They were attacked again.

It wasn't really a surprise; they had put their guard down significantly when Tsuna asked if they could take a break and eat. But in the end, the sushi was ruined (Tsuna's stomach growled in protest of the lost meal) and Bianchi entered into a battle with a girl who used a flute as a weapon. It felt oddly familiar, the memory of a foul-mouthed enemy who had used a flute-like weapon to attack filled Tsuna's mind at the sight of her.

Honestly, watching a fight between someone who uses their flute to make things explode and someone who uses heavily poisoned cooking was odd yet interesting at the same time.

In the end, the girl who was greedy for money was defeated easily by Bianchi, who's twisted sense of love somehow caused her to prevail.

So Tsuna wasn't exactly expecting a man to walk up to them, holding a laptop that clearly showed a video feed of Kyoko and Haru.

"What- what are you doing with that?!"

"Now, now, calm down…" The man's smirk made Tsuna feel sick, but they were forced to stay quiet as they watched the video feed of Haru and Kyoko walking home.

The man, who's name was Birds of all things, told and showed them how they were both being tailed by serial killers. And, if they didn't follow his orders, they would be killed.

Tsuna winced, already getting a terrible feeling about this.

"Now…" He smirked. "I want one of you to give the Vongola number 10 boss a real pounding, please."

"What?!" Gokudera was the only one to exclaim, though Tsuna swallowed.

"We…don't have a choice, right?" Tsuna muttered, glancing at his friends who stared at him in surprise.

"But Tsuna—!"

"You shouldn't—!"

"If we don't Kyoko and Haru will be…!" He glanced at the screen, once again feeling sick at how the serial killers hovered over the innocent girls. Guilt ate at his chest. He swallowed before turning to Yamamoto and Gokudera. "Please just…we should get this over with. Beat me up."

I'm disoriented right now…so it shouldn't hurt as much since I'm used to pain in the past… He thought to himself, giving his best friends a pleading look.

"That's crazy…" Yamamoto muttered

"There's no way I can do something like that!" Gokudera growled

Tsuna opened his mouth again, hoping he could convince them, when Bianchi suddenly punched him, knocking him to the ground.

"S-Sis! What the hell are you doing?"

She hummed. "From the beginning, I came to Japan to kill Tsuna, right?" She seemed indifferent, cold, though she wouldn't look at any of them. Tsuna could hear the guilt in her voice. "...Lucky for me that I have this chance now."

"Right…" Tsuna muttered, rubbing his cheek. The world was twisting in his disoriented state. His cheek felt numb instead of pain, though he knew there was a bruise that would be left behind.

Birds laughed. "Nice job, one clear! Now, if you clear the next two, the girls will go free."

"A-Another one?" Tsuna's mouth dropped. Of course, it was too good to be true; hoping that this would end after only one measly punch.

"Next then…" He reached into his coat and pulled out a sharp knife that made Tsuna's heart drop. "Please stab Sawada-kun with this knife."

"That's going to far!" Even Bianchi objected.

"Quit fucking around!" Gokudera growled, his hand twitched as if he wanted his bombs.

The man just smirked, showing that acid would be poured onto the oblivious Kyoko if they refused. Instantly, Tsuna shouted, "Stab me!"

"Wait, Tenth!"

"Tsuna you can't—!"

"I can and I will." He pretended like his legs weren't shaking. He's been stabbed before, right? A couple of times – he pretended like he couldn't hear his own cries of pain as the Leader stabbed spikes into his arms and legs, forcing him to stay immobile – he shivered. Could he handle it now? Could this body handle it?

It would have to…for the girls who had nothing to do with this.

"J-Just give me the knife." Tsuna took it from the man, giving him a quick glare before he looked at the blade.

"Wait, Tsuna…give me the knife." Bianchi offered. He shook his head.

"…I'll stab myself." I deserve it anyway. Yamamoto and Gokudera took plenty of wounds for me. He took a deep breath. He felt disoriented and woozy – was this a knife, or a kunai in his hand? But he still pointed the knife to his side, and hoped he wouldn't hit anything important.

