Breaking Through to You

by AdaraLove

An 8059 fan-novelization. People who have been hurt by others hate to open themselves up to other people, and Gokudera Hayato is no exception. But can he resist letting his guard down around a stupid baseball-idiot, who only wants to be his friend?

36. The Seven Vongola Rings!

A/N: Hello again everyone! I want to thank all of you who bothered to review the last chapter. You guys really keep me going! These chapters are becoming more and more difficult to write, especially now that I'm getting into the action arcs.

Anyway, this is the start of the Varia Arc! Super excited! I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter! It will mainly be in Yama's POV but, from here on out, this chapter will mark the end of the one person POV's per chapter. The story is getting too complex to just keep to one person's point of view. It's bad enough that I'll be missing huge chunks of the actual story to begin with since both Yamamoto and Gokudera aren't around Tsuna at all times. Since Tsuna's the main character, the plot usually moves forward with him, and major important parts of the plot center on him as well. Because of that, I highly suggest that you readers take heed here, and actually brush up on the Varia Arc before starting this chapter. Or at least read the chapters or watch the episodes I suggest so you know what's completely going on, because Yamamoto and Gokudera won't get the complete details about the situation they're in like Tsuna will. If you're confident on what's going on regardless, or you really don't care, then you don't need to do that. I'm just saying that doing so might be helpful.

With that said, this chapter follows manga chapters 82-86 and corresponding anime episodes 34, 35, and the first half of 36. Now you're probably thinking that's a lot, but it's actually not. Yamamoto and Gokudera are probably only seen in 25% of those chapters at the most. Anyway, I hope that you guys will enjoy Yamamoto's view on things for the majority of this chapter. Gokudera's POV will be seen in the very last portion of this chapter, and it will be relatively short, but I'm adding it in anyway because it makes it easier on me to end this chapter on a manga chapter and not half way through it, you know? That said, again, from now on, there will be interchanging POV's from here onwards. So yeah, hopefully I can make it so it doesn't look too awkward.

Also, as usual, thanks again to my betareader GStorm59 for helping me edit this chapter!

The Seven Vongola Rings!

It had been a week since our first baseball game of the Fall Tournament, and it was now the third week in October. Sadly, even though we ended up winning our first game, and even our second later on in the week, our luck ran out as soon as our third game took place. We ended up facing last year's champions. Conveniently, most of the best players on that team had been, surprisingly, first years the year prior, so we ended up facing most of the previous champions, who were now second years. Since I was still rather out of shape from being excluded from major training due to the injuries I received during the Kokuyou Land excursion, and since our team wasn't as strong as it was last year, we weren't able to achieve a third victory. I was proud that we had at least given the previous champions a challenge, though, haha! They had barely won!

Either way, I was no longer required to do intensive training for games, and we had resumed regular club activities. This didn't give me extra time to mess around with my friends, though. It was that time in the school season where prep classes started up for every grade. For us second year middle school students, the prep courses weren't heavily required, but they did help us prepare for the aptitude tests we'd take in March at the end of the school year. Those tests would be used in the future during our third year by the school counselors to help them figure out what our best options for high school placement would be. The prep classes were after school during club activities, which I couldn't attend most of the time, but they did have whole day classes on Sundays for students who were in clubs. Also, the prep classes weren't something we were being forced to take. It was completely up to the students if they wanted to participate or not. Since my grades weren't the greatest (they were still good enough to keep me in club activities), my dad insisted that I at least go to the Sunday classes, which took away my only free day of the week. Tsuna was put into the same situation. Since he didn't have club activities, though, he could just take the hour long classes after school every day. His mother did force him to attend all of those classes during the school week but, since he was a great friend, Tsuna decided to sacrifice his Sundays as well so that we could suffer together. And, since Gokudera was always there to help Tsuna out, and he didn't have any club activities either, he took all of the prep courses as well, even though he was smart enough to test out of the second year by default.

Today was a Sunday, and therefore, I was dressed up in my fall uniform for school. A white, button-up shirt, blue tie, black vest, and black slacks. After a quick breakfast, I slipped on my tennis shoes and threw my school bag over my shoulder, holding onto the handle with one hand. With a parting call to my dad, I exited the sushi shop and started making my way towards Tsuna's. Naturally, I met Gokudera at the crossroads, and he greeted me with his usual irritated huff after I bestowed upon him my usual overly-cheery, "Good Morning!"

The two of us made small talk with relative ease; me complaining about going to school on a Sunday, and Gokudera chastising me for being in the situation because I was a baseball addicted moron. I couldn't exactly disagree with that, so I just laughed in amusement. After my laughing fit died down, Gokudera and I walked in stride in a relaxed fashion. It felt really nice. Usually when the two of us were alone, it was like walking on eggshells, or, to fit more to Gokudera's tastes, a field of explosive mines! Haha! But, lately, things had calmed down considerably between us, even though there were still moments Gokudera tried too hard to be angry with me for no apparent reason. Every time that happened, though, it made me even happier. It just went to show just how much things had changed between us after our fight against that Rokudo Mukuro guy.

We finally arrived at Tsuna's place. It only took a minute or so of waiting in companionable silence before Tsuna made his way out of the house with his school bag in tow. Gokudera and I called out a greeting at the same time, but looks of concern both marred our features moments later. Tsuna returned our greeting half-heartedly. Both his head and shoulders were sagging, as if something heavy weighed upon him. Gokudera and I glanced at each other out of the corner of our eyes, both of us sharing a look of worry as Tsuna joined us and we started walking towards school.

"What's the matter, Tenth?" Gokudera asked quietly, almost hesitantly as we made our way down the street.

"Yeah, it looks like something's bothering you," I commented in turn with a concerned frown.

"Well…it's just…" Tsuna started out before another sigh escaped him. He sounded both exhausted and uncertain. "My dad is finally coming back home after two years of being away…"

Wait! What?!

Eyes widening in shock, I glanced at Gokudera over Tsuna's still bowed head to see the other staring back at me with just as much surprise. Tsuna's father…I didn't even know that he still had one! It was hard for me to imagine someone wanting to divorce Tsuna's mother, so I had just assumed that Tsuna's father had passed away and that it was taboo to talk about him. Just like it was with my mother. Of course, no one had asked me about her, but I assumed that everyone was just being considerate.

"Oh," I finally exclaimed happily once I was able to find my voice again. It truly was great that Tsuna's father was actually coming back. I mean, he actually still had one, so that was wonderful! I don't know why he was away for so long, but maybe the three of them could be a happy family again? "That's good for you. Finally, your father is coming back."

"…Yeah…sort of,.." Tsuna sighed out uncomfortably, despite the happy smile I gave him.

"The Tenth's father is alive…" I overheard Gokudera mumble out loud to himself before he turned to face Tsuna with a look of pure excitement and determination. "The day he returns, I shall go and pay a visit!" He proclaimed overenthusiastically.

"No, no, it's fine!" Tsuna hastily insisted as he turned to face Gokudera as well. "You don't need to see such a random guy…"

"Hahaha…" I laughed out instinctively even though, in my mind, I found it strange that Tsuna would describe his father that way. "…What do you mean by random?"

I could see beads of sweat protrude along the side of Tsuna's face at my question, a disgruntled look crossing his features in turn.

"Since my childhood, anything he's done or said has been outrageous…" my brunet friend explained. "When I was little, he was rarely home. One time I asked him what he did for a living, but…he said, 'I go around the world and control the traffic in construction sites.'"

Gokudera and I just gawked at Tsuna as this bit of news sank it. He was right…that was weird…and very random. It didn't make a whole lot of sense, either, haha!

"Around…the world?" Gokudera asked in bewilderment, looking like he found such a profession hard to believe in.

"What a…wild guy…" I chuckled out, finding myself unable to really say anything else about the situation. It was hard to respond to. On the one hand, I could see where Tsuna was coming from, but on the other, I didn't want to believe that his father was a strange person without actually getting to meet him first.

"Isn't he suspicious…?" Tsuna insisted with earnest then as he glanced between Gokudera and me.

"N-no, it's not…" Gokudera stuttered out quickly, like he didn't want to believe that the father of the person he looked up to so endearingly was, in fact, suspicious and weird.

Tsuna didn't seem to hear him, though, or, if he did, he completely ignored him. Instead he continued on venting his frustrations about his estranged father.

"When I was little, I didn't get it, but now that I think about it, everything about him is strange," Tsuna complained, sounding more upset with every word that left his mouth. "And there's no reason for him to not come back even once for two whole years!" Tsuna frowned then and mumbled, "Even if a father like that comes back now…"

He sounded very put-off.

A loud sigh of depression left Tsuna's lips then, and my smaller friend bowed his head again in exhaustion. Oh man, this wasn't good. I needed to find a way to cheer Tsuna up! The last thing I wanted to see was one of my friends so troubled.

"Tenth…" Gokudera whispered out almost uselessly as he stared at our morose friend, looking like he wanted to cheer the other up but had no idea on how to do it. Yep, I definitely had to step in now.

"Hmm…" I hummed out in thought as I scratched at my chin. A small smile formed on my lips as soon as an idea came to me. "Hey," I exclaimed with a jovial chuckle as I stopped in my tracks and placed my hands behind my head in an easy-going fashion. "Want to go hang out somewhere right now?"

"Eh?!" Tsuna cried out in bewilderment as he and Gokudera stopped walking beside me, his eyes staring up into mine like I had just asked him to jump over the garden wall of the house down the street with the territorial Chihuahua. I never understood why Tsuna was terrified of that thing, haha!

"Nice idea, Baseball Freak!" Gokudera suddenly exclaimed energetically, causing me to do a double take. "Let's do that, Tenth!"

Gokudera was staring at a very confused and uncertain looking Tsuna now, but it still floored me that I had heard him…praise me…and openly for that matter…

"You shouldn't think about family stuff too much," Gokudera chuckled out then in an carefree fashion.

"Go…Gokudera-kun…."

Tsuna sounded equally uncertain with Gokudera's happy-go-lucky attitude at the moment, yet grateful for his kind words all the same. As for me, I was currently staring at Gokudera like he had grown an extra head.

"Besides," Gokudera brought up then with an overly enthusiastic smile that would put even mine to shame. "My family is far more messed up!" He chuckled out as he gave Tsuna a thumbs-up.

...Wow…

Tsuna was gawking at Gokudera with the most incredulous looking facial features imaginable. I wouldn't be surprised if I looked exactly the same. It was one thing to suspect that Gokudera had a difficult family upbringing, but to hear it confirmed in such a way was…well…very jarring…

Seeing Tsuna vigorously shake his head, as if to clear it or wake it up from its sudden shock, I schooled my own features into my usual up-beat smile as well. Gokudera, meanwhile, seemed completely oblivious to our reactions, just like he seemed oblivious to the absolutely crazy thing he had just said.

"But school…" Tsuna brought up then as an excuse. He had a point. We'd have to skip school if we were going to hang out somewhere.

"It's only preps today, right?" I reminded him with a kind smile. We were second year middle school students. Even though the prep classes were to help us for our tests in March, those tests weren't as important as our third year placement ones would be. That and missing one day of preps wasn't going to hurt.

"Yeah, and it's Sunday everywhere else in the world," Gokudera strangely agreed with me again like it was the easiest thing in the world to do. "We need a break at some time."

Gokudera's words suddenly gave me a burst of inspiration.

"Oh, since its Sunday, let's invite everyone to hang out with us, too!" I suggested with an eager smile.

A light frown replaced Gokudera's previously happy features, and his brows knitted together, giving him a deadpanned expression.

"Don't invite idiots," he grumbled out half-heartedly. Even though he didn't completely agree with me this time, it wasn't like he was saying no to the suggestion either. What a strange day this was, haha! I never thought I'd see the day that Gokudera would be openly working and agreeing with me. The elation I felt then was insurmountable. This was it. I had finally made a breakthrough!

Unable to wipe the elated smile from my face, I walked up to Gokudera while placing a hand on my hip.

"Oh?" I playfully questioned, my voice laced with a teasing tone and my eyes narrowed pointedly. "Don't invite idiots? Does that mean you don't think of me as one anymore?"

"W-what?!" Gokudera gawked at me, looking slightly ruffled at my quip. "What gave you that idea?"

"Well, you made it sound like everyone else was considered an idiot outside our three-man group," I answered with an overly pleased smile.

"T-that wasn't my intention!" Gokudera flustered out quickly as a noticeable blush started to dust his cheeks. "Only an idiot like you would think you were no longer considered an idiot! I only told you not to invite idiots because idiots attract their own kind!"

