Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or any of its characters.
Chapter 13: The Truth Hurts
Tsuna's jaw dropped; he couldn't help it. "Eh?" he stated eloquently.
"Yup," Jack said, popping the 'p'. "All you have to do is give me one of your remaining days and you'll know who killed you. Look, you have two days left anyways. That means you'd have one day to get whatever revenge you have in mind over with and probably still have time to say your final goodbyes." He shrugged. "In my opinion, this is a win-win situation."
Tsuna sweatdropped. "Maybe from your point of view, but this will be the last time I ever get to come to Earth! I'll never see them after this!"
"That's not true," Jack said, shaking his head. "You'll get to see them when they die. Everyone goes through the lobby."
"But they probably won't be going through there anytime soon," Tsuna sighed. Reapers, apparently, did not have a good concept of time.
"Five years, fifty years." Jack waved his hand flippantly. "They all start to blur together. You'll see them before you know it."
"That might be more comforting if we weren't talking about them dying," Tsuna said. He glanced over to see that Chrome was about done with her explanation.
"I think I should talk it over with the others before I decide," Tsuna stated, shifting from foot to foot.
Jack shrugged. "Whatever. It's your life. Death. Ugh, there has got to be another saying…" Tsuna turned back to Chrome and left the reaper to his musings. Chrome and Mukuro were staring at him, which meant the other guardians were looking at what they thought was open air. Unfortunately, their gazes weren't entirely on target as Lambo was staring at Tsuna's shoulder and Yamamoto's eyes were leveled at a spot around Tsuna's forehead. Of all of them without psychic senses, Hibari seemed to be the most on target, his focus point only a little off its mark.
"So, he's really there?" Ryohei asked, looking confused. "I still don't see anything TO THE EXTREME!"
"I don't either," Gokudera scowled, sounding frustrated. "But I guess the pineapple head wouldn't have any reason to lie to us."
"It's not my fault you can't see what's in front of your face," Mukuro snorted. Tsuna could see a muscle going in Gokudera's jaw and his hands were twitching toward where he stashed his dynamite. The brunette felt the need to step in before it got messy again. He didn't think the room would survive another guardian fight.
"Er, thanks for getting everyone caught up, Chrome," Tsuna said quickly, giving the Mist guardian a small grin.
"No problem, Boss," she replied, smiling in return.
"Wait, so he can hear us, but we can't hear him?" Yamamoto began, frowning. Chrome nodded. "Okay, then we'll just have to communicate through you two!" He beamed at the Mist guardians. Hibari rolled his eyes and looked almost physically pained at the thought of relying on Mukuro for anything. The skylark decided to turn to Chrome instead.
"Does the herbivore know who killed him?"
"Actually that's what I need to tell you guys," Tsuna said, Chrome echoing his words after he finished a sentence. "One of the reapers was telling me he could say who killed me." The words sunk in for a moment.
"Well, isn't that a good thing?" Yamamoto asked tentatively.
"EXTREME!" Ryohei agreed. "We can hunt down the people who hurt my little brother and make them pay TO THE EXTREME!"
"They'll regret messing with the Tenth," Gokudera vowed.
"I WANT TO FIND THE BAD PEOPLE WHO HURT TSUNA-NII," Lambo yelled. Hibari didn't say anything but everyone could tell that he was itching to leave the mansion, and they had no doubt that once he did heads would roll.
"Wait a second, Mukuro said, crossing his arms. "You said the reaper 'could tell you', meaning he hadn't already. You have to do something to get the information." It wasn't phrased as a question, but Tsuna nodded in confirmation.
"Er, yes. I have to give up one of my days on Earth," he replied, fiddling with his ring nervously. Mukuro's eyes flashed and Chrome gasped at the news.
"But Boss…" Chrome trailed off.
"What is it?" Gokudera asked, sounding frustrated and worried. "What's wrong?"
"Tsuna has a deal where he can only get a name if he gives up a day on Earth," Mukuro relayed, dropping his arms to his side. His fingers twitched like he was itching to get his hands on his trident. "Do you think he'd be more willing to give up information if we… interrogated him?" Tsuna knew that Mukuro's idea of an interrogation was probably psychologically scarring.
"W-well, you can't see him in the first place," Tsuna stuttered. The atmosphere in the room was getting more charged. Gokudera was pacing with a stormy expression and his light-hearted Sun and Rain guardians were uncharacteristically serious. Lambo seemed to have picked up on the tension and he was hunched over and silent, fiddling with things he found in his hair.
"They can't touch me either, don't forget that!" A voice chirped. Tsuna's head whipped around to see Jack waving lazily from the couch. He hadn't budged an inch and looked completely carefree despite the fact that Tsuna's Mist guardian had basically threatened to torture him.
"Er, the reaper says you can't touch him either," Tsuna muttered to Mukuro. The pineapple head looked mildly disappointed at this.
"I suppose that's to be expected," he admitted reluctantly. "Usually I can't interfere in the afterlife."
"So, what do you think we should do, Tenth?" Gokudera asked, staring at a spot just to the left of Tsuna's face.
Tsuna ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I should take him up on that offer," Tsuna said. Though it pained him to give up a day on Earth, he doubted his assassins would stop with his murder and were intent on bringing the Vongola to its knees. If Reborn had drilled one thing into his head, it was that his family was to be put above all things, including himself. Tsuna couldn't stand the thought of losing one of his guardians, his friends, because he was selfish. He hoped he wouldn't see any of them in the lobby anytime soon.
