Target 22: Dealing With Death? (Arc Finale)
This chapter is really long, but it's the finale. Think of it as an hour long special of some sort.
"Hitomi." Reborn had said. The brunette looked up from where she was trying to concentrate on her homework. Emiko sat at the table with her, quietly working on her own, more advanced work and Kita sat on the other side, snacking and leaving crumbs all over her work.
"Y-Yeah?" Hitomi hoped Reborn didn't want her to do something for him. She could never really tell what he wanted due to his beady, almost mysterious eyes never revealing anything to her. She gulped as he smirked a little.
"Y'know, you've been shot ten times." He said it as if they were having a light conversation. "You're going to die."
"Wh-What?" Hitomi titled her head slightly as Kita looked up, frowning as she did.
"You heard me; you're going to die, Hitomi." Reborn hopped off of the bed. "If you don't find the man who can help you."
"Who's that?" Hitomi asked, taking the bait.
"Oh, you've heard of him." said Reborn, leaving the room.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hitomi yelled, looking panicked. Emiko covered her ears from her friend's loud scream then tapped her chin.
"Well I'm not sure." The silvernette said, "But I think I know what you're up against." She said looking around before pulling out a book. It was black, covered with silver writing that Hitomi couldn't recognize.
"What's that?!" Kita's eyes sparkled as she reached for it. Emiko quickly pulled it back, smacking Kita's hands and glaring at the older girl.
"Nothing for you to touch." She growled, then looked at Hitomi, her features softening. "It's a book of my dad's. Apparently it's got some stuff in it about what's going on."
"How did you get that?" Hitomi asked, shuffling closer to Emiko, homework forgotten, "Hayato-san has all his things under constant surveillance."
"Well, I've got my ways…" Emiko said, her face becoming shadowed by her bangs as she chuckled darkly. "Anyway," She said, her face returning to normal, "Let's see what it says about dying."
Emiko opened the book and the two—now three as Kita slid over to press against Emiko much to the silver-haired girl's annoyance—were greeted with the sight of more strange symbols. "Emiko…" Kita frowned, crossing her arms, "It's just a bunch of pictures! How do we read this?"
"You don't, I do." Emiko said, flipping pages, "It's my dad's special written language. For emergency uses only. There's no key, you just learn it like a language."
"Well?" Hitomi said after a few minutes, "Do you… um, see anything?"
"I'm sure I would… if I knew what we were looking for…" Emiko dropped her head onto the table, "He just told us you'd die—he never said how, when, or why." Hitomi's eyes widened as she fell back onto the floor.
"Ah, you're right!" Hitomi whined loudly, "How am I supposed to stop it if I don't know how I'm going to die!"
"Well, maybe he'll tell us more tomorrow." Kita said, packing up her homework, crumbs and all and stuffing it into her bag, "It's almost dark so me and Emiko should leave soon."
"Ah, you're right." Emiko said, casting a glance to the window. She sat up, closing the black book and dropping it into her own backpack before neatly packing up her homework.
"Okay…" Hitomi said, standing up and dusting herself off, "I'll walk you to the door then."
"Alright." Kita said, "I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle, after all, we've dealt with Reborn before!"
"We have, but he didn't look like he was having fun, did he?" Emiko asked, looking from Hitomi to Kita.
"I don't know, but we can find out in the morning." Hitomi sighed, running a hand through her hair, "Bye." She said, waving them off then closing the door.
I've thrown away every piece of food Masayoshi's ever cooked.Hitomi looked up, the glanced around, hoping Masayoshi hadn't heard that and luckily, she was the only one in the foyer.
"Did you say something, Hitomi?" Masayoshi said, leaning slightly out of the kitchen.
"Uh… no." replied Hitomi, looking around, "I didn't say anything."
"Oh, I thought I heard something…" Masayoshi shrugged. The dark blue-haired adult went back into the kitchen, "I'm cooking dinner, by the way! So be prepared!" He smirked before ducking back into the kitchen.
"Uh… what was that?" Hitomi whispered, looking around again. When she found nothing, she shrugged and headed up the stairs, unaware of the black mark shaped like a skull on the back of her leg.
It was one of those rare mornings where Hitomi was surprised to find herself waking up on her own, long before Reborn had the chance to pull out the Leon-Hammer or her mother brought down tyranny after she was late, even when Reborn woke her up. Hitomi stretched, though not too widely, as Reborn's hammock was placed precariously above her bed. As stealthily as she could, she slipped out of bed, still yawning as she moved around, trying to get her bearings and uniform ready for the day.
She smiled a little to herself, happy that she was the one to get herself up that morning. No Reborn speaking in his childish voice, holding her at gun point and no mother screaming at her to run to school. It was quiet, something Hitomi hadn't had enough of since Reborn and the others moved in.
