Summary: SI going through the usual multiverse after death, getting some companions on the way...
Just trying to survive here! (SI/Multicross)
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Chapter 0 - Prologue: Start
- Location
- Germany
Summary: SI going through the usual multiverse after death, getting some companions on the way and trying not to die as he is thrown into the many worlds. Main focus on anime and anime styled video games. Powerlevels will ramp up, not fast thought.
Main Powerset: Illusions/Mist Flames of Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Obvious spoilers will be involved with the verses written here and, suffice to say, SI is an unreliable narrator. Or at least not someone to be relied on 100%.
Worlds visited:
Cross posting in SB
///
In an abandoned, rotting building, there was a girl. One would say she was rather plain and wouldn't be noticed in public. Even her purple hair and the white clinical eye patch wouldn't make her stand out.
But in the environment she was in, one would think she wass a ghost.
Either way, one certain man, wearing a suit and having Italian features, talked with her in Japanese about a mafia group. More specifically, the Vongola heir and the coming battle for who inherits the entire family.
The girl nodded, but a male voice came out as a response. The man had a lot of experienced, but even he found it a bit creepy.
"I shall help you in your little game. In exchange, make sure that Chikusa Kakimoto and Ken Joushima won't be pursued any longer. I don't have to say anything about this body, do I?"
Iemitsu scratched his beard a bit. This didn't seem to much to handle. The Vindice weren't really interested in his two henchmen. Mukuro was their main target, so it would be easy to keep them safe.
"Alright, I'll take guardianship of them. We have a deal?"
Instead of answering, the girl with the man voice chuckled amused. Internally, the adult sighed.
He hated illusionists. They were always so eccentric.
Coming from him, that meant a lot.
"Kufufu...I am very curious though. My abilities are sealed off and I can only possess this body for a short time." The hidden question was easy to see. Despite the apparent amused smile of the vessel named Chrome Dokuro, Iemitsu could feel the caution behind it.
Still, he didn't saw any issue. Mukuro Rokudo would easily rank as one of the strongest illusionists in the whole world.
For his son, he would only get the best. Sure, they probably hate each other, but no family is free of conflict. He'll get over it.
Okay, maybe he thought a little too much about the future, given that he gave the lightning ring to a baby cow.
Anyways, with a stoic face, he pulled out the ring and presented it to the female body.
"It doesn't matter. I want you, Rokudo Mukuro, to be Tsunayoshi Sawada's guardian of the mist."
If it wouldn't be this serious, Iemtisu grumbled in his mind, he would never put those words inside his mouth.
Sometimes he wished he was a simply construction site worker.
Either way, Mukuro, inside the girl's body, extended his hand to accept the ring.
Just when he was about to touch it however, something changed.
The girl spat out blood, shocking the leader of CEDEF who took a step back. It only lasted a moment, before he jumped at the girl's side and put her to the ground.
During that, he noticed that her stomach was missing some of its contents, judging how hollow it began to look like. The illusions of her organs were vanishing.
"Lord Mukuro! Lord Mukuro, please, talk to me!" Chrome Dokuro yelled in a panic, not paying attention to the pain she was supposed to feel.
Well, at least he knew who to address now.
He quickly pulled out his phone while he summoned up his Sky Dying Will Flames and held his hands over her body.
Unlike common knowledge, Sky Flames could be used for a crude form of healing. With its "Harmony" attribute, Iemitsu used the flame to harmonize his healthy body with her sick one. It won't heal her, but it would keep her stable, thanks to her body trying to mimic a healthy state.
In the meantime, he quickly called one of his man over the phone with an anger similar to a lion.
"I need an ambulance, I need it yesterday!"
Suddenly, a flash of light shined on the edge of his eyes and when he looked over, he saw the Vongola Mist Ring engulfed in a white shining orb. Gritting his teeth, Iemitsu tried to grasp if while stabilizing the girl at the same time, but he wasn't fast enough. Just as he was about to touch it, it vanished.
What the hell just happened?
///
What the hell just happened?!
Mukuro Rokudo usual calm demeanor was nowhere visible as panic struck him. He didn't find himself inside the water tank the Vindice kept him after a sudden pain in the chest struck him. Was he attacked by an illusionist? He cursed. Of course he would get attacked while getting a nice deal with that Vongola man.
Why did he expected good things to occur to him?
Looking around, clad in his Kokuyo uniform, he only saw a vast field of grass, with no other life form nearby.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated-
And found nothing. Not a single energy signature, no presence that indicated an illusion. This place either was real or a very powerful illusionist created it. Given that he could feel that he was simply a representation of his own mind, the second option was more likely.
Mukuro scoffed and sat down. He didn't want to admit it, but he was stuck in whatever realm he was. Maybe there was a seventh path to Hades he missed and had to catch up.
"Greetings, Mukuro Rokudo."
His head snapped to his back and if Mukuro wouldn't be in a mental construct, he would have suffered from whiplash. How couldn't he sense him?!
His widened eye return to normal as he took a calming breath. No need to let the other know what his mental state was. But judging from the smug face of the man with the checkered hat and the dark trench coat, Mukuro was like an open book to him.
"Are you the one who keeps me here?" Mukuro asked with a calm, slightly strained smile as he gestured to the area.
"Indeed. But I am not the one who is responsible for your death." The man paused for a moment, not changing his stance as he leaned on his cane. "Your permanent one that is."
The words shook Mukuro to his core as his eyes widened. Permanent death?
"I...died?" He asked quietly, not grasping the concept of it. Yes, he died before. Six times to be exact. But he always came back.
"A heart attack. It was not foreseen. Either a coincidence or work of a higher power. Whatever the reason, the man called Mukuro Rokudo is dead."
His damn smug face did not change at all, infuriating Mukuro even further. All the pain, all the torture, all his ambitions and work...useless, wasted effort. He died without leaving his mark in the world. Without giving it the peace it deserved, under his rule.
"If you accept my proposal however, you might be able to influence the living world nevertheless."
Mukuro raised his head and squinted his eyes. It sounded to good to be real.
"What do you mean?"
"There is a certain individual I want to make use of. He has no real skills whatsoever, but he might prove to be useful..."
A human male is displayed on a screen out of indigo flames, coming from the Hat Man, and Mukuro was not impressed.
Perhaps eighteen at most, the young man of Asian origin, maybe Vietnamese, was currently engulfed in the all to familiar realm of hell. Short. black hair, a small scar at the right eyebrow and...that's it. The only strange thing would be that he didn't scream, but perhaps he was long enough in it to get used to it. He actually looked bored.
"You want me to possess him," Mukuro asked with a disbelieving tone as he pointed a finger at the person.
"Not quite. I want you to be his...teacher. He will have some of your potential powers and you will guide him. In turn, you will be reborn on your earth. With all your memories intact."
"So you want me to train my replacement?" Mukuro scoffed, but not discarding the idea. It had its merits. He didn't trust the...being in front of him, but as he crossed his arms, he couldn't say he wasn't interested.
"Not your replacement. He won't stay too long on this world. He will not stop you from your ambitions."
Mukuro was certain that the Hat Man could read his mind, because he just told him what he wanted to hear.
Not that it didn't work, but he frowned for a short moment at the aspect of being read like a book. Then, he hummed in thought as he scratches his chin. On this world…
It would mean there were other worlds out there. The prospect...interested him.
"Kufufu, it does sound amusing. I needed a change of scenery anyways." Acting nonchalant, he smiled at the image. "What is his name?"
"He doesn't have one anymore. He forgot it. But I can tell you my name. It is...Checker Face."
///
So, I didn't know how long I was here, but after what felt like hours of suffering and burning, I was relatively sure I was in hell. Well, after I managed a coherent thought in those flames and lava bathing my skin.
Anyway, I had no idea what my name was. I could remember pretty much anything else in my life, but name is a no go. Maybe hell flames cause Alzheimer.
I didn't know why I'm in hell, but I guess whoever was in charge here had its reasons. I could think of a few occasions that might have justified my stay here.
My death? Heartattack. As far as I know, I didn't live that unhealthy. Still, I wasn't the fittest person, despite my weekly training, so there is that.
Whatever. All of that, my past, my death. Didn't matter. I was stuck in this eternal inferno until someone was merciful enough to pull me out of there.
Understandably, my surprise at being teleported to a grass land without any warning was immense.. No transition, no announcement, no random guy appearing in front of me and opening a door for me.
Just a finger snap and boom, from fire to paradise.
The lack of pain was ironically painful itself and it took me a while to get used to a normal environment again. Therefore I screamed.
A lot. I believe I thrashing around on the ground and maybe clawed on my face, but I couldn't really remember.
When I calmed down after a while, a sight I wished I would never had to see graced me. It was almost as bad as the pain that only slowly went away.
Checker Face, also known as Kawahira, and Mukuro Rokudo, stared at me with amusement. I was in a goddamn Katekyo Hitman Reborn self insert situation.
I wasn't even a girl! Or gay!
The only positive I could get out of this situation is that I had clothes on. Blue jeans, and a nice hood shirt in a dark green color scheme. Clashed a bit with my hair, but whatever. And I wore black fingerless gloves, neat.
"Greetings. You may already know me and my friend here." He took of his hat and makes a shallow bow. I returned it, guessing that he already knew of me anyways, and jumped straight to the point with a pained smile.
"Please don't tell me I have to reincarnate in your world."
"No reincarnation. Don't worry, you won't be stuck only there," Kawahira assured me with a head shake.
"I won't?"
To my confused question, I broke out a sweat when the masked man chuckled. My eyes widened at the implications of his words and I gritted my teeth.
He was gonna send me on a multicrossover, wasn't he?
As if he read my mind, he smoothly nodded in exact timing as my thoughts ended and spoke in a gentleman like voice.
"Indeed. And Mukuro here will make sure that you are ready."
With those words, he gestured towards the possessor who looked at me with...disdain with crossed arms.
At once, I grimaced and a strangled noise escaped my throat. Simultaneously, I looked back at the earth's ancestor and moved my arms like a ferry wheel towards my...teacher.
Ugh.
My reaction did not please the former mist guardian candidate, given that he shook his head with closed eyes.
Like a parent would shake their head in front of a child's mess.
I stopped my hand movements with a frown. Alright, maybe that was a little immature...
"Yes. It's been decided that I will train you after you gained my...potential."
"Why?" I asked sceptically with a raised eyebrow. I was not keen to have him as my mentor and I knew that he would never do something without a reward.
Taking a step backwards, I made sure he could not touch me. Who knew how he could possess someone beside physical contact with his sai?
I saw him grumbling before giving me a frown.
"Because in return for your training, I get another shot at living."
"You died?! How?!" I blurted out and as he gritted his teeth, I realized that I may have touched a nerve.
"Do I ask you how you died? Then stop asking." He said with a strained smile and a hard grip on his trident. I gulped and shut up.
"Gentlemen, please." We both look at Checker Face, who held his arms up in a placating manner. When he got our attention, his ever smug face never changing, he continued. "Yes, you will travel to other worlds as well. You could say I want you to help out."
I raised my hand in response and shook my head.
"I've read enough stories to know that this can turn into real shitty situations."
"Well, you don't have to. I just want you. Not mandatory at all. You could just sit around while the world, or universe, is burning around you."
This sounded so fake, I had no idea if it went full circle and was genuine again. That's why I hate masterminds. I didn't know what to do. Still, I remained skeptical as I crossed my arms.
"And how do I get out of a world then?"
"That's up to a higher power."
I wished I could take of his stupid mask just to punch him. Through my gritted teeth I bit out:
"So I'm basically a victim here? With you as my bus guide" Checker Face hummed in thought and nodded, that asshole. Mukuro on the other hand opened his mouth to say something. Then he closes it again, before he let out a sigh and glared at me.
"You need a name. I can't call you idiot student all the time, as much as I want to."
After I flipped him the bird, I grimaced. Well, real name is out, couldn't remember that, so I had to use OC names…
A while later, I shrugged. Might as well go with that one.
"Obsidian Noir. Called myself that on the internet, so why the hell not?"
I would totally be bullied in real life with that name, but hey, fiction!
"That sounds like a boy with middle school syndrome would come up with," Mukuro commented dryly and I hissed in frustration as I turned away for a short moment. I could not please him no matter what, huh?
Checker Face seemed happy for some reason I believe and nodded in approval.
"I give you a day to get used to each other. Then I will be back to get you." Just as he was about to go, he stopped and looked at Mukuro. "Do not worry about Chrome. I will take care of her for now. As for the other two, they are safe, just like Iemitsu promised."
With those words, he made a gigantic indigo explosion and vanished. Leaving me alone with Mr. Possessor. Oh joy.
Instantly he...summoned? A body in size of a teenage girl in front of my, completely open too, and looked at my very disgusted face.
"Training starts now. First we learn how to make organs. Imprint that corpse in your head like you do walking."
"Aren't we skipping, like, a hundred steps?" I asked with hesitation.
"I want to make sure that my dear Chrome won't die because of your incompetence." It would have sounded rather touching, if it didn't came from him with such a sadistic grin on his face. While standing over a gory body.
"Geez, fine!"
Why did I have to get one of the biggest douchebags in manga history as a teacher?!
Main Powerset: Illusions/Mist Flames of Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Obvious spoilers will be involved with the verses written here and, suffice to say, SI is an unreliable narrator. Or at least not someone to be relied on 100%.
Worlds visited:
-Katekyo Hitman Reborn
-The God of Highschool
-Persona 3/4
-Xenoblade Chronicles
-The God of Highschool
-Persona 3/4
-Xenoblade Chronicles
Cross posting in SB
///
Prologue: Rebirth
In an abandoned, rotting building, there was a girl. One would say she was rather plain and wouldn't be noticed in public. Even her purple hair and the white clinical eye patch wouldn't make her stand out.
But in the environment she was in, one would think she wass a ghost.
Either way, one certain man, wearing a suit and having Italian features, talked with her in Japanese about a mafia group. More specifically, the Vongola heir and the coming battle for who inherits the entire family.
The girl nodded, but a male voice came out as a response. The man had a lot of experienced, but even he found it a bit creepy.
"I shall help you in your little game. In exchange, make sure that Chikusa Kakimoto and Ken Joushima won't be pursued any longer. I don't have to say anything about this body, do I?"
Iemitsu scratched his beard a bit. This didn't seem to much to handle. The Vindice weren't really interested in his two henchmen. Mukuro was their main target, so it would be easy to keep them safe.
"Alright, I'll take guardianship of them. We have a deal?"
Instead of answering, the girl with the man voice chuckled amused. Internally, the adult sighed.
He hated illusionists. They were always so eccentric.
Coming from him, that meant a lot.
"Kufufu...I am very curious though. My abilities are sealed off and I can only possess this body for a short time." The hidden question was easy to see. Despite the apparent amused smile of the vessel named Chrome Dokuro, Iemitsu could feel the caution behind it.
Still, he didn't saw any issue. Mukuro Rokudo would easily rank as one of the strongest illusionists in the whole world.
For his son, he would only get the best. Sure, they probably hate each other, but no family is free of conflict. He'll get over it.
Okay, maybe he thought a little too much about the future, given that he gave the lightning ring to a baby cow.
Anyways, with a stoic face, he pulled out the ring and presented it to the female body.
"It doesn't matter. I want you, Rokudo Mukuro, to be Tsunayoshi Sawada's guardian of the mist."
If it wouldn't be this serious, Iemtisu grumbled in his mind, he would never put those words inside his mouth.
Sometimes he wished he was a simply construction site worker.
Either way, Mukuro, inside the girl's body, extended his hand to accept the ring.
Just when he was about to touch it however, something changed.
The girl spat out blood, shocking the leader of CEDEF who took a step back. It only lasted a moment, before he jumped at the girl's side and put her to the ground.
During that, he noticed that her stomach was missing some of its contents, judging how hollow it began to look like. The illusions of her organs were vanishing.
"Lord Mukuro! Lord Mukuro, please, talk to me!" Chrome Dokuro yelled in a panic, not paying attention to the pain she was supposed to feel.
Well, at least he knew who to address now.
He quickly pulled out his phone while he summoned up his Sky Dying Will Flames and held his hands over her body.
Unlike common knowledge, Sky Flames could be used for a crude form of healing. With its "Harmony" attribute, Iemitsu used the flame to harmonize his healthy body with her sick one. It won't heal her, but it would keep her stable, thanks to her body trying to mimic a healthy state.
In the meantime, he quickly called one of his man over the phone with an anger similar to a lion.
"I need an ambulance, I need it yesterday!"
Suddenly, a flash of light shined on the edge of his eyes and when he looked over, he saw the Vongola Mist Ring engulfed in a white shining orb. Gritting his teeth, Iemitsu tried to grasp if while stabilizing the girl at the same time, but he wasn't fast enough. Just as he was about to touch it, it vanished.
What the hell just happened?
///
What the hell just happened?!
Mukuro Rokudo usual calm demeanor was nowhere visible as panic struck him. He didn't find himself inside the water tank the Vindice kept him after a sudden pain in the chest struck him. Was he attacked by an illusionist? He cursed. Of course he would get attacked while getting a nice deal with that Vongola man.
Why did he expected good things to occur to him?
Looking around, clad in his Kokuyo uniform, he only saw a vast field of grass, with no other life form nearby.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated-
And found nothing. Not a single energy signature, no presence that indicated an illusion. This place either was real or a very powerful illusionist created it. Given that he could feel that he was simply a representation of his own mind, the second option was more likely.
Mukuro scoffed and sat down. He didn't want to admit it, but he was stuck in whatever realm he was. Maybe there was a seventh path to Hades he missed and had to catch up.
"Greetings, Mukuro Rokudo."
His head snapped to his back and if Mukuro wouldn't be in a mental construct, he would have suffered from whiplash. How couldn't he sense him?!
His widened eye return to normal as he took a calming breath. No need to let the other know what his mental state was. But judging from the smug face of the man with the checkered hat and the dark trench coat, Mukuro was like an open book to him.
"Are you the one who keeps me here?" Mukuro asked with a calm, slightly strained smile as he gestured to the area.
"Indeed. But I am not the one who is responsible for your death." The man paused for a moment, not changing his stance as he leaned on his cane. "Your permanent one that is."
The words shook Mukuro to his core as his eyes widened. Permanent death?
"I...died?" He asked quietly, not grasping the concept of it. Yes, he died before. Six times to be exact. But he always came back.
"A heart attack. It was not foreseen. Either a coincidence or work of a higher power. Whatever the reason, the man called Mukuro Rokudo is dead."
His damn smug face did not change at all, infuriating Mukuro even further. All the pain, all the torture, all his ambitions and work...useless, wasted effort. He died without leaving his mark in the world. Without giving it the peace it deserved, under his rule.
"If you accept my proposal however, you might be able to influence the living world nevertheless."
Mukuro raised his head and squinted his eyes. It sounded to good to be real.
"What do you mean?"
"There is a certain individual I want to make use of. He has no real skills whatsoever, but he might prove to be useful..."
A human male is displayed on a screen out of indigo flames, coming from the Hat Man, and Mukuro was not impressed.
Perhaps eighteen at most, the young man of Asian origin, maybe Vietnamese, was currently engulfed in the all to familiar realm of hell. Short. black hair, a small scar at the right eyebrow and...that's it. The only strange thing would be that he didn't scream, but perhaps he was long enough in it to get used to it. He actually looked bored.
"You want me to possess him," Mukuro asked with a disbelieving tone as he pointed a finger at the person.
"Not quite. I want you to be his...teacher. He will have some of your potential powers and you will guide him. In turn, you will be reborn on your earth. With all your memories intact."
"So you want me to train my replacement?" Mukuro scoffed, but not discarding the idea. It had its merits. He didn't trust the...being in front of him, but as he crossed his arms, he couldn't say he wasn't interested.
"Not your replacement. He won't stay too long on this world. He will not stop you from your ambitions."
Mukuro was certain that the Hat Man could read his mind, because he just told him what he wanted to hear.
Not that it didn't work, but he frowned for a short moment at the aspect of being read like a book. Then, he hummed in thought as he scratches his chin. On this world…
It would mean there were other worlds out there. The prospect...interested him.
"Kufufu, it does sound amusing. I needed a change of scenery anyways." Acting nonchalant, he smiled at the image. "What is his name?"
"He doesn't have one anymore. He forgot it. But I can tell you my name. It is...Checker Face."
///
So, I didn't know how long I was here, but after what felt like hours of suffering and burning, I was relatively sure I was in hell. Well, after I managed a coherent thought in those flames and lava bathing my skin.
Anyway, I had no idea what my name was. I could remember pretty much anything else in my life, but name is a no go. Maybe hell flames cause Alzheimer.
I didn't know why I'm in hell, but I guess whoever was in charge here had its reasons. I could think of a few occasions that might have justified my stay here.
My death? Heartattack. As far as I know, I didn't live that unhealthy. Still, I wasn't the fittest person, despite my weekly training, so there is that.
Whatever. All of that, my past, my death. Didn't matter. I was stuck in this eternal inferno until someone was merciful enough to pull me out of there.
Understandably, my surprise at being teleported to a grass land without any warning was immense.. No transition, no announcement, no random guy appearing in front of me and opening a door for me.
Just a finger snap and boom, from fire to paradise.
The lack of pain was ironically painful itself and it took me a while to get used to a normal environment again. Therefore I screamed.
A lot. I believe I thrashing around on the ground and maybe clawed on my face, but I couldn't really remember.
When I calmed down after a while, a sight I wished I would never had to see graced me. It was almost as bad as the pain that only slowly went away.
Checker Face, also known as Kawahira, and Mukuro Rokudo, stared at me with amusement. I was in a goddamn Katekyo Hitman Reborn self insert situation.
I wasn't even a girl! Or gay!
The only positive I could get out of this situation is that I had clothes on. Blue jeans, and a nice hood shirt in a dark green color scheme. Clashed a bit with my hair, but whatever. And I wore black fingerless gloves, neat.
"Greetings. You may already know me and my friend here." He took of his hat and makes a shallow bow. I returned it, guessing that he already knew of me anyways, and jumped straight to the point with a pained smile.
"Please don't tell me I have to reincarnate in your world."
"No reincarnation. Don't worry, you won't be stuck only there," Kawahira assured me with a head shake.
"I won't?"
To my confused question, I broke out a sweat when the masked man chuckled. My eyes widened at the implications of his words and I gritted my teeth.
He was gonna send me on a multicrossover, wasn't he?
As if he read my mind, he smoothly nodded in exact timing as my thoughts ended and spoke in a gentleman like voice.
"Indeed. And Mukuro here will make sure that you are ready."
With those words, he gestured towards the possessor who looked at me with...disdain with crossed arms.
At once, I grimaced and a strangled noise escaped my throat. Simultaneously, I looked back at the earth's ancestor and moved my arms like a ferry wheel towards my...teacher.
Ugh.
My reaction did not please the former mist guardian candidate, given that he shook his head with closed eyes.
Like a parent would shake their head in front of a child's mess.
I stopped my hand movements with a frown. Alright, maybe that was a little immature...
"Yes. It's been decided that I will train you after you gained my...potential."
"Why?" I asked sceptically with a raised eyebrow. I was not keen to have him as my mentor and I knew that he would never do something without a reward.
Taking a step backwards, I made sure he could not touch me. Who knew how he could possess someone beside physical contact with his sai?
I saw him grumbling before giving me a frown.
"Because in return for your training, I get another shot at living."
"You died?! How?!" I blurted out and as he gritted his teeth, I realized that I may have touched a nerve.
"Do I ask you how you died? Then stop asking." He said with a strained smile and a hard grip on his trident. I gulped and shut up.
"Gentlemen, please." We both look at Checker Face, who held his arms up in a placating manner. When he got our attention, his ever smug face never changing, he continued. "Yes, you will travel to other worlds as well. You could say I want you to help out."
I raised my hand in response and shook my head.
"I've read enough stories to know that this can turn into real shitty situations."
"Well, you don't have to. I just want you. Not mandatory at all. You could just sit around while the world, or universe, is burning around you."
This sounded so fake, I had no idea if it went full circle and was genuine again. That's why I hate masterminds. I didn't know what to do. Still, I remained skeptical as I crossed my arms.
"And how do I get out of a world then?"
"That's up to a higher power."
I wished I could take of his stupid mask just to punch him. Through my gritted teeth I bit out:
"So I'm basically a victim here? With you as my bus guide" Checker Face hummed in thought and nodded, that asshole. Mukuro on the other hand opened his mouth to say something. Then he closes it again, before he let out a sigh and glared at me.
"You need a name. I can't call you idiot student all the time, as much as I want to."
After I flipped him the bird, I grimaced. Well, real name is out, couldn't remember that, so I had to use OC names…
A while later, I shrugged. Might as well go with that one.
"Obsidian Noir. Called myself that on the internet, so why the hell not?"
I would totally be bullied in real life with that name, but hey, fiction!
"That sounds like a boy with middle school syndrome would come up with," Mukuro commented dryly and I hissed in frustration as I turned away for a short moment. I could not please him no matter what, huh?
Checker Face seemed happy for some reason I believe and nodded in approval.
"I give you a day to get used to each other. Then I will be back to get you." Just as he was about to go, he stopped and looked at Mukuro. "Do not worry about Chrome. I will take care of her for now. As for the other two, they are safe, just like Iemitsu promised."
With those words, he made a gigantic indigo explosion and vanished. Leaving me alone with Mr. Possessor. Oh joy.
Instantly he...summoned? A body in size of a teenage girl in front of my, completely open too, and looked at my very disgusted face.
"Training starts now. First we learn how to make organs. Imprint that corpse in your head like you do walking."
"Aren't we skipping, like, a hundred steps?" I asked with hesitation.
"I want to make sure that my dear Chrome won't die because of your incompetence." It would have sounded rather touching, if it didn't came from him with such a sadistic grin on his face. While standing over a gory body.
"Geez, fine!"
Why did I have to get one of the biggest douchebags in manga history as a teacher?!
Last edited:
Chapter 1
- Location
- Germany
Chapter 1
My "training" with Mukuro could be summed up as an asshole contest, which he won by a milestone.
After I drilled at least four books worth of surgery knowledge into my brain, he started with "normal" illusion training.
Which meant, he showed me something, told me to do the same thing and permanently mocked me without saying the same word twice if I failed. Which I did. A lot.
During all that, we were sure that we were in some kind of Hyberbolic time chamber. Both of us agreed that one day wasn't nearly enough for me to learn the whole anatomy of the human body, so time had to flow faster in here.
Plus side of the training, I could keep anyone alive easily by giving them the necessary organs, beside brains of course. I could maintain them even in my sleep. Potentially, I could do some emergency surgery when needed.
Downside of course was that I had to dream about those organs all the time or else they vanish. The pineapple forced me to learn lucid dreaming in order to do that. Jackass.
Also, thanks to my...weird, temporary connection with Mukuro, I can speak Italian and Japanese on top of my English and German. Neat.
Anyway, normal illusion training. Wasn't going as well as fake organs, as paradox as it is. So far, I managed to make small optical illusions casually, that might fool a four year old like Lambo. Nothing that would shock anyone in mid battle, like fire pillars or a distorted space. The most I could do would be Chrome's substitution trick she did during her battle.
Yeah, like I said. Didn't make much sense.
I knew an OP power like illusions would be hard to learn, but I actually had to get into the mindset of a psycho. Or a drug addict.
Mukuro on the other hand learned from me the basics of Dying Will Flames, rings, but not the plot.
No need for him to know about a future that will never happen anyway.
Also, I did not want to give him ammunition against Tsuna, in case the illusionist reincarnated in a close enough time period.
Speaking of plot, never understood why other self inserts were so hung up about the plot. It ended the moment they were inserted into the story. Knowledge about characters however, that was way more useful. Which was the main reason I didn't show him anything about that.
Where was I? Right, flames.
From what my teacher told me, I had a mist flame. I guessed that they weren't kidding when they said that I would get the manipulator's potential.
Still, for someone who was supposed to have Mukuro's powers...I lacked some things.
"Why do I only have one path?!"
My exclamation echoed through the grassland while I was lying on the ground and palmed my face with frustration. Yeah, as it appeared, I only have one path from the six I was supposed to have. Not that I hated the path, it was more useful than the others. Still, it frustrated me.
When I opened my eyes, for once I saw a not smug Mukuro sitting on a rock as he read through some notes I wrote down for him. He took off his glasses he made with illusions, because hey, need to troll me more, and hummed thoughtfully.
"Maybe because you didn't go through all six paths to Hades yourself?"
I raised my finger and...lowered it again with gritted teeth. That made a lot of sense actually. And it made me mad.
So much for getting Mukuro's power set, huh?
"I am not going to die five more times for power ups!" After my outburst, I take a deep breath and look down. "So, Naraka Path only then?"
"Unless you do get killed five more times, no." I scoffed at his oh so innocent suggestion. At least I had an easier time making real illusions. With a mist ring, I could potentially make stuff out of thin air. Who knew, didn't have a chance to test that out yet.
Reaching that thought, I rested my chin on my right arm as I sit in a lotus seat position. I stared intensely at the man in front of me when his attention switched back to the book.
I never understood what Mukuro needed that stupid glove from Verde for. He had the path, mist flames, cambio forma and the experience.
In the end, I shrugged
Maybe he was just lazy.
Speaking of who, he stood up and made a replica of his favorite trident.
"Anyways, it is time for your combat training."
I groaned and halfheartedly grab the original trident. Holding it in a two handed grip, I start to attack the...ghost, solid illusion, dead person, whatever Mukuro was right now.
Anyways, my combat level was...rather average.
In anime terms, I was barely above canon fodder. Which showed in how the damn pineapple hat didn't even look at me while parrying all my swings and stabs!
So, to conclude, if I combined all my abilities...I would rank myself at Prologue Dying Will Tsuna who could somewhat think. If I was optimistic, maybe a bit more.
My body slumped down a little and a small whine escaped me.
Yes, I sucked that hard.
After Mukuro knocked me down yet another time and pointed his trident at my throat, I raised my hands for surrender and grumbled angrily.
"Why do I have to use your stupid trident anyways? What am I, Aquaman?"
Nothing against Aquaman, he could be badass. I just don't get why I have to use an ancient Greece weapon. Mukuro shook his head while clicking his tongue, that arrogant prick.
"The trident is an effective weapon. Only because you are stupid, doesn't mean it is stupid as well."
I flipped him the bird as he did his trademark "kufufu". I rubbed my arms to get rid of their soreness and glared at the prick.
"Can't I just fight with my bare hands?"
As a demonstration, I showed him a normal side kick from my sport karate.
Sure, it was only half contact, but I think I would be better at martial arts!
"You could, but then I couldn't teach you, can I?" He let out an exaggerated sigh, not even caring about what I did and pretended to wipe off a tear. "Dear me, to be cursed with such an idiot of a student. My dear Chrome was more attentive."
Putting aside that he sounded incredibly creepy as always, I let out a scream of frustration before pulling at my own hair.
"You're not even a good teacher! You just show me some weird shit and tell me to do the same!"
If I had to describe Mr. Asshole as a teacher, I would see him as the bird one. Push me off the ledge and see if I learned. Repeat it dozens of times. That's basically his teaching methods.
How did Chrome learn from him?! I guess pure admiration and the fact that he directly possessed her might have helped.
Of course Mukuro didn't see it that way and simply believed I was too stupid to learn. Which might have been the case, but rubbing it in my face did not help!
"Kufufu, you just have to pay attention. Before you can cast illusions, you must see through one. Observation and imagination are the keys for an illusionists. How are you to develop these if I have to hold your hand?"
I gritted my teeth. He had a point but it was so infuriating to listen to him! No way was I going to give him the satisfaction of being right! I let out a dry laugh while sitting down on another rock in this Avalon rip off.
"You seemed perfectly fine to hold Chrome's hand."
Just to make sure, I did not ship them. It was kinda creepy and seemed incredibly unhealthy. I would endure a sibling like relationship, if Mukuro would stop being such a dick.
I slyly grinned when I saw his mouth twitch a bit. Haha, touched a nerve!
…
I believe. Not sure, I wasn't that observant.
"There is a difference between a vessel and a student." the master illusionist said calmly, putting his hand under his chin.
