When he woke up cradled in Gokudera's arms, Tsuna knew something was wrong.
"Goku...dera-kun?" Tsuna called uncertainly.
The bomber didn't respond. He kept his head to his chest, silver hair curtaining his face. Tsuna took comfort in the fact that Gokudera wasn't dead; his light, even breathing suggesting that he was just asleep.
Tsuna's head was cradled into Gokudera's shoulder. He shifted, immediately hissing as injuries twinged and cramped muscles protested. He must have been lying like this for a while if he was already so sore. Rolling out of Gokudera's loosened grip, Tsuna shakily scrambled to his feet.
He looked around him. It was dark, but he could still make out enough in the gloom to tell that he was in some sort of cave. Gokudera was propped up against a rounded wall of stone. He checked the silver-haired teen for any injuries, but the worst damage the bomber had were a few scratches here and there. Finding nothing life threatening, Tsuna looked at his surroundings again, this time with a more curious gleam in his brown eyes. There wasn't much to the cave. Just rocks and dirt.
As much as he wanted to ask the bomber where they were, he didn't feel right waking the exhausted teen. Gokudera had bags under his eyes and he hadn't even stirred when Tsuna had called out to him. Tsuna would feel horrible if he woke the bomber from what was obviously a much needed rest. Plus, if Tsuna tried to apologize for it, Gokudera would probably make himself out to be in the wrong when his precious "Tenth" needed something.
Sighing, Tsuna brushed off the dirt from his favorite short-sleeved hoodie, gazing at the bomber apologetically, even though he knew Gokudera wouldn't see it. He sent a silent promise to Gokudera that he would be back soon and headed towards the mouth of the cave. If he couldn't ask Gokudera, then he would just have to find out for himself.
Reaching the opening, he let the cool night breeze wash over him. Squinting, the brunet tried to make heads or tails of his surroundings. It wasn't a dark night—the moon was full and millions of stars were glittering—but Tsuna's eyebrows quirked up in confusion, not understanding the piles of what looked like—
Tsuna put a horrified hand to his mouth, eyes widening as his senses kicked in to take in everything that lie before him.
It was an understatement to call this a battlefield. It looked more like a massacre. Thousands upon thousands of bodies stretched out upon the field before him, and the cliff faces that surrounded the valley were smeared with red. Dismembered limbs were strewn around, and some even speared on swords or arrows, displayed like human trophies. Moans from the living that must have been abandoned and left to die haunted the battlefield—massacre, his brain corrected—like ghosts. It was like something from a nightmare.
Tsuna's legs buckled and he slid to his knees in despair. He forgot what it was like to breathe as he wrestled with something within him. Warm tears traced down his cheeks. He wanted to look away from the horrifying scene, but he couldn't force himself to do so and a pitiful wail bubbled up in his throat.
What was all this? Why? Why? Why were there so many people left here to die?
Tsuna jerked as if he had been electrocuted. There were still people out there. People who were still alive. Tsuna pulled himself up to stand on trembling legs. He couldn't leave them out there to die. Not like this. Abandoned and alone. No. He couldn't.
He took one shaky step forward...and was immediately yanked back into the safety of the cave.
"Gokudera-kun!" he sobbed desperately, realizing exactly who was holding him back.
Tsuna found himself struggling to get out of the bomber's tight grip, but his shock left him weak and clumsy. The bomber, on the other hand, was nothing of the sort. Gokudera looked calm and collected, if not a bit pitying. Tsuna didn't understand what was going on anymore.
"Gokudera-kun, please! Tsuna choked out, chest heaving. More tears leaked out of his chocolate brown eyes as he looked back at that terrifying, sorrowful scene of bodies and blood. "They're dying."
"I forgot how much you could care," the bomber murmured quietly.
Tsuna fell silent at those words, eyes wide at the implications. He stopped struggling against Gokudera's grip and felt himself go limp, his legs refusing to hold him any longer. Gokudera caught him and easily lifted him up, bridle style, carrying him to the back into the gloomy cave.
"Come on, Tenth. We have a lot to talk about."
Tsuna curled an arm around Gokudera's neck, pulling himself closer to his best friend's comfort.
This can't be happening.
