Title: Incandescent

Rating: T (Subject to change)

Summary: When the mass evacuation of civilians from Tokyo begins, any sane person would turn heel and run like hell. So does Tsuna –but in the opposite direction. It's his family at stake here, after all. [AU]

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or Tokyo Ghoul

Warning: This story may not be compliant to the events of Tokyo Ghoul:re.

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"Is there something wrong?"

Special Class Shinohara blinked at the sudden inquiry from one of his subordinates, before smiling and giving a small little shrug of the shoulders.

"No, not exactly," he responded good-naturedly. "It shouldn't be anything to worry about at the moment."

Koutarou Amon hesitated briefly.

Shinohara's smile widened ever so slightly.

"Is there something you'd like to ask?"

The Second Class ghoul investigator glanced out at the crowd of trembling civilians emerging from the train. There were several other investigators on the scene, helping the terrified survivors out of the steel contraption and guiding them along to a safer area than the location they were currently in. Something in Shinohara's chest gave a slight twinge of sympathy for the almost-victims stumbling forward. Unlike Ghoul investigators who knew full well what they were getting themselves into, they were only normal citizens who hadn't signed up for witnessing any sort of bloodshed at all.

And yet, they had very nearly ended up as the next meal in the pit of a ghoul's stomach.

There were several who seemed to be severely shaken by the experience; one young woman had to be all but bodily carried out by two investigators. Others seemed to be taking things in stride, already beginning to recover from the shock –that young brunet flanked by two companions seemed to be slightly pale, but nonetheless looking forward. But it was the raven-haired teen with a black fedora sitting atop his head, trailing behind the trio, who caught his attention. It was a little hard to pinpoint what it was exactly about him that stood out, but there just seemed to be something about him that–

"Where did we get the information that there were going to be survivors of a ghoul assault here?" the question of the younger man sounded beside him, and Shinohara turned his attention away from speculating on civilians, feeling something akin to pride and satisfaction settle in his chest at the astute observation.

Mado's partner was a sharp one, indeed.

"From an anonymous source," he replied easily. "It happens often enough. The only noteworthy thing about it this time here is the timing of that tip we got –it's not often that we receive information like this just in time to organize a rescue squad."

When they had arrived at the train platform earlier, there had been several Aogiri ghouls lurking around in the corners –strangely enough, it didn't seem like they were an actual ambush group; none of them had been prepared to fight when ghoul investigators had poured onto the scene. So it wouldn't be too far of a stretch, then, to assume that they had merely been waiting for the arrival of the train.

For the arrival of the human-filled train of harmless civilians.

(For food.)

… And wasn't it maddening, that the ghouls dared to pull off a stunt like this right under the CCG's eyes? Wasn't it frustrating, that they would've succeeded, had it not been for that anonymous tip they had received barely in the nick of time to stop the slaughter from happening?

"Something seems awfully suspicious about that 'anonymous source.'"

A small frown tugged at the Second Class' lips, and Shinohara laughed.

"You're not the only one thinking that here," he admitted. "Except, our anonymous source is currently giving the entire tech division a headache and a half trying to track them down. Whoever they are, it's apparent that they are very well-versed in traversing the technology realm. We aren't going to be finding them in a single day or two at this rate, not if they don't want to be found."

For a short moment, a small pause.

"… What do you think the chances are of this person being one of the people coming out from the train right now?"

It wasn't as if the thought hadn't occurred to him before Amon's comment; the possibility definitely existed. But… how would the civilians know that there had been a group of ghouls laying in ambush for them at the end of this train stop? And if this person, this 'anonymous source,' had known of the ghouls' involvement beforehand… what reason would there be for them to even board the train in the first place? Even considering if this person's goal was to come to Tokyo, couldn't they have gone on another train instead to avoid this mess entirely?

Something wasn't making sense here.

(A missing piece of the puzzle, so to speak.)

