Presenting the Varia Arc. Man, this is going to get good. This continues from last chapter' ending!
Disclaimer: Yeah um... -eyes pencil in hand- Nope. Can't draw awesome Manga. All belongs to Amano Akira, who can.
Chapter 16: Unexpected Visitors
That same night...
The night everything would change. The town was silent as a mouse. No one uttered even the slighest of noises and no lights were on other than the street lamps and the moonlight. In that city, the sound of metal clashing echoed. Three shadows moved back and forth by the buildings' rooftop like lightning, battling til their death. One of them, a short boy with green eyes smiled crookedly as he watched the fight intently.
"VOIIIII! You! Why are you in Japan?" Silver hair gleamed with the beams of the moon. "If you don't answer me I'll slash you ya hear!"
"I do not need to answer thee!" another short boy with a blue flame alit on his forehead shouted back with fervor.
"VOI! Do you think you're in the position to say something like that?" the silver-head yelled as he flew from his place and slashed the boy with the blue flame off the building. The opponent nailed his boomerang like weapon onto the building's concrete wall to prevent himself from plunging to his death. "Heh. You're weak."
"Enough chit-chat!" the short boy said to the silver-head as a look of menace appeared on his features. He approached his enemy that was hanging by a thread, smirked and stepped on his hand. "Yo Spice. Care to tell us why you're here? If you confess, we'll let you leave with your limbs still intact."
"I... cannot...afford to lose..." the falling boy replied his hand slipping from his weapon while his other loose hand,tightly gripped on a polaroid picture like his life depended on it. "I...cannot...believe thou would betray the Ninth...Cielo-donno..."
The boy stared at the other apathetically; eyes that should be bright and contain light were now dull and gray, almost as of a veil had been put into his vision to blind him. "I'm not betraying him Basil." He stepped into the falling boy's hand harder than intended. "I'm doing him a favor. See you soon~."
Basil hadnt been able to keep himself from slipping. His beaten and stepped hand could no longer hold him up and had let himself fall into the pitch black darkness. Cielo stared at the tall figure seriously, picking at his hands. "The chase is on Squalo. Lets not fail Xanxus."
"VOI! You let the stupid kid fall to his death you shitty brat!"
Cielo crossed his arms and walked away from the edge of the building. "Shut up and stop complaining you wuss. He's still alive. I implanted a tracking device on him. Once you see him on the move, you can follow him."
Squalo glared and then smirked. The kid may be a brat, but he liked this new side of him. So wild and merciless.
"I don't care if we have to murder this entire country to find them. Those rings are ours."
...
"Ri-chan! Tsu-kun! A postcard came! Your father is coming home!"
Tsuri almost dropped her breakfast. She squinted her eyes to make sure she heard right. "That's a good joke Kaasan," Tsuri laughed it off and sat on the table next to Reborn. "There's no way he's coming."
"Do you not see all of the food Tsuri?!" Tsuna cried. The female twin paused and glared at the stuff occupying the table. Plenty of food covered their kitchen counters, the whole dining table which made it even harder to find a placement for her plate and cups. Nana knew it was enough and she was still making more. Where did the infinite supply of groceries even come from?!
"Ever heard of the words 'being ignorant'? Of course I do!" Tsuri half yelled and began to play with her food. Was she excited that her father was coming home?
It was complicated to be honest. She was happy she'd see him physically after so long but there was one major issue; He had literally been missing for two whole years of their lives. How could he just have the nerve to walk in through their main door and pretend like no one had left? He hadn't really bothered to contact them frequently to know what was going on either, no phone call, no check-in. Not even a picture! A postcard is how he's annoying his return? Utter crap!
Tsuna, Tsuri and Nana needed him in those missing hours. He had bailed on every single important day because his job was more important than his wife and kids. The absolute nerve.
'Oh great. Now my morning annoyance has started. Gokudera's not even here to be causing it this time...'
Tsuna could see from his seat across hers that she was gripping her chopsticks a little too hard. He sighed. 'Hey. You okay?'
Tsuri handed him another glare and he furrowed his eyebrows. A no would have sufficed. '... ...I'll have to sleep over at Kyoko's or Haru's tonight...'
"Oi, anta-tachi. You're making really weird facial expressions at each other," Bianchi pointed out as she walked inside the kitchen. The Vongola Decimo let out a tiny laugh and resumed his attention to his breakfast.
Tsuri ignored her and the other existing bodies in the room, finishing her breakfast silently and going back up to her room to change. There was no fucking way that she would welcome her dad with a hug. If she could give him a punch to his smug face when the opportunity hit, and land him to the floor, it would satisfy her way more.
...
...
