Chapter 15: The Mafia game

To my totally anonymous reviewer, Thanks for reviewing. Like you guessed Dino is arriving in this chapter. And whilst there are KaiShin vibes here, no one has actually said if they want a relationship between them. With how I've written it, it's actually possible for a Mukuro and Shinichi relationship to eventually build. Or there could be a little war over Shinichi. In fact, I don't even know if my readers like Yaoi. And I'm putting my lack of reviews down to this being a crossover, which aren't as popular as normal stories. Thank you for all of the love, it's made me a very happy bunny.

To K.Y, The chapter mostly wrote itself actually, and since I had it done, I thought why not upload it? I'm glad that you think I was creative- I found it important to be different since having them as guardians was a little cliché. And don't worry about those assignments, I'm the type to do them as soon as I get them rather than leave them until later. I nearly always hand my work early. I finished one that day, got 2/3's of one done the next day, and the other two aren't due until the end of Feb. Thanks for the concern though. Oh!Oh! I found that blood stained hands bit. It's in chapter 8 and I quote: He might even have to kill someone. Could he return to Ran with blood soaked hands? Like I said, a suggestion for the future, not something they have already done. Hope that clears things up.

To KSKK1412- Wow, you must have really liked my work, made you speechless it seems. Thank you for reviewing. I'll try to keep the good work up!

You might want to re-read chapter 9 once you've read the last chapter. You'll notice all of the hints I placed pertaining to Shinichi's black flame. It's all about the facts.

Key note for you all, anything Shinichi writes with his pen shall be underlined, just to differentiate. Things said over communicators/ Radios are in Italics and centred. Hopefully you can tell the difference between the Radio and Kaito's inner world.

[To: Gokudera]

Stop. Tree on your left. Dynamite T minus 10.

Good. C down 2.

Proceed 200m north, 300m west.

Smoke clearing

[To Yamamoto]

Storm smoke T minus 30

C blond will freeze, remember where he is.

Attack

Good C down 1

[To Ryohei]

Run as fast as you can East- no other direction {-} (*Btw that was a drawing of an arrow*)

After those trees are 2 enemies, backs towards you.

Get them.

A crack like mental lightening runs through his eyes. Breaking off the connection to his flame, Shinichi blinks a few times and rubs his head. Finding his vision a little blurry, he closes his eyes.

"Sorry guys, had to break the connection. Ryohei, how'd you do?" Shinichi speaks into the microphone set inside his helmet.

"I got them to the EXTREME!" announces Ryohei, much too loudly for those with receivers.

"God damn it Shibafu, be quite will you! You nearly took my ear off" scolds Gokudera.

Due to a tap on his leg, Shinichi tunes out the rest of the conversation and he changes channels to talk to the person sat next to him.

"That was good Shinichi. We took out 5 of their men in the first 10 minutes because of you. Now we need to land and let you get intimate field experience. You won't always be able to sit and observe like this." Compliments Reborn before moving onto the next step of their plan.

Shinichi and Reborn were currently sat in a helicopter above the sparse forest. Using his flame, Shinichi had been able to observe his allies and help them to sweep up the Trash. Slowly the helicopter lands in a clearing, and Shinichi and Reborn jump out.

Shinichi gives a wave and the pilot flies upwards and off, not needed for the time being. Hearing something in the bushes, Shinichi whirls, hands flying to his newly modified belt.

This belt was a creation of Spanner's, with a little help from Shoichi and odd comments and design direction from Shinichi. Based upon the design of Conan's football belt, it too had the Ball buckle and buttons. The belt takes flames from the wearer, in small gradual doses that are quickly replenished by the body, and stores them in the buckle compartment. At a push of the button, the flame is released. Carefully, Shinichi can control both the size and density of the ball the flame creates. It perfectly fitted the design he had had in his head during the training session earlier in the week.

In this case, it was a football sized ball, reasonably dense.

Shinichi kicks the ball, and it bounces against a tree, smashing the bark, before veering off across the clearing.

A squirrel jumps out of the bushes near the tree, and quickly finds its way to safety.

"Oops. It was only a squirrel" Shinichi admits sheepishly.

The ball bounces off of another tree, removing more bark off of a different tree, before diving into the bushes.

"Gahk" shouts a deep voice before a thud is heard.

"You did that on purpose" Reborn laughs " 'It was a squirrel' my ass"

"Well, thinking that I had missed, and not noticed his presence meant that he was more likely to go in for an attack when he thought my guard was lowered, and my back was turned. He did exactly what I expected him to." Explains Shinichi. Reborn lowers his fedora and smiles.

"And the trees…"

This time, Shinichi is sheepish for real. "I think I misjudged the density of the ball. The flame was more compressed than I expected it to be. It's something I'm going to have to get used to."

Reborn nods and starts walking through the trees, Shinichi following. They walk pass the unconscious man, an ugly bruise already forming on his forehead.

"Wow, I really wacked him one for six didn't I?" admits Shinichi. "He'll be out for a good few hours. No way he can help his scum of a Boss now."

They continue walking, keeping wary of their surroundings. Reborn hitches a ride on Shinichi's shoulder. Meanwhile Shinichi reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wrench shaped lollipop.

"Ne, Shinichi, you get headaches after using that fact skill, don't you?"

"Hm? You mean the Star Observation? Yeah I do. I can't keep it up for long either. Too much information goes through my eyes and brain, I guess"

"Well, Human's brains aren't supposed to deal with things on a hyper acute level like you do. Take these"

"Whilst I appreciate the offer, I don't think sugar will help at the moment."

"It's not just sugar. Along with the sugar there are other components in there that will combat the effects. It should clear up the headache quicker than any drug will do. Hopefully with these, you should be able to use the Star Observation technique more than once without drastic side effects to your sight or brain function."

