Chapter Text
Gokudera’s face is twisted into an anoyed scowl, unable to keep his mood hidden at this point as he walks through the streets of Namimori.
He really would have liked to be able to decline this job, but if Reborn tells you something, you do it if you don't want your brain splattered over the road somewhere, even if the job is trying to find a missing Vongola heir that hasn't been seen for multiple years.
At least he will get paid even if he doesn't find anything, which seems to be the expected result judging from how reborn sounded.
The bomber gets why they are so desperate though, trying to follow a trail as thin as this, and judging by how he hasn't been recalled yet because a lead has been found, no one else has make any progress.
The Vongola have registered him into one of the local schools, supposedly so he can be undercover better, even if he doubts that will be possible with his very obviously foreign look and missing experience with the local social structure.
That is what led him to the situation he is currently in, waiting in front of a classroom till the teacher calls him in for an introduction while a black haired upperclassman stares at him like he is a pig on its way to be slaughtered.
And fuck, Hayato has seen many scary people in his life, but for a highschooler that is probably a civilian? This guy is absolutely terrifying.
‘There is no way this guy is a civilian. Maybe he is a member of the local yakuza?’
And what is even more scary is that the boy seems to be an awakened Cloud. A very very powerful one. The exact kind of person you really don't want to mess with.
“Uh, did I do anything wrong?” He asks, trying to not enrage the older even more. He can't cause trouble that might get him kicked out before he has searched the facility for anything that might help his mission.
The black haired teen gives him a cold look, observing his body from top to bottom. “Don't cause trouble, herbivore.” He says before turning around, taking out a phone and beginning to type as he turns around the corner, leaving the confused hitman behind.
“I really have to look into the local clans…” Gokudera mumbles, drawing back his hand from where he has unconsciously reached for his dynamite.
It feels like it takes ages till the teacher finally calls him into the room, but the moment he steps inside he wishes he hadn't.
As soon as he opens the door he is assaulted by a torrent of different flames, swirling around him as if to test him out, just a step away from dissecting him alive, but the most prominent among them is the powerful Cloud.
The force of all of it makes Hayato stagger, the white haired boy needing to take in a deep breath to steady himself before he can continue, but even if he tries his best to hide it, he is pretty sure the shock shows on his face.
‘A second Cloud?! How are there two this powerful ones in the same territory? Don't they usually force any rivals away? Maybe they are related? I heard that helps.’
He shakes his head, trying to get back to what's in front of him. For now he has to focus on the missions.
“Nice to meet you, my name is Gokudera Hayato. I’m glad to be able to work with you.” He introduces himself, trying his best to sound polite. He can’t make any enemies with these flame awakened teenagers or attract too much attention.
Luckily the teacher seems to be doing all the remaining introductions for him, seeming to assume he isn’t going to do it himself. ‘She looks like she is almost used to it.’
“There is a free space beside Shoichi.“ The teacher tells her new student, gesturing to a red haired boy who is giving off almost blinding Sun flames. “Sit down so we can start the lessons, your new classmates can ask you questions during the break.”
The green eyed boy gives the teacher a small nod before sitting down on his assigned place, only partially listening to the lessons as he tries to plan out his next moves now that this situation is not even close to the normal and peaceful town he expected.
As soon as the lesson ends the boy hurries out of the room, pleasantly surprised that none of the students seem to try following him.
The young hitman spends most of his time in one of the toilets, using a nicotine patch instead of a cigarette to avoid angering that one Cloud that really seemed to care about following the school rules.
‘I should really have asked for more money for this.’ But when the world's greatest hitman in the entire world gives a job in the name of the Vongola you can't really complain without fearing a bullet lodged into your forehead.
With the newly revealed information things will be more difficult, but it's still within his capabilities. But first he will have to get through the day first before he can start his actual missions.
He lets out a small sigh.
“Let's just get this over with.”
______________
“So, what are we gonna do about him?” Kensuke asks. “We can't exactly just let him run around town. He could cause all kinds of troubles.”
