In Their Story, There was a Girl
Chapter 14: Sacrifice
The way to Kokuyou center was quiet and filled with an intense atmosphere. Yotsuba, who knew the way, led the group to the run-down entertainment facility. Though walking in the very front, Yamamoto could sense the unusual aura that Yotsuba emits from her back. To be honest, Yamamoto did not like the idea of Yotsuba joining them in this fight. Not that Yotsuba isn't strong enough, but that she seems to have complicated feelings recently, and that might become a nuisance on the battle field. He was definitely surprised to see how determined Yotsuba was when she asked to come along. Even though he worried that Yotsuba might get hurt on this journey, he could not help but think that she is admirable for stepping up the way she did. The corner of Yamamoto's mouth curled up; in any case, he could protect her.
Yamamoto wasn't the least wrong when he thought that Yotsuba had mixed feelings. The thoughts going on in Yotsuba's head were so tangled up that she doesn't even notice that she was walking. There were so many opportunities that she could've turned her heels and walk away, but she didn't. Her feet brought her forward even when she couldn't even feel her toes. But she knew she couldn't run away anymore, because when you've got nowhere else to run, you'll end up where you started. And that's one place she did not want to go back to.
Without a definite idea of time, Yotsuba realized that they've arrived at the front gate of Kokuyou Center, which is now rusted and deranged. Tsuna was surprised that he remembered such a place, as he had been here before when he was young. To see that it's so rundown now, it really puzzled him.
"Oi," Gokudera threw a look at Yotsuba, even though she did not face him, "You don't suppose there's a way we can sneak up at them, do you?"
"Well," Yotsuba said swiftly, "since they're the ones that provoked us, they should be expecting us anyway. We might as well throw them off by breaking in through the front."
"I like the way you think," Bianchi said coldly, holding up a plate of poison cooking. With a touch of the deadly food, the metal bars melted immediately and allowed them to walk in. Yotsuba studied Bianchi's expression closely. Bianchi is seriously ticked off this time, because her own brother was injured. Because of this simple and natural reason, Bianchi is not afraid of what's yet to come. In her mind, Yotsuba admired Bianchi; for a simple reason, maybe she could be strong, too.
Because it's not the time to be weak anymore.
-----YOTSUBA POV-----
The moment that I opened my eyes, an old, kind and friendly face, one that I've never been familiar with, appeared in my sight. The unfamiliarity almost scared me to death.
"You're awake! How are you feeling?"
The old, wrinkly hand that held firmly onto mine was very gentle, just like his voice. These hands that ran through my hair, my forehead, my cheeks calmed my thumping heart. His gestures were so careful that I wondered if he'd already known me before.
"I don't think that kid has ever done something like this before. What's your name?"
"My name… is Timoteo."
Those were the hands that first touched me when I entered the mafia world. The first kind and accepting hands, they were.
Even though I've cursed the world so many times after my parents left me, I really consider myself quite lucky, quite blessed. Many people say that this world of mafia doesn't value right or wrong. It's a world where the powerful survives, and the weak must face death. But not only did the first hands I saw have no betrayal, no suspicion, no evil intentions… they even made me remember my family.
"Mikami Yotsuba. My name is Mikami Yotsuba."
…Maybe that is one of the powers that supports me, pushes me to survive in this world.
"The person who would treatment baseball as something more than his friends is no more," said Yamamoto after sacrificing his own arm to defeat Joushima Ken. The burning red color of the blood that ran down his arm pained my eyes. The unpleasant smell of it made me unable to open my mouth.
Shouldn't I be used to it? Being in the world of mafia for so long, after all.
"Stab me! With the knife or anything, just stab me!" shouted Tsuna when he saw that Kyoko's life was in danger from the bird-man. The determination in his eyes made me shiver, because in that determination, there was also fear. But with or without the fear, Tsuna was going to give up his life for Kyoko's.
