SHUGO-SHA NO NINGYO

by Yatsu

CHAPTER IV: (Storm III)

Gokudera feels safe.

That's a concept he hasn't felt for a long time, ever since his mother- his master died.

He turns his head carefully to the side and sees Sawada curled up around him protectively, snoring right in his ear. He is the weakest and stupidest doll maker he has ever met and yet- there was something about him that made Gokudera keep looking.

Tsunayoshi Sawada is the heir of the most powerful doll maker family. He is supposed to be refined, smart, and powerful but so far, everything Gokudera has observed proves that he is opposite of all of that. He is clumsy and weak, not even being able to stay awake after summoning a doll's human form. He also struggles in pre-planning, something that would have been useful in his first assignment. Gokudera would call him reckless, but can a coward be even called reckless? He brings two dolls, doesn't test his newfound powers first or practice, and he goes to do an exorcism in clothes he can't even run in. Careless was probably a term better for him.

But-

There is something about him. Even though he's useless and weak, the way he handles dolls- the way he handled Gokudera, who was almost crumbling to pieces- is careful and precise. He is clumsy (Gokudera's lost count of the number of times Sawada pricked his fingers while he sewed him new clothes) but he is also gentle and the way he handles a doll spoke of care and love that Gokudera hasn't felt for a long time.

Sawada's eyelashes flutter and sleepy brown eyes look down at the quiet doll in a sleepy daze, "Gokudera-kun, you aren't asleep yet?"

Gokudera huffs but his tone was soft, 'Who can sleep with your snoring?'

Tsuna blinks and then flushes as he sputters, "I-I don't snore!"

'You were asleep, how would you know?'

Gokudera watches in amusement as Sawada makes up excuses of being too tired to know and explaining that he usually didn't snore but even if he did, it would be totally fine.

Eventually, Sawada comes down from his embarrassment and goes back to staring at a quiet Gokudera. Dolls didn't have facial expressions, unless they were turned human, but they have emotions. Sometimes Gokudera thinks that Sawada somehow knows what he is feeling.

The Italian doll doesn't want anyone knowing the turmoil he is currently experiencing and so, he tries to divert the other's attention, 'Have you found an answer, yet?'

Sawada blinks, "To what?"

'The exorcism you were supposed to be doing.'

"Er," The brunet hesitates, "Reborn probably had someone go up and clean my mess already. Bianchi's probably on the way to do it herself."

At the mention of Bianchi, the silence around them turns frosty. Sawada looks scared by the unfriendly atmosphere but he swallows back his fear and says, "I think you should talk to her."

'There's nothing to talk about with her.'

"She came all this way to see you-"

'To collect me, you mean. I'm a powerful doll made by her father, she won't let me fall into someone else's hands. She wants my power for herself. That's all.'

Sawada deflates at his harsh tone, "Don't say that," He says quietly, "She cares about you."

Gokudera snorts, disbelieving. 'She'll probably leave now that she's seen me. She probably didn't expect me to be so damaged after the crash. She'll realize she can't use me after all and make her excuses.'

Sawada purses his lips, "No one would think that way."

'Oh, you'd be surprised, Decimo.' Gokudera warns him, 'Power and money makes the world go round. No one would want something that broke once. There's no use in fixing broken things.'

"There is!" Sawada argues, surprising the brooding doll and himself. He flushes in embarrassment but continues in a trembling voice, "I won't tell you you're not broken, I won't pretend you haven't been hurt and torn to pieces. But I also won't let you run away by saying there's no point in picking up the pieces and putting them back together again."

Gokudera is so stunned, he remains quiet.

"You asked me that before," The brunet tells him quietly, "And truth to be told, the first thing that came into my mind was that it was much cheaper than buying something new, you know?"

Unable to help himself, Gokudera snorts at the answer and Sawada looks embarrassed and clears his throat.

"But that's not the only reason I thought of," Sawada defends himself, "Sometimes it's because of sentimentality, because some things are one of a kind, they're irreplaceable to someone, because people love them so much that they're not willing to give them up." He explains, "Or because there is such a thing as second chances. Like, like…" He stutters, "Uhm, for example a coffee maker that made good coffee but broke? Instead of buying a new one, they have it fixed, they give the coffee maker a second chance."

Gokudera stares at him and then says, 'For a moment there, I was impressed with what you were saying. Until you got into the bit about the coffeemaker.'

