Chapter 15.5 And the truth is revealed

This is written in chronological order for the day they just had. Things that might have been confusing in the last chapter should be cleared up in this one. To make it more than just a load of random points, it's from Reborn's POV generally, writing a report on what he saw.

About half an hour before the assignment started.

"We've arrived" I announce, stopping in the middle of the clearing.

During the walk, both Gokudera and Tsuna have been getting paler and paler, taking side glances at each other. If the helicopter ride took them where they think they are going, then walking this far would lead to…

Tsuna stops walking as soon as he enters the clearing, a phantom image flashing before his eyes. Gokudera continues walking to the other side of the clearing, and kneels on the grass.

"We changed the future Juudaime" says Gokudera, voice deep and serious, as well as a little sad. "You won't find yourself here 5 years in the future. I promise you that. I swear it, I swear it, I swear it. "

"I know Gokudera, but it's still a little bit of a shock returning here. I know everything was planned out, and that I never really died, but the older you was so sad, and nearly crying… It really impacted me." Replies Tsuna, his words little above a shaky whisper.

"Ne, you two alright?" questions Yamamoto, not understanding what's going on.

"This was where Juudaime ended up… when he came to the future the first time. But when he got here, he was… he was…"

"I was in a coffin." Finishes Tsuna. " I met older Gokudera who told me I was dead in that time. But like I said, I know it was all planned and acted out, and that Older Me never actually died, but seeing Gokudera act like that… Someone telling you you're dead in the future, and ending up in their coffin, well, it's not something that you can forget, no matter how much logic disagrees."

I sigh and proceed to kick the pair back into seriousness.

"We're not here for that. We are here for a tactical training session. As you all know, Dino brought some of his men with him to Japan for a visit, and he agreed to help with this simulation. This is a bit like a war game. The aim of the game is for Shinichi or Kaito to capture or 'kill' Dino before any of Dino's subordinates can do the same to Tsuna. " I scold

"Why just Shinichi or Kaito?" asks Lambo.

"This is purely to train their skills in a suitable environment, idiot cow. Therefore they need to do all of the hard work. That's why I'm implementing this rule: Only Kaito and Shinichi may use their flames." My statement is met with shock and disagreement. I suspected as much.

"What? Why can't we use our flames? We would usually, so why not now?" questions Gokudera.

"Two reasons. Like I said before, this is training for them. With you lot using your flames, Mukuro could just scare all of the subordinates and Tsuna could rush in, battle Dino and it would all be over. We want to train their flames for combat, not yours. Secondly, you lot rely on your flames too much. In the future, your subordinates won't have flames to protect themselves with. Mafiosi have been doing this flameless for generations, so it's time you learnt how to too. Plus, Dino's Family don't use flames, so it's an unfair and un-needed advantage." I look sharply at them all, making sure to use fear to get the message into their tiny brains.

"Kufufu, what about weapons?" asks Mukuro, grinning evilly.

"No serious damage. Shinichi, Kaito, Yamamoto bring out your blades." I request. Yamamoto hands over his sword and Shinichi clicks his pen so the blade appears before handing it over. Kaito rummages around before producing his 'normal' cards. I bring out something red from my pocket. Placing it over the sharp blades I explain "This will stop people being harmed by the blades, however the red colour will come off to show the injury. I will be judging hits and will tell you to act accordingly. You must act realistically, or I'll exclude you from the game. If I tell you you lost the use of an arm, you'd better not use it again. The same applies for Dino's team. Bullets will be paint filled blanks. Gokudera, you have those bombs I gave you right. Ryohei, not full power; no broken bones. Shinichi, after what you showed me with the footballs earlier, use low density balls and I'll tell the target to act accordingly. Kaito, magic tricks are allowed, as is anything in your arsenal as KID. Mukuro, be careful how you use your trident. I'll place this to cover the points though" Jumping over, I add the red gum over the tips of the trident, making sure to use a lot. It wouldn't do to have him actually stab someone to death. "Mukuro, no flames, no paths, no possession bullets. Use the trident, and any weapons you take from the enemy."

"To make this more fun, as well as realistic, there will be a back story for this. This could well be something you all have to do in the future, so get as in character as you can. The story is that Vongola and Chiavarone have recently had a fight, however innocent people were killed during the fight by Dino's orders. Involving innocents is something we don't do in the Mafia, so it's unacceptable that Dino did. This means that you all would be really mad at him for doing so. Decimo has ordered for Dino to be captured and brought to Headquarters, dead or alive. However, Dino won't just sit there and accept that. He'll be trying to kill Tsuna due to the fight they had earlier. Everyone get it?"

