The Empire

by TricksterThief

Reborn didn't know what he expected from the Future. But what he got, wasn't what he had imagined in the slightest. cross-post on ao3

1. Chapter 1

The Empire

noun. [em-pahyuh r]

1. supreme power in governing; imperial power; sovereignty:

2. supreme control; absolute sway:

3. a powerful and important enterprise or holding of large scope that is controlled by a single person, family, or group of associates:

Arc I: The Sentinels

XX

Chapter One: The Future...?

XX

Yamamoto Takeshi wasn't as stupid as people liked to believe. He knew basically everyone thought he didn't have more than two brain cells to rub together and that he thought everything was a game. But really, Yamamoto only acted like that because it made his Sky (hishomehishearthiseverything - wheredidyougocomebackplase) laugh at best or freak out (buthewasn'thereanymoreohgod-) at worst. It made people underestimate him; made them think he wasn't worth their time.

But he was the Vongola Rain Guardian for a god damn reason, and it wasn't because he was a pretty face.

"Gokudera isn't back yet," Reborn announced nonchalantly. Yamamoto slanted a glance over at the baby hitman (there was so much blood; his Sky was screaming; everything was on fire; what was going on how could this be happening ohgodohgodohgo-), and merely grinned, masking everything.

"Maa, if you're so worried I can go out and look for him?" Yamamoto posed it as a careless question, letting none of his actual emotions bleed through. It was only because he had spent so much time around an older and much scarier Reborn, that he was able to slip easily into the role this Reborn expected even in the future.

(he was so young, and he kind of wanted to laugh as much as he wanted to scream - he knew nothing)

Yamamoto was actually much more worried about the fact that Hayato hadn't come back yet, then he was letting the little hitman know. There had been a flare of something (sowarm - socomforting - wheredidyougo - haveyoucomeback? - whereareyouwhereareyouwherear-) earlier in the day and it had nearly set his carefully preserved balance over the edge.

It had vanished not soon after (wheredidyougocomebackpleaseineedyou), and he was carefully avoiding the gaping hole the feeling had left behind (it had never left so why did it hurt so much).

He was starting to slip again. The gaping hole was seething and threatening to take over, leaving nothing but overflowing rivers and tumultuous waves, causing more damage than soothing the pain away. His carefully guarded mask was beginning to crumble around the edges again, and Gokudera wasn't there; no one was there; what was he supposed to do?

(comebackcomebackcoMEBACKCOMEBACKDONTLEAVEMENOWHEREAREYOUGOINGCOM -)

"That sounds like a good idea, Takeshi." Reborn's face immediately tightened and his inner flame flared to life, straining against the Arcobaleno's iron clad control and begging to be released so it could smother the threat. He watched the newcomer warily, sorely tempted to just let go of his flames and let them do what they wanted. He hadn't realized the woman had been there until she had spoken.

"Hahahaha, really?" Yamamoto laughed, arm raised to rub the back of his neck in a habitual move, and eyes crinkling shut as he grinned. "Gokudera might get mad though, Marianna." Reborn twitched at the easy way Yamamoto pronounced the foreign name, not even a hint of stuttering or accent evident, proving long term usage of the name.

The blonde woman merely smiled calmly, and the baby hitman noticed irritably the tension in the future Yamamoto's shoulders eased at the expression. "He might yell at you for a bit, but if he's actually in trouble? It would be a good idea to go check up on him at least," Marianna responded lightly, placing a soothing hand on the swordsman's arm. Her eyes darkened into a somewhat stormy countenance as she added, "Especially if he headed where I think he did."

Yamamoto's face immediately blanked, but he didn't tense, making Reborn eye the hand on the man's arm with suspicion. He was starting to believe this Marianna was a Rain Attribute, and a damn good one at that. But since he couldn't sense what flavor of flame she had, he couldn't get a conclusive read on her. He could sense her flames lurking beneath her skin like some kind of lazy beast waiting for the right moment to strike, and it sent his hackles rising, and with it his flames.

The urge to smother was great and continued to try his control every second.

"I'll go look for Gokudera, then," Yamamoto said, smile back on his face as if it had never vanished in the first place. Marianna gave the arm under her a hand a squeeze before retracting her hand, calm smile still in place on her face. (smothersmothersMOTHERSMOTHERSMOTHERREMOVETHETHREAT) Reborn clamped down hard on his flames, face betraying none of the inner turmoil.

It didn't stop him from feeling like she could sense it like some kind of bloodhound hot on a trail, with the way she turned her smile on him, eyes sparking with a wry amusement.

Reborn turned to Yamamoto, keeping the woman in his senses, and simply stared at the adult (he had destroyed the innocence of a child and he could see the brittleness in the Rain's eyes). Yamamoto huffed out a laugh (what he was laughing at the hitman couldn't seem to figure out), and said simply, as if he wasn't going out alone in the hostile airs of a hunt for his head, "I'll be back."

When Reborn turned to see what Marianna was doing, he found she was gone.

(smotherhersmotherher - FIND HER)

XX

Marianna Crepuscolo seriously wished Gokudera hadn't gone to visit the grave. She wasn't enough to keep Takeshi on that thin ledge and not threatening to slip off the edge. No one was even sure which edge he'd fall off if he did. The blonde scowled and raked a hand roughly through her hair; she had felt that burst of sky flames as miniscule as it had been when compared to what she was used to feeling, but it had been there.

And that was dangerous on so many different levels it wasn't even funny. The fact it had been smothered not long after its first appearance, didn't bode well. She could only hope the CEDEF agent had found the flame user and was the cause for the smothering, rather than the harsh alternative. Letting out a gusty sigh, she wished her Sky was here; she wasn't sure how much longer she could stand being around a teetering on Discord Rain and a Hostile Sun without the stabilizing effect of her Sky.

(he wasn't moving whywasn'themoving ohgodnowhatwasshegoingtothink can't let her see ohgod he was bleeding there was so much blood someonewasscreamingwhere'dyougo come back don't leave Ta -)

Except her Sky wasn't fully stable any more was she? None of them were anymore, really. But they were better off than the Vongola Guardians. (Lambo was hugging the toilet bowl again - Hibari had vanished - Mukuro was nowhere to be found - Gokudera walked around like a ghost - Chrome never seemed to stop crying - Ryohei had gone silent - Takeshi flopped between manic and eerily calm - everyone was falling apart at the seams there was nothing they could do - comebackcomebackcomeback - weneedyouimnotenough - please)

Marianna slumped against the wall, cradling her head in her hands and trying to steady her breathing. Her flames moved restlessly under her skin clamoring for her Sky to help soothe away the pain, but it was reaching out uselessly. She couldn't fall apart, not now. Her Sky would be here soon; she said she would be.

There was a sudden wash of muffled Sky Flames, and Marianna was on her feet instantly and moving in the direction it was emanating from before her mind had even fully caught up with itself. (it wasn't Ta- but there was warmthsafetyprotection comebackcomebackcomeback you'rehomewelcomeback) The closer she got the more she could hear and sense. Reborn was there (somuchblood whowasscreaming whythis anything but this Jes-), as was Takeshi (whyareyoulaughing whyaren'tyoulaughing stopsmiling it's not real) and there was the source of those flames (warmthprotectionsafety) and a spark of an angry Storm (unrelenting where'syourfire comeonfightback).

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?" the Storm raged and Marianna noted it was a voice much younger but still familiar, but that didn't make any sense. "WHY DID THE TENTH END UP IN SUCH A THING?"

There was a high pitched screech Marianna hadn't heard in years and a pathetically terrified voice yelped, "Gokudera-kun!"

A beat of silence and then Takeshi said, voice solemn and aching with grief, "I'm sorry."

Marianna's tenuous thread of patience snapped. "It's not your goddamn fault, Takeshi!" the blonde snarled as she stalked into the room they were gathered in, fury practically palpable in the air around her. Takeshi looked at her with a startled face, obviously thrown by the words and the uncharacteristic anger, especially directed at him.

"But I-" the hitman started, but the blonde didn't let him finish, ignoring the others in the room who were watching in a sort of confused fascination.

"No buts! It's not yours or Hayato's or anyone else's faults! Place the blame where it fucking belongs, with Byakuran, do you understand me?" The room was darkening around the edges and there was a feral kind of anger perpetuating the air and making it scream dangerous. Marianna had Yamamoto's face held in her hand, squishing his cheeks together with her grip and eyes sparking with a righteous fury that had the younger man flinching back despite himself.

He swallowed and his flames purred beneath his skin (backbackbackhe'sbackhecameback - notalone - backbackbackbackbac-), and he managed to say around his squished cheeks, "I understand." Marianna's eyes pierced into his, lips twisted in a furious snarl and flames threatening to burst forth and make him believe. There was another beat of silence, as if everyone was holding their breath, before Marianna's face cleared and she let go of Yamamoto's face.

"Crepuscolo is correct," Reborn said, cringing at even agreeing with the unknown woman, his flames hissing unhappily under his skin. "The enemy is the Millefiore Famiglia, and the most shocking thing about them is their tremendous fire power." Tsuna and Gokudera were looking at him now, though the latter was eyeing Marianna with a suspicious, yet thoughtful gaze at the same time. His student was looking pale, but Reborn couldn't really afford to coddle Tsuna this time. "Worse yet, their goal doesn't stop at victory over seizing the rings or taking control."

Yamamoto picked up the thread here, face serious and solemn, but eyes like the calm before a storm, "When our Headquarters first surrendered, the Millefiore summoned an envoy from the Vongola side with the intention of entering in negotiations."

Marianna's lip curled and she griped, "Not that they had any plans on actually entering negotiations. Bastards."