"Oh, that sounds reasonable. I'll try them out. Thanks Spanner"

"Wow, these really work. I was sceptical at first, but they seem to be working fine." Admits Shinichi, pulling the lollipop out and staring at it.

"Hitman to Weather, Hitman to Weather, come in…"

6 different forms of "Yes Hitman" come down the line. Reborn was half expecting 8 replies, but he had an idea why the 7th person wasn't responding, and Reborn didn't really care- he could take care of himself. The 8th person however… Reborn waits a moment before sighing and adding "Hitman to Night come in"

"Hearing you loud and clear, Baby" replies Kaito.

"All meet at Point Alfa infront of the Stables. Clear?" comes the coded order.

7 different forms of affirmative come down the line.

Hiding in the branches of some trees, Shinichi and Reborn wait for the others to arrive.

Gokudera and Yamamoto are the first to arrive. Since Shinichi could see them from the helicopter, they were also closest to his current position. Ryohei is next to arrive, crashing through the trees like an elephant. Tsuna, dragging an unwilling Lambo, joins soon after. Finally, Mukuro strolls towards them, taking his own sweet time, before jumping up and sitting next to Shinichi.

"So we are about to infiltrate the Stables-" starts Shinichi

"Umm, Star, where's Moon?" interrupts Yamamoto.

"He's shielding our position. Or hadn't any of you noticed this tree was gaining leaves?" declares Shinichi, waving a hand to encompass the tree they were currently sitting in.

Bit by bit, the under layers of the tree were becoming thicker, filling gaps in the canopy with leaves. The outside layer remained untouched, as to not draw suspicion: A tree's canopy suddenly growing in size was a sure give away.

"One of his Real illusions is it?" asks Gokudera, studying the leaves above him.

Shinichi nods to the question before continuing where he left off.

"As I was saying, we are about to infiltrate the Stables. As you all know, our main objective is for me or Moon to apprehend the Horse. We either capture him alive or kill him. I need to remind you all of the one rule Hitman has imposed. Mist, I mean you especially. If you break it, I will personally do something about it, before letting Hitman punish you as well. And I of all people will know if you break the rule. Do I make myself clear?" Shinichi gives Mukuro a stern look. Mukuro simply smiles back, undeterred by Shinichi's threat.

"Why of course my dear Star. I promise not to break the rule, since you asked so sweetly." Drawls Mukuro.

Shinichi ignores the end of that statement, going back to the action plan.

"Storm, I want you to smoke screen the room, before everyone else enters. I want you all to take positions against the walls, spread around the room. Since this is what it is, Me and Moon will take the centre of the room." Shinichi exchanges one lollipop for another, making sure his ability is back to its peak before entering the Stables. "I'll be sending more messages, so take note of what they say. Be aware of Moon's cards too. We don't want to affect you with them too."

"Moon, for this I want you to only use those cards as a last defence. Use the Moon:Mirror instead." Orders Reborn. Kaito takes note and nods, emptying the magazine of his card gun and replacing it with his normal, but currently modified, bladed cards instead. The flame cards go in a pocket on the back of his belt, easy to grab if he needs them.

"Everyone ready?" asks Shinichi, meeting the eyes of his team mates. One by one they all nod. Shinichi smiles "Let's go get us a Horse."

They all give a quiet cheer before making their way down the tree.

"Juudaime, please stay safe. I really want to stay and make sure you remain protected" wishes Gokudera, looking over his shoulder at Tsuna.

Tsuna gives a breathless chuckle at Gokudera's wish before replying. "I'll be fine Gokudera. You were the one who told me how to use this gun after all. If I stay in this tree, especially after Kaito has blocked me in, no one should be able to find me. If they do, then I can s-s-" Tsuna swallows "Shoot them before they can get to me. I just hope that I can remember all of what you told me about guns. I've never shot one before." Tsuna looks at the gun in his hand, before checking that it is loaded. Both the gun, and his pockets, were filled with special bullets Reborn had given him before this assignment started.

"If you need help shout and I'll come running. What use is a Right Hand Man if he can't protect his Boss?" asks Gokudera, sliding down the tree before Tsuna can answer back.

Kaito smiles at Tsuna from his position on the ground. "Remember these are real leaves. If you fall out of here, you will collect bruises. Touch them and they will move and make a sound." Tsuna nods in understanding, and Kaito begins. Drawing on his mist flames, he creates the illusion of leaves covering Tsuna's position, adding in his lightening flame, he hardens them until they become real. Just before Tsuna is completely covered up, Kaito adds "Don't get yourself killed, Boss"

I know that I'm a liability like this, but I think that I can protect myself long enough to complete the assignment. Seriously, I've progressed from my 14 year old self. Grumbles Tsuna to himself. Damn, Kaito should have left me with something to do. I'm going to get bored sat here with nothing to do.

Keeping in the cover of the trees and bushes, they make their way from Point Alpha to the entrance of the Stables. Before they have to leave the cover of the trees, Kaito stops them.

"On the roof" he whispers, pointing in that direction.

The Stable is a small empty building that Intelligence reported their enemy was hiding in. It was a miniature warehouse, complete with reception and a few offices. However the main bulk of the building was given over to the storage area. On the roof were 2 men, their heads just above the wall, keeping lookout.

"Storm, can you gas them from this far away?" asks Shinichi, unsure of his aiming skills.

"Che, piece of cake from this distance. Watch" Gokudera defends himself, before a dynamite appears in his hand. Slowly he gets up, and crawls to a position quite far to their right.

"Gokudera, err Storm, why are you going all the way over there?" asks Yamamoto, peering through the trees towards his friend.

