Returning to Normalcy

People can only stare in disbelief that Kabuto's true form is a little bug as revealed by Ban when he got downstairs eventually, though he wasn't happy with how it ended as to save one life, another had to die for it.

Or so they thought, when she woke up in Ginji's arms. It was at that point that Amon and Gokudera gained back what they lost.

'Mmm...'

'Y-you're alive?' Raitei gasped out, wide-eyed.

'Tsunade!/Tsunade-chan!/Hime-sama!'

'How? How did you survive that one?' Shido choked out as he was the first to get to her. He was relieved that she was alive.

'Heheh...my flames' special traits is Harmonization, Assimilation and Synchronization, remember?' said Tsunade weakly, wincing at her injuries. 'I gave my body and soul a really strong anchor and foundation so I wouldn't die at the last minute since I know what's coming. My thirteen years' old soul is so weak compared to Kabuto's. I had to strengthen myself as Raitei can do what's impossible to us and there's a great risk I'd die for real, so I gave myself layers of stability on our way here.'

'You didn't tell me that.' Gokudera choked out feebly. 'That wasn't in the plan. I thought you died for real...'

'Better me than you because if Kabuto got you, all of us will really die.' Tsunade snorted. 'Your flames' power is absolute Disintegration. You can only imagine what Kabuto can do with that power that me being possessed was a safer option.' Gokudera went green at the mere idea.

'Disintegration...that's true, he managed to destroy a container of souls created with powerful sorcery and willpower so easily...' Jorogumo mused as if that power was used on them...

Yikes.

'I don't like that idea either.' said Juubei as he glanced at Gokudera. 'You have a rather frightening power, Hayato.'

'Hey, its not like I asked for it since birth y'know! Its what I got when she taught me!' Gokudera sputtered defensively, raising his hands in surrender.

'Well, now what?' Ban wondered. 'Its not the end yet, we got overtime to do folks. And you, go to sleep.' he told Raitei kindly. 'Its alright now. Nobody among us died thanks to this crazy brat.'

Raitei dismissed himself, satisfied and Ginji's body collapsed into his arms. 'Monkey-boy.' he whispered darkly to Shido. 'I squeezed out of Saicho what you intended to do.'

'Nothing can atone for that. I nearly lost Tsunade over what I had to do to save Madoka.'

'Glad you know Karma bit you in the ass. Brat must've sensed something bad about to happen and decided on a third option. Having these powers saved all our asses.' said Ban. 'You got a lot of making up to do.'

'...I know.'

Ban then turned to Himiko cheerily. 'Himiko, time for you to do your job!'

'Right...I have to create a new perfume.' said Himiko. 'Hell Valley must be full of goods for insects since its the Kiryuudo Homeland!'

'What kind of perfume do you intend to create, Himiko-dono?' Miyama asked her.

'My Insecticide Perfume is incomplete and due to that, it has a nasty side effect.' said Himiko as Ban and Kazuki shuddered. 'If I complete it, it will become a wonderful perfume so Kabuto will finally let go. If he lets go, I can then tackle the second problem...getting rid of your Karmic Burdens.'

'My people and I are at your disposal, Himiko-dono!' Miyama knelt before her.

'Y-you don't have to do that...'

'...Nasty side-effects?' Amon blinked.

'That thing she has can also make men impotent if a human male smells it.' Ban shuddered as the men around them looked terrified at the idea.

'I-Impotent?!' Uryuu almost howled in horror as the men scooted dramatically far away from Himiko in wide-eyed fear. Himiko sweatdropped at this predictable reaction. She saw it coming but still...

'Noooo! I need my goods!' Emishi freaked out.

'Ahaha, that's IF we smell it so we just scoot away...' said Kazuki in a nervous laugh.

'You're a woman in all but assets anyway, you'd care less about it!' Ban snarked.

Kazuki twitched.

'Mido, you!' he fumed. 'Are you calling me a woman again?!'

'All you need is a boob job and a surgery down there you're good to go!'

'I'll have you know I'm a MAN thank you!'

Bickering ensued.

'Tsunade...when you synchronized with the palace...did you know what I had to do?' Shido asked his sister.

