Windshear Part [20/?]

Authors: Kagaya Chou and The Dream Whisperer
Characters/Pairings: Byakuran, Mukuro, Hibari, Yamamoto, Tsuna, Reborn, Gokudera, Ryohei, Gloxinia, Gamma, Genkishi. Implied Byakuran/Mukuro and Mukuro-Tsuna, and eventual Yamamoto/Hibari.
Rating: PG-13
Words: 5848
Summary: Byakuran sends out his wreathes.

Snip. Snip. Byakuran flicked a brown leaf away and carefully clipped off another one before he placed his shears on the table. He seemed dreadfully preoccupied with his Canterbury Bells, turning the little pot this way and that with a critical look in his eyes.

Mukuro dropped down to his knees beside him, peering curiously at the plant. Pressing a finger against a leaf, he tilted his head to the side. "What is this for, Byakuran-san?"

"Mukuro-kun!" Byakuran lifted a hand to Mukuro's, and entwined their fingers as he admonished, "Those leaves are delicate." He tilted his head, smiling. "They're for my house. When I go home."

Eyes darting towards their tangled fingers for a moment, Mukuro smiled soft and sweet, leaning forward a little, "Do you miss home?"

Slowly and with an answering smile, Byakuran shook his head. "I'm quite enjoying this Roman holiday of ours, however different it has become from initial expectations."

"I'm glad," Mukuro said. "I would hate to hear that you're bored even with me here."

Byakuran chuckled. "You have never disappointed me, Mukuro-kun."

Mukuro twirled a strand of white hair with his fingers, "That's good."

Leaning into his touch, Byakuran reached down and brushed a hand through the fluff at the top of Mukuro's hair and whispered. "Does Mukuro-kun have a place called home?"

Mukuro carefully did not widen his eyes, leaning in to the touch and closing them instead. "Not particularly," he shrugged. Then, his lashes fluttered slightly as he turned his head to look at Byakuran, "Is Byakuran-san volunteering?"

"If you would like that. It could be a safe place for you... and for Chrome-chan, Ken-kun and Chikusa-kun... everyone you care for," he said steadily, a quiet seriousness in his violet eyes.

Pressing two fingers against Byakuran's lips, laughing and shaking his head, "Don't promise things that you don't mean. I might just get hopeful~"

Byakuran responded with a kiss upon those fingers. "My home is very empty."

"Is that so?" Mukuro murmured, dropping his head onto a white-clothed shoulder. "Be careful, Byakuran-san. You might just get what you wished for."

"And would it be such a terrible thing?" Byakuran tilted his head slightly as if too make room for him. "I understand that you've never stayed in one place for very long time, not since you were a young child, and even then... But if you are willing..."

For the briefest second, Mukuro froze at the mention of his childhood. But then he laughed it off, "I'll definitely think about it. Thank you." He pushed himself up slightly, turning around and cocking his head to the side like a curious child, "What about your childhood, Byakuran-san?"

"What would you like to know about it, Mukuro-kun?" Byakuran nudged the pot aside, turning to his companion. For all intents and purposes, he seemed to be in a generous mood. With a chuckle, he added, "I've already shared a little of it with you."

Mukuro drew a lip between his teeth, chewing on it contemplatively, "Whatever you want to tell me will be all right." And his smile was small and as sincere as it had always been, between the two of them. After all, whatever Byakuran chose to tell would be telling in itself, wouldn't it?

Byakuran chuckled and twirled a finger around a long dark lock of hair for a moment before he spoke. "My home used to be full of people. My parents. Siblings. Whoever was in close confidences with my father..."

"Your father?" Mukuro let his eyes widen slightly.

"Mmm hmm," a simple nod. Byakuran just smiled as he always did. "I used to hate it when he brought so many people into the house. It would be noisy and I was always expected to be on my best behavior, or stay out of sight.

"Much of the time, I hid in the tree house in the back garden."

They were almost like young sweethearts confiding in each other, Mukuro mused to himself, smiling slightly as he leaned in a little more. "Oh? The tree house with the dolls that I had so much fun with?"

"A replica of it," Byakuran nodded. "There's no tree house in my back garden anymore, just as there are no more people to hide from," he said with a bland smile.

Mukuro chuckled softly at that, and his smile had the slightest hint of wistfulness in it, "Kufufu... Your childhood seems rather fun, doesn't it?"

