Kyandi: Hello, Kyandiacs!
Roksana: She actually had this chapter done last night.
Kyandi: Yeah, but I waited to post it this morning so that you guys would have something to read while I work on the next chapter today.
Roksana: And before anyone asks...no, she doesn't have chapters saved up. She's just that fast of a writer.
Kyandi: I have a lot of plot points planned out and did a lot of planning ahead, so it just writing it all out.
Roksana: There are still parts that she doesn't have planned and she still has to do editing though.
Kyandi: Yep. And all of that is a little difficult to do...when I'm dying of laughter from reviews. You guys are killing me!
Roksana: In a good way. She loves to see what funny things you guys come up with. Alpha wolf ML, you're review actually had her rolling on the floor.
Kyandi: It was my bed, but still. And, oh my god, guys! One of you actually came really close to completely figuring out what the SC and SV on Roksana's ring means! I thought I was being clever, but apparently, you guys are even more so.
Roksana: In other words, you guys are awesome.
Kyandi: Yep. So, everyone, enjoy and review.
Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman REBORN.
Chapter 27 The State of Things
That night, after having to hang up their clothes to dry, Tsuna and Gokudera couldn't bring themselves to look Lal in the eyes. Both were far too embarrassed to look up from the fish that Lal had been generous enough to share with them.
"All I know about you guys is from the photos I've seen." Lal said suddenly, making them finally glance her way. "But thanks to the existence of the 10-Year Bazooka, I recognized you. We have time now, so I'll tell you what I know."
"R-really?!" Tsuna asked.
"I belong to the Vongola's organization of Cedef." Lal told them.
"By Cedef...D-Dad's?" Tsuna asked, surprised.
"Then you...you're on our side?!" Gokudera exclaimed.
"Yes. The whole of Vongola is currently in a state of emergency. I agreed to investigate the situation and check out the condition of the Tenth's family." Lal replied.
"A state of emergency?" Tsuna asked.
"That's right. The Vongola headquarters...fell two days ago and was destroyed. Currently, there are no survivors from headquarters, and the Ninth's unaccounted for. The Cedef team hurried to the rescue, but we lost contact." Lal explained.
"Wh-what?!" Tsuna yelped.
"Don't be fooled, Tenth! I knew it! She's talking bullshit! How can the great Vongola be destroyed!?" Gokudera snapped.
"Maybe not ten years ago, but in this time, there are families who can do it. The Millefiore family. The boss' name is Byakuran." Lal told them.
"Byakuran! That's the name the future Gokudera mentioned! M-maybe, what she's telling us...is...true...? This time's Reborn and everyone's...a-and also...my being in a coffin...it all makes sense." Tsuna said, horrified. "It...it can't be..."
"The keys to dominating this era's war are the rings. By stealing the rings and their boxes, those guys got a boost in power. That's why they raided the Vongola." Lal explained.
"That's why they're targeting the Vongola rings?!" Gokudera growled.
"The importance of the rings is beyond that. They've existed since the beginning, at the first dawning of the mafia in the dark ages. It's thought that they are the symbol of the contract between our predecessors and the powers of darkness joining forces. That's why the mafia rings must be protected. They contain a power beyond human understanding. You guys must have also witnessed the Vongola rings burning!" Lal told them. "And that's not the only power of the rings. See that balloon flying over there?"
Lal pointed up to a balloon she had released earlier. Upon seeing the balloon, though, she jumped to her feet, grabbing a bag of dirt to dump over their fire, yanking her cloak back on at the same time.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Gokudera demanded.
"Enemies! Now's not the time to get all emotional! These guys are strong! If they find us, it'll probably be over!" Lal told them.
Tsuna and Gokudera rushed into their clothes, Lal ushering them into the trees and under cover. From there, she put her goggles back on and scanned the trees.
"That one's a scout." she said, spotting something. "In that case, the stealth ring will get us past."
Tsuna and Gokudera leaned around Lal, catching sight of the scout that Lal had spotted. Both froze when they saw a Gola Mosca.
"Gola Mosca!" Tsuna gasped lowly.
"That's the second generation Gola-shell...Strau Mosca. The military has been selling secrets of its black projects to other families aside from the Vongola." Lal told them.
The Mosca turned towards them then, Gokudera and Tsuna flinching.
"He's turning this way!" Gokudera hissed.
"Strau won't find us. It's internal sensor is looking for the power of the rings. But the Mammon chains have sealed their power." Lal told them.
