Thanks so much for reading last update! :D
Ahh, and meerla11 reviewed! With a few questions, but they can be answered. :]
Actually, the future Tsuna wrote that stuff in the book. Before he died and after he became the Tenth, I think. Gokudera panicking? Tsuna's been looking for him that morning. No doubt Gokudera would be freaking out for making his own absence a problem with the Tenth. xD
The updated scoreboard:
Gokudera/Kaia: 10 [and 1 1/2 re-votes from Shin] [another re-vote from Crazee4anime] [a re-vote from little-L.A.M.] [a re-vote from meerla11]
Mukuro/Kaia: 9 [and 5 re-votes from Shin] [one of the votes are from Shoko-Chan, and she re-votes twice]
Belphegor/Kaia: 8 [a re-vote from The Great Pineapple MEKI] [a re-vote from RemStrike78] [and a re-vote from AkaMizu-Chan] [kaitlin177 re-votes four times]
Hibari/Kaia: 6 [a re-vote from that~one]
Yamamoto/Chrome: 2 [and 2 re-votes from Shin] [and a re-vote from Banyou]
Hibari/Haruka: 2 [and another re-vote from Shin]
Mukuro/Kaia with a Hibari twist: 1 [and 3 re-votes from Shoko-Chan]
Belphegor/Kaia with a Mukuro twist: 1
Soto/Kaia: 1
Byakuran/Kaia: 1
Xanxus/Kaia: 1
Vote for your favorite pairing! :]
A reminder: I'm also accepting battle requests, as well as song requests. Feel free to suggest something! :D
Well, I shouldn't delay you too much from reading the update, but a note: Ria appears again. More about it after you read the update.
Happy Reading, and please review! :D
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Reborn was extremely happy at the end of the thirteen days. Not only did Ria pass the trial Reborn gave her, he was going to let loose a monster on her. Not exactly a monster, but the ultimate test whether her plan works against a ring-and-box user. Reborn sat, waiting patiently for Ria to come for the final test. It was ten at night now. Hibari stood by as well. He yawned.
"To think you're making me work over-time…" he mumbled ironically. He smirked. "Baby [akanbo], when exactly will Kaia be here? If not Ria, of course."
"We'll see," answered Reborn. He smiled. If she was taking a bit longer to prepare, she had quite a show in store for Hibari. The door opened.
"Ahh…I think Reborn called me here…" Kaia said in a small voice, looking around. She gasped. "This is such an awesome place…" She gaped, looking around. "Amazing~! [Suuu-goi!!]"
"She's here," Reborn said to Hibari. "But as Kaia." Hibari frowned in disappointment.
"She still is unable to control her flame, however," Reborn frowned. "It seems Soto had tried to have her control it for years; it didn't work." Hibari just nodded silently.
"I should just begin," said the Cloud Guardian, reaching inside his jacket for his box. He looked at Kaia. She turned.
"Ehh? Hibari-sempai, you look a little different…" Kaia blinked, walking towards them. She grinned. "And you're taller, too!!" Hibari frowned. Reborn turned grim.
"I'll bite you to death. [Kamikorosu.]" Hibari's ring lit up in purple, and his porcupine appeared out of its box. The porcupine came speeding at incredible speeds at Kaia. It closed in, and it came closer, and it hit the wall. A crash echoed throughout the room. The wall of the training room crumbled. "That's it?"
"No." Hibari suddenly doubled over in pain. He felt nauseous, and his head hurt as if it were splitting in half. "That was not it." He gritted his teeth, holding in the unbearable pain, letting only a few groans describe what he felt. The Cloud Guardian looked all around him; but his vision blurred. It was Kaia's voice, alright. She had survived.
"I think this is what one unit of Non-Trinisette rays would do to an Arcobaleno like Reborn," Ria stepped into view, smiling. "But two measly units would do this." Hibari choked and fell to his knees, his body trembling and shaking uncontrollably.
"What-" he choked. Hibari gritted his teeth and forced himself to look up. The familiar, innocent face of Ria came into view. "You can-"
"No," Ria grinned playfully. "I'm just playing with you. It was an illusion, stupid. Of course, you don't want me to make you start coughing up blood, right?" Hibari frowned. The pain subsided. But with the pain, his hedgehog disappeared. Ria remained looking at him, smiling. "I like to play games, but don't get me wrong here, I'm not Rokudo Mukuro. Now, that Mukuro is truly stupid."
Hibari was plainly baffled. Not only had she displayed an adequate amount of knowledge about the era, she could conjure illusions of physical pain. He couldn't remember such a thing from the past; all her techniques had been kept hidden, much like how Byakuran's techniques had been. Was an illusion of pain even possible?!
"Of course, if you wanted to bite me to death, you can," she smiled. "I just wanted to make sure I can at least survive a member of the Millifore." Ironic, yet again. She could take on two captains at a time if she could force the future Hibari to his knees. Hibari checked his pocket; both boxes were still in there, unopened. He had unknowingly released a figment of Ria's imagination, having released his box so many times he ceased having to look. He sighed. Reborn was astonished that it would have been done so quickly.
