KitsuneFreak: And for another installment of TRAT (yes, I'm too lazy to type it out so now I've devised a very un-inspirational acron— hey! It spells 'tart' backwards! =D). You know what? I'm just going to call this story "Tart" for short now. Let's all do that shall we? And yes, my darlings, this is the reaction chapter you've all been waiting for! It feels weird to have less and less page breaks as all the characters are coming together.

Sorry for the long wait but I have good news~! (For those who may not chat with me regularly on LJ) I got into college! Yay me! =D And now you know why I haven't been updating. Spring Break feels nice for a change. There had been a question of age in a review or two which I clarified in this chapter. Also, if you haven't caught on yet…

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

Disclaimer: It's got to be karma for the 10th Gen, right?

{Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, Mushroom, Mushroom…}

Tsuna did not particularly forget the feeling of being dragged by the collar – mostly because he had his fair share of such experiences in his school-years by a certain baby hitman tutor named Reborn. However, being in his early twenties, the young Vongola boss did not exactly welcome the familiar tug nor did he relish the fact that the person dragging him was none other than the 1st Storm Guardian, G.

Resistance was, indeed, futile.

"Oh carpet, how I've missed you," Tsuna thought wryly. He had long given up trying to get up, and was forced to content himself with sliding along the said carpet. From this vantage point, he could clearly see his Guardians, who were jogging to keep up – Gokudera was skilled enough to curse out the 1st Storm Guardian while jogging. Ryohei kept commenting on the "extreme-ness" of Tsuna's current mode of travel and Yamamoto couldn't help smiling. Chrome was flustered as usual.

Frowning, Tsuna wondered if the gods really hated him.

"I'm going to get carpet-burn if he keeps up this pace up. At least the view's nice."

All the while, G was muttering various profanities, exasperations, and curses to himself. Despite keeping a tight grip on the young boss' collar, he seemed to largely ignore the trailing posse of Guardians and maid. Either that or he hasn't noticed any of them due to his fuming anger which had called first priority. Needless to say, Tsuna was very curious as to what was going on through the redhead's mind but did not particularly feel the impetus to act upon his curiosity.

After all, Lady Luck was not on his side today.

..8.9.

"Where could the boss be, anyway?" Lampo complained loudly. His arms and shoulders were getting tired of the extra weight that he alone carried. "And Daemon, I think you should carry this thing for awhile."

"Thing?" Knuckle frowned disapprovingly. "He's a person just like the rest of us Lampo. Best be to remember that."

"I'm sorry, but 'nearly identical doppelganger' is not on my list of viable humans," Lampo grumbled back.

"What about twins?" Daemon asked jokingly.

"Nope. They don't exist in my world."

There was a silence that passed between them as Daemon and Knuckle passed a glance between each other.

"He's in denial," both agreed aloud.

"About what?" Lampo asked a little too defensively.

"The possibility that you," Daemon said as he gave a dramatic pause. He continued, "May have an extra sibling to deal with."

"I'm pretty sure my parents are faithful…"

"Well, you wouldn't know, right?" Daemon commented, grinning slyly.

Lampo's features were visibly contorting to an expression of horror and mild disgust.

"Oh stop scaring him, Daemon," Knuckle reprimanded, thwacking Daemon upside the back of his head.

"Dang, what's with the sudden wrath of God over here? That hurt, too," the Mist Guardian ruefully rubbed the back of his head.

"Try not to use His name in vain." The priest frowned disapprovingly, but continued to Lampo much more cheerily, "Wouldn't finding out you had a twin be such a wonderful surprise?"

Now it was Daemon's moment to turn an awkward shade of green. Just the thought of having two Lampo's brought chills to his spine and an ache to his head.

"Tell you what," the illusionist started, "let's take the opportunity we have now to ease Lampo's poor conscience by killing the creature. We'll have a handy number of positive repercussions, too."

He began to list the 'positive repercussions' on his fingers.

"Intrusions can't happen with dead intruders, you know. Lampo can keep his happy world where twins and doppelgangers don't exist, and we don't need to look for Giotto anymore. Problem solved."

"No, Daemon, that's a horrible plan," the priest responded flatly. "We still need to find Giotto."