"Che, Yakyuu-baka. I've got the sun on my back here." Replies Gokudera through the communicator before taking aim.

"Take into account the wind… the weight of the dynamite…" he whispers to himself, his brain calculating away.

"He wants to stay warm?" asks Ryohei.

"No, guys. It's all about light not heat." Answers Shinichi. "It's something KID takes advantage of as well. By making the enemy stare into the light, it limits their vision, making it harder to see you. KID stands infront of lights so the shadows hide his face. In this case, if Gokudera throws from there, the dynamite will be hidden in the light of the sun. They won't be able to see it and raise an alarm until they've been gassed."

The sports duo nod, seeing the advantages to such an attack.

"Like in the Sun ring battle. I couldn't see Lussuria until I smashed the lights" confirms Ryohei. Since neither Shinichi nor Kaito have seen this ring specifically, they cannot answer, but Yamamoto nods, approving of the link.

Hearing a small rustle, they look to their right to see Gokudera crawling back to their position. "Che, didn't see a thing" he grins.

Placing themselves at the shortest distance between them and the door, they make one last check before running to the wall. Leaning close to the door, Shinichi tries to hear if anyone is inside. Turning his flame on slightly and directing the power to his ears, he catches the slight muffles of movement and conversation. Turning off the flames as soon as it's done, Shinichi turns to the others.

"There are two people in there. Both male. From the sound of it, far from the door. I couldn't make out what they were saying." Informs Shinichi. "So who wants to go in and greet the traitors?"

"Che, I'll do it. You're all too soft to handle killing someone." Volunteers Gokudera, drawing a gun from its place at the small of his back.

"Oya, Oya. I've killed plenty of people." Inputs Mukuro, eyes gleaming with hate. Shinichi places a hand on Mukuro's shoulder, comforting him.

"And you can, Storm?" asks Kaito

"Of course I can. I've been in the mafia all of my life. I'll do anything for the Family, and for Juudaime." He moves to stand directly infront of the door, and like the storm he is, kicks down the door.

Swinging the gun around the room, he spots the two targets, and shoots. One bullet goes through the guy's forehead. The other one is taller, so the bullet goes through his wind pipe. Another bullet finishes the job.

"All clear" states Gokudera.

"Both are dead" states Reborn, eyeing the men on the floor. The others follow, looking around the reception room. No cameras or other forms of traps as far as they could see.

A door near Yamamoto rattles, the door handle twisting.

"Oy, Paul, Josh, when do you think-" the man stops talking, a sword pressed dangerously close to his throat. "Shit"

"Keep walking, close the door behind you" orders Yamamoto, his eyes as cold as steel. Step by step the man complies, wary not to cut himself on the sword.

Kaito comes up behind the man, and places a hand over his mouth to stop him shouting for help- not that the sword isn't already enough of a deterrent.

"How many of you scum are there?" he whispers in the man's ear. The man stares defiantly at Shinichi, the only person he can see at the moment.

The sword presses in deeper, and a line of warm red blood glides down his throat, staining his collar.

"Staying loyal to that traitorous Boss of yours, eh? Trash like him doesn't deserve loyalty." Growls Kaito, still close to the man's ear.

Right shoulder. Push hard. It's injured- not fully healed

Kaito lifts his hand, placing it gently on the man's right shoulder. The man flinches at the touch.

"Not only did that Sewer Rat harm my Family, he also got innocents involved." Slowly his grip on the man's shoulder tightens. "And I don't like it when innocents get harmed. And neither does my Boss"

Kaito squeezes really hard on the man's shoulder. The man tries to lean away from his grasp, but that only increases the pressure of the sword on his throat. The flow of blood increases.

"Do you know how mad my Boss is at the moment? We had to restrain him: he wanted to come in here and burn you all to a crisp with his flames. Wouldn't that be lovely? But he's controlling himself and staying away from here."

"I'd feel really sorry for those poor fools you've sent to kill him" inputs Gokudera, moving into the man's line of vision, cigarette smoking away. "Juudaime's in a really bad mood. There might be nothing of them left." He left the man wondering whether his men were still alive. No need to tell him that he, Yamamoto and Ryohei had already taken out his men in the woods.

"So save yourself." Kaito relaxes his grip on the man's shoulder "Tell us how many men you have protecting your Boss, and we might let you go."

The sword lets off some pressure too, sliding across his neck until only the very tip is resting above the artery. "Are you sure that you can follow a Boss who puts innocent people into the firing line? Surely you are a better man than that. Do the right thing, tell us."

Gun, 2x knives, radio, They're all circled.

Circles with labels, all drawn in Shinichi's distinctive black flame, appear around the man. Kaito, following the images, removes the weapons from the man, leaving him totally defenceless. Kaito nods at Shinichi and throws the items over to Ryohei. Shinichi turns his flames off and goes to lean against the wall.

The man eyes Reborn, who is sat on a desk observing the group. The pair make eye contact.

"Y-you are right." It comes out slightly muffled as Kaito's hand is still covering his mouth. Seeing that the prisoner might comply, Kaito removes his hand "I didn't agree with what my Boss did. He's usually a good and honest man though. Please, don't kill him. It's so unlike him to do something like this. He doesn't deserve to be punished."

"Che, hurry up with the information and we might be lenient. Your decision." Gokudera takes his cigarette out and blows the smoke in the man's face. The man recoils, but is still held in place by Kaito's body at his back and Yamamoto's to his side.

"Fine. Most of our men were killed in the battle between our Families earlier. Boss brought 17 men with us."

