Strike!
Fourth Day, 2:15 pm...
'Oh dear, we're running out of meat and eggs!' Haru cried in alarm. 'Beef, chicken, pork...we're almost out!' she exclaimed as she looked in other parts of the fridge too. 'I don't even see fish!'
'We better tell Bianchi-san.' said Kyoko as the two girls ran to find Bianchi who was in the control room managing Gokudera's training. 'Bianchi-san, trouble!' she cried. 'We're running out of meat, seafood and eggs!'
'I see...I'll notify the others right away.' said Bianchi. 'Anything else of concern?'
'The rice, tofu, condiments too...and the baking stuff!' Haru exclaimed.
'Alright, I'll go tell the others.'
xxx
This is how Mai got herself on said errand by Reborn. Because of her expandable backpack, she can stuff so many things in with no one the wiser. She can stuff several shopping bags in and its all OK. Now he has to get Chrome ready so that nobody will see, smell and hear her when she gets back because Mai must 'do something in the base while undisturbed as her last training session'.
Plenty of baking goods, meat, rice, tofu, seafood, mushrooms and condiments...as well as liquid dishwashing soap and extra sponges, all of which, stuffed in her backpack with the eggs on top.
Soon, at the base...she was able to effortlessly avoid Kyoko and Haru as the laundry room is right next to the kitchens...unloading everything carefully and neatly...with the excess just outside.
'Phew...I bought too much but its all good to have a fully-stocked fridge given our situation...' she mused thoughtfully. 'Well, I'll ask Kusakabe if their kitchen has extra room...' she went to the intercom. 'Giannini! Can you ask Kusakabe if Hibari-san's hideout's kitchen has a bit more room? Some stuff don't fit in our fridge and cupboards!'
/I'll ask!/
Minutes later, Kusakabe came to see several packs of fish fillets, a5 grade kobe and matsusaka beef by pounds, several plastic bags of mushrooms, some bottles of condiments, packs of spices and flavorings, and a small stack of egg cartons.
'...I overestimated the fridge and cupboards capacity...' said Mai sheepishly.
Kusakabe sweatdropped.
'I'll go call Sasagawa-san for a little assistance...' and some pushcarts. Once the excess stuff is out of the way, all is good. And she began making the rice so the ladies will only worry about the main dishes later when Chrome came by with vegetables.
'Ah, making your soup, Chrome-chan?' Mai asked as the brunette nodded and went to take out a soup blender Giannini made for her as Chrome cannot eat hard solids just yet. 'Do you want some fish and eggs for tonight?'
'Yes please.' Chrome smiled as Mai began making soft fish dishes and poached eggs for her while Chrome began chopping vegetables for her soup and make extras incase she goes hungry again later. Her meals aren't exactly filling and taxing on the wallet...so she tends to eat every three or four hours unless congee or kenchinjiru is made for her. But for now, easy on the new organs, nothing 'too digestively taxing'.
Soon, Chrome began eating her dinner and the other girls arrived.
'Chrome-chan always eats ahead...' Haru mused as Mai was washing the meats when the girls came back with vegetables.
'It can't be helped...due to her condition, she has to eat often since soups are easily digestible. And when the boys eat, they take up the whole table. and they eat everything after a day of hard work.' said Kyoko.
'Well, tonight's dinner is titled 'Spoil the Boys Silly Tonight' because tomorrow is their big day ladies.' Mai grinned. 'You ladies cook, we handle dessert! I already handled the rice, so the rest of the goods have plenty of room to stew in here!'
'Hai~!'
Needless to say, the boys are indeed, spoiled silly.
xxx
'Mai-san...tomorrow...it's time isn't it?' said Chrome nervously.
'Yeah...Briefing Time soon after I go to the Foundation for a couple minutes...with the stuff Fuuta-kun and I found. And we have to go to Hibari-san's hideout to make sense of the stuff Mukuro got for us.' said Mai. 'And given what we know...it won't be an easy fight unless we rescue our future selves and blow the place up sky-high.'
Chrome swallowed.
Its just seven guardians and one Arcobaleno against 500 people in one base...of varying strengths. And there are a few people in there with B and A-Rank Rings. Majority are C-Class Rings and strength though. Only she knew that, the boys have yet to know because she could keep quiet.
xxx
Hibari's hideout...
Mai came, dressed in a white kimono with a baby blue obi. Both plain and her hair simply worn down, reaching length was up to her knees.
'You look like a yuki-onna, Mai-chan!' Ryohei laughed boisterously. Really, nearly-white blonde hair, pale skin, vivid gray eyes and rosy lips...then wearing a white kimono!
'Ah, shaddap.' Mai grumbled. 'It can't be helped what you look like, you know.'
'Chop some of it off, its a liability.' Hibari remarked as Delcatty is on his lap with him petting it.