"Well, baby [akanbo], its about time we all got some sleep; I still have them to do tomorrow," yawned Hibari. He nodded in Ria's direction and smiled. Ria smiled back. Though she wasn't happy she didn't get to show her best, she was content she passed. Now she left to go back to her room, lock herself in, and get a good, long rest – sleep.
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Six days to countdown. Five days to countdown. Four days to countdown. And finally, Kaia awakes.
Chrome's internal organs had failed and recovered. Kaia had slept through Mukuro's defeat. The decision was made.
The dies were cast.
She rubbed her eyes, completely unaware of everything happening outside of her room, and yawned. There was a low bang, like a muffle sonic boom. Kaia was jolted awake. For some reason, she was so tired and out-of-energy she felt dead. She sighed and tried to focus her thoughts. She shook her hair so that the bed-head would go away, jumped into her regular clothes, and rushed out of her room, tripping over something. She looked back.
"Ahh- Lambo-kun! I-Pin-chan!" Kaia looked way up. "Who…?" She blinked cluelessly.
"Fuuta," he filled in for her. "I'm Fuuta, remember? I grew up!!" Kaia smiled. Yet another person who knows…
"Hi, Fuuta!! What time is it right now?" she beamed. Fuuta frowned.
"Around three in the afternoon I think…" he scratched his head. Kaia smiled.
"Thanks!" and with that, she ran off. She wanted to investigate that little 'alarm clock' that had shaken her awake a few minutes ago. The path she took went past the library; she wanted to check something there as well.
…Yeah. She hadn't expected another alarm clock to be waiting there as well.
She was running down the hall as fast as she could. She saw Yamamoto and Reborn just around the bend, peeking in through a door to the library. Kaia wasn't sure why they were doing that, but Yamamoto turned, alerting Tsuna of something. Kaia quickened her pace; she wanted to see what was going on. Yamamoto tackled Tsuna down right when a beam of red came blasting through the wall. Kaia was centimeters from being burned to crisp. She had stopped dead in her tracks just as that beam of flame went by. She hadn't a single clue what that was, and she just stood there, gaping. From the smoke and debris of the library's remains, stepped out Gokudera.
"All right," he mumbled to himself, glancing here and there. "I've figured out how to complete the Sistema C.A.I. All that's left is… How am I going to explain this little guy to Juudaime?!" Gokudera grumbled here and there, the cat with flaming ears meowing here and there. The Storm Guardian caught sight of his Boss.
"Ahh! Juudaime!!" Gokudera immediately paled. "I'm sorry I-"
"Aww, it's so cute!!" squealed Kaia, emerging from the smoke from the other side. She jumped and snatched the kitty from Gokudera's head. "What's its name??"
"Uri," grumbled Gokudera. He turned to Tsuna. "Juudaime, I'm so sorr-"
"It's hungry," remarked Yamamoto. "I used to have a cat around my house; cats do that when they're hungry." Gokudera growled, seething with anger.
"Jaa, let's go to the kitchen," smiled Tsuna. He looked back. "Kaia? Bring…Uri please." Kaia nodded.
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"Uwaahhh, it's a little cat!" smiled Kyoko.
"It's so cute!" agreed Haru.
"I'm very sorry, Juudaime!! I destroyed the wall of the reference room during my training…" Gokudera bowed, blurting out everything so that he wouldn't be interrupted again. "And-"
"It's the library," corrected Kaia. "Libraries have books. That 'reference room' has books too. So it's a library." She laughed and fed Uri another sardine from the jar of salted and dried fish. Gokudera grumbled. Tsuna blinked in confusion.
"I haven't seen you around for the past few days… where have you been?" Tsuna asked Kaia. Kaia looked back; something clicked.
"Ohh…no wonder… I slept a straight three-and-a-half days!!" she beamed, as if she were insane. And she really did look it; her bed-head wasn't quite gone yet. She tossed another sardine to Uri, who caught it with perfect precision. She, in truth, hadn't even eaten for the past few weeks. She hadn't even eaten a single thing since she came. Kaia had no idea how she could be so hungry, and yet seem like she had been fed well for these past weeks. She resisted the urge to snatch a sardine from the jar; it was for Uri.
She tossed another sardine to the box weapon.
"Why were you training in the library?" Tsuna whispered to Gokudera.
"I prefer to start my training from pencil and paper…" remarked Gokudera. "But…I accidentally let this guy out… I wanted to put him back inside the box, but he resisted and came scratching at me…" He scratched his head in embarrassment. Fuuta stepped up.
"In that case, you could have simply extinguished the flames on your ring," Fuuta said. "Since box weapons cannot move without the flames."
"I know that," Gokudera grumbled. "But, when I was about to cut off the flames, he gave me this painful-looking face…" Tsuna gaped at Gokudera in disbelief.
