Chapter 3: Hello and Goodbye

I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

Tsuna felt his hands connect with a body; he pushed it clear of the explosion zone. Then, he almost ran into the other but he caught himself just in time. He gave a hard shove and the last person was safe. Just then, there was a flicker from beside him and for a second; he swore he saw a redheaded man with a flame-like tattoo up the right side of this face wink knowingly at him then everything around him burst into yellows, oranges, reds, and greys. He felt scorching heat on his skin and he squeezed his caramel eyes shut, ready to die.

He felt pain, yes, then everything seemed to halt, as if time had been suspended. Was he dead? He didn't know what dying felt like, so he wasn't sure. Perhaps Taiki did (those bullets looked pretty deadly). Distantly he could hear Taiki calling his name. Was he dying? Yes, that might be it.

He opened his eyes and gasped. 'I am dead!'

In front of him, Giotto laughed. "No, Tsunayoshi, you're wrong. You're clearly alive, we're the ones dead."

Tsuna blushed. "Oh, I knew that."

"Tch. Primo, your descendant is pretty lame."

Tsuna switched his gaze to Giotto's left where the same redhead from earlier was standing. "You!"

"Yes, me. Tch, I guess I should thank you for saving my descendant. Hayato can be pretty rash sometimes, in his place, I'm asking you to forgive him."

"Yeah…Sure." Tsuna wasn't really listening at this point; he was looking at all the others who were standing around Giotto. He had heard of them, Giotto pretty much talked day and night about them. Only until yesterday had Tsuna finally realized who they actually were: the Vongola's first generation.

"You're Asari-san." Tsuna pointed to a man wearing a traditional Japanese outfit and was holding a flute. A kind smile was given in return.

"And Lampo." Tsuna moved onto the youngest of the group. He had light green hair and a lightning bolt under one of his eyes. He waved lazily.

"And Daemon Spade." A man wearing a French-like military uniform smirked. His hair was a navy blue and styled like a melon.

"Nufufu Primo, he's pretty sharp."

"Please refrain from killing him, Daemon." Giotto sighed.

"And Alaude." A man in a dark trench coat with platinum blond hair glared at him then looked away.

"You're Knuckle." A raven-haired man wearing a priest's outfit gave him a warm smile, which Tsuna equally returned.

"Hey gaki, you forgot me!" The redhead growled, glaring exactly like a certain silveret bomber.

"G." Tsuna said, "I was just getting to you."

Giotto smiled, "See guys?" I told you he was sharp."

"Don't get me wrong, Primo, but it doesn't look like that at all to me. I've been watching him all day and all he does is trip, attract bullies, and fail at pretty much everything." G sneered, eyeing the object of his words suspiciously.

"G!" Giotto reprimanded, giving his right-hand man a disapproving glare. "I'm working on it!"

"Hey!" Tsuna felt his cheeks heat up, "I'm still here!"

A yawn came from Lampo. "So, Primo, what did you call us here for? The Great Me was busy taking care of that cow brat."

Daemon laughed, sending shivers down Tsuna's spine. "Lampo? Actually working for a change? What is the world coming to?"

"I'm serious! Primo, you know that I've been taking care of that brat, right!?"

"Maa, maa, Lampo. Primo is pretty busy himself you know, he's been watching over Tsunayoshi-san here." Asari patted the lightning guardian on his back.

"Ore-sama even has evidence!" Lampo cried, "The cow brat is coming to Namimori, Japan in a few days on a mission to assassinate the famous Hitman, Reborn!"

Tsuna gulped. "There's an assassin after Reborn?"

"No, well, yes, but he's not that good." Lampo said, glad that someone was listening to him.

"Lampo, I don't think you should be spilling the Bovino Famiglia's secrets like that." Giotto scolded. Lampo turned his head away ashamedly.

"Umm, Giotto-san, why am I here?" Tsuna asked, fidgeting under all the looks the guardians were giving him.

"Oh!" Giotto brightened, "That's right, no reason at all!"

Tsuna facepalmed.

"He's just kidding." G rolled his eyes and smacked Giotto on the back of his head.

"Ow, G! What was that for?" Giotto winced, rubbing the back of his head painfully.