"What do you remember?"
They were sitting back down against the cave wall, in the same position Tsuna had woken up in. Whether or not it was Tsuna or Gokudera who wouldn't let go of the other, the brunet didn't know, but he kept his head tucked in the crook of the Gokudera's neck. The tears had stopped, leaving his cheeks damp with tear tracks, but Tsuna didn't bother wiping them away. He was still trembling, shaking hands fisted into Gokudera's button up shirt.
"We...I...We just got sent back to the past. I-I saw my mom and then I suddenly woke up here," Tsuna explained quietly. He shrunk closer to Gokudera. "I-I don't understand what's going on. Why're there...why are so many people dead?"
Gokudera sighed, running a gentle thumb along the bandage on Tsuna's cheek. "Is that where you got this? You were injured fighting Byakuran?" he asked.
Tsuna nodded timidly. He had actually forgotten about the girls' careful patch up session before they had left for the past. Kyoko, Haru, and Bianchi had started immediate first aid on that scarred battlefield, and Tsuna could still feel see the girls' worried but determined faces as they struggled to treat those in the worst condition first. Then, the girls had sent hours afterward going over each of Tsuna's friends, making sure every injury was accounted for and treated properly.
Tsuna tore his mind away from the past—the future—and gazed up at Gokudera shyly, admiring how calm he was acting. If it had been his Gokudera, the bomber would probably be boasting about how amazing Tsuna had been during the fight with Byakuran. But this wasn't his Gokudera. This was an older, calmer, more experienced Gokudera that Tsuna wasn't as familiar with.
It was true that Gokudera only seemed two or three years older than Tsuna, but to the brunet, that was more than enough. The chasm of experience was wide enough for Tsuna to recognize that he was severely outclassed, even if he hadn't seen the bomber fight in this time yet.
Time.
"This is the future, isn't it?" Tsuna asked, curling tighter into Gokudera's shoulder.
Warm arms encircled the brunet and Tsuna welcomed the comfort. It wasn't unusual for Yamamoto- his Yamamoto and Ryohei when they wanted to cheer him up, but his Gokudera had never felt comfortable enough to have any physical contact with the young boss candidate. Tsuna wasn't sure why, but it was something he hoped to find out. This embrace, with this time's Gokudera felt strange, but considering the circumstances, Tsuna didn't feel the need to comment on the oddity. It was actually pretty nice.
"Yes, Tenth," Gokudera confirmed. "I turned seventeen last month."
Tsuna nodded slowly, already figuring that to be the case. Gokudera was already seventeen, meanwhile, Tsuna had just barely turned fifteen. Almost two years into the future and Tsuna was faced this...this nightmare of a reality.
"I don't understand," Tsuna reiterated. "Why is everyone out there dead? And why are we in a cave?"
Gokudera sighed, clutching the younger boy closer to him, as if to shield him from the reality he was about to dive headfirst into.
"It's...complicated," Gokudera said. "I...I'm hoping that we can figure out some way to get you home so you won't have to know everything that's happened, but...I...there is still some knowledge that you need to take back to the past. Hopefully, what I tell you can prevent this horrible future."
"What do you mean?" Tsuna asked, puzzling over the bomber's statement. Dread shot through him as he realized why Gokudera's words sounded so familiar and Tsuna started to panic. "Is this like- Are you going to ask me to assassinate somebody?!"
Tsuna's eyes widened when Gokudera looked away. He wasn't sure what that meant, but Tsuna's brain was filling in the blanks rather quickly. His fists clenched the older teen's shirt tighter. There was no way he could kill someone, especially not after being asked to kill Shoichi. If he had gone back and killed Shoichi, there would have been no plan to fight Byakuran. The future—every future—would have been doomed.
"Gokudera-kun! I-I can't do something like that!" Tsuna exclaimed, his voice now several notches higher than it had been. "I'm not some ruthless killer who can take away others' lives whenever I want!"
For some reason Gokudera winced at Tsuna's words. The bomber sighed and looked down at Tsuna with tired eyes. "I know. I know you, Tenth, and I wouldn't ask you to do something so heartless right after Byakuran."
