakurako frowned hearing Shouichi's ring snap as Byakuran mentioned it was a fake Mare ring, "That's really unfair."
"What is?" Aoyuki asked, not really paying attention.
"Shouichi's ring being a mere rank A ring."
"Oh yeah. That. Well… Byakuran knew though. So why would he give him the actual ring?" Aoyuki commented, watching Shouichi's face turn to shock.
Sakurako heaved a sigh, "I hate plot twists. Plot twists love to make stories go round."
"Yeah. The biggest one was those two people we fought earlier. I don't remember seeing too much of your fight sadly." Turning his gaze to the screen showing the Six Real Funeral Wreaths, Aoyuki grimaced, unhappily thinking about what was to follow.
"Don't even try to make me remember that piece of trash." Sakurako calmly muttered, "Calling him Tsu-Tsu. I swear."
"Byakuran-san! The match you were saying… what are you planning!" Shouichi's voice cut through the pair's conversation, and turned their attention to the group.
"Last time, I was always playing with Shou-chan….Do you still remember the game named 'choice'?" Byakuran paused dramatically. "I am planning to make it real. Details will be informed 10 days later. I won't be moving during that, so rest properly."
Aoyuki and Sakurako glanced at each other, waiting for Byakuran and the rest of the base to disappear.
"Oh… There was one thing I forgot to mention. You two…" Byakuran turned to face the pair.
Tensed, Sakurako, stood her guard as Byakuran turned to them. Aoyuki held his impassive expression.
"I had really hoped you two had like the gifts I sent you. Maybe you did. By the looks of it, you loved them so much you just couldn't help but love them until they broke by accident." Byakuran grinned, waving his hand.
"You damn marshmallow-loving jerk." Sakurako spoke darkly raising her fan toward the hologram threateningly, "Who gave you the right to create those vile presents?"
Aoyuki staggered back a few steps in a frozen stupor, as Byakuran's words reminded him of what had happened earlier. "Those…. things… were gifts?"
"...You're horrible." Sakurako continued, "I'm never going to make you see mercy."
Tsuna and the rest, except Shouichi, didn't know what was happening between the three. In fact, since when did Sakurako and Aoyuki's change in demeanor appear once Byakuran mentioned the word: gifts?
"Hahh… Well, it can't be helped. Since you loved them so much, I'll just fix them up for you! After all, they are my adorable creations. And don't think that I don't know your secret. Something that you'd rather die keeping than have it known." Byakuran chuckled lightly, before turning his gaze to the rest. "See you 10 days later."
A bright beam of light surrounded everyone, forcing them to shield their eyes from the harsh light.
"The base...Melone Base is gone!" Tsuna yelled in shock of what's left of the area, "But how is it only us?"
"Because he came here with the sun Vongola ring." Shouichi commented.
"WHERE IS THIS PLACE TO THE EXTREME!?" Ryohei's voice cried out.
"Kiki's not going to like this…" Sakurako sighed trying to cover her ears from Ryohei's outburst.
"..." Aoyuki mumbled something inaudible before turning his gaze away.
Noticing her friend's dilemma, Sakurako asked Aoyuki, "You okay? Byakuran's words didn't do much anyways."
"… I don't know… I don't know anymore." Aoyuki groaned softly, clutching at his head, .
"Don't worry." Sakurako reassured Aoyuki, "It sounds as if Byakuran was probably going to aim his bluffing in order to stray us from what's needed to be focused on."
"We know. But the others… They'll want to know, won't they? What are we going to tell them?" Aoyuki began to panic, looking at the chaos Ryohei's arrival caused.
"..." Sakurako thought carefully, "At the most, all we can do is that when the time arrives, just remind them about our current situation."
"NO! We can do it!" Shouichi's shout once again interrupted their conversation, "It is because of that, that you guys get through all of this. The you that is grown can definitely match them. We are not just purely making it hard for you guys… This level of threat was predicted.
"Now we will pass it to you guys...accept it with your heart! The power granted by the guardians of this era!"
"Huh?" Sakurako blinked surprise as a new deck of cards landed onto her hand, "More tarot cards…?"
"Hmm." Aoyuki said nothing, only raised his arm to catch a orange-sized blue pouch. "What's this?"
"WHAT IS THIS YELLOW BOX TO THE EXTREME?!" Ryohei exclaimed raising the box weapon up in his hand.
Sakurako sweat dropped watching Ryohei state his own stupidity so easily. Once Shouichi explained how Tsuna and the others earned a Vongola box, Shouichi thus turned over to Sakurako and Aoyuki,"The future versions of you two wanted to leave these items in your care."
