Kyoko wasn't stupid. Sure, Reborn and Lal Mirch either had unnatural intelligence for their young ages or were adults with radical growth defects, and seeing the absurd athletics and antics Tsuna got into when his head gets set on fire weren't the most normal parts of her day-to-day life; all that stuff was wacky and weird and even kinda fun and cool sometimes depending on the shenanigans of the day. But, fundamentally, Kyoko knew that Tsuna hurts people.

Tsuna's gang steals and extorts things from people. Money, property, blackmail material, favors – almost anything that can turn out a profit for him, the gang tries to get their paws on it. They stay away from the more deplorable and unforgivable underground markets that are out there – well, at least the more deplorable things in comparison – but they still do things like sell illegal drugs to addicts. Sure, if you ask Kyoko, it's only idiots who buy and use drugs like that, but his gang also beats and kills people – a lot of the time because his gang was attacked first, but also a lot of the time because other people were just too stubborn or too stupid and decided to stand in their way. The people who are hurt aren't always malicious types – for every Nezu or Mukuro Rokudo, there's decent people like Kusakabe or Mister Kawahira. Moreover, it was an odd feeling to see on the news or hear through school gossip of injuries and deaths that she can deduce were caused by Tsuna's gang. Then there's Tsuna's chosen "guardians," who literally fought professional assassins while Kyoko was away in the States. Her big brother willingly stayed behind to be part of that ordeal.

Was Kyoko worried when Ryohei stood with Tsuna during all that? Of course she was. She was worried for her brother, for Tsuna, Takeshi, Lambo – for everyone.

But against all the bad, Kyoko took solace in another fundamental: at the end of the day, Tsuna hurts people in order to protect or support his family. For the people he cares about and the people who care about him. She's watched him be a good brother to Fuuta, Lambo, and I-Pin, acting disciplined yet fair to them. He's always been a good friend to Kyoko and the rest of their little circle, too. Takeshi, Hana, and some of the others might technically work for Tsuna and get paid with actual money, but if anything, that made him care more for them, because he feels responsible for their lives and livelihoods, so he makes sure to be a good boss worth following. Whether it's to defend against an enemy gang or co-opting a new racket, Kyoko knew that in whatever ventures Tsuna sets off, he always kept his friends and family well in mind.

Honestly? Kyoko had once felt more than a little smitten with Tsuna. Once. They had already been friends for a while, but in the days leading up to Tsuna's 14th birthday, Kyoko's other girl friends had been teasing Hana about having to pose as Tsuna's girlfriend for another scheme of his. While Kyoko knew it had only been part of a bad joke, her mind had wandered and imagined herself with Tsuna as a real girlfriend-boyfriend pair, like in one of the stories she's read. A dashing rogue getting his walls cracked, opening his heart to a kind-hearted, spirited young maiden…

But Tsuna has made it clear that a real romance was never something he wanted to bother with, and Kyoko was admittedly too shy to ever even try to really ask someone out and have a relationship. Her infatuation was just a strong veneration for a good friend.

But a cost in keeping that friendship in Tsuna was the constant risk of seeing any of them really, seriously, hurt. Kyoko had gotten mostly used to seeing the periodic injuries he, big brother, and Takeshi always tried to hide from her whenever they hung out together, but then seeing the older Lambo...

Seeing him outright dying, gasping for air not out of exhaustion but for survival; Bianchi screaming something fierce as she was splattered with blood while trying to keep him alive; Haru shouting incoherently in panic as she hugged a stunned and completely silent Hana; Tsuna, just standing there and staring at the whole scene...

Kyoko had been just staring at it all, too, and she couldn't stop seeing it in her head.

"Come on, Brasi. Lambo still smells the same, doesn't he? You like him, don't you? So you can help him."

Abruptly, hearing those words knocked Kyoko out of her spell. She blinked, opening her eyes and ears to her surroundings again.

She was at the clinic that members of Tsuna's gang often went to for free treatment. After Lambo had been relatively stabilized, he was brought here. While Hana escorted Haru home, the rest of them had come to the clinic with Lambo. At the moment, Kyoko was sitting in the front desk area. The receptionist had locked the front door and left to handle some errand. Fuuta was leaning on Kyoko's side, sleeping. Kyoko could've gone home, too, but with Miss Sawada busy looking after Tsuna, Fuuta had latched onto Kyoko, so she stayed to keep him calm. Brasi was awake but was nestled quietly on Kyoko's lap.

The older I-Pin from the future had also arrived with the older Lambo, though I-Pin's injuries were far less dire. With a few bandages here and there, the older I-Pin was kneeling in front of Kyoko. At eye level with Brasi, she was trying coax the bulldog to use his fire powers to heal Lambo.

Finding her voice, Kyoko prompted, "Still no response?"

"Unfortunately." I-Pin scratched behind Brasi's ear, invoking a whimper and a lick on her wrist but little else. "He's smart, but I guess he is only a few months old in this time. He isn't used to the older me or Lambo yet."

I-Pin's gentled gaze moved up to meet Kyoko's. "Kyoko-nee," she said before giggling. "Guess it must be a little weird to hear me say that, since I'm technically a little older than you are now."

Kyoko returned the smile. "So we still know each other in the future." She hasn't spoken with either future Lambo or I-Pin very much. Kyoko did know at least that Lambo and I-Pin in the future were still considered as Tsuna's younger siblings.