Tsuna looked like he wanted to throw up, and Gokudera was looking especially grim, and Yamamoto continued, "They killed the envoy instead. No matter how many times we've sent repeated appeals, there's never been a response; soon our people were being killed one right after another. That was their true goal." The Rain Guardian was unperturbed by Tsuna's face growing even paler as he talked, but it was more because he was lost in his memories, more than because he didn't care.

"They intend to kill every last person standing on the Vongola side. They want complete annihilation."

Marianna eyed the younger Tsuna (somuchblood nonononononono don't leave Ta-), wondering as to why he was here. She knew of the ten-year bazooka of course, but it had been much longer than five minutes, much like with Reborn, so what the hell was going on? She wanted her Sky. The initial feeling of the younger Tsuna's flames had vanished and now she was left with an aching want for her own Sky; she wanted the feeling of (peacecomfort i'mhereeverythingwillbeokay bestrongyou'restrong warmthhomesafety iloveyou).

"That's not all. Everyone related to you all, even your friends, will be targeted," Reborn added somewhat callously. His flames were still straining against his hold begging to be released so they could smothersmothersmother but at the same time they wanted to soothesoothehealthepain. It was an unwanted contradiction, and it was making him irritated.

Tsuna looked at him with such a frightened and worried expression stammering, "Then...then even those of us who came from the past will be in danger...?"

Marianna frowned at the boy. Had he really been this dopey at this age? It didn't seem to mesh with her memories of him. But then her memories tended to be stained with blood and pain and ohgod what was she going to think -

"Don't get so worked up," Reborn ordered sharply, the words directed at his student, but causing Marianna's own memories to stop cold before they could overwhelm her. "We haven't lost all hope yet." The blonde wondered if they ever had. Her Sky hadn't seemed to waver at all even in the face of his de- somuchblood - no.

The Arcobaleno turned to Yamamoto, who was watching Marianna with concerned look, but still paying attention to the conversation, and started, "Yamamoto, the Family's Guardians are scattered, but you've gotten confirmation that they haven't been written off of yet, correct?"

The Rain Guardian's lips curled into a humorless grin, "Yes."

"Then there is only one thing you can do, Dame-Tsuna," the baby hitman stated, making the brunette look at him with a confused stare. "Find and gather your Guardians." The resulting scream was expected, but it still made Reborn want to strangle is student. Honestly, had he taught the boy nothing? "The Bosses have done the same in every generation. When the Vongola are in dire straits, the Sky will always call upon his six Guardians and overcome the difficulties."

Marianna was pretty sure that wasn't entirely true for all Bosses of the Vongola, but she digressed. "B-But what can that accomplish? Just gathering seven people...," Tsuna stammered, still looking a little green around the edges. Marianna really didn't remember Tsuna being this dopey before. She glanced over at Yamamoto, but he had his eyes closed and she knew exactly what he was doing.

Even muted, Tsunayoshi Sawada's Sky flames produced a soothing call of Harmony that was extremely difficult to ignore. Takeshi was basking in the wisps that he could, the call of warmthsafetyhome a balm to his tattered flames and widening the ledge he was standing on. She wasn't even Harmonized with the child, but she could sense the fact his flames were seeking out for the others. They were latched onto Gokudera tightly, as if afraid the Storm would vanish, but only coiled loosely around Takeshi.

"The fighting methods of this era are special," Reborn answered. "It's because of that, that the seven of you have your own parts to play."

Marianna noticed almost immediately the tipping point for Tsuna, as his flames flared frantically and his voice raised in pitch and volume, "You're not making any sense! Didn't you say all our friends are being hunted down with the Vongola? Doesn't that mean mom and Kyoko-chan, and everyone else are in danger too?"

In a flurry of movement Marianna was crouched in front of the teenager and forcing him to look at her with a grip on his chin. "Be calm." Tsuna's wide eyes stared into the hazel eyes of the unknown woman, her face a mask of soothing calm, and in that instance Tsuna thought she was like a mature version of Chrome. The teen felt himself calm down from his earlier panic, though he could still feel it coloring his thoughts and feelings. It was just a sort of quiet panic now instead of a full blown hysterical panic.

The blonde woman's brow furrowed the slightest bit, but she let go of his chin and instead ran a hand through his hair, scratching lightly at his scalp in the process. "Good," she said lightly, straightening and pretending she couldn't feel Reborn's venomous glare trained on her figure. "We've already set up precautions for this situation."

Yamamoto rejoined the conversation looking more settled than he had in a long while (his grin was crazed and he laughed as his opponents bled out at his feet - his face was serene as he cut swaths through bodies, looking as if he had no care in the world - then he was hugging the toilet bowl puking his guts out and sobbing brokenly, sickened with himself and on the brink of Rejection), "While I set out to meet Lal Mirch, I-pin and Lambo went out to find Kyoko and Haru."

Tsuna let out a shocked noise and Reborn took over the explanation, keeping a wary eye on Marianna, who had a hand still threaded in Tsuna's hair, "We're waiting to hear back from them for the moment. However, for Maman it's bad timing. She and Iemitsu left for a holiday five days ago to Italy; we haven't been able to get a hold of them yet."

Which was utter bullshit, but Marianna didn't bother correcting the assumption. As far as Reborn was aware that was the truth, and until her Sky got here, she wasn't going to tell him. "Bianchi and Fuuta have gone to gather information, but as for our other allies...," Yamamoto trailed off, a dead look taking over his face and making Tsuna and even Gokudera flinch back.

"In the last two days, the Tomaso Family and Mochida have gone missing. Shamal disappeared months ago with no trace to be found, and all the others you have come to know within the last ten years have been eliminated," Reborn picked up from Yamamoto's trailed sentence. "Even Yamamoto's father."

The moment the baby hitman said those words he came close to actually regretting them. The room seemed to freeze instantly and Marianna's smile was glacier level in iciness as she looked the hitman in the eye and purred, "And why would you think that Tsuyoshi-san needed to be mentioned?" The very air around the blonde seemed to warp and reveal the predator lurking beneath her skin just waiting for a moment to pounce.

(she remembered the day of Tsuyoshi-san's death vividly - there had been so much blood and it had been almost impossible to tell the identity of the body - Takeshi had come dangerously close to Rejecting his Flames entirely and it had only been the combined efforts of Tsuna and Ta- that he hadn't gone off the deep end or gone on a rampage - his screams would forever haunt her memories and she couldn't seem to remember the old man's smile clearly anymore)

"Marianna."

Slowly the overwhelming presence in the room subsided, leaving behind only hints of feral animosity and only Marianna was left glaring at Reborn coldly. "I believe that's enough for tonight," she announced, voice frigid and as if there had never been any warmth in it to begin with. "Takeshi, I'll be in our room." With that parting word the woman stalked out the room, the lethality of her steps evident even to Tsuna.

"Dad is a tender point; it'd be best to avoid mentioning him ever again," Yamamoto said after she had left, a very clear reprimand in his voice and his eyes held their own lethality as he glowered down at Reborn. However, the hitman wasn't really paying attention to the man, thoughts locked directly on Marianna's last words. She had said our room, not my room. A lot of things suddenly made a hell of a lot more sense now.

XX

Tsunayoshi wasn't really sure what to make of his situation. Gokudera was really the only thing keeping him even relatively calm. The older Yamamoto was too weary and strange for Tsuna to be completely at ease around, even though there was a niggling in the back of his head that even older it was still his Takeshi. The less he thought about Reborn the better.

Marianna, however, was a different story.

The strange blonde woman was like nothing Tsuna had met before in any person of the female persuasion. Didn't look like anyone he had ever met either. Her skin was pale and smothered in freckles, while her hair was a pale blonde much different from his father's own golden color. Her features were also unmistakably foreign, and actually reminded him a bit of Dino, if he were to be honest.

But she carried herself with confidence and a danger that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Not even Bianchi had moved like that, for all that she was poisonous assassin. However, even though he knew she was dangerous and could probably murder him without a trace, he felt safe with her. She might not have been able to calm him down completely, or get rid of his fear and panic, but she had tried and it felt like a mother.

She had soothed his worries with a touch and few words and it had made him feel so so-

"Be careful." Tsuna jolted at the voice. He looked over at the blonde woman with wide eyes; he hadn't seen her at all since she had stormed out of the conversation last night. She was leaning against the wall, an unreadable look on her face and arms crossed over her stomach.

"I'll protect the Tenth!" Gokudera growled threateningly, but without any real heat to it.

Too the teen's surprise, she laughed. "Of that I have no doubt," Marianna responded, eyes glittering with amusement. Then her eyes cut over to Yamamoto and the amusement left like it had never been there. "Come back." Tsuna bit his lip, and Gokudera shifted awkwardly next to him. Both of them had picked up on the "our room" thing from last night, though they weren't entirely positive on the exact nature of the two's relationship.

Yamamoto didn't say anything back, lips set in a grim line and without another word ushered the teens out of the base and led them to their destination. Tsuna chanced a glance back at Marianna, but she was already gone. Without thought, the brunette reached out and latched onto the bottom of Gokudera's shirt, who to his credit only flinched minutely at the move. Tsuna almost let go, but when his friend didn't react any further, he simply tightening his grip.

It wasn't that long before they reached a falling apart construction site and Yamamoto was explaining, an easy smile on his face, "These are the remains of the fifth construction site, and also the location of one of six entrances."

Gokudera's eyebrow twitched and he could feel his irritation spiking violently, and finally he burst out, "What did you mean about the Vongola Rings!?"

Tsuna blinked and then looked curiously over at the not his (yes he is) Yamamoto, who was still smiling and seemed to not hear, as he said, "Let's go to Nami High first, alright?" Tsuna fought the urge to facepalm, letting go of his grip on Gokudera, whose anger spiked dangerously.