Shuffling through the new deck, Sakurako screeched in utter happiness, "Oh holy mother of Nyx, sweet personas created by our own masks. Alice and Thanatos…!"
"Oh hey nice. More personas for you. I got…. a key? What to?" Aoyuki held up the silver key, confused. "Looks like a keyblade…"
"Key?" Sakurako pondered, "For a box weapon or...something else? Is that all there is in that pouch?"
"No… There's a note and a small book? Inside there's…." Letting out a small gasp, Aoyuki began flipping through the pages.
"What's that?" Sakurako peered over Aoyuki's shoulder only to be blocked by his arm, "Hey! Lemme see!"
"Nope. I can't let you see. This is a precious secret." Aoyuki finally grinned, snapping the book shut and hiding it away. "Maybe a little later I can show you a part of it."
Suddenly a deafening voice rang out. "OOOOIII! ARE YOU BASTARDS…. STILL ALIVE!" However then Squalo growled in anger, "WHAT THE HELL?!"
"Heyy! Guess who's in Italy and not dead!" Kimiko's voice rang out from the earpiece.
"K-Kiki?!" Sakurako elated yet at the same time shocked that her friend managed to take Squalo's earpiece before Xanxus did.
"Holy shit, Kimimi! You made it!" Aoyuki's smile widened as his pumped his fist in the air excitedly.
"So I'm gonna guess you're all alive if Squalo's yell didn't kill you, huh?"
"Yuki, may you do the honors of congratulating our friend, Kiki?" Sakurako offered.
"Oh right! Hey Kimimi! Congrats on your marriage to the purple pineapple head!" Aoyuki laughed, smiling knowing that the three friends were okay.
"Oh my god! I can't believe...! But wait! That doesn't do me any good when he's like 25 now. That's so illegal gosh. He's still in jail, isn't he? It's illegal on at least two different levels." Kimiko rattled on the other side of the line. "Chrome on the other hand… Chrome-chan~ How are you-Ow!"
"Sawada Tsunayoshi." Xanxus voiced, "Have you gotten rid of your naive feelings? The Vongola in 10 days time will be the strongest! You will prove it!
The line went dead after Xanxus finished his piece.
"...Er, nothing bad is happening over at Italy, right?" Sakurako hoped.
"Heh, knowing Xanxus, he probably threw something at Kimimi and took the earphone." Aoyuki chuckled before returning his attention to the group, and smiled seeing that Yamamoto was up and moving about.
"Hey you two! What did Byakuran mean by a secret?! What does he know that we don't? What are you hiding from us?" Gokudera yelled, directing the attention to the pair.
Sakurako eyed the storm guardian before closing her eyes, "You'll all know in due time."
"It's nothing that concerns you at the moment. Right now we need to focus on the upcoming battle. Everything else can be put off till later." Aoyuki glanced at the gray haired ball of anger before pointedly ignoring him.
"Sakura-chan." Sakurako bit her lip, hearing Tsuna's worry. She began to wonder if Tsuna lost faith in them.
"Leave it. He'd know if it was something important. Until then, he'll trust us. They have to. Whether they like it or not, we're part of this. We're here, we're gonna help with the battle. They can complain all they want, but having three more people is better than not. So they're gonna have to sit somewhat quietly until it's over." Aoyuki side whispered to Sakurako to calm her.
Holding the deck of cards close, Sakurako nodded, finding it comforting to know Aoyuki is here to help.
"Yuki… What are you hiding from us? We're friends aren't we? Friends don't hide things from each other, right?" Yamamoto asked while holding Gokudera back.
"Ugh… Those words again..." Aoyuki grimaced, and turned his head away, refusing to look at Yamamoto. "We… we have our own reasons…" He muttered under his breath.
With tensions high, the battle at Melone Base was finished.
*/IN ITALY/*
Kimiko rubbed her head where Xanxus had hit, "Boss-san, it's not nice to hit a kid."
Xanxus grabbed another shot glass from Levi and drank it before retorting, " I don't see a kid...I see a loudmouth from ten years ago."
Squalo eyed Kimiko, "And why the hell someone like you got sent back?"
Kimiko shrugs, "How am I supposed to know?"
Ignoring the continuing conversation, Xanxus looked around the room for something. A plate, to be exact. More specifically, one kind of plate. A plate with meat on it. A steak plate. Seeing none, Xanxus's eyebrows began to furrow in anger, and he then ordered Squalo to get him a steak plate.