Warm, bubbly laughter rushed out of my mouth before I could suppress it.

"Then wouldn't that make you and Tsuna idiots, too?" I chuckled out with mirth.

Gokudera's eyes blew wide as he stared at me, his mouth completely agape and flapping uselessly with silent words unable to form. If this was an anime, I wouldn't be surprised if Gokudera's whole body turned to stone from the sheer realization of what he just said.

A light, airy chuckle resounded behind us, causing both Gokudera and I to turn and look. A pleased smile slipped onto my lips as I took in Tsuna's amused features.

"Sure, let's call everyone and hang out downtown," our smaller friend insisted with a grateful smile. I was only too happy to oblige. It seemed like both mine and Gokudera's suggestions had finally convinced Tsuna to forget about his family issues, if only for the moment.

Sending a pleased smile Gokudera's way (who was doing a double take between Tsuna and me, like his brain was desperately trying to catch up with everything going on), I brought my school bag down from over my shoulder and searched through it until I found my cellphone.

"Alright, I'll call everyone up and see who I can reach," I informed my two friends before I placed a hand on Gokudera's shoulder and leaned in so I could share some private words with him. "While I do that, how about you go and talk with Tsuna to keep him distracted. It looks like he's starting to come out of that depressive slump he was in, so let's keep it that way, right?"

My silver-haired companion just blinked at me a few times, like he was still trying to process everything going on, before he turned his head away from me and scoffed.

"Che! Don't tell me things I already know, Baseball Freak!"

A split second later, though, he was all smiles as he ran over to Tsuna and started talking up a storm about some interesting sci-fi show he saw on TV last night. I found myself smiling affectionately at Gokudera's retreating back before I turned my attention to my phone. Alright, it was time to start Operation Hooky!

---

"I told you not to invite idiots," Gokudera huffed out in great displeasure as he walked beside me. In turn, I gave him a smile of amusement.

"Hahi! Who are you calling idiots?!" Haru exclaimed indignantly as she glanced over her shoulder at us. She was wearing her brown hair up in its usual ponytail, and she was sporting an orange, short-sleeved, button-up shirt over a blue and white striped shirt, as well as faded blue jean capris and white sneakers. Sasagawa was walking beside her, wearing a cream colored, long-sleeved blouse with a large, white fringe at the bottom, as well as a knee-length, maroon colored skirt and red sneakers. Lambo and I-Pin were running beside them, giggling madly as they wondered on what stores they should visit. Tsuna walked beside the girls in front of us as well, with Fuuta beside him, who was wearing a pink hooded vest over a long-sleeved white shirt. He was also wearing blue jean capris and teal colored sneakers.

Besides that, the only other person who had joined our group on our little game of hooky was the Little Guy, who was wearing his usual suited attire and was sitting atop my right shoulder as we walked around. Apparently, the girls had run into Tsuna's mom when she had been traveling around the morning market booths with the kids and Bianchi-san. When I had called Haru and told her about what my group planned to do, the girls decided to stay behind with the kids while Tsuna's mom and Bianchi-san carried the groceries back home to prepare food for Tsuna's dad's arrival. I was actually very glad that Bianchi-san hadn't stuck around, or Gokudera would have been miserable.

After my talk with the girls, I had tried to call up Senpai next, since he was the only other person I could think of, but, unsurprisingly, I was unable to reach him. He was usually doing his morning laps around Namimori this early in the morning, so it wouldn't be surprising if he left his cellphone at home or if it was off entirely.

Well, either way, our group was large enough as it was. So after Tsuna, Gokudera and I dropped off our school bags back at home (I had to sneak mine in through the back door so my dad wouldn't catch me), we met up with everyone in the market area downtown. Now it was just a matter of figuring out what to do together.

"Hey, Tsuna," the Little Guy suddenly brought up from my shoulder, a strange gleam twinkling behind his black irises. "When we get back home, we'll study the portion you skipped in school today until you turn to goo."

"No goo, please!" Tsuna exclaimed in terror as he stopped in his tracks and turned around to face the Little Guy. As everyone came to a stop beside Tsuna, I couldn't help but chuckle at the Little Guy's antics and Tsuna's reaction, even though I knew that the toddler was probably serious about what he had just said. Still, it was so amusing to watch these two.

"I want to go to the arcade," Fuuta suggested eagerly then as he looked up at me and tugged at the hem of my school vest.

"Oh," I breathed out happily as I sent the tiny child a challenging smile. "You want a match against me?"

"I won't lose to you!" Gokudera's fiery voice suddenly exclaimed, as if I had been talking to him instead. As I glanced over my shoulder at him, I noticed that he was holding a fist before himself in determination and his eyes were dancing with a fierce challenge. Haha, well, in that case, I had two challengers to put in place then!

"Huh?" Sasagawa suddenly gasped out lightly. When I turned my attention towards her, both she and Haru were glancing around the area with looks of mild confusion on their faces. "Lambo-kun is missing."

"Ah!" Tsuna shouted out in realization as he desperately started scanning our surroundings for the cow-dressed child. "For real?!"

He didn't have to search for long. As soon as Tsuna turned completely around, a scream of surprise flew from his lips. As everyone turned to see what Tsuna was staring at, we all let out collective gasps of shock and amusement. We were all staring at the store front of the local pet store. Rows upon rows of small, cushioned, display cases (no bigger than a small analog TV) were set up in the large store window, and each contained a tiny animal looking for a new home. In one of the display cases before us, though, a tiny child in cow-printed footy pajamas was sleeping soundly with his fabric-covered thumb in his contented mouth.

"It suits him too perfectly!" Tsuna cried out incredulously as he gawked at the sight before him. I let out a hearty laugh in response as Gokudera let out an agreeable huff beside me.

"Maybe we should leave him there…" Gokudera mumbled under his breath.

As much as Gokudera probably wished that we could hand Lambo over to the pet adoption agency before us, Tsuna quickly ran inside to handle the owner of the store, who had just let out a cry of surprise upon noticing the human intruder in one of his display cases as he made his way over with a small rabbit. I guess Lambo had taken his spot, haha!

A moment later, Tsuna, Lambo and the owner of the pet shop walked out. With Lambo clasping onto Tsuna's pants leg, Tsuna continuously bowed before the pet shop owner and profusely apologized for Lambo's behavior. After the older man accepted my friend's apologies and made his way back into his shop, aggravation made itself known in Tsuna's voice.

"Geez, don't do stuff like that again, Lam…" He started to complain as he turned to glance down at the toddler beside him with an embarrassed blush on his face. Before Tsuna could finish his reprimand, though, Lambo was off and running across the street. He bypassed our whole group and made a beeline for a…underwear shop which had women's garments on display in the large window in front of the shop. Apparently there was a sale going on, but that's not why Lambo had rushed over.

Before any of us could stop him, Lambo slipped off a white bra with a floral design and lace in the shape of flowers decorating the top and strapped it to his head so that the cups covered his eyes.

"Eyeball Torpedo, fire!" He shouted out boisterously, followed by maniacal laughter.

"Ahh!" Tsuna screamed out in terror as he rushed towards Lambo, got on his knees, and clasped his hands together as his entire face turned crimson from embarrassment. Tears were starting to fall from his eyes. "Lambo-sama, please have mercy on me!" Tsuna begged earnestly before the guffawing toddler, who was still pretending that the bra currently blocking his eyes was still a magical pair of goggles that could shoot torpedoes because he constantly made shooting and exploding noises as he blindly aimed in every direction.

With more begging from Tsuna and an angry intervention from Gokudera, which somehow ended up with both he and Lambo stretching the bras between their hands like rubber bands and flinging them at each other in an epic shootout, the three of them were promptly kicked out of the store and banned for life. I had recorded the whole scene on my phone for my own personal amusement. There was just something special about Gokudera and Lambo screaming at each other in Italian as they flung bras at each other while Tsuna, the girls, and Fuuta screamed in horror in the background. I could tell that the Little Guy, who was still perched on my shoulder, was amused by the scene as well, because he asked me to send the video to him as soon as I had free time. Something told me that he wasn't going to use it as an amusing video to watch in his spare time, though. Haha….

Well, with a quick send of the video to the Little Guy, our group finally started walking towards the arcade. I couldn't stop myself from making quips at Gokudera the entire time, though; about how amazingly elastic bras apparently were, and that Gokudera somehow knew how to use them as a weapon of mass destruction. After one too many jokes about him probably practicing with his sister's bras and that his new nickname should be Bra Bomber Hayato, and after a massive struggle where an enraged and embarrassed Gokudera jumped onto my back and started strangling me in a choke hold while he screamed Italian expletives, we finally made it to the arcade. My throat was a little sore both from Gokudera's expert choke hold and from laughing through the entire scenario despite the lack of oxygen, but my spirits were more than high. That's because, as soon as we entered the arcade, Gokudera was challenging me to a duel on one of the shooter games. I don't think I had ever received as much attention from Gokudera as I had that very morning. It was both astounding and exhilarating at the same time, and I couldn't keep the huge smile off of my face.

As we made our way over to an arcade unit that used actual gun models to shoot at the screen, Fuuta tagged along with us, insisting that he played with me first since I had been the first to challenge him back on the street. Since he had a point, I played the first game with him to see who could score the most points. I had to admit that Fuuta was pretty decent, but, in the end, I had been playing games like this far longer than he had, so I won by experience alone. Next up, I finally challenged Gokudera to his duel. The atmosphere between us was crackling with energy, both of us tense and in dire game-mode, ready to take the other down as the tiny aliens popped on screen for us to shoot. No alien was left alive as Gokudera and I bombarded the screen with accurate shots. I had to admit, though, that Gokudera's accuracy was far better than mine. He'd always shoot the aliens clear through the middle of their head or heart, while I was able barely able to clip them anywhere. Either way, the aliens went down with one hit, but when it came to style points, Gokudera was definitely racking up more. When it came to pure reflexes, though, I was quicker. I was taking out more aliens then Gokudera was since I had such good reaction time, but would it be enough to keep up with the other's pinpoint accuracy?

Apparently, it was, because our match ended in a tie. Naturally, Gokudera wanted to go another round afterwards, because I'm sure he wouldn't settle for anything but a total victory over me. To my amazement, we tied yet again. I couldn't help but laugh at the situation.

"Wow, I guess in terms of skill, we're pretty even!"

"Like hell I'll accept that!" The irate teen beside me yelled out angrily as he dove through his pockets for more change to start another round.

"Eh?" I heard Fuuta whine beside me. "But you've both gotten to play two games when I've only played one! Can't I play the next round with you, Hayato-nii?"

Fuuta sent the most heart wrenching, puppy-dog eyes Gokudera's way that even the usually cold bomber couldn't resist.

"Fine," he huffed out in defeat before his jade-green eyes caught mine in a fiery burst of determination. "But don't think for a second that this is over, Baseball Freak!" He declared as he poked me in the chest with his fake gun. "I'll win and show the Tenth that I have more skill than you!"

"…But Tsuna isn't even watching…" I finally commented after I blinked at the other a few times in stupefaction. For emphasis, I even hitched a thumb over my shoulder to the chaos going on behind us. I've known for a while now that Tsuna was chasing Lambo around the arcade because the cow-dressed toddler had somehow been able to break off one of the mallets to the whack-a-mole game behind us and was now chasing I-Pin around with it and constantly calling her a squinty-eyed mole.

"Th-that doesn't matter!" Gokudera shouted out, looking rather ruffled and flustered as he growled up at me like a child not getting his way.

"…But that doesn't even make sense—"

"—Shut up and stop ruining my concentration!" Gokudera quickly interjected before he jabbed his coins into the slot on the arcade cabinet and started up the game. I just shook my head, smiled in amusement, and handed my gun over for Fuuta to use. Really, Gokudera? Was it so hard to admit that you just liked playing video games with me? Haha!

Gokudera easily managed to win against Fuuta in the end, but, before he could challenge me again, the rest of our group came over (Minus the Little Guy, who had run off somewhere). The girls had found some CDs by the karaoke section and wanted to check them out with everyone. Apparently they had some sampling headphones over there so that we could listen to some sample tracks. Finding the thought interesting, we all traveled over to the section the girls were talking about. I realized then that all the CDs for sale were by solo artists and groups just starting to get their foot in the door in the music industry. There was a poster above the display case of CDs, explaining that the music was recorded during their singing entertainment nights in the casino attached to the arcade. Haha, that was pretty cool!