"Oh, stop pretending as if you don't care for her. Or the other two jocks," I countered and crossed my arms. There was enough evidence to see in the manga and anime to know that he put up a tough front.
A tick mark appeared on his forehead as he stood up. I did the same, holding the trident tight.
"My my, perhaps you need-"
"As amusing it is to see you bond, I need to interrupt your training session."
Just as the two of us were moving, Checker Face was there. Right in front of us, without any warning.
Naturally both of us were rather shocked. Of course, Mr. Swagmaster only stepped back with a shocked expression.
I on the other hand fell on my ass while clutching my chest.
Maybe getting another path wasn't completely out of the plan?
Breathing heavenly, I tried to formulate a question.
"How long were we in here?" I wiped the sweat off my forehead that apparently spawned with my near pants shitting experience. Mukuro appeared to have calmed down as well, since he seemed to relax a bit.
Checker Face hummed deeply in thought, before raising his hand and showing one finger.
"A month, give or take. Maybe two. Who knows?"
I exchanged a look with Mukuro, who raised an eyebrow. Then I touched my face and frowned at the apparent true ancestor of the planet.
"And yet I don't have a moustache."
I ignored the dismissive look on Mukuro's face and focused on the big man.
"Okay, I guess in the...real world, only one day passed."
Way to be obvious. Checker Face chuckles in amusement.
"Indeed. I'm here to bring you back. But before that..." He raised his hand and took off some kind of tentacle ring-
Holy shit.
"Here."
Only thanks to the unfair training Mukuro put me through did I manage to catch the ring.
That guy literally gave me a hell ring. It took a while until my brain restarted and I stopped gaping. Slowly I pointed my finger at the ring I held in my hands.
"Don't you need it?"
If I remember right, he used it quite a lot. He chuckled and walked forward to me, pointing at the item.
"It makes things easier, but I can afford to part from it." Huh, I always did wonder if he could do the presence concealment without the hell ring. Guess even earth ancestors could be lazy. "It is said that ruin follows the user..." I just imagined that Kawahira's grin mirrored his mask. "But looking at your situation, I believe it would have followed you anyways. It's ability to control one's presence might prove useful."
"What's the other catch? There has to be more," I asked skeptically as I squinted my eyes at the ring.
Maybe it was rigged to explode in my face. Or summon Cthulu. Or explode Cthulu in my face.
"It's a hell ring," Mukuro said sarcastically and let out a snort while Checker Face nodded in agreement. I scratched my head lightly.
Alright, could have thought about that myself. The consequences were in the name. Then it clicked in my mind and my eyes widened.
"Wait a minute, why didn't you give it to me from the start?! I could have trained with it!"
Checker Face was unfazed by my yelling and exaggerated arm flailing and shoved my right arm away from his face in a damn calm manner.
"If you would have used it without learning the basics of illusions, it would have killed you. Do not worry, you just have to resist some...temptation that comes from it."
After those words, silence filled the area. A few seconds later, I twirled my hand in irritation and then pointed at the ring.
"That's it? That is the tutorial with this?"
"I believe you are mentally prepared enough for this object. You have my full trust."
Despite these words, I nodded my head with a very skeptical face before looking back at the flame ring.
Well, I guessed that Checker Face knew what he was doing...
"Also, you need to fight for the Vongola."
Say what now? My face shot upwards to the ancestor in a heartbeat and I'm sure I made a pitiful noise. Checker Face completely ignored it and attached some kind of string around my collar with a…
A half of the Vongola mist ring.
After that I shot a pleading look at Mukuro.
Wow, I must have been really desperate to do that.
"You may be useless in comparison to me, but you might be able to win by surprise," he stated while making an honest looking face of consideration.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence!" I said sarcastically and turned back to Checker Face for my panic. "I only trained for a month in here! How is that enough?! I'm not ready to face an Arcobaleno!"
Yes, Viper was nerfed with the curse, but he, she, it was going to kick my ass regardless! I remember what that greedy son of a bitch could do and it was not pleasant!
I think I started hyperventilating at that point. Probably at the thought of getting mind raped in my first real combat situation.
"Arcobaleno?" Mukuro asked confused.
"Not now!" I screamed back and only noticed then that I had grabbed the ancestor's collar and lifted him. A few centimeter actually.
"Ryohei only got shot in the face and had to fight against a trained assassin. You didn't see him whine about it. Fun fact, he still won."
I was surprised at his snarky tone. It was a bit out of character. It even managed to shock me out of my panic.
Did he plan that? Damn, I could never predict those almighty beings! That guy was good!
Anyways, like I said, I calmed down at his surprising reply and kinda saw his point. I had a month prep time for actual supernatural battle. Takeshi also only had a few days to learn his Shigure Souen Ryu.
And they both were retardedly talented or their opponents were handed the idiot ball.
I was leaning towards both. Speaking of which…
I let go of him and scratched my chin before raising my finger.
"What's the win count anyways?"
"Tsunayoshi's team won the sun and lightning battle. The storm is next."
Huh, so I wasn't thrown to the wolves yet. I saw Mukuro mouth Lambo's name behind him in disbelief.
As much as it hurt me, I had to agree with him.
"Wait, Lambo won?"
To my confused question, the ancestor quickly created a mist flame and-
Okay, I did not need to see that. Wow, that looked gruesome. Judging from Mukuro's impressed "oh", he probably felt the same. I winced as I used my fist to cover my mouth.
25 year old Lambo gouging the umbrella guy's eye out with his hand while stabbing him with his horns in the stomach was not something I expected to happen. That seemed rather brutal for the cow.
On the other hand, I guess kid became more violent with a post apocalyptic future. Guess that means Tsuna wasn't disqualified yet. Neat!
Although, I have to say: Damn Philemon's avatar body effect! You scary!
Anywho, I nodded slowly before looking to the sky and pretended that my finger was a pencil. That meant Tsuna's team had two wins, technically three with Hibari, because there was no way he was going to lose. Tsuna was debatable, though I gave him better chances because there was more motivation since his fight wasn't canceled this time. Gokudera could also potentially lose.
Damn, that meant I could not instantly give up when the battle started.
"Guess I have to bring my A-Game then..." I groaned out and let my body hang down a little.
"Hm, that is good. I'm happy."
I tilted my head at the pineapple's saintly, fake smile.
"Why is that?" I questioned in deadpan.
"You could die and you would sully your teacher's name," Mukuro expressed with delight, his fake face not wavering a moment.
Time to bring his ego down a bit. I stood upright and fake checked my fingernails.
"I wouldn't need to do that. I think getting beaten by a middle schooler with almost no combat experience, while you had a bunch of minions is hard to top."
My nonchalant tone didn't cover my wide grin at Mukuro's thinned mouth.
It was hilarious how fast his expression could change.
Just as we both were about to stab each other with tridents again, Checker Face put a hand on each of our shoulders.
"We talked long enough. It's time to send you to the real world."
I sighed in resignation and slowly shook my head with closed eyes.
This was going to real shitty time.
Then I pointed at the glowing hand that touched me.
"So, is this thing going to hurt, or-"
A bright light exploded in the area and my screams of agony were the only things I remembered from that time.
///
"Well, he's gone now. Now it's your turn."
"...Make sure he does his job right."
"No faith in your student?"
"Just hurry up and reincarnate me already."
My "training" with Mukuro could be summed up as an asshole contest, which he won by a milestone.
After I drilled at least four books worth of surgery knowledge into my brain, he started with "normal" illusion training.
Which meant, he showed me something, told me to do the same thing and permanently mocked me without saying the same word twice if I failed. Which I did. A lot.
During all that, we were sure that we were in some kind of Hyberbolic time chamber. Both of us agreed that one day wasn't nearly enough for me to learn the whole anatomy of the human body, so time had to flow faster in here.
Plus side of the training, I could keep anyone alive easily by giving them the necessary organs, beside brains of course. I could maintain them even in my sleep. Potentially, I could do some emergency surgery when needed.
Downside of course was that I had to dream about those organs all the time or else they vanish. The pineapple forced me to learn lucid dreaming in order to do that. Jackass.
Also, thanks to my...weird, temporary connection with Mukuro, I can speak Italian and Japanese on top of my English and German. Neat.
Anyway, normal illusion training. Wasn't going as well as fake organs, as paradox as it is. So far, I managed to make small optical illusions casually, that might fool a four year old like Lambo. Nothing that would shock anyone in mid battle, like fire pillars or a distorted space. The most I could do would be Chrome's substitution trick she did during her battle.
Yeah, like I said. Didn't make much sense.
I knew an OP power like illusions would be hard to learn, but I actually had to get into the mindset of a psycho. Or a drug addict.
Mukuro on the other hand learned from me the basics of Dying Will Flames, rings, but not the plot.
No need for him to know about a future that will never happen anyway.
Also, I did not want to give him ammunition against Tsuna, in case the illusionist reincarnated in a close enough time period.
Speaking of plot, never understood why other self inserts were so hung up about the plot. It ended the moment they were inserted into the story. Knowledge about characters however, that was way more useful. Which was the main reason I didn't show him anything about that.
Where was I? Right, flames.
From what my teacher told me, I had a mist flame. I guessed that they weren't kidding when they said that I would get the manipulator's potential.
Still, for someone who was supposed to have Mukuro's powers...I lacked some things.
"Why do I only have one path?!"
My exclamation echoed through the grassland while I was lying on the ground and palmed my face with frustration. Yeah, as it appeared, I only have one path from the six I was supposed to have. Not that I hated the path, it was more useful than the others. Still, it frustrated me.
When I opened my eyes, for once I saw a not smug Mukuro sitting on a rock as he read through some notes I wrote down for him. He took off his glasses he made with illusions, because hey, need to troll me more, and hummed thoughtfully.
"Maybe because you didn't go through all six paths to Hades yourself?"
I raised my finger and...lowered it again with gritted teeth. That made a lot of sense actually. And it made me mad.
So much for getting Mukuro's power set, huh?
"I am not going to die five more times for power ups!" After my outburst, I take a deep breath and look down. "So, Naraka Path only then?"
"Unless you do get killed five more times, no." I scoffed at his oh so innocent suggestion. At least I had an easier time making real illusions. With a mist ring, I could potentially make stuff out of thin air. Who knew, didn't have a chance to test that out yet.
Reaching that thought, I rested my chin on my right arm as I sit in a lotus seat position. I stared intensely at the man in front of me when his attention switched back to the book.
I never understood what Mukuro needed that stupid glove from Verde for. He had the path, mist flames, cambio forma and the experience.
In the end, I shrugged
Maybe he was just lazy.
Speaking of who, he stood up and made a replica of his favorite trident.
"Anyways, it is time for your combat training."
I groaned and halfheartedly grab the original trident. Holding it in a two handed grip, I start to attack the...ghost, solid illusion, dead person, whatever Mukuro was right now.
Anyways, my combat level was...rather average.
In anime terms, I was barely above canon fodder. Which showed in how the damn pineapple hat didn't even look at me while parrying all my swings and stabs!
So, to conclude, if I combined all my abilities...I would rank myself at Prologue Dying Will Tsuna who could somewhat think. If I was optimistic, maybe a bit more.
My body slumped down a little and a small whine escaped me.
Yes, I sucked that hard.
After Mukuro knocked me down yet another time and pointed his trident at my throat, I raised my hands for surrender and grumbled angrily.
"Why do I have to use your stupid trident anyways? What am I, Aquaman?"
Nothing against Aquaman, he could be badass. I just don't get why I have to use an ancient Greece weapon. Mukuro shook his head while clicking his tongue, that arrogant prick.
"The trident is an effective weapon. Only because you are stupid, doesn't mean it is stupid as well."
I flipped him the bird as he did his trademark "kufufu". I rubbed my arms to get rid of their soreness and glared at the prick.
"Can't I just fight with my bare hands?"
As a demonstration, I showed him a normal side kick from my sport karate.
Sure, it was only half contact, but I think I would be better at martial arts!
"You could, but then I couldn't teach you, can I?" He let out an exaggerated sigh, not even caring about what I did and pretended to wipe off a tear. "Dear me, to be cursed with such an idiot of a student. My dear Chrome was more attentive."
Putting aside that he sounded incredibly creepy as always, I let out a scream of frustration before pulling at my own hair.
"You're not even a good teacher! You just show me some weird shit and tell me to do the same!"
If I had to describe Mr. Asshole as a teacher, I would see him as the bird one. Push me off the ledge and see if I learned. Repeat it dozens of times. That's basically his teaching methods.
How did Chrome learn from him?! I guess pure admiration and the fact that he directly possessed her might have helped.
Of course Mukuro didn't see it that way and simply believed I was too stupid to learn. Which might have been the case, but rubbing it in my face did not help!
"Kufufu, you just have to pay attention. Before you can cast illusions, you must see through one. Observation and imagination are the keys for an illusionists. How are you to develop these if I have to hold your hand?"
I gritted my teeth. He had a point but it was so infuriating to listen to him! No way was I going to give him the satisfaction of being right! I let out a dry laugh while sitting down on another rock in this Avalon rip off.
"You seemed perfectly fine to hold Chrome's hand."
Just to make sure, I did not ship them. It was kinda creepy and seemed incredibly unhealthy. I would endure a sibling like relationship, if Mukuro would stop being such a dick.
I slyly grinned when I saw his mouth twitch a bit. Haha, touched a nerve!
…
I believe. Not sure, I wasn't that observant.
"There is a difference between a vessel and a student." the master illusionist said calmly, putting his hand under his chin.
"Oh, stop pretending as if you don't care for her. Or the other two jocks," I countered and crossed my arms. There was enough evidence to see in the manga and anime to know that he put up a tough front.
A tick mark appeared on his forehead as he stood up. I did the same, holding the trident tight.
"My my, perhaps you need-"
"As amusing it is to see you bond, I need to interrupt your training session."
Just as the two of us were moving, Checker Face was there. Right in front of us, without any warning.
Naturally both of us were rather shocked. Of course, Mr. Swagmaster only stepped back with a shocked expression.
I on the other hand fell on my ass while clutching my chest.
Maybe getting another path wasn't completely out of the plan?
Breathing heavenly, I tried to formulate a question.
"How long were we in here?" I wiped the sweat off my forehead that apparently spawned with my near pants shitting experience. Mukuro appeared to have calmed down as well, since he seemed to relax a bit.
Checker Face hummed deeply in thought, before raising his hand and showing one finger.
"A month, give or take. Maybe two. Who knows?"
I exchanged a look with Mukuro, who raised an eyebrow. Then I touched my face and frowned at the apparent true ancestor of the planet.
"And yet I don't have a moustache."
I ignored the dismissive look on Mukuro's face and focused on the big man.
"Okay, I guess in the...real world, only one day passed."
Way to be obvious. Checker Face chuckles in amusement.
"Indeed. I'm here to bring you back. But before that..." He raised his hand and took off some kind of tentacle ring-
Holy shit.
"Here."
Only thanks to the unfair training Mukuro put me through did I manage to catch the ring.
That guy literally gave me a hell ring. It took a while until my brain restarted and I stopped gaping. Slowly I pointed my finger at the ring I held in my hands.
"Don't you need it?"
If I remember right, he used it quite a lot. He chuckled and walked forward to me, pointing at the item.
"It makes things easier, but I can afford to part from it." Huh, I always did wonder if he could do the presence concealment without the hell ring. Guess even earth ancestors could be lazy. "It is said that ruin follows the user..." I just imagined that Kawahira's grin mirrored his mask. "But looking at your situation, I believe it would have followed you anyways. It's ability to control one's presence might prove useful."
"What's the other catch? There has to be more," I asked skeptically as I squinted my eyes at the ring.
Maybe it was rigged to explode in my face. Or summon Cthulu. Or explode Cthulu in my face.
"It's a hell ring," Mukuro said sarcastically and let out a snort while Checker Face nodded in agreement. I scratched my head lightly.
Alright, could have thought about that myself. The consequences were in the name. Then it clicked in my mind and my eyes widened.
"Wait a minute, why didn't you give it to me from the start?! I could have trained with it!"
Checker Face was unfazed by my yelling and exaggerated arm flailing and shoved my right arm away from his face in a damn calm manner.
"If you would have used it without learning the basics of illusions, it would have killed you. Do not worry, you just have to resist some...temptation that comes from it."
After those words, silence filled the area. A few seconds later, I twirled my hand in irritation and then pointed at the ring.
"That's it? That is the tutorial with this?"
"I believe you are mentally prepared enough for this object. You have my full trust."
Despite these words, I nodded my head with a very skeptical face before looking back at the flame ring.
Well, I guessed that Checker Face knew what he was doing...
"Also, you need to fight for the Vongola."
Say what now? My face shot upwards to the ancestor in a heartbeat and I'm sure I made a pitiful noise. Checker Face completely ignored it and attached some kind of string around my collar with a…
A half of the Vongola mist ring.
After that I shot a pleading look at Mukuro.
Wow, I must have been really desperate to do that.
"You may be useless in comparison to me, but you might be able to win by surprise," he stated while making an honest looking face of consideration.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence!" I said sarcastically and turned back to Checker Face for my panic. "I only trained for a month in here! How is that enough?! I'm not ready to face an Arcobaleno!"
Yes, Viper was nerfed with the curse, but he, she, it was going to kick my ass regardless! I remember what that greedy son of a bitch could do and it was not pleasant!
I think I started hyperventilating at that point. Probably at the thought of getting mind raped in my first real combat situation.
"Arcobaleno?" Mukuro asked confused.
"Not now!" I screamed back and only noticed then that I had grabbed the ancestor's collar and lifted him. A few centimeter actually.
"Ryohei only got shot in the face and had to fight against a trained assassin. You didn't see him whine about it. Fun fact, he still won."
I was surprised at his snarky tone. It was a bit out of character. It even managed to shock me out of my panic.
Did he plan that? Damn, I could never predict those almighty beings! That guy was good!
Anyways, like I said, I calmed down at his surprising reply and kinda saw his point. I had a month prep time for actual supernatural battle. Takeshi also only had a few days to learn his Shigure Souen Ryu.
And they both were retardedly talented or their opponents were handed the idiot ball.
I was leaning towards both. Speaking of which…
I let go of him and scratched my chin before raising my finger.
"What's the win count anyways?"
"Tsunayoshi's team won the sun and lightning battle. The storm is next."
Huh, so I wasn't thrown to the wolves yet. I saw Mukuro mouth Lambo's name behind him in disbelief.
As much as it hurt me, I had to agree with him.
"Wait, Lambo won?"
To my confused question, the ancestor quickly created a mist flame and-
Okay, I did not need to see that. Wow, that looked gruesome. Judging from Mukuro's impressed "oh", he probably felt the same. I winced as I used my fist to cover my mouth.
25 year old Lambo gouging the umbrella guy's eye out with his hand while stabbing him with his horns in the stomach was not something I expected to happen. That seemed rather brutal for the cow.
On the other hand, I guess kid became more violent with a post apocalyptic future. Guess that means Tsuna wasn't disqualified yet. Neat!
Although, I have to say: Damn Philemon's avatar body effect! You scary!
Anywho, I nodded slowly before looking to the sky and pretended that my finger was a pencil. That meant Tsuna's team had two wins, technically three with Hibari, because there was no way he was going to lose. Tsuna was debatable, though I gave him better chances because there was more motivation since his fight wasn't canceled this time. Gokudera could also potentially lose.
Damn, that meant I could not instantly give up when the battle started.
"Guess I have to bring my A-Game then..." I groaned out and let my body hang down a little.
"Hm, that is good. I'm happy."
I tilted my head at the pineapple's saintly, fake smile.
"Why is that?" I questioned in deadpan.
"You could die and you would sully your teacher's name," Mukuro expressed with delight, his fake face not wavering a moment.
Time to bring his ego down a bit. I stood upright and fake checked my fingernails.
"I wouldn't need to do that. I think getting beaten by a middle schooler with almost no combat experience, while you had a bunch of minions is hard to top."
My nonchalant tone didn't cover my wide grin at Mukuro's thinned mouth.
It was hilarious how fast his expression could change.
Just as we both were about to stab each other with tridents again, Checker Face put a hand on each of our shoulders.
"We talked long enough. It's time to send you to the real world."
I sighed in resignation and slowly shook my head with closed eyes.
This was going to real shitty time.
Then I pointed at the glowing hand that touched me.
"So, is this thing going to hurt, or-"
A bright light exploded in the area and my screams of agony were the only things I remembered from that time.
///
"Well, he's gone now. Now it's your turn."
"...Make sure he does his job right."
"No faith in your student?"
"Just hurry up and reincarnate me already."
Chapter 2
- Location
- Germany
Chapter 2
Slowly my eyes opened while I felt like someone shot me in the head dozens of times. Instead of grass, I had cold hard stone on my back, so I guessed I was in some kind of building. It was a bit chilly if my body worked correctly, but when I groaned, the sound echoed back. It hurt my head even more. Moving my body was also out of the question at the moment. Jesus, I felt like I fought hours against a black belt or something.
Believe me, four minutes were already painful enough.
"So that's what a hangover feels like?" I muttered while I tried to get my vision out of 144p.
At first, I blinked in confusion, having no idea what was going on. Why wasn't I in my bed or something?
But then I started to remember what happened. Got pulled out of hell, training hell with Mukuro, Checker Face then threw me in...here.
Ouch, even frowning hurt.
Son of a bitch probably used the most painful way anyways. Illusionists are assholes. Except maybe Chrome.
"Ugh...Could at least give me some aspirin here..." Groaning in pain, my vision starts to clear up a little. With what low resolution I had in my eyes, I noticed that I was in some kind of abandoned building. I didn't really recognize it, but hey, I never lived in Namimori.
Looking to the ceiling, I made a disgusted expression as I backed off a little. Was it leaking?
Hearing drips of water hitting the ground, I nodded. Yup, definitely leaking.
Other than that, only the howling of the wind sounded through the building. To be honest, that freaked me out. I hugged myself as a chilly wind brushed at me and I laughed dryly.
Couldn't believe I missed Mukuro already. He was company, as mean as he was.
After sitting like that for a while, I started to see clearly now. My brain still pounded my skull, but I could endure it. Turning my head around, I took more notice of a few things.
I appeared to be some kind of...bowling area?
A rather disgusting bowling area. I believe I saw rats having a death battle at the corner. Amongst rotten food and dirt.
Eww, why did the building still exist?
After I took a look out of the window, I palmed my face. Of course I was here.
I would recognize that weird pitfall and the shit ton of trees anywhere. Also the remnants of that weird egg structure were hard to miss. Kokuyo Land. The ugly place where the Kokuyo gang had their headquarters.
Seriously, who in their right mind would live here voluntarily? Sure, nobody would be investigating this place, but didn't Mukuro's henchmen have standards?!
Speaking of mind, there was something that is bothering me...Like I forgot...some...thing...
Oh shit.
My eyes widened and I held my head in agitation as I cursed and paced around the room.
Did Checker Face tell me when he would stop giving Chrome organs?
Well, better not let her suffer any more.
Okay, focus. I closed my eyes and knelt on the ground. Where the hell was she? I tried to pinpoint her location. Mukuro taught me how to feel where an aura came from, in order to make illusions even without real visual feed. Kinda like a form of clairvoyance.
At that moment, I remembered one thing. I had no idea how her presence felt like. Gritting my teeth, I tried to think how it could feel like…
Wait…
I tried to snap my fingers, failing to create the click noise and took another deep breath. If I thought of an aura like a smell…
The possession of the douche teacher might have colored off on her aura.
...Now that I thought about it, it sounded very disgusting. I shuddered, before quickly discarding that line of thought.
To be honest, using my aura sense in the real world was overwhelming at first. Instantly, I broke out in a sweat and my breathing became more heavy, as if someone turned up the density in the air.
Unlike in my training, where I only had to feel out my teacher's aura, I had to search through thousands of people. All with different flavors and depth. They clashed with each other, they became one sometimes and other times, one aura gave birth to a new aura.
That I was in a completely different area made the situation not easier.
Still, after what felt like half an hour, I picked up the right place. At least I thought I did.
Hospitals were rather easy to find. They felt weak. Like a black spot in a white painting, they stood out easily. The fact that there were some very strong auras inside that building made me guess that there were mafia people in it.
Surrounded by them, I felt Chrome.
Wow, her aura felt really...depressing. Compared to Mukuro's foggy, determined flame, she was like a small spark that could go out any moment. It grew weaker and weaker by the minute. But despite all that pain, that weakness…
She endured. For her master to come back.
I tried to shake off my thoughts of sadness for her.
The only reason she was still alive, despite her...well, dying will, was because of the machines. Now that I took a closer "look" so to say, they definitely felt like fighters. Calm, but ready to cut someone's throat.
Good to know that Iemitsu was still a good guy. A goofy one, mind you.
Then I noticed two more presences nearing the room. They felt as tortured as the master illusionist, and one of them felt a bit animalistic.
So that's how Ken and Chikusa felt like. The more you know.
Dunno if they were worried for her personally or because she was their only connection to the pineapple.
Alright, enough observation, what was missing? Both of her kidneys were gone, one lung was basically crushed into non existence and her liver was also not available. Her blood would be going all over the place if not for the machines doing the job for her. Right eye naturally is gone, can't replace that. Way too complicated. If only that was missing, might have been possible. Also, her bowel is gone too.
Overall diagnosis?
I was surprised she managed to stay alive before the possession. Props to modern medicine.
Now that I knew what was missing, I raised my arms and pretended to form a ball with it. Following that, I opened my left eye and I felt the all to familiar pain of hell fire in it.
The Path of Naraka appeared on my left eye.
I shortly wondered whether to use the hell ring to boost my illusion, but decided against it.
Never play with weapons you never used before. Hell, no pun intended, I didn't even know how big my flame resources were.
Another thing I had to train. Wooh.
Alrighty, organ creation! I cracked my fingers and neck and took a deep breath. I had to concentrate on the consistency and the make up of the organs. It wasn't an illusions, those organs were now there. They existed, they worked. That's what I had to think. Thanks to my training, I could do that almost on a subconscious level. It's kinda like a puzzle. You only had to put the right parts together and boom, a working organ.
And...done. A new set of fresh organs, with illusions magic bullshit!
Now I only had to not get too distracted since Chrome's life depended on me now. But I wasn't that worried. It would take something like a kaiju attack to do that.
Mukuro made sure it would be like that. Couldn't sleep for days, little bastard.
I swiped off some sweat that formed on my forehead and breathed out in exhaustion. A grin formed on my face when I noticed the agitation I caused with the "miracle" on Chrome. Even if I only felt their presences, they were running around like chicken.
Satisfied with my work, I sat down on a spot that didn't reek too much. As I leaned back on my seat, I hummed in thought as I push the cushions a little. Huh, it was quite comfy actually.
Closing my eyes, I began to outline my personal timeline in this world.
Obviously I had to survive and maybe win the Mist battle. Then I had to find a replacement for the guardian position, given that Chrome needed me to give her organs. After that…
I shivered. After that, my multiverse shenanigans would begin.
And I did not trust any other mist user in this world to take care of Chrome. They were all too crazy.
So the girl would be my companion in the unforeseen future.
With a sigh, I stood up again and tried to find for some kind of fridge or storage place. There had to be some snacks here. I just had to find them.
When I heard the growl from my stomach, I stepped up my pace in searching the bowling area.
While I searched I started to contemplate about the person who would take on Mukuro's role.
Or rather the one he recommended. Apparently he checked out other potential illusionist during his stay here. Coupled with that bullshit ranking book, he found some people.
To that knowledge, I shook my head with a wry grin. It sounded so ridiculous. But with the tools the dead man had back then and the inability to lie to me back there, I could not debunk his intel.
Kyoko Sasagawa.
A mist user. My mind was still trying to comprehend that. For whatever reason, the higher powers decided her to be one of the most suited for the job of lies and deception.
Weren't mist users supposed to be screwed up in the head in some way? I mean, Fran, Mukuro, Viper, Genkishi, they all suggested that was the common theme. What about her would qualify?
Was her innocence and happy face a front? That's the only thing that would make sense for me. Either that, or her happiness is the mental disorder.
Is there something like a happiness disorder?
I groaned and rubbed my face in frustration. No gain in head pain. Might as well take what I got.
To more important things then...
My eyes widened at that moment and I grinned.
A bag of potato chips on a shelf just outside the bowling area. Would be enough to temporarily fill my stomach. Jogging over to the spot, I pick it up and looked at the expiration date.
Still edible, so I opened it and shoved a handful of chips into my mouth while walking back to my dirt stained bowling bench.
Hm, pepper. Could be worse.
After I let myself fall down on the seat, I gulped down the chips chewed through in my mouth. With the silence filling the room, I closed my eyes and tried to relax.
The howling winds through the halls, the chirping of grasshoppers, the occasional hoot from an owl…I think I even heard a dog growl in this building. Anyway, those were the sounds I heard.
All those things freaked me the fuck out.
Whimpering, I clenched my eyes even harder and tried to distract myself.
"Happy thoughts...Happy thoughts…"
Instead of what I wanted when I spoke out that mantra, I got memories from my stay in hell.
Great.
Reincarnation. My parents may have been Buddhists, but I wasn't into religion. Sure, I somewhat believed in higher powers, but praying? Not my thing. The experience of coming from death to life was something that I never expected to happen to me.
And I was afraid.
I pushed my body forward and hunched down, my head over my knees as I stared to the ground. A shaky breath escaped me and I covered my face with my hands.
It was so easy. So easy for someone to bring me back, to give me another shot at living.
Like some plaything that could be fixed with duct tape.
My breath was becoming erratic and I started to shake my head.
I felt worthless. I was the first thing that was available. Why the fuck was I even doing this?!
No. No, gotta stay calm…
Counting to ten, I took deep breaths, while imagining a black void in my head.
In...out…in...out.
With a breath of relief, I leaned back into the seat again.
Wow, I went to a dark place there. I hated when I do that. In order to not fall back there, I looked at the Vongola piece on my person.
Best way to spend my time would be to plan ahead a bit-
Suddenly, I felt a cold steel touching my neck and I slowly raised my arms. The click of a gun made me wince.
"Who are you?"
Judging from the voice, Iemitsu himself pointed a gun at me. And he sounded real pissed. I also had the ring of his family hanging on my collar.
Hoh boy.
I laughed weakly and had a strained smile on my face.
"Uhm...Substitution?"
"Stand up and turn around. Slowly. No sudden movements."
It was weird to be at the mercy of serious Iemitsu and I was kind of nervous. I followed his instructions and flinched a bit at the merciless, cold expression of his.
When he noticed the Vongola heirloom dangling on my hoodie and the fire that burned behind those eyes focused on me, I think I began to sweat. A lot.
"Okay, my name is Obsidian Noir, I can't remember my actual name and I'm the student of Mukuro Rokudo. I'm here to replace him in the Vongola mist battle," I quickly rattled off as calm as I could, while switching from looking in his eyes and at the gun.
Said eyes widened at the information from me and the mafioso checked me out even in more detail. Then he squinted at me, his gun arm not moving.
"Why should I trust you?"
"Do you have any choice? Sir." The last part I added quickly when his frown deepened. I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice steady, but with steel. "I'm the one who gave Chrome Dokuro her organs back after Mukuro died, so I'm your best shot at winning this. Hell, if you want to, I won't become his guardian. You can still give the position. to someone else after this is done."
After I was done, I became a bit worried at the completely still, poker face wearing Iemitsu. Then I jumped back a little from his sudden hand movement into his jacket side pocket to pull out a phone.
"I'll check this. Until then...let's assume I believe you. Do you think you have what it takes?" He asked me while pressing a text for his subordinates I assumed. While still looking at me with those damn judging eyes!
"I have the Path of Naraka and another nasty surprise in my pocket. I think I have a good shot," I told him with an attempt of a smirk.
Truth to be told, I wasn't sure if it was going to work. The theory sounded good though.
"You tell the truth about Dokuro at least and you know about Rokudo's death..." Iemitsu closed his phone and then sighed, his exhaustion clearly visible on his face. "Guess entrusting this to a total random stranger can't be worse than a known criminal with a body count and a tendency to possess people with a world conqueror complex." He holstered his gun and crossed his arms at me. I took this as my cue to sit down again and breathed out heavenly. Wiping of the sweat of my forehead, I looked up again and raised an eyebrow with uncertainty.