"Of course!" I-Pin happily assured her. "You baked the cake for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. In my time, I mean."

Future I-Pin had been celebrating her birthday a couple weeks ago. Kyoko had been on vacation a few weeks ago. Now today, Lambo was unconscious at the clinic and Namimori was tearing itself apart in a gang war.

Kyoko took a deep breath and shook her head, trying to get her mind out of the gutter. "Good to hear," she said, maybe a little too quickly and a little too out of it, but her smile remained genuine. "It sounds like your Japanese has improved a lot, too."

"I would hope so, considering that Namimori has been my home for the last ten years." I-Pin giggled again, but this time she winced. Although her injuries weren't as severe as Lambo's, Kyoko could see the signs of someone resisting the soreness and fatigue. Her brother and… almost everyone single one of her male friends, actually, had a tendency to power through pain or an uncomfortable situation and to try to put on a strong front. I-Pin must have picked up that trait of theirs.

"Maybe you should sit down," Kyoko recommended. She jostled the napping Fuuta and the dreary Brasi. "Take a page from these guys' book and rest up. I'm sure that there won't be any complications with Lambo."

"No, I'm not worried about that." Seeing how Kyoko tilted her head at that response, I-Pin quickly corrected herself. "No, no! I am worried about Lambo, of course. I just know that Bianchi and the staff here will make sure there aren't any complications. Like I said, I've been living in Namimori for a long time. The clinic hasn't changed one bit."

Kyoko wondered if I-Pin was speaking from experience. She probably was. "Then what else is bothering you?"

"It's a mafia thing." I-Pin became more withdrawn. She slowly straightened her back and carefully stretched her limbs, testing how far she could move in a similar manner that Kyoko has seen Tsuna do sometimes before heading off to do a job for his gang. "It really is great to see and speak with Kyoko-nee when we're almost the same age, but you know the rules."

"Rules only matter if they actually help," Kyoko countered. "I know I'm not in the mafia or Tsuna's gang, but that doesn't mean you can't lean on your Kyoko-nee for support."

Yes, Kyoko wasn't supposed to know things beyond the surface about the mafia or criminal activities in general, but I-Pin looked like she really needed an outlet. Plus, she was from the future, so whatever she said shouldn't implicate Kyoko in anything.

For a second, Kyoko thought the glint in I-Pin's eye meant that she really was going to open up.

However, Tsuna suddenly appeared. He tackled I-Pin in a hug. Not too unlike an enthusiastic hug Fuuta would give Tsuna, Miss Sawada, or Kyoko and Haru.

"Hello, I-Pin!" Tsuna greeted. "You're Vito's favorite. He thinks you're a smart prodigy and will grow up to be a great martial artist."

"Oh…" I-Pin lost some of the light in her eyes. "It's… Tsuna."

"Yeah. Vito's gone, but he'd be happy to see that you're here to help."

"To… help?"

"Yeah. It's been an hour past the time limit for when you and Lambo should have switched with your present selves. I didn't see the rocket this time, but you must have been hit by the same type of rocket that hit me and Vito."

I-Pin bit her lip. "I know a little about that, but I can't–"

Miss Sawada came strolling in from around the corner. "You shouldn't put more stress on I-Pin's bandages, Tsuna."

Blinking in realization at how hard he was embracing I-Pin, Tsuna slid back a few steps on the tiled floor. "Sorry I-Pin!"

"It's ok–"

Tsuna spun around to look at his mom. "Did you see the rocket, Mama? Was it the same one that was shot in Kawahira's place?"

Miss Sawada shook her head. "Lambo's stable now, by the way," she said to I-Pin and Kyoko. "He's having some trouble breathing, but the doctors are confident he will recover well enough to walk within the month."

I-Pin exhaled a breath that seemed to relieve some of the tenseness in her shoulders. "Great news, then."

"But I-Pin," Miss Sawada went on, "what about your younger selves? If they were sent to wherever you were that caused such serious injuries…"

"I'm sure they're alright," I-Pin said with a confidence that made Kyoko believe her one hundred percent. "Lambo and I were being reckless, but Fuuta-nii and Vvvvvvv…" I-Pin trailed off as she glanced at Tsuna, whose orange-tinted eyes stared intently right back at her.

"Vito is in the future?" Tsuna asked hopefully.

I-Pin shuffled her feet. "Yes, but…"

But along with the regular rules of not giving away information about the future, I-Pin was also unused to seeing Tsuna act like such an honest child. She was trying to hide how uncomfortable she was, but Kyoko could tell. I-Pin appeared almost as caught off-guard by Tsuna's behavior as Kyoko had been. That must mean Tsuna's mind was back to his normal self in the future, or Tsuna at least resembled more of his real self.

"As long as we know that Lambo and I-Pin are safe in the future," Miss Sawada said.

"They're in good hands," I-Pin reassured.

Before Tsuna could start bombarding I-Pin with his rambling questions, the front door of the clinic was kicked open. Kyoko jumped slightly at the sudden noise. As Fuuta and Brasi started stirring because of this, Mochida walked in.

He wasn't alone. Mochida was holding someone by their wrists behind their back as he pulled them inside. Mochida gave them a push, letting Kyoko see a boy around her age with unkempt red hair and wearing a pair of glasses stumble over his feet. He wore a school uniform, maybe from Yumei Middle? The private school?