Everyone was pretty interested in the CDs, and we spent quite a bit of time over there sampling the different artists. I didn't find any songs I particularly liked enough to buy, but the girls did. I think I even saw Gokudera eyeing a CD with a female artist playing on the piano. When he noticed me looking at him, though, he just huffed and acted disinterested in the CD. As soon as Gokudera was distracted by Tsuna, who had asked him for his opinion on a punk-rock group single he had just listened to, I slipped on the headphones and listened to the sample of the female artist and the piano. Hmm…she was just playing the piano…not really singing with it or anything. It sounded very pretty, but I quickly lost interest with it. Instrumental really wasn't my cup of tea unless words were there to give the song meaning. Who would have thought that someone like Gokudera would be into something as classy as that? He seemed more like a punk-rock kind of guy…but then again, I do remember him saying he grew up in a mansion and his father forced him to play the piano all the time…you'd think he'd hate the piano because of that, though, haha!

Just as I thought this, the Little Guy showed up (I still had no idea where he had been) and announced that he had found a photo booth on the other side of the arcade. At the mention of the photo booth, the girls got super excited and urged Tsuna that we should all take pictures together. Tsuna hesitantly agreed, seeming a little uncertain on getting his photo taken.

"Haha, this should be fun!" I commented then to ease whatever was troubling my smaller friend's thoughts. "Let's all get a picture with Tsuna, how about?"

"Eh? With me?" Tsuna gawked at me in surprise.

"Well, yeah," I stated in an obvious fashion as I placed my hands behind my head. "If it wasn't for you, all of us probably wouldn't have become friends, you know? So it makes sense that we'd all get separate group photos with you."

"Yeah, that's true!" Fuuta eagerly agreed with me. "I wouldn't have met such kind people that I can look up to if it wasn't for Tsuna-nii!"

I saw the Little Guy smirk at our current conversation, while Tsuna blushed a bit in embarrassment.

"It's decided then," the toddler spoke up with a note of finality in his voice. "We'll all take group photos with Tsuna. Three people should be able to fit into the booth at a time."

As the decision was made, even without Tsuna's actual consent, Gokudera suddenly jumped up beside me, his eyes shining with excitement as he stared pointedly at Tsuna, his hands clasped eagerly into fists in front of him.

"Great idea! Let's go and get our picture taken together, Tenth!"

I was a little surprised that Gokudera would be so eager over such a thing as pictures, but I soon figured out why. Apparently, even though the Little Guy had said that three people can fit into the photo booth at a time, Gokudera seemed of the mind that Tsuna and he would suffice for a photo together. Seeing as that would kind of mess up the flow of our three-man group pictures with Tsuna, since we had an even number of people to go in with him, and since I wanted a group picture of the three of us together, I quickly made my way into the photo booth after Gokudera dragged Tsuna in with him. Unsurprisingly, I was met my angry jade-green irises, and an irate voice.

"What the hell, Baseball Freak?! The Tenth and I are taking a photo together! Get out!"

"Eh? But three people can fit in a booth, right?" I questioned teasingly.

"So what!" Was Gokudera's snippy reply as he glared at me over Tsuna's head, who was sitting in between us.

"I don't see the problem, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna commented then as he placed in the right amount of money to boot up the photo booth. "It'll be nice to have a picture of the three of us, don't you think?"

Gokudera was silent for a moment as Tsuna inputted the format for a three person photo.

"…Sure, if that's what you want, Tenth," our silver-haired companion admitted in slight defeat. Despite the fact that he sound resigned to a three person photo now, I could feel his angered, bitter eyes glaring daggers at me as the countdown appeared on the screen. Just as the counter hit one, I brought up my pointer and index finger into a peace sign. With a resounded click of a shutter, our picture was taken. I could hear the printer within the booth boot up then as it prepared our photo.

Just as we stepped out of the booth, our photos finished printing. Tsuna had chosen to print out three of the same photo. He grabbed the pictures out of the print-out slot and smiled at them happily as he took the image in. It was then that he carefully folded one of the small pictures back before tearing it off. As he placed the small picture in his back pocket, he had just managed to hand me the remaining two photos before Fuuta grabbed onto his outstretched arm and drug him back into the photo booth with the Little Guy on their heels.

I chuckled at Tsuna's abrupt 'kidnapping' before I glanced down at the photos in my hand. A happy, affectionate smile spread across my lips as I took in the faces of my two closest friends. Tsuna was smiling that usual, small, innocent smile of his, while Gokudera was smiling wider than I was! I actually hadn't expected him to smile in the first place since he was so put off with me jumping into the booth with him. It really was rare to see him smile…well, actually, I was used to seeing this smile. This huge, elated smile he only reserved for when he was in Tsuna's company and eager to please him. Still, though, it was a wonderful smile all the same. I had always heard people saying that my smile was infectious, but I honestly think Gokudera's could be an equal contender.

"What the hell are you smiling for, Idiot?" I heard Gokudera growl out in annoyance. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I glanced up from the photos until my eyes met Gokudera's annoyed ones.

"Oh, I was just appreciating our picture," I chuckled out with a pleased smile. "It's pretty nice, see?"

As I said this, I folded one of the pictures back before tearing it off. Keeping one picture for myself, I then handed the last one to Gokudera, who swiped it out of my hands discourteously. He stared at the photo for a minute as Fuuta, the Little Guy and Tsuna came out to look at the photos they had just taken.

"The photo could be better," Gokudera commented off-handedly, irritation evident in his undertone as I saw Tsuna getting hauled into the photo booth again by Sasagawa and Haru out of the corner of my eye.

"Well, I still think it turned out better than I expected, haha!" I laughed out in amusement before I turned my attention back down to the tiny photo in my hand. "Besides, I think you have a really nice smile in this one."

"W-What the hell are you saying?!" Gokudera suddenly stuttered out on flustered breath.

I laughed at his reaction before I sent the other an affectionate smile.

"I meant what I said," I chuckled out. "You have a nice smile, and this picture shows it. Besides that, this is the first photo I have with just the three of us in it, so I really think it's a good photo."

A rosy tint flourished onto Gokudera's cheeks before he turned his head away from me in a huff.

"Che! Whatever!" He ground out before he decided to turn away from me. My smile only grew at the other's embarrassed attitude. Today had really been a good day for us. Gokudera had paid so much more attention to me than he usually did, and I got to spend so much quality time with him today. For the first time in a very long time, I truly felt that we were actually growing closer. Just that thought alone sent my heart soaring with vigorous energy. I felt light as a feather, like I was floating on the clouds, and I couldn't wipe the huge smile I had on my face, even as Fuuta came up to me to show me his group picture with Tsuna and the Little Guy. It was a pretty decent photo, but I commented on it like it was the greatest thing I've seen in a while. I just felt so joyful and thankful for what I had been able to experience with Gokudera today that it was all rushing out of me, unable to be contained within my soaring heart.

After I had commented wholeheartedly on Fuuta's photo, I saw the sandy-haired child run up to Sasagawa and Kyoko, who had just come out of the photo booth with Tsuna and the other kids (I guess Lambo and I-Pin had decided to photo bomb them, haha). I smiled serenely at the scene as Fuuta excitedly showed his photo to the girls, eager for their comments to be just like mine. As I turned my gaze back to Gokudera, though, I could feel a sudden uneasy feeling in my gut. The silver-haired teen's back was facing me at an angle, so I could see that he was still holding onto his group photo in one of his hands and that he was staring down at it. It was then, right before my eyes, I saw him grab the right side of the photo, right where my face was and fold it back so that only he and Tsuna could be seen in the photo then. I felt my heart clench painfully and my breath hitch like the wind had suddenly been knocked out of me. My body no longer felt like it was soaring on cloud nine. It felt more like I was plummeting back down to earth at top speed as reality set back in.

…I…I had been too hopeful…hadn't I…?

My gut wrenched queasily as I saw Gokudera pause while he stared at the photo, before he slipped it into the pocket of his school pants without a second thought. When I noticed the other starting to turn around to face our group again, I had to quickly turn my face away, not wanting the other to see how hurt I actually felt by his actions. I really had been overly eager to think that we could be friends just like that. Things were changing between us for sure, but it was still quite a ways off before Gokudera would even get to the stage where he'd actually admit to the fact…if he ever did.

As these thoughts ran through my head, I suddenly heard Lambo telling Tsuna that he was thirsty and that he wanted a drink. There was a small vending machine area across the street from the arcade since the arcade didn't allow beverages inside for the sake of keeping the floors clean and the electrical appliances safe from spills that were bound to happen. That's where Tsuna decided he was going to take Lambo.

With a wave and a small statement that he'd be back in a bit, Tsuna left with the eager toddler in tow. Shortly after their departure, I-Pin stated that she was thirsty, too. Sasagawa then offered to take her across the street as well, and the two of them left our group. Shortly after they left, the Little Guy announced that he was going down the street to purchase some coffee at a café. Normally, I would find it amusing that a toddler would be drinking coffee, but I really couldn't find it within myself to even smile at the thought at the moment.

Since no one else wanted to grab coffee, the Little Guy left, leaving just Haru, Fuuta, Gokudera and me to wonder on what to do next. It was then that Fuuta grabbed onto Haru's arm and begged her to go and play DDR with him. With squeals of excitement, the two were off, leaving Gokudera and me by ourselves. I honestly didn't know how to feel about that at the moment, especially since I couldn't bring myself to look Gokudera in the eyes like I usually could.

"Hey, Baseball Freak," Gokudera called out to me then, sounding stubbornly irritable for the most part, but I could detect a hint of excitement brewing underneath his tone. "We haven't officially finished our duel. I still haven't beaten you yet."

I was silent for a moment as I glanced at the other out of the corner of my eye, still not fully making eye contact but still able to notice the determined glare the other was sending my way and how he held his fist before him in silent anticipation.

"Heh…I guess you're right…" I offered weakly, remembering that Gokudera and I had only been able to tie before Fuuta jumped in between our duel.

"Let's forget about the shooting game and try a fighting game instead," Gokudera suggested then with a mischievous smirk, looking very much like he had a trick up his sleeve. "I bet I can beat you at Street Fighter."

Even though I could see that Gokudera was trying to engage me, I knew now that it was only for his own pride's sake. He just wanted to best me at something, and that was it. In truth, I subconsciously knew that's what it was from the beginning, but the overly hopeful side of my brain had wanted to think differently, that maybe Gokudera honestly enjoyed spending time with me now. What an idiot I was. Gokudera truly knew how to call it as he saw it.

"…Sorry, don't really feel up for it anymore…" I mumbled out sadly, averting my gaze completely. Letting out a tired sigh afterwards, I stated, "I'm going to go watch the others," before I left Gokudera to gawk at my retreating back.

As I approached Haru and Fuuta's forms (they were just starting up their dancing game), I made them aware of my presence but kept my distance. I tried to look supportive and entertained by their antics (Haru was a total spaz on the dancing platform as she tried to match her foot steps to the arrows running down the screen, and Fuuta was bad at timing and trying too hard to make his dance moves flashy) but my heart wasn't in it. All I could hope for was that no one would notice that my smile wasn't truly reaching my eyes because I wasn't sure how I could explain my sudden morose attitude. After all, telling someone that I was upset Gokudera still didn't like me as a friend (or even as an acquaintance for that matter) after nearly two years of attempting sounded a bit pathetic.

Getting lost in my thoughts, I almost didn't notice someone come to stand beside me until I heard a disgruntled scoff. Jumping a little at the noise, I quickly turned my head to the right and slightly downwards to see Gokudera standing beside me with an incredulous look on his face. He was staring point blank at Haru's and Fuuta's dancing forms.

"…What the fuck am I even looking at right now…?" He questioned out loud in a strange mixture of awe and horror.

I couldn't help it then. Even though I was very upset with the other, his tone mixed with the expression on his face was too much for me to take, and I ended up letting out a small chuckle of amusement.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad, isn't it?" I hummed out affectionately as I watched Haru and Fuuta completely mess up another round of combos, which ended with Haru falling off the dance platform completely and into a crowd of scandalized looking people while Fuuta lost his balance and fell backwards, hitting the dance bar behind him with enough momentum to flip him over and face plant onto the floor.

"Che! I bet anyone can dance better than those two," Gokudera sighed out as he shook his head in disappointment at the image before him. By this point, Haru was apologizing profusely to the group of people she fell into and I honestly think Fuuta was playing dead out of embarrassment, because his ears were turning bright red but he refused to get up or remove his face from the carpet.

"Haha, even you?" I questioned in good humor, easily falling back into my usual role of teasing.

"What the hell is that even supposed to mean?!" Gokudera yelled at me, sounding more than offended by my insinuation. "I can dance!"