"So we're okay then?"
"Until you bring my son in danger. Then things will get ugly," the head of CEDEF stated coldly and I laughed with a strained undertone.
"I have to go now. I'll come back another time to...evaluate your skills." He still seemed a bit skeptical at me with the tone in his voice and began to move to the door.
"Uhm, can I ask for a favor?" He turned around as I raised my arm a bit. Then I pointed to the ground with hesitation. "Could you bring the Kokuyo gang here? I would like to...meet my sensei's...friends. Talk to them, make sure they're okay. Especially Chrome. Could need a closer look to make sure I did my job right. Yeah." My face flushed a bit after I realize how awkward and pathetic I sounded. Maybe it was also red from the pain of calling Mukuro sensei. Iemitsu mouth twitched a bit, so I think he found me hilarious.
Great.
"I was planning to do that anyways," he replied and then, to my surprise, grinned at me."Nice of you to think about them though." With those words he left me then.
I closed my mouth when my mind processed what just happened. Did he like me now or not? It was so confusing!
Damn social activity!
Scratching my head in frustration, I lied down on my semi soft seat. Now I just had to wait for the gang to come here. I was in no mood to plan now, with Iemitsu burning through my nerves.
So I did the natural thing to kill the time.
Trying to figure out how to use a cursed hell ring.
///
"Ken, you shouldn't do this."
"Tch, if he is supposed to be our second in command, he gotta act like it!"
"Uhm...I don't think that is a good way to do this."
"Who asked for your opinion?!"
"Sorry..."
I groaned at the pain caused by the noise and the poking in my face. Just what I needed, yelling right after I fell unconscious from training and someone violating my personal space
Hell rings were really hard to use. It sucked away energy like crazy if you didn't know how to use it.
On the plus side, I could do the same thing Kawahira did in the Future arc! Kind of. I could erase my presence for hours, but could only create a presence in a radius of like 10 meters, give or take. Other than that, I polished up my illusions.
I wasn't on the level of Mukuro or something, but I was getting there. Very slowly. Big fire pillars are still a no go, but the substitution trick was in my bag.
Anyways, you could reasonably assume that I was a little pissed that some people interrupted my fair gained rest. My eyes slowly open and I see the Kokuyo gang over me, watching me in a circle. We stared at each other in silence. Then I sighed deeply, and tried to get into a seating position. My bones creaked a lot more than they should be.
Sleeping on the ground was not healthy, just tested that with my body.
I looked out of the window and noticed that the sunset began.
Huh, I really was out of it.
Yawning, I turn back to the trio, who stared at me with expectation. Well, Ken did. Chikusa had his damn stoic face and Chrome averted her eyes while blushing.
"Since how long were you here?" I asked in a tired tone as I stretched my body.
"A few minutes. Obsidian Noir I assume?"
After I nodded to Chikusa's deadpan question, I extended my hand as a greeting.
"Until I remember my actual name, yes. Ken, Chikusa, Chrome. A pleasure." After a short silence, I frowned for a moment. "If it's too long, Sid or something like that is enough."
"Whatever," Ken scoffed and looked away. Chikusa didn't move at all to accept my gesture and I started to feel a bit stupid.
"E-evening," Chrome said quietly as she shook my hand. Thank god! When we let go of each others hands, silence reigned in the area. None of us made any movements, most likely expecting the others to do something. I coughed awkwardly. Looking at their faces, I assume they want to ask me something. Chikusa and Ken had their typical faces (blank and pissed), so there wasn't much I can see. Thank god the girl of the trio was more obvious, as she looked anywhere but at me.
In the end I sighed and shook my head in a tired manner. Not a fan of staring contests. Not at all.
"If you have questions, just ask."
As if I shot a pistol, the stoic one immediately asked:
"Where is Lord Mukuro?"
For a short moment, I was startled. I didn't expect that to come up so fact.
On the other hand, should have seen it coming with the worship thing.
Slowly, I leaned forwards and raised an eyebrow.
"Did Iemitsu tell you anything?"
Better not step on anyone's toes.
The beast boy rip off was about to snarl something in my direction, but Chikusa surprisingly held up his arm. Guess he was the second in command if it was about diplomacy.
Considering that the alternatives were a shy girl and a rampaging animal, the rock would be the only choice Mukuro had left.
Calmly, he pushed up his glasses, doing that weird anime glass light trick.
"We do not believe him. And Chrome said that you are the one who gave her the organs. On top of that, you have traces of his presence on you."
Memo to self, wash yourself. Physically and spiritually.
I slowly nodded, purely to buy myself time as I tried to form a proper sentence regarding the matter.
It appeared to work on Chrome and Chikusa, who patiently stared at me…
The teeth that Ken showed me indicated I should hurry up. Awkwardly, I scratched my head.
Might as well go with the truth here.
"How to say this...He will come back. Reincarnation and all that. As a baby and going through puberty and all that." I paused shortly, trying to remember if I forgot something...Oh right! "As far as I know, he'll still remember everything."
To my surprise, they all let out a breath of relief. Well, the girl did.
Chikusa's face only somewhat softened up and Ken stopped flashing me his teeth in my face. This...honestly confused me. I titled my head and crossed my arms with an intrigued expression.
"You're not...angry? Sad?"
"Oh, I'm fucking pissed! But as long as he'll come back to us...I can wait a couple years."
After the animal guy snarled at me, I looked at the others. Chrome blushed at my staring, but she took a deep breath and had a determined light in her eyes.
"L-lord M-mukuro will not let us down. I-I believe in him."
"Likewise," Chikusa stated with a blank tone as he pushed up his glasses again.
…
Huh. Expected more drama than that.
And back to silence we were. Staring at each other.
I coughed lightly and turned back to the only girl in the room-
"Chrome, the organs, they doing fine?" A strained smile graced my face.
Chrome eyes, err, eye widened and she bowed down.
"Yes...Thank you very much." Then she looked up and I think there was a bit more determination in her eye. Her voice also became a bit louder than before. "Can...can I see a few illusions from you?"
...Is she jealous? Or is it some kind of student rivalry she felt towards me? Whatever it was, I did not like that. I didn't even want to be Mukuro's student!
Eh, whatever. If it brought her out of her shell, why not. I scratched my head and replied in a hesitant tone.
"Uhm...sure. But only if you show me yours."
…
Did I really just say that?
"Ugh, this is boring. I'll go to sleep." Ken groaned and started to walk away. While he probably went for his sleeping spot, his head turned to his friend and he yelled: "Chikusa, it's your turn for getting the snacks!"
Said teenager didn't show any sign of acknowledgment. Still, he also began to move, to the exit I assume.
Looking back at Chrome, she stared at me, waiting for my illusions.
The silence was going to be a thing, won't it?
I can't believe I was saying this, but I really missed Mukuro's presence right about now.
Slowly my eyes opened while I felt like someone shot me in the head dozens of times. Instead of grass, I had cold hard stone on my back, so I guessed I was in some kind of building. It was a bit chilly if my body worked correctly, but when I groaned, the sound echoed back. It hurt my head even more. Moving my body was also out of the question at the moment. Jesus, I felt like I fought hours against a black belt or something.
Believe me, four minutes were already painful enough.
"So that's what a hangover feels like?" I muttered while I tried to get my vision out of 144p.
At first, I blinked in confusion, having no idea what was going on. Why wasn't I in my bed or something?
But then I started to remember what happened. Got pulled out of hell, training hell with Mukuro, Checker Face then threw me in...here.
Ouch, even frowning hurt.
Son of a bitch probably used the most painful way anyways. Illusionists are assholes. Except maybe Chrome.
"Ugh...Could at least give me some aspirin here..." Groaning in pain, my vision starts to clear up a little. With what low resolution I had in my eyes, I noticed that I was in some kind of abandoned building. I didn't really recognize it, but hey, I never lived in Namimori.
Looking to the ceiling, I made a disgusted expression as I backed off a little. Was it leaking?
Hearing drips of water hitting the ground, I nodded. Yup, definitely leaking.
Other than that, only the howling of the wind sounded through the building. To be honest, that freaked me out. I hugged myself as a chilly wind brushed at me and I laughed dryly.
Couldn't believe I missed Mukuro already. He was company, as mean as he was.
After sitting like that for a while, I started to see clearly now. My brain still pounded my skull, but I could endure it. Turning my head around, I took more notice of a few things.
I appeared to be some kind of...bowling area?
A rather disgusting bowling area. I believe I saw rats having a death battle at the corner. Amongst rotten food and dirt.
Eww, why did the building still exist?
After I took a look out of the window, I palmed my face. Of course I was here.
I would recognize that weird pitfall and the shit ton of trees anywhere. Also the remnants of that weird egg structure were hard to miss. Kokuyo Land. The ugly place where the Kokuyo gang had their headquarters.
Seriously, who in their right mind would live here voluntarily? Sure, nobody would be investigating this place, but didn't Mukuro's henchmen have standards?!
Speaking of mind, there was something that is bothering me...Like I forgot...some...thing...
Oh shit.
My eyes widened and I held my head in agitation as I cursed and paced around the room.
Did Checker Face tell me when he would stop giving Chrome organs?
Well, better not let her suffer any more.
Okay, focus. I closed my eyes and knelt on the ground. Where the hell was she? I tried to pinpoint her location. Mukuro taught me how to feel where an aura came from, in order to make illusions even without real visual feed. Kinda like a form of clairvoyance.
At that moment, I remembered one thing. I had no idea how her presence felt like. Gritting my teeth, I tried to think how it could feel like…
Wait…
I tried to snap my fingers, failing to create the click noise and took another deep breath. If I thought of an aura like a smell…
The possession of the douche teacher might have colored off on her aura.
...Now that I thought about it, it sounded very disgusting. I shuddered, before quickly discarding that line of thought.
To be honest, using my aura sense in the real world was overwhelming at first. Instantly, I broke out in a sweat and my breathing became more heavy, as if someone turned up the density in the air.
Unlike in my training, where I only had to feel out my teacher's aura, I had to search through thousands of people. All with different flavors and depth. They clashed with each other, they became one sometimes and other times, one aura gave birth to a new aura.
That I was in a completely different area made the situation not easier.
Still, after what felt like half an hour, I picked up the right place. At least I thought I did.
Hospitals were rather easy to find. They felt weak. Like a black spot in a white painting, they stood out easily. The fact that there were some very strong auras inside that building made me guess that there were mafia people in it.
Surrounded by them, I felt Chrome.
Wow, her aura felt really...depressing. Compared to Mukuro's foggy, determined flame, she was like a small spark that could go out any moment. It grew weaker and weaker by the minute. But despite all that pain, that weakness…
She endured. For her master to come back.
I tried to shake off my thoughts of sadness for her.
The only reason she was still alive, despite her...well, dying will, was because of the machines. Now that I took a closer "look" so to say, they definitely felt like fighters. Calm, but ready to cut someone's throat.
Good to know that Iemitsu was still a good guy. A goofy one, mind you.
Then I noticed two more presences nearing the room. They felt as tortured as the master illusionist, and one of them felt a bit animalistic.
So that's how Ken and Chikusa felt like. The more you know.
Dunno if they were worried for her personally or because she was their only connection to the pineapple.
Alright, enough observation, what was missing? Both of her kidneys were gone, one lung was basically crushed into non existence and her liver was also not available. Her blood would be going all over the place if not for the machines doing the job for her. Right eye naturally is gone, can't replace that. Way too complicated. If only that was missing, might have been possible. Also, her bowel is gone too.
Overall diagnosis?
I was surprised she managed to stay alive before the possession. Props to modern medicine.
Now that I knew what was missing, I raised my arms and pretended to form a ball with it. Following that, I opened my left eye and I felt the all to familiar pain of hell fire in it.
The Path of Naraka appeared on my left eye.
I shortly wondered whether to use the hell ring to boost my illusion, but decided against it.
Never play with weapons you never used before. Hell, no pun intended, I didn't even know how big my flame resources were.
Another thing I had to train. Wooh.
Alrighty, organ creation! I cracked my fingers and neck and took a deep breath. I had to concentrate on the consistency and the make up of the organs. It wasn't an illusions, those organs were now there. They existed, they worked. That's what I had to think. Thanks to my training, I could do that almost on a subconscious level. It's kinda like a puzzle. You only had to put the right parts together and boom, a working organ.
And...done. A new set of fresh organs, with illusions magic bullshit!
Now I only had to not get too distracted since Chrome's life depended on me now. But I wasn't that worried. It would take something like a kaiju attack to do that.
Mukuro made sure it would be like that. Couldn't sleep for days, little bastard.
I swiped off some sweat that formed on my forehead and breathed out in exhaustion. A grin formed on my face when I noticed the agitation I caused with the "miracle" on Chrome. Even if I only felt their presences, they were running around like chicken.
Satisfied with my work, I sat down on a spot that didn't reek too much. As I leaned back on my seat, I hummed in thought as I push the cushions a little. Huh, it was quite comfy actually.
Closing my eyes, I began to outline my personal timeline in this world.
Obviously I had to survive and maybe win the Mist battle. Then I had to find a replacement for the guardian position, given that Chrome needed me to give her organs. After that…
I shivered. After that, my multiverse shenanigans would begin.
And I did not trust any other mist user in this world to take care of Chrome. They were all too crazy.
So the girl would be my companion in the unforeseen future.
With a sigh, I stood up again and tried to find for some kind of fridge or storage place. There had to be some snacks here. I just had to find them.
When I heard the growl from my stomach, I stepped up my pace in searching the bowling area.
While I searched I started to contemplate about the person who would take on Mukuro's role.
Or rather the one he recommended. Apparently he checked out other potential illusionist during his stay here. Coupled with that bullshit ranking book, he found some people.
To that knowledge, I shook my head with a wry grin. It sounded so ridiculous. But with the tools the dead man had back then and the inability to lie to me back there, I could not debunk his intel.
Kyoko Sasagawa.
A mist user. My mind was still trying to comprehend that. For whatever reason, the higher powers decided her to be one of the most suited for the job of lies and deception.
Weren't mist users supposed to be screwed up in the head in some way? I mean, Fran, Mukuro, Viper, Genkishi, they all suggested that was the common theme. What about her would qualify?
Was her innocence and happy face a front? That's the only thing that would make sense for me. Either that, or her happiness is the mental disorder.
Is there something like a happiness disorder?
I groaned and rubbed my face in frustration. No gain in head pain. Might as well take what I got.
To more important things then...
My eyes widened at that moment and I grinned.
A bag of potato chips on a shelf just outside the bowling area. Would be enough to temporarily fill my stomach. Jogging over to the spot, I pick it up and looked at the expiration date.
Still edible, so I opened it and shoved a handful of chips into my mouth while walking back to my dirt stained bowling bench.
Hm, pepper. Could be worse.
After I let myself fall down on the seat, I gulped down the chips chewed through in my mouth. With the silence filling the room, I closed my eyes and tried to relax.
The howling winds through the halls, the chirping of grasshoppers, the occasional hoot from an owl…I think I even heard a dog growl in this building. Anyway, those were the sounds I heard.
All those things freaked me the fuck out.
Whimpering, I clenched my eyes even harder and tried to distract myself.
"Happy thoughts...Happy thoughts…"
Instead of what I wanted when I spoke out that mantra, I got memories from my stay in hell.
Great.
Reincarnation. My parents may have been Buddhists, but I wasn't into religion. Sure, I somewhat believed in higher powers, but praying? Not my thing. The experience of coming from death to life was something that I never expected to happen to me.
And I was afraid.
I pushed my body forward and hunched down, my head over my knees as I stared to the ground. A shaky breath escaped me and I covered my face with my hands.
It was so easy. So easy for someone to bring me back, to give me another shot at living.
Like some plaything that could be fixed with duct tape.
My breath was becoming erratic and I started to shake my head.
I felt worthless. I was the first thing that was available. Why the fuck was I even doing this?!
No. No, gotta stay calm…
Counting to ten, I took deep breaths, while imagining a black void in my head.
In...out…in...out.
With a breath of relief, I leaned back into the seat again.
Wow, I went to a dark place there. I hated when I do that. In order to not fall back there, I looked at the Vongola piece on my person.
Best way to spend my time would be to plan ahead a bit-
Suddenly, I felt a cold steel touching my neck and I slowly raised my arms. The click of a gun made me wince.
"Who are you?"
Judging from the voice, Iemitsu himself pointed a gun at me. And he sounded real pissed. I also had the ring of his family hanging on my collar.
Hoh boy.
I laughed weakly and had a strained smile on my face.
"Uhm...Substitution?"
"Stand up and turn around. Slowly. No sudden movements."
It was weird to be at the mercy of serious Iemitsu and I was kind of nervous. I followed his instructions and flinched a bit at the merciless, cold expression of his.
When he noticed the Vongola heirloom dangling on my hoodie and the fire that burned behind those eyes focused on me, I think I began to sweat. A lot.
"Okay, my name is Obsidian Noir, I can't remember my actual name and I'm the student of Mukuro Rokudo. I'm here to replace him in the Vongola mist battle," I quickly rattled off as calm as I could, while switching from looking in his eyes and at the gun.
Said eyes widened at the information from me and the mafioso checked me out even in more detail. Then he squinted at me, his gun arm not moving.
"Why should I trust you?"
"Do you have any choice? Sir." The last part I added quickly when his frown deepened. I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice steady, but with steel. "I'm the one who gave Chrome Dokuro her organs back after Mukuro died, so I'm your best shot at winning this. Hell, if you want to, I won't become his guardian. You can still give the position. to someone else after this is done."
After I was done, I became a bit worried at the completely still, poker face wearing Iemitsu. Then I jumped back a little from his sudden hand movement into his jacket side pocket to pull out a phone.
"I'll check this. Until then...let's assume I believe you. Do you think you have what it takes?" He asked me while pressing a text for his subordinates I assumed. While still looking at me with those damn judging eyes!
"I have the Path of Naraka and another nasty surprise in my pocket. I think I have a good shot," I told him with an attempt of a smirk.
Truth to be told, I wasn't sure if it was going to work. The theory sounded good though.
"You tell the truth about Dokuro at least and you know about Rokudo's death..." Iemitsu closed his phone and then sighed, his exhaustion clearly visible on his face. "Guess entrusting this to a total random stranger can't be worse than a known criminal with a body count and a tendency to possess people with a world conqueror complex." He holstered his gun and crossed his arms at me. I took this as my cue to sit down again and breathed out heavenly. Wiping of the sweat of my forehead, I looked up again and raised an eyebrow with uncertainty.
"So we're okay then?"
"Until you bring my son in danger. Then things will get ugly," the head of CEDEF stated coldly and I laughed with a strained undertone.
"I have to go now. I'll come back another time to...evaluate your skills." He still seemed a bit skeptical at me with the tone in his voice and began to move to the door.
"Uhm, can I ask for a favor?" He turned around as I raised my arm a bit. Then I pointed to the ground with hesitation. "Could you bring the Kokuyo gang here? I would like to...meet my sensei's...friends. Talk to them, make sure they're okay. Especially Chrome. Could need a closer look to make sure I did my job right. Yeah." My face flushed a bit after I realize how awkward and pathetic I sounded. Maybe it was also red from the pain of calling Mukuro sensei. Iemitsu mouth twitched a bit, so I think he found me hilarious.
Great.
"I was planning to do that anyways," he replied and then, to my surprise, grinned at me."Nice of you to think about them though." With those words he left me then.
I closed my mouth when my mind processed what just happened. Did he like me now or not? It was so confusing!
Damn social activity!
Scratching my head in frustration, I lied down on my semi soft seat. Now I just had to wait for the gang to come here. I was in no mood to plan now, with Iemitsu burning through my nerves.
So I did the natural thing to kill the time.
Trying to figure out how to use a cursed hell ring.
///
"Ken, you shouldn't do this."
"Tch, if he is supposed to be our second in command, he gotta act like it!"
"Uhm...I don't think that is a good way to do this."
"Who asked for your opinion?!"
"Sorry..."
I groaned at the pain caused by the noise and the poking in my face. Just what I needed, yelling right after I fell unconscious from training and someone violating my personal space
Hell rings were really hard to use. It sucked away energy like crazy if you didn't know how to use it.
On the plus side, I could do the same thing Kawahira did in the Future arc! Kind of. I could erase my presence for hours, but could only create a presence in a radius of like 10 meters, give or take. Other than that, I polished up my illusions.
I wasn't on the level of Mukuro or something, but I was getting there. Very slowly. Big fire pillars are still a no go, but the substitution trick was in my bag.
Anyways, you could reasonably assume that I was a little pissed that some people interrupted my fair gained rest. My eyes slowly open and I see the Kokuyo gang over me, watching me in a circle. We stared at each other in silence. Then I sighed deeply, and tried to get into a seating position. My bones creaked a lot more than they should be.
Sleeping on the ground was not healthy, just tested that with my body.
I looked out of the window and noticed that the sunset began.
Huh, I really was out of it.
Yawning, I turn back to the trio, who stared at me with expectation. Well, Ken did. Chikusa had his damn stoic face and Chrome averted her eyes while blushing.
"Since how long were you here?" I asked in a tired tone as I stretched my body.
"A few minutes. Obsidian Noir I assume?"
After I nodded to Chikusa's deadpan question, I extended my hand as a greeting.
"Until I remember my actual name, yes. Ken, Chikusa, Chrome. A pleasure." After a short silence, I frowned for a moment. "If it's too long, Sid or something like that is enough."
"Whatever," Ken scoffed and looked away. Chikusa didn't move at all to accept my gesture and I started to feel a bit stupid.
"E-evening," Chrome said quietly as she shook my hand. Thank god! When we let go of each others hands, silence reigned in the area. None of us made any movements, most likely expecting the others to do something. I coughed awkwardly. Looking at their faces, I assume they want to ask me something. Chikusa and Ken had their typical faces (blank and pissed), so there wasn't much I can see. Thank god the girl of the trio was more obvious, as she looked anywhere but at me.
In the end I sighed and shook my head in a tired manner. Not a fan of staring contests. Not at all.
"If you have questions, just ask."
As if I shot a pistol, the stoic one immediately asked:
"Where is Lord Mukuro?"
For a short moment, I was startled. I didn't expect that to come up so fact.
On the other hand, should have seen it coming with the worship thing.
Slowly, I leaned forwards and raised an eyebrow.
"Did Iemitsu tell you anything?"
Better not step on anyone's toes.
The beast boy rip off was about to snarl something in my direction, but Chikusa surprisingly held up his arm. Guess he was the second in command if it was about diplomacy.
Considering that the alternatives were a shy girl and a rampaging animal, the rock would be the only choice Mukuro had left.
Calmly, he pushed up his glasses, doing that weird anime glass light trick.
"We do not believe him. And Chrome said that you are the one who gave her the organs. On top of that, you have traces of his presence on you."
Memo to self, wash yourself. Physically and spiritually.
I slowly nodded, purely to buy myself time as I tried to form a proper sentence regarding the matter.
It appeared to work on Chrome and Chikusa, who patiently stared at me…
The teeth that Ken showed me indicated I should hurry up. Awkwardly, I scratched my head.
Might as well go with the truth here.
"How to say this...He will come back. Reincarnation and all that. As a baby and going through puberty and all that." I paused shortly, trying to remember if I forgot something...Oh right! "As far as I know, he'll still remember everything."
To my surprise, they all let out a breath of relief. Well, the girl did.
Chikusa's face only somewhat softened up and Ken stopped flashing me his teeth in my face. This...honestly confused me. I titled my head and crossed my arms with an intrigued expression.
"You're not...angry? Sad?"
"Oh, I'm fucking pissed! But as long as he'll come back to us...I can wait a couple years."
After the animal guy snarled at me, I looked at the others. Chrome blushed at my staring, but she took a deep breath and had a determined light in her eyes.
"L-lord M-mukuro will not let us down. I-I believe in him."
"Likewise," Chikusa stated with a blank tone as he pushed up his glasses again.
…
Huh. Expected more drama than that.
And back to silence we were. Staring at each other.
I coughed lightly and turned back to the only girl in the room-
"Chrome, the organs, they doing fine?" A strained smile graced my face.
Chrome eyes, err, eye widened and she bowed down.
"Yes...Thank you very much." Then she looked up and I think there was a bit more determination in her eye. Her voice also became a bit louder than before. "Can...can I see a few illusions from you?"
...Is she jealous? Or is it some kind of student rivalry she felt towards me? Whatever it was, I did not like that. I didn't even want to be Mukuro's student!
Eh, whatever. If it brought her out of her shell, why not. I scratched my head and replied in a hesitant tone.
"Uhm...sure. But only if you show me yours."
…
Did I really just say that?
"Ugh, this is boring. I'll go to sleep." Ken groaned and started to walk away. While he probably went for his sleeping spot, his head turned to his friend and he yelled: "Chikusa, it's your turn for getting the snacks!"
Said teenager didn't show any sign of acknowledgment. Still, he also began to move, to the exit I assume.
Looking back at Chrome, she stared at me, waiting for my illusions.
The silence was going to be a thing, won't it?
I can't believe I was saying this, but I really missed Mukuro's presence right about now.
Chapter 3
- Location
- Germany
Chapter 3
After a real weird session of showing each other illusions, I think I bonded with Chrome a little bit. I mean, we knew each others skills now and Chrome was way better at illusions than me. She easily summoned fire pillars while I could make them with a lot of effort. I frowned a little at her low self esteem though. Alright, compared to Mukuro it was understandable to feel weak, but she had to give herself more credit. Unlike me, she had talent.
Anyways, bonding. I think we were more comfortable with the presence of the other now. At least I was and she seemed a little less tense than before. She stuttered less around me and my words didn't fail me around her.
Right now we were chilling as we sit around the bowling area and night already arrived. With a clear view to the stars given that the windows are all broken, we enjoyed a nice silence as we sat around. If you could ignore Ken's immense snoring.
Chrome's sudden head movement broke my line of thought. Following her line of sight, I jumped a little. Iemitsu Sawada stood there, grinning while leaning at the door way. In his construction site working clothes. I hesitantly waved my hand with a strained smile.
"Uhm...can we...help you?" Then a thought hit me and I frowned and my voice became a bit more agitated. "Also, how long were you standing there?"
"A while. Seems like you are good to go, with the progress you make," he replied with a smirk, clearly satisfied. I nodded slowly and saw Chrome blush in embarrassment.
So he saw us doing our illusions. Rude. My frown intensified. Iemitsu simply laughed at our reactions.
A while later, he calmed down and his face got a more serious edge to it.
"The storm battle is starting tonight. Will you come?"
I scratched my chin in thought. Then I shook my head.
"I had...other plans. Training for example. Want to make sure I'm ready."
My calm answer wasn't a lie. Technically. Also, I wasn't really interested in Gokudera's battle anyways. Too many explosions. Iemitsu stared at me for a moment, before letting out a sigh as his head hung low for a moment.
"Fine. But you have to meet your team someday. They need to trust you in the upcoming battles."
My team. I laughed dryly at the thought and gave him a flat look.
"I'm just the substitution. I won't spend that much time with them anyways."
After he stared at me with an unreadable look, the man simply sighs and doesn't try to convince me further. Maybe he thought this was going to be one of those moments were I would slowly warm up to them. He didn't consider my words as the truth, given that I was going on a multiverse adventure. I knew that he was disappointed he got a nobody like me instead of the genius Mukuro Rokudo.
Honestly, I would be disappointed myself.
The thoughts soured my mood even more.
And given it was dark out there, I had to do one more thing before hitting the hay.
Recruiting Kyoko Sasagawa.
Right, the other reason I didn't go to the battle.
Getting another victim-err, student for the art of insane people couldn't be too difficult, right?
...Yeah, I couldn't spell that out in my head in a serious way.
Groaning, I leaned back to stretch my back a little. After I did that, you sighed and looked at the only girl in the building.
"Chrome, wanna come with me?"
"W-why?" She jumped a little in surprise at being addressed. I ignored it as I nonchalantly cracked my fingers.
"Because I don't want to be alone." When she nodded after I turn to the glasses guy when I pulled my hood up. "Chikusa, hold the fort. Tell Ken where we are."
He stoically nods and turns back to some book he's reading.
"Understood."
///
So...luckily it was in the dead of night. Therefore, Chrome and I could walk on the open wide street in the middle of nowhere field without anybody passing by us. The silence was comfortable, since I got used to the quiet when I'm around the eye patch girl and Chikusa. I believe that Chrome also liked our silence, especially after we both realized how futile it was trying to socialize with our personalities. Her, because she was shy and me, because I tended to be passive in conversations. Except when the other one was close to me, which was a rare case in my old life.
Anyways, as I was saying. Walking through the streets to the Sasagawa household. It wasn't very hard to find out where Kyoko and Ryohei lived.
Their aura filled the entire house. Can you guess how it feels like?
Correct. Like looking into a sun. I didn't know I could hurt my mental eyes, but apparently I could. Speaking of aura, Mukuro was right. Even though Ryohei's sister is a literal ball of sunshine, there was some...purplish color in the epicenter of it.
She hid things. And she was rather good at it. Maybe it's because that she was more perceptive than she led on?
Welp, guess I'll find out eventually. I turned to Chrome absentmindedly.
You know, if she wasn't a teenager, I wouldn't mind dating her. Sure, I never dated anyone, but I imagined it would be nice. She was cute, shy and was pleasant company.
On the other hand, she was fixated on Mukuro. Was it romantic or sisterly platonic? I didn't know.
I gotta work on her confidence and organ issue though…
Now that I looked at her on the other hand…
"Chrome, aren't you cold with that mini skirt?"
Honestly, I would never see the appeal of miniskirts. Sure, for other people it was nice to look at, but who would wear such a short thing voluntarily?
She blushed a little as she self consciously fixed her skirt.
Did I come off a little too creepy? I sure hoped I did not and that her flushed face was just her social awkwardness talking.
Now that I thought about, this was what I used as a topic to attempt talking with her?
Way to go, Sid.
"Uhm...I don't really mind. It's still summer, so it isn't that cold."
Really? I nodded skeptically and gave her a look over again. I mean, sure, adaption was a thing that existed, but it wasn't that warm in my opinion.
Crossing my arms, I decided to not judge her clothing style any longer and instead asked:
"Don't you have any other clothes than that?"
She shook her head, while turning away with a blush. Oh right, still stared. I also turned away and looked at where I was going.
"Not really. We don't have much money and we use it for necessities." A smile graced her face then and she laughs lightly. "Also, this shows that I am part of...Lord Mukuro's group."
Daw, that's adorable. A bit sad that she was so dependent on him, but still adorable. I sent her a smile at well when she wasn't looking.
Didn't want her to freak out with my attempt after all.
"You really respect him, huh?"
Instead of a simple nod, I noticed that the girl seemed to shift her feet a little, as if she wanted to ask me something. Still, I decided to let her talk first.
That meant waiting two minutes in silence until she finally opened her mouth. Thankfully for her, I could be a patient guy. Sometimes.
"Why...do you dislike Lord Mukuro that much?"
Hm, I expected that question, given that I didn't try to hide my dislike towards my pseudo shard. On one hand, she asked me nicely and seemed to be out of a comfort zone by taking a more active position in the conversation. Also, she respected the man and I could see some parts that could be redeemable, so giving her my blunt opinion without any consideration might not be the best idea.
On the other hand, fuck Mukuro.
"He's a manipulative asshole who is also a slave driver and a relatively bad teacher?"
Totally could have minced my words there because I made her flinch at my tone, but seriously, that was a fact. I crossed my arms and gave her a flat look, daring her to call me out on my words.
Hell, he admitted the first two parts when he beat the shit out of me during our training!
"It isn't that bad...right?" The eye patch girl seemed to shrink even more than she already did when my stare became more flat than before. Seriously, that's her best shot?
Still, couldn't be too angry at her. I took a calming breath and scratched my head awkwardly.
"Sorry. You had the luck that he could posses you and jam his knowledge into you. I have to train all this by myself. It was...a bit of a pain."
When she lowered her head and her body slumped down, I felt like I kicked a puppy's mother. Sighing, I hesitantly put my hand on her shoulder. Was that the right thing to do? Social interaction never was my thing, so I improvised.
She tensed up a little, but didn't react in any other way. Or she froze, I didn't know.
