Disclaimer: Don't own anything

Synopsis: He glanced from the proffered hand to All Might's hopeful grin. "No," was the flat answer. Dimension-Travel!

Chapter 1: Tsuna Awakens

He had been quite sure it was all an elaborate illusion crafted by his Mist Guardian at first. One minute he was the aging Vongola Boss, King of the Underworld, the world's most dangerous man, the next he was wailing infant cradled in the arms of a haggard but smiling woman. It had taken a second for his intuition to kick in, to discredit his assumption, and by the time it did he was already being placed in an incubator.

About a month or two into his new life he began to accept his situation. Yes, he had been reincarnated. Yes, he had no idea how or why. At least he still had his Sky flames. The steady presence of the flickering flames within his soul soothed and assuaged any fears or uncertainties he might've had.

If Midoriya Inko, bless her heart, ever noticed that her son was peculiar, she never said anything about it. Not when he began walking at four months. Not even when his hair spontaneously burst into flames. Not even when one day, out of the blue, her baby boy tottered into her bedroom, blinked innocently at her, and said his first words, "Good morning, mother." Any other woman might've questioned these things. Not Inko. Inko merely smiled that saintly, patient smile.

"Oh dear, my little Tuna is so smart!"

At the age of two, he began training his body according to the martial arts Fon had taught him. The reason? He had accidently glimpsed at the news and saw a costumed man being thrown into a building, collapsing the structure atop him. Thus, the Vongola Boss was introduced to heroes and villains. A couple of hours browsing the web had him with a rudimentary grasp of the world. It was also at this point that reality reared its ugly head. The truth was plain to see. He came to accept the fact that the world he knew, the world in which his familigia protected from the shadows, no longer existed.

Although he had been prepared, the notion was still hard to swallow. Idly, he thought that it might've all been some elaborate, cruel dream he had, some tale his mind had strung up, but then the Flame within him flickered, and he knew that was not the case.

And it was not the only one. Others came, slowly but surely, year after year, settling themselves within, ready to answer his call at a moment's notice, eager to manifest his dying will. They were proof, proof that Sawada Tsunayoshi really existed, the only evidence that reminded him of who he was, and so he clung onto them like a drowning man would a lifeline.

Years passed, and he eventually settled himself comfortably into this new world. He didn't mind the lack of paternal presence– he was all too used to that. He could get by with just his mother, and vice versa. He didn't mind the lack of peer companionship, either. The previous life he had was enough to teach him to at least enjoy solitude, for tranquility was in high demand within the famiglia, but it was difficult to explain to a worried Inko why he wasn't making friends.

X

He decided that his younger twin brother reminded him too much of himself in his younger days. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

He remembered vividly the day his mother returned from with the results of Izuku's Quirk test. His sibling had been too quiet, lacking of the usual shine and exuberance. Defeated, in his posture. His intuition reached out, and almost physically recoiled at the sheer volume of disappointment Izuku was exuding.

He watched quietly as his younger brother (he was only older by twenty-seven seconds, but that was enough to cement his position) climbed sullenly into that oversized wheelchair, and re-watched that famous clip of All Might, over and over again.

Their mother glanced at Izuku worriedly, wanting to speak but finding the words stuck in her throat.

"C-can I…. also be a hero?" A quivering voice arose. He took in the visage of his twin, tears pooling at the corners of his eyes, skinny body trembling with suppressed anguish.

He wanted desperately to do the irresponsible thing, to wrap his brother up in warm arms and tell him, yes, of course you can. He resisted the dreadful urge to comfort his brother in meaningless consolation, like anyone can be a hero. He turmoiled with his inner self, warring between supporting Izuku's dream and his own selfish agenda of keeping his family away from harm.

And so he did nothing, choosing to quietly stand aside as their mother wailed and wrapped the crying boy in a tight hug, "Oh, Izuku!"

He hid his clenched fist in his pockets.

X

Bakugo reminded him almost painfully of his Storm Guardian.

It was in his explosive temper, his cocksure smile, and the talent that seemed to overflow. Of course, they weren't exactly the same. The blond hadn't been tempered by the darkness of the world yet, and so his aura was bright and explosive, less of the simmering resignation that belied his silver-haired right hand man.

