A lot less Tsuna and a lot more background this chapter.

The half Vongola rings glow.

Xanxus watches the reaction with the most attention he's given the ring in the past three years, and frowns. Half of the Vongola rings aren't worth shit – until the two halves join together, you can't summon flames or use them at all – or so the creepy brat says. The half Vongola ring is a trinket of Xanxus' status more than anything else.

(Xanxus doesn't like the kid, but there's no doubting the brat's power. As loathe as he is to admit it, information on the Vongola rings is scarce to the point where any is suspect. Better to keep the kid close at hand than to let that kind of information into someone else's hands.)

But now. Now they're fucking shining.

The Sky Vongola ring pulses hotly in Xanxus' palm in a steady beat, as though it's resonating. With what? The other half? Considering Xanxus hadn't even been wearing the damn thing when it started up, it can only mean the ring is responding to whatever is happening on the other side.

Xanxus' hand curls around the half ring until it starts cutting into his skin.

He's known – known that the ring won't accept him, not being of Vongola blood, as it is, but to think it'll accept some other bastard is unacceptable.

They can't prolong this cold war for much longer.

Xanxus will crush that fucker Iemitsu.

He is Decimo. Like hell if he'd give it up because of something stupid like a ring.

Basil streaks through the base as if on fire.

"Master!" Basil almost skids past the door in his haste, and Iemitsu looks up from his paperwork, glad for the distraction.

"Basilicum, what's wrong?" Iemitsu asks, gaze sharpening. It must be something urgent for the boy to panic like this.

"The Vongola rings, Master!" Basil says, eyes wide. "They're glowing!"

Iemitsu is halfway around his desk before he realizes he's moved at all. "The rings?" he asks. "They're what?"

The half Vongola rings? They should be dormant in their halved state – any kind of reaction was… well, either a problem or a blessing depending on the situation.

Iemitsu vaguely recounts what Shige's schedule is and decides it's a problem.

"Glowing, sir," Basil repeats, catching his breath. "They started shining a moment ago, but they stopped soon after. Master, could this mean Xanxus –"

And that's the problem. Iemitsu keeps the half Vongola rings under their best security for a reason. He cannot have the succession going to Xanxus. Even if the rest of the Families acknowledged the Varia leader as Decimo, it meant nothing to the Vongola until the rings accepted him. And they will not.

They can't.

Iemitsu grimaces. He can't let Xanxus assume the Vongola throne – Timoteo would roll in his grave.

"The Vongola rings can't do anything in their halved state, Basil," Iemitsu reassures, even as he picks up his phone to dial Lal Mirch's number.

"Lal Mirch here," a curt voice answers, and Iemitsu relaxes, noting nothing odd about the tone.

"Lal, any word on the Varia? Has anything happened recently?" Iemitsu asks.

The line is silent for a long moment before Lal answers, "No. Did something happen, Iemitsu?"

Iemitsu takes a deep breath. "The half Vongola rings – there was a reaction not too long ago. I haven't seen them myself yet, but keep an eye out, will you?"

"… Of course." The line cuts off.

Iemitsu sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He's too young to be graying like this. "Come on Basil. Let's go check on the rings ourselves."

"Yes, Master."

The Ten Year Paradox

Third Step: Meeting

Tsuna does, incidentally stay the night over, propped up against a corner of the inner room of Kawahira's Home Realtor office with a blanket. The lure of free lodging wins out against facing more Momokyokai yakuza in the end, and Tsuna doesn't feel anymore apprehensive about it than he feels like he should, so it probably means his intuition isn't against it. Probably.

It's not until he's outside the store (Kawahira mysteriously gone) that Tsuna starts feeling uneasy.

His hyper intuition thrums at the back of his mind, keeping him on edge. Sometimes Tsuna wishes his intuition were more concrete. A "bad feeling" ranges anywhere from "Lambo's pulled out a real grenade" to "there's a gun pointed at his head," which hardly gives Tsuna any indication of what's wrong as much as telling him to dodge one way or the other.

Alarms suddenly ring in Tsuna's head and he whips around, looking for danger.

"I found you, herbivore." Hibari approaches, dramatic wind sending the ends of his prefect's jacket fluttering.

Even a civilian Hibari's killer intent is nothing to laugh at. A shiver runs up Tsuna's spine. "H-Hibari-san..," he greets, a nervous smile frozen in place. "How are you today…?"

Hibari ignores Tsuna's pathetic stutters, tonfa coming up instead like a painful promise. "Sawada Tsunayoshi," the boy says. "You disappeared from Namimori ten years ago."

