Chapter 14

Akira Interlude

Before Akira was Beta of Squad 1… Before he was inducted as leader of Hibari Kyoya's Elite Seven… Hell, before Akiyama Ichiro cannonballed into his life and became his best friend in the resulting tsunami…

Fukuzawa Akira descended from a long line of shinobi whose purpose was to serve the Hibari Household, a line tracing back to daimyos of eras long passed.

From the moment he could walk, Akira had been raised simply for the purpose of catering to the youngest addition to the Hibari line who was coincidentally the same age. He was forced to advance his knowledge at a swift rate so that should young Hibari Kyoya-sama ever need it, he would be able to provide the necessary information. He trained in the art of ninjutsu, adjusting his fighting style to fit as a support since the Hibari were known to prefer frontline combat.

Akira spent his every waking minute shaping himself into the perfect servant to Hibari Kyoya.

But he also spent his every second embittered by the fact that he was chained to another person he knew nothing about. Akira was to become Kyoya's shadow, that was his purpose and he was meant to fulfill it, yet how was he to do so when neither party knew each other to achieve the kind of unity expected of them? Akira knew better than to voice his thoughts though.

Instead, he sealed his lips and played the obedient child, for what did he know? He was still a naive kid to the eyes of his shishou and parents. Maybe that missing connection would spark the longer Akira got to know Hibari Kyoya when they officially met. Until then, Akira devoted himself to his studies, ensuring that his performance was always perfectly executed while his family sang odes to the Hibari Clan. He would find out once he completed his training.

However, before Akira ever had the chance to present himself at age seven as per tradition, the young skylark had spontaneously acquired an attendant of his own. An older boy by the name of Kusakabe Tetsuya. A leader of a gang of delinquents who had the misfortune of meeting the wrong end of Hibari Kyoya's training tonfas. There wasn't much info to go off of, but long story short, Hibari found use in the group and declared them under his territory at the tender age of seven.

Akira felt cheated, like the rug had been swept under him before he even had the chance to lift a foot. All his life spent training for that one moment and it was just… gone. His purpose had been taken from him and he became the spare. The unnecessary shadow that followed at the tail end of the herd.

But Hibari Kyoya was not cruel, despite common belief.

He knew what Akira was meant to do, what he was meant to be, and gave him a new purpose.

"Find the carnivores." The pale raven stated blankly, "Teach them. Namimori is mine."

As young and desperate as he was to feel like he had a purpose at that time, Akira would be the first to admit that he had misinterpreted the Skylark's words. Immensely. Kyoya meant elimination. Akira heard recruitment.

And that's how the Demon of Namimori's Elite 7 came to be.

That was also how he ran into the explosive Akiyama Ichiro.

But that was a story for another day, involving thieves, cats, old ladies, a fire extinguisher, and a rubber ducky. Akira liked to pretend that their first meeting never existed, but their second meeting wasn't very good either since Ichiro managed to piss off the territorial Skylark while issuing a letter of challenge as if they were at a school of delinquents and- he digressed.

The Elite 7.

When the elder Hibari members skipped town the moment Hibari Kyoya was deemed self sufficient, as they were wont to do, the Elite 7 took over the abandoned patrols. Normally, it would've been odd for teenagers and preteens with a sprinkle of young adults to be patrolling the town, but Akira had made certain that each and every one of them met Kyoya's high standards.

Namimori as a whole was Yakuza affiliated, after all.

They had originally started with seven members, but as Kyoya rose up the ranks to claim his throne of infamy, so did the number of candidates qualified to join him. The Elite 7 grew until there were seven teams of two or three, the leaders being the original seven. The rest, too weak or too average, joined the Disciplinary Committee that was promptly formed the moment Kyoya stepped foot into the school.

Kyoya ruled with an iron fist.

Akira settled into his new place of order, directing his people just as Tetsuya did his own. Kyoya stood at the top where no one was able to touch him. The status quo stayed this way for the next few years, none willing to challenge the Demon of Namimori.

And then rumors started flowing in.

There was someone that could match the Demon in strength.

Someone not afraid to go face-to-face with Kyoya in combat.

A nondescript girl who managed to avoid attention up until the moment of conflict.

As the leader of the Elite 7, Akira only saw it fit to investigate the girl.

It took three weeks of stalking for him to yield any results and that was mainly due to the fact that Kyoya had sought her out to pick a fight in the first place.

