Kyandi: Greetings, my lovelies!
Roksana: After all the reviews, she was really motivated to get this chapter done.
Kyandi: After I spent twenty minutes laughing at all of the funny reviews I got! You guys are awesome!
Roksana: She's still laughing over all the Dino and Xanxus comments.
Kyandi: And let's not forget the paperwork comment!
Roksana: My mortal nemesis...
Kyandi: Yeah...Roksana really hates paperwork. It's why Hibari makes her do it.
Roksana: Only more of a reason to smack him.
Kyandi: You'll get your chance. Anyway, everyone, enjoy and review! I can't wait to see what other funny things you guys can come up with!
Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman REBORN.
Chapter 26 Into the Future
Roksana awoke two days later in the hospital. She had been so exhausted after the constant stress and fighting, that she had slept clear through those two days. The whole time, Hibari remained with her, despite Dino insisting that Roksana would be fine if he went went home for a short while. After making a comment about how cute it was that Hibari couldn't be separated from her side until he knew she was alright, Dino barely walked away with his life, but with the addition of several bruises.
Apparently, Hibari didn't find it funny to be teased about his relationship with Roksana.
Least of all by Dino.
When Roksana finally awoke and exited the hospital room she was in, it was to find Dino fending off Hibari after another ill-timed comment about how worried about Roksana, Hibari was.
"What the hell are the two of you up to?"
Hibari and Dino turned at the sound of her voice, finding the girl standing in the doorway, putting most of her weight on her right leg to take it off her injured left leg. Her hair was down and was in a mess about her head, her eyes narrowed as she looked the two over.
"You're finally awake! I was just making a comment to Kyoya, that's all." Dino told her, giving her his usual, goofy smile.
"And what comment was that? If he's attacking you, it had to be a stupid one." Roksana remarked, waving off Romario, who insisted she, at least, sit down.
"Uhh...o-only that he must be really worried about you since he hasn't left your side in two days." Dino told her, chuckling sheepishly.
Roksana blinked back at him, her expression giving nothing away. For one, long moment, no one moved as Roksana just stared at Dino. Then she blinked again and turned.
"Continue as you were." she told them, waving a hand as she turned to head back into the room.
"Roksana!" Dino cried, Hibari's lips curling into a grin.
"If you're going to make stupid comments that anyone could tell you would set him off, then you have to deal with the consequences. I'm still aching too much to deal with this." Roksana replied over her shoulder. "Romario, where are my things?"
Dino stared, almost teary eyed after Roksana as she walked away, leaving him to deal with Hibari. Romario brought Roksana a bag containing her things. Her clothes from the night of the Sky battle, were ruined, cut and blood stained. That didn't really bother Roksana. There were only three things she really cared about.
Sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, she dug through the bag, finding all three items with a sigh of relief. Looking down at them, she ran her fingers over them. The first, of course, was her Vongola Moon ring. She slid the ring onto her left middle finger before turning to the other two object. Both were necklaces. One was of a little white-throat, black bird. Though she would never admit it to Hibari, snice the day he had given it to her, she had worn it, hiding it under her clothes where no one could see it, along with the other necklace, which was just a simple chain from which hung a ring.
Roksana clipped her bird necklace around her neck, tucking it under the hospital gown she was wearing before she picked up the ring. The ring, a simple affair made of silver twisted around a rare red diamond and green sapphire, had been the last gift from her mother before the woman had passed away. According to her mother, it was an heirloom passed down through their family, originating with Roksana's great-great-great grandmother. Turning the ring in her fingers, Roksana, not for the first time, peering on the inside of the ring, at the words etched there.
Per sempre con amore, SC & SV
Roksana had read the Italian words for "forever with love", a hundred times since she was a child, though she had no idea what the SC and SV stood for.
The door opening, drew Roksana's eyes up from the ring as Hibari entered the room. Leaning to the side to peer out the door behind him, she could just barely make out Dino sitting on the floor, rubbing an already bruising mark on his cheek from where Hibari had obviously hit him in the face with his tonfa. Hibari glanced over his shoulder before swinging the door closed.
"If you're going to try to beat the crap out of me, save it for later. I couldn't put up a decent fight in the shape I'm in." Roksana told Hibari as he approached the bed. Instead of saying anything, though he merely plucked the ring from her hands, holding it up by the chain to peer at it. "Hey! That was my mother's. Give it back."
"Your mother?" Hibari asked, looking down at her.
"Yes, my mother. It's an heirloom from her family." Roksana confirmed, holding out her hand.
