Title: Opposites attract
Summary: Tsuna and her friends had saved the world from Byakuran and are finally home. With the danger now gone though, she had to deal with the fact that in that future she had become a mafia boss and Reborn is as unrelenting as ever with taking the choice from her and insisting she becomes the boss. But! She didn't want to be one! It was then that the brunette received a curious message on her phone which will, unknowingly to her, lead her to the chance to get to know herself.
Pairing: fem!Tsuna x Koji
A/N: Age: Tsuna 14 – Takuya 14 – Koji 14 – Zoe 14 – JP 15 – Tommy 12 – Kouichi 14
Disclaimer: Digimon Frontier and KHR don't belong to me, but the plot does.
…overdue explanation…
Tsuna was leaned against the rough bark of a tree with her eyes closed, trying to do as she was told and rest while her friends were working on their camp site.
She could hear the scratching of wood that she assumed to be caused by someone's attempt to create a spark which could be used to light the camp fire.
Humming absently to herself she let her thoughts drift and the sounds of her friends fade into the background.
The brunette felt a wave of home sickness, wishing she could be back in Namimori bickering with Lambo while defending her dinner from Reborn's skilled thieving hands. She missed her mother's warm smile which always welcomed her home, and Tsuna even missed her sadistic tutor's antics, the very presence he excluded and while dangerous always felt reassuring to her despite what she may show outwardly.
She was wondering what her friends back home were doing right now and what they thought of her disappearance. Were they worried? Were they panicking? Were they searching for her?
Her heart ached when she imagined her mother's worried frown and her friends panicking faces. The boss-to-be didn't mean to make them worry about her and in retrospect wished she had left a note for them somehow. Even though she knew that she hadn't been able to at the time, she couldn't help but feel guilty that she had left them to wondering about her safety.
What was Reborn thinking about the situation? Was he worried too? Sometimes she wished she were as good as him at reading people so she could know what went on in that brilliant scheming mind of his.
Tsuna was really glad to have made new friends in this strange world. They were soothing her as she felt the absence of home and knew that they were quickly becoming as precious to her as her loved once back in the real world.
Noting the direction her thoughts were headed, the girl was confronted with what had been weighing at her for a while now. She knew she couldn't postpone it any longer than she already had and she did promise the boys, Tommy excluded, that she would be explaining about the happenings at KaratsukiNumemon Mountain.
Startled out of her thoughts by the weight of a hand on her shoulder, Tsuna opened her eyes blearily to see Koji standing over her with a blank expression though she could see the concern swimming in his so very blue eyes.
Blinking her own a few times to clear her vision she send him a smile.
"What is it Koji?"
"Are you feeling any better?" the teen inquired in a quiet voice, his eyes staring intently.
"I'm fine," Tsuna reassured with a slow nod.
Koji observed the girl a while longer, making sure she meant what she said. He noted that she wasn't as pale as she had been before and that she wasn't shivering much anymore. Locking eyes with her, he found hers to be brighter and back to their previous attentiveness.
Nodding the warrior of light held out a hand for her and helped the small brunette to her feet, prompting said girl to roll her eyes in mock exasperation but her smile told him she was grateful nonetheless.
Together the two of them made their way to the fire where the others were already gathered, not noticing that neither of them had let go of the other's hand.
They seated themselves and Tsuna saw what seemed to be apples cooking near the flames. She stared in confusion before dismissing the thought. Instead the exhausted girl shifted her gaze to the flickering flames, watching their colors dance from red to orange and yellow, all the while enjoying the heat warming the air around them.
"Hey Bokomon, anything in your book about a beast spirit?"
Tsuna blinked in surprise and tilted her head towards Takuya who sat next to Koji on her left. What was a beast spirit?
Though when she thought some more about it, the name did sound familiar and it took her a moment until she finally recalled when she had last heard the term used. Her eyes widened; of course, Grumblemon had talked about a beast spirit before he digivolved into that insanely strong Gigasmon.
Turning her gaze towards Bokomon and his book that seemed to hold nearly all of their answers she too awaited what he had to say.
"I haven't seen anything."
"If it isn't too much trouble, could you take another look?" He wanted to be sure.
"Certainly, let's see now…beast…beast…beast…" Bokomon muttered as he searched the many pages for any information it might hold about the subject.
"I'm afraid I still don't see anything." The keeper of the book denied.
