Recap of last chapter... Tsuna died and found himself in a place called the Elgan Order, where Yamamoto and Chrome explained to him that they were all angels who try to make Earth a better place by fixing the bad. His little group of friends are a team of angels that focus on the Mafia, which is why they were all born into the bodies of babies who would one day have a powerful influence in the Vongola. The reason for why they're explaining this is that Tsuna's memories of being an angel haven't come back to him...and he still has the memories of being Sawada Tsunayoshi, human, tenth boss of the Vongola Family. Speaking of which, Tsuna suddenly remembered that Mukuro had died alongside him!


Chapter 2

Tsuna leaped to his feet and grabbed Mukuro. "You're here!"

The angel in question was in his twenties, wearing a knee-length black jacket and sporting long blue hair. Mukuro did his best to keep his eye roll to a minimum. "I did just say that I died. Now...can you let go of me?"

Tsuna dropped his hands and asked, "I thought this meant that we got new identities? Why are we still referring to each other with the names we had from Earth?"

"Kufufufu…how about we let Takeshi explain? He was doing pretty well before I came." Mukuro pulled up a chair which had appeared when an additional person stepped onto the platform.

Yamamoto shot him a smile. "The unique thing about the Five-Century Mark's mission is that we get to keep our true name for the longest duration of our life. Chrome didn't reach her Five-Century Mark when the mission was declared, so she didn't have her name since birth. As you know, she was referred to as Nagi before she met Mukuro. Lambo is an interesting case. It's weird that he actually ended up with his name when he was born."

Tsuna nodded his head slowly in understanding. Eehh…if Reborn heard any of this, he will certainly flip! No…knowing him, he will just take it calmly. Or…shoot them all just to make sure that they aren't a figment of his imagination…yeah, that sounds like him… Tsuna sweatdropped. Was Reborn just another guy in the Mafia? Takeshi hasn't mentioned his name at all, so he's probably not…an angel. If Reborn was an angel… Tsuna shivered. The mere thought was impossible on so many levels he couldn't believe that he thought of asking the question.

"That's basically our case, Tsuna. You were born into the body of the heir, I the Rain Guardian, with Mukuro and Chrome were born into the Mist Guardians' bodies."

"It truly is concerning that you don't have your angel memories," Mukuro said with a smile that didn't look at all concerned. "Something to ponder over the next time I am put under watch." He let out a chuckle.

"Don't," Chrome said quickly. "If you need to be under watch too often, they might resort to dropping you. A Fallen Angel loses everything."

Mukuro thumped her head. "Nothing like that will happen."

"Don't worry, Tsuna. I'm sure your memories will return soon," Yamamoto said reassuringly. "In the meantime, I think you're supposed to meet with the archangel…"

Tsuna's eyes widened. "Eeehh? There's an archangel? Who is it?"

"It might be a bit awkward for you, since you don't remember him as the…uh…archangel, Tsuna," Yamamoto laughed nervously. "Even I was surprised when I found out the role he played in the mission."

Mukuro's laugh was full of humour. "Oh, I want to go as well. I need to see Tsunayoshi's reaction! It has been ages since I've seen him look that shocked."

"We'll all go," Chrome said. "Should we walk?"

"I don't think Tsuna remembers any other way," said Yamamoto.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"We're talking about our wings. See?" Chrome showed Tsuna hers, which were the gold-orange colour he saw before. They were beautiful wings that looked as though they were transparent and on fire at the same time. She extended them until each of her wings were over four metres in length.

"We could use them here, but if we ever have to go to Earth for any reason, it will take immense powers to activate them. They will only appear when we are using our full power…think of when a phone heats up when it's being used for a long time."

"Amazing…" Tsuna said. And strange.

"Kufufufu… I'm going to meet the rest of you at the top." Mukuro unfolded his own gold-orange wings and took off with a strong leap. He was in the air and gliding away before any of them could comment on the magnificent take off.

Yamamoto whistled. "It usually takes a while to get used to them again. He and Hayato are on a totally different level."


They strolled up the path and onto a cloud which elevated them to the highest level. The tiles they stepped onto were white with blue borders, which made an interesting match to the mist that pooled over their feet.

Though the atmosphere was the same as where Tsuna first landed, there was something that made him feel as though he was approaching something bigger than life and demanded his full attention.

As though he were prey and he scented a predator.

"We just have to go through these doors and we'll be in his audience chamber." Yamamoto pointed to a set of doors—a set of doors which Mukuro was leaning next to. To Tsuna's surprise, the doors were only few heads taller than Mukuro. They were a beautiful pair of doors with designs Tsuna recognized from the tiles, though in a larger and more intricate form. Silver lines bordered the frame and melted into the wall, erasing the edges of the door.