Hibari took one last look at it before dropping it into her hands. Roksana quickly hung it around her neck, dropping the ring under her collar. Once it was out of sight, Roksana went back to digging through her bag of belongings, finding her cellphone. Pulling it out the bag, she checked it. There were several missed calls and messages, the last of which was a text from Dimitri to message him or Maeve if she woke up and they weren't there.
Roksana took a moment to send a message to Dimitri, asking him to bring her a few things from home before she turned her attention to Hibari, who was watching her with a sour look on his face.
"What?" she asked. When Hibari moved, she knew what he was up to and groaned. "Not this again. Hibari, I...hey! Will you listen to me for on-ow! That hurts, you know! Argh!"
Roksana heaved a huff as she found herself laying back in bed, pulled across Hibari's chest as he relaxed back into the pillows. The boy wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her tight against him while still avoiding the most painful of her injuries. Laying a hand on his chest, Roksana pushed herself up as much as she could to look him in the eye.
"Why do you do these things, huh? Every time I'm injured, you do this." Roksana remarked, already shifting and pulling against his hold. "Well, not this time. I want up."
Hibari, refusing to let her pull away, yanked on her waist, trying to keep her in the bed. Roksana wiggled and shifted, the two basically wrestling. When Dino opened the door to the room, without knocking, to tell Roksana that Dimitri was there, he could Hibari laying flat on the bed, Roksana on top of him, straddling his hips while pressed to his chest by an arm wrapped around her waist.
Both looked up over at him when Dino trailed off, staring at them. Dino, unsure what to do in this situations, cleared his throat.
"If you wanted some "alone time" you should have just said s-"
"It's not like that, you debil!" Roksana snapped, forcing herself up into a sitting position to throw a remote off the nightstand at him as she called him a moron in Russian.
Dino ducked to avoid the remote, barely missing a hit to the face. Between Dino and his comments, and Hibari and his weird actions, Roksana had a feeling she was never going to have a peaceful life. As it was, it seemed that Dino already thought she and Hibari was a couple and, apparently, was their biggest shipper. It made Roksana wonder, after all the comments not just from Dino, if everyone saw her and Hibari as an already confirmed couple.
She really hoped not.
Dino's comments were more than enough embarrassment.
-0-0-0-0-
A few days later, Roksana and Lambo both were discharged from the hospital. Under the excuse that they were celebrating the two's discharge, Roksana's friends threw a party. Roksana went, Hibari trailing behind her, though the boy remained outside, napping on the roof while Roksana was inside with the others. Over the next few days, whether she saw him or not, Roksana knew Hibari was keeping tabs on her. There were even a few times when she caught sight of one of the Disciplinary Committee members following her.
Roksana just waved it off, not really willing to get into a fight when she was just starting to feel better. It took a few days before she was able to get all of her stitches out, but when she was finally able to return to her morning warm-ups, she was thrilled.
Things slowly went back to normal, Roksana getting back news on how everyone fared after the battle for the Vongola rings. Iemitsu sent the girl a letter, telling her how things had gone for him in Italy and that he was going to be going back to work soon. He made sure to remind her to continue the training he had started with her before assuring her that the Ninth Boss was doing well and that once he was better, they would decide what would be done with Xanxus and his men.
It was through that letter that Roksana found out that Luca was dead.
While she felt bad that he had been driven to such an extreme, she reminded herself that it wasn't her fault. The man had made his choice, and there wasn't anything she could do to change it. Still...she offered up a prayer for the man's soul that night, since that was all she could do for him.
Basil and Lancia set out a few days later, both returning to Italy. Basil stopped by to say goodbye to her, Roksana sending him with a letter to Iemitsu and her contact information, should he need it or want to call. The day after the two left, Haru stopped by, inviting her out to go to some events being hosted by a shopping street about to be built at Namimori Station. Roksana agreed, grabbing her bag before heading out with her to Tsuna's, to see if he wanted to join them. Along the way, they ran into Gokudera.
"Why are you heading to Tsuna's, Hayato?" Roksana asked.
"I'm going to give him this mail-order raw Yatsuhashi." Gokudera told her.
"Oh, well...here's your chance. There he is." Roksana said, pointing ahead to where Tsuna had just rounded a corner ahead of them.
"Ah! Tsuna!" Haru called, waving as Tsuna approached them. "Did you near the news? An underground shopping street is being built at Namimori Station. They're having events today! Should we all go?"
"Huh? Oh, that...Well, Reborn...ran into...some trouble." Tsuna said, rubbing the back of his head like he couldn't figure out how to phrase it.
"What happened to Reborn?" Gokudera asked.
"The truth is..."
Tsuna went on to explain what had happened the day before after they had seen off Basil and Lancia.