"Yeah," Lampo agreed resignedly.

Daemon looked at the faces of his two acquaintances before crossing him arms irritatedly.

"Che, whatever, I'm leaving. I have better things to do." Daemon sneered and without another word dissipated into thin illusory air.

"I hate it when he does that," the green haired young man grumbled out loud.

"He probably has his reasons."

"Yes, but so randomly? I swear it's like he's antisocial."

"He comes and he goes. That's how it's always been. You should know this by now."

"It's not like it doesn't bother me though. I always feel as though he's up to something."

"Indeed, but his loyalty to the Vongola is probably the strongest out of all of us."

"He should be loyal to Giotto, not the Vongola."

"It's all a matter of opinion in the end. Don't let it bother you too much."

"Whatever."

"Either way, we still must find Giotto. It's getting near dinnertime, let's drop by the dining room and see if they've arrived before us."

"Good plan, but just one minor flaw."

"Hmm?"

"Do you mind carrying him now? I can't feel my shoulder anymore."

Knuckle chuckled slightly at the younger man and obligingly helped shift the weight of the boy off of Lampo.

..8.9.

Giotto was calmly sipping coffee when the door burst open, revealing a fuming Storm Guardian. The sound of the door slamming against the wall as it opened startled the man so much so that he almost spilled his cup. Asari was not so lucky with his tea and was yelping in an oddly undignified way beside him. Anyway, when Giotto finally gave himself the opportunity to look up he was torn between a myriad of emotions.

There was the impulse to warn G that despite Asari's good nature, he might attempt murder.

He wanted to exclaim to G that the door was difficult to replace let alone the wall.

He suffered confusion because he honestly didn't know what made G so angry.

He had the sinking feeling that he could guess why though.

He was mortified at the fact that G was dragging his new guest by the collar.

He felt the need to reprimand G and inform him that dragging people by the collar was rude.

And lastly, if he really stepped back and thought about it, then the whole scene looked quite amusing.

"I believe there is something wrong, G?" Giotto forced out a smile.

Tsuna, who could piece together the situation from his back-faced point of view, only buried his face in his hands.

'Thank you Captain Obvious.'

At this point, the Tenth Vongola boss could only hope that the Storm Guardian would settle with yelling at his own boss and let go of his collar.

"You had an illegitimate!"

"A wha—"

"And you never told me?"

"Well, hold on just one minu—"

"I wouldn't have minded if you had like a secret marriage or something last minute."

"G, I can exp—"

"I could have been the best man."

'Wait, that's what's been bothering you?'

Giotto's eye twitched slightly as he put two and two together. Clearly, G came to the wrong conclusion. Still, the first boss waited a little while longer for G to run out of steam, which took a good five minutes. It was during these five minutes that G had opted to let go of Tsuna's collar and gesticulated wildly to complement his anger.

"G," Giotto started, "Let me ask you a question."

"What?"

"How old am I?"

"Um, you're the same age as me, so that would be 32. Why?"

"And you," Giotto looked over to Tsuna, who was brushing carpet dust off his pants, "You are… ?"

"23," Tsuna obliging offered.

"Yes, thank you." Giotto turned back to his perplexed right hand man, "Now do you see the impossibility?"

"What impossibility? If you're 32 and he's 23 then you just had to have had him at arou—"G's voice trailed off as he finished the math. "Oh, good point."

"Yes. Excellent point in my opinion."

..8.9.

"We're almost there," Lampo panted when he saw the large double doors of the dining room.

"I'm a little worried, if such a small workout is leaving you this tired, I daresay I may have to talk to Giotto about making your training sessions more difficult," Knuckle commented thoughtfully.

"You wouldn't dare."

"It's for your own good."

"Yes, like vegetables," the green haired man drawled sarcastically.

"Those are good for you, Lampo."

"Nothing so good can possibly be so disgusting to my palate."

Knuckle rolled his eyes slightly at the aristocratic manner that Lampo never forgot to uphold himself with. He couldn't help noticing that it was amusingly similar to Daemon's narcissism at some points. Call it bratty but on occasion that was what made both the Mist and Thunder Guardians so amusing – or tiring depending on the mood – to be around. Chuckling to himself, he shifted the weight of the unidentifiable boy over to Lampo.

