Tsuna managed to get Nagi to school with relative ease. She did seem down during their separation, but that was to be expected.
He was feeling it too. Probably being a bit too clingy, but after last night…
Well, she had wormed her way deep into his heart.
He left her with the promise of seeing her after school.
That ran into the problem of Hibari wanting to duke it out with him for days on end. But that had an easy solution.
He just had to beat Hibari until he could not continue the fight. He had only promised to not knock him out immediately, after all.
It was crude, but it was the optimal solution.
The guy might even enjoy what Tsuna was about to unleash.
Tsuna rushed toward his own school, relying on Speed alone. His current condition left him wary of even slight time acceleration. His Hanma bloodline was slowly healing him, but it was only marginally better than normal human recovery.
It was only his will that was letting him operate in his wounded state.
Still, even without using every trick in his speed wagon, he was ridiculously fast.
Speed alone let him reach the pace of an average vehicle, and it only increased the more Flames he fed into it.
So despite already running late and escorting Nagi, he still arrived near school like any other regular student.
He slowed and felt a small surge of pride.
For the first time, he was going to arrive on time. That had to be a sign his life was improving. He was already imagining his teacher's shocked expression when he walked in punctually.
Then he crossed the gate and a tonfa came for his head.
Tsuna leaned back sharply. The weapon grazed his hair as it passed.
He accelerated, weaving aside as the second strike tore toward him. His hand snapped out, hooking Hibari's extended arm. Tsuna twisted his balance and flipped him past his shoulder to create distance.
Unlike a normal person, Hibari caught himself before fully losing balance. Still, Tsuna's kick to his chest sent the discipline committee head skidding back.
Hibari straightened with a tight, manic smile.
Tsuna frowned at the berserker and rolled his shoulders.
Students on their way to class stopped to watch, excitement already brewing. They had probably heard what happened in Tsuna's classroom yesterday, but hearing about Hibari freaking Kyoya fighting No-Good Tsuna and seeing it were two very different things.
"Ambushing me? I did not think you had it in you. Kind of cowardly."
Tsuna twisted and stretched, testing which parts of his body still ached.
Hibari absorbed the words, a faint frown appearing. In his mind, this was not an ambush. They had a promise. He was simply honoring it the moment he saw the thorny herbivore.
Still, he could acknowledge the point.
He said nothing. His grip tightened on his tonfa.
Tsuna sighed and ran through his options.
Speed was automatically slotted in. The advantages were too large to ignore.
Time Accel was off the list. Useful and powerful, but unnecessary here. Hibari was not an opponent that required pushing himself that far.
Sharpshooter and Mud Manipulation were also out. Too flashy for the mundane setting and overkill for the mad dog.
That left Shock Absorption and Desperation.
"I know you want a fight, but I do have class right now. In fact, so do you."
Hibari did not acknowledge him. He burst forward at full speed.
Tsuna sighed again and shifted aside with minimal movement, reading Hibari's attacks and avoiding them without overexerting himself.
To Hibari's credit, he improved rapidly. His guard tightened. His movements smoothed. His instincts began to catch the flow of combat.
The manic smile on his face sharpened by the second. Obsession burned in his eyes.
Despite himself, Tsuna felt his own lips twitch.
Violence was easy. Familiar. The flow Hibari was only beginning to grasp was something Tsuna saw every waking moment.
Hibari struck again, targeting the side Tsuna was favoring.
Tsuna moved.
He slipped inside Hibari's guard and slotted in Shock Absorption just as the tonfa struck a vulnerable point. A strike with Hibari's full force, something that would have had Tsuna wheezing and a bone broken, instead as the blow landed the damage vanished without even moving him.
The sudden pause in Hibari's assault was all Tsuna needed.
He hooked the overextended arm and pulled hard, feeding Speed into the motion. Momentum multiplied.
Pop.
The arm dislocated and dropped uselessly at Hibari's side.
Hibari gritted his teeth and swung with his remaining arm.
Tsuna ducked under and repeated the motion.
Pop.
Both arms now hung limp.
Tsuna faced the glaring Hibari.
"There. You can't."
Tsuna started but let out a sigh as he dodged out of a kick aimed at his lower leg.
He should have expected Hibari was not going to let a silly thing like complete loss of his arms stop him from attacking.
As Tsuna moved to disable his legs as well, Hibari suddenly twisted his shoulder and flung his own limp arm forward, using the tonfa despite the obvious damage.
Tsuna grabbed the limb on instinct to stop the idiot from shredding himself.
His eyes widened.
Using Tsuna's grip as leverage, Hibari violently yanked his own arm.
Crack.
The joint slammed back into place.
Tsuna could have stopped him.
He did not.
A grudging flicker of respect surfaced.
Instead, Tsuna released him and drove a kick into Hibari's chest, forcing him back.
Hibari spat as he skidded, posture more uneven now.
The manic grin never left his face.
Tsuna flexed his fingers and gave him a flat look.
"You are good, but surely you can see you are outclassed. I just need to dismantle you slowly and there would not be a thing you can do. You are aware you only recovered that arm because I let you."
The crowd watching this exchange had long since grown numb. Shocked at the violence and the cold almost brutal aura from the usually docile boy.
"So?" Hibari shot back, tilting his head like he simply did not get it.
Tsuna paused.
Then he laughed.
"You don't care about winning. You don't even care about being broken at the end of this. You are here for this moment, this blood-pumping feeling of pushing yourself against a foe far outclassing you. Chasing the peak endlessly even if it means you end up a broken useless thing."
Tsuna's laughter softened into something almost exasperated.
Hibari simply grabbed his arm and snapped the other joint back into place again, not bothering to comment on something so obvious.
"Forgive me. I thought I could break your will. That was never an option. Trying would be an insult."
Tsuna finished, mirth filling his eyes as he took a deep breath.
His resolve firm, his mind made up. If Hibari wanted to fight the peak, he would let him see it. His flames started to flicker outward, barely noticeable but enhancing the gaps between his own broken body.
Then he pushed Speed to its limit.
One moment Hibari was staring at him.
The next Tsuna was already beside him.
The punch landed square across Hibari's face and sent him flying.
Tsuna caught his leg mid-flight and slammed him into the ground hard enough to crack pavement.
Before Hibari could recover, Tsuna's shoe drove down into his skull.Hibari let out a groan and saw stars before his arm was struck by another kick, snapping the bone instead of the dislocation he used previously.
Hibari looked up at the cold glowing orange eyes staring directly at him impassively and grinned with blood seeping from his mouth.
Then his other arm was broken and a kick streaked toward his head, pushing him into unconsciousness.
The herbivore needed to bare its fangs more often.