It was clear that the blond kid considered him a rival. For what reason, he wasn't sure, but Bakugo had come right up to him one day and challenged him to an arm wrestling competition. He didn't know what possessed the boy to approach him, but out of respect to the kid with the sheer gall to talk to the 'Little Demon of Aldera' (Reborn would have laughed at that one. Hibari too.), he decided to humor him. The result had couldn't have had been more one-sided. He had been training using Fon's methods for nearly six years now.

He left the blond nursing his injured pride. He didn't expect him to come back the next day with another challenge. Then the next. And the subsequent. Thus began the start of the strangest relationship he had ever experienced, and that was considering his past life.

It was clear Bakugo did not consider him a friend, although on the other hand he always took great care to treat the blond like one. He had sometimes even considered purposefully losing a challenge or two in an effort to become closer with Bakugo, but something in Bakugo's prideful eyes and his own intuition warned him that it would have the opposite effect. And so he greeted the explosive boy with great aplomb each day, casually tore apart the inevitable challenge, and went on his merry way.

He always looked forward to the next challenge.

In this way, six more years passed by.

X

He casually ducked under the swing of an explosive swipe, and nonchalantly returned the favor with a well-placed kick to the gut.

"Ciao," he supplied cheerfully to the hacking, prone form of Bakugo, "Another challenge? I'm in a hurry to go home."

Mother had prepared his favorite Salisbury steak for dinner.

Bakugo glared and crudely wiped the spittle from his mouth.

"Che," the blond grumbled, "I'm not here for that today."

The explosive teen straightened up from his position and fixated him with a scathing glare. It brushed over the smiling teen like a pleasant breeze.

"I saw your career form earlier," grunted Bakugo, "you're really not planning on becoming a Hero?"

It took him a minute to formulate his answer to the scowling teen. He had seen too much, done too much in his past life as Vongola Boss to be called a 'hero'. Certainly, to some he would've been. His allies, for one. Those who refuged under the protective shade of the Sky. His friends. His family. His wives, even. But resting on the other side of that coin was the Dark King of the Underworld, the Demon of the Flame, the bloody butcher who eventually rose to equal infamy as the dreaded 'Reborn' (His tutor had not been happy about that the day news broke out. The resulting spar resulted in billions of dollars of property damage and a traumatized Lambo.) There was too much red on his hands to ever call himself hero. But how to tell this to Bakugo, who was impatiently waiting for an answer?

"No, that life's not for me."

The blond asked him what his plan for the future was. The barest facsimile of a smile ghosted his features.

"Home tutor."

X

"Dame-Izuku."

At the sound of his name, the green-haired boy froze in horror, dropping the tire wheel he had been carrying on his shoulder. The tire landed on the soft sand with a quiet thump, continuing to roll a wobbly path before settling down at the feet of a gaunt, skeletal man with droopy blond locks.

He surveyed the area, taking in the literal hills of garbage occupying the beach.

So this is where you've been these past few days.

"Aniki…" Izuku stuttered, face turning pale as a sheet as rivulets of stress-induced sweat flowed down the side of his face.

He frowned a little at the sight. Izuku had not always been so afraid of him, and he personally wasn't sure why it was so, but one day his younger sibling had turned from the energetic and playful child he was to the timid thing of today.

"Ah… please don't be mad…"

He held out a hand to stem the inevitable outburst of excuses. Izuku's mouth clamped shut.

From his position atop a garbage pile, the blond man observed the two's interaction with subdued interest.

He decided to ignore the stranger for now.

"You have been coming here for the past few days?"

"Uh… yes," Izuku stammered.

"Why?"

A glance to the blond man, who subtly shook his head.

"Um, I thought that it was about time someone cleaned up this place, y'know?" Izuku gave a fake laugh, averting his gaze and shuffling his foot a little.

He was lying. He didn't even need his intuition to confirm the fact, it was so obvious. From the way the blond stranger palmed his face, it seemed he too was inclined to agree.

No matter. It was obvious that he wouldn't get an answer from his brother. It irked him that Izuku was hiding things from him, but he could get answers in other ways.

