Training

Author's Notes: I'll update every three days or so - feel free to yell and/or scream and/or PM me overly much if I don't.

"So."

So?

"All right."

Go on...

"Let's get down to it."

"Stop beating around the bush, Elder Rebo. Get down to what?"

"Your training… to fight the kidnappers of the princesses of this kingdom."

And those last five words – the princesses of this kingdom - sent my mind into a glorious daze, a realm of thoughts of Princess Kyoko Sasagawa. Her amazing light brown hair, her beautiful hazel eyes, her slight blush on the one day she had visited the village, complimenting her flowing pale pink, flowery dress, her-

"Owowowow…!" I rubbed my left arm where Elder Rebo had punched me. Right. Stop goofing around and thinking silly things, Tsunayoshi.

"I couldn't have put that better," said the wizard. "I'll shock you, next time you daydream like that…" He waved his old staff in the air to show he meant it. A black thundercloud appeared over Tsuna's head, rolling and flashing lightning.

"HIIEEE!" I shouted, ducking away from the thing.

Shocked(emotion-wise), Gokudera asked, "Elder Rebo, what are you doing to Shuhan?" Great. Now "Leader" is a formal title? Referring to me?

"Teaching." The thundercloud disappeared, a smirk on the wizard's lips. What a liar... I thought.

Suddenly, it happened.

A flash. A flash of... of something else. A flash, like someone taking a picture with the expensive new devices called "kamras" or whatever, only this flash had an image. A flash of a life in a house like only rich spoiled princes had, and bickering with lots of people that looked awfully like "my" own monsters, and a baby that looked like Elder Rebo in a black and orange fedora...

A glance at Elder Rebo's stone-like face told me what had just happened was definitely not a daydream.

"Shuhan? Are you okay?" Gokudera tilted his head, puzzled at what was probably my eyes opened in horror or astonishment.

I shook it off. Whatever it was, there was some "training" to attend to. And I'd probably be beaten up by Elder Rebo if I didn't start to "train" soon.

"Aaaanyways," said Elder Rebo, drawing out the word to catch everybody's attention("everybody" being all four of my monsters and myself), "it's been more than 370 words already–"

"370 whats?" I interrupted. Mom had always taught be to be polite, but the magician's words in that context was far too bizarre.

"–and we haven't trained once." Elder Rebo completely ignored my question. He drew a sort of long, thin, oval-like shape in the air with his long wooden staff, and very suddenly a mini-tornado was inside the room, right above the table. It was throwing open the door and whipping tree leaves and dust and dirt everywhere. I held onto the ancient but sturdy table to avoid being lifted off my feet.

But then, all of a sudden, everything started to go black.

My other four senses were fading quickly, but I could almost be sure that I heard Elder Rebo say, "To be continued..."

Shuhan = Leader