Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

Summary: When Tsuna's pride - his family - shattered, there really weren't anymore reasons for him to be the all-encompassing Sky. But when he was given another chance, to protect them once more, he didn't hesitate - even if it's in another parallel world where he is no longer Vongola Decimo but his twin brother, his Elements no longer his but his brother's... and Vongola is falling (quite literally in terms of ranks).

Ienari was considered the star athlete of the Namimori, having a penchant to do rather well in most sports that he participated in. Especially in basketball - which was also why he was part of the school's basketball team even though he was only a first year.

The team itself, was a rather well-known one despite Namimori being a small, quaint town because under it was a regular qualifier in the regional school competitions with their best standing to be in the top four - which had happened in the recent years. And because most of the players haven't graduated yet compared to other schools, they were the favorite to win home the champion's spot.

Well... they would have a shot at it if one of their players hadn't succumbed to a bad case of stomach ache in the middle of the one game that would decide their spot in the regional competition.

"Ya gotta be kidding me." Ken groaned as he watched two of his teammates carrying the sick one to the infirmary. His ran a hand through his jet black hair in frustration.

Ienari frowned in worry, looking over to a teen two years his senior. "Captain, what are we going to do now?"

Daisuke sighed, shaking his head. "What else? We'll have to bring in our bench player."

The blonde cast a glance over to where their team's bench was, only to see no one but their... well, their... substitute coach - which, as you can see, was Reborn in disguise. He was getting the feeling that the hitman might have something to do with food poisoning that his teammate was suffering from.

"Coach," Daisuke walked over, the remains of the core players following after him. "Where's Ryota?"

"Called in sick. Something about a bad case of diarrhea."

"What?!" Ken exclaimed in disblief. "Him too?!"

Dasikue frowned as well, the situation not looking too bright. "Then what about Inui?"

"A sudden family emergency came up."

"Yoshi?"

"Sprained an ankle."

"... Hiro?"

"Do I need to speak further?"

"..." Daisuke and Ienari sweatdropped.

"Wait wait wait," Ken waved a hand up as to pause the conversation and looked at their coach in disblief. "Yer telling me that they're all unavailable?"

"Nari!" Yamamoto hollered as he and the others rushed down the bleachers. They were all there (even Kyoko and the girls) to watch the game after school, but they hadn't expected this kind of development. "What happened?"

"Well..." The blonde shifted his eye to his coach-disguised tutor and shrugged helplessly. He had no idea what Reborn was trying to pay at and he didn't have the rights to question Reborn's actions... not when the hitman had everyone thinking he was a famous coach that had once been coaching a famous team. "Akio suffered from food poisoning and... and all the bench players aren't able to take his place."

"Hahi! That's horrible!" Miura commented with a gasp. "Is he okay?"

"Don't worry," Ienari assured as he made eye contact with the hitman. "It's not like his life's in danger so it should be fine."

"Of course. Akio just ate bad food for lunch, that's all," Reborn confirmed with a smirk. "And everyone else's problems will resolve itself with time."

"But we need someone to replace Akio," Daisuke inputted, worried. "Now. Else we forfeit."

"We can't do that!" Ken complained. "Ienari's fine since he's still a first year but this is our last year! It'll suck if we don't get to play in the regionals!"

"Of course you're all going to the regionals," Reborn said once more, hopping off of the bench and took up perch on Ienari's shoulder.

"Ho?" Ken asked skeptically. "Didn't ya say all of our subs and backups are MIA?"

"But the back up for the substitute of the substitute of the substitute of the substitute is just a call away."

.

.

.

Everyone just stared at Reborn for several long seconds.

"... The substitute of the substitute of the... what?" The ravenet basket ball player counted off on his fingers, then gave his captain a questioning look. "We actually have that kind of back up?"

"..." Daisuke sweatdropped and pondered with a finger scratching his cheek. "I only thought we had three..."

Just as Ienari was about to speak, someone else beat him to it.

"Hey, guys? Where's Reborn-san?"

"Ah!" Ienari and the others jumped when one Sawada Tsunayoshi suddenly appeared behind them, looking less than pleased that he was treated as an errand boy. "What are you -"

Thwack!