"In any case…" Kimiko brought up, "Little froggie, you're going to protect me for the next few days, right?"
"What?" Fran uttered, "Why me, little Kiki?"
Grabbing Fran's cheeks and stretching them out, Kimiko grinned showing all her teeth, "And who said you can call me little? Respect your senpai."
"But you're younger than me right now, Kiki. So I'm technically your senpai. Respect your senpai." Fran managed to get out of Kimiko's cheek hold and pouted slightly, rubbing at his sore cheeks.
"..." Kimiko glared at Fran, a tick mark appearing on her forehead. She briefly toyed with a thought about attacking the frog, ripping his hat off and beating him with it. However, it was coming close to the time when the moon waned new, so she let it go. Letting out a deep sigh, Kimiko attached herself onto Fran's back. "Little froggie."
"Senpai." Fran corrected.
"Do you have a death wish?" Receiving a silent response, Kimiko continued, "I thought so. We need to go rescue my Muku-kun."
*/IN JAPAN/*
Upon returning to the base, Aoyuki and Sakurako hardly made any conversations between the other Vongola members. They kept their heads up though, waiting for the upcoming battle known as Choice.
"Gah...I can't believe how hard it is to get proper aim on long range targets!" Sakurako complained, she kept missing the target during their practice sessions, "I can't focus!"
"Hahah. Likewise. I had no idea that my future self learned how to use all those new weapons! They were all amazing! But so hard to use…" Wincing, Aoyuki gingerly prodded at some of his injuries from practice. "Hey… What do you think they think of us right now? We… haven't really spoken to them since the raid…" Aoyuki paused to lift his head and look at Sakurako.
"...I don't know." Sakurako sighed, "I'm hoping we'll be able to mend our nearly severed bond."
"You will. At some point you'll be able to. With Tsuna at the very least. I'm not entirely sure how mine will work out. He leaves for training camp later doesn't he?" Aoyuki trailed off, looking towards the door.
"Right, we better-"
Suddenly explosions.
"Do you think that was…?" Aoyuki stood up and looked at the direction the sound came from.
Sakurako raised her sky box weapon lighting her ring, "I'm going on ahead!"
"Right after you." Aoyuki ran out following Sakurako.
Spotting Tsuna in his HDWM, Sakurako opened her box, "Lop!"
Activating, Sakurako's sky rabbit initiated a barrier of sky flames stopping the beast of sky flames from causing anymore damage, "Yuki! A little help here!"
"Yeah I know! I can't do it alone though!" Aoyuki yelled, taking out his rain box. "Lyn's not strong enough by herself!"
"What's that huge mass of flame? Down at Sawada-dono's feet!" Basil cried out, noticing the opened box on the floor.
"The Vongola box!" Gokudera pointed out, "That's the Tenth's box weapon!"
"Get back, it's dangerous!" Tsuna warned, still trying to hold the beast back.
Sakurako began to notice Lop's barrier is weakening, "Do something! This barrier can't last!"
As Tsuna was slammed into the wall, Gokudera pulled out his storm box, "That bastard! Wait for me, 10th!"
"Wait Gokudera-dono, your storm box has the 'destruction' characteristic! If you fail, Sawada-dono's box might get damaged!" Basil interjected, stopping Gokudera from opening his box, "I'll calm it down. Everyone please stand back. Let's go Alfin. Open!"
"Whoa...so that's Alfin." Sakurako is really impressed by everyone's box weapons.
"Yeah, except Alfin can't really do much on his own. He got brains not brawn." Aoyuki rolled his eyes and opened his box. "Lyn! Heavy Rain!"
At the same time, Yamamoto's box weapon flew by Lyn's side, "Yuki! I'll help you! Rondine di Pioggia!"
"Y-yamamoto…" Aoyuki's eyes widened as he noticed Yamamoto standing by his side. "Heh." He smiled and returned his attentions to the fight in front of him.
By the time Tsuna landed on the ground, Sakurako quickly made her way over to him, "Tsuna-kun!"
Tsuna answered, "Sakura-chan…?"
"Why did you do something so reckless?!" Sakurako demanded from Tsuna, even though she knew Tsuna was going to do this, "You know that we're not supposed to open the Vongola Boxes until Choice!"
For a second, Tsuna thought Sakurako was going to slap him, but no sign of pain landed. Opening an eye, Tsuna realized Sakurako was near the verge of crying.