"Eh? So your dad is coming home?" Yamamoto said with a casual smile. "Isn't that good?"
"No," Tsuna and Tsuri deadpanned together in unison.
While Tsuna told them their life story about how there dad hadn't been home for quite a while, Tsuri decided it was best if she pretended that she didn't know a thing.
Being a boy, Tsuna had a very rocky relationship with their dad. Since he wanted him to become tough and brave, he'd push him to do things he was afraid to do. Maybe that's why Tsuna cowered when trying new things. Call it parenting trauma or whatnot. For her, she had no problem bonding with Iemitsu. Whatever Tsuna was afraid to do, he'd allow Tsuri to attempt. She liked being challenged and encouraged and on some occasions dragged Tsuna to do them with her.
Being daddy's little girl was a comfort but at this point in her grown age? He left them. For his stupid vague mafia job Tsuri had no clue what it was. He decided to become invisible to his own family. So, there was no room for pretending to be a perfect loving family when it wasn't true.
She would've hated her father more if it weren't for that mysterious person that fell off the tree a long time ago. She tried to cushion the reveal, saying that her dad was protecting them and others. She also said that she worked beside him and watched him do great work and how he loved his family. Nothing more.
She stared at her twin, too scared to even imagine how'd he react when he found her out that she knew about the mafia before he did. He probably wouldn't talk to her for a whole year. She was impressed with herself at how she'd also been keeping it hidden from Reborn despite him knowing she was holding a secret.
Gokudera noticed Tsuri's pace slowing down and decided to let Yamamoto discuss with Juudaime about their newfound plan to hang out somewhere instead of heading to school. He waited for her to catch up and was soon walking next to her side by side.
"Is it really that horrible that your father's coming home?" He asked, making Tsuri raise an eyebrow. Wasn't he supposed to be beside Tsuna and ask him this question? She shrugged, sighing deeply.
"It's a big deal to us. He's been away for two years, and he hasn't bothered to come home at all to see how we're doing. He only sends letters of apology along with some allowance," she mumbled, her face scrunching up. "As if money and saying sorry can resolve his absence. Irresponsible jerk..."
Gokudera wanted to say how lucky she and Juudaime were for at least having a father, but held his tongue once he saw her sad and grudge-filled eyes. Tsuri looked more affected than Juudaime. His eyebrow twitched, unsure of what to say to take the expression off her face.
"I-It's best not to worry about family issues too much. My family is messed up beyond recognition." Gokudera gave her an awkward thumbs up and she had no other reaction than staring at him weirdly. He recoiled. He wanted to smack himself for saying something like that.
Tsuri found herself smiling a little sadly. Was he trying to cheer her up by saying that? "Don't say that so casually like no problem Gokudera," she smiled, lifting an arm to give him a pat to his shoulder. "Family sucks in some ways doesn't it?"
Gokudera blushed, like the person he was, feeling slightly glad he at least made Tsuri smile. Even if it were forced, she looked better with a grin than with a frown. "..." He stared and broke the silence by huffing and walking head to shake the baseball star by his shoulders. "Oi baseball freak! Hurry up and call the others!"
"Hai Hai." Yamamoto replied with a grin and took out his cellphone. Tsuri exchanged a glance of appreciation to her twin who gave her that enveloping cute smile he had.
'Who knew we'd end up with friends trying to make us ditch school? ' Tsuri said, staring at them with care.
'Even though I'm pretty sure we'll get in trouble, it's worth it,' Tsuna nodded. 'We're lucky to have them.'
'Extremely,' Tsuri joked.
'What a bad joke Tsuri!' Tsuna snorted, understanding that she was using Ryohei's catchphrase, causing them to both erupt into a fit of giggles. Their friends stared, not really sure why their friends were laughing, but smiled anyway. At least their gloomy mood was pushed out for now.
...
...
...
And their adventures went by. They had gone to the arcade to play games with everyone. Tsuri was the most that got into it and beat almost all of the guys and Kyoko. She had beat Tsuri nearly ten times in the same game. After her final defeat, she went to go sit next to Reborn who had set off his machine. It strangely looked like the ones you'd find in gambling places around Las Vegas. Reborn smirked, pleased while Tsuri sweatdropped thinking that he probably rigged it.
The twins had found their favorite band's new album in the music shop, chatting away and excitedly hearing the songs in a pair of earphones. The rest of the group joined in, while Lambo was snoozing to classical music Gokudera had purposely put for him.
At the photo booth, everyone decided to take pictures together for memories. Yamamoto, Tsuna and Gokudera (to his dismay) took one together first, then Fuuta, Reborn and the rest. Tsuri had shyly taken one with Kyoko and Haru, one with the guys too and a separate one with Reborn and Tsuna. Everyone stared at the last photo from Tsuri's stub and were surprised at the uncanny resemblance they had.