It was too quiet, Hitomi deemed. She glanced back, catching sight of Reborn, still sleeping in his hammock, that bubble still inflating and deflating, signaling he wasn't awake. The brunette pulled out her clothes for the day, grabbing her towel and heading into the bathroom, shutting it lightly. She was sure it would get livelier after she was ready for school.
Hitomi walked into the bathroom, not paying much attention to anything as she pulled off her night shirt and turned on the shower, reaching her hand in to feel the water before adjusting the temperature. As she pulled off her shorts and grabbed her loofa, she heard a voice. HitjewbfwewfI didn't stop wetting the bed until two years ago…Hitomi jerked her head up, looking around. Had she heard that correctly?
"I-I must be going crazy…" She guessed, chuckling lightly, "But… I didn't stop until two years ago…" She slipped in the shower, unaware of the dark skull-shaped mark marring the tanned skin on her back.
Hitomi trounced down the stairs, she could hear the loudness of her family coming from the kitchen and as she rounded the corner, she saw her mother moving about the kitchen while her father, Teru, R.J, Reborn, her brother, Emiko and Kita loudly having a conversation about something at the table. She rubbed her eye as if she was sleepy, but was far from it. In all honesty, she missed the loudness that had invaded her life in the past year.
"Ah! Hitomi!" Kita called, "Finally! We've been waiting! C'mon, mom made pancakes!" Hitomi shook her head, but couldn't keep the small smile off of her face.
"Oh, Hitomi." Tsuna said, his eyes following Hitomi as she sat down, "I haven't seen your boyfriend in a while… did the two of you break up?" He smiled a little and Emiko, along with Kita and R.J snickered as Hitomi blushed, crossing her arms as she plopped into a chair.
"Nai's not my boyfriend, dad." Hitomi huffed, "If anyone should know that, it should be you." As if on cue, the backdoor opened and standing there in the male Nami-chuu uniform was Nai, smiling a little love sickly as his eyes caught sight of Hitomi.
"Ciao, amore bello della mia vita!" Nia chanted, shooting Hitomi a dazzling smile that she looked away from, catching a glimpse of her bracelet. It still hadn't budged even an inch.
"Good morning, Nai!" Kita greeted easily as the boy sat down. Nai smiled, waving slightly at her as he took his place on Hitomi's left, as Emiko was sitting to her right.
All was silent for the moment as Hitomi poured cereal into her bowl. I ate the last of mom's pastries and blamed it on dad. Hitomi stopped her pouring and looked around. All eyes were on Hitomi. "Wh-What did you say?" Tsuna asked, though it was clear that he had heard it from the way he was shaking.
"I-I didn't say anything!" She said, waving her hands in the air in a panicked way.
"No, you definitely said you ate your mom's pastries, Hitomi-chan." Nai said, pulling on her hand, "And look, have you been burning yourself for something? This dark mark is really strange. It looks… kinda like a skull."
"D-Dark mark?" Hitomi asked, pulling her hand away to look. He was right; on her palm was a skull-shaped dark mark. "What? This wasn't here earlier! Where did it come from?"
"Skullitis." Reborn spoke. Hitomi jerked her head up, looking at him with wide eyes.
"What's Skullitis?!" Hitomi asked, looking around, "I-I—Am I going to die?"
"Yes." Reborn simply stated. "Solana, you should start preparations for Hitomi's funeral. It's incurable."
"Th-That can't be true!" Hitomi yelled, "Teru, can't you fix this?" Tsuna looked a little peeved, frowned as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Are we just gonna ignore the fact that Hitomi blamed me for eating something I didn't?! I was on the couch for a month! My back still hurts!" Tsuna yelled, scowling as he was ignored.
"Nice try, Reborn." Solana said, placing another stack of pancakes on the table, "Hitomi's not going to die because I've researched this Skullitis disease."
"Oh?" Reborn questioned, looking at the blonde, "Then tell me, how do you cure it?"
"You need to give Hitomi something called the 'Angel's Disease'." She crossed her arms, "And it's carried in mosquitoes. Teru can cure her right now, can't you?"
"U-Uh…" Teru scratched her cheek, "No, I can't." Solana's eyes widened as she tossed the plate she had at Teru. The doctor quickly ducked, squeaking when the plate collided with the wall behind her.
"What do you mean 'No I can't'? Teru, you carry mosquitoes are all the fucking time and you're telling me that you don't have one that has the Angel Disease?" Solana screeched.
"It-It's a rare disease! Only a specific type has them! And I only know of one person who has it…" Teru's face darkened as she lowered her head.
"Oh, you're talking about Shamal, aren't you?" Nai commented, balancing on his chair. He only stopped after Tsuna smacked him. "Well, Hitomi-chan! You're in luck!" He beamed.
"Why?" Teru and Hitomi had matching confused looks on their faces.