"HEY! Did you hear what I said?" the half-Italian roared, hands tightening into fists.

Yamamoto cocked his head over his shoulder to look at them, face curious, "Say what?"

Gokudera looked ready to throttle the hitman as he shouted, "The Vongola Rings! Why don't they exist in this era?"

Tsuna wanted to and didn't want to know the answer. "The rings were smashed and thrown away a while ago."

"After all the trouble we went through to get them?" Tsuna couldn't help sputtering.

"Who the hell would do something like that?" Gokudera demanded, and Tsuna got a sinking sensation in his stomach. He thinks he knew the answer to that question, and he wasn't sure he could figure out why. Yamamoto's simple answer of 'Our Boss' proved him right and he groaned, hiding his face in his hands. Why on earth would he do that?

Yamamoto laughed, "Some of the Guardians objected to it too, but Tsuna refused to budge."

"But...why would I do something like that?" Tsuna asked. A voice in the back of his head told him something wasn't right about the situation, but he ignored it, the voice sounding muffled and easily drowned out.

Yamamoto looked over his shoulder a mildly curious look on his face and (not yours - you're mine - not real - realrealrealrealhe'sreal - helphimhelphimhelphelphelp), "You don't know either, huh?" He turned back around his face softening and unseen by the two teens filled with a devastating grief (so much blood - ohgod the screaming - he'sgonecomebackcomeback - you can't be gone - nonononononono-), "When Tsuna mentioned the abolition of the Vongola Rings, it created a lot of outbursts among the Sicilian Mafia regarding the importance of the rings...especially when we were on the verge of another battle to contest it. But I guess instead of triggering another battle, you probably thought it was better if they didn't exist?"

He paused for a second, before his smile was back on his face and lifted a hand to show off the rings on his fingers, "Still, we're now relying on these rings big time. I'll teach you guys all about it! It'll be like special baseball training!" The words left the taste of bitter ash in his mouth, but he continued to smile, eyes closed and hiding the storm raging within.

Yamamoto was already pulling his sword off his back when the explosion went off and voices shouted, "THIS WAY! HURRY!" Tsuna tensed, squinting and letting out a gasp when he realized who the two figures emerging from the smoke were.

"Lambo and I-pin!" he cried out, eyes wide and ears ringing from the explosion. The next few moments were a blur of shouts and movements, before his eyes shot upwards and landed on two figures dressed in black and flying in the sky with the help of flames on their feet.

One of them was holding a giant scythe where the blade was made out of violent flames, and said, "Finish it up."

The other figure smirked and responded, "Leave it to me, bro."

XX

"What was that?" Adele asked curiously, shielding her eyes with her hand and looking in the distance where there seemed to be an abundance of explosions happening. Then there was an explosion of Sky Flames and Adele's slate blue eyes widened and her mouth popped open in shock. "Was that-?"

"Let's go," a red haired woman ordered, face a mask of cold indifference. The curly haired brunette next to her peered vaguely in the direction the sudden presence of Sky Flames, face blank. "Jessica, we'll most likely need your flames."

"Kaaay, Tania," the brunette hummed, lips curled in a half smile that didn't really reach her eyes in any way.

"Tania, was that really-" Adele started, but cut herself off at the redhead's deadly glare aimed at her, even as they began to move more swiftly in the direction of the explosions, as Storm Flames ignited violently as well. "Oohhh man, that's not good." The golden blonde's face was vaguely worried, but her lips were stretched in a wide grin that showed teeth.

There was a final explosion of flames and Tania had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from igniting her flames in return (to embrace - to comfort - to soothe - you'rebackbackback-). The other Sky Flames wouldn't recognize her and the very thought had her own flames flinching violently and burrowing deep inside her with a wounded churr.

The trio entered the scene of the obvious battle, and Adele made a confused sound when she laid eyes on an obviously much younger than normal Hayato, Takeshi, Lambo, I-pin, and Haru. However, the noise caught Hayato's attention and his head whipped around, staring at the three women and demanded, "Who the fuck is you?"

Tania gave him a slow look, before turning to Jessica in a clearly dismissive manner and ordering, "Start working on them. I will go fetch Tsunayoshi and Kyoko. Adele, keep them calm." Without a backwards glance, the redhead left the group, heading for the warehouse where she could sense the small spark of Tsuna's flames, and Kyoko's own miniscule ones.

Gokudera puffed up in indignation, looking prepared to yell at the strange woman suddenly taking control of the situation, when the blonde woman of the trio was suddenly in front of him and holding his face with her hands. She squished his cheeks together, her eyes piercing into his, even as her lips were stretched into a wide grin. Warmth spread from her hands to his face and then expanded through his entire body until he practically fell to the ground, limp.

She followed his fall easily, keeping her hands on his face and smile softening into something much kinder and comforting. Gokudera stared at her somewhat hazily feeling strangely relaxed and calm and like he could just fall asleep right there with no worries. The feeling stayed with him even as the blonde flitted over to the children and Haru, touching their cheeks gently instead of manhandling them like she had him. He couldn't even summon any kind of irritation at the fact.

Meanwhile, Tania easily made her way through the rubble of the warehouse, keeping a sharp eye out for either Tsuna or Kyoko. It was Kyoko she found first, only because the terrified girl was calling out for help. Tania rounded around another pile of debris and zeroed in on the prone form of Tsuna with Kyoko hovering over him worriedly and pressing her hands against a heavily bleeding wound on the brunette's shoulder.

Tania casually stepped on some of the gravel more heavily than she normally would and Kyoko turned to her with teary eyes. "Can you help him?" the younger girl asked, voice thick with tears and worry. Tania bit back a sigh and knelt down next to the girl, a calming smile on her face.

"I can," the redhead answered, gently removing the shaking teenager's hands from the bloody wound and replacing it with her own. Her hands were still for a moment before the ring on her left pinky finger flared a sudden bright and sparkling yellow flame. It was a pale yellow and flickered weakly, but Tania wasn't overly concerned with it. Sun Flames were not her forte, but she could use them to help a wound long enough for Jessica, or a more experienced Sun Active User could get to her.

Kyoko stayed oddly silent, watching with wide eyes at what the older woman was doing, but her hands were shaking and she kept glancing at her blood stained fingers with a pale face. Underneath Tania's hands, Tsuna stirred, blinking open groggy eyes and staring up at the red haired stranger. "Who...?" he mumbled deliriously.

Tania looked down at him and her icy eyes thawed a little and her voice was gentle as she murmured, "Shhh, Tsunayoshi. Rest. Everything's taken care of." Bleary brown eyes looked up at her and flashed orange for the barest second, before they closed and the boy mumbled something along the lines of alright.

Finally, the flickering flames stemmed the bleeding enough so that Tania could move the boy, and she carefully picked him up in her arms, slowly standing as she did so. Kyoko stayed seated on the floor, staring at her bloody hands with wide eyes and a pale face. "Kyoko," Tania called, voice a strange mix of stern and soothing. When the teen didn't respond, her voice firmed, "Kyoko, look at me."

The girl startled and looked up at the older woman with a frightened expression. Tania's cold exterior softened and she soothed, "It's gonna be okay, Kyoko. Come with me and we'll get you all somewhere safe."

"R-really?" Kyoko stammered, clumsily climbing to her feet and would have fallen back down due to her unsteady and shaky legs if not for the redhead catching her arm with one hand (somehow managing to continue to hold Tsuna with her other arm).

"Really," Tania agreed softly, leading the girl carefully from the warehouse. They joined the others outside, where Jessica was finishing up her check up on the teenagers and kids and Adele was poking a dazed looking Gokudera. Tania sighed. "Adele. Seriously?" the redhead queried, a deadpan expression on her face.

"What?" the blonde snapped, pouting at the other woman.

Tania shook her head with a vague exasperated look and instead turned to Jessica, "Jessica, I need you double check Tsuna's wound to make sure we can take him back to base with us safely. I did what I could, but." The curly haired brunette hurried over, hands already glowing a bright, sparkling yellow that was a glorious golden color.

Apparently, Tsuna's name was enough to cut through the fog of Adele's accidental overdose of Tranquility on Gokudera as he jolted to his feet a furious glower on his face. "Where do you get-" the silver haired teenager nearly swallowed his tongue when the sharp eyes of the redhead focused on him directly, and the coldly blank face turned on him fully. A shiver crawled down his spine and he realized with a cold sinking feeling in his gut that this woman was not to be trifled with.

She was woman who had grown up in the Mafia and had much more blood stained on her hands then he did (he still hugged the toilet bowl some nights, but now there wasn't anyone there to soothe away the pain). Then the blonde woman (Adele, his mind blurted) was in front of him again and holding his face so he was forced to focus on her. She kissed her teeth, slate blue eyes glittering and hummed, "Will you ever learn not to antagonize her?" Gokudera's face switched back into highly offended, and the blonde let out an airy laugh that somehow smoothed the ruffled feathers.

"Who are you people?" Gokudera sputtered, tips of his ear turning red as he struggled under the sudden wash of soothing calm. Nonetheless he couldn't tear his eyes away from her's.

"Adele, focus," Tania snipped sharply, not looking up from where she was eyeing the broken bodies of Nozaru and Tazaru, face never changing from its blank slate. She wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to do with the two. On one hand her flames were furious at the threat to Tsuna (her light - her life- her lo-) and wanted to destroy-burn-burnburnburnbur- but she didn't like killing. She could, she would, and she has, but the two were just... They had been a part of the Giglio Nero Famiglia before they had been taken over by Millefiore, so she'd rather not have to kill them.