"I'll open the door for you, alright?"

"Very well."

However, when Knuckle pulled open the door he stiffened immediately upon the sight of a few new faces. One he recognized was that Chrome-girl's. Two others were those friends of hers. The last two he could swear he's never seen before. Giotto had an exasperated look on his face while G was sheepishly stuffing his hands into his pockets. Asari was dabbing at his sleeve trying to get rid of …a tea stain?

'Situation seems as normal as it can get.'

Switching instantaneously to a more formal demeanor, Knuckle left the door ajar and walked up to announce his presence to the room. "Vongola Primo? A word if you will, there has been an unexpected turn of events."

Knuckle found it odd that the brunette responded similarly to Giotto the moment he said 'Vongola'. Both took on an alert and tense visage. The only difference being that the brunette seemed to relax almost immediately after hearing the second word. Tsuna's subtle actions also caught on the attentions of Giotto, G, and Asari, even if they did not appear to notice.

"Yes?" Giotto asked, brushing off the issue to the back of his mind.

"There is another…" Knuckle opted not to continue his statement. Instead, he moved aside to reveal Lampo carrying his human burden.

Everyone's eyes wandered over to look at the newest addition to the company. Giotto sighed.

"Well, I guess that mea—"

"Lambo-kun!"

Giotto and his Guardians were slightly caught off guard at the exclamation from the brunette as both he and Chrome hurried over.

"So that stupid cow's still alive and kicking, huh?" the silverette said mockingly.

"Haha, that's a relief," Yamamoto laughed.

"Good news to the extreme!"

"What happened?" Chrome asked Lampo worriedly.

"He… uh…hit his head… on the… door… knob," Lampo lied lamely. He didn't particularly feel the desire to comment on the nature of injury that afflicted the child nor did he want to burst a number of happy bubbles.

All of the first generation Guardians in the room resisted the urge to slap their foreheads at the utterly transparent lie.

"Oh, the poor thing," Chrome said sympathetically.

Well, as long as someone bought the lie, it wasn't a complete failure.

"Well," Giotto cleared his throat, "I think it's safe to assume that he's a part of your company, no?"

"Yes, he's with us," Tsuna replied back.

"Are there any more we should be aware of?"

"I don't think so. That's everyone," Tsuna had crossed everyone off of his mental list. Everyone meaning: 'except for Hibari.' After all, he was usually out on his own so what are the odds that he would randomly show up in the Vongola estate causing up another ruckus?

"So why are we here anyway?" Gokudera spat unkindly.

"Now that most of us are gathered here, I believe it would be the perfect time to properly get to know one another."

"A number of things had been forgotten the last time we spoke," Asari continued smoothly.

"You mean 'left out' I believe," G interjected, glaring at Giotto. His boss attempted to shrug off the responsibility of guilt.

"Let's go around the room. We'll start," Giotto motioned to his Guardians before pointing at himself, "I'm Giotto, Sky Guardian and Vongola boss if you haven't already guessed."

Knuckle raised an eyebrow at the informality of using names but offered his name as well, "Knuckle, Sun Guardian. Pleasure to meet you."

"G, Storm Guardian," the redhead did not lose the glare, even as he looked to the younger group.

"Asari Ugetsu, Rain Guardian. My pleasure as well."

"Lampo, Thunder Guardian."

There was a pause as the older Guardians waited expectantly for the newcomers to follow in suit.

"Well, this one here is Lambo," Tsuna gestured to the still unconscious kid, "and I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Hayato Gokudera."

"Yama—oh my bad. I keep forgetting that it's Italian, Takeshi Yamamoto," he waved the mistake off with a lighthearted chuckle.

"Chrome Dokuro."

"Sasagawa Ryohei! Meeting you to the extreme!"

"Onii-chan!"

"Oi turf-head! It's the other way around in Italian."

"Most extreme mistake to the extreme! I'm Ryohei Sasagawa!"

"Che, light-hearted morons. They never learn," Oddly enough, the glare that Gokudera supplied was directed at not only Ryohei but Yamamoto as well.