Byakuran pet Mukuro's hair for a moment, his voice soft and soothing. "And then the mafia took it all away."

"It likes to do that," Mukuro mused, dropping his head back to nuzzle the hand. "It's always so selfish, taking away things that belong to other people and not giving it back." And his smile was wide, eyes squinted shut. "That's why I don't like it."

"Then you understand, don't you?" Byakuran cupped his cheek. "Mukuro-kun?"

Mukuro nodded, his eyes slightly hooded but they were still as honest as they had ever been, with Byakuran. "Yes I do, Byakuran-san."

There still was a smile on Byakuran's face, but there'd never been such a soft, genuine-looking one for as long as they've known each other. Without another word, Byakuran pressed a chaste kiss over Mukuro's lips.

***

The doctors had told him that he should wait another week or so before being discharged, but Hibari ignored them - he could walk without help, and he was sure he could hold his tonfas in his hands and fight. There was nothing more he needed, and he was so very tired of the white hospital room and the sickly antiseptic smell.

Brushing the longer strands of his hair out of his eyes, he headed for the door.

Yamamoto was waiting outside, speaking quietly with Nakamura and his crew. He was shaking their hands, thanking them for their help, and promising to stay out of trouble, haha, for at least as much as he could. But his words were offset by the shinai at his side. At least it was just a bamboo sword, they might have been thinking, but of course, it was the sword Reborn practically ordered him to bring.

When he saw Hibari, he smiled brighter and held a cloth bag to him. "These are yours," he said, "but I think the kiddo did a bit of tinkering with them."

Hibari spared a glance for the doctors, giving them a short nod of acknowledgement.

"Oh?" he took the packet, looking at the tonfas within. He drew them out, weighing them in his hands. The metal seemed lighter than usual, though, when he tapped it with a finger, the sound was the same. "All right." Collapsing them, he pushed the weapons into his sleeves and started to walk out of the door.

He didn't need to look at Yamamoto to know that the other was walking beside him.

But Yamamoto was looking at him, on and off, as they made their way towards the parking lot. In the lift, younger man sighed, smiling as he watched the LED lights countdown to P. "Kusakabe-san's waiting for you back at the Foundation," he smiled wryly, "but Tsuna and the guys want to have dinner with you sometime this week."

Hibari crossed his arms, leaning back slightly against one of the walls of the elevator. He kept his eyes straight in front of him. "I have no wish to mingle with them. Sawada Tsunayoshi should know that already."

"They just want to see with their own eyes that you're all right," Yamamoto answered with a laugh. "Especially Sasagawa-sempai after you actually banned him from visiting you for being too loud."

"I told you: I have no wish to," Hibari stated curtly, turning away and straightening up. The lift jerked a little, a small ding resounding through the box as the door opened. Suddenly, Hibari's eyes narrowed as he took a step forward, hand pressing against the side of the door to prevent it from closing.

Yamamoto blinked, looking from Hibari to the empty parking lot that they were about to step into. Perhaps it was a warrior's instinct; it was too quiet, and there was something Yamamoto couldn't put a finger on, but it was putting Hibari on edge. Without a word, Yamamoto wrapped his fingers around the handle of his katana, and walked past Hibari out of the lift.

Stepping out of the lift at the same time, Hibari's eyes darted around the carpark. A shift of his fingers and the tonfas unfold, sliding out of his sleeves. He grasped them tightly, eyes narrowing into slits. "Illusions don't work with me," he snappd out. "Come out, coward."

Aah, Yamamoto sighed to himself, this is bad. I'm at a disadvantage with illusions. He frowned slightly, and then spoke out loud. "Hibari?" He tapped the braided hilt of his blade as though he were impatient. "There's no one here."

"He's hiding," Hibari spat out, hands tightening around his tonfas as his eyes scanned the carpark. He took a step forward, the sound of it echoing around the place. Closing his eyes, he focused on the reality he knew was true - on the feel of the concrete floor beneath his feet, his tonfas in his hand, the strands of hair on his neck, and Yamamoto's presence a step behind and beside him.

"Yamamoto Takeshi. Get out of the way."

That was as much warning and information as Yamamoto required. In the second that it would take for a regular person to register where an enemy might be coming from, Yamamoto had spun and drawn his sword, using his body's momentum to make two clean-sweeping slashes behind and beside him. It was the Coda di Rodine; the path of his sword was like the tail of a swallow.

