Hello my dear readers, Naintarlow checking in
It has been a long time coming but the blackmail/youkai hitman arc is finally at its end. Next chapter will be the after effects and a little slice of life of the newspaper club and a larger side story segment to compensate for the lack of it this time around.
I can admit freely this whole part of the story got away from me a little, spanning multiple though shorter chapters but I enjoyed it nonetheless writing it and hope you enjoy it as well.
Reviews:
Orchamus: You are welcome, happy to provide
ChuLan:Yes the comparison is really there and yes, don't envy poor Tsuna if I really turn him into a vampire
UzuRyu:Have to be honest with you, I had a large rant planned, justifications and all that but in the end it simply isn't worth it. I'm not forcing you or anyone to read my story, so if you don't enjoy it, don't read it. That is all.
As usual I thank all of you for the support, the favorites, follows and reviews that you showed this story and without further stalling, let's start the newest chapter.
Chapter 17 Endgame
"Get up!" a harsh but familiar voice echoed in her mind as she slowly came to consciousness, her whole body protesting her weak attempts at moving."Get up or you will die. You friends will die,your precious Tsuna will die. Get up and do something about it" the voice roared once again.
Akashiya Moka's eyes snapped open, panic evident in them as she tried to sit up, only to hiss in pain and fall back to whatever she was leaning against. Confusion was forefront in her clouded mind as she observed her surrounding ls, having no idea why she was sitting outside or what hit her with the force of a roadrunner.
Then as she noticed a red-skinned guy standing in the middle of the clearing, memories rushed into her head. She remembered coming to the newspaper club, finding their work stolen, Kurumu leaving the club then the discovery that she was blackmailed. They ran to her aid, only for a new enemy to rear their head and with relative ease take out Lambo,
"Lambo! Kurumu!" as her mind finally pieced together the events leading here, her only concern was for her friends. She tried to force herself to stand, wanting to find her friends when a head of cyan caught her eye, laying next to her.
She also spotted Tsukune who looked beaten up and a little shaken Yukari next to the unconscious Succubus. She didn't understand what happened since she blacked out but she was immensely relieved to see her friends alright for the most part.
"Don't worry babe. They are a little roughed up but nothing a little rest won't fix."a familiar voice addressed her, causing her to whip her head around and widen her eyes at the speaker.
Shikaku stood in the middle of the clearing, doing a stand-off with Gin of all people. She could only see his back, but Moka had a feeling that her club president was really ticked off for once.
Lambo stood not far from there, clearly limping but once again surrounded by that green lightning of his. What was surprising was the small lion perched on his head, growling angrily at the still confident looking oni. When did Natsu get here? Did that mean Tsuna was here too?
On the other side of her club president stood a large, intimidating looking guy in karate gi, grinning in anticipation for the coming battle. He didn't look familiar to her at all but the description she had of him and that battlelust pouring out of him made her guess that he was the senpai Tsuna visited from time to time in the karate club, training in hand to hand combat and to 'take the edge off' though she had no idea what he meant by that.
"His name is Haiji, pay attention." she heard her inner self scold her, sounding irritated at having to explain things to her or just her being generally irritated, she wasn't sure when it came to Ura-chan.
She was a little surprised that she decided to speak up, before coming to the school, the two barely even acknowledged each other, not even the occasional talk. Nowadays her sealed self became surprisingly chatty.
"I'm not chatty." Ura apparently heard her thoughts and she could just imagine on her, well their face."Now if you are done thinking about nonsense, pay attention to the fight. You may not be able to fight but you have to be ready if anything happens." she ordered and she felt her retreat behind the seal. Still watching but no longer privy to her thoughts.
Fighting the rare urge to roll her eyes at Ura's attitude, Omote did as she was asked and turned back to the combatants ready to square off.
Shikaku scowled as he surveyed the battlefield, no longer liking the odds against him.
"Where are all of you idiots coming from? Really it's like a million of you weaklings crawling around whenever something happens. When do you learn your lesson and stay out of the damn way." the oni ranted in a furious tone as he seemed to be ready to charge forward but stopped for some reason.
Instead of being intimidated, Gin only scoffed at him, hands still in his pockets.
"Cute. Believe me if I could, I wouldn't bother with you but you not only messed with my juniors, you even made the work of the newspaper club harder and as the club president I can't let you just get away with it." the werewolf stated, his tone lazy as usual but Moka could hear the barely restrained anger in it.
"What are you talking about." Shikaku rudely interrupted, narrowing his eyes.
"You and your little group stole our manifest, just a few days away from the deadline. You targeted and hurt members of my club and you expect I will take it and lie down quietly. But you know what's worst?" his voice gained an edge that had even the confident looking Shikaku take a half step back before noticing it."You made the girls cry." he told him, meaning every word of it.
On one hand it sounded a very sweet thing to say but because it was Gin, it came out corny and just a little sexist, Moka thought as she felt a sweatdrop forming. She imagined it was something he said for the sake of looking cool, or she really didn't know how corny her senpai was.
"Cool your jets Ero-senpai." she heard Lambo mutter, looking exasperated at the werewolf, while Natsu on the top of his head seemed to laugh to himself.
"Are finished talking?" Haiji asked with a raised eyebrow, cracking his knuckles ominously."All this rambling around is pointless. Let's start fighting already."
"And you wonder why there aren't any girls that like you." Gin commented with a smug grin.
"Hm. At least they don't run away at the sight of me, unlike you." the karate club captain shot back with a similar smirk, causing Gin's smirk to fall slightly.
"Is this really the time to banter among themselves." Moka mumbled to herself as she slowly stood up to at least stand guard in front of her downed friends, her body protesting at the simple movements but she fought through it.
As if hearing her words, Shikaku let out a loud snort, causing the pair of upperclassmen to look back at him, faces turning serious.
"Oh, please don't let me stop you." sarcasm was practically oozed from the red-skinned teen as he regarded them, completely confident."Please do prattle on how I hurt your friends, how I will pay for what I have done, and that you will never forgive me. It gets a little repetitive after a while you know? All you weaklings repeat the same old mantra. yet fall all the same. Think up something original, would you?" he taunted them with a mocking laugh.
Gin regarded him with a disappointed look, shoulders slumping as he fully turned and faced Shikaku.
"You know what? Forget it. Actions speak louder than words after all. Let us show you the difference between a poser and the real deal." he said, Haiji giving a bloodthirsty grin in response as he took a proper stance, unlike Gin who didn't move an inch.
Hands in his pockets, his posture slouched, he looked his usual, lazy self, one would think he could be frightening to any degree. Yet watching him Moka was overcome with that strange, blood-freezing feeling just like she did when Shikaku attacked them. And this time she didn't even get the brunt of it.
"It's what some would call killer instinct." her other self spoke up, apparently once again listening to her thoughts. She sounded much calmer this time."In simple terms it is a usually unknown projection of your aura, stating your intent if you would. It's the difference of saying that you will give it all you got and actually doing it. It's a state where you will no longer pull your punch at the last minute, not giving your opponent the time to collect themself." she explained and Omote was once again struck by the differences between the two of them.
"I understand it but how can we feel it so easily?" she found herself asking in a low voice, her hand grabbing onto her rosary in search of comfort.
"Simply the instinct to survive." was the short answer from Ura."Even humans can perceive things like that, they could sense the difference in strength and their body immediately turns to an action that has the most likelihood of preserving their lives. Running. Keep your attention on them, my other half. You are about to witness what it means to truly fight between youkai." she advised before once again retreating into her mind.