From the side, the older Guardians couldn't quite keep away the sense of déjà vu that assailed them as they saw the light bantering that occurred between their guests. It reminded all of them of the bygone years before the Vongola came to be when there was still time to exchange in witty repartee.

"That still doesn't change the fact that I'm still in the dark about what's going on," G suddenly said, almost immediately breaking the mellow mood that had settled over the occupants of the room.

The tenth generation Guardians visibly tensed at this point and shifted their attention to Giotto.

"Well, they're … how shall I put it? They're going to be like our apprentices."

"Apprentices," G responded flatly, not amused. "I've never heard of this before."

"Neither have I, Giotto. What's all this about?" Knuckle asked, quite seriously.

If there was one fatal flaw in the entire story, it was that Giotto never kept secrets from the rest of his Guardians. Interesting how he forgot about this relatively important detail.

"It's true!" Asari supplied quickly, "Giotto's been planning this for awhile now. He wants us to train several young adults in…" At this point Asari, too, was at a loss of how to continue the story.

"… in the ways of the Vongola," Giotto continued.

The other three Guardians mused over the thought.

"You're lying aren't you," Despite the question that was implied, G stated it rather matter-of-factly.

"Wha—I wouldn't dare," Giotto corrected himself.

"He hesitated, didn't he?" Lampo jumped in, nudging Knuckle in the shoulder.
"Yes, indeed he did."

"You really are a bad liar, you know," G affirmed.

"Many apologies, Giotto," Asari said with his head hung in shame, "I tried my best."

"Ehh, I guess it's alright," Giotto patted Asari's back, "It's better off this way anyway."

"Well that was an epic failure," Gokudera murmured quietly. Chrome nodded her agreement along with Ryohei, and even, Yamamoto.

Despite not verbally agreeing to it, Tsuna couldn't help but concur as well. There was also another tiny voice in his head that kept yelling "Once a no-good always a no-good!" Tsuna never particularly got along well with that depressing side of him and opted to not wonder where his "dame-ness" came from. He figured it was better not to know things. After all, history's much prettier once polished.

It was during this minor squabble that Lambo managed to regain consciousness. "I didn't do it, I swear!"

"Stupid cow, why are you already apologizing? Spit it out, what did you do this time!

Lambo's sudden recovery, caught the eye of the priest.

"Oh look, that little one's awake," Knuckle commented as he took note of the younger group.

"So why are they really here?" Lampo asked curiously.

"They say they're from the future," Giotto replied.

"And I've sprouted wings," G drawled back sarcastically.

"No, seriously!"

"'You believed them?' Is my point."

"Well, you were missing then and misunderstandings were rampant. It was the only excuse we settled with at the time."

"The future. Have you lost your mind?" G felt as though he ought to be tearing out his hair.

"They say they're our successors from the future."

There was a creak from the hinges of the open door. All the occupants of the room couldn't help but feel that it was oddly fitting to the situation but brushed aside the random thought.

"We need some kind of proof," G demanded.

"Word of mouth isn't enough," Knuckle added.

"Well," Asari started, "that was the original reason as to why we wanted everyone to convene here in the first place."

Giotto turned to his guests, "You should have rings, yes? Give us some sort of proof that you know how to use their properties or something. Then we may consider you one of ours."

The rest of the tenth generation Guardians turned to face their boss, Tsuna, who looked at them all and nodded. Chrome, Ryohei, and Yamamoto each reached towards the ring hidden around their necks.

'So that's where they were hiding it' Giotto and Asari both thought.

"Who knows of the properties of the rings right now?" Tsuna asked.

"At the moment, no one outside of us, the Guardians."

'Well, that should make things easier.'

"Let's show them our resolve, everyone!"

Each Guardian put their outstretched right hands flat out in front of them. By concentrating their resolve, they were able to slowly coax a flame of each Guardian's respective color to come forth from the ring. However, Tsuna was the first of the Tenth Generation Guardians to notice it.

There was something wrong.

The flames, despite being bright and strong, were all cloudy. There were not the pure crystalline colors that marked the purity, clarity, and strength of the user's resolve.