He cut air, sliced through a violet blue flame, and came back with blood.

Hibari didn't waste the chance this gave him. Pivoting on his heel, he brought up a tonfa quickly to strike outwards. Light blue flames crackled, resisting against the metal but he dug his heels in and pressed on, pulling the tonfa back to slam it into the jaw of the invisible assailant.

But he wasn't invisible anymore. Hibari could see him - dark purple hair, narrowed eyes, and a pair of glasses that failed to cover an ugly grimace. Growling low and deep, Hibari brought the other tonfa around lightning-quick, aiming the blunt tip of it at Gloxinia's gut.

***

Tsuna would have gladly spent the rest of the day with Kyoko, but there'd been a look on Reborn's face that said something was up. He just hadn't been sure how to tell her so. But in the end, it was Kyoko who said she needed some alone time, with her brother, and ever so politely asked if Gokudera could do the dishes.

The troubling thing was that Gokudera looked at her, and blushed.

He would have gladly spent a little more time musing on that too, but Reborn woke him up from that stupor quickly with a smack on the head with his rolled up newspapers. Tsuna ducked, lifting his eyes to look at Reborn.

"Silly Tsuna," Reborn scolded, eyes narrowed as he strode back to his customary seat in Tsuna's office. "Concentrate on your work. You have a lot to clean up."

Tsuna sank into his plush leather chair and, for a moment, tried to melt into it. "I know, Reborn. I know..."

He eyed his schedule for the day, and reached over to open it up and look at what was in store for the rest of the month.

Dropping down to the couch, Reborn crossed his legs and watched Tsuna from beneath the brim of his fedora. "What has Byakuran done recently?" The question sounded idle; would have been idle if it had been anyone but Reborn who had asked it.

"Gardening," Tsuna answered dryly. He looked up from his schedule and gave Reborn a dubious look. "He sent me flowers. More flowers," Tsuna amended. "He sent Lady Uni flowers. And..." Tsuna cringed at the thought, "the Foundation too. Kusakabe-san doesn't know whether to burn all evidence of them, or test them all for diseases first."

"What do those flowers mean?"

"Violet larkspur for us this time. The color typically refers to first love - the flower in general, fickleness," Tsuna rubbed his temple. He had a pretty good idea that he knew which meaning applied. "White calla lilies for the Giglionero, presented in a wreath." Tsuna rubbed his face. "And if Byakuran doesn't do something first, Hibari is going to destroy our alliance with the Gesso if he finds the Hibiscus, I swear."

"Double meanings as always," Reborn's eyes were narrowed, his mouth pressed into a thin, displeased line. He sat back against the couch, the brim of his hat entirely covering his eyes. "The larkspurs could mean good luck for the alliance, or it could be a warning to us that he is fickle and might betray us. Or it can mean nothing at all - he could always run that defence if we attack him."

He draped an arm over the back of the leather, "White lilies in the shape of a wreath... in the West, white is purity. In the East, white means death." His smile was sardonic as he looked at Tsuna, "Yet the flower itself means 'to be reborn." A soft shake of the head, and he chuckled deep and bitter, "It's a warning to the Giglionero. About us... But... hmm... You remember, don't you? He had called his Guardians 'funeral wreaths' in the other timeline."

He leaned forward, steepling his fingers in front of him, "So, Tsuna, what are you going to do about this?"

Tsuna closed his eyes, searching his intuition for clues. Those flowers... They'd all been sent today, the day of Hibari's return. "The Hibiscus needs to be destroyed. If Kusakabe-san hasn't done it yet, he needs to do it before Hibari-san sets foot in that base, both for Hibari-san's safety and his temper."

He took a deep breath, pushing that aside to think about the other flowers. White lilies for the black lily famiglia. White spell. Black spell. The Gesso and the Giglionero had been the two sides of the Millifore, because of... because of...

"Genkishi," Tsuna's eyes went wide. "The while lilies are not for Lady Uni. They're for Genkishi."

"Genkishi?" Reborn stood up immediately, striding over to slap a palm against the corner of Tsuna's desk. He leaned against it, falsely casual. "I thought Dino and Gamma were keeping an eye on him."

"It's just Gamma right now," Tsuna stated with certainty. "Dino's taking care of his own famiglia's matters. He can't be in two places at once.