'I knew...and I don't want you to do it.' Tsunade told him, causing him to take on a pained expression, utterly remorseful. 'It must be hard when you got no options left to save Madoka-nee and it doesn't help that Saicho has the advantage. But its also just as painful to betray one of us to trade Madoka-nee for this person. My idea was fool-proof, but I underestimated that bug. So in the end I got possessed.' she sighed wearily. 'My body hurts real bad...'

'C'mon, I'll take you to Kaoru...'

xxx

Himiko left with Miyama to complete her perfume.

The rest stayed in the palace to recover and Jorogumo had the sucky job of telling her tribe that they had been betrayed since birth, and the retrievers saved their generation so now the war they had been indoctrinated on since childhood to maintain a farce they just found out about, is over. So now the surviving Kiryuudo now made peace with the Shiki.

Kabuto was in a jar because he was the end game, in Ban's possession.

And in a room, Madoka and Tsunade rested off their possessions.

In the Mess Hall...

Kazuki was the one who cooked out of paranoia.

Out of them all, only he and Tsunade can cook. But in his case, its all solely vegetables, mushrooms and tofu. It helps that the Kiryuudo are solely vegans are well.

'Well, Tsunade told me about the fees she wrote up in the bank.' said Shido. 'So I asked the coordinator to hire all powerful guys she knew to help us out though I had to find my fellow Shiki. Not like she knows how to reach them anyway.' he snorted. 'She wrote up a 50 million check per head for all of you while I have to arrange stuff for Ryuuho, Kaoru and Amon.'

'Er, hang on a minute, monkey-boy, Hevn gets 30% off our fees...' Ban twitched. 'That bitch is gonna get 15 million from each of us so she gets 120 million in the end while the rest of us gets 35 mil each?!' he squawked. 'How is that fair?!' he howled with comical waterfall tears.

Everyone else got doom and gloom at the idea.

'Well, she hired quite the group fully-aware she gets 30% off your reward monies, nothing I can do about that either.' Shido shrugged. 'The only ones she didn't hire is Gokudera and my fellow Shiki. Tsunade roped in her student and I roped in my fellow Shiki so they got no such issues.'

'Damn, Hevn scored real good this time...' Ban moped gloomily as he imagined Hevn in a bathtub of yen bills.

'Well, that's life I guess...' said Ginji, going tare on them again while crying waterfall tears. 'But Ban-chan this is also the first-ever job we get paid more than 5 million because Tsunade-chan said our job is ultra-dangerous...we gotta enjoy what we can and that apartment we want is still available...'

'Shido, we don't need money.' said Kaoru. 'We lived in the forest for so long its impossible for us to live in the city so its worthless to us.' she said. 'I don't know how you managed when the environment is so drastically-altered that there's no way to gather pure life there.'

'And I don't like the fact that we need printed paper to live when forest resources, metal, food, medicine or clothes is much more valuable.' Ryuuho griped. 'Society's messed up in the head for putting value in printed paper.'

'I don't know how I managed either.' Shido snorted. 'Maybe its because one little girl needed me that I managed.' he said as its common knowledge that Shido adopted Tsunade. 'I'm too young to be a father so I became a big brother. And then I found love that I'm willing to do anything for her. Living in a filthy city is a small price to pay for these two girls.'

'Uhhh Shido, Tsunade-chan's independent now right?' Amon asked him.

'Yeah, she now lives in our house with Gokudera while its me who moved out to be with Madoka.' Shido blinked. 'Why?'

He knew why anyway.

'Well...how do I explain this...I can't live without her.'

'HUUUUH?!' Ryuuho, Gokudera and the other retrievers MISINTERPRETED THAT as they don't know what Amon actually meant.

'Yare yare...' Shido scratched her head. 'I guess I gotta tell you that there's more to Tsunade's flames than just its special traits.' he sighed.

'There's more?!' Ban squawked. 'What's it got to do with blondie here proposing?!'

'Its not proposing you dimwit...its a rare occurrence in a certain country. This one guy told me about it so when something weird happens, we'd know what to do.' said Shido. 'There are seven types of Special Flames with their unique traits. The other six reach out to the seventh who in turn provides harmonization of their flames and becomes a family. Due to the 'warmth of home' it gives and the sense of 'you will never be alone anymore', the other six will protect the seventh. How this happens? The seventh flame will reach out to those who are similar to its wielder and its beyond control. Once they find them, they will latch on and never let go. This bond must naturally happen.' he sternly emphasized.