'Hey, its extra limbs.' Mai snorted. 'It got Levi off my face after all. So what's the game plan guys? Let's take into account four hardened veterans and four beginners at this sort of thing...and also, we'll be using our boxes, three A-Class Rings and five S-Class Rings.' she said as Pichu approached Delcatty and tried to be friendly but Delcatty is apparently lazy and enjoyed its master's attention, making Pichu pout and go back to Mai.
'We have recorded video footages of your training, our abilities and personalities into account, and your fight with Hibari-san.' said Kusakabe. 'Then with the information gleaned such as numbers, ranks and location...the Hyper Computer has computed...0.00024% had Lambo been our Lightning Guardian. But with you and the Box Monsters...yes, we call it Monsters since we wouldn't ahem, get respect if we called them Pokemon, our chances rose to 60%.'
'That's not so bad.' said Ryohei.
'Its 'not bad' because out of all Guardians in the past, she is the only one willing to ice people and she already caused Millefiore's agents to drop dead from Electric Brain Death since she came here and the Foundation had to dispose of them carefully.' said Reborn bluntly. 'And do jobs nobody wants to do. Future Hibari and Mukuro are willing to do the same as well. They are fully aware of this and while Tsuna wasn't too happy about it, he reluctantly lets her because he sees his future as Vongola Boss to be a pile of bodies he was working on ways to make that pile less and less to make it non-existent and stop her from killing someday.'
'Tsuna-sama is too kind and too gentle...but that's what I like~!' Mai squealed giddily before blushing. 'And perfect material for being an Uke!' Ryohei, Kusakabe, Hibari and Lal spat out their sake/tea from getting startled at that word.
'O-oi oi Mai-chan, Sawada's a man you know! A. Man!' Ryohei sputtered out, stammering out his defense of his boss. 'Not funny! Not cool!'
'...well, this is YOUR time but our time is quite different.' Reborn snorted. 'It won't be long now...' Hibari and Ryohei exchanged perturbed looks.
'Sawada having affairs with men...' Lal blinked. 'Well, he is a tad girly in looks its a miracle no men hit on him so far...' how is he so physically different from his parents nobody knows. 'As a child, its said that he looks like his mother but as he grew older...he looks like the Founder who just put on a pair of asian eyes and dyed his hair brown. Same body frame too.'
'That would be because of tight security until Millefiore came I believe.' Reborn said wryly. 'For now, let's not tell the boys and Chrome. Their morales and spirits are high. They tend to come up with good ideas in that state and kids are more creative than adults. Factly speaking. One of them might be able to create a miracle that will increase our chances to more than 60.' he said. 'Let's begin with the formulation...in a way easy for the kids to understand of course.'
xxx
That night...
'Alright everyone,' said Giannini, around 11:30 pm. 'To help you with the fight, I upgraded your equipment,' he said. 'To start off, the Vongola Rings.' he said as the image of Tsuna's ring is up on the screen. 'I have put on a Mammon Cover. This is your automated Mammon Chain Ring Cover! If it is on, it can keep your rings from being detected!'
'I like this better than wearing chains with our rings...they're uncomfortable and itchy!' Mai complained.
'This is really great!' Yamamoto chimed.
'With this on, they can't detect us too while still using our powers.' Gokudera grinned, putting his cents in.
'Its the perfect plan to fight less enemies.' Lal agreed. 'Now we won't lose time.'
'Thank you very much.' Giannini smiled. 'Now everyone, please put on your earpieces.' he said as while everyone has an earpiece, only Tsuna has headphones. 'This type of gadget can help communicate easier.' he said as the fighters put them on. 'With a press of the switch, all of you will be in sync, so you wouldn't have to worry about losing connection. I haven't tried them out yet, so please try them on.'
'How's this, Juudaime?' Gokudera turned into his piece.
'Yeah, I can hear you well, Gokudera-kun.' Tsuna smiled when Ryohei took a quick inhale, prompting Chrome(who's trained by two criminals) and Mai to look on in alarm and quickly pulled out their earpieces...just in time as Ryohei boomed into the earpiece,
'TESTING TO THE EXTREEEEME!'
Everyone else wasn't so fortunate.
...having THAT in point-blank range into their eardrums caused them to flinch horribly at the loud holler in their ears. 'How was it?'
'You're too loud you idiot!' Gokudera gasped out, shakily recovering from the holler.
'Owwww...' Yamamoto whimpered from his poor abused ear, holding a shaky hand to his ear.
'We're just nearby, he didn't have to be so loud...' Tsuna whimpered.
'...one would think they'd learn their lesson by now...' Mai muttered with a sweatdrop.
'I also have one more present for you guys.' said Reborn, walking on the table. 'These shirts are made from threads spun inside Leon's body. They're strong enough to withstand dying will flames.'
'Leon?' Tsuna blinked.
'Aa. Leon's worn-out from spinning for all of you.' said Reborn. On his hat, a rather emaciated chameleon came out. He looked more like a green worm given four legs and overly-large eyes.