"Take out the 5 we killed earlier, and the 2 on the roof, that leaves 10. Minus, the two we just killed, and you yourself and that leaves 7." Counts Mukuro. The man pales as he realises that nearly all of their outside forces have been killed.

"I got another one on the way earlier. Not dead, but certainly not coming to the rescue any time soon." Shinichi smiles, showing teeth at the man. "So that leaves 6 people to protect your Boss. Pathetic"

He's lying to us. Or at least my flame tells me so. It's true that there are 6 people protecting his Boss, his body reacted to that statement. So what else could he be lying about? The number of men there are? I'll have to keep it in mind and act later.

"Moon, tie him up, we've got an appointment to keep." Orders Gokudera, wanting to get back to Juudaime as soon as possible. He has a bad feeling.

With a click and a flick of his wrist, a rope appears in Kaito's hands. "Sure thing Storm" a puff of smoke (not pink- that's for heists only) and the man is bound and gagged to a nearby chair.

Gokudera walks over to Lambo. "You don't want to do any of the real fighting, do you?"

The cow looks up and shakes his head. "But I still want to be useful. I can't do much at the moment, but Lambo-sama will try."

Gokudera ruffles Lambo's hair. "You'll be a great Mafioso one day." Louder he commands. "Lightening, you will stay here and make sure the prisoner doesn't move. If he escapes, shoot him immediately with this."

Feeling inside his boot, he takes out another gun and hands it to Lambo, making sure he's holding it correctly. "6 shots Lambo. Just aim and shoot. Remember, the gun will move when you shoot it, but just let it. As long as you keep hold of the gun, you'll be fine." Lambo nods, determination in his eyes. He is no stranger to guns, or weaponry in general. But firing the Bazooka is different to a small hand gun like this. After living with Tsuna for over 5 years, it's been a while since he's touched a real gun.

Lambo sits in the corner of the room, on one of the offices spinning chairs. From here, he can keep an eye on both entrances as well as the prisoner. The spinning chair is mainly comfortable, but can allow for quick movement too.

The others wave to Lambo as they re-open the door and slip into the corridor. They don't encounter anyone else, and all the rooms along the way are clear.

Finally they reach the last door. Inside there is muffled chatting signalling that this is indeed where the stupid Boss and his subordinates are.

Shinichi nods at Gokudera, who takes a couple smoke dynamites and lights them on his cigarette. Just as they start to release smoke, Gokudera slams the door open and chucks them in. In a matter of moments the room is filled with smoke. Keeping a hand on the wall, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei and Mukuro enter the room and each take a wall as their position. Shinichi and Kaito stride forward just as the smoke starts to clear. Turning his flame up slightly, Shinichi differentiates the smoke from shadows and finds the Boss.

As the smoke clears the scene looks dire for the enemy. Shinichi has his knife to the Boss' throat, Kaito standing a little infront of him, staring the Boss in the eyes. Yamamoto's sword is drawn and in an attacking position on the west wall. Gokudera has taken the east wall, one hand holding dynamite, the other holding the gun. Ryohei has taken the north wall, crouched down low in an attacking position too. Mukuro has the south wall, where they entered, leaning casually on his trident.

"You have been charged with crimes against innocents, as well as breaking of the Alliance. By the decree of Vongola Decimo, you are to be punished and brought back to Vongola Headquarters, dead or alive. All of your subordinates shall be killed if they interfere. Do you have anything to say?" asks Kaito projecting a powerful and commanding voice around the room.

"Yeah. Fuck you" the man grins.

The whip in the man's hand moves, coiling like a snake around Shinichi's leg. Before Shinichi can react, the man tugs, pulling Shinichi's leg from under him. Shinichi falls to the floor, and all hell begins.

Yamamoto brings his sword up and around, aiming for the Mafioso infront of him. The Boss swings his whip and captures the sword before it can connect.

Ryohei runs towards his enemy, jabbing all of the time. The jabs connect with the blonde's stomach before Ryohei uses an uppercut to the jaw to bring the man back to an upright position.

Spinning his trident in a circle, Mukuro blocks the knife attack before bringing the sharp points raking along the man's ribs, ripping the clothes and drawing light lines of blood.

Gokudera places his dynamites back under his clothes, seeing that with the others here, it'll be hard not to get them caught in the blast too. Instead he changes the position of the magazines, making them more accessible, before taking aim at the black haired man running towards him.

Shinichi scrambles up from the floor before running towards the south wall. With the wall at his back he turns and observes the scene infront of him.

Putting another lollipop in his mouth- hoping he won't choke on it later- he takes a deep breath before shouting "Star Observation"

The colour drains out of his eyes, and the world around him slows. The pen detaches itself from his hand, hovering in mid-air due to the flames, and glows black.

[To Yamamoto]

Draw the sword backwards. He'll follow.

Following the guidance of the flames in the air, Yamamoto draws his sword towards him, tugging on the whip. The Boss is pulled along and bashes into his subordinate. Flicking the sword, the slack whip falls off and onto the ground. Taking his chance, Yamamoto sweeps his sword to the side. The Boss rolls out of the way, but the subordinate's leg gets scratched.

"Fredrico, you can't place weight on that leg anymore"

Whilst that is happening, Shinichi has moved his vision around the room. Looking at the opposite side of the room, he observes Ryohei's opponent

Labels of information appear around the man, his flames providing him details he wouldn't have usually noticed.

[To Gokudera]

Ryohei's opponent. After backflip, shoot here.

[To Ryohei]

He's about to slip, knock him out then.

Happy that the two will be able to work together for a moment, he turns his gaze to Mukuro's opponent.

