[Fic]: Suono Di Violenza (Act 2. Part 3/3)
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Tsuna and Hibari set off at 5 AM. The mist had lifted, but the roads were still wet, and the city was still shrouded in complete darkness. They were leaving for the airport by Hibari's motorbike, and Tsuna was still in shocked that Hibari would actually let him ride along without a complaint, even though Reborn had mentioned it to him earlier.
Hibari tossed Tsuna a helmet, and he fumbled with it for a while before he actually caught it in a steady grip.
Hibari will not give you a problem until you reach base in Italy, Reborn had said. Tsuna translated that as Hibari will tolerate you until you reach Italy, where a promise of a good fight against a strong enemy will satisfy him. At the same time, Tsuna's intuition told him that there was more to Hibari than the explanation Reborn gave him.
"Hibari-san," Tsuna didn't expect that Hibari's eyes would sweep to meet his. "How's your left arm?"
Last month, Hibari had gotten into trouble with a few yakuza members, and Tsuna and the rest of the guardians had gone after him, clearing Naminori of the yakuza influence in the process. Hibari suffered considerable damage, especially his left arm, where a nasty hit from a tetsubo had fractured a bone.
"It's fine," Hibari brushed Tsuna's concern aside as if a broken limb was a common occurrence in his life. It probably was. Then, Hibari gave him an odd look. "I owe you nothing."
"No, you don't," Tsuna agreed.
So Hibari wasn't accompanying Tsuna because he felt obligated to return a favor, but because he wanted to. That was fine with Tsuna.
"The baby promised me powerful enemies in Italy," Hibari explained, as Tsuna expected, but then Hibari gave him that odd look again, the one that he shot Dino sometimes, the eyes of a predator itching for a fight, like Tsuna was also an enemy, and Tsuna wondered if Reborn had ulterior motives in pairing him with Hibari. It felt reassuring but dangerous to be near this man, and Tsuna entertained the thought that this was another special training that Reborn came up with.
Tsuna put on the helmet, hoping that it wouldn't get to the point where he would have to fight with Hibari because the man got out of control. Dealing with Hibari was his job now, and he couldn't possibly rely on Dino forever to keep his guardian in line.
"Where are your gloves?"
"I have them." Tsuna patted the pockets of his parka.
"Keep them on in case we get attacked on the road," said Hibari.
"Right." Tsuna pulled his mittens out and put them on, understanding that if Hibari had his hands tied with steering the motorcycle, he had to be on the defense. Tsuna waited until Hibari got settled on the motorcycle, and then, with a jerk of his head, Hibari signaled Tsuna to get on.
"From the left side," Hibari reminded even though Tsuna already had an idea of how to handle a motorcycle. But then again, Tsuna almost toppled them both when he mounted clumsily, so perhaps being the driver and being a passenger were two different things. Tsuna had expected Hibari to bite him or at least to threaten to bite him, but Hibari just said, "Don't disappoint me, herbivore."
"I will try not to." Tsuna gulped, feeling a phantom brush of his Dying Will Flame on his mittens even though there was nothing there.
"If you drag me down," Tsuna could hear Hibari's voice clearly through the noise of the starting engine. "Even if the enemy does not kill you, I will do it myself."
Tsuna had seen Hibari killed people for less than that, but he decided to keep that thought to himself. For now, he needed to keep Hibari on the same page with him for a long as possible.
"Understood," Tsuna shouted as the engine roared to life, and the world became nothing but a blur as the motorcycle sped through the narrow street of Namimori.
The sky became lighter by the time they left the city, but the thick mist from last night returned.
Tsuna's nerves began fraying when they reached the edge of the Namimori, and it wasn't because of Hibari rushing the motorcycle at ridiculous speed on wet roads, but because his instinct kicked in, warning him of an approaching danger despite the fact that the roads were empty.