With another deep breath, he was about to stab himself when a scream stopped him.

They looked up to the feed and, to their relief, Doctor Shamal had actually saved the day, as well as an older Ipin and Lambo.

Tsuna was never more grateful for the ten-year bazooka in his life.

With the girls saved and the knife dropped, it was Tsuna who walked right up to the man and punched him in the face.

"Y-You brat…!"

"You thought you would just go free after endangering Kyoko and Haru like that?" He glared at him and Birds flinched (he didn't realize his eyes reflected a bit of blue and red in them, causing him to look far scarier than he could imagine).

Gokudera kicked him next, effectively knocking him out, and with Doctor Shamal, Lambo and Ipin effectively taking care of everything from the other end, Tsuna felt his heartrate calm significantly.

Fuuta had appeared, only to disappear once again into the forest, claiming he couldn't go back with them.

Tsuna wasn't sure what compelled him to follow and separate from the group (Fuuta had disappeared quickly, and the rest of the group had yelled at him to come back) but he felt like something was pulling him in deeper.

He stumbled out of the bush, nearly knocking into another Kokuyou student who seemed just as surprised to see him as Tsuna was.

It was odd…he felt off…

…why did his hair almost resemble a pineapple of all things?

"Oh?"

"U-Um…" Tsuna backed away, not really enjoying the look or the aura the other male gave off.

The boy suddenly gave him a smile (Tsuna could recognize a fake smile when he saw one…) and leaned in closer. Their faces were an inch apart. Tsuna forced himself to stay still. "You're here to help us, aren't you?"

"Uh…what?"

"We're saved! I honestly thought we'd never make it out of here alive…" The boy put a hand on his chest, letting out what was probably a sigh of relief.

"Y-Yeah…sorry to keep you waiting…" He was still on edge, and he had a funny feeling about this guy… He kept an arms-length from him. If he wanted to fake being his ally, he would let him for the moment.

Wait a second…if he was apparently a "prisoner…" then he would know where others who have been held captive are too…

"…hey…um…" Tsuna fidgeted. "Look, I'm gonna have to go back to my friends soon, but…can you answer a question for me?"

"About what?" The boy asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Well...have you seen a boy that was possibly captured here too? He has dark hair and eyes, and he's taller than me, and um…this might sound weird but he carries around these tonfa…"

He noticed a small light of recognition in the boy's eyes, but he faked a frown and shook his head. "No, sorry. They must have locked him up somewhere away from the others."

"Oh…" This guy was lying, he could feel it. Tsuna stepped away. "Sorry…but I should really be heading back…the gate is open though and it's not hard to find so um…bye." He quickly jogged off before the boy could ask him anymore.

The others must be worried sick.

O~O~O

Mukuro hummed as he watched the Tenth Vongola Boss's back, before he disappeared back into the forest. How strange…it was obvious from his body language and how uncomfortable he was, he could tell he was lying. But he still stayed. And even asked about Kyoya Hibari.

Oh, this was rich. He let out a small laugh. The boy had just handed his weakness over to him.

No matter, the child seemed weak anyway. It was a good thing he hadn't killed Hibari – now he could use him against the Tenth. If it was necessary.

This would definitely be fun, messing with the kid.

It was a perk that he was cute too.

O~O~O

Tsuna hated his sense of direction sometimes.

He was pretty sure he had run into the trees in a straight line, but now that he was actually running back through, he wasn't sure anymore.

What was even stranger was the fact that no one had found him yet.

He expected, by now, to run into Gokudera, Yamamoto, or Bianchi at this point. Hell, he even expected Reborn! But no, the trees were quiet and the only thing he could hear was twigs and leaves crunching under his feet.

Something happened.

It was like dread had punched in his gut as soon as he realized it. Matched with the dread at the realization that he had absolutely no idea where Hibari was gave him a terrible taste in his mouth. Once again, he was conflicted. He was alone again, meaning he could possibly deviate from the group and try to find Hibari first.

…but he had also promised to focus on the mission and Fuuta. And the boy was definitely acting weird earlier.

