As soon as he stepped foot inside the Hibari mansion, Tsuna was assaulted by a strong nostalgia.
This had been the place closest to a home for as long as he had lived in Japan, and felt much more familiar than the Sawada house ever did. While he was happy and had built a new haven in Italy, this mansion would always remain the very first place he had felt safe and accepted. It was good to see it again after all this time, even if it had only been a handful of years.
With everything that had happened, it felt much longer.
The servants welcomed them all with open arms, clearly delighted to see their temperamental young master again. All five children were led to their room and fed (proper Japanese food, to Kyoya's barely hidden approval) before they could start working on a plan.
The Cloud had already contacted his – former? – right-hand man, and Kusakabe would arrive soon with more detailed information about the situation. Meanwhile, Hayato would go get a look at the area and Mukuro had decided to wander the streets in search of intel and to show Chrome a taste of Mist Flames application. Tsuna also believed the illusionist would take a look at Ienobu and Nana, since unlike Hayato, he knew what they looked like.
Before Mukuro could leave, the brunet sent him a pointed glare as a warning to keep his distance and not engage. The Mist replied with a roll of his eyes, but Tsuna was sure he had caught his meaning.
Kusakabe arrived not a minute after they left. He greeted Kyoya with a formal bow and clipped words, but Tsuna spotted glittering water in his eyes as he straightened. Good thing the young man knew to hold his tears back : Kyoya's reaction to crying would have undoubtedly been a tonfa to the face.
Anyway, Kusakabe looked elated to see his boss back, and not only because they had been out of touch for years. "We have tried our best to contain the situation," He began his report, "and we were successful for years. The local yakuza – the Momokyokai – are hardly a threat to the DC normally, but they seem to have formed an alliance with another crime syndicate a month ago. Since then, they have more men, more weapons and better training.
"We were holding on a first, but then more men arrived out of nowhere, and we have slowly been losing ever since. Their ranks are seemingly endless, while we have trouble bringing in new members. Their tactics have also evolved to counter us more effectively; they ambush our troops when their guards are low and on short numbers, picking us up one by one. Where before the Momokyokai were content to lightly injure their opponents before letting go, they have now sent several of our members to the hospital, and at least three are dead. We completely lost contact with twelve others.
"I wouldn't have contacted you, Kyoya-san, if we were not desperate, but at the rate things were going, the DC would have been eradicated within a week, two at most."
That was one bleak report. While some of the DC was made of students Kyoya had enrolled, most of it consisted of 'reformed' criminals and delinquents that had been convinced by the Cloud to aim their aggressiveness to the keeping of order. They were usually trained and able fighters. That they were dispatched so easily was worrisome, that some of them had been killed was even worse.
"The civilian Herbivores?" Demanded Kyoya. His thunderous scowl made it obvious that he wanted nothing more than to storm the enemy base and deal with the problem at the root, but even he could realize it wouldn't be that easy. If this issue could be solved by applying violence to one building and its inhabitants, Kusakabe and the DC could have handled that on their own.
