CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
TRAPPED
[I dedicate this chapter to @Neonpandaheart, @Nekoflake, and @oozoradragnair for commenting in the previous chapters. Enjoy!]
~*~
Tsuna was really getting tired of his headaches. The more steps he made towards the gym, the more that his headaches worsen.
"Why? Is something bad gonna happen or am I really just nervous for the race later?" He mused aloud.
Less and less students were spotted along his way. Well, that's not much suspicious, since most of the students were going to watch the festivities, while the gym is on the other side of the school.
"Maa, I just need to drop these off." With his feet, he pushed the door of the gym open. It was dark inside, since the lights were off.
He immediately spotted the storage room. But as he stepped inside...
*slam*
*chack*
Tsuna's eyes widened and ran back to the door. "Locked..?!" He slammed his fist on it. "Hello?! Is someone there? Please, I'm still inside! You locked me in! Please, open the door!"
No response.
His already wide eyes widened even more, if such is possible.
"PLEASE LET ME OUT!!!" He cried, fists pounding against the door, but not one person was there to hear his pleads..
~*~
"Jyuudaime is missing.."
Silence filled the air around the ravenet.
Certain people heared the silveret's words. Some visibly paled, some showed panic and worry, while some remained silent.
"Hayato. When was he last seen?" The usually cheerful Rain asked with a low, cold voice.
"About an hour ago." The Storm answered.
"That's when Tsuna-chan said that he's going back to the room to get something." The Lightning piped in to add information.
"No one else noticed him?" Ryohei asked, without his usual catchphrase and loudness.
"Listen, Guardians.." that voice instantly caught their attention and they all visibly straightened their stances.
"The race isn't of much importance right now. Our priority is to find Tsuna."
The Guardians nodded.
"Kyoya. Go check the cameras. The rest of you, find Dame-Tsuna." Reborn ordered.
"Understood, Reborn-san. But where will you go?"
"I'll stay here in case he came back. Now, go. I trust you to find him immediately."
With a final nod to each other, the Guardians dispersed, leaving the Sun Arcobaleno.
"Ara~ Where did the others go, Reborn-san?" The announcer on stage asked, and the other spectators turned to look at the ravenet.
"There was a bit of a problem. Fujioka Tsunayoshi is missing."
Gasps were heard. "What happened? Should we call the police?"
"No need. We're currently searching for him."
On the other side, the members of the opposing team smirked.
"Maybe he bailed out 'coz he's scared! Hahaha!"
A few other members snickered to second that statement.
"I will not close that possibility.. But.." Reborn lowered his fedora and it covered his left eye, and the opposing team swore they saw his right eye gleam yellow. "..if this is a sabotage and Tsuna is hurt, whoever involved will face punishment as seen fit."
Everyone in the area shivered as they felt ice on their spines.
~*~
'Jyuudaime.. Where could you be?'
'Tsuna.. Where are you?'
'Tsuna. You better be safe.'
'Tsuna-chan..'
'Bossu..'
'Tsunayoshi..'
'...'
The Guardians of the Sky continued their search throughout the whole school, scattering to different areas, leaving no room unchecked.
~*~
Tsuna sat down, his back against the door. The storage room he was in was dark. He didn't get to open the switch outside since he only had to drop the box, but now regretted since he's stuck inside. His phone was left in his bag back at his classroom, too.
"I wonder what time it is.." Tsuna mused with a pained expression. "Maybe Reborn thinks I sneaked out."
Then, he heard footsteps on the other side. He instantly stood on his feet and slammed his fists once again on the door.
"Hello? Is someone there? Please help me! I'm stuck in the storage room!"
The footsteps got closer until he knew that the person, whoever that is, was standing right before the door.
"Please! Please, help me!"
He heard the rattling of chains. "Wait here." The voice outside said, and Tsuna instantly recognized it.
A few seconds later, there were banging sounds outside. Tsuna got away from the door. A few more seconds and he heard the shuffling of chains and the door opened a little.
He wasted no time to get out of the room, only to find that the person who helped him was gone..
"Thank you for saving me.. Xanxus.."
~*~
Lambo was running to the far side of the school when he recognized a blur of brown.
"Tsuna-chan!" He called out to the brunet. Tsuna was running back to the direction of the stage.
"Lambo-senpai! What time is it? Let's go!"
Lambo was a bit confused. "Weren't you missing?! We're all looking for you. What, did you just sneak out or something?"
"No. I was locked inside the gym storage room." Tsuna answered as they ran back.
The air around his Lightning grew colder.
"Maa, Lambo-senpai.. Calm down. Please go call the other Guardians. They may still be searching for me."
Lambo huffed and pulled out his phone to make a call, still running.
After a few more minutes, they could finally see the horde of people gathered on the stage.