"Mochida-kun?" Miss Sawada said, raising an eyebrow as she put an arm around Tsuna's shoulders and held him close. "Who is this?"

"I–I just lost my way – got lost on my way home," the stranger stuttered, his eyes darting between everyone in the room. "I'm not part of any of the gang stuff. Really! I was trying to avoid –"

Mochida smacked him on the side of the head. "Don't know who this guy thinks he..." Pausing as he glanced at Miss Sawada, Mochida coughed and said, "I'm not exactly sure know who this is, ma'am. He won't give his name. I noticed him stalking the clinic. Bianchi said that she's seen him around your house a while back, and one of the guys mentioned something about seeing a kid like him near Kawahira's after the Ring Conflict, too."

"Kawa–what? That antique shop? Please, I just want to go home."

If you asked Kyoko, she thought the boy was telling the truth. He certainly looked scared enough to be telling the truth. However, Miss Sawada was looking at him more critically. "Where is Bianchi?" she asked.

"Still prowling– She is still patrolling the perimeter, ma'am, and she told me to bring this guy here and hold him till she or Hana get back."

"But I need to get home!" the redhead insisted.

Miss Sawada turned to Kyoko. "Do you want to go home, Kyoko-chan? I can look after Fuuta, and with I-Pin here, Mochida-kun can walk with you home."

At first, Kyoko was confused by the question. Miss Sawada was just completely ignoring the scared, restrained boy right in front of them right now to talk to her. Then Kyoko realized that it was the exact kind of question Tsuna, the normal Tsuna, would have asked her, to give her an out to leave the room whenever he and one of their friends had gang-related things to talk about. They wanted to be considerate of Kyoko and let her depart with a reasonable excuse instead of just giving her a blatant dismissal. No matter how crass Tsuna could be, he knew well enough about tact to know when and how to use it.

Now Tsuna's mom was giving her the same out. Kyoko guessed there was something suspicious in the boy that she just wasn't seeing, but from Miss Sawada's words, it seemed that Tsuna's mom must want the older I-Pin to… the term must be "interrogate," probably. She wants I-Pin to interrogate the boy.

While Kyoko had wanted to lend a sisterly ear to I-Pin's woes, staying now would be overstepping her bounds.

Brasi hopped to the floor and sauntered toward Tsuna while Kyoko carried the drowsy Fuuta and placed her into Miss Sawada's arm. Tsuna's eyes darted between everyone, giving a wave as Kyoko approached before settling his gaze on Mochida's captive, who looked away. Kyoko gave another glance at the redheaded boy, still seeing nervousness fill his face, before walking toward the exit.

"Wait a second," the boy said, struggling against Mochida's hold and taking a step toward Kyoko. She stepped back and looked away as she heard Mochida smack him again.

"Why don't you wait for a freakin' second… I-Pin, can you hold him for me?"

Kyoko was at the clinic's front door. She put one hand on the handle and let her eyes be drawn to the potted plant beside her as she waited for Mochida to join her. Just something to keep her mind focused so that it wouldn't wander again.

In a perplexed tone, Kyoko heard I-Pin say, "But… you don't know who he is yet?"

"What, you know this guy in the future?"

"He's – well, yes, I know him, but I don't think I'm allowed to explain how I know him?"

"Why keep up the rules about not talking about the future? Isn't Tsuna's spilt personality in the future now, sent there because of the bazooka? Some information would really help all of us here in the present time."

"Mochida-kun," said Miss Sawada, "Kyoko should be on her way now."

"Yes, ma'am. So I-Pin, take him and hold him. He's just been squirming the whole time, even when Bianchi caught him. Even the smell of the poison cooking didn't knock him out. I don't trust him to not try dashing for the door."

"Okay, okay. It's just weird to see him like this…"

Thinking that they were going to leave now, Kyoko turned the knob and opened the door slightly. She paused as she heard feet scrape against the floor.

"Hey!" Mochida shouted, and Kyoko heard another slap be delivered. A pained whimper followed. "You see what I'm saying?"

"You can't leave yet, Sasagawa-san!"

At the sound of her name, Kyoko looked back at the boy. The nervousness was still there, the fear, but there was more… determination now. Something that made him stand firmer. Even as Mochida grabbed the boy's wrists put a hand on the back of the boy's neck to force him to look at the ground, Kyoko felt that the boy was carrying himself differently.

"The hell do you think this is?" Mochida spat at him. "You don't get to make requests or some shit like that."

"Ah," I-Pin drawled out. "So this is when you started cussing so much, Kensuke-nii."

"Don't call me that. And just grab him already, please."

Then the boy yelled out, "I know about Vito Scaletta!"

Speaking that name prompted Tsuna to move. Kyoko couldn't catch it all because it happened so fast, but all of a sudden, Mochida was thrown to the floor and Tsuna was holding the red-haired boy against the wall beside the clinic front entrance. Kyoko jumped back in surprise with how abruptly Tsuna and the boy appeared in front of her. Miss Sawada shrieked out Tsuna's name, but he was too laser-focused to acknowledge her.

"What do you know about Vito?" Tsuna asked, the desperation as clear as day. "How do you know Vito? Do you know where Vito went?"

Instead of answering, the boy whistled. It looked like it was meant for Brasi, since the bulldog trotted to him and sniffed around their feet. Kyoko felt awkward just standing there but didn't know if moving back would prompt some other reaction.

"What the hell, Tsuna…" Mochida groaned as he pulled himself back up. "Didn't need to knock me down like that."