Whoever Sawada Tsuyuki was, she knew how to cover her tracks. There was no trace of any evidence that Sawada knew how to fight, let alone learn. Her records painted her and her family as the perfect civilians.

Her battle prowess against Kyoya said otherwise.

The blonde girl weaved in and out of Kyoya's destructive swings like it was a normal part of her life, swift and graceful. With a mighty swing, Kyoya mercilessly brought his tonfa down at her head with blunt force. Icy blue eyes clashed with steely gray as the two met with in loud clang of metal on metal. Akira couldn't help but whistle at the impressive speed in which the blade suddenly appeared into the girl's hand.

"Carnivore." Kyoya smirked with bloodlust.

"Hibari." Sawada answered blankly in return, as if the Demon hadn't acknowledged her.

Akira was mildly offended that the girl did not understand the level of honor Kyoya had bestowed upon her. He never called anyone a carnivore. At most, the Elite 7 were considered omnivores, strong enough to protect his precious Namimori, but still too weak in his eyes.

Before any more words could be exchanged, a great orange blur shot into the battleground, leaving a dust trail in its wake and effectively cutting Akira out of his thoughts. In the next second, the orange blur was gone and so was Sawada. Kyoya was left standing by his lonesome, a dark look washing over his face.

Akira decided in that moment to retreat. Kyoya's growing irritation levels were palpable at that point. No one wanted to confront the Demon when he was in that sort of mood.

When he realized that stalking the girl herself wasn't getting him anywhere, Akira began asking around at the school. He ended up with varying levels of responses.

"Sawada?" One of the more popular girls questioned, "Don't even bother, she's probably as bad as her Dame twin. I don't get why people actually like her, she has the personality of an ice block, that girl."

Akira rolled his eyes as the girl started to rattle on about the blonde Sawada's personality flaws and swiftly made an exit.

"Err… check the library?" One of the bully victims said to have been protected by Sawada muttered lowly, "She's usually there when she's not with Tsuna-san or Yamamoto-san."

"Thanks." Akira sighed and began his trek to the other side of the school.

"Don't know. Don't care. If that's all, get out." The librarian aide said shortly. Akira slouched, "Come on, I'm told that Sawada Tsuyuki visits the library often. If there's anything you can tell me…"

The girl gave him an unimpressed stare, "I'm not telling you anything about Tsuyuki-san, even if Hibari-san is the one asking. If you really want to know, go ask a boy or something."

An eyebrow twitched.

"Hmm, her?" A male student cocked his head, "Don't really know much about her other than not to wake her up within swinging distance. Girl packs a mean punch even when she's half asleep. Anyway, if you want information on her, I'd suggest you find the Snow Knights Fan Club, she's their Ice Princess after all."

While dubious that such a thing even existed, Akira still hunted down said fan club in hopes of answers. If a monster like Kyoya had a fan club, why not the admittedly good looking blonde who could kick ass? It took three days of searching before he suddenly found himself on a chair in a dimly lit classroom with no recollection of how he got there.

"So we heard you've been asking about our Yuki-hime."

Akira's reflexes twitched at the unidentified voice standing behind him, but he knew better than to act upon his instincts. Instead, he stretched out leisurely and leaned back, "Why yes, yes I am."

"Have you come to join us?"

All within three seconds, he panicked, heavily thought about his life choices, mentally admitted defeat, and died inside before smiling brightly and saying, "Yes."

"Very well." Another voice spoke up, a deeper one on his left, "What is Yuki-hime's favorite food?"

That was an easy question. The girl snacked on in whenever she got the chance, "Dango."

"Favorite color?"

"Purple but she prefers to wear blue."

"P-Purple? But…" The voice wavered before demanding, "What makes you say that?"

Akira rolled his eyes, "Anyone who has eyes would see that any personal effects Sa- Yuki-hime carries with her is always either lilac or purple, mostly purple."

Voices murmured around him for a moment before the lights turned on to reveal a large group of boys surrounding him. Akira had to blink to readjust his eyes before looking at the obvious leader of the fanclub. It seemed the popular President of the Student Council was an avid fan of Sawada Tsuyuki. Who knew?

"We'll be sure to update the database." The President smiled charmingly, "Thank you for your contribution."