"Che, involving innocents on purpose is unforgiveable. It'll be easy for us to get mad at Dino for that. None of us here want normal people to be harmed" responds Gokudera. The others all nod in agreement.

"We are going to make this as real as possible, and use coded terms, just like you will in the future. Dino will be known as Horse. The building where Dino will be shall be known as the Stables. All of you will be called by your Guardian name, and Weather means I want to talk to all of you. Night means Kaito and Shinichi. If you want to talk to me, my code will be Hitman. Sort out any other codes you guys want out for yourselves." I continue.

"The number of men we take out could be coded as 'C minus X". 'T minus' obviously refers to time left before a certain action. Looking at the map Reborn gave us earlier, the best point to gather before an attack would be here, known as point Alpha." Describes Shinichi.

The meeting continues for a few more minutes, before they decide they are ready to go. Changing Leon, I set off a flare, and the game begins.

The others disperse into the trees covering different directions. Meanwhile, Shinichi and I run over to the helicopter and get in.

Turning on his flame, Shinichi observes the forest below him. "Star Observation! …Target spotted"

Gokudera, stop. Tree on your left.

Some people were more affected by my rule than others. Tsuna was one of them. All he did was fight with his flames. I had even confiscated his gloves- you should have seen his face. All the others wanted to protect him, since without his flames, it was impossible for him to protect himself. Dame-Tsuna indeed.

Lambo was another person who was going to have trouble. Unless someone hit him with lightening or electricity, he couldn't do much to help either. Yet he was determined to do more than just sit there and get in the way. He was happy that Gokudera trusted him enough to give him a gun. But with these paint filed blanks, it wasn't like he could do much damage to himself anyway. Lambo felt very important as he kept guard over their prisoner. However, being only 10, boredom still got to him. He was just about to fall asleep when Gokudera burst through the doors. Reflexes trained at a young age by the Bovino's automatically forced him to fire at the threat. Luckily enough he missed Gokudera, and recognised him before he could take a second shot. He shouted at Gokudera, but Gokudera didn't even react, not one 'Damn Ahoshi' in sight. His concern was answered later as Tsuna's scream ran across the communicators. Lambo wanted to move, but he had his orders.

Mukuro was another person who wished for his flames. But after a warning from Shinichi, he decided that it would be okay to do this once without breaking anyone's mind. It was hard to not illusion the hell out of Dino when he stabbed Shinichi, but looking after the detective came first apparently. He's rather protective of our newest addition.

As the mission got started, it was amazingly Shinichi who stayed in character the most. It was his reminder of "Who wants to greet the traitors" that reminded the others of the Back Story I had given them. It must be KID's influence, I decide.

Gokudera slams down the door in his impulsive way and shoots the guards. As I walk in I see where the paint landed and deem them both dead. Telling the room so, the men lie on the floor and do not move again.

It was quite funny seeing them do the interrogation. I haven't trained them in this, neither has the Ninth. They were so in character that I had to smile at them. It seems that they can all be serious if they want to. Even the happy-go-lucky Yamamoto- he was the one to first hold their guest to sword point. I can see Shinichi's influence in what Kaito does. Pain is a good interrogation technique. But it surprises me that Kaito also goes for the nice approach.

I can't wait to see what Tsuna thinks about how they portrayed him. He sounds like one pissed off Boss. I know that I would have been if this was real life. After Kaito disarms the man- again something I think Shinichi told him to do since I saw the pen move- Dino's subordinate looks at me. I give a small nod, telling him to give in to their demands. They had done a good enough job for the first time.

They all took better to Shinichi's leadership that I thought they would. It seems that Shinichi will be able to make them work as a team better. After the smoke clears, I nearly laugh at where they have positioned themselves. Gokudera and Yamamoto have immediately taken the right and left sides of the room. Ryohei took the top, and Mukuro the bottom- quite ironic considering their flames.

It almost looked like Kaito and Dino were acting in some play. Kaito sounded like he was reading a warrant or something. And Dino did very well as the villain I must admit.

That's when the battle starts. I kept an eye on all of them from my advantage point near the ceiling. The first one to cause a decent blow was Yamamoto. Whilst the blade only scratched the surface, leaving the red colouring in it's wake, I know that in reality, that slice would have penetrated right down to the bone, if not further. So, like I said I would, I called the shots. Leon changed into a Megaphone for me and I told the guy, Fredrico, that he couldn't use that leg. Realistically, he decided to remain on the floor, it would have been hard to stand with a wound like that. Dino's men all have enough experience to keep their injuries realistic. Quite a group of actors, all of them.

