noun: justice

A box animal spins towards him, powerful Cloud flames surrounding it. Tsuna jumps away on the wall, but it follows him up without losing speed. He catches it with his hands, his X-Gloves holding their ground against its spikes, and flares his flames to fight back against the Cloud flames.

The box weapon is stronger, pushes past his hands, and Tsuna barely moves his head away. It crashes against the wall, its spikes slicing his shoulder, Cloud flames burning his skin.

"Tenth!"

"Tsuna!"

Tsuna falls from the wall, landing on all four. The cuts on his shoulder are shallow, or should be, but the blood darkens his shirt too fast. Tsuna rests his flames lit hand on it, and his wound bleeds out noticeably slower.

"Good. Don't die on me too fast, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Hibari-san..." Tsuna looks up into his eyes properly for the first time since they met at the shrine, and Hibari only could bear to spare him a glance.

Tsuna recoiled at it all the same, felt sick to his core, felt worth less than dirt.

He doesn't recoil now, doesn't look away; maybe because he's in Hyper Dying Will mode, or maybe because of the killing intent solely focused on him.

Hibari's box animal flies back into its box, and Hibari opens the one with his tonfas instead. "Get up."

"Wait, Hibari," Lal calls out. "That's not—"

Hibari launches at him, his tonfas lit with Cloud flames. Tsuna does the same a second faster, meets him head on. Of course he's no match, not in close-quarter combat, let alone against a Hibari with ten years more of experience he doesn't have.

Hibari doesn't pull any punches, never does, that's not the point. He takes every opportunity to strike, vicious swings of his tonfas meant to inflict maximum damage. They collide against his body, sink into his flesh, knock him breathless with pain every time.

Tsuna could fly away, but he doesn't, it'd defeat the whole point.

Hibari uppercuts him with his tonfa, then kicks him in the stomach. Tsuna flies back, roughly knocks against the ground, then rolls further back on it.

"Hey, you bastard! " Gokudera shouts. "What the fuck kind of training is that supposed to be?"

Tsuna gasps for breath, chokes on it. He coughs blood, curling on his side, and his body throbs in pain, burning as if on fire. By the time he struggles up on his knees, Hibari put his tonfas away.

"Exactly as the baby said. This level of power is a far cry from your future self."

Tsuna doesn't hear him, doesn't care to. Hibari ever so slightly clenches his jaw and narrows his eyes, looking so angry, angrier than when they started.

Of course beating someone as weak as him would mean nothing, Tsuna should have known.

Hibari isn't there to teach him.

[Who did this to him?]

"Roll." Hibari opens his box weapon once more, and Tsuna catches it with his hands again.

He wastes no time freezing it with the Zero Point Breakthrough, but then it propagates and he can't keep up with it. It surrounds him faster than he can think of something else, and locks him up.

It's a tight fit, not high enough Tsuna can stand to his full height, and not wide enough he can't touch both sides of it at the same time. It's dark except for his flames, and when he flares his X-Gloves, the smooth, hard material of the sphere stays unscathed.

"It's airtight," Hibari says, his voice muffled by the sphere, "so the oxygen within the sphere is limited. If you don't get out quickly, you will die." He marks a pause, but Tsuna doesn't hear why for. "The weak will be buried, that's a given. To begin with, even if I have a reason to kill Sawada Tsunayoshi, there is no reason why I should let him live."

Tsuna bites his lip, digging his fingers into the sphere. The words echo in the silence of his cage, or maybe it's in his head, and his flames waver.

Did Hibari do it purposefully?

He shouldn't have bothered, Tsuna already could tell by looking at him.

[Hibari is there to hurt him, and all the things he learned about the future tell Tsuna he deserves it.]

The sphere doesn't give in, and Tsuna's running out of time, out of oxygen, every breath harder than the last. How long has it been?

The sphere is too tough, his strongest attack doesn't even make it shake, barely scratches it. He runs his fingers over where the wall gave in, where the Flame from the ring touched it.

The Flame from the ring is the purest, is that what Tsuna needs? A Flame of higher purity? But that was supposed to be it, the Flame of the highest purity he could muster.