Looking at her senpai, she could definitely agree with that last statement. She thought she saw him with his full strength on that night on the rooftop fighting Tsuna, then getting trashed by the ten year older version of him but there was definitely a difference.
Guess, even when he proclaimed that he was fighting at full power, Gin wasn't fully committed to hurt her friend. Despite his words, he was really a good guy, deep down.
She blinked in surprise when Lambo joined her, standing vigil over their knocked out comrades, only sparing her a small smile before turning back to the battle that would break out anytime.
"Don't worry, I will watch over the others. I swear it on my pride as Tsuna-nii's lightning guardian." he told them seriously. Natsu roared in agreement, his mane that was made of dying will flames expanded around him, In response, the lightning surrounding Lambo intensified.
"Thanks." Gin said quietly, but didn't look back.
"Oh? You sound awfully confident in a little brat that I beat with little trouble. Well, not my problem. I will have you learn the difference betwe-"
He was forced to cut himself off as he raised hands in a block, barely stopping the knee going straight for his face. In less time than it took Moka to blink, the werewolf closed the distance between them and unleashed a devastating attack that dealt plenty of pain to the oni despite the hasty block, judging by the grimace on his face.
'Is this the true speed of a werewolf?' she asked from herself, a little shocked at the speed, which rivaled if not exceeded what she saw of her senpai in a night with a full moon.
Shikaku grinned, seeing that he stopped Gin's attack as a sign of him being stronger but before he could do anything he had to jump backwards, barely dodging the knife hand sent toward his throat by Haiji. The large student had a bloodthirsty grin on his face as he sent a barrage of punches forward, slowly but definitely forcing his opponent to retreat.
None of the earlier confidence was shown on the oni's face as he was forced to block punch after punch. He finally stopped giving ground, planting his feet in and raised his own fist for a counterattack. The attempt was hastily dropped as Gin appeared at his side, sending quick, precise and devastating kicks at him, forcing him to once again focus on the defense.
But dealing with Gin, left him completely open to Haiji's attack, the karate obsessed teen not letting the chance pass. He stopped for a single moment, taking a deep breath before launching a punch at Shikaku's open front, putting his whole body into it.
Eyes widening, he made a block but at the last moment he chose to dodge instead. He jumped to the side but thanks to that he got hit by a kick that caught his face, launching him further away. Still, it proved to be the correct course of action as the air around Haiji's punch rippled before a large gush of wind was released from his fist.
Landing on his two legs after spinning around a little, the oni blinked in disbelief as the wind continued to head toward the other end of the clearing, ripping a couple of trees to shreds before dissipating finally. There was no doubt in his mind if he tried to block that he wouldn't have survived the counter.
"You got good instincts." the large man commented with a smirk as he turned toward him but made no move to charge after him just yet. Similarly Gin was content to watch and observe him for the time being."You sensed the power behind that last attack and chose the lesser of two evils when you dodged. Not bad at all."
"Oi, why are you complimenting our opponent? We have more important things to do." Gin complained but Haiji ignored him with ease born from practice.
"Raw strength and talent, you have both but what you lack is experience." he continued to explain, looking confidently at a seething Shikaku."The former two only carry you so far against enemies at your level or stronger. You lack the ability to predict the flow of the battle, the actions of your enemies or read your allies'. You are like a blind man fumbling in the dark. While you may get lucky, it's only effective for so long." he lectured, pointing a finger at the oni.
"The heck are you talking about?" he shouted back.
He looked ready to charge and continue the fight but caution made him hesitate, recognizing he was on the back foot of the fight for once.
"Since when did we turn into a pair of lecturers? We used to simply fight without talking or giving an opponent the time to gather themselves together?" Gin complained but despite his words he made no move to attack."Well, if nothing else, it will be a learning experience for the brats, so pay attention, there will be a quiz on it later." he said with a chuckle, pointing a thumb toward Moka, or rather behind her.
She blinked in confusion but turned around, her eyes widening as she found Yukari and Tsukuen awake, both of them trying to sit up, wincing with every move. Nonetheless relief flooded her system at seeing them awake and moving.
"Yukari-chan! Tsukune-kun! Are you alright?" she asked with a worried frown, kneeling at their side.
The young witch gave her a small smile, immediately hugging her, softly crying in relief of seeing her, all of them all right. Tsukune on the other hand gave her a small smile before his eyes inadvertently turned toward their senpais, his face growing serious.
"I'm alright, or at least as close as I could be. Seems like the tables turned once again." he commented softly.
One of his hands came down to rest on the still unconscious Kurumu's head. A fury that looked unusual on his usually smiling face appeared for a moment before he smothered out his expression, recognizing that no matter how much he liked to teach a lesson to the one who harmed the succubus himself, he was in no condition to do so, nor he was strong enough on the first place.
Gin looked at them, confirming they were paying attention before turning his attention back to Shikaku who watched them, frustrated and wary.
"It's not hard to figure out how you operate. You only attack when the odds are tilted in your favor. You ambush your opponents, when there is little to no chance of them mounting any retaliation, no friends coming to back them up. You don't let them unleash their full power, maybe force them into circumstances that prevent them from doing so in the first place." he lectured, giving a quick, pointed look to the vampire who looked a little sheepish. "It's not a bad tactic per se, but it can only carry you so far. You inherently have strong physical capabilities, so you wouldn't have much problem, against most first years. But I will tell you this now, against a second or a third year, it wouldn't work." he told him plainly, no boast in his voice, just a simple statement.
Moka and the others listening in blinked in surprise at his words. Was that really that much of a gap between a second and a first year? As if hearing their thoughts their club president continued explaining.
"In paper this is a peaceful school where we learn how to blend in with the human world but the truth is nowhere this idyllic. This is a school for monsters, only the strong, the cunning and the lucky can thrive and survive." he explained, his face completely devoid of his usual lazy attitude."The size of a second year class is usually a fifth of what it was in first year. Most simply drop out while the truly stubborn resist til the end and die. Surviving the first year is something that no other experience can substitute for and it would certainly change your outlook and how you operate."
"Simply put, no one who survived in this hell for a whole year will fall to childish tricks like that. You are not that special kid, we will give you a reminder of where you stand." Haiji added with a savage grin as he cracked his neck, ready to continue the fight.
For a moment silence was the only thing on this remote battlefield. Moka, Tsukuna and Yukari wore shocked expressions, silently trying to digest what they were told, while Kurumu was still out of it. Lambo was the only one whose expression didn't change, having to learn something similar in his years in the mafia.
They couldn't see Shikaku's expression because his head was lowered, eyes hidden by his hair. Suddenly the teen began to laugh loudly, while releasing a lot of youkai energy, causing his body to change. His muscles once again expanded, along with most of his body, growing a whole feet in the process and ending up looking like some kind of bodybuilder who lived on nothing but steroids. His eyes were wild and unfocused and it looked like his body would burst any time but right now the transformation held.
"I had enough of you talking all those nonsense and looking down on me. It's always the same with you people. Tradition, status quo, old families, proper place. Whatever you want to call it, it's just an excuse to look down on me, but you know what? Fuck that! Fuck all of that! You think you can look down on me? Think again. Those stupid traditions are not here to protect you when I pummel you into the ground." he raged on, resembling an animal that lost all sense than any kind of humanoid creature right now. He was even foaming at the mouth. "I'm strong. And when I get my hands on Sawada, on the dying will, I will be even stronger and no one will be able to look down on me. No one. I will kill every last one of them who dare. Starting with you!"
