It seemed like the Vongola group was attacking Kokuyou Land because Tomoe could hear the damage and chaos going on out there.
Mukuro and the others had gone out and she knew that there was fighting going on. Mukuro wasn't fighting though, she was informed that he was going to meet Tsuna under the guise that he was a captured student.
'Like hell Tsuna will fall for- Actually nevermind, he would with his gullibility and naivety.'
She sighed, biting into the piece of bread they gave her for lunch. "Man..." she looked out the window. "This sucks." 'Well no matter, Tsuna and the others will be coming out of this as the winners anyways.'
"Let's watch it quietly for now," Reborn said after he and Bianchi helped Yamamoto and Lanchia lay down onto a softer space. "The bird should be trained to call for comrades when it's master is down."
"Birds was done in!" the bird squealed, flying around.
"This sure fits that old man's style," Gokudera remarked with an unimpressed face.
"Ah!" Tsuna looked ahead. "It's going for that building!"
"In other words..."
"That's where Rokudo Mukuro is."
"Finally, it's time."
Tomoe let out a yawn, stretching her body along the couch. "Finally! It's time for the final battle."
Mukuro looked down at her with his usual resting face, but his eyes were twitching. "Kufu. Do you mind?"
"Mhm? What?" She raised a brow. "I'm busy laying on the couch."
"I see that, Tomoe, but I need to sit down there for when the tenth boss of Vongola arrives."
"But the couch is comfy." "I need it though."
The two intensely stared at each other and their battle of back and forth continued for a while until they came to a compromise.
"By the way, I apologize for this Tomoe."
"Huh? Apologize for-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence as Mukuro hit the back of her neck, gently knocking her out. "I can't have you interfering with my plans."
(Somewhere, Kyoya's fingers twitched in alarm)
"Looks like he's not in the bowling alley on the second floor," Tsuna said aloud as he, Reborn, and Bianchi looked around. "Let's go on to the third floor. The third floor should be the cinema..." 'Scary.'
Tsuna and Bianchi walked up to a door, pushing the creaky thing open. They flinched when they saw a blue haired teenager sitting on a couch on the other end of the room, sprawled across the couch with their head on their lap was Tomoe.
"I'm very happy that we could meet again," Mukuro said to Tsuna.
"AAAH! It's you!" Tsuna exclaimed as the criminal smirked. "Is this where you're being held?!" He turned back to Bianchi and Reborn. "Ahh, I met this person in the forest earlier. He's a Kokuyou student and a hostage."
"Please come forward slowly. I would like to take some time to get to know you better. Tenth boss of the Vongola," Mukuro said as he caressed Tomoe's head.
"Eh? How did you know I'm Vongola...? And why is Kocho-senpai here...?"
"You're mistaken Tsuna!" Bianchi shouted in alarm.
"That's right. I am the real Rokudo Mukuro," he announced. "And Kocho Tomoe is one of my hostages."
"Wha... HAAAAAH?!" Suddenly the sound of a door closing got their attention and they looked over to see Futa. "Futa! You scared me."
"Looks like you're alright."
Mukuro smirked in amusement as they approached the boy.
"I searched for you after we met earlier," Tsuna said. "It's dangerous here. You better step back."
Futa pulled out a knife. "Fu..." And stabbed Bianchi in the stomach.
She coughed out blood.
"BIANCHI!"
Futa swung the knife at Tsuna, but he dodged, backing away from the child. "Wah! Hey Futa! Oi... What's wrong with you? Put that dangerous thing down!"
"His mind is being controlled," Reborn deduced as he did his best to patch up Bianchi's wound.
"No way! Wake up! Futa! UWAH! Time out already!" Tsuna shouted, but it was no use, making Mukuro amused. "Eeee! What do I do!"
"Kufufufufu. What will you do now, tenth boss of Vongola?"
Tsuna flinched. 'That's right...! I have to go straight for Mukuro!'
"Oh?"
Tomoe stirred, but her eyes remained shut as she felt someone caressing her head.