Tsuna pants, leaning all his weight against the wall, and he won't bear his weight longer. He can't die here, not in such a place. If he needs a higher purity Flame, then he has to make his resolution stronger, the strongest he can.

Tsuna closes his eyes. He'll protect everyone, will get them all back to the past safe and sound. He'll keep them alive in the future and will get them back to the past no matter what, no matter what.

Tsuna's flames flicker out. He falls on his stomach, and his X-Gloves turn back into wool gloves. His eyes are heavy, and the pressure in his lungs builds and builds and crushes them. How long has it been?

Tsuna takes out his glove, and looks where the ring should be. He tries again, but not even a spark lights the darkness.

Why, why won't his Dying Will answer to him? Is his resolution not enough?

Tsuna can't die here, but it's harder and harder to keep his eyes open, and his vision blurs. What more...

What more can he wish for?

The ring glows a blinding white. A ray of light shines on his forehead, cold on his skin, and a chill runs down his spine.

"Kill him."

What—?

"Please give me a chance! If I die... My child and my wife...!" The man screams, blood splattering everywhere, and Tsuna flinches, feels it drip on his face.

What is this?

"Revenge." A house burns, and screams rise from it, filled with maddening pain. "Ambush." A car explodes, and the people inside look him in the eye as the flames burn their flesh. "Eradicate." Bullets rain down in a narrow back alley, bodies dropping one by one, and the alley bleeds.

Tsuna can't move, can't breathe, his eyes widened in horror.

What is this?

"The Vongola's past sins." Tsuna rises on his knees, and looks up at the men surrounding him. They look like ghosts, born from the darkness, and only given form by the white light of the ring. A mask made of Sky flames covers their eyes. "Murder. Revenge. Betrayal. An insatiable thirst for power... This is the blood-stained history of the Vongola mafia." They speak one by one, but it echoes and reverberates as if they speak as one, but not quite at the same time. "You, holder of the Sky Vongola Ring. Do you really have the resolution..."

"...Eh?"

"The resolution to inherit these past sins."

Tsuna can't find his voice, stricken in dreadful disbelief. Why would he ever—?

"Please help us!"

Tsuna slams his hands against his ears, shakes his head, but still the images and voices pour and pour in his mind. "Stop..."

"Give me back my son!"

"Stop it!" His voice is weak, shakes, and tears roll down his cheek.

"My eye! My eye!"

"Stop it!" Tsuna screams his voice raw, and it echoes with the screams in his head, screamed at him, because of him. "Stop it! Stop it now!" Tsuna chokes on his tears, on his supplications, but it doesn't move them.

"Do not turn your eyes away. This is the destiny of the successor to the Vongola. This is the purpose of the life you were given."

"I refuse! I can't do such cruel things!"

"That is the price we must pay for the power we wish for." The images stop, and Tsuna leans on his hands, his relief so strong he struggles to stay conscious. "If it's great power you want, you must also have the resolution to inherit our great history."

"I refuse..." Tsuna says, and it's the easiest thing to do. "I thought I could do anything, if it meant I could protect everyone... but... this..." He pants, his voice weak, sweat running down his face. "This..." He curls his hands into fists, and his voice grows strong again, but not from despair. "I don't need this kind of power!"

"What?" The Vongola Bosses step back in shock, or would have if they were more than ghosts. Tsuna couldn't care less, raising his head to look at them.

"If you want me to inherit such mistakes, then I—" the ring lights up with the pure orange of his Sky flames, blazing high and fierce "—I will wipe out the Vongola!"

His Flame grows and grows, washing over him, and only then Tsuna notices it. It pours out in waves, swallows the sphere whole, and the Vongola Bosses disappear.

Tsuna's consciousnesses slips away, but he only has eyes for his Flame. They burn high and steady, strong. He basks into their warmth, lets it sink into him whenever they lick his skin.

And for the first time ever, his Dying Will doesn't weigh down on him.

[What answer did his future self give?]

Tsuna closes his eyes, and lets himself fall forwards. He lands against someone's chest, and opens his eyes again. "N-Ninth Boss!"