Once all six of the flames dissipated, Tsuna tentatively looked to Giotto. If he made a protest now, it would make everything seem like a setup. However, Tsuna knew what the Primo boss' conclusion had been. Tsuna wracked his brains to figure out why the flames color had been what it had been.

'Was our resolve not enough?'

"It was a nice little light show there," Giotto commented with a sad look on his face. "I really wanted to believe you."

'I don't think the rings are the problem,'

"It eerie how someone managed to create almost similar replicas," Knuckle nodded.

'Could it have something to do with the fact that we're in the past?'

"So they were lying," G stated crossly.

'What could possibly be the problem?'

"Despite any outward explanation provided, the rings will always reveal what's within," Asari added.

'Within… wait a minute. That's it!'

Tsuna tried to reestablish himself among the older Guardians, "Hold on a sec. The rings— we can explain."

"Any excuse you come up with now is a poor one to make up for what just occurred," Knuckle said.

"Yes, but—"

"Give a rest kid, you had your chance," G shot back. "I'll call some of the mafioso on standby. We'll need to have their replicas confiscated."

"There is a…" Tsuna's voice trailed off as he lost the attention of the older men.

"Oi!" Gokudera yelled out impatiently. "Listen to Jyuudaime, already!"

However, before Tsuna could open his mouth to say a word, a jarringly familiar tonfa flew in from the open door … and embedded itself in the wall between where Tsuna and Giotto had conveniently been standing.

"Hiieeek!" Tsuna clamped his mouth shut with his hands. Tsuna cursed habit quite often for these occurrences.

Giotto, on the other hand, was busy multitasking between trying to identify the origin of the weapon and the origin of the horrendously girly shriek. It seemed to come from Tsunayoshi, who stood beside him. In Giotto's humble opinion, that was no sound any dignified and self-respecting man should make. At the very least, it would be a goal that he planned to maintain in the possible future where he had a son.

"Ano," Tsuna shakily asked his unwitting relative, "does anyone else use a tonfa for a weapon here?"

'I really hope someone does otherwise— '

"No, why?"

'—we're all going to die.'

"Because I think I know who's at the door."

"Hey, that weapon looks oddly like Hibari's! How funny!" Yamamoto laughed, clearly missing the gravity of the situation.

"No Yamamoto, that's exactly what is not funny," Tsuna attempted to correct the jovial man.

"Baseball-idiot, if it's Hibari then there's no telling what else can go wrong."

"Let's ask him to spar with us to the extreme!"

"I don't think that's what we want to ask Cloud-man," Chrome commented, trying to tone down Ryohei's sudden enthusiasm.

Much to everyone's surprise, the one who burst, or rather tumbled in, through the door, was not Hibari, but Alaude, the first generation Cloud Guardian.

"Che," was the only word that he offered upon entrance.

"Alaude!" Giotto called out, "Your arm."

Indeed his arm was bleeding slightly. He had taken a bit more damaged from Hibari's hooked and spiked tonfas and a lengthy cut curved its way along the upper area of his arm. Knuckle attempted to rush forward with the intention of treating his wounds on the spot.

"Stay back."

There was a pause as Alaude looked back. Within seconds a second figure flew in through the door with the purpose of pouncing upon the blonde. Alaude wasn't caught off guard this time. Pivoting on his uninjured arm, he threw a kick into Hibari's left side sending the younger man crashing into the wall. Alaude took this opportunity to dart over quickly and kick the remaining tonfa away. Staggering slightly from the force of the kick, Hibari lunged forward to punch Alaude but fell short when the older man caught his fist and used the other to grasp his throat.

"You're too hasty," Alaude frowned, tightening his hold.

"Like that'll work," Hibari sneered. He kicked his leg in order to hit Alaude in the side. Despite missing, the sudden movement caused Alaude to jerk back and let go of his hold upon Hibari – which restarted the fight all over again.

Giotto, at this point, had retrieved his gloves and switched into his Hyper Mode as he took his position next to Alaude and the other older Guardians followed in suit.

"What are you doing? I don't need your help."

"We stand together, Alaude. Besides, you're the one sporting an injury."

"If you're that worried," G smirked, "We'll stand watch here until you call for us with your dying breath."

