In Their Story, There was a Girl
Chapter 24: Beginning of a Storm
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Dark clouds covered the midnight sky of Namimori, yet the people slept soundly in the peaceful quietness. They could not hear the clashing of metal jumping from roof to roof. One man insanely skilled with the sword, and a young boy with a fire burning upon his forehead, it was obvious which one of them had the upper hand. However, one thing that the young boy possessed kept him going even in the most drastic situation…
…the photograph of the young future leader of Vongola.
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The sun shone brightly and the birds chirped in the trees. It was as if all the clouds from the night before were just illusions. Despite the peaceful air in the morning, there was one girl who tossed and turned in her bed restlessly. Exasperated, Yotsuba bolted up from her bed. Her hair messy, eyes circled in black, and her cheeks were red as an apple. It's been so many hours, yet the heat in her face has not died down from the night of the Summer Festival.
"That jerk…" Yotsuba grumbled to herself, and started to hit her pillow. "Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?!"
Her pet Kabi jumped around her angrily. "Chi, chi, chi!"
"He… likes me?" Yotsuba said. "No way! He… he's supposed to bite me to death because I'm a herbivore! Maybe… he was just sample-tasting me…"
Kabi shook his head while sighing. How did his owner suddenly become so stupid?
Yotsuba calmed down a little as she heard the doorbell ring. Fanning herself with her hand, she made her way to the door. It was Yamamoto, grinning widely as usual.
"Yotsuba-chan, good mor…" he stopped short. "Are you all right?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"You have dark circles under your eyes," Yamamoto said as he made circling movements with his finger. "And you seem a bit red. Are you sick?"
Yotsuba's palms shot up to her cheeks. "Oh! It's just the heat!"
"Really? That's good!" Yamamoto laughed in his naïve way. "Maa, I was wondering if you'd like to hang out with us to cheer Tsuna up a little."
"Sure thing," Yotsuba blinked. "What's wrong with Tsuna?"
"Well, Tsuna said that his dad is coming back after disappearing for two years, and he's not all that happy about his dad…"
"Oh, Iemitsu-san is back…" she murmured. "Why all of a sudden…?"
Yamamoto leaned in. "Did you say something?"
Yotsuba jumped back. "No! I mean, sure I'll go! We're all friends, after all!"
Yamamoto smiled, not suspecting anything, and led Yotsuba out the door.
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On the busy street of Namimori, Tsuna and his friends were like a small army that took up the space from one side walk to another. Yamamoto invited quite a few people—Fuuta, Lambo, I-pin, Kyoko, Haru, and of course, Reborn and Gokudera were there also. Yotsuba felt exceptionally happy about this, in contrast to Gokudera, because she has never had a group of friend of her age like this before. Even though Lambo was causing ruckus and embarrassing them, she enjoyed it anyway. Tsuna must've taken his mind off of his father, too.
They were having a great time just sitting down and talking, until something happened that ended the peacefulness for now, and for the coming days.
Something exploded at the top of a big building all of a sudden. And from the flying debris, a boy was shot out at high speed and crashed right into Tsuna. Out of instinct, Yotsuba grabbed the closest the two girls next to her and bolted away from the scene.
"Get the women and children to a safe place!" said Reborn.
Yotsuba gave Reborn a look of understanding, and gathered Kyoko, Haru, I-Pin, Lambo, and Fuuta all together.
"OOOOIIIIIII!!!"
The last thing Yotsuba heard before turning away to run was the menacing roar of man. A roar that's so familiar to her that it made her shiver.
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When all the dust and the debris have finally died down, Tsuna couldn't believe anything in front of his eyes. The boy who crashed into him from the sky called him "Sawada-dono", and his worried look scared Tsuna. And then there was the Dying Will Flame on the boy's forehead. But what shocked him even more was the next thing that happened.
From the direction of the explosion walked out a man with long, silver hair. His eyes meant all bad intentions, and his bloodthirsty eyes scared the wits out of Tsuna. The silver-haired man carried a sword, and he pointed at them to threaten out their relationship. Just when the man was going to strike Tsuna with the sword, a sky-ful of bombs came crashing down on the man.
"Try laying a hand on that person," Gokudera said while holding up more bombs, "I won't let you!"
Yamamoto stood by him. "Exactly. I'll be your opponent!"
"DON'T!!" The boy with the Dying Will Flame shouted before the two sides clashed at each other.
It was too late. In an instant, the differences between their powers were clearly shown. Two blows—one for Yamamoto and one for Gokudera, took them out easily.
"Hahahaha!!" The man laughed menacingly. "Weaklings!"
Tsuna shrieked as the man raised his sword at him again. But when it came down, only a clash between metals was heard. Tsuna looked up to see the flowing black hair of the girl that stood in front of him, blocking the man's sword with a metal stick that she picked up somewhere. Tsuna looked closer to see the shocked expression of the man.