Reborn unceremoniously socked his student in the head, causing him to kiss the floor. He then gave the brunet a smirk, who recuperated with an eye roll. "You're here."

Tsuna just stared blandly as Ienari's friends and teammates help the latter up on either side before holding up a set of clothes that looked strangely similar to the basketball team's uniform. "I was told to bring this."

The infant hitman ignored Tsuna's deadpan and turned towards the basketball team. "He's the substitute."

"... Hah?" Ken leaned an arm over Daisuke's shoulder as he looked Tsuna over with a critical eye. His frown clearly stated his skepticism of the scrawny brunet as he pointed at the latter. "Captain, have we ever seen him on the team before?"

"He joined last minute." Reborn helpfully provided, passing the roster towards Daisuke.

"What?" Ienari stared blankly while Tsuna only raised a brow. The brunet hadn't exactly been surprise by this since his Intuition had long since prepared him for it, but still... why didn't Reborn say anything?! Besides, he didn't want to have any part in basketball - or any sport in general!

"Sawada Tsunayoshi..." Daisuke mumbled as he read over the name, then a spark of enlightenment lit in his eyes. "You're Ienari's twin brother?"

"... yes."

"They look nothing alike!" Ken exclaimed immediately afterwards, throwing his hands up dramatically. He scrutinized the brunet once more, his frown deepening with each passing second as he thought of something. "Tsunayoshi... as in that... that - uh, whatsit? - Dame-Tsuna?"

When the nickname was thrown out there, the atmosphere around Ienari's guardians seemed to have darken somewhat but nothing much happened afterwards. They had seen how it hadn't effect the person in question so it didn't seem right for them to make a fuss about it.

Ienari had a barely noticeable frown as well, sending a displeased look towards Ken, who, upon noticing, grinned sheepishly and raising his hands up a silent apology.

"Hehe... sorry," Ken then apologized to the brunet. "I didn't uh... mean it that way..."

"I know you didn't mean it so I didn't take it as an insult." Tsuna shrugged it off lightly and folded his arms across his chest. "So... I'm going to make a wild guess here but you guys are missing a member?"

"The bench players all had to take leave except for you," Daisuke nodded a confirmation as he explained. Afterwards, he frowned as he scratched his head in thought. "I'm sorry, but have you - have you ever played basketball before? I mean... you only registered for the team recently and I've never seen you play..."

"Basketball?" Tsuna pondered before nodding in a very, very serious manner. "I read about it."

Thud!

The answer caused several people around him to collectively facefault, and of those who didn't, they could only stare incredulously at the brunet.

"Are ya frickin' pulling my leg here?!" Ken exclaimed, almost wailing out of the hopelessness of the situation.

"Hey!" The other team hollered from across the court. "What's taking so long? If you don't have another player to send in, then just forfeit already!"

"Shaddup!" Ken retorted back heatedly. "If ya got time to yap off, then ya got time to wait!"

Tsuna stifled a chortle and cast a discrete look towards Reborn. He knew that Reborn had planned for all of this, and he was pretty sure this was to give Ienari a helping hand in taking a step in solving the whole family issue. After all, it seemed that Ienari's mind was better focused and organized when it came to sports, and he could put other matters aside when his head was in the game.

He ended up sighing in resignation and made his way towards the changing room. "I'll be right back."

"Wait, Tsuna -" Ienari called, his hand outstretched as if trying to stop is brother but he didn't. The blonde had his doubts so he expressed them in skeptical look he gave the 'coach.' "Can he really play?"

Reborn smirked. "He's Dame-Tsuna."

That didn't exactly answer Ienari's question, but he suppose Reborn was implying that his brother's... no good at basketball? (But why did it sound like a compliment coming from Reborn's mouth?)

.

.

.

"Huh? Who's that?"

"Isn't that Dame-Tsuna?"

"What's he doing on the team?!"

"He's sooo going to shame our school!"

"Dame-Tsuna is going to ruin our team's chance at the regionals!"