Yet a roar from Ryohei shows his plan might have to be changed. As the subordinate was sent flying into the air from the uppercut, his foot connected solidly with Ryohei's jaw. Like Shinichi thought, the man had enough agility to turn his assisted flight into a backflip. Like he'd asked, Gokudera shot at the man's heels the moment he touched the ground again, bullets flying through the ligaments. The traitor hisses at the wound, before landing on his back.

"Reborn" Shinichi warns. Pressing the button on his belt, Shinichi creates a new Star Flame ball. This one is tiny, about the size of a marble, and 'heavily' dense. Bouncing the marble on his foot to get a feel for it, Shinichi draws back his foot and kicks the ball as hard as he can. It impacts the man on the floor, going straight through the man's head. Since he was facing a different direction, the opponent never saw it coming

"He's dead"

Ryohei shakes his head, rubbing his jaw, before seeing his enemy laying dead at his feet. He gives a thumb up before turning his attention to another of the scum infront of him.

Directing his flame back to his eyes, Shinichi feels a small twinge of pain, but ignores it. To his left his flame has labelled a moving object in capitals, along with a wildly drawn circle. Reading the label, Shinichi sees that it's a bullet, aiming directly for him. It seems that the man Yamamoto injured earlier still wanted to fight.

Due to the warning of his flame, and since the world had slowed down, Shinichi had just enough time to dodge the bullet. However, even though the world slowed around him, that didn't mean his reflexes could keep up. His body moves as slowly as the others did, and only just misses the bullet, having it brush through his hair instead of entering his head. Shit, that was close

Mukuro sees the bullet in the wall above Shinichi, and is not happy. Using skills honed through fights with Hibari, Mukuro finishes off his opponent. He didn't even need his paths nor flame for weaklings like these. His trident pierces the man's throat, and Mukuro grins darkly. The man pales, both in fear and pain, before Mukuro drags his trident out to the side, effectively ripping his throat out.

"He's dead"

Mukuro doesn't care. His eyes are fixed on the pathetic man on the floor who just took aim at Shinichi. Mukuro strides over, a dark aura leaking out. Sensing this, Yamamoto briefly looks up from his fight with the Boss. Knowing that aura very well, Yamamoto parries a whip attack and runs in the opposite direction, away from Mukuro.

After doing what Shinichi had asked of him, Gokudera immediately brings his gun back around, changes the magazine on his gun and shoots the man coming at him. Gokudera shoots the man's right shoulder, effectively making the man drop his weapon. Another shot goes into the other shoulder

"He can't use his arms anymore"

Gokudera swings his body to the side, letting the rampaging man past him before kicking his backside. The man trips from the extra pressure and slams into the wall. As he slides down the wall, blood dripping from his nose, he turns back to face Gokudera. Gokudera doesn't even look the man in the face as he shoots his opponents feet.

"He isn't going anywhere"

Knowing that the man infront of him is no threat any longer, Gokudera doesn't bother tying him up. Feeling an angry aura behind him, Gokudera spins and looks directly across the warehouse to where Mukuro is striding up to his enemy. Taking a look at where Mukuro previously was, he sees the man on the ground, a red covered throat, and the bullet hole above Shinichi, and quickly pieces things together. Oh dear. He's in for it now.

The bad feeling he's had recently increases, and finally he can put a name to it. Gritting his teeth, he runs straight for the door, slams it open and runs down the corridor.

The others see this and wonder what's up with him, but are generally too busy to go and find out.

A moment later there is a quiet gun shot, before Lambo asks over the communicators

"What's wrong with Storm? I nearly shot him since he ran straight in here!"

"We're not sure Lightening" pants Shinichi.

Worried about Mukuro's aura, Shinichi looks over, and immediately turns away

Whilst Shinichi is used to seeing dead bodies in all states of wholeness, dismemberment and in many pieces, he doesn't have a lot of experience seeing how they get to be like that.

"How dare you try to harm MY guiding Star" Mukuro shouts, trident falling fast towards the Man's eyes. Shinichi didn't want to see what happened next. Reborn jumps over, still keeping an eye on the battle around him, and watches Mukuro to make sure he doesn't go too far.

"He's dead"

"Yamamoto, you can't use your left arm. You can hold the sword in it but you can't move it"

Looking over, Yamamoto can be seen with a huge whip welt across his left arm. Yamamoto rubs it unconsciously, still keeping an eye on the Boss infront of him.

"Gokudera!"

They all freeze, hearing the scared scream from their Boss. Ryohei gets a knife cut along his cheek. Absentmindedly, Ryohei slaps the arm away from him, before punching the man in the side of the head, sending him stumbling a few metres away

"Sky!" they all gasp aloud.

The Boss smiles an evil grin, knowing full well what trouble Decimo is in. "Bwhaha! It seems that my top assassin got to your Boss after all. Did you think I wasn't prepared? What fools you all are. By the time you get there, he'll be dead. Bwhahaha!"

"Juudaime!"

So that's why Gokudera left. He felt that Tsuna was going to be in trouble. With Gokudera there, Boss'll be fine. This must have been what our informant way lying about earlier. There weren't 17 but 18 men. He excluded this assassin on purpose.

"I'm so bored waiting for them to finish. Listening through the radio isn't as interesting as I thought it would be. And what kind of Boss are they making me out to be anyway. I'm going to have to have words with them later." Grumbles Tsuna to the air as he sits in the tree and waits.

Finding a branch digging into his back, Tsuna moves to change position. However his hand slips and he loses his balance. But being Dame-Tsuna means that he hits every branch possible as he descends to the floor.

Landing in an undignified pile on the floor, he groans and attempts to sit up. A shadow blocks out the sunlight, and Tsuna looks up. Straight into the dull eyes of a trained professional Hitman.