"Suuuure," I slurred out in feigned disbelief. "Somehow I can't imagine you dancing."

"Che! Well the same goes for you, Baseball Freak!" Gokudera pointed out as he jabbed a finger antagonistically into my chest. "I bet you have no rhythm whatsoever!"

"Want to put that to the test?" I suggested teasingly as I nodded my head towards the DDR machines, which everyone was giving a wide berth at this point because Haru was trying to coax Fuuta off of the floor.

Gokudera just scoffed at me, looking conflicted with himself on whether he should be annoyed or amused.

"So you'd rather embarrass yourself by playing a dancing game with me then challenging me to a fighting game? You make absolutely no sense…"

I just rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. He had a point. Because of my disheartened attitude, my actions now came off as me just wanting to play something else.

"Well…" I started out hesitantly as I tried to figure out what I actually wanted to say. Did I want to explain my previous behavior or come up with a lie on the spot as to why my attitude had changed so quickly? "I don't know…" I laughed out a second later in slight defeat. Man, I really had no idea where to go from here…

Gokudera just scoffed again before he rolled his eyes at me.

"Fine, whatever, I don't really care what we do as long as I can beat you in the end—which I will!" He added quickly before he turned his back to me and started to walk towards the DDR machines. "Talk about mood swings…"

That last bit was mumbled under Gokudera's breath, but I had heard it all the same. He had obviously caught on to my strange behavior, but he wasn't going to pry into it. I didn't know whether to be thankful for that, or even more hurt that he truly didn't care as to why I had acted the way I did.

Shaking my head to clear my troubled thoughts, I started to follow after Gokudera, but, before I could get too far, I heard a deafening bang, followed by the shattering of glass and the screams of startled people. Whipping my head to the right, I noticed that the roof over the entrance to the arcade had been destroyed. Pieces of tiling and mortar littered the entry area, along with broken glass from the sliding entrance doors. What just happened?!

"What the fuck?!" Gokudera screamed in a startled fashion as he ran up to my side. As I turned to stare into his confused, green orbs, a single thought crossed my mind. That explosion happened outside where Tsuna, Sasagawa, and the kids were.

It seemed that Gokudera was thinking the same way, because, mere seconds later, a look of determination flitted across his face. I felt my brows knit in determination as well as I silently nodded at the other in understanding. We had to check to make sure Tsuna and the others were alright.

The two of us started running for the broken doorway, Haru and Fuuta calling after us in worry.

"Stay here!" I called back over my shoulder. "We're going to check on the others!"

Running easily through the broken doorway and jumping over the fallen debris of the destroyed entryway, Gokudera and I made it into the panic-stricken street. People were running away from the area. Taking note of where they were running from, I noticed the little, outside sitting area down the street from the arcade where vending machines were set up. My eyes automatically came to rest on the only stationary people in the area, their appearances recognizable even with the distance between us. Tsuna was laid sprawled out on his back upon the pavement with Sasagawa and the kids hovering over him. I could also see a random person I didn't recognize hovering over Tsuna as well, the person's back facing towards me so that I couldn't see their face. From what I could tell, though, the person was wearing what looked like a black, long-sleeved suit jacket with a white collar popped up over it, but he was also wearing teal colored jeans that had silver chains looped around his sides. The person's hair was also a sandy blond color, about a shade darker than Fuuta's, and was styled in a way so that it looked like it framed the person's face for the most part, but the ends swooped slightly outwards. The hairstyle was kind of girly, now that I looked closer…

My confusion to the mysterious person's true identity was cut short, though, when I saw Gokudera rush away from me towards Tsuna's fallen body. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, my mind finally focused on the more important thing at hand; making sure that Tsuna was okay.

"Tenth!" Gokudera called out in worry as I ran after him and easily caught up.

"Are you okay, Tsuna?!"

I could see that my friend was finally starting to stir from his resting place on the brick-laden sidewalk. Gokudera and I came to a stop before our friend just in time to see Tsuna weakly try to push himself up off the ground and for the mysterious person to come to his aid, gently grabbing hold of one of his shoulders and arms as if to try and pull him up with him. It was here that I noticed that…well…I think I was looking at a guy! He had very feminine features, so at first I thought I was looking at a girl, but the other's Adam's apple gave his true gender away. He looked more boyish, like Tsuna and Fuuta did, so it made me wonder if he had gone through puberty yet. Judging by his height, he looked to be around the same age as us. I also noticed that he was wearing a white-buttoned up shirt underneath his black suit jacket, and that it was buttoned up most of the way with a red shirt peeking out from underneath. I only paid attention to his clothes for a second, though, because my eyes found something far more intriguing about the mystery guy that was helping Tsuna. He had piercing blue eyes. Matching it with the color of his hair, the shape of his blue eyes, his fair complexion, and the fact his face was structured in a similar way to Gokudera's and Bianchi's, I realized I was staring at a foreigner; possibly another Italian. Not only that, but the mystery, foreigner guy had a calming, yet fierce looking blue flame emanating from his forehead. My eyes widened in shock at this realization. It looked like the very same flame Tsuna often sported after taking a Dying Will Bullet! The only difference was the color…

"Vooooiiiii!"

I almost jumped at the suddenly loud call above us. It had almost sounded like the snarl of a wild animal, ready to sink its teeth into its next victim.

Quickly forgetting my previous thoughts, I glanced up to see a tall man standing on top of the only remaining standing portion of the ruined roof of the arcade's entryway. A small frown etched itself onto my face and my eyes narrowed tentatively in scrutiny as I took in the imposing image of the man. The hairs on the back of my neck were raised in high alert, and I could feel such a strong predatory vibe emanating from the older man that all of my muscles automatically stiffened as my eyes took him in, preparing for any sudden movements the older man might make. I could tell this newcomer was a foreigner as well, if the over-embellished pronunciation of a very common word was anything to go by. He was clad entirely in a black trench coat, pants, gloves and boots, which were laced up the front. Silver buttons aligned the left side of his torso where the trench coat was done up. The trench coat ended just beyond his waist, which was also clad with a black belt with a silver, octagon-shaped buckle wrapped over the trench coat. The trench coat also had a red and gold shield-shaped pendent along the left side a few centimeters above the belt, and there was a small, silver chain connected from one end of the trench coat's huge popped collar to the back of his neck, making the silver chain loop across his right shoulder. The most distinctive features of the taller man, though, was the mid-length European looking sword taped to the back of his left wrist and the long, flowing, silver locks of hair that reached down to his waist. I had never seen a guy wear his hair so long!

"What's this?" The older man hissed out with an excited sneer. "There's outsiders parading around. I'll slice up any trash that gets in my way!"

"Huh?!" Gokudera growled out lowly as he defiantly glared up at the blood-thirsty man. I stood warily beside him, ready at any moment for the dangerous man to leap at us and enact what he had just said.

"Wha-what's going on?" Tsuna fearfully hissed out in slight plain as he finally sat upright with the mysterious boy's help.

"…This forebodes a coming storm…" I heard the Little Guy mumble under his breath behind me.

"Shut up!" The tall, mysterious man shouted out before he slashed his sword so quickly through the air that I almost missed the motion itself. Even though I could hardly see what happened, I definitely felt the effects. A huge, slicing gust of wind hit the area we were standing in, sending patio tables and chairs flying down the street as the asphalt cracked around us, sending dust into the air. Even more people were screaming and running away now, even those inside the arcade, which the mysterious man was still standing on.

"What's with that person?!" Tsuna squeaked in fear as we all gawked up at the dangerous man through the settling dust. "He's serious trouble!"

"Women and children should flee this place," I heard the Little Guy bring up. When I glanced his way, I could see him addressing a very terrified looking Sasagawa, I-Pin and Lambo, the toddlers huddled behind her and trembling in fear.

"Reborn-kun…!" Sasagawa mumbled out uncertainly as the mysterious guy continued to attack the air itself, sending more dust flying our way and causing everyone to cough as it entered our lungs. The Little Guy had a point. Sasagawa needed to take the kids, find Haru and Fuuta, and get out of here as quickly as possible!

"My apologies, Lord Sawada," I heard a new, light, boyish voice bring up then. When I turned to face the direction the voice had come from, my eyes came to rest on the mysterious boy with the blue flame still emanating from his forehead.

"Eh?!" Tsuna gasped out in a startled fashion, either because he hadn't heard the boy talk before, or because he hadn't expected to be addressed in such a manner. I was surprised as well! Who called someone a 'lord' nowadays? He was kind of talking like he was out of the Edo period, haha!

"I was followed…" The mysterious boy apologized again by stating his circumstances as he turned to face Tsuna. So had he been fighting that tall, silvery-haired guy earlier? Now that I looked closer, the boy's clothes and skin looked scuffed and dirty.

"Ahh!" Tsuna suddenly called out in realization when his eyes met the new boy's apologetic orbs. "The thing on your head is…"

Was he just noticing that the new guy had a Dying Will Flame, too?

"I just met thee…" The mysterious kid interrupted then, like he hadn't realized that Tsuna was talking to him. "…yet I've already dragged thee into such a dangerous situation…"

"Eh?" Tsuna gasped out in astonishment, either because he was just as taken aback by this kid's super old-school dialect or because the kid was apologizing to him for the older, mysterious guy's actions. "U…Um…who are you?!" Tsuna finally questioned what was on everybody's mind.

But the mysterious boy didn't bother to answer my smaller friend's questions. Instead, he abruptly jumped to his feet, grabbed hold of one of Tsuna's wrists, and pulled the other hastily into a standing position.

"Please come with me!" He shouted out in a rush as he quickly turned away from all of us and started running away with a completely startled Tsuna in tow, who was barely keeping up with the boy dragging him.

Gokudera and I both jumped up at the mysterious boy's actions in surprise. Just what was going on? How did this guy know about Tsuna when Tsuna didn't know him in return? Why was he speaking like he was from the Edo period? And what connection did he have with the feral, long-haired guy attacking us?

"Hey, where are you taking the Tenth?!" Gokudera raged at the mysterious boy's and Tsuna's retreating backs.

"Tsuna!" I called out afterwards, hoping that my friend would have enough strength to get out of the mysterious boy's hold until we knew if we could fully trust him or not, but it seemed like my friend couldn't do so with the pace the other boy was running at. Before Gokudera and I could so much as think about running after them, the two prepubescent teens turned the corner of the closest building beside us and disappeared from view.

That wasn't the only thing, either. I heard the long-haired guy howl out an uproarious 'Voooooi!' before he leapt high into the air until his feet hit the roof of the building next to the arcade (which was a good few stories higher) and gave chase after Tsuna and the mysterious boy. I could feel my heartbeat quicken in fear. That crazy guy was going directly after my friend! I had to stop this somehow, but what could I do?! I hadn't brought my bat with me! What a day to be careless!

"I'll get the girls and kids to safety," I heard the Little Guy pipe up in a serious tone. "You two should protect Tsuna."

"Of course!" Gokudera nodded fervently with blazing determination in his eyes as the Little Guy, Sasagawa, and the toddlers ran off towards the arcade to find Haru and Fuuta. I felt so lost in that moment, though. How could I protect Tsuna against a swordsman without an actual weapon? I'd be more than useless!

It was then that I finally felt the strange weight pressed against my leg. Glancing downward in confusion, I saw my special shapeshifting bat leaning up against my leg like it had been there the entire time! What strange luck! How did this get here, though?

Sadly, I didn't have time to truly contemplate the question. Gokudera was already taking off in the direction that we had last seen Tsuna. I had to catch up and help out!

Pushing whatever thoughts I had to the back of my mind, I grabbed my trusty bat, the heavy weight of it familiar and comforting to my fast beating heart, and ran to catch up with Gokudera.

I had just reached the corner of the tall building Tsuna had disappeared behind when Gokudera let loose a volley of fireworks. I was barely able to take in the image of the mysterious boy hanging half way out of the glass siding along the building, and the long-haired guy standing threateningly in front of a terrified Tsuna before Gokudera's explosives went off, right where our silver-haired nemesis had been standing.

Had,being the main word.

The split second before Gokudera's fireworks went off, the long-haired guy glanced up at the approaching explosives before jumping high into the air. His jump brought him over the explosions and the large plume of smoke they created before his feet met with the side of the glass-covered building. Jumping off of that a second later, the long-haired guy landed somewhere behind the large plume of smoke where he was obstructed from view.