"Sorry," Tsuna said offhandedly, "but he knows Vito's real name. Why do you know Vito's real name?"

"What, you mean Scaletta?"

Miss Sawada spoke up again. "Mochida-kun, please."

"Right, right – Yes, ma'am." Mochida looked to Kyoko and lightly jogged toward her. "Let's go."

From the sound of his voice, he just wanted to get away from this entire business. Honestly, while Kyoko was still worried for Lambo and Tsuna, and even for the boy she didn't know, she couldn't help but feel the same as Mochida.

Just as Kyoko was about to open the door again, the boy spoke with an earnestly so unlike the frightened voice he had been using before. "I'm sorry, Tsuna," the boy said, reaching a hand down toward Brasi, who leaned up to sniff him. "I'm sorry to all of you."

Like straight out of a movie, from down the boy's sleeve and into his hand appeared a – a syringe! What was he going to do with that?!

He stabbed Brasi with it. The bulldog shrieked before transforming – literally transforming – into an explosion of orange fire that splattered all over Tsuna, Mochida, and Kyoko. The boy kicked off of Tsuna and slid away, escaping through the clinic's front door, leaving the three of them to be consumed by the flames.

The fire didn't hurt, but it was so bright and so much everywhere that she couldn't help and start panicking, jumping and trying to pat down the flames. Shouldn't she be rolling on the floor or something? But it didn't hurt, but it was so bright –

Then there was a burst of pink smoke, and then Kyoko was completely blind.

X

There was dirt in Kensuke's mouth. In his eyes, on his entire face, in his hands – everywhere! The last time he was this deep in shit was when Tsuna had manhandled him in front of the entire school, except now instead of eating the dirt, he was drowning in it.

He scratched and clawed at everything around him. It actually was sort of like pushing through waves of water, but the dirt was a lot harder to push against. He was also completely blind. Keeping his eyes open underwater was never a problem for him Here, the specks of dirt would fall onto his eyes and just itch and burn, just making him more desperate to get freed and breathe in some fresh air.

Finally, Kensuke felt his fingers touch blades of grass. Then he stretched out his hand further – wind! He could definitely feel a soft breeze hit his palm. He gripped more grass and dirt and began pulling himself up and out of this…

Those rockets are supposed to send you into the future, right? That guy had dropped something that gave off the same pink smoke as those rockets. Then if this was the future, then was this… Kensuke's grave?

Then Kensuke felt someone else's hand grab his ankle, and any other thoughts he might've had were overwhelmed by sheer panic. For all he knew, it was a literal zombie from the future trying to chomp his foot off. Acting on instinct, Kensuke throttled his body upward with as much force as he could muster, crawling through the soil and thrashing his leg to loosen the hold whoever had on him.

Soon, Kensuke felt the wind slap his face. He continued crawling forward, fighting through the breeze and against the grip still pulling his leg.

He looked down and lifted his arm to kick at whatever was grabbing him before it could begin gnawing on him or do God knows what else. However, he stopped himself upon realizing that it was Kyoko who was holding on to him. Only her hand and her head were above ground. Seeing her gulping in air, Kensuke crawled back to help dig and pull her out. Before long, they latched onto each other's arms and Kensuke fully pulled her out of the ground. It took a minute for them to get over their coughing fits and steady their breathing.

"Are you okay, Sasagawa-san?" Kensuke finally asked, leaning back on his elbows and spitting out residual soil off to the side.

Kneeling, forward Kyoko closed her eyes, took one deep breath, and then straightened her back before looking directly at Kensuke. "I'm... I'm okay now. Thank you, Mochida."

Kensuke nodded. He glanced back at the hole that they had climbed through. It was already falling into itself. "Is... Do you think Tsuna and that guy are down there, too?" They were right next to that pink explosion, after all, so it only made sense for them to also have come here.

Like a goddamned gopher, Tsuna popped out of the ground beside them. The wave of grass and dirt hit Kensuke and Kyoko like a splash of water.

"Tsuna!" Kyoko latched onto him, bringing her arms around his shoulders. Using her for support, he pulled the rest of himself out of the earth. Giving Tsuna a once-over, Kensuke judged that he was fine. Physically, anyway. Tsuna was muttering under his breath about another freaking adventure "Vito" has been on, so Kensuke let his head fall back and let his limbs spread loosely along the grass.

He should've called in sick today. He should've called in sick today! It should've been Kurokawa or Yamamoto who got propelled into whatever this situation Kensuke was in now. He literally doesn't get paid enough for this, and asking for a raise in the middle of this crisis was just asking for trouble…

Glancing up again at Tsuna, Kensuke saw that he still had the dazed, distracted look on him that he's often been wearing lately. Kyoko still looked disoriented but at least her eyes were a little more focused. The two of them started pestering each other with questions. Are you okay? Where are we? What just happened?

"We're in the future," Kensuke called out, getting them to turn toward him. He's gotten used to how childlike Tsuna's face has gotten, contrasting so much with how he normally is, but seeing Kyoko look at him with so much attention was making him feel a little too self-conscious. "Sasagawa-san, I think Kurokawa told you about Lambo's bazooka before? And Tsuna or someone else probably mentioned it at some point."

She numbly nodded.