'Sou ka...arigato, Leon.' Tsuna told the exhausted chameleon gratefully.
'With this, you guys are ready.' Reborn commented. 'And its your time now.'
'And just to remind you guys, the power of our partners depend on the purity of our flames, not how much power we put in it.' Mai reminded them again. 'Always put in pure flames to access stronger evolutions incase things go crappy. The purer the flame, the more energy they have and can fight alongside us longer. And senpai, you got well acquainted with your Chansey and Hitmonchan I hope?'
'Yeah.' said Ryohei. 'I got well-acquainted with them to the extreme!' he grinned. Having a boxer partner is extremely cool! 'And also that Chansey is convenient...it'll be of great help.'
'Chansey?' Tsuna inquired.
'From the anime, its an egg-laying pokemon specialized in healing.' Mai explained. 'I have Koenig design Chansey so that it will lay cooked, soft-boiled eggs saturated with Sun Flames that we can eat and our injuries will heal in a snap. The effects are faster if the eggs are lain as a Blissey. However, the eggs have real-time shelf-life. If they go bad, they will stop glowing in sun flames and of course, the flavor will be nasty. However, if you have internal bleeding, broken or dislocated bones, watch out because they could heal wrong. Our powers aren't exactly miracle-workers you know. Avoid internal injury and broken bones as much as possible.'
'A snack and medicine at the same time...this is so cool!' Yamamoto marveled.
'Oh, and because they ARE eggs...they CAN be squashed.' Mai chuckled as Giannini took out a curved some-what small backpack. 'This is a backpack designed to withstand impact and at least, 500kg of physical force. It can hold up to twenty eggs the size of ping-pong balls. Of course, one egg is enough for the whole body so only consume as needed. Too much eating will cause Cellular Destruction and only one egg every three hours. Don't forget.' she warned. 'No snacking! Senpai will supply us with eggs so carry these with you always...no telling when we'll head out after all. And also, press a finger on the locking latch and inject your flames into it. That way, only you can open it. Do it now, not later. That way, we're reassured that its really ours.'
'Security is good.' Reborn added. 'Even if you have the same type of flame, Wave Energy is as unique as a fingerprint. Its flawless.'
'Alright then...' the others injected their flames into the locking latches.
'Meeting adjourned.' Lal declared. 'We will inform you when we'll begin. Leave your bags here.'
'Well, get ready now, shower, eat, whatever. Tomorrow will be an early day.' Mai told everybody. 'No breakfast time, we're leaving straightaway and early as possible...just like in field trips.'
'This is no field trip though.' Tsuna deadpanned.
xxx
Shower Rooms...Ladies' Area...
'This is it...I'm kind of nervous...' Chrome stammered out nervously.
'Things will be OK Chrome-chan. As long as we keep a cool head, we'll be OK.' Mai reassured her while they soaked in the furo.
xxx
Shower Rooms...Men's Area...
Its a total disaster for them. Yamamoto, Gokudera and Ryohei at least.
'Sawada, you're late!' Ryohei called out as Tsuna came in.
'Sorry! Its just that I had trouble with my zippers!' Tsuna apologized as he came into the shower area with a towel around his waist.
However, as he came, Gokudera and Yamamoto's eyebrows rose as Tsuna has a creamy, flawless skin, a slender, smoothed toned body emphasized with a small waist, and small ankles due to the fact that he's a year younger than them both. His hair is as fluffy and soft as ever too. It does NOT help that he really does look effeminate, resembling his mother more than he did his father.
Even Ryohei's eyes widened as Mai's words back at Hibari's meeting room rang in his head.
...perfect material for being an Uke!
...perfect material for being an Uke!
...perfect material for being an Uke!
...perfect material for being an Uke!
Yep, it rang in his head four times.
Shower was TORTURE. They're all naked in there, scrubbing themselves as they never get the chance to really be squeaky clean, and then lathering their bodies with soap...
They tried NOT to look at their oblivious boss.
"J-Juudaime...he's flawless!" Gokudera gulped, blushing stark red, Tsuna's stomach, legs and rear flashing in his mind. He's having problems between his legs, too.
"I-I feel really weird down there...and my junior is getting really up...what do I do?" Yamamoto thought panickingly. He also feels the need to release pressure even though he has no need to pee...but he also suffered images in his head.
"Darn it, Mai-chan! You just HAD to say Sawada being...that way..." Ryohei choked as he turned away. "Hibari falling into a landfill, Hibari falling into a landfill..." he repeated in a mantra. But try as he might...he too, has problems.
All of them wanted a part of it too.
Their traitorous minds showed something really interesting...
They all suffered mental breakdowns that they quickly washed up and left.
'...they must be more excited about this mission than I am...' Tsuna sighed as he soaked in the furo. Oblivious to his Guardians' Problems and Budding Desires. 'Me, I could use more comfort...'