"Because! That guy Shamal?" He started, "Well he's in Japan—specifically, he's here in town. You better catch him soon, however, cause he's leaving tonight."
Teru stood up from the table, an evil gleam in her eye, "Oh? He's in town, well then I guess that means two people are gonna die today!" She walked out of the kitchen a dark aura following her.
"What did she mean by that?" Hitomi was a little afraid of the answer.
"Don't you remember?" Kita spoke up, "Teru has some sort of a grudge against him for… um, wronging her mother, I think she said." Hitomi paled standing up abruptly.
"Ah! Then we need to find him now!" Hitomi said, "W-Where would he be though?"
"Well considering the way Teru acts—and this is just an assumption based off of things they've told us about this Shamal guy—he could be hanging out at a cabaret club… or maybe a strip club?" Emiko said, stroking her chin, "But those are assumptions."
"Well then we'll check there! How many are in town?" Hitomi asked, looking around.
"Ah, not right now you're not!" Solana replied, "You still have school, plus the effect doesn't really start wearing at you until you've been covered in skulls. And judging by the time, you're about 2-3 secrets in."
"S-Secrets? What do you mean by that?" Hitomi looked confused. Tsuna frowned, sighing.
"The disease is like this." He starts, using hand motions to tell it, "These black skulls are gonna start appearing on your body and they'll be spewin' out all your secrets and when you're body's covered in 'em, you die. It's like a shame to death disease. Happens when you've been shot ten times by the dying will bullet."
"Wha-Wha-what!" Hitomi yelped, "No! I don't want to die!"
"Well you'll be fine until after school." Solana said, "It takes about a good few hours for it to happen. So go on, eat and go to school, you'll be fine."
"Don't forget to factor in the part where Teru's also trying to kill Shamal." Masayoshi spoke up, "I mean, what if she finds him before you do and dumps the body and doesn't get the mosquito with Angel's Disease?" Hitomi paled once more, sinking down into her seat.
"What if you're right, Masayoshi?" Hitomi whispered, hiding her head in her hands. "Ah! We need to go find her now!"
"School first, Hitomi." Solana demanded, crossing her arms, "She won't find him so quickly. Remember," Solana held a finger in the air, "Shamal is a legendary assassin, he won't be found so easily."
"I-I guess…" Hitomi wrung her hands nervously. She still wasn't convinced, but she knew she couldn't blatantly disobey her mother. The woman was crazy.
Tsuna, however, was still sulking a little and took Hitomi's plate, eating all of her food at a quick pace, "D-Dad!" yelled Hitomi, looking at him with wide eyes, "S-Stop! That's my food!"
"I don't think you deserve any! You ate all your mother's pastries, remember?" Tsuna yelled, moving out of Hitomi's reach. Before long, the young girl was chasing her father around their kitchen for a half-eaten plate of food when she tripped, knocking into him and sending the plate flying across the room, shattering against the wall loudly.
"Both of you!" Solana yelled, pointing towards the door, "Out!"
Not wanting to be caught by Solana, the two bolted, tossing goodbyes as they ran. Nai ran after them, not so much as a goodbye being tossed as he kept the plate, eating as he ran. Emiko and Masayoshi got up, depositing their plates in the dishwasher before leaving. That left Kita and Solana alone in the kitchen, the former too engrossed in her plate of food to notice everyone had left.
"Kita." Solana coughed, looking at the oblivious girl. Kita looked up then looked around.
"Hey… is there any chance I can get this to go?" She asked with a tint of hopefulness in her tone. The look on Solana's face told Kita that is would be a resounding no.
"Yeah, sure." Sighed Solana. She moved past Kita to dig into a cabinet. She pulled out a plastic container and handed it to Kita who promptly dumped all of her plate's contents into it.
"Thanks!" Kita said, smiling, "Ah, if only my mom knew how to cook without killing something!" Happily, Kita said her goodbye to Solana and skipped out of the kitchen.
Solana ran a hand through her hair, "….why did I marry into the mafia again?"
Tsuna waved to Hitomi. The girl frowned, she could see all of the other girls staring at her father and blushing. He wasn't even cute! Then he smiled and Hitomi swore her sensei—who was surprisingly late for a teacher—swooned. Hitomi ducked her head, speed-walking into the building and leaving behind her confused looking father.
Hitomi walked between a taller boy on the basketball team and a short girl on the tennis team. I had a crush on you in primary school. Hitomi yipped, running away as the boy turned, looking at the girl.
"I-I like you too!" He said to the girl and she raised an eyebrow as he tried to lean forward to kiss him. She smacked him with her tennis racket.
"Ew you perv!" She yelled. "I've never liked you!" He cried, nursing his cheek with his hand.
"H-Hey! Why did you hit Tomoki-kun, you bitch!" A member of the boy's fan club stepped up to the girl, "He said he liked you and you go and hit him? Well I'll hit you!" Despite knowing that Skye was around, the girl punched the tennis player in the face, getting her of the fan club members to help her.