Adele pouted, but removed her hands from his face and called back, "Caru miu, you wound me. When am I not focused?" The redhead didn't bother to deign that with a response, and Adele meandered over to the still shell shocked Kyoko, a calming smile on her face. Gokudera felt himself slump to the ground, the strange, weightless calm overwhelming him again, but somehow weaker this time. His panic and anger (fear) getting soothed away by the kind of inner calm. However, he would be foolish to not believe it was merely the eye of a raging storm.

He could only watch as the curly haired brunette (Jessica, his mind murmured) hovered over his boss (and god there was so much blood - bloodbloodblood - it was staining his hands and clothes and ohgod he had just killed someone - ohgodohgodoh-). Her hands were burning a bright, vivid yellow, but her brow was furrowed in worry, even as the wound was slowly knitting itself back together under her touch. "Tania," Jessica called, catching the redhead's attention immediately.

"What is it?" she demanded.

Jessica pursed her lips, glancing at the group of young ones, who were all in a state of calm thanks to Adele, but it wouldn't hold forever (well, it could, but it wouldn't be a good thing - emotional development would cease to happen). "I'd rather not say until we get him somewhere more stable. I'll need your help though, Tania," the Sun User said tersely.

Tania frowned, an unreadable look in her eyes as she said, "Let's get moving then. We shouldn't stay out in the open any longer. Adele, get them moving, we're heading to the base." Gokudera stood, helping Adele usher the rest of the group up onto their feet, the blonde keeping an arm wrapped around Kyoko's shoulders, whose face was still a little pale.

The group made quick time in getting to the base, and Tania ushered Jessica and Gokudera into the infirmary, carrying the unconscious Tsuna in her arms. Marianna descended on the group like a whirlwind, face concerned and she ushered them all into the room they were currently using as a sitting room. "Adele! What happened?" the lighter blonde demanded, fussing over Yamamoto, who stared at her with a somewhat bemused smile, cheeks a bit pink, and then quickly shifting over to the still dazed Lambo and I-pin.

Adele smiled easily and answered, "Caru miu, calm down. They simply got into a little skirmish. Jessica has already healed everyone's superficial wounds and has Tsuna stabilized. No one else was grievously harmed."

Marianna pursed her lips and ushered the group onto the couches and chairs around the room. She shot a look at Adele, who merely smiled, but her eyes flashed a fiery blue and slowly eased her forced Tranquility off the kids. "W-who are you?" Kyoko finally asked, steadfastly not looking at her still bloody hands.

Marianna smiled softly and soothed gently, "I'm Marianna, and she is Adele. Things will be explained in a moment. Why don't you come with me and we can get you washed up and you can help me make some tea and coffee." Kyoko nodded still a little shaky and took the pale hand offered to her easily. The two left the room, Marianna's voice a low soothe as she led the auburn haired teen to the kitchen, and Adele turned her gaze to Reborn, who was eying her warily.

"Oh my, Jessica's going to freak," Adele said cheerily, flouncing over and flopping on the chair next to him. Reborn had to refrain slightly from flinching, as she had seated herself on the very edges of his periphery vision. He turned his head the slightest bit to stare at her silently, to which she merely grinned widely at him, seeming as if to be perfectly at ease. Reborn couldn't quite shake the ominous feeling that crowded close over him at the look on the woman's face.

Marianna entered the living room again holding a tray of coffee and cups, while Kyoko trailed behind her with a tray of tea and cups looking much calmer and hands cleaned. The two set the trays on the table, and Marianna set about pouring everyone drinks, calm smile never leaving her face. "Adele, have you spoken to Tania yet?" the freckled woman asked, voice light.

Reborn filed the name away, wondering which woman it was that was currently with his student, and Adele replied easily, "Nah, she's with Tsuna. Jessica said there was a slight issue she needed Tania's help with. I think she was going to come back here for a moment to explain, so shouldn't be too much longer now." Reborn sat up straighter and he was about to demand answers when the door swung open once more to admit a stone cold faced woman with short red hair and an overwhelming aura.

She seemed to fill the room with her very presence that screamed danger, but at the same time provide comfort, safety, protection. Reborn felt he should know that type of presence but for some reason he couldn't quite place his finger on what or why. She stalked across the room until she was next to Marianna, who had stood to greet her with the typical Italian cheek kiss and a warm, "Ciau, Tania."

Tania repeated the gesture, cold features easing slightly into something more warm. "Ciau, Marianna," her voice was smooth, but the distinction of the Sicilian Italian, though not quite the one Reborn was used to, rolled off her tongue with dulcet smoothness. He knew her accent, but couldn't quite place which dialect it was directly, and that bothered him.

"How is he?" Marianna asked as she pulled back.

Tania looked at her, face clamming back up tightly, "He's physically fine, but I'm not staying in here for long. Jessica and Hayato are with him right now." Marianna hummed, nodding her head, as if that made sense (but what did Reborn know? He was stranded in a destroyed future with strangers and didn't really know anything at all, did he?).

"Who are you?" the hitman asked.

The redhead looked over at him and he found himself a bit disconcerted at how closed off her eyes were and his flames churned uncomfortably. "Tania," she started, cocking her head to the side slightly. "A friend." The two continued to stare at each other, and Reborn noted from his periphery that Adele was looking highly amused, and he could even see a faint glimmer of amusement from Marianna.

The stare down was interrupted by Yamamoto, who asked, "So what's going on exactly?"

Reborn turned away from the woman and started, "You must have been shocked by many things."

He was going to continued, when Tania interrupted with a sharp tone that would brook no argument, "Of which Adele will explain to you. Fully." The baby hitman looked at her sharply, anger sparking deep in his belly and flames rising to the surface viciously. Her face never changed as she stared back at him, face utterly blank. Her expression was only vaguely challenging, and her next words were made to stab at him directly, "She knows what is going on, and is more equipped to explain what exactly is going on."

The unlike you hung heavy in the air, and Reborn had to concede her point though it rankled him to have some unknown telling him what was going to happen.

"Marianna, I will be heading back to Tsunayoshi, keep an eye on here," Tania ordered, and then tossed a look at Adele and said, "Do behave yourself, Adele." The woman then turned on her heel and left the room, hiding the tightening of her expression from the group. She entered the infirmary, a grim expression on her face. "Jessica, what's wrong?"

The curly haired brunette frowned down at Tsuna, who was laying in one of the beds, wounds wrapped and currently running a fever. "Somethings not right with his flames," she explained, brow furrowed and resting a flame covered hand on the teen's forehead.

"What do you mean not right?" Gokudera demanded. What was wrong with the Tenth? And then much to his complete shock, Tania's hand lit up a magnificent orange, darker than his boss's but unmistakably Sky Flames. The woman placed her hand on Tsuna's forehead and her flame flared brilliantly, lighting up the entire room and giving off the feeling of warmth protection safety home iloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyou-

Abruptly the warm feelings were shattered by a sudden onslaught of rage fury whodidthis i'll kill them screaming fury anger rage whodidthiswhodidthiswhodidthis i'll murder them -

Gokudera gasped under the pressure eyes wide and wild, his own flames flickering up in response deep inside of him, but small and insignificant compared to the sheer strength and power emanating from the suddenly enraged woman. She snatched her hand away from the feverish forehead, eyes glowing a violent orange and lips twisted in an animalistic snarl. "Who would dare-" the redhead cut herself off in a wordless growl of rage.

Jessica, seemingly unfazed by the woman's anger, asked, "What?"

Gokudera sucked in a desperate breath as the pressure vanished instantly and he looked at the red haired woman in awe and fear. "Someone put a seal on his flame as a young child," Tania growled, voice rough and face twisted in an ugly expression of righteous fury.

The half-Italian was startled when Jessica's face twisted into pure horror, the most expression she had shown since the trio had shown up. "They did what?" Jessica whispered hoarsely. "Don't they know what that does to the development of a child? Not to mention Tsuna is a Sky, and a powerful one at that too! What were they thinking?"

"Evidently they weren't," Tania snarled. Gokudera watched with wide eyes as the red haired woman flared her flames around her hand again, but instead of placing them on Tsuna's forehead, she slammed her hand on his chest. The flames flared so brightly and so intensely that Gokudera had to fight the urge to cover his eyes at the intensity. The flames kept growing bigger and brighter, and sweat began forming on Tania's face, her brow an intense furrow of concentration.

"Tania!" Jessica gasped, making an aborted movement towards the redhead, but was stopped by a warning smack from the flaring Sky Flames. Sweat was beginning to pour even more heavily down Tania's face and arms as she set her other hand on Tsuna's chest and her flames flared brighter and brighter, until after what seemed like hours Tania let out a loud roar, her flames bursting around her and Tsuna in a brilliant show of light.

Jessica let out a grunt as she was pushed back onto the floor from the burst of flames, while Gokudera fell over with his chair with a loud clatter. The teenager's eyes were wide as he stared up at Tania with a fearfully awed expression. Slowly, the light began to dissipate and Tania panted as she carefully took her hands away from Tsuna's chest, just in time as said teen bolted up right with a shout and eyes wide open in panic.

There was a wordless cry from the brunette's mouth that melted into a pained yelp as he gripped his wounded shoulder tightly. Tania rolled her eyes and gently shoved the teen back down, not even glancing at the Vongola Ring hanging from his neck. "Careful, Tsunayoshi, you may have been healed, but it's still tender. Overwork it and it'll reopen," the redhead said calmly as if she hadn't just expended a large amount of Sky Flames just seconds ago.

Tsuna's eyes stared at her in shock and fear before searching around the room wildly, landing on Gokudera who was cautiously climbing to his feet, a relieved expression on his face. "Gokudera-kun! Wh-where are we? Who are they?"