"Tsuri-chan, we should check out the sports store don't you think?" Yamamoto suddenly said after a while, and then grabbed Tsuri by her wrist. "Let's go!"
"Hai Hai, I'm coming," Tsuri nodded in response and was going to follow when a strange wave hit her entire body. Yamamoto, Tsuna and Reborn noticed how she paused abruptly and gave it a moment. Tsuri began feeling the same weird sensation when Hibari had pulled her away from Shamal. She tried to push away the heavy and overpowering feeling, but it was too overwhelming and it overtook her senses.
She couldn't see anything, as if a gust of sharp wind hit her in the face, even though there was none. Her body felt heavy, as if she had come out from an intense workout. She sniffed, smelling gunpowder and metal. Huh? What the hell?
"Do you guys smell anything?" She turned slowly back and forth, looking front and back. Her vision was back but something deep in the pit of her stomach wasn't settling down. Was her intuition going off? But there was nothing in sight. It was as if she had hallucinated everything.
Reborn and Tsuna shared a look and then shook their heads at Tsuri. "No..."
Yamamoto laughed, letting go of his grip. "Maybe you're hungry!" He said. "Tsuna, why don't we take a break? We can explore more after filling up."
Tsuna nodded. "Good idea."
"I'll go tell the others!"
While Yamamoto ran off to tell the others, Tsuna and Reborn watched Tsuri's frozen body look back and forth once more. She could see... Silver hair. What the hell? She put a hand to her face to hide the scared look she was wearing. Was she having one of those 'I can predict the future' moments? If so, was something going to happen to Yamamoto? "I think I'm gonna be sick…"
"You're not getting sick again are you?" Tsuna asked worriedly.
She gave him a glare. "You seriously need to stop being a worry wart Tuna." She stuck her tongue out at him, ticking off the brunet. "I-I'm going ahead to get something for my stomach okay! I'll meet you by that tall building!"
Reborn stared at the running figure in suspicion. Tsuri's Augury Intuition had definitely spiked up. Reborn sensed the stiffness of the air.
A storm was brewing.
Her friends had looked at her weirdly but she didn't care. What she needed to do was go home and prepare for the worst. Even if she were to be wrong and considered crazy for it. She needed their gloves and Yamamoto's bat. Something was going to happen, she could feel it at the tip of her tongue. Her head was screaming warning bells and it increased each passing second the closer she ran farther down the street to her house.
When she walked in she expected to find it empty, but as she took off her shoes and eyed muddy and worn out boots by her mother's out shoes, she wished she hadn't had bad timing.
Their dad was home.
His mother was serving him some of the food she made earlier in the kitchen, and saw the gaping face of her daughter standing by the entrance. The blond man followed his wife's eyes and they nearly fell out of their sockets. How long had it been since he had seen her!? Her brown hair was longer, she had definitely grown a couple of inches in height. The total reflection of his son with their own mother's cuteness factor.
"Tsukairi~!" He singsonged happily. "I'm home~!" The father was going to lunge to embrace his daughter but Tsuri evaded it by taking a step to the side.
"Like hell I'm welcoming you home," she spat and turned to go to her room to find the items she needed. Iemitsu stared at Nana like he didn't have a clue to her anger and excused himself to the bathroom. When Tsuri was coming down, he immediately followed her to the door.
"Hey, what's going on Tsuri?" He asked in a fatherly tone, one that Tsuri instantly hated.
"Nothing that concerns you. I just needed to pick up something for Tsuna," she slipped on her shoes and turned to give her excuse of a father a glare. "Don't expect me home later."
"Oh don't be like that Tsuri~! You do know I've been wanting to come home to visit!," the father began twiddling his fingers. "I just haven't had the time because of my job and-" Tsuri gave a sharp turn to look at her father, and stared at him. Really stared at him as if her eyes were cutting a hole into his body. Iemitsu gulped. Those fiery burning eyes, he knew them so well. Nana wore them when he did something displeasing.
Tsuri tried to hold back all the anger she'd held in for two years for the sake of her mother, but it wasn't enough. She couldn't do it anymore. "Cut the bullshit. I know what your real job is, Tousan," she spat.
Iemitsu's playful eyes lost their shine at the revelation, and reverted into a professional serious side Tsuri never saw him wore since her kidnapping. Tsuri took a small step back when she saw it. "How… did you find out?"
"If you're going to talk on the phone, make sure the other line can't hear it. Secondly, if you're going to speak in code, better in italian than the language your family is fluent in. Thirdly, I'm sure your co-worker didn't appreciate her cover being blown and being prodded with questions."