Tsuna wasn't the only one disappointed at his response and noticing Neemon's movement she watched curiously as he rubbed at a page. Bokomon who too noticed his friend's action frowned as he slapped the bunny's hand away.
"Paws off, baggy!"
"But I think I found something," he explains and once more started fiddling with the page as he continued, "this page seems to be folded over, maybe there's other stuff inside."
"Oh, it's a miracle; you're actually right!" Bokomon exclaims and began to read the content of the newly discovered page.
"This changes everything! It seems there are two spirits for each of the legendary warriors. The first is the human spirit like Agunimon and the second is called the beast spirit; that explains where Gigasmon came from but how did he summon the beast spirit?"
"I wonder what life would be like as a beasty."
"Let's feed you to one then you can find out from the inside! Don't you realize this means the children have the power to spirit evolve again?"
"Well then, if Bokomon's right each of us should be able to get a beast spirit." Koji thought aloud while staring at the flames.
Glancing around the brunette saw Zoey furrow her eyebrows, not sure when a good time was to bring herself into the conversation, considering the information she'd reveal.
"But if that's true then we're only halfway there."
"Oh man, it's like starting over," J.P. complained.
Her bangs were covering her eyes as Tsuna stared at the ground, contemplating on how to best word what she knew to be the opening to her overdue explanation.
"I don't even have my human spirit yet," Tsuna quietly interjected before something else could be said and bit her lip nervously as all attention shifted to her.
"That's right! My dear, what were those powers you displayed against Grumblemon?" Bokomon inquired curiously, an eager expression showing on his face as he leaned towards her.
Though she knew the question was coming, she couldn't stop herself from tensing at hearing it spoken aloud. "Well…that was…I…"
She closed her eyes trying to calm down as her breathing quickened with the anxiousness she felt at being possibly rejected by her friends once they knew. Her breath hitched and she snapped her eyes open, turning her head to meet his dark blue gaze.
Koji was looking at her calmly as he conveyed his reassurance and gave her hand a second squeeze.
Staring at him a little longer she slowly lowered her gaze to look at their clasped hands then back to his eyes. Her breathing evened out as her body started to relax and she returned the squeeze with one of her own.
Taking a deep breath to center herself the brunette turned her attention back to everyone gathered.
"What I used was a high-density form of energy that comes from one's own life force: Dying Will Flames."
Tsuna ignored the awed looks she received and held up one hand to forestall any questions she knew they wanted to voice out loud. She knew the only way she could do this, was if she told them everything in one go.
"Now, there is more than one type of flame and they are named after the seven phenomena in the sky: the Sky itself, then Storm, Rain, Sun, Lightning, Cloud and Mist. Each one possesses a different color and characteristic or ability.
Sky flames are orange and have the Harmony factor – Storm flames are red and have the ability of disintegration – for Rain flames the color blue and the characteristic of Tranquility – Sun flames: yellow and activation – Lightning flames: green and hardening – Cloud flames: purple and propagation – Mist flames: indigo and construction.
Dying Will Flames are graded according to their purity, which has a direct relationship with the strength of an individual's resolve. Meaning: the stronger the resolve the higher the purity. The rate of purity also indicates how much of the special characteristics of the flames are being drawn out."
Here Tsuna stopped her explanation, hesitant to continue as now that the mechanics are out of the way, the part about her being in the mafia followed. The brunette was already surprised at how steady her voice had sounded though she was sure that that would change real quickly. As she tried to gather her courage the girl gave Koji's hand another squeeze which he returned immediately.
"The Dying Will Flames are also regarded as…" she trailed off before steeling her nerves as best as she could and continued with a small voice: "the symbol of the Mafia World."
Stunned silence greeted her ears and the brunette bit her lips as she closed her eyes in an effort to quell the need to bawl her eyes out. Though her shoulders shook with effort, a few tears managed to escape anyway.
When Tsuna felt Koji's hand let go of her own she felt a pang in her chest. It hurt. She wanted to look at him but at the same time she didn't. She wouldn't be able to stomach the sight of his rejection or the mistrust and betrayal. Would those show in all of her friends' faces and eyes? She was too afraid to open her own eyes and look.
The brunette could hear the blood rushing in her ears as her heart-rate and breathing picked up. She could feel herself on the verge of hyperventilating and didn't know what to do.
The girl was so concentrated on her fears that when she felt the sudden weight of hands on her shoulders, she flinched.