The Vongola heir ducks his head, "I-I was trying to make a point!"

If dolls could smile, Gokudera might have given Tsuna a very small one, 'It wasn't a bad point.' He pauses, hesitates and says in a voice barely above whisper, 'Thank you.'

Sawada's eyes widen as though he couldn't believe what he just heard, "Did you just-"

Gokudera looks away, 'I didn't say anything.'

Sawada is quiet and then there was a warm hand, gently patting his head, "If you say so, Gokudera-kun."

Something inside Gokudera's doll heart softens and just as he was about to relax into the gentle touch or possibly, sleep- a loud crash makes Sawada jump.

"What-"

The window of the Vongola Tenth's bedroom is broken and two dark shapes jump inside. Gokudera stands up on brittle legs and backs up, making sure Sawada is behind him. It's a ridiculous action, especially since he is in his doll form and definitely smaller than the brunet, but he had no other thoughts in his head other than to shield him from the intruders' view.

The black aura surrounding the two dolls identified them as possessed dark dolls. They are the enemies.

"Gokudera-kun, you're-"

'Get back!' Gokudera orders him, 'Can't you see they're dark dolls? You just woke up from a three-day coma! You're too weak to go against them! Go hide!'

"Okay but I'm taking you with me too!" Sawada insists. But just as he reaches out to grab the recently fixed doll, one of the dark dolls throws itself to his face.

The brunet lets out a shriek and Gokudera turns to launch himself towards the attacking doll, but then the second doll grabs him from behind.

Sawada falls to the bed, unconscious. The dark doll that attacked him is gone, in its place is its human form- a grotesque, thin figure with gray skin. Its movements are distorted, squirming around and waving its long unnatural arms. He has long fingernails that looks like it could be used as a weapon.

Gokudera struggles and looks behind him. The doll holding him looks like the doll version of the grotesque human in front of him. Are they twins?

The human one waves expansively at his doll twin and it jumps to the window, with Gokudera still struggling in its grasp. Darn these weak doll limbs of his! Why can't he escape? Was it because of the dark aura? Or is his body so brittle after just being fixed?

The grotesque human turns to grab Sawada but the door opens with a bang and a bullet hits the human twin right on the head. The dark doll holding Gokudera lets out an inhuman shriek, falling out of the window to escape. Smoke comes from inside the Vongola heir's room and soon, a second doll is jumping out and following after its twin.

Gokudera struggles but the dark aura from the doll is overwhelming. Soon he succumbs to the suffocating atmosphere and falls unconscious.

"Tch," Reborn's gun reverts back into his shape-shifting doll, Leon. The chameleon climbs up his arm and settles on his shoulder, nuzzling against his face. The hitman jumps towards Tsuna's bed to check on him.

The brunet is paler than usual. A strange grotesque human was about to grab him before Reborn interfered. He shot it with Leon's bullet. If it was a human, he would have fallen unconscious, restrained by the numerous charms and spells weaved in Leon's bullets. However, if it was a doll, it would revert back to its original form as a consequence.

The first shot takes away the doll's human form, the second shot subdues it. Reborn was only able to get one shot in.

What happened to the powerful shields the Vongola Family put up? Reborn thinks as he shakes Tsuna's shoulder. No use, the brunet is out cold. A forced kiss for doll summoning just after he woke up from a coma- who knows when he'll wake up next. One problem after another. First, focus on the cause, how did those dolls get in?

The only way those dolls can bypass the powerful charms is if one of the people who put up the shields made a leeway for them. There may be a traitor in their midst. Reborn would personally scour the entire area and the Vongola mansion if he had time, but the twin dolls have taken Hayato Gokudera. A powerful, currently fragile doll susceptible to negativity in the hands of darkness is no laughing matter.

Still, someone needs to be informed about the possible traitor.

Reborn holds up a hand and Leon transforms into a phone. He sends a message in code, in cases anyone intercepts with the messages. Iemitsu would know what to do. He'll secure the Vongola mansion and send out someone to investigate the Namimori area for any runaways. Leon transforms back after the message, curling around his arm.

Now, to the next set of problems: the Vongola heir is unconscious, Bianchi is out somewhere- supposedly dealing with a failed exorcism, and Hayato Gokudera could be turned into a dark doll any minute.

Reborn grimaces as he takes out a pill container from his pocket.