Mukuro smirked and pushed the doors open, stepping aside to give Tsuna the full view.

The inside looked no different than the outside, but he felt it when he stepped through. This room had an air of command, the sense of loyalty, and the need to obey the one in charge. Anyone who came in felt awe or fear. Tsuna felt his knees shake but he couldn't tell if it was good or bad.

"Yo," Yamamoto greeted the man—no, angel—who sat in front of a long white table. The man had white hair, a pale face, and a pure white jacket zipped all the way to his chin. The look was all too familiar.

"Hiiee…Someone please wake me up from this nightmare." Tsuna was gobsmacked. "There's no way Byakuran of all people is part of this—it has to be a nightmare. Or better yet, Reborn must be trying some kind of new torture device on me! Someone please wake me up!"

"Reborn?" Yamamoto looked incomprehensive. "Oh, the hitman. Ahahaha!"

"This is reality, Boss," Chrome said.

"What's going on?" Byakuran asked with a smile. He propped his head on his left hand as he observed them from his seat. "Did Tsunayoshi not regain his memories yet?"

"How can you be an archangel?" Tsuna demanded. "You were—were—were so….evil at first!"

"About that…" Byakuran trailed off and glanced at the table. Then he gave them his full attention. "I suppose I should apologize—again. I forgot about the price an archangel pays. See here Tsunayoshi: I lost my memories, too. The price of an archangel going down to Earth is that we act as a catalyst for extreme change, whether we spark it ourselves or someone else does. In my case, it was our dear friend Shoichi. You remember him?"

Tsuna nodded but didn't look any more comforted. Though Byakuran had turned a new leaf and lives peacefully in Namimori as his neighbour, he still remembered the time he time travelled to the future and the ruins he saw there.

His hands curled into tight fists. When he spoke, it was through gritted teeth. "Byakuran…why did you go down to Earth then!?"

Byakuran's playful eyes turned serious. "It was to test the Fifth-Century Marked of course."

Beside him, Tsuna heard his three companions suck in a breath. Byakuran didn't tell them?

"Why didn't you say anything before now?" Mukuro demanded. "I thought you just wanted to make our mission difficult!"

"I thought that it was best to make sure that Tsunayoshi, the one whom I faced as my greatest enemy, should hear the reason from me and not from his friends."

"All that destruction…was to…test…us?" Tsuna asked, not fully comprehending.

Byakuran raised a finger and paused before speaking. "Hm…whatever resulted because of my presence was the test. It just so happened to be the destruction of a future. Don't worry. You all passed! I was very impressed with the outcome."

The frustration Tsuna felt was so strong he had to turn away from Byakuran. Thoughts ran through his mind quicker than he could think. Would he be feeling this way if he had properly forgotten everything from his previous life? Did he want to? Should he have let them go, or was there a reason, deep within him, that he should keep those memories close at hand?

"In any case—"

"Is it possible to see the rest of my friends who are still alive? To see how they are doing?"

Byakuran stared at him. "Come forward, Tsunayoshi. You may see them through here. But never interrupt me again."

Tsuna gulped and nodded. He was part of the Elgan Order now and had to follow these rules.

They stepped forward and looked at the table that Byakuran was observing before they came in. There was half a foot of solid marble surrounding the middle, which looked like a pool of opaque water. He could see movement in it as he looked down. It gave him a slight sense of vertigo for a second as the water cleared.

"What is this?"

"It's my way of observing the world of humans. It's focused on the Vongola Family right now," Byakuran said. Tsuna watched Byakuran in his peripheral vision. He had noticed earlier that there was something off about him and now he knew what.

By now, the man should have finished half a bowl of marshmallows. The fact that there wasn't a single marshmallow in sight told him that this was definitely not the Byakuran he knew, despite their similar looks. Even the annoying 'nya~' that sometimes followed his sentences was gone. Tsuna shook his head inwardly and focused on the images in the water.

It suddenly hit him that he was going to see them grieving for their latest loss. He closed his eyes and steeled himself. Now he understood what his friends must have felt. Attending his own funeral, huh?

There they were…all of them were sitting together in the family's living room, where they found comfort in each other's company. Four of their number were gone.

Remaining were men, women, and children who mourned. Wives, husbands…children… Tsuna's heart ached.

"How can they ever get through this?" Tsuna asked.

Chrome said softly, "They'll get through this, like they always do. It's part of them."

"We can't always dwell in the past, Tsunayoshi," Byakuran said.

Yamamoto looked at the archangel. "That's something I would say. But when you say it…Byakuran, what do you have under that sleeve of yours?"