"Oi! Change Dame-Tsuna out! I bet he doesn't even know the rules of basketball!"

When Daisuke here the jeers from their own peers, he shook his head helplessly at the unjust treatment. He was one of the more open-minded students of Namimori High, mostly because he has matured over the years and was on his way to college, so he didn't see Tsuna in a bad light unless the brunet does something untoward him and his friends. Heck, if he knew the Vice Captain like he does, then Ken was even more -

"Oi, will all of ya shaddup?! If we lose, I'mma blame it on all of yer f***ing big mouths!"

- fed up at the narrow-minded people that seemed to be composed of most of the school's population.

"Maa..." Tsuna chuckled, picking up the basketball lying around and dribbling it once more twice before passing it off to Ienari - who caught in on reflex. "They do have a point though. I am Dame-Tsuna."

"Hah?" Ken narrowed his eyes at the brunet as he towered over the latter using his height. "Shouldn't ya be defending yerself instead of agreeing with them?" He clicked his tongue in disdain. "This is why pipsqueaks like ya never man up! Ya'll take their words to heart!"

"Haha, you sound a lot like Ryo-nii, Ken-senpai!"

"Ryo-nii? Who -" Ienari piped in, baffled for a second before connecting the dots with widening eyes. "- you mean Ryohei?"

Tsuna nodded a confirmation but instead of elaborating on the topic, he changed it. "Anyways, we shouldn't keep the other team waiting, no?"

"Bah!" Ken swat his hand down in an inconsiderate manner. "We can make them wait for the whole season!"

Daisuke rolled his eyes at his Vice Captain and friend before directing his attention back towards Tsuna, who he had been giving an explanation to. "Tsunayoshi, did you remember all the things we briefed over?"

"Yup."

"How much of it did you understand?"

"Um... dribble the ball and shoot for the hoop?"

"..."

"Ugh..." Ken slapped a hand over his hand and sulked in the corner. "We're done for."

"Maa," Tsuna tried to console the third year by patting him on the back. It wasn't that he didn't understand what the plan was. He just didn't think much of basketball other than the team work involved in dribbling an orange ball and passing it around. He had never taken interest in the sport - or any other ones at all - in his world even though Reborn had placed him in several situations where he had to learn how to play the sport to the point of perfection (the sadist perfectionist -)"I'll make the rest up with... um, my Intuition?"

"... Are ya trying to make this worse?!" Ken cried.

"Hey," Tsuna pouted indignantly. "My Intuition's pretty accurate y'know."

"Basketball's about skills! Skills!" Ken emphasized as he threw his hands up. "Not luck!"

"..." Tsuna sighed and gave up on the young man who, as anyone could see, wasn't an optimist. "Anyhow, should we start?"

Daisuke nodded and told everyone to get into position.

Phweeee!

The sound of the whistle blowing off signaled the ball to be thrown in the air and shoes to start screeching against the gym floor. Tsuna observed silently, keeping track of where the basketball was until he saw the opportunity to -

Thud.

- steal it away during a pass. He didn't get very far, unfortunately, when he was blocked by one of the taller players. He narrowed his sunset-orange eyes in challenge and feigned a pass to the right. The other had followed almost instinctively, allowing Tsuna to quickly throw the basketball to the left, where Ienari was apparent.

"Ah...?" The blonde blinked as the ball appeared in his hand within the blink of an eye. However, he quickly snapped out of his astonishment and got his head into the game, dribbling the ball and evading his opponents with practiced footwork.

When he was within range, Ienari made a shot for the hoop, successfully earning Namimori two points - and the game continued. Through it all, Daisuke and Ken watched as the gap between the scores widen with Tsuna and Ienari's surprisingly well coordinated teamwork.

"Ienari-kun."

Another pass.

"Got it!"

Swish!

"... I take it back," Ken whistled, impressed of what was being payed in front of him. "He's good."

To be truthful, they hadn't had much hope that Tsuna would contribute, but as long as they have enough players to continue playing, they'll make do. But who would've thought that Sawada Tsunayoshi, the one who everyone seemed to boo on as 'Dame-Tsuna' could actually play so well?

