Author's note is below.

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Chapter 1 The New Trouble

Byakuran Gesso can be described by a lot of words: outrageous, crazy, cynical, qualified to be sent to a mental institution, sadistic idiot, and cunning, among others. But no one had expected for him to soften up to the sister of the person that he was supposed to eliminate in the future of ten years. Technically, he was supposed to eliminate Sawada Tsunarumi, the Vongola Decimo. But instead, this world had Sawada Natsuki as the Decimo. It could have made his job easier by a large margin if his other self from another world hadn't messed up and had gotten incinerated by Tsuna's boy self.

But that doesn't mean that he had to do the things his other selves has done. Since the expectations on the other worlds were now gone, and their ability is only limited in dreams and a span of a month for re-use, he had another thing in his mind. He had been prepared when he found out that the Tsuna in this world was a she, and the fact that she was not the destined Decimo even though she was the eldest, and the one who had that title on hold was her younger brother. Sometimes Byakuran thought if their father was a sexist, but then, all men were.

Despite all of this, Byakuran thought, from a very young age, that he would not follow the path of his other selves. He will just live his life to the fullest, as his mother's philosophy was. Celestine Millefiore-Gesso was one of the most beautiful women Byakuran had ever seen. In the other worlds, his mother had died giving birth to him, or died in an accident before he turned fourteen. But her personality and vitality is stronger in this world, which he is thankful of, made it possible for her to live longer than the other worlds. She was the one who taught him the happy things in life that his other selves didn't even know. She was the one who taught him how to fight, and most of all, she was the right hand of the sister of the Nineteenth Regina della Sentinella. Before she was the wife of the Gesso boss, she was friends with one of the greatest informants of their time. They were known as Anna and Brenna Amati. The pair informants that never failed to give their clients their needed information, until they became part of Sentinella. The three had been high school friends since then, and when Anna Amati was chosen as the Nineteenth, she was chosen as the right hand of her sister without a second thought.

Such is the reason why he has met Tsuna in the first place. They had met when Tsuna was thirteen, and at that time, he was surprised to know that she was the chosen heir of Anna, of all people, despite the fact that he knew that she was supposed to be the 'Dame-Tsuna' that everyone loved to tease and bully. His questions about it were answered when he found out that she was trained by the vicious prefect, Hibari Kyouya to get rid of that image and create a new one, which included Tsuna being smart, strong and responsible and turned out to be his secretary and secret girlfriend.

The encounter with this world's Tsuna was quite different than he had ever expected. The fact that she didn't stutter anymore and can stand on her own was incredible. He had never thought that such as her would exist when he knew from a lot of worlds that her other selves were as clumsy as the day they were born. But Sawada Tsunarumi was different. She was independent at most, and very intimidating when provoked. But most of the time, the girl was cheery. There was also one thing that Tsunarumi had that some of her parallel selves didn't have. She values knowledge above everything else, and believed in the motto of Sentinella.

Knowledge is power.

Truth be told, he had never seen such a dedicated apprentice such as herself and loyal to Anna that way. As far as they knew, Anna shared a special bond towards Tsuna that everyone in Sentinella knew of, and no one would dare question that bond of master and apprentice. That was when he had decided one day that he would grant her the knowledge of a memorable experience that his other selves had gone through, and he wished he wouldn't go through again. He gave her the knowledge of another world, which is the knowledge of a parallel world where she was the Vongola Decimo, and that her younger twin had ceased to exist.

She took it rather coolly at most, and the fact that she is very open minded made things all too easily. But at that moment, somehow he felt that she was concocting some grand scheme that he could guess would be a long term thing. It was not something to be taken lightly when a girl like that started making plans. Even Anna, who had taught her strategies, was quite surprised at the vast out of the box ideas that she can counter at every situation.

After that certain episode, Tsuna had casually told Byakuran for both of them to be friends, something that he didn't expect for her to offer. He had never been friends with Tsunarumi or any of her parallel selves for the matter, save for the one who was responsible for his limited use of his ability, but now that he had a chance, and he wasn't restrained by his other selves not to do so, he grasped it. At once, he had liked the young brunette, but he didn't like Hibari that much, that's why he always flirts with Tsuna calling her 'Hime-chan' and/or 'Tsu-chan' in a sing-song voice all the time to annoy him and make him jealous. No matter how many times he had been reprimanded by Tsuna, he just couldn't help but do it all the time.