Tsuna was taken aback by that, his heart clenching unconsciously as he struggled to understand what Gokudera was implying.
"W-What are you talking about?"
Gokudera shook his head and smiled softly at the younger teen, and though he seemed to try and hide it, Tsuna caught the regret that flashed through those forest green eyes. "It's nothing. I'm not going to ask you to kill anyone, okay?"
Gokudera looked awful. Tsuna hadn't really noticed it before, too caught up in his own raging emotions to pay any attention, but Gokudera looked so world weary. Now that his green eyes were open, the bags underneath seemed much darker and heavier. The way he held himself was different as well. He wasn't the confident right hand man of the Vongola Decimo, but a teenager who had simply seen too much of this cruel existence. It made Tsuna sad to see his best friend looking so...old.
"Okay," Tsuna final agreed. The brunet relaxed back into Gokudera, not remember tensing up. "Will you tell me what's going on, though?"
Gokudera smiled again, but instead of a reassuring smile, this one was tinged with bitterness. Tsuna immediately felt guilty and silently berated himself for asking such a careless question.
"W-Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to- Y-You don't have to tell me if you d-don't want to! I-I was just curious and I wasn't thinking!"
Gokudera looked like a deer caught in the headlights, blinking owlishly down at the stuttering mess that was supposed to be his strong, capable boss. Tsuna felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment as he curled in on himself, wishing he could just disappear. Thankfully, Gokudera just let out a low chuckle, giving Tsuna a reminiscent look.
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that."
'I-I'm sorry!" Tsuna squeaked out again. Gokudera exhaled exasperatedly, shaking his head.
"I think I was too busy idolizing you that I didn't realize how shy and tender-hearted you really were."
"What do you-"
"I know I used to shout it out all the time, about how you were the best at everything, but I didn't really understand how much that compassion made you try and shoulder everyone's burdens," Gokudera said.
Tsuna was speechless. He stared up at the other in astonishment. "Sh-Shoulder everyone's burdens?" Tsuna wondered, frowning at the bomber. "I don't think I..."
Tsuna trailed off, puzzling over Gokudera's words as he turned them over and again in his mind. Did Tsuna really try and take on everyone else's burdens? He wasn't so sure of that. Sure he didn't want any of his friends to be unhappy, but he never tried to take them away completely. His friends wouldn't have let him if had tried, anyways.
"I started to notice it more when we got into high school," Gokudera admitted. "I think it had a lot to do with you taking over the position as Decimo. You suddenly had to lead a mafia family at sixteen and after only three years of knowing the mafia existed. I could tell it wore on you."
"Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said, unsure of what the bomber was getting at. A feeling was telling Tsuna that it had something to do with the nightmare outside, but he didn't know how to phrase his question properly without bringing back that bitter smile. He looked up into the warm green eyes of his right hand man, taking a deep, grounding breath. "Does...Does this have anything to do with who killed those people out there? D-Did I know who did it?"
"There isn't anybody out there."
Tsuna's head shot up, forehead colliding with Gokudera's nose. The bomber reeled back in surprise and pain, clutching his face, but Tsuna couldn't care less. "What?! What are you talking about? I saw them with my own eyes! You can't seriously be saying-"
"Calm down, Tenth!" Gokudera exclaimed, sounding more like his old self, even if it was sort of nasally. Tsuna relaxed back into Gokudera's arms when he heard the familiar title slip past the bomber's lips. "Those bodies you saw are just illusions."
"B-But...But the blood!" Tsuna knew the difference between illusions and reality, and even if the bodies weren't real, the blood was. That sharp metallic smell gave him all the proof he needed. Nobody but Mukuro could possibly conjure up an illusion of a massacre that real looking, anyways.
Gokudera grimaced. "That was mostly ours. Mine and the other Tenth's. No one is actually dead."
"But it looked so real. The...The blood...There was so much of it," Tsuna whispered, unable to comprehend what the bomber was getting at. How could that massacre possibly belong to an illusion? And that much blood had been spilled from Gokudera and the other Tsuna? There was just no way.
"From past battles," Gokudera revealed. "We've been at war with these bastards for almost four months now."
"I-I don't..."