“We can't kill him or we will immediately seem suspicious, and he has strong enough flames that he would notice if I mess with his mind using Mist flames. He feels smart enough that he would notice if something is out of place in his brain.” Mukuro says, a small frown on his face.
The Mist lets himself drop onto the sofa beside Chrome, the two letting their flames flow between each other.
The group has gathered in Kawahira’s house, sitting all over the scattered furniture of the living room like they tend to do so often. Because if they try to make plans in the Hibari compound, the other place with enough space, the Cloud usually goes full on dictator.
“You are still tracking him, right?” Tsuna asks the Mist, getting a small nod in return, creating a small Mist bug in his palm.
“We can't act against him without a good reason.” Xanxus tells them. “Right now he probably believes that we are just part of the local Yakuza if I’m guessing correctly, something we can use to our advantage.”
“He is smart, but he doesn't seem like the patient type. From what I gathered he is ‘Smoking Bomb Gokudera’, a freelancing hitman who has been making it up the ranks recently.” The Wrath Sky waves a small stack of papers in the air.
“As a freelancer you need some good connections, so he will probably try to finish his job as fast as possible to make a good impression. We just need to wait for him to break some rules in what he thinks is enemy territory and then we can officially throw him out without seeming suspicious.”
Shoichi gives the Sky a determined look. “That should work. We can throw him out of here as soon as possible. We just have to make sure he actually manages to get far enough into trouble so our reaction is justified.” The Sun says, turning to the Cloud beside him.
“I will make sure that no patrol is inside the building that could scare him away.” Hibari says, taking out his phone to contact Tetsuya so the Lighting can organize it.
“You think you can follow Gokudera till he makes his move without getting noticed?” Tsuna asks his Mists, getting a small nod from Chrome.
“He seems to know of flames and has some basic abilities to use them, but he doesn't seem to be specifically taught yet. What he knows is probably researched by himself. It is unlikely that he is good enough at locating our flames to find them.”
“Good. Keep us updated if he does anything interesting. And I will probably need your help too when we prepare the trap for him.” He says, the two Mists exacing a small glance, mischievousness glinting in their eyes.
“Kufufufu. Don't worry Tsuna, we will make sure he won't suspect anything until it is too late.” Mukuro says as the pair stand up, disappearing in a Cloud of Mist flames, Chrome doing the same soon after.
Tsuna just shakes his head in amusement. He almost feels bad for Gokudera.
The Sky turns to the rest of his family,letting his flames flare slightly. “Let's get ready too. We still have some preparations to do.” He says, the others giving him a small nod.
“You know, we haven't fought against an outsider for far too long.” Kensuke says, grabbing one of the square metal boxes hanging from his belt, pushing his flames into it and transforming it into a sword.
“I really like fighting against you guys, but we need some more variety. No offense.” He says with an apologetic look, turning to Takeshi, his usual sparring .
“None taken. I feel the same.” The Rain says, grabbing the hilt of his sword. “I also can't wait for it.”
Tsuna just watches the two sword fighters as they hype each other up, almost the same way before Takeshi has one of his big baseball games.
“They do realize the hitman doesn't ever use swords, right? They won't get anything close to a proper match.” Shoichi says from beside him, wearing a fond expression as he takes one of his inventions and puts it into his pocket.
Ryohei beside him lets out a motivated battle cry, pulling his armored gloves over his fists. “What's important is the emotions, not the rules! They can extremely enjoy it anyway!”
Shoichi hands his Sky a small device, Tsuna taking it with a small smile, not denying the older Sun’s words. After all, he too has been urging for new opponents.
“Okay everyone,” He announces into the room. “Let's make this guy regret ever setting foot inside our town.”
______________
Hayato is rushing around the dark corners of the school building with practiced ease, his steps barely making any sound as he darts from one shadow to another to avoid the bright moonlight shining in through the windows.
Getting this mission over with fast will probably be essential since all the flame users in the school showed very obvious hostility towards him. A justified reaction since he intruded into their territory but that doesn't make it any easier for the hitman.
But like that it will only be a question of time till Hayato will be politely asked to leave with a knife to his neck, so he should finish this job while he still can.
