PAST, PRESENT, & FUTURE
Prologue
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Deep inside the forest, a huge mansion was built upon a small hill surrounded with tall pine trees and a great wall. Every corner of the walls was guarded by several armed men in black suit, watching every movement around the mansion. After all, the people living within the guarded mansion were people of importance.
Through the tall glass of the mansion on the second floor, it was visibly that a party was going on inside the mansion because laughers and music could be heard even from the outside. Today was a special for the people living within the mansion because…
"Happy birthday to you, little princess." The chestnut color haired man said while carrying a little girl with curly blond hair within his arms. Many people, both adults and children were surrounding the man and the little girl while the birthday song was played throughout the ballroom.
"So the little princess is already three years old?" someone spoke from behind the little girl.
The little girl giggled when one of her uncles took her from her father's arms and tickled her side. Then she pouted cutely when her other uncle used his hand to mess up her hair, but a bright smile filled her face when she felt a little weight upon her head.
"A princess tiara!" the little girl squealed and hugged the uncle who gave her the tiara. She had always wanted a princess tiara because everyone around her called her princess, and a princess must wear a tiara. After she let go of her uncle, she took hold of her father's hand when a waltz was played.
"Dance with me, papa?" the little girl asked and smiled brightly when her father nodded his head down at her. Like always, her father would want her to step onto his shoes while they dance. As the music played, the man and the little girl waltzed around the ballroom with everyone looking at them.
Suddenly the music stopped.
"Papa?" the little girl asked when her father stopped moving. Then she realized everything around her had gone quiet. Looking up at her father's face, the little girl quivered a little when she saw an expression she never seen before appeared on his father's gentle face.
Shock? Sad? Happy?Angry?
"Papa…?" the little girl asked while still looking at her father. Her father seemed to be staring at something or someone. Following her father's gaze, the little girl turned around and looked at the entrance of the ballroom. Her blue eyes widened when she saw a boy in ragged clothes standing in the middle of the entrance. Even from a far, the little could see the boy was shivering. She wondered who he was.
"…Yuki…?" her father whispered chokingly.
In a flash of moment, the little girl watched as her father and some of her uncles ran towards the boy. When her father reached the boy, he knelt on one knee before the boy and placed held the boy's face within his hand.
"Yuki, why are you here? What happened?" her father asked the boy while examining the boy's body to see if he was injured. The little girl watched as her other uncles also started to ask the boy's some questions and the boy seemed to be answering back to them, but in very soft voice that the little girl was unable to hear.
The little girl wanted to hear what they were talking about and she started to run forward but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She turned to look behind her and was surprised to see it was one of her uncles. The expression on her uncle face seemed to tell her not to interfere.
"…Who is he? Papa seems to know who he is." The little girl said whiles her blue eyes still staring at the group of people. Her eyes widened when she watched her father pulled the boy into his arms and hugged him. Her uncles surrounding them seemed to be smiling but one of them was crying.
"…His name is Yoshiyuki. He is…" her uncle told her in a low voice while he too stared at the group of people surrounding the boy. Looking clearly, the boy had chestnut colored hair like his father and even from afar, the little girl could see the boy looked a lot like her father.
"… your brother."
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Three years had passed since her brother Yoshiyuki came to live with her and her father. Over the past three years, she had gotten much attached to her brother and would always follow him wherever he goes. Her brother also welcome her present and would always bought her gifts from outside if he went out with her father or uncles without her.
Clutching the bunny doll, one of her favorite present her brother bought for her, the little girl ran along the long corridor, not forgetting to greet the maids and butlers on her way, until she reached the outside of her brother's chamber.
Pulling down the door handle, the little girl pushed open the door and stepped into the chamber with a huge smile on her face.
"Onii-chan…papa is calling…" the little called out but her voice trailed off when she saw the chamber was covered in total darkness. She wondered why her brother did not switch on the lights. Walking deeper into the chamber, the little girl called out for her brother again.
"…Onii-chan…?"
CRASH!