"What the?" The long-haired man growled out in slight confusion as the smoke began to clear. Before it could disappear completely, though, I swung my bat as fast as I could so that it transformed into its sword form. I then rested the dull side of the blade against my right shoulder in a relaxed fashion, while I placed my free hand in the pocket of my school pants. I could see that Gokudera's left hand contained four firework sticks at the ready, while his right hand rested within his pants pocket as well. A lit cigarette hung limply at the side of his scowling mouth. I could feel my features harden as well in response. This opponent was going to be more challenging than the ones we had faced before. I could just tell.

When the smoke finally cleared, I could see that the long-haired man had landed in the middle of the street a short ways from Tsuna. He was still in a crouched position from his landing, his back facing us with his right hand placed upon the ground and his sword arm propped outwards. I could tell that he was choosing to analyze the situation instead of jumping right into battle by his posture. He was tense and ready for us to attack at any moment. I had to admit that he was gutsy for refusing to turn around, though.

"Lay a hand on that person and I won't let you go free," Gokudera gave a warning then, his voice cool and collected, yet containing an underlying fire to back up his threat. I noticed that he hadn't referred to Tsuna as 'the Tenth' though, which made me wonder if he had refused to say it on purpose. Was this guy possibly involved with the mafia roleplaying game as well? It was totally possible, considering how battle ready the older man was and the fact that the mysterious teen from earlier seemed to recognize Tsuna. Maybe it was best to keep our friend's title under wraps in order to protect him, which we hadn't been able to do during our fight with Mukuro and his gang.

"Yeah, what he said," I stated lowly with narrowed eyes. "I'll be your opponent instead."

"Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto!" Tsuna cried out in tear-filled glee alongside the building. It looked like Gokudera's fireworks hadn't hurt Tsuna, despite their close proximity to him. Gokudera truly had amazing aim, haha!

Tsuna was staring so hopefully at us then, that I couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. It was very strange that I was even standing here with my weapon in the first place, after all.

"Somehow my bat was beside me even when I didn't bring it with in the first place," I chuckled out a quick, amused explanation, in case my two friends were wondering where I had even gotten my weapon. Tsuna and Gokudera just sent me quick, deadpanned expressions before focusing back on the long-haired guy. Oh come on guys, you had to admit it was strange yet funny that it happened! Man, you guys were no fun…

"So you guys are also related in some way, eh?" The long-haired man questioned menacingly as he finally stood up and turned around to face Gokudera and me. "I don't get what's going on here, but I'll tell you something I know for sure…" A cocky, predatory smirk appeared on the older man's face then. "…If you go against me, you'll die!"

"Right back at you," Gokudera stated coolly in response as he got into a battle stance. Before he could get ahead of himself, though, I stepped in front of him, my sword held out defensively in front of us.

"That's a sword that he has, right?" I stated more than questioned, my tone deadly serious. "I said that I'd be his opponent."

After all, swordsmen should fight swordsmen. I'm pretty sure that was the code for whenever two of them met, they'd test their skills on each other or something. That's how it always was in the movies and anime.

"Please don't!" I heard the mysterious boy from earlier cry out in fear. When I quickly glanced the way the voice had come from, I saw that the mysterious boy was standing next to Tsuna now, his whole body covered in cuts and imbedded glass from the panel he had been smashed through earlier. He was hunched over slightly, one hand pressed up against a still intact glass panel alongside the building as a means of support while his other arm wrapped around his heavily damaged torso. The blue flame on his forehead was still burning strong, though. "He isn't a man thou can win against!"

"Hm?" Gokudera questioned lightly in contemplation as a feeling of notable dread overcame me.

"No way…" Tsuna whispered out in dismay, the hope in his eyes dying away to be replaced with hopelessness. I couldn't let that happen. Even if that random teen told me I was no match for the other guy, I couldn't just stand by and watch him hurt my friend. I said I would challenge him, so I'd challenge him!

"It's too late to regret!" The long-haired man roared out as he charged toward me, his sword at the ready.

"Let's go!" I shouted out in response a second later as I charged forward as well. Regret was the furthest thing from my mind. All I wanted to do was protect my friends and win.

Placing both hands on the hilt of my sword, I swung it forward to meet the older man's blade. The resounding ting of metal upon metal resonated through the air as our blades met. It was strange how strong the other was pushing against me, despite the fact that the sword itself was just strapped to the back of his wrist and he wasn't holding the hilt at all. With a loud battle cry, I pushed upwards with my feet, my hands following suit. With that extra push I was able to deflect the older man's sword upwards, causing my long-haired nemesis to jump back with a knowing smirk on his face.

"Your sword skills…" He brought up cockily as he landed back on the ground. "You haven't been formally trained, have you?"

"What of it?!" I shouted back at him. I had been able to defeat opponents beforehand without proper training, so why would this be any different? My instincts were good enough on their own, and that's why I had been able to survive so far.

"You're too easy!" He cried out triumphantly in answer as he dashed back towards me at an almost impossible speed. I had barely brought my sword back up in front of my face in time to block as he swung his sword down at me. Our blades clanged together again, and a massive, powerful vibration traveled down from the metal, into my arms, and down my spine until it reached the tips of my toes. My knees almost buckled by the sheer force of the blow, but through shear will I managed to stay upright and push back against the other's sword with all of my strength, just to keep the opponents sharp blade at bay.

That was when the unexpected happened.

Before my disbelieving eyes, small, square shaped bits of sword flew out at me along the side of the European blade that was pressed up against my katana. I was barely able to move my head to the side in time to dodge the up-close shrapnel, the small bits of sword almost nicking me as they flew past. For a split second, I thought I had literally dodged the attack and didn't take any damage, but that's when the explosions happened. I cried out in agony as the shockwave of the explosions hit me, fire and smoke hitting me directly at close range. Shit! Those bits of sword had actually been explosives! It was any wonder that the long-haired guy's sword didn't explode the moment it hit anything! How did that even work?!

My thoughts were abruptly cut short then as the pain from the explosions overwhelmed me. My whole body felt charred, everything hurt, and it was hard to keep my mind focused as I stumbled weakly away from my opponent. Before I could even fathom what was actually going on, I felt my body hit the pavement at full force, my head reeling from a sharp blow to the back of my head as it smacked roughly against the ground. I felt like I was going to throw up. If this was what it felt like to be hit by an explosion, then I was going to make sure to be extra vigilante the next time Gokudera got trigger happy.

I could feel my consciousness start to leave me, as if my body wanted to shut itself off and reboot to ease the pain. My head was ringing fiercely from the harsh impact against the pavement and due to my close proximity to the explosion. All I could hear were distant, garbled, distorted sounds. I swore one of the sounds I heard was Tsuna screaming in fear and…I think I heard Gokudera let out a cry of rage at my defeat…but maybe that was just hopeful thinking on my part. I always tended to…do…that…

…

---

A low groan of pain left my lips the moment I regained consciousness again. My whole body felt stiff and a little too crispy for my liking. Hesitantly opening my eyes, I realized that I was still in the same spot where I had fallen earlier; in the middle of the street. But everything was eerily quiet. No passersby were running away from the area and screaming bloody murder, nor could I hear Tsuna's usual screams of terror, or that long-haired guy's feral 'voi's'. It was just…quiet. Too quiet.

With my fear overriding the slight pain I was still in, I pushed myself up into a sitting position. Quickly scanning my body, I noted that my school uniform was singed in places, along with my skin, but the burns weren't actually too bad. They just felt worse than they looked, but it was manageable.

With my wellbeing now out of the way, I took in my surroundings then. The buildings in the area were all damaged in some way, mainly showcasing broken windows, and the pavement in the surrounding area was torn up a bit in parts as well. It looked like a major battle had taken place.

It really was too quiet.

Feeling apprehension mount within me, I hurriedly glanced around, desperately looking for Tsuna or anyone familiar. That was when I saw the mass of familiar silver-hair and Namimori Middle School uniform laying a meter or so away from me.

"Gokudera!" I cried out in fear as I crawled over to the other as fast as I could. He was practically curled up into a ball with one of his arms hanging limply along his side and over his stomach. His eyes were closed and his face completely passive as he laid limply within the street. Upon further inspection, I could see that he didn't have any major wounds on him. Thankfully, I could also see his chest rising and falling at a steady beat. He was still alive and breathing…Just that thought filled me with so much relief I momentarily felt lost on what to do. Shaking my head to clear myself from my stupor, I placed a hand gently upon the other's shoulder and shook him lightly, trying to rouse him. "Gokudera?" I called out tentatively, but received no response.

That's when I decided to try and flip the other over onto his back. Maybe if he was in a more comfortable position he'd actually wake up.

With that in mind, I moved the other as gently as I could, so as not to upset whatever could still possibly be ailing my friend. As soon as I got the other onto his back, I noticed the silver-haired teen's brows crinkle in light pain, and a slight hiss of dissent escape his lips.

"Ah, are you okay, Gokudera?!" I asked hurriedly, panic rising in my voice as I ripped my hands away from the other like it would stop the other's pain. Dang it, did I inadvertently hurt him?!

Another hiss of discomfort left Gokudera's lips before jade-green irises peeked up at me through squinting eyes.

"Yamamoto…?" Gokudera croaked out before he started coughing profusely, his body doubling up by the force of it.

"Gokudera!" I cried out in worry again as my hands hovered in the air uselessly, uncertainty gripping me as I watched the other's painful coughing fit. What could I do?!

"Shit…" Gokudera croaked out again with a painful hiss as he pushed himself slowly up into a sitting position. "I'm fine," he grunted out in exertion.

"You don't look fine at all," I admonished him in a worried tone, my eyes narrowing as I scrutinized his body again. It really didn't look like he had any external wounds, which only meant his pain was being caused by an internal problem.

"I just got kicked really hard in the stomach," my smaller friend sighed out in annoyance as he placed a hand on said stomach, wincing at the slight touch. "The wind was knocked out of me, and it feels like a massive bruise is forming, but that's about it."

Knowing that Gokudera had a tendency to undermine how badly hurt he usually was, I only believed him to a point.

"Still, I think we should get a doctor's opinion on that before we brush it off."

Gokudera clicked his tongue at me in annoyance.

"You sound like a fucking, nagging woman. Stop worrying about me and start worrying about the Tenth!" He ground out in his irritation. "I was knocked out shortly after you. Where is he?"

"I don't know yet," I answered with a saddened sigh. "We should look—"

Before I could even finish my sentence, Gokudera was jumping to his feet, wincing noticeably all the while, but seeming completely nonplussed about his injuries in favor of frantically searching the area for our other friend.

"Tenth!" He called out in worry, but received no answer.

Knowing that Gokudera's mind was only going to be focused on one thing now despite whatever pain he was in, I pushed myself to my feet as well.

"Come on, let's search the area. Hopefully he's not too far off!"

With a disgruntled nod, Gokudera and I started running towards the end of the glass covered building. Maybe if we turned the next corner, following the destruction, we'd find Tsuna?

Just as I thought this, I could hear police sirens start to blare in the background. We had to find Tsuna quickly and get out of here. I definitely didn't want to be questioned by the police. Who knew where I'd even start to explain?!

The moment Gokudera and I turned the next corner, such thoughts immediately left my mind. My eyes widened in surprise upon seeing Tsuna not too far off by another vending machine/sitting area, the tables overturned, the glass along the building broken, and the pavement burnt and dismantled in random areas like the Long-haired guy had thrown more of his exploding sword shards around. Tsuna looked a little worse for wear, completely covered in scuffs, light bruises, and a couple light burns much like my own, and he was clad in only his boxers, meaning he had gone into Dying Will Mode to take on our opponent. The Little Guy was standing beside him, looking like he didn't have a single scratch on him. A dire frown marred the toddler's features. Not only that, but Dino and his men were there for some reason. Dino was actually supporting that strange-teen that had run off with Tsuna earlier, the other foreigner looking very worse for wear with even more cuts down his midsection that were definitely not from being thrown into a glass window. As glad as I was to see Dino again, since I hadn't seen him since my trip to Italy, I had a feeling that him being here didn't bode well for us. Something was definitely up, and since that long-haired guy looked like he was no longer around, I had to wonder if our problems had truly ended.

"Are you okay, Tsuna?!" I called out in worry as Gokudera and I started rushing towards our friend.

"What was up with that guy?" Gokudera questioned beside me as we drew closer.

"You two!" Tsuna cried out in a strange mixture of surprise, worry, and delight. For some reason, I took notice now that he was wearing white winter mittens over his hands that had a red bar circling around the top of the mittens and below, just above the wrist. There were also red digits emblazoned across the back. 27? What was that supposed to mean?

"The level you're fighting at now will be nothing but a bother," I heard the Little Guy suddenly proclaim with disappointment to us. "You two can go home."

