Okay, so I just wanted to add an important note up here.
When a line-break is distinguished by a oOo then the next section will be taking place in the parallel world. When the line break is a vVvVv then the following section is in the 'canon' world. I've realized how confusing it is, and hopefully this will help to keep things sorted.
oOo
Shoichi wasn't a very popular kid.
And Namimori wasn't very nice to those who didn't make much of themselves.
The fact of the matter was that there were many kids that didn't feel very good about themselves. These kids also tended to have some muscle. They found that belittling and beating up others make them feel a bit better about themselves (or at least that's what they'd claim if asked). So it boiled down to Shoichi being pretty good at running and knowing how to treat various minor cuts and bruises. He had also come to find that most bullies tended give up chase around the 'nice' part of town.
These bullies, however, were persistent.
As the red-head sprinted down the street, the older boys not far behind, he didn't even bother to look where he was going. So, in all honesty, he wasn't all that surprised when he felt his face squish against somebody's chest before toppling backwards. He looked up to see who he had run into, an apology on his lips that, for some reason or other, died once he saw the fellow teen before him.
To start off, the guy was tall. At least a head or two taller than Shoichi was. His hair was a shocking white unruly mess. Under his left eyes was a purple mark. The teen's fashion was… unique. He wore a poofy vest over a black shirt and there was a spiked collar around his neck. His arms were ladened with bags of groceries. Not exactly the type of person you typically saw in this part of town. But Shoichi didn't question it, especially when he saw the person's eyes.
The teen's eyes were thin and Shoichi could just barely see violet irises looking down on him. They were piercing things that caused a small shiver to run down Shoichi's spine. They looked over Shoichi's form and lit up with a strange spark, as if he'd seen him before.
"Ah, Sho-chan~, sorry about that. Were you coming over today? I guess I forgot." The man extended one leg towards Shoichi, and for a second he feared it was to kick him. After a second he realized that, with his arms full, it was the stranger's substitution for offering a hand to help him up.
"Uuh," Shoichi stared at the boot for a moment before finally using it to help him to his feet.
"HEY, THERE HE IS!" The bullies finally rounded the corner and Shoichi tensed in preparation to run. To his surprise, the man next to him stepped forward, followed a moment later by a wave of killer intent.
"Is there a problem here?"
"W-who are you?" The bullies attempted to remain unshaken by the stranger. They were failed miserably.
"Gesso Byakuran. I'd like to say it's nice to meet you, but it really isn't." The killer intent grew thicker. "And if any of you three value your limbs, I'd suggest leaving now."
One bully, in an act of either insane courage or insane stupidity, rushed at Byakuran. Byakuran fluidly dodged the other's fist and spun in a circle, delivering a kick to the bully's stomach. The other two watched as their comrade fell to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain. Byakuran took a few steps back so that he was once again between the bullies and Shoichi.
"If you promise to leave now, you can grab your friend. Meanwhile, Sho-chan and I have places to be." He shot them a grin and walked past them. Shoichi stayed close behind. It was only once they were a block away that the chocking aura vanished and he found his voice again.
"Th-thank you for back there, I really appreciate it. But I don't think we've met before."
Byakuran froze. His eyes widened. His smile faltered. Before it all returned to just as it had been a second before.
"That's okay Sho-chan if you don't remember me~. We had elementary school together. You lent me a pencil, which was a big deal since I loose pencils ~aallll~ the time. Not to mention, I lost it and never got it back to you. So thanks for that." Byakuran shot him some thumbs up. And subsequently dropped his bags.
"I'll get them… Are these just full of marshmallows?"
"Yup! Trust me, marshmallows are magical. Now, I haven't seen you in a while. What've you been doing lately?"
vVvVv
Gokudera Hayato mused over his boss.
Tsuna had been on a serious mission that had taken a month. Now that he was back, he didn't seem comfortable in his own home. This morning, he had even looked almost frightened of his own right-hand man. And that just didn't sit well with Gokudera. In his shock, and thinking that perhaps Tsuna had just been gone for so long (perhaps even undercover) that normal was strange for him, Gokudera had even reverted a bit back to how he used to act, with a lot of loyal-dog acts and Jyuudaimes thrown around. While he still put Tsuna up on a pedestal, Tsuna had purposely raised Gokudera's up so that he didn't feel the need to do such things (as much). But seeing his Sky, stuttering, nervously pushing his food around during breakfast, getting a confused look on his face when the chef came out to ask how the meal was and it only slightly clearing up when the man had re-asked in Italian. It all made the right-hand man very worried.