But the bird-man's screen broadcasted the defeat of the creepy twins. Dr. Shamal and I-pin and Lambo arrived in time to save Kyoko and Haru. The others were relieved and readied to move on; but the rock in my chest just kept getting heavier and heavier.
If I lived, someone would die. If I died, someone would live. Could I ever be Tsuna? Giving up my life to someone else's? And in that moment of hesitation, would everything be too late?
"I… can't go back to where everyone is." That was what Fuuta said before disappearing into the woods. The darkness in Fuuta's eyes shook me; where did your innocence go? Where is the starlight that used to sparkle in your eyes?
With that, Fuuta ran back into the woods, all for the sake of trying to protect all of us from Rokudou Mukuro. Tsuna quickly followed Fuuta, leaving us behind.
I closed my eyes as the two of them entered the woods. My muscles tensed at the thought of all that has happened. All the fighting, all the violence. It was then when I realized how much I hated violence. It was then when I realized that for all this time that I've been with the mafia, I was only able to live because of all the people that protected me.
…because you're so weak.
Why the fighting? Why the pain? Rokudou Mukuro, what is your wish? What is your wish, that you'd prepare all of this bloodshed to achieve? Do you have… something that you want to protect, too?
-----NORMAL POV-----
"I won't let you touch them."
Standing a few feet in front two fallen bodies, Yotsuba declared to the tall man facing her. The tall man fooled the others to believe that he is the real Mukuro, but she knew otherwise. But there's still no doubt that this man was strong. But the strength of the opponent wasn't something she could think about anymore. Both Yamamoto and Gokudera were beaten, and Bianchi definitely cannot take on this guy's weapon.
The fake Mukuro stared down at Yotsuba with a belittling gaze. "A piece of dirt like you, I can destroy with just one finger! Do you really think you can protect anyone?"
Yotsuba's body twitched at the vicious man's comment. Although scared, her eyes were fixed on the enemy's. "You're right. Maybe I am weak and I can't protect anyone," Yotsuba said slowly through gritted teeth, while the man looked at her amusingly. "Ever since I was little, everyone around me spoiled me. Even my brother… he never dared to really hurt me. I can't say that you're wrong, but…"
In a world like this, weaklings are dirt, but…
"But if I can sacrifice myself for the people I care about, I am not dirt!" Yotsuba said as she made her pet yeti magnify in size. "Mukuro" looked taken back for a slight second, but sneered at the ferocious creature.
"Don't say I didn't warn you!" he barked as the giant iron ball flew at Yotsuba and Kabi.
The yeti opened his arms wide and bent his knees. With a crush, he locked the iron ball in between his arms. Several cracks could be heard from Kabi's body, and his expression only showed pain, but he held on to the ball as hard as he could. In that split second, Yotsuba charged toward "Mukuro", catching him by surprise. Tears were already circling in her eyes, but her legs did not even tremble.
"I really don't want to hurt anyone, but…" Yotsuba murmured. Her fist tightened and, before "Mukuro" could come to his senses, Yotsuba stroke him with a huge blow. But "Mukuro" wasn't that easy to defeat; he quickly stood steady on his feet after being pushed about five feet away by the blow. He rubbed the swollen cheek with the back of his hand and spit out a broken tooth. To Yotsuba's disappointment, she could not touch him for the next series of attempted hits.
"Mukuro" smirked at this; he's already figured her out. With a swift motion, he tugged at the chains that connected to the iron ball. A loud cry could be heard from behind Yotsuba, but she couldn't look. She knew how badly Kabi must have been injured, but the tears in her eyes and the thumping in her heart made it uneasy to think. She charged on towards "Mukuro", but the iron ball came straight from the back.
"Yotsuba-chan!"
She could not even hear Bianchi's warning cry, and the iron ball collided with her back. It felt like all of her organs were going to break through the front of her body. She opened her mouth to scream, but choked on the blood that rushed out of her throat. The next she knew, she was rolling on the ground, tens of feet away from the rest of the Vongola.