During the lessons the green eyes boy constantly felt the stare of the Rain, Sun, Mists and especially Cloud in his class.
With the continuous pressure of light killing intent Hayato felt directed at him at all times he suspected that they are probably part of some local Yakuza, just like the black haired Cloud who was patrolling the hallway before.
There was nothing about such a group in the documents he had received, so maybe this had been a more recent development. Or the information could just be bad. There have been quite a number of rumors about the CEDEF boss floating around recently.
At least Hayato has some experience for infiltrations like this from his demolition missions. Just this time he has to steal some documents instead of planting explosives at the designated areas.
A small look at the sign beside the door confirms that he has reached his target, the archives that should hold all the student registers of the school and several other things that could (but probably won't) be useful.
He slowly lifts his hand, taking out a lock picking tool and inserting it into the keyhole, but before he can finish his work a knife suddenly lodges itself into the door right beside his head.
“Kufufu, now what is a rat doing in here? It seems we will have to do some pest control.” A blue haired boy, Hayato turning around as the Mist materializes himself behind the hitman.
The young hitman pulls out a handful of dynamite sticks, holding them close to his cigarette to ignite them at any time, but the heterochromatic boy standing across from him still gives him a confidently relaxed look.
The reason for that becomes very obvious as suddenly a group of people materialize as the Mist drops his illusions that covered the area, revealing the people Hayato has seen in his class plus some additional ones.
‘I walked directly into their trap.’ He realizes with shock. There is no way they would all be here otherwise. ‘Fuck I shouldn’t have taken this job no matter what.’
He clenches his sticks of dynamite as his enemies release their flames into the hallway, his eyes darting between them in panic.
All of them seem like they have fighting experience, so his chances of beating them all would be near nonexistent. Which means escape is the only option.
He takes a deep breath as he looks for all possible escape routes, scowling at the confident expression of his opponents. This won't be easy, but he escaped from more dangerous situations, and he isn't going to get captured by a group of children.
‘I will make you overly confident assholes regret not taking me out with that first surprise attack.’
____________
Tsuna lets his Cloud flames flow out freely, filling the area with an almost painful pressure, the white haired boy before him shaking with a shocked expression on his face, obviously not expecting to have been found.
After some discussion the group decided to make it look like they were trying to kill the hitman while actually letting him run away, making it so that he can report back that the area has a new group taking control of it now.
That way they appear like a normal yakuza family while making sure there is no person sent to see what happened to the young hitman. A win-win situation.
That way might cause some collateral damage as they chase him away (something Hibari wasn't happy about but accepted after Tsuna ensured him that he can have as many battles as he wants for an entire week), so they have already secured the area. And this part of the school needed renovation anyway.
“If you come willingly we'll make sure you don't feel any pain.” Mukuro says with that creepy grin of his, being the one the group decided on to do the talking since he was the only one able to deliver the lines with the proper impact.
Just like Xanxus expected Gokudera doesn't waste his breath to give them an answer, lighting two stacks of dynamite and flinging them into the air towards the ceiling.
They explode at the exact same moment they make contact, scattering shards of glass and concrete in the area, but the impact wasn’t strong enough to actually cause any serious damage, the hit man probably using weaker bombs to not hurt himself in this enclosed space.
Tsuna sharpens his ears to listen out to the unfamiliar footsteps running down the hallway, giving the boy a head start as he stretches his limbs, a predatory expression on his face.
‘We can't make it too easy after all or it will be suspicious.’ And from the looks of it, most of his guardians feel the same.
They run after the escaping boy through the dark hallways, their footsteps loudly drumming on the floor as they draw their weapons.
Shoichi stays back with Chrome, giving the rest a small wave while they make sure the damage isn't too intense, extinguishing the small fire created by the dynamite.
Tsuna sees how Hibari jumps out of the window, Kensuke right behind him, red lighting flashing around his legs to soften the fall because not everyone is a monster like Hibari that can just jump from this floor without breaking all of their bones.