Jumping to his feet, Kensuke scanned their surroundings. They were in one small expanse of twigs and grass next to the dirt hole they had dug themselves out of. There was forestry all around them, leaves and tree branches shaking as the breeze hit them. Kensuke was never one for hiking or camping, and it has been years since he last visited family in the country, so whether they were in a forest near Namimori or somewhere else entirely, he honestly didn't have a clue. The towering trees and scattered rocks and wooden sticks all just blended together in one blurry image for him if he looked at it all too long.

Trying to get his thoughts straightened out, Kensuke recounted, "I saw that nerd drop a pink grenade from his other sleeve before he went out the door. Not a bazooka, but that pink smoke can't have been anything other than one of those time-traveling explosives." Kensuke paused. "Probably." Some of this mafia nonsense was a little predictable. There was some consistency to it once the standard was set. One of those pink rockets only sending half of Tsuna into the future was bad enough. If that grenade hadn't actually sent them into the future at all, then it made it that much harder to know what to expect in wherever the hell they've been sent to.

"Where's Brasi?" asked Tsuna. His eyes were darting in every direction now. "He became pure Flames. That person stabbed, injected Brasi was something. Vito never dealt with syringes too much. Personally, I mean, for his daily life and use for most of his life. They still came up when dealing with certain drugs, selling it or testing it, or for medicine and healing –"

An idea popped in Kensuke's brain. "Hey, Tsuna, Brasi's supposed to have some sort of unique Flames, right? You think maybe whatever weapon that nerd used, it keeps some people in the present but sends other people to the future?"

Did that logic make sense? Okay, Tsuna has Sky Flames. The Sky Flames, ranked higher over the other Dying Will Flames of the Sky. It can synchronize or harmonize with other Flames. Brasi has some sort of special Sky Flame that's like the one the Varia boss' brother used. Maybe that Flame has a different reaction when being hit by time-traveling weapons? Tsuna's general exposure to Brasi lets Tsuna's split personality get sent to the future but leaves his body behind? Then Brasi engulfs Tsuna, Kyoko, and Kensuke in the Flame, and then sends the three of them to the future with Brasi still in the present. Although, if their physical bodies were sent to the future, what happened to future Brasi's body?

Kensuke wished Kurokawa was here. She seemed to understand some of the Flame lessons Joe had given them better than he did. Kensuke can channel Lightning Flames through his weapons easily enough. Theorizing on the actual mechanics of Dying Will Flames wasn't something Kensuke felt like he could grasp really well. There was a reason he half-assed free response answers at school or ignored most of the extra lore and the numbers that pop up in the video games he plays. He was, like, a man of action, not a scholar, so to speak.

If you asked Kensuke, they should have started sending people to the future with Lambo's rockets straight away when it was clear that the Vito personality wasn't popping back in. Unfortunately, the kid's stockpile of time traveling weapons seemed to have inconveniently run dry. No ordinance left or to be found for any experiments, although Kensuke wasn't sure if Tsuna's tutor would've okay-ed any experimentation.

Now that Kensuke was thinking about it, was there any chance that redheaded guy had something to do with the lack of ten-years-later weapons? Steal Lambo's supplies, get them modified somehow, then start sending people in Vito's gang – members of the Vongola's next generation, including their new leader – between the past and future to sabotage them?

Kensuke voiced some of these thoughts aloud. Kyoko seemed both contemplative and confused. How much did she know about the mafia stuff again?

Tsuna, in the end, just shrugged. "I don't know," he said. An expected response, if unhelpful. "Maybe it's because of what Brasi was injected with. I hope he's okay. You shouldn't misuse drugs like that. I know Vito gang sells them, but I never liked it. I don't like a lot of things Vito does."

"Okay. Maybe we can ask Kurokawa-san or Bianchi when we get back."

"Bianchi doesn't really like Vito. I don't think she does. She respects him, maybe, but –"

"Focus, Tsuna. Got your phone on you? Mine's still wrecked from that last brawl near the mall," and Jiro Shibaki of the Three Crime Brothers still owed him a new one, that cheating wannabe mobster fuck, "but maybe yours works in the future."

"Maybe. I don't have my phone on me, though. Mama had it last."

"Damn. Alright, then maybe we can –"

"That's enough maybes!"

Kensuke and Tsuna shut their mouths. They both turned to Kyoko. She stood up, holding Tsuna's hand so that he would also stand.

"I checked my phone," Kyoko continued, showing the device and its black broken screen in her other hand. "I don't know where we are, but with how the future I-Pin and Lambo arrived in our time, we should be wary of this place."

Nodding slowly, giving the area another quick glance, Kensuke said, "We can probably assume we're still in Namimori, at least." And if they weren't, well, they can cross that bridge if they get to it. "Okay, so, things were moving pretty quickly back at Tsuna's house, so I forgot my kendo stick back there. All I've got with me is this… this wire that the future Lambo gave me."

It had been during that night when the Varia had gotten into Tsuna's house, when Yamamoto had decapitated one of those goons. Before he had disappeared in a puff of pink mist, the future Lambo had given Kensuke a pair of clean, compact cylindrical black handles connected by a silver cord. By pressing the buttons along the handles in a particular way, Kensuke found he could shoot out a pen from one end of a handle or a sharp blade on the other end. He couldn't figure out how you were supposed to refill the ink, though.

Kensuke had to look up what the thing was called. It was some sort of fancy garrote wire, a weapon that apparently a lot of mafia members and even militaries have been known to use. Kensuke had to assume that his own future self had become well-versed with the wire if future Lambo had left it in his hands, which was a sobering thought.