The little girl jumped when she heard something heavy fell onto the floor and broke. She wince when something flew pass her and grazed her right cheek. Lifting her hand to touch the spot where something seemed to hit her, she froze when her hand felt something liquid flowing down her cheek; blood.
Fears entered her heart and tears began to fill her blue eyes. The wound suddenly felt very painful and she sobbed. Suddenly, a hand reached out and roughly covered her mouth. Dropping her bunny onto the floor, the little girl began to struggle hard against the stranger. She tried to scream but her voice was muffled by the hand covered her mouth. Tears began rolling down her cheeks as her fear increased.
"…Is she the one?" the stranger asked softly, as if another person was also inside the chamber.
"…Not sure…but if we inject this into her…maybe…" a voice said from a shadow near them and the little girl cried harder.
The little girl watched as the shadow slowly approached her and unwilling to see what would happen anymore, the little girl closed her eyes. She knew her father and brother would come to save her because they always said they would protect her.
"DO NOT TOUCH HER!"
The little girl opened her blue eyes when she heard her brother's voice. Her eyes darted around to see where her brother was and she gasped against the stranger's hand when she saw her brother lying on the floor on his stomach, covered in cuts and blood. She struggled again, wanting to go to her brother but the stranger only tightened his hold on her.
"…You are no match against us, boy." The voice said and the little girl watched her brother glared up at the shadow.
"Let her go. She is just a child." Her brother begged and tried to stand up. The little girl could see her brother was shaking in pain and it took him lots of energy just to stand up. The little girl shook her head, telling her brother in silence not to do anything rash. She did not want him to get hurt further.
"…True, but we cannot hand her back to you. We need her…more like her body." The voice said and the little girl saw the shadow approached her again.
"Use mine." Her brother said. The little girl saw the shadow stopped moving and the hand against her mouth also seemed to loosen a bit.
"…You want to take her place?" the voice asked and it seemed surprised.
"…I am his heir, surely I am more powerful than a mere five years old girl." Her brother said and the little watched as her brother sat down onto the floor, breathing hard and his face seemed pale.
"…True…hmm…what should I do?" the shadow said to himself and the little girl started crying again. Although she did not know what they were talking about but she knew her brother was going to do something dangerous.
"Ok then. I'll accept your offer." The shadow said and approached her brother.
The little girl began struggle hard again. This time, she bit into the hand of the stranger holding her until she tasted blood within her mouth. When the stranger yelped and pushed her away, the little girl opened her mouth and screamed.
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A young girl stood in the middle of the training room with a long sword clenched within her right hand. Her long blond hair was tied in a long braid down her back so her hair would not get in the way of her training. Her blue eyes showed no emotion as she stared at the dummy standing before her.
SLASH!
With a clean swing of the blade, the dummy was cut into half and still the young girl shown no emotion. Her blue eyes darted to the side when she noticed someone was watching her. Standing by the entrance of the training room was none other than her father who was looking at her sadly.
"…you don't have to do this." Her father said while walking towards her.
The young girl shook her head and looked down at the floor. Ten years ago, her brother was kidnapped in her place. She felt that it was her fault. Now that his father had lost his heir and the group lost their successor, it was her fault.
"I want to go look for him, papa." The young girl said and she felt her eyes became blurry as she recalled the event ten years ago. When her father reached her side, she startled for awhile when he took her within his arms.
"We do not want to lose you either." Her father said in a shaky voice and the young girl slowly reached her arms to wrap about her father's trembling body. Over the past ten years, her father had been doing all he could to find her missing brother but still, he could not be found.
"I will be fine." The young girl said confidently to assure her father before pushing herself away from his embrace. She smiled gently at her gentle father and took his hand within hers.
"Let's go for breakfast, papa. I'm starve." The young girl said and began pulling father out of the training room. She did not want her father and uncles to worry about her and the journey she was about to take.
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The young girl ran as fast as she could in the dark forest. She had been too careless while she investigated the abandoned factory which she suspected her brother might be held hostage. Instead of finding her brother, she found some hooded people whom energy felt the same as those people from ten years ago. She suspected these people were their comrades.