"And twins are worth being call twins." Ken praised just as Ienari missed the hoop but Tsuna saved it before the opponent could steal the ball back.

Daisuke whole-heartedly agreed. From the start to finish, Tsuna and Ienari displayed a level of teamwork that their entire team were barely keeping up with. It made him wondered why Tsuna hadn't joined the basketball team earlier if his talent was on par with Ienari's. (And the brunet even dare to say he only read about the sport?!)

When the timer hits zero, signaling the end of the game, Namimori had won by more than twenty points, causing the audience to explode in cheers while the members of the basketball team high-fived and chest bumped each other in a state of exhilaration.

Tsuna, however, didn't join in on the excitement and had slipped away to change back to his clothes; but on his way back from the changing room, he paused. His sunset-orange eyes glanced around to find any fault that had caused his Intuition to suddenly start nag -

"Huh?"

- Tsuna blinked when the nagging suddenly disappeared moments later. He couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity to this type of situation, almost as if...

"Tsuna."

"Mm?" The brunet looked up, not at all surprised that Reborn was using his head as a furniture again. His absentminded look turned into a scowl when he saw the Sun Arcobaleno though. "What the heck was that? You could've warned me at the very least that I would be playing. It's not like I wouldn't agree to it."

"What's the fun in that?" Reborn smirked, causing Tsuna to roll his eyes as he resumed walking towards the gym to return the set of uniform that Reborn had told him to bring earlier. (He was positive that Reborn had... 'borrowed' it.)

"The point," Tsuna emphasized in discontent. "Is that you signed me up for basketball!"

"You and Ienari coordinated pretty well for your first time working together, don't you think?"

Again, the brunet rolled his eyes. "If only he's half as good as he is in a game, then Ienari would already be halfway there to being a proper leader. I'm sure you already noticed how differently he acts towards his classmates and teammates compared to his guardians and family."

"A reputation to uphold," Reborn responded dryly. "That was his argument a while ago when I pointed it out."

"..." Tsuna did not understand that type of reasoning. Weren't they all the same? Wouldn't Ienari have to uphold a reputation if he was going to be Vongola Decimo anyways?!

"Why would -"

"There ya are!" Ken's voice traveled over and Tsuna soon found himself in a friendly choke hold, elbowing his head while Ken was at it. (Reborn disappeared the moment Ken hollered) "Haha, well play squirt! Ya got talent!"

"Gah...!" Tsuna struggled against the taller male but also laughed weakly. "L-luck has... a lot to do with this!"

"What luck?!" Ken countered, releasing Tsuna but held him by the shoulder and shook with vigor that Tsuna felt dizzy. "If we all have yer luck, then what's the point of skills?!"

Tsuna could only smile helplessly as Ken continued with the roughhousing.

"Ken," Daisuke joined in after seeing what the other was doing to the brunet. "Don't make things difficult for Tsunayoshi."

"... fiiiine." Ken grumbled and released Tsuna from his misery, which the latter was grateful for. "I'll let ya off for now."

"Tsunayoshi," Daisuke switched his attention to his junior, smiling. "We're going to celebrate our win, why don't you join us?"

"Capt'n's orders!" Ken tacked on gleefully. "Ya can't go against that!"

"Ah?" Tsuna blinked and tilted his head innocently. "I don't think I should... I'm not interested in basketball, so... I plan on quitting after this."

.

.

.

"WHAT?!" Ken exclaimed after the short stunned silence, his voice so loud that it attracted plenty of attention including the entire team, Ienari and his friends, and then some. "What did cha mean yer quitting basketball?!"

"Well," Tsuna gave Ken a strange look but spoke slowly as if trying to explain why one plus one was two to a child. "... I'm not interested in basketball."

"We heard that the first time!"

"..." Tsuna scratched the back of his head and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, but I only just found out I'm on the team today... but I don't plan on staying in the sport." He slowly backed away from soon-to-explode Vice Captain and made a beeline for the exit before things get complicated.

