AN: IMPORTANT! I'm grounded right now, meaning limited computer access. Blame my grandma for it, she basically spouted lies and exaggerations to my mom and now I have basically about 6 hours of computer when I usually have like 11-12 hours (I know, bad for health, whatever). Add that to my own studying for 8th grade, summer homework, my own life, I have little time to write it up. Just for this chapter, I spent over 3 hours on this, which is just about 1800 words when it's usually 2100. So prepare for the updates to be slower.

Notes: Nothing important, Tsuna is OOC but he's in informat mode. Thumbs up for anyone who got the hint about hyper intuition in this chapter.

Chapter 9: Calm before the Storm

"Ni-san! Wake up!" called a familiar voice from the heavens as he laid peacefully on the meadow grass. Natsu grumbled but didn't open his eyes, the sun's warm rays reached down from the clear sky above to touch his skin, leaving trails of heat, and the scent of wildflowers danced in the wind, playful and free, leading him away from the voice.

With his head resting in his arms, Natsu was at peace. Nothing seemed like it could go wrong, in the small paradise. In a invisible corner of his mind, suspicious thought nagged him. Questions of where the place was, how he got there, but not one convinced him to rise in restlessness.

A cold hand touch his cheek while a shadow blocked the sun from reaching him. Warmth, where was the warmth? Natsu wondered drowsily. Go away he thought, irritated, You're cold. And it was. With the presence came a chill and the feeling of something dark, like a barely contained storm.

"Kufufu...So you are my target" the shadow whispered, the hand still on his cheek, freezing cold, despite Natsu's protests.

The shadow hummed, "Maybe I should take care of you right now? Though dead bodies are an inconvenience~"

Natsu's face twisted into a frown, his eyes still closed. Dead body? What was the shadow talking about? Curious, Natsu lazily started opening his mind, even as the hand left his cheek to travel down his throat.

His eyes were only half-open and still rather fuzzy when the hand tightened around his throat. The reaction was inevitable. Natsu choked, the air was gone he thought in panic. He couldn't breath. Struggling weakly against the shadow's hold, still rather sleepy, Natsu's eyes managed to catch the image of an red eye, with the kanji for six right where the pupil should be before the world went dark.

"Ni-san!"

SLAM!

Jerking up, Natsu's eyes snapped open as he gasped for air, like it was his lifeline, which it was. Surveying the area, Natsu eyes soon connected to an annoyed looking Tsuna, clutching a rather thick notebook in his hands, Natsu vaguely realized that Tsuna had used it to wake him up.

Not only that, but they were in an classroom, an empty one, not a meadow. Yawning, Natsu reached an hand up to rub his eyes, coming to the conclusion that it had been a dream, a rather disturbing dream.

"Finally!" huffed Tsuna, standing over Natsu who was sitting at his desk. "How long were you going to sleep? By the way, Fujimori-sensei says you have detention with her on Monday. Serves you right for sleeping through class!"

"Sorry" said Natsu sheepishly as he grabbed his book bag and slung it over his shoulder. "What time is it?"

Tsuna rolled his eyes at his twin and said,"Well you're going to be late for the duel if you don't hurry up for one."

Natsu's eyes widened. "Tsuna~! Why didn't you wake me up" wailed Natsu as he dragged us twin out of the classroom and down the stairs.

"I tried!" protested Tsuna as he tried his best to not trip as his twin pulled him down the stairs. "But you wouldn't wake up! You slept like a rock! If a hurricane came rolling by you wouldn't have noticed!"

"I'm not that bad" pouted Natsu as he kicked open the front doors of Namimori Middle School.

"Yes you are" snapped Tsuna, before hesitating and asking, "What were you dreaming about anyway?"

"Hmm?" questioned Natsu in confusion as they ran to the gym in which the dual was taking place, "I don't remember much, but I know it started turning bad near the end. Why?"

Tsuna nodded in relief before stating quietly, "Dunno how to explain properly, but you felt weird near the end."

Natsu blinked in confusion, before deciding to ignore it in favor of the dual. He pushed the green metal doors of the gym open, and ran inside, inconsequently dragging Tsuna too.

The first thing Natsu saw was people. A lot of people. Tsuna tug his sleeve before spilling information a mile a minute, surveying the entire gymnasium at the same time. The people near them tried to subtly eavesdrop, though failing horribly, as Tsuna had absolutely good judgement regarding competitions, and they really wanted to win the bets.

"You got a lot of people here for the dual" started Tsuna, "Sasagawa-chan's next to Kurokawa-san near the referee, he's Mochida-sempai's vice-captain. Better watch out, Mochida-sempai might have bought him off. Not that it's going to do much, Hibari-san, who's in that corner by the way, and Reborn, who's hiding on one of those high windows near the roof, are the unofficial referees anyway."

"Sasagawa-chan's brother, an upperclassman, is over there too. Heard he's the boxing captain, a genius in that area, he's been scout but stayed here for his sis. Have you met him yet?-"

"Yeah, during Reborn's training. He's rather...extreme" mumbled Natsu as he watched his brother completely ignore him and continuing babbling information. At the corner of his eye, he saw Mochida talking to one of his club members, he hadn't noticed Natsu's arrival yet, amongst the crowd and the arriving people.