What could he say to that? Sorry I came to the wrong conclusion when I found thousands of what looked like dead bodies? Sorry I freaked from seeing a massacre sitting not twenty feet from where I was sleeping?
Gokudera sighed and looked towards the mouth of the cave. "We should be going. It's getting closer to dawn and we still need to meet up with Yamamoto and Reborn."
"W-Wait," Tsuna murmured, feeling the numbing shock finally settle into his bones. "J-Just tell me why the illusion is there. Please." Tsuna tried to sound stronger than he felt, but his voice betrayed him, breaking on the last word.
Gokudera looked down at him in sympathy. "It's for protection," he admitted. "It's there so no one finds us."
Tsuna wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean. He wasn't sure of anything anymore. After defeating Byakuran and saving the future, his world was suddenly turned upside down as he was again thrown into a future that should not have happened. Fists clenched in Gokudera's shirt, Tsuna gritted his teeth, trying his hardest to hold back his tears. When would the nightmares end?
Tsuna spent the rest of the night staring at the cave's wall in numb fascination. He tried not to let his mind wander, afraid the tears would start back up again. Daybreak came quickly as Gokudera had predicted. Gokudera helped the younger boy to his feet before grabbing Tsuna's hand and leading him out of the cave. Tsuna walked forward on trembling legs, numbness trying its hardest to slow him down.
The two reached the mouth of the cave, but Tsuna hesitated at the opening, looking at Gokudera pleadingly. The elder gave him a wry smile.
"The illusion's gone," Gokudera reassured him. "It's not necessary anymore."
Tsuna nodded, anxious knot of emotions still refusing to untangle at those words. Tsuna stepped out of the cave and into the gray morning light. He almost gagged. The bodies may not have been there, but that didn't mean the blood was gone. It was still splattered everywhere, and now that it was daylight and the illusion had been dismissed, he could clearly see how much of it there was. Tsuna gripped Gokudera's hand tighter.
Gokudera squeezed back, guiding him away from the worst of the carnage. Eventually, Tsuna had to close his eyes. He walked blindly behind Gokudera, the only sound in the valley his short, panicked breaths.
"You can open your eyes now."
Tsuna opened one eye. And then the other. The tension in his shoulders left and Tsuna leaned forward into Gokudera, embracing the bomber wearily where he found himself inhaling the familiar smell of smoke that clung to Gokudera's dark clothing. Tsuna could hardly bother himself to care, though. For some reason, he was exhausted.
Gokudera chuckled, a hand ruffling the unruly spiky locks that tickled his chin. "You're a real baby, you know that?"
Tsuna's jaw almost dropped at the comment. Gokudera—even if it was fondly—insulting him?! There was no way this was really Gokudera. The real Gokudera would blow himself to kingdom come if he heard his future self say such a thing.
"Y-You're really Gokudera-kun, r-right?" Tsuna stuttered.
Gokudera looked surprised that Tsuna had even asked such a question. He nodded slowly, a strange look on his face, and Tsuna got the feeling that he had asked the wrong question. "There would be few people who would dare impersonate the Vongola Decimo's guardians," Gokudera said solemnly.
Tsuna got the impression that it wasn't out of intimidation of the Vongola.
The duo moved on from the cliffs. Tsuna hadn't really noticed it before, but the cliffs that had surrounded the valley were really part of a mountain. Tsuna looked up in awe as the teens walked out of the chasm.
"What is this place?" Tsuna asked in awe. The sights were breath taking. From here the cliffs tapered off, becoming rocky hills before tapering off into grassland. The slope they were descending lead further into the field, but Gokudera turned to the left, right before the two were about to enter the plant life.
"We're in the Dolomites, right now," Gokudera answered.
Tsuna's grip on Gokudera's hand grew tighter. "Dolomites?" he asked. It sounded foreign. Tsuna probably should have realized it before now, but they most likely weren't anywhere near Namimori at the moment.
Gokudera nodded. "It's a mountain range in Northern Italy, known for its cliffs."
"There sure are a lot of them," Tsuna muttered as Gokudera past another rock face. The whole mountain seemed to be made up of nothing but cliffs the higher they got.