Blinking her eyes open in surprise she hesitantly lifted her head to come face to face with Koji's worried expression.
"Hey, you alright?"
Her breath hitched and her mouth formed a small o as she stared at him with wonder clear in her eyes. As the seconds ticked by and the navy clad teen's worry deepened, she finally registered that he had asked her a question.
Clearing her throat, Tsuna gave a small nod, never letting her gaze leave his.
"Yeah, I…I'm fine," she stuttered out, not sounding all that sure but not saying anything more either.
Koji stayed where he was and searched her eyes, making sure that the small brunette he came to care for was in fact fine. While he was doing that, said girl couldn't help but fidget under his intense stare and felt the heat creep up her face, painting her cheeks a brilliant red.
Seeing as she seemed to have actually calmed down, he finally stood back and retook his seat next to her, a small blush of his own forming. Without looking at her, Koji reached out and took her hand back in his in a firm but still gentle hold.
Suppressing the urge to stare at their clasped hands, the girl shifted her attention to her other friends and was met with equally concerned faces as Koji's had been just moments before.
If they were worried for her, did that mean that they still cared for her as a friend? She really wanted to ask but when she opened her mouth no words came out. Tsuna furrowed her eyebrows, closing her mouth and then opening it again, but still nothing. A frustrated sound left her lips though still no words and the brunette didn't notice her friends now amused expressions.
"It's alright, Tsuna."
She looked up and when Takuya saw that he had her undivided attention, his eyes softened at her undisguised vulnerability, a small reassuring smile appearing on his face.
While Takuya wasn't necessarily the sharpest tool in the box, he was fairly perceptive, more so than other people might think and he knew that right now the petite girl was incredibly unsure of her standing with her friends. This was no time for him or any of them to blurt out their surprise in loud exclamations and saying thoughtless words that might end up being misunderstood und hurting her.
"This doesn't change anything. We all got to know you and you're certainly not a bad person. And mafia aside, you having those flames is pretty awesome."
"Yeah! You looked really cool with them!" Tommy agreed enthusiastically.
J.P. folded his arms as he nodded in agreement.
"Besides, it's good you have them, seeing as you don't have your spirit yet. I'm sure I wasn't the only one worried about your safety; I'm sure everyone here is relieved that you have the means to protect yourself."
When J.P. was done we all couldn't help but stare at him in surprise. Who would've thought…
"Woah man, that was pretty sensible from you, good one!" Takuya said as he clapped the older boy's back with a lighthearted laugh.
J.P. sputtered in indignation and shot the goggle-head an offended expression. "What do ya mean?! I can be very sensible, thank you very much!"
Tsuna fully relaxed and giggled as everyone else burst into joyful laughter at the banter. Her eyes lit up in merriment and her shoulders visibly slumped in relief.
Seeing the brunette's happy expression, J.P. grumbled good naturedly as a small smile appeared on his face. While he didn't know what to think about the whole mafia thing and how someone as sweet as Tsuna could be a part of it, he didn't let any of his thoughts show on his face. He hadn't liked seeing the petite girl so heartbroken. He was pretty sure no one had liked seeing her in that state, so he would keep his apprehension to himself. Besides, Takuya was right. There was no way she was a bad person.
Meanwhile Zoey had been really quiet since her fellow female's revelation and seemed to be deep in thought. After a while she let her gaze wander, taking in the group's easy acceptance before she smiled as she seemingly came to a decision.
"Me too," she announced.
As one everyone turned to look at the blonde quizzically, not comprehending what she meant to say with her statement.
"You too what?" Takuya and J.P. chorused confused.
Zoey giggled a little before she stopped and nervously played with a strand of her hair. She gave everyone a short glance before looking at her lap and cleared her throat.
"What I meant to say was that I too have ties to the mafia, though it's through my parents."
There was a pause as everyone tried to process what they just heard. When they did:
"Eh?!"
"Does that mean you can use flames too?" Tommy was the first to get his wits back and was eagerly waiting for her to answer his question. It would be so awesome if she could!
The blonde laughed lightly and shook her head no. "I didn't even know they existed, though my parents may have known."
"Excuse me," Bokomon interrupted, "I have to ask, but what is this mafia you are talking about?"
"A-aah…" Tsuna stuttered, not sure how to explain without being too blunt. She had forgotten that the digimon naturally wouldn't know the significance the word held. It seemed everyone was lost for words when confronted with their digimon companion's well-meant inquiry.