Moka looked at the scene with apprehension as youkai energy started to shroud his body like a protective cloak but much to her surprise the two upper years remained unimpressed. The karate club captain looked at him with something akin to disappointment, while Gin made a big show of yawning.
"Welp, that's what we get for trying to impart a meaning lesson to a youngster. He flat out ignored everything we said and began throwing a tantrum." the werewolf said, sounding like an old man, despite being only a year older than them. Unlike his words, his eyes gained a certain edge as his body tensed
Haiji similarly took a fighting stance, he had a look on his face as if someone told him that Christmas came early along with his birthday.
"Guess, the only chance that he will learn is to beat the lesson into his body. Make sure he remembers it really well." there was a really savage grin that overtook his face as he placed a foot forward, as well holding up an open palm. "'To purge oneself of selfish and evil thoughts, for only with a clear mind and conscience can the practitioner understand the knowledge which he receives.' That is the essence of karate and I'll show you a difference between a fist that is controlled and used to it' fullest potential instead of that waste that you are throwing around." he declared confidently.
It only served to enrage Shikaku more as he hunched forward, zeroing his attention on the large teen.
"Stop looking down on me! I will make you regret ever thinking you could stop me!" he roared, the rage overwhelming him to the point he looked no different from a feral animal. Maybe that was his true natura all along.
He charged forward, all thoughts of tactics, of caution gone from his mind. Instead of looking intimidated, the two seniors simply smirked as they readied themselves, no apprehension on their faces.
Shikaku soon reached them and began to punch forward wildly but something was wildly different compared to before and it took Moka a second to figure out what it was. He was painfully slower compared to before.
"Hm, it seems he exchanged his speed for power." her vampire self noted and Omote listened attentively to her words."His punches must be several times stronger than before, easily capable of dealing large amounts of damage. I wouldn't call it a bad tactic ordinarily but against those two it was the worst possible tactic." she could hear the smug smirk from her other self's voice, even if she herself had nothing to do with this development.
Looking back, she saw Haiji easily slap away a punch, while he and Gin stepped away from the rest of the punches with ease. She could understand what Ura was talking about. All your power meant nothing if you couldn't hit your target and against an opponent like Gin, whose greatest attribute was his speed and Haiji, who as a practitioner of martial arts was probably used to much faster opponents, it was very little he could do. All he punched was air, always a little too slow.
It only made the oni more and more enraged, starting another rush at the two but that got nowhere. If he attacked Haiji, the large teen simply stopped in place and deflected his punch with arms, taking minimal or no damage, moving his body just a little to dodge the blows that he couldn't redirect in time. His partner used Shikaku's focus on Haiji to pepper his body with kicks at blinding speeds.
It didn't seem to cause much damage but it didn't matter. Even the sturdiest trees could be uprooted if you strike them enough times.
Frustrated, Shikaku turned to retaliate but the werewolf broke off the attack and started almost literally running circles around him, avoiding all of his attacks with a mocking smirk on his face. Haiji used the opportunity caused by his distraction and started on his own effense, delivering a few but powerful blows to Shikaku before once again settling in a defensive stance as the attention turned back to him.
"Incredible." Tsukune muttered next to Moka, cradling Kurumu in his arms, probably to try and shield her if Shikaku tried to attack them."This is the level I want to catch up to?" there was a lot of doubt along with ave in his eyes as he watched the two older teen's practically playing with the guy who beat all of them into unconsciousness.
To tell the truth Moka felt somehow similarly. Not for the first time she resented the seal and the inability to remove it herself, feeling like she was nothing but a burden without Tsuna around to remove her seal. Even the little fraction of strength that she had, she wasn't able to use it to protect her friends.
She hated this feeling, she wanted to be better. She didn't want to rely on Tsuna or her other self to save her. She wanted to stand on her own.
The teamwork between Gin and Haiji was a sight to behold. Two needed neither to communicate with each other, or even look in the other's direction to know what they were supposed to be doing, what was the other doing. It looked like a choreographed dance between them, Shikaku taking the place of the rookie with two left feet trapped between them.
If the oni focused on one of them, then the other used that to launch an offense and slowly weakened him. They jumped from defense to offense and back fluidly, sometimes the both of them attacking, pushing him back further and further.
"Enough." losing the last of his patience, he shouted before he hit the ground with both fists. The ground cracked around him and even Moka and the others felt the tremor from where they were watching the fight.
It may have looked silly and childish but it served its purpose. Gin and Haiji had to back off, giving Shikaku the ability to take a breath and gather himself. The rhythm of the fight was broken and Gin and Haiji observed him, instead of blindly rushing in.
They obviously did a number on him. The aura around Shikaku was all but gone, his body littered with various bruises, some of them already looking blue. He panted heavily and he seemed to have trouble holding up his arms as he glared at them.
On the other hand his opponents' breathing was barely strained as they looked at their adversary. Their smiles widened as unnoticed by anyone, something among the trees behind Shikaku moved.
"I've had enough of you weaklings standing in my way. Why don't you just piss off and save a beating." Shikaku yelled as he glared at the two when they didn't look the least bit threatened.
"Big words for a kid who is at the end of his rope." was Gin's reply, though his attention was focused on something behind Shikaku, not that he noticed."You went over your head this time, didn't you? If it wasn't for me moving on my own, things could have turned out differently. Or what, you mean to tell me, even that was part of your grand plan."
Shikaku looked confused, lowering his guard as he stared blankly at the werewolf. Likewise, Moka herself felt she was a little lost and looked at him in question.
"What are you talking a-" the oni choked on his words as he suddenly fell to the ground, like a puppet cut off its strings, thanks to a rather strong blow to the back of his neck.
As he collapsed, Moka finally noticed the new arrival. Standing behind Shikaku's prone form was a tired, dirty Tsuna, panting heavily. His eyes were a glaring orange, a dying will flame of similar color was on his forehead, small and looked moments away from disappearing and lastly two unfamiliar metal gloves were on his hands, each bearing an X symbol.
"Give me a break." he said, looking Gin straight in the eye, the side of his mouth rising a little."I had limited information to work with, I did the best that I could. No plan survives first contact after all." with his piece said, he let out a groan and fell to his knees, clearly in a lot of pain.
"Tsuna-kun?" Moka breathed out his name, feeling a large amount of relief seeing him.
After the things Shikaku said and how he played with them, she feared the worst. She knew Tsuna was stronger and craftier than he looked at first glance but she also knew he wasn't without weaknesses. Weaknesses that were rather easy to exploit in some cases.
So seeing him here, tired but clearly alive evoked a large range of emotions within her. She felt worry for him, he clearly looked like he had seen some battle, relief that despite what Shikaku said he was here, he was alright, anger at him, for once again dealing things on his own, without even telling them, happy that with him here, this tiring incident was closing its end. In the end, the worry and the relief won out and she could already feel tears gathering in her eyes as she watched him, wanting nothing more than to run to him and make sure he would be alright.
She felt Yukari squeeze her waist where she was hugging her, smiling up at her with a wobbly smile before gently stepping away from her. Understanding what she meant, Moka tentatively turned her head toward Tsukune, who gave a pained smile, probably from his injuries and a nod, silently promising to watch over Yukari and Kurumu. Lambo didn't say anything but he did nothing when she darted past him, she even felt a small weight jumping to her shoulder as she made a beeline toward Tsuna.