Showing his audience the pen and knife features, Kensuke continued, "Tsuna can still throw a punch or two – I know Vito and Reborn and everyone taught you how to punch, Tsuna," Kensuke added before he went on another spiel. "What's important is that you know how to do it. And you, Sasagawa-san?"

"I know a little bit on how to fight. And I have this." She whipped out a switchblade, with an ease and natural motion to it that put Kensuke's own switchblade antics he's been practicing on the side to shame. "But… But I've never actually been in a fight before."

"That's okay. If anything comes up, Tsuna and I will take care of it." Kensuke gave a light punch to Tsuna's shoulder. He couldn't imagine himself acting this casually with the real Tsuna, but this Tsuna seemed to respond a little better with physical actions like that. They often broke him out of whatever spell he was on the verge of entering or was already in. "Right, Tsuna?"

"Yeah!" With a beaming smile, Tsuna formed fists and started spinning his arms. "I don't like fighting too much, but we'll keep you safe, Kyoko. Vito couldn't keep Frankie safe. He did eventually, but –"

Kyoko cut him off. "Could you take a look around wherever we are, Tsuna? I guess you'd call it securing the perimeter?"

"Oh, sure. That sounds smart. You've always been smart…" Tsuna continued muttering to himself as he stepped toward the trees.

Ejecting the bladed parts of his wire, Kensuke started to say, "I should be the one to…" He stopped when Kyoko grabbed the end of his sleeve and pulled lightly.

She wanted him to stay behind with her. Why? Tsuna can take care of himself – in a fight. Kensuke was confident that when push came to shove, this meeker Tsuna could still hold his own if some of the recent sparring sessions Kensuke's seen meant anything – but what could Kyoko possibly want to say to Kensuke in private?

"We're supposed to trade places with our future selves when we're hit by the future weapons," she asked, "right?"

Kensuke nodded.

"If I understand it right, Brasi turned into a special fire, which covered us but didn't hurt us. Then the future grenade exploded and hit Brasi. Brasi isn't here, so instead of him, we were sent to where his future self is."

Yeah. That was Kensuke's current operating theory.

"Brasi's future self," Kyoko repeated. She looked at the hole in the ground. "Who must've been down there since that was where we were sent to."

Oh.

Oh, fuck.

Brasi's gravesite.

Before, Kensuke fleetingly thought this was his grave, but if Kensuke's theory was right, then Kyoko's answer made a lot more sense.

Ah, geez. How long do bulldogs normally live? Ah, that probably doesn't apply to Brasi anyway. It… it probably wasn't a natural death, in any case, considering the business they were in…

"Best not to tell Tsuna, then," Kensuke commented quietly.

"Yeah," Kyoko agreed. She looked back to Kensuke, meeting him in the eye. "So… you're basically our bodyguard now."

"You bet. I know I'm not as gung-ho as Gokudera, or as skilled as Yamamoto, or as smart as Kurokawa," and great job consoling her, Kensuke privately thought as he mentally kicked himself, "but no one can say I don't pull my own weight after the Ring Conflict."

"It's not just yourself that you have to worry about, though." Kyoko's face became a little flustered. "I'm not saying I don't trust you or anything. I know you're in charge of the kendo club, and that obviously someone reliable in Tsuna's gang, but you must feel as out-of-depth as me with everything happening, right? Who would have ever thought we'd be time traveling to the future because we had friends who ran in a street gang?"

Truthfully, Kensuke still wondered how this was his life now.

Before, he had been doing alright for himself as the kendo club president. Was looked on favorably by his senpais and sensei, and impressed a whole lot of the younger kids who wanted to try their hand at the art. Had some good club members who did their jobs and did them right. Had friends who let him leech off snacks and homework answers from. A couple girls he flirted with, and a couple that – as some of Takeshi's pals in the baseball team would say – Kensuke even got to second base with.

But now, Kensuke was a… gangster. He was a gangster now with superpowers. His fellow gangsters beat up and mutilate and murder people. They have to shake down shopkeepers and provide protection to prostitutes. And Kensuke… he had to… what he almost had to do to Kusakabe-senpai, and what he did during the Ring Conflict…

… but Kensuke has seen the way people look at Tsuna. The way they rely on him. Sure, there was fear sometimes, even from his own close friends. Most of Kensuke's own so-called friends had left him when Tsuna had beat him into a bloody black and blue. Yet meanwhile, Tsuna's crew gave their boss deference, admiration – the same things Kensuke, ever since he was a kid, wanted people to give when they looked at him. Even after Tsuna lost his head and became weirdly wimpy after losing the "Vito" act, the core of his friends was still there to support him.

If Kensuke stuck around with Tsuna, even while ignoring all the lessons his parents taught him about being a law-abiding citizen, even during all this craziness they was dealing with right now, right this second, then maybe… maybe things will all work out in the end for Kensuke, too.

One lesson Kensuke's parents had drilled that he still believed in was that basic survival instinct wasn't enough to get you where you wanted in the world. You needed motivation, a dream, a vision. Hope for a better future. That hope is what drives you, gives you a goal to plan for and strive towards. So Kensuke pinned all his hope on becoming a "made man" – a man of honor, respected, a person not so much more perturbed at the criminal life than guys like Yamamoto or Gokudera were. And riding on that hope, to achieve that dream, Kensuke had to do everything he can to keep Tsuna and Kyoko safe.