"If there's a fight, Gamma still has the Mare Thunder ring. But no billiard cue and... no foxes. But Genkishi still has... everything. His illusions, his four swords, his Mist ring, and," Tsuna squeezed his eyes shut. "One of the Hell rings."

Straightening back up, Reborn headed for the window, pressing a hand against it. "Byakuran is planning something, and Genkishi is definitely part of it. It seems that some things are inevitable." His smirk widened, but it was mirthless. "Are you going to wait for him to make the first move now? Or would you rather declare war and cut our losses?"

"No. No war. No declaring war. No losses." Tsuna knew that he had to gather his resources. He stood up and started to pace around the room, thinking out loud.

"If it's going to start with Genkishi, I need to send someone over to stop him first. Someone I obviously trust, so that she'd understand how serious this could get. Someone like... But Gokudera's can't fight Genkishi in close combat. It takes time for him to switch between using different flames, if it comes to that, and he still hates Gamma..." Tsuna started wringing his hands, and biting his lip.

"Send someone else with him, then," Reborn cut him off, turning around and facing his student. "When have you ever sent your Guardians out on important missions alone, Tsuna?" He cocked an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side, "Get Ryohei to go with him. He's the Sun - he'll break through Genkishi's illusions and let Gokudera have the time to switch between flames and attack. You know very well that his specialty is close combat, and he knows how to deal with swords.

"Send them. If you wait any longer, Byakuran would make the first move."

"But they..." Tsuna flushed faintly, thinking of the sounds he'd heard outside Ryohei's door last night, when he'd walked Kyoko back to her room. Then, he shook his head to clear it out of his head. "They'll work together. They have to."

"Don't let your Guardians' silly little disputes affect your decisions," Reborn reached over and smacked the back of his head casually. "You know what they're like. Both of them understand the situation. They won't let it get in their way."

Tsuna nodded as he turned back to his desk, and called them up. They didn't have to wait long. Ryohei and Gokudera were at the door in less than 5 minutes.

"Come in," Reborn said, walking back towards the couch. But he didn't sit down, merely pressing a hand against the back of it as he watched Ryohei and Gokudera walk in.

"Tenth, Reborn-san," Gokudera's back was straight, tone formal as he gave both of them a nod of acknowledgement. "What have you called me-" his eyes flickered towards Ryohei for the briefest of seconds, "us here for?"

"It could be nothing," Tsuna began, "but I need the two of you to keep an eye on Genkishi in case he tries to get Lady Uni's ring or... does anything that would threaten our alliances." Briefly, he explained the flowers, and the things that he spoke of with Reborn. "I need you to work with the Giglionero; we're not trying to take them over, or give them the impression of that either. If Genkishi doesn't initiate anything, don't engage him.

"Do I make myself clear?"

Before Ryohei could even think of speaking, Gokudera nodded, "Yes, Tenth. Do you want us to make our intents clear to Lady Uni?"

"Lady Uni and Gamma need to know. I don't see him cooperating with you two otherwise, and if you do end up fighting his friend, well..." Tsuna trailed off.

"Sucks to be Gamma, if that's the case," Ryohei looked vaguely sympathetic.

Tsuna nodded, "Yeah. Let's just say that you have confidential business with the two of them, and that you don't need to explain yourselves to anyone else... You'll be sticking close to them indefinitely."

"But Genkishi would be suspicious, wouldn't he?" Gokudera frowned slightly. Then he blinked, and shook his head vigorously, "I'm not questioning you, Tenth! It's just-"

"You're right," Reborn interrupted him, swinging a leg over the back of the couch to half-sit, half-lean on it. "He would be suspcious. But that's the risk we have to take. Either we do this and possibly force him to make a move earlier when he's less prepared, or we behave like fish in a barrel waiting to be shot."

"Exactly," Tsuna said. "Be ready to fight, but cooperate with the Giglionero, and don't hesitate to call for backup at any time."

"All right, Sawada," Ryohei grinned. "Just leave it to us!"

***

Hibari threw himself backwards, away from the wide swipe of Gloxinia's riding crop. He somersaulted in the air, his tonfas flashing silver and bright in the light. Landing back on the ground, he searched for the hidden clasp in the weapons and pressed it.