"Tsuna-kun!" she found herself calling his name once again as she kneeled down next to him. Her first instinct was to embrace him but she thought better of it, only gingerly taking hold of his shoulders as she looked him over.
From closer he really looked bad. His whole face was flushed as if he was fighting off a fever, his vibrant orange eyes appearing dull and dazed as he panted heavily, as if he runned a whole marathon. His body was full of smaller cuts, a few bruises but thankfully most of it was dirt.
"Look at you, barely keeping your eyes open." she found herself smiling softly at him, a hand reaching and cupping his far too warm face. Closing his eyes, Tsuna in a single moment of weakness leaned into her cool hand, prompting her to stifle a giggle at how cute he looked at that moment."What trouble did you end up this time?" she asked softly, noting how he instantly tensed in her tentative embrace.
"Sorry." he murmured with a pained smile."I tried to do it without involving you guys but it seems like it wasn't meant to be." his shoulders slumped and he never looked this tired before."Even with my pushing myself to the limits, it seems like I have to rely on you once again."
She frowned as she regarded him. She knew he had trust issues, holding onto some of his secrets fiercely, but she liked to believe that he knew that he could trust them. That they would have his back, just as he looked after them in his strange, sometimes detached way.
Her arms wrapped around his form as she brought him closer to her body, silently trying to communicate to him what she couldn't say in words alone. That he wasn't alone, that she won't leave him. That they, the newspaper club won't abandon him and it was okay for him to show that he was scared, frustrated or just tired, that they would accept him no matter what.
He let out a sigh, a sign of resistance or pride before leaned into her embrace, silently accepting her gesture for what it was. She heard Natsu silently laugh on her shoulder, apparently finding amusement in the situation his master ended up, making her smile at him.
"You are gonna do the deed or just stare at each other all day? Either way we probably don't have much time so do hurry up?" interrupted Gin's lazy voice.
Of course their little moment had to be broken up, though Gin could have gone more sensitively about the whole thing, Moka thought as she glared up at the werewolf who walked up to them after checking on Shikaku that he was really out.
Tsuna on the other hand if he felt any frustration by the man showed none of it as he stood up, acting as if he wasn't exhausted at all and if she didn't see him a moment before, she would have easily believed it too. The brown-haired teen offered a smirk to his upperclassman after nodding to Haiji in greeting.
"I've got to admit, I didn't account you to be so noisy when I made my plans. Though it seemed to work out in our favor." Tsuna admitted as he eyed the smug-looking werewolf.
"So looks like the cold, uncaring brat is just as prone to mistakes as the rest of us mortals. Good to know." in response, Gin's smirk was full of smugness, apparently enjoying getting one over the teen he constantly butted heads."Though I do expect a thorough explanation about a few of questions regarding you, the Vongola family and a few others." his smirk gained a sharp edge, Tsuna returning it just as easily.
"Oh, it looks like you are more familiar with that name than you should be. Now that sounds really interesting, maybe an explanation for an explanation?" he asked back with a raised eyebrow, the two not taking their eyes off of each other.
Moka looked between them, tilting her head as she watched their interaction perplexed. She couldn't for the life of her decide if the two were actually friends at this point, still enemies or something in between currently. What she could tell was that it looked like they could start fighting anytime the way they eyed each other.
A pointed cough from behind them broke the staredown off, the two of them along with Moka turning to Haiji who watched them with an amused smirk.
"I thought we had more important things to do than squabbling?"
"Never thought it would be this guy one day who tells me to focus instead of fighting." Gin told Tsuna as he turned back to him with a chuckle, before all amusement disappeared from his face."How many of them are left?" he asked and no one needed a reminder of who he was talking about.
With a frown on his face, Tsuan turned back in the direction he came, body unknowingly tensing.
"Two of them, probably as strong as that guy if not stronger." he explained gesturing toward the knocked out Shikaku."I managed to slow them down, even damage them a little but I don't think it did more than frustrate them. They should be here any minute now."
"What can you tell of them?" the captain of the karate club asked as he allowed an eager smile to appear on his face. Two relatively strong enemies meant more fun for him.
"A male and a female. The male, Saru is some kind of stone golem. Strong, durable but slow. He is apparently the ringleader, though once you rouse his temper, he easily loses control of the simulation." Tsuna began to explain, his frown only getting bigger. "Out of the two of them, the more dangerous is definitely the female Mei. I don't know what exactly her monster form is called but she has 4 arms now, two faces and if I'm correct, split personality. But she is also extremetely fast, strong and very perceptive despite how she acts."
"Sounds like an Asura." Gin said with a hand on his chain, deep in thought. "That could be bad news, Asura's can be real powerhouses but from what you said she either is a half-breed with little pure Asura lineage or simply hasn't been able to manifest more of her power, judging by that she has only 2 faces. Either way, it could be problematic. You have a plan to deal with that?" he asked Tsuna who didn't lose confidence and only smirked at him.
"I might have one, yeah. Problem is that will leave me quite open so I can't do it with Saru interfering. Can I count on you two to take him on?"
Gin and Haiji looked at each other, the latter's grin widening as he cracked his knuckles.
"Guess we are in. You can count on us." Gin said with a laugh as he shrugged his shoulders, before the two stepped slightly away from them and readied themselves for their opponents.
"I can help too." Tsukune tried to stand up but with a groan he fell back a moment later, his body simply too spent at the moment.
Tsuna didn't even look his way as he simply addressed the teen with an unimpressed frown.
"Stand down Tsukune, your body is clearly over its limit, you will only hurt yourself. If you persist you will be a liability and you will die." he explained without the slightest bit of sympathy in his voice.
Tsukune flinched as if he had been struck and lowered his head in shame. He almost wished the heavy sigh his mentor slash trainer let out as he finally looked at him with a softer look.
"You did a good job, better than I thought you would. From the look of it you took a second dying will bullet and lived to tell the tale. You progressed far but you are not there just yet." he gave a smirk to his sort of a student, to put him at ease."But this fight was mine to begin with. I'm sorry you got caught up in it but it's time to own up to my mistakes." his gaze trailed toward Lambo and Yukari, the former still standing at attention, lightning cracking around him and the young witch was staring at him defiantly, wand in front of her. He couldn't help but crack a smile at them."Lambo, Yukari. Keep them safe, and look out for any more surprises. I'm counting on you."
The two younger kids stood at attention, as much as their injuries permitted, looking serious and proud at the same time.
"Of course Tsuna-nii!" "You can count on me big brother." the two of them chirped enthoustically.
He shook his head at their attitudes but the smile soon disappeared from his face, knowing that their enemies will catch up in any minute. Turning to Moka who was worriedly watching the treeline, he felt uncharastically shy as he gently touched her hand, grabbing her attention.
"I hate to ask this but I will need your help too. While I have a way to deal with her, Mei is still too fast, she could easily catch me off-guard." he admitted, not meeting her eyes.
"Of course I will help you, you are my friend. That was never a question about that." she told him her honest feelings as she answered with a smile.
Sure, she didn't like all the secrets he kept, and she was naturally curious about his past but she also trusted him. That's why because he asked she promised to be patient about his past and that's why she didn't even hesitate to run up to him and offer him aid when he asked just now.
She was however slightly surprised when instead of being relieved, Tsuna only frowned as he stared right into her eyes as if searching for something before his gaze turned toward her rosary for a long moment.
