Author's note before chapter:

Thank you Eragon135790 for telling me that my relationship between Isago and Usagi was a bit too awkward! I changed and added some things to chapter 12 to make it a bit better. Hopefully, I improved lol.

Anyways, hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Isago will begin to turn a bit dark. By the way, do you guys like dark MCs or bright ones?

Chapter 13

It was at this point in time that Isago realized he needed to move on with his plans. He had wasted a total of three months with more training under Reborn who was still solely focused on Tsuna. It was completely obvious that Reborn was stalling Isago's time for Tsuna to catch up.

Tsuna had also been busy, always coming late after school with a hunched back and then he would shut himself in his room until Reborn kicked him out. Tsuna didn't even talk to Isago that much anymore-seemingly fed up with as even his complaints about being in the mafia started to decrease.

In the past few days, Tsuna came back home scratched all over his face and body.

"Can you just-stop?!" Tsuna's piercing yell was directed at none other than Isago who grabbed the first aid kit and told Tsuna that he had to bandage his brother's wounds.

"Every time you always act like you're the-" Tsuna's face darkened before instantly realizing what he had said, gasping and shuffling backward against the wall. "I- Sorry, Isago. I need to calm myself."

With that, he left the house.

Isago blinked, the mood instantly dampening as he watched Reborn jump onto Tsuna's shoulder, whacking him once on the head before Tsuna darted off into the streets of Namimori. The moment he was gone, Isago narrowed his eyes. From Tsuna's condition the past few days, Isago could tell that Reborn was overwhelming him with stress.

The more Reborn wanted to push Tsuna to catch up to Isago, the more Isago himself felt threatened by Tsuna and his own tutor. This house wasn't safe anymore. Originally, this family was made for Tsuna. Isago had no place, which was why he worked hard for everyone to accept him.

He constantly felt the need to compensate for staying at the Sawada residence because he was not truly their son. But now it was obvious that Isago wasn't needed in his family anymore. In the past, Tsuna was the one to hold him down, tell him that he was needed because his older brother was so weak.

Now?

Not the case.

Isago's footsteps felt heavy as they went back into the downstairs washroom to place back the first aid kit, then into the kitchen to grab Lambo's favourite candies and headed up Tsuna's room where Lambo was snoozing in.

Although Lambo favoured Isago more, Lambo still preferred staying in Tsuna's room because Isago's was too isolated. Detached, like how he constantly felt for the past 13 years. Even now, Isago preferred to stay with his father rather than his mother. At least on his father's side, he felt completely new to the environment so that he could create a place for himself.

Isago opened Tsuna's door to see Lambo's drooling face in the middle of the bed, a small bubble blowing in and out of his nose before Isago plastered a soft smile, waking the baby up. Lambo stirred, slowly sitting up and rubbing his tired eyes before looking around the room in confusion.

"Isago…? Mhm...Isago…"

"Lambo, you are the greatest hitman in the world, can't you spare your little friend of yours a favour?" Isago popped out the lollipops from behind his back before Lambo's naive eyes popped open.

"Ahaha! Lambo-san is the best! Speak!" Lambo jumped up and snatched the candy from Isago's hands. So easy to manipulate, it was almost laughable.

"Can I borrow the large cannon inside your hair? It seems so interesting."

"No problem! Lambo-san has what you need!" He cackled, rummaging through his hair before pulling out the mid-sized cannon as Isago supported Lambo and clutched the base of the ten-year-bazooka.

Isago took the cannon out of the baby's hand, hiding a sinister sneer behind his smiling face. Too easy.

"Lambo-san will give you 10 minutes because he's generous!" The baby started before licking his candy. Ten minutes was all Isago needed to gather the information. Isago paced quickly into his own room, locking the handle before sitting down in his seat and glancing at his watch.

Jolting down the date and time of today, then adding ten years, Isago paused for the slightest moment. The ten-year bazooka could take him to any timeline. If his future self truly went for the succession, would he be dead after ten years?

It was possible, knowing Reborn was on Tsuna's side.