G ignored him and stuck a cigarette in his mouth. "He means to say that you were called here for one reason."

"That's right." Asari Ugetsu added, "I'm sure you know of the Vongola now right?"

Tsuna nodded his head.

Giotto cleared his throat. "We're in your mindscape right now. You should be waking up soon so we need to hurry."

"Well, our loss of time isn't my fault, Primo." Daemon smiled. "You've been playing around, it would have been better to get down to business. I suppose age has taken its toll."

The blond glared angrily at his mist guardian. "The Vongola can't live through another bloody leader. If it does, the world could very well become the darkest is has been in ages."

"Taiki's not like that!" Tsuna interjected stubbornly. "He isn't cruel, well, a little demanding, but not cruel or mean."

"Sometimes, a person may not be who they are now, and become a completely different person in the future. You never know what the future holds, Tsunayoshi." Giotto stated calmly, eyeing his mist guardian, a strange look in his eyes.

Daemon looked away but a smirk graced his lips.

"Taiki's my brother, I know him better than any of you do." Tsuna crossed his arms and stared defiantly at his predecessor.

"I once thought that way too, Tsunayoshi. I won't complain about the events that followed, but in the mafia, no one can be trusted."

Tsuna was at a loss for words so all he could do was stare at the ground.

"I'm giving you a choice, Tsunayoshi, show me your answer with your Dying Will."

The blank expanse they were standing in slowly began to fade away, along with Giotto and his guardians.

"W-wait! Aren't you going to tell me my what to choose from? Oi!" Tsuna called after their fading figures but all he got in response was a melancholy smile before they completely disappeared.

'Fine,' Tsuna grumbled mentally, 'I'll just ask you when I get home.'

When the brunet blurrily opened his eyes, Gokudera stiffened in his chair next to the bedside. He glanced over to the destined Decimo uncomfortably then over to Reborn who was sitting next to 'Tsunayoshi's' head.

Gokudera knew that he should be indebted to this 'Tsunayoshi'. Technically, no one had won the duel and he wasn't sure what to do next. The dynamites exploded a second after he was pushed clear. He knew that b*stard G had been watching the whole fight. But afterwards, he was nowhere to be seen. They had taken the brunet back to his house where he was patched back up by, surprisingly, Reborn.

The hitman had ordered Gokudera to stay, much to the bomber's dismay. It wasn't that he didn't want to be there. Au contraire, he wanted to see if the brunet who saved his life would be okay. But Juudaime—he wasn't sure if he should be called that or not—looked so worried for his brother and Gokudera felt that it was his fault so he should take responsibility.

'Boo!'

Gokudera jumped in his seat.

'Hehe, scared you didn't I?'

'Teme! Now's not the time for your tricks!' Gokudera snarled, his heart pounding heavily in his chest. Glaring through the side of his eyes at the transparent redhead who materialized beside him, an action that a certain baby hitman didn't fail to miss.

'Not my problem. Anyways, I need to tell you a little something.'

'Leave me alone, G.' Gokudera mentally pushed the redhead away from him.

'No can do, Hayato. Primo wants me to tell you, I can't go against his orders.'

'How can you be so loyal to that person?' Gokudera asked, still unbelieving to the level of loyalty G held to his boss.

'None of your business, brat. You'll find out yourself someday. You'll see. Now, can I tell you or not?'

'Fine, but make it quick.'

'Well, I suggest you get along with that fluffy-haired kid over there. He's not as bad as you think.' G jerked his thumb over to the brunet lying in bed, struggling to open his eyes.

'That's what you wanted to tell me?' Gokudera snarled, 'and why did your "Primo" tell you to tell me this?'

'Who? No one told me to tell you anything.'

'Teme!'

Before Gokudera could mentally hit his annoying ancestor, he disappeared into wispy trails, leaving the silveret fuming. 'Come back here you coward!'

There was no response.

Meanwhile, "Juudaime"'s older brother was pushing himself into a sitting position.

Immediately, Reborn made his move. "Oi, what happened back there? You should have been killed by the blast."

The brunet blinked until he could fully register what was going on around him. His voice was scratchy and hoarse but Gokudera could completely understand them. "What do you mean?"