"Are you sure? The both of you?" he asked and it was clear who he was talking about. He gave her a wry smile, though she was sure it was more directed to Ura in this case. "This is my fight, my problem and if I were in a better state I would deal with it alone without having to involve you guys. But the reality is that I'm in a disadvantage facing all of this alone but that doesn't mean you are obligated to get involved. The ability to make a choice whether to get involved is yours and yours alone. I don't want to take it away, to force you, I know all well what's that like." his voice lowered as he was reminded of memories of being manipulated by Reborn and the Mafia.
He couldn't say that he came out badly in the end of those manipulations or they weren't needed given his personality at the time but sometimes he found it still stung. He wasn't given a choice, not with getting involved in the mafia and risking his life multiple times. And just when he finally made peace with it, the truth came out and he was thrown to the wayside, like a hollow and lifeless doll.
He hated it but he hated the similarities he found between Reborn and himself much more.
Even if he justified it to himself, he clearly manipulated Tsukune and the others during this whole debacle, and in his mind it didn't matter if he had their best intentions in mind. They would have done the same thing anyway, he only made sure they had the best chances to get out alive, but that was over. Only the people clearly after him remained and he had to make sure she knew that it wasn't her fight. It shouldn't be.
He felt Moka's hand give him a squeeze and he had to fight against the urge to slump against her. He was tired, both mentally and physically. This whole ordeal, the poison in his body, all of them taking their toll on him but he knew it didn't matter. He had to look confident and unbeatable against his enemies, the unfaltering pillar to his allies and do what was necessary to keep him and his safe and strong.
He hated how much like a mafia boss he sounded in his mind and how proud Reborn would be of him.
"I can handle myself." he admitted with a soft voice, looking back at her and doing his best to not acknowledge the vampire's worried gaze. He was sure if anyone caught this moment of weakness on his part, it was her."I can defeat Mei, even Saru by myself, you are not obligated to get involved anymore. I don't want to use you, neither of you. I don't want to rely on your power, on Ura, to use you only for the power of a vampire. I'm giving you the choice." he told her with a small, weak smile.
Moka watched him with a complicated look, inwardly wanting to berate him for thinking that she would leave him behind, for taking so much on his burdens and for not confiding in them. But in the end all she could was stay silent and hold on to his hand, irrationally fearing that he would disappear if she let him go for even a moment.
She felt her other self pay attention, like a sixth sense in the back of her head and wondered what she thought. Despite technically being the same person, there were times when she had no idea what she thought or what she would do, so she could only wait for her to make her opinion known.
"Tell him to release the seal." Ura's words were soft, emotionless, hiding whatever she thought and while Omote was a little worried about it, she simply nodded to herself, guiding Tsuna's hand to her rosary.
At his uncertain look, she simply gave her a smile.
"Trust me Tsuna-kun. I won't leave your side." she promised him, giving his hand a last squeeze as he removed the seal holding back her powers and she felt herself receding into the back of their mind as with the rush of power, Ura took the reins.
Tsuna closed his eyes, hiding the conflicted look that her words created, as he felt the large amount of youkai energy wash over him. She wasn't the first to promise him not to leave his side, Gokudera and most of his guardians just at the top of his head, yet they all left for one reason or another. He should have been much more cynical about words like that, far less trusting, that was just common sense. But then why did he feel that he could trust her words?
Opening his eyes, they are already met by a pair of blood red ones watching him with a pondering expression. Her long, silky silver hair was swaying around Moka as her aura slowly receded, not failing to give off that eerie feeling, as if simply being her meant Tsuna was in large amounts of danger. Though he didn't need either her ominous aura or his inherited hyper intuition to know it in the first place.
"Hey." he offered lamely with a small smirk, only gaining a raised eyebrow from her."Sorry for getting you involved." he repeated, this time saying it to her face.
It earned him a definite eye roll as she raised her right hand toward his face, the left still holding his own and her rosary for some reason, Tsuna having no idea what she planned to do and could only stay in place, waiting for her move.
He felt a little confused when her hand simply caressed the side of his face, but his confusion was cleared as she leaned forward and he felt the familiar feeling of his neck being bitten by the long fangs of a vampire, though usually it was the much gentler Omote who drank his blood.
There was a subtle difference between them, yet that difference described them perfectly in Tsuna's mind. Omote was always shy and skittish when she drank his blood, yet when she started, she became so lost in the sensation that most of the time he needed to step in and stop her or he would have fainted on the spot. Her blushing face and easily misunderstood words always made it seem like an intimate moment between lovers and Tsuna would lie if he was entirely unaffected by her charms.
Ura on the other hand was much more mature and elegant in even the most simple movements. She knew what she wanted and she went for it, there was no chance to misunderstand what was going on. He trusted her to know when to stop, she seemed less likely to be carried away and there was a certain feeling of closeness between them in times like that. She usually put up an uncaring and cold mask for others but he could really see the relatively soft side that she had, something that made it obvious that she and Omote were the different sides of the same coin.
Tsuna winced slightly as she suddenly bit a bit deeper, as if she senses his thoughts and wanting to punish him for them.
"Ne-nee-san! This is not the time to-to do that with Tsuna-nii." Yukari, her face cherry red yelled at them but suspiciously made no movement to look away. Gin and Haiji were pointedly looking away from their direction, the former with an obvious pout on his face.
Well, she wasn't wrong if not for the right reasons. He could faintly hear the sounds of two very pissed off people tearing through the forest and getting closer. They finally found his trail or simply deduced where he must be going. Either way, the opportunity to end this whole debacle would be upon them any moment and he needed to be in his best form.
He couldn't stop the smirk forming on his face as he felt his flames both outwardly and inwardly stabilise. According to Moka from ten years ago, her drinking his blood somehow stabilized his condition, causing the symptoms to recede for the time being. It was a stopgap measure at best but it worked so far and that was what counted.
But that was not the only thing he felt. He closed his eyes as he focused not on his flames but the dying will flames around him. Even before, he had the inkling that youkai energy had some connection to it and Moka might be either an active or dormant flame user and now he got the confirmation he needed.
Just beneath the surface of the foreign feeling of her natural aura he could feel unusually dense cloud flames dormantly waiting for the moment to be unleashed on the world.
Dare he say, the amount he felt just from being close to her easily rivaled Hibari's and he was a monster among men in the first place. But what caused even more interest was the source of the second flames that he felt from the vampire.
A layer of very active sky flames washed over her cloud flames, the harmony factor clearly keeping the other flame dormant and beneath most people's notice. More interestingly enough these sky flames felt different from Moka's cloud flames, as if they belonged to a completely different person. And they were clearly concentrated around the rosary that was the seal on Moka's vampiric power.
Though now that he noticed the interaction between her two flame types, he suspected the seal was more than what it appeared as. But unfortunately this was not the time for him to contemplate these questions, nor play detective.
He couldn't quite keep the frown appearing from his face as he had to stop that line of thought as Moka finally released him, raising her head to be level with his own as she looked him over. He didn't lose too much blood, though he did feel a bit faint, it wasn't anything dangerous for now. On the other hand, he felt his flames settle down, no longer internally destroying him from within for the time being so that was a positive.
"I expect an honest answer from you. Soon." she whispered to his ear before stepping away with an unreadable expression on her face.
He could only nod, all mirth gone from his face as he turned back to the others, straightening his posture.
"They are here." was all Gin said in a low voice before Mei and Saru barrelled through the treeline, stopping a few feet before them and surveyed the situation.