Gokudera didn't respond but Tsuna read his regretful silence like an open book. Tsuna figured it had something to do with the future. Another thought crossed Tsuna's mind as they scrambled over another boulder. With Tsuna refusing to let go of Gokudera's hand, it was an awkward clamber over the rock, but somehow Gokudera managed to keep the two from getting too scraped up.
"Hey...Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna asked hesitantly, eyes turned downward in an attempt to keep his fragile emotions hidden. He felt like a glass of water sitting precariously at the edge of the table. If one more thing came crashing his way, he'd probably end up on the floor, shattered, everything inside him spilled out in the open for the world to see. "Why were we in that cave? Were we hiding from those people you mentioned?"
From under his bangs, Tsuna could see Gokudera's fists clench slightly before they relaxed again. "The Tenth and I had just fought a whole battalion off alone when it happened. We were heading for a place to rest when the Tenth suddenly collapsed."
Tsuna looked up, eyes wide. Gokudera's voice had become strained, like he was gritting his teeth and trying not to cry at the same time. Tsuna could only guess since he couldn't see the bomber's face, but he could definitely see the tension in Gokudera's ramrod straight back, despite the gray hooded jacket.
"The next thing I know, the Tenth disappears in pink smoke I haven't seen for months and I'm faced with you. I didn't know what else to do, since I knew I couldn't carry you all the way to the base. It was getting dark anyways, so I went to the closest safe place I could find."
"Safe place?" Tsuna wondered, his voice a little flat. Memories of seeing that terrifying massacre flashed through the forefront of his mind. Gokudera nodded.
"Yes," Gokudera confirmed, gesturing to the mountainous scenery around them. "Basically, these mountains are Vongola territory, but that doesn't really mean much to the bastards who we're fighting. So the Tenth decided to set up safe places in the locations of past battles—where the Family could rest, guarded by illusions."
"What would happen if the enemy found the safe place?" Tsuna asked.
Gokudera shook his head. "That can't happen. The illusions of the battle send out an undetectable signal to anyone who isn't Vongola. You could think of it like influencing someone else's thoughts, but it basically just makes them pass by like it's just another massacre the Vongola have forgotten to clean up."
Tsuna shivered. This wasn't making any sense.
"But why does it have to be dead bodies?" the brunet huffed, not caring that he sounded a little like Lambo when the five year old was refused sweets right before dinner.
Gokudera halted to a stop, turning to look at the younger boy. Tsuna was surprised by that amused smile and his cheeks immediately heated up. Gokudera was laughing at him. Tsuna knew he was acting like a four year old kid afraid of the dark, but every time he closed his eyes, all he saw were dead bodies and a bloody battlefield.
"It's like that so the enemy won't find anything strange about the place," Gokudera explained, clearing his throat to stop the chuckles. It didn't help, though. Tsuna was already beyond embarrassed. "If we put up a regular Mist barrier then the enemy would find a way to get past it. We've already tried it enough times to know that it doesn't work."
"Why not?" Tsuna asked.
"It's not subtle enough. With the bodies, the enemy doesn't realize the thoughts are being pushed in a certain direction, but the barrier is different," Gokudera said. "It's almost like putting up a giant 'Come and Get Me' sign."
Tsuna frowned at that. He could understand why the future him had decided against the barrier, but still, why couldn't it be a field of flowers or something like that? Tsuna just didn't understand what the other him was thinking. Had the Tsuna of this time become so battle-hardened that dead bodies had become such a common thing?
Tsuna winced slightly as they climbed up a steep part of the path. Tsuna may have done a lot of stamina training with Reborn, Lal, and the future Hibari, but he was still recovering from the fight with Byakuran and his injuries hadn't had a lot of time to heal.
He rubbed absentmindedly at his ribs, still remembering the painful crack they had made when Byakuran had crushed him half to death. Fuuta had told him later that he had broken two ribs and fractured three more, and even with sun flames there wasn't much anyone could do. Luckily they hadn't bothered Tsuna too much since appearing here, making Tsuna wonder a bit, but he didn't complain. He'd rather have his injuries magically disappear then be forced to move through these mountains with broken ribs.
The pair had made it past the difficult part of the climb and Tsuna stopped to catch his breath, letting his mind wander.