Besides, who's to say they won't accidentally find Hibari at this point? They hadn't even run into Mukuro yet!

There was still hope, right?

Of course, the first thing Tsuna would find, when he came back out, was the others facing the Mukuro Reborn had shown them in a photo. He nearly took a step back into the forest when he noticed both Gokudera and Yamamoto were down. The only one standing at this point was Bianchi.

"H-Hey!" He called attention to himself, as if he still had those blue eyes and blonde hair. "What do you think you're doing?!"

The look he gave him was enough to make him let out a small squeak of horror. Why did I just do that?!

"Come down here, Vongola."

"I-I…" He wanted to, oh hell he wanted to punch him. But at the same time…he couldn't fight, could he?

He hesitated half a second too long.

A couple things happened in a few seconds.

Mukuro turned on Bianchi, nearly about to kill her. A shot rang out and Tsuna felt a familiar blast of pain in his forehead – then a familiar sense of pure regret. The power of Dying Will burst through him, and he found himself with familiar tunnel vision, stopping the ball that was about to kill Bianchi before it could touch her.

"REBORN!" He yelled out with a growl, his pupil-less eyes glared Mukuro down. "I will take you down with my dying will!"

Fighting filled Tsuna with a familiar rush that was only similar to a past life, where his eyes were blue and the burning want to be a leader, to be recognized was in his chest. Where his goal was a lonely boy with cold dark eyes and fists were the way to settle things faster than words could.

The thrill frightened, yet energized him.

The fact that he was actually enjoying being able to keep up, that he had a challenge and that the opponent in front of him would end up getting beaten…it wasn't him. Well, it was him but it wasn't.

It was his past. It was the dying will.

It wasn't Tsuna.

Tsuna wasn't a fighter. He was a coward and a weakling at best.

Still, he fought. He fought with all he had.

But he realized something, as he kept fighting.

This person wasn't trying to kill him, not directly.

He knows how it feels. He remembers what it's like to have an opponent out for your blood. To have an opponent that was fixated on seeing your blood spilled and the life forever gone from your eyes. He's experienced it too many times and this person was like another, who hadn't aimed to kill. A boy who had protected his master with his life.

The "final blow" solidified it for him. He wasn't dead.

"…You're not that evil of a person." He announced as he sat up, bruised and bloody, but still very much alive.

"You…what did you say?"

"That weak will of yours could never defeat my Dying Will."

"Will?!" The fake Mukuro growled. "Don't talk as if you know anything about me!" He ran at him. "Killing you is my true will!"

"That's a lie!" Tsuna yelled back, giving him one final blow with a punch to the abdomen. He went on his knees, coughing blood.

"H-How…?"

Tsuna sighed, feeling the power of dying will leave him. "When you attacked…you closed your eyes. You didn't let you ball finish the blow. You were…guilty, weren't you?" He looked up at him. "…you're strange. I have this feeling about you…" He looked away. "I…didn't feel any fear towards you."

"I admit defeat." The fake said with a sigh. "No wonder Rokudou Mukuro is cautious about you…"

Tsuna sighed. "…you're not the one we're looking for…" It felt familiar, he had almost guessed it. His mind turned to a group of people with orange hair, who had really been controlled by one red-haired man.

He shook his head, informing him that the real Mukuro never got his photo taken. Then, he proceeded to tell him how Mukuro was adopted by his family and ended up controlling him to kill everyone. He became a killing machine and ended up becoming the fake Mukuro because of it.

Sadly, before he could tell the real Mukuro's plans, he was attacked by the same guy who used yo-yos from the shadows and fell unconscious in front of them after giving his name – Lanchia.

Tsuna was angrier and far more disoriented than before. Seeing someone get attacked and nearly die once again in front of him was…not something he was prepared for just yet. The fight had him terribly disoriented (not to mention he was now only in his boxers). When he blinked, he would see the ruins of his home village, and when he would blink again he was back here, among his friends.

But still…the real Mukuro was still waiting. And Hibari was still trapped somewhere.

Tsuna wanted to get this over with, before he collapsed from exhaustion or got any terrible flashbacks.