Gokudera rushed over to his boss's bed, Tania easily moving out of the silver haired teen's way in what was clearly a very usual occurrence. "Our hideout! You lost consciousness right after you defeated the enemy," Gokudera answered, pausing and then looking at Tania for her lead in introductions, since technically they hadn't been introduced.

The redhead's lips quirked the slightest bit, absently wiping sweat from her face with a towel Jessica had handed her, "You can call me Tania, this is Jessica. You'll meet Marianna and Adele later."

Tsuna looked at her in confusion, the fear ebbing away, before he turned back to Gokudera and demanded, "What about the others?"

The Storm Guardian smiled soothingly at his boss, placing a hand on the other teen's shoulder in a calming move, "It's okay. Everyone is alright!"

Despite the calming movements from his friend, Tania could easily see Tsuna was slipping into a panic and she sighed silently. "She-she-she came over! Kyoko-chan came over from the past!" Tsuna shouted, easily working himself up, and Tania shared an exasperated look with Jessica. Who looked like she was preparing herself for healing the teen again because he was stupid enough to reopen his wound.

Gokudera swallowed and started tentatively, "Well...about that. Sasagawa isn't the only one..."

The two adults simply listened as Gokudera explained to his boss what had happened exactly. It was only when Tsuna started shouting again, jolting himself forward to grip Gokudera's forearms, that Tania stepped in. "They'll all be killed!" Tsuna shouted, face pale and still obviously in pain as he kept wincing.

Tania slapped her palm against Tsuna's forehead pushing him back against the pillows propped up against the headboard. "Calm down," the redhead ordered, staring Tsuna in the eye as she did so, forcing him to look at her.

Before anything else could happen the door slammed open and Marianna and Adele rushed into the room flames writhing beneath the surface of their skin. Reborn was right behind them, gun out and an extremely dangerous look on his face. "What did you do to my student?" the baby hitman demanded, pointing the gun at Tania.

Adele and Marianna immediately tensed and turned on Reborn, usually calm faces looking distinctly murderous. Tania slowly turned her face to Reborn, a deadly look in her eyes. "What did I do to your student?" she started, voice deceptively even, and the other women in the room fought back flinches. Tania stared down at Reborn, her earlier fury coming back in spades, as she continued, "What did you do to Tsunayoshi?"

The redhead carefully stood from where she had been seated on the infirmary bed, her face like stone, but eyes glowing dangerously and with rage. "Did you know that your student had a seal on his flames? (Reborn fought to keep his expression blank, but evidently he couldn't, for a cold and twisted smile formed on the woman's face as she continued) Do you know what that does to a child? What it does to them both mentally and physically? Do you?"

"That seal was already broken," Reborn stated flatly, keeping his gun trained on the obviously dangerous woman who was still next to his student.

Tania's eyes widened in fury and her voice was dangerously close to shouting as she snarled, "Evidently it wasn't, since I just removed the rest of the damn thing. Who was dumb enough to place a flame seal on a young child with a high level purity of Sky Flames?"

It wasn't Reborn who answered her question. "It was Nonno," Tsuna whispered, looking shaken and confused and betrayed. Reborn bit the inside of his cheek, not sure if he wanted to believe the words coming out of this Tania's mouth, but not sensing any lie in her words to justify it.

"Was he senile?" Marianna hissed, looking pissed beyond words. "If the man wasn't already dead, I'd go murder him myself."

Reborn slowly turned his gun back into Leon, face utterly blank. Gokudera was fluttering his hands around his boss worriedly, but didn't seem overly shocked by the information about the seal thing. "Is...is everything alright?" Kyoko's voice suddenly sounded from behind the group standing in the doorway. They all looked over at the teen, who was biting her bottom lip and peering at them all worriedly.

Marianna's previously murderous expression changed instantly back to her calming smile, "It will be, honey, so don't worry your pretty little head about it."

Haru looked at the pale blonde with wide eyes and squeaked, "But you all left us so suddenly! We got worried. Are you sure everything's alright?"

Yamamoto remained silent, looking around the room with a sharp gaze and noting that Gokudera was hovering over Tsuna with more protectiveness than was usual. He also noted that the red haired woman was in a faintly protective stance in front of Tsuna, but looked fatigued and ragged around the edges of her anger. "Marianna, take the girls and kids to the kitchen and start making some food," Tania started and Reborn opened his mouth to object, but the redhead steamrolled right over him with, "We just have some issues to work out and then everything will be alright, okay?"

Kyoko stared at the woman who had helped her and Tsuna, and was gratified when the woman met her eyes evenly and didn't look away in any kind of dismissive manner. She searched the woman's expression, and finding what she wanted, the teen smiled brightly and began ushering the kids and a protesting Haru out the door, "We won't be any help here, so let's make sure everyone has some food! We'll certainly need our strength, ne?"

The moment the door was shut, Tania turned her piercing gaze to Reborn and demanded lowly, "How was the seal supposedly broken?"

Reborn briefly debated on not answering, but there was a flare of protectively wrathful Sky Flames, and he decided it would be better to answer, rather than to fight. "With a Dying Will Bullet," the hitman answered blankly, not taking his eyes off the redhead.

Her eyes flashed and her flames flared dangerously, threatening to overspill and fill the entire room with her righteous fury. "I knew you Sicilian's were a bunch of idiots but I didn't think you were that stupid," Tania started lowly, her presence seeming to increase tenfold in a very lethal way. Reborn didn't dare look away from her, feeling very backed into a corner and not liking it one bit. "Tsunayoshi could have died."

The words hung heavy in the air with their weight, feeling very much like a noose tightening around his neck, and for the first time Reborn regretting taking the Nonno's word for it. He had been told there would be no possible crippling effects to being hit with a Dying Will Bullet to release the seal on Tsuna, and definitely not death. He wanted to believe she was lying, but she couldn't be. Her anger was to fierce, to real, to be faked in any way and the way her Flames were flickering and actually tainting slightly with Wrath Flames told more than any words could possibly say.

"Tah-ne-ah...san?"

And just like that the threat of her flames spilling over vanished and the rage permeating the air dispersed as if it had never been there. Tania turned to Tsuna, who had spoken and looked very concerned, and pronounced slowly, "Ta-nyah. The last half of my name is one sound, and the first half is short. Try again."

"Tah-nya?" Tsuna tried again, cheeks flushing as his tongue struggled to wrap around the foreign name, and the end result didn't sound quite right. However, the woman merely smiled calmly, previous anger gone without a trace, and repeated the pronunciation again, slowly. "Ta-nya-uhm-nyah- Tania? Tania-san?"

Her lips curled into a small smile and she replied, "Yes?"

Tsuna swallowed, eyes flickering briefly over to Gokudera, who smiled encouragingly, and then Yamamoto, who was just smiling, but his eyes were sharp, before he asked quietly, "What's going to happen now that the seal is broken?" If the last words were tinged with betrayal, no one pointed it out, but there was a visibly softening of Tania's eyes.

"You're going to feel more balanced, for one," she started quietly, sitting back on the hospital bed and crossing one leg over the other. "And you'll feel more in touch with your Flames and Intuition, if you haven't already. It was probably already there, just muted and like you were listening under water. Your emotions won't be so out of whack now either, and your mental capabilities will increase."

Marianna furrowed her brow and asked, "If he had a seal on his Flames, then why wasn't he so dopey when we met him?" Tsuna looked vaguely affronted at the dopey comment, but also curious, wondering if he was going to get an answer on who exactly all these women were. Marianna obviously knew the newcomers, but she was also visibly more relaxed, and kept leaning (more than likely unconsciously) towards Tania, much like the older Yamamoto had to him.

"The seal was already in the process of breaking down completely, but since it had been there for so long it would have taken a few more years before breaking entirely," Tania answered, face twisting into an ugly expression as her eyes narrowed. "However, by then, while he would be more balanced, his mental and emotional facilities would've been compromised heavily."

"Compromised?" Gokudera sputtered, looking both outraged and scandalized at the perceived slight towards his Boss. Yamamoto lost his smile completely. He had no idea what this seal thing was, but from the sound of things it had been dangerous and had been damaging Tsuna.

Tania's face darkened even further and her Flames sparked again, but didn't seem to be threatening to overspill again. "Yes, compromised. Some emotions would be amplified, while others would be muted. His thoughts would also be more idyllic and naive no matter how much violence or bloodshed he'd seen. With those two things combined...?"

She trailed off, face closing off into a blank slate, while Marianna, Adele, and Jessica held looks of horrified realization. "How did we not realize before?" Marianna whispered, looking vaguely guilty and like she wanted to throw up.

"To us, that's just how Tsuna was," Jessica answered, gaze firmly turned away from Reborn, who was looking faintly murderous. He had known there were dangers to sealing off the Flame of a child, but he had never had to personally deal with the affects, so only had the bare bones of information on it. And maybe near the beginning of his training with Tsuna, he wouldn't have cared, but now? Now, he cared. And he would be having words with Nonno when they returned.

Adele clapped her hands, the sudden noise jolting everyone and causing the blonde to be glared at, but she simply smiled, no trace of horror on her face. "Well now, we have other stuff to worry about now, so why don't we do that instead? Hayato?"

The half-Italian jerked, cheeks flushing as he glared over at the woman viciously, "What!?"

Utterly unfazed, Adele said cheerily, "Didn't you have something you wanted to share with the class?" The teen stared at the blonde woman blankly for all of three seconds before his mouth popped open into an 'o' and he hit his fist on his palm.

Then, he turned to Tsuna with a teeth baring grin and announced, "I've found the way to return to the past! The hint was lying in here all along." He brandished the letter that had been in his future self's suitcase, the wax seal broken, and pulled out the letter inside. Tsuna peered over at it curiously, and somehow wasn't surprised to see it written in his friend's secret code. Gokudera tucked some of his hair behind his ear and Adele made a choked noise in the back of his throat.