Starting from the blond stranger.

"And who are you?"

The man seemed a bit startled at the blunt address.

"I'm Toshinori Yagi," he introduced, "I met young Midoriya here by chance. He's a promising young lad."

"Why are you forcing him to clean this beach?"

The man raised his hands palms out.

"What? I've never forced him to do anything. This is of his own volition."

"It's true," Izuku chimed in from the side, " All– Mr. Toshinori really didn't force me to do anything."

His intuition didn't detect any overt lies, but he could still tell that there were things the duo weren't telling him. He could also tell that the blond man was not who he seemed to be. He wouldn't allow an unknown factor to hang around his brother.

He disappeared from view, reappearing in front of the stranger, fist cocked.

Boom!

The man was sent crashing into a pile of rubble, which then collapsed partly on top of him.

Izuku gave a shriek at the sudden turn of events, gazing at his older brother in shock before coming to his senses and rushing to the aid of the stranger.

"All Mi– Sir! A-are you alright?"

From within the rubble pile, a muscular hand rose up to quell the green-haired child's anxiety. What emerged from the debris was a veritable giant of a man. Two strands of hair stood up proudly from atop his hair, crowning a chiseled face and a blinding grin.

All Might.

This changed things. He suppressed the shock in his eyes and glanced between the hero and his brother. What were the two of them doing together?

Izuku rounded on him with frenzy.

"A-aniki!" He screamed, "you can't just attack people out of the blue like that?"

"It's all right," All might waved it off casually, "He was just testing me. Ain't that right?"

The hero gave a casual smile. He nodded slightly in assent. Then turned to his younger brother.

"He's training you?"

The younger boy nodded. That was…. Fine, he guessed. Other people notwithstanding, the number one hero of this day and age ought to be someone trustworthy. If he wasn't to be trusted, then all of hero society was doomed.

Still, he had one last concern.

"You're Quirkless, though?" Being trained by the top hero was one thing, but it didn't negate the fact that much of hero society was decided by superpowers. He didn't really want his squishy, non-supernatural human brother to become meat paste by the first villain he came across.

"Ah," Izuku hesitated once more and glanced towards All Might, "he's my brother. If I can't trust him I can't trust anyone."

The duo seemed to have a silent conversation before his eyes. The blond hero closed his eyes, and, after much rumination, slowly nodded his head.

"It's going to be your secret sooner or later. Do with it what you will, just be ready to bear the consequences."

Izuku took this as assent, and excitedly turned to him, forgetting his fear of him in lieu of excitement.

He remained reticent as the boy orated his encounter of the sludge villain, his encounter with All Might on the rooftop, the saving of Bakugo, and the eventual second fateful meeting with All Might.

He could hear the hope in Izuku's voice, and behind it genuine happiness at the opportunity that had been granted to him.
In the end, he decided to just be happy for his brother. "Work hard," he said, "and focus on your dream. Your aniki will support you every step of the way."

X

Several months later Izuku successfully entered UA, to the jubilation of the entire Midoriya Household. For a while, things quieted down, until one morning he encountered All Might on his morning commute.

He blinked up at the veritable giant as the Pro Hero rubbed his forehead in consternation.

"Good morning."

"What is that?" All Might gestured to the smoking heap of flesh he was standing on.

"A pesky bug. It was irritating, so I swatted it."

Behind him, a masked woman was being held back by wooden tendrils as she struggled ferociously against her binds.

"Calm down, Mt. Lady!"

"Fuck off, Kamui Woods! That brat stole my limelight! I'll fucking tear–"

The heap of flesh beneath him groaned. He kicked it.

"That is Habit Headgear, a C-rank villain," stated All Might.

"Is he? I hadn't noticed. I don't really follow celebrities, you see."

"Young Midoriya, you can't be interfering with hero work like that."

"Call me Tsuna," He supplied helpfully.

"Tsuna," All Might amended, "you can't be interfering with hero work like that."

"Well, it was self-defense?"

"You took him out in a single blow. That goes beyond self-defense–"

"But does it though?"

"–and strides dangerously into vigilante territory."

All Might gazed sternly down at him. He stared impassively back. The standoff would've continued, if not for the sound of sirens that broke the tense silence.