"Eh! He didn't come back?" Gokudera asked.
"Come to think of it, what is the 10-Year Bazooka?" Haru asked.
"A device you're better now coming in contact with. It will seriously mess up your day." Roksana told her.
"Tenth, so Reborn disappeared after being hit by the 10-Year Bazooka. But nobody appeared in his place?" Gokudera asked.
"Yes, that's what happened. I don't know what in the world's happened to him." Tsuna replied.
"H...hold on, Boss. If he hasn't come back from ten years later, that means...that means Reborn doesn't exist in ten years time." Gokudera told him.
"Even if that's true, he should have already returned by now." Roksana said.
"She's right. Anyway, let's find Reborn first!" Gokudera agreed.
"Ye-yeah." Tsuna agreed.
"I'll look at school!" Gokudera said, turning to run off.
"Haru will go to Yamamoto's house!" Haru added.
"Okay, I'll, umm, check the park." Tsuna told them.
"I'll cover the ground from my house all the way to Namimori Station, then." Roksana added.
All four split up and took off, searching high and low for Reborn. While out searching, Tsuna decided that maybe asking someone from the future would help, so he ran home to get Lambo to use the 10-Year Bazooka to switch places with his future self. Lambo insisted he didn't know anything about the bazooka, despite it popping out of his hair. Lambo fought with Tsuna over the bazooka, refusing to let him use it, and, during the struggle, Lambo shot Tsuna with the bazooka.
Next thing he knew, Tsuna found himself in a coffin-shaped box in the woods.
"This place is ten years in the future? If I've changed places with my future self, then that means I'm going to be here in ten years. Where's here? This is a coffin...? This...EH! Why am I in a coffin!?" The sound of twigs snapping, had Tsuna jolting, whipping around. "Who's there?!"
The man that stepped out of the trees, a shocked look on his face, was an older version of Gokudera, dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase. The moment he saw Tsuna, sitting in the coffin, he dropped the briefcase and rushed to the boy, grabbing him by the shoulders as he felt to his knees.
"Tenth! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he exclaimed.
"Wha?! I mean it, it really hurts! Uh...I mean..." Tsuna couldn't figure out what to say, it was so weird. "I'm sure it's hard to believe, and I don't know how, but...I was...I was hit by Lambo's 10-Year Bazooka by accident."
"I see...only five minutes..." Gokudera said, looking pained before he smoothed his expression into one of calmness. "Listen carefully, Boss. Please, when you return to the past, you must remember this moment and do exactly as I say. There's no time for details. When you get back, you must eliminate this person immediately!"
Gokudera showed Tsuna a picture of a young man with a serious expression and glasses.
"This is a picture of him from this time. You should know him from your freshman year of middle school." Gokudera told him.
"Eh?! Who is this? Did you say eliminate?!" Tsuna asked.
"There's no need to hesitate." Gokudera assured him.
"No, but...wait a minute! By eliminate, you mean to kill, right?" Tsuna asked.
"If only that guy didn't exist, Byakuran wouldn't be like this." Gokudera told him, which only raised even more questions.
"Byakuran?" Tsuna repeated, not liking the seriousness of the whole interaction.
"The next thing I'm going to say is just as a precaution." Gokudera said, continuing on.
"Umm...one thing that's been bugging me...why am I in a coffin?" Tsuna asked before he could go on. "Why is the future me...in a coffin?"
The expression on Gokudera's face, should have been answer enough. Gritting his teeth and looking like the world's sorrows rested on his shoulders, Gokudera started to speak...only for a puff of smoke to switch him with his past self right when Tsuna was about to get the truth.
"Tenth? Huh? It's the normal Tenth! But I thought I went ten years into the future?" Gokudera said, grinning.
"No, Gokudera...this is the future. I also came from ten years ago." Tsuna told him.
"Whoa, is that right? I wanted to speak with adult Lambo about Reborn, so I went to the Tenth house...but I was hit by the 10-Year Bazooka when it came flying out the window." Gokudera told him, before realizing what Tsuna was sitting in. "Hmm, what's this? It looks like a coffin."
"It doesn't only look like it..." Tsuna told him. Tsuna watched as Gokudera looked around, his mood going dark and solemn. "Um, Gokudera? Gokudera? Are you alright?"
"What the hell has the future me been up to!? Why is Boss in a coffin!?" Gokudera shouted, jumping to his feet, only to be back on the ground a moment later, slamming his fist into the ground. "Dammit! I let the Tenth die! I'm not fit to be his right-hand man!"
"Nobody said I died!" Tsuna told him. "And I've been told a way to stop this scenario from happening."