Thankfully, Gokudera had started speaking and the noise passed by without the teen's notice, "Gather the Guardians with the Vongola Rings; defeat Byakuran. Eliminate the guy with the glasses in the photograph. Everything will return to as it was. And that's all there is."

Tsuna frowned and pointed out, "Why does it mention the Vongola Rings, didn't I - or rather Future Me? - destroy the rings?"

"That's just it. This letter says nothing of going to the past to eliminate (Tsuna wasn't even going to begin thinking about what eliminate entailed) the guy with the glasses. Rather, it refers to defeating Byakuran in this era," Gokudera responded, not noticing the confused looks the women in the room were giving the two teenagers.

"Do you understand?" Reborn asked, tilting his head to look at his student, having already shoved everything about the seal away into the back of his mind for later perusal, as well as the reactions of Tania. "This letter was addressed to those who hold the Rings in this era. In other words, to you. So, if we follow the message, gather the Guardians, and kill the man with the glasses, everything will return to as they were. We'll be able to return to the past."

Tsuna cocked his head to the side, frowning slightly as the voice in the back of his head (it had always been then - wherehaditgone - where's the warmth why'd it leave - everything is so cold now -) murmuring uneasily, but not giving anything concrete. "Return to the past?" he parroted.

Reborn nodded, eyeing his student with curiosity. There was already a change in the teen's responses to things, he was calmer, not freaking out violently as he had been prone to doing. He was also less emotionally callous to people. "The good thing is," Reborn began, shoving those thoughts away for later. "We now have an objective and that's this man with glasses. Lal Mirch has identified him, and he appears to be Irie Shouichi, one of Millefiore's Squad Captains."

"Wait a moment," Marianna interrupted face obviously confused. "Back up a bit. Tsuna? Destroy the Vongola Rings? What in heavens are you talking about?"

Tsuna and Gokudera shared a confused look, and Tsuna tentatively said, "Older Yamamoto said I destroyed the Vongola Rings, rather than get in another battle over them? Was he wrong?"

Marianna turned to Tania, face disbelieving and flapping her hand at the two teens, "Just. What?" Yamamoto stayed silent, content to just observe. He was learning a lot and it seemed that they had mostly, not so much forget, but simply skated? over the fact he was still in the room. It was proving most educational if he said so himself.

Like the fact that this Tania lady was kinda like a mix of Tsuna and Squalo's boss, and he was brave enough to admit she kinda terrified him. Okay, really terrified him. But she also emitted the feeling of safetywarmthprotection that Tsuna did sometimes.

Tania's brow was furrowed and her lips were turned down in a confused frown. "I have to agree. Tsunayoshi didn't destroy the Rings. They were en route to me for protection, when a third party destroyed them. We haven't had the actual time to investigate who that third party was with the War starting up, and the couriers were all murdered." She then looked over at Marianna, still with that confused look and questioned, "Why would Takeshi think Tsunayoshi destroyed the Rings?"

The pale blonde shrugged with her own confused look, "I have no clue. The topic never really came up, and even when I did mention it, he never seemed confused about it."

"...Why would the Vongola send the Rings to you for protection?" Reborn asked in a deceptively light voice. Tania's cold gaze swept over to him, face closing off faster than a blink of an eye, and Reborn suddenly felt like he was staring at a venomous snake poised to strike. The tension in the room spiked dangerously as the two continued to lock gazes, Reborn's expression darkening the longer the staring continued with no answer.

Yamamoto laughed suddenly, breaking the tension like glass, and said cheerily, "Well, either way we have the Rings now and I think it's a good thing we've come here, ne?" Tsuna looked at the other teen in confusion, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he hadn't in fact destroyed the Rings. Yamamoto's lips twisted in a cool smile, eyes calm and serious as he finished, "We'll shape our own futures with our own hands."

XX

"Tania, what's really going on?" Marianna asked quietly from her spot next to the redhead, curled slightly and leaning against the younger woman. Tania was reading some documents in one hand, her other arm slung on the back of the couch the two were seated on and fiddling with the blonde's hair. Jessica was sitting on the floor with her back pressed against Tania's legs, pursuing her own folder of documents, though her's were medical in nature, and Adele was draped on the other side of the couch, her feet burrowed under Marianna's thighs.

At the question, Tania looked up from her papers, and seemed to mull over her words for a moment before replying, "I can't say for sure yet. I'd need to get into contact with Kyouya first, before I could give you a definite answer. There's too much I need to piece together first."

Marianna grumbled at that, but didn't push further for an answer, trusting in her Sky. "So what are the munchkins up to?" Adele asked, looking over the edge of the book she was reading and wiggling her toes under Marianna's thighs.

"Hayato was saying something about learning the ways of the future," Jessica mumbled, not even looking up from her documents. She had avoided looking at Reborn for as long as she could, but she hadn't been able to completely. And it hurt. It tore open the wound that hadn't even been healed anyways. (there had been so much blood - don'tleavemeplease - shewasscreaming - sobbingcrying this couldn't be happening - don't leave me please - Sku-)

"He said what?" Adele demanded, easily breaking Jessica's downward thoughts, and dragging her attention away from the papers in her hands. The brunette looked up at the blue eyed woman in confusion, and Tania turned away from her own papers with a raised eyebrow.

Slowly, Jessica repeated, "He said something about learning the ways of the future."

Adele wrinkled her nose and then let out a gusty sigh, "That means Reborn probably conned Lal Mirch into training the munchkins in their flames."

Tania's face went blank and Marianna grumbled, "Well that's not gonna go well."

"Leave it be for now," Tania stated calmly, something touching the edge of her senses and she set her papers to the side. She nudged Jessica away and with a lingering touch to Marianna's hair, heaved herself up off the couch. "I'll be back later. Keep an eye on the others, and make sure they don't get into too much trouble, please." The woman slipped on a pair of shoes and left the room after getting affirmative noises from the other three women.

"What was that about?" Adele asked curiously, not really expecting an answer.

Marianna hummed, eyeing the closed door thoughtfully, "Little Kyoko is up to something I think." Adele shot her a curious look complete with raised eyebrow, but the other blonde merely shrugged. She didn't know anything beyond that.

Tania easily slipped up next to the teenager and said calmly, "You really shouldn't be going out there alone, Kyoko." The girl jerked, but managed to swallow the scream that threatened to escape, looking over at the older woman nervously. She knew it was stupid and dangerous but she had to know. Tania side eyed her, and her eyes softened slightly. "I'm not going to stop you, but I will be coming with you. It's not safe for you to be alone."

Kyoko bit her lip. She knew it wasn't safe for her to be out there alone, but she couldn't drag Haru with her, and the boys would more than likely just try to stop her. Adele-san had been very clear and concise in her explanation for what was going on, including the fact that it was the Mafia they were dealing with, so they had better be listening and paying attention. The woman's face had been dead serious and compared to her previously constant smile, it had made them really listen to what was being said.

"I know," she whispered. She remembered the blood on her hands. The suffocating pressure of the killer intent from that man, but also the warm flames of Tsuna-kun. Then there had been Tania-san, who had helped her, helped Tsuna-kun, who had kept her steady.

Tania looked down at her and hummed thoughtfully, even as they exited the base, the redhead easily having herded Kyoko towards the fourth exit, which she knew Gianni was working on. "Your brother's not home, you know," she pointed out flatly, placing a hand on Kyoko's back, right between the girl's shoulder blades.

Kyoko was silent for a bit, looking down at her feet as they walked. "I know," she whispered again. She had figured that out when she realized that Ryohei wasn't at the base, but Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun had been. Tania stayed silent, letting the teen stew in her thoughts for the walk, recognizing that was what she needed. It was when they reached town, that Tania realized something was wrong.

"Come here," the redhead murmured, guiding the girl into an alleyway and motioning for silence. Tania closed her eyes and then took a deep breath, coaxing her flames up. Slowly she spread her flames around her in a thin film like aura, increasing the amount steadily as she spread the flames out further and further. In one breath and the next she had her flames covering a five-mile radius and then back and nestled inside her.

Kyoko peered up at her silently, gaze questioning. Tania held her finger up to her lips in the signal for continued silence. The auburn haired teen nodded, turning her gaze to her surroundings instead. Tania started guiding the teen further back into the alley, and away from the men scattered throughout the entire neighborhood looking for Kyoko. Most of the residents had gone back home, after the first few men had shown up dressed in black suits and wearing dark sunglasses, smart enough to realize that they meant danger.

But her Flames had felt someone who could help with Kyoko, probably more than Ryohei could have despite being Kyoko's brother. The Lightning Flames had been subtle and irritated, not liking the sudden infestation on their turf, but smart and cunning enough to hide the presence of their flames. And Tania knew exactly who those Flames belonged to.

It took some creative shortcuts, but eventually Tania and Kyoko reached the Kurokawa Residence, with no men in suits within sight. "Tania-san?" Kyoko whispered, confusion evident in her voice. The redhead smiled calmly and walked through the gate leading up to the house, just as the front door open and a tall and slender woman appeared in the doorway.

"Tania-san? What are you doing here in Japan?" the woman asked, and Kyoko felt her mouth drop open when she realized just who said woman was. Kurokawa Hana had grown up exceptionally well and had grown into her sharp features, appearing much more lethal than when they were in middle school. She had also chopped her hair off into a wavy bob and dressed like a no nonsense business woman.

Hana blinked and then turned her head down to look at Kyoko, a bewildered look over taking her expression, "Kyoko? What the hell? Why do you look so young?"