A month has passed since the final trial, and everyone minded their own business as usual. Tsuna will be released from base lockdown in three days, and he saw it to himself to at least visit the girl that has been nothing but surpassing his expectations. Btu he didn't fly across the globe just to chat with Tsuna. For years, he had been taught the ways of an informant by his mother, and he knew where to get information that involves serious matters that needs looking over by the organization. True that they wouldn't touch a mafia family's affairs unless requested upon, but one word from Bermuda and they have the authority to butt into their matters without complaint, unless they want to stand up to Vindice, which would be very unlikely, and would be the last thing anyone would ever do. That was one of the methods of gathering information about certain families.

Entering the infirmary, he saw the brunette reading through a large pile of books on the bedside table where a lampshade used to be along with her medications and food. It would seem that even though she had an illusion in school, it doesn't mean that she would neglect her studies. "So I see you're trying to keep on track on your studies even though you're on lockdown," he teased.

Tsuna returned a smile, "Well I have to keep my grades up for future use,"

Byakuran leaned on the doorframe and crossed his arms around his chest, "Speaking of the future…there would be no trips to the future for dire reasons in this world as well." Sometimes he asks himself why he even bothered to tell her everything that he knew from the other worlds. But sometimes, he doesn't really care why at all.

"Then what would be the disaster that will befall this world, Byakuran-kun?" Tsuna wondered as she continued to write in her notebook.

"Shimon," Tsuna's writing stopped instantly when she heard the name.

"Cozart-san's family?" Tsuna asked.

Byakuran nodded. "It appears that a misty history between the two families will resurface soon." He predicted.

Tsuna closed her notebook with a sigh, "So it has come to this…" she said solemnly. "I had wanted to avoid this as much as possible and clear out the misunderstanding before it came, but I guess we are yet to know what really happened that day. I tried asking Bermuda-sama about it, but he simply said that he will not utter a single word about it. I tried so hard to find out what the Vongola and Shimon are covering, but in the end…"

Byakuran knew what she meant. Even at that moment, he has yet to receive the memories of what had transpired in the conflict between the Shimon and the Vongola for some unknown reason. It was like that part of his ability of knowing that incident was blocked, unlike his knowledge of the Varia incident and the Ring battles. It was hard not to know a thing about it, and it annoyed him inside. There was nothing more he could give out to Tsuna anymore, and they were left to wonder what Bermuda is keeping from Sentinella concerning the concealed history between the two families. "Nothing could come up?"

Tsuna nodded. "And we have another problem in our hands as well," she stated. "One of these days, there will come a time when the ghosts of the past appear to judge the ones worthy of their succession and will."

The white haired boy's eyes turned serious once again. "I see…and I bet this is about to get even more complicated than before, considering we are in the time where two situations arises all at once…"

It was then when the door to the infirmary opened, revealing Ugetsu with a letter. "Tsuna-chan! There's an urgent message from Bermuda-sama!" he shouted. After a few moments, the others entered as well, curious and tensed about what the letter from the former Arcobaleno contained.

Taking it from Ugetsu immediately, she opened it and read its contents. She was rather surprised when it contained black flames just like the one in Natsuki's letter from the Ninth a few months ago. It was an absolute order. She read the contents aloud.

Ventesima Regina della Sentinella

The time is nearly here. The ghosts of the past of the Vongola are rising, and the secrets of the sky and earth are coming as well. There will be a lot to work on, but for now, focus on the tasks at hand. There will be obstacles nearing that you cannot interfere just like what you have done regarding the Succession of the Vongola and Shimon. This time, they will be off your hands, but you may have a hand in the inheritance of the wills.

I expect that you already know how to act regarding this matter as what we have talked about a long time ago. You know the fates of these people, but you must not utter a word about this. Leave the matters between Shimon and Vongola to us, and I will leave the inheritance of wills to you. I believe there are some businesses that are to be done regarding it.