"Tsukairi I-"
"I doubt the mafia refrains you from having contact with family. You could have called… you could have shown up for a day at least." The older man winced again. Just hearing the dreadful underground name come from us daughter's lips definitely didn't please him. "Don't we matter to you at all?"
"My jobs more important than anything else, Tsuri. My number one priority is them. You must understand that."
Tsuri's grip tightened on the gloves she was holding. Important? The mafia? A ruthless system that killed innocent people? It was more important than being home taking care of his son and daughter who were having it rough at the start of middle school? How many times did she and Tsuna hear their mother cry at night, wishing he were there? How many times did Tsuna have to comfort her in the night every time he sent a letter saying sorry that he couldn't come home? How many times did he wish he were home too?
Tsuri wanted to slap her father right then and there. She wanted to tell her mother that he'd been lying to them about his job all these years. But, she wasn't too cruel. Her heart would break and Tsuri knew how much Nana loved Iemitsu. She wouldn't do that to her, no matter how unfair this whole thing was.
She bit back tears and left the house quickly without saying anything, leaving a disappointed and very angry Iemitsu by the door. He decided in giving someone a call in Italy. He had a pretty good guess in who that co-worker was and was going to need to do some explaining.
When Tsuri arrived, everything was in ruins. There was smoke erupting from the building, its glass windows shattered by what hit it. Her friends were gazing up at someone while her brother was bare like always, on the floor, with a body on top of him. While she ran she squinted, seeing a blue flame on the boy's forehead. Were those dying will flames? Why were they blue?
"OWWW!" yelled Tsuna as he got up.
"VOIIIIIIII! What is this? A bunch of outsiders are starting to make a crowd. Any piece of trash that gets in my way will be cut!" A random guy with long white hair yelled from the top of a building. He had a sword. Tsuri eyes widened. That silver hair...
"What's going on!"
"Your instincts were right again Baka-Tsuri," Reborn glanced at the body next to him. "Your intuition predicted what was to come."
Tsuna watched her sweat immense bullets.
"T-That's crazy..." She trailed off. "T-That can't be possible…" Or could it?
"GET BACK!" yelled the man as he slashed his sword once, causing a great air current that pushed all objects in the area away and send them flying. The same sensation she felt when Yamamoto had grabbed her. It was no mistake. She stared at her wrists, fear appearing at the pit of her stomach. Why... Why and how could she do this?
"Who is that guy?" yelled Tsuna. The long haired guy kept slashing back and forth with his sword like a maniac, and Tsuri's fear grew. But she knew what she had to do so she shoved it into the deepest part of her brain. She could revisit it now she had to protect everyone at any cost.
"Women and children are going to evacuate." Reborn poked Kyoko and Haru.
"Eh! Okay…Tsuri-chan!" Kyoko ran towards her and pulled her arm. "We need to go!" Tsuri placed the baseball bat and the gloves on one of the sturdy tables that hadn't flown away.
"Go on ahead Kyoko! I need to stay!"
"Eh? But Tsuri-san! It's too dangerous!" Haru pleaded with her eyes. Lambo and I-pin nodded in agreement. "Please come with us!"
"Tsuna needs my help right now. But I promise I'll make it back safely. Please Kyoko, Haru," she said reassuringly.
"Don't do anything stupid without thinking it through Tsuri," Reborn warned, taking the girls and kids to safety. Tsuri turned her attention to the body towering above them.
Then, her eyes fell to the boy dragging Tsuna away. Her intuition said that he wasn't in any danger with him, but probably was the cause of this mess.
She growled. She couldn't do anything at the moment without being shot by Reborn. She'd have to stick to borrowing Yamamoto's bat if anything.
"Hey! Where are you taking Juudaime?!" yelled Gokudera. He then looked behind the smoke to see her standing in place. "Oi, Tsuri! Stop him! He's taking Juudaime somewhere!"
"He'll be fine. Don't worry!" She yelled. "I sense no danger from him other than this one here!"
"TSUNA!" yelled Yamamoto. Suddenly, the long haired guy came crashing down in front of them. Tsuri had to wave some flying dust and concrete to get a better look at the man.
He was older, had a build that read strong and severe aggressive, overwhelming abilities that she knew were higher than anyone they'd ever encountered.
"Let's quit playing chase. So who is that?!" yelled Squalo. The boy didn't answer.
"OI! TELL ME!" yelled the long haired as he slashed an air current directly at the guy. The boy dodged well, but he was launched back into a window.
"You!" yelled Tsuna.
"OI! Trash!" yelled the long haired. Tsuna froze and whirled around.