"Don't overthink it right now, Kurokawa," Tania advised. "Kyoko just needs her best friend at the moment. I'm gonna go talk to your mother, if that's alright?" Hana sighed but waved the redhead in, and then slung an arm around Kyoko's shoulders and took her up to her room. Tania made her way into the kitchen, where she could hear Kurokawa Miyako puttering in the kitchen.

Kurokawa Miyako was a woman with sharp features, much like her daughter, but she had the narrowed Hibari eyes, though they were green in color. Her hair was also cut in a messy bob like her daughter, but she was dressed in a tank top and jeans. "Oh, Signora Laganà," the older woman greeted with a very cat like grin as she turned from where she was making tea. "It has been awhile; when did you arrive in Japan?"

Tania leaned back against the counter, humming slightly, "Not too long ago. I've got a small favor to ask of you." The redhead accepted the cup of tea handed to her, relaxing slightly at the familiar smell. Kyouya drank the same tea, and often refused to drink any other tea and Tsunayoshi had gotten a taste for it as well. It was a familiar and calming as much as nostalgic scent and it helped soothe her slightly tattered edges.

Miyako continued to smile at the younger woman, though it softened around the edges. "A favor, huh? Lemme hear it first and then I'll decide if it's a favor or not, Signora Laganà," Miyako said cheerily, unfazed by the flat look sent her way.

"It's nothing big; I just need you to pick up a few things for me," Tania hummed, blowing gently on her tea before taking a sip. She closed her eyes at the taste, her stomach churning as her eyes burned. (Tania, join me - it's okay everything's going to be okay - don't cry please don't cry- I promise everything's going to be okay - I lo-) (there was so much blood - ohgodnoplease - don'tleavemedon'tleaveme - where are you going? - so much blood - was that screaming? - who's screaming - don't leave me - I lo-)

"Tania."

The redhead jolted, eyes snapping open the visions of blood fading away abruptly and with it the slack face of - She sucked in a harsh breath, and Miyako watched her silently for a moment before asking, "Where are your Guardians?"

Tania blinked for a second, taking another deep breath to try and calm her beating heart. "Marianna, Adele, and Jessica are at the base. Donata and Carmen are home, and Stella is with Kyouya," she answered, only the barest waver to her voice before it evened out.

"Your sister?"

"She's in Italy too."

Miyako hummed, eyeing the young woman silently for a moment, before changing the subject, "What's this favor you need?"

Tania looked blank for all of three seconds before she remembered. "Oh, I need you to pick up some undergarments for Kyoko and Haru, clothes as well, for them and Lambo and I-pin, too. Some snacks wouldn't be remiss either," the redhead answered, taking another sip of her tea. "I can't really be seen right now. It wouldn't be...advisable."

"Sweetheart, that's not a favor," Miyako said exasperatedly, her smile twitching back on her face. "I'd be more than happy to do it. I won't even ask questions until you're ready, hun." Tania gave her a relieved smile, cheeks tinging pink. She turned her head, however, when something touched the edge of her senses. Something that shouldn't technically be out in town. Her brow furrowed and she set her tea down on the counter, before making her way to the front door.

Miyako followed after her, grabbing her purse as she did so and slipping her shoes on. Tania reached the front gate, noting that there were two of the Black Spell men around the corner of the house, and raised an eyebrow when she saw Tsuna and Lal Mirch crouched against the wall. "You won't get very far, you know. It's not just those two around here," she said dryly, leaning against the top of the gate.

Miyako huffed out a laugh, stepping out the gate, and waving a hand at the two outside, her cat like grin back on her face, "Go ahead on inside. I'll get them out of the area soon. Tania, you can pay me back later and text me the measurements when you get the chance. My memory isn't as good as it used to be, you know."

"I call bullshit," Tania replied flatly. "You remember your family tree." Miyako merely grinned, before she sidled around the corner and the trio could hear her smooth talking her way out of getting questioned, while simultaneously getting them to leave the area. "Well, get in here and tell me what's happened," Tania ordered, ushering the two into the Kurokawa household, and thus out of any potential hostile eyes.

"We got a signal from Hibird," Tsuna answered, shoulders easing in the presence of Tania, and he could feel his flames practically purring beneath his skin. Ever since the woman had broken the remains of the seal, he had felt the difference. (warmthsafety - it'sbackit'sbackit'sback) His head was clearer than it had ever been, and he felt balanced for the first time since he could remember. "Adele-san (he stumbled a little around the 'l' but he didn't butcher it too badly) went with Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun to go check the source of the signal, while me and Lal Mirch decided to go to you."

Tania hummed thoughtfully, eyeing the teen with a careful gaze. Her flames were straining against her skin, wanting to touch and curl with Tsuna's, whose own flames were purring under his own skin. Lal Mirch's own flames were shying away in the presence of two Skies, wary in the face of high purity flames with Harmonization Factors. "Hopefully, Hayato doesn't manage to piss Adele off," Tania murmured, leading Tsuna up the stairs, so he could see that Kyoko was alright with his own eyes.

The brunette shot her a wide eyed look at her statement, wondering if he should have asked Marianna to go instead. As if sensing his thoughts, Tania shot him a smirk and said, "Marianna would have been worse." She knocked before she entered the room, saying, "We'll leave Kyoko in Kurokawa and Miyako's more than capable hands, while we go get our wayward Guardians, okay?"

Tsuna blinked at her, stunned for a second, before he mumbled an affirmative.

XX

"I'm here to beat that rotten temper of yours into shape," Yamamoto said sharply, not even looking back at the downed and pissed off form of Gokudera. Anger was simmering just beneath the teen's skin, and his face was set in a cold and calculating expression that showed his natural hitman capabilities. "The more I think about it, the more angry I get."

Adele narrowed her eyes, content to sit and watch from her perch in a tree, hidden from site from Gamma, whose attention was focused strictly on the two teenagers. She wouldn't butt into this until both boys learned something out of all this utter bullshit. If they didn't shape up after this, she was gonna sic Marianna on both of them and wash her hands of the entire thing.

The two had been non-stop arguing (more on Gokudera's part, but it still counted) since they had left the base, and it was wearing on Adele's last nerve. She had heard the horror stories from a lamenting Tsuna more than enough times to get a clear picture of the volatile nature of Gokudera and Yamamoto, but by the time they had all met, the two were much more mellow (at least Hayato was). This? It was like watching a round of Bridezillas or something and Adele was getting more points on Tsuna being a fucking saint.

"What'd you say!?" Hayato snarled, panting as he barely managed to lift himself up enough to glare at the other teen.

Gamma looked down in interest, a crafty smirk still plastered on his face, "Hmm? What's this?"

The two boys ignored him, and Yamamoto continued, "I heard that before you came to Japan and met Tsuna, you were a lone wolf who didn't trust anyone else." Yamamoto turned his cold gaze back at the Storm Guardian, face an icy mask, "For that reason, I can understand why you're so loyal to Tsuna, who was the first person who opened your heart, but if you open your heart only to Tsuna, all you're doing is putting pressure on him."

Gokudera bristled like an offended cat, shouting, "What the hell are you talking about!? Fuck you!"

Yamamoto continued as if he hadn't heard the outburst, tone still chillingly lethal, "In the first place, a right-hand man is supposed to be the leader of the Guardians, whom the boss can count on the most, isn't it? You're supposed to pull them together! Instead, you've turned away from them. What the hell is that about, huh?" His glare hardened and there was legit killing intent emanating from the dark haired teen as he growled, "Right now? You have no right to call yourself his right-hand man."

Gokudera gritted his teeth, fingers curling into tight fists and he swallowed harshly. His flames churned restlessly beneath the surface, and he knew the baseball-idiot was right. Part of the reason was because Tsuna was the first person to ever show him true kindness, and call him a friend, and he was possessive over that. He hadn't wanted to share the most precious thing to him, and so had lashed out at all those around him, seeing them as threats to Tsuna or trying to steal him away from him.

But even with all of that, he had grown reluctantly fond of the others that inserted themselves in Tsuna's sphere. It was hard not to, when Tsuna accepted them into his circle. He just hadn't wanted to admit it to himself, because admitting it to himself meant accepting it, and he'd been burned too many times to just accept it.

Still...

Adele sighed silently, irritation finally washed away. It looked like the two would finally be less of a mix of oil and water and more of a storm with a torrent of rain. She watched the battle silently, hoping the two could defeat Gamma, but also knowing it was a foolish one. Gamma was one of the Generals, and the two teens had only just started training, and it hadn't even been an in depth one from the sound of it.

...And they were still kids.

"Man, we did it!" Yamamoto grinned. "That was a little bit of a close call there."

Gokudera huffed, "Fool. I'm the right-hand man. I don't do close calls." Yamamoto snerked and then burst out laughing, making Gokudera puff up again like an offended cat. Adele ignored whatever else they were going to say, flaring her flames and dropping down in front of them, just as Yamamoto made an aborted move to get out of the way.

In a flash, Adele had the ring on her finger glowing a furious blue as she inserted it in a box with a single minded purpose. There was a bright flash as a cloud of blue flames exploded and there was a loud screeching noise as lightning flames slammed into the sudden barrier of rain flames surrounding the three. "That wasn't very nice," Adele chirped, eyes closed and lips stretched in a wide grin that showed too many teeth.

"Hooh?" Gamma drawled, running a hand through his hair has he sat up, no injury visible on his person. "Now, you've definitely gotten me curious about a few things." He slowly stood, brushing away the dirt and leaves that accumulated on his person, lips still twisted in a crafty smirk. "We can start with who are you?" His eyes glared straight at Adele, who was still smiling and had the flames still glowing brightly around her.

She wiggled her fingers at him, eyes opening into thin slits that made her expression suddenly much more lethal. "I'm no one, tesoro," Adele purred, pulsing her flames and spreading her arms out wide like she was giving a grand announcement. "Any other questions?"