Until then, wait for my next correspondence.

Bermuda von Vichtenstein

Tsuna folded the letter back and sighed. She looked at her agents one by one, each having a serious face. She knew what those looks are. "It would seem that the succession is not the only thing that is required of a true Vongola boss, is it?"

"No, it's not," Giotto said and sighed. "Let me guess, we have a lot of work on our plate again?"

Lampo groaned, "Aw come on, we've barely had a month's vacation after the Varia fiasco. Of all the families in the world, why must we have to be stuck in getting involved with the ones with connections to the Tri-Ni-Sette?"

"Because of all the things in this world, the Tri-Ni-Sette is most important," Ugetsu said. "Nothing must be amiss when that certain set of objects is concerned,"

Tsuna nodded in agreement, "Which is why we are going to watch over the Vongola in the coming months. I will not have any mishaps to occur involving the seven of you, understand?"

They could only nod. "We understand the situation," G replied.

Tsuna smiled, "Good. Now, can we get out of this infirmary? I have some school work to do, and Byakuran-kun and I have something else entirely to talk about," she said, dismissing all of them.

When the seven of them got out of the room, all were wearing serious faces. They felt troubled with the information they were getting. It had been decided for a long time, but they looked like they had never anticipated that kind of scenario before. They would once again find themselves getting involved with the Vongola because of a certain fact that all of them knew.

"Of all the things that has to happen, why this?" Lampo complained as they all walked towards the study room where they were doing their own homework.

Ugetsu looked at Lampo, "We all knew this had to happen sooner or later, or else there will be consequences," he stated.

"Yeah, but the fact that we are still recovering from the Varia thing, and Hime is still recovering herself from the exhaustion of her flame reserves, we're a bit unequipped with the proper things yet, and Bermuda-sama tells us that we have another mission concerning the Tri-Ni-Sette?" Lampo continued to rant.

G scowled at him, "The Tri-Ni-Sette is always Sentinella's priority, idiot. There is no way we can ever reject a mission from Bermuda-sama regarding that." He said as he opened the door to the study hall, where mountains of books were shelved up to the ceiling, that they even needed some ladders to retrieve a book from the higher parts of the shelves.

Daemon went on ahead of them as he went up on one of the ladders to retrieve a book concerning Algorithm, "If I didn't know any better, the Varia trouble the Vongola had that lead to the risk of Hime's health is also related to the Tri-Ni-Sette, was it not?" he wondered as he purposely dropped the said book below without a care, which Knuckle caught with thanks.

"Can you get the one with the theories on Calculus?" Knuckle asked.

Daemon glared, "Do I look like a librarian to you?" he demanded.

"No, you're on the section, so why not ask than waste my time trying to find it up there?" Knuckle replied.

"You're just afraid of that kind of height," Alaude stated as he read his book on Quantum Physics. "Going back on the previous subject," he looked at Giotto, "What do we do now?" he wondered. "Surely this is something that can't be discussed as simply as the discussion of the succession of the Vongola did."

Giotto could only nod in agreement. "It's really up to Tsuna for that matter. Whatever move Sentinella will make, it will be all up to her," he stated. "And if it all comes to her when she is in doubt, Anna-sama will be there for her,"

"Just like a mom, eh?" Knuckle said.

Giotto smiled. "Just like a mom," he said. In just a split second, his eyes flickered orange gold before returning to its original blue hues.

One Month Later

Natsuki woke up in cold sweat. The lights opened for him to see Reborn in his pajamas looking at him, "What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost," he stated.

Shaking his head with vigor, he looked at his tutor with frantic eyes, "I-I just saw an older Giotto-nii in an Italian pinstriped suit with a cape-and-and he had gloves like the Primo did!" he said in a panicky voice. "He was in Hyper Dying Will mode and he said something about some sort of succession of the wills…and then there were other people around him that looked like older versions of G-san, Asari-san, Lampo-san, Daemon-san, Knuckle-san and Alaude-san!" he added.