The Ninth gently steadies him, then pulls away. Tsuna widens his eyes.

In front of him the Vongola Bosses stand next to each other, four on each side, with what must be Vongola Primo sitting on a throne across from him. The Vongola emblem shines between the bosses, in white and orange colors. It illuminates everything as if in broad daylight, the blue sky above his head, and Tsuna can't tell if he's still in the sphere.

Vongola Primo stands, the Flame on his forehead and the ones around his gloves shining brightly. "Your resolution has been unequivocally accepted." His voice is clear and strong, sounds like it could reach farthest than the sky.

Tsuna can't look away from him, doesn't even dare to blink. "What is this... Is it a dream? An illusion?"

"E'la nostra ora incisa sull'anello."

What? Italian? "Hour... Time?"

"To flourish, or to perish. It's up to you now, Vongola Decimo."

Tsuna opens his mouth, tries to get the words out, wants to. But somehow, in Vongola Primo's mouth...

...I have been waiting for you.

Tsuna startles, flicking his eyes over the Vongola Bosses before looking back at Primo.

What? Who...?

"Now, it's time for you to inherit the proof of the Vongola."

Tsuna can't look away from him. Vongola Primo smiles, before he turns into pure Sky flames, and Tsuna feels heard.

The other Vongola Bosses turn into Sky flames too, and the flames grow, come together. They shine and shine, orange turning pure white, embrace Tsuna, and call forwards his Sky flames.

The sphere cracks, and Tsuna's Flame lights up on his forehead, his gloves turning back into his X-Gloves.

My name's Sawada Ieyasu, but my friends call me Giotto. Remember it.

I will, Tsuna reassures, promises, and he doesn't understand why, but he does.

The sphere shatters. Tsuna stands amidst the smoke, and with barely a thought his flames flare, spreading the smoke away. He lifts his hands to his face, the Flame on his forehead shining on his new X-Gloves. They're almost identical to his previous ones, if not for the large crest on the back similar to the Vongola Ring.

Tsuna's Flame flickers out. His X-Gloves turn back into wool gloves, and he rips them off his hands, throwing them away from him. He has the mind to throw away the ring too, but falls on his knees before he can.

His stomach turns, bile rising up his throat, and he throws up. He heaves, tears pouring down his cheeks, one hand against the floor to steady him, the other around his stomach.

Tsuna screams. He's out of the sphere but it means nothing, he'll never forget.

He screams but it doesn't drown the screams in his head, the begging and pleading that always go unheard. He can't see anything through his tears but the gruesome bodies burnt in his eyes, soaked in their own blood and their loved ones', men, and women, and children. Sweat runs down his body, feels like blood, splattered all over him, pooling where he kneels, and he can't tell one slaughter from another.

It's his mouth that gives the word, his hands that do the deed.

Vongola's sins, and he rejected them but he'll never forget.

"Tsunayoshi." Tsuna is out of the sphere but he can't breathe. He chokes on his sobs, on his screams, on the bile rising up his throat, but nothing else comes out. "Sawada Tsunayoshi. Pick up your gloves, and get up."

Tsuna looks up, has to try more than once before he meets Hibari's eye. His face's blurry, and he blinks out his tears to make it out properly.

Hibari is unmoved, his eyes cold, holding on his tonfas.

"Hibari-san... Hibari-san..." Tsuna's voice breaks on a whine, on a choked out sob that shakes his body, so pathetic Hibari falters.

His hands shake around his tonfas, and he bares his teeth, flaring his Cloud flames.

He looks so angry, and so much more betrayed. So hurt.

Who did this to him?

[What did he do to him?]

Hibari jumps back, putting one arm in front of him to protect himself from the explosion. He barely lands that Yamamoto swings his sword at him from the side, aiming for his neck. Hibari dodges, spins around in a kick, but Yamamoto guards himself with the hilt of his sword.

He's pushed back, then jumps back again to stand in front of him, side by side with Gokudera.

"Don't hurt Tsuna-nii!" Lambo screams at the top of his voice. Tsuna whips his head to him, his heart in his throat, but no, Lambo's still safe in Fuuta's arms.