"The mafia represents the Italian underground world comprised of several criminal organizations referred to with the term Famiglia which means family."
The humans all turned wide eyes to Koji who had been the one to explain. Said teen ignored their incredulous expressions and had his face tilted upwards towards the dark sky of the digital world, looking as nonchalant as ever.
"Bokomon, Bokomon, Bokomon," Neemon chanted as he poked his friend repeatedly, causing him to come out of his shock and swat the offending appendage aside. "What!"
"Is this a good idea?"
Tsuna and Zoey both stiffened and looked at the usually airheaded digimon unsurely.
"What's the matter with you? These young girls are still the same kind and sweet ones as before and will save the digital world from Cherubimon's destruction with the rest of our friends."
"Nope, not good," Neemon denied.
"What is not good?" Bokomon questioned with aggravation clear in his voice.
"The meat apples," the yellow bunny explained. "While you're talking they're burning up."
Everyone exclaimed in alarm as they dived to save their meal, before they were inedible. The two girls meanwhile heaved a sigh of relief as they shared a glance and smiled.
Feeling a tug on her left hand, Tsuna turned away from the blonde and accepted the steaming apple Koji was offering her with a quiet thanks.
Looking back to Zoey, she was met with a teasing grin and laughing eyes causing the brunette to duck her head in embarrassment. When she lifted her gaze from the ground moments later she was met with curious dark blue eyes.
She hastily looked away and took a generous bite out of her apple with a deep blush on her face. As she carefully chewed on her bite trying to identify the apple's flavor, her blush slowly receded. Once she swallowed, her face lit up happily.
"Mine tastes like fried shrimp!"
Mine's like a meat bun," J.P. exclaimed with a grin.
"This one's almost like a chicken drumstick," Tommy added excited.
"I think I'm having prime-rib," Takuya announced.
"Yeah, gingered pork," Koji concluded from his position next to her.
Zoey then took a bite out of hers and squealed in joy as she fell with her back into the soft grass. "Mine's ossu buco!"
Tsuna's giggle at her friend's action quickly turned into a yawn, suddenly feeling incredibly sleepy. This didn't go unnoticed.
"Finish your meat apple and go lie down, you're still not completely recovered," Takuya instructed sternly.
Tsuna rolled her eyes in exasperation at him behaving like a mother-hen though there was a smile on her face showing that she was happy to see that he cared. She did as she was told and once she had eaten the apple the small brunette released her hold on Koji's hand and went to lie down a little distance away from them. The moment her head met her impromptu pillow, her arm, she was out like a light. .
.
"Where's the fire?"
"It's Koji! He's gone!"
"…eh?" blink. Blink. Blink.
Zoey bit her lip as she stared at Tsuna's blank face.
"Koji's…gone," she repeated emotionlessly causing the blonde to look at her with concern. "Tsuna?"
Her blank face was replaced with a frown as she shook her head, trying to clear her head. She felt irrationally hurt by the boy's leaving, feeling as if he had abandoned her but knew that that was not the case at all.
Pushing the confusing emotion to the back of her mind, the brunette send her friend a quick smile before following her to rest of their group which consisted only of Takuya, Tommy and J.P. as Bokomon and Neemon seemed to have followed their wayward friend.
Remaining at the back of the group with Zoey at her side, Tsuna followed the goggle-head's lead absently while staring at her lifted right arm; more specifically the navy jacket sleeve covering her limb.
"I still have his jacket, which means he had to have planned to return, right?" she asked no one in particular. .
.
"What's wrong? That was but a tickle compared to what's coming next," the corrupted Warrior of Earth jeered.
"Oh yeah? We'll see who has the last laugh!" Takuya retorted his D-Tector already in his hand as the others mimicked his action, Tsuna excluded.
"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"
At the same time her friends had scanned their fractal codes to initiate the process of digivolution, the spirit-less brunette reached into her pocket for her gloves and slipped them on immediately.
A blink of her eyes later, chocolate brown turned a burning orange as a flame of the same color erupted on her forehead.
"…Agunimon!" – "…Kumamon!" – "…Kazemon!" – "…Beetlemon!"
As if they all heard the same signal go off, the five of them charged at Gigasmon with an attack already prepared. Unfortunately their opponent was able to block them one after the other, then promptly changed from defense to offense as the legendary beast of earth easily flung them into the air with a successful executed Quagmire Twister attack.