"That's right, you! What's your relationship with the kid? Spill it or I'll cut you!" yelled the long hair.
Tsuri immediately began to panic again. If she didn't do something, no one here would be left alive. Then, she remembered what she brought. Without reborn there was nothing to be done. She'd have to leave it all up to her friends to protect him.
"Yamamoto! I have your bat!"
"HIE!" Tsuna did his infamous panic scream, expecting to be stabbed but the blade never came. Instead he saw dynamite blow in his way while the long haired guy dodged. When the smoke cleared, his friends were there with weapons in hand, looking cool. Tsuri wanted to slap a hand to her face. Did they even have time to be posing like that? Seriously?
"Touch him or you'll deal with us!" The silver haired boy threatened.
"Well, it's something like that." Yamamoto agreed.
"Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto!" Tsuna cheered.
"I didn't bring it with me, but my bat was sitting over there for no reason." The baseball star laughed. "Thanks Tsuri-chan for giving it to me!"
"I brought it for you..." She mumbled, a little annoyed.
"YOU GUYS INVOLVED WITH HIM?! I don't really understand, but I'll tell you one thing for certain. Defy me and you'll get cut down!" the man threatened with a glare and smirk.
"Back at you!" yelled Gokudera.
"That's a sword right? I'll take you on first!" said Yamamoto. Tsuri's mind rang like crazy once she saw her baseball friend stand up first.
Tsuna was looking back and forth, at first co fused but then made eye contact with hers. It's as if their hyper intuitions were merging together, in understanding that maybe Yamamoto was a risk of being in harms way.
'They'll be fine… right?'
'I want to believe that… but—!'
Her friends were reliable. They could do this.
Or not. Her nerves were screeching at this point. "Wait! Yamamoto, don't—!"
Everything happened too quickly. Yamamoto was going to start his strike but then once his blade met with Squalo's, he was shot with explosives. Her eyes widened. Tsuna tumbled to the floor in fear.
Gokudera stepped up with dynamites in hand, determined to takethe long hair on too, but the result was exactly the same.
"GOKUDERA-KUN!"
Tsuri needed to do something. Now. Both were down and unresponsive. Her legs wouldn't budge. Was that all she was going to do? Just stand through the sidelines and watch? She would die before she cowered in fear! 'Move, dammit!'
Tsuna stared at the blade, praying to Buudha, Kami anyone to help him. Where was Reborn? He needed him! And Tsuri! Was she okay? He felt tears blurring his vision. He was useless, helpless. He wanted to take action but his own legs wouldn't budge. Well, his life was a good run. At least he got to spend his last moments with Kyoko. That was something he wouldn't regret. Adios world.
"Why don't you just die!" the long hair laughed as his sword came crashing down. Tsuna expected the pain to come fast. It didn't. He glanced up to see similar brown hair and caramel eyes shielding him and holding something. It looked like Yamamoto's bat. But wasn't transformed.
"VOIIIII! Are you with him?" Tsuri blocked the blow with all her strength, trying not to fall at the heaviness of the object she was holding. Holy Namimori was it heavy! How did Yamamoto hold this thing!
"Leave him alone." The enemy glared and his eyes widened. These two were twins.
"Not until I get an answer!" yelled the long haired guy as he ran again towards her. Tsuri did her best to dodge, but it wasn't enough. The bat was too heavy and she was already drained from the long run she'd taken.
"VOIIII! The way you move... It looks oddly familiar" yelled the guy as he charged again. Tsuri blocked again and jumped up into the air to dodge the explosives he had used on her friend earlier. She landed on the ground safely, but the bat brought her down as soon as she grabbed it, tumbling her to the ground. Tsuna sweatdropped.
"Sawada-dono. Who is that?" The blue flame boy asked, observing.
"That's my twin sister Tsuri." Tsuna explained his mouth agape. The other boy then widened his eyes in surprise. So this was the other sibling his master was talking about! Oh what did he do!
"VOIIIIII! I'M GOING TO SLICE YOU TO PIECES!" yelled the guy as he once again came thrashing his weapon back and forth. Tsuri was too late in raising the heavy object and was met with a kick, sending her to the wall. The enemy didn't stop his attacks, to which she was able to dodge with what was left of her adrenaline by rolling down the floor full of glass. The long haired man then managed to reach with the tip of his blade to her right arm, marking an x. Tsuri screamed at the incoming pain.
"You may seem more active in battle, but you twins are exactly the same! Weak!" yelled the guy as he brought his sword down. Tsuri was on the floor trying to reach for the bat when she heard a loud noise of a bullet. She was next to stare up and see Tsuna protecting her this time, transformed gloves in hand, holding the enemy back. She looked everywhere, trying to look for her tutor.