"Stop it…" Sakurako muttered, "You worry about everyone else, but please...think about yourself for once."
Tsuna's eyes softened seeing Sakurako's reaction, "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan."
"Just stop making me worry about you, ok? I know you have something heavy placed on your shoulders, but don't strain yourself." Taking Tsuna's nod as a response, Sakurako helped Tsuna get up from the rubble.
Aoyuki hung back just watching the scene. Smiling to himself, he took a glance at Yamamoto's back and sighed. "Guess it's my turn huh… Now how am I going to do this? I don't have much time before he comes.."
"Um, Yuki." Yamamoto began as he scratched the back of his head, "Can I talk to you for a bit?"
"... What?" Aoyuki froze as he looked at Yamamoto. "...Uhhh. Yeah, I guess…"
Well… That's one way to do it… Damn… I did not expect he'd initiate.
Stepping aside, Yamamoto started his conversation, "I know it's been awhile since we last talked, but Yuki, I want to know...are you my friend?"
All Aoyuki could feel was a numbing panic.
Well frickafrack here we go again. The whole song and dance routine replay number three.
"Of course I am." Avoiding Yamamoto's eyes, he awkwardly shuffled on the balls of his feet. "Why do you ask?"
"..." Yamamoto paused, "Why aren't you looking at me then, Yuki? You did the same last time I asked you before."
Calm down, don't panic, take a deep breath, deep breath, calm down, don't panic...
Internally, Aoyuki felt guilty and panicked, but on the outside his facade remained cool. Glancing out of the corner of his eyes to Yamamoto, he asked, "Did what last time?"
Yamamoto stepped forward, "This. Exactly as before, during the Melone Base mission."
At the same time, Aoyuki took a step back. "The whole 'what are you hiding' thing? I gave you an answer back at the base, didn't I?" Aoyuki bit his lip and brushed his bangs away from his face, giving him a chance to look away.
Can I run? I could run. How far would I be able to go? There's a door right there. I could lock myself in for the rest of the night. But then.. that'd give him another excuse and another example.
"That wasn't the answer I expected from you, Yuki." Yamamoto closed the distance between the himself and Aoyuki.
Only to have it widened again as Aoyuki took two steps back. "What did you expect then? A promise? Me to spill my guts? My life story?" He noticed his breathing was starting to become uneven, as his heart began beating faster as if to match his feelings.
Why does he insist? Why me? He could've interrogated Sakura. They are just as good friends as we are. That way I wouldn't have to suffer like this. Leave me alone! I don't want you to hate me!
"An honest answer." Yamamoto stated simply, matching Aoyuki's backward steps with his own forward steps..
"I-I… I gave you an honest answer both times!" Aoyuki countered, stepping back once more only to be stopped by the wall. He quickly turned his head to look in shock at the wall that blocked his path, then turned back to face the approaching body.
F**k me. I'm so boned. That's a wall. No escape. Please don't do the thing. Don't do the thing. Let me go.
By this time, Yamamoto stopped Aoyuki by blocking him against the wall, "Then don't run!"
Aoyuki flinched when Yamamoto trapped him between his arms, his heart racing in disarray, "I am not running… You just happen to be coming too close for comfort." He muttered, squishing himself closer to the wall and shutting his eyes.
He did the ******* thing. I am trapped. How do I abort this situation? Windy Rain to Command, we have a problem. Code: I am unable to self-abort. Please dispatch a rescue team immediately and send a comfort kit. Stat.
"Yuki, look me in the eye, and tell me." Yamamoto leaned closer, refusing to let Yuki deny answering his questions, and just stating the same words again and again.
F*** it. Blaze of glory, with the last shreds of my dignity.
Opening his eyes, Aoyuki looked straight at Yamamoto. "We are hiding things. But I can't reveal them right now. All three of us have to be here to explain." He paused, heart still beating irregularly, and let out a shaky sigh before gently bringing his flushed forehead to a rest on Yamamoto's chest, his hands clutching at his shirt.. "It's just… really difficult... Keeping secrets from 's three parts to our story, but I can only tell you one. Believe me when I say that we'll explain the rest later."
Closing his eyes in understanding, Yamamoto nodded, and gently patted Aoyuki's head, "Thank you, Yuki. Your secret is shared between all three of you, right? I won't force you to say it then."
"Yeah. One part at the very least. It's really strange. All three parts interconnect, but you'll only learn one after you've learned the other. The last one, I can tell you if you promise not to tell the others, for now at least." Aoyuki lifted his head to meet Yamamoto's gaze.