"A-Ah… you should stop… Collins is…" But he was too late. Skye smacked him across the back with her Bō staff and pulled out her tranquilizer gun.
"What the fuck are you doing on my school grounds?!" She yelled, firing the gun at every person in range. Hitomi sighed and slumped to the ground behind the large school doors. "Everyone gets detention!"
At least she wasn't a part of that.
Tsuna watched with wide eyes as the straggler students walked by without so much as a glance. "Wow… middle school sure is hardcore…" He commented.
"Only when Collin's is around." Reborn replied, "Y'know, she's related to Colonello—they're cousins." Tsuna's eyes widened.
"Well shit."
Without another mishap, Hitomi promptly made it to class where R.J was already sitting at his desk, nose buried in a cookbook of some sort. Hitomi plopped down into her own seat just when the bell rang and their sensei came in, a large stack of papers in her hands.
"Test!" She called, smirking devilishly as the majority of the class groaned, including Hitomi.
After the woman passed out the tests, it was quiet. Fuzuki-sensei was up at the podium playing some sort of game and Hitomi couldn't concentrate on the test. She'd only written her name at the top as she was too busy waiting for Reborn to pop up or for her disease to spout out some secret.
"Hitomi?" R.J whispered, "Why are you fidgeting so much?" When she didn't answer, R.J continued to poke her until Hitomi couldn't take it anymore. She could feel another dark voice in her head until R.J poked her rather harshly.
Hitomi jumped slightly as she yelled, "Y-Yesterday I was Hinamori pick his nose and wipe it on Sato but I didn't say anything!" The whole class looked up and at the two in question. Sato's cheeks burned just as red as her dyed hair and she pulled her fist back, and let it go, lodging it in the side of Hinamori's face.
The boy flew out of the chair, hitting himself against Hitomi's desk. She squeaked, standing up and leaning against the window.
"Sawada, Hinamori and Sato! Disrupting the class?! Out-out-out!" Fuzuki yelled pointing at the door. Hitomi sighed, grabbing Hinamori by the collar and dragging him with strength that surprised them. Hitomi, however, didn't seem to notice. "A-And you all get zeroes too!"
"Thanks a lot, Sato." Hitomi frowned, "Couldn't you have waited until after class. I wanted to at least get a thirty on that test."
"Well it's not like it would matter." Sato said, "Besides, we'd have all failed it because we don't pay attention." Hitomi knew she was right. The three of them spent the majority passing around the latest Jump! Edition or Hitomi's drawings every week.
She didn't know when she had begun to tolerate the other two or when they had begun to tolerate her. She didn't, however, question it as they stood outside of the classroom, waiting for the three guards on patrol to pick them up and take them to one of the detention rooms.
"Dah, what's wrong with you, though?" Sato said, looking at Hitomi, "Why would you yell something out like that?"
"I-I don't know…" Hitomi said, "I… uh… I felt guilty I didn't say anything!" Hitomi thought it sounded good. What Sato doesn't know is that I would've admitted it whether or not I wanted to…
"Oh, well thanks for telling me I guess." The red-head looked up just as the three guards appeared.
"Detention again?" They asked. Hitomi nodded holding Hinamori up by the collar. "What happened this time?" They seemed a little surprised.
"Uh, Sato punched Hinamori in the face after I yelled something out in class." Hitomi replied. Kudo tossed Hinamori over his shoulder and Sato and Hitomi held out their hands, letting Endo cuff them.
"Well let's get going." He said, leading the way.
When Hitomi finally got out of detention, she was summoned momentarily to Skye's office. Sato had left her, telling Hitomi that she'd be going to the art club room. "I-I can't make it today, sorry…"
"It's fine!" Sato said, "Ah, but you better come tomorrow!" She said, smiling and waving at Hitomi.
"If I'm alive tomorrow…" Hitomi mumbled. The walk to Skye's office was quiet. The quiet was deafening and the dread of having to go near the office after her last time being there, Hitomi didn't think she'd make it without passing out.
A secret hadn't been uttered from somewhere on her body since they were in the detention room where she happened to forcefully admit that she and the captain of the basketball team were huge Super Action Baka nerds resulting in him glaring extremely hard at her. She knew he probably hated her.
Her phone beeped and Hitomi flipped it open, looking at the message. It was from the basketball team captain, Fukuda. Starting a fan club wana join? She was surprised but happy and decided that these secrets forcing themselves out weren't so bad.
Hitomi finally reached the room and knocked on the door. But before she could, it was flung open and there stood Hikaru. The girl nodded before pulling Hitomi in and closing the door. She sees Skye sitting at her desk, fingers crossed as she leans forward.
"Sawada." Skye speaks first and Hitomi jumps a little. "You're in contact with that baby; correct… the one who calls himself Reborn?"