It looked like neither monster managed to get through Reborn's training course without injury, as both of them were full of various scrapes, bruises and plenty of half-healed burns. Both was looking enraged at the mere sight of him, they probably cursed him to hell and back while forced to navigate ihis mentor's ultimate tortu- ahem, training course.
Tsuna placed a smug smirk on his face, hoping to enrage them as much as he could. With their minds full of anger, there was little space for any complicated maneuvers, and that would serve as the opening for him to take out Mei out of the equation while Gin and Haiji engaged Saru.
"Well if it isn't my wanna-be assassins, Mei and Saru. It's about time you guys showed up, I was getting worried that my training course proved a bit too much for you. But you are here, so better late than never. How are you on this fine day." he greeted them, using his most cocky, smug and obnoxious voice that he could produce, all to make them even more angrier.
Mei's two faces growled at him, hunching over, with her spiky hair looking more like a wild animal than any humanoid being. Saru, on the other hand, managed to project a more calm expression on his face, his eyes angrily narrowing but Tsuna was positive that he was absolutely livid over all.
The stone golem looked over clearing, spotting the knocked out Shikaku, who no doubt wouldn't be of any use anytime soon. His gaze trailed over to the still smoking form of Nagare, as well Lambo and Yukari guarding the more injured Tsukune and Kurumu, keeping their distance from them, before returning his stare at the four standing in front of him, ready to battle.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi." he called out to Tsuna, the human in question tilting his head with a mocking grin."You are more trouble than anticipated, but it will not save you. At least it seems you finally stopped running away."
He ignored the insult aimed his way, instead his smirk widened further.
"Well, I'm not an idiot so why did you expect me to fight a losing battle? I just needed to wait a little for the tables to turn and here we are." the former mafia boss said with a hand gesturing towards Shikaku."I would offer you the chance to run away with your tails between your legs, but we both know I can't exactly let you go after all of this."
The message between his words was clear to all of them. Both Mei and Haiji had wide grins on their faces, anticipation filling them. Gin had a more laid back expression, but his body was tense as a spring ready to lash out and Moka appeared indifferent. Out of all of them Saru was the one who looked genuinely angry as he glared at the unrepentant Tsuna.
"Enough talking, it won't buy you any more time. Let's end this once and for all." the stone golem growled cracking his knuckles.
"Now we are talking." Haiji seemed to be ready to charge forward and only the fact that he enjoyed the tension between them for all of its worth stopped him from rushing in."Hopefully you won't be as disappointing as your little friend. I've been itching for a good fight for a long while."
"We will show you a good time, don't worry. You will love it when I tear your limbs off one by one." Mei's more human half said with a smile as if she was experiencing great pleasure at the sheer thought of tearing off limbs. From the way she eyed Tsuna, there was no doubt whose limbs she looked forward the most.
"We will make you eat your limbs and help you properly chew it before making you vomit up and staring once again." Mei's more demonic part agreed wholeheartedly, tongue sliding out and licking her lips in a manner that may have come across as seducing from any other face than that one."We will repeat it until you are nothing more than a smear on the ground and we can finally become one. It will be glorious."
"Wow, don't know which should worry me more. An Asura that has both of her personalities agreeing on something or that she for some reason has a really massive boner for you Sawada." Gin saif, for once his expression how disturbed and uncertain he was as they watched the two halves of Mei continuing to talk to each other, one-upping each other as they both stated what they wanted to do to Tsuna. It wasn't for people with easy stomachs."Kid, I know you hardly respect me or trust my word but please take that one lesson from your senpai to your heart. Don't stick it into crazy." he told Tsuna, putting a hand on his shoulder as a rare show of solidarity.
"You don't have to tell me. I saw crazy before, I was surrounded by crazy but this is like ten whole degrees worse than anything I have seen yet." Tsuna's face was ashen and sweat poured from his face, wishing that he was able to forget what he just heard and saw. He frowned when he noticed Moka looking at him with narrowed eyes."What?" he asked dumbly.
The silver-haired vampire only grunted with a frown of her own before pointedly looking away from him, crossing her arms, definitely ignoring him now. He could only stare at her, completely clueless at what just happened.
For all of Reborn's various lessons, the life lessons taught to him by constant battles in the mafia and even the legendary hyper intuition inherited by Primo, at that very moment Tsuna was sure of only one thing. He would never, ever understand girls, women and other variants of the female gender, no matter how experienced or wise he will get over the years.
Deciding that the easiest way to deal with this was to ignore it and focus on the immediate threat on his life, Tsuna turned towards Mei and Saru. The choice between the possibility of dying right now sounded far better than dealing whatever came over the moody vampire, even if his future self would later curse him with all his hatred. Oh well, he never said he had a healthy opinion of himself in the first place.
He placed a confident smirk on his face once again as he stared down his adversaries, like him his stance was deceptively lazy and full of holes.
"Well, as fun as it was, I think it's time we end this, so come at me whenever you feel like. Oh and watch the ground, I might have left a few surprises since I had to wait so long for you."
Of course it was a big fat lie but he was still rewarded by Saru warily glancing at the ground between them, showing that he didn't get out entirely unscathed from the mine field he led them into. Meanwhile Mei looked even more pleased if it was possible, practically bouncing on her toes.
Despite his words no one took the first step. Instead they waited like as if they were in a standoff in some third-rate movie until a wind swept through the clearing, bringing a single leaf that slowly cluttered toward the open area between them. Tensions raised as for some reason, all of them watched that leaf slowly reach the ground. And the moment it did, the clearing burst into motion.
Mei and Tsuna were the first to move, charging forward one another, the latter assisted by a quick burst of flames from his gloves. Gin wasn't far behind, charging at the stone golem, Haiji while much slower, just behind him. Similarly, Moka followed Tsuna's lead, the only one staying at their spot was Saru, who took up a defensive stance. More than likely he realized he was painfully behind in a contest of speed, so chose to stick to his strengths.
"Show me your power, show me, show me, show me!" Mei chanted with a manic grin as she raised her right arms to attack."Die, die, die!" her demonic half chanted, just as eager.
It didn't even take a moment for the two of them to close the distance between them, the four-armed woman attacking with her two right arms at Tsuna, whose eyes widened at the speed of the attack, caught off-guard. He didn't even raise his arms as Mei practically punched through his head but much to her shock, she hit nothing but empty air, with no Tsuna in sight.
What happened in reality was that Tsuna let out a concentrated burst of dying will flames from his gloves, the quick burst of speed leaving behind an afterimage. He planned to get behind Mei with that move and end the fight quickly but of course that didn't exactly work out as he found himself propelled several feet further than he intended.
"Damn it." he cursed as he flipped around in the air and landed almost at the spot where Mei started her change, after skidding on the ground for a few meters.
It was a downside of using simply dying will instead of hyper dying will. While he can control it to the point where he wasn't a raging berserker that he used to be, he still lacked the focus and control that came with the hyper dying will and synchronizing with his sky flames but currently that was the best he had, so he had to make do.
"Moka!" he cried out as he once again charged at Mei, the girl already turning towards him, hoping the vampire understood his plan.
"Know you place, wrench." Moka declared as she sent a youkai power-infused kick at the Asura, being the first one to reach her.
Mei had to stop and turn her full attention to her, raising all four of her hands to block the single kick that defeated countless other youkai until now in one hit, but right now it wasn't the intent behind the attack at all.