Reborn looked at him with the same blank expression, but knowing his tutor, he seemed to be very deep in thought. There was never a time that he had ever had that dream. It was his first time seeing a full-grown man in an Italian suit and looked good in it. Most of the people he found in that attire were the old Mafiosi that he had been surrounded with since he was ten. But why was Giotto wearing that kind of attire? A Vongola-related attire for that matter. He thought Sentinella was an organization of the Mafia Law, so it didn't make sense.

"No wonder…" Reborn managed to utter. Natsuki was about to ask why he said that, but the baby beat him to it. "I believe what you saw was not your cousin," he said.

Natsuki stared at his tutor, "What? What do you mean it's not him? I saw him with my own eyes!"

"Are you a complete idiot? I told you, that is not Ieyatsu Giotto," Reborn said trying to hide his irritation. "What greeted you in your dream is the first generation of the Vongola." He explained.

As if hearing him wrongly, Natsuki stared at him like a total idiot. "W-What…? The first generation? But why would they haunt my dreams at this time?! They could have done it when I was still a candidate!" he complained. "But moreover, why do they look like Giotto-nii and the other Sentinella agents?!"

"Must be coincidences, but that's beside the point. The first generation existed four hundred years ago, and it is only normal that some of the people in this time looked like someone from the past, so just drop it. The main concern is why Vongola Primo paid you a visit in your dreams,"

Natsuki stopped for a while. What made the ghost of his ancestor appear in his dreams? Unless there was something else that he wants to convey to him…but what? "I guess that's a logical explanation…but then…what will I get with him invading my head?" he wondered.

"Something that is bound to be concerning the family, that's what," Reborn replied. "The Vongola Primo has appeared in the dreams of the past bosses before, including the Ninth when he was newly appointed, but all of them had been told that they are not worthy of inheriting his will," he looked at Natsuki's shocked face, "But considering that he visited you without saying things near that thought, I guess his motives are different,"

"What could those motives be then?" the blond wondered.

"I have no idea." Reborn said. "But I think I know who does,"

Neither of the two noticed that someone else has been woken up by Natsuki's scream the next room over. Tsuna, who had just gotten a drink of water and was just innocently passing by his room, heard all of it. Eyes wide, she immediately used her stealth as not to get noticed. A troubled expression marring her face.

Tsuna stayed up late that night, thinking about the letter in her hands. Another trouble will begin something that she has no hand of this time. She will only be part of it, agreeing to play by the cards. She had always anticipated this kind of situation when it had concerned this incident. They had prepared for this for three years, but she felt like this was unplanned. An impromptu plan. This was the affair of the Vongola, but if it weren't for Sentinella's duty to the Tri-Ni-Sette, she wouldn't be crossing paths with her brother.

Groaning, she leaned on the headboard of her bed, "Of all the things…I guess twins do cross paths one way or another when it comes to fate…" she grumbled.

From her window, she didn't notice a translucent man with golden hair wearing a pinstriped suit and mantle was looking at the two rooms far from them, before disappearing in a flash of orange.

TBC

Okay! Reading some of my mail after three or four days out of the internet, I was shocked to see a lot of alerts in my mail (and most of them the manga updates I stocked there when March began) from all of you guys. I never knew you guys were that interested in this fic. When I also tallied your desire on which fic I should start with, a lot requested Ghosts of the Past. So now, I am getting started.

I did mention that I am not making any promises but…you have to wait until I am done. I have my reasons why I didn't want to update all that often since I would lose my muse quickly, and the fact that I am currently centering my attention to five (or is it six?) different fics from what I have posted in my profile, including this.

This is only a preview, as I am still not done with the other chapters since I too, have no idea where this is going yet. Give me let's say…the better part of my vacation which is from April to May, and then when June comes (which is the beginning of my second year in college), I will be able to just simply update and edit some things I might have missed in my finished fic along the way. I have to tell you, this worked with Turning the Tables alone. I didn't really listen to my head when I published Two Little Schemers before it was even done.

So people, please understand that this is merely a preview, and maybe, just maybe, I will see you guys in two months!

(Why do I get the feeling that most of you will be pissed that this is only a preview…?)

-Cathy Rin