Those words literally stopped me in my tracks. All I could do was stare in shock as Gokudera stopped beside me as well. Taking in the silence, I didn't even have to look at the other to know that he was probably feeling the same as me; shocked that we were being dismissed, useless because we knew the words rang true, and bitter disappointment in our inability to actually protect someone that we cared about.

"Reborn!" Tsuna admonished in anger. "What are you saying…?!"

Despite Tsuna trying to stick up for us, even though he shouldn't, the Little Guy just insisted that our smaller friend follow him. Grabbing Tsuna's mitten-covered hand, the Little Guy led him off after Dino and his men, who were heading to some unknown destination. I hung my head in shame then as I was left behind, and my brows knitted together in anger. That fight had truly been one-sided. With Mukuro's gang, I had at least lasted long enough to not be an embarrassment, but this…I just felt sick to my stomach, and close to enraged that I had been so utterly useless.

"Shit!" I hissed out under my breath as I balled my hands into fists at my sides. How could I actually face Tsuna again after this? How…how could I get better so that this didn't happen again?

My mind came up blank as I heard the sound of footsteps walking away from me. Glancing upwards, I noticed that Gokudera had turned his back on me, and that he was now walking solemnly away, his shoulders stiffened in self-righteous anger. For once, I remained silent, and didn't bother to follow him. There was nothing to actually say in this moment, and nothing I could do to make the situation better since I had no idea on how to actually better it. Gokudera and I had both failed in protecting Tsuna, embarrassingly so, and now we had to live with that shame and figure out on our own where to go from here. Time to ourselves—time to think—was what we needed the most.

Silently wishing the other good luck and hopeful peace of mind, I started to walk away from the destructive sight of the business district. Even though I had no destination in mind, it didn't bother me. I just let my body lead me where it instinctively wanted to go. Maybe I'd find some place I could vent my anger and troubles away.

I don't know how long I actually walked but, eventually, I was standing before a very familiar building; the local batting cages. Maybe this was what I needed.

Walking inside, I rented a bat and some balls, and made my way to a batting cage. I had received a strange look from the clerk at the counter since I was carrying my bat-sword with me in its bat form, and also because my clothes and skin were still singed, but I was too lost in my quest for peace of mind to truly care. Placing my bat-sword against the wall of the batting cage, I walked over and filled the pitching machine with the balls I had rented. After setting it to a relatively quick pitch rate, I got in my batting position. By the time the first pitch was sent my way, my mind went totally blank and I focused solely on the ball. The clang of my metal bat rang through the air as I hit the ball, not caring about accuracy at the moment as it flew swiftly into the net, completely missing the targets hanging on it. For the first round of balls, I just hit the balls furiously, only focusing on the satisfying sound of every hit I made. When I refilled the pitching machine a few minutes later, I focused then on hitting the targets accurately like I usually did.

For the next couple of hours I spent my time like this, changing my focus between furiously and accurately hitting the balls, changing the speed of the pitch machine, and even dodging the baseballs just for something else to focus on so I wouldn't dwell on the sour taste of disappointment still residing in the back of my mind.

By the time I was too exhausted to continue, the sun was just beginning to set. Sighing to myself restlessly, I returned the balls and rented bat to the front clerk, grabbed my bat-sword, and started making my way home. It was later than I originally expected because the sun was barely peaking over the horizon when I finally entered the sushi shop. My old man was taking care of the last few strangling customers when he glanced up towards me in confusion and surprise. Feeling a little self-conscious for staying out so late, and knowing that I still looked like I had gotten caught in a light explosion, I half expected my dad to start hounding me on where I had been and what had happened to me. Instead, though, he just greeted me with a cautious nod before he went back to focusing on the now staring customers.

Feeling thankful that my dad could tell that I wasn't in the mood to talk, I quickly made my way to the kitchen, grabbed some leftover sushi in the fridge, and made my way up to my room. I still felt guilt and disappointment gnawing at my consciousness as I quickly ate my food, showered (which had stung a bit) and then headed to bed early. Even when I laid down to sleep, I tossed and turned restlessly, my mind not wanting to relinquish its hold on my failure that day.

With helplessness constricting my heart, my mind wondered to Gokudera. Was he feeling the exact same way as me? Was he having trouble sleeping? Was he even bothering to sleep?

Then my mind went somewhere else entirely.

If I couldn't get stronger then would I be allowed to still play the mafia roleplaying game with everyone? Would Gokudera and Tsuna even care if I wasn't there anymore?

I had to shake my head to clear it of such thoughts. The last thing I needed to do was drag myself down into a depressive state. It had been almost two years since a similar thing had happened, and I didn't need to travel down that road again. I had told Tsuna that I was stronger than that now. Maybe not strong enough to fight off a predatory, crazy man with long-silver hair, but I was strong enough to battle the darkness that was always dwelling in the back of my mind. In fact, it wasn't all too often that my mind even thought about it these days since nothing had happened to cause my mood to change from its usual happy, or contemplative demeanor.

A strange sound reached my ears then, interrupting my current thoughts. It was my dad. He was walking up the stairs and down the hallway to his bedroom, humming an out of key tune. I focused desperately on the sound, a warm, fuzzy feeling replacing my uncertainty as my mind conjured up past memories of when I was a child. Whenever I couldn't sleep well, my dad would do everything under the sun to help me out. Reading bed time stories didn't help because my mind would become even more active after each exciting tale was read, and singing lullabies definitely didn't help either because my dad's singing voice was less then subpar. I would often end up laughing at his attempts, which would result in him tickling me as a form of payback. In the end, he figured out that a warm glass of milk was what usually did the trick for me…

There was a light knock on my door then. Blinking at the wooden frame in confusion, I slowly pushed myself out of bed and made my way towards the door. The only person who could have knocked was my dad, but he hadn't said anything after the knock like he usually would. Opening the door, I peeked out into the hall, only to see that no one was there. Had I imagined the knock?

It was then that a familiar, comforting smell reached my nose. Glancing down where the smell was originating, I saw a small serving tray with a class of milk sitting on top of it. Warm tendrils of steam were wafting up from the glass. I blinked at the sight in astonishment before an affectionate chuckle found its way past my lips, a soft smile adorning them afterwards. Dad always had a way of knowing when I needed something.

Taking the tray inside, I quickly downed the warm glass of milk before slipping under my covers again. The thick liquid filled my insides with a comforting warmth, setting my stiff muscles and my mind at ease. In that moment, I truly felt that everything was going to be alright, even if it all seemed bleak.

With my mind and body finally relaxed, the exhausting day caught up to me with ease, and I was finally able to find peaceful slumber.

---

By the time I woke up the next morning, I felt far more refreshed then I had thought possible. A good night's sleep truly did help me, even though I wasn't entirely over what happened yesterday.

Deciding that dwelling on it was only going to drag me down again, I pushed my thoughts towards the future. I didn't really know how I was going to act around my friends today but, since it was a Monday, school was naturally in session, so maybe school would be a nice distractor in this case. With that in mind, I got dressed in my school uniform, grabbed my school bag and the serving tray with the empty glass, and headed downstairs. Making my way into the kitchen, I was just depositing the serving tray and glass in the sink when my dad walked in behind me.

"Morning, Takeshi!" He exclaimed cheerfully with his usual contagious smile. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Morning, Pops!" I replied back as I started scrounging around for the bread in order to make toast. "Hey, uh…" I added a little bashfully as I sent a quick, appreciative glance over my shoulder before I went back to searching through the cupboards for the bread. "…thanks for the glass of milk last night."

Finally finding what I was looking for, I quickly took out two pieces and popped them into the toaster. During this process, I didn't see the look on my father's face, but I could only assume that he was scrutinizing me when he eventually responded.

"Yeah, it's no problem," he mentioned off-handedly, sounding a bit distracted. "I had a hunch you'd be needing it."

"Haha," I chuckled out, trying my best to lighten the mood again. "How come it seems like you can always read my mind?"

"That's because your old man has the keenest intuition in all of Namimori!" My father stated jokingly with a cocky chuckle. A short moment later, he walked over to me and ruffled my hair affectionately. I protested a bit with a light laugh and tried to fix my even messier hair into a slightly less messy state. I think I was failing, going by the chuckle of amusement I was getting from my dad.

It was at this point that my toast popped up. As I focused on fixing up my light breakfast, I heard my dad open the restaurant fridge and start grabbing out whatever food he needed for today. We prepared our separate foods in comfortable silence, completely focused in on our tasks.

In a few short minutes my breakfast was done, and in even fewer minutes I scarfed down that very same food. With my breakfast complete, I grabbed my school bag, which I had placed up against the floor cupboards, and started heading out of the kitchen. I was just about to tell my dad that I was heading out when his voice actually stopped me.

"Before you head out, Takeshi, can you check the mail for me?" He asked kindly as he continued to chop up some fish for an early morning order. "I forgot to check it myself and now my hands are all slimy."

"Yeah, sure thing," I called back off-handedly as I left the kitchen and headed out the door. As soon as I slid the door open, I walked outside and up to our mail box, which was hanging off the side of the building next to the door. Opening the lid, the slightly rusty hinges squeaking in protest as I did so, I glanced into the box, only to see a single, long envelope. As I lifted the envelope out of the box and inspected it, confusion arose within me. The envelope was slightly heavy, like something other than a letter was placed inside. Not only that, the only thing on the envelope was my full name. There was no return address, and no postage stamp to indicate that it had gone through the mail. It looked like someone had just placed it in the mail box themselves. This didn't happen too often, even with the crazy amount of fan-girls I had at the school, haha!

Wondering what was inside the mysterious envelope, I tore it open and glanced inside, only for my eyes to widen again. Taking out the small slip of paper inside, I then turned over the envelope and shook the rest of the contents out into my open palm. A thin, long, silvery necklace chain and a strange ring fell out, their metallic surfaces shining in the morning sunlight. The necklace chain looked like a typical chain you'd see anybody wear, but the ring, which had silver colored designs and a black background, was rather strange. I couldn't quite make out the details of the ring, especially the emblem, because it looked like half of it was missing. I think the emblem was supposed to look like a shield but it was hard to tell. Even the bottom portion of the band looked like it was missing, making the ring itself look thinner then what it probably should have looked like. As I stared at it more closely, it looked like the missing part, wherever that could be, could actually be pushed and clicked back into place. How strange…

Not knowing what I was truly looking at, but remembering that I still had a small letter in my other hand, I placed the half-ring and the necklace chain in my pants pocket and started to read the letter. In it, I didn't find the answers I was looking for, but I found out that the person who had sent me the items and the letter was actually Dino! In the letter, he stated that if I wanted to find out more about the half-ring, I'd have to go to this hospital he was at. I'm guessing he had taken that strange, foreign teenager there last night after the fight? Either way, I wasn't completely familiar with the hospital he informed me about in the letter, but I knew that it was a smaller one, just on the outskirts of the residential district like my father's sushi shop. It was probably a little over ten minutes away by foot.

Seeing that I had time before school to head over there (I would have headed over there regardless if I had to go to school because I was just too curious anyway), I peeked my head back through the door and called out to my dad.

"Hey, Pops, there wasn't any mail for you. I'll be heading to school now." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Okay," he called back as he actually walked out of the kitchen, holding containers of chopped fish he'd be using for the sushi today.

As I turned to close the door behind me then, I heard my father call out to me in slight worry then. Confused, I glanced towards him in time to see the worried look on his face vanish, only to be replaced by calm understanding.

"This might sound a bit out of place, Takeshi, but just know that I believe you can do anything you set your mind to. Even if you don't succeed at first, you have the strength to better yourself and come out on top like the true warrior you are. That's why your name is written with that same kanji. Remember that and the fact that I'm always here for you."

I stared at my old man, completely dumbfounded. This wasn't something I had expected him to say but…I'm glad he said it in the end. Whatever uncertainty I had been pushing to the back of my mind suddenly felt relief as a bit of hope was renewed in me. I smiled gratefully at my father, who gave me a knowing look and a smile of his own before he gave me a dismissive wave and told me to get going before I was late.

Laughing at his antics, I turned around and shut the door behind me before I ran off, not in the direction of the school, but towards the hospital. I needed to get answers about the half-ring I received. Something told me that it was connected to that long-haired man I had fought yesterday. Even though the thought of the man turned my gut in the sourest way imaginable, my father's words echoed through my head, putting my mind at ease. I knew that whatever happened in the foreseeable future that I would be able to make it through somehow.