"Futa!? Oi!" a familiar voice shouted, making her start to acknowledge the world around her. 'Is that Tsuna...? Then the one who's touching me now is... Mukuro?'
"Now, see, you've gone too far. Looks like he's suffering from a clash of wills," Mukuro explained and Tomoe began to listen, pretending to still be sleeping. "I believe he was the first to fall into our hands. We came to Japan in order to find the whereabouts of the Vongola tenth boss, but we didn't have a specific location. Then, we heard a rumor that Futa-kun here was able to recognise the tenth boss and caught him. But, he invoked Omerta and refused to talk. Furthermore, he closed off his heart, and subsequently lost his ranking abilities."
"What did you say?!" Tsuna fussed over the knocked out boy.
"So, given no choice, you used Namimori's fighting strength ranking list that Futa made before to flush out Tsuna and his family, right?" Reborn replied.
"Our plan was a huge success. The Vongola is standing before me now and I additionally found another piece of treasure."
'Another piece of treasure?' Reborn thought to himself, eyes narrowing as he watched Mukuro play with Tomoe's hair, but Tsuna didn't seem to notice as he was focused on Futa. 'He's talking about Kocho?'
"How could you do this to the innocent Futa... Rokudo Mukuro! What do you think people are?!" he shouted, glaring up at him.
He put a finger to his lip, trying to suppress a smile. "Toys... I suppose."
"Damn you... You bastard!"
"Wow, that's really low Mukuro," a voice said, somehow breaking the tension in the room. Everyone's gazes went towards the girl who was laying her head on Mukuro's lap, her brown eyes looking up at him. "Goodmorning, or should I say, good afternoon?"
"Kocho-senpai!"
"Yo Tsu-chan. Good job making it up here I guess." She pushed herself up from his lap, swinging her legs over the couch as she leaned against it. "Man, I feel like I didn't miss much, did I?" Tomoe reached over and poked Mukuro's cheek. "Mukuro you sly bastard."
He gently slapped away her finger from his face. "Kufu, so you're awake now? Don't worry, you didn't miss a lot. Stay seated there Tomoe, I wouldn't want you to get hurt" Mukuro casually replied, standing up as he patted his pants.
"Mhmmmmmmmm 'kay." She threw her arms over the couch, getting comfortable. "Fight-o!"
'What's their connection?' Reborn was still completely in the dark about this mystery. 'Acquaintances? Friends? Comrades? But why is she acting so casual about this? There is definitely a connection.'
Mukuro deadpanned at her before he looked at Tsuna. "Anyhow, do you really think you can go hand to hand directly against me?"
Tsuna ran at him out of anger with a war cry and Mukuro's red eye began to spin as the number changed, something Reborn and Tomoe noted.
'His eye did that in our fight too.'
Mukuro was behind Tsuna in an instant, their backs facing each other as he had a trident in hand.
"Eh?" A cut appeared on his cheek and his chest started to hurt. "Owowowowow- Ouch!"
"What's the matter?" Mukuro mockingly asked, looking over his shoulder at Tsuna who fell to his knees. His red eye glowed.
"Uwaaaah... What the heck happened...?"
Reborn frowned. "He unleashed a terrible onslaught of strikes in the instant he passed by you."
"Oooo, impressive." Tomoe clapped.
Tsuna shakily looked at him. "His eye... It's burning with the dying will flame?!"
"Oh? You see it, do you? It's this aura, rather. The aura of hand to hand fighting skill emitted by the fourth state, the state of shura," Mukuro described.
"The state of shura...? Skill?"
"Do you know of the Six Paths of Reincarnation?" Tomoe tensed.
"The cycle of death and rebirth, you mean?" Reborn summarized. "The state of hell, the state of hungry ghosts, the state of animals, the state of shura, the state of humans, and the state of heaven; which state will you be born into after death?"