"O-oi!" Ken snapped out of his daze and hollered, but the brunet had already gained enough distance. The Vice Captain then rounded on Ienari, grabbing the boy but the shoulder and shaking him with vigor. "Ienari, tell that brother of yers to join the team or I'mma throw the worse tantrum known to history!"

"W-w-what?!"

"Ienari-kun! Tsuna-kun!" Kyoko waved at the Sawada siblings, making the brunet paused for a moment from afar. Ken released Ienari immediately after hearing school idol's voice and replaced his indignant look with a teasing one as he nudged the blonde in the ribs.

"Hoho, yer princess's calling for ya~"

Tsuna raised a brow when he overheard through the commotion of the gym and if his eye sight was still 20/20, then that was a blush on Ienari's face. (He also offhandedly noted that Ken's attention span was pitiably short.)

"S-shes not...!" Ienari tried to refute before he was taken aback by how fast Kyoko and the others had arrived. "K-Kyoko!"

Well, Tsuna blinked, his theory had just been confirmed. If his younger brother wasn't crushing on Sasagawa Kyoko, then he didn't know what it was. Though... the brunet couldn't blame his brother since he, himself, had been even more of a bumbling buffoon when he had a crush on said school idol. He had gotten over it though, now seeing it as more of a puppy-love of the past than anything else.

... Perhaps it'll work out with Ienari.

I wonder... A faint smile made its way onto Tsuna's lips as he reminisce about the past, of a face that he hadn't dare bring up to the surface until now. Is she -

- And with a shake of his head to forcibly break himself out of his train of thoughts, he silently left the liveliness of the gym and headed home with a peace of mind.

The space around him was quite dark, with only a window high up on the walls, barred just like the dreary cell he was in.

Simply put, Kawahira, AKA the Administrator of the Trinisette, was imprisoned.

Well, that wasn't exactly a lie since he was in a cell somewhere underground. It wasn't like he couldn't get out, per se. He wasn't the Mist user for nothing - it was just that he didn't see the need to break out.

Besides, it's quite nice here actually. No one to bother him except for maybe the occasional visitor, though he does miss eating the ramen at the usual place in the small quaint town of Namimori. That being said, he would occasionally sneak out to buy a bowl of said ramen before coming right back.

And so, Kawahira sat in the middle of the room, enjoying his daily meal that he had bought as if it was a normal occurrence to break out of prison, buy ramen, and come back - to be honest, it really was. No one could stop him from doing so, and he seemed to take delight instead, at the annoyed expression on the person who had 'imprisoned' him here in this godforsaken dungeon somewhere in Italy.

"You..."

Kawahira ignored the man outside of his cell in favor of savoring the taste of ramen broth instead.

"You really do get on my nerves."

"Likewise," Mist user rebutted tersely as he set the now empty bowl on the floor. "You humans do not have the powers to confine me so is it not enough that I return to this wretched place whenever I go out?"

"Tch," The man clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Mark my words, I will get it out of you."

"Oh?" Kawahira returned, amused. "The little amount of power currently in your hands does not rightfully belong to you. What makes you, mere humans, think you have the right to access my knowledge?"

"The fact that we were able to capture you in the first place!" The man slammed his fists against the bars but Kawahira was less than intimidated by that show of strength.

"That was an error on my part," Kawahira answered coolly. "I have to commend your men for being able to turn the Non-Trinisette radiation against me; however, that was a one-time occurrence. I'm only staying here because I see no reason to leave."

"What."

Kawahira's eyes narrowed ever-so slightly. "Your greed can only carry you so far."

"... so what? What do you know?" The man snark back.

"Only the Will of the Trinisette I'm afraid." Kawahira admitted, deciding to entertain the man. "Your goal is Vongola, but you'll find yourself in a pinch sooner or later."

"Really?" The man laughed mockingly and walked away, not before adding, "Let's see how those Clams can protect themselves this time then."

Kawahira remained silent even as the echo of the wretched laughter bounced around his cell. It was only when peace returned that the Administrator let out a long sigh, then a frown.

"... The Laws are becoming unstable."

"Huff... huff..." Dread lingered around him as the person leaned against a tree to catch his breath, his eyes darting everywhere as if making sure that danger wasn't looking around the corner. In his situation though, it probably was.