Tsuna had made it back to the past. He had finally rid himself of the heavy weight of the future, only to have it thrown back onto his shoulders with a weight ten times heavier. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing here or why and he missed his mother. How long had it been since he had seen her, really seen her. He didn't count those last two minutes while he watched Lambo and I-pin climb all over his mother in joy-
Tsuna shook his head, banishing that thought from his mind. Lambo and I-pin might not have been blood related, but they were still a part of his family. They had missed his mom, too. Tsuna hadn't been the only one stuck in a future he had no idea how to save.
But he was now.
"Tenth?"
Tsuna jumped and almost ended up face planting into the ground in his fright. He looked around only to see Gokudera gazing at him with concerned eyes. "W-What? What's wrong?"
"You let go."
"What?" Tsuna asked. Gokudera's eyebrows crumpled up in worry, taking Tsuna's hand in his. That's when it hit the brunet. You let go, Gokudera had said. Oh. For some reason, in his thoughts he had let the bomber's hand slip from his own. He squeezed the bomber's hand gratefully, feeling sort of grounded with his friend's hand to hold in this strange future. "Sorry."
Gokudera shook his head, giving Tsuna a smile. "We're here."
They approached a particularly tall cliff face and Tsuna couldn't help but be reminded of the one back in Namimori that Reborn had forced him to climb in the name of training. Gokudera stepped closer and placed a palm on a smooth patch of the rocky wall. Tsuna watched in amazement as the patch glowed a soft white. Gokudera stepped back and pulled Tsuna behind him, acting as a shield between him and the wall.
"Stay behind me," Gokudera warned as rock split in two. Tsuna, fascinated, only half obeyed the bomber's statement, his face stuck out from behind the taller teen's shoulder. Tsuna was small for his age and Gokudera had two years on him. There was no way he was going to be able to watch from over the other teen's shoulder unless he stood on his tip toes.
The cliff parted to reveal a secret entrance into the mountain's heart. Tsuna's eyebrows rose. It reminded the brunet greatly of the underground Vongola base ten years—in this time it would be eight—in the future. The one that had been destroyed by the Real Six Funeral Wreaths.
Tsuna clutched the back of Gokudera's shirt tightly as the two stepped into the cool room. The brunet jumped slightly when the doors swiftly closed behind them, settling down as he let the homey atmosphere wash over him. There wasn't much to the small room. It almost reminded Tsuna of a large coat closet or entrance hall, just spacey enough to fit nine or ten people comfortably.
True to Tsuna's comparison, the room held a rack of a different assortment of shoes as well as a myriad of different kinds of coats.
"Yo, Gokudera!"
Tsuna froze, mouth going dry as he dove behind Gokudera again. Two guardians down and Tsuna hadn't even been here for a day. He stayed behind Gokudera and out of sight of the room's other occupant, knowing the bomber must have had a reason to keep the younger teen hidden.
"What do you want, sword freak?" Gokudera growled harshly, crossing his arms. He sounded more like his old self than Tsuna had heard all day. Tsuna didn't have to see his face to know the bomber was scowling. "I'm tired and need to report to Reborn."
"Ah, right," Yamamoto said, and Tsuna could imagine a sheepish look on the baseball player's face as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm glad you came back safely."
Gokudera didn't speak for a moment. If Tsuna didn't know better, he would say that Gokudera was feeling guilty about something. Tsuna's fists clenched tighter into Gokudera's jacket. If this was how things were going to keep going—regretful eyes, guilty silences—then Tsuna had half a mind to punch the bomber in the face. He was going to drive Tsuna crazy.
"Y-Yeah," Gokudera finally said.
Another heavy silence permeated the air, and Tsuna had had it. Keeping his hands fisted in the bomber's jacket, Tsuna cautiously peeked out from behind Gokudera's shoulder. Chocolate brown eyes stared this older Yamamoto up and down.
Yamamoto had grown an inch or so since reaching seventeen, still dominating Gokudera by a good three or four inches. The baseball player wore a brown cargo jacket over a white V-neck, a strange necklace hanging over it. His tan pants seemed a little too long, as they were folded up at the bottom, but they went well with his spotless white shoes. The thing that Tsuna found odd, though, was that Yamamoto's bamboo sword was nowhere to be found.