"Alright, I'll try to not badmouth him. But you have to admit, he is not the nicest person." She nodded meekly and she visibly relaxed when I put my hand away. Kay, no touchy until she permitted it then. Good to know. With that, we walked in silence once again and I noticed that we reached the town.
Damn, I forgot how far off Kyoko's home was to Kokuyo. Given it was in a whole different city and the two of us were walking. Why did Mukuro have to pick a base so far away!?
…
Goddamn, the clothes were still bothering me!
"Either way, we seriously need to get you and the other guys some clothes...Maybe I can put up a tap on Kawahira."
Yeah, as if that was going to happen.
Okay, she was blushing again, but at least she smiled lightly.
Daw, so adorable.
Suddenly, she stopped all of a sudden. Just as I was going to ask what was wrong, she pointed at something. I followed her finger and I noticed we were in front of a house. With the name tag Sasagawa.
Tilting my head, I looked back from where we came from. Then I looked at the house again.
Wow, I totally did not notice we were already there.
"Well, guess we're here."
Slowly, I walked up the small stairs up to the door and stood right in front of it. I took a deep breath to concentrate and I-
"Are-are you sure that this is going to be fine?"
I jumped at her voice and clutched my heart.
How could I forget she was there in two seconds?!
After I was done gasping for her, I raised my hand to buy some time. After my pulse normalized, I waved my hand in a fake nonchalant manner.
"The Vongola are at the school at the moment, so they can't punch us for involving her." When I saw her pale face, I realized that she didn't talk about them. I winced slightly and raised my finger awkwardly as I moved it up and down. "If...you mean, giving her the mafia talk..." After I put my hands on my hips, I nodded a few times, then shrugged. "I already was in hell. I don't think whatever she might do to us can top that."
As I heard her whimper a little, I groaned and decided to shut up and do my mental build up.
You can do this, you feel great, you are the best-
Who am I kidding, I was not ready at all.
I press the door bell.
Then I realized what I just did, my eyes widened and I rubbed my face to relax it, just in time for the door to open. I faintly noticed that the eye patch girl was basically jumping behind me to hide herself, but I was mostly busy to keep a casual smile on my face. I probably failed at it.
Right in front of me was the polite, orange haired ball of sunshine. A confused smile is on her face as she greeted me.
"Can I help you?"
Alright, try to be not creepy, Sid! Go!
"Wanna learn some magic tricks?"
Damn it!
My excited face immediately changes to a scowl and I snapped my face away from the startled girl as I realized how creepy I sounded. I couldn't believe I actually said that!
I peeked over my shoulder and saw Chrome gape at me a little. When she realized I looked at her, she blushed and averted her eyes.
Great, even the shy girl was judging me!
Despite my embarrassment, I needed to face it now. Turning back to Kyoko, I wasn't surprised to see her hesitate for a short moment. But then a radiant smile appears on her face and I was pretty sure a sun was shining right behind her.
"Uhm..sure! Sounds like fun!"
Argh! Too pure!
It physically hurt my eyes to look at that optimism and I covered my eyes as I leaned away from her.
All of a sudden, I heard fast steps approaching the door from the hallway and as I leaned right to see over her shoulder, I could spot Kyoko's best friend Hana rushing towards the entrance.
"Kyoko, close the door!"
Thank god, realism!
…
Wait a minute, that would destroy my purpose of being here!
Just as the best friend was about to slam the door shut, I put my foot in between before it closed. I hissed in pain, but still tried to push the door open again. Before it would become a back and forth struggle, I squeezed my head through the small gap and yelled with a strained voice:
"I can tell you what your brother and the others are doing all the time!"
Immediately, the two girls in front of me froze in mid motion, Hana with wide eyes leaning against the door and Kyoko right behind her, lightly holding her sleeves. They shared a look, as if they were communicating with their minds. But then I got poked in the back. I turned my head and saw Chrome with an uncertain look on her face, biting her lip as she switches looking between me and the other girls.
I gave a helpless shrug.
"They would need to know eventually and it got their attention."
When I felt the door stop crushing my foot, I turned back to Tsuna's classmates. Kyoko seemed awfully subdued, while Hana still had a distrustful expression on her face as she gestured us in.
"Alright, come in. But don't start anything weird."
Laughing nervously, I carefully entered the building and took my shoes off. It was also quite weird for me to practically hold Chrome's arm to get her to enter the building.
This is going to take a while to explain…
///
"And...that's basically it."
The four of us were sitting at a small, square table. They sat opposite to me while Chrome was seated left to me. I patiently sipped my green tea as I let the silence fill the room for a while. It took a while, but I managed to tell them the lore of the manga and anime up until this point. Mukuro made sure I didn't slip out things I shouldn't possibly know.
Only an eye twitch showed my irritation at the memory of his holier than thou attitude though.
Also, I was very convincing when I made some simply illusions. Like vanishing in front of their eyes or making a heart in my hand.
…
The last part was probably very freaky and would explain why they didn't touch the cookies. Whoopsie.
Anyways, Kyoko was just blinking non stop, as if her brain restarted equal to the amount of times her eyes closed and opened. Chrome seemed more...bored at the topic, given that she concentrated more on the tea.
Well, I assume that Chrome knew most of it from Mukuro anyways.
Hana on the other hand, shook her head slowly and raised her hand as she looked at you with disbelief.
"So let me get this straight. No good Tsuna...is a mafia heir."
I nodded while taking a sip from my tea.
Huh, it's not as bitter as the green tea I drink at home. Must be made in Japan quality speaking here.
"Yup."
"Who has to fight for his right and life against a crazy mafia assassin group..."
"Yorp." Another slurp from the tea. This is very good stuff!
"With Ryohei and the others as his sidekicks..."
"Guardians," I corrected her as she was trying to comprehend what I just told her. I frowned slightly. Couldn't she repeat all this in her head? It wasn't like I didn't know what she was talking about.
"And all of this includes magical flames and shounen manga tropes?"
"That's basically it, yes." I moved the cup to take another sip, but my lips didn't meet the delicious leaf water. I looked down and it was indeed empty. Extending my arm, I gave Kyoko a neutral look. "More tea please."
As she followed my request with a strained smile, I blew a bit into the tea to cool it down and take another sip.
Probably developed a tea addiction.
Meh.
Oh hey, Hana was still trying to process my words.
"And you are a part of that?"
Grimacing, I shook my right hand a little bit with a so-so noise.
"Temporarily. I have to leave town someday, so I have to find a...better fit for my position."
"Who would fit the job of a magician?" She sounded rather skeptical as she seemed to regain her wits. As she crossed her arms, I thought about my answer.
In the end, I decided to not go off a tandem of the differences between magicians and illusionists or who else could fit the job.
So I shrugged and pointed at the girl of sunshine when I looked at her.
"Preferably, it could be you, Kyoko."
"Absolutely no-"
"I accept."
"What?!"
What.
I flatly looked at Kyoko who looked at me with determination while Hana did a double take with a wide open mouth. I turned to Chrome with a raised eyebrow, who shrugged helplessly and went a bit more behind my left shoulder. I sighed.
Got it, had to deal with this on my own.
"You...know this is an important decision to make that might decide your whole life?" I slowly spoke as I made exaggerated circular hand motions towards her. I quickly peeked over to Hana, who gave me an approving death stare.
I sweated a little. I was already trying to get her think about it more! Stop staring at me like that, woman!
The girl in question shook her head and stared into my eyes. I flinched back a little because I could swear there was fire in them.
"You say I can help my brother and Tsuna-kun. Tell me what I have to do."
Before I could reply to that very passionate sentence, her best friend slammed her hands on the table and looked very upset. She gave me a short, threatening glare that made me shrink a little. I felt Chrome huddle up to my back, probably using me as a meat shield, but I was more busy not shitting my pants at her intimidation.
After seeing my reaction, she looked back at Kyoko and she yelled with worry:
"Kyoko, you can't be serious!"
Instead of fidgeting around like I expected, she only flinched back for a short moment, before catching her fire again. She stared down the bigger girl with a glare and gestured to me.
Please, don't include me in this!
"Hana, he is willing to teach me how to defend myself. I...don't want to lose my brother even though I could have done something." She shook her head and looked down into her tea cup. "I'm not as stupid as people think I am. I notice stuff...If I stop being a burden to big brother, then I will accept any challenge."
I slowly nodded my head as I saw the raw determination in front of me.
That sounded totally fake, but okay. The girl in front of me would fit shounen protagonist sky or sun flames more than shady mist flames in my opinion.
Alas, I wouldn't be the judge of what flame belonged to which person. I let higher powers break their head over that.
I cleared my throat awkwardly and scratched my hair a little.
"Huh, and here I was worried how to convince you." I stood up, after Chrome backed off a little, and I pulled out a piece of paper I scribbled on. Extending my hand, I motioned with my head for her to take it, which she did. "Get to this address for a crash course. And it's better you don't tell Ryohei or anyone else about it."
"Why?"
As I tried to maintain a poker face, I contemplate what I should say. I couldn't tell her that I wanted to prevent her big brother to break my neck for dragging her into this. This one, I wanted to postpone as log as possible.
So, kinda, not kinda bullshit it was then. A little lie didn't hurt, right?
I raised my hand with two raised fingers after taking a sip from my tea.
"Uno, the less the enemy knows what you know, the better. Zweitens..." I attempted a smirk. "Payback is sweet."
While Kyoko frowned in disapproval and was about to say something, Hana grinned and leaned forward.
"I like the sound of it." Suddenly, her eyes had a harder edge to them, despite the cheerful tone her voice took and I gulped. "You have a training montage for me too, right?"
"Of course."
Despite my semi calm reply, sweat ran down my skin. I peaked over to Chrome...who seemed to find the wallpapers very interesting.
Alright, plan B then.
Quickly, I tried to concentrate and feel her aura.
I opened my eyes again when I recognized it.
Temper like a sun.
Explained why she hooked up with Ryohei.
So I just had to tell her to start punching stuff and feel her chi or whatever the fuck it was called.
No big deal.
Looking at the clock, I noticed that it was getting very late. The big brother would get home any minute now. I yawned and stood up, nodding to the eye patched girl who tilted her head to my action.
"Well, gotta go now. See ya...tomorrow?"
After I trailed off, opening my arms slightly in a questionable manner, the idol of her school giggled for a moment. With the ease of an expert, she nodded at me in a reassuring manner.
"I'll have time then, yes."
Her best friend grunted in agreement and with her trademark frown, so I took that as my cue to walk towards the door with Chrome directly at my tail. As proper people, the other two girls accompany us to it and saw us off as we left through the door.
But as we are about to leave the premise of the Sasagawa building, Kyoko made an "oh" noise, getting my attention.
When I turned to her, a motherly smile greeted me.
"Good luck in your match."
I think I blushed a little as I awkwardly scratched my cheek. Despite that, I smiled.
Her words felt nice. That someone cared so much was...astonishing.
I laughed a bit and waved her goodbye.
"Thanks. I'm going to need it."
When the door closed, I let out a happy sigh. The talk was more pleasant then I thought. I nodded at Chrome, who patiently waited for me. I could swear that she stared at the door longingly, but I wasn't sure, since her shy expression came back the instant she fully faced me. The two of us turned towards the direction of Kokuyo High...
And there was Kawahira outside his disguise, in his kimono get up.
Right in front of me.
Naturally, I screamed and jumped back several meters.
Pretty sure that my female companion jumped right after me with a meek shriek escaping her and used me as a meat shield.
My screaming took a while. During my throat killing exercise, he patiently waited in front of me as he slurped some noodles with sadistic amusement.. When I finally calmed, I clutched my chest and took a deep breath. I sent him a heated glare as I yelled at him:
"What the fuck?!"
Completely unfazed, he finished up his bowl, before he snapped his fingers to make the bowl disappear.
Fucking illusionists.
"Didn't want to interrupt your bonding with Miss Sasagawa. Also, the less know about me the better."
His face was completely neutral...yet he oozed smugness!
I was pretty sure he injected that emotion directly into my brain, which reasonably pissed me off!
My mouth was a bit open, when I quickly turned to Chrome, who made herself even smaller with a red face (probably from the scare), and gestured towards the prick. After that, I turned back to the prick with a look of indignation.
"So you had to spawn in front of me just like that?!"
"Yes. I have to get my kicks somewhere." He chuckled at my spluterring and pulled something out of his clothes to throw at me.
I barely caught it at the edge. When I saw what it was, I looked up as I gaped and looked back. I repeated that at least five times.
"A credit card from me. Have fun with that."
I was fucking kidding!
Still, I was not going to go full rampage on him. Closing my eyes, I counted to three and made sure my breaths were deep and calming.
When I opened my eyes again, I flinched back when the prick was right up to my face with a smile.
"I'll remember debts. Don't you forget it."
I opened my mouth to retort, but I instantly stopped and closed my mouth.
He was gone. Without any transition again. One moment there, one moment not there.
I hated that guy.
In response to the recent events, I did the natural thing...And groaned in the appropriate volume for a night.
After letting out my frustration, I turned to the slowly blinking Chrome.
"I'll explain later..." I told her with a wry grin and sighed again. "First thing I will do on our trips between worlds is to find out how to make cash."
Totally did not want to create any debts with that guy.
Eying the purple card, I looked back to the eye patched girl and laughed nervously when I waved the card around.
"Think there are any clothes shop open at this time?"
After a real weird session of showing each other illusions, I think I bonded with Chrome a little bit. I mean, we knew each others skills now and Chrome was way better at illusions than me. She easily summoned fire pillars while I could make them with a lot of effort. I frowned a little at her low self esteem though. Alright, compared to Mukuro it was understandable to feel weak, but she had to give herself more credit. Unlike me, she had talent.
Anyways, bonding. I think we were more comfortable with the presence of the other now. At least I was and she seemed a little less tense than before. She stuttered less around me and my words didn't fail me around her.
Right now we were chilling as we sit around the bowling area and night already arrived. With a clear view to the stars given that the windows are all broken, we enjoyed a nice silence as we sat around. If you could ignore Ken's immense snoring.
Chrome's sudden head movement broke my line of thought. Following her line of sight, I jumped a little. Iemitsu Sawada stood there, grinning while leaning at the door way. In his construction site working clothes. I hesitantly waved my hand with a strained smile.
"Uhm...can we...help you?" Then a thought hit me and I frowned and my voice became a bit more agitated. "Also, how long were you standing there?"
"A while. Seems like you are good to go, with the progress you make," he replied with a smirk, clearly satisfied. I nodded slowly and saw Chrome blush in embarrassment.
So he saw us doing our illusions. Rude. My frown intensified. Iemitsu simply laughed at our reactions.
A while later, he calmed down and his face got a more serious edge to it.
"The storm battle is starting tonight. Will you come?"
I scratched my chin in thought. Then I shook my head.
"I had...other plans. Training for example. Want to make sure I'm ready."
My calm answer wasn't a lie. Technically. Also, I wasn't really interested in Gokudera's battle anyways. Too many explosions. Iemitsu stared at me for a moment, before letting out a sigh as his head hung low for a moment.
"Fine. But you have to meet your team someday. They need to trust you in the upcoming battles."
My team. I laughed dryly at the thought and gave him a flat look.
"I'm just the substitution. I won't spend that much time with them anyways."
After he stared at me with an unreadable look, the man simply sighs and doesn't try to convince me further. Maybe he thought this was going to be one of those moments were I would slowly warm up to them. He didn't consider my words as the truth, given that I was going on a multiverse adventure. I knew that he was disappointed he got a nobody like me instead of the genius Mukuro Rokudo.
Honestly, I would be disappointed myself.
The thoughts soured my mood even more.
And given it was dark out there, I had to do one more thing before hitting the hay.
Recruiting Kyoko Sasagawa.
Right, the other reason I didn't go to the battle.
Getting another victim-err, student for the art of insane people couldn't be too difficult, right?
...Yeah, I couldn't spell that out in my head in a serious way.
Groaning, I leaned back to stretch my back a little. After I did that, you sighed and looked at the only girl in the building.
"Chrome, wanna come with me?"
"W-why?" She jumped a little in surprise at being addressed. I ignored it as I nonchalantly cracked my fingers.
"Because I don't want to be alone." When she nodded after I turn to the glasses guy when I pulled my hood up. "Chikusa, hold the fort. Tell Ken where we are."
He stoically nods and turns back to some book he's reading.
"Understood."
///
So...luckily it was in the dead of night. Therefore, Chrome and I could walk on the open wide street in the middle of nowhere field without anybody passing by us. The silence was comfortable, since I got used to the quiet when I'm around the eye patch girl and Chikusa. I believe that Chrome also liked our silence, especially after we both realized how futile it was trying to socialize with our personalities. Her, because she was shy and me, because I tended to be passive in conversations. Except when the other one was close to me, which was a rare case in my old life.
Anyways, as I was saying. Walking through the streets to the Sasagawa household. It wasn't very hard to find out where Kyoko and Ryohei lived.
Their aura filled the entire house. Can you guess how it feels like?
Correct. Like looking into a sun. I didn't know I could hurt my mental eyes, but apparently I could. Speaking of aura, Mukuro was right. Even though Ryohei's sister is a literal ball of sunshine, there was some...purplish color in the epicenter of it.
She hid things. And she was rather good at it. Maybe it's because that she was more perceptive than she led on?
Welp, guess I'll find out eventually. I turned to Chrome absentmindedly.
You know, if she wasn't a teenager, I wouldn't mind dating her. Sure, I never dated anyone, but I imagined it would be nice. She was cute, shy and was pleasant company.
On the other hand, she was fixated on Mukuro. Was it romantic or sisterly platonic? I didn't know.
I gotta work on her confidence and organ issue though…
Now that I looked at her on the other hand…
"Chrome, aren't you cold with that mini skirt?"
Honestly, I would never see the appeal of miniskirts. Sure, for other people it was nice to look at, but who would wear such a short thing voluntarily?
She blushed a little as she self consciously fixed her skirt.
Did I come off a little too creepy? I sure hoped I did not and that her flushed face was just her social awkwardness talking.
Now that I thought about, this was what I used as a topic to attempt talking with her?
Way to go, Sid.
"Uhm...I don't really mind. It's still summer, so it isn't that cold."
Really? I nodded skeptically and gave her a look over again. I mean, sure, adaption was a thing that existed, but it wasn't that warm in my opinion.
Crossing my arms, I decided to not judge her clothing style any longer and instead asked:
"Don't you have any other clothes than that?"
She shook her head, while turning away with a blush. Oh right, still stared. I also turned away and looked at where I was going.
"Not really. We don't have much money and we use it for necessities." A smile graced her face then and she laughs lightly. "Also, this shows that I am part of...Lord Mukuro's group."
Daw, that's adorable. A bit sad that she was so dependent on him, but still adorable. I sent her a smile at well when she wasn't looking.
Didn't want her to freak out with my attempt after all.
"You really respect him, huh?"
Instead of a simple nod, I noticed that the girl seemed to shift her feet a little, as if she wanted to ask me something. Still, I decided to let her talk first.
That meant waiting two minutes in silence until she finally opened her mouth. Thankfully for her, I could be a patient guy. Sometimes.
"Why...do you dislike Lord Mukuro that much?"
Hm, I expected that question, given that I didn't try to hide my dislike towards my pseudo shard. On one hand, she asked me nicely and seemed to be out of a comfort zone by taking a more active position in the conversation. Also, she respected the man and I could see some parts that could be redeemable, so giving her my blunt opinion without any consideration might not be the best idea.
On the other hand, fuck Mukuro.
"He's a manipulative asshole who is also a slave driver and a relatively bad teacher?"
Totally could have minced my words there because I made her flinch at my tone, but seriously, that was a fact. I crossed my arms and gave her a flat look, daring her to call me out on my words.
Hell, he admitted the first two parts when he beat the shit out of me during our training!
"It isn't that bad...right?" The eye patch girl seemed to shrink even more than she already did when my stare became more flat than before. Seriously, that's her best shot?
Still, couldn't be too angry at her. I took a calming breath and scratched my head awkwardly.
"Sorry. You had the luck that he could posses you and jam his knowledge into you. I have to train all this by myself. It was...a bit of a pain."
When she lowered her head and her body slumped down, I felt like I kicked a puppy's mother. Sighing, I hesitantly put my hand on her shoulder. Was that the right thing to do? Social interaction never was my thing, so I improvised.
She tensed up a little, but didn't react in any other way. Or she froze, I didn't know.
"Alright, I'll try to not badmouth him. But you have to admit, he is not the nicest person." She nodded meekly and she visibly relaxed when I put my hand away. Kay, no touchy until she permitted it then. Good to know. With that, we walked in silence once again and I noticed that we reached the town.
Damn, I forgot how far off Kyoko's home was to Kokuyo. Given it was in a whole different city and the two of us were walking. Why did Mukuro have to pick a base so far away!?
…
Goddamn, the clothes were still bothering me!
"Either way, we seriously need to get you and the other guys some clothes...Maybe I can put up a tap on Kawahira."
Yeah, as if that was going to happen.
Okay, she was blushing again, but at least she smiled lightly.
Daw, so adorable.
Suddenly, she stopped all of a sudden. Just as I was going to ask what was wrong, she pointed at something. I followed her finger and I noticed we were in front of a house. With the name tag Sasagawa.
Tilting my head, I looked back from where we came from. Then I looked at the house again.
Wow, I totally did not notice we were already there.
"Well, guess we're here."
Slowly, I walked up the small stairs up to the door and stood right in front of it. I took a deep breath to concentrate and I-
"Are-are you sure that this is going to be fine?"
I jumped at her voice and clutched my heart.
How could I forget she was there in two seconds?!
After I was done gasping for her, I raised my hand to buy some time. After my pulse normalized, I waved my hand in a fake nonchalant manner.
"The Vongola are at the school at the moment, so they can't punch us for involving her." When I saw her pale face, I realized that she didn't talk about them. I winced slightly and raised my finger awkwardly as I moved it up and down. "If...you mean, giving her the mafia talk..." After I put my hands on my hips, I nodded a few times, then shrugged. "I already was in hell. I don't think whatever she might do to us can top that."
As I heard her whimper a little, I groaned and decided to shut up and do my mental build up.
You can do this, you feel great, you are the best-
Who am I kidding, I was not ready at all.
I press the door bell.
Then I realized what I just did, my eyes widened and I rubbed my face to relax it, just in time for the door to open. I faintly noticed that the eye patch girl was basically jumping behind me to hide herself, but I was mostly busy to keep a casual smile on my face. I probably failed at it.
Right in front of me was the polite, orange haired ball of sunshine. A confused smile is on her face as she greeted me.
"Can I help you?"
Alright, try to be not creepy, Sid! Go!
"Wanna learn some magic tricks?"
Damn it!
My excited face immediately changes to a scowl and I snapped my face away from the startled girl as I realized how creepy I sounded. I couldn't believe I actually said that!
I peeked over my shoulder and saw Chrome gape at me a little. When she realized I looked at her, she blushed and averted her eyes.
Great, even the shy girl was judging me!
Despite my embarrassment, I needed to face it now. Turning back to Kyoko, I wasn't surprised to see her hesitate for a short moment. But then a radiant smile appears on her face and I was pretty sure a sun was shining right behind her.
"Uhm..sure! Sounds like fun!"
Argh! Too pure!
It physically hurt my eyes to look at that optimism and I covered my eyes as I leaned away from her.
All of a sudden, I heard fast steps approaching the door from the hallway and as I leaned right to see over her shoulder, I could spot Kyoko's best friend Hana rushing towards the entrance.
"Kyoko, close the door!"
Thank god, realism!
…
Wait a minute, that would destroy my purpose of being here!
Just as the best friend was about to slam the door shut, I put my foot in between before it closed. I hissed in pain, but still tried to push the door open again. Before it would become a back and forth struggle, I squeezed my head through the small gap and yelled with a strained voice:
"I can tell you what your brother and the others are doing all the time!"
Immediately, the two girls in front of me froze in mid motion, Hana with wide eyes leaning against the door and Kyoko right behind her, lightly holding her sleeves. They shared a look, as if they were communicating with their minds. But then I got poked in the back. I turned my head and saw Chrome with an uncertain look on her face, biting her lip as she switches looking between me and the other girls.
I gave a helpless shrug.
"They would need to know eventually and it got their attention."
When I felt the door stop crushing my foot, I turned back to Tsuna's classmates. Kyoko seemed awfully subdued, while Hana still had a distrustful expression on her face as she gestured us in.
"Alright, come in. But don't start anything weird."
Laughing nervously, I carefully entered the building and took my shoes off. It was also quite weird for me to practically hold Chrome's arm to get her to enter the building.
This is going to take a while to explain…
///
"And...that's basically it."
The four of us were sitting at a small, square table. They sat opposite to me while Chrome was seated left to me. I patiently sipped my green tea as I let the silence fill the room for a while. It took a while, but I managed to tell them the lore of the manga and anime up until this point. Mukuro made sure I didn't slip out things I shouldn't possibly know.
Only an eye twitch showed my irritation at the memory of his holier than thou attitude though.
Also, I was very convincing when I made some simply illusions. Like vanishing in front of their eyes or making a heart in my hand.
…
The last part was probably very freaky and would explain why they didn't touch the cookies. Whoopsie.
Anyways, Kyoko was just blinking non stop, as if her brain restarted equal to the amount of times her eyes closed and opened. Chrome seemed more...bored at the topic, given that she concentrated more on the tea.
Well, I assume that Chrome knew most of it from Mukuro anyways.
Hana on the other hand, shook her head slowly and raised her hand as she looked at you with disbelief.
"So let me get this straight. No good Tsuna...is a mafia heir."
I nodded while taking a sip from my tea.
Huh, it's not as bitter as the green tea I drink at home. Must be made in Japan quality speaking here.
"Yup."
"Who has to fight for his right and life against a crazy mafia assassin group..."
"Yorp." Another slurp from the tea. This is very good stuff!
"With Ryohei and the others as his sidekicks..."
"Guardians," I corrected her as she was trying to comprehend what I just told her. I frowned slightly. Couldn't she repeat all this in her head? It wasn't like I didn't know what she was talking about.
"And all of this includes magical flames and shounen manga tropes?"
"That's basically it, yes." I moved the cup to take another sip, but my lips didn't meet the delicious leaf water. I looked down and it was indeed empty. Extending my arm, I gave Kyoko a neutral look. "More tea please."
As she followed my request with a strained smile, I blew a bit into the tea to cool it down and take another sip.
Probably developed a tea addiction.
Meh.
Oh hey, Hana was still trying to process my words.
"And you are a part of that?"
Grimacing, I shook my right hand a little bit with a so-so noise.
"Temporarily. I have to leave town someday, so I have to find a...better fit for my position."
"Who would fit the job of a magician?" She sounded rather skeptical as she seemed to regain her wits. As she crossed her arms, I thought about my answer.
In the end, I decided to not go off a tandem of the differences between magicians and illusionists or who else could fit the job.
So I shrugged and pointed at the girl of sunshine when I looked at her.
"Preferably, it could be you, Kyoko."
"Absolutely no-"
"I accept."
"What?!"
What.
I flatly looked at Kyoko who looked at me with determination while Hana did a double take with a wide open mouth. I turned to Chrome with a raised eyebrow, who shrugged helplessly and went a bit more behind my left shoulder. I sighed.
Got it, had to deal with this on my own.
"You...know this is an important decision to make that might decide your whole life?" I slowly spoke as I made exaggerated circular hand motions towards her. I quickly peeked over to Hana, who gave me an approving death stare.
I sweated a little. I was already trying to get her think about it more! Stop staring at me like that, woman!
The girl in question shook her head and stared into my eyes. I flinched back a little because I could swear there was fire in them.
"You say I can help my brother and Tsuna-kun. Tell me what I have to do."
Before I could reply to that very passionate sentence, her best friend slammed her hands on the table and looked very upset. She gave me a short, threatening glare that made me shrink a little. I felt Chrome huddle up to my back, probably using me as a meat shield, but I was more busy not shitting my pants at her intimidation.
After seeing my reaction, she looked back at Kyoko and she yelled with worry:
"Kyoko, you can't be serious!"
Instead of fidgeting around like I expected, she only flinched back for a short moment, before catching her fire again. She stared down the bigger girl with a glare and gestured to me.
Please, don't include me in this!
"Hana, he is willing to teach me how to defend myself. I...don't want to lose my brother even though I could have done something." She shook her head and looked down into her tea cup. "I'm not as stupid as people think I am. I notice stuff...If I stop being a burden to big brother, then I will accept any challenge."
I slowly nodded my head as I saw the raw determination in front of me.
That sounded totally fake, but okay. The girl in front of me would fit shounen protagonist sky or sun flames more than shady mist flames in my opinion.
Alas, I wouldn't be the judge of what flame belonged to which person. I let higher powers break their head over that.
I cleared my throat awkwardly and scratched my hair a little.
"Huh, and here I was worried how to convince you." I stood up, after Chrome backed off a little, and I pulled out a piece of paper I scribbled on. Extending my hand, I motioned with my head for her to take it, which she did. "Get to this address for a crash course. And it's better you don't tell Ryohei or anyone else about it."
"Why?"
As I tried to maintain a poker face, I contemplate what I should say. I couldn't tell her that I wanted to prevent her big brother to break my neck for dragging her into this. This one, I wanted to postpone as log as possible.
So, kinda, not kinda bullshit it was then. A little lie didn't hurt, right?
I raised my hand with two raised fingers after taking a sip from my tea.
"Uno, the less the enemy knows what you know, the better. Zweitens..." I attempted a smirk. "Payback is sweet."
While Kyoko frowned in disapproval and was about to say something, Hana grinned and leaned forward.
"I like the sound of it." Suddenly, her eyes had a harder edge to them, despite the cheerful tone her voice took and I gulped. "You have a training montage for me too, right?"
"Of course."
Despite my semi calm reply, sweat ran down my skin. I peaked over to Chrome...who seemed to find the wallpapers very interesting.
Alright, plan B then.
Quickly, I tried to concentrate and feel her aura.
I opened my eyes again when I recognized it.
Temper like a sun.
Explained why she hooked up with Ryohei.
So I just had to tell her to start punching stuff and feel her chi or whatever the fuck it was called.
No big deal.
Looking at the clock, I noticed that it was getting very late. The big brother would get home any minute now. I yawned and stood up, nodding to the eye patched girl who tilted her head to my action.
"Well, gotta go now. See ya...tomorrow?"
After I trailed off, opening my arms slightly in a questionable manner, the idol of her school giggled for a moment. With the ease of an expert, she nodded at me in a reassuring manner.
"I'll have time then, yes."
Her best friend grunted in agreement and with her trademark frown, so I took that as my cue to walk towards the door with Chrome directly at my tail. As proper people, the other two girls accompany us to it and saw us off as we left through the door.
But as we are about to leave the premise of the Sasagawa building, Kyoko made an "oh" noise, getting my attention.
When I turned to her, a motherly smile greeted me.
"Good luck in your match."
I think I blushed a little as I awkwardly scratched my cheek. Despite that, I smiled.
Her words felt nice. That someone cared so much was...astonishing.
I laughed a bit and waved her goodbye.
"Thanks. I'm going to need it."
When the door closed, I let out a happy sigh. The talk was more pleasant then I thought. I nodded at Chrome, who patiently waited for me. I could swear that she stared at the door longingly, but I wasn't sure, since her shy expression came back the instant she fully faced me. The two of us turned towards the direction of Kokuyo High...
And there was Kawahira outside his disguise, in his kimono get up.
Right in front of me.
Naturally, I screamed and jumped back several meters.
Pretty sure that my female companion jumped right after me with a meek shriek escaping her and used me as a meat shield.
My screaming took a while. During my throat killing exercise, he patiently waited in front of me as he slurped some noodles with sadistic amusement.. When I finally calmed, I clutched my chest and took a deep breath. I sent him a heated glare as I yelled at him:
"What the fuck?!"
Completely unfazed, he finished up his bowl, before he snapped his fingers to make the bowl disappear.
Fucking illusionists.
"Didn't want to interrupt your bonding with Miss Sasagawa. Also, the less know about me the better."
His face was completely neutral...yet he oozed smugness!
I was pretty sure he injected that emotion directly into my brain, which reasonably pissed me off!