Mukuro smirked, clenching his trident closer. "My body has already been through all six paths to Hades in my previous lives and it has all been carved into my memory," he said while looking at Reborn, but his gaze seemed to move across to Tomoe before going back to the student-teacher duo. "The six journeys through Hades have gained my six fighting skills."
"What are you saying?" Tsuna was utterly dumbfounded by his words, not understanding nor believing his story.
"If that really is true, then you are a monster," Reborn stated without a hint of empathy.
"You're in no position to talk," Mukuro retorted. "Cursed baby of the Arcobaleno. Now then, shall I show you my next skill?"
Mukuro hit the butt of his trident against the old floor, making it crumble underneath them.
"Wh-What's this?!" Tsuna screamed, stumbling. "The building is...!"
"Woah!" Tomoe the force made her slip off the couch, lurching forward, trying to plant her feet to the ground. 'Damn- His illusions are amazing and always feel so real. If it weren't for my flames then I'd lose to him every time.'
The ground continued to crumble as they all fell. "AAAHH! Futa! Bianchi! Reborn!" Tsuna fell off the rock he was standing on. "Wahhhhh!" He shut his eyes close only to be slapped in the cheek by Reborn. "BUH!"
"Ouch." Tomoe winced.
"What are you doing Rebo-" Tsuna looked around with a confused expression. "Huh? Eh? Wha...? The... The floor has returned to normal..."
"What you saw was an illusion."
"Wh?! I-I-Illusion?!"
"Kufufu. Not bad." Mukuro raised a brow. "So, you saw through it, Arcobaleno." The teen turned to the brunette. "Yes. That's the first state, the state of hell. A skill to break one's mind through an endless nightmare."
"EEEEEE scary!"
"Having illusions become reality is frightening though, especially since they feel real," Tomoe mumbled under her breath, crossing her arms. "Such a troublesome ability."
"Kufufu. But, I would like to observe the two of you for a little while more. I have seen the connection between you. So, the Arcobaleno now serve the Vongola as mentors, eh?"
"Incorrect. I am Tsuna's home tutor," Reborn corrected in a firm voice.
"Kufufu. I see. That's unique too," Mukuro replied. "However, is the teacher not going to fight? I don't mind even if I have to fight the two of you at once." His gaze moved to Tomoe. "Maybe three."
Tomoe shook her head. "No thanks." She sniffed, lifting her head up high. "I'm a pacifist."
They sweatdropped.
Reborn looked back at the enemy. "It's against the rules."
"Oh? Now that's the reply of a true traditional mafia member," he mocked.
"Furthermore, there's no need for me to do anything. At least not until you defeated my student."
"Wha... Oi! Reborn!"
Mukuro's eye began to spin. "Oho. What a beautiful trusting relationship. Interesting. That's fine with me."
"Snakes!" Tsuna yelped as they appeared out of nowhere and started to surround him. "Eeeee! They're coming! Ah, a-are these illusions as well?!"
"Those are genuine poisonous snakes. If you don't believe me, try getting bitten by one."
"I think that'll discourage him from trying to get bitten," Tomoe remarked, kicking the snake away that tried to bite her. "Snakes are cute when they aren't trying to kill you." She jumped over to Reborn. "Tch. What a pain, these danger noodles."
Mukuro looked at her with a slight frown that she was standing next to Reborn, his enemy. "This skill is from the third state, the state of animals. A person driven to death is able to summon living creatures." He moved his hand. "Come now, your student's life is in danger. Is that okay?"
"EEEEE! Stop it! Help me!!"
"That's not much of a plan, Mukuro. I am an exceptional home tutor you know," Reborn replied and at that moment a spinning tonfa was thrown at Mukuro, making the male use his trident to block the incoming weapon.
"A tonfa?!"
"Boss...! Please take cover!" Gokudera shouted and something exploded, smoke covering the room. "Sorry I'm late."
"Hibari-san! Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna exclaimed as he saw the two bloodied boys, Gokudera having an arm around Hibari's shoulder for support.
Tomoe's eyes widened, turning towards the door. "Kyo-chan and Haya-chan!?" She bit her lip to stop the tears from forming. 'Thank goodness he's okay...'