"It's possible," Shinohara nodded along to Amon's query. "But if our anonymous source is smart enough to avoid discovery from the tech division, they probably won't have any trouble putting up an act as a genuinely terrified, traumatized civilian. And we don't have the time to sit down and sift through each and every person here right now; it's not the reason why we're in Ota."

At the reminder of their true purpose here, something in Amon hardened in determination and resolve, and Shinohara found himself giving another small smile again. Mado's partner really was a fine young man.

Now, if only Juuzou could pick up some of that sense of responsibility… preferably sometime before the next century…

…

Shouichi's update of the current situation in the 11th ward, Ota –the new information that he had uncovered from the latest rummage through the CCG database– was certainly useful; there was no denying that.

Useful, if not particularly heartening to learn of.

"There's an Aogiri base here… and the CCG is mounting an attack on it soon."

Tsuna bit his lip, lightly tapping his fingers against the table of the small hotel room they were temporarily staying in, courtesy of accommodations that the CCG had seen fit to 'support' the 'civilian survivors of a ghoul assault' with.

He supposed that they were lucky enough to have gotten around to 'talking' to the civilians on the train almost immediately in the aftermath of their earlier fight with the ghouls. Particularly the people who had glimpsed them in combat –Tsuna supposed that they were lucky that there hadn't been too many difficulties in finding them and 'calming' them down, convincing them that the ghouls hijacking the train had ended up turning on each other in a fight for more prey amongst themselves instead of…

Well, instead of what had really occurred.

(Terror could accomplish many things in distorting the memories in one's mind if they weren't trained for the pressure of battle; with the subtle and liberal use of Rain flames, it was easy enough to downplay their involvement –though, admittedly, Mist flames would've been better suited for this purpose. It was a good thing that there hadn't been very many witnesses to their altercation with the ghouls anyways; most had been fully preoccupied with the pressing task of putting as much distance between themselves and the bloodthirsty ghouls as humanly possible during the altercation.

Too busy trying to escape instead of paying attention to what had truly stopped the ghouls from pursuing after them.)

Of course, it wasn't likely that this cover would hold indefinitely, not if someone decided to take a closer look and poke around closely at the occurrences. But for now it would be enough; it would suffice under quick scrutiny –and, honestly speaking, that was all they needed at the moment.

Even though Tsuna had a gut feeling for being here in the 11th ward right now, that didn't mean he was planning to stick around for too long. Their main goal to be here in Tokyo in the first place was finding the Sasagawas, after all. Really, looking at it in broader terms, it would probably be best to start their search in the 20th ward first, where they were supposed to be, instead of starting the search here in Ota, where there were practically no leads to work off of.

The news that Shouichi had recently turned up about the 11th ward was… worrying. In retrospect, the CCG's decision to stage an operation to 'wipe out' the 'ghoul nest' here wasn't anything to be surprised about; what with the mass evacuation of the city going on and all, something like this… honestly didn't come as much of a shock as it might've been, had they came here a month ago and encountered the same situation.

Aogiri.

It was a term that was still unfamiliar to his lips at this point, yet Tsuna had the sinking feeling that he was going to become well acquainted with this name very, very soon. Which, considering that this Aogiri Tree was an organization of ghouls that actively fought ghoul investigators from the CCG in addition to hunting down civilians… didn't exactly bode well.

I wonder how Hibari-san is doing right now?

Hibari had arrived in Tokyo earlier than them, hadn't he?

Tsuna spared a quick moment to wonder about the current doings of his wayward Cloud Guardian –before promptly admitting to himself that he was probably better off not knowing.

(And for all the battle-lust that ran through Hibari Kyouya's veins, the stubborn Cloud still knew caution when the time called for it; rare were the times that he actually found himself in over his head in any situation. He had taken Kusakabe with him here as well, right? Kusakabe Tetsuya's presence would definitely go a long way in helping to temper out the edge of recklessness to his actions that still flared up every now and then. Even if Hibari was willing to take risks with his own safety, the same couldn't be said when it came to the subordinates under his command. Not when the dangers concerned those he felt obliged to protect.)