"-Yamamoto is next to him, hasn't seen us yet. Gokudera-san is also in a corner, looks grumpy, don't bother him. Mochida-sensei is talking to one of the club members, Ryuuji Akihiko. Ryuuji-san is in charge of the equipment for the match. Be careful, Ryuuji-san might give you a defective one."

"You think they're seriously going to try? Hibari's right there" asked Natsu in disbelief.

Tsuna shrugged, "Maybe. It's reputation at stake after all. You're on pretty much equal standing to him. The loser will never climb the social ladder with a defeat like this. A little desperate of him to cheat, but he'll get some points if he's caught, depending on how he turns it of course, on bravery and vigilante ideal and what not, but it'll also hurt him."

"Oh" said Natsu blankly, confused but not really wanting to no.

Tsuna looked him in the eye, "You don't have an idea what I just said, do you?"

"Eh...yes?" sweated Natsu.

Tsuna huffed, but didn't point him out. "Either way, be careful. A lot is on this one dual. Whatever you do, don't underestimate him. He's not the Captain of the Kendo club for nothing. He's a literal prodigy at this, it's his turf. Put Reborn's training into use."

"Got it!" saluted Natsu, "What's the chance I'll win?"

"...You really wanna know? Really?"

"...On second thought, No."

"Smart boy."

"Oi! Where the hell is that bastard!" roared Mochida, decked out in his kendo gear, "Did he ditch the duel, that coward?!"

Natsu twitched, and a large murderous aura surrounded him. As Tsuna subtle backed away, handing him a handball, Natsu started muttering under his breath, "...Call me a coward,huh, want to die, don't YOU!"

With that final declaration, Natsu threw the offered hand ball with deadly accuracy at the spiky haired kendo captain. In the background, Tsuna helpfully declared, "In accuracy in sports, Ni-san's second only to Yamamoto, and that is still debateable."

"Where the fuck is he-" SPLAT. The ball connected to his cheek.

There was silence until Natsu, with glaring amber eyes and murderous aura, shouted, "Call me a coward, you bastard?! Get your eyes fucking checked you Baka! I've been here for five minutes already you, blind bat!"

With equal anger, Mochida was prepared to yell back, even as the hand ball fell to the ground leaving a red spot on his cheek, but one sentence from an aloof skylark shut him up.

"I'll bite you all to death if you don't shut up, herbivores."

Needless to say, the two shut their mouths even as they glared at each other with rising hate. The unfortunate kendo club members staffed to hand out the equipment for the match, trembled like a leaf in the wind, and wouldn't stop even as Natsu sent a small smile at them.

Plopping the equipment on the floor, the poor club members ran away immediately, not even bothering to help Natsu put them on. Sighing, Natus knelt down to grab the chest plate. Upon lifting it, Natsu knew immediately that his twin was right on the fact that Mochida might mess with the equipment.

It was heavier than normal, Natsu himself having helped clean up the kendo club for detention once knew that by experience, but with the extra training from Reborn, it seemed like normal clothing. For a second, Natsu was tempted to wear it anyway, just to scare Mochida, but he remembered Tsuna's warning.

Whatever you do, don't underestimate him. He's not the Captain of the Kendo club for nothing.

Frowning, Natsu dropped the armour and grabbed the shinai. The crowd stiffened watching with narrowed eyes. In the corner, HIbari eyed the armour, before sliding his tonfas out. A tug on the sleeve of his jacket stopped him from biting Mochida to death.

Looking down, he saw Tsuna. With a deceptive smile, Tsuna whispered, "Please don't interfere now, Hibari-san. You can bite Mochida to death later. If Natsu's loses, you'll get too. It's a win-win situation."

"Hnn" grunted Hibari, retracing his tonfas, to the relief of the more observant of the audience, and returned his attention to the duel. With a smile, Tsuna left Hibari's side to join Yamamoto near the front.

"Yo" greeted Yamamoto, not lifting his eyes from the two competitors. "Which side has the most chance of winning?"

"65% for Mochida-sempai. Natus is in the disadvantage" reported Tsuna lightly.

"Ahh, guess he should have accepted the armour then" sighed Yamamoto disappointed.

"No, he did the right thing" corrected Tsuna, shaking his head. "The armour will slow him down. Mochida is more experience in this, and will know just where to strike and how strong. Speed is one of Natsu's only advantages."

"But you said Mochida's going to win" blinked Yamamoto.

"No, I didn't" countered Tsuna, "I said Natsu's is at a disadvantage. Doesn't mean he won't win. He's no pushover and as stubborn as a mule, he'll pull through."

"Oh" said Yamamoto before shouting to Natsu, "Okay, Natsu! I'm betting 2000 (1) yen on you, so don't lose okay!"

"Count on it, Yamamoto" yelled Natsu back as the referee slowly started to raise the flag.

As Yamamoto cheered Natsu on and Tsuna smiled confidently, neither noticed the six (2)pairs of eyes on them, each having a new impression on the Sawada Twins.

(1) Approximately 20 US dollars. I'm assuming that's a good amount fro gambling, since I never did before.

(2) Just to make it clear, the six are: Hibari Kyoya, Reborn, Kurokawa Hana, Sasagawa Kyoko, Gokudera Hayato, and Sasagawa Ryohei.

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