"VOIIIII! That emblem and dying will…" he stared at the bloodied girl on the ground and then the boy twin. "... Are you the rumored Japanese?" yelled the long haired as he slashed his sword at Tsuna. He was sent back to the wall, his dying will running out after that. Tsuri dragged herself to where her brother was. Tsuna looked beside him to his twin, and then to her bleeding arm. "Tsuri!"
"Tsuna!" She yelled desperately, reaching a hand out to reach him but the long haired guy stopped her by pointing his sword to her neck.
"If you're the rumored Japanese kid... There's only supposed to be one of you. Why are there two?" He said in question, his eyes looking confused. He shook his head, gaze coming to a realization and smiled an evil grin. "So this is what Cielo was talking about. So that does exist." he then walked over and pointed a sword at Tsuna who was now holding a black box.
"I NEED TO DEFEAT YOU AND TAKE THOSE BACK!" yelled the man. Tsuna decided already to give it back and end this but the other boy told him not to. He fidgeted. What was he supposed to do!?
"Eh?" Tsuna screamed as he shook in fear. The long haired man was about to attack Tsuna when a new voice popped out. Tsuna and Tsuri tried to look behind the smoke and their eyes widened in happiness and relief. Blonde hair. Brown eyes. A furry jacket and a tattoo running on one of his arms. He was holding a whip.
"You haven't changed at all…Superbi Squalo." The figure said, standing in preparation. "Getting so serious against children…aren't you embarrassed?"
"Dino-san!"
"Sorry for getting here late, Tsuna, Tsuri."
"Che…" Squalo clicked his tongue.
"If you don't stop now, I'll fight you." Squalo thought about something and then smirked. "VOIIII! It would be nice to fight now but the family wouldn't like that so I'll go home quietly….NOT!" he picked up Tsuna from the head.
"Tsuna!" Dino and Tsuri yelled together. The older male charged but Squalo attacked Dino and took the box that Tsuna was holding with him.
"AH! HE HAS THE VONGOLA RINGS!" yelled the blue flame boy. The twins glanced at him in confusion.
"Eh? Vongola Rings..?"
"See you never trash!" yelled a laughing Squalo as he disappeared. Tsuri clicked her tongue. She glanced towards her friends who were on the floor, still unconscious. If only she had followed her instincts. If only she hadn't left... If she was able to control her said ability and if it had come earlier…She could have prevented all of this from happening. She rolled her body forward towards the sky, holding her bleeding arm tightly.
"Tsuri!" Tsuna ran to her. "Y-Your arm…!"
"I-I'm fine... We need to chase him..."
"It wouldn't be good to pursue him." All of the people turned to the new voice. The baby wearing a... Plant costume? Tsuri narrowed her eyes in disbelief.
"REBORN! Why are you stepping up now?" Tsuna yelled angrily. "You could have helped us! Look how Tsuri is! You could have shot her too!" He didn't respond. They all waited for his answer.
"That's because…he's from the Vongola Family too. You two attacking would've made things worse."
...
...
...
"EH/WHHAAT!?" Both twins yelled at the top of their lungs.
Tsuri instantly groaned in pain after the yell, feeling a river trail down her whole arm and dripping down to her school skirt and shirt. She shut her eyes in thought. What excuse was she going to give her mom this time?
Dino put his whip away and guided his subordinates towards the young teens who were injured. Tsuna tried lifting Tsuri up, while Dino came running to help him out. Reborn kicked Tsuri on the leg lightly, nearly tripping the three students. "Ow!" She cried and glared. "I'm injured for shit's same! What's your problem!?"
"I told you to not do anything stupid," Reborn said. "Look at you." Tsuri lowered her gaze, feeling shame.
"Boss, they're not in good shape." Romario, Dino's right hand man informed him upon helping Gokudera and Yamamoto up with their bad injuries.
"Tsuna. Let's talk later. We need to take care of their wounds first." Dino said, gently grabbing Tsuri up bridal style much to her dismay. She was in too much pain and felt too weak to even kick and scream and say that it was embarrassing.
"Okay! Oh! Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto!" Tsuna ran to his friends.
"Juudaime! You're safe! Thank goodness."
"Tsuna!" Both boys then found Tsuri who waved at them weakly from Dino's arms.
"I'm sorry, Juudaime! I'll defeat him the next time I see him!"
"Maybe he's still in the area." Tsuna saw his friends trying to search around for the enemy when he was already long gone. He was going to tell them it was okay, but Reborn spoke first.
"You two can go home."
"Reborn-san!"
"You must have realized from this fight. At your current combat strength, you'll just be in the way."