Isago only had one go with the bazooka, so he couldn't really just go to any timeline. In particular, he had to go to the timeline that he would survive and act as a spy for himself. On the paper in front of him, he wrote 'I will stay by Tsuna's side and support him in the position of the Vongola boss.'

With that, Isago threw the cannon up into the air and it swallowed him whole.

His eyes snapped open realizing that he was in an extremely large room for himself. The door was casually designed and there was a window that showcased the gorgeous view of the water fountain outside. Isago looked around, noticing his room was simple and contained the bare necessities before picking up the note that was written to him on the desk.

The reason why Isago wrote the time and date before entering was a message to his future self that on the exact day and time, he would be coming into the future. It was also a message telling his future self to be isolated and be well prepared.

Ten years earlier Isago,

Things to do:

Usagi has a storm flame.

Get Mukuro into your family.

Steal the bazooka.

Go to Italy on the day of your birthday.

There was a short summary of what happened in the last ten years.

Everything is going according to the timeline. You had the chance of succession. I stayed in Japan to stick with the plot. Tsuna is in his emotional period during your time, take advantage of that and break off your relationship. I made up with him after October. Beside this note will be a drug that can alter memories. Nothing more, nothing less. Just snap your fingers twice to end the hypnosis.

The end of my invisibility lies in the hope of your ambition.

-The reincarnator, Isago.

Isago's eyes flickered to the drug that was neatly packaged into the small plastic bag. It was so like him to literally write a checklist of what he needed to accomplish in the next few years.

Everything about the note was purely edging him on to continue with the succession.

Usagi has a storm flame, which meant that his future self wanted Usagi to become his storm guardian.

Getting Mukuro into your family meant that Mukuro was the deciding factor in the upcoming battles.

Steal the bazooka. Isago's eyes drifted to the drug that he held. It was so obvious what his future self was telling him to do.

Italy on his birthday.

It was currently September. He had one month of time to finish his tests and be prepared for his leave then.

But the last two lines concerned Isago.

The end of my invisibility lies in the hope of your ambition.

Since when was Isago invisible? Even if he were to support Tsuna into the Vongola position, was it even possible for him to become completely invisible in the family? Isago knew himself that if he really used the word, that must have meant that the future for him was not looking at the best angle for him. He didn't want to be invisible. That was the last thing he wanted to feel. Once in his past life was enough. Twice would be foolish.

Not to mention the word scared him. He didn't like it at all.

Isago scrunched up his eyebrows before letting out a frustrated groan. It was like Tsuna was forcing Isago into feeling the ghost-like presence he felt for 13 whole entire years. It was Tsuna's payback. The realization that his own brother would do something like that to him made the taste in his mouth bitter.

"The reincarnator, huh?" Isago murmured warily, smiling bitterly when he got the hidden message. His future self was telling him to exploit what he knew for the future without any more shackles. It was like his future self was trying to tell him to use more dangerous methods to secure his victory. But Isago would be the one to decide that. With a poof, Isago found himself back in his ten-year-old bedroom in the past.

(⊙ω⊙)

A tall man sat in his own room from ten years ago, brushing his silver hair with a deep smirk. His red eyes swished through the room as a wave of nostalgia flew over him when he remembered that the five-year-old Lambo was in his brother's room. His prominent jawline stretched as he lowered his head, black earrings sparkling in the dark room.

Leaning back onto the wall, Isago felt the neatly made bed with his fingers, reminding himself of how diligent he was in the past.

"I do hope that he takes my advice," Isago chuckled darkly and glanced towards the paper on the desk with the exact written time. In the future, Isago had made it into Tsuna's family as one of his closest informants. But even so, Tsuna protrized his mafia guardians over his brother.

He didn't blame him though, being a boss was a lot harder than Tsuna had originally planned. Isago came all this way, first being suspected by the Vongola family, then under constant surveillance from Gokudera and the rest of the guardians as they grew up. Isago was honestly like a time bomb that everyone was wary of.

It was stuffy.

That was why he needed his younger self to choose a different route, one that had himself as the Vongola boss. Vongola...it was supposed to be his. Reborn also gradually favoured Tsuna as the years went on, realizing the darkness hidden in Isago's heart that was aimed at the successor seat.