"This little guy has large paws, so I'm sure he'll grow up really big," beamed Kyoko, scratching Uri's head. Kaia tossed another sardine for Uri to catch.
"I've never heard of box weapons that can eat human food though…" remarked Fuuta.
"R-Really??" Gokudera jumped. "He was chewing on everything so I thought he was just hungry…" He approached Uri nervously. "I guess I should return him to the box… He's not much use of a weapon either…" Kaia threw another sardine and 'missed,' hitting Gokudera.
Uri pounced at Gokudera. The girls all erupted into giggles.
"Well done, Hayato," said a purple-haired woman, standing at the entrance. "On skipping your training, and looking after your new pet." Tsuna turned.
"Bianchi!" Tsuna blinked. Kaia assumed this to be the woman's name. So this is the future Bianchi? She…knows…too…
"That's none of your business," Gokudera growled. "I've already understood Sistema C.A.I." He smirked. "How would you like to test it out?"
"AHHH!! There you all are!!" burst a familiar-looking man. Kaia raised an eyebrow. Is this…that Sasagawa Ryohei-san?? "We need to discuss the-uh, the next sumo wrestling tournament!! Come to the briefing room!!" Kaia frowned. It was obviously a lie; she was at least able to tell now, after the millions of lies Soto had told her when he had to go off into the night to do something mysterious. Kaia now believed he was going to do things related to the Vongola and everything, but no matter now. Soto was gone.
"Sumo wrestling…again?" mumbled Kyoko. Kaia looked at Kyoko weirdly, raising an eyebrow. They actually believed it? And what does she mean by again?!
"Ahh, well, Kaia, you seem to be hungry," remarked Kyoko. "You want me to cook something for you?"
"No, I'll cook myself. I've got a few good recipes I haven't tasted for quite a while," Kaia smiled.
"Well, then, I'll be going to get Chrome her meal," said Haru. Kaia froze.
"Ch-Chrome is here?!" she gasped, turning to face Haru. Kyoko and Haru turned.
"Y-Yeah…" Haru was confused. "What about it…?"
"Is she okay?" Kaia burst past Haru and Kyoko; she was sure of where Chrome would be. There wouldn't be any other place.
Chrome…what happened?!
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"Chrome!!" Kaia burst through the door of the infirmary. She fell silent. Chrome was stable, but she was supported by life-support, as well as a number of other machines. "Chrome…what happened?" She breathed a sigh of relief, and sat down on a stool beside her bed.
"OH! I know! Maybe if there's cotton candy, let's stick our hands in the machine and lick it off our arms!!" laughed Kaia. Chrome giggled.
"I really want to do that, too!"
"Let's do it together then, Chrome," beamed Kaia. "What do you want to do there, too? I'll join in~!"
"Uhh," Chrome thought a little bit, then began to panic. She had never been asked what she would like to do; usually she had to follow someone's orders. "I-I-I'll…"
"No ideas?" Kaia raised an eyebrow in good humor. "Then I'll teach you how to get an idea! And a good one at that! How about that, Chrome?"
"S-Sure…" Chrome smiled gratefully at Kaia.
Kaia bit her lip. What had happened to get Chrome into such a state? She narrowed her eyes, recalling the fact that she was one of them. She stood up, and with one last glance, she left. The door closed shut with a light click. She stopped, suspicion taking control of her. Kaia entered the room again. She had heard a faint beeping of a machine among the noises of the machines keeping Chrome alive. The faint beeping – she had never heard it before. She quickly located the source; Chrome's bag.
She had a feeling Chrome wouldn't want her to look inside, but she had to look. She extended a hand inside; it was something like a triangle or pyramid. There was a light flashing on the top, and the beeping was coordinated with the light. She put it into her pocket and left. Kaia decided to give it to Chrome later; she wouldn't destroy it.
She looked around. She decided to go exploring; but first, the kitchen. She was starving beyond belief. But, she felt sleepy as well. It was unusual; she had slept through three and a half days already. How could she still be tired?
Kaia yawned and went to her room instead. She slammed the door shut and climbed into bed; the little machine Kaia had found in Chrome's bag, she put beside her bed.
"Good night…" she mumbled.
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Now, if the illusion that Ria could conjure could even fool Hibari, could she be making everybody think that she was doing it like a pro, and concealing the reality of her own fatigue under it? Is there even any fatigue at all, if Ria was that skilled? Could Ria herself be an illusion? Does Kaia really have a Storm Flame? It might be a Mist flame pretending to be a Storm Flame.
Well, the fatigue is evident. She slept for half a week in one sitting, and is still deathly tired. Hmm…
I'll leave you readers to think about that.
Anyway, thanks so much for reading! Now, please review, now that you've finished reading! :D
I accept praise, suggestions, flames, whatever you have to say with open arms, a hug, and a big wide smile! :]
Tune in next time~!