Tsuna explained to him what Gokudera's future self had told him.
"That's...that's right! In five minutes, when we go back to the past, we just need to kill the person in the photograph!" Gokudera said.
"Nnn...no, no, no! We can't kill people! The first thing we need to do when we get back in five minutes is to...h-huh?"
Tsuna trailed off, standing up to look around.
"What's wrong?" Gokudera asked.
"Hasn't it already been more than five minutes since I got here?" Tsuna pointed out.
"What? Now that you mention it, I think I've been here for more than five minutes, too." Gokudera said, finally realizing it.
"That's right! Then...why haven't we returned to the past yet?" Tsuna demanded, freaking out as he normally did.
"The only thing I could think of...is that there is a problem with the 10-Year Bazooka." Gokudera remarked.
"N-no way! What's going to happen to us!?" Tsuna fretted.
"We can't be sure what happened. Maybe we won't be able to go back..."
That remark from Gokudera only sent Tsuna spiraling once more, the boy freaking out all the more. The only thing that stopped his melt down, was his stomach growling loud enough for Gokudera to hear as well.
"In any case, let's eat Yatsuhashi!" Gokudera said, holding up the bag he was still carrying.
The two sat down to eat, Tsuna calming down somewhat as he fed his stomach. Once the food was gone, Gokudera got up, scanning the trees around them.
"But, this place...I wonder where it is? We can be sure that it's not Japan." Gokudera remarked, his eyes landing on the briefcase left behind by the future Gokudera.
"Really? Abroad?!" Tsuna asked.
"This was left by the older me, right?" Gokudera asked, holding up the briefcase.
"Y-yeah."
Turning it upside down, Gokudera dumped the contents on the ground.
"Let's check it out."
"W-wait...Gokudera! You can't just open it!" Tsuna exclaimed.
"It's not a problem. It's mine anyway!" Gokudera told him, laying out the object before them. A wallet, cigarettes, handkerchief, a letter, and an old, little box. "What's this? This old...box? So, we're still writing on paper in ten years time."
Picking up the letter, Gokudera opened it, peering down at the symbols drawn on the page. Tsuna lean over Gokudera's back to look down at it.
"What's this? It kind of looks like a drawing." Tsuna remarked.
"This is G-script!" Gokudera exclaimed.
"G-script?"
"I created this Gokudera alphabet in class when I was a freshman." Gokudera replied, Tsuna asking himself what Gokudera did during classes. "Let's see..."Guardians...gather..."."
"As I expected." Gokudera and Tsuna whipped around as someone stepped into the clearing, speaking. "Hello, fellows."
The person before them was covered, nearly from head to toe, googles hiding their eyes while a high necked cloak hid everything from the nose down. When they moved to attack, Gokudera instantly stepped in front of Tsuna, bombs at the ready. The person responded by putting some distance between them and Gokudera, using some kind of device on their arm to explode the bombs and then shoot some kind of net at Gokudera, trapping him in what looked like flames.
"As expected, the ring still can't be used properly. What a waste." their attacker said.
"Use the ring properly?" Gokudera repeated.
"Wh-what does that mean?" Tsuna asked.
"Don't hate me. No, die." was all their attacker said in response.
With Gokudera trapped, Tsuna did the only thing he really could do. Pulling out his mitten and the Dying Will pills that Basil had left with him, he pulled on the gloves and swallowed a pill. He would have to fight to protect him and Gokudera. The attacker fired again, but Tsuna easily dodged and countered.
"This high density energy isn't even phased by the 9-mm bullet. I've been waiting for this. You, in the hyper Dying Will mode." the attacker said.
"Why did you attack us?" Tsuna asked.
"We have now reached a crisis point. Whoever attacks first will gain the upper hand." the attacker replied, pointing the device on their arm at Tsuna once more. "The next bullet is different from the lead shot, so even that flame can't extinguish it."
The next shot, even after Tsuna moved, followed him, homing in on his flames until they hit him, knocking him from the sky. Not letting him breath, the attacker shot again. The attacker was sure this shot hit just as easily as the last.
"You're only at this level even after being tutored by Reborn? To think that you defeated Xanxus like this. You're useless unless Reborn is with you." they said.
"How do you know about Reborn?!" The smoke cleared, showing that, at the last second, Tsuna had managed his Zero Point Breakthrough Revised, absorbing the attack without the damage. "Why can you use the Dying Will flame?"
Tsuna attacked, his fist missing by an inch as his attacker ducked. The follow-up hit, though, landed right to the attacker's chest. Jumping back, the attacker ditched the cloak, revealing herself to be a woman.