"No problem." Akira returned the smile before leaning forwards, "If it's not too forward of me… I was wondering… Are there any signs you've noticed that showed Yuki-hime's knowledge in combat? Anything at all?"

The Student Council President should know. He was the son of an Oyabun's right hand, after all.

"Of course!" The President answered with an adoring expression, a stark contrast to his usually serious look, "Yuki-hime may be cold and harsh on the outside, but she has the heart of pure gold. She defends the weak, teaches the perpetrators until they right their wrongs, and then leaves as if she did nothing. Many of the reformed students are members of this club, they can attest to her skill."

"Yeah." One of the students spoke up with a proud grin. Akira noted him as one of the troublemakers who caused the Disciplinary Committee problems but then suddenly went inactive without cause. Guess he knew the reason for that now. "She doesn't look like it, but Yuki-hime can kick some serious ass. Some fresh meat back in Kokuyo tried to encroach on our territory, but she beat them good. Too close to her house, y'know?"

Another nodded along, "She was doing pretty good, but then her twin popped in and whisked her away. Dame-Tsuna may be useless in school, but that boy can run like hell. Kokuyo calls him the Orange Flash cuz all you see is an orange blur before he and Yuki-hime are gone. That and the Saint, cause he usually appears just before Yuki-hime beats the living shit out of them."

Akira paused for a moment before it clicked. That orange thing that had interrupted Kyoya's fight with the blonde was actually Sawada Tsunayoshi. Kyoya probably knew it as well too. Poor kid…

Mentally shaking his head, Akira focused on the topic at hand, "She's well known at Kokuyo?"

That was extremely suspicious, seeing as she was supposed to be a civilian. No civvy in their right mind would step foot onto Kokuyo grounds unless they wanted to be mauled.

"Well known?" The President snorted, "Yuki-hime beat the Top of the Kokuyo third years. She's the unofficial Head now, though she pretends none of that ever happened too."

Akira gaped, "How'd that happen?"

"No one knows." He answered, "Supposedly... Gesshoku, the leader, did something to set her off. My contacts over there are still trying to figure it out. But enough of that, let's talk business."

"Business?" Akira asked, confused at the sudden change in topic. The President gave a sharp toothed grin, "This isn't some half assed club full of drooling idiots. We've got some ground rules. We've got merch. We've got payment dues. We've got it all and it's time you've completed your induction trial as one of Yuki-hime's Knights."

Akira mentally groaned.

~.~.~

The first time Fukuzawa Akira officially met Sawada Tsuyuki face to face… it was something he would never forget.

After all, she was in the process of shattering someone's hand at the bottom of her heel with a bloody knife firmly lodged into the poor guy's shoulder. The blonde took one good look at him before stepping away with an expectant stare.

When Akira started his patrol that night, he didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't this. How exactly was he supposed to react in a situation like this? After a period of silence, Akira sighed and pocketed his hands with an easy smile, "I'm Fukuzawa Akira of the Disciplinary Committee, mind telling me what's happening here?"

Sawada's blue eyes bore into him for a long moment before she answered, "I do not take well to being assaulted."

"This man attacked you?" Akira frowned in concern.

For a girl that was just attacked by an older man, she sure seemed calm though.

Sawada scoffed, "Tell Hibari that he needs to clean up better. I find myself doing his work more often than not."

Without waiting for an answer, the young blonde walked away.

Akira was left with confusion and a bleeding man on the ground.

~.~.~

"And that's her message, word for word." Akira concluded his report uneasily, wary of Kyoya's reaction.

The prefect in question calmly put down his pen and crossed his fingers atop the desk, "Is that so?"

"... yes." He hesitantly answered, "The man that assaulted her was on the PD's watchlist, they couldn't pin anything on him until now."

"What is your impression of Sawada Tsuyuki?" Kyoya questioned, his eyes sharpening.

"Definitely not what the records say." Akira immediately answered as he was conditioned to, "She's got connections where she shouldn't have. She has ties to Kokuyo as the unofficial top dog. The Gesshoku heir answers to her, though it doesn't seem like she's interested in taking advantage of that. It should also be noted that the Nisshoku are keeping an eye on her."

"Nisshoku?"

Kyoya raised his head at the mention of the Yakuza clan. The Nisshoku were the strongest clan, second to the Hibari, with the Gesshoku coming at third. For the Nisshoku Elders to decide to keep watch over the Sawada girl...

