Gokudera hung up on Reaper as he ran out the door and so when he reached Tsuna's house, it took some convincing to make the young tenth believe him about the assassins.
"And now Phoenix is bleeding out and I need your help Juudaime to save her. She's the one who warned me about Reaper in the first place and we can't just let her die..."
Gokudera would have said more but an American rock song interrupted him; he still had that small black phone Phoenix had given him in his pocket. Gokudera flipped it open to see single message.
"If Reaper says I went against him already, he's trying to get a reaction out of you. I'm fine, don't worry."
Gokudera looked down at the message and breaths out a sigh of relief. And turns to Tsuna and Reborn.
"I'm sorry Juudaime; it appears that it was a false alarm. Phoenix is alright."
At Tsuna's insistence Gokudera sent a return message,
"I figured that out by now. I can't believe that asshole got to me."
and now was sitting in his apartment waiting for Phoenix to get back to him. The silver-haired teen had almost decided to go to sleep when the phone rang.
"Phoenix?"
"No I'm Santa Clause. Tell me young man, what would you like for Christmas?"
Gokudera chuckled.
"Are you alright?"
"Are you sure you're not worried about me?"
"I'm not! Jesus..."
Phoenix laughs and Gokudera growls.
"If you just called to laugh at me then I'm going to sleep."
"No wait. I'm sorry. I called to...apologize for Reaper. He...He likes to play with his food before he eats. The funny thing is I thought him the method. Get in the marks head, convince them that something or someone they care about is in danger and they'll come running. Not one of my better moments I'll admit."
Gokudera pauses as the simple brilliance of the strategy hits him.
"That's probably the best strategy I've ever heard."
"Trust me, that strategy isn't a good thing, it's cruel and the first time I used it the guy ended up in a hospital for the mentally disturbed for two months after. Just goes to show that breaking someone is a matter of ease when you know them."
Gokudera can hear the pain in Phoenix's voice and that is what convinced him that she was truly on Juudaime's side in this fight.
"I understand what you mean...I for one admire dirty tricks like those. But ever since I began working as Juudaime's right-hand man, I've had to completely abandon all such tricks."
Phoenix chuckles her rough yet feminine laugh.
"Somehow I doubt that."
Gokudera breaths out a laugh.
"Hey Phoenix?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you promise me that you won't fight Reaper until we're there to back you up? Juudaime has made it clear to me that he doesn't want you to die on our behalf."
"Didn't you listen to me before? I said I wouldn't die...and I told you not to fight him! You really don't listen to anyone do you? Listen, Reaper is almost impossible to beat, I only know two people who might be able to do it and they are myself and our boss. You just concentrate on getting Tsuna as far away from town as possible and Hayato...stay safe."
"I don't listen to anyone but my boss. But he made it clear that he's not leaving Namimori. He wants to fight side-by-side with you. And if it's true Phoenix that you're the only person outside your family that can beat Reaper, then that's all the more reason why we have to stay. Didn't you know? I can't die either. My resolve won't let me."
Phoenix laughs loudly and Gokudera smiles.
"Let me make one thing clear, I don't do side-by-side fighting. My whole fighting style revolves around fighting by myself. It's been that way for years and I don't intend to change it now. And why is me being one of the two people who might be able to beat Reaper a good reason for your family to stay around? If I do lose, Tsuna needs to be as far from the fight as possible. He'll get him to the Vongola headquarters in Italy if you can, just get him out!"
"I understand what it means to work alone Phoenix. For as long as I can remember, that was my fighting style as well. But going to the Vongola, I realized that when you have a Famiglia that cares about you, you'll never let you fight alone. They'll be there to support you every step of the way. In order to defeat Reaper, you have to let us work together Phoenix. If not, you'll never win. You won't lose just us, but Reapers future victims will suffer if you fail. And with us by your side..." Gokudera smirks. "I guarantee you that we'll kick Reapers ass."
"The Vongola seems to be very different than the O-Loughlin's. With them it was every man woman and child for themselves...it might take me a bit to adjust to the fact that your family's not like that. The Family, Reaper...my team, they all had some other motives concerning me. I don't really remember how to react to someone having my back. And how are you going to kick his ass? With that little cat of yours?"
"It'll take time I guess. But Juudaime and all of us guardians will be there for you." Gokudera blushes as he remembers Reapers words. "Though it's not what you think! Got it!" Gokudera looks fondly at his small cat "And you've obviously never seen Uri in her true form. As Storm Leopard, she can kick serious ass. Along with my Sistema C.A.I., of course."
"What are you talking about? What's not what I think? What other meaning to you guys' having my back is there? (There's a phrase I never thought I would say.) And your freakish cat aside, what about the other weapons...they don't really seem like that good a fighting force. A kangaroo, a dog, a bird, a hedgehog, an owl, and a mini lion? Yeah sorry if I'm not quaking in fear."
"It's n-nothing. Just something people keep assuming is going on. Out box weapons are much more powerful than they look. They turn into strong defensive as well as offensive weapons. And they look like that to have the enemy underestimate us. It's much better to defeat an enemy who never saw it coming." Gokudera smirks. "But don't worry, I talked to Juudaime. He says that if you ever need anything, to let him know. Are you sure you don't want to stay with him? I assure you that it's safe."
"What? Reaper thinking you like me? I can see his point. And I know that people underestimate what seems weak, after all, you underestimated me. And for the last time no, I will not be staying with Tsuna."
"You know about Reaper thinking that I...like you!"
"I'm a girl, yes I know. I knew about it days ago, I just thought you wouldn't want it brought up and to be honest there wasn't really time. What with Reaper trying to kill us and all."
"Woman have a scary way of knowing everything...it's almost disturbing."
"It's not scary or disturbing, we just have a network. One person hears one thing and they spread the word. That's how women know everything."
Gokudera considers this.
"Good method...This, randomly, brings me to my next point, how fucking old are you anyway? Reaper mentioned something about when you were both 18, making you at least older than that...right?
"Now that is a question...how old am I? Do you remember how I told you that Reaper can't feel pain?"
"Yeah, but I fail to see how any of that is related to how old you are."
"I'm getting to that! Calm yourself. Well it appears that whatever the hell is wrong with him also affects his aging cycle. He ages at a pace three times slower than everyone else. He's stuck at nineteen and...So am...Looks this doesn't mean anything okay, just some freak genetic thing. One random thing went wrong in our DNA and now we're stuck okay!" Gokudera listens to Phoenix's heavy breathing for a second. "And I'm almost positive I just got you."
The girl laughs.
"I don't fucking get it! You just got me how? And bleh, you're an old woman."
"You know what, screw it. I'm sixteen and Reaper's twenty one, so when he said I was eighteen he probably meant him not me. Geez. You know what; you try not having any emotions for five years and then telling a joke!"
Phoenix sighs angrily and Gokudera laughs.
"Relax; you don't need to get all senile on me."
Gokudera hears a growl but he can tell Phoenix isn't mad at him.
The two teens talk for hours after that, about Reaper and Phoenix's family, about their respective pasts, about the Vongola, but all too soon Phoenix had to go. She said that she had to do something called "The Ritual" and that she would call him back in a day or two. She even told Gokudera that if she doesn't call in three days to call her and tell her to get off her sorry ass. Gokudera was glad to hear that she was no longer constantly running from her family and that he wouldn't have to wait for her to call him. The silver-haired teen got ready for bed, his last though before sleep took him surprised him.
"It's really easy to talk to her...I feel like I don't have to hold back with her."