"..and because the Host Club is unable to participate, by default, the winner of the Amazing Race Nami High is the A--"
"Hold it right there!" Everyone turned their heads to see a huffing brunet. "Please, can we still race?"
Reborn dashed to the Decimo and checked his arms and face for any signs of violence or torture. Thank Kami-sama that there were none.
"Dame-Tsuna. What happened?"
"That's not important now. What's important is can we still race or not?"
"You were complaining that you don't want to race." Reborn reminded his rants during practice.
Tsuna blushed with embarrassment. "I did. And that's more reason to continue. I won't let our efforts go to waste." The Sky stated in a firm and determined voice.
An arm slung itself around Tsuna's shoulders. "Maa, if Tsuna says so, and if the committee agrees, why not?"
"Takeshi.."
"Yo, Tsuna. We'll have a small talk later."
Tsuna peered to see the other Guardians behind him, emitting an almost visible dark aura. "H-hai.."
Reborn heaved a sigh and turned to the announcer on stage. "Can we still race?"
The man beamed. "Hai. Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the wait, but now, we shall start our Amazing Race Nami High! A race between the Vongola Host Club and the American Football Club!"
The crowd cheered.
A certain group clenched their teeth in annoyance.
Tsuna peered around, searching for someone, when Hayato tapped his shoulder. "Are you sure you can still race, Jyuudaime?"
"Ah, yeah. I can still go, Hayato-kun. Don't worry."
The Storm nodded.
"I shall now announce the rules of the Race." The announcer said and the crowd silenced a bit to let him speak.
A committee member gave both teams a map of the school. "The race will be divided into three stations; the Obstacle Course, the Quiz Bee and the Cosplay Race.
"The first category; the Obstacle Course, will be held from here to the Central Salon. First, all participants shall run the 10-meter dash to the west garden.
"There, a maze awaits you. All members will have to go through the maze. Once all your team members got out the maze, choose a partner for the three-legged race. Then, climb up the net wall onto the other side. And finally, climb a slippery slope and down to the other side. Once the Obstacle Course is cleared, only then can the team proceed to the next station.
"The second station will be held in the Central Salon. For the Quiz Bee, we will set five different questions for each team. You can pass a question, but you have to go back to it again. The first team to answer three of the questions can proceed and gain a head start, and the remaining team can only proceed after clearing the three questions.
"For the final station, it will be held in the Field. Each member shall run a 5-meter dash to the costume racks prepared. Each costume is hidden inside bags. Take one bag and run to the changing room five meters away. Change into your costume, and once all members are done changing, run to the finish line. The first team with a member to pass through the finish line will be the winner!"
Crowd cheered.
"Any questions?"
Both teams shook their heads.
"Alright. Then, please line up to the Starting line!"
As they lined up, both teams stared, more like glared at each other.
And Tsuna knew that it wasn't just a simple race.
It was war.
~*~
OMAKE
GLARE
Xanxus sat up from his slumber on the bench inside the gym. He slept through PE, and his teacher got no guts to wake him anyway so he just let him be.
His classmates were long gone, and he was left alone. Or so he thinks..
"Ah, you must've meant Fujioka Tsunayoshi.."
He heard a voice somewhere. He glanced around, there was no one, though.. Until his eyes set on the closed storage room.
"Hmm. One's not as dangerous as the others.."
"So, what's the plan?"
"We definitely cannot allow the Host Club to win the Race on Monday."
He wasn't interested in any way, but what he heard next pricked his ears.
"Rules state that each team shall consist of eight club members to participate in the Race. If it's that simple, then we just have to make sure that Fujioka Tsunayoshi wouldn't get to participate. That way, we'll win by default."
"Wait, does Colonello-senpai know about this?"
"Of course. Colonello-kun is the one who ordered us to do this."
Xanxus turned to leave, casting a dark shadow behind his trails.
~*~
"You're joining that race?" Xanxus asked the trash before him as he ate his dinner. He ordered that Shark-trash to drag him inside.
"Hai."
"You're racing with those small legs.. You're just wasting time and effort."
The trash was silent for a few minutes.
Xanxus was done with his steak, so he got up. But as he did, the brunet spoke up.
"You know, Xanxus.. Even if I'm just wasting my time.. I now have a lot of time to waste. Hahaha.. I guess that doesn't make any sense.." The stupid trash grinned, hand scratching the back of his head. "What I meant was.. we should always give our best to have no regrets, and enjoy the moment while it lasts. That's what I learned through all my years with everyone in the Vongola."
"Giving your best and still losing is plain stupidity." Xanxus retorted.
"But if you didn't give your best, did you really try? Maa, even if you lose, you still gained experience. Isn't that what life's about?" The trash said with a smile.
That smile really pisses Xanxus off to his very limits.
"Shut it, trash. I'm not asking your opinion."
"Pfft.. Hai, hai, Xanxus.."
As the Varia Boss slid the door open, he paused, and without looking back, he said a low "Thank you for the meal.." and slid the door close behind him.
