Chapter 2

Timoteo was apparently on vacation and planned to stay with them for a week, most likely to choose the suitable child to take the role of successor. Isago noticed the frequent glances between the two male adults in the house when he was playing with Tsuna. Games like hide and seek was often, Tsuna losing to Isago most of the time, but just before Tsuna could cry out about giving up, Isago would lose purposefully to keep the game going.

Timoteo studied the two children, and Isago could feel the eyes on his head every time he hid the teddy and positioned himself in an unsuspicious corner. Though every time Isago turned to meet the grandfather's eyes, the man only smiled.

Tsuna had grown fond of the grandfather figure of the past five days, asking Timoteo to read him a bedtime story every night. It was only on the sixth day that something out of the usual happened. Mom had gone outside to the shopping market while Tsuna and Isago were playing on the streets. A dog had halted just a street away, suddenly staring at the two boys before growling out and catching their attention.

"Hieeee!" Tsuna's young voice screamed with pale horror, running behind Isago as the dog's saliva dribbled onto the ground, staring at them both with a hungry and vicious set of eyes. The red sunset behind the dog did not help either, only making the dog seem like he was bathed in gorey blood.

Fear shook in Isago's eyes as he closed them, remembering all the bad memories from his past life of dogs running chasing after him. Dogs were cute through the screen, but the moment one comes bolting at you at their highest speed-

The dog kicked his heels, as Isago flinched with shrills running down his spine, almost forcing his knees to buckle out. He roared trying to scare the dog off, but there was no avail. Isago bit the inside of his cheek before pulling Tsuna by the arm, hearing his older brother yelp as they both started running, screaming for help. Sweat trickled down his neck as the dog started to catch up.

"I don't wanna be bitten by a wild animal!" Isago shrieked once more before seeing the dog pounce at them. It was at that moment when time seemed to roll in slow motion, Isago gritting his teeth before pushing his brother out of the way and jumping to the other side. It was a two-choice decision, and the dog's eyes only followed in front of him.

Which was unfortunately Isago.

"Fuck-"

The dog snarled, spitting saliva all over Isago's face as the boy tried to kick the animal off, legs flailing around as the dog sank its fangs into his arm, earning a screech as red flashed through Isago's vision. There was first a sting, then an ache followed up with a tear as the dog tried pulling the flesh out of Isago's arm. He writhed under the sensation of his flesh being ripped out. Isago bashed his other fist into the face of the animal, forcing its fangs to let go of his arm before clawing its face again, this time aiming for the eyes before his small fingers dug into the dog's eyes, kicking the pug back and pulling an eyeball out.

Blood splattered out, spraying the ground with its droplets as Isago panted, feeling lightheaded from his battle. The dog howled in pain, opening his mouth to bite again before Tsuna's scream was heard through the street and the dog fell on the ground, limp.

There was a flame ignited on top of Tsuna's head, orange in colour as Isago heaved, groaning and tossing his head backwards before throwing the small eyeball out of his grasp. It bounced once on the floor, rolling away from his body with a trail of gore. Isago stared at the blood that covered his fingers as it dripped out of his palms, fresh and red.

"This isn't mine," Isago's voice trembled before his hand started to follow in suit. Disgust filled his face as he tried to wipe it on the pavement. "W-what do I do-what do I-"

He had hurt someone. No, something, but it was all the same. He tried to kill an animal, and the fact sunk into his mind as he screamed bloody murder, shoulders trembling as he heard a thump in front of him. Tsuna had fallen unconscious, the flame on his forehead slowly diminishing into nothing.

"It was me or that dog," Isago chanted, closing his eyes and pushing himself off the ground. "Survive-I did it to survive."

'There will be more in the future if I'm planning to join the mafia,' Isago thought, eyes snapping open and this time only whimpering because of the pain. His bloody hand flew towards his limp and bitten one, flesh could be seen missing in a whole chunk as he trudged towards Tsuna, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Tsuna was completely unconscious.

Isago couldn't leave him here on the streets, there were people and Isago did not want to risk Tsuna being kidnapped by some old pervert.

"Tsuna-" Isago panted and let go of his injured arm, picking up his brother's fallen body and slinging the arm over his shoulder. Isago's knees quaked with the pressure and it caused him to stumble twice onto the pavement.