"Ah… yeah…" Hitomi says. She knows it's too late to deny anything, as Skye is already involved with the mafia.
"Tell him that if I can fight with him—and get stronger that I will agree." Skye informs.
"Well then that's settled." Reborn said. The room's three occupants looked towards the window where he was seated. "Welcome to the family, Skye Collins."
Hitomi's eyes widened, "Wha-What do you mean, welcome to the family?! You're kidding right?"
"Why would he kid?" Hikaru said. "This was why I agreed to train with you, Sawada." Hitomi could clearly remember their training session. Especially getting knocked into that building.
"Right then. Hitomi, come along. Everyone's waiting and you only have a few hours left." Reborn hopped off of the window sill and Hitomi sighed, moving across the room to open the door and leave.
"To do what?" Skye asked. Hitomi looked back at her.
"If I don't find someone, I'm going to die." Hitomi said, closing the door after her. The room was quiet. Hikaru frowned, crossing her arms and looking at Skye.
Skye stood up, "Let's go, Hikaru. I'm sure there will be a fight that can quench my thirst." Hikaru nodded, following Skye.
Emiko had led them into town. A text from Yamamoto told her that he and Gokudera had chatted up Shamal for a few minutes in town near a pastry shop. "Are you sure he'll still be here?" Hitomi asked, looking around. Kita was walking next to her and Kamiko rolled along on her skateboard behind them.
Katsumi led the pack by walking a few meters in front and Emiko walked to Hitomi's left. Reborn was nowhere to be seen; as he'd told Hitomi that he would be around if she needed him.
"Well he's old—he couldn't have gotten too far." Emiko shrugged, looking around. "Besides, how many guys in a lab coat carrying around a computer bag can there be?"
"Probably like 150+!" Kita said. Emiko looked at her, confused, "Look! Today is national doctor's and clowns Cosplay day!" Emiko looked up at the banner then down at the crowd. Most of them were dressed as either clowns or doctors, some even a mixture of the two.
"Shit!" Emiko stomped, looking around. "How will we know which one he is?"
"By asking around, of course, dumbass!" Skye yelled. Hitomi jumped, looking back at the blonde.
"Wha-What're you doing here?" Hitomi asked, a little afraid of the answer.
"I'm looking for a fight." Skye replied honestly, "And you always seemed to find trouble, so I decided to go with you."
"Well right now we're looking for a man named Shamal, have you heard of him?" Emiko said, looking Skye up and down.
"No, but I know of someone who has." The girl said. She pulled out an assault rifle and shot it into the air, making all the commotion on the street stop. "Hey! We're lookin' for a man named Shamal. Have any of you seen 'im?"
"Sk-Skye-san!" Hikaru said, pointing, "Look! One is still moving!" They could see a man weaving through the crowd without so much as a second thought and someone following.
"That's Teru!" Kita yelled, "So that must be him! C'mon!" She broke into a run followed by the other girls. The group continued on, leaving the crowd to themselves as they pushed their way through, Hikaru never losing sight of the two they were chasing.
"If Teru catches him before us, we'll be done for!" Emiko says, speeding up a little. Hitomi pants, barely being able to keep up with them, but she doesn't have to. Skye's sprinted ahead and tackled Teru, knocking both of them to the ground as they skid to a halt.
Skye and Teru are wrestling. Hitomi sees Skye's assault rifle a good length away from the two, and Teru's trying to attack Skye. The girl manages to flip away at the last moment. "C'mon then!" Skye yelled, pulling a candy dispenser out of her pocket. She presses a button and it becomes her Bō staff.
"I guess I'll have to deal with you little girls before I go after him huh?"
"Go on, Hitomi." Hikaru says, adjusting her glasses, "Skye and I will handle Teru. Go find him."
"R-Right… thanks!" Hitomi nods and Kita pulls her away from the fight that's about to begin.
Skye smirks, looking at Teru. "I knew this would get me a fight!" Teru scowls, pulling out a vial.
"Just go ahead, little girl. You'll only be a momentary distraction." Teru looks up, "Oh, there're a lot of balloons around here… It'd be a shame if you were… I dunno, allergic?"
Skye looks at Teru in confusion. "What do you mean? I'm not allergic to balloons? Fight me!" Skye runs forward, but it's much slower than she had anticipated and Teru dodges, slamming her foot into Skye and sending her flying into the window of a nearby store. The blonde is lying inside the store, groaning and trying to get up.
"S-Skye-san!" Hikaru yells, but doesn't move. She knows that Skye would rather have Hikaru fight.
"Oh, her lackey." Teru's voice is a deadpan, "Well I guess I'll just have to deal with-!" Teru's knocked down the street by Skye.
"Don't fuckin' mess with me, bitch!" Skye yells. She's breathing heavily and feels a little light headed, but it's nothing she hasn't felt before. Bloodied and a little bruised, Skye stood tall, glaring at Teru and not even paying attention to the crowd around her.