Honestly, it was better off dying than joining Tsuna's family. And Isago knew his past self's weakness. There was no need to actually tell himself what had happened in the future. All he needed to do was to sprinkle his worst nightmares and remind his younger version what his true motives were when crossing over to this world.

Isago hated being a side character in his own life and wasting his own time. He feared being forgotten by history.

And that was the thing he aimed at.

The Vongola would have never imagined after years of checking his motives that he was actually a spy for none other than himself. If the past changes, then the future will too. In his timeline, Usagi died before she could leave any memorable memories in his mind. Isago didn't remember the girl's appearance, but he did remember the sensation of her flame. It was intense, blazing with so much heat that it surpassed that of Gokudera's flame.

The more Isago learned how to sense flames, the more he realized all the potential candidates he had missed during his whole lifetime. If he could use the girl as his storm guardian to begin the search for his guardians...

"I lay all my hopes on you for a brighter future," Isago's red eyes flashed again before a furtive grin crossed his lips.

"The next time we change places...will be after the battle of rings."

(⊙ω⊙)

Isago snapped his fingers twice before Lambo woke up from his state, half-lidded eyes open as Isago gave the boy a pat on the head, telling him to sleep more. Lambo nodded slowly before falling back into his deep sleep.

In Lambo's hands, the boy held a glass cup that Isago had used to dissolve the pill into. Picking that up, he went into the kitchen and cleaned it up until the glass reflected his own face. Clean and cut.

Isago walked into his own room and stared at the cannon in the middle of his room, wondering where in the hell he should put it. At last, he decided to bring it out of his house because Reborn was able to go from place to place without Isago noticing. Grabbing out a suitcase from his inner closets, he placed the canon inside and pulled the suitcase out towards the direction of the bank.

(⊙ω⊙)

Yes, Isago had his own bank card and vault.

He had applied it when he turned 11, which was why Isago said that his wallet was heavy, but not heavy enough in a physical sense. Isago was using the bank cards that he had his mom get him on his 11th birthday. Surprisingly, mom was easy to persuade not to mention that he was the perfect child for any family. Of course, they would trust him.

After watching them escort his suitcase into his private vault, he nodded and filled some documents, stopping by the market to buy some extra things as a cover-up of why he went outside.

There were a few things that he needed to get straight. Aside from the fact that he was now limited to a whole month of studying to graduate from middle school and high school at the same time, he had to consider the following things his future self wanted him to do. Originally he had planned to leave Japan next year, but since his future self wanted him to take advantage of Tsuna's puberty outbursts...

Usagi's situation was completely a win-win case.

The bazooka business was finished.

Finally, that left the Mukuro time period.

This was a complete change in the future. Although Isago didn't know of the timeline exactly and its dates, Isago was sure that Lambo hadn't met Shoichi Irie yet. Actually, Isago's whole existence had already changed the anime timeline. He had taken away Haru from the whole plot, and because he was the main calmer between Lambo and Tsuna, Lambo never tried to run away.

In this timeline, Irie would never get his hands on the bazooka and time travel into the future. That would also mean that Byakuran would never awaken his ability in another hundred timelines. Without actually meaning to do it, Isago had saved Tsuna's gang from going into the future arc and being destroyed by Byakuran.

Other than that, how was he supposed to catch Mukuro if he didn't know where that guy was in the first place? Tsuna found out because of the cases that were happening in Namimori, but…

Usagi.

Isago's eyes widened before nodding slightly at his own suggestion.

He would ask Usagi if she could keep an eye on the cases and he'd be in Italy gathering his guardians. No, instead, he would travel the entire world in search of suitable guardians.

His birthday was in a month. That left him less than a month to get ready.

(⊙ω⊙)

Tsuna was frustrated.

"Pick up your pace, Baka Tsuna! Isago completed this mountain route in a few hours!"

His brows increased even more when he heard those words. In the beginning, Tsuna was angry that Reborn was comparing him and his brother when Tsuna obviously didn't have any talents that Isago had.

But as time went on, one thing became apparent for Tsuna.