"Fuck-" he heaved again, repeating the process as he pushed himself and Tsuna off the ground, tripping before walking forward. Isago needed to get help, then the hospital-

His vision blurred with his tears, a headache pounding in his mind with the ringing in his ears. Walking felt like a task that took an eternity. The sun had already set with pale purple and pink within the skies. Isago saw the light to his own residence, hearing the small alarm from the garden as he croaked out a small 'help' with his dry lips.

Apparently, no one heard it because there was no motion from anyone out the door.

"Help!"

This time Isago screamed with his life on the line, bitter cracks shrieked through his lungs and his knees began physically shaking. The front gate opened and Isemitsu rushed out, Nana screaming behind him while Timoteo dropped his cane and dialled the phone, hollering into the speakers.

Dad took a hold of Tsuna before Isago fell limp into his father's embrace, wheezing as his eyes flickered back to the pathway that he just carried his brother from. A trail of blood followed him.

"Shit-he's running on a fever!"

Isago heard dad yell as his body was lifted up into mid-air. His vision swirled before Isago's injured arm tingled with a dull ache, knocking the boy out.

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

"Isa- Isago!"

Isago stirred in his white blankets and his head shifted to the side, begging for the pain to stop. Nightmares. Nightmares of the dog ran through his dreams, invading them as the fight began on infinite repeat.

The growling, the saliva. The hateful eyes and the blood that Isago splattered onto the ground. The terror that flew through his veins, the desperate scream to survive. The blood-the blood that dripped from his fingers-

It felt awful.

The color of blood, it scared him.

The cold blood started to envelope him, mocking him for his own pathetic mentality. The dog was accusing Isago of killing him. Anger fizzled in the dog's eyes, howling at the child.

"I did it to survive-" Isago's tone paled, whispering it in his dream. "I'm sorry-I'm sorry-"

"Isago!"

His eyes snapped open, wheezing as sweat trickled down his forehead in jeer. He suddenly felt so hot, gasping as his eyes fluttered to the voice that had called upon him in this sleep. Dad sat there in his chair, arms relaxed by his side while the male adult looked at his own son, flustered at his appearance.

The first thing that Isago noticed was that the whole room was light green. Moreover, the room was a single room, small and had furniture stacked up everywhere like the extravagant western chair that was positioned in front of a rich brown study desk and seemed as if it was polished.

Isago's head instantly jerked towards the window in confirmation, seeing that the culture outside was still Asian. Good, they haven't left Japan yet.

"We're still in Japan," his dad said, curtly nodding his head after the thought passed through his son's head. "Isago, the dog's murder isn't your-"

Isago held up his hand, silencing his own father.

"Give me a minute," Isago's voice was hoarse, in a whispery tremble but serious. His dad complied, watching his son bury his head into his knees, inhaling a deep breath then exhaling in the box formation.

'It's not my fault,' Isago repeated in his mind. 'In this world, it's the last one standing to win. No one will show mercy when I am battling them, and I shouldn't either. Even though Tsuna was the real one to kill the dog, he probably wouldn't remember the situation as much.'

Isago mulled over the fact again, listing all the information in front of him. Reverting back into the case, there really was no other option than to kill the enemy. He had to get used to it, although the blood that stained his hands was almost too horrifying to bear. Not to mention the sticky feeling of the dog's eyeball-

Isago scrunched up his face in disgust.

"Okay," the child said slowly, lifting his face from his own knees. "I'm over it."

"...Good," Isemitsu followed his son's actions, nodding once before entering silence again. Isago's hand flew up to his injured limb, feeling the wound buried inside the bandage. It was numb, meaning that the doctor they had called gave him some kind of numbing drug.

His own mind whirled fast, remembering Isemitsu's words about the dog. They had found out about the incident, most likely following the trail of blood that Isago had led them to the dead body of the dog.

"How serious was it?" Isago turned his head to Isemitsu, asking about his own arm. Isemitsu gave a small sigh, rubbing the back of his head before shuffling a proud grin onto his face.

"Some of your flesh was torn off, but you and Tsuna made it back in one piece," Isemitsu held out his arms and hugged the boy. "You looked like a very heroic man, carrying your brother back."

"Heroic does not mean safe," Isago pointed out as his father's smile grew into a small twitch of a smirk.

"Life is always upon the borders of death, the safest is to stay away from all of the drama in the underworld."

Isago's eyebrows quirked up questioningly at Isemitsu's words.