Gokudera and Yamamoto tensed immediately. Tsuna could see the sparks of remorse and anger in their vision. Tsuri turned her head away, trying to hide her face from all of them. Dino sighed at the sight.
"Even Baka-Tsuri was in the way and got herself hurt badly." Gokudera and Yamamoto turned towards her, their eyes widened in surprise as they saw her form. She was pale and weak, her red stained hand covering the open wound on her arms with a ripped section of her shirt. It reminded them of the way they'd seen her from their fight with the Kokuyo Gang months ago. It didn't sit right with them that she ended up getting hurt again.
"Dino-san..." The blond looked down at his so called little sister. "Hm?"
"My arm hurts…" Tsuri spoke up softly but Tsuna could hear her voice cracking. "Can we leave first?"
"Let's go, Tsuna." Said Reborn as he dragged Tsuna away with his Leon whip. The friends were left behind, being guided to some fancy black cars to be taken to the hospital. Dino had chosen to walk instead, being extremely careful as not to trip out of thin air so Tsuri wouldn't suffer and fall.
"Is he a member of the Vongola?" asked Tsuna. He was in a patient's room with the blue flame boy on the bed sleeping. His sister sat on a chair in silence while Romario disinfected her wound.
"Basil isn't a member of the Vongola but, he's definitely on your side." Dino explained.
"Oh.. I see...Tsuri how's your arm doing?" asked Tsuna as he walked towards her. She didn't raise her face to look at him and didn't respond.
"The wound was pretty deep," Romario answered instead. "It's possible that as it heals it'll scar."
"Oh…" said Tsuna. Tsuri's dejected behavior gave him the notion that it was better to leave her alone a bit. He walked towards Basil again and sat beside him.
Tsuri couldn't speak to Tsuna. She could hear him blame himself in his head but it wasn't. She blamed herself. It was her fault everyone was injured. It was her fault that she couldn't catch this just in time to keep everyone safe. Instead they suffered a humiliation. Tsuna was safe, but that didn't guarantee that this wouldn't happen again.
She bit the urge to hit herself and scream. Then, a warm hand fell on her head. She looked up to see Dino, his expression looked comforting, but she refused to accept such warmth. She didn't deserve it. A failure didn't deserve it.
"Don't blame yourself for what happened."
"But-"
"Reborn told me about your ability. It's pretty amazing if I do say so myself. But your still getting used to it, and you didn't know what to do. You did your best." Dino shined her a warm smile. "You did well."
Tsuri looked up and felt her vision beginning to blur. Dino instantly panicked. He was never really good in dealing with the opposite gender when they cried.
"WHAT IS GOING ON! The enemy is a Vongola…but my ally isn't? Besides, I don't have any enemies or allies!" Tsuna bellowed, not noticing his sister who was bawling her eyes out silently.
"That's no longer the case." Dino moved towards Tsuna.
"It's because those rings are on the move." Reborn mentioned.
"Rings? Basil mentioned that too…the Vongola Rings…" said Tsuna. Tsuri dried her eyes. Vongola Rings? What were those?
"Yeah. The official name for them is the Half Vongola Rings. They were supposed to be held in a secret location for three more years. They are the Vongola Family's treasures."
"Are they really expensive rings?" asked a pale Tsuna.
"They certainly are priceless but that's not all. An untold amount of blood has been spilled over those rings in the Vongola's long history. They're rings with a dark past."
"UWAAA! ARE YOU SERIOUS? Thank goodness the long-haired guy took them."
"Uh…well the things is…" Dino started.
"Hai?" Tsuna said.
"I have them right here." Dino held up the same black box that Superbi Squalo had stolen with a goofy smile. Reborn's expression darkened. Tsuri raised herself from her chair and was instantly beside her twin.
"EHHHHHHHHH? W-w-w-what?! BUT…I thought..they were stolen!" Tsuna yelled again as he panicked.
"Not really. These are real ones." Dino shared a sheepish grin.
"Eh? Then the ones before are…?"
"I came here because of these. A certain individual asked me to give these to you." Dino handed Tsuna the box with the rings in them. Tsuri stared. The Vongola seal. Her eyes widened. No way... Did he bring them along with him?! Is that why he was home?! He brought trouble with him this time!
"That son of a—"
"EH? ME? WHY ME? THOSE SCARY RINGS…." yelled Tsuna as he pointed to himself.
"Well that's because you're Vongola the Ten-"
"STOP! CEASE! HALT! I HAVE TO GO STUDY FOR MY TESTS! I'd better do my best! S-See you later, Dino-san! ILL COME VISIT LATER TSURI!" Tsuna averted the question as he opened the door and closed it immediately before Dino could protest. The individuals inside the room could hear Tsuna's scream from the corridors as he ran outside the building. Tsuri sniffed.