"Both... Both of you..."
"Do you understand Mukuro?" Reborn addressed him. "There's no reason why I would bring up Tsuna alone."
"Now we're even," Kyoya said, shoving Gokudera off of him.
"Ow!" "Wait!" 'He just dumped him aside!'
"What's this? One after another from the outfield?" Mukuro frowned slightly. "What is Chikusa doing down there, hm...?"
"Kyo-chan!" Tomoe cried out, running to his side and started to fuss over him in worry. "Are you okay?! Oh my god your face-! You're bleeding badly we need to-"
"Small animal, shut up."
Blink. Blink. "...Mukuro, I think you damaged Kyo-chan's brain a little to much because I'm sure he just told me to-"
"Shut up, Tomoe."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
'H...He just told Kocho-senpai to shut up!! She was so stunned that she's standing there in silence!'
Instead of everyone expecting the skylark to get hit, they were shocked when Tomoe started to tear up comically. "K-Kyo-chaaaaaaan! To think I was worried about you, you stupid idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot! Go die in a ditch then for all I care!" She puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms, turning her head away from him. "Hmph!"
'What is she?! A child throwing a tantrum?! What happened to her usual character?!'
"Go fight Mukuro or whatever," she huffed out, moving to the side so he could walk past her. "After all..." A small smile made it onto her face as she looked back at him, uncrossing her arms. "You really want to bite him to death, right? Go on, go get your revenge."
Kyoya took heavy steps forward and picked up his tonfa. "Are you ready to repent?"
Mukuro smirked. "What's this? How frightening your Kyo-chan is, Tomoe. However, please don't get in the way of the Vongola and me right now. For one thing, you shouldn't even be standing. How many bones in your body have I broken?"
"What?" Tomoe snapped her head over to glare at Mukuro. "Did you say broken bones?"
The pineapple haired male gulped. 'Ah, she didn't need to hear that.'
"So cruel to Hibari-san!" Tsuna shivered.
"Are those your final words?" Kyoya asked, readying his tonfa.
"Kufufu. Interesting things you sau. Wouldn't it be better if we made a pact? No choice then." His eye began to spin again. "Let's dispose of you first."
"His eye is burning with the dying will flame again!" 'Hibari-san is heavily injured...! This is bad!'
"Don't worry Tsu-chan," Tomoe said, standing behind the boy.
"H-Huh? Don't worry? Aren't you worried about Hibari-san?! He's your friend isn't he?!"
"Of course I am." Tomoe closed her eyes for a brief moment and a memory of her and Kyoya sitting in a library reading a book appeared in her head. "But..." Her eyes opened, confident and Tsuna could only stare in wonder. "I believe in that carnivore of mine." 'Sorry Mukuro, but I'll be cheering for Kyoya on this one.' "Besides, he's not the type to lose a second time."
'How... How is she putting so much trust in Hibari-san when he's heavily injured?'
"It'll be over in an instant!" Mukuro declared, charging at Kyoya and both of their weapons clashed, pushing against each other.
"So how long does your instant last?" Kyoya questioned as their weapons were held in a standstill.
Mukuro's lips quivered into a smirk as his brown scrunched and the two jumped away from one another, their weapons making a spark.
"He really is incredibly strong! That's Hibari-san!"
"Do not take this one lightly, Mukuro. He's growing a lot stronger than you think," Reborn said and Tomoe nodded in agreement.
"In terms of strength and endurance I'm pretty sure Kyo-chan has this in the bag..." Tomoe trailed off. "But... He's still lacking in some aspects."
"I see. That's how it is, then. If he wasn't injured, the outcome of our duel might be questionable," Mukuro replied and blood squirted out of Kyoya's shoulder. "This is a waste of time. I'm going to finish you off quickly."
Sakuras appeared.
"Sa...Sakura!? No... He's making use of Hibari-san's sakura-kura disease!"
"Kufufu. Come, kneel before me once again."