"You already know that I don't work at a construction site," Isemitsu twisted his fingers against each other, looking at Isago with intense eyes. "Boss already told me that you're sharper than you look."

'Hyper intuition?' Isago thought, amused. Since when did Timoeto find out that Isago knew of their occupations? Was it the moment they exchanged greetings? Was it the six days that Timoteo spent inside their house and observing Isago's movements?

Or was it the moment that they exchanged greetings through the window?

"So the cat's out of the bag," Isago gave him a small smile. "I have been suspecting of your job, no construction worker would stuff their occupation in front of other people."

"As?"

"For example, if a man has a job considered to be low in level, they would brush up their appearance before heading back home to make himself at least presentable in front of their wives and kids," Isago continued.

"Dad, you were trying to push the image of a construction worker in front of us. Not to mention mom never works, which means that you're the one supplying our monthly taxes," he paused, staring at Isemitsu who was now listening with interest.

"Construction workers aren't able to pay the taxes for a whole house," Isago said, wondering if his words were a bit too much. Sure, for a teenager it might have been logical to know about house prices, but for a four-year-old? Tsuna was even having trouble saying some words.

"Do you know why I call you weirdo, Isago?" Isemitsu leaned closer to his son, eyes twinking.

"Is it because I'm a genius?" Isago puffed up his chest with a grin. He didn't really mean a genius though. Isago knew that he was only seen as a genius because he had the mind of an adult. He was far from a genius. He was only normal. And that infuriated him.

"Yes, that," Isemitsu said. "Also because the word 'genius' will be the target of other people."

Isago mulled over the fact, slowly nodding his head in agreement.

"Protect your brother," dad's voice came out gravely, flickering back and forth between the window and door. Isago's eyes followed his understanding momentarily of what he was trying to imply. Timoteo was outside of the door or had either implanted a listening device on the window. Anyway, it was apparent that Timoteo was listening to their conversation.

"Tsuna will protect you in the future."

"It can't be me who protects Tsuna? Is it because he's older?" Isago's eyes slanted only a bit, trying to battle the disappointment and curiosity on his expression. Isemitsu's words could go two ways, either that Tsuna would protect him in the future as a boss, or as one of the guardians of the ring.

But then again, was Isago's flame even the sky flame?

"You will both protect each other," Isemitsu's eyes darkened instantly at Isago's words. Ambition was heard loud and clear in between the two, and Isago did it on purpose to show that he was more than eager to take on the position of the successor.

If Tsuna didn't want the title of the successor, then why couldn't he take it? A successor could be trained, and it wasn't like Isago had bad intentions either. He had fully promised himself to take care of everyone in his family like a fair and respectable boss.

"Alright, I will protect him, and I won't ask about your job either. It's sometimes best to remain oblivious to things," Isago took the hardened look that his father gave him, nodding slowly.

"But if Tsuna breaks the line first," the son gazed at his father gravely. "Then I will have to pull back."

The meaning that Isago was trying to place was simple.

Don't think that I'm the only brother that can cause harm to the other.

"Boss and I were discussing this, but would you like to come with me?" Isemitsu's voice was quiet, golden eyes wavering as if to tell Isago to not accept the invitation.

"Maybe when I'm older," Isago smiled mischievously, placing the offer back onto the table without answering both sides. "I want to protect Tsuna as you've said, but make sure that the offer is on the table."

"Of course," Isemitsu gave a small appreciative grin and lifted his hand to ruffle Isago's hair. "You both are my precious kids."

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Timoteo and Isemitsu left almost immediately after confirming that Isago was fine. Before the pair dropped Isago off the car, Timeoto gave him a sweet grin, ruffling the child's hair fondly before bidding Isago a 'see you later.'

Isago watched as the car disappeared out of his sight, suddenly a question forming inside of his mind before blurting it out unconsciously.

"Wait, did they seal Tsuna's flame?"

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Sure enough, the moment Isago stepped into the house, his mother and brother lunged at him, one bickering and ranting about how worried she was, the other crying about how he couldn't have helped Isago with the dog.

"But I'm glad that you saved yourself and Tsuna," Nana sighed, rolling up her sleeves as a large smile appeared on her face. "To celebrate Isago becoming a hero, we'll have a feast today!"