He was always in the shadow of his brother. It was always his brother for Tsuna.

'Everyone loves him! Mom, my friends, classmates- am I just that much of a loser compared to Isago? Isago, Isago, Isago- what am I? A ghost?'

Tsuna felt strangled with Isago these days. Everything that Isago did felt so hypocritical. It was like his brother was doing things on purpose, trying to get Tsuna to calm down and stay the way he was because his brother wanted to keep Tsuna under the wraps. Isago probably saw Tsuna as an eyesore. Somewhere in the back of Tsuna's mind knew that it wasn't true.

Isago had cared a lot about Tsuna because he was his only brother. There were times that Isago saved him, from a dog, from drowning, standing up to bullies for Tsuna-

But all those memories were buried in the back of his head with Reborn's training.

'I was supposed to be older! I was supposed to protect him! Why- why am I like this now?! Am I really that useless?'

To Tsuna, Isago was always the older brother. Perfect, kind, and confident. To Isago...what even was Tsuna? A burden? He didn't want to be someone his brother thought of as dead weight. He didn't want to be abandoned by his friends. He was nowhere as good enough as his brother.

Tsuna feared that his friends would leave him because they thought that his brother was a better person. He feared that they would abandon him like all the other times that Tsuna had experienced. Whenever people saw his younger brother, they would automatically coddle him because he was stronger. Because he was better.

Tsuna didn't want that to happen again. He wanted people to recognize him as Sawada Tsunayoshi. Not Isago's brother. Not anymore.

Tsuna's mouth tightened before pushing on, trying to surpass his brother's record.

(⊙ω⊙)

Reborn sat upon Tsuna's shoulders and watched him break his limits to catch up with his brother. It might not have been the best way to push his weaker student to catch up, but Reborn trusted the fact that the bond between the two would not break.

He pondered as the rain began to drizzle from the sky, Tsuna complaining through his mouth, but did not whine anymore. His student wheezed and Tsuna's large eyes clamped down because of his own sweat.

What Reborn did not know was that the future Isago had taken the weakness of Reborn's decision. This was precisely the moment that Tsuna hated Isago for the first time in his life- and would regret whatever he would do in this time period.

(⊙ω⊙)

It was only the next day when Tsuna was hospitalized. His wounds were only temporary with a sprain in his ankle, a broken arm, and a mild concussion. The concussion had worried Isago, because from his past life he had studied a class on it, knowing that it was much more serious than the myths that surrounded the condition.

Mom was surprisingly settled on this matter, smiling without even an ounce of worry after Reborn told her that Tsuna had fallen down a cliff during their training. Mom must have thought that Reborn was just joking though because she even commented on how her own son would be able to trip in mid-air.

Out of worry, Isago went to visit Tsuna. After all, this was the first time that his brother had been hospitalized. It was a new experience for the both of them, and Isago didn't like how Reborn was pushing Tsuna too hard. At least have Tsuna take moderate breaks! But then again, Reborn was a sadistic teacher that thought his students could only learn by breaking them apart.

Visiting was a decision that he soon regretted though.

"Don't-" Tsuna's eyebrows furrowed up with a sharp glare. His frown was deep, so deep that Isago thought his brother was grinding his teeth together. "Don't tell me what to do! I'm 13! I can make decisions myself!"

Isago blinked back at his brother's outburst, slowly narrowing his eyes at Tsuna.

"I'm just worried. You know you don't have to push yourself so hard? Take things at your own pace-"

"I don't want to hear that from my perfect younger brother!" Tsuna hollered, his nostrils flaring as Isago flinched.

Never in his life had Tsuna raised his voice that high to him. It was almost shocking. Isago tilted his head at the rage on Tsuna's face before deciding in a split second that it was not the time to be coddling his brother.

"Fine," Isago spat out a bit too harshly than he wanted. His own heart was throbbing with dull pain caused by his family member. But he held down his own outburst and turned his heels.

"So much for worrying about you."

With that, he left the room. Isago saw Reborn walk towards him in the hallway, but his mood was already damped from Tsuna.

"Ragazzo, it would be best to let Baka Tsuna cool his head."