Long chains dropped down from the weapons, each link spiked with small, needle-like spines. Hibari glanced at it, whispering a soft, "Wao" to himself - so that was what Reborn had modified as well. Then he charged forward towards the other man, spinning the chains in the air like windmills, ready to cut and slice.

Yamamoto gaped in disbelief when Hibari jumped back. They had barely even stepped out of the hospital, and that man was already doing somersaults? He couldn't contain his amusement; he chuckled in spite of the situation.

There was a minor wound on his side, that stung a little, but it was going numb quickly, and the adrenaline rush made it easy to ignore.

Ducking out of Hibari's way, he watched for an opening, but it was difficult to follow Gloxinia's movements. Their enemy was using the mare Rain ring, but he was also an illusionist. He could use mist flames, and half the time, Yamamoto found himself following Hibari to find where Gloxinia really stood.

But for Hibari, Gloxinia was entirely visible, riding crop in hand and half doubled over from a strike that had connected. There was a gun in his other hand, but Hibari ignored it, pressing the advantage that he had gain. His breathing was starting to come a little quicker now, his fingers turning cold and numb but he focused on the battle, on winning and killing Gloxinia, and ignored everything else.

The crop smacked against his arm, curving around the muscle. Gloxinia grabbed onto the other end of it and tugged. Blue flames burnt against his skin as he was pulled forward, and his next exhale was dragged out of him in a soft, menacing hiss.

A shot rang out, and for a moment, Yamamoto couldn't breathe. "Hibari!" His sword flickered from katana to shinai and back again, but it was definitely a metal blade that shaved across Gloxinia's shoulder just as the man beat a hasty retreat and jumped back.

Quickly, Yamamoto gave Hibari a once over. Relief flooded his eyes when he found him unharmed. But when he turned towards Gloxinia once again, he barred his teeth and charged at the man. The samidare was flawlessly executed, with the blade facing the right way this time, the way that was meant to kill.

***

"Ah~! Mukuro-kun," Byakuran cried in dismay. "Would you look at that?" He had a hand to his chest, clutching the white fabric of the simple t-shirt that he wore, his uniform jacket tied around his waist. They had just returned to his home office when he had let out a gasp.

Now, his violet eyes looked mournful, and his gaze was directed towards a wilted plant on his table.

"My Canterbury Bells..."

Mukuro, standing beside him, turned his eyes to the pot. He stepped forward, reaching out to caress the petals of the wilted dark purple flowers. The shade reminded him, unpleasantly, of Gloxinia's hair, but his smile did not flicker as he looked back to his companion. "I'm very sorry, Byakuran-san. What had happened?"

Byakuran stared at the plant for a very long time, an oddly serious frown on his face. "Too much water," he sighed at last. When he looked at Mukuro again, he smiled stiffly. "Forgive me."

In response, Mukuro only tilted his head, blinking and confused. Inwardly, he wondered about the implications of what Byakuran had just said, and the flower's death itself. He took a step forward, smiling softly, and reached out a hand for Byakuran's face. "What do I have to forgive you for?"

"For being a bad gardener?" Byakuran mirrored Mukuro's sweet, smiling expression with a tilt of his head, and empty eyes. He wrapped his fingers around Mukuro's hand and cradled them against his cheek, closing his eyes for a second. His brows creased.

"Hm..." He blinked after a moment, "Maybe Iris will be able to do something with it." He dropped Mukuro's hand, and moved away to pick up the pot.

"My poor bells," he uttered under his breath.

***

Slowly, like the retreat of mist in the morning after sunrise, the illusion cleared, showing a dead body lying on the ground, splayed on his back with multiple cuts and slashes. Hibari panted harshly, looking through heavy-lidded eyes at the corpse and the spreading blood before he backed away, turning around. Then-

His tonfas slipped out of his fingers as a sudden wave of exhaustion crashed over him. The adrenaline rushed had ended, and he was left sprawled on the ground, one knee bent and pressing hard against the stone floor. There would be a bruise there later from the impact, he noticed, dizzy, fingers clenching around his collar as his newly-recovered lungs gasped for breath again. He had obviously overextended himself, and he was now paying for it.

To the left, Yamamoto sheathed his sword and stumbled slightly. He clutched his side, looking around. Now that the illusions had cleared away completely, he could see that they had wrought quite a bit of damage to the surrounding cars and the parking lot, but something was still wrong. His vision was still fuzzy around the edges, and there was a strong burning sensation inside him that made movement very difficult.