A 'medicine' developed by the father-and-son duo, Giannichi and Giannini. They're called hyper dying will pills (a gaudy name for something that is supposedly so powerful, in Reborn's opinion). The pills are said to remove internal limiters, release hidden awareness, and bring out the hidden potential of the person who takes it. No one needs their limiters removed more than Tsunayoshi Sawada, who is limited by so many things: like his thin stature and non-existent strength- but these pills are untested and 'death' is one of the possible (but least likely) side effects given by Giannichi.

Reborn would have preferred to slowly introduce them to his student, but with the way things are now, he has no choice but to introduce them too early. He'll deal with the consequences after.

The hitman opens Tsuna's mouth and puts the small blue pill as close as he could to the back of Tsuna's throat. He closes the brunet's mouth and massages his throat to mimic swallowing. Thankfully, the pill is small enough that Tsuna has no problem swallowing it.

He lets go of the Vongola heir and jumps back.

Tsuna lies still for twenty seconds before his fingers twitch. Reborn looks up just in time to see his eyes snap open.

Sunset orange eyes meet his gaze.

Gokudera wakes up to a girl, in a tattered dress and unkempt hair, looking down at him quietly. The memories of what happened comes rushing back and Gokudera tries to stand but his frail body refuses to move.

"You're awake, I see." A male voice comes from behind the girl and she turns to look at the speaker. A teen, slightly older than Sawada, comes into Gokudera's line of sight. He had indigo hair and cold, heterochromatic eyes. "Nice of you to join us. We've been impatiently waiting to talk with you."

On the male's shoulders were the two twisted dolls that kidnapped Gokudera. They shifted around, claws grabbing onto the teen's shoulders in a way that should hurt but doesn't seem to bother him.

'Dark dolls,' Gokudera would spit in disgust if he could. 'What do you want with me?'

"Just you," The teen tells him with a creepy laugh, "Your power. You're a high-class doll made by an equally high-class doll maker. Your anger and hurt are powerful tools, we could sense your near loss of control. It was delicious."

Gokudera shudders at the tone. He remembers the emotional turmoil vividly, the anger that gripped him, the darkness that nearly pulled him under. It called to him, tempted him- it would be so easy to fall-

Gokudera shakes his head.

No.

He is in the territory of the dark dolls, a crumbling building, and from the minimum glimpse through its cracks, in the middle of nowhere. If he isn't careful, he could be turned by the darkness. He could feel the heaviness of it, caressing his skin, suffocating him, tempting him. He shivers, although dolls couldn't feel temperatures.

'There's no way I'm going to side with you.' Gokudera tries to distract his fear with brave words, 'I won't fall so low as to turn into a dark doll.'

The teen with heterochromatic eyes laughs again, "Oh, we're not asking for permission. Although, we are extending an invitation. It's much easier on us if the dolls turn to our side without much fuss."

'Fat chance.'

The strange teen just gives him an amused look, "Well, yes or no, the outcome will be the same. I'm afraid you didn't have much of a choice in the first place. M.M? Chikusa?"

Two dolls jump into his hands and he turns towards the unkempt girl from before. The twin dolls on his shoulders scamper away into the darkness, "My dear Nagi, if you will?"

The girl comes forward and kisses the two dolls. A mist surrounds their bodies and in a few seconds, a tall, thin, teen with glasses and a girl with red hair and violet eyes stand in front of them.

The unkempt girl's knees buckle and they allow her to fall. She coughs harshly and Gokudera stares in horror at the blood coming from her mouth. M.M. and Chikusa watch her dispassionately while the unnamed male with weird hair kneels in front of her.

"You did well, sweet Nagi. Now go to sleep, we might need you later." The strange teen lies her down on the floor and watches her eyes close. He stands up and leaves her on the ground.

'She's a doll maker,' Gokudera trembles in anger and disbelief, 'You're treating her like she's-'

"Disposable?" The redhead, M.M., finishes for him. Gokudera notices that she is holding what looks to be a clarinet. She spins it in her hands, "Well, she is. She doesn't have long to live anyways. It's rare, finding doll makers that would voluntarily succumb to the darkness but what use is a broken doll maker to us? We'll just wring her out of every power she has and find a new one. Right, Mukuro-chan?"

"Now, now," The strange teen, Mukuro, smirks at her, "Let's focus on the task on hand, shall we? Chikusa?"

"Yes, Mukuro-sama," Chikusa takes Gokudera and the doll tries to struggle futilely.