Teru looks at her with wide eyes. "Wha…? You're supposed to be unconscious!"
"Yeah well that doesn't tickle my fancy too much… I'd rather be awake, kicking your ass that anything else." She runs, pacing herself and slamming the staff into Teru's gut, making the brunette spit up. Using the staff as a vault, Skye jumps and would've brought her foot down onto Teru had the woman not moved.
Teru sighed, chuckling slightly but didn't say anything. Instead, she pulled out another vial and pulled it apart, unleashing a single mosquito, "Ah, since my sneak attack didn't work, I guess I'll have to just fight you head on." Instead of flying towards Skye like she thought it would, the mosquito stung Teru.
She smirked, "Let the games begin."
Kita panted, "Ah… I think we lost him…" The dark-haired girl frowned, looking around once more.
"He's old—where could he have gone?" Katsumi questioned, "I mean… most of the doctor crowd has thinned out."
"I've got a question… where are Emiko and Hitomi?" Kamiko asked in her deadpan tone. Katsumi looked to her left, finally noticing that the other two uniform-clad girls weren't with them.
"Look! There they are playing with that clown man!" Kita laughed, pointing at Emiko and Hitomi who were running and screaming from a clown who was just trying to give them balloons.
Katsumi's instinct kicks in and she kicks the clown back, glaring hatefully at him, "Leave these two girls alone? Can't you see they don't like clowns?"
"I-I—Sorry…" He said. Katsumi, however, didn't take that pitiful sorry and continued to scold him. Kita watched and Kamiko snickered. Hitomi however tripped, landing in a bush.
"Ow!" She mumbled in pain, rubbing her back. She looked up and to her left, she saw a man crouching in the bush, covering his head.
"Damn girls… when I want them, they're never ready but when I don't they're all lookin' for me!" He mumbled, shaking his head. Hitomi's eyes widened.
"H-Hey! You're Shamal, aren't you?!" She pulled at his coat. The man bolted up right so fast he pulled Hitomi up with him.
"U-Uh… Shamal? I don't know who that is…" He said, rubbing the back of his head, "M-Maybe you could let go of me, little girl." Emiko dived towards him, but he pulled Hitomi in front of him, knocking both girls into each other. They tumbled to the ground and Shamal ran, "But I gotta go!"
"Katsumi!" Kita said, "Shamal's over there!" The man ran back into the crowd and Katsumi dropped the clown, looking around. Emiko helped Hitomi up and the girls began running through the crowd again.
"Ah, dammit! He was so close!" Hitomi yelled. "I had him!"
"Well where is he now?" Kamiko yelled, clearing a path for herself.
"A-Ah! There he is!" Emiko yelled, pointing at the man in the lab coat. He was taller than most of the crowd and he didn't look as old as they (Tsuna and the others) had said he was. The man was supposed to be in at least his sixties, but he surely didn't look it, Hitomi pegged him to at least be in his forties, but judging by how old Teru was, he couldn't be. Shamal turned slightly, looking back at them before his eyes widened and he began to walk a little faster.
"Shit! He's tryin' to make a break for it!" Kamiko yelled, "Kats! Nab him!" Katsumi nodded, increasing her speed and sprinting towards the man. Teru, who was also in the crowd after defeating Skye, managed to pick up her speed too, almost matching that of Katsumi's. But Katsumi was slightly faster and managed to grab him before Teru could. She knocked him into the ground, the man groaning.
"Teru, stop!" Katsumi held a hand up. The others just barely managed to reach them, all panting heavily after their chase around town. They'd come to a standstill in the middle of the crowd. The crowd mostly stopped, forming a ring around the six of them. "Why do you want to kill him so badly anyway? What did he do to you?"
"It's what he didn't do!" Teru yelled, "H-He wasn't there!" She sighed, running a hand through her hair, "I-I don't hate him per se… I just—why? Why weren't you there?! Every conference, every dance—everything that ever mattered to me—you weren't there! I knew you existed, I'd seen you before and I knew who you were. I wrote you letters! I tried to call you! I waited every single birthday for you to show up or send a letter back but I got nothing!" She was crying now as she sunk to her knees,
"And mom—oh mom—she was the one who was hit the worst. You gave us false hope! She waited and waited for you to come back because of your fucking empty promises, but you never did and we built up our lives around empty promises! We were crumbled by the false hope and now she's sick! And it's all because of you! You never taught me how and she got hurt!"
"Wh-What?" Shamal seemed to respond then, sitting up. "What do you mean she's sick?"
"Exactly how it sounds, Shamal!" Teru cried out, "Those mosquitoes attacked us and mom threw herself in the way… being attacked by so many of them at one time could've killed her had I not tried to find an antidote. Now she's infected with the one thing I don't know how to cure. And it's all your fault. So," She sniffled, standing up, "I'm going to kill you with your very own weapon."