Tsuna scrabbles backwards against the tree. The Hitman swipes his knife in an arc. Reflexes trained by daily torture from Reborn force Tsuna to duck and protect his head. The knife grazes his hand, but gets stuck in the tree instead. Tsuna uses this opportunity to scramble away and run into the trees. A few moments later, his intuition tells him to duck. In doing so, he also trips over the root of a tree. The thrown knife flies over him and into the bushes ahead. The Hitman walks over to Tsuna and kicks him in the stomach, the force pushing him into the bushes. Another kick and Tsuna ends up in the clearing where they briefed and planned for this assignment earlier.

Fumbling in the pocket of his jumper, he pulls out the gun Gokudera gave him earlier and with shaking hands raises it towards the killer. By this time, the assassin is standing over Tsuna, feet either side of his hips, another knife already in his hands. One swipe of this knife and the gun goes flying out of Tsuna's hands, landing far out of reach. Tsuna holds his hand to his chest, a line of red trickling down the wrist. Above him the Hitman grins, the knife glinting in the sunlight, and slowly, ever so slowly, the knife descends.

With all of his weapons gone, Tsuna does the only thing left. "Gokudera!"

Running through the forest, following the trail of blood drops, Gokudera isn't far behind. Hearing his Juudaime's scream, Gokudera puts on another burst of speed, crashing into the clearing, shouting "Juudaime". There he finds Tsuna, pinned to the floor by a Hitman. But he's laying there! Exactly there! A phantom image brushes through his mind, the image crossing with reality. I'm swore I wouldn't let that happen

His vision goes red, and Gokudera makes a conscious effort to hold down his flames. Aiming the gun, Gokudera shoots at the threat to Tsuna. The Hitman jumps off Tsuna and ducks. Gokudera changes the magazine and continue shooting. He follows the Hitman's movements around the clearing, shooting a constant stream of bullets. On Auto-pilot, he follows and shoots, reloading as needed. It's not until a bullet gets too close to Tsuna for Tsuna's comfort and he yelps that Gokudera clicks out of the red haze.

"Juudaime!" he shouts. Seeing that Tsuna is unharmed by the bullet, just scared, he turns his attention back to the Hitman. Running towards Tsuna, Gokudera lights one of his dynamites and chucks it at the man. It explodes in his face. Gokudera crouches over Tsuna, creating a shield to protect him from the blast. The smoke clears and Gokudera gets off, checking his Boss over for any harm. Seeing the knife wounds, Gokudera gets ready to bandage them. Yet a groan from the other side of the clearing draws both of their attention away.

Growling, Gokudera stands up and strides over to the Hitman on the floor. They make eye contact, and the Hitman moves to reach for another knife. But he's still a bit dazed from the explosion and fumbles. Gokudera kicks the man's hand before placing that foot on his chest.

"How dare you target Juudaime. You are going to pay for that" Just as slowly as the Hitman did to Tsuna earlier, Gokudera takes his gun and aims it at the assassin. "Juudaime, look away, you don't need to see this". Giving a moment for Tsuna to comply, Gokudera presses the trigger a few times and the man falls still. Dead.

"Storm to Weather, Night and Hitman. Assassin dealt with. Sky is secure."

The others all breath a sign of relief at this statement, before returning their focus to the battle at hand.

"It seems as if your assassin couldn't handle the storm" comments Kaito to the Boss, grinning mischievously.

The Boss falters at this information, giving Yamamoto the chance he needed to attack.

[To Yamamoto]

Behind you- left side. Kaito'll take care of the Boss

At the cue, Yamamoto brings his sword over his shoulder, angling the blade to protect his back and side. A clang of metal shows Shinichi was just in time. Yamamoto whirls and disengages the knife.

[to Ryohei]

Follow this line. Duck under and attack here. Then retreat.

[To Yamamoto]

Work with and around Ryohei. T minus 5

Following Shinichi's direction, Ryohei steps over to Yamamoto and waits for his chance. Yamamoto brings the sword up from the floor, blocking a downwards strike from the knife. Ryohei swerves around Yamamoto, crouching down low and under Yamamoto's blade as it swings up. The sword pushes the knife, and the hand holding it, up, stretching the man's side and creating a clear opening for Ryohei. Ryohei takes advantage of this clear opening, and punches the man in the stomach. Yamamoto disengages the blade and brings it under Ryohei's outstretched arm to scratch along the man's belly. The target recoils, automatically bending over the wound to his belly. Yamamoto flips his sword, and brings the hilt down at the same time Ryohei punches upwards from his crouched position. Both attacks impact at the same time, rendering the man unconscious.

Shinichi and Mukuro are dealing with the last of the worthless Boss' protectors.

"My skilled Star, let's play football" Mukuro smirks, giving the target a sadistic look. He spins his trident, gripping it slightly differently, as if holding a tennis racket.

Shinichi smiles, seeing Mukuro's game plan. "Why of course, Mist. It's my favourite game"

Turning his Star Observation off, Shinichi staggers slightly, closing his eyes against the pain. Quickly he grabs another lollipop, trying to stave off the killer headache that is lurking at the edge of his mind. Pressing the Ball Buckle, he releases a flame that's about the size of a football since that's the game they are playing. It's at a low density.

Seeing the glint in Mukuro's eyes, he knows that Mukuro really wants to toy with this man. He kicks the ball at the man, and it grazes his leg, enough to make the man turn to face Shinichi for a moment before following the ball's path. Mukuro whacks it back with his trident, with the ball grazing an arm with more force this time.

[To Mukuro]

It's going to get denser gradually. Just to warn you

Mukuro grins at the warning, flashing both the target and Shinichi different smiles. He loves Shinichi's idea, and never knew the detective had a toying streak in him too.