For brief second, Kensuke also thought this could be his chance to actually talk to Kyoko more, show off, and get on her good side. Then he shook that idea away. Maybe it'll come naturally, but he can't let those particular kinds of thoughts cloud his mind. He had enough on his plate to think about.

Once Kensuke found the words, he said, "It's an insane life that we're in, definitely. In any case, it's my job to support the family. I'll do that, and whatever else that needs to be done to keep you and Tsuna safe. Count on that, Sasagawa-san."

She didn't smile, but Kyoko did look more reassured now. "Thank you, Kensuke-san."

"You can just stick with Mochida."

"Then you can call me –"

Tsuna tackled Kensuke and Kyoko and forced them to the ground.

Kensuke felt something whizz through his hair as he fell with Tsuna and Kyoko. He saw a visible shake and ruffle from Tsuna's own spiky hair, too. Landing on his side, Kensuke's eyes searched for what that was and saw, of all things, an arrow lodged into the trunk of a tree, positioned around the level where Kensuke's head would've been at.

A goddamned arrow. Not the weirdest weapon, especially considering what Kensuke was packing, but what mattered was that it was a weapon that almost killed him.

As Kyoko squirmed under the force of Tsuna's arm, Tsuna muttered, "There's a bowman. Only one of them, I think."

"You see him?" Kensuke looked in the direction of where the arrow must have been shot from. He could see only the forest, no silhouettes or figures or any sign on their attacker.

"Not anymore. I saw them. I think they saw me, so they shot at you to –"

Tsuna pulled on Kensuke and Kyoko sharply. Forced up from the grass, Kensuke felt an intense stinging, burning sensation flash along his lower back. As Tsuna dragged the three of them behind another tree, Kensuke saw another arrow sticking out of where they had been lying down. He placed his hand behind him. His shirt definitely had a cut, and his skin definitely was bleeding. Didn't feel too bad, at least. The pain from the lightning attack he had taken to protect baby Lambo during the last fight of the Ring Conflict was a thousand times worse in comparison to this little cut. Kensuke can work with this.

"I see them again," Tsuna said, leaning his head around the tree. Kensuke spoke quietly to Kyoko and had her lean her back against the base of the three, staying low. Kensuke leaned around the other side of the tree. "Vito's never fought a bowman before."

"Where is he? I don't see a –"

Kensuke did see the bowman at the last second. No real detail, just vague shape of a person and what was probably the bow they were holding. At the last second, they fired another arrow. Kensuke only barely moved back entirely behind the tree to avoid getting skewered between the eyes by an arrowhead. Unfortunately, he did feel another stinging cut form along his cheek. This guy wasn't messing around. The arrow even brushed against the tree trunk, causing little splinters to split off and scrape a little on Kensuke's new wound.

"Are you okay, Mochida?"

Kensuke wasn't sure who asked that. It didn't matter. "Tsuna, any sign of any other mooks closing in?"

"No. Vito's always had a good sense of his surroundings in a fight. He –" Another arrow flew through Tsuna's puffy hair as he took another peak around the corner. Even with this deformed personality, Tsuna's reflexes were still ten times better than Kensuke. That sucked. "He had good eyesight and good ears, even with all the gunshots and explosions throughout his entire life."

"So it's just the one guy trying to kill us?"

"I can only see the one guy."

"That'll have to do." Kensuke readied the knife part of his garrote wire. He patted Kyoko's shoulder. "Stay here, and stay inconspicuous. Tsuna, start moving up on the left, I'll go right."

"But you're hurt. We should ask them –"

"Ask them whatever you want when we've beaten them down, alright?"

Kensuke didn't wait for an answer. Listening to the sound of another arrow flying pass near Tsuna, Kensuke lunged for another tree slightly ahead.

And then a bullet lodged itself into his shoulder.

Crying out, Kensuke's face kissed the dirt. He rolled onto his back and blinked back tears. The fire in his shoulder was bad enough, but he was pretty sure he bit his tongue when he was shot.

"Mochida!"

"I'm fine!" He was lying, but fuck it. "Stop reacting, start acting, Tsuna. None of us are safe until we take this guy down. So, get to it."

"But Mochida –" Another gunshot cut Kyoko her off. A bullet nicked a tree when she tried leaning around it to get a better look at Kensuke. Fortunately the shot scared Kyoko enough to keep her where she was.

Fuck the pain. Fuck that shooter. Fuck everything. His goddamn bleeding shoulder didn't matter. Nothing else mattered.

Kensuke needed to keep Kyoko and Tsuna safe.

That's all that mattered.

X

Tsuna didn't like fighting. He knew how, because Vito knew how, and Ryohei and Reborn and Iemitsu helped teach Vito and by extension Tsuna how. But Tsuna didn't enjoy it. Punching hurt his fists. The dodging and weaving made him tired. Washing the blood off was – the blood itself still irked Tsuna, too. Whenever Vito showered or washed his hands to get rid of the blood, it had always felt unnatural to Tsuna to actually touch it, feel it seep out of knife cuts and bullet holes, to beat it out of someone.

But you have to fight sometimes, even if you don't like it. Sometimes you don't get a choice, or if you make the wrong choice and decide to not fight, then people you don't want to get hurt might really get hurt.