Even though she said that, Gokudera and Tsuna tensed up as the Mosca got closer and closer. When it locked in on them, Lal turned to the boys.
"Impossible! You guys aren't carrying any rings other than your Vongola rings, right?" Lal demanded.
"No...you've seen everything I have." Gokudera told her.
"Mine to." Tsuna said before he remembered something and dug in his pocket, pulling out a ring. "Ah! I got this ring from Lancia."
"That ring is...! Why didn't you say anything!?" Lal demanded. "Even with three people, we can't beat him. We'll be annihilated."
"Huh, isn't that pretty lame? I guess your pride in the ring's power is useless." Gokudera remarked.
"Fighting isn't just about power! There must be affinity!" Lal snapped as the Mosca pointed missile launchers at them. "Having said that, we're still a ways off from the base...shit!"
Lal popped out in the open, ready to fight since they didn't have much of a choice. Thankfully, something popped up behind the Mosca, a shock wave bouncing off the Mosca's head, the mechanical beast freezing on the spot.
"I bet I can get a point off this guy. The pitch hitter has arrived!"
Standing before them, calm as his past self always was, and a scar now running over his chin, was the future Yamamoto.
"N-no way, you're...! Ya-Yamamoto!?" Gokudera exclaimed.
"J-just now...wasn't that Squalo's technique?" Tsuna asked.
"Oh? Well, isn't this a bad joke, eh? I came here to pick up an agent of Cedef, only to find you guys...Hmm? Except, you've shrunk? Maybe...an illusion? Or demons?" Yamamoto asked.
Gokudera and Tsuna had no doubt in their minds that this was definitely Yamamoto.
"Umm...because of the 10-Year Bazooka, we've come from the past." Tsuna told him.
"Ahh! I see! From back then! Of course...I should've known. No wonder...aren't you looking well, Tsuna." Yamamoto remarked.
"Uh...yeah..."
"Anyway, let's go. Having guys like these as our opponents is no laughing matter." Yamamoto told them.
As they moved on, Tsuna and Gokudera filled Yamamoto in on what time, exactly, they had come from, the man chuckling as they did.
"I see! You say ten years ago, right around the time the battle for the rings ended." Yamamoto said.
"Yeah."
"How nostalgic!" Yamamoto remarked.
"Since then?" Tsuna asked.
"Since then, many things have happened." Yamamoto said, looking at Tsuna out of the side of his eyes, his expression almost sorrowful despite the smile on his face. "Oh yeah! You've been awesome these past ten years, Tsuna! You too, Gokudera."
Gokudera didn't say anything in reply, his own expression almost looking pissed off. Which was nothing new for Gokudera where Yamamoto was concerned.
"Hey...aren't we running? It'll take until morning if we walk." Lal said then.
"Oh right! I didn't tell you! The information you had about the base's location was false." Yamamoto told him, Lal turning a look on him. "My bad. We're almost there. Keep up, and don't lose sight of me."
With that, Yamamoto pulled a box out of an inside pocket on his suit jacket. Removing the chain around one of the two rings on his on his right hand, he inserted the ring into the box. A swallow surrounded by a light blue flame, burst free of the box, flying a circle around Yamamoto.
"What's this?" Tsuna asked.
"It's defensive camouflage. Don't look away." Yamamoto told him.
Gokudera and Tsuna watched as it begun to rain, the water pouring down so hard, it actually stung.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! I can't see a thing!" Gokudera snapped.
"It's like rain forest down pour!" Tsuna added.
"This way!" Yamamoto called. When they opened their eyes, shielding their faces from the rain, they could Yamamoto standing next to a hatch leading downward into the earth. "We're going down."
All of them rushed inside, a long flight of steps leading downward.
"The base is underground?!" Tsuna asked.
"Yup! There are six similar entrances to this facility. This base serves as an important military point for the Vongola. The construction was rushed. So now, as a result, you could say there are six ways to come in, right?" Yamamoto replied, as they hurried down the stairs.
At the bottom, he placed his hand on a palm scanner, the door opening into a large room.
"A-amazing! You mean the Vongola built this?!" Tsuna asked.
"Hahaha! Wanna hear something sweet?" Yamamoto reached out, laying a hand on Tsuna's head. "You're the one who built it, Tsuna."
"Waaah!? M-me!?"
"Yeah. When you get a bit older." Yamamoto confirmed.