Speechless, Shamal could only look down. Out of all of the kids he'd had over the years—only having met what he assumed would have been a third of them—Teru was the only one who had shown any type of interest towards him. He couldn't stop the surprised look that crossed his features. If Teru was still looking for him, that meant her mother was still in love with him, didn't it?
"N-No!" Hitomi yelped, coming in between the two. "I-Teru. You don't want to do this. You know you don't!"
"Hitomi, shut up!" Teru said, "You're only saying that because you're going to die if I kill him. You're selfish! Selfish people should just die."
"Selfish?" Hitomi repeated, "I-I may be selfish, but who isn't? Shamal was selfish for going out with all those women, I'm selfish for wanting to live… everyone's a little selfish so don't try to exclude yourself, Teru. You may say that you're going to kill Shamal because of what he did to your mother but more than half your speech was about how Shamal affected you. You want to kill him because of what he did and didn't do to you. Things happen and I'm sure if Shamal knew that you would be the one who would contract his hereditary mosquito-thing then he would have been there. Teru, lots of things happen, but you don't have to kill him for what he did."
"If he's dead then my mother won't be so depressed waiting for him to come visit her!" Teru replied, clenching her fist tightly. "Every time I go to visit her she asks about him… I can't stand it!"
"Because your mother still loves him?" Emiko asks, "It's not my place to meddle, but you'll just break her heart if you kill him, don't you know that?" Teru's argument was awful in her ears now. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she just listened.
"A-And then you'll go away!" Hitomi said, "D-Do you want to know what I'm afraid of?" Teru was surprised, she titled her head to the side slightly, "I-I'm afraid of—my biggest fear is… losing everyone—I'm afraid of dying. I'm afraid that if I die then everyone will go away… and all this work that we've done will be for nothing. Mafia or not, I don't want that to happen! I want everyone to be happy and I know it sounds corny, but that's the truth! Teru, I know you're torn up about Shamal, but it's been a long time… can't you forgive him? He's here now and he wants to know you. Can't you forget the bad parts of the past?"
"She's right, Teru." Shamal spoke for the first time since Teru's speech. "I…To tell you the truth, I came all this way to look for you." The younger Shamal's eyes widened. "Yeah," He chuckled slightly, standing up on his own, "I just… I heard you were looking for me and I came. I was surprised; none of your half-siblings have ever sought me out. They just accepted the fact that I wasn't going to come back like their mothers told them and moved on. Most ended up doing other things and they're all great children… but I think you're special."
"D-Don't you do this!" Teru said, backing away slightly.
"Do what?" Shamal responded, "I'm not doing anything but telling the truth. I think you're a cut above the rest." Every step he took toward Teru, she took one away from him. Hitomi watched as he drew closer, as Teru didn't have enough sense to break through the crowd, "Teru, I'm sorry."
"No! If you were sorry, you would have been there!" yelled Teru as she shook her head. "Why weren't you there? Why?!" Her voice was loud, as she held her hands out, trying to keep him away.
"I thought you were better off without me." It was quiet, but Teru, along with everyone else heard it. "Out of all the other children, I thought you would be better off without me and look; your name sends shivers down anybody's spine. A name that could easily come up in conversation when trying to end someone's life. That used to be my name and now it's yours. And I'm proud, Femme Fatale." He chuckled and Teru could see that his eyes were glassy.
"W-Well I am pretty great." Teru sniffles, rubbing at her eyes. Her make-up's smeared, but she doesn't seem to care, "I…" She doesn't know what to say and neither does Shamal. He's never once had a conversation like this before.
"Since neither of you know what to say," Kita's voice—which is a more softer version of her chipper voice—floats in, "Maybe you could say 'I love you' and hug? And maybe forgive each other?"
"I…I guess I could do that…" Teru said. But she doesn't say anything. Instead, she stares at the man just a little bit taller than her.
"Then I'll go first, I guess." He pulls Teru into a strong grip, bringing tears to her eyes, "I… I love you, Teru. And I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."
She cries. Sobbing loudly as her own words come out choked, "I love you too, dad! And it's okay! I—I forgive you…"
Smiling, Hitomi watches the scene as the crowd breaks out into cheers of happiness and relief, making 'Aw-ing' sounds at the two. Then she falls. Hitomi chokes on air, trying to suck in as much as she can. "Hitomi!" Emiko's shriek breaks through the loudness of the crowd and everything's quiet once more.
"A-Ah, Hitomi!" Teru yelps, breaking her contact and running over to kneel next to Emiko. "I-It's happening already?"
"W-We only had so long… I don't know if she could…" Emiko trailed, her eyes watering up. Kita came over, kneeling next to Hitomi.