Gamma narrowed his eyes, debating on whether or not to actually reply to that. He didn't know who this woman was but she was dangerous. She felt like no Rain he had ever met before and it had his hackles rising in defense to the unknown threat. Eventually he allowed, "Has the Decimo of the Vongola come back from the dead?"

Adele's lips stretched even wider if possible, letting out a short bark of laughter, "Oh, that is a question you don't want answered, tesoro." Her eyes flashed and with a twitch of her fingers the flames surrounding her collapsed in on themselves with a suspiciously liquid like splash.

Gamma tensed, but kept his smirk glued to his face unwilling to show his unease. "Hoh? Really? Because the apparent youth of those two behind you had me truly surprised; but then again, it is the Vongola Family. I wouldn't put it pass you to create that kind of information," he shifted his stance slightly as he spoke, prepared to either fight or run as he continued, "But, if it's about the Decimo of the Vongola, and why he's still living? That's not so simple, is it?"

The blond's eyes and expression hardened as he finished, "The guy was gunned down. Many of his comrades witnessed it too."

Both teen's eyes widened in rage, but before either of them could truly react to the statement there was a sudden rush of white noise and Adele's flames towered over the group, and even the trees. Adele's lips were twisted in a deadly cold smile, eyes utterly blank as she responded flatly, "Oh, I know. I was there." Then with a low roar the flames converged onto Gamma, but Yamamoto and Gokudera weren't paying any attention to the man, eyes glued on Adele.

The woman was silhouetted in a pale blue light that had thin tendrils rolling around her like the waves of the ocean, and the ring around her finger shattered in a shower of sharp metal. There was an eerie sense of calm surrounding the clearing, seeming to cling to the very air and the woman's expression was utterly blank of emotion, though her lips were still curled in a thin smile. "You wanna know the interesting thing about Rain Flames?" the blonde asked casually, voice devoid of any kind of emotional inflection.

The blue flames that had converged on Gamma had him encased in a bubble of rolling blue and suspended in the air. The man was obviously struggling, but the teens could tell the fight was slowly leaving the previously composed man, his face twisted in an expression of pure panic. "They're component is Tranquility," Adele continued as if Gamma had actually asked what was so interesting about her flame type. "Normally, people scoff at this, because really tranquility? What use is that right? Especially in a battle."

She casually began stalking over to where her flames had encased the man, the ball growing smaller with each step. "But what happens if someone gets too tranquil?" she practically purred leaning towards the bubble of her flames, eyes glowing with the power of her flames. Gamma was looking at her with a truly terrified expression, realizing just why this woman had set off the danger alarms in his head so easily. A glint caught his eye and he was startled to see a ring hanging from what looked like Mammon Chain on her neck.

He stared at it, confused and momentarily forgetting the danger he was in. The ring was a thin band that had the edges twisted in a wave like pattern around a deep blue stone, firmly wrapping it in a twisting knot. Even under the thrall of a Mammon Chain, Gamma could swear he could feel a pulse emanating from the ring. His attention was forcefully dragged away from the ring as the flames tightening suddenly around his throat and he felt his body go completely limp.

His own flames struggled to fight back, but they were sluggish and were moving through his veins like sludge. A hazy calm was beginning to creep on the edges on his mind, and he struggled to push it back as much as his mind was shying away from the touch.

"Adele."

The sudden voice was new and Gamma could only suck in a harsh breath as the pressure around his neck was suddenly gone and his body collapsed to the ground, utterly boneless. His vision was hazy as he stared at where another woman had suddenly appeared, hand gripping the blonde woman's wrist firmly. He choked, coughing harshly and stared down at his hand in confusion as blood covered his palm and he could feel something wet dripping down his chin. The familiar tang of metallic that signaled blood filled his mouth and he could only stare at his hand blankly.

"Oops," Adele said flatly, staring at the prone form of the Black Spell General blankly. If she held the man in her bubble any longer his body would have shut down completely and he would more than likely become completely comatose, if not dead. She looked away, turning instead to the woman holding her wrist, her own hand still curled in a clawed position. "Stella," she stated, blinking slowly.

The taller woman's face twisted into a furious glower, grip tightening to almost painful levels. "You fucking idiot," she snarled, eyes flaring purple brightly for all of one second before they were just a dark brown color.

"Stella." Gokudera and Yamamoto both jolted violently at the new voice, close to gaping when Hibari Kyouya strolled past them and over to the new woman, one eyebrow raised. Stella wrinkled her nose, but let go of Adele's wrist, but not before smacking the blonde upside the head. "Where is Sawada Tsunayoshi?" Hibari queried, face utterly disinterested.

Adele blinked slowly again, her face slowly coming out of its emotionally blank state, and she answered, voice vaguely confused, "I think he's with...Tania?" Hibari sniffed, turning away and stalking over to where Gamma was still sitting, staring at his blood covered hand blankly. There was a flash of purple flames and the man hit Gamma over the head with a tonfa, knocking the blonde out cold.

Gokudera ignored the older Hibari, instead looking at Adele, flames churning beneath his skin and he frowned. "What's wrong with you?" he demanded.

Stella kissed her teeth sharply, face still set in a furious scowl. "She simply overdosed on her own tranquility," the short haired woman growled, her gaze simply skipping over their forms, Gokudera noted absently. He was curious about how Adele could have possibly overdosed on her own flames though. Stella snorted, obviously catching his curiosity somehow, "Flames can affect you just as well as other people, Hayato."

Her face went coldly blank, however, at her words, eyes darkening with some kind of emotion the teen couldn't quite recognize. Before Gokudera could even try to decipher the look, there was a sudden wash of Sky Flames that was gentle and searching and heralded the arrival of Tsuna as he skidded to a stop in the clearing. He would have face planted too, if it weren't for the sudden steadying hand of Tania, whose facial expression had Gokudera blanching in fear.

Her eyes were narrowed dangerously and glowing a deadly orange, her lips turned down sharply in a furious scowl. "Adele," she growled, the wash of Sky Flames snapping back inside of the woman sharply and making even Hibari flinch at the sudden loss.

The blonde rolled her head around to look at the redhead, eyes still a little glazed, "Oh. Ciau, Tania. What are you doing here?"

Tania's jaw twitched, before she obviously forcibly calmed herself, taking her hand off of Tsuna's shoulder and gliding over to the blonde. She reached out and clapped the back of the other woman's neck pressing their foreheads together gently. There was a whisper of flames (warmthprotectionsaftey iloveyou) and to the teen's astonishment, Adele's glazed eyes cleared and her lips twisted into a sheepish smile.

"Oops," she muttered, averting her gaze from the disapproving one of her Sky. "Sorry, caru miu." Stella scoffed, and Tania turned her head around to the purple haired woman with a narrowed eyed look and pursed lips. Stella's lips twisted in a smile showing too much teeth and looked more predatory than anything, but Tania just rolled her eyes and pulled away from Adele, her flames nestled within her once more.

Tsuna flitted over to Yamamoto and Gokudera, expression worried. "Are you two alright?" he fretted, hands flapping around them uselessly and without actually touching them. Gokudera could feel his cheeks burning, while Yamamoto merely laughed, though his eyes were flicking over to Adele, awe evident in his gaze.

"We're fine, Tsuna!" Yamamoto soothed cheerily. "Adele (his l sounded much more like an r than anything, and Gokudera kind of felt like bashing his head against the ground) stepped in and saved us! It was really cool! Do you think I could learn to do that?" Tsuna stared at the other teen with a dumbfounded look, not sure if he should take him seriously or not.

"You're bleeding, Hayato," Stella pointed out flatly as she brushed past the trio of teens, Hibari following behind her with a predatory gait. Tsuna squeaked, eyes breaking from Yamamoto's face to Gokudera instead, expression worried.

"We need to get back to base then," Lal Mirch stated calmly, eyeing Adele with a wary gaze. The woman had taken out one of the Generals of Millefiore and that was without any kind of ring with power like the Vongola Ring. And if that was the precursor to what the rest of the blonde's companions could do, she wondered just what they had been doing until now. If they had this kind of power what was to say they could haven't stopped Byakuran? Maybe Colonnello wouldn't have-

Her thoughts were interrupted violently by Hibari scoffing. "We will be using our own entrance," the man said, obviously responding to someone else's comment while she had been lost in her thoughts. She frowned as the man made a motion with his hands and there was low rumbling sound before he walked through one of the screen doors leading into the Namimori temple.

"There's an issue with us taking our leave from here, however, Sa- Tania-san," Kusakabe Tetsuya announced from behind the teen's, making all of them jerk in shock, as they hadn't even sensed the man come up from behind. Tania turned her attention to the older man, making an inquiring noise. He gestured to the rings on both Gokudera's and Yamamoto's fingers, "The Rain and Storm Vongola Rings would have shown up on the enemy's radar by now. We can't afford to let their signal disappear from this location." Tania hummed, her eyes flicking over to where Lal Mirch was standing an unreadable look on her face.

"I can take care of it," Lal Mirch announced neutrally. "I'll pick up Sasagawa on my way back."

XX

TRICKSTERTHIEF: I'm posting the first chapter as a kinda trial base? I wanna see if people will actually read this monstrosity :x i've got two chapters written and I'm working on the third, but these chapters are looking to all be 15k at the least and isn't at all like how I had originally planned (also really slow going lmbo) so, if you like it and actually want to see where I'm going with this leave a review please? Or just leave a favorite!
Also all of the Italian in here is based on a Sicilian dialect which is the closest I can find for the Calabrian dialect, so chances are it is hideously wrong, and if you know anything about the dialect please shoot me a polite note informing me and i'll fix those mistakes