"Un-unbelievable." Tsuna remarked.
"Hey, what's that device for?" Gokudera asked, pointing ahead of them where a grid of laser sat over the door that lead further into the base.
"Ah! Giannini the mechanic made that. From what I get, it's some sort of disruption barrier." Yamamoto told them, leading the way through.
The moment Lal passed through, though, she gasped and collapsed to the ground. The three males hurried to her side.
"Hey! What happened?!" Gokudera asked.
"Don't worry about it. Her body just went into shock from the big change in the environment. Since, for her kind, this artificial environment is different from outside." Yamamoto explained, scooping Lal up off the floor.
"Her kind?" Tsuna asked.
"She'll wake up in a bit." Yamamoto said, not explaining. Turning, he carried on down the hall, finally reaching the door he needed. "Come on, we're here."
Stepping through the door, Tsuna and Gokudera found themselves in a meeting room of sorts, it was there that Tsuna got the biggest surprise, and relief, of his life.
"You're late." Tsuna turned towards the voice. "Ciaossu."
"Re-Reborn..."
The reunion was ruined when Reborn kicked Tsuna, sending the boy to his knees.
"You okay!?" Gokudera asked.
"The back of your head was made for the arch of my foot." Reborn remarked.
"Wha!? What the hell!? Why the messed-up reunion!? Here I was, thinking I was gonna die trying to find you! And you're wearing weird clothes again!" Tsuna snapped, looking at the weird little onesie that Reborn was currently in.
Despite saying that, though, Tsuna was glad to see that Reborn was alright. He had really been worried when Reborn had just vanished like that.
"Can't help it, these suits are keeping my health from deteriorating. That outside barrier was also built for my sake." Reborn told Tsuna.
"Huh, what does that mean?" Tsuna asked.
"You could say, for me, that this is a "hard" time." Reborn replied.
Not that that cleared anything up for Tsuna. As much as he wanted to continue to question that line of conversation, he had another pressing matter he needed to talk to Reborn about.
"Oh...oh yeah! This is strange, we can't get back to the past!" Tsuna said.
"I know something about it, but it's not the only thing that's strange. Somehow the 10-Year Bazooka sent us only nine years and ten months into the future." Reborn told him.
"What?!"
"How all this happened, now even I know. Well, just be happy that we weren't sent to some strange place." Reborn told them.
"I get it! This place is...where are we!?" Tsuna demanded.
"Hmm? You don't know?" Reborn asked.
"That's why so many horrible things happened!" Tsuna retorted.
Reborn turned to Yamamoto, then, asking if they could show it on the monitor. Turning to the monitor, Yamamoto pulled up an image of the world above them. What it was showed was a dark, but familiar town.
"It's dark, I can't see very well." Gokudera said.
"You should recognize it, since you've been here before." Yamamoto said, shifting the image to zoom in on one building.
"Na-Nami Jr. High! You're telling me this is Namimori!?" Tsuna asked.
"We're in Japan!?" Gokudera added.
"That's right. Since we can't go back to the past, whatever's happening here is your problem." Reborn told them.
"Currently, every base of the Vongola's closest associates have been attacked simultaneously all over the world. Of course, it's going on here too. The Vongola hunt has made it this far." Yamamoto told them.
"You guys must have also seen it. The coffin with the Vongola crest?" Reborn asked.
"So that means that I'm...?!"
Tsuna trailed off, unable to finish that sentence. Gritting his teeth, Gokudera lunged at Yamamoto, punching him right across the face.
"What have you done!? Why is the Tenth like that?!" Gokudera demanded.
"I'm sorry." was all Yamamoto could say.
"Asshole! "Sorry" just won't cut it!" Gokudera snapped.
"Stop it, Gokudera." Reborn ordered. "You were also here in the future."
"Shit..."
Gokudera hung his head, a thick silence falling over them as they were forced to come to terms with the fact that, in that future...Tsuna was dead.
"Our enemies, the Millefiore family, certainly have a monstrous fighting strength. However, what's even worse is their purpose is not only to get the rings and conquer." Reborn said.
"When headquarters was surrounded, Millefiore prepared to sit down and negotiate with a summoned spokesman for the Vongola. But those guys didn't sit down to negotiate, and that poor guy was killed. After that, they ignored all our calls for a ceasefire. They're picking us off one by one...their goal being to eliminate every single one of the Vongola." Yamamoto told them.