"N-No!" She cried, "You can't die! I… we were having so much fun! It won't be the same!"
"It was fun…" Hitomi's choked voice was heard, "I did have fun… even if it didn't seem like it… I liked hanging out with everyone and everything we did—even it was a little crazy… I didn't hate it… I liked it. I liked having my dad around… I liked being a part of something and I liked all the friends I made from it."
"Hitomi, no… Shamal! Do something!" Emiko yelled, looking at the man.
He jogged over, kneeling next to her, "Skullitis, huh?" His voice was urgent as he dipped in and out of his pockets, looking for the special vial that contained the only thing that could save Hitomi's life.
"H-Hurry!" Emiko yelped, urging Shamal. The man pulled out a pink vial, opening it and pulling the syringe from it. Quickly, he jabbed it into Hitomi's chest. A second after Hitomi stopped breathing; she surged up, taking in a deep breath, looking around with wide eyes. "Hitomi!" Emiko fell back onto her butt, looking at her friend with wide eyes. Shamal breathed a sigh of relief. He'd dealt with Solana before, but he didn't think he'd be able to handle her with Hitomi not alive.
Before he could move out of the way, Kita, Kamiko, Katsumi and Emiko were hugging Hitomi tightly, tears pouring from all of their eyes as the crowd once again cheered, louder than before. "They're such great actors!" said one of them.
"Do you think that needle was real?" Another asked.
"C'mon… let's get you guys home then." Teru said, standing up. She offered her hand to Emiko and Hitomi who were both pulled up.
"And let's go visit your mom, then…" Shamal said, his eye catching Teru's. She smiled.
"Well I guess you could say that this was a mission accomplished!" Hitomi cheered.
"Let's get tacos!" Kita suggested.
"Normally I wouldn't want tacos, but today I'll make an exception." Emiko said, tossing her arm around Kita's shoulders. The six walked down the road unaware of the pair of eyes on them.
"W-Wait…" Hitomi stopped, "What happened to Collins and Aoba-san?"
"W-Well…" Teru said, rubbing the back of her head.
"You killed them?!"
"N-No!" Teru yelled back, smacking Hitomi on the back of the head, "I don't kill kids but I've gotta say… they might've even given me a run for my money…"
"This is the first time you've called me, Hikacchi!" Aoba yelled loudly, happy that his daughter even had his phone number. Currently he was carrying an unconscious Skye and piggy-backing his daughter to the nearest hospital.
"Yeah, well I didn't know who else to call… that school nurse was stronger that we thought." Hikaru mumbled, frowning. "My calculations were off by 95%..."
"Oh? Yeah, Femme Fatale isn't a joke." Aoba said, "I'm surprised the two of you took her on and only had minor injuries."
"Minor injuries?" Hikaru casted a glance to her broken arm and looked at Skye. Her staff was in pieces somewhere and she'd lost a lot of blood. Not to mention Hikaru herself was bloodied.
"Ha, if I hadn't built up a tolerance for pain in you then you'd probably in an even worse state than your friend here." He said, "But you shouldn't meddle in Vongola business, Hikaru."
"Whatever… Skye-san's business is my business." Hikaru replied, "Hurry up, dad. I don't want her to wake up with you carrying her. She'll freak out."
"Mmmm, yeah okay." Aoba said, breaking into a sprint.
"Are you sure?" Reborn asks one more time. This is the first time he's had Tsuna come to him about something and if he were being honest with himself, it was a little strange, if not unwelcome.
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't have mentioned it," Tsuna's voice holds a strange kind of mystery to it, and Reborn is surprised, annoyed and oddly proud to not be able to decipher the meaning behind his change in tone, "Besides; didn't you want them to be ready anyway? This is my input as the Tenth and First generation of both the old Vongola and the New Vongola; I believe that the Eleventh and Second generation is ready. Is there a problem, Reborn?" Reborn falters for a moment.
Now it feels like he's become the student. Tsuna's grown, he can say that much. After a pause, Reborn finds the right words and speaks, "No, there's no problem... Your plans to proceed were a little strange at best, Tsuna, but if you this is how you want to proceed, I can't say anything, after all, you are the boss."
"Preparations will begin in three days' time, until then, have fun." Tsuna dismisses Reborn quickly after that, heading downstairs to join his family for dinner. Reborn stays behind for just a moment, trying to contemplate Tsuna's decision. For the life of him, he can't think of a single reason as to why the brunet's pushed this up so early. Now he's in the dark, a feeling Reborn hates with an arsenal of passion. He won't accept it, however, but he'll let it go this once. Reborn, too, leaves the office, only he doesn't go to dinner, instead he goes out to find answers.
Woo! I hope this chapter lived up to all the hype I was puttin' down. Ah… feels, huh? I hope you liked it and you enjoy! This here is the final chapter for the first arc! Next up we'll be beginning the next arc! Bye! :D