Shinichi calls out to me, a tiny ball of flame being created. I knew what he wanted me to do. This was something that the target wouldn't know how to react to. We had tested these footballs out earlier that week, as soon as the belt was finished. Balls that small, and highly dense were as good as bullets, if not better. In testing, that ball could zoom easily through any piece of meat we used for target practice. He can't get arrested for having a gun either this way. All the man feels is a light brush to the back of his head. However when I pronounce him dead, he looks at me. I give him one of my glares, and he immediately plays dead.

When Shinichi got targeted, I was pleased with Shinichi's reactions, but they need to be worked on. Its no good if his body can't keep up with his mind. I had to keep a close eye on Mukuro though. I could see him fuming away. Luckily enough he remembers where he is, and only places the points of his trident against the man's throat, instead of actually stabbing him. Trust him to come up with a gruesome way to kill. I don't think the others could have handled how much blood would have actually come out of the targets throat. I pronounce his target dead.

Hearing gun shots, I look over to Gokudera. Funnily enough, it's Romario that he's fighting. I like Gokudera's plan here. He purposely kept Romario alive, knowing he's Dino's right hand man. We could get a lot of information out of him. Aiming for the arms and feet ensures that Romario couldn't do anything other than sit there. Romario was quite happy to sit and watch the proceedings.

I, too, was surprised when Gokudera rushed out of the door, but unlike the others, I recognised that face. He only makes it when he's worried over Tsuna- and not just generally worried, but life and death worried.

Feeling Mukuro's aura, I immediately go over and talk to him. He proceeds to make figurative Swiss cheese out of his target. To give credit to Dino's subordinate, he did scream enough to compensate. I'm glad that Mukuro stopped before he poked the poor man's eyes out too. I had to proclaim him dead then.

That lot are surely a family worthy of Tsuna. They all immediately stopped when he screamed. And Dino acted like such a melodramatic villain, I nearly had to laugh at him. What Boss goes Bwhaha? Only made up ones do. Even Romario rolled his eyes at Dino's acting. It seems that Dino has kept his childish side. Which I suppose is why his Family love him so much.

I can only guess at what Gokudera saw when protecting Tsuna.

I can't believe it. Juudaime ended back up in that clearing. I charge into the clearing and he's laying there, in the exact position the coffin was in. My mind overlapped the two images, and then all I saw was red. It wasn't until Juudaime screamed that I came back to my senses. I won't let Juudaime get killed. Juudaime is going to live a long life, and go into retirement. He's not going to die until he's over 100. I'm not going to let the Mafia kill him. I'm so happy though. He shouted out for me. Even though I asked him to, he still did it. Ahh~ I'm so happy I'm going to burst.

Yamamoto and Ryohei had some good teamwork killing the penultimate enemy. From the look of it, it was Shinichi's influence again. Those two especially are suited to battling together. It looked like they were playing twister with the enemy as the board, they were so wrapped around each other. And the game of Football too. That looked like a lot of fun. They were toying with that poor man. I could see it in his face, he was quite scared. Seems like Kaito is used to flying footballs though. He knew to look out for them, and even used them to his advantage. If I remember correctly, Conan used them against KID, so I suppose he's had a lot of practice.

I think that they all forgot they were playing a game when Shinichi got stabbed. Shinichi certainly acted the part very well, maybe he's been shot in the chest before? He had the gasping and the movement down quite realistically. Just to remind him though, I tell him he can't move anywhere. In reality he wouldn't stay conscious very long. However it seems that his flame drained him before I could tell him to fake sleep anyway. I commend Shinichi for using the last of his strength to help the others, no matter the cost to his body. It's a lesson the other need to learn.

Kaito stabbing Dino's heart wasn't expected either. I thought it was a rule of his not to harm anyone. It's certainly a rule that needs to go out of the window and soon too. But Dino had to overact again. I swear he's enjoying this too much.

And that's when Hibari walks in.

"And where have you been?" asks Kaito.

Hibari ignores him as he walks closer to Dino.

"He's been sleeping on the roof it seems" I supply. Since he hadn't already been in battle with Dino when we arrived, it was the only other possible outcome.

Hibari picks the tied Dino up, slings him over his shoulder and proceeds to walk back towards the window.

"Woah, whoa, Kyoya! What are you doing? Kyoya put me down! Romario save me!" shouts Dino.

"Sorry Boss, I'm out of action" Romario chuckles. "I think Gokudera was going to take me in for questioning. In the state he left me he could have easily killed me."

"Does this mean we won?" asks Yamamoto, noticing the change of atmosphere.