'What are you doing? I told you I won't join-'

"Well, it's never actually been your choice from the start, Hayato Gokudera." Mukuro tells him smoothly as they leave the room. He and M.M. follow Chikusa through a dark hallway, "Do you think we'd have gotten so many dolls and humans to do our bidding just by asking them?"

Gokudera freezes, 'You're going to turn me into a dark doll forcefully.'

"Bingo!" M.M. laughs playfully, tapping the ground with her clarinet. "You're not an idiot then, that's always a good addition to our side."

"If the light has cleansing rituals, then the dark side has corrupting ones." Chikusa intones in a blank voice.

"Before the night is over, you'll change your mind on whose side you should be on," Mukuro tells him with a dangerous smile. Gokudera refuses to believe that his own beliefs can be easily turned by a half-assed, dark ritual, but in these conditions, with his own uncertainty, he can see how it can be possible.

They turn a corner but stop when a familiar, tall shadow blocks their way.

"Hello," The sound of footsteps echo in the hall. The figure approaches them, close enough that they could see who it was. The dark dolls tense in preparation.

"I believe you have something that belongs to me." Bianchi tells them with narrowed eyes and flip of her hair.

Gokudera looks at her in shock for a moment, before he squirms in protest, I don't belong to you!

"Hush, Hayato," Bianchi holds up Romeo and gives his hand a kiss, "Big sister is trying to save you."

There is an explosion of smoke that quickly clears away and a tall man with dark, curly hair and blue eyes stands before them.

"I hate it when you don't warn me before you do that," Romeo takes the chain from around his neck. He pulls and pulls- it turns out to be a five feet long custom chain with a four-and-a-half-inch steel dart honed to a devastating point. The one-pound dart connects to the six-point-five-inch handle with a high-quality thirty-seven-inch chain and ball bearing connector.

The smile on Mukuro's face becomes more dangerous as M.M. steps forward, brandishing her musical instrument like a weapon.

Romeo raises an eyebrow in her direction, stepping forward at first, then breaking into a run towards her. He throws the end of his weapon chain towards her which she blocks with the end of her clarinet. Romeo smirks as the chain wraps around her instrument but M.M. pulls it up and plays. The chains around her instrument vibrates, loosening them just enough for her to pull away. Romeo's expression darkens and he ducks and turns to wrap the chain around her leg instead.

A yoyo blocks the attack, however, and Romeo jumps back just as M.M. plays her music again and the scorpion tip of Romeo's weapon explodes. He falls into a kneel at the near impact, grimacing at them.

M.M. laughs at his face, "Weak!" She lifts her instrument to her mouth to finish them off.

Romeo smirks and M.M.'s eyes widen when her clarinet begins to smoke. She drops it but not before her hands and her mouth starts to burn like hellfire from the contact with her poisoned weapon. She screams like her life depends on it, falling to her knees and writhing in pain.

Chikusa's eyebrows furrow and he lets go when the end of his yoyo begins to smoke and melts to the floor.

"I'm called the Poison Scorpion for a reason, you know. A single touch from my dolls' weapons can incapacitate and kill. Only the dolls I've remade with stronger, anti-poison foundations can survive a poison touch." Bianchi tells them coolly as she steps forward. Romeo wraps the remains of his chain around his arm. The Poison Scorpion kisses her ring and he turns back into a doll. She picks up Romeo and puts him in her jacket's pocket. "Now, give Hayato back to me."

Mukuro is quiet as he watches M.M. eventually fall unconscious from her injuries. She turns back into a doll and he clicks his tongue in disappointment. "I guess I should have expected this outcome when going against an experienced doll maker. Nonetheless, you won't get in the way of our plans."

The strange teen somehow materializes a trident in his hands.

Bianchi's eyes narrow, "An illusionist?"

Mukuro doesn't answer her and instead buries the sharp ends of his staff into the cemented walls. The ground begins to rumble and the cement above them begins to crack. It falls to the ground and Bianchi jumps back just in time, coughing at the dust around them.

"You lost the moment you decided to fight M.M." Mukuro's voice seem to echo all around. Bianchi turns, trying to find where he is. She turns just as a yoyo flies over her head and a rain of needles is thrown her way. She takes out an extendable buttafuori ad alette, startling when the needles pass through her weapon. All except a single, hidden one, which scratches her cheek.