When Byakuran returned from the unexpected meeting with Tsuna, Tsuna stuck close to the white-haired man who promptly pulled up a seat next to the Vongola Decimo. A plate of marshmallows were later rushed out to Byakuran, as was fairly normal procedure for his unexpected visits. For the last 2 courses of the Family breakfast, Tsuna avoided eye-contact with his guardians. Byakuran, meanwhile, mumbled quietly to Tsuna and for the life of him Gokudera couldn't hear what was being said over the clatter that the rest of the guardians were making… and, okay, maybe he didn't help with that much either but it was still weird!
"Hey, Tenth, I was thinking about talking some things over with the other guardians. You just got back, so I understand if you still need some time to relax. After all, I'm sure Reborn will be drowning you in the paperwork that's built up soon enough."
"Th-thank's Gokudera. I still h-have some things to talk over ab-about the, uh, the m-m-mission with White, ah, B-b-byakuran."
Yet another thing to add to the list of things off with Tsuna: he'd never let them have a meeting without him. Not that Tsuna didn't trust his guardians to know what they were doing and make decisions for themselves. But Tsuna liked to know what was going on, to be a boss that had things in order and was able to assist and advise where needed. He had been known to keep a calendar on his phone of the meetings he had, putting the ones with his Guardians first and foremost. Gokudera had argued about the choice, seeing as surely meetings with other mafia famiglias topped ones with people who were on your side already and weren't leaving any time soon. Tsuna had just given that kind smile of his and replied that his friends were his always his top priority as far as he was concerned.
"Okay Jyuudaime." And Gokudera made sure to smile until Tsuna had left the room, following Byakuran. But as soon as the doors closed, his familiar scowl fixed itself on his face and his mind put all of its mental energy to trying to figure out what could've happened to make so drastically different in such a relatively short amount of time. The possibility of UMA's crossed his mind, but he ignored it. Gokudera wasn't willing to consider the idea… yet. First and foremost, he was going to confer with his fellow Guardians. Luckily, they were all still in the dining hall.
"We need to talk." Gokudera growled and the five other guardians turned to face him.
"About Tsuna." Chrome nodded, letting him know that he wasn't the only one who was suspicious. In fact, all the other guardians were (for once) looking at him seriously. They all had known this meeting was coming the moment Tsuna had walked into the room. So Gokudera walked to the head of the table, the mantle of responsibility that rested on his shoulders as the right-hand man when his boss couldn't be here seeming strange yet familiar. After all, he'd been taking on Tsuna's work while he had been on his mission.
And so, the Vongola discussed the worrying issue of Sawada Tsunayoshi in the only way they knew how.
Weapons were drawn.
oOo
Ieyasu's limbs felt like they were one fire.
Which was saying something, considering he had spent most of the day literally on fire.
Nevertheless, today had been a fairly good day. He had beat Basil (who had been much stronger than Ieyasu had originally thought he would be), and now the day was over. That may be all that actually happened, but in Ieyasu's opinion another day over with was one step closer to kicking the butts of some stuck up guys who thought they could take the title of Decimo from himself, the heir. So, seeing as it had been an okay day, something obviously had to go horribly, terribly wrong.
Such as finding out your dad was Basil's master.
While Ieyasu didn't have 'daddy issues' like Tsuna did, just living in the same house as his old man did leave a strange, bad taste in his mouth. While it didn't really bother him that his father wasn't around, it did irk him that he had somehow found time to raise a different child than either of his sons. Especially seeing as one of them was going to be Vongola Decimo. You'd think he'd take the time to raise the kid to be a ruler of the mafia world. Once he was officially the boss, he was firing the man. And then, because these final hours of the day couldn't get any worse, he had to go look for the stupid baby cow. Why in the world would somebody give the five year old his lightning guardian ring? If any baby had to have it, then shove it at Reborn.