"Me?" Byakuran looked incredulous. "Nothing, of course."

"Kufufufu. Don't bother lying to us—we can see things dropping out of them."

Distracted by the sight and the yearning inside him to go and comfort them, Tsuna only caught bits and pieces of the conversation. "What?"

Byakuran shrugged. "You caught me. Tsunayoshi, I have assigned you another mission, my favourite angel."

Tsuna's friends pounced on those words like a mother bear would attack a fox.

"You can't. It hasn't even been a day!"

"There's still a problem with Boss' memories! We can't let him go back before understanding the problem, Byakuran!"

"Oya? If he's going, who's going to keep me entertained? We will all go with him."

Unfazed by their glares, Byakuran said, "This time, maybe not. It has been a while since any of you had a solo mission. Besides, a week has passed on Earth."

"That doesn't matter in the Elgan Order," Yamamoto snapped the same time Tsuna exclaimed.

"A week!? I couldn't have died that long ago!"

"A week," Byakuran repeated. "I'll give you two days to fix the memory problem. You're still going no matter what the results are."

Chrome gripped Tsuna's left hand in a death grip. "There are usually a few years in between missions."

"That's only because there was no reason to advance quicker," Byakuran said. "I feel that Tsunayoshi will be greatly needed in the coming years and we can't wait that long for a rebirth. He needs to prepare. Some of you—the stronger ones that I can spare will be joining him soon. But Tsunayoshi is the strongest of you all, so he is my first choice to go. Get ready."

This stopped their complaints. Could it be that an archangel's "feeling" is the same as the Vongola Hyper Intuition? No one has ever questioned my judgement when I said "it's my intuition". Not even Reborn argues with me after those words.

That was the end of their meeting with the archangel. Tsuna gave the scene in the table one last glance. He could feel the mood shift as he recognized his heir standing in front of the group with Reborn next to her. That was the last thing he saw of his previous life before he plunged into his next one.


He spent the next two days with Yamamoto, Mukuro, and Chrome to familiarize himself with his surroundings. Yamamoto continued to hope that he would regain his memories of being an angel, but it didn't look like it would happen any time soon.

"I'm sorry, Takeshi," Tsuna said.

"Maa, maa, there's nothing to worry about!" Yamamoto waved a hand at him. "How about we go over your mission?"

Tsuna nodded. "But I won't have any memories of this once I'm reborn."

"You won't. But it's good to know beforehand anyway. Just so your gut will know what you're getting into."

Tsuna grinned. It sounded like any conversation he and Yamamoto would have back on Earth. Feeling the shift in the wind at his back, Tsuna reached behind him to touch the wings that appeared the day before. He didn't quite get the hang of using them for flying but they calmed him.

"I'm being born into a small family in Italy. A mother, a father, and a maternal grandfather, right?"

"Yeah. And somehow, you're going to be mixed into the Mafia for a second time." Yamamoto chuckled. "Don't you think you'd get tired of living the life of a Mafioso, twice in a row?"

Tsuna felt a sudden urge to pop into his new life right then and there…maybe he could see his other Guardians again even if they were adults… that thought vanished instantly. He was going into a parallel universe where they weren't his Guardians, but Vongola Decimo's Guardians. And none of them were angels in disguise.

"I'm supposed to help them change the Mafia again. There's been progress here and Byakuran wants me to help them…how?"

Yamamoto paused and sighed. He clasped a hand to Tsuna's shoulder. "I guess that's for us to find out."


Tsuna stood at the edge of the Elgan Order. Beyond was the sky, clouds, rain, storm, sun, mist, thunder…and the Vongola.

"Boss…it's time."

Tsuna turned to look at his friends one last time. Chrome gave him a light kiss on the cheek and Yamamoto gave him a bear hug while Mukuro smirked.

"Tsunayoshi, a boy at the bottom of the Mafia food chain. How will you climb the ladder?"

Tsuna's lips twitched into a smile. "We'll find out," he said, repeating Yamamoto's words. He leaned forward into his future and fell.


A/N: Hi again! I hope you had an enjoyable week. If you didn't, I can sympathize with you.

I'll be updating this story monthly, at least until June. By then, we'll see what's what. If I miraculously finish this story by then, maybe I'll update weekly. If not, I might pause to continue writing since June coincides with the end of part one.

I have the actual dates that I'll be publishing things on my blog, so check it out. Link's on my profile. If I don't publish on the day I said I will, feel free to PM me since it probably just slipped my mind.

This should be the last long(ish?) A/N for this story unless something comes up. I'll see you all in November! Good night.


-LLM

Updated 2015-10-02nd

Edited 2015-10-18th