Realizing that this was something on the same magnitude as Reborn's secret, Yamamoto nodded sharply. "Yeah I promise. You'll tell the others when the time is right though?"
"Yeah." Aoyuki agreed, but inside his head he denied telling the others. "See, the thing is… I have more than one flame. Kinda like Gokudera in a sense… But different… It's not a flame that is known, I guess. I mean, it's not one of the seven sky flames. It's… I…"
"HEY! YOU GUYS! THERE IS A MEETING GOING ON RIGHT NOW. EVERYONE IS SUPPOSED TO ATTEND TO THE EXTREME!" A voice interrupted Aoyuki from finishing his sentence, and forced them to jump away from each other in shock. Ryohei ran up to them and threw his arms around the both of their shoulders.
"Alright, Sasagawa-senpai." Yamamoto replied glancing over to Aoyuki, he gave a smile.
"Me too? Alright I guess then..." Glancing at Yamamoto, Aoyuki moved to follow Ryohei to the meeting room.
Stepping into the room, the trio was met with the rest of the group and Dino's waiting faces.
"Hey guys." Aoyuki smiled and went to stand near Sakurako.
Looking at the blonde, Sakurako noticed TYL Dino's height,"Tall. He's tall."
"All right. Now that everyone's here, let's get started. From today on, you'll be undergoing serious training to learn how to use your new box weapons. As Reborn's number one pupil...I'll be in charge of pairing up everyone with their tutors for training sessions." Dino prompted. "Is everyone with me?"
"By the way, this time I've been promoted to the official position of Tutor Fairy." Reborn spoke being lowered by hanging wires from out of nowhere.
"He turned into a fairy..!" Tsuna screeched.
"Don't worry I'll punish Dino if he gets careless. I'll make sure to punish him." Reborn stated while landing a kick to Dino's face.
"Ow! Cut it out Reborn!" Dino cried out in pain. Rubbing his cheek, he continued, "Well, let's get started. Before that….Chrome. You have to make up your mind. You're a Vongola guardian as well as a member of Mukuro's group. Can we count on you as one of our allies in the fight against Millefiore?"
Chrome focused her resolve, "I...I want to become a stronger person. Then...I want to return to the past with the people most important to me."
"All right, we're counting on you. Also, Lambo needs to have some serious training as well. If we want to defeat Byakuran, we're going to need the power of all the guardians."
"So, let's start with Sawada Sa-" Dino begins.
Sakurako cuts TYL Dino off by stating, "You meant Tsuna-kun, right? Right? Riiight?"
The girl glared holes at TYL Dino.
"Uh… Yeah, right… Sawada Tsunayoshi! Are you ready for the details of your training? You'll train by yourself until you can open your box the right way." Dino hurriedly corrected himself, turning to Tsuna. "You have to make sure you and your box weapon are in complete harmony unless you want more trouble like last time. The user always has to make sure to keep their box at their sides, no matter what. That is your hint."
Turning away from a shocked Tsuna, Dino continued, "Next is ahh… Sakurako-chan and uhhh. Aoyuki-kun. You guys are going to be doing some self-training with what your older selves left you with. That's all."
"Alright." Sakurako nodded.
"Nice. Free period." Aoyuki grinned, and tugged Sakurako aside. "So we can ignore him now right?"
"Kind of." Sakurako glanced over to the group then back to Aoyuki, "So, what happened between you and Yamamoto?"
"Oh.. right...I uh… I had to tell him part of the secret. Only the part that I have a second flame. That was as far as I got." Aoyuki sheepishly scratched at his head. "But he knows we're absolutely hiding a few things from them. And that I said all of us would explain to everyone when we had the chance."
Sakurako shot up in realization whispering, "This…! I think what you said just now, it's the similar to what your future counterpart stated. That you had to tell him about your second flame under certain circumstances."
"Oh really? Huh… Didn't expect this to be those 'certain circumstances'." Aoyuki muttered, scratching his chin. "He doesn't know what it is though. But I guess they find out eventually, huh?"
"Probably." Sakurako frowned, "I wonder if they understood the situation when our future selves explained it…"
"Hmmm. I hope so. Did Yamamoto at the very least seem fine with it?" Aoyuki tilted his head, glancing at Yamamoto who seemed surprised at Dino's words.
"TYL Yamamoto…?" Sakurako tried to recall if the future Yamamoto reacted any way, "He seemed pretty calm, not in much of a rush."
