CHAPTER IX
Gokudera's POV
A shrill siren interrupts your embrace.
Gokudera doesn't waste any time rushing out of bed, throwing on his clothes - not minding to button up his shirt all the way or put on his jacket. He puts his shoes on and races out of his bedroom.
He skidded into the conference room, all the guardians but Chrome and Lambo were already there. Giannini nervously slaps at the keyboard, perplexed.
Yamamoto looks up and greets him with a stupid grin.
Hibari scowls at him from the corner of the conference room.
Ryohei slaps him on the back. "Awh! It's good to have you back, tako headdo!"
He spots the tenth staring up at the monitors on the wall. "Juudaime!"
The tenth turns, his eyes full of worry. "Gokudera..."
"What's going on, Juudaime?!"
"I'm not sure," the tenth says, his tone full concern.
Gokudera joins Yamamoto at the conference table, lightning a cigarette. He pulls on the smoke, reveling in the flavor. He blows the smoke out in rings.
"Juudaime," Giannini calls, "I think I've found the source of the alarm." His distraught tone worries Gokudera.
The tenth turns his attention to the computer screen. His eyes are wide. The colour from his face drains and his jaw falls open.
"Juudaime! What's going on?" Gokudera repeats, panicked.
The tenth turns to face his group of guardians, his skin pallid, eyes wide, his mouth drawn into thin, wavering line. "It's... Kyoko... Chan..."
The turf head leaps out of his seat. "What about Kyoko?!" he demands.
The tenth can't seem to find his voice.
"Tsuna?" asked Yamamoto.
Giannini clicked a button and the monitors on the wall flicked to the same image simultaneously.
Yamamoto's grin disappeared.
A small, barely audible gasp was uttered from Hibari.
Turf Head stumbled backwards, making some garbled sound.
Gokudera gaped at the image before him.
The tenth's new bride, Turf head's little sister, the mother of this family, Kyoko Sasagawa lay sprawled out on the pavement, her body bent and broken in a pool of crimson. Blood matted her copper hair and fair skin, her bright eyes bruised and swollen shut.
How the fuck did this happen? He had just seen her two hours ago at dinner.
Gokudera could see the terror on the tenth's face, he could hear the choked semi-sobs Ryohei was making. He frantically ran a hand through his shaggy hair.
"Juudaime... I ran the diagnostics and I've found there is a pulse," Giannini said quietly.
The tenth entered hyper dying will mode and looked at the screen again. The look in his eyes actually scared Gokudera.
"Isn't that...isn't that Kyokuyo land?" asked Yamamoto.
"Mukuro," growled Turf Head. "I'm going to kill that fucker to the extreme!" He pounded the table with his brightly glowing yellow fist and the table instantly buckled and broke under the force.
Giannini's laptop crashed to the floor, the signal between the lap top and the monitors had been disrupted and now there was snow and static in place of that horrible image Gokudera couldn't get out of his head.
"Shibafu headdo! You fucking idiot, look what you've done!" Gokudera blurted, he couldn't help himself when it came to stupidity.
Turf Head turned to him, grabbing his shirt collar. "Aaawo! You wanna go, tako headdo?!" This voice, this voiced laced with actual harmful intent made Gokudera remember that Ryohei was a hot head like was, acting now and thinking later and he had just seen his sister at death's door.
Hibari put a tonfa in between the two and gave Ryohei a look that only the two friends would understand (and Hibari would never admit it but he actually considered Ryohei to be more of a friend then these other pathetic herbivores.)
Gokudera's eyes lowered to the floor. "Sorry," he muttered.
"It isn't Mukuro," Giannini said. "He's still being held at Vindincare."
"I don't care who it is, I'm going to kill them," the tenth said, his voice low and hollow.
He just said he was going to kill someone. KILL someone, Gokudera thought.
"Juudaime..."
"This is a trap," Hibari said, moving back to his corner.
"Tsuna-san! Tsuna-san!" there was a frantic crying floating down the corridor. Hariu burst into the conference room and cried,"Kyoko-chan is missing! Haru went to say-"
"Baka!" hissed Gokudera. "Read the mood!"
Haru looked up with wide eyes at the fuming Ryohei and the hyper willed tenth and fell silent.
"I've sent out a recovery team," Giannini said.
The tenth moved passed the wreckage of the broken table. "I don't care, I'm going."
"Juudaime!" Gokudera called. "You can't go just yet, it's probably a trap, like Hibari says." He reachezd out and grabbed the tenth's shoulder.
He shrugged it off. Anger and hurt and fear plagued the young Vongola boss. "If this was (Y/N), would you not be going to? Don't try to stop me."
Gokudera felt as if he had been punched in the gut. He was right.
"But Tsuna... we don't know what's going on!" protested the baseball idiot.
"Aaawo, I'm going too!" shouted Sasagawa. Gokudera couldn't tell if he was more pumped up for a fight than concern for his sister.
He was just no good at controlling his anger, like Gokudera.
"I'm not going to let you have all the fun," Hibari said walking passed the tenth and up the corridor to the elevator.
"I'll prepare the air bikes," Giannini said, picking up the broken laptop.
Gokudera watched as the tenth, shibafu headdo and Hibari made their way to the exit. Despite the dread he was feeling that something wasn't right, as his right hand man, he couldn't let the tenth go by himself.
"Gokudera?" came a familiar voice.
He spun around to see you standing there in shorts and one of his dress shirts. Despite everything that's going on, a shameful thought crosses his mind. He couldn't help but think how fuckable you looked right now.
Pushing the thought out of his mind as quickly as it entered, he hurried over to you. He didn't have much time, Yamamoto is already on his way too.
"What's going on?" you ask worriedly. You can sense the tension and sorrow in the air.
"I have to go -"
"But -"
"Shut up and listen!" Gokudera hissed.
You flinched.
He didn't mean to scare you, he was just edgy. He cupped your chin in his hand. "I'm sorry, but I have to go... Something's happened to Kyoko."
You looked at him wide eyed and he kissed your forehead.
"Juudaime is going to count on you to save her," Gokudera said, staring into your eyes.
"I... I won't let him down," you say. Gokudera leans in and gives you a passionate but hasty kiss. "I love you," he whispers to you and pulls away.
Gokudera runs to the elevator and he can hear you calling out to him but he can't hear what you've said when he enters the elevator and the door closes behind him.