---

Roughly fifteen minutes later, I was standing in front of the small hospital. The building itself was a warm, mocha color, three stories tall, and vertically narrow in structure too, so not as many rooms could fit on the floor. If I was to guess just by looking at the outside, I'd say that it would be able to hold…fifty patients…maybe less? Either way, Dino was nowhere to be seen outside, so I made my way towards the front door.

Sliding the glass door to the side, I walked into the reception area and slid the door closed behind me. There was a small waiting area to the side and in front of the front desk, which was made of dark wood and a cream colored countertop. That countertop matched the same color as the walls. The waiting area consisted of several, light black colored couches and cushioned stools, which sat on top of greyish-brown tiled floors. There were a couple magazine racks placed alongside the wall opposite the entrance, as well as a small hallway that led beyond the waiting area and past the reception desk, which probably led to the hospital rooms.

"Yamamoto?!"

Jumping a bit in surprise at the familiar voice, I turned my gaze towards a row of stools to my left, next to one of the magazine racks.

"Gokudera?!" I gasped out in shock as I made my way over to the silver-haired teen, who was sitting down on one of the cushioned stools with a lit cigarette in his mouth, his school bag laying on the stool beside him. He was the only person in the room. "Did you get a note from Dino, too?" I questioned in realization then, my heartrate picking up at the sudden thought of Gokudera having a ring as well.

"Yeah!" He exclaimed openly in astonishment as he dug one hand into his pants pocket and brought out a familiar looking ring. "Did you get one of these, too?" He asked earnestly, his eyes narrowing in serious scrutiny.

I nodded my head in assent before I brought out my own ring. The coloration and design of both were so similar, I had to wonder if Gokudera's half ring was the missing part of mine, but I soon realized that Gokudera's half ring was cut in the same exact way as mine was.

"…What does this mean…?" I heard Gokudera whisper out then in contemplation, almost to himself as he stared intently at the ring in my hand.

"It's really strange, isn't it?" I brought up then thoughtfully as I returned the ring to my pocket. I saw Gokudera follow suit, his eyes meeting mine afterwards. "After…after everything that happened yesterday…" I brought up almost hesitantly, not wanting to think about how much I had screwed up again, nor bring up the same sour feelings in Gokudera, "…and then these weird rings appear at our doorsteps…"

"…It's almost like it's a sign…" Gokudera added on to my unfinished sentence as his pensive gaze turned towards the floor and he brought one of his hands to his chin thoughtfully. "…But what does this sign actually mean…? And is it actually connected to that fucking long-haired guy…?"

"…And what if it is…?" I questioned intently, my eyes narrowing as I felt the seriousness of our situation escalate. "What do we do then?"

Gokudera just sighed in slight exasperation as he leaned forward in his seat and folded his hands together, his arms hanging down loosely from his knees. "I guess that's where Cavallone's explanation comes in. Wherever the hell he actually is."

Just as he said this, we both heard the entry door slide open and a familiar voice reached our ears.

"Dino-san, are you here?" A familiar, spiky-haired brunet peeked his head into the room.

"Yo, Tsuna!" I exclaimed happily, glad to see that my smaller friend looked better than he had yesterday. That just meant that he really hadn't been seriously hurt by the long-haired guy.

"Tenth!" Gokudera cried out happily as he jumped to his feet like an eager puppy, an excited smile on his face. "Good morning!"

"You two!" Tsuna gasped out in surprise as he made his way into the room and slid the door closed behind him. As he approached us, his voice grew meeker, and he bowed his head slightly in shame. "Sorry about yesterday!" He quickly apologized. "Even though you saved me at first…"

"Ah…" Gokudera breathed out on slightly shaky breath, his previous excitement completely deflating, along with my own, as he tried his best to push Tsuna's apology away. "No…"

We were the ones that should be apologizing, not Tsuna.

Immense guilt was beginning to build up inside me again. I knew that if it overwhelmed me here, I wouldn't be able to look at Tsuna and Gokudera directly again, so I quickly tried to change the subject. I had to move past what happened, or else I'd never be able to better myself for whatever happened in the future.

"That aside, there is something strange going on," I reminded Gokudera of our current situation so that we could get Tsuna up to date.

"That's right!" My silver-haired companion quickly agreed in realization, and started digging into his pants pocket for his ring. I did the same, and we ended up bringing both of our half-rings out at the same time.

"This was in my mail box," I announced in slight wonder as I glanced between the strange ring and Tsuna.

"And we thought they had something to do with the guy from yesterday," Gokudera added, his words mumbled past his cigarette. "We heard of this place from the Bucking Horse, and came here to get answers."

"Ahh!" Tsuna suddenly screamed out in terror then as his eyes took in the half rings in mine and Gokudera's hands. "Don't tell me that those rings are…!"

I was slightly taken aback by the other's words, but also rather relieved.

"Oh, Tsuna, you know about these?" I inquired with interest as I held my ring up more for emphasis.

"So, Tenth, you have one too!" Gokudera proclaimed confidently, looking rather pleased at the idea.

"It's dangerous!" Tsuna, apparently ignoring us, continued on in a panic as he showed us the ring hanging from a chain around his neck. Instead of his ring's emblem looking like half of a shield, though, his ring was a little thicker around the band and the emblem was circular with a splash of blue within it, besides the silver and black that matched mine and Gokudera's rings. "If you have those, you'll be targeted! But why?! Why do both of you have…?!"

"That's because they were chosen."

Dino's voice reached us so suddenly, that the three of us abruptly snapped our heads up and turned towards the small hallway beside us that led past the reception desk in complete surprise. Dino was standing just a meter or so away from us with the Little Guy, who was sitting on the counter of the reception desk beside him.

"Dino-san! Reborn, too!" Tsuna cried out in surprise as he gawked at the two new arrivals. "Since when?" He added at a lower decibel, as if finally realizing that he was in a hospital and should probably keep his voice down for the patients' sakes.

"There's a total of seven Vongola Rings," the Little Guy explained suddenly, completely ignoring Tsuna's outburst and question. "And they serve a purpose when seven people of the Family have them."

Vongola Rings…? Is that what Gokudera and I were holding in our hands? We were part of Tsuna's mafia roleplaying family after all…

"The six rings other than yours, Tsuna…" The Little Guy continued, his face portraying a dire-looking frown. "…were delivered to six other people who are worthy of protecting the next boss of the Vongola, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Wha?!" Tsuna screamed out at the top of his lungs, apparently forgetting that he was in a hospital again. "The rings were distributed to other people as well?!"

"Yeah," the Little Guy answered simply. "It's the tradition of the Vongola. The Vongola Rings belong to the seven core members of the Family and are passed on as a proof of one belonging to the Vongola Family. In every generation, the seven core members of the Family will have to take on the seven rings. That's the rules."

"These make it proof that we're the successors?!" Tsuna cried out in terror then as I contemplated what the Little Guy was actually talking about. Apparently, for each generation that took over the Vongola, seven main members were chosen, including the leader, and these main members of the family received the Vongola Rings? And those said Vongola Rings, although they didn't look like full rings, were now in Tsuna's, Gokudera's, and my possession, along with four other mysterious members? Wow, things sure had gotten elaborate all of a sudden, haha!

"Tenth!" Gokudera suddenly cried out in glee then, breaking me out of my thoughts. As I turned to look at him, he was bowing gratefully to a very confused looking Tsuna. In the blink of an eye, though, he was standing upright again, his eyes shining with so much enthusiasm that his entire aura was sparkling like thousands of passionately burning stars. "I feel extremely honored!" The silver-haired teen exclaimed in pure joy as he stared at Tsuna in wonder and clenched his hands before him in pure determination. "Let's do this! I can feel the tension now!"

Well, someone was definitely ready to prove themselves, haha! Poor Tsuna looked so taken aback by Gokudera's enthusiasm, though, that all he could do was gawk at the other like he had gone insane.

"Gokudera's ring," the Little Guy suddenly interrupted our thoughts to bring us back to the situation at hand, "is the Storm Ring, and Yamamoto's is the Rain Ring."

Huh? Rain and Storm?

"Oh," Gokudera whispered out in wonder as he took another, yet closer, look at his ring. "They are different."

"Hm? Really?" I questioned in slight surprise as I looked at my ring, and then glanced over to Gokudera's. Sure enough, the symbols within the emblems, from what we could see of them anyway, did look a little different. I still couldn't tell what they were actually supposed to look like, since they were just random shapes without the other half of the ring to complete the picture, but I could assume that mine was probably a rain drop or something. Maybe Gokudera's was supposed to be storm cloud?

"What…?" Tsuna mumbled out in confusion then. "Storm and rain…? Why are you spouting out a weather forecast…?"

"The members of the first Vongola Family were very unique," the Little Guy answered, "and their characteristics are carved into the rings as well. It is said that the first boss was like the sky, a firmament over all and possessor of deep understanding and tolerance. Thus, his ring was the Sky Ring," the Little Guy smiled then in amusement. "And his followers, who became his protectors, were portrayed with the kinds of weather that color the sky. The passing shower that cleanses: the Rain Ring. The gale that blows with fury: the Storm Ring. The unbounded, drifting cloud: the Cloud Ring. The illusion which cannot be perceived: the Mist Ring. The orb that brings the day: the Sun Ring. The bolts that pierce the heavens: the Lightning Ring." The tiny toddler's amused smile turned into a dire frown then. "But, with the rings that you have right now it's still not…"

"Wait, stop!" Tsuna cried out desperately as he waved his hands frantically in the air, interrupting the toddler from his long spiel. "Either way you say it," my smaller friend continued as he grabbed onto the chain carrying the half-ring around his neck with both of his hands, "I don't need this!"

Strangely enough, I was kind of with Tsuna on this. Even though it was cool to have a gimmicky ring to portray our unity as a team, it still wasn't practical for someone like me to have. If the Little Guy wanted me to wear it constantly, I wouldn't be able to do so because of my club activities. It would be impossible to wear with a glove on, not only that but wearing jewelry of any kind on the field was prohibited anyway.

"Yeah…sorry to say this…" I kindly mumbled out in apology as I presented my half-ring to Tsuna, expecting him to take it off of my hands. "…but I play baseball, so I can't wear a ring. Besides," I added a little sheepishly, "I don't really get what you're talking about anyway."

It was true. My mind was still trying to grasp all that the Little Guy had explained about the rings, especially the meanings behind them and why they were so important. This was just a roleplaying game so why did we need such elaborate items to portray our unity when we were doing fine without them before?

Apparently, Tsuna was thinking along the same lines as me, because he was staring at me in ecstatic glee, the edges of his eyes tearing up at the fact that I was backing him up. Gokudera, on the other hand, was glaring at me in a way that just screamed, 'Are you fucking kidding me? You're fucking hopeless!'

Gokudera's exasperation went unnoticed by Tsuna, though, who went on eagerly to proclaim, "Yeah, if you hold onto the rings, only trouble will come your way! That long haired guy will come back and target you again!"

As soon as the words were out of my friend's mouth, I felt my entire body stiffen in equal amounts of trepidation and anger. My eyes narrowed seriously as I stared at Tsuna's eager persona, my grip unconsciously tightening around the Half-Rain-Ring I still held between my forefinger and thumb. I could feel Gokudera tense behind me as well, which only made it even clearer that I had probably heard Tsuna correctly, but I just had to make sure.

"See isn't it dangerous?!" Tsuna continued on in a hurry, looking more than eager to take the half rings out of mine and Gokudera's hands. "And he's also going to come back in ten days!"

"…He's…coming back…in ten days…" I whispered out mainly to myself, my voice solemn as I realized that the man who not only humiliated me, but Gokudera and Tsuna as well, was coming back for these mysterious half-rings. As I glanced at Gokudera, who was standing beside me, his figure was stiff and his bangs were covering his eyes from view. The angered frown on his face was the only thing that gave away his true feelings. He was feeling just as frustrated about his loss as I was. I already knew that, in fact, but now what were we going to do with this information?

"…Huh?" Tsuna questioned curiously then as he glanced between Gokudera and me. "Wha-what's wrong, you two?"

If he was coming back…then…this was my chance to rectify my mistakes! If I became stronger with my sword, I'd be able to face the long-haired man again and make up my previous loss to Tsuna and Gokudera. I wouldn't let them be hurt again!

With renewed determination firing into my veins, and palpitating excitement at the thought of my future challenge invigorating my heart, I clasped the half-ring I still held between my fingers within my fist, as if making a silent pact. I wouldn't lose this time! This was my second chance!

"This is mine, right?" I stated more than asked Tsuna, my voice filling with excitement and my eyes dancing with anticipation. "I guess I'll take it after all."

"Eh?" Tsuna gasped out, looking completely dumbstruck by my sudden turnaround.