'Bianchi!' Shamal calls out when the doll maker falls to her knees, shivering as the drug in the needle takes effect. She's lost sight if the enemy and more importantly, of Gokudera.

Bianchi grits her teeth as she lays down on the dirty cement floor. She recognizes the burn in her veins as cyanide, a fast acting poison that would kill anyone else in a matter of seconds. However, as the mistress of Poisons, it takes a while for her to be killed by one.

She reaches into her jacket and pulls out a small bottle containing a thick, cloudy, pink substance. An antidote for every poison she has ever encountered. The downside is that it knocks her out for a few days, at the very least. This was a side effect that allows her body to sweat out the poison in her veins.

Bianchi takes out a ready-made talisman from her jacket and slaps it onto the floor. She coughs into her hand, blood staining her palms. Just what she needs. She smears it on the talisman and it activates, surrounding her and her dolls in a barrier.

"If… Reborn…" Bianchi coughs out more blood. Her dolls listen to her in grim silence, "Tell him-" She pops off the antidote's lid, "Get… Hayato."

Bianchi drinks the entire potion and falls unconscious before she even puts down the bottle.

Gokudera is placed in the middle of crudely drawn ancient symbols, supposedly something that would gather the darkness around and into him. He shivers at the cold, sticky blood on his back. The clothes Sawada painstakingly sewed for him were torn and dirty now. He carefully reaches out to touch the small, red butterfly patch the Vongola tenth sewed on his sleeve. Despite his anger towards Bianchi, his mistrust, he hopes she's okay and managed to get away to send a message for back-up.

Chikusa approaches and places two dark dolls on either side of Gokudera. Are these the sacrifices they were talking about, earlier? What sort of dolls sacrificed their own allies just to gain a more powerful one? The darkness is a cruel, evil master that Gokudera does not want to serve.

"We're ready now, Mukuro-sama," Chikusa adjusts his glasses and steps back. Mukuro steps forward, a triumphant look on his face as he places both hands on the edge of the circle surrounding Gokudera.

The blood symbols begin to light up and Gokudera closes his eyes, grabbing tightly onto the tattered remains of his clothes. He tries to breathe when the darkness surrounding the place grows heavier.

An incantation is being chanted and the sacrificial dolls are starting to moan in pain around him. Gokudera's broken body tenses, readying to fight back with everything he has left.

Suddenly, an explosion interrupts the ritual. The ground shakes and a large portion of the ceiling comes down in front of Mukuro, almost hitting him.

Chikusa jumps back when two figures land on top of the dislodged rock.

"Gokudera-dono, apologies for our late arrival," The familiar, formal voice greets the stunned Italian doll.

'Basil?' Gokudera carefully turns his head to the other one, 'Lancia?'

Lancia grunts, "Who else would it be, kid?"

'So that means, the tenth is-'

At the mention of Sawada, both dolls' faces turn serious.

"Yes, Sawada-dono has come to rescue you, but we must hurry." Basil wields blades that resemble boomerangs, swinging them swiftly towards the nearby opponent, a blank-faced Chikusa.

Lancia swings a large metal ball in the air. It seems to be attached to a chain with a ring at the end that he holds on to for control. He directs it at Mukuro who just stands there and lets the metal ball pass through him.

The scarred doll's eyes widen, "An illusion!" He turns just in time to see the familiar teen stab him with a trident. "You're-!"

Mukuro gives him a sadistic smile, "It's nice to see you again, Lancia."

Gokudera is dragged away from the ritual circle by a certain arcobaleno.

'Reborn-san!' Gokudera looks at the hitman in surprise, 'How- how did you find me? Did Bianchi manage to send you a message after all?'

Reborn frowns, "Bianchi's being evacuated with her dolls as we speak. We found her unconscious and poisoned nearby."

Gokudera's hands tremble, 'I-Is she okay?'

Reborn smirks at him, "Your sister is clever. It'll take more than that to kill her. She's recovering, that's what's important. Her dolls managed to convey her top priority to us quite clearly. 'Get Hayato' were her orders."

Gokudera doesn't know what to feel about Bianchi's insistence in having him rescued. He wonders to himself if this was really all a power play to get him to join her doll collection. He shakes his head lightly.

'And where's the Vongola Tenth? If Basil and Lancia are here, he must be nearby.' Gokudera looks at the fight currently happening, 'He turned both of them, right?'