Mei was driven back a little as her full attention was on defending against Moka who quickly followed with a few more powerful kicks, eliciting grunts from her opponent each and every time, not letting up her offense. Tsuna used this opportunity to run towards her, arms extended toward her defenseless back.
"You want to play with us too? Yay." Mei's human face cheered as she continued to defend against Moka, the vampire slowly getting frustrated at the lack of damage her kicks were doing despite clearly driving back the other girl.
'This is my chance.' Tsuna thought as he was just behind her. The flames on his forehead flickered before it was extinguished but the metal gloves on his hand stayed in their activated form.
Just as he was about to reach Mei and end the battle before it could stretch for too long, his intuition screamed at him, prompting him to quickly reverse his course, trusting his instincts to lead him. He dug his feet into the ground to stop his momentum, throwing his body back just as he noticed something quickly flying towards his head from the side.
He was just able to tilt his head back, the object only causing a nick on the side of his face before it sailed forward, ending up buried in a tree on the other side of the clearing. His eyes widened as he saw Mei's lower left arm strike out behind her, punching the place where his head would have been if he hadn't diverted because of that projectile.
Jumping back, he spared a glance to the projectile that possibly saved his life or at least a very big headache. It was a chunk of ice that was already melting and looking at the direction it came from, he could see no sign of the one who must have sent it.
Though it wasn't that important in the end. Either they were friend or foe, he could not afford to divert his attention until they made another move or he dealt with Mei, unless he wanted to be beaten severely and/or killed by said woman.
His eyes met Moka's who was driven back by Mei's sudden turn to offense and backed off to take full stock of the situation. It's not like Mei was overwhelmingly strong that she couldn't deal with her head on but her attacks were hard to predict thanks to her personality and extra limbs, not to mention she was leagues stronger and apparently more experienced than Shikaku that liked to talk big game but was easily subdued.
At least unlike him, she looked like she hardly broke a sweat, while he was already hunched over, panting heavily.
"Oh, that was not so nice, attacking me from behind." Mei sang with a large grin as she turned around, completely ignoring the vampire for the moment."Though you can take us from behind anytime." her other face leered at him, causing Tsuna to pale a little and Moka to scowl at her back.
"Sorry, but I'm not that forward. I would love to at least have a proper date before trying anything like that." he replied with a forced smirk as he felt really uncomfortable at the look she was giving him. Worse, he had no idea where that change of personality came from, before leaving them behind at the minefield she was all for simply killing him and none of this, other stuff.
"Don't worry, we will be very gentle." Mei's human face giggled perversely, while her other half seemed content with simply undressing him with her eyes."I'll show you a much better time than that grumpy wannabe queen of the night."
Tsuna paled even further, though it wasn't because of her words or actions, rather because of the anger literally rolling off of Moka's form as she narrowed her eyes and bared her fangs toward Mei. It looked like she was a moment away from starting on a murdering spree and he genuinely worried that he would be a target as well.
"Please don't tell me, Reborn actually put aphrodisiac into those mines that he left with me to train with." he muttered to himself in growing dread before turning away from his opponent."Gin, I need an adult."
"Kind of busy myself here." the werewolf grunted as he quickly evaded a rock almost as large as him that was thrown his way, quickly getting into Saru's blindspot."My only advice is to always defend the back entrance, even with your life."
"Tell me something I don't know." feeling a sweatdrop forming on his head he turned back to Mei, raising his hands up in defense as he increased the output of his flames.
What he forgot to account in was a certain, prideful vampire who's already limited patience reached its end and literally exploded.
"Stop ignoring me trash!" Moka roared as her youkai aura flared up and practically enveloped the whole clearing, a crater forming where she stood as she charged at straight to Mei, accompanied by the frightened yowl of Natsu as the lion cub still on the silver-haired girl's shoulder tried to hold onto her.
The wave of power came with a crushing pressure that almost sent Tsuna to his knees, forcing him to force more flames forward, even though he knew he was burning through his reserves quickly. They needed to end the fight soon or he would be completely out or even worse.
With being so focused on Tsuna, the kick sent into her stomach caught her completely by surprise. Both of her faces were gaping in shock as Mei was forced to hunch forward over the offending leg that tried it's best to turn her into two pieces with raw strength alone, the pain in her abdomen nearly making her vomit. But Moka was nowhere near done with her.
Not letting her a chance to get her breath back or even think about it counterattacking, Moka quickly got behind the Asura and performed a textbook full nelson on her, her sheer physical strength forcing her front to be completely wide and her four arms useless, no matter how Mei tried to struggle after she noticed her predicament.
"Do your thing! Now!" the vampire glowered him angrily when she noticed him just watching, not moving an inch.
"R-right." he gulped, still nervously but still stepped in front of Mei. Neither of her faces apparently noticed him, too busy growling and cursing at her captor. He held out his hands, one hand hovering above her collarbone, the second near her hip as he readied his technique once again."Here goes nothing, Zero Point Breakthrough: First edition."
Mei let out a blood-curdling scream as the technique made by the first boss of the Vongola took effect, large chucks began to cover her body, starting where Tsuna was touching her, soon spreading all over her torso before it began to move toward her arms and legs. At Tsuna's command Moka let go and jumped back, barely avoiding the technique as it soon covered even the two-faced girl's head, leaving her imprisoned in a large icicle.
He didn't move for a second, secretly afraid that his zero point breakthrough wouldn't work so well against a youkai and the ice would break a moment later but nothing happened. Mei made no move, the ice hadn't even cracked. Everything went according to plan.
Letting out a sigh of relief Tsuna took a step back, only for his legs to give out and suddenly ending up sitting on the floor, completely exhausted.
"Well that was exhausting. Let's not do this again." he grunted out as he fell to his back, the dying will on his forehead extinguished and his gloves returned to their inactive form.
Despite what some people might think, Zero point breakthrough was not a technique usable only in hyper dying will. Lot harder? Yes. Doable? Yes, through it required a lot of concentration and the success rate was much lower.
Honestly he was lucky that thanks to Moka restraining her he caught her full on with that technique and that just like his observations, dying will flames and youkai energy shared enough similar characteristics that the First's secret technique worked and held out. Though it was a pretty big drain on flames, larger than it should have been but it could be attributed to the fact that the two powers may be similar but also had their differences.
He opened his eyes wearily, not even aware he closed them when Moka wandered next to him, looking down at him with an impassive look on her face.
"Hey." he weakly waved at her with a small smile."Talk about anticlimactic right? Nice moves there though."
She looked far from amused as she grabbed him by the arm and hoisted him up, steadying him when it was clear that he was barely able to stand straight on his own, much to his annoyance.
"Ouch, watch the arm." he complained with a wince, though on the end he had to lean on her until his legs stopped quivering."Sorry, that took a lot more out of me than I expected."
"Just try not to get into any more trouble, I can't be there to clean up your mess all the time." she said to him without facing him but the small smile she wore took most of the bite from her words before she turned serious."Those flames that you and Lambo use, Vongola, I think it's time that I, that we got an explanation." she told him, putting an extra emphasis on the we.
Tsuna grimaced, his inner mafioso galling at the idea of giving up his secrets, but it was long overdue. He couldn't ask them to deal with whatever craziness the mafia throws at him without coming clean. For this once, he had to go against Reborn's teachings.
"You are right. You, all of you deserve an explanation. But it's a long story so I need a little time, for things to settle down." he didn't try to lie, looking straight into her eyes, wanting Moka to see his sincerity as well as the tiredness that seeped deep inside his body.