~*~
The day of the festival, Xanxus sighed from his seat in his classroom. Shark-trash and the rest forced him to come.
Bored, he stood and went out to the bustling hallways.
His crimson eyes landed on a familiar brunet walking, when said brunet was tapped by some guy. Xanxus narrowed his eyes at the scene, but did nothing.
'That trash can fend off for himself.' he thought as he walked away.
~*~
"Jyuudaime is missing.."
As he heard the dynamite-trash, Xanxus gritted his teeth.
The trash's smiling face popped up in his mind. "What I meant was.. we should always give our best to have no regrets, and enjoy the moment while it lasts. That's what I learned through all my years with everyone in the Vongola."
'Stupid, stupid, stupid trash!'
He wasted no time and searched for the guy he saw with the stupid trash about an hour ago.
~*~
Class 1-C, Sakamaki Yuuto, winced as he was slammed against the hard wall.
His eyes widened to see deadly red eyes glaring at him, fierce and about to devour him whole with just one look.
"Tell me, where did you send that trash?" The ravenet before him asked, even his voice was deadly and sharp as a knife, slowly stabbing his vital points.
"I.. I.. please, I don't know w-which trash you mean.. I-is it important? M-maybe I-I can j-just replace it.." the guy stuttered.
Stupid. Stupid Xanxus. This guy definitely won't understand his trash-ful naming sense.
The ravenet sighed in annoyance before grabbing the guy with his collar. "Tsunayoshi. Where. Did. You. Send. Him?" He demanded, and the guy almost fainted at the intensity of those red eyes.
~*~
"Tch.. I'll make that trash pay for this.." Xanxus muttered under his breath as he ran to the gym.
Once inside, he immediately heard shouts coming from the storage room.
"Hello? Is someone there? Please help me! I'm stuck in the storage room!"
Xanxus went to the door and leaned his head on the flat surface.
"Please! Please, help me!"
Xanxus glanced down and reached for the chains that held the door locked. "Wait here." He ordered. Well, not like the trash got anywhere to go..
He searched the gym for any key, or anything to open that lock. His eyes zeroed in on the nearby fire extinguisher.
Grabbing it, he began pounding on the padlock.
He groaned lowly as he felt a stinging sensation on his arm. A long, although shallow gash was there. He cursed under his breath but continued pounding until the lock gave out and fell on the floor.
Tsuna on the other side opened the door to find Xanxus already gone.
All he saw was the fire extinguisher on the floor and traces of blood.
Tsuna was worried, since Xanxus was injured, but he knew that Xanxus wouldn't like it if he rushed to him. He decided to just visit him on his mansion later.
"Thank you for saving me.. Xanxus.." he whispered in the air and quickly ran outside.
A shadow moved from the bleachers and Xanxus, clutching his injured arm stared at the retreating back of the brunet.
"You better win or I'll kill you, stupid trash.."
~*~
A/N: Chapter Twenty-four is dooooooone!
Waah, I really love this chapter..
Who among you dear readers guessed that it will be Xanxus? Anyone..?
Next chapter will be the start of the war, so ready the horses and shields and spears and arrows and swords! Haha..
My first week of school ended well, as well as it could be..
That week's Friday, it was raining, and I had a little accident. I slipped as I was getting off a jeepney and I hit my lower back and I had a scratch wound on my left elbow..
Maa, it's just my clumsiness kicking in.. But I'm fine. What's not fine is that I'm terribly mortified that a lot of people saw.. Omygosh.. >///<
My parents scolded me for not taking care of my body.. my friends scolded me for it too.. Gomen nasaiii...
Ah, but anyway, I'm very fine, my back hurts for almost a week, but there's no visible bruises whatsoever, and my elbow wound is already healed, so let's leave it at that..
Gomen ne.. for the very late update.. School was cancelled for a WEEK! There was typhoon, and it was raining too hard, I thought Hayato, Lambo and Takeshi came to town.. haha..
I was stuck at home with no internet connection so I couldn't publish a chapter. TT_TT
Therefore, the whole week, I was.. sleeping.. haha.. Maa, cold weather makes me feel drowsy and I get so lazy, am I the only one like this? Aside from that, I was writing the next chapter, so please look forward to it!
Note that Sakamaki Yuuto from Class 1-C is just a made up character.. I'm not even sure if someone like that actually exists in the anime world.. whether he does or doesn't is just purely coincidental.
Everyone from the Philippines, it's already rainy season, so stay healthy and watch out for flu. Or slipping.. and such.. haha..
As well as everyone from around the world, stay safe.
Maybe I should say that more to myself, right?
Thanks for participating in our Vongola Host Club Awards! Keep the votes coming until July 25th!
Thanks also for your undying support to this story.
Vote, comment and share, especially comment.
Love you, guys!
~JuriHime