"I'm late for work," All Might decided, "young Tsuna, please follow me. I would like to continue this discussion in my office."

"I have school."

All Might gave him a look that said, Are you serious?

Tsuna sighed and nodded in acquiescence. When the world's top hero invited you to his office for a chat, it was probably better to go along.

"You gotta write me a note though."

X

When they arrived at All Mights' office steam was already emitting from the muscular hero. When it dissipated, Toshinori Yagi slumped wearily onto the couch. He gave a self-deprecating smile to Tsuna.

"It must shock you, seeing your childhood idol reduced to a shadow of his self like this."

"What happened?"

All Might pulled up his shirt, showing a grievous wound in his side.

"Ever since I got this wound from a villain, my hero-ing days have started dwindling. I can barely maintain my muscle form for a few hours now."

He gestured to the seat in front of him.

"Sit, Tsuna, we need to discuss something."

All Might took some time to formulate his thoughts.

"Do you know I brought you here?"

"To lecture me about vigilantism, and why it's bad for society? Please, spare me the drivel. This was an isolated incident, and clearly a case of self-defense."

All Might gave a grim smile.

"Don't flatter yourself, Tsuna, my time's too valuable to be wasting it on uppity brats who think themselves vigilantes. No, I brought you here in case I need to capture you as a villain."

An invisible pressure seemed to emanate from the blond hero, pressing down on him. The floors creaked, the glass on the windows cracked, and his chair strained and moaned under the intensity of All Might's aura.

A flicker of orange glowed in his eyes as faint embers teased their way out of his forehead, too ephemeral to be considered anything more than a trick of the light.

"Capture me? You must be mistaken. I've done no crime." As he languidly shifted his pose, his mind was running furiously. Door's blocked by All Might. Window's the only escape route.

"No, you have."

"Excuse me?"

"Why haven't you enrolled in UA?"

"What?" He was a bit lost as to where the hero was going with this.

"Answer the question."

"I don't wish to be a hero."

"And that," stated All Might, "is your crime.

It wouldn't have been a crime if your Quirk was any weaker, and normal people certainly would have the freedom of choice in careers, but we both know you hold power in you. Not only that, but you're obviously also very well-trained in your Quirk as well. That time you struck me in the landfill, you moved faster than even Edgeshot, and he's one of the fastest bastards I know."

All Might leaned forward, his blue orbs blazing intensely.

"A powerful, young Quirk-user, not wanting to be a hero? That's almost unheard of in this day and age. Do you know you trigger almost every red flag in the database for potential villains? The high intelligence, disdain for common herodom, casual disregard for existing laws, with a powerful, trained Quirk to boot? You are a ticking time bomb the state will never allow to walk around freely."

He had been too naïve. He'd been so wrapped up in the possibility of a peaceful second life he'd never even stopped to consider the ramifications of his power in hero society. His crime was simple: power. In this world of heroes and villains, not being one often meant being the other. It might seem too black-and-white, but this issue went beyond the moral, and delved into a secret power struggle between order and chaos that spanned across society. The emergence of Quirks upset existing power balances so much that even now, human civilization was only beginning to reel itself together. They would never allow someone like him to wander about unhindered; it was too much of a risk.

And despite this, he recognized the warning All Might was trying to give him for the offer that it really was. It wasn't that All Might saw him as a potential villain; he was saying that others might. All Might was hinting that he should enroll in UA as a hero in order to protect himself. He sighed explosively.

He didn't really have a choice.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Join UA. Become my pupil. Protect the world–" his blue eyes glowed,

"– or be destroyed by it."

The door slammed open, revealing a panting, bespectacled boy.

"Villain attack," he screamed, "at the USJ!"

All Might, in his muscled form, was already out the door.

"Think about what I said, young man!"

The bespectacled boy glanced at him, but hurried off after the hero.

He remained seated where he was, staring at his hands.

The Flame in him flickered.

You were never meant for a peaceful life, Tsuna.

No. Not since that fedora-wearing infant waltzed into his life.

He closed his eyes.

When he revealed them again, they were blazing a burnished gold, and a magnificent flame burst to life on his forehead.