My mouth was a bit open, when I quickly turned to Chrome, who made herself even smaller with a red face (probably from the scare), and gestured towards the prick. After that, I turned back to the prick with a look of indignation.
"So you had to spawn in front of me just like that?!"
"Yes. I have to get my kicks somewhere." He chuckled at my spluterring and pulled something out of his clothes to throw at me.
I barely caught it at the edge. When I saw what it was, I looked up as I gaped and looked back. I repeated that at least five times.
"A credit card from me. Have fun with that."
I was fucking kidding!
Still, I was not going to go full rampage on him. Closing my eyes, I counted to three and made sure my breaths were deep and calming.
When I opened my eyes again, I flinched back when the prick was right up to my face with a smile.
"I'll remember debts. Don't you forget it."
I opened my mouth to retort, but I instantly stopped and closed my mouth.
He was gone. Without any transition again. One moment there, one moment not there.
I hated that guy.
In response to the recent events, I did the natural thing...And groaned in the appropriate volume for a night.
After letting out my frustration, I turned to the slowly blinking Chrome.
"I'll explain later..." I told her with a wry grin and sighed again. "First thing I will do on our trips between worlds is to find out how to make cash."
Totally did not want to create any debts with that guy.
Eying the purple card, I looked back to the eye patched girl and laughed nervously when I waved the card around.
"Think there are any clothes shop open at this time?"
Chapter 4.1
- Location
- Germany
Chapter 4.1
Sighing out loud, I scratched the back of my head as I stood in front of the Sawada household in bright daylight, the sun burning on my back.
Alone.
"Alright...you can do this," I muttered to myself, while frowning slightly.
I can't believe I was actually doing this, but I promised to myself last night to at least introduce myself to my temporary teammates. Though I expected to at least have Chrome with me.
On the other hand, after that rather long shopping trip we had this morning, I guess her social meter was empty anyway. I liked to imagine she had fun with buying some new clothes for herself, but to be honest, I believe she was very uncomfortable at trying out these clothes with the help of a stranger and...well, me.
Either that, or she was embarrassed by the way I complimented her looks. While the staff member wanted her to try some very girly and bright clothes, that would easily make her the spotlight of any social outing, I recommended a bit more simple and dark colored clothing style.
Guess whose advice she followed?
Anyway, we got a bunch of jeans for her, a few skirts that at least reached her knees and several shirts and blouses for her. I myself got me some clothes as well. Jeans and a bunch of hoodies and T-Shirts.
The only thing that was worth mentioning was that thanks to our small talks, I could honestly say that we reached friendship level.
Very awkward and shy friendship level, but I guess our personalities were similar in that regard.
Despite the few, rather rare to my surprise, words fails on my part and very few stuttering on her part, we had some enjoyable small talk with each other.
I told her a bit about my hobbies in my last life, mainly writing and reading with a side of gaming and told her a little of what I liked in terms of food (Asian/Chinese), general family life (Meh) and even about that one time where I missed the appointment for the last class photo before I finished school.
At that point, I have to mention the nice laugh she had. Not a small chuckle or giggle, an actual laugh. It was a rather soft sounding laugh, but it was heartful nonetheless.
Anyway, from her, I managed to refresh a bit of my canon knowledge on her. She had a big sweet tooth, especially on chocolate and malt sugar, while also having the usual Asian fixation on wheat, or rather rice. On the other hand, I was surprised to know she disliked oily food (blasphemy) and pine apples.
At the last part, I had to laugh and later apologize for making her blush after I pointed at her hair while almost falling down from laughter.
Other than that, I got a reminder of her admiration towards Mukuro when she told me her dream about being able to talk to him in Italian.
Which led to remind her that he was dead. Cue sadness that stabbed me in the heart.
Immediately, I offered to teach her Italian, thanks to cheating, and she gracefully accepted.
Long story short, I think that broke the ice between us and made us friends. The two of us were more at ease with each other and she wasn't so confused when I treated her nicely. Not so sure though, since I didn't have many friends to begin with.
Speaking of friends, I almost forgot about Kyoko and Hana, who came this morning to our humble residence to learn the basics of Dying Will Flames.
Why am I considering them friends already?
The former's ridiculous charisma level and the latters bluntness level, that's why.
Let me explain. First with Kyoko.
I started to suspect that the reason she was suited for the mist flame.
She managed to manipulate me, in a positive way mind you, into becoming more comfortable with her and Hana in mere minutes.
Maybe manipulate was the wrong word...It was more a subconscious knowledge of how to gently steer me into comfortable territory, setting me at ease with her personal aura and patient when I did screw up my words.
Hana on the other hand was saying what was on her mind, no words minced. Something I welcomed, since I hated cryptic bullshit. If she said something, she meant it. No risk of stupid misunderstandings. And if she used sarcasm or the like, Hana made it so obvious that only someone like her best friend wouldn't get it. If she didn't pretend that is.
Friendship stuff aside, the first crash course in mafia magic went rather well.
Kyoko was a fucking natural. Somehow. She learned the basics of illusions under two hours, while it took me an entire week to figure them out. That was not caused by neither me nor Chrome. The only thing we told her was the same thing Mukuro told me, and probably my patient.
Determination, Imagination, go. Of course we combined that with a few explanations, but explaining how to use illusions was the same as trying to explain how breathing works. It just came naturally. Well, for some it took more time than for others.
The ray of sunshine given human form belonged to the latter, easily grasping how illusions work while using the determination she had in buckets. She already move on to advanced stuff and it scared me how good she was at it without even using a ring or something, even if she didn't realize how fast she was learning compared to others.
Hana on the other hand...well, sun flame was pretty straight forward. Know the body, utilize the body, manipulate another person's body into healing or pure pain.
Using some knowledge from canon, I flat out told her to pay more attention to her body and take care of it, while recommending some kind of martial art. While teaching her some kickboxing stuff from my old life, I then told her to use determination and punch that determination into people's faces.
She gave me a very "are you crazy" stare, but readily complied when I helplessly shrugged. Suffice to say, Hana was not as fast as Kyoko in terms of learning, but she did manage to buff up her blows. Not to supernatural standards, but she was getting there.
After all these lessons, they left with wide grins on their faces and two more friends.
I say two more because Chikusa and Ken were absent the entire day.
So, with that little memory trip done, I got back into the present, where I was still standing right in front of the door like a damn moron.
Swiping off the sweat from my forehead, caused by both the sunshine and my own nervousness, I pressed the door bell.
By all means, pressing a damn bell should not be so damn exciting to me in a negative way. But yet again, my heart was beating against my chest.
The door opened before I could properly calm myself and a cheerful, brown haired mother greeted me with an innocent smile.
"Ah, hello! Are you a friend of Tsuna?"
I took a deep breath.
Alright, Sid. Be smooth and polite. You can do it.
"Ye," I replied in a very deep, monotone and cut voice.
She nodded cheerfully and gestured me inside. Meanwhile, I was running on auto pilot while my brain was restarting from the pure pain of fucking up already.
When I finally regained my senses, I already reached Tsuna's room and Nana left cheerfully after introducing "Tsuna's friend".
I blinked.
They blinked.
Since the silence already settled, I made a roll call in my head as I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me.
The future mafia boss slightly backed away with a hint of fear in his eyes, looking like he was about to suffer a panic attack. Considering the last few new people he met were not pleasant occasions, I understood completely.
Further to his left was Ryohei, still wearing bandages around his body, but I could see how they were almost cosmetic to a point. Sun healing be bullshit. Anyway, he frowned strongly, as if he was trying to remember who I was. Which was a moot point, because his brain would overheat due to insufficient data.
And much to my surprise, to Tsuna's right, Hayato sat there. And he was basically a mummy.
Considering shit was blowing up left and right around him, including knifes as well, I was surprised he was allowed to get out in the first place.
They all wore their school uniforms surprisingly. Well, those who weren't supposed to be at death's bed. Wasn't the school still closed or did I remember something wrong?
Meh, not important.
What was important however that the swordsman of the tenth generation was missing.
And Reborn, but he was obviously here. I could feel him. Or at least the bad feeling of someone observing me like a hawk.
I digress though. Anyway, Takeshi was not there, Probably was still doing some finishing touches on his swordplay.
Luckily the kids weren't there either, so this could go smoothly.
Smoothly, if this wouldn't be a staring contest.
Right, awkward silence.. With a complete stranger in their eyes.
I cleared my throat.
Second's time is a charm.
"G'day. I'm the guy whol-bleh, who will fight for you in the mist bla-, I mean battle. You may call me Obsidian Noir. Or Sid. Or something sort-short, fuck, like that!"
They stared at me blankly as my head started to heat up, the silence becoming heavier by the second.
At least I said more than "ye".
Sighing out loud, I scratched the back of my head as I stood in front of the Sawada household in bright daylight, the sun burning on my back.
Alone.
"Alright...you can do this," I muttered to myself, while frowning slightly.
I can't believe I was actually doing this, but I promised to myself last night to at least introduce myself to my temporary teammates. Though I expected to at least have Chrome with me.
On the other hand, after that rather long shopping trip we had this morning, I guess her social meter was empty anyway. I liked to imagine she had fun with buying some new clothes for herself, but to be honest, I believe she was very uncomfortable at trying out these clothes with the help of a stranger and...well, me.
Either that, or she was embarrassed by the way I complimented her looks. While the staff member wanted her to try some very girly and bright clothes, that would easily make her the spotlight of any social outing, I recommended a bit more simple and dark colored clothing style.
Guess whose advice she followed?
Anyway, we got a bunch of jeans for her, a few skirts that at least reached her knees and several shirts and blouses for her. I myself got me some clothes as well. Jeans and a bunch of hoodies and T-Shirts.
The only thing that was worth mentioning was that thanks to our small talks, I could honestly say that we reached friendship level.
Very awkward and shy friendship level, but I guess our personalities were similar in that regard.
Despite the few, rather rare to my surprise, words fails on my part and very few stuttering on her part, we had some enjoyable small talk with each other.
I told her a bit about my hobbies in my last life, mainly writing and reading with a side of gaming and told her a little of what I liked in terms of food (Asian/Chinese), general family life (Meh) and even about that one time where I missed the appointment for the last class photo before I finished school.
At that point, I have to mention the nice laugh she had. Not a small chuckle or giggle, an actual laugh. It was a rather soft sounding laugh, but it was heartful nonetheless.
Anyway, from her, I managed to refresh a bit of my canon knowledge on her. She had a big sweet tooth, especially on chocolate and malt sugar, while also having the usual Asian fixation on wheat, or rather rice. On the other hand, I was surprised to know she disliked oily food (blasphemy) and pine apples.
At the last part, I had to laugh and later apologize for making her blush after I pointed at her hair while almost falling down from laughter.
Other than that, I got a reminder of her admiration towards Mukuro when she told me her dream about being able to talk to him in Italian.
Which led to remind her that he was dead. Cue sadness that stabbed me in the heart.
Immediately, I offered to teach her Italian, thanks to cheating, and she gracefully accepted.
Long story short, I think that broke the ice between us and made us friends. The two of us were more at ease with each other and she wasn't so confused when I treated her nicely. Not so sure though, since I didn't have many friends to begin with.
Speaking of friends, I almost forgot about Kyoko and Hana, who came this morning to our humble residence to learn the basics of Dying Will Flames.
Why am I considering them friends already?
The former's ridiculous charisma level and the latters bluntness level, that's why.
Let me explain. First with Kyoko.
I started to suspect that the reason she was suited for the mist flame.
She managed to manipulate me, in a positive way mind you, into becoming more comfortable with her and Hana in mere minutes.
Maybe manipulate was the wrong word...It was more a subconscious knowledge of how to gently steer me into comfortable territory, setting me at ease with her personal aura and patient when I did screw up my words.
Hana on the other hand was saying what was on her mind, no words minced. Something I welcomed, since I hated cryptic bullshit. If she said something, she meant it. No risk of stupid misunderstandings. And if she used sarcasm or the like, Hana made it so obvious that only someone like her best friend wouldn't get it. If she didn't pretend that is.
Friendship stuff aside, the first crash course in mafia magic went rather well.
Kyoko was a fucking natural. Somehow. She learned the basics of illusions under two hours, while it took me an entire week to figure them out. That was not caused by neither me nor Chrome. The only thing we told her was the same thing Mukuro told me, and probably my patient.
Determination, Imagination, go. Of course we combined that with a few explanations, but explaining how to use illusions was the same as trying to explain how breathing works. It just came naturally. Well, for some it took more time than for others.
The ray of sunshine given human form belonged to the latter, easily grasping how illusions work while using the determination she had in buckets. She already move on to advanced stuff and it scared me how good she was at it without even using a ring or something, even if she didn't realize how fast she was learning compared to others.
Hana on the other hand...well, sun flame was pretty straight forward. Know the body, utilize the body, manipulate another person's body into healing or pure pain.
Using some knowledge from canon, I flat out told her to pay more attention to her body and take care of it, while recommending some kind of martial art. While teaching her some kickboxing stuff from my old life, I then told her to use determination and punch that determination into people's faces.
She gave me a very "are you crazy" stare, but readily complied when I helplessly shrugged. Suffice to say, Hana was not as fast as Kyoko in terms of learning, but she did manage to buff up her blows. Not to supernatural standards, but she was getting there.
After all these lessons, they left with wide grins on their faces and two more friends.
I say two more because Chikusa and Ken were absent the entire day.
So, with that little memory trip done, I got back into the present, where I was still standing right in front of the door like a damn moron.
Swiping off the sweat from my forehead, caused by both the sunshine and my own nervousness, I pressed the door bell.
By all means, pressing a damn bell should not be so damn exciting to me in a negative way. But yet again, my heart was beating against my chest.
The door opened before I could properly calm myself and a cheerful, brown haired mother greeted me with an innocent smile.
"Ah, hello! Are you a friend of Tsuna?"
I took a deep breath.
Alright, Sid. Be smooth and polite. You can do it.
"Ye," I replied in a very deep, monotone and cut voice.
She nodded cheerfully and gestured me inside. Meanwhile, I was running on auto pilot while my brain was restarting from the pure pain of fucking up already.
When I finally regained my senses, I already reached Tsuna's room and Nana left cheerfully after introducing "Tsuna's friend".
I blinked.
They blinked.
Since the silence already settled, I made a roll call in my head as I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me.
The future mafia boss slightly backed away with a hint of fear in his eyes, looking like he was about to suffer a panic attack. Considering the last few new people he met were not pleasant occasions, I understood completely.
Further to his left was Ryohei, still wearing bandages around his body, but I could see how they were almost cosmetic to a point. Sun healing be bullshit. Anyway, he frowned strongly, as if he was trying to remember who I was. Which was a moot point, because his brain would overheat due to insufficient data.
And much to my surprise, to Tsuna's right, Hayato sat there. And he was basically a mummy.
Considering shit was blowing up left and right around him, including knifes as well, I was surprised he was allowed to get out in the first place.
They all wore their school uniforms surprisingly. Well, those who weren't supposed to be at death's bed. Wasn't the school still closed or did I remember something wrong?
Meh, not important.
What was important however that the swordsman of the tenth generation was missing.
And Reborn, but he was obviously here. I could feel him. Or at least the bad feeling of someone observing me like a hawk.
I digress though. Anyway, Takeshi was not there, Probably was still doing some finishing touches on his swordplay.
Luckily the kids weren't there either, so this could go smoothly.
Smoothly, if this wouldn't be a staring contest.
Right, awkward silence.. With a complete stranger in their eyes.
I cleared my throat.
Second's time is a charm.
"G'day. I'm the guy whol-bleh, who will fight for you in the mist bla-, I mean battle. You may call me Obsidian Noir. Or Sid. Or something sort-short, fuck, like that!"
They stared at me blankly as my head started to heat up, the silence becoming heavier by the second.
At least I said more than "ye".
Chapter 4.2
- Location
- Germany
Chapter 4.2
Alright, that could have gone better.
After I failed again in introducing myself and my face flushed redder than a burn mark, their reactions were...very understandable.
Ryohei stared at me with a very focused glare. I flinched slightly, but then realized he didn't do it out of spite, but because he tried to figure me out. By using all of his...moderate mental capabilities.
Honestly, I was surprised his head wasn't melting from the process.
Lambo fell asleep, deeming me too boring to care for (little prick) and Tsuna's fear got replaced by pure confusion.
And I think even happiness, considering the awkward mouth twitches coupled with his wild blinking.
Gokudera on the other hand was a bit harder to read. I blame the bandages. But from what I could gather, he sent a death glare at me, while searching for something in his pockets. Probably his magical dynamites.
And Reborn's facial expression didn't change at all, but I know that he was cutting me apart mentally.
So overall...better than I expected. Considering my expectation was for them to throw me out in seconds, it was not that hard.
Anyway, I just stood there, frozen in place, hoping for them to break the tension because I already failed at my attempt. Clearing my throat, I stared at them with expectation, rubbing my arm with the faint hope it would make my skin go back to normal human color.
The silence got finally broken by Tsuna, who awkwardly cleared his throat and raised his hand, as if he was in class.
I nodded to him, similarly hesitant and he lowered his arm in responds.
"Obsidian Noir?" He said after a slight pause, his voice growing quieter when he saw me frown slightly at that and shrinking a little bit. Pretty sure Reborn was sending him a glare, as expressive as his baby face was.
Tsuna was going to get his ass kicked later, I just knew it.
I let out a sigh. Maybe picking my internet name was not such a great idea.
On the other hand, I didn't have anything better, so gotta grit my teeth and live with it.
"Yes, badass name I know. I dt-don't know my actual name, so that has to be it for now," I tried to casually hand wave, a fake smile on my face.
Judging from their nods of disbelief, it was as bad as ever.
Memo to self, train illusion to create better smile.
Then, suddenly realization of what I just said settled into Tsuna's brain apparently, because his eyes comically grew wide and he shakingly pointed his finger at me. At the same time, Gokudera shared that same shock, while Ryohei just turned his head constantly in confusion.
"Wait, you are going to fight for me?!"
"Yes, I am as eci-excited as you are," I deadpanned at the tenth's oh so great enthusiasm.
While the boxer of them looked at me with excitement, probably his fighter instinct being satisfied, Gokudera sent me a stink eye as he stood up and hopped over to me.
"All of the Tenth guardians have been people he knows...But he doesn't know you!" He exclaimed as if making a great discovery.
I on the other hand leaned back a little from his breathing face and held my hands up in defense.
"Not directly. I'm a student of Mukuro and-"
Major pain flashed all over my back when Gokudera ignored the laws of biology and ripped out his arms from the bandages in order to grab my sleeve and smash me against the wall with a deadly look.
And in deadly, I mean he looked like he wanted to kill me.
At least I got the impression of that.
"One reason. One reason not to blow you up right now," he hissed as I raised my arms even higher in reflex.
…
Okay, a very heavy impression that is.
"It damages the house?" I asked with a nervous chuckle, then looked away to mouth the sentence again with disbelief.
Note to self, when I'm scared I say stupid shit.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you saw it, Tsuna was the only voice of reason in this room and frantically tugged at his unofficial second in command's sleeve.
"Gokudera, not when my mother is here!"
For a moment the self proclaimed right hand man seemed to struggle with that order, but then his frown vanished and an evil smirk appeared on his face when he turned back to me.
"Right. Let's take this outside."
Hokay, gotta deescalate here since Tsuna was spluttering nonsense in panic.
And he was making some peeks over to the window that I did not like.
"Look buddy, I agree with you that dear ta-eacher is a big douchebag, but don't worry. He's dead," I rattled off quickly, trying to act nonchalantly as I waved my hand.
Then I landed on my ass. After I hissed in pain, I looked up while rubbing my butt and saw them stare at me in shock.
Gokudera took a few hesitant steps backwards while Tsuna lost all his power in his legs. Ryohei just abruptly stood up, while the killer baby…
Oh god.
The darkened eyes thing.
While I was trying to calm myself from the guaranteed interrogation from the super baby, the future mafia boss managed to regain some of his wit again and managed to stand up again with the help from his dynamite friend.
Then he freaked out again.
"What?!"
I winced at his volume and rubbed my ears slightly.
So I guess that his dad did not tell him. Or tell Reborn.
Great.
"Yeah, he died. Didn't you hear?" I said, a bit peeved that I had to bring the damn message. Lazy bastard.
Still, it must be a little shocking for them to know that their ex-nemesis was dead, but they should get over it pretty quick I think.
"How do you know that?"
Ah, here was Reborn. With his cute, little squeaky voice.
The cute squeaky voice of a serial killer that is. Therefore, it filled me with dread.
"I can feel presences. His just stopped." After I rattled that off rather quickly I took a deep breath. Then I turned to Tsuna with an attempt of a serious face and nodded. "So, that means I am your best shot at it."
Instead of the reassurance I hoped I would inspire, the middle schooler just blinked a few times.
Then he dashed pass me, opened the door and smashed it shut in like three seconds.
…
Wow, I must be really bad at the social stuff because I had no idea why that just happened.
Was it about the death thing? Sure, Tsuna didn't see any death yet as far as I know, but the guy tried to possess him for god's sake.
Still, whether or not I understood why he felt like he felt, it's my fault he just ran out like that. Therefore, I had to fix it.
Somehow.
I cleared my throat and received the attention of all worried occupants of this room.
Which only extended to Ryohei and Gokudera, but hey. Their worry quickly evaporated and got replaced by glares directed at me.
Chuckling awkwardly, I pointed to the door.
"Mind if I talk to him? I caused this, I mg-might as well try to fix this."
The two of them opened their mouths to object, but Reborn beat them to the punch.
He just took a look at me and muttered two words.
"Do it."
"Yessir," I swiftly replied and could not get faster out of that room than I did.
I could not read his voice, but if he said I should do it, I do it in double time.
Rushing down the stairs, I hoped the shounen protagonist didn't get too far yet, but before I could even start my search in earnest, I was faced with a very concerned mother, leaning against the door frame as she stared into the kitchen. Or the garden, I dunno.
Before I could even open my mouth, she turned to me with a slight frown before pointing at what I assumed was the garden door.
"Did something happen? Tsuna looks upset and he doesn't want to talk to me."
I reached her and stood next to her to see Tsuna sitting outside, shoulders slumped. Turning to his mother, I scratched my cheek as I bit my lip.
"Yeah...It's just...school and stuff...Don't worry."
"He said that too." I gulped at her frown deepening. But then she let out a sigh and held her cheek with her right hand. "Alright, I'll let you boys have your secrets. But let him know I am there for him when he needs me." She sent me a cheerful smile before moving back to the kitchen. "Maybe I should make him some sweets..."
At first, I stood there in silence.
Huh, so she was more perceptive than I thought...and more trusting of her son than was healthy.
Well, better solve this little problem then.
I took a deep breath and moved towards Tsuna. He didn't react when I stepped through the door and he didn't react when I sat right next to him.
With that, we sat in silence. Well, mostly, besides the crickets crying and the wind. But other than that, silence.
After what felt an eternity however, in which I stared at the sky and appreciating the stars, Tsuna quietly spoke up, still not looking at me.
"How...did he die?"
"Heart attack," I replied bluntly, since there was no real sugar coating it.
And because that was the extent of my social ability.
"Was it...was it because he was in prison?" He asked quietly and turned to me with wet eyes.
Or because me, I could imagine him ask as well.
Damn, it was like looking at a sad puppy.
I loudly sighed and scratched the back of my head.
"It wasn't y-your fault. None of it. It could be called kr-arma, higher powers, we don't know." I bit my lip, cursing my damn speech thing, but I tried to put as much compassion into my voice as possible. "But...You cn-can't blame yourself."
Tsuna just nodded absentmindedly and hugged his legs with a frown.
My shoulders slumped down a little. This did not have the desired effect.
"I don't wanna do this..." He suddenly muttered and I perked up. He looked back at me and gestured to me in agitation. "I can't just let a stranger risk his life for me!" His shout startled me, but then his voice grew quiet like a whisper. "What...what if you die like Mukuro?"
"Did...you care about him?" I asked confused. I mean...there had to be a limit to his good will, right?
Maybe I should have said something different, judging from the way Tsuna flinched, but I did not know what else to say.
"No!...Maybe, I don't know..." He bit his lip. "I...just think he didn't deserve to die, even with the things he did..."
"Huh, the more y-you know..." I hummed and stared at the sky with narrowed eyes. "To be honest...I don't want to be here either, s-so feeling is mutual."
"If you don't want to fight, you don't have to do it!" Tsuna exclaimed, abruptly standing up and opening up his arms with a glare.
My head slumped down in response and I let out a frustrated breath, confusing him slightly. I looked back up with a tired face.
"I appreciate it, but I-I don't have much of a choice here." I gestured to him and then back to me. "You need to win these battles and te-therefore you need me." Then, I raised my hands in surrender. "Trust me, I would rather sit at home and live a safe life, but we don't always get what we want."
"W-why do you have to help me? Are you getting forced to do this?" He asked with worry. Not sure if it was purely for me or if he thought that he would get the same problems.
Oh, if only he knew.
Anyway, I shrugged. No need to put him into a panic.
"Somewhat. Though I can imagine worse stuff." My mouth corners twitched when I rested my chin on my hand. "It's not that bad. I see his b-point. You need help in order to win this whole boss ti-thing."
"But I don't even want to be a mafia boss! You risk your life for nothing!" He exclaimed, desperation filling his voice.
"And because of that you are the better choice."
"Huh?"
Huh?
I blinked slightly. He blinked back.
Where did that come from? I mean, yeah, I thought that, but I apparently also said it out loud. Cleanly and with confidence. I think I even had a normal smile on my mouth.
Up until my realization that is.
Well, better roll with it.
I cleared my throat and fully turned to him, crossing my arms with a lecturing frown.
"You hate everything about the mafia? The blackmailing, gang wars and all that?" I gestured wildly with my hand towards him, trying to illustrate my point as I counted some examples.
He hesitantly nodded. Then he tilted his head.
"Yes? Who doesn't?"
"Well, that just means you are perfectly qualified for the job," I replied with a small smile and left it at that as he leaned back on my hands and closed my eyes to enjoy the next breeze.
"I don't understand!" Tsuna exclaimed in his usual shounen denseness and I opened my eyes again with a frown.
Damn, I hoped he wouldn't be so insistent. Now I actually had to give him some hints for his own damn character development.
On the other hand, it might help against his sheer insistence of mafia boss equals bad.
"You will someday. Sometimes the best guy for a job is the one who hates the job in the first place," I replied with a hand wave, ignoring his angry spluttering of my cryptic message. Sure hope that would boost his brain cells in order to think a little more about the future.
...
Did that sound wise? I hope that was wise. Anyway, I shrugged despite the question marks still hanging around his head as he tried to make sense of my words. Afterward, I pointed with my thumb over my own shoulder with a lazy smile.
"You should get back up there. They could...get wrong ideas."
His ramblings, which I tuned out, came to a stop and he looked up in hesitation. Then he turned back to me with slight concern.
"You aren't going to come too?"
I blinked. Why did he sound so worried? Was it his usual personality speaking? Didn't he want to go back after his small outburst?
Maybe he was afraid for his mom or something.
Damn, I just didn't know. I'll just explain myself and be done with it.
"Just came by to intlo-damn it, introduce myself! Damn it!"
My casual, pseudo cool sounding tone quickly got replaced by me cursing and stomping on the ground angrily.
Here I thought I could speak fluently!
Then I realized that I just made a scene and awkwardly ahemed, before standing up and crossing my arms behind my back.
Tsuna just stared at me at first, making me blush, but then shyly smiled.
"You...aren't used to talking to people, are you?"
And another one who knew my dirty secret. I let my head hang low a little.
"I tend to talk too fast and crash over my tn-tongue. With friends I am...more casual, I guess," I muttered in embarrassment and then peaked up.
Surprisingly, Tsuna was still there. At the door, but still there.
Then, to my shock, he bowed to me.
"Thanks for doing this for me. Really."
His gratitude in his voice took my aback slightly. I opened my mouth, then closed it.
In the end, I turned my back to him and cleared my throat loudly, face blushing a bit more.
"Save your thanks when I won."
That's when I heard his footsteps go off into the distance, after apologizing in a panic tone for some reason.
Once he was gone all tension left me and I sighed heavily as my arms limply hand around as my back becomes more bent.
Damn, I really went on a mini rant there.
And did I seriously do a tsundere thing there?! Wow, Sid, you could not handle gratitude!
I shook my legs that were beginning to fall asleep from all the sitting from before and shook my head.
Well, at least when I focused on ranting, I don't stumble over my words too much. So I leveled up from "social wreck" to "social incompetent" in Tsuna's eyes at least.
Taking a deep breath, I inhaled that sweet air of solitude. Man, that really drained my social meter.
I stretched my back a little and I groaned before rubbing my tired eyes.
Time to go back I guess-
A gun clicked right behind me and the cool metal touched my neck.
"Talk," a baby voice snarled and I slowly raised my hands.
...I sure hope that guys pointing guns at the back of my head was not going to be running gag.
Alright, that could have gone better.
After I failed again in introducing myself and my face flushed redder than a burn mark, their reactions were...very understandable.
Ryohei stared at me with a very focused glare. I flinched slightly, but then realized he didn't do it out of spite, but because he tried to figure me out. By using all of his...moderate mental capabilities.
Honestly, I was surprised his head wasn't melting from the process.
Lambo fell asleep, deeming me too boring to care for (little prick) and Tsuna's fear got replaced by pure confusion.
And I think even happiness, considering the awkward mouth twitches coupled with his wild blinking.
Gokudera on the other hand was a bit harder to read. I blame the bandages. But from what I could gather, he sent a death glare at me, while searching for something in his pockets. Probably his magical dynamites.
And Reborn's facial expression didn't change at all, but I know that he was cutting me apart mentally.
So overall...better than I expected. Considering my expectation was for them to throw me out in seconds, it was not that hard.
Anyway, I just stood there, frozen in place, hoping for them to break the tension because I already failed at my attempt. Clearing my throat, I stared at them with expectation, rubbing my arm with the faint hope it would make my skin go back to normal human color.
The silence got finally broken by Tsuna, who awkwardly cleared his throat and raised his hand, as if he was in class.
I nodded to him, similarly hesitant and he lowered his arm in responds.
"Obsidian Noir?" He said after a slight pause, his voice growing quieter when he saw me frown slightly at that and shrinking a little bit. Pretty sure Reborn was sending him a glare, as expressive as his baby face was.
Tsuna was going to get his ass kicked later, I just knew it.
I let out a sigh. Maybe picking my internet name was not such a great idea.
On the other hand, I didn't have anything better, so gotta grit my teeth and live with it.
"Yes, badass name I know. I dt-don't know my actual name, so that has to be it for now," I tried to casually hand wave, a fake smile on my face.
Judging from their nods of disbelief, it was as bad as ever.
Memo to self, train illusion to create better smile.
Then, suddenly realization of what I just said settled into Tsuna's brain apparently, because his eyes comically grew wide and he shakingly pointed his finger at me. At the same time, Gokudera shared that same shock, while Ryohei just turned his head constantly in confusion.
"Wait, you are going to fight for me?!"
"Yes, I am as eci-excited as you are," I deadpanned at the tenth's oh so great enthusiasm.
While the boxer of them looked at me with excitement, probably his fighter instinct being satisfied, Gokudera sent me a stink eye as he stood up and hopped over to me.
"All of the Tenth guardians have been people he knows...But he doesn't know you!" He exclaimed as if making a great discovery.
I on the other hand leaned back a little from his breathing face and held my hands up in defense.
"Not directly. I'm a student of Mukuro and-"
Major pain flashed all over my back when Gokudera ignored the laws of biology and ripped out his arms from the bandages in order to grab my sleeve and smash me against the wall with a deadly look.
And in deadly, I mean he looked like he wanted to kill me.
At least I got the impression of that.
"One reason. One reason not to blow you up right now," he hissed as I raised my arms even higher in reflex.
…
Okay, a very heavy impression that is.
"It damages the house?" I asked with a nervous chuckle, then looked away to mouth the sentence again with disbelief.
Note to self, when I'm scared I say stupid shit.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you saw it, Tsuna was the only voice of reason in this room and frantically tugged at his unofficial second in command's sleeve.
"Gokudera, not when my mother is here!"