As he wandered around town fairly aimlessly and without much reason to move quickly, he ran into Kyoko. He made sure to give her a sly wink and put his arm around her sweetly. To his surprise, no blush settled across her face, though she did smile back. She was accompanied by another girl, who gave a 'humph', crossed her arms, and noticeably turned away from him.
"Hey, what're you doing out here this late? It's dangerous for two beautiful girls like yourselves to be all alone at this hour."
"Kyoko and I were just looking for some kids. We're perfectly able to take care of ourselves, thank you very much."
"Great! You must mean the little guys that are staying at my house. I'm looking for them too, actually. Why don't we look together?"
"That sounds like a great idea." Kyoko looked at the girl, who simply gave another 'humph' and walked ahead of them.
"What's her problem?"
"Don't mind her," Kyoko squeezed Ieyasu's hand comfortingly. Not that he needed the comfort. "Haru just hasn't gotten to know you." At this the Haru girl spun around, an indignant look on her face.
"I don't need to get to know him! I've heard plenty from Lambo, I-pin, and Fuuta. He's a bully, a jerk, inconsiderate and, augh, Kyoko, how can you stand to have his arm touching you?" Ieyasu raised an eyebrow. Of course the little brats would cry to anybody they came in contact with. At least it hadn't gotten to Kyoko like it had Haru. He kept his charismatic smile on, though it felt more forced the more he looked at Haru.
"Hey, I'm sure you understand how kids don't always see the world the way it actually is. It's probably just some game they're playing." Haru didn't answer, but she did give him an 'I'm watching you' point with her fingers and continued to stalk ahead of them.
"WAHHH! HELP!" Kyoko and Haru stiffened at the screams.
"Th-that sounds like Lambo!" The three took off down the street in the direction of the screams.
It wasn't long before they could see Fuuta carrying Lambo and I-pin, running towards them, chased by one adult.
"Don't worry guys, we're coming!" Kyoko yelled just as Fuuta faltered, stumbled, and tripped. With the man quickly gaining, it looked like Fuuta wouldn't be around much longer. Ieyasu perked up, as things were finally getting interesting over here. Fuuta got back to his feet, but it was too late to run now. Lambo and I-pin clung to the older boy who reached into his jacket. For a moment, Ieyasu thought he would pull out that big book of Ranks he had. Not that it would do much good, besides make for an okay projectile. But there was no way the kid had the arm strength to throw it. What was pulled out, however, was very different.
The gun reflected the moonlight almost innocently.
Fuuta's hands were shaking, and he'd never get in a good shot like that, but where the kid even got a gun was… well, Ieyasu had seen way weirder, but it was still a bit weird. Lucky for the kid, before he could get blood on his hands (or die) the man was punched away by Ryohei. The boxer's fist was smoking. Another two men appeared, and both were taken out, one by Yamamoto's blade and the other by one of Gokudera's bombs. How the three got there so quickly, Ieyasu wasn't sure, but he did like what he was seeing here. They were getting stronger. Perhaps they could be decent Guardians or whatever yet. Still, I'd take much for than defeating one grunt to earn his respect.
It was then that the true Varia came.
All clad in leather, they appeared quite intimidating as they stood on the rooftops. A giant in a gasmask, a spiky-haired man, a man that could only be described as fabulous, a guy wearing a tiara, a hooded baby, and the long-haired man from before. The menacing aura coming off the men seemed to seep into every pour of Ieyasu's body, and he couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. For the first time since the Ring battle had been brought up, he doubted his abilities to win. But it was only once the final member of the group appeared that the young Decimo's legs began to shake. The man was standing there, feathers dangling from his hair, sharp eyes piercing into Ieyasu's and being bored with what he found in their depths. For a moment, Ieyasu wasn't the most popular kid in Namimori Middle School. He was a much younger boy covered in bruises and crying in his room.
"Sawada Ieyasu… Die!"
The man's hand glowed, his subordinate's yelling at him that it was too dangerous to use it with them so close to him. Ieyasu glanced at Reborn, trying to communicate that the infant had better bring out the dying will bullets. Before either could be done, a pickaxe flew through the air, landing right in front of the man.