"Yes." Reborn tells him, "Tsuna's also the reason we found you, so he's not entirely useless. He sewed a butterfly patch into your clothes, a small, protection charm. He used the energy he put in the charm to track you. It's how we got here in time."

Gokuder automatically touches the butterfly on his sleeve, 'The tenth thought of that?'

Reborn smirks, "Surprising, I know."

Before Gokudera could answer, something catches his attention at the corner of his eyes. He turns to see a red butterfly, flying towards him. It lands on his shoulder. The butterfly is glowing slightly, giving off a warm light. It eases the darkness that has been suffocating him ever since he woke up.

A figure lands lightly in front of the doll and Reborn. Gokudera looks up and his eyes widen when he sees Sawada straighten, an uncharacteristic, serious look on his face and his eyes glowing ochre.

'What are you wearing?' Is the first question that pops into Gokudera's head when he finally meets Sawada's strange eyes.

Instead of wearing the traditional garbs of a doll exorcist, the Tenth is wearing a mixture of traditional and modern clothing. He is dressed in a short, black kimono with different butterfly patterns sewn intricately over the thick, rich cloth. A thick, traditional, coil of rope keeps the kimono together and Underneath, he wore a black, sleeveless turtleneck shirt and black shorts. His footwear, instead of the high wooden sandals the exorcists of old favored, are sturdy gladiator sandals, perfect for running into a fight.

The tenth Vongola regards him coolly, a stark difference to the usually blubbering coward he is. Gokudera backtracks, this is a different Vongola heir from what he is used to.

Tsuna turns just as a metal ball is hurled towards them. Reborn grabs Gokudera out of harm's way just as Tsuna redirects the hit with a powerful kick. Once the dust settles, they see a defeated Basil on the side, a seemingly unconscious Mukuro, and a blank-faced Chikusa.

Tsuna looks up to meet Lancia's eyes. He sees that his once brown eyes are now heterochromatic: blue and red.

"You're the Vongola Decimo, then?" The man who is not Lancia, speaks with his voice. A sadistic smile makes him look even more dangerous. "What an honor it is to get rid of you."

End of Chapter

Author's notes: I drew Tsuna's NEW and IMPROVED exorcism clothes! It's in my tumblr: emrysblu. Use the hashtag: SSNN art. Or go to my profile and copy paste the link there, it's at the bottom most part of the profile description.

One more chapter before the Storm arc finishes! Then we move on to a new arc! Hope you look forward to more.

Aquarica Hehe, I'll try to include Yamamoto as much as I can. I hope Gokudera isn't OOC, I do my best to remind myself of his personality when I write this. Thank you very much for the compliment and for taking the time to review!

Additional information: The arcobaleno watch over the trinisette which are the most powerful weapons to fight against darkness. They hold the pacifier for safekeeping, the rings were given to the humans to give them a fighting chance against darkness. The Vongola set were given to the most powerful human who could control the most dolls. Other dollmakers have rings too but at most they are class A versions of the real things. The Mare rings, on the other hand, were lost. No one knows where the ring set is.

The arcobalenos were given dolls too, only their dolls were created in the image of powerful animal gods. Their dolls are their weapons but unlike the rings, they can't exorcise them. Instead, they provide the most powerful restraints or shields against darkness.

The creepy doll twins mentioned in this chapter are the Bloody Twins from Mukuro's Kokuyo Gang.

Google search done for this chapter: How to feed pills to an unconscious person? (I never found an answer so we'll just say Reborn does it by luck)

Description of Romeo's weapon: Is from the website kombativ-dot-com. Just search scorpion tail.

Buttafuori ad Alette: It's an ancient Italian weapon. The Buttafuori is a weapon that hides one or three blades inside the shaft in the normal state, in order to camouflage its nature as a weapon. By exerting a powerful and fitful horizontal movement the bearer makes the blades exit suddenly. (more information can be found at lennartviebahn-dot-com)

Cyanide poisoning: It can be distilled from the kernels of certain nuts such as almonds and also present in the leaves of some laurels bushes. The industrial chemical sodium cyanide is widely used, especially in mining, and has been involved in attempted mass murders. It was used to contaminate Tylenol capsules in the US in the 1980s and killed several people in the Chicago area. Cyanide has also featured in domestic murders and it causes death within minutes. It is the fastest acting of all poisons and for this reason it is the poison of suicide pills of the type carried by secret agents. (more information at pbs-dot-org)