Akira nodded, understanding the prefect's interest, "It took a bit of digging, but it seems Sawada Nana, the mother, was originally named heiress to the Nisshoku line. There was a scandal when Heiress Nisshoku Nanami had stepped down from her right in order to marry a foreigner by the name of Sawada Iemitsu. At the moment, Nisshoku has no heir and it seems they are taking Sawada Tsuyuki as a possible candidate. I'm unsure as to why they've disregarded Sawada Tsunayoshi, but I managed to gather that he is intended for another position. What position it is, I do not know."

"... Hn." Kyoya went back to his paperwork.

Akira knew a dismissal when he saw one, so he quickly made his exit.

Who exactly was Sawada Tsuyuki to Kyoya? The surveillance on the heir never mentioned such a meeting with the girl throughout his entire life. Perhaps a secret meeting? But when did they have the chance to see each other? There were always eyes on the Hibari heir...

Akira shook his head as he walked away.

It was none of his business, that was Tetsuya's job to figure out.

~.~.~

Okay, so his curiosity would get him into deep shit someday.

But how could he not?

Hibari Kyoya was a demon incarnate with the emotional stature of a steel knife. No one was on good terms with Hibari Kyoya, let alone a small slip of a girl (that could break the arm of a man twice her size without breaking a sweat, but let's ignore that fact).

Then again, it made sense that Kokuyo's very own Yuki-Onna would know the Demon of Namimori. It sounded like a pairing straight from the depths of Hell.

Shuddering, Akira forced his mind back to the task at hand: stalking Sawada Tsuyuki.

Or rather… stalking Sawada's stalker.

It was obviously an assassination attempt, but the question was why?

Why did the blonde garner such an action against her life?

The girl in question seemed to be aware of the dark figure shadowing her every step from the rooftops. Akira knew because she'd been circling around the town for quite some time now, as if waiting for the assassin to make the first move. It meant that this type of situation was not unknown to her, so much to the point where she didn't even look worried at all.

Smoothly sliding between two overshadowed buildings, Akira carefully took out his phone and zoomed in on the assassin's hunched figure. His lips pursed the moment he realized the man had a sniper trained on the blonde.

Not good.

Plans furiously flew through his mind as he tried to figure out a way to fix everything without any casualties. He could call in his men, but he knew that none were within this vicinity and the time it took for them to arrive would be time wasted. Attacking the man was an option, but Akira was a mid-range fighter and getting to the rooftops without getting spotted in broad daylight was virtually impossible. Akira breathed out heavily, it'd only end up with Sawada with a bullet in her head.

His frustrated planning came to a startling stop when his zoomed in screen showed the assassin jumping to his feet with a panicked start. The masked man swung his head from side to side as if looking for something and within a blink of an eye, Sawada was standing directly behind him.

Akira's jaw dropped open at Sawada's sudden teleportation. How did she even get up there?!

The assassin realized her presence a moment later and threw a sweeping kick at her. Tsuyuki calmly dodged with the most minimalistic movement her maneuver afforded her and swung a solid uppercut into the masked man's face. Another decisive punch to the back of the head had the man on the ground, down for the count.

Fear seemed to seize his entire body the moment Sawada's cold blue eyes immediately locked onto him through his camera without warning. How the hell could she see him?! Akira made sure he was completely hidden from view!

Sawada's hand flicked out and Akira let out a startled yelp at the very pointy knife coming straight at his face. Dropping onto his backside, Akira could only choke out a strangled noise when the airborne knife made contact with whatever was behind him. The telling color of blood unsuspectedly spewing onto his back told him that it was a person. A person most likely meant to kill him when he wasn't paying attention had Sawada not done something about it.

The second masked figure blindly pawed at the knife stuck in her throat (holy hell did Sawada have good aim) before collapsing onto the ground beside Akira. Grimacing at the feel of blood sliding down his back, Akira shuffled over to the body and tore the knife out of her neck. No need to risk a last ditch attempt at his life.

Once he was done divesting the woman of her weapons, Akira turned around with the intention of thanking the blonde for saving his life. Unfortunately, she was gone with the wind by the time he had the chance to open his mouth.

Blinking for a moment, Akira let out a long sigh before bringing up his phone to his ears, "This is Alpha, I'm gonna need help with disposal…"

Sawada Tsuyuki would stay a mystery it seemed.