"You should have died." Reborn repeated, "But something happened and you didn't."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know."

Reborn noted that the brunet's stuttering had (suspiciously?) stopped. He must be half-awake. "Hmph."

"I'm sorry!" Gokudera interrupted, standing up and bowing deeply, "It's my fault that you got hurt, please forgive me!" It was surprisingly out of character for him but for some reason it felt…right.

"Ah, no, it's fine Gokudera-kun—may I call you that?—it was my choice to jump in like that."

"Which also means you didn't have to do it, Tsu-na!" "Juudaime" whined, "You could've died!"

"But I didn't." The brunet pointed out.

"I-I'll be taking my leave now. Please excuse me." Gokudera bowed again and rushed out the door before someone could stop him. He missed the strange look that Tsuna gave him.

Politely thanking "Juudaime's" mother, Gokudera left the Sawada household and headed to his the apartment complex where he lived.

As he walked down the road, he angrily kicked at stones that were close to his feet. He was confused for the first time in a long time. The other three were when he found out that the pretty piano teacher who visited him was his mother, when the mother he barely knew died without his knowing, and when G first arrived. And now, here he was.

He refused to admit it but Taiki—he would refrain from calling him Juudaime for now—wasn't the kind he wanted to follow. He just seemed to…depending… if that was the correct term. Not that it was a bad thing to lean on others for help but an ideal boss couldn't always depend on their subordinates. He or she had to take matters into their own hands.

Not to mention that Taiki seemed weak. Not physically, but metaphorically perhaps. Of course, Tsunayoshi looked even weaker—physically. He tripped on air, attracted bullies like a magnet, failed classes, and pretty much sucked at everything. But there was something to him that just…fit?

Gokudera shook his head angrily. It was a good thing that he didn't lose that duel. He wasn't sure if he wanted a Famiglia anymore, it would be nice being a freelancer again. But, he did want to prove himself, and the quickest way would be by becoming a member of the largest Famiglia in the underground world. Settling with a smaller one would have to do for now, or he could accept solo missions.

'Oi, brat. I though I told you to get along with that boy.'

'Leave me alone. I don't feel like talking to you.'

'Suit yourself, but I'll give you some friendly words of advice.'

Gokudera made an angry swipe at his ancestor but it was dodged with ease.

'Settle down for once, I'm trying to be helpful here, d*mn it!'

'Fine, spit it out.'

'Well I'm about to give it a second thought if you keep acting this way.' G grumbled, his red eyes narrowed in annoyance.

'I'll behave for ten seconds, shoot.'

'Lovely, I'll take my time then: Don't overthink things, you'll just get a headache.' Again, the ghost disappeared.

"Thanks!" Gokudera shouted to the sky, catching the attention of many people, "That really helps!"

In his mind, he heard a faint but clearly cocky: 'you're welcome, brat.'

"Go to Hell." Gokudera moodily stuffed his hands into his pockets and quickened his pace back to his apartment.

Tsuna glanced around his room. Everyone had left him to rest. Taiki had even promised his get him some ice cream when he felt better. He sighed and flopped back onto his bed. But the action sent pain throughout his body and his winced. One look at the condition he was in sent him into panic mode.

His mother would be worried. He'd have to cover up all his injuries with his clothing. Then the bullies would be after him, asking him what he did to get so beaten up then just beat him up more. And then through the pain, he wouldn't be able to focus in class. And then when he had Gym and swimming was the event that they were doing, all his bruises would be exposed. And then when they had Gym again, his body wouldn't be able to hold out on him and he'd fail and have the bullies after him again!

He pulled on his hair frantically. His life sucked!

Sighing, he settled back into his bed with care and closed his eyes. He'd meant to ask Giotto about that one thing... but he'd sleep it off for now. Stress wasn't good for your health.

For the rest of the week, he didn't see any sign of Giotto, not even a trace, until…

Up next: Forecast: Rain

A/N: Lame ending, I know. But it fits what's coming next, but hey, I finally updated. About time huh? If there's any grammar mistakes, please tell me and I'll fix it. For any readers who have read my story 'A Vongola Band', look out for it next!

Please review!