For a moment the self proclaimed right hand man seemed to struggle with that order, but then his frown vanished and an evil smirk appeared on his face when he turned back to me.
"Right. Let's take this outside."
Hokay, gotta deescalate here since Tsuna was spluttering nonsense in panic.
And he was making some peeks over to the window that I did not like.
"Look buddy, I agree with you that dear ta-eacher is a big douchebag, but don't worry. He's dead," I rattled off quickly, trying to act nonchalantly as I waved my hand.
Then I landed on my ass. After I hissed in pain, I looked up while rubbing my butt and saw them stare at me in shock.
Gokudera took a few hesitant steps backwards while Tsuna lost all his power in his legs. Ryohei just abruptly stood up, while the killer baby…
Oh god.
The darkened eyes thing.
While I was trying to calm myself from the guaranteed interrogation from the super baby, the future mafia boss managed to regain some of his wit again and managed to stand up again with the help from his dynamite friend.
Then he freaked out again.
"What?!"
I winced at his volume and rubbed my ears slightly.
So I guess that his dad did not tell him. Or tell Reborn.
Great.
"Yeah, he died. Didn't you hear?" I said, a bit peeved that I had to bring the damn message. Lazy bastard.
Still, it must be a little shocking for them to know that their ex-nemesis was dead, but they should get over it pretty quick I think.
"How do you know that?"
Ah, here was Reborn. With his cute, little squeaky voice.
The cute squeaky voice of a serial killer that is. Therefore, it filled me with dread.
"I can feel presences. His just stopped." After I rattled that off rather quickly I took a deep breath. Then I turned to Tsuna with an attempt of a serious face and nodded. "So, that means I am your best shot at it."
Instead of the reassurance I hoped I would inspire, the middle schooler just blinked a few times.
Then he dashed pass me, opened the door and smashed it shut in like three seconds.
…
Wow, I must be really bad at the social stuff because I had no idea why that just happened.
Was it about the death thing? Sure, Tsuna didn't see any death yet as far as I know, but the guy tried to possess him for god's sake.
Still, whether or not I understood why he felt like he felt, it's my fault he just ran out like that. Therefore, I had to fix it.
Somehow.
I cleared my throat and received the attention of all worried occupants of this room.
Which only extended to Ryohei and Gokudera, but hey. Their worry quickly evaporated and got replaced by glares directed at me.
Chuckling awkwardly, I pointed to the door.
"Mind if I talk to him? I caused this, I mg-might as well try to fix this."
The two of them opened their mouths to object, but Reborn beat them to the punch.
He just took a look at me and muttered two words.
"Do it."
"Yessir," I swiftly replied and could not get faster out of that room than I did.
I could not read his voice, but if he said I should do it, I do it in double time.
Rushing down the stairs, I hoped the shounen protagonist didn't get too far yet, but before I could even start my search in earnest, I was faced with a very concerned mother, leaning against the door frame as she stared into the kitchen. Or the garden, I dunno.
Before I could even open my mouth, she turned to me with a slight frown before pointing at what I assumed was the garden door.
"Did something happen? Tsuna looks upset and he doesn't want to talk to me."
I reached her and stood next to her to see Tsuna sitting outside, shoulders slumped. Turning to his mother, I scratched my cheek as I bit my lip.
"Yeah...It's just...school and stuff...Don't worry."
"He said that too." I gulped at her frown deepening. But then she let out a sigh and held her cheek with her right hand. "Alright, I'll let you boys have your secrets. But let him know I am there for him when he needs me." She sent me a cheerful smile before moving back to the kitchen. "Maybe I should make him some sweets..."
At first, I stood there in silence.
Huh, so she was more perceptive than I thought...and more trusting of her son than was healthy.
Well, better solve this little problem then.
I took a deep breath and moved towards Tsuna. He didn't react when I stepped through the door and he didn't react when I sat right next to him.
With that, we sat in silence. Well, mostly, besides the crickets crying and the wind. But other than that, silence.
After what felt an eternity however, in which I stared at the sky and appreciating the stars, Tsuna quietly spoke up, still not looking at me.
"How...did he die?"
"Heart attack," I replied bluntly, since there was no real sugar coating it.
And because that was the extent of my social ability.
"Was it...was it because he was in prison?" He asked quietly and turned to me with wet eyes.
Or because me, I could imagine him ask as well.
Damn, it was like looking at a sad puppy.
I loudly sighed and scratched the back of my head.
"It wasn't y-your fault. None of it. It could be called kr-arma, higher powers, we don't know." I bit my lip, cursing my damn speech thing, but I tried to put as much compassion into my voice as possible. "But...You cn-can't blame yourself."
Tsuna just nodded absentmindedly and hugged his legs with a frown.
My shoulders slumped down a little. This did not have the desired effect.
"I don't wanna do this..." He suddenly muttered and I perked up. He looked back at me and gestured to me in agitation. "I can't just let a stranger risk his life for me!" His shout startled me, but then his voice grew quiet like a whisper. "What...what if you die like Mukuro?"
"Did...you care about him?" I asked confused. I mean...there had to be a limit to his good will, right?
Maybe I should have said something different, judging from the way Tsuna flinched, but I did not know what else to say.
"No!...Maybe, I don't know..." He bit his lip. "I...just think he didn't deserve to die, even with the things he did..."
"Huh, the more y-you know..." I hummed and stared at the sky with narrowed eyes. "To be honest...I don't want to be here either, s-so feeling is mutual."
"If you don't want to fight, you don't have to do it!" Tsuna exclaimed, abruptly standing up and opening up his arms with a glare.
My head slumped down in response and I let out a frustrated breath, confusing him slightly. I looked back up with a tired face.
"I appreciate it, but I-I don't have much of a choice here." I gestured to him and then back to me. "You need to win these battles and te-therefore you need me." Then, I raised my hands in surrender. "Trust me, I would rather sit at home and live a safe life, but we don't always get what we want."
"W-why do you have to help me? Are you getting forced to do this?" He asked with worry. Not sure if it was purely for me or if he thought that he would get the same problems.
Oh, if only he knew.
Anyway, I shrugged. No need to put him into a panic.
"Somewhat. Though I can imagine worse stuff." My mouth corners twitched when I rested my chin on my hand. "It's not that bad. I see his b-point. You need help in order to win this whole boss ti-thing."
"But I don't even want to be a mafia boss! You risk your life for nothing!" He exclaimed, desperation filling his voice.
"And because of that you are the better choice."
"Huh?"
Huh?
I blinked slightly. He blinked back.
Where did that come from? I mean, yeah, I thought that, but I apparently also said it out loud. Cleanly and with confidence. I think I even had a normal smile on my mouth.
Up until my realization that is.
Well, better roll with it.
I cleared my throat and fully turned to him, crossing my arms with a lecturing frown.
"You hate everything about the mafia? The blackmailing, gang wars and all that?" I gestured wildly with my hand towards him, trying to illustrate my point as I counted some examples.
He hesitantly nodded. Then he tilted his head.
"Yes? Who doesn't?"
"Well, that just means you are perfectly qualified for the job," I replied with a small smile and left it at that as he leaned back on my hands and closed my eyes to enjoy the next breeze.
"I don't understand!" Tsuna exclaimed in his usual shounen denseness and I opened my eyes again with a frown.
Damn, I hoped he wouldn't be so insistent. Now I actually had to give him some hints for his own damn character development.
On the other hand, it might help against his sheer insistence of mafia boss equals bad.
"You will someday. Sometimes the best guy for a job is the one who hates the job in the first place," I replied with a hand wave, ignoring his angry spluttering of my cryptic message. Sure hope that would boost his brain cells in order to think a little more about the future.
...
Did that sound wise? I hope that was wise. Anyway, I shrugged despite the question marks still hanging around his head as he tried to make sense of my words. Afterward, I pointed with my thumb over my own shoulder with a lazy smile.
"You should get back up there. They could...get wrong ideas."
His ramblings, which I tuned out, came to a stop and he looked up in hesitation. Then he turned back to me with slight concern.
"You aren't going to come too?"
I blinked. Why did he sound so worried? Was it his usual personality speaking? Didn't he want to go back after his small outburst?
Maybe he was afraid for his mom or something.
Damn, I just didn't know. I'll just explain myself and be done with it.
"Just came by to intlo-damn it, introduce myself! Damn it!"
My casual, pseudo cool sounding tone quickly got replaced by me cursing and stomping on the ground angrily.
Here I thought I could speak fluently!
Then I realized that I just made a scene and awkwardly ahemed, before standing up and crossing my arms behind my back.
Tsuna just stared at me at first, making me blush, but then shyly smiled.
"You...aren't used to talking to people, are you?"
And another one who knew my dirty secret. I let my head hang low a little.
"I tend to talk too fast and crash over my tn-tongue. With friends I am...more casual, I guess," I muttered in embarrassment and then peaked up.
Surprisingly, Tsuna was still there. At the door, but still there.
Then, to my shock, he bowed to me.
"Thanks for doing this for me. Really."
His gratitude in his voice took my aback slightly. I opened my mouth, then closed it.
In the end, I turned my back to him and cleared my throat loudly, face blushing a bit more.
"Save your thanks when I won."
That's when I heard his footsteps go off into the distance, after apologizing in a panic tone for some reason.
Once he was gone all tension left me and I sighed heavily as my arms limply hand around as my back becomes more bent.
Damn, I really went on a mini rant there.
And did I seriously do a tsundere thing there?! Wow, Sid, you could not handle gratitude!
I shook my legs that were beginning to fall asleep from all the sitting from before and shook my head.
Well, at least when I focused on ranting, I don't stumble over my words too much. So I leveled up from "social wreck" to "social incompetent" in Tsuna's eyes at least.
Taking a deep breath, I inhaled that sweet air of solitude. Man, that really drained my social meter.
I stretched my back a little and I groaned before rubbing my tired eyes.
Time to go back I guess-
A gun clicked right behind me and the cool metal touched my neck.
"Talk," a baby voice snarled and I slowly raised my hands.
...I sure hope that guys pointing guns at the back of my head was not going to be running gag.
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Chapter 4.3 – Reborn Interlude
- Location
- Germany
Chapter 4.3 – Reborn Interlude
As the cursed baby pointed his trusty gun and companion at the young adult, his face did not show a single hint of his annoyance at the situation.
The sudden visit, the news, Tsuna's little emotional episode…
It was too chaotic for the mafioso's taste.
And the source was right in front of him.
The mist ring half dangling around his collar almost seemed to taunt the hitman on top of that.
Reborn's mouth thinned slightly.
The damn bastard forgot to inform him. About Mukuro's death and his replacement, who was obviously weaker than his supposed master.
Either that or he wanted the hitman to get his own information.
Honestly, the chief of CEDEF was one of the few he had difficulties to read.
The hitman slightly shook his head. No, he could complain about his colleague later. For now, the individual in front of him.
He had no idea who Obsidian Noir was. The limits of his abilities, his intentions, his exact personality.
Too many unknown variables.
And he did not like unknown variables.
Anyway, Obsidian chuckled nervously, his hands still up in the air when he replied.
"I forgot how to ride a bike three times in my life?"
Reborn frowned slightly. Something was off.
An attempt at humor was not the usual reaction when threatened.
But he needed more information. So, he pressed Leon against his skin, mentally apologizing for doing this yet another time to his partner.
Judging from how the handle got scratchier, his inner voice did not reach the chameleon.
"Cute," Reborn said flatly. "Turn around. Slowly."
As the bratty adult did so, the hitman's off feeling intensified.
There was a grin on his face. A nervous one, but a grin nonetheless.
What he said next solidified his suspicion that something was wrong.
"I think I'm adorable. You have to be more specific with your questions," Obsidian replied dryly.
For a moment, the Arcobaleno wanted to shoot the brat out of sheer principle for his cheek, but easily suppressed the desire.
More importantly, he could see Obsidian from the front now.
And with that, Reborn mentally picked the brat in front of him apart like a chicken in a few seconds.
Clothes not out of the ordinary. Hood and jeans bought from nearby area. No weapons or threatening items in pockets, beside credit card.
Vietnamese. One point eighty meters tall. Slight accent, originating from Germany.
Most likely child of immigrants, raised in Germany.
Smile nervous. Tired eyes, trying to ignore the gun and focus on Reborn's face. Tries to appear as nonthreatening as possible.
Some muscle development, signs of martial art in the past. Not full contact. Semi contact at most.
Didn't train outside of club or similar. Explains mental and physical exhaustion at the given time.
Overall, an average eighteen year old human.
There was only one thing that didn't fit, Reborn mused as sweat ran down his target's skin.
No stumbling over his words. Sudden confidence in talking, despite fear signs. Better body control, able to think about his actions and words, intentionally decided to use these sentences.
Wanted to appear more cool despite knowing the consequences. Amusement also coming from insider or reference unknown to Reborn.
Wanted to have cocky persona, in order to not show weakness.
Paradox from previous behavior, that was cautious, but didn't have the skills to act on that cautiousness.
Social incompetence an act?
Reborn scratched that thought. No, too real to be faked. All ticks indicated for truthful nervousness.
No hint of illusions either. Unless he was a subtle type, but Reborn was sure the boy in front of him did not have the skills for that, based on the lack of confidence from before.
Illusionists needed to be confident.
On the other hand, the hitman was not an expert. Another reason to grill Iemitsu for details.
Split personality? No, too similar to other one.
No usual signs of natural disorder either.
That meant outside interference. The one who "forced" him into this.
Enemy of Varia? Of Vongola? Maniac? Someone with too much free time?
The hitman cooled his head without moving a muscle.
No, he didn't have enough information to make a guess on that. Also, he went off topic.
Reason for sudden speech skill.
Mental manipulation or disorder? Possible.
Would make sense, illusionist usually insane.
Reborn's eyes moved to his hands.
Small signs of injuries. Recently been working out in order to become combat ready.
Won't be achieving Takeshi's or Ryohei's level in time.
Unknown ring, tentacle motive, on the left ring finger.
Definitely related to mist flames. Secret weapon? Might be an equilizer for an illusionist not on par of Mukuro's caliber.
The hitman frowned, making the brat in front of him gulp.
Mukuro. Claimed to be student.
Truth. Question, how?
No news of him escaping, no new bounty.
Mukuro was skilled, but break out sheer impossible without intense help.
Basing on Iemitsu's report of possessing Chrome Dokuro meant that he could use his abilities while in prison. Therefore, could contact Obsidian.
Conclusion. Telepathy or stronger connection in order to train.
Question for later, how long and how intense that training was.
Now for the actual interrogation.
"Why are you here?" The Arcobaleno asked after what felt like an eternity to him. For Obsidian, it was nothing more than a short pause for threat sakes.
"Not completely on my free will. Higher powers and all that." He pointed up in the sky and twirled his finger with a sigh. Then his features smoothed over to a serious tone. "I don't intend anything bad for Tsuna and the others. Don't worry."
Again, the better control of his own actions.
Definitely artificial.
Not on free will. Higher powers. Pointing to the sky.
Honestly believed that there was no choice. Higher power believed to be so far beyond him that resistance was futile.
Reborn slightly hardened his grip on Leon. He did not like the implications of that.
Still, not completely meant that Obsidian wanted to help because he liked Tsuna for some reason.
Deeper knowledge of him and the others?
Would make sense, considering his little speech, he knew Tsuna's core virtues. Virtues the mafia world could need for a change.
He also did take responsibility for bringing the future mafia boss into a turmoil.
Honestly, on hindsight the confronation with Mukuro's death would make Tsuna stronger. More willing to train.
Still, Reborn wanted that drive to be born on its own, not with external stimulus.
Oh well. Beggars couldn't be chosen. Reborn just had to adapt.
Anyway, deeper knowledge.
A sense of familiarity was in Obsidian's eyes when he laid eyes on all occupants.
And worry when he saw Reborn. Knew of his abilities to some extent.
Meta knowledge from higher power, most likely.
Not that it bothered Reborn a lot. Knowing his abilities won't help anyone who were on his hit list.
Still, this small exchange just confirmed it to him.
It appeared the more direct fear he felt, the better he could talk. For some reason.
Just like Reborn preferred it.
Now to press for some more.
"I never worry. Now give me details," Reborn said dryly, slightly gesturing with his gun towards him while his finger tapped on the trigger.
This apparently was the limit to whatever manipulated Obsidian and he paled slightly before quickly speaking in a slight panicking tone.
"I'm here to represent Mukuro. I found a replacement for him. Once I'm done here, you probably won't see me again for a long time. Taking Chrome with me. Higher powers..." He bit his lip in hesitation, mind fighting over what he should do. Then he lowered his head and shuddered. "Can't really tell you or he will kill me. Probably."
Fear of higher power confirmed.
All what he said was the truth.
No ill intentions or the abilities to back it up.
Could be dealt with if things changed.
Not a threat then.
"Alright then," Reborn said casually, letting Leon transform back and return under his head.
He did not let it show on his face how his partner bit him under it.
Better give him some extra snacks, the hitman thought.
Anyway, the replacement blinked and slowly lowered his hand. Then he gestured between them with an incredulous stare.
"What, that's it?"
"Do you wanna get shot?" The hitman asked, his voice not changing from its casual tone.
As he sat down, the young adult shook his head and scratched his cheek.
"No, just wondering."
"I can tell when people are lying. You told me the truth." Reborn smirked slightly. "Pity that you are more afraid of your boss than me."
"That's debatable..." Obsidian muttered to the ground and the hitman raised an eyebrow.
Not in a fear situation, still more socially brave (or stupid) than first introduction.
Nevertheless, there was more important stuff to know.
"Can you win?" Reborn asked, his smirk fading as he crossed his arms in front of the replacement.
The latter sighed and stared up to the sky.
"I am not Mukuro. Honestly, Chrome is a better illusionist than me. Still, I have some skill in them. Also, I think physical power coupled with this ring should be good enough against my opponent." He chuckled darkly and touched his ring. "My enemy won't sense me."
Still normal speech skill.
Not fear then. Threat perception?
Reborn frowned slightly.
He hated illusionists.
Still, there was some things he could tell for sure.
Sense was an unusual word to use.
Therefore, it meant he could erase his presence. Most likely because of the weird ring.
Coupled with normal illusions...that was potent.
There was a chance.
Not a big one, but the others didn't have a big chance either.
Still, it was interesting that despite the facade of acting more cool than he was, was used to hide his own lack of faith in his own abilities.
That could be bad. But at least it was a realistic self assessment.
Not many had that.
"Who is the replacement?" Reborn asked after a small pause.
Surprisingly, a warm, embarrassed smile appeared on his face.
"Kyoko Sasagawa. I told her and her friend about everything," he explained, radiating some happiness when he said her name.
For the first time in this conversation, Reborn gaped. His mouth only opened slightly, but it was still a gape.
That...was unexpected.
He didn't peck her as a mist type. Either rain or sun would have been more likely in his opinion.
On the other hand, the Arcobaleno in general were not traditional to their element.
Colonello was as hot headed as Ryohei, yet had a rain flame.
Fon was as calm as Takeshi sometimes was, yet had a storm flame.
And don't let him get started on Skull.
Maybe he should have taken a closer look on her potential. Might have been better than just picking a random brat that just magically appeared out of nowhere.
Speaking of the brat, the way he said her name sounded like he considered her a friend.
One of his few friends, judging from the warmth.
So he was a loner. Good to know.
Kyoko's charisma showed its potency yet again it seemed.
"You are aware that her brother will kill you, right?" Reborn commented after closing his mouth again. The boy paled but tried to wave it off with a tired smile.
"Another reason to leave before shit hits the fan, right?" His expression turned more serious. "Besides, it's more effective to stay together. Easier to protect each other."
"Will she be suitable?" Reborn asked, not saying how he agreed with the brat.
Only reason he left her out was out of respect for Ryohei and Tsuna.
But it wasn't his fault if someone else gave his stupid student some more firepower, right?
"From what little training I did with her so far..." He smiled proudly and nodded. "Yes. She has a lot of talent. And determination. You know what that means."
His attempt at being cryptic was a bit pathetic.
But given his lack of social experience, it was a nice try.
Anyway, if what he said was true, Reborn could have a potent ally for Tsuna.
And judging from Obsidian's confidence, it was most likely true.
That meant he had the skill to back his observation up.
Sensing skill? Would explain him able to find out about Kyoko's flame type. Or he got third party information.
…
Mukuro. Definitely Mukuro. Sensing ability was only used as a small support.
"Hm...Good. Maybe this will motivate No-Good-Tsuna more." Reborn nodded in approval. Then he casually pointed up. "Speaking of which, they are all listening in."
Obsidian froze like a deer in headlights.
His expression screamed a flat "What."
That was exactly what Reborn lived for. Because of that, he openly grinned.
The young adult mechanically looked up and stared right into the gaping faces of Tsuna, Ryohei and Hayato.
Then, the protective brother exploded, skin burning red in rage as he began to climb off the window, while Tsuna futilely tried to stop him with a hug around his stomach.
"YOU BASTARD!"
"And that is my cue to leave," Obsidian quickly said in a blank tone when he made eye contact with Reborn again, before clenching his eyes shut and taking a deep breath.
The tentacle ring lightened up with an indigo flame.
Then the boxer crashed into the ground, dragging Reborn's protege with him.
Shaking off Tsuna, who groaned in pain on the ground, Ryohei frantically looked around. Not spotting his target, the boxer let out a roar of anger and jumped over the garden wall, giving chase to the illusionist.
Reborn knew it would be futile.
Obsidian just popped out of existence. The master hitman could not even feel a trace of the brat.
The whole sensing thing was not exaggerated. Reborn hummed impressed. One reason, at the skill itself.
The other...
"Last time I saw an illusionist bitch out that fast was when Viper spilled his tea on my hat," Reborn commented to himself as Gokudera quickly jumped down as well and worried about his future boss like a mother.
Speaking of mother, good that Nana wasn't noticing any of that, courtesy to the kids distracting her.
Just as Tsuna managed to shakily stand up with his right hand man's help, Ryohei returned with a jump over the same wall.
After calming his breath slightly, he clenched his fists and roared to the sky yet again.
"You can't run away forever! I will get you, I extremely promise!"
It was telling Reborn how used this town was to Ryohei that the boxer's tantrum didn't wake anyone up.
Anyway, the bomber glared at the sun guardian and jabbed his finger into his chest after angrily walking over to hm.
"How dare you endanger the Tenth like that?!" He snarled and Ryohei was about to retort angrily, before the words reached his brain.
Immediately he turned to the sky guardian and bowed in a ninety degree angle.
"I'm sorry, but I was too angry! Extremely forgive me!"
"It-it's okay. Just a scratch anyway..." Tsuna said with a strained smile, much to Reborn's approval, before his eyes widened in shock. "I need to talk to Kyo-"
"And then what?" Reborn interrupted coldly, startling the kids. The hitman sighed mentally.
Just when he got a plus point too.
Having their confused attention now, the Arcobaleno stood up and paced forward while readjusting his head slightly in order to darken his eyes.
"You heard the other brat. Kyoko already knows. Nothing you can do will make her stay out of this now."
Tsuna and Ryohei exchanged a knowing look of frustration, while Gokudera scratched his head in confusion.
Natural, considering that Ryohei was her brother and Tsuna her whatever he was and therefore would know her better.
With that, annoying impulse of students averted. For now.
Still, after a slight pause, the no good student gritted his teeth and gestured to the spot where Obsidian was in agitation.
"How-How could someone do that?! She doesn't belong to this world! The mafia and all that!"
"I could say the same about you and you turned out okay enough," Reborn replied flatly. The teenager opened his mouth to object, but closed it again, conceding to the hitman's point.
Then he stared to the ground like a kicked puppy. Like always.
Reborn mentally sighed and tipped his hat.
Only this one time, he would give Tsuna some slack and give him a lesson without any pain.
"One advice as a man. Have more faith in the one you love," the mafioso said in a cool tone, turning around and stared to the sky.
The sky Luce once belonged to.
Quickly, the memory was buried back into his heart.
It would only hurt him if he got lost in his past.
On the other hand, hearing his student have a mental meltdown as his mouth made a repetition of nonsense noises, Reborn considered a flashback just to avoid hearing Tsuna.
Surprisingly, the boxer didn't react to anything of what the hitman said.
Probably because he seemed to be busy imagining his fist on Obsdian's face when Reborn turned around to see his very funny frown.
Good, avoided teenage drama.
"W-w-w-what are you talking about?!" Tsuna finally managed to stutter out, much to the confusion to the storm and sun guardian.
Mentally, the Arcobaleno reaffirmed his assessment that he was surrounded by dense dumbasses.
Anyway, time to lecture him. Frown set in face, Reborn stared at his student, who cowered at his gaze.
"Obsidian said it would be easier to protect her when she is around, correct?" Reborn asked slightly annoyed and Tsuna bit his lip.
"Well, maybe-"
The hitman smacked his student with a rock before he could finish and cross his arms with a dry expression.
"I agree with him. Also, if you don't want to see her hurt, just protect her. Easy as that." A small smirk appeared on the baby's face. "Also, better chances to get her to fall for you."
This time, Tsuna's reaction was more subdued, as he covered his face and averted his gaze.
But Reborn saw the small, giddy smile on his face like that of a school girl.
The boy began to consider it. Good.
A mafia boss needed a strong wife.
And Ryohei did not register any of that, as he took a calming breath with closed eyes and held his right fist in front of his own face.
"I extremely cannot forgive this guy for involving her..." Eyes snapped open and he punched forward, creating a small wind blast as a feral grin appeared. "But I see the positive side! I will beat him up after his own match! I extremely promise that!"
"Let's hope the girl will be good enough for the tenth..." The bomber muttered, but immediately he got lifted by an enraged boxer.
"Are you saying my little sister isn't good enough for this extreme team?!"
"Weren't you against it moments ago, idiot?!"
"Guys, stop it!"
Tuning out the chaos in front of him, Reborn turned to the sky.
It looked like it was going to rain tomorrow.
The question was...who will the rain bless?
Reborn slightly frowned.
Normally he would like all guardians of his protege to win. But...
If Takeshi and this...Obsidian would win, Tsuna wouldn't even need to fight, since they would win by default.
A small part of Reborn hoped that one of them would lose, so that his protege could show off his training.
He needed something to brag about to Colonello or else the idiot will be more annoying than usual.
As the cursed baby pointed his trusty gun and companion at the young adult, his face did not show a single hint of his annoyance at the situation.
The sudden visit, the news, Tsuna's little emotional episode…
It was too chaotic for the mafioso's taste.
And the source was right in front of him.
The mist ring half dangling around his collar almost seemed to taunt the hitman on top of that.
Reborn's mouth thinned slightly.
The damn bastard forgot to inform him. About Mukuro's death and his replacement, who was obviously weaker than his supposed master.
Either that or he wanted the hitman to get his own information.
Honestly, the chief of CEDEF was one of the few he had difficulties to read.
The hitman slightly shook his head. No, he could complain about his colleague later. For now, the individual in front of him.
He had no idea who Obsidian Noir was. The limits of his abilities, his intentions, his exact personality.
Too many unknown variables.
And he did not like unknown variables.
Anyway, Obsidian chuckled nervously, his hands still up in the air when he replied.
"I forgot how to ride a bike three times in my life?"
Reborn frowned slightly. Something was off.
An attempt at humor was not the usual reaction when threatened.
But he needed more information. So, he pressed Leon against his skin, mentally apologizing for doing this yet another time to his partner.
Judging from how the handle got scratchier, his inner voice did not reach the chameleon.
"Cute," Reborn said flatly. "Turn around. Slowly."
As the bratty adult did so, the hitman's off feeling intensified.
There was a grin on his face. A nervous one, but a grin nonetheless.
What he said next solidified his suspicion that something was wrong.
"I think I'm adorable. You have to be more specific with your questions," Obsidian replied dryly.
For a moment, the Arcobaleno wanted to shoot the brat out of sheer principle for his cheek, but easily suppressed the desire.
More importantly, he could see Obsidian from the front now.
And with that, Reborn mentally picked the brat in front of him apart like a chicken in a few seconds.
Clothes not out of the ordinary. Hood and jeans bought from nearby area. No weapons or threatening items in pockets, beside credit card.
Vietnamese. One point eighty meters tall. Slight accent, originating from Germany.
Most likely child of immigrants, raised in Germany.
Smile nervous. Tired eyes, trying to ignore the gun and focus on Reborn's face. Tries to appear as nonthreatening as possible.
Some muscle development, signs of martial art in the past. Not full contact. Semi contact at most.
Didn't train outside of club or similar. Explains mental and physical exhaustion at the given time.
Overall, an average eighteen year old human.
There was only one thing that didn't fit, Reborn mused as sweat ran down his target's skin.
No stumbling over his words. Sudden confidence in talking, despite fear signs. Better body control, able to think about his actions and words, intentionally decided to use these sentences.
Wanted to appear more cool despite knowing the consequences. Amusement also coming from insider or reference unknown to Reborn.
Wanted to have cocky persona, in order to not show weakness.
Paradox from previous behavior, that was cautious, but didn't have the skills to act on that cautiousness.
Social incompetence an act?
Reborn scratched that thought. No, too real to be faked. All ticks indicated for truthful nervousness.
No hint of illusions either. Unless he was a subtle type, but Reborn was sure the boy in front of him did not have the skills for that, based on the lack of confidence from before.
Illusionists needed to be confident.
On the other hand, the hitman was not an expert. Another reason to grill Iemitsu for details.
Split personality? No, too similar to other one.
No usual signs of natural disorder either.
That meant outside interference. The one who "forced" him into this.
Enemy of Varia? Of Vongola? Maniac? Someone with too much free time?
The hitman cooled his head without moving a muscle.
No, he didn't have enough information to make a guess on that. Also, he went off topic.
Reason for sudden speech skill.
Mental manipulation or disorder? Possible.
Would make sense, illusionist usually insane.
Reborn's eyes moved to his hands.
Small signs of injuries. Recently been working out in order to become combat ready.
Won't be achieving Takeshi's or Ryohei's level in time.
Unknown ring, tentacle motive, on the left ring finger.
Definitely related to mist flames. Secret weapon? Might be an equilizer for an illusionist not on par of Mukuro's caliber.
The hitman frowned, making the brat in front of him gulp.
Mukuro. Claimed to be student.
Truth. Question, how?
No news of him escaping, no new bounty.
Mukuro was skilled, but break out sheer impossible without intense help.
Basing on Iemitsu's report of possessing Chrome Dokuro meant that he could use his abilities while in prison. Therefore, could contact Obsidian.
Conclusion. Telepathy or stronger connection in order to train.
Question for later, how long and how intense that training was.
Now for the actual interrogation.
"Why are you here?" The Arcobaleno asked after what felt like an eternity to him. For Obsidian, it was nothing more than a short pause for threat sakes.
"Not completely on my free will. Higher powers and all that." He pointed up in the sky and twirled his finger with a sigh. Then his features smoothed over to a serious tone. "I don't intend anything bad for Tsuna and the others. Don't worry."
Again, the better control of his own actions.
Definitely artificial.
Not on free will. Higher powers. Pointing to the sky.
Honestly believed that there was no choice. Higher power believed to be so far beyond him that resistance was futile.
Reborn slightly hardened his grip on Leon. He did not like the implications of that.
Still, not completely meant that Obsidian wanted to help because he liked Tsuna for some reason.
Deeper knowledge of him and the others?
Would make sense, considering his little speech, he knew Tsuna's core virtues. Virtues the mafia world could need for a change.
He also did take responsibility for bringing the future mafia boss into a turmoil.
Honestly, on hindsight the confronation with Mukuro's death would make Tsuna stronger. More willing to train.
Still, Reborn wanted that drive to be born on its own, not with external stimulus.
Oh well. Beggars couldn't be chosen. Reborn just had to adapt.
Anyway, deeper knowledge.
A sense of familiarity was in Obsidian's eyes when he laid eyes on all occupants.
And worry when he saw Reborn. Knew of his abilities to some extent.
Meta knowledge from higher power, most likely.
Not that it bothered Reborn a lot. Knowing his abilities won't help anyone who were on his hit list.
Still, this small exchange just confirmed it to him.
It appeared the more direct fear he felt, the better he could talk. For some reason.
Just like Reborn preferred it.
