The Azure Sky

Chapter 45: Battling

"Y-You're serious.....but--!"
"Yes, it seems impossible, but it can work!"
"...We can...bring them back to the MAXIMUM!?  All of them!?"
"Herbivore..." (You better not be joking.)
"I would never joke about something this important!"
"...But...how will we do this?"
A certain blonde grinned; his sunset-orange eyes glowed brightly.
"First, we need to go back to Tsuna's original world--don't worry, we'll bring them back for sure."
The group silently nodded and disappeared in a burst of colorful flames.
~~
<<(With Tsuna & the Others)>>
When the familiar white light dispersed, the group found themselves back in Shoichi's lab-room.
The redhead sighed in relief and congratulated them.
Tsuna was staring into space at the moment; Reborn frowned slightly with concern.
"Oi, Tsuna."
The brunet blinked out of his daze.
"Hai?"
"What's wrong?"
The brunet smiled softly at the hitman; he sighed.
"It's just...nostalgic.  Seeing them all together: fighting, bickering, laughing..."
Reborn sighed as he hopped onto Tsuna's shoulder, patting the other's hair.
"...Tsuna..."
The brunet smiled.
"...For some reason...I feel like I'm fading..."
Reborn blinked with alarm, but Tsuna waved his hand dismissively.
"Not the dying kind of feeling, but......it's like I won't be here anymore...I'll be replaced by this world's Tsuna." The brunet leaned against the wall in the room as Shoichi began to further explain the choice battles. "I...don't know what's going to happen to me...but I won't be here after all of these battles with the Millefiore."
Reborn was silent, studying the brunet.
"...This has nothing to do with the Curse?"
"Ah.  I'll be gone with a different reason--not the Curse."
The hitman frowned at the response; Tsuna smiled warmly to the other.
"Maa, Reborn.  Missing me already?"
The baby huffed, smirking.
"Since you said that you might be replaced back with this world's Tsuna, I was thinking what kind of torture I should put him through--he probably doesn't have the same skills you have."
The ex-Decimo scowled playfully at that before looking at the group in front of him, smiling lightly.
"You're always so mean to me..."
"Does it look like I care?"
"Haha, nope~!"
~~
Tsuna watched from the surveillance room as Hito, Takeshi, Hayato, Shoichi and Spanner went against Byakuran's group.
The brunet remembered the little meeting before the battle.
//(Flashback)//
"Uwaaah~!  It's the past-Tsu-chan~!"
Both Tsuna and Byakuran had to act like it was their first meeting.  Tsuna kept a cool expression as Byakuran gave a fox-like smile.
"Konichiwa, Gesso-san."
The white-haired adult walked up to the brunet, causing Hito and the others to tense up slightly.
They knew that Tsuna was strong, but the brunet had looked a little sickly lately; they were worried.  Reborn merely watched the two, hand on Leon just in case anything went wrong.
Byakuran extended a hand out.
"Maa~call me Bya-chan!"
Tsuna's face blanched for a brief second; he deadpanned the other.
*Byakuran....what the he** are you saying?*
The Mare ring-user's eyes twinkled as Tsuna's face regained a stoic expression.
*Come on, Tsu-chan~!  It'll be fun~!*
Tsuna sighed and shook the other's hand in return.
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to call you Byakuran-san instead."
The reaction was almost immediate as Byakuran teared up and ran away from the brunet.
"Bwaaaaah!  Tsu-chan hates meeeee!  He won't call me Bya-chaaaan!"
Everyone sweatdropped as Bluebell started to comfort the white-haired adult with a bag of marshmallows.
Tsuna sighed exasperatedly inwardly.
'That idiota...'
//(Flashback End)//
The brunet face-palmed inwardly, but he brought his attention back to the screen--Hito recently defeated Torikabuto with an X-Burner.
Genkishi was already dead--killed by Kikyo; Takeshi headed towards Daisy's position.