Tsuna peered into the mist, but could see nothing but a ghostly whiteness and buildings dissolving into faint streaks. Tsuna didn't realize that he was tightening his arms around Hibari's waist until he felt Hibari's body stiffened, but before he could rectify the situation, another revving sound rose from the roaring of their motorcycle, and, glancing behind him, Tsuna saw one man on another motorbike catching up to them, holding long and silver-a pipe perhaps.
But then the distance between them shortened, and Tsuna jerked slightly when he realized that the man wasn't holding a silver pipe, but a machete that looked big enough to slice his head off clean.
Tsuna turned back to watch the lines of Hibari's back, wondering what he should do, but then there was a twist in his stomach, and, without thinking, he pushed at the back of Hibari's head as a signal to duck and dipped his head just in time as something swept over where their necks were one moment before.
He didn't have the chance to raise his head before the slight tip of Hibari's shoulder told him to prepare for a sharp left turn. Tsuna molded the tilt of his body's to Hibari's, his heart pounding in his ribcage when he felt as if they would both tip over and crash to the ground. Tsuna let out a breath as the motorcycle righted vertically again, his palms sweaty in his mittens.
Behind them, the revving of the engine told Tsuna that they were still being pursued.
Tightening his left arm around Hibari's waist, Tsuna reached into his right pocket for the bottle of Dying Will pills.
Another twist in his guts and Tsuna ducked intuitively. He didn't have enough time to warn Hibari, but luckily, Hibari managed to dodge the sweep of the machete without his prompting.
Come on, Tsuna fumbled with the bottle, the mitten making it difficult to twist the cap. Then, just as he got the bottle to open, his stomach dropped as the world began to tip to the right.
Tsuna quickly jerked his right hand out of his pocket to clutch Hibari tightly as the motorcycle swerve another sharp turn, leaving behind a long screech and the smell of burning rubber.
Tsuna looked behind them just in time to see their pursuer, who didn't react fast enough to follow their turn, disappeared out of sight.
He'll be back, Tsuna's mind told him. He'll make a turn at the next street over and meet us at the next intersection.
Tsuna's stomach began lurching again, and a chill was starting to pool behind his eyes. It was the same feelings that overwhelmed him yesterday morning with the sniper, and Tsuna felt himself panicking because he didn't want to lose himself, Reborn's advice of don't go into Hyper Dying Will Mode without the pills echoed in his mind. He reached into his pocket, knowing that if he took a pill now, then he would be fine. All he had to do was-
He frowned, searching frantically through his pocket. He needed to take a pill before-
But the bottle was gone.
That couldn't be; he had the bottle in his pocket this whole time.
Tsuna checked again, perhaps it fell deeper into his pocket, it had to be, yes, it was still there, he needed to search harder. He couldn't afford not to have the bottle he needed-
It wasn't there. The bottle wasn't in his pocket anymore, but that wasn't possible because he had it, he knew that he had it; it was still there in his pocket last time he checked. Did the pursuer take it? No, he couldn't have because he wasn't close enough, but Tsuna wasn't sure of himself anymore because he didn't even feel the bottle leaving his pocket. No, that man must have taken it; there was no other explanation. He needed that bottle back.
"Hibari-san," Tsuna shouted over the roaring of the engine. "Let's go after him." Something was burning within Tsuna, a cold shimmering anger, demanding that he catch that man, no matter what. He was going to show him, teach that man not to mess with him.
Hibari didn't give any indication that he had heard Tsuna, but then Hibari took another turn, and their pursuer zoomed past, missing them again.
Tsuna was about to repeat himself, but he didn't get a chance to because Hibari took two more sharp turns, and by the time Tsuna recovered, he saw, past Hibari's left arm, that their pursuer was now in front of them.
Tsuna knew that this was the one and only chance that Hibari was willing to give him.
Their pursuer, probably realizing that the target was behind him, began to slow down.