Everything was spinning in her head, and it hurt, too. But somehow she could still hear, when the familiar, childish voice of Reborn saying, "Go all out on this. It's the last one!"
With that, Yotsuba immediately opened her eyes. Struggling to stand up, she could barely cough out, "Don't shoot it!"
But when she was able to turn around and look, Reborn had already shot the last Dying Will Bullet. Tsuna has stopped the iron ball empty handed from hurting Bianchi. Yotsuba was frozen in place; she could not even feel her legs when a shrunken Kabi came and nudged at them. The last bullet, she thought, if I'd told Reborn earlier… the last bullet wouldn't have gone to waste for the fake Mukuro. She watched in both horror and relief as Tsuna finally defeated "Mukuro".
"He's not Mukuro," Yotsuba said before Tsuna could celebrate for his victory. "I should've said this earlier, but I didn't have the time to. He's not Mukuro; the real one must be inside the building."
Tsuna and the rest turned to look at Yotsuba with gaping mouths; even Reborn's face darkened a little. The fake Mukuro silently stared into Yotsuba's eyes for a while and chuckled, drawing everyone's attention back to him.
"The little lady is right, my real name is Lanchia," he said, and began to talk about his past, his Family, and the cruel things that Mukuro has done to him. Yotsuba, Tsuna, and the rest of the company listened intently as the bloody images of Lanchia's past flashed into their minds. The more he said, the grimmer the looks on their faces became.
It was especially hard for Yotsuba to imagine these deaths. Truth be told, Yotsuba is just like any ordinary teenagers; she hasn't, in all fifteen years of her life, seen a dead body. Not counting the corpses on the news paper, or the fake ones on CSI, she hasn't even seen her parents' dead bodies in person. The only time that she's seen a dead corpse was the time that an old butler of hers died in his sleep. In the coffin, the old man crossed his hands over his stomach, sleeping peacefully in an eternal slumber. She could not imagine, that the man who used to play with her, take care of her, and even listen to her secrets, was someone so motionless and lifeless.
And yet, Lanchia had to face the worst kind of deaths, the deaths of his Family by his own two hands. She could not imagine the feeling when he'd open his two eyes to see the hollow, bloodstained eyes of his Family. The feeling of his feet when stepping over his Family's dead body, the feeling of something sticky under his shoes and the sound of it.
Crack. Something in her heart cracked into several pieces; her hands felt numb and she couldn't lift them. What gentle expressions would Lanchia have, if Mukuro didn't manipulate him?
Tsuna and the others seemed to feel the same way as Yotsuba felt. Standing straight and tall, they were even more fired up to defeat Mukuro. Leaving Yamamoto behind with Lanchia somewhere safe, they moved on into the building. Kufufu, kufufu, Yotsuba could almost hear as her feet dragged her numbed body inside the rundown building. Her heart began to thump again and a great volume of blood seemed to rush into her brain. As Kakimoto caught up to them and Gokudera decided to stay behind and take care of business, Yotsuba's body started to gain feelings again. Before climbing up the emergency ladder to where Mukuro is, she looked back at Gokudera, who had an unusually gentle expression upon his face. Gripping the bars of the ladder tightly, Yotsuba ascended into the last room.
"Gokudera-kun, you'll be the last sacrifice…"
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TBC.
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A/N: Hello, all! Sorry for the boring chapter after a long period of no updates! I really want to keep the plot close to the original manga, and I didn't want to just rewrite the manga in words with an added character in it. I know this chapter is pretty boring, but I had to get through with it, so that I can get to the important part in the next chapter. And even though the chapter is boring, please still review! I didn't get many reviews for the last chapter, and I was kind of afraid that it was very bad. Lastly, I hope that everyone is fine with the POV change in the middle of the story, and I hope it'll be fine if I did it more in the later chapters. Hope you enjoyed this one!