"Boss says he'll take the reaper's offer," Chrome stated softly to the group. The words hung in the air.
"Well, if it's what the Tenth thinks is right…" Gokudera trailed off, looking a bit lost.
"I'm sure he knows what he's doing," Yamamoto agreed, attempting a smile.
"It is EXTREMELY his decision," Ryohei nodded, beaming in Tsuna's general direction though it was a bit strained. Lambo started bawling again, but didn't seem as upset as he was when Tsuna had seen him earlier that week. Tsuna was proud of the Lightning guardian for being able to recover so quickly, though it was obvious Lambo still wasn't fully himself.
"Are you sure this is what you want, Boss?" Chrome asked, staring at Tsuna. She looked a bit sad, but also understanding.
Tsuna nodded. "Maybe it'll help us."
"How noble," Mukuro mused. To anyone else it might've sounded like a sneer, but Tsuna was able to hear a bit of… something else in his tone. Sincerity? Maybe he was imagining things.
"Hn. Soft even after death," Hibari muttered. He crossed his arms. "You're still acting like a herbivore."
Tsuna sighed, but inwardly he was glad all his friends seemed to accept his decision. "Chrome, I'm going to try and talk to Jack. Maybe you guys should start planning a counter measure if the rival famiglia ever comes here?"
Chrome's eye widened, considering the possibility of a sneak attack, and she nodded, turning back to the other guardians. Tsuna walked back over to the couch where Jack was sitting. The red-eyed reaper glanced up from the pages of his manga.
"You make a decision yet?" he asked, stuffing the book into an interior pocket of his hoodie.
"I want to know who killed me," Tsuna said, resolved.
"Okay, sweet." Jack nodded. "All you gotta do is sign the bottom line of this nifty contract here." He unrolled a long piece of parchment and indicated to a dotted line at the bottom. "Usually everything is on computers, but on these travel missions we have to do everything by hand. It's kind of a pain, to be honest." The reaper made a face.
"Er, do you have a pen?" Tsuna asked, glancing around. There were none on the small coffee table near the couch.
"Oh, yeah!" Jack exclaimed, searching his many pockets. "It's around here… Ah-ha!" He pulled out a chewed ballpoint pen triumphantly. Tsuna didn't really appreciate all the teeth marks, but still took the pen and signed the contract. As soon as he finished the last character, the parchment rolled up and vanished with a snap of Jack's fingers.
"That's it?" Tsuna asked hesitantly. It seemed almost too easy.
"Yeah, that's it," Jack confirmed, snatching the pen out of Tsuna's hand, capping it, and shoving it back in his pocket. "Nice and easy like… well, I won't make the obvious joke." He snickered to himself. "Anyways, I'm gonna tell you this only once so listen up." Tsuna was suddenly on alert; Jack's usual carefree smirk had vanished. "Your killers are-"
~~~~~Somewhere else~~~~~
"They're what?!" The head of the famiglia bellowed. The poor messenger flinched.
"Uh, they're all in Italy, sir," he muttered nervously. "In the Vongola mansion."
"They were supposed to be scattered!" The leader growled, drumming his fingers against his office desk. "That would have made them easier to pick off… It was bad enough both Mist guardians were in the same place, but now all of them are together…" He spun around in his chair so that he was looking out of the large window in his office. The messenger knew a dismissal when he saw one and the head could hear the messenger scurry from the room.
"This complicates things," he muttered to himself. "But then again…" He frowned as a thought occurred to him. As he turned the idea over more in his head, it was beginning to gain appeal. "This might be the opportunity we've been waiting for to get rid of those pesky guardians once and for all."
He spun back to face his desk and glanced over his files. All the guardians had thick manila folders detailing their respective powers and abilities. Though they were all dangerous in their own right, they would be completely disorganized in defending themselves without their Boss. The head grinned as he picked up his phone, calling his second in command.
"Yes, sir?" The voice on the other end asked, picking up after only the first ring.
"Organize a trip to Italy tonight. We are going to hit the Vongola while they're all together and take the helm of most powerful family in one fell swoop."
"Of course, sir."
A/N: *tentatively peeks out of hole only to be bombarded with rotten produce* Oh, hi! Guess I've finally updated again... How about that? *a brick flies overhead* Well, I won't bother with any excuses... I guess I'll just say my senior year was really hectic, applying for college, getting my crap together, having existential crisis and drowning under mountains of homework and extracurricular activities. This summer was also pretty busy, but I'll stop whining now. But seriously, I'm really sorry that I made you all wait this long for a new chapter... :(
Okay, I'm gonna come clean. I have not read KHR in an embarrassingly long time, so sorry for any and all OOC-ness! :P I tried to make them as in character as possible, with varying degrees of success... I had to go and re-read this story just to try and get back into my writing groove :O
Anyways, this story is finally wrapping up! *applause* In fact, if I planned this correctly, there should only be one more chapter! :O I know, scary right? Also, I decided to be a giant turd and STILL not say who the rival family is because I don't actually kn- I mean uh I didn't want to give away the surprise. Hahaha yeah... :P Also, I hope to have the next chapter out sooner than a year from now maybe even *whispers* very soon... but I'm not going to promise anything. :( Sorry again.
So yes, please, please review! :D Thank you for all the wonderful reviews/follows/favorites even though I was being a butt! You don't know how much each one meant to me and motivated me to keep writing this story! :D You are all amazing!