"So...what you're saying is...that those of us from the past are also in danger?" Tsuna asked.
"That's not all. Anyone you have a connection with will also be targeted for elimination." Reborn replied.
"Then that means...!"
"Don't panic." Reborn told Tsuna when he trailed off in panic. "We're not without hope. Yamamoto. The family's guardians haven't been confirmed as dead, correct?"
"...That's right."
Something about the way Yamamoto paused before saying that, made Reborn stare at him for a moment, but, deciding it was best to not give Tsuna anymore reason to panic, he let it go. He could always get the information from Yamamoto later.
"Then there's only one thing left to do. You must assemble the seven scattered guardians."
-0-0-0-0-
Though Reborn had said that, Tsuna wasn't sure about the whole thing. He was more concerned with the safety of his friends and family. From what Reborn had told them after that, I-pin and Lambo had gone looking for Kyoko and Haru, who could have also been in danger, while Tsuna mother and father had gone to Italy for vacation. Fuuta and Bianchi had been sent to check on Tsuna's parents. They had yet to hear back on the status of both groups.
Longchamp and his family had been missing for days and most of the friends and allies that Tsuna and his friends had made over the ten years, had been eliminated.
Including Yamamoto's father.
Needless to say, both Tsuna and Gokudera had a hard time sleeping that night.
The next morning, they caught Lal on her way out, the woman storming past them, leaving Tsuna and Gokudera with Reborn and Yamamoto.
"Did the two of you sleep well? Good, good! You can start your mission to gather the guardians!" Reborn said when he saw them.
"Huh?! Wa-wait a minute! I haven't prepared myself yet. Besides...!"
"As long as you keep worrying about Kyoko and the others, you won't be able to start." Reborn said when Tsuna trailed off. "The purpose in gathering the guardians is so we can protect Kyoko and the others."
"It's going to be fine, Tenth! I-pin can do it! They'll come back safely for sure!" Gokudera assured Tsuna.
"Gokudera..."
"Let's begin then. I was just discussing it with Yamamoto. The guardian we need first is someone who is ready to fight...the strongest, which means that guy." Reborn said.
"When you say "strong", you mean..."
"That's correct. Vongola Decimo's strongest guardian...Hibari Kyoya." Reborn confirmed.
"Heh...since I'm here, he's the strongest of the remaining guardians." Gokudera remarked. "But if we're talking about Hibari, then we also have to think about his handler. Without her, there's no way we're going to get him to do anything for us."
"That's right! If we find Hibari, we also have to find Roksana!" Tsuna agreed.
"Though, she's probably wherever Hibari is. They're close in our time, so they're probably impossibly close now." Gokudera said.
When he said this, Reborn, who had been caught up on the development of all the guardians over the last ten years, shared a look with Yamamoto, but neither of them said anything as Tsuna turned to them. The two would find out soon enough.
"Then where's Hibari now?" Tsuna asked.
"It's unknown." Reborn replied.
"I was also gone for a good long time, so now I have no idea where that guy is. This is the only lead we have." Yamamoto said, showing them a picture of a little bird.
"Isn't this Birds' bird!?"
"Hibari's taking care of it now. It seems to be called Hibird." Reborn told them, the two wondering who had come up with that name.
"It seems that, a long time ago, Haru saw it riding on Hibari's shoulder. Roksana tried to insist on a different name, since Hibari basically made her take care of it, but it stuck." Yamamoto told them.
That sounded about right.
"This...is our...only clue?" Tsuna asked.
"Well, considering how much he loves Namimori, there should definitely be a clue in this town. Seeing as I can't go, keep a steady head and bring him back." Reborn told them.
"You...your body will get damaged that much if you ventured outside?" Tsuna asked.
"Don't worry about it so much. Eventually, we'll get to that conversation when you're ready." Reborn assured him. "Yamamoto will accompany you guys. He's familiar with the combat style of this era."
"Even so..." Tsuna said.
"What? There's nothing to be afraid of! Aren't you guys carrying an amazing power which this era's family has lost?" Yamamoto asked.
"Lost amazing power?"
"A hope that you guys brought with you. I mean, the Vongola rings." Yamamoto told them.
With that said, they got ready to make the trip out. Yamamoto took them out a different entrance this time, the three of them coming out at an old factory.
"The remains of a factory in Block S...one of the six entrances is here." Yamamoto told them.