"Truth is, I can't stand losing!" I chuckled out lightly with a huge smile as I turned away from my flabbergasted friend and headed straight for the hospital door. As I slid the door open, much to Tsuna's protests in trying to call me back, I ran out the door full-sprint, hearing Gokudera mentioning something to Tsuna behind me before he too left the hospital in a rush.

"Don't think I'll lose to you, Baseball Freak!" He shouted excitedly over his shoulder as he ran in the opposite direction of me. Looks like Gokudera's spirit was invigorated as much as mine was at the thought of redemption.

"Haha, same here!" I shouted back amicably before I focused forward again and headed straight towards home. Truthfully, I couldn't believe I hadn't thought about this before, but my dad could actually help me in this case. Many people thought that I took on a ton of different traits from my father, and I would have to agree with them normally, but my love and skill for baseball, that came from my mother. Although, I had to admit that my dad had a pretty mean throw. He never played baseball, though. His passion had been devoted to kendo, and he had offered to teach me it whenever I wanted to. My passions were more like my mother's, though, and I felt even more compelled to play baseball because it felt like it was the only way I could actually be close to her, since I had never met her before, so I had put the thoughts of kendo on the backburner. Besides, my 'sword skills' had been perfectly fine up until this point. I had a feeling that even though I was a great baseball player, I had still inherited my father's natural skill for the sword, and that genetic code had been able to carry me up to this point. But now it was more than obvious that I needed to grow in my skill and perfect it if I was to stand any chance against fiercer opponents that were more than ready to hurt my friends. If I only had ten days to improve myself, then I obviously needed my dad to teach me everything he knew. He had won many kendo championships in his time, so gaining knowledge from him would probably be the equivalent of learning from a master.

…I was a little concerned, though. My dad was getting on in years…and he hadn't practiced kendo, to my knowledge, since his college years. Would he still be in enough shape to do so? Had he forgotten his techniques or was he super rusty now? Would he be able to keep up with me and teach me properly?

Well, I guess I'd just have to find out then, wouldn't I?

Finally seeing Takesushi in the distance, I ran up to the front door. There was a sign for customers on the door, stating that the sushi was being prepared and that they'd need to wait. I ignored the sign of course, and slid it open, bursting into the still dimly lit restaurant.

"Dad? Are you there?" I called out, only to spot the man in question a second later behind the counter, looking like he had just professionally sliced up a snapper. His head snapped to me, his eyes widening in utter surprise, which made me realize that he obviously wouldn't expected me to rush back to the house, especially since I was supposed to be at school by now.

"What's wrong, Takeshi? Did you forget something?" The older man laughed out a little uneasily as he blushed a little in embarrassment and tried to chop a scallion with shaking hands. "Daddy is struggling to cut scallions!"

Huh…that was funny…my dad had never struggled with chopping stuff up before. In fact, his nervous behavior added to the fact that it sounded like he was making an excuse to cover up for something. Whatever that was, I didn't know, but it didn't matter at the moment either. It was now or never if I wanted to better myself as a swordsman.

"Hey, Dad?" I asked seriously as I slipped off my shoes and walked up to the counter.

My father just looked at me a little strangely, probably picking up how serious I was by my tone and that strange parental intuition he always had.

"What's wrong?" He asked then, his tone becoming serious as well. I just smiled playfully, and wondered what his reaction would be when I finally asked him.

"Will you teach me kendo?" I asked then, my tone determined yet excited as I continued to smile at him.

My dad's eyes widened so much in surprise then I honestly thought they were going to pop out of his head. A moment later, though, he composed himself. Closing his eyes in acceptance, a small knowing smirk appeared on his face.

"I was wondering when you'd ask me that."

---

Gokudera's POV

I was sick of it. I was absolutely sick of having my ass handed to me by people who threatened the Tenth. It felt like, ever since our encounter with that sick fucking bastard Mukuro, my ability to protect my boss has plummeted to abysmal proportions. My fight with the long-haired guy (if you'd even call it that) was yet another testament to how I needed to become stronger. I had felt so much shame at being so completely useless to the Tenth, there was no way I was going to let this new opportunity slide away from me. Second chances were rare to come by, especially with concerns to me, so I was going to take this moment and better myself to the point I'd be unrecognizable to my boss. I'd be better than ever, strong enough to take on any foe and protect the Tenth like any good right-hand man should be able to. My only problem was the fact that, even though I had been practicing and training constantly this last year and a half, I had only gotten marginally better. Now I only had ten days to increase that margin ten-fold so that I could be on par with that loud, obnoxious, long-haired bastard. And yes, I was going to be the one to face him. That stupid baseball freak wasn't going to steal my spotlight!

Besides…revenge wasn't something that…well, fit a person like Yamamoto. Of course, I expected his form of getting back at the long-haired guy was going to be a different take than mine, but still…it didn't sit right with me that Yamamoto was so gung-ho about paying that loud bastard back. That idiotic baseball freak was too soft at heart…and…well…this whole situation didn't fucking sit well with me! Yamamoto seeking revenge made me…uncomfortable. It just didn't feel right, so I'd be the one to get the blood on my hands!

With that thought in mind, I focused back on my trek, only to notice that I was now in front of my destination; Namimori Middle School. I stared up at the school building, a sudden case of nervousness rooting me to the spot. There was one way for certain that I'd be able to become stronger, and that's if I perfected a certain technique I still haven't been able to master since the time I saw it with my very own eyes back at my father's mansion. I had only been seven, but when I had seen that technique, it actually motivated me to start using bombs as my primary weapon. The person who had shown me that technique and suggested that I actually use bombs was that stupid, perverted doctor, Shamal. More than likely, he was in the nurse's office now, since school was actually in session. I just…had to confront him and ask for him to take me on as his apprentice…that wasn't so hard, right…?

…Ugh, what the hell was I saying? Of course this whole process was going to be a pain in the ass! First off, I had to stoop low enough to actually ask the perverted fucker, and secondly, I had to convince him to actually do it after I asked because, sadly, in this case and this case only, I wasn't born with massive tits and a pussy so I wasn't going to get a free ride into apprenticeship without probably sacrificing my pride.

Stealing myself for what was about to come, I made my way into the school and headed towards the nurse's office. As soon as I was in front of the door, I hesitated again. My hands balled into fists at my side as I internally struggled with myself. Did I really want to humiliate myself in front of this bastard? More than likely I was going to have to beg to get him to take me on as his apprentice, and that was something I definitely didn't want to do…but this was for the Tenth's sake! I had to be able to protect him and I only had ten days to better my skills! How else was I going to do it unless I was properly trained?!

…But I'd have to beg for it…

Feeling a little sick to my stomach as that one thought kept repeating in my mind, I huffed out in aggravation and turned away from the door to lean up against the wall beside it instead. Shit! What was I going to do?!

As if the universe itself decided to answer my call, the door to the nurse's office slid open from the inside, and out popped Shamal's disheveled persona. He was leaning against the doorframe, his eyes slightly unfocused as he stared coyly at me, his cheeks rosy and a can of beer in one of his hands.

…Are…Are you fucking kidding me right now?! It's nine in the fucking morning and you're already drunk…and at your fucking job to boot?! Un-be-fucking-leivable, Shamal…

"Why, if it isn't Hayato," the doctor in question slurred out slyly as he ogled me with his unfocused eyes.

"Can you do me a favor?" I cut straight to the chase, although I pointedly glared at the window across the hall instead of at the stupid doctor. I couldn't stand looking at his disgusting face anymore.

"What is it?" Shamal asked in avid curiosity. "Need some advice on love?" Even though I wasn't looking at him anymore, I could tell that he was smiling even more sleazily than he had been before just by his tone of voice. "My first tip would be to grope."

"No!" I quickly turned to face him and vehemently shouted at the perverted bastard. "That's not it at all!" I seriously wondered how this guy won women over in the first place…

"Oh?" The brunet doctor hummed out with piqued interest. "Then what is it?"

My eyes narrowed in determination then as I stared at the stupid asshole's drunken visage. I hope that he'd take what I was about to say seriously, just like I was.

"Would you take me in as your student?" I murmured out my question softly, my tone serious but holding a slight hint of uncertainty and embarrassment as I carefully watched Shamal's expression. The doctor's eyes had widened in surprise at my proposal, but had now narrowed to annoyed slits. Shit…

"Hell no," Shamal ground out disdainfully like he had a bad taste in his mouth. "I'm not looking after a damn kid."

"I'll do anything you say!" I intervened hurriedly, desperation unwillingly entering my tone. "You'll only have to train me a little every day, just like before!" I added, reminding the older man of how I had come to use dynamite in the first place. When the older man's hardened expression didn't change, though, I used my last resort. "I'm begging you!" I shouted at him desperately then. Shamal's features did change, but only from disdain to disappointment. He stared at me for a short moment, like he was searching my eyes for something, and then he turned away.

"I'm already fed up with you," he uttered under his breath in irritation as he started walking down the hall away from me. "If that's all you have to say to me, then scram," he growled out dismissively over his shoulder, his eyes cold.

I stared at the older man in complete shock, feeling utterly betrayed by his refusal. Why…even after I pushed my pride aside and begged…why wouldn't he train me?! Was it seriously because I wasn't a girl?! He had started me out so easily on dynamite when I was seven. I mean, he wasn't exactly happy about teaching me how to use the weapon, but he had seemed eager in making me appreciate mid-range weaponry at least. Why was it different now?! Couldn't he see how important this was for me? Hadn't I conveyed that?!

This…This is why I didn't trust people…They always lead you on then let you down; even the people that were supposed to be the closest to you.

Closing my eyes and clenching my hands into fists at my sides, I willed the pain of betrayal I felt away. I wasn't going to waste my time with that perverted fucker anymore. Even though I hadn't been able to figure out on how to use the Rocket Bomb technique yet, maybe I was just missing something. It was obvious now that I'd have to figure it out on my own without a tutor. Oh well, so be it. I had managed getting to where I am today with very little help from anyone. Fuck, Shamal had only really taught me the basics of using explosives and not much else after that, and then he had only provided me shelter when I had run away from home. Money, food, health care…I had to take care of such things myself, because the other refused to help me, almost like he was trying to convince me in the most hard-ass way to go back home. Well, I sure showed that fucker that I could manage things all by myself, so I would do so again with my training. I didn't need him at all!

With my newfound determination now smothering the slight pain in my heart, I turned away from the nurse's office and started heading towards the school entrance. Somehow I would find a way to perfect the Rocket Bomb Technique within the next ten days and pay back that long-haired bastard for embarrassing me in front of the Tenth. That, or I'd die trying.

---

A/N: And there you have it! I finally finished this chapter! It felt like it went on for ages…and the chapters to come are probably going to get longer as well…ugh. Sorry it took so long to update this. I'm currently writing for this story every other day because I'm writing for another roleplay besides, and then the days I can write for this story I can only write for an hour or two due to time constraints and my never-ending illness so yeah, it takes some time and some days I don't make much headway.

Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! There were quite a few 8059 hints here! Mainly, Gokudera and Yamamoto seemed more chummy than usual. Gokudera actually verbally agreed with Yama for once, and actually praised him, too! That was a shocker XD Then, of course, they had a little marriage squabble with Yama, concerning him calling idiots to hang out with them, and then they had a little rivalry contest at the arcade XD The arcade portion was mainly in the anime, though, and from what I could see, most of what happened in the arcade were still shots with no verbal dialogue, so I had to make most of the stuff up as I went. I didn't mind of course, because anytime I can actually get some creative freedom in this story is awesome XD Because of that, though…well, sorry for raining on everyone's 8059 parade with the photo incident. I felt it was necessary to bring Yama down a notch and make him realize that there was still some ways to go with Gokudera before they can have a solid friendship. He's making major progress, though, so kudos to Yama XD Anyway, as for other 8059 moments, Dera got super pissed at Squalo for knocking Yama out, and the two of them seemed to be conversing nicely when Tsuna found the both of them in the hospital lobby. Another small hint, which I'm not exactly sure if it is or not, but when Yama decides that he doesn't want his ring because he doesn't understand what's going on, Dera gives him the most fed-up 'You've got to be kidding me' look ever, but he actually doesn't comment XD I was surprised he didn't call Yama an idiot. In fact, it looked like he was kind of expecting it and he reacted like a fed-up girlfriend; not happy that he reacted that way, but accepting nonetheless XD

Alright, I have no idea what the next chapter will fully entail, but I'm aiming on having the entire training part of the story before the first ring fight in the next chapter. I'll see if that actually happens, though XD