With that, she ushered them to play quietly upstairs, telling Tsuna especially not to aggravate the wound on Isago. The two boys walked up the stairs in silence, Tsuna following his brother and sniffing the tears that were rolling down his face just moments ago. The hallway was narrow, but light seeped from the window as Isago gestured to Tsuna to enter his room.

"So, Tsuna," Isago called out and plopped onto his bed, the bandage wrapped around his hand became more like a thick cast which he had to hold like a lumber attached to his arm. The bed creaked with his extra weight as Tsuna closed the door behind him like any polite child would, and waddled towards Isago, also climbing onto the bed.

"Tsuna, do you remember what happened to the dog?"

Tsuna paused, body shivering as he clutched his two hands on his shirt, shaking his head.

"There was fire on my head, and then-"

Isago blinked back, feeling done with his entire four years of living in his body. Holy geez, because of the commotion, Isago had no way of informing that flames had sprouted on Tsuna's head. Tsuna was also unconscious at that time, so they couldn't interrogate Tsuna either. With the trauma that the incident caused, Tsuna was most likely bedridden similar to Isago.

"Isago, I'm sorry…" Tsuna's face teared up again, melting like ice cream as snot crawled out of his nose. He buried his face in his arm, mumbling and apologizing how he was supposed to be attacked but Isago saved him.

To be completely honest, the dog attacked the closest person, and Isago knew that too. Isago hadn't intentionally protected Tsuna because he himself was in unparalleled danger at that time too. Rather, Isago minimized the possibilities of both of them getting hurt. But other than that, Isago was amused at how Tsuna only thought about him when he had his forehead set on fire for no apparent reason.

"Tsuna, you said there was fire on your forehead?" Isago grinned a bit, trying to remind the boy. Tsuna's eyes widened, hands flying towards his head before hyperventilating that he was going to die.

"Isago-Isago-"

"Don't worry, Tsuna, those flames aren't fire," Isago patted him steadily on the shoulder as the small boy in front of him quivered. "Those flames are a part of our life force, so they won't harm us."

"Hieeee!" Tsuna bit his own lip, shaking his head. "I don't like those flames! I don't!"

Did Tsuna even understand the idea of life force? Isago's mouth curled up again, thinking that Tsuna may have gotten the idea of 'life force' wrong. But Isago didn't correct him, wanting to see the boy's embarrassment when Reborn came later in the future.

"Well, I don't think they'll ever appear unless we're in a life or death-threatening situation," Isago's eyes darted around the room, noting that there was nothing in the space that could potentially kill them.

"But this might happen in the future again," Isago murmured, forcing Tsuna's face to pale.

"No! No! I don't want to see Isago get hurt-I will-I will-"

Tsuna's mouth quivered, eyes wandering side to side like a confused puppy. Isago knew what Tsuna wanted to say, and it was words to promise to protect him in the future, but Tsuna was too shy and timid to actually take on the task. Isago suddenly felt a bit ironic about his own situation. He was aiming for the Vongola seat, fully knowing that unless Tsuna handed him the seat willingly, he would have to take it for himself.

Isago was the one that changed the timeline of Tsuna's life. Tsuna's flame was his potential, and because Vongola ninth sealed it, Tsuna's resolve and determination through his growth diminished to almost nothing. But here the future boss was, sitting in front of him with his puffed cheeks, although still timid, Isago knew that he wouldn't become so helpless as he did in the anime.

Isago had basically pushed Tsuna into his first steps in cultivating himself as the boss.

'What is this, training your own rival?' Isago thought with humour, although narrowing his eyes at his brother. Tsuna was indeed a good boss in the future, but Isago wasn't generous enough to give his brother the advantage over him. For now, Isago would just let Tsuna do his own thing, watch how his brother would grow throughout the time frame.

"Don't worry, Tsuna, I will protect you," Isago ruffled the small boy's hair as Tsuna's cheeks grew a bit pink.

"But...I'm the older one, Isago," Tsuna pouted.

"We are basically twins, one of us had to be born a few seconds earlier than the other," Isago tilted his head curiously. "Do you not want me to protect you, Tsuna?"

Tsuna shook his head instantly, "No, no! I want Isago to protect me! But I'll also protect you too!"

"Then it's a promise," Isago grabbed Tsuna's small and fluffy hands, hooking their pinkies together. "You don't have to try too hard though, we're still growing."

"Okay!" Tsuna bobbed his head, beaming at the promise they made with each other.