"Oh, I see. It seems as though you have potential, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Even at my full strength, I still can't beat your fighting power, but...only at the old levels." she remarked. "At your current level, in this era, you cannot survive.
The woman held up her other hand, showing the rings that adorn each of her fingers. Reaching to her belt, she stuck one ring into the hole in a box there. What came out, was a centipede-looking creature surrounded by a violet flame. The creature wrapped around Tsuna, the boy trying to fight it off by increasing the output of his flame, but all it did was back fire on him.
"Don't use your determination to flare out the flame. Forcing out the energy just disperses it into the atmosphere. The flame isn't a toy." the woman told him as his flame sputtered out and he fell to the ground. "To think that you fell for such a basic trap, what a deplorable Vongola Decimo."
Gokudera tried to stop her as she approached Tsuna, looking like she was about to put an end to Tsuna, but Tsuna knew she was right, even admitted it. Hearing that, the woman lowered her arm.
"You pass. I'll waive killing you." she said, reaching up to pull her goggled down. "My name is Lal Mirch."
She released Gokudera then, the boy rushing to Tsuna's side.
"Tenth! How's your injury?!" Gokudera asked.
"The struggle was too loud. It'll only be a matter of time before they find us." Lal said, tossing a pair of chains to the two boys. "Wrap this around the Vongola rings. The Mammon chain, however, seals the power of the rings."
"Wha!? Hey, just hold it right there! You...you attacked us out of the blue and you want us to do whatever you say?! Besides, how do you know about the Vongola rings?!" Gokudera demanded. "Who the hell are you?!"
"We should depart quickly. You can't go barefoot: put these on." Lal replied, throwing shoes at them and completely ignoring Gokudera.
Despite the fact that she had attacked them, Tsuna got a feeling that this woman wasn't an enemy. It made him wonder if she could help them figure out what was going on.
"Please wait a minute! We came from the past! We've been in shock until just now. I don't understand what in the world is happening!" Tsuna told her.
Lal pointed her weapon at him then, a squeak leaving Tsuna in response.
"Don't talk back." she told him simply.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me! Why do we have to listen to your ass?!" Gokudera demanded.
"Guy who can't follow are better left to die than saved. And I don't have the time." Lal told them simply, the seriousness of her expression conveying all that her words couldn't. "At least wait until we reach our destination before you start asking questions."
"Destination!?" Gokudera repeated.
"Your secret base of operations." Lal replied.
"Our...our secret base?!" Gokudera repeated.
"Don't tell me...this era's... That means...Ah!" Tsuna's eyes widened as he spoke. "Is Reborn here too?"
"That's right! The Reborn from the past should still be here!" Gokudera agreed.
"Who knows?" was all Lal said in response.
Gokudera had the strong urge to hit the woman with how vague she was. She was even worse than Roksana could be and that girl was awful. Tsuna leaned towards Gokudera then, lowering his voice.
"But...even if baby Reborn isn't here, the future one should still be around." Tsuna said.
Lal heard him though, coming to a stop, her back to them.
"The reason why my body is still developing towards adulthood is because the others are no more. I was unable to become like...Colonello...Viper...Skull...all of the most powerful babies, The Arcobaleno...they're all dead. So, of course, Reborn...isn't here." Lal told them.
After that, the boys followed Lal as she took off, setting a fast pace through the trees. For a long while, they ran along in silence, Tsuna lost in his thoughts. When they finally stopped somewhere to make camp for the night, Lal told them they were responsible for their own food, the two boys setting out to find something. Gokudera assured Tsuna that there was no proof to what Lal had told them about Reborn, and, after splitting up to find food, there was the embarrassing incident when the two boys came upon Lal bathing in a pond, getting a full, up-close view of the naked woman.
Not that it seemed to bother Lal in the least.
It seemed, even in the future, all the females around them were crazy in their own ways.
END
Kyandi: Well...that's one way to introduce them to the female anatomy.
Roksana: Glad it was Lal and not me.
Kyandi: Yikes...that would have been a blood fest.
Roksana: Yep.
Kyandi: I can't wait for our readers to see what I have planned for you and Future Hibari.
Roksana: Oh, God...that.
Kyandi: Yep! It's sure to be a great moment.
Roksana: For you and your readers, maybe!
Kyandi: I would say I'm sorry, but...I'm so obviously not.
Roksana: I know!
Kyandi: Oh! Also! If any of you can figure out what the SC and SV on Roksana's ring stands for, then I would love to hear your guesses. One of those is canon to the series. With that said, everyone enjoy and review!
Roksana: We'll try to be back tomorrow...maybe.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!