As the ball flies back to Shinichi, he adds more flames to it, making the ball slightly denser. Kicking the ball back, it knocks the gun out of the man's hand before continuing its path to Mukuro. Mukuro hits the ball back, noticing the change in flames. This time it hits the man's shoulder, making him flinch. The man ducks to try and avoid the next hit. Adding more flames, Shinichi kicks the ball and it whacks the man on the head before returning back to him. Adding even more flames, Shinichi kicks it over the man's head back to Mukuro. The toy gets up, realising he's even more of a target on the ground, and rubs his head. Mukuro takes aim, readjusting his grip on the trident, and sends the ball flying at it's target. It brushes the man's hip, forcing the poor toy to spin half in place.

Shinichi smiles at someone behind Mukuro, before changing the density again and sending the ball moving once more. This ball brushes just past the targets nose, making him blink. Mukuro stays still as the ball comes flying towards him, trusting Shinichi's plan. The ball goes flying harmlessly past, the wind moving Mukuro's hair. Staying perfectly still again, the ball reappears over the other shoulder, moving at an EXTREME pace. Ryohei had punched the ball back, wanting in on the game too.

Shinichi's vision goes black for a moment, and as he opens his eyes again, he has just enough time to duck under the ball and let it rebound against the wall and back to Mukuro. Noticing the black out, Mukuro slows the ball's speed down and returns it back to Shinichi.

[To Ryohei, Mukuro and Yamamoto]

Duck

The three do, crouching on the floor and watching Shinichi. Pivoting in place slightly, Shinichi kicks the ball as hard as he can. It goes flying above their heads before rebounding off a wall. The force of the kick wipes Shinichi out, and he falls on the floor. Laying on his back, Shinichi takes in deep breaths, slowly keeping track of the rampant ball.

The ball bounces from one wall to another, all brushing past the man before continuing its tour of the warehouse. The target is in a clear state of confusion and worry, finding it hard to keep track of the ball. Sometimes it hits, sometimes it doesn't, so he has to dodge all of the attacks.

[To Kaito]

Watch out for flying footballs

Kaito notices this flame is weaker than usual, leaving small gaps in the lettering. Dodging an attack from the Boss, he looks over at Shinichi, taking note of his status. Kaito pushes off from the floor, back-flipping over the ball as it brushes the Boss' arm and continues its trek. The ball rebounds from the wall, flying in between Kaito's legs in mid-flight before smacking the target in the stomach.

"K.O" Ryohei roars as the man falls to the ground, bruised, battered and unconscious. "It's just the Boss left to the EXTREME"

The moment the ball impacts the target, it goes out, Shinichi no longer able to sustain it.

"Star! Watch out" shouts Kaito, too far away to be able to help. Shinichi tries to open his eyes, but streaks of lightening run down the nerves. He jerks in pain, sitting up slightly. As if in slow motion, Mukuro reaches forward, Ryohei and Yamamoto get up to try and stop it. But it's no use. The knife the Boss has thrown pierces Shinichi's chest, luckily just below the lungs.

Shinichi gasps at this new pain, hands flying to his chest to see what's wrong since he can't see. Feeling around, he grabs ahold of the cold steel of a knife. Knowing better than to remove the knife, Shinichi coughs and tries to ignore the pain.

"Shinichi, you can't move far now. You have 3 minutes of fight time left before you fall unconscious"

"Grr, you've done it now. Moon:Mirror" growls Kaito, facing the Boss. Kaito turns his flame up full power, before lighting his ring. Aiming the ring at the Boss, it changes colour to a Sky Orange.

"A Boss like you doesn't deserve a Sky flame" hisses Kaito before closing his eyes.

"KID, Sky flame" shouts Kaito.

KID, already standing at the Flame picture, pushes against it and watches as it changes to a Sky flame.

KID and the Magician place their hands in the orange column of flame, adding in their skills to help Kaito defeat the Boss.

Opening his eyes again, his flame analyses the target infront of him.

"Yamamoto, knife" he shouts. Yamamoto takes a knife from the floor before chucking it at Kaito. Kaito catches it with ease- part of one of his magic tricks- before flicking his wrist. After the flick it's no longer a knife, but a whip, just like the Boss has, residing in his hand.

"Moon Mirror" says the Boss mockingly "What are you going to do, shine a light in my face? Oh~ how scary."

Kaito stands up straight, taking a quick look over towards Shinichi: He's propped up on Mukuro, both sitting against the wall.

Raising his chin, he stares the Boss down. "I have only one thing to say to you" says Kaito smugly

"Oh? And what are your epic last words?" the Boss asks, still condescending

"What you can do I can do better"

Not giving the Boss time to react, Kaito flicks the whip and just like the Boss did earlier to Shinichi, pulls his feet from under him. As the Boss falls, he faces the floor, places his hands on the tiles to brace himself, and pulls the captured leg towards him. Kaito too goes with the flow, allowing the whip to pull him down. Like the Boss did, he plants his hands on the floor. But since there is nothing to pull, he levers himself up, his leg leading, and flips over, sending his leg into the Boss' back. With his stomach facing the ceiling and his arms twisted at a weird angle, Kaito quickly moves again. Pushing up with his hands, he forces himself to sit upright, straddling the Boss's back. Unwinding the whip from his foot, Kaito has just enough time to jump off before a foot comes flying towards his old position. The Boss picks himself up and turns to face Kaito.

"Salto Volante Veloce Come Luce" he shouts. The whip in his hand moves so quickly it creates after images. Kaito takes a step backwards analysing the attack infront of him. As the attack comes towards him, Kaito realises that he can't see an opening. He turns and runs, gaining enough speed to kick off the wall and climb some boxes, safe for the moment.