On Reborn's shoulder, Isago could see Leon starting to twist into a cocoon. Before thinking of anything else, Isago nodded slightly and Reborn jumped onto Isago's shoulder this time, patting him to move. Isago did without a single word before speaking up.

"Reborn, you've been going easy on my training to force Tsuna to catch up, right?"

Was it a smart decision to even call it out? Reborn's head tilted sideways, smiling cutely.

"Ragazzo, you're pushing too far from Tsuna."

"It doesn't matter. I promised dad to protect Tsuna. Go harder on me, Reborn."

Isago had pulled in family connections on purpose to see what Reborn would say.

"Cheeky monello, you just can't accept being surpassed, can't you?" Reborn was sadistically smiling before ordering Isago to start running. Isago was well versed enough to understand that 'monello' meant brat. Was he supposed to feel complimented? Because 'brat' seemed more personal than 'boy.'

Isago's mind was still on Tsuna's words and they kept replaying like a broken recorder. There were so many things that were wrong with Tsuna's thinking.

But Isago took this to harden his own heart. If his brother was acting like this, then Isago's brotherly act should also come to an end. Initially, they were never brothers to begin with.

'No hard feelings, Tsuna. You're the one who took my kindness and trampled it down with your feet.'

(⊙ω⊙)

Isago didn't regret his words to Reborn, even when he felt his legs suddenly shackled with two big iron balls. In front of him was the waterfall on the mountain that they usually trained at, and Isago already knew what was going to happen.

"Reborn, are you trying to kill me?"

Shooting his tutor a dirty look, he huffed without expecting a reaction from Reborn's smirk. The wind was roaring in his ears, blazing and warning him that he actually might just die from this challenge. Well, it probably wasn't a challenge in Reborn's eyes. Isago knew for a fact that all his lessons from Reborn were, in fact, harder than Tsuna's.

After recalling about the sky flames, Isago noted down the reason why Reborn used the dying will bullets on Tsuna every time and his own failed processes of trying to ignite the flame. The sky flame was hard to channel through the user. Tsuna didn't have strong enough resolution to ignite the flame and experience what holding it in his hands felt like while Isago was in a completely different situation because he thrived on the feeling of power.

He didn't want to regret it because that's what he did for his whole entire past life. He was sour in his past life, wanting more but never placing the effort in his work. When he finally got a chance, he lost it to his own incompetence. He didn't want to repeat history again. That was why his own resolution was able to spark his powers. He was able to feel the existence of his own flame.

The problem was how to keep the flame going. Even after the sports festival, Isago practiced every day in igniting his power. He was now able to call upon it like moving his own limb, but the problem still lay in the five seconds that he was able to maintain it.

"A good mafia boss must survive under any situation," Reborn tilted his head innocently at the rushing water. "Jump, monello."

What a great way to promote suicide.

"I will haunt you till your death if I die," Isago twisted his narrowed eyes before launching himself off the cliff, diving feet first into the water and began to swim upward like his life depended on it. His hands were freezing-everything in his body was screaming in shock from the impact of the ice-cold water.

Water broke into his mouth as the shackles towed him deeper into the abyss. His silver hair radiated in the darkness before flashing his red eyes and shooting up the liquid as far as he could go. His body reached the tip of the water and Isago pulled his head out for a gasp before his concentration shattered, drowning him back into place.

He held his breath, and thrust his hand out, trying to swim back ashore but it didn't work without the boost of his flame. Isago pushed his power through his body again, darting out of the lake and tried getting closer to the shore with his remaining few seconds but Reborn kicked the boy back into the lake, splattering all his hope.

Isago's lungs burned on fire, scorching. He gave himself a quick ten-second break, doing his best to maintain his calm before pulling his power out again. It was only enough to take a breath before Isago's blurry vision caught Reborn's feet in the air. His tutor plummeted his feet down on Isago's face, the shackles grabbing the boy down as if they were the whispers of death.

They were the death reapers themselves.

This time, Isago started to panic.