Now to press for some more.
"I never worry. Now give me details," Reborn said dryly, slightly gesturing with his gun towards him while his finger tapped on the trigger.
This apparently was the limit to whatever manipulated Obsidian and he paled slightly before quickly speaking in a slight panicking tone.
"I'm here to represent Mukuro. I found a replacement for him. Once I'm done here, you probably won't see me again for a long time. Taking Chrome with me. Higher powers..." He bit his lip in hesitation, mind fighting over what he should do. Then he lowered his head and shuddered. "Can't really tell you or he will kill me. Probably."
Fear of higher power confirmed.
All what he said was the truth.
No ill intentions or the abilities to back it up.
Could be dealt with if things changed.
Not a threat then.
"Alright then," Reborn said casually, letting Leon transform back and return under his head.
He did not let it show on his face how his partner bit him under it.
Better give him some extra snacks, the hitman thought.
Anyway, the replacement blinked and slowly lowered his hand. Then he gestured between them with an incredulous stare.
"What, that's it?"
"Do you wanna get shot?" The hitman asked, his voice not changing from its casual tone.
As he sat down, the young adult shook his head and scratched his cheek.
"No, just wondering."
"I can tell when people are lying. You told me the truth." Reborn smirked slightly. "Pity that you are more afraid of your boss than me."
"That's debatable..." Obsidian muttered to the ground and the hitman raised an eyebrow.
Not in a fear situation, still more socially brave (or stupid) than first introduction.
Nevertheless, there was more important stuff to know.
"Can you win?" Reborn asked, his smirk fading as he crossed his arms in front of the replacement.
The latter sighed and stared up to the sky.
"I am not Mukuro. Honestly, Chrome is a better illusionist than me. Still, I have some skill in them. Also, I think physical power coupled with this ring should be good enough against my opponent." He chuckled darkly and touched his ring. "My enemy won't sense me."
Still normal speech skill.
Not fear then. Threat perception?
Reborn frowned slightly.
He hated illusionists.
Still, there was some things he could tell for sure.
Sense was an unusual word to use.
Therefore, it meant he could erase his presence. Most likely because of the weird ring.
Coupled with normal illusions...that was potent.
There was a chance.
Not a big one, but the others didn't have a big chance either.
Still, it was interesting that despite the facade of acting more cool than he was, was used to hide his own lack of faith in his own abilities.
That could be bad. But at least it was a realistic self assessment.
Not many had that.
"Who is the replacement?" Reborn asked after a small pause.
Surprisingly, a warm, embarrassed smile appeared on his face.
"Kyoko Sasagawa. I told her and her friend about everything," he explained, radiating some happiness when he said her name.
For the first time in this conversation, Reborn gaped. His mouth only opened slightly, but it was still a gape.
That...was unexpected.
He didn't peck her as a mist type. Either rain or sun would have been more likely in his opinion.
On the other hand, the Arcobaleno in general were not traditional to their element.
Colonello was as hot headed as Ryohei, yet had a rain flame.
Fon was as calm as Takeshi sometimes was, yet had a storm flame.
And don't let him get started on Skull.
Maybe he should have taken a closer look on her potential. Might have been better than just picking a random brat that just magically appeared out of nowhere.
Speaking of the brat, the way he said her name sounded like he considered her a friend.
One of his few friends, judging from the warmth.
So he was a loner. Good to know.
Kyoko's charisma showed its potency yet again it seemed.
"You are aware that her brother will kill you, right?" Reborn commented after closing his mouth again. The boy paled but tried to wave it off with a tired smile.
"Another reason to leave before shit hits the fan, right?" His expression turned more serious. "Besides, it's more effective to stay together. Easier to protect each other."
"Will she be suitable?" Reborn asked, not saying how he agreed with the brat.
Only reason he left her out was out of respect for Ryohei and Tsuna.
But it wasn't his fault if someone else gave his stupid student some more firepower, right?
"From what little training I did with her so far..." He smiled proudly and nodded. "Yes. She has a lot of talent. And determination. You know what that means."
His attempt at being cryptic was a bit pathetic.
But given his lack of social experience, it was a nice try.
Anyway, if what he said was true, Reborn could have a potent ally for Tsuna.
And judging from Obsidian's confidence, it was most likely true.
That meant he had the skill to back his observation up.
Sensing skill? Would explain him able to find out about Kyoko's flame type. Or he got third party information.
…
Mukuro. Definitely Mukuro. Sensing ability was only used as a small support.
"Hm...Good. Maybe this will motivate No-Good-Tsuna more." Reborn nodded in approval. Then he casually pointed up. "Speaking of which, they are all listening in."
Obsidian froze like a deer in headlights.
His expression screamed a flat "What."
That was exactly what Reborn lived for. Because of that, he openly grinned.
The young adult mechanically looked up and stared right into the gaping faces of Tsuna, Ryohei and Hayato.
Then, the protective brother exploded, skin burning red in rage as he began to climb off the window, while Tsuna futilely tried to stop him with a hug around his stomach.
"YOU BASTARD!"
"And that is my cue to leave," Obsidian quickly said in a blank tone when he made eye contact with Reborn again, before clenching his eyes shut and taking a deep breath.
The tentacle ring lightened up with an indigo flame.
Then the boxer crashed into the ground, dragging Reborn's protege with him.
Shaking off Tsuna, who groaned in pain on the ground, Ryohei frantically looked around. Not spotting his target, the boxer let out a roar of anger and jumped over the garden wall, giving chase to the illusionist.
Reborn knew it would be futile.
Obsidian just popped out of existence. The master hitman could not even feel a trace of the brat.
The whole sensing thing was not exaggerated. Reborn hummed impressed. One reason, at the skill itself.
The other...
"Last time I saw an illusionist bitch out that fast was when Viper spilled his tea on my hat," Reborn commented to himself as Gokudera quickly jumped down as well and worried about his future boss like a mother.
Speaking of mother, good that Nana wasn't noticing any of that, courtesy to the kids distracting her.
Just as Tsuna managed to shakily stand up with his right hand man's help, Ryohei returned with a jump over the same wall.
After calming his breath slightly, he clenched his fists and roared to the sky yet again.
"You can't run away forever! I will get you, I extremely promise!"
It was telling Reborn how used this town was to Ryohei that the boxer's tantrum didn't wake anyone up.
Anyway, the bomber glared at the sun guardian and jabbed his finger into his chest after angrily walking over to hm.
"How dare you endanger the Tenth like that?!" He snarled and Ryohei was about to retort angrily, before the words reached his brain.
Immediately he turned to the sky guardian and bowed in a ninety degree angle.
"I'm sorry, but I was too angry! Extremely forgive me!"
"It-it's okay. Just a scratch anyway..." Tsuna said with a strained smile, much to Reborn's approval, before his eyes widened in shock. "I need to talk to Kyo-"
"And then what?" Reborn interrupted coldly, startling the kids. The hitman sighed mentally.
Just when he got a plus point too.
Having their confused attention now, the Arcobaleno stood up and paced forward while readjusting his head slightly in order to darken his eyes.
"You heard the other brat. Kyoko already knows. Nothing you can do will make her stay out of this now."
Tsuna and Ryohei exchanged a knowing look of frustration, while Gokudera scratched his head in confusion.
Natural, considering that Ryohei was her brother and Tsuna her whatever he was and therefore would know her better.
With that, annoying impulse of students averted. For now.
Still, after a slight pause, the no good student gritted his teeth and gestured to the spot where Obsidian was in agitation.
"How-How could someone do that?! She doesn't belong to this world! The mafia and all that!"
"I could say the same about you and you turned out okay enough," Reborn replied flatly. The teenager opened his mouth to object, but closed it again, conceding to the hitman's point.
Then he stared to the ground like a kicked puppy. Like always.
Reborn mentally sighed and tipped his hat.
Only this one time, he would give Tsuna some slack and give him a lesson without any pain.
"One advice as a man. Have more faith in the one you love," the mafioso said in a cool tone, turning around and stared to the sky.
The sky Luce once belonged to.
Quickly, the memory was buried back into his heart.
It would only hurt him if he got lost in his past.
On the other hand, hearing his student have a mental meltdown as his mouth made a repetition of nonsense noises, Reborn considered a flashback just to avoid hearing Tsuna.
Surprisingly, the boxer didn't react to anything of what the hitman said.
Probably because he seemed to be busy imagining his fist on Obsdian's face when Reborn turned around to see his very funny frown.
Good, avoided teenage drama.
"W-w-w-what are you talking about?!" Tsuna finally managed to stutter out, much to the confusion to the storm and sun guardian.
Mentally, the Arcobaleno reaffirmed his assessment that he was surrounded by dense dumbasses.
Anyway, time to lecture him. Frown set in face, Reborn stared at his student, who cowered at his gaze.
"Obsidian said it would be easier to protect her when she is around, correct?" Reborn asked slightly annoyed and Tsuna bit his lip.
"Well, maybe-"
The hitman smacked his student with a rock before he could finish and cross his arms with a dry expression.
"I agree with him. Also, if you don't want to see her hurt, just protect her. Easy as that." A small smirk appeared on the baby's face. "Also, better chances to get her to fall for you."
This time, Tsuna's reaction was more subdued, as he covered his face and averted his gaze.
But Reborn saw the small, giddy smile on his face like that of a school girl.
The boy began to consider it. Good.
A mafia boss needed a strong wife.
And Ryohei did not register any of that, as he took a calming breath with closed eyes and held his right fist in front of his own face.
"I extremely cannot forgive this guy for involving her..." Eyes snapped open and he punched forward, creating a small wind blast as a feral grin appeared. "But I see the positive side! I will beat him up after his own match! I extremely promise that!"
"Let's hope the girl will be good enough for the tenth..." The bomber muttered, but immediately he got lifted by an enraged boxer.
"Are you saying my little sister isn't good enough for this extreme team?!"
"Weren't you against it moments ago, idiot?!"
"Guys, stop it!"
Tuning out the chaos in front of him, Reborn turned to the sky.
It looked like it was going to rain tomorrow.
The question was...who will the rain bless?
Reborn slightly frowned.
Normally he would like all guardians of his protege to win. But...
If Takeshi and this...Obsidian would win, Tsuna wouldn't even need to fight, since they would win by default.
A small part of Reborn hoped that one of them would lose, so that his protege could show off his training.
He needed something to brag about to Colonello or else the idiot will be more annoying than usual.
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Chapter 5.1
- Location
- Germany
Chapter 5.1
"Am I the only one who thinks that the Varia is kind of incompetent?"
To be honest, I knew on some level to talk shit about your future opponent was not always a good thing. But damn, I needed some comfort as Mukuro's henchmen and I walked to the Namimori Middle School's gym.
It wasn't the first time the four of us traveled to the school, since we came to observe the Rain battle. Therefore, we didn't get lost again and had to rely on my aura sensing to find the damn place.
Anyway, Rain battle. Takeshi won against the long haired swordsman Squalo and during my role as a spectator, I could see a lot of stuff, which led to my sentence now.
Also, because I wanted to distract myself from the fact that it was my turn now to fight against a super powered mafioso.
Hurray.
Neither Ken nor Chikusa replied, very content on focusing to get to the place and get out as soon as possible. Luckily, Chrome tilted her head in confusion, almost no nervousness on her face.
"What do you mean?" She asked in a quiet tone, but my ears were already accustomed to her usual volume. I slowed down a little, letting the other two guys walk at the front and turned to Chrome to my right.
"I'm a noob at fighting and even I can see several occasions they could've killed their opponents but didn't because of arrogance," I elaborated with a small frown. The girl blankly stared towards the front.
By now, I knew it was her thinking face.
Anyway, let me explain a little what I meant.
Sun fight. If the sun glass guy whose name I forgot didn't spend so much talking, he could have smashed Ryohei's bones into dust with constant attacks.
Storm fight. While Gokudera didn't notice the wire stuff, easy to just cut his throat with them.
Rain fight. Squalo could have used a bunch of killer techniques and instead only used one or two.
I did not have to explain the lightning battle.
Long story short, underestimation at its finest.
"I didn't notice that before," she muttered, staring at the ground in contemplation and I nodded in approval.
"For people who seemingly want those rings so much, they are playing around way too much," I said with a chuckle and crossed my hands behind my head.
"Is that bad?" Chrome inquired, tilting her head. I let out a snort and waved my hand in front of me.
"Hell no, it's perfect for me." I shrugged. "It's just...for being called Vongola's deadliest assassins, they are bad at being...well, deadly assassins."
"They are still stronger and faster than you," Ken said loudly in a bored tone, turning his head slightly to glance at me.
My shoulders slumped a little and Chrome's feather light pats on my back cheered me up only by a little.
He was an experienced fighter in comparison to me, so he knew what he was talking about. Nothing to object there.
"Why don't I have anime growth like Tsuna and the rest?" I sighed out, before straightening up. No sense in going into a fight while feeling down.
Speaking of anime, I explained the trio with me about the whole multiverse thing. Why you ask?
Because it was not such a big deal in my eyes. So there were more universes. Not that it would affect them in any way.
What did surprise me was that the fact that their universe was a manga in my universe didn't bother them much.
Or rather, they didn't really give a damn.
Lucky me, because I had no motivation in having others go through an existential crisis because of such a stupid reason.
"It's still weird to...imagine our world as an...a-anime..." Chrome's hesitant voice broke me out of my musings and I shrugged as I gave her a nonchalant stare.
"Not really that hard to believe. You can make fiction out of everything." I paused for a moment, before moving on and scratched my chin in thought. "Speaking of fiction, I wonder if I can get good enough with illusions to make fiction alive."
"You...could. Maybe," she muttered, yet her mouth corners twitched slightly after a small thoughtful expression of hers. I smiled back.
Guess the two of us had a goal to reach for.
"You always talk that much before a fight?" Ken asked with a small sneer, while Chikusa only readjusted his glasses to show that he asked the same question.
I shrugged without much care, used to their antics.
"Considering I'm at this for only a few days, I have no idea. I probably do," I replied, scratching the back of my head as I delved into my memories for a moment.
Huh, couldn't really think of a situation where I talked more when I'm nervous. Usually it was the other way around.
I frowned slightly. That was weird.
"By the way, you didn't stutter or anything so far. You sure your head is screwed on right?"
I stood still for a moment, eyes widening momentarily. Then I cupped my chin before handwaving Chrome's concern and continued walking after muttering "Who knows." Seeing that I was deep in thought, they all ignored that short pause.
Now that animal boy mentioned it…I did not stutter at all. Nor do I felt the usual stone in my throat when I'm nervous. Coupled with my previous thoughts, that meant that I was not the same person before my first death. Not completely.
Either I managed to have the shounen rate of development in terms of confidence or…
Somebody fucked with my brain while I was sleeping.
Considering I knew the next best person after a god in this universe, I strongly suspected the latter. He did have bullshit illusions skills, so mental manipulation shouldn't be beyond him.
…
I shouldn't be so okay with that in a moral sense, but hey! More charisma stats for me!
...What? If you get your social faults removed, you would be happy as well.
Anywho, when I finished those thoughts, we were right in front of the generic looking school gym, light coming out of the open entrance in front of us. I took a deep breath and put on a nervous grin as I put my hands on my hips.
"Anyone wanna wish me good luck?" I asked, sweat already running down my head.
Chikusa simply nodded.
"You'll need it," Ken said with a snort.
"I have faith in you and Lord Mukuro's training," Chrome said in room volume, which was her equivalent of a shout. Considering that her eye was more open than usual and that her back was straightened up, I think it was her attempt of cheering me on.
…
Well, that was the best I expected from a bunch of socially unskilled misfits.
It was sad that I was one of them.
With that done, the two boys entered the gym and I followed them. But then a tug at my sleeve made me stop. Before I could turn to Chrome, I felt something wet on my skin.
My face heating up, I snapped my head to her, who just backed off with one of her rare, open smiles.
She kissed me on the right cheek, I realized and that made me very nervous.
"Uhm...t-thanks," I stuttered for the first time in this day and covered the spot she kissed. The girl nodded, but lowered her gaze.
"Be careful, Sid," she whispered before letting go of my sleeve and entering the building.
I on the other hand stood there for a moment. This was...not what I expected of Chrome. To show so much concern for me and to show her emotions like that. The fact that she used the abbreviation as a sign of closeness...I thought that because of her previous life she wouldn't be able to form friendship that fast.
Was it because Mukuro trained me?
No, I shook my head. Our relationship may have started with that and gave us a head start, but our friendship was based on our actions and personalities alone.
It wasn't like we were best frieds forever, but...Our bond was close enough that we could worry about each other. And I did care for her despite our short time together.
It sounded very cheesy but I didn't want to disappoint her nor did I want to see her hurt.
The fact that I had a friend in Chrome...I couldn't help but laugh childishly as I removed my head from the kissed spot.
I really like friendship. It made me feel fuzzy. It wasn't a thing that I had a lot in my life.
And the fuzziness was gone at the sight of the gym's interior.
"Am I the only one who thinks that the Varia is kind of incompetent?"
To be honest, I knew on some level to talk shit about your future opponent was not always a good thing. But damn, I needed some comfort as Mukuro's henchmen and I walked to the Namimori Middle School's gym.
It wasn't the first time the four of us traveled to the school, since we came to observe the Rain battle. Therefore, we didn't get lost again and had to rely on my aura sensing to find the damn place.
Anyway, Rain battle. Takeshi won against the long haired swordsman Squalo and during my role as a spectator, I could see a lot of stuff, which led to my sentence now.
Also, because I wanted to distract myself from the fact that it was my turn now to fight against a super powered mafioso.
Hurray.
Neither Ken nor Chikusa replied, very content on focusing to get to the place and get out as soon as possible. Luckily, Chrome tilted her head in confusion, almost no nervousness on her face.
"What do you mean?" She asked in a quiet tone, but my ears were already accustomed to her usual volume. I slowed down a little, letting the other two guys walk at the front and turned to Chrome to my right.
"I'm a noob at fighting and even I can see several occasions they could've killed their opponents but didn't because of arrogance," I elaborated with a small frown. The girl blankly stared towards the front.
By now, I knew it was her thinking face.
Anyway, let me explain a little what I meant.
Sun fight. If the sun glass guy whose name I forgot didn't spend so much talking, he could have smashed Ryohei's bones into dust with constant attacks.
Storm fight. While Gokudera didn't notice the wire stuff, easy to just cut his throat with them.
Rain fight. Squalo could have used a bunch of killer techniques and instead only used one or two.
I did not have to explain the lightning battle.
Long story short, underestimation at its finest.
"I didn't notice that before," she muttered, staring at the ground in contemplation and I nodded in approval.
"For people who seemingly want those rings so much, they are playing around way too much," I said with a chuckle and crossed my hands behind my head.
"Is that bad?" Chrome inquired, tilting her head. I let out a snort and waved my hand in front of me.
"Hell no, it's perfect for me." I shrugged. "It's just...for being called Vongola's deadliest assassins, they are bad at being...well, deadly assassins."
"They are still stronger and faster than you," Ken said loudly in a bored tone, turning his head slightly to glance at me.
My shoulders slumped a little and Chrome's feather light pats on my back cheered me up only by a little.
He was an experienced fighter in comparison to me, so he knew what he was talking about. Nothing to object there.
"Why don't I have anime growth like Tsuna and the rest?" I sighed out, before straightening up. No sense in going into a fight while feeling down.
Speaking of anime, I explained the trio with me about the whole multiverse thing. Why you ask?
Because it was not such a big deal in my eyes. So there were more universes. Not that it would affect them in any way.
What did surprise me was that the fact that their universe was a manga in my universe didn't bother them much.
Or rather, they didn't really give a damn.
Lucky me, because I had no motivation in having others go through an existential crisis because of such a stupid reason.
"It's still weird to...imagine our world as an...a-anime..." Chrome's hesitant voice broke me out of my musings and I shrugged as I gave her a nonchalant stare.
"Not really that hard to believe. You can make fiction out of everything." I paused for a moment, before moving on and scratched my chin in thought. "Speaking of fiction, I wonder if I can get good enough with illusions to make fiction alive."
"You...could. Maybe," she muttered, yet her mouth corners twitched slightly after a small thoughtful expression of hers. I smiled back.
Guess the two of us had a goal to reach for.
"You always talk that much before a fight?" Ken asked with a small sneer, while Chikusa only readjusted his glasses to show that he asked the same question.
I shrugged without much care, used to their antics.
"Considering I'm at this for only a few days, I have no idea. I probably do," I replied, scratching the back of my head as I delved into my memories for a moment.
Huh, couldn't really think of a situation where I talked more when I'm nervous. Usually it was the other way around.
I frowned slightly. That was weird.
"By the way, you didn't stutter or anything so far. You sure your head is screwed on right?"
I stood still for a moment, eyes widening momentarily. Then I cupped my chin before handwaving Chrome's concern and continued walking after muttering "Who knows." Seeing that I was deep in thought, they all ignored that short pause.
Now that animal boy mentioned it…I did not stutter at all. Nor do I felt the usual stone in my throat when I'm nervous. Coupled with my previous thoughts, that meant that I was not the same person before my first death. Not completely.
Either I managed to have the shounen rate of development in terms of confidence or…
Somebody fucked with my brain while I was sleeping.
Considering I knew the next best person after a god in this universe, I strongly suspected the latter. He did have bullshit illusions skills, so mental manipulation shouldn't be beyond him.
…
I shouldn't be so okay with that in a moral sense, but hey! More charisma stats for me!
...What? If you get your social faults removed, you would be happy as well.
Anywho, when I finished those thoughts, we were right in front of the generic looking school gym, light coming out of the open entrance in front of us. I took a deep breath and put on a nervous grin as I put my hands on my hips.
"Anyone wanna wish me good luck?" I asked, sweat already running down my head.
Chikusa simply nodded.
"You'll need it," Ken said with a snort.
"I have faith in you and Lord Mukuro's training," Chrome said in room volume, which was her equivalent of a shout. Considering that her eye was more open than usual and that her back was straightened up, I think it was her attempt of cheering me on.
…
Well, that was the best I expected from a bunch of socially unskilled misfits.
It was sad that I was one of them.
With that done, the two boys entered the gym and I followed them. But then a tug at my sleeve made me stop. Before I could turn to Chrome, I felt something wet on my skin.
My face heating up, I snapped my head to her, who just backed off with one of her rare, open smiles.
She kissed me on the right cheek, I realized and that made me very nervous.
"Uhm...t-thanks," I stuttered for the first time in this day and covered the spot she kissed. The girl nodded, but lowered her gaze.
"Be careful, Sid," she whispered before letting go of my sleeve and entering the building.
I on the other hand stood there for a moment. This was...not what I expected of Chrome. To show so much concern for me and to show her emotions like that. The fact that she used the abbreviation as a sign of closeness...I thought that because of her previous life she wouldn't be able to form friendship that fast.
Was it because Mukuro trained me?
No, I shook my head. Our relationship may have started with that and gave us a head start, but our friendship was based on our actions and personalities alone.
It wasn't like we were best frieds forever, but...Our bond was close enough that we could worry about each other. And I did care for her despite our short time together.
It sounded very cheesy but I didn't want to disappoint her nor did I want to see her hurt.
The fact that I had a friend in Chrome...I couldn't help but laugh childishly as I removed my head from the kissed spot.
I really like friendship. It made me feel fuzzy. It wasn't a thing that I had a lot in my life.
And the fuzziness was gone at the sight of the gym's interior.
Chapter 5.2
- Location
- Germany
Chapter 5.2
As I entered the building, all occupants stared at me with different kinds of emotions.
Most of them were some degrees of annoyance.
On the other side of the place were the most punk looking group I ever saw personally.
Giant gasmask like robot, bandaged blonde guy with a crown, slightly scarred, spiky haired boss and floating baby, all in black.
And all of them sneered at me, with the exception of the robot.
The rest of the team was probably at the hospital, more dead than alive.
It wasn't the Varia I was concerned of the most at the moment though.
Tsuna and the others were glaring at me in various degrees. Well, except for Takeshi, who looked around in confusion before wincing because of his bandaged injuries.
Right...they would still be angry at me.
But two people caught my eyes the most and I immediately walked towards them.
Kyoko waved at me cheerfully, while Hana raised her arm as a greeting. With Chrome next to them, I assumed they shared some greetings before I came in last.
Before I could greet them back, Ryohei cut into my path, hands curled into fists. I gulped, not wanting to get punched right before a death match.
Luckiyl, it didn't come to that.
"Brother, you promised," Kyoko admonished her brother with crossed arms just as he opened his mouth. He sent his sister a look that almost looked like a sad puppy. Her frown only intensified, so he let out a sigh before pointing a finger at me with a glare.
"This isn't over yet!"
I bit my lip as he stomped off before turning back to the girls. Kyoko laughed sheepishly, scratching her cheek while Hana rolled her eyes. Chrome on the other hand let out a sigh of relief that nothing happened.
I nodded slowly and took a deep breath.
"So...still angry I guess," I said lamely. Then I blankly raised my hand. "By the way, hi."
The mist girl smiled cheerfully and nodded.
Repeat that sentence in your head. It's still super weird.
On the other hand, said girl's best friend snorted and rolled her eyes before sending a frown at me.
"Yeah, and they were yelling at us too. Thanks, really."
I raised my arms in defense, slightly taken aback by her harsh tone.
"Hey, not my fault the super baby tricked me." I paused, then tilted my head as I lowered my hands. "Did the talk go well at least?"
At that, the two social girls in front of me shared a knowing look, their smirks appearing a little bit sinister.
Naturally, Chrome and I took a step back, keeping the two students between us.
"Kyoko is very good at convincing others. As am I. We are both in," Hana stated smugly, crossing her arms with a prideful expression.
I couldn't help but smirk back.
"Told ya, sun and mist. Perfect match." I put my right hand on my hip. "How is the training going?"
"Rather well. You and Chrome are good teachers!" Kyoko exclaimed, clasping her hands in delight.
Chrome and blushed at the same time. The former averted her eyes, clutching her trident closer to herself, while I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
I was beginning to wonder if the two of us were on the same wavelength.
Questions for later.
"T-thanks..." I muttered before clearing my throat. As their amusement began to grow in their faces, I crossed my arms, a skeptical look on my red face. "Why are you here anyway?"
"You dragged us into this freak show of Tsuna's life. Might as well have first row seats instead of second hand information," Hana said, casually waving her hand. I frowned slightly.
"Also!" Kyoko sent her friend a glare, who shrugged without care. Then, the former smoothly switched over to a smile when she faced me. "We are here to cheer you on!"
"I'll need it," I whined, shoulders slumping down again. But before my head could follow that motion, I felt warm hands grasping my cheeks. Moments later, my gaze was forced up to look directly into the heated eyes of Kyoko.
As if I didn't feel embarrassed enough. Worse of all, I could not look away, such a pull her eyes had.
And I could feel the anger of others sweep over my back. Probably Ryohei.
Or maybe Tsuna. He did have a crush on her.
"Don't talk like that! You are a good illusionist!" She exclaimed loudly, pouting in cute anger.
"Good in the sense of mediocre, yes. Chrome, my opponent, hell, even you are better than what I can do at the moment," I replied in a clear, deadpan tone despite my slightly squished face.
A part of me knew I shouldn't admit it so freely in ear range of my enemy. But at the moment, most of me wanted to make sure that the girl holding my face was not disillusioned, pun not intended.
My courage left my face when I saw the most terrifying sight ever.
Kyoko's blank expression.
"Obsidian, talk after me," she said in a calm tone that felt like a blizzard over my spine. "I am good and will not lose."
"Really?" As her blank stare somehow intensified, I sighed. "Ugh, fine." I averted my gaze and began to mutter. "I am good and will not lose."
Instead of pacifying her, my words only made her pout harder.
"Louder!" She yelled, her voice echoing through the hall.
"I am good and will not lose!" I yelled back in response, straightening up in reflex. Immediately, her hands left my face and she crossed them behind him with a cheerful smile.
"That's the spirit!"
The one eighty should have bothered me more. But instead, I smiled nervously back, feeling energized from that little exchange.
I already felt better. Kyoko really had a way with-
…
I forgot her subtlety in manipulating me. Again, she managed to cheer me up with ease with me barely noticing.
Goddamn, she was good!
Still, despite that boggling my mind, I turned to Hana, who simply smirked as she leaned at the wall next to Chrome.
"Any words of encouragement as well?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah." She pointed at me. "Do the stuff you are more comfortable with, no matter how stupid it looks like."
"You mean I shouldn't do awesome eye tricks because I am not that good at it?" I asked in hesitation and the sun girl shrugged casually.
"If you think that, sure, why not."
I raised my finger. Then I lowered it again, my forehead wrinkling in thought as Kyoko walked over to her best friend and stood next to her.
Actually...Hana had a good point.
Why should I have to focus on the stuff usual illusionists do? If it didn't suit me, it didn't suit me. I should use the kinds of illusions that fit me better.
Though...I did not know what fit me better.
…
No better place for experiments than the battle field I guess.
I was sure that was a stupid thing to believe, but it was the best I could do.
"So, not only are you Mukuro's students, you are also buddy buddy with his mooks?"
Hayato's grumpy voice shook me out of my musings and I turned to see Tsuna and the dynamite guy approaching us.
I shrugged, somehow not feeling as intimidated as last time, suppressing my own amusement that the future mafia boss visibly shriveled at Kyoko's glare of disapproval.
"Actually, only with Chrome over there. The other two are..." I paused and turned to the two thugs in question as I gestured between us. "What are we exactly?"
"People who can get along," Chikusa replied in his usual blank tone while Ken scoffed. I nodded and turned back to the two future Vongola guardians.
"That. We are that." A nervous grin appeared on my face as I raised an eyebrow. "We cool, right?"
The storm guardian swiftly reached for his pockets, but surprisingly Tsuna raised his hand and shook his head when he made eye contact.
With great reluctance, the right hand man obeyed.
While I blinked owlishly at that show of leadership, the sky guardian crossed his arms and frowned at me.
Which looked more like an adorable pout, only beaten by Kyoko.
"I'm still mad at you for dragging them in." He let out a sigh and looked to the ground. "At least Haru doesn't know..."
"Ah."
I hit my hand with a fist, ignoring the confusion of the others around me and the growing horror on the future mafia boss' face as a light bulb activated visibly in my face.
"Completely forgot about her..." I muttered and scratched my chin. "Probably should find out what her flame is before I leave."
"Y-you can't!"
Despite of the fact that his shout startled me a little, I gave him the coldest glare I could muster. To my pleasant surprise, his indignation changed to a scared expression and a small meep. Before the explosives expert could move, I snorted in a dry manner.
"Why? So that she can be cannon fodder and need constant protection?" Hayato stopped, wide eyes directed at me from everywhere as I put my right hand on my hip and poked Tsuna's chest with my left index finger. "Tsuna, listen. Even if I would have permanently joined your little group, I would have still told them. Not only for their protection, but also for you."
"Wh-what do you mean?" He stuttered, defiance only a small flicker in his eyes now. I let out a sigh in response.
"You need more allies. You think this will stop after Varia?" I gestured around the room and paused in order for him to reply.
None came.
With that, I crossed my arms and my eyes narrowed.
"The best thing you can do is not avoid being in the mafia. It's to make sure you survive it. And your friends."
Not giving a reply, Tsuna turned around with his head hung low. Hayato followed him moments later, right after glaring at me. But I could feel it was half hearted, my words probably having an impact on him too.
I should feel bad, but it was overshadowed by the good feeling of speaking some wisdom out loud.
Thanks, probable brain washing of Kawahira!
"That's a big change of attitude there," Hana stated in a serious tone and after I turned around Kyoko nodded with a slight frown.
Chrome on the other hand eyed me with worry. Our previous conversation came to memory.
I shrugged with a tired look.
"Pre battle mentality. Can't be a nervous, stuttering wreck." Also, probably mentally indoctrinated, but not everyone needed to know that.
Two people cleared their throats at the same time and I turned around to see the creepy ass referees gesturing to the middle of the field.
In that very field, Viper was floating around, its mouth corners indicating a very displeased expression.
"Enough chit chat. Time is money, so get over here already, brat," the cloaked baby said in a dispassionate tone and I raised an eyebrow at it.
I was surprised that it took so long for Viper and the referees to lose their patience.