"As if."

Tsuna did not like where this was going. It was going to be like an all out war if this continued. He wanted to help but without his pills… it was going to be difficult. Nonetheless, he and his Guardians took their places by Hibari's side as well.

"You better not lift a finger. This one is mine."

"Whatever floats your boat, Hibari," Yamamoto grinned before turning to a more serious countenance.

"Hn."

The two Cloud Guardians flew at each other once again, this time with an increase in the number of onlookers. Without his tonfas, Hibari was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Alaude.

Meanwhile, Tsuna was running through with the different scenarios in his head. While he didn't doubt Hibari's prowess in fighting, he worried about the possibility that he may lose. However, if he did win there would be hostilities from the first generation to deal with. There was also no telling if Alaude was a kill-first-then-ask-questions type of a person or not. The nasty conclusions that he came to all involved him jumping in and somehow stopping the fight.

For that matter, Tsuna was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he failed to notice that Hibari was gaining the upper hand. He also didn't notice Giotto tensing up from across the room, especially when Hibari retrieved one of his spiked tonfas from the floor.

As Hibari swiped back and forth with his tonfa, Alaude was constantly pushed on the defensive. He wouldn't have been able to dodge the downward swipe. He closed his eyes to brace himself for the hit that never came. Surprised, he looked up to see Giotto blocking the tonfa with his flaming gloves.

"Get lost, it's my fight."

"Tell me that when you're not losing."

"Che," Alaude spat back.

Giotto threw a kick in Hibari's direction, which sent the younger Cloud Guardian jumping back.

"You'll do," Hibari smirked.

"Cocky aren't you?" Giotto asked.

Whether it be because Giotto's fighting capabilities was higher than that of Hibari's or the fact that Hibari started this particular confrontation already fatigued from his earlier spat with Alaude, it did not change the immediate advantage Giotto had over him. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before Hibari was thrown against the wall again. Giotto was about to deliver the finishing blow when another set of orange flames that were not his own, came into his periphery. The newcomer, Sawada Tsunayoshi had taken a hold of the punch that was supposed to hit Hibari.

"I think that's enough," Tsuna said. Giotto did not fail to notice that his eyes turned from a chocolate brown to a bright golden-orange shade – much like his own. There was also a flame that had ignited on his forehead.

"Well this is unexpected."

Tsuna and Giotto met hand to hand – each tried to force the other back with brute strength.

'X-gloves versus I-gloves. How lovely,' Tsuna thought sarcastically. 'I can see that this is going to end well.'

"What the hell is going on?" G voiced the opinions of quite a number of people at this point.

"You have gloves?" Giotto asked Tsuna uncertainly.

"More or less."

Giotto also took the time to notice that the flames emitted now were much purer. Without the medium of the Vongola ring, it seemed as though the flames took on a clearer manifestation.

"Your flames appear purer than before."

"I've been trying to tell you that for a while now, actually."

Both separated from each others' grasp but considering the fact that they were still embroiled in battle commentary and conversation still flew between them. For that matter, Giotto took the battle into the air and Tsuna followed in suit.

"Oh? Now that we've made a time and place for chatter, would you mind telling me about it?"

"The flames weren't pure because of the rings."

"I figured as much. But you had claimed that they're the originals."

"Yes but they lack something, now that we're in the past."

"May I ask what that is?"

"Your wills."

Giotto looked back unexpectedly as he puzzled over the meaning of what Tsuna had said.

"Our… wills?"

"Yes. In our time, your wills possess these rings. They are what bolster our original resolve. However… that can't happen now that we're in the past and you're physically… here."

Giotto mulled over what the brunette had said. "What you're saying is that the problem is that we're alive."

Tsuna inwardly cursed at the negativity of his explanation, "That's not a problem at all! It's good that you're alive. Everyone ought to be alive and well."

"Then why do you fight?" Giotto was honestly curious.

"To protect the people who I care about because they're my friends – my family, if you will – and we'd do anything for each other."

Slowing down, Giotto used his gloves to lower himself down gradually. Tsuna, sensing a sudden lull in the battle aura present, also made a gradual descent downwards.