Isago gasped, this time the air that he tried so hard to contain burst into small bubbles that evaporated from his mouth. He wanted to choke, but the more he opened his mouth to do so, all he was doing was swallowing water without air. He was feeling lightheaded because a bat-like substance was hammering down on his head. The power in all four of his limbs disappeared as if they wanted to drown him-kill him.

There was no air.

None at all.

Isago felt like he was on the verge of exploding. It was in that singular moment that he heard the sounds of bubbles-waves and the water itself. There was the mechanical clicking and splattering of the water coming from the waterfall at the back of the lake.

This wasn't good.

In a desperate fury, Isago flailed his arms around the water, not touching anything as the light from the surface slowly disappeared from his sight. His heart was hammering-screeching for oxygen. Energy drowned out their noises before black flashed before Isago's eyes, lungs completely dying down.

Suddenly everything disappeared-the pain, the burning...the only sense that resonated through his mind was a sense of calm and peace. The small light flowing from the surface was mesmerizing. So enchanting that Isago closed his eyes-blinded by the sun.

(⊙ω⊙)

Reborn wanted to test how far his student had improved. From the sports festival weeks ago, he knew that Ragazzo could control his own flame by his own will.

'Five,' Reborn counted the seconds that Isago had lit his flame. Was this the limit that his student could do? Of course, his student was already the most exceptional one that he had, and it was a pity that he was not assigned to make him into a boss, but Reborn had expected something more from the boy.

The boy gasped once, flailing on top of the water before Reborn leaped up and kicked him back in. He wanted the boy to break his limits. Reborn's eyes narrowed slightly and watched the bubbles sprout from the water as his student came up for the second time, face pale.

Reborn pushed him back in.

Was Ragazzo able to completely go into his dying will form?

Leon on Reborn's shoulder changed a different colour and his small cocoon got bigger only by a few centimetres. Flickering his gaze back to the water, Reborn notified himself that Ragazzo was about to undergo a life and death battle in the near future. That was what would happen every time Leon spun himself into a cocoon.

A minute passed and the bubbles suddenly stopped, Ragazzo having no sign of reappearing out from the lake as Reborn's eyes instantly sharpened. The waterfall beside him crashed down, toppling itself down like bricks. Leon jumped down heavily off of Reborn's shoulder and also peered into the water.

"Ragazzo," Reborn called.

No reply. Not even the movement of sound underneath. This was not good. If Ragazzo died right now...Reborn's body shifted sideways a bit, waiting for another good minute before calling again.

"Ragazzo."

The lake wasn't that deep, but it was deep enough to drown a person who couldn't swim. A sudden wave of dread and distress crushed over his small and slightly trembling body. Had he pushed the boy too hard? He knew that he was rushing with the boy, but- another minute passed.

"Ragazzo!"

This time, Reborn plunged himself into the water, blinking open his eyes to see Ragazzo's body plunged into the bottom, floating with his shackles still gripping his ankles. Some plants were drifting peacefully beside the boy as if welcoming him to his new home. The terror in Reborn's chest leaped up as he swam under, small hands reaching over to the boy before directly heading to the shackles and trying to break the boy free.

'Damn this body of mine!'

Reborn's powerless hands stretched desperately but the lock wouldn't budge. He was running out of air himself. Reborn pulled his gun out of his chest pocket and fired it, but underwater the shot wasn't powerful enough to break the chains. He shot multiple times, feeling his breath reach the end.

'No-not Ragazzo-'

He had seen too many deaths of his comrades. Each of them died because of him. Not Ragazzo. Not this child. Reborn yanked Ragazzo's collar in the water, bubbles filling his face everywhere as he wretched his arm across the boy's face.

'Wake up you Monello! Wake up!'

Smacking his student's face a couple of more times, he felt the boy shift, then suddenly a burst of bubbles blocked his vision. It was coming from Ragazzo's mouth. He was alive. In the next moment, Ragazzo's red eyes blazed open, his gaze was ice cold and calculating that it almost scared Reborn.

All at once, they were hurled out of the water before Reborn could even blink. The hitman coughed, gasping air into his lungs as he felt the two flames flaring out of Ragazzo's body.

Ragazzo was finally in his flame state.