The moment she faced them, she knew she could not defeat them because not only were them powerful but also their energy gave her some kind of creep. Her intuition warned her off and she escaped.
"Look who I found." A voice suddenly sounded out and the young girl stopped in her track and looked around the dark forest, her sword ready by her hand. Her eyes darted around and saw no one. She also could not sense anyone's present.
Suddenly a hand reached out and roughly grabbed onto her wrist, causing her to drop the sword onto the ground. She stumbled and fell onto the ground when someone tripped her and she groaned when she felt someone sat on her back.
"Haha…it's the princess." The person sitting on her back said and laughed. From the tone of his voice, he sounded like a young kid.
"Ne ne, since the princess is already here. Can we run the test on her?" the person on her back asked and the young girl felt as if someone was standing beside her. Although she could not see the person because she was pressed down, she felt a strange energy emitting from the person standing near her.
"Let me go! Haven't you done enough? Where is my brother!" the young girl shouted and tried to struggle but the person on her back only pressed harder.
"Your brother?" the person standing near her spoke.
"Ten years ago, your comrades invade my home and took my brother away! So where is him! Where is my brother!" the young girl cried and winced when the person on her back pulled hard on her hair.
"I don't know what you are talking about. We never meet your brother before. In fact, this is the first time we come here." The person on her back said and giggled.
The young girl turned her head slightly to glare at the person sitting on her back. She did not believe them. She knew these people were somehow connected to the people from ten years ago because the energy felt the same.
"LIAR!" the young girl shouted and in a fast speed, she grabbed a handful of sand from the ground and threw it at the person sitting on her back, causing the person to release her. When she was free, the young girl quickly rolled aside and grabbed the sword lying on the ground nearby.
Posing an attack stance, the young girl glared at the two people standing before here. She could not see their face because their head was completely covered and shadowed with a black hood.
"I ask again. Where is my brother Yoshiyuki?" the young girl asked fiercely and when the both of them remained silence, she gritted her teeth and lunged forward. She did not want to hurt anyone but it left her no choice.
"…Do you think you can take us down all by yourself?" the taller hooded person said and in a flash, she was lying on the ground again, this time with her own sword pointing at her throat. The young girl gritted her teeth. She knew there people were powerful but to make her felt so weak, she felt useless; all her training she underwent, did those mean nothing?
"We will not kill you. In fact, we need you." The hooded person said and held her down with his feet. The young girl watched as another hooded person, the one sat on her back took something out from his pocket before kneeling down beside her.
"What are you doing!" the young girl cried and she watched the person pointed a needle look-alike thing at her chest, directly above her heart.
"Hope this will work."
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"She is here! She is back!"
The young girl walked into her home and was greeted by her father and uncles. All of them were worrying about her because she had strayed from the group and had been missing for hours.
"What happen!" her father asked and held both her hands within his. The young girl saw how worried her father was and tears filled her blue eyes.
"I'm sorry…" the young girl whispered and buried her face against her father's chest. No longer able to hold back her emotion, she cried. She did not care if her uncles and cousins and friends were staring at her. She did not care. She cried harder when her father wrapped his arms around her shaking body and even harder when he heard her father's sobs.
After several hours, the young girl finally calmed down. Her uncles and the others had all returned to their own houses following her father's order. Sitting in her own bed in her own chamber, the young girl stared at the doll bunny her brother bought for her ten years ago. She knew where her brother was.
Standing up, she reached for her sword lying beside her bed and strapped it by her waist. Silently, she walked towards her balcony and stared at the moon in the sky. In her encounter with the two hooded people, she realized her brother was in a place where no one could reach unless…
Reaching her hand and placed it on her chest above her heart, the young girl's blue eyes flickered for a moment before determination entered her eyes. She knew what she had to do to save her brother; even if it would cost her the life she had at the moment with her family and friends.
"…Do not do this." A voice sounded from behind her. Even the young girl did not turn around; she knew the person was her father. She knew she could never hide anything from her father.