"The semester just started…" Tsuri gave the Chiavarrone boss an apologetic smile.
"That kid, does he still think he can run away from his position?" Dino said amused.
"I would too if I could," Tsuri confessed. "These rings then. If he had the fakes then..."
"Basil was the bait." Reborn stared at the figure.
"He probably didn't even know. But shouldn't he give these to Tsuna directly? He came with me to Japan." Dino stared at the black box.
"I see…so he came."
Here was the opening chance to come clean. Tsuri didn't want to die early by Reborn's hand, so she prayed silently as she sighed. "Reborn, Dino-san" Tsuri began. The two turned towards her. It all fit too perfectly. And it made sense.
"What is it?" Reborn asked, his eyes glued to the readable expression his second student wore.
"My dad is involved, isn't he?"
There was a stifiling silence until the older male raised himself from his chair like the risen dead.
"NO! No way! I don't know anything!" Dino defended immediately.
She blinked and sighed roughly. "You know, you do the same gestures Tsuna does when he attempts to lie. It's okay," She smiled but it didn't last long. "I need to come clean. I know it's my dad, because…" she took a deep inhale. "I knew my dad was a part of the mafia. Before you showed up."
There was a loud click and the safety on the Leon gun had been removed. "Explain. Now."
Dino and Tsuri's skin went pale white. "I-I overheard a conversation he had with a co-worker the day of my kidnapping 5 years ago. I didn't know anything about Tsuna being a boss candidate until you showed up. All I knew was that my dad worked for the mafia and that he was keeping it from us." She rubbed her head to stop herself from crying again. It felt like a weight was being lifted off from her. "I'm sorry for keeping it a secret. I wanted to tell you but you didn't make it easy to."
"So then this explains your stamina levels. If you found out, you'd want to protect your family from any outsiders trying to harm you. Who trained you?"
Tsuri looked reluctant to tell but she sighed in defeat. "It's that co-worker I mentioned. She refused to tell me her name, but she looked a lot like you," She shook her head at trying to remember. "It was a long time ago. I don't even remember much of it. All I know is that she called it quits on me because I kept getting hurt. She went back to Italy and I stayed behind with no one to teach me. I ended up finding ways to get myself up. That explains my history of broken bones and sprains."
Dino's mouth was wide. No way. Tsuri knew? Fate sure had a thing of giving people surprises.
Tsuri sighed and sat back on her chair in exhaustion. "I was afraid that kidnappers would come back and do more than just take me. My mom and Tsuna… I wanted to protect them. In the end I failed at that since I was so busy making sure Tsuna got through school without any worries." She bit her lip. "I won't tell Tsuna. Not yet. Not until this gets figured out. And I'm sure you want to wait until you see him kill me. Unless you do first."
"I will," laughed Reborn. Dino shook his head at his old tutor. Wasn't he going to tell Tsuri of Iemitsu's position? He gasped. He wouldn't!He wasn't going to let her find out for herself was he?
"You'll face a whole lot of tor— I mean training for this Baka-Tsuri. I had my suspicions. No one hides anything from me." A click. Tsuri's skin turned blue. "But I'll wait for you to recover."
The female twin sighed. Reborn and Dino were handling it quite well. Would Tsuna do the same if she told him?
Review Responses:
Shadow demon Kitsune: Thank you! Glad you like it :3
Nezumi-chwan: Hehe... Maybe Tsuna will get mixed up in this romance lol. I mean who knows since he and Tsuri look so alike. I'll keep that in mind. Oh and thank you for that compliment ;_; I usually don't like my writing style but glad someone else does. My heart feels warm now.
Tsukiyomi-Hio: Hehe I can't wait for that battle either! It'll be full of confusion for our poor Tsuri-chan~ And I'm considering that. Since Anya and Xanxus have so much in common I have a piece ready for that idea. Won't spoil it though~
N1ghtdr34m3r: DUUDE I KNOW! MY HEART WAS LITERALLY BEATING SO FAST WHEN I WROTE THAT PIECE! -sigh- Don't worry! Tsuri will remember him in no time! Thank you for your support too!
Seere Klein: Hmm I think Tsuna would become INCREDIBLY angry since he already stole her first kiss... I'll leave the images to you.. -shiver- Gokudera? Hm, he's in progress lol. He'll struggle internally with his loyalty and feelings cuz of me hehehe~
^^' I think it's obvious who Tsuri's Master is no? All will be said next chapter. And maybe Mukuro will show up... Who knows? KUAHAHAHAHAHA
-BLU