Tsuna quickly lit her gloves with her dying will flames in an effort to stabilize her position while enduring the force of Gigasmon's attack. Turning her head to look at the others the brunette's eyes widened with dread seeing a ring of fractal code surrounding Kumamon's flailing form.
The Sky Guardian watched helplessly as Gigasmon went for the little guy and was horrified when due to her intervention Kazemon was hit instead. Her form darkened as her fractal code appeared leaving the female digimon's spirit exposed and up for grabs.
Once Gigasmon stole her friend's spirit of wind she turned back into Zoey and Tsuna hurriedly flew to the falling girl, catching her before she could hit the ground.
She carefully set the battered blonde on her feet. Turning back to the fight she was just in time to see Grumblemon defeat Takuya and J.P. causing them to turn human again. Before the Warrior of Earth could continue his assault on her friends someone else intervened.
Tsuna couldn't grasp the sheer relief his appearance brought her. She watched Lobomon distract the evil gnome until finally the Warrior of Light led him away from them. As she saw him leave again she felt her heart clench uncomfortably.
"He's gone now, you okay?" she heard J.P. ask and turned around to see the blonde in question stare sadly at her empty D-Tector.
"Yeah I guess. It's just, what use am I to you guys without my spirit now?"
"Hey, chin up. We're not your friends because of your spirit you know," Tsuna tried to cheer her friend up.
Takuya nodded in agreement as he fist pumped the air determinedly. "Yeah, don't worry! We'll get your spirit back, definitely!"
Zoey smiled weakly, not feeling very optimistic at the moment though she was glad to have such wonderful friends.
The small brunette bit her lip as she glanced in the direction she knew Koji to be and then back to the blonde. On one hand she didn't want to leave behind her upset friend but on the other hand she was really worried for the raven haired teen fighting an opponent whose strength clearly exceeded his own.
"It's fine Tsuna, go. I know you're worried about him," Zoey reassured the conflicted girl with a teasing smile, though it was clear that she was still upset about the situation.
She clenched her fists as she hesitated, indecision flashing in her orange eyes. "But…" she trailed of weakly, not really wanting to put up much of a fight.
"We'll catch up," Zoey told her firmly.
Tsuna looked to Takuya for confirmation who nodded at her and that was all she needed. She pushed off the ground and activated her flames, propelling herself into the air. Increasing her flame output the brunette hurried towards Koji's location.
When she finally found him she almost faltered in her flight. Lobomon was pressed into a wall while his fractal code showed. Turning her head a little she also saw Gigasmon heading straight for the down for the count boy. Acting quickly the Sky Guardian intercepted the enemy digimon in his path for her friend and was joined by a stone-like digimon she learned was called Gotsumon when Koji called out to the both of them.
Though the girl had braced herself for the impact, she still winced at the power put behind the charge.
"Hey! …uhm, put that into the statue! Hurry!" Gotsumon cried as he threw the battered teen a red colored crystal.
Tsuna didn't turn around to look if he obeyed, instead deciding to blend their interaction out while she concentrated on launching a counter attack. She needed to focus all her attention on balancing the amount of power flowing into her two types of flames. Because she didn't have her headphone with her, the contacts Spanner gave her were useless so she had to feel for when her soft flames were matched with her hard flames.
When the brunette thought she had the most accurate result she could produce without aide, she released a deep breath she didn't know she had been holding and let completely go.
She yelped, the force of her attack flinging her backwards until her involuntary flight abruptly stopped when she harshly collided with one of the stone statues surface knocking the breath out of her.
The flame atop her forehead flickered before extinguishing completely as Tsuna fell out of her Hyper Dying Will Mode. Gravity slowly peeled her pressed form from the indent she caused into the stone and fell face first onto the ground with a dull thud.
Catching her breath, the girl expelled a muffled groan as her muscles protested against her moving; shifting her position marginally so she was able to see the action take place.
She didn't notice the others arriving at the scene, too focused on the beast spirit hovering over its former hiding place in the earth she knew belonged to Koji. Said boy stared at his second spirit in wonder, momentarily stunned before catching himself and pointing his D-Tector at the totem.
Once the spirit was downloaded a ball of fractal codes surrounded his hand instead of the usual single ring and then the raven haired teen initiated his new digivolution. .
.