"Hibari?" He turned around, and managed to take two steps towards the other man before he tripped, crumpling to his knees. "Ahaha..." He shook his head, and then had to stop himself because it just made things worse. "Oh boy..."

Hibari's eyes widened as he forcibly shoved back the tiredness and dizziness - he would deal with them later. Moving over to Yamamoto, he grabbed the other man's arm, turning it roughly to expose the tear in the fabric of the jacket... and the wound in the skin that very much resembled needle holes that IVs inflicted. It was much messier, however.

"Yamamoto Takeshi," he commanded, voice soft and raspy as he tried to stand up again on trembling, protesting legs. The world turned black for a moment but he shook the darkness away, clenching his hand around Yamamoto's collar. "Get up."

"Up?" Yamamoto tried to look at the man - the corpse of the man, who had no doubt drugged him. "But whadabout-" he groaned, and squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath, and then another. "Call... Tsuna?" He held onto Hibari and pushed off the ground. "Call the kiddo."

Grabbing onto Yamamoto's jacket, Hibari started to trudge towards the elevator. He regulated his breathing - in, out, in, out, in, out, steady despite the urgent need to pant lurking at the back of his throat. He was nearly dragging Yamamoto, and he could tell that the other man was going to collapse very soon.

"The doctors will," he replied curt and flat, not wasting another breath as he stumbled out of the basement, into the elevator, and smacked the nearest buttons he could reach.

***

The moment Gokudera stepped through the Giglionero base, he knew something was wrong.

He slammed the car door shut, glancing at Ryohei before darting towards the too-silent mansion. There was literally no one around, and that fact was making Gokudera's hackles rise. Clenching his hand slightly, he opened his mouth as if to tell Ryohei something when he heard voices. Familiar voices from the forest.

"Lawn head," he grounded out, starting to stride in that direction. "We have trouble."

Ryohei locked the car and caught up quickly. "Sounds like an extreme fight up ahead," he noted, excitement in his voice. "Come on," he jogged past, only slowing down again to hide behind a thick tree when they got close enough to see the fighters clearly.

Gokudera pressed his shoulder against the tree, eyes narrowing as he looked at the combatants. At a glance, he could recognize Gamma and Genkishi, both of whom looked tensed and bloodied. Genkishi had two swords drawn, and Gamma was holding a heavily bleeding arm close to his body.

It was clear who was losing.

"Ch'," Gokudera muttered to himself, fingering the Vongola ring. He still hadn't forgotten what Gamma had done to him in the other timeline.

Except it was clear to the both of them that Gamma was not their opponent this time. Rather, he looked like he was in need of a rescue. "Back me up, octopussy. You're better at explainin' things, so I've got to get close enough to distract sword brows from blondie."

Gokudera slipped a hand into his pocket, counting the sticks of dynamite he had in there. Hmm, he had three hundred in total - that should be enough. Barely enough, but he had learnt how to ration them a long time ago.

Shaking his head, he looked at Ryohei, "Nah, they like you better." He knew that Gamma had something against him as well. "I'll go in. You just get that Gamma out of the way."

"All right then," Ryohei shrugged. Come to think of it, it'd probably work better that way. Gamma looked like he was at his limit, and it was the Sun guardian who was the best healer. "Go, go, go!"

Gokudera glanced at him, surprised that he had given in so easily. But then he just nodded sharply, turning back to the combatants and running into the fight. Throwing a few smoke bombs into Genkishi's direction, he jerked his head at Ryohei as he readied himself, Storm flames flaring out around him as he ignited his ring. He didn't bother acknowledging Gamma - he knew that he would lose his focus if he did.

Instead his eyes narrowed at the other man, teeth bared, "Genkishi. I'm your opponent."

The Phantom Knight sliced through the smoke, clearing the air around him so that he could see. "The Vongola Storm guardian." He eyed Gokudera like the silver haired man was simply an insignificant bug. "Fighting Mist with dust and smoke? You are a fool."

On the other side of the smoke screen, Gamma couldn't see or hear what was happening. When someone, with no killing intent, suddenly grabbed his good arm, and told him to run, he ran, following blindly until they got out of the affected area.