"Hey...! What happened to the Vongola rings?" Gokudera demanded.
"Anyway, let's go to Nami Jr. High." Yamamoto continued, not answering the question.
"Hey! Did you hear me!?" Gokudera growled.
"What?" Yamamoto asked, looking over his shoulder.
"The Vongola rings! Why aren't they in this time?!"
"Oh. That story, huh? Sometime back the rings were smashed and thrown away." Yamamoto said simply.
"What?! Thrown away!? When we suffered so much to get them!?" Tsuna demanded.
"Who the hell would do that?!" Gokudera asked.
"Our boss did. There were some among the guardians who objected. But, Tsuna, you refused to give in." Yamamoto told them.
"I...why did I do such a thing?" Tsuna asked.
"Ha, ha, ha! You don't know that either? Tsuna spoke of destroying the Vongola rings in order to change us. Among the mafia, there was a lot of fuss about the importance of the rings...another battle to take them loomed near. You were probably thinking it best not to fan the flames of battle, right? That's just the sort of man you are. Even to the point of doubting the reason the Vongola exists for." Yamamoto told them. "Still, even now, we're heavily relying on the rings. I'll train you guys like it's some intensive baseball camp!"
Tsuna opened his mouth to ask Yamamoto, but a nearby explosion stopped him. Up ahead, a group of fighters appeared. A closer look showed that two of those fighting, were I-pin and Lambo and they had Haru and Kyoko with them. Going up against them, were two guys in matching, black uniforms. Yamamoto called them the Millefiore's Black Spell. As the two attacked I-pin and Lambo once more, Yamamoto stepped in to help them.
Tsuna and Gokudera watched in amazement as, while fighting off the two men, he schooled them in the boxes and how to use them. He told them all about the flames within a person and how those paired with the rings, was what opened the boxes. It was only after explaining this, that they realized that Kyoko was missing.
Yamamoto sent Tsuna to find her, one of the men following Tsuna while the other continued to fight with Yamamoto. Tsuna found Kyoko, the young woman's ankle sprained, but that was when things began to unravel.
It started when Yamamoto, who was about to get serious about his fight, was suddenly swapped out for his younger self, Haru, I-pin and Lambo, following suit. Even Kyoko was swapped out for her younger self. With the only ones who had experience fighting with the boxes, now gone, things looked dicey, until Tsuna, trying to protect Kyoka, turned serious, swallowing one of the Dying Will pills.
Only both Gokudera and Tsuna finding their determination to protect those around them, allowed them to ignite their flames, Gokudera managing to open the box he had found in the briefcase his future self had dropped.
With that determination, they were able to defeat their opponents, Tsuna passing out, and they all returned to base. While Reborn explained to the others what was going on, Gokudera took Tsuna to the infirmary to be bandaged. It was there, that Tsuna woke up and was informed that Kyoko wasn't the only one that had been swapped out for her future self.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were all in danger. Just knowing that Haru, Kyoka, and the children were there, that their lives were in danger by being there, was enough to stress Tsuna out. They had to find a way to go back to the past before something happened and one of them ended up hurt, or worse.
Gokudera, though, had an answer for how to return to the past.
He had finally managed to finish reading the letter his future self had left behind, the letter revealing that the only way to return things to normal, to send them back to their own time, was to gather the guardians, defeat Byakuran, and kill the man with the glasses from the picture future Gokudera had shown Tsuna.
The letter, Gokudera told them, gave them several hints about what they had to do. The first thing was, that they needed the Vongola rings, and the second being that it mention nothing of going back to the past to eliminate the guy with the glasses, a man named Irie Shouichi.
However bad it seemed, they not had a hope for returning to the past. It was still far from ideal and they were all still in danger, but at least they now had a goal to aim for. They just had to keep taking one step after another to meet that goal.
The first step...convincing Lal Mirch to teach them how to use the boxes in battle.
END
Kyandi: Roksana should be making her appearance in the next chapter.
Roksana: You guys aren't going to like it.
Kyandi: Then again...they just might. I know I died of laughter planning this scene.
Roksana: I know...you had to use your asthma inhaler because you laughed yourself into an asthma attack.
Kyandi: Ah, good times.
Roksana: Not really.
Kyandi: Anyway, I have another chapter to write.
Roksana: Wrap up time?
Kyandi: Yes ma'am. Everyone enjoy and review!
Roksana: We'll be back tomorrow.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!