Tsuna then started to walk towards the door, which didn't go unnoticed by the others; Reborn was perched on Dino's shoulder at the moment.  Chrome quickly jogged after the brunet, worried for the brunet; she knew about Tsuna's condition.
"Ts-Tsuna-Sensei...where are you going?"
The brunet smiled warmly to the other, leaning beside the door.
"The battle will end very soon, Chrome-chan.  I'm getting ready to go out to help the others."
Everyone looked at the brunet with confusion.
~~
Kikyo took Shoichi down in the end, and the doors to the surveillance room opened; Tsuna immediately darted out and into the hallways.
<<(With Hito and the Others)>>
"Sh-Shoichi-san!  Please don't die!"
Hito dashed up to the unconscious redhead's side, grimacing at the injuries.
With a groan, the redhead slowly woke up, smiling sadly to the blonde teen.
"Gomenasai, Takehito-san...we lost...because of me."
The Decimo vehemently shook his head.
"That doesn't matter!  The only thing that's important is that you're still alive!"
"Heh~?  Then why don't you all just hand your Vongola rings over--now that you've lost and all."
Hito made a startled noise as Byakuran suddenly appeared right next to the group.
Hayato and Takeshi stood defensively in front of Hito as the blonde helped Shoichi to his feet.
Byakuran smiled menacingly at them.
Suddenly, a sound of soft footsteps reached their ears.
Hito widened his eyes at the sight of familiar dark-blue eyes, but the face was childish, and the hair was cut short.
The little girl stood before Hito as Byakuran feigned surprise; she smiled.
"Konichiwa, Tachibana-san.  My name is Yuni, the Sky Arcobaleno."
It was then that Tsuna and the others arrived at the scene.
Hito gaped slightly as Byakuran smiled.
"Heh~Yuni-chan, shouldn't you be under my control?  How did you break it~?"
Yuni flinched and edged towards Hito; Tsuna sighed softly.
Byakuran smirked before directing his gaze towards Tsuna.
"But more importantly...I would have to correct you on your introduction, Yuni-chan."
Everyone blinked in confusion. "...You're not the Sky Arcobaleno, Yuni-chan."
Yuni was confused greatly; her pacifier was around her neck...wasn't it?
The Mare ring-user smirked before suddenly appearing in front of the small girl; he grabbed the pouch that was tied around her neck.  He ripped it off before stepping away from her; everyone was gasping in alarm, but Reborn narrowed his eyes.  Tsuna remained stoic.
Byakuran crushed the pacifier that was in his hand, eliciting cries of shock.
But everyone was further surprised when the man opened his fist, dropping the object.
Clang, clatter...
...The pacifier fell out the pouch, revealing...a destroyed device?
The orange cover on the pacifier was broken, wires and blinking lights flickered on and off.
Hito widened his eyes.
'It's just a tiny device!  A fake!'
Even Yuni looked shocked.
"How...?  Okaa-san gave it to me after dying from the Curse..."
Byakuran suddenly disappeared before reappearing before Tsuna, who feigned shock and stepped backwards.
The white-haired adult lashed out at the brunet's chest.
The brunet lept away in time, but his suit wasn't lucky.
Everyone widened their eyes further as an object bounced off if Tsuna's chest; his suit top was ripped but his undershirt remain unscathed.
The brunet knew that he would be found out sooner or latter, so he placed the object in his pocket around his neck with a golden chain, barely hidden by his suit.
A flame-chain fell from the object and it glowed orange.
Tsuna put more distance between himself and Byakuran as he glared at the other.
Byakuran smirked evilly.
"Yuni-chan can't be the Sky Arcobaleno......because...Tsu-chan is."
Everyone stared at the real pacifier with shock as it glowed in response to Reborn being nearby.
Tsuna merely stared coolly at Byakuran as the man smirked right back.
"I would like you to hand over the Vongola rings and Tsu-chan, the true Sky Arcobaleno."