Kyoya began to fall.
"No! Hibari-san!"
And his hand clenched into a fist, punching Mukuro in the stomach.
Reborn smiled along with Tomoe. "Atta boy, Kyo-chan."
"Oh?" Blood leaked down Mukuro's mouth.
"Hehehe... Too naive," Gokudera laughed, pulling a bag of medication out of his inner shirt pocket. "I got this from Shamal when we came here. The prescription for the sakura-kura disease."
"Then...!"
Kyoya's grey eyes narrowed and Mukuro just continued to smile even when he was hit with the tonfas in the jaw, sending him flying and coughing out blood. Mukuro hit against the ground, eyes closed and the sakura disappeared.
"The sakura were an illusion! In other words... This means..."
Kyoya stood up tall and Gokudera pouted. "He snatched all the good scenes."
Tsuna looked over at Reborn. "It's finally over."
"It's... It's over... Now we can go home!" Tsuna happily cried out.
"However, you were wonderfully useless against Mukuro." Reborn bluntly crushed Tsuna's ego.
"Leave me alone!" He shouted before rushing to Kyoya. "Hi-Hibari-san are you all right?!"
Kyoya began to fall to the ground, but someone caught him in their arms.
"Geez, always causing me headaches and stress," Tomoe mumbled, holding the limp boy in her embrace as his head laid against her chest. "I feel like I aged ten years from this..." She sighed, running a hand through his silky hair. "Get some rest, idiot skylark."
"Hibari-san! Is he okay?!" Tsuna questioned.
Reborn approached them. "He's been fighting unconsciously since about halfway through. It must have been very vexing for him to lose that first time."
"Hibari-san is incredible... We must hurry and take everyone to the hospital!"
"Don't worry about that. The Vongola's best medical team is on their way here," the hitman replied.
Gokudera stood up from his spot. "That's good to know."
"Gokudera-kun, you should take it easy for a while."
"There's no need for a medical team," Mukuro said, making everyone turn towards him. He sat on the ground, blood still leaking from his mouth as he had a gun pointed at them. "Because there will be no one left alive here."
"Bastard!" "Gokudera-kun!"
"Kufufu." Mukuro lifted the gun and slowly pointed the barrel at the side of his head.
"Mukuro what the hell are you doing?!" Tomoe shouted in a frenzy, ready to shove Kyoya onto Tsuna so she could run over to him. She had just found someone else like her, no way in hell was she going to lose them so quickly.
He smiled, showing his pearly white teeth. "Arrivederci, Tomoe."
Throwing Kyoya to Tsuna (who didn't have the strength to hold him up, so he let the prefect hit the ground instead) and started running towards him with her arm extended out, her hand reaching towards him as she saw through her fingers him clicking the trigger. She screamed. "Mukuro!"
Bang!
Mukuro's body flung to the ground as he laid there and Tomoe fell to her knees, cradling his body close to hers.
"M...Muku-ro?"
"...He really did it," Gokudera whispered.
"...How could he..." Tsuna felt sick. "Why did he do something like that?"
"He probably thought he'd rather die than be captured alive," Reborn guessed.
"Keh, how depressing."
'Is... Is Kocho-senpai alright...?' He sneaked a glance at the silent girl who hadn't moved from her spot. She was just quietly holding Mukuro. Tsuna covered his mouth with his hand. 'What's this feeling...'
Bianchi's eyes opened, a number swirling to life.
At the same time, Tomoe passed out.
Tsuna's long battle was just beginning and the outcome would result in his victory.
A/N: next chap is probs gonna be the last part of the kokuyou arc
Me - Hm... I think ima make this a Hibari x OC book
Also me - MUKURO!!
Also also me - Byakuran ;)
No idea who the love interest should be anymore lol. I'll just go with the flow and decided towards the end
Okay and I know I didn't add much of the battling scenes when Tsuna and the gang were charging in cuz Tomoe wasn't involved in that but.... SHAMAL IS COLD MAN LIKE SHEEEESH