"Forget about that!" shouts Dino "Someone come and save me! Kyoya, we can fight later."

Hibari just smirks at him and jumps out if the window, Hibird following along, singing the school anthem.

"Good luck Dino" I shout, laughing at my poor ex-student. It seems like Hibari was waiting to take Dino away. Turning to Yamamoto I add "Yes, You did win. Whilst the objective was to get him back to the clearing, since you've killed everyone else off, I think you would have done it."

"Win to the EXTREME!" Roars Ryohei, and the others all cheer, apart from Shinichi, who changes position against Mukuro.

Back at Vongola headquarters, they meet up with Tsuna and Gokudera. And the first thins Tsuna says is:

"What kind of Boss do you think I'm going to become? You had to restrain me? I was going to burn them all to a crisp? Is this how you see me?"

Kaito merely laughs in his face, before sharing a pitying glance with me.

"It was an intimidation technique Tsuna. If it had been anyone who didn't know you, then they would have been really scared. You are something to be scared of with your flames."

Shinichi, who can at least walk now, stumbles over to Kaito before whispering "But you know as well as I do that how we portrayed him will be an accurate picture in the future. When he becomes a Boss for real, when he hardens up a bit, he really would harm someone for involving innocents. He's too naive at the moment to realise that it's part of his nature. He wants to protect everyone he can. Most of the others are naive too." I peer around Kaito's shoulder to look at Shinichi, surprised that he could have that insight. Seems like I'm not the only one who knows how real mafia life will change Tsuna and the rest. I nod at both of them, silently agreeing with what they already know- well that is why they are the Night after all.

"Reborn, I was wondering, what type of weapons did you give out? The paint blanks I can understand, but all of the blades really seemed to cut and draw blood. I was expecting a red line, not something that really resembled blood. And when I got stabbed, it really hurt, and the knife stayed in without me holding it." questions Shinichi.

Reborn smirks. "We are in Vongola after all. We have some of the best training equipment. You wouldn't have taken it seriously if all that was left was a pen mark on your bodies. Those are like stage knives and move when they are pushed against skin. The gum contains a substance similar to stage blood, hence why it dripped. Every effort was made to make this as realistic as possible. Judging by your reactions, you guys got pretty into this. Maybe we should do this more often" Reborn lowers his fedora before polishing Leon.

A few hours later, a bruised but patched up Dino walks through the doors.

"Did you see how amazing I was there! I played my part perfectly. Wasn't my acting as the villain great! I should play that role more often Bwhaha!" Dino sits down in an offered seat, before accepting a drink. Romario follows and stands behind his Boss

"Of course Boss, you were excellent as usual."

"Yeah, Dino, you were so evil and serious. You should have seen him Tsuna, Kaito was all like, 'do you have anything to say about your arrest', and Dino just smiled and said "yeah. Fuck you" haha, certainly the villain alright." Comments Yamamoto.

"Yes I heard him." Agrees Tsuna. "He seemed to rather enjoy sending an assassin after me. I remember there being a lot of Bwhahaha's." He turns a mock glare to Dino, who merely laughs it off.

"Ahh, little Bro, no worries. I would never send an assassin after you. But I really enjoyed today. It seems like you've found 2 excellent guardians there. In fact, my men are a little scared of them. That one who was attacked by Mukuro and Shinichi with the football, he can't even look at a football anymore. He's totally scared stiff. And the one who you interrogated? He played me back a recording, and I loved what you did to him. So where are Shinichi and Mukuro? I don't see them anywhere. " Dino looks around the room, trying to find the pair.

Kaito answers him, arms crossed and apparently in a little huff. "Once Shinichi was checked over for injuries, the doctors deemed that he only needed to rest. Spanner gave Mukuro these special pills to help Shinichi's brain recover from the over-use. The Kokuyo Gang came to collect Mukuro and insisted that they take Shinichi with them. The doctor didn't see why not, since all Shinichi needs is rest, and they left with him. Mukuro wouldn't let me go either."

The others all laugh over Kaito's pout and continue to talk over their training exercise.

I hope that I've cleared everything up. If there was a part or incident that happened that wasn't cleared up, then tell me and I'll make sure to answer.

Hope that you all enjoyed this double special, and I'll see you all next time

Isn't the latest chapter great too! Hibari's face on the last page! I had a feeling something was going to happen when Yuni and Reborn were talking, now Colo and Lal just confirmed it. I wonder what is so important that Reborn must win? And the prince! I won't get to see Bel fight T.T

Phantom Hitman 1412

First Published: 01 Feb. 12