"Juudaime?"

Tsuna glanced up, startled out of his thoughts by Gokudera's voice sounding from the now-open doorway.

"Just got another update; looks like the CCG is going to be moving out." the Storm raised his arm and pointed outwards, waving it in the vague direction of where the 'ghoul nest' was located. "There's going to be a few investigators getting us and the other passengers out of this area soon, before the rest of them start heading out there in an hour or so."

"I see," Tsuna nodded in light of the new information, gaze dropping to the edge of the tabletop before shaking his head, quirking a wry smile at the edge of his lips. "Guess that doesn't leave us with much time, does it?"

"What do you plan to do?"

Even though Reborn's physical appearance was only that of a young teen at the moment, there was still something about his very presence that put Tsuna at ease as the Italian strode into the room, his smooth gait calm and completely unperturbed as he simply cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I… I think, there's probably something about this CCG operation that we should probably check out. It's probably what my intuition has been acting up about," Tsuna responded, leaning back and sighing. "Might as well do that since we're here and stuck in the middle of all this, anyways. I don't want to get involved in the fighting between the investigators and these Aogiri ghouls, though, so try to keep any altercations we run into to a minimum. Even if we don't manage to find anything important here, we can still use this as an opportunity to further observe how ghouls and ghoul investigators fight. For future reference."

Reborn smirked at the last bit.

"'For future reference,' indeed," the hitman drawled. "We'll be treating this as something of a reconnaissance run then, won't we? The ghouls and ghoul investigators will most likely be too preoccupied with fighting each other to take note of us as long as we don't do anything that will stand out too much. Just don't run off to do anything stupid, and things should be fine."

"… What are you trying to imply with that, Reborn?" Tsuna deadpanned, abandoning all forms of subtlety in that statement, and the former Sun Arcobaleno rolled his eyes.

"Why, I have no idea what you're talking about." Reborn's voice was dry, to the point that he could probably give a desert a run for its money.

Tsuna shook his head.

It wasn't as if he went out deliberately looking for trouble –trouble usually found its way to him, even when he took a detour.

"We can make our way to the ghouls' base when the investigators are taking us and the other train passengers out of here," he decided. "It shouldn't be too hard to find an opportunity to slip away, considering the large group we'll be moving in. That, and I don't want to leave a trail here –it'll only raise suspicions if they come here and find that we're gone. Better to wait this out here for now."

"The investigators ll be here in a few moments; I heard them checking in on some of the others downstairs already." Yamamoto's head popped in through the doorway, grinning cheerfully. "Let's get ready for this, ne?"

…

(Truthfully speaking, Tsuna wasn't comfortable with the impending battle between the CCG and the ghouls in this area. He could understand it, of course, but it was probably his relationship with Hibari that prevented him from viewing ghouls as flesh-eating monsters without a care for anything else like most did. Not to say that he wasn't grateful for it; in a world that broadcasted ghouls as vicious creatures that needed to be put down, how many would ever be able to learn to look past their fear?

Tsuna understood that ghouls were dangerous. He was fully aware that many were violent and had absolutely no qualms about killing humans for sport. But he was also aware that there was something more to ghouls than just the label of 'ruthless killer' that society had seen fit to grace them with, that not all ghouls were senseless murderers. That there was still part of them that was undeniably human.

He understood.

… But that didn't mean he wouldn't fight when the time called for it; Tsuna would not hesitate when it was the safety and wellbeing of his friends, his family, sitting on the line. He knew how the vast majority considered ghouls to be monsters, and while he sympathized –that didn't mean he would be willing overlook them if they posed a threat to his family.)

…

"Ah," Tsuna said simply, smiling lightly as Yamamoto walked into the room, feeling the warm presence of Reborn standing at his side and Gokudera beside him. "… Yeah. Let's get ready."

…

"Where's Yamori-san?"