He struggles wildly to free himself, his Lightning flames fiercely raining down on him from the ring in his hair, cackling so loudly it's like lightnings strike down right next to his ears.

It is, or close enough, Lambo's Lightning flames surrounding the three of them despite the distance between them.

Lambo, five years old, a child, a child, and Tsuna let him step inside the Lightning's arena all the same.

"I'm fucking done with you, you hear me?" Gokudera says, quiet, threateningly quiet, and it's so wrong.

"Hey, brats!" Lal barks out. "Calm the fuck down, will you? The three of you."

"Step aside, or I'll bite you to death too," Hibari warns, but neither Gokudera nor Yamamoto move.

Yamamoto's voice is deadly serious, not a hint of a smile in his voice Tsuna can hear, and he's grateful he doesn't have to see his face. "Hibari, this is our Tsuna, and whatever way you put it you have no business with him. If you can't keep that in mind, I won't let you take another step forwards."

"Lambo-san will fight too! Fuuta-nii, let go! Let go of me!"

Fuuta doesn't, holds on strong, but flickering Rain flames light his hands.

"No one will fight anyone!" Lal shouts. "Reborn! Are you just going to stand there?"

Reborn doesn't answer, and Tsuna doesn't look his way to try to read his face.

Hibari, Gokudera and Yamamoto face each other in a tensed silence, seizing each other up, all three ready to attack whenever.

Tsuna struggles to keep his head up, his sight blurring and swaying, and it's not only the tears. He struggles to breathe, and it's the memories, but also the killing intent pouring out from them, aimed at each other.

Tsuna wants to weep.

Ten years. Ten years.

How many sins do they bear on their shoulders?

How high reaches the blood pooling at their feet?

[What answer did his future self give?]

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry..."

The last thing Tsuna sees before passing out, is the regret twisting Reborn's face.

[How much more will he have to apologize for?]

A/N: Fun fact, I realized after finishing writing this chapter that I wrote it with the idea that not only Tsuna let Hibari in the whole "faking his death" plan, but also that he was the one made to fake-kill him, which is not actually what happened in this story lol. I read this idea in hokkyokukou's fic Days of Mourning (good fic, you should read it!), quite a while ago too actually, but I guess it really marked me haha. Anyway I still didn't edit the chapter because I really like it just the way it is, so keep in mind Hibari should be less of a bad guy here.

That said, I do believe there's no way he liked the plan one bit, especially the part where they bring even the little defenseless animals in the future, and also the part where he has to watch everyone mourns Tsuna and not being able to tell them he isn't really dead. And though I love the fact that Hibari was the one chosen to be let in on the plan, because it speaks of how far they've come and the trust between them, it was interesting to think about how Hibari might not have taken it in such a positive light. Maybe his insecurities reared their ugly heads, and he couldn't help wondering if Tsuna still thought he was the one who cared the least, and that's why he chose him specifically, and other stuff along those lines.

Anyway he has all kind of negative strong feelings about that whole plan thing, and it's not like he doesn't realize Present!Tsuna has nothing to do with it, but TYL!Tsuna is faking his death in a coffin, and his feelings have been bottling up, and processing them through his tonfas is kind of what he does, so this could only have gone poorly.

Also ngl, but it was kind of more tricky that I was expecting to transcribe the Vongola Trial in words only, so I hope it comes across nicely. I originally wanted to go with something along the lines of "compassion" for the title of this chapter too, but Hibari is just meaner than that lol, so I went for something more neutral instead.

Next chapter might come out later than usual, because I want to write the next chapters before I catch up to the ones I've already written.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Any and all review are appreciated.

Thank you for reading!

- Hope

Answers to Guests' Comments:

Mori: he actually isn't the one who did it in this story, but just being part of the plan sure took its toll on him, yeah! and then he couldn't even sort it out with tyl!tsuna because, well, you know, he faked his death lol. and all those bottled feelings unfortunately are taken out on present!tsuna even if he didn't really meant to or want to do this to him. thank you for your comment!