For a long, tense moment nothing happened but then Moka simply nodded, accepting his words, allowing him to let out a sigh of relief. He would have relaxed finally when he remembered that one member of the opposition was still unaccounted for.
"Wait, where is Saru?" suddenly alarmed he tried to stand up properly but he only barely managed when a large crash came from behind them.
WIth Moka's help he turned around, only to blink in surprise as they watched Saru groan in the middle of a small crater, try to get up and then fall back, completely spent.
"Not gonna to lie, that went easier than I thought." he commented with a raised eyebrow as he watched the previously intimidating-looking stone golem just lie there, covered by various cracks, completely helpless.
"You telling me. From the way they cornered and threatened you, I figured they would be stronger than this." Gin commented as he and Haiji leisurely walked up to them, barely out of breath, the werewolf sending a large smirk to Tsuna."Guess you are not as good as I figured you to be."
Said former mafia boss grumbled under his breath about the poison that was killing him but knew better to rise up to the bait. While he knew he had to come clean with his past, or at least some part of it, he would still keep some of it to himself, the poison in his blood one of them. It was not like them knowing would change anything, since they have no way to help him, aside from Moka drinking his blood.
"Moka-nee! Tsuna-nii!" Yukari cried out worriedly as she reached them, deciding it was safe to do so as the danger seemed to pass.
She was followed by Lambo who was no longer shrouded in lightning and a still very tired Tsukune who was supporting Kurumu who seemed to regain consciousness while they were dealing with Mei and Saru.
"Watch it, I'm covered in bruises." Tsuna winced as Yukari slammed into him with the force of a small missile, almost sending him to the ground if it wasn't for Moka's own hold on him.
"Sorry." she eased the hold on his waist, embarrassed blush on her face but didn't let go.
"Looks like you guys finished while I was sleeping." Kurumu chirped in with a shaky smile, sending uncertain looks to Tsuna and Moka who was still in her unsealed form and watching them with an unimpressed look on her face."I'm sorry for not being honest and needing you guys to rescue me. Thank you and please forgive me for leaving the club." she apologised, trying to bow as much as she could while still clinging into Tsukune.
The raven-haired teen opened his mouth, probably to protest but Tsuna cut the both of them off with a large scoff. Whirling around Tsukune this time tried to reprimand him but was cut off once again.
"If there is anyone who should be apologising here, it should be me. They were after me in the first place, all of you were colletorals." it was a very harsh way to state it but Tsuna was nonetheless right."But we will have time later to play the blame game, we have many important things to do at the moment. Like securing them to make sure they won't attack again." he said pointing at their unconscious enemies.
"Shouldn't we leave them just like this and hope they don't try to get revenge on us?" Yukari asked as she released her big brother, only to try to hug Moka who quickly stopped her by putting her hand on the top of the young witch's head."That's what we usually do isn't it?" she pouted under her hat as she turned back to Tsuna.
"Not this time kid. These guys aren't the sort to give up easily." Haiji, who had a very disappointed look on his face because the battle that ended far too quickly for his liking, told her with a smile.
Gin and Tsuna, who had been clued in on the loli fetish of the karate club captain by Gin, looked pointedly at Haiji and for once the battle loving man backed down.
"What about that ice trick of yours." the werewolf asked from Tsuna, pointing at the giant icicle that was Mei."Seems sturdy enough and it will be nice not to worry about them until the ice melts."
"Heat and ordinary fire can't melt that ice." he answered with a cheeky smile at the surprised looks he received."Large concentration of youkai energy can break through but definitely not from the inside, the technique was designed to seal away a person's power." he winced as he tried to fight though a new wave of tiredness."Using it even once takes a lot out of me, so I can't try it again in my current situation."
"I know, we can use my magical rope. It's supposed to be unbreakable." Yukari piped up excitedly as she pulled out a large rope from the air, twirling it around with a proud smirk on her face."No way those baddies can get out of it."
"Am I the only one who found it alarming that Yukari has something like that with her?" Tsukune asked with a sweat drop as Lambo took the rope and went around tying up the three males, one of them who still hadn't stopped smoking.
"You are talking about the witch who has a voodoo doll that she can control people yet conveniently doesn't use it for anything more serious than pranks." the deadpan look on Tsuna's face was like it was carved from stone."I've long ago stopped thinking about things like that."
"Fair enough, I guess." he accepted it with an uncertain frown."Tsuna-san. About what those guys..." he trailed off, not sure what to ask but Tsuna already knew and only sighed in defeat.
"I know, you guys deserve to know why you were targeted. Just...give a little more time. I kept my past secret because I wanted to forget about the world, the life I ran away from." he told them honestly, his normally blank faced suprisingly expressive.
"I understand. I can wait, as long as you keep your promise." it was Kurumu who was trembling and barely keeping her eyes open but still smiled at Tsuna whose eyes widened in disbelief. After it was her who was the main target of an attack that meant to force him out and into a situation of his adversaries control. If anyone had any right to demand an explanation out of him, it was her.
When she noticed all of them looking at her in surprise she let out a small laugh that seemed to hurt her more than anything.
"If there is anyone without any rights to throw stones at him, it is me. After all, I tricked Nagare and used him without care before becoming friends with you guys. He would have come after me, even without those guys encouraging him." she told them with a melancholic smile, prompting Tsukune who was holding onto her to draw her closer to him, telling her that it was alright before raising his eyes to Tsuna.
"Alright, I can wait. But I expect an explanation about those guys after you, about the Vongola and" here he took a deep breath, steeling himself."about the secrets of the dying will flame." he stated, ignoring the questioning looks from the others.
"Sure." he answered with a small smirk, feeling a little proud of the spine Tsukune began to slowly grow. If it was him a few weeks ago, he wouldn't have had the nerve to demand answers from him.
Satisfied that the matter was closed, Tsuna turned around and walked up to their prisoners, just as Gin and Haiji finished tying them up. It seemed it was just in time because with a groan, Saru's eyelids began to flutter.
He had to give it to him, the man was very resilient if he was already up. He flexed his bonds but when he found himself unable to break free, he raised his head, looking his captor in the eye.
vSawada." he greeted him calmly, no nervousness in his voice."Guess it means I underestimated you after all." he said but looked perplexed when Tsuna chuckled.
"Oh no, you totally overestimated me. In my current situation I am pretty much powerless by myself. What you underestimated was the people surrounding me."
"The power of friendship?" the golem asked back with a sneer on his face, but Tsuna's smirk only widened.
"That's one way to call it." he answered but didn't elaborate.
The two stared down at each, neither saying a word before Saeu spoke up.
"So what happens now? Will you threaten us to leave you alone? To not let your location know? Maybe even hold Mei hostage? What is it you plan to do, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"
Tsuna in response let out a humorless laugh that caused a shiver to run down the spines of his friends who were watching him. It held an ominous, dark edge.
They were further shocked as Tsuna took a step closer to his prisoner and pulled out a gun and held it to the large teen's head.
"Don't act so surprised. You played the game, you should have known the rules. There is no other ending that can happen, you must die." he declared with a dark look on his face as Saru stared down the barrel pointed between his eyes.
"Then do it, Vongola Decimo. Do it if you can." Saru told him, no emotion on his face.
Suddenly furious Tsuna snarled as he pulled the trigger.
"Tsuna-nii!" „Tsuna-san?!"
A gunshot rang through the clearing.