"Yamori-san? Well… if he's not out and about, he's probably in that 'playground' of his again."

Two skull-masked ghouls sat idly by the pillar in a darkened corridor, picking at random strings of conversation to pass the time as they waited.

"Huh. Wonder which unlucky soul caught his attention this time."

The shorter ghoul shrugged.

"… Dunno if this is true, but I've heard someone say that it's the weird ghoul that was brought back from Anteiku."

"Huh, really?" The other ghoul let out a short whistle at this piece of news. "Poor bastard. How long do you think he'll last?"

"Ehh," the young ghoul shrugged. "Probably won't be too long from now, I'm guessing. According to past experiences, Yamori-san will be growing bored with him soon. Besides, don't we have the doves outside to be worrying about? It's not as if he will keep on playing with his new toy when the doves come knocking on our door, can he?"

"Damn straight he won't be."

…

The banter derailed from that point onwards; switching from their subsequent musings on doves to betting on the number of humans they would kill in the upcoming battle. Hibari straightened from where he had been leaning against the wall just around the corner and ghosted away, footsteps silent and leaving no trace as to his prior presence there.

This wasn't his first time hearing of Yamori, one of the authority figures commanding a branch of ghouls here in Aogiri Tree. Nor was it his first time hearing of the ghoul's sickening hobbies, his obsession with torture. It wasn't his first time hearing of Yamori currently being fixated on his newest 'toy,' focusing his attentions on the latest in a long line of victims.

It was the first time that the name 'Anteiku' was mentioned in conversation, however.

…

Hibari exhaled lowly, looking up into the ceiling of broken lights, awash in darkened shadows.

Anteiku.

(To think that he would hear that name here…)

A brief heartbeat, a slight pause. The Cloud then changed the direction of his footsteps, reaching up a pale hand to adjust the skull mask covering his face, and headed towards the far depths of the base.

Deeper and deeper, spiraling down into the gaping maws of the cavernous depths below.

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…

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Author's Notes:

Surprise! New update for Incandescent! :D … How many people thought that the story was abandoned by this point?

(Don't worry; if I'm ever discontinuing a story, I'll actually make note of it in the summary. Otherwise, even if you don't see an update for a long, long time –I'll get around to posting the next chapter eventually. Or at least I plan to continue it when I find time or when the muse strikes me again… so technically it's not discontinued?)

Anyways.

Short POV for Shinohara Yukinori in the beginning (he's the Special Class partner of Suzuya Juuzou, for anyone who's like me and needs a refresher on Tokyo Ghoul characters now that I'm finally starting to pick it up again…). Tiny brush with Tsuna and the others there, too –so close and yet so far, haha.

NOTE: Shinohara doesn't know that the civilians were actually attacked by ghouls while they were still on the train because they haven't gotten around to sitting down and questioning them yet. As far as they know, they were tipped off by an anonymous source warning them that there was going to be a group of ghouls lying in wait to eat train passengers at a certain train stop at a certain time. The passengers witnessed part of the fighting as the train pulled into the station –that would account for some of the shock there. They'll be getting around to 'interrogating' them eventually, but right now they're all a little preoccupied with the attack on the Aogiri base that's going to take place.

… And Tsuna's group is finally officially in Tokyo now! (Throws confetti) KHR cast is starting to mix with the TG cast at long last; we'll be seeing more of that in the next chapter. Can't wait to get around to writing that here. :3

Big thanks to everyone who favorited/alerted to show support for the story; thank you very much to everyone who dropped a review! Apologies for the late update; I'll try to avoid another 6-month disappearing act again after this.

… Key word here being 'try,' of course. ;D I make no promises, other than 'I'll do my best.'

QUESTION(1): Any awkwardly OOC parts for the characters that need some immediate fixing so far?

QUESTION(2): Which TG characters are you looking forward to appearing soon in the main portion of the story? KHR characters? Any interactions in particular that you're excited for?

Till next time

-XxZuiliu