"I have to go to where onii-chan is." The young girl said and placed her hand on the railing of the balcony.
"You won't be coming back." Her father said and the young girl smiled sadly at the moon. Her father's intuition was right. She realized if she followed her brother to that place, it was a possibility that she could never return home ever again. However…
"I will return to you, papa. Please trust me." The young girl said and turned around to smile at her beloved father. With that, she jumped down from the balcony and disappeared in mid air.
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"NO! DON'T GO!"
Sawada Tsunayoshi sat up on his bed with one of his hand reaching out before him as if he was trying to grab something. His amber eyes were widened in fear and unfocused as he stared at the blank space before him.
"…Eh…?" Tsuna whispered to himself as he realized what he was doing. His ambers eyes were no long filled with fear but with confusion. He felt something was flowing down cheeks and when he raised a hand to wipe away the thing, he realized he had been crying in his sleep.
He tried to recall the dream that caused him to cry but frowned when he could not remember anything from the dream at all.
"Tsu-kun, hurry up or you will be late ~" his mother called from below stairs and Tsuna quickly used his sleeves to wipe away the evidence of tears before getting down from his bed. He could never let anyone see him crying over some dreams. After washing himself up and putting on his uniform, Tsuna quickly went downstairs and into the kitchen.
"Tsuna-nii, are you okay? I heard you shouting just now." A boy around the age of nine asked worriedly. The boy was Fuuta Delle Stelle, also known as the prince of ranking due to his ability to rank everything in the world. Since Tsuna rescued him from a group of mafia two years two years ago, he had been living in his house ever since.
"I am fine. Don't worry about it." Tsuna said and sat down on his seat by the table before digging into the breakfast his mother cook for him.
"Tsu-kun, your bento is on the table by the door. Bianchi had been so nice to help me out preparing the bento." Sawada Nana said and placed a glass of juice on the table. He missed the pale look on her son's face when he mentioned Bianchi, the notable assassin widely known for her poison cooking skills. She too had been living with them ever since two years ago when she came into his house to become his art and social tutor.
"…Thanks." Tsuna muttered. Although he felt sorry for Bianchi, but the moment he was out of the door, he would definitely find a place to dump the bento so no one, including innocent animals would find it and eat it. It was for his and everyone's own good.
"…missing from his home again like other children."
Tsuna looked up and listened to the news that the television was previewing. It would seem another child had gone missing. Adding this case, there was already total five children missing. He hoped that police would find the children soon.
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"Good morning, Tenth!" a loud voice greeted Tsuna as he stepped into the classroom. He smiled at the person who greeted him; Silver haired Gokudera Hayato, self-claimed to be his right hand man and the holder of Storm attribute Vongola Gear.
"Haha, morning, Tsuna." Another voice greeted from behind Gokudera Hayato and Tsuna smiled at the person too; raven haired Yamamoto Takeshi, a baseball player and also the holder of Rain attribute Vongola Gear.
"Morning, guys." Tsuna greeted back and together, all three of them walked towards their seat before the teacher came into the class. As he put down his bag and sit down on his seat, he turned to his side and greeted the person sitting next to him. "Morning, Enma."
"Morning, Tsuna." Red haired Kozato Enma, Tsuna's best friend and also the tenth boss of Shimon Family greeted back and both of them smiled at each other in a silly way before turning back to look at the teacher.
Tsuna's amber eyes took in the scene in his classroom and smiled. Apparently even after going into senior high school, he could still be together with his friends. Enma, whom Tsuna expected would go back to study in his own hometown, had surprised him by enrolling into the same school as him.
Turning to the other side to look out the window, Tsuna smiled at the cherry blossom petals floating in the air and felt lucky to live in peace again. Although he missed Reborn, his hell of a tutor and the Sun Arcobaleno, he was really glad that Reborn could no longer threaten him to become mafia boss again.