"I don't know why you're here, but…" Yotsuba's voice was cold and flat. "…if you want to kill him, then you'd better step over my dead body first!"
"Y…You!" The man said through gritted teeth. It seemed like he was deciding whether or not to attack.
Yotsuba saw this as a chance. "If you're not attacking, I will!"
She charged at the man, swinging her stick at him. The man clocked each one of her attacks. Amazing, Tsuna thought, since when did Yotsuba become so fast. The frown on the man's face became deeper and deeper; Tsuna thought that Yotsuba was winning until…
"Oooiii!! Are you joking around with me?!" The man bellowed angrily.
Yotsuba has been attacking nonstop, but none of her attacks were aimed at his crucial spots.
"Don't you underestimate me!" The man shouted as he swung his sword, sending Yotsuba's stick flying. "You should know how strong I am!!"
Tsuna's brain seemed to freeze at the next scene. The silver-haired man's sword slashed down at Yotsuba mercilessly, and it was too late for her to dodge anywhere. Blood splashed out as the muscle on her forearm ripped open. She grabbed the wound with her other hand tightly, attempting to stop the blood flow. But it was useless. Blood dripped nonstop, making a pool on the ground.
The silver-haired man was going to end it once and for all, but his sword-wielding hand was stopped by the boy that was referred to as "Sawada-dono."
"RE—BORN!!!!"
The man was taken back by the sudden burst of power, but soon realized that the gap between them was still too big.
"OOOOIII!!" he grinned. "You're weak!"
Tsuna was sent flying with one hit. The Dying Will Flame died down and Tsuna was back to normal. Seeing that the Dying Will Bullet was useless, he started to panic. But there was no time, the man was charging at him already.
"You're just like always, Superbi Squalo."
The silver-haired man stopped at the voice. Tsuna looked up and let out a breath in relief.
"Dino-san!!"
The blonde smiled down at Tsuna, but looked back at the man named Squalo harshly. "Don't you think it's embarrassing to bully kids around?"
Squalo glared at Dino. "The bucking horse…?"
"If you don't stop this distasteful game of yours, then I'll be your opponent."
Thinking that fighting with Dino wouldn't be easy, Squalo went with another plan. He grabbed Tsuna by the hair roughly and threw down some smoke bombs. Dino was able to save Tsuna, but Squalo took the box that the sandy-haired boy brought.
"I'll be taking this!!" With that, Squalo disappeared from the battlefield.
"No!" The young boy exclaimed. "The Vongola rings!!"
Tsuna took note of that. "Vo…Vongola rings?"
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The chaos has finally calmed down. The sandy-haired boy has collapsed at last, and Yotsuba also gave in to the pain and fatigue. Dino ordered his subordinates to pick them up as they hear the police approaching.
"Tsuna, I'll explain everything later," Dino gave Tsuna a reassuring look. "Right now, we've got to take them to the unused hospital I've prepared."
"Wha…what about Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun?"
"Don't worry about them," said Reborn.
As if on cue, the two young men ran toward Tsuna.
"Are you okay, Tsuna?"
"What was up with that long-hair?!"
"The level you're fighting at right now will be nothing but a bother," Reborn said heartlessly. "You two can go home."
Gokudera and Yamamoto stopped dead at Reborn's words.
"What are you saying, Reborn?!" Tsuna exclaimed.
However, Reborn did not give him an explanation. Instead, he just grabbed Tsuna by the hand and dragged in Dino's direction. Despite of all the yelling from Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto could not hear a sound. The two of them did not follow Tsuna as always; they stared at their foot, still stupefied by Reborn's words.
All because Reborn was right.
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"Dino-san!" Romario turned to Dino with worry. "It's no good! Yotsuba-san's cut is almost deep enough to see her bone! We can't stop the blood flow!"
"What?! That squalo…" Dino cursed under his breath. "Quick! We gotta make a run for it!"
Dino and his subordinates dashed toward the direction of the hospital. Tsuna and Reborn followed suit.
"I hope Yotsuba-chan will be all right…" said Tsuna, worry not leaving his voice. "But I didn't know Yotsuba became so strong. Even Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun were defeated within a second; she fought with the long-hair for so long."
"Because for all this time Mikami has been training hard just to protect you guys," Reborn said. "Unlike you, Tsuna, only wasting through everyday."
Tsuna lowered his head. "Reborn… don't be so harsh!"
Because the world is already so harsh, knocking you down in the most peaceful of time.
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TBC.
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A/N: Enter Squalo and Basil! Ok, so I've decided to add a little side pairing of someone-from-VariaXYotsuba. And you will all know who very soon! Sorry for the uneventful chapter; it's just a prelude!