"Any idea's guys?" he asks those across the room.

There are shakes of the head. "Sorry Moon, only Cloud has ever fought off that move, and that's only by getting hit by it. Sky can, but only with his gloves." Supplies Yamamoto.

"Grhm. Mist, give me… the special lollipop, in my chest pocket." Mumbles Shinichi, pushing himself off of Mukuro. Trying to open his eyes feels like pure torture.

"But Star, you are in no condition-" starts Mukuro, pushing Shinichi back down

"Damn it Mist… just give it to me. I'll be able to help." Shinichi gasps around the knife still in his chest.

"No Star, you can't even open your eyes anymore" counters Mukuro.

Shinichi snaps his head around, facing Mukuro even with closed eyes. " I won't move, or do anything else… I'll even let you keep ahold of me… just let me do this… then we can go home… and I'll recover all you want me to then."

Mukuro sighs, pushing Shinichi to sit against his chest. Carefully manoeuvring around the knife, Mukuro finds the aforementioned lollipop. This one is thicker and a different colour to the other ones. He places it against Shinichi's lips, letting the detective take it from him.

After a few moments Shinichi takes a deep breath, fully leans against Mukuro and slowly opens his eyes.

"Star" he whispers

"Oh no you don't" starts the Boss, turning to face the sitting duo. Ryohei and Yamamoto tense. But it's Kaito who stops the Boss.

"Ladies and Gentlemen" the Magician shouts

"Fuck Kaito, not now" mumbles Shinichi.

The Magician shoots his card gun and a grappling hook plants itself into the ceiling. Swinging over, he's slightly infront of the Boss, his back to Shinichi. As soon as he is close to the Boss, he opens his arms wide, and confetti falls to the ground. One square slides down the Boss' face and opens a cut. Jumping back, the Boss uses the same move again to defend himself.

"Now Star" shouts the Magician.

"Observation" gasps Shinichi.

The confetti and the whip slow down, and Shinichi can see the actual whip rather than the after images. After studying it for a moment, his flame labels a weak point, and the pen passes it on to Kaito. Using the last of his power he sends one last message

[To Yamamoto]

Distract the Boss, run straight at him

His job done, Shinichi finds he can't grasp anymore flames. His eyes blur, and he can't make a coherent thought.

Seeing and feeling Shinichi relax in his grip, Mukuro realises that he's fallen asleep. Holding the lollipop in place, he hopes that it can lessen the recoil effects of Shinichi's skill.

Yamamoto readies his sword and runs with a yell at the whip. The Boss turns to Yamamoto, the whip still flying in his hands. Unseen, Kaito reaches forwards and throws a knife at the man's weak point: between his shoulder and neck. Since it's the hand that he has the whip in, it doesn't cover that side as well as the other, and leaves this gap open. From Yamamoto's position on the ground, it would be hard to hit. But from his aerial advantage, Kaito is in the perfect position to attack.

Losing concentration, the Boss finds that he's wrapped the whip around himself instead.

Jumping to the ground, Kaito speaks into the receiver

"Enemy Boss captured and tied up."

"Just kill me now" demands the Boss "I won't tell you anything. You are all a pathetic excuse for a Family. Vongola doesn't deserve to be a Family anymore."

"Kufufufu, after what you did to Star, I would be more than happy to fulfill your wish. However, I am tied up at the moment." Laughs Mukuro, his voice deep and smooth

"I'll do it." Volunteers Kaito. "For Star". Picking up a different knife off of the floor, Kaito walks over and stabs the Boss straight through the heart.

The Boss gasps, not able to scream, and looks over to his only surviving subordinate- the one Gokudera left alive. "I'll see you on the other side. Remember me as Vongola's greatest villain" he coughs and collapses to the floor.

Suddenly, the only window in the room crashes, and Hibari jumps down, landing in a crouch. Straightening up he sneers at the Boss and walks over.

WARNING- YOU NOW MUST READ THE NEXT CHAPTER!

Everything will make sense once you've read it.

Please feel free to review this chapter. However, any points about how OOC, how confusing this is, or if it seems as if I've jumped a plot point, will be ignored. I would like reviews about your thoughts on the fight scenes, suspense bits, or best bits you found. Take this piece as you see it rather than as part of the story.

In regards to Shinichi's pen's writings, it's something that would be better seen as part of an anime or manga. Since Shinichi doesn't have a lot of time- and to conserve flames- he writes in short hand (hense the weird sentences at the start), along with drawing pictures- such as the arrow telling Ryohei which way was east. Lots of battle tactics would have been lines drawn with flames, but that can be hard to get across with words.

My Reviewer Hattori Sei actually found some of my inspiration for Shinichi's Star Observation technique. Not the idea itself, but the way it appears to Shinichi's eyes. It's from the BBC series Sherlock. If you want to see an example follow this link to the BBC iplayer. (I'm not sure if those in other countries can access it or not) and watch from 12:48 until he leaves the bathroom. Those floating words are exactly what I'm getting at, and Shinichi's pen then copies them down. http : / / www. bbc. co. uk/ iplayer/ episode/ b01b2vl4/ Sherlock_Series_2_The_Reichenbach_Fall/ Just remove the spaces and it should work. Alternatively watch this youtube clip http : / / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=4ZWhdgL-VTo&feature=related and then this one http : / / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=im4TYITM0VE. These youtube clips are linked, but show a different deduction to the Iplayer clip. That one I couldn't find a youtube clip for, so I had to do it the long way. The Iplayer clip is him meeting a journalist who has disguised herself as a fan, and Sherlock deduces that she is a journalist. The other clips are how Sherlock knew about Watson's past from their first meeting.