Hibari decreased their speed as well, but it was fast enough to pass their pursuer, yet slow enough for what Tsuna wanted to do.
One meter gap in, and Tsuna could feel Hibari's body tensing again. Another half meter in, and Tsuna began to let go of Hibari's torso, preparing himself for the moment they were side by side with their pursuer.
Now.
Tsuna ducked and the blade swept over his head, missing him once again, and, just as their bike passed the other, Tsuna shot a burst of flame from his left hand, blasting their pursuer back crashing on the ground and skidding across the road.
Tsuna tightened his grip on Hibari as the flame accelerated them forward at an almost inhumane speed, closing his eyes when he smelled burning rubber again, and it was too late but he entertained the thought that the wheels wouldn't be able to handle the massive friction, and perhaps if the enemy didn't kill them, the reckless speed will.
However, Hibari slowed down their bike smoothly, and Tsuna opened his eyes just in time to see a man lying in a bloody mess on the road at a distance. Hibari circled back and slowed to a stop before their pursuer, who was lying very still on the ground.
Tsuna jumped off, almost toppling the bike over if it wasn't for Hibari, and ran to the man, heart thundering in his ribcage. But by the time Tsuna stood by the dying biker's side, watching his chest rising and falling, he realized that the man was wearing a smooth biker's suit without pockets, his gloved hands empty.
There was no way he could have gotten to Tsuna's pocket without letting go of the blade or the grip on the motorbike.
He watched as a pool of blood trailed to his shoes.
All of this was for nothing.
Hibari reached his side. "It's not the people who are after you. This is just another delinquent who wanted to settle the score with me. He must have recognized my bike."
Tsuna's heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. Suddenly, his eyes felt hot, and red started flooding in his vision. "All for nothing."
"Let's go," Hibari said, turning on his heels, but Tsuna didn't follow him. The sound of Hibari's footsteps came to a halt, and Tsuna could feel Hibari's gaze burning into his back, and that made him angry for reasons that he couldn't explain.
"What's wrong with you?" Tsuna could hear the annoyance in Hibari's voice, and that irked Tsuna even more because he was the one who was allowed to be annoyed. Hibari should just shut his mouth and leave Tsuna alone, and then maybe he could go back and find those pills because he needed them and he would find them, they shouldn't be too far, and he needed those pills and he was going to get them back even if he had to kill for them, and perhaps he could even finish off this dying man right now, just a clean snap of the neck to-
A hard smack on his left cheek sent Tsuna stumbling onto the ground, but he swiftly got back on his feet, rubbing the back of his hand across the bleeding scraped skin and licked the blood off his mitten, the metallic after taste on his tongue sent a strange sense of calmness washing through his mind. He looked at Hibari and considered returning the favor, but Hibari had his tonfas out, one of them sticky red with Tsuna's blood.
"Oh?" Hibari said, pulling back into a defensive stance. "It's you again."
Tsuna didn't know what Hibari was talking about, and he didn't care. He drew flame to his hands and charged forward, but Hibari immediately caught his forearm with one tonfa.
"Not fast enough," said Hibari, using this chance to send the other tonfa down Tsuna's shoulder, but Tsuna quickly caught it with his other hand and threw a kick on Hibari's chest.
The momentum sent Tsuna flying in the air, but he instantly flipped his body and landed smoothly on his feet. Hibari was knocked several steps back, but he seemed unfazed by Tsuna's attack.
Hibari charged forward this time, and Tsuna braced himself for a hit on the left side, but then Hibari changed his direction and Tsuna didn't react fast enough to stop the strike against his right side.
Hibari swung his left tonfa, but Tsuna caught it, intending to send a punch under Hibari's jaw, which should be enough to draw blood.
A distant wail of a police car stopped Tsuna in this track. That wasn't good. He needed-no, he couldn't afford to be distracted and turned his back on Hibari in a fight because-
-and then there was a pressure on his neck, and Tsuna's vision burnt out.
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