'It must never be forced otherwise it will be a heinous crime that a group that maintains the law regarding these powers will come and drag your ass to their prison where its kept inhumanly freezing cold and pitch-black dark in solitary cells wherein the conditions are so bad these criminals will go insane.' Shido smiled darkly. 'Amon, you felt what natural Harmonization of Flames is. This is only possible if you have the potential to awaken these flames and you're clearly a Guardian-Element while Tsunade is the Heart of the Seven Elements. Those like her are extremely rare yet Guardian Elements are so common which is why these guys are sought after and protected...or exploited.'

'Its Dino isn't it?' Ban frowned. 'I can't think of anyone else.'

'I had to be vague and let you figure stuff out on your own so the lawmakers won't get on my case because this is a secret that must be protected.' said Shido. 'Amon is now one of Tsunade's Guardians. And Kaoru sensed that Gokudera's latched on too.'

'You mean Tsunade-chan's flames latched on to those similar to her? In what way?' Himiko asked Shido.

'Saa? No idea.' came his playful pretend-to-be-clueless sort of voice.

They knew he knew but its not their business to press on.

'But Shido...' Kazuki piped out. 'The Raitei that showed up in Kabuto's chamber was a lot different...how and why?' he asked. 'Had it been the Raitei we all know, Tsunade-chan would have died despite her precautions. Its a miracle she survived him.'

Ginji choked at that.

'Its because of Hamonization.' said Shido. 'She harmonized their hearts that they're now 50-50 of each other. Because of that, Raitei who only knows how to destroy foes out of anger and hatred and nothing else, can now be able to defeat and save. He can choose who to actually kill and not kill.' he explained. 'She didn't just double his powers and wake him up to save our sorry asses. The perfect example is him beating up Kabuto while taking care not to harm Tsunade's soul. Through Ginji, she gave Raitei a 'heart' as well that Raitei is now capable of being gentle like Ginji in battle. But in turn, Ginji might really let those who deserve it have it while still sparing innocents and those who changed their ways.'

'Somehow...that's hard to imagine...' Ginji sulked.

'Well, we'd find out if we find ourselves in a sucky job.' Ban stated wryly.

xxx

By around sundown, Himiko was back with her completed perfume and it had to be combined with the Jagan.

Its a perfume meant to teach insects.

She said that it teaches them that their home is in nature, not the human body.

Insects have roles to play as well as insects and plants create life together.

Kabuto finally let go and while Himiko created a perfume that destroys curses, it turns out that there's no need as when Kabuto let go, the tattoos that represented the Karmic Burden vanished.

But to be safe, Himiko left her perfume to Miyama.

It was also time to go home when Tsunade was well enough to go home but Madoka will have to rest some more. She didn't have the training nor the strength of will when she was 'pushed aside' as Kaoru and Tsunade did all they could.

Back in Shinjuku by Maguruma's truck(he got paid 12 million)...

Maguruma dropped Tsunade, Gokudera and Amon to their house while having to transport Shido and Madoka home to the mansion, the Get Backers and Himiko wanted to get off at Honky-Tonk and the last, was Mugenjou for VOLTS but not even Maguruma wanted to step foot in there thus dropped Kazuki, Juubei, Uryuu and Emishi in Ura-Shinjuku.

'Well, I guess we can call this our victory.' said Juubei.

'Yes...we defeated the Kiryuudo but we also have a battle of our own.' said Kazuki. 'We're also up against the God of Infinity Fortress who prophesized Ginji-san's death. But the spanner to that was Tsunade-chan. Not even they can predict or attempt to control her. Her power is more mysterious that she basically can defy at will.'

'Yeah. We worried for nothing...not only that, she made Raitei stronger. Give Birth to a New Lightning Lord indeed as she puts it and she meant it quite literally.' said Uryuu. 'We won at any rate.'

'Yeah. But we will watch out more...because they'll try again.' said Juubei. 'Let's go back home.'

xxx

However, at the Bank...