Tsuna's amber eyes widened slightly as he saw a girl in pink sailor uniform stood under the cherry blossom tree. He had never seen such school uniform before, so he thought perhaps she was a new enrolled student from another town. Even from afar, Tsuna could see the color of the girl's long hair; golden. A foreigner…
"Sawada Tsunayoshi! Pay attention!"
The teacher's voice bought Tsuna's attention back to the teacher and he smiled sheepishly at his teacher before apologizing. When the teacher turned his back to face the blackboard again, Tsuna turned his head to the window to look at the girl again, but the girl was no longer there.
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"Is there a foreign student in our school?" Tsuna asked while holding a sandwich in his hand. He had managed to throw away Bianchi's bento and bought himself some lunch from the canteen.
"Never seen one before in the school. Why?" Kozato Enma answered while he too was eating a sandwich. Enma had been living by himself at the local inn while everyone else in the Shimon family had gone back to their hometown. According to Reborn before he left, Vongola ninth had been secretly supporting Shimon in term of financial and everything else in order to redeem their sins for the past four hundred years, even for a little bit.
"Tenth, are you looking for that person? I can help you look that person up." Gokudera asked and took out a note from his pocket, ready to write down everything Tsuna was to tell him.
"Ahh…no…no need, thanks. It was nothing actually." Tsuna said and laughed sheepishly. He did not know why, but his mind kept going back to the girl he saw earlier. He knew he had never seen her before but a feeling kept nagging on him, as if he had forgotten something really important. "Just asking."
He watched as his friends were satisfied with his answer and they went back to eating their lunch. Suddenly a gust of strong wind breezed passed them, carrying within the wind was the cherry blossom petals. Tsuna closed his eyes and brought his hand up to shield his face from the petals.
After a moment when the wind stopped, Tsuna slowly opened his eyes and was shocked to come face to face with the girl he saw earlier. She was standing before him with a sword strapped by her waist, and she was looking intensely at him.
"TENTH!"
"TSUNA!"
A pair of sky blue eyes and long golden hair down her back, but Tsuna knew the girl was Japanese because of her features, in fact, she looked so familiar but Tsuna could not remember where he had seen her before. Also, even though she was armed, Tsuna did not feel a bit fear towards her at all.
"…Yes?" Tsuna asked the girl, feeling as if she had something to ask him. However his amber eyes widened when the girl's blue eyes started to close and her body started to lean forward towards him. "Hey!"
Tsuna caught the girl who fainted in his arms and the both of them fell onto the floor with a thud. Gokudera, Yamamoto and Enma quickly ran forwards to inspect the situation.
"Tenth! You all right?" Gokudera Hayato asked as he knelt down beside Tsuna and when he reached a hand out trying to pull the girl away, he immediately pulled back his hand when he felt hot wave emitted from the girl. "Tenth, she is…!"
"I am fine, Gokudera." Tsuna assured the silver haired guardian and gently turned the girl in his arms around. Indeed she was emitting a wave of hot energy but strangely he did not feel any burn at all. In fact, he felt the energy was familiar…as if…
"She is the sky flame user like you, Tsuna." Enma blurted out as he too felt the energy emitted from the girl. He had first hand experienced Tsuna's flames and the wave length was the same as the energy the girl was emitting.
"Is she all right then?" Yamamoto Takeshi asked while he too knelt beside Tsuna to look at the girl. He secretly let go of his Vongola Rain necklace he hid inside his pocket after he was sure the girl was no threat to them. "You want me to carry her to the infirmary?"
"Yea, that will do. Thanks, Yamamoto." Tsuna said and passed the girl to Yamamoto who carried the girl up into his arms and exited the roof. Getting up, Tsuna dusted off the petals and dirt from his shirt and saw something metallic dropped onto the floor beside him; a silver locket. When he turned the locket around, his amber eyes widened in shock for behind the locket, a familiar crest was crafted onto the locket; the crest of a family Tsuna knew very well.
The Vongola Family Crest.
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A/N: Hey guys, this is the edited version of Past Present of Future I posted earlier. Should be less messy compare to the last one? Anyway, please review and let me know what you think. Thanks.
No pairings V ( * _ * ) V