"V-Vongola..." Disbelief colored his face ashen. "What-?" Soft sun flame enveloped his bleeding, broken arm. The only thing that seemed to be burning away however, was the pain.

"We're here to help ya, all right?" Ryohei smiled winningly. "Let me patch you up, and then we'll beat sword brows to the extreme!"

"Sword brows?" Gamma stared at him incredulously, trying to keep his eyes focused on the cloud of smoke that was hiding Genkishi from his vision, but Ryohei's words and those odd flames were distracting him from it. He had never seen the Sun flames being used this way -the Mare ring was usually used in offensive attacks, not defense, much less healing.

Then Gamma shook his head, focusing his mind on the more important matter here: "What are you doing here, Vongola?"

"Sec'!" Multitasking wasn't a strength of Ryohei's; he was trying to focus his power one the healing first. "We're 'sposed to keep an eye on your Lady Uni's Mist guardian. Got reason to believe that he's secretly in cahoots with the flo- I mean Byakuran."

"Byakuran?" Gamma growled, slamming his uninjured fist against the ground. "Damnit... he must have said something to the Phantom Knight. He-" he jerked his head away, exhaling in a tight gust. "He isn't a traitor. Not like the one in that story you guys told the Princess and I."

Ryohei's brow creased. He wasn't the one who'd said anything like that to the Gesso in the first place. It was Tsuna and either Reborn and Gokudera - or both. Heck, if he even recalled fighting Gamma from that other future that didn't exist anymore... but it was all water under the bridge to Ryohei, and thus promptly forgotten.

"How'd this happen then?" he asked, nodding towards Gamma's arm.

"He stabbed me," Gamma replied flatly, staring off into the distance. He wished the cloud of smoke would just dissipate already. "It was lucky that the Princess decided to leave a day earlier, or else he would have hurt her too. That bastard..."

Sucks to be Gamma, Ryohei nodded. "All right" he glanced back at the smoke when the Sun flame finished its job, exclaiming, "Rapid cell regeneration complete!" A pity, he spared a moment to think, that he couldn't have done that for Hibari; rapid regeneration would have helped that Hibiscus disease grow faster than Hibari could heal. Ryohei frowned at the thought, turning back to the present quickly. Then, he looked towards Gamma, even more concerned. "Hey. Something's not right. I'm here with our Storm guardian, so things should be extremely chaotic right now."

It was too quiet.

On the other side, Gokudera hissed as he skittered sideways to avoid a sudden, swift swipe of Genkishi's sword. His shoes scraped against the ground as he balanced himself on the balls of his feet, jumping backwards and throwing a couple of dynamites in Genkishi's direction. Damnit. Storm flames were weak against Mist flames - illusions were impossible to degenerate - and he couldn't seem to call for back up. Ryohei was probably barred from the outside as much as he himself was trapped inside some illusion.

At the sudden sight of two swords coming at him, Gokudera doved for the nearest tree.

But one by one, the trees around him started morphing into the ground. Gokudera had to be careful not to run into anything that he couldn't see.

And he was getting irritated by being played around like this. Growling under his breath, he thumbed a stick of dynamite before lighting it and throwing it northwards. "Come out and fight properly, you coward!" he growled.

Outside the mist shield, Gamma's head jerked. "Hey... your Storm Guardian uses dynamite, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Following the direction of Gamma's gaze, Ryohei heard a faint sound, like something exploded from... They couldn't be that far apart, could they?

"It came from over there," Gamma pointed to the left and in front, away from the smog filled area of the forest that they had ran from. "I don't think they're even inside that cloud."

"Yeah," Ryohei nodded, and started running in that direction. "And octopus head's range ain't that far," he answered.

Gamma picked himself up, shrugging the previously-injured shoulder. It didn't hurt at all, and he only let himself have another second of surprise before running after Ryohei. "I know the Phantom Knight's illusions. They're almost impossible to break through."

Ryohei ran into the barrier with a loud whomp and stumbled back. "Whoa..." he shook his head. "That's extremely hard for an illusion," he rubbed his head, and wondered if he'd actually walked into a tree.

Smacking his palm to his face, Gamma shook his head slowly. You don't just run headlong into the unknown like that, he thought, especially when you know your opponent is a mist flame user. But held his tongue because it was probably even more idiotic to offend the man who had the power to heal him - or punch a hole through his chest. "Here," Gamma finally said, "Let me handle this."