'W-what's this?!' Ban choked as instead of 35 million, its 4.5 less on their bank account! 'Aren't we supposed to get 35 mil from our job?'

'About that...' said the banker lady. 'That little lady said some of your reward money will be spent to pay off your various tabs. She gave us your many IOUs from a Honky-Tonk Cafe and the Traffic Enforcer's Tow-Away Department...and she arranged a 2K apartment already furnished with a monthly rent of 80000 yen that will also be automatically deducted. Its already furnished by the landlord so break anything in there, you pay.' Ban and Ginji suffered comical anvils falling on their heads. 'That, and you're now getting 350.000 off your reward money every month until its all gone. By the way, your rent is deducted from your monthly allowance so you'll actually get 270.000.'

Their jaws dropped.

'So its an allowance every month?' Ginji asked, going tare on the banker.

'Yes, because she said your luck at money sucks and you're prone to destroying things she arranged this precaution.' said the banker flatly. 'Then again, one look at you...I can believe that rich ojousama I guess.'

The pair went tare-gloomy, writing circles on the floor.

'So starting today on this very date, please come here for your monthly allowance~!'

And so...

At Hyakunincho, Asakawa Corpo Building, Unit 106...

'2K apartment of 80000 yen...' Ban mused as they looked at their new home. 'Its a goodbye to sleeping in the car after three long years since we started being the Get Backers.'

'Yeah...finally!' Ginji swooned as he jumped on the couch and hugged the pillows. 'A soft bed to sleep on~!'

'But that 38 million yen won't last us forever so unless we get more jobs, this place is basically vacation land for us and it'll be back to sleeping in the car again.' said Ban anxiously. 'We gotta take real care.'

'Y-yeah...I want to stay here forever too Ban-chan...' Ginji whimpered, not really wanting to sleep on a car again. 'We should talk to anyone who lives in an apartment.'

'That'd be Himiko and Hevn.' said Ban. 'We oughta pay her a visit since I don't wanna see Hevn for a while unless she has a job for us!' he grumbled. 'She got 120 mil off Monkey-boy!' he fumed. 'Friggin' fox...'

xxx

Himiko's apartment...

Its a swanky 1SLDK place. And kinda luxurious.

'Huh? Whaddya guys want?' Himiko asked them.

'Himiko-chan, what's life like in an apartment?' Ginji asked her. 'We just got us a new flat so we're at a loss on what to do.'

Himiko really dreaded teaching these two...because they're not good at anything else!'

xxx

At home...

'So this is where you guys live huh?' Amon mused as its a pretty big house.

'Yeah, its just us two here and since you're now joining us, you can have Shido's room since Hayato and I share my room. We have big rooms two people can share one room you know.' said Tsunade.

'We spend our time training though.' said Gokudera. 'Due to how society works, Shido-san is our agent and we do the jobs. But now that you're here, you can be our front face to our clients since you're society-legal.'

'Heee...well, I need to retrain myself anyway since Tsunade-chan awakened my full potential I didn't know I had...I mean, I knew but the privilege of being awakened by the Fuyuki is limited only to Family Patriarchs and Eldest sons and I'm the middle child...'

'Ahh, good to know then.' said Tsunade with a smile that Amon was also subjected to what Gokudera now endures.

They lived in peace together for several months...enjoying Christmas in Madoka's mansion and New Year's Eve...

Until one day...

Gokudera received mail from Dino in the bedroom.

Gokudera, from what my eyes and ears say, Vongola sent
my Ex-Tutor to Namimori. They're gonna find out the truth
about the house real soon.

Well, we'll let them work their way to Tsunade, not knowing
that the prize is beyond their reach since she's more likely
to roast them alive...so delete this message. Just mailed to
warn you.

'Yikes...' Gokudera gulped as he quickly deleted the mail.

If the Sky Oppression of months ago was so bad, what about the impending disaster?

"Hime-sama..." he thought worriedly.

He worried if the house will survive!

He sent mail to Dino.

Cavallone, I beg of you to warn me if they'll get close to
Shinjuku, I'll find an excuse to go to Mugenjou so our house
will NOT be trashed from her rampage...you know what I
said in my report months ago...right...? At least in Mugenjou
nobody's gonna miss a building or two!