His ears were pondering in tune with his heart, and his eyes bloodshot from the lack of sleep, but he didn't care. He couldn't care.

He couldn't linger for too long, he knew, he couldn't stop now or - or everyone's effort would be wasted. He gritted his teeth and pushed on even though his stamina has long reached a new low. Each step he took weighted like a boulder, the sign that fatigue was finally taking it's toll but -

Rustle...

- He couldn't bring up enough energy to gasp. Instead he made a turn around the bend and - and light streamed through the forest that he was in. He closed his eyes for a moment, to shield from the brightness before he slowed to a stop.

He looked on, seeing the world below him as he came upon the edge of a cliff.

Damn. He silently mumbled a curse. He was trapped now, and this time, he couldn't fight his way out.

He tossed a look back to the forest that he came out of, eyes a mix of dread and a certain decision. He returned his gaze back to the view that the cliff gave him and swallowed in a deep breath.

He won't let them get him, he decided, nerves steeling as he took steady steps towards the edge. Regret and unwillingness how things turned out flashed briefly across his eyes before they became hollow - lifeless. His family, they had done so - so - much to make sure he escaped the pursuit, but in the end, it was still useless. He was useless - uselessuselessuseless - because he was supposed to have protected them, not the other way around. (Whywhywhy -?!) But it was all too late now.

Well, He thought, a foot now tittering on the edge, making a few rocks beneath his feet crumble. If he was going down, he wasn't going to let it be by their hands.

With that in mind and a look of utter hatred towards the pursuers that were just coming into sight -

Whoosh!

- he jumped.

His last wish was that someone would put those b*****ds in their place.

.

.

.

Crimson eyes opened steadily when they should've been forever closed, and a flame ignited.

Tsuna's Intuition was giving him a warning again and it was getting more and more frequent in the past few days; the steady thrumming getting louder and louder, cautioning him of the future to come. (There was something else as well, but he couldn't pinpoint what exactly.)

"Hey - um... Tsuna?"

The brunet stopped massage his temple and direct his attention towards the speaker. "What is it." He didn't mean to sound a little impatient, but it was too late when his brother flinched.

He sighed, kneading his forehead with his hand. "Sorry, I have... something on my mind." He frowned and shot another glance at the blonde. "Don't you sense it?"

Ienari stared blankly at the answer.

"... never mind." Tsuna sighed. "So, what do you need, Ienari-kun?"

"Oh, um..." There was Ienari's awkward side again. "I was wondering... if you - maybe want to..."

The brunet raised a brow, somewhat amused when Ienari started to mumble. The blonde was then given a jab in the sides by Yamamoto as a gesture of encouragement - wait, Tsuna was cornered. The window was to his left and Ienari was standing to his right with Gokudera and Yamamoto to his right and left respectively while Dokuro was... was waiting expectantly two desks away - blocking the aisle.

Wow, Tsuna was amazed, wondering if they had planned this or something. But it wasn't like he was going to up and walk away... okay, maybe he might have done that just for the sake of a peace of mind. (He really needed one after the Vice Captain of the basketball team making the jump on him every chance he gets and Tsuna gets throttled every single time that he refused to join the team. It was, in Tsuna's opinion, almost as worse than the times Ryohei hunt him down for the boxing club... at least Daisuke was present every single time to stop Ken from going too far.)

"So, uh..." Ienari mumbled again.

"Sorry, what was that?" Tsuna said, masking his mirth with an innocent face.

The blonde took a deep breath and tried again. "Do. You. Want. To. Eat. With. Us."

.

.

.

"... pffft." Tsuna raised a fist up against his mouth, but from the trembles of his shoulders, one could immediately tell that he wasn't trying hard enough to hide his laughter. He had to admit though, Ienari was getting there... (or maybe it was because Ken hounded the blonde to convince Tsuna as well.)

"W-what?" Ienari's ears burned red while Gokudera restrained himself to a quirk of a smile. However, compared to a laughing Yamamoto and the giggling Dokuro, the bomber was holding himself quite professionally.