"Let us do the thing!" Ryohei exclaimed loudly in response, forgetting all hostility towards me and their little group chuckled or groaned in response, while my side only eyed them in confusion.
I on the other hand waved my hand in front of me as I began to walk towards the arena.
"Sorry, not a fan of that," I said in a lazy tone, ignoring the boxer's indignation.
Despite those words, my inner voice was saying something different at the time.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! You can win, you feel great, you can do this!"
But only after taking a few steps, I felt a tug at my right sleeve.
It spoke volumes of how often Chrome did that, that I knew it was her. Turning to her, I was about to ask what she wanted, when I blinked a few times.
She presented her, or rather Mukuro's, trident to me in her hands to me.
"Take this," she said in a quiet voice, that left no room of objections judging from the small edge in it.
Well, never to say I rejected a friend.
I accepted the gesture, taking the weapon in my hands.
Then, in my right hand, I twirled it a few times and did a few testing jabs and swings with it. I frowned as I loosely held it next to me.
Despite Mukuro's training, the thing felt awkward at best. I could do the basic stuff, but it was nothing to sing about.
Also, in this illusion battle, I did not expect to dish out awesome staff moves anyway. At most, I would use it to jam the tips into the baby's brain.
Still, a weapon was better than nothing. Well, unless I was a martial artist pro like Ryohei. But I was not, so I solemnly accepted the trident.
I nodded towards my friend with a soft smile.
"You'll get it back, I promise."
"Come back with it," Chrome replied with a frown, making me chuckle slightly. Her frown intensified, but I already turned around by then.
Guess I was on the same level as a trident then.
With that mental joke done, I reaffirmed my gratitude in my mind for this friendship and threw my left fist up with a grin. Moments later, I let it fall down and let out a calming breath.
I shouldn't be touched at this, but I was.
Best to channel those positive feelings into stabbing the shit out of Viper.
With the trident in my hand, I walked to the center of the gym.
Stopping when there were about three meters distance between us, I cracked my neck and glared at the floating baby, the pressure on my weapon increasing.
"The Mist Battle shall commence now!"
As I entered the building, all occupants stared at me with different kinds of emotions.
Most of them were some degrees of annoyance.
On the other side of the place were the most punk looking group I ever saw personally.
Giant gasmask like robot, bandaged blonde guy with a crown, slightly scarred, spiky haired boss and floating baby, all in black.
And all of them sneered at me, with the exception of the robot.
The rest of the team was probably at the hospital, more dead than alive.
It wasn't the Varia I was concerned of the most at the moment though.
Tsuna and the others were glaring at me in various degrees. Well, except for Takeshi, who looked around in confusion before wincing because of his bandaged injuries.
Right...they would still be angry at me.
But two people caught my eyes the most and I immediately walked towards them.
Kyoko waved at me cheerfully, while Hana raised her arm as a greeting. With Chrome next to them, I assumed they shared some greetings before I came in last.
Before I could greet them back, Ryohei cut into my path, hands curled into fists. I gulped, not wanting to get punched right before a death match.
Luckiyl, it didn't come to that.
"Brother, you promised," Kyoko admonished her brother with crossed arms just as he opened his mouth. He sent his sister a look that almost looked like a sad puppy. Her frown only intensified, so he let out a sigh before pointing a finger at me with a glare.
"This isn't over yet!"
I bit my lip as he stomped off before turning back to the girls. Kyoko laughed sheepishly, scratching her cheek while Hana rolled her eyes. Chrome on the other hand let out a sigh of relief that nothing happened.
I nodded slowly and took a deep breath.
"So...still angry I guess," I said lamely. Then I blankly raised my hand. "By the way, hi."
The mist girl smiled cheerfully and nodded.
Repeat that sentence in your head. It's still super weird.
On the other hand, said girl's best friend snorted and rolled her eyes before sending a frown at me.
"Yeah, and they were yelling at us too. Thanks, really."
I raised my arms in defense, slightly taken aback by her harsh tone.
"Hey, not my fault the super baby tricked me." I paused, then tilted my head as I lowered my hands. "Did the talk go well at least?"
At that, the two social girls in front of me shared a knowing look, their smirks appearing a little bit sinister.
Naturally, Chrome and I took a step back, keeping the two students between us.
"Kyoko is very good at convincing others. As am I. We are both in," Hana stated smugly, crossing her arms with a prideful expression.
I couldn't help but smirk back.
"Told ya, sun and mist. Perfect match." I put my right hand on my hip. "How is the training going?"
"Rather well. You and Chrome are good teachers!" Kyoko exclaimed, clasping her hands in delight.
Chrome and blushed at the same time. The former averted her eyes, clutching her trident closer to herself, while I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
I was beginning to wonder if the two of us were on the same wavelength.
Questions for later.
"T-thanks..." I muttered before clearing my throat. As their amusement began to grow in their faces, I crossed my arms, a skeptical look on my red face. "Why are you here anyway?"
"You dragged us into this freak show of Tsuna's life. Might as well have first row seats instead of second hand information," Hana said, casually waving her hand. I frowned slightly.
"Also!" Kyoko sent her friend a glare, who shrugged without care. Then, the former smoothly switched over to a smile when she faced me. "We are here to cheer you on!"
"I'll need it," I whined, shoulders slumping down again. But before my head could follow that motion, I felt warm hands grasping my cheeks. Moments later, my gaze was forced up to look directly into the heated eyes of Kyoko.
As if I didn't feel embarrassed enough. Worse of all, I could not look away, such a pull her eyes had.
And I could feel the anger of others sweep over my back. Probably Ryohei.
Or maybe Tsuna. He did have a crush on her.
"Don't talk like that! You are a good illusionist!" She exclaimed loudly, pouting in cute anger.
"Good in the sense of mediocre, yes. Chrome, my opponent, hell, even you are better than what I can do at the moment," I replied in a clear, deadpan tone despite my slightly squished face.
A part of me knew I shouldn't admit it so freely in ear range of my enemy. But at the moment, most of me wanted to make sure that the girl holding my face was not disillusioned, pun not intended.
My courage left my face when I saw the most terrifying sight ever.
Kyoko's blank expression.
"Obsidian, talk after me," she said in a calm tone that felt like a blizzard over my spine. "I am good and will not lose."
"Really?" As her blank stare somehow intensified, I sighed. "Ugh, fine." I averted my gaze and began to mutter. "I am good and will not lose."
Instead of pacifying her, my words only made her pout harder.
"Louder!" She yelled, her voice echoing through the hall.
"I am good and will not lose!" I yelled back in response, straightening up in reflex. Immediately, her hands left my face and she crossed them behind him with a cheerful smile.
"That's the spirit!"
The one eighty should have bothered me more. But instead, I smiled nervously back, feeling energized from that little exchange.
I already felt better. Kyoko really had a way with-
…
I forgot her subtlety in manipulating me. Again, she managed to cheer me up with ease with me barely noticing.
Goddamn, she was good!
Still, despite that boggling my mind, I turned to Hana, who simply smirked as she leaned at the wall next to Chrome.
"Any words of encouragement as well?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah." She pointed at me. "Do the stuff you are more comfortable with, no matter how stupid it looks like."
"You mean I shouldn't do awesome eye tricks because I am not that good at it?" I asked in hesitation and the sun girl shrugged casually.
"If you think that, sure, why not."
I raised my finger. Then I lowered it again, my forehead wrinkling in thought as Kyoko walked over to her best friend and stood next to her.
Actually...Hana had a good point.
Why should I have to focus on the stuff usual illusionists do? If it didn't suit me, it didn't suit me. I should use the kinds of illusions that fit me better.
Though...I did not know what fit me better.
…
No better place for experiments than the battle field I guess.
I was sure that was a stupid thing to believe, but it was the best I could do.
"So, not only are you Mukuro's students, you are also buddy buddy with his mooks?"
Hayato's grumpy voice shook me out of my musings and I turned to see Tsuna and the dynamite guy approaching us.
I shrugged, somehow not feeling as intimidated as last time, suppressing my own amusement that the future mafia boss visibly shriveled at Kyoko's glare of disapproval.
"Actually, only with Chrome over there. The other two are..." I paused and turned to the two thugs in question as I gestured between us. "What are we exactly?"
"People who can get along," Chikusa replied in his usual blank tone while Ken scoffed. I nodded and turned back to the two future Vongola guardians.
"That. We are that." A nervous grin appeared on my face as I raised an eyebrow. "We cool, right?"
The storm guardian swiftly reached for his pockets, but surprisingly Tsuna raised his hand and shook his head when he made eye contact.
With great reluctance, the right hand man obeyed.
While I blinked owlishly at that show of leadership, the sky guardian crossed his arms and frowned at me.
Which looked more like an adorable pout, only beaten by Kyoko.
"I'm still mad at you for dragging them in." He let out a sigh and looked to the ground. "At least Haru doesn't know..."
"Ah."
I hit my hand with a fist, ignoring the confusion of the others around me and the growing horror on the future mafia boss' face as a light bulb activated visibly in my face.
"Completely forgot about her..." I muttered and scratched my chin. "Probably should find out what her flame is before I leave."
"Y-you can't!"
Despite of the fact that his shout startled me a little, I gave him the coldest glare I could muster. To my pleasant surprise, his indignation changed to a scared expression and a small meep. Before the explosives expert could move, I snorted in a dry manner.
"Why? So that she can be cannon fodder and need constant protection?" Hayato stopped, wide eyes directed at me from everywhere as I put my right hand on my hip and poked Tsuna's chest with my left index finger. "Tsuna, listen. Even if I would have permanently joined your little group, I would have still told them. Not only for their protection, but also for you."
"Wh-what do you mean?" He stuttered, defiance only a small flicker in his eyes now. I let out a sigh in response.
"You need more allies. You think this will stop after Varia?" I gestured around the room and paused in order for him to reply.
None came.
With that, I crossed my arms and my eyes narrowed.
"The best thing you can do is not avoid being in the mafia. It's to make sure you survive it. And your friends."
Not giving a reply, Tsuna turned around with his head hung low. Hayato followed him moments later, right after glaring at me. But I could feel it was half hearted, my words probably having an impact on him too.
I should feel bad, but it was overshadowed by the good feeling of speaking some wisdom out loud.
Thanks, probable brain washing of Kawahira!
"That's a big change of attitude there," Hana stated in a serious tone and after I turned around Kyoko nodded with a slight frown.
Chrome on the other hand eyed me with worry. Our previous conversation came to memory.
I shrugged with a tired look.
"Pre battle mentality. Can't be a nervous, stuttering wreck." Also, probably mentally indoctrinated, but not everyone needed to know that.
Two people cleared their throats at the same time and I turned around to see the creepy ass referees gesturing to the middle of the field.
In that very field, Viper was floating around, its mouth corners indicating a very displeased expression.
"Enough chit chat. Time is money, so get over here already, brat," the cloaked baby said in a dispassionate tone and I raised an eyebrow at it.
I was surprised that it took so long for Viper and the referees to lose their patience.
"Let us do the thing!" Ryohei exclaimed loudly in response, forgetting all hostility towards me and their little group chuckled or groaned in response, while my side only eyed them in confusion.
I on the other hand waved my hand in front of me as I began to walk towards the arena.
"Sorry, not a fan of that," I said in a lazy tone, ignoring the boxer's indignation.
Despite those words, my inner voice was saying something different at the time.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! You can win, you feel great, you can do this!"
But only after taking a few steps, I felt a tug at my right sleeve.
It spoke volumes of how often Chrome did that, that I knew it was her. Turning to her, I was about to ask what she wanted, when I blinked a few times.
She presented her, or rather Mukuro's, trident to me in her hands to me.
"Take this," she said in a quiet voice, that left no room of objections judging from the small edge in it.
Well, never to say I rejected a friend.
I accepted the gesture, taking the weapon in my hands.
Then, in my right hand, I twirled it a few times and did a few testing jabs and swings with it. I frowned as I loosely held it next to me.
Despite Mukuro's training, the thing felt awkward at best. I could do the basic stuff, but it was nothing to sing about.
Also, in this illusion battle, I did not expect to dish out awesome staff moves anyway. At most, I would use it to jam the tips into the baby's brain.
Still, a weapon was better than nothing. Well, unless I was a martial artist pro like Ryohei. But I was not, so I solemnly accepted the trident.
I nodded towards my friend with a soft smile.
"You'll get it back, I promise."
"Come back with it," Chrome replied with a frown, making me chuckle slightly. Her frown intensified, but I already turned around by then.
Guess I was on the same level as a trident then.
With that mental joke done, I reaffirmed my gratitude in my mind for this friendship and threw my left fist up with a grin. Moments later, I let it fall down and let out a calming breath.
I shouldn't be touched at this, but I was.
Best to channel those positive feelings into stabbing the shit out of Viper.
With the trident in my hand, I walked to the center of the gym.
Stopping when there were about three meters distance between us, I cracked my neck and glared at the floating baby, the pressure on my weapon increasing.
"The Mist Battle shall commence now!"
Chapter 5.3
- Location
- Germany
Chapter 5.3
The moment the announcement sounded, my body tensed up as I assumed my battle stance, the tip of my weapon pointed at the flying baby.
Seconds passed and I realized that the Arcobaleno didn't make a move, neither physically nor mentally.
Considering its previous words of wanting to hurry this up, it was weird. Maybe Viper wanted to see what I was capable of?
If that was the case, good. That meant I could start first.
I took a deep breath and my eyes narrowed as if I fell into a trance.
Alright, its advantage is experience. My advantage is knowing what flames do, that Viper is not at full power yet and that I know what illusion it tends to use.
With that in mind I focused on what I wanted. What I truly wanted.
I wanted to survive. For that, I wanted to win.
This process only took a moment and I could feel the power channeling into the ring of hell. Reacting to my call, it ignited in an indigo flame.
"A dying will flame?!"
I ignored the male exclamation and closed my left eye. The familiar heat of hell burned in it.
I didn't even flinch when I opened it again, the red eye with the kanji symbol of the number one appearing in it.
Preparations complete. The world opened up to me, as both the eye and the flame heightened my senses. A weird sense of calm waved over me, but nevertheless, I grinned maliciously at the shock of Viper's face, despite the hood.
"That's Mukuro's Path of Naraka!" Tsuna, I think, exclaimed in shock and my eye twitched slightly.
"With the mist flame and the Path of Naraka, his illusions will be first class!" A voice I didn't recognize yelled out. For a moment, I was confused. But judging from the brash tone and the fact that it sounded rather young, I assumed it was the Arcobaleno of the Rain, Colonello.
Right, he was there too.
But at the moment, I was more focused on one other thing.
"Would be glad if you didn't tell any more spoilers!" I yelled with slight agitation, yet my eyes and senses did not leave Viper.
The latter regained its wit and huffed proudly, still not making a single move against me.
"Hmph, looks like it won't be too disappointing," it sneered and I bristled.
There was no need to shove my weakness in my face. Time for some punishment.
Intensely, I focused on the hell ring yet again and this time, I opened a lock in my mind.
The moment it clicked, the special property of the Segno ring unveiled itself to me and was under my control, limited as it was.
With only a thought, I erased my presence, making it vanish completely. The less experienced ones in such matter, like Ryohei or Hana didn't notice a difference. But people like Tsuna I could hear gasp in confusion and I could feel the stares of the Arcobaleno in my back.
Just as I tried to go to phase two of my set up, I noticed something weird.
For a moment, the Varia member's gaze flickered all over the place, before settling on me, amusement on its face. I tilted my head in confusion, which caused the floating baby to let out a dry chuckle.
"A decoy? It will only delay the inevitable," it said with a sneer, before focusing its attention back to surveying the area.
I on the other hand, blinked owlishly, frozen in my battle stance.
What decoy?
I wasn't even invisible yet. All I did was erase my presence. I was still standing at the same spot as before.
And already, Viper thought I vanished and created a decoy in less than a split second?
...Huh. Did not expect it to work so well. Maybe the mist Arcobaleno didn't know too much about the Path of Naraka and the Mist Flames?
Better for me.
I took a deep breath and lowered my knees a little. Then I held the trident as if it were a long axe, tips over my right shoulder as my left hand grabbed the lower end and my right hand grabbed the upper end.
With that done, I jumped with all my might, coming up at least a meter and slashed at Viper.
Well, with the bare tips. The damn baby was floating rather high up and I didn't have super human power yet.
Still, it was enough that I could have slashed its face wide open.
Could have, because the moment the baby felt the cold, real metal on its face, it immediately backed off, only having a mini scar at most.
I clicked my tongue as I landed and immediately went back into battle position. But I could not help the grin forming on my face when the baby snapped...its body towards me with rage.
"You didn't have a presence!" Viper shouted, waving his little stubble arms around in agitation.
I shrugged in response, grin growing wider.
"Gee, I wonder why!"
"Cocky brat! You dare sully our art with those half assed martial arts?! Fine! You had your chance! It's my turn now!"
Spreading its arms after his vengeful exclamation, the entire area froze over in an instant. Quickly, the Arcobaleno began to create doppelgangers of itself, each one starting to barf out tentacles at me.
Hokay, Viper was pissed.
And multiplied, but mostly pissed.
As fast as possible, I vanished from their visual senses, becoming completely invisible, before circling the Viper from the right.
To my surprise however, the clones adjusted their aim and the tentacles curved after me.
I clicked my tongue, gritting my teeth as I did my best to outrun and ignore them.
Right, it had ESP or something like that.
There was no way he could pinpoint me without more preparation, but he knew the rough direction I was in.
It was closer than I liked and because of that, the illusions managed to reach me as well, just like the audience.
Taking a glance at the audience, while I tried to pinpoint the real Viper, I winced in sympathy. Some of them were visibly freezing at the sudden area change and I had to admit, it was realistic enough to make one feel that.
Tsuna even flinched back when a tentacle bundle nearly hit him, which meant that they were realistic enough as well.
Thankfully, it was not the first time I had to deal with these things.
"Do you have any idea what Mukuro put me through?!" I yelled and jabbed the trident straight towards the ceiling when I was under one certain clone. Considering the loud yelp and the fact that I could see blood dripping down, I hit it. Shallow, but it was still a hit.
The retaliation attack from Viper as it tried to flee reached my face. But I barely bat an eyebrow, as I jumped back and quickly wiped off the blood with a tissue to make sure that no traces of me were left, before running after the real Arcobaleno.
It was difficult, but I managed to ignore the illusions with the "fuck that shit" attitude. I knew for a fact that there was not Alaska inside the gym. I knew that there was only one real Viper.
The tentacles were a bit more tricky, but since the Varia member didn't exactly know where I was, I could dodge them.
Still, it was very hard to keep up that attitude of mine. Any big distraction and I would be a goner. Because of that, I took a deep breath, wiped off some sweat of my forehead and calmly followed the panicking baby, who tried to quickly distance itself from me.
Despite Viper's efforts by doing a shuffle strategy with his clones when believing to have a good distance, my eyes were still on the real one, as straining as it was. I smirked at the fact that all those diversions were useless on me as I ran towards him again, ducking under the assault of tentacles.
I had a lock on its presence. Consider it didn't know about my aura sensing it shouldn't be able to fool me with its own illusions. And without being able to see me, it cannot affect me as good.
Still, I needed something to turn the tide.
The flashy stuff wouldn't work. It felt too awkward to use. Using my imagination was not my area of expertise and trying to mimic Mukuro or Chrome would be my downfall, just like Hana said.
Thankfully, there was more to illusions than area distortion. And an example was shown to me right now, in form of an army that all tried to hit me.
Only, I knew I could do better.
Unlike Viper, I had lots of devices to cheat with.
I stood still for a moment, clenching my eyes shut. Then, with a loud yell, I opened them again, before grinning when the hall was completely void of noise.
Viper created a dozen or so clones to confuse me with.
I had triple that number around it to wale on the assassin, some even floating.
I could feel the sweat running down the baby's skin as it frantically looked around.
They were not as real as me, despite Path of Naraka and mist flames…
But they were real enough that they could injure someone with those fake tridents. And they had fake presences, so I could hide among them with ease.
One to zero, creepy baby.
Because I felt petty, I let a random clone pop his head up like a mole as we all blankly stared at the original one.
"Mine."
"Oh, you little-"
"Mine!" I interrupted him with a feral grin, one mirrored with my army of illusion clones.
That was the trigger to start the eruption.
All of my clones only said this one word repeatedly as they zerg rushed the flying baby, tridents waving in the air like an army of cavemen.
It was rather chaotic, since the main 'order' I gave was 'fuck that baby up', but I knew one thing for sure.
Damn, that baby was hard to stab through!
Maybe it was because it was barely as big as my head, but ninety percent of my attacks missed, while the rest didn't get a solid hit in. Some grazes yes, but nothing big.
The worse was, Viper wasn't completely on the defensive. It made sure to disrupt my clones with its own clones and illusions. Since they didn't have my personal willpower, they popped like balloons. Still, I had way more than Viper had, so I could slip through the chaos undetected behind the Arcobaleno.
Gritting my teeth, I quickly transitioned over to a swing, hitting the baby at the head, smacking it against the wall.
The moment the damage was done, the cloaked baby's illusions, clones and ice area, vanished instantly.
But I didn't wait and rushed after the dizzy baby with my army, slowly starting to float away from the ground.
Still moved. Needed to keep going.
Until the damn baby stopped moving.
Still, I couldn't help but smile.
Once I reached it, I could gang up on it with my clones. There was nothing it could d-
It happened in a flash.
I stumbled to the ground, exhaustion striking me like lightning. On my knees and hands, I gasped for breath as my body began to feel heavy all of a sudden. Looking around in panic, I saw that my army was gone.
Then my eyes settled on the audience. And their eyes settled on me.
I snapped my gaze at my own body, checking myself in a frantic manner, physically and spiritually.
I froze like a reindeer in bright headlights when I was done. Just like everyone else was frozen. Ironically only grasshopers cried in the silence of night as I slowly raised my head andstared at Viper in shock, heavy breath ignored as my mind tried to process what just happened.
After a while, despair began to settle in my face.
As much as I wanted to deny it, the evidence was right in front of me.
I ran out of juice already. My presence concealment vanished. I was unable to cast any more illusions.
Memo to self, sense of time was fucked during battle.
I shook my head and grit my teeth as I started to stand up.
Okay, lesson learned. But this didn't mean I could give up. My body could still move-
I couldn't think much after that, because the floating baby began to turn to me and I felt a shiver down my spine, paralyzing me in mind and body because of one simple fact.
Viper was giving me the most terrifying blank look that no baby should ever have. The blood running down from its head did not make it any better.
Okay, let me correct what I said near the beginning.
Now, Viper was pissed.
The moment the announcement sounded, my body tensed up as I assumed my battle stance, the tip of my weapon pointed at the flying baby.
Seconds passed and I realized that the Arcobaleno didn't make a move, neither physically nor mentally.
Considering its previous words of wanting to hurry this up, it was weird. Maybe Viper wanted to see what I was capable of?
If that was the case, good. That meant I could start first.
I took a deep breath and my eyes narrowed as if I fell into a trance.
Alright, its advantage is experience. My advantage is knowing what flames do, that Viper is not at full power yet and that I know what illusion it tends to use.
With that in mind I focused on what I wanted. What I truly wanted.
I wanted to survive. For that, I wanted to win.
This process only took a moment and I could feel the power channeling into the ring of hell. Reacting to my call, it ignited in an indigo flame.
"A dying will flame?!"
I ignored the male exclamation and closed my left eye. The familiar heat of hell burned in it.
I didn't even flinch when I opened it again, the red eye with the kanji symbol of the number one appearing in it.
Preparations complete. The world opened up to me, as both the eye and the flame heightened my senses. A weird sense of calm waved over me, but nevertheless, I grinned maliciously at the shock of Viper's face, despite the hood.
"That's Mukuro's Path of Naraka!" Tsuna, I think, exclaimed in shock and my eye twitched slightly.
"With the mist flame and the Path of Naraka, his illusions will be first class!" A voice I didn't recognize yelled out. For a moment, I was confused. But judging from the brash tone and the fact that it sounded rather young, I assumed it was the Arcobaleno of the Rain, Colonello.
Right, he was there too.
But at the moment, I was more focused on one other thing.
"Would be glad if you didn't tell any more spoilers!" I yelled with slight agitation, yet my eyes and senses did not leave Viper.
The latter regained its wit and huffed proudly, still not making a single move against me.
"Hmph, looks like it won't be too disappointing," it sneered and I bristled.
There was no need to shove my weakness in my face. Time for some punishment.
Intensely, I focused on the hell ring yet again and this time, I opened a lock in my mind.
The moment it clicked, the special property of the Segno ring unveiled itself to me and was under my control, limited as it was.
With only a thought, I erased my presence, making it vanish completely. The less experienced ones in such matter, like Ryohei or Hana didn't notice a difference. But people like Tsuna I could hear gasp in confusion and I could feel the stares of the Arcobaleno in my back.
Just as I tried to go to phase two of my set up, I noticed something weird.
For a moment, the Varia member's gaze flickered all over the place, before settling on me, amusement on its face. I tilted my head in confusion, which caused the floating baby to let out a dry chuckle.
"A decoy? It will only delay the inevitable," it said with a sneer, before focusing its attention back to surveying the area.
I on the other hand, blinked owlishly, frozen in my battle stance.
What decoy?
I wasn't even invisible yet. All I did was erase my presence. I was still standing at the same spot as before.
And already, Viper thought I vanished and created a decoy in less than a split second?
...Huh. Did not expect it to work so well. Maybe the mist Arcobaleno didn't know too much about the Path of Naraka and the Mist Flames?
Better for me.
I took a deep breath and lowered my knees a little. Then I held the trident as if it were a long axe, tips over my right shoulder as my left hand grabbed the lower end and my right hand grabbed the upper end.
With that done, I jumped with all my might, coming up at least a meter and slashed at Viper.
Well, with the bare tips. The damn baby was floating rather high up and I didn't have super human power yet.
Still, it was enough that I could have slashed its face wide open.
Could have, because the moment the baby felt the cold, real metal on its face, it immediately backed off, only having a mini scar at most.
I clicked my tongue as I landed and immediately went back into battle position. But I could not help the grin forming on my face when the baby snapped...its body towards me with rage.
"You didn't have a presence!" Viper shouted, waving his little stubble arms around in agitation.
I shrugged in response, grin growing wider.
"Gee, I wonder why!"
"Cocky brat! You dare sully our art with those half assed martial arts?! Fine! You had your chance! It's my turn now!"
Spreading its arms after his vengeful exclamation, the entire area froze over in an instant. Quickly, the Arcobaleno began to create doppelgangers of itself, each one starting to barf out tentacles at me.
Hokay, Viper was pissed.
And multiplied, but mostly pissed.
As fast as possible, I vanished from their visual senses, becoming completely invisible, before circling the Viper from the right.
To my surprise however, the clones adjusted their aim and the tentacles curved after me.
I clicked my tongue, gritting my teeth as I did my best to outrun and ignore them.
Right, it had ESP or something like that.
There was no way he could pinpoint me without more preparation, but he knew the rough direction I was in.
It was closer than I liked and because of that, the illusions managed to reach me as well, just like the audience.
Taking a glance at the audience, while I tried to pinpoint the real Viper, I winced in sympathy. Some of them were visibly freezing at the sudden area change and I had to admit, it was realistic enough to make one feel that.
Tsuna even flinched back when a tentacle bundle nearly hit him, which meant that they were realistic enough as well.
Thankfully, it was not the first time I had to deal with these things.
"Do you have any idea what Mukuro put me through?!" I yelled and jabbed the trident straight towards the ceiling when I was under one certain clone. Considering the loud yelp and the fact that I could see blood dripping down, I hit it. Shallow, but it was still a hit.
The retaliation attack from Viper as it tried to flee reached my face. But I barely bat an eyebrow, as I jumped back and quickly wiped off the blood with a tissue to make sure that no traces of me were left, before running after the real Arcobaleno.
It was difficult, but I managed to ignore the illusions with the "fuck that shit" attitude. I knew for a fact that there was not Alaska inside the gym. I knew that there was only one real Viper.
The tentacles were a bit more tricky, but since the Varia member didn't exactly know where I was, I could dodge them.
Still, it was very hard to keep up that attitude of mine. Any big distraction and I would be a goner. Because of that, I took a deep breath, wiped off some sweat of my forehead and calmly followed the panicking baby, who tried to quickly distance itself from me.
Despite Viper's efforts by doing a shuffle strategy with his clones when believing to have a good distance, my eyes were still on the real one, as straining as it was. I smirked at the fact that all those diversions were useless on me as I ran towards him again, ducking under the assault of tentacles.
I had a lock on its presence. Consider it didn't know about my aura sensing it shouldn't be able to fool me with its own illusions. And without being able to see me, it cannot affect me as good.
Still, I needed something to turn the tide.
The flashy stuff wouldn't work. It felt too awkward to use. Using my imagination was not my area of expertise and trying to mimic Mukuro or Chrome would be my downfall, just like Hana said.
Thankfully, there was more to illusions than area distortion. And an example was shown to me right now, in form of an army that all tried to hit me.
Only, I knew I could do better.
Unlike Viper, I had lots of devices to cheat with.
I stood still for a moment, clenching my eyes shut. Then, with a loud yell, I opened them again, before grinning when the hall was completely void of noise.
Viper created a dozen or so clones to confuse me with.
I had triple that number around it to wale on the assassin, some even floating.
I could feel the sweat running down the baby's skin as it frantically looked around.
They were not as real as me, despite Path of Naraka and mist flames…
But they were real enough that they could injure someone with those fake tridents. And they had fake presences, so I could hide among them with ease.
One to zero, creepy baby.
Because I felt petty, I let a random clone pop his head up like a mole as we all blankly stared at the original one.
"Mine."
"Oh, you little-"
"Mine!" I interrupted him with a feral grin, one mirrored with my army of illusion clones.
That was the trigger to start the eruption.
All of my clones only said this one word repeatedly as they zerg rushed the flying baby, tridents waving in the air like an army of cavemen.
It was rather chaotic, since the main 'order' I gave was 'fuck that baby up', but I knew one thing for sure.
Damn, that baby was hard to stab through!
Maybe it was because it was barely as big as my head, but ninety percent of my attacks missed, while the rest didn't get a solid hit in. Some grazes yes, but nothing big.
The worse was, Viper wasn't completely on the defensive. It made sure to disrupt my clones with its own clones and illusions. Since they didn't have my personal willpower, they popped like balloons. Still, I had way more than Viper had, so I could slip through the chaos undetected behind the Arcobaleno.
Gritting my teeth, I quickly transitioned over to a swing, hitting the baby at the head, smacking it against the wall.
The moment the damage was done, the cloaked baby's illusions, clones and ice area, vanished instantly.
But I didn't wait and rushed after the dizzy baby with my army, slowly starting to float away from the ground.
Still moved. Needed to keep going.
Until the damn baby stopped moving.
Still, I couldn't help but smile.
Once I reached it, I could gang up on it with my clones. There was nothing it could d-
It happened in a flash.
I stumbled to the ground, exhaustion striking me like lightning. On my knees and hands, I gasped for breath as my body began to feel heavy all of a sudden. Looking around in panic, I saw that my army was gone.
Then my eyes settled on the audience. And their eyes settled on me.
I snapped my gaze at my own body, checking myself in a frantic manner, physically and spiritually.
I froze like a reindeer in bright headlights when I was done. Just like everyone else was frozen. Ironically only grasshopers cried in the silence of night as I slowly raised my head andstared at Viper in shock, heavy breath ignored as my mind tried to process what just happened.
After a while, despair began to settle in my face.
As much as I wanted to deny it, the evidence was right in front of me.
I ran out of juice already. My presence concealment vanished. I was unable to cast any more illusions.
Memo to self, sense of time was fucked during battle.
I shook my head and grit my teeth as I started to stand up.
Okay, lesson learned. But this didn't mean I could give up. My body could still move-
I couldn't think much after that, because the floating baby began to turn to me and I felt a shiver down my spine, paralyzing me in mind and body because of one simple fact.
Viper was giving me the most terrifying blank look that no baby should ever have. The blood running down from its head did not make it any better.
Okay, let me correct what I said near the beginning.
Now, Viper was pissed.
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