Sharp amber eyes flashed towards Tsuna. The brunet ducked back behind Gokudera, but he knew it was too late. His heart sinking, Tsuna mentally cursed himself. There must have been a reason Gokudera didn't want Tsuna to be seen yet, even if he hadn't told the brunet.
"Hey, Gokudera," Yamamoto said, a strange, almost accusing tone to his voice, "why is Tsuna hiding behind you?"
Both Tsuna and Gokudera stiffened—the bomber a little less noticeably than the timid teen. Shyly, Tsuna kept one hand on Gokudera's arm as he stepped out into the open under the scrutiny of narrowed amber eyes. Tsuna wasn't sure what to expect from these future guardians anymore. Gokudera wasn't worshipping the ground he walked on—which he would have been totally fine with in his own time, but it just didn't feel normal when so many other things were so strange—and Yamamoto wasn't as naïve as he used to be. It left Tsuna's mind was reeling.
"Hi Yamamoto," Tsuna said quietly.
Yamamoto was quiet as he looked the brunet over critically. Tsuna could almost see the confusion in the baseball player's as his mind struggled to come up with a conclusion. Tsuna trembled under the almost glare, not used to having that look on his friend's face turned on him. The glare lessened when Yamamoto seemed to realize he was scaring Tsuna. Tsuna almost collapsed in relief.
"Sorry about that, Tsuna!" Yamamoto exclaimed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was just surprised to see you so small again."
"You mean I get taller?" Tsuna couldn't help but blurt out.
Gokudera burst out laughing while Yamamoto chuckled. Tsuna felt his cheeks heat up again. Why did he always seem to be embarrassed in front of his friends' future selves? It was getting kind of old.
"I forgot how cute Tsuna used to be," Yamamoto said, making Tsuna blush further.
Gokudera cleared his throat, looking back at Tsuna apologetically. "I'm sorry, Tenth," the bomber said, an apology lacing his words. "I meant to get you in through the security measures and up to Reborn immediately. I didn't mean for the sword freak to discover that you aren't from this time."
"Ah! No!" Tsuna exclaimed, eyes widening as he fell back into that old habit of his. He waved his arms in front of him, something he was used to doing when he tried to placate Gokudera and his stupid attempts to sacrifice himself to apologize for his mistakes. "It's okay, Gokudera-kun! I don't mind if Yamamoto knows. It's Reborn that I'm worried about."
"As it should be," a voice growled from behind Yamamoto.
Both of Tsuna's guardians stiffened at the deep voice and Yamamoto spun around. Tsuna chanced a baffled look at Gokudera, only to see a painfully expressionless painted on the bomber's face. Yamamoto took a couple steps back, allowing Tsuna to see that the cheerful, carefree smile the baseball player usually wore was replaced with a small, uneasy one. Tsuna shivered and turned his attention to the shadow towering in the doorway. If the person lying in wait against the shadowed wall could make Tsuna's guardians act like this, the brunet wasn't sure he wanted to meet them.
"Ah, hey," Yamamoto chuckled nervously, a hand coming up to finger that weird necklace. "I thought you were handling the situation with Hibari."
Gokudera's piercing gaze snapped to the baseball player, eyes narrowing. "What situation?"
"I already took care of it," the deep voice responded. A tall man stepped forward from out of the shadows, revealing himself to Tsuna and his guardians. The brunet stared at the newcomer with stunned eyes. Tsuna's brown gaze drifted over the crisp, clean suit, the curled side burns, the green gun with a finger hovering over the trigger, and the spiky black locks hidden underneath a startlingly familiar fedora.
Tsuna took a step backward, astonished at who his brain was telling him this was. It couldn't be. And yet...
"Reborn...?"
Hi there! So I wanted to get this up before I headed out of town for a few weeks. As a consequence of this, I won't be posting another chapter until at least the end of April. After that, I plan on updating on a bi-weekly basis. I do have more chapters written and a pretty good idea of where I want this story to go. Still, that doesn't mean life and school don't get in the way and I apologize in advance if I don't make it up on time.
Leave me a review to let me know what you thought!