"Huh. Really? I guess it doesn't bother him that much then… Hopefully at least." Aoyuki muttered to himself. "Oh hey. They're done."
"Ah you're right." Sakurako noted, "Should we go?"
"I thought we were…. Oh… yeah. Let's go." With one last glance to the motorcycle, Aoyuki followed Sakurako out the door.
Waiting a few seconds on the other side of the room, Sakurako and Aoyuki then returned to the room. They spotted Kyoko and Haru, wearing bandanas along with a tarp.
"...I didn't notice you guys were here." Sakurako pretended to state, "You guys should've said something."
With a side glance at Sakurako, Aoyuki smirked and continued, "Yeah. We probably would've told you guys if you just showed up instead of hiding."
"Sakura-chan…" Kyoko stepped forward, "Um, you knew that the others were hiding something from us from the start didn't you?"
"Kaji-san too…" Haru discarded the bandana and stepped forward to join Kyoko. "Do you two know something about the situation that we don't?"
Sakurako eyed Aoyuki before returning her gaze to the two, "Yes. However, are you two willing to pry the truth from Tsuna-kun and the others?"
"Knowing that in doing so, you'd be making them uncomfortable in forcing them to share with you something sooner than they're prepared to do so?" With a level gaze, Aoyuki stared down the two girls, continuing where Sakurako left off.
"Yes!" Kyoko and Haru answered the two.
"I don't like it when Onii-chan, Tsuna-kun, and the rest are so secretive." Kyoko explained.
Haru nodded in agreement, "She's right!"
"Even if they're doing it to protect you?" Aoyuki quickly cut off any further words from the two.
The pair was silent. Then they turned to look at each other, and left the room.
"Do you think they got the message?" Sakurako wondered out loud.
"Aah.. Probably not. If they did, they would've said something like, 'I got it' or 'I didn't know' or something like that." Aoyuki sighed, moving his arms behind his head. "They're still probably determined to get the truth out. Which means, you're going to need to worry about that one scene..."
"Hah...give me a break!" Sakurako exasperated massaging her temples, "...I'm going to start preparing provisions for them now."
"Heh. Would you like some help then?" Aoyuki laughed, before dragging Sakurako off.
"Sure. I'm pretty sure Haru and Kyoko are going to ignore me quite soon." Sakurako huffed as she made her way to the door, "Let's go."
Time Travel -
"Sakura-chan." Tsuna called out.
"Ah." Sakurako blinked, "Tsuna-kun, what's wrong?"
Sakurako was in the middle of washing the guys' dishes, placing the cleaned plate down, she continued, "Are you alright?"
"N-No." Tsuna replied scratching his head a bit, "I just wanted to thank you for helping us cook and clean. I'm sorry for placing all this work on you, since…"
"It's fine." Sakurako closed her eyes, "I mean...it's not your fault Kyoko and Haru wanted to know the truth from you guys. They even tried to demand answers from me and Yuki as well, but of course we didn't tell them. We did our best to warn them of what would happen if they did learn of what's currently happening."
"You and Kaji?" Tsuna questioned Sakurako, who nodded in return.
"In any case...how's your training going?" Sakurako, this time, asked.
Tsuna gave a solemn expression as he took out the orange Vongola box from his pocket, "Not so well. I've been trying to figure out how to open the vongola box without unleashing the same beast-like being again. So far, I had no luck."
Sakurako stared at the box for a bit, "How did you first feel when you got the Vongola box?"
Tsuna pondered a bit, "Hm…a little uneasy."
"How about the time when you faced it for the first time?" Sakurako pointed out, "Were you in sync with your box animal? That's one of the key features in having a supportive box animal."
"Trust." Sakurako repeated in simpler sense, "That's how me and the others were able to use our box animals."
"Trust?" Tsuna glanced over to the box animal held within his hand,"Sakura-chan…thank you."
"No problem." Sakurako smiled, as did Tsuna.
"Y-You know...I find it really easy to talk to you, Sakura-chan." Tsuna commented, "It's really hard trying to say something you can't, but you don't mind whether I say them or not. You're a good listener. So I'll say it again...Thank you, Sakura-chan."
"You're welcome, Tsuna-kun." Sakurako responded.
Hit me up with a new breath of romance. Nice.
Sakurako taking one for the team and helping Tsuna with the box.
Will Kimiko ever rescue her Muku-kun?
Will Aoyuki ever get to tell Yamamoto about all the things?
Will Sakurako ever defeat her rivals?
Find out sometime hopefully in the future.