When both reached the ground, they each released themselves from their Hyper Modes.

"Let's try this again," Giotto said quietly. "Who are you people?"

..8.9.

Staring at the ticking second hand of the clock, Shoichi couldn't help but tap the table with his finger nervously.

"It's been twenty minutes."

"Don't worry, Kyo-san wouldn't abandon us," Kusakabe offered again.

"Where is he now?"

"According to the security system, he hasn't left his room."

"Should we check up on him?"

"I don't think that'd be a good idea…"

Shoichi gave another glance at the security cameras that gave a pixilated view of the outside of the estate.

"I think we can spare a few minutes. Even if Hibari doesn't like us crowding around him, it's important for us to know where everyone is right now; especially when we have no idea where the others are."

Heaving a sigh, Kusakabe turned to open the door and lead the way to Hibari's office. Shoichi, who was trailing behind, was continually thinking about possible reasons as to why the enemy would have pulled their forces from the forefront of the battle. It was only in the recent months that this family appeared out of seemingly nowhere. There was no lengthy family history or sudden, but noticeable, rise to power. If a family could embody the meaning of the role of the Mist element, then clearly this was the prime example.

Their aggression against the Vongola was equally unexpected. A letter, marked only with their seal and crest, was delivered to Tsuna's office. The contents of the letter demanded unconditional surrender ("As if!" Shoichi scoffed at the memory) and relinquishment of all the Vongola rings. Needless to say, there was no agreement between the two families and Tsuna was left constantly perplexed at the other family's unwarranted hostility.

The sudden décor change of his surroundings announced to Shoichi that they were getting closer to Hibari's office. Unlike the rest of the Guardians, Hibari, being the solitary cloud, preferred to work within the precincts of his Foundation. He rarely dropped by the estate under casual pretenses.

Once they neared the workplace of the Cloud Guardian, Shoichi immediately noticed that the door was slightly ajar.

"You're sure he didn't leave?"

"Absolutely – unless he left while we were walking over here."

"Well that wouldn't work out either because we'd meet him along the way."

"Indeed."

Pushing the door open revealed an empty room. White noise was playing slightly in the background from the two small speakers that were on the desk. Shoichi had to admit, the white noise definitely raised the eeriness level of the room up several notches – not that it wasn't creepy enough already since the fact that it was Hibari's territory already left chills running down his spine.

"You know the layout of Hibari Kyouya's office right?"

"Yes, I helped him in designing the entirety of the Foundation."

"So that leaves secret exit route off the list of possibilities."

Kusakabe strolled over to the desk and shut off the speakers. "Wonder what he was trying to listen to."

"Who knows? This is Hibari we're talking about."

Kusakabe chose to remain silent – it wasn't yet necessary to divulge unnecessary details. Shoichi never caught on to the unusual pause in conversation and continued to look around the desk. Nothing seemed to be out of order. Paperwork was left on the desk neatly. The chair was pushed back slightly. Windows were closed and definitely not broken. Overall, nothing seemed out of the ordinary to the redheaded technician. That is, until the window latch caught his eye.

"Last question."

"Yes?"

"Does Hibari Kyouya know any magic tricks?"

Kusakabe blinked as he turned back to look at Shoichi who was staring intently at the closed window.

"Is that a joke, sir?"

"No."

"Well, I'm pretty sure that's a negative, why?"

"Because I don't think there's any way he could have left from the window and locked it… from the inside."

{Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, Mushroom, Mushroom...}

KitsuneFreak: And that concludes another chapter of Tart! This is the longest chapter yet but I felt the need to fit a lot into this segment. I'm going off to post up another chapter for my family fic right now. If I haven't done so already, I feel as though I should take this particular moment to thank all my awesome readers!

Alright, a show of hands please: who actually did the math during the little squabble between Giotto and G? Or were you one of those people who would read it all, wonder why there was something wrong, go back and then do the math? XD I also snicker every time I think of Giotto's I-gloves. I feel as though it should be an Apple product.

I'm also curious; does anyone know what generation of boss Dino Cavallone is? Is he a ten like Tsuna or some other number? I can't seem to find it at the moment.

Toodles~!

R&R