Takeshi, Ryohei and Tsuna follow the hitman directly, Mukuro having disappeared to who knows where.
“Can I at least have a bit of fun before we let him go?” Takeshi asks with a wide grin, drawing his sword and making it glint in the moonlight shining in through the windows.
“Sure, if you can get to him before the others do. It would be suspicious if he didn't get a single injury anyway.”
“Cool! Then I will be going ahead!” The Rain says, his ring igniting with blue flames as sparks begin to fly around his body, lighting the hallways in an eerie light before the swordman rushes forward at an incredible speed.
He flies around the corner without slowing down, his movements as fluid as a river as Tsuna hears the panicked cry of Gokudera as the Rain catches up to him.
“Tripple bomb!” Tsuna hears the green-eyed boy shout, but the moment he does, the Sky’s intuition spikes, a cold shower settles in his bones.
He constantly pushes his flames into his legs to rush forward, not caring for the cracks he leaves behind as the ground shatters under the force, arriving just in time to see the hitman accidentally drop some of his explosives to the ground.
Tsuna can see the moment Gokudera realizes what has happened, a resigned and sad expression appearing on his face as he closes his eyes, knowing that he won't have enough time to escape.
Takeshi sees it too, but he is too close to get away, not able to stop his motion in time, already beginning to throw up a Rain shield around himself in an attempt to lessen the blast.
But before he can properly form it a wave of Sky flames explodes from behind him, Tsuna rushing towards the boys at an incredible speed.
Gokudera’s eyes snap over in shock as Tsuna tackles him and Takeshi away from the explosives, the three boys getting thrown down the hallway as the explosives detonate behind them, the hitman looking like he can barely understand what is happening.
They painfully crash into the ground, sliding over the floor of the hallways before coming to a stop with a painful groan.
Tsuna instantly lets his flames flow over the two others, making sure none of them is hurt until he realizes that not all of the boys he is currently holding onto are his allies, but judging from the white haired hitman’s expression it is probably too late to react to that now.
“You saved me…” Hayato says, staring up at the Sky with stars in his eyes, his flames unconsciously reaching out to Tsuna and the moment it touches the Sky’s flames that he wasn't fast enough to retract, they instantly mix together.
By now, Tsuna knows very well how it feels to harmonize with someone, so he recognizes the current situation instantly, to his greatest dismay.
“You saved my life!” The hitman declares again, a happy smile on his face. “I tried to kill you and you still saved my life.”
The white haired boy lets himself drop down into a formal bow, his flames reaching out towards Tsuna desperately, like his Storm has been urging for a place to stay and instantly reacting to Tsuna’s as soon as he spotted him.
“Please let me repay you! I will do anything you command!” The boy calls, and the Sky can feel how terrified he is at the thought of being rejected.
The Sky tries to pull his flames back on instinct, but the hitman’s storm is holding onto them tightly, already beginning to mix more and more.
Before he can even think about what he is doing Tsuna slams his hand down on the hitman’s neck, knocking him out with a single strike and making him drop to the floor like a sack of rice, looking up towards the other guardians with a perplexed expression.
“You know, at this point I’m not sure why I am even surprised.” Mukuro says, appearing beside the brunette boy, using his illusions to extinguish the flames left behind by Gokudera’s explosions.
“This time it's not even my fault! He was the one who started it!” The Sky calls out, still partly in shock.
“Yeah, but you accepted him.” Shoichi tells him with a fond look on his face. “We know harmonization is a two sided affair, you big old softie.”
“You know, at least that makes it so our planning wasn't for nothing.” Kensuke says, picking Gokudera up by his arms, Ryohei doing the same with his legs. “Let's initiate plan ‘When Tsuna inevitably harmonizes with an enemy’.” He says.
The rest of the group gives him a nod, Shoichi pulling out his phone as he begins to call a number, beginning to walk down the corridor together.
“Wait, have you actually planned for this?!” The Sky shouts, watching how his guardians carry Gokudera down the hallway to who knows where. “Hey, wait for me! This is a joke, right?!” The boy calls out, running after his chuckling friends.