So, with Mochida already injured, Tsuna began darting faster from tree to tree. He was quick, limber, running on adrenaline. Simply moving between spots while avoiding getting hit by arrows felt pretty natural to Tsuna. It was almost like moving between cover in a firefight as Vito would do, except the enemy shooter was a bowman, and Tsuna had to do things like make feints or distractions like throwing a twig in another direction to confuse the bowman. Make it less likely that an unlucky shot would hit Tsuna. Make it less predictable the exact path Tsuna would follow to close in on them.

Mochida continuing to move forward opposite Tsuna also helped. The bowman sent a few arrows and more bullets in his direction, but he was still making progress. Mochida was leaving a vague but noticeable trail of blood behind him, too. Tsuna hoped he didn't bleed out. Slow deaths always disturbed Tsuna more than other kinds of death. If watching Vito live his life has taught Tsuna anything, it was that you should enjoy the good things in life as long as you can, and a quick death was a mercy.

Tsuna didn't have those pills or bullets to go into Hyper Dying Will Mode, but he's helped Vito get into it before without those things. It looked like Tsuna was able to do it by himself, too, since he suddenly felt the warm fire blaze over his forehead. His eyes got that orange tint, and his fists were engulfed in those soothing, powerful flames.

He didn't have his mittens or had Brasi here to help him out. He had the Vongola Sky Ring on, but no one had told him how to actually use it. Reborn might've helped, but he had to leave to try to find a way to get back Vito. So, armed with only what he had and what he knew, Tsuna simply opened one palms downward to fire out a raw stream of flames that launched him through the air. An arrow made a cut along the side of knee. An instinctive mid-air dodge made by Tsuna made sure a bullet and second arrow just whizzed around him and didn't hit any flesh. Then, as Tsuna got closer to the bowman, he propped his hands forward and prepared to unleash Zero Point Breakthrough, to trap them in ice.

But Tsuna hands were shaking. His fingers twitched, and he didn't trust that he could keep them steady enough to properly uses the Zero Point technique. So, Tsuna instead blasted another puff of flames behind him to close in on the bowman.

The bowman was pulling back another arrow with two fingers. In that same hand's grip was a handgun, a 1911 Semi like the one Brasi could turn into. Vito's favorite gun when he was still his own person. Weird. This person couldn't be Vito, though. For one, Vito wouldn't be using a bow and arrow. For another, he wouldn't be wearing a skirt or dress thing like the one the bowman had on. Plus, that silver crown –

The bowman released the arrow. Tsuna went with the flow. His eyes burning with heat, staring at the weapons, he moved slightly to avoid being hit by the next arrow. The bowman pulled the trigger on the 1911, but Tsuna's arm was only grazed as he lunged forward and grabbed the barrel.

Disarming the bowman was Tsuna's objective, but the bowman was limber, too. They kicked a leg upward, hitting Tsuna's jaw. They kept their hold on the handgun true. Tsuna tried kicking back or grabbing the bow, but as the bowman let their leg go back down, their other leg delivered another kick that stunned Tsuna.

Trying to judge the next attack the bowman would do, watching for how Tsuna could move with the strike and get his own hit in, he saw a limping Mochida charging at the bowman from behind them. Holding his garrote blade with both hands, he was going in for a stab.

Except the bowman just raised the bow and arced it behind them. The end of the bow stabbed Mochida instead, into the shoulder wound where had been shot. Stopped in his tracks, Mochida still tried thrusting his knife into the bowman's back one-handed. The bowman flicked their wrist. With just that movement, Mochida was thrown into the midsection of a tree.

Tsuna was worried. Mochida didn't go through the same type of rigorous training or had the same fighting experience as Vito or the rest of their friends and Guardians. His determination was cool, he wasn't giving up, just like how Vito would double down when in the thick of a brawl, but Tsuna wasn't sure how much punishment Kensuke could take.

Then Tsuna's eyes shifted from the bowman's weapons, from searching for weaknesses and opportunities to take advantage of in this life-or-death fight, to the bowman's face.

That face… but… it was impossible.

"I'm sorry," the face said, but that face couldn't be real. She couldn't be real.

The bowman's other hand let go of the bow and moved to clutch Tsuna's throat. He couldn't breathe. Then the other hand let go of the gun and placed itself over the Vongola Ring on Tsuna's finger. Tsuna couldn't move. He should try. Shouldn't he be trying? He was being choked… but the person with this face would never choke him… Tsuna's dad punched Vito during training, but this person would never…

Suddenly, Tsuna heard another gunshot. He saw the face's hand flinch, a newly made bullet hole in it spraying out blood. The hand released its hold on the Vongola Ring. The hand shook erratically before a red flame burst out of the wound. The face released the other hand on Tsuna's neck and backed away. Tsuna's butt hit the ground. The bowman began twitching as if afflicted by a seizure, more of that red flame bursting out of random parts of her body. Then Tsuna realized what was causing the seizure was more bullets being shot into her. Before long, all Tsuna saw was a giant blaze of fire in front of him.

The gunshots stopped. Tsuna looked around for the shooter, and he saw another familiar figure strolling out of the line of trees and reloading his handguns. X-Guns, they were named. Tsuna thought that was a cool name. The man wielding those guns, however, was less cool. Ten years of age did nothing to make his scowl or scars any less scary.

"Don't look so dumbfounded," Xanxus rebuked as he approached. "The last thing the Vongola needs is a boss wearing a shitty expression like that on his face."