"Hold it Xanxus, that's enough. We'll take it from here."
Standing on another building was Ieyasu's dad and Basil.
"What're you doing here?!" Squalo raised his sword.
"Xanxus, is one of your men threatening the Ninth's external Adviser?" Xanxus just glared at Iemitsu.
Fuuta clung to Ryohei, gun still clutched in his hand. In turn, Ryohei was standing in front of Kyoko and Haru, who were holding Lambo and I-pin respectively. Ieyasu, regaining some of his composure, took a few steps towards where the girls were, stretching a hand back for Kyoko to hold on to. She grabbed it and ran her thumb along his knuckles as if trying to comfort him again. Which was stupid really. Ieyasu didn't need anybody.
"Big words coming from a man that's been running with his tail between his legs."
"Hey-!" Basil took a step forward, boomerang raised, but Iemitsu put a hand on his shoulder, holding the boy back, expression more serious than Ieyasu had ever seen.
"I wasn't running. I was waiting for an answer from the Ninth. I was curious about how some things have been going lately and about the Ninth's approval on things. His answer has just arrived." Iemitsu held up two rolled up pieces of parchment. Ieyasu's eyebrows steadily drew closer together as his mind tried to figure out what was going on.
"He's an outside advisor." Reborn, who had been oddly quiet this whole time, spoke up. "That's your father's true job. He's a part of the Vongola, but at the same time he isn't. When the Vongola is in desperate need, he is in the second position of power. Like right now. When it comes to deciding on the heir of the Vongola, both the advisor and the boss have equal power to choose a candidate, each holding power over half of the Vongola rings. This is the first time in generations that the advisor and the boss have chosen different candidates."
"Master Sawada, this is for you." Basil held out one of the rolled up parchments. Using the one hand that wasn't holding Kyoko's, Ieyasu unrolled the parchment and was surprised to find a Dying Will Flame sitting on the top. Unfortunately for him, it was all in Italian.
"Summarized, this is what it says: 'Until now, I thought that the one worthy to become the heir was Iemitsu's son, Sawada Tsunayoshi, and so I compelled to that. However, lately, because I am nearing the end of my life, my intuitions become sharp and I've decided to select an heir who's more worthy. My son, Xanxus, is the one worthy to be the true Tenth. But, there will be people who aren't satisfied with this change. Currently, Iemitsu refused the offer to give Xanxus the rings. However, I don't intend to have a useless battle between my own family members. So, let us start the traditional Vongola battle to satisfy everyone'… So this is what that means. Those who wield the same type of ring will fight in a one-on-one battle."
Ieyasu looked back up at the group of seven dangerous men above them. With a certainty that was whispered to him from some force other than his own thoughts, he knew with deadly certainty that the one who was covering the block in his killing aura, Xanxus, was the one who held the other half of the sky ring. Of course, Ieyasu wasn't about to the just it up. He was in this until the bitter end. He would be the mafia boss. He would claim victory. He would wear the power of that the whole ring represented on his finger. Nothing was going to stop him.
But he was also very, very scared.
oOo
And there ya go.
Important note! I didn't make a mistake. It is supposed to say Tsunayoshi in the 2nd paragraph from the end. I'll probably go over it in another chapter, but I'll explain here too. The idea is that, parallel world or not, Nono still saw the same things he saw in Tsuna that would make a good heir. Iemitsu was insistent that Tsuna not be involved in the mafia and that Reborn be sent to train Ieyasu. Nono was planning on revealing who he really wanted around now if it wasn't for the... things that were going on. You know, being locked in a Mosca makes it hard to explain things.
Okay, to start with, you notice any huge errors in my writing, please inform me and I will correct it. It's no big deal, I promise I won't get angry, and I probably need all of the help I can get honestly.
Next, I'm doing my best to have this follow the basic plotline of the Manga and to make rules of the world fit with what I'm trying to do here. If you have any suggestions, constructive criticism is super important to me and I would love it. Tell me if I'm doing good, if I need work, where I need work. I have plenty of room to grow.
Also, just to clarify, in the last paragraph where it mentions 'some force other than his own thoughts', it's Hyper Intuition. He's finally starting to get some of that coming through.