"God, Ienari, you sounded like a girl trying to ask someone out." Tsuna couldn't help but make the comparison, which only embarrassed the blonde even more - and that only lead to Tsuna laughing again.

"Y-you called me Ienari again!" The blonde pointed out in surprised despite of his earlier predicament.

Tsuna calmed down within a matter of seconds before shooting a look that said it should be obvious. "Isn't it your name?"

"Uh... yeah." Ienari started to make random gestures. "But - but you usually add the '-kun' at the end."

Tsuna paused for a moment in thought before agreeing with a nod. "True, but anyways, sure." He shrugged. "It's not like I got anything else on my agenda."

Ienari light up like a disco ball at the brunet's answer.

"... you're really acting like a girl."

"... Shut up."

Tsuna chuckled as he stood up and ruffled the blonde's head like he had done to his younger surrogate siblings back in his world. "You're such a tsundere."

"Tsuna...!"The blonde sputtered indignantly.

"Ienari." Tsuna shot back he started to walk ahead. "It took you long enough to take that first baby step."

"... w-what?!" Ienari shouted after his brother, indignant at his words. "I-I'm not a baby!"

Tsuna ignored the blonde in favor of humming, though he had stopped just as he reached the stairs. He looked out the hallway window and suddenly, his Intuition blared.

"Tsuna?" Ienari asked, confused, but his face seemed to be twisted in discomfort. However, it was not as strong as what Tsuna was feeling - which was on par with being headbutted against a boulder but the brunet kept it under wrapped thanks to experience.

"Ienari," Tsuna turned towards the distracted blonde.

"Huh?"

"Move."

"Wha -" Tsuna had pushed his brother away abruptly before -

Bang!

- he was shot.

Time seemed to have slowed when Gokudera (who was behind) caught Ienari as he and those present watched with unmasked, unspoken horror - whydidn'tyouprotecthim?! - as the Tsuna fell onto one knee, holding the wound where the bullet - the bullet that was supposed to have been aimed at him - hewasshotbecasueallofyouwerecareless - tore through.

Just missing the heart.

No sound came from Tsuna, which was worrying - but from the raise and fall of his shoulders, they knew that Tsuna was still conscious and very much alive.

"T-Tsuna...?" Ienari called out, voice rasped and scared and worried and frozen and - Ohgodohgodohgod whatshouldwedowhatshouldwedowhatshouldwedo?!

Dripdripdrip - came the chant of the blood that seeped down Tsuna's arm and onto the ground. He kept his head down, trying to endure the searing pain of having his muscles torn right through, but when he saw the sight of red -so red like the ones that dyed their skin, ironthatreplacedtheirscent - his mind began to shut down.

He didn't hear anyone calling out to him, nor did he bother to notice the danger that his Intuition had been warning him about approaching them quickly. All he saw were memories - dead - They'realldead - Youcouldn'tsavethem - Why?WhywhywhYwHywhyWHY?!

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry..." He unconsciously chanted all too hysterically, oblivious to the flames that started to roar and the panic to come.

"Damn, I got the wrong target."

Kbzzt.

"Copycat, m'am, the snipe attempt failed."

Kbzzt.

"Tch, the men of your Famiglia are useless. Why did the Boss order me of all people to assist you guys?"

"..."

A sigh. "Fine, switch of tactics, tell the rest that we're making contact. Tell your boss to get his a** over here now or when I get to those kids..."

Kbzzt.

"... I-I'll relay the message m'am." Like hell would I tell him those exact words!

I just wanna say, I know nothing about basketball nor am I making a reference to KNB (Heck, I only found out about that anime recently). And Tsuna and parallel people are interacting more - and messing with them somewhat lol. Then we have some other scenes and whatnot and a hint of Kawahira's whereabouts!

Also, to lay it out bare... they're all straight, Ienari is just awkward okay? This ain't a yaoi fanfic... or a romance in general. There might be some romance in this but it probably wouldn't be related to Tsuna (Probaby.)

Happy reading! ~ヾ(＾∇＾)

P.S. I'm sorry for the cliffhanger.