Tsuna grimaces.

"You will tell me why and how you have returned," Hibari adds. "Or else I will bite you to death."

Tsuna hardly thinks Hibari will take an "I don't know" for an answer. "Uhm," he starts, leaning away, but not stepping back – he's long since learned that Hibari acts on movement. Like some kind of human shaped nocturnal hunter. "I'm sorry?" Tsuna tries, hands coming up in a useless gesture of peace. "I didn't know I was missing. Please forgive me?"

Hibari doesn't stop his approach, eyes glinting dangerously. "You have been missing for ten years. Your stupid herbivorous father brought other herbivores in and disturbed Namimori. I will bite you to death."

And Tsuna is supposed to be his dad's proxy or something?

Tsuna decides maybe a tactical retreat is in order. "Ah, no, uh, I'm really sorry about my dad, Hibari-san," he apologizes. Sincerely. "I know he can be overbearing –"

Tsuna shrieks as the first tonfa crashes down where his head used to be a moment before. Hibari grunts, surprised at the dodge, and tries again. Tsuna twists out of the way, still screaming. "W-wait! Hibari-san!"

Hibari turns with his swing, already adjusting to the idea that Tsuna can dodge, and the next tonfa whips around at a speed too fast for Tsuna to avoid without his flames. Checkerface's visage flashes through Tsuna's mind, and he grimaces, bracing instead to eat dirt.

"Tsuna!"

A loud, metallic clang vibrates through the air, and Tsuna hesitantly squints his eyes open. "Eh?" Tsuna blinks, stupefied, as he stares at the flat side of Shigure Kintoki. A hand takes Tsuna by his arm and twirls him around until he's staring stupidly at Yamamoto's back, and. "Y-Yamamoto…?" Tsuna asks, uncertain. What is the boy doing here? Isn't he a civilian in this world? Nothing to do with mafia, right?

"Takeshi," Yamamoto replies. "Call me Takeshi, Tsuna." The boy turns slightly to smile at him, and Tsuna feels some of his tension bleed out. What a reliable guy, Yamamoto. No, wait, this wasn't the time for that!

"Ya – er – Takeshi-kun! What are you doing here?" Tsuna asks in the same moment Hibari spits out, "Move, herbivore."

Yamamoto laughs. "Actually, I was looking for you, Tsuna." He doesn't turn around to face him (turning one's back to Hibari, unless to run, was never a good idea) but Yamamoto's eyes flick back to look at Tsuna. "After yesterday, Pops and I were worried, you know? It's a good thing I found you though! Haha."

Tsuna swallows loudly. "Oh," he frowns, guilty. "I – I'm sorry about… that. I just didn't know what to – er."

"It's fine," Yamamoto reassures. "We can talk later, I think?" He focuses his attention back on the impatient Hibari in front of them and smiles nervously. "Hibari-san, you wouldn't happen to mind letting us go, would you…? I'm not sure what you're mad about, but Tsuna's a good guy! I promise!"

"No," Hibari says, and rushes forward.

"Ow!"

"Sorry."

Yamamoto Sr. smiles at them as he patches up their scrapes. Escaping Hibari quickly turned into a "flee for their lives" and then a "play dead so he can drag Yamamoto's body back to Takesushi" kind of deal, and Tsuna thinks they survived rather well considering the situation.

Guiltily, Tsuna tries to not think about how many more injuries Yamamoto has sustained than him.

"He got us pretty bad, huh?" Yamamo – no, Takeshi (calling Yamamoto "Takeshi" makes it easier on Tsuna to differentiate between this Yamamoto and his world's Yamamoto, and he needs some of that distinction before he gets too comfortable here) laughs sheepishly, and Tsuna can't help but snicker back.

"That might be putting it too lightly," Tsuna laughs, prodding Takeshi to get better access to a scrape on the boy's side. He winces at the purple already blooming over the skin. "That's going to bruise really bad..."

"Aha, yeah – Hibari-san's really tough," Takeshi agrees, grunting when Tsuna starts rubbing ointment over the area. "You've never been 'bitten to death' by Hibari-san before, right? I think he really started his reign of terror during middle school."

Tsuna freezes, and then rubs the back of his head guiltily. "Well, actually…." Should he tell them? It wasn't as though him possibly being from some parallel world was something he needed to keep a secret from anyone – it just made him look like an absolute loon. Right. "I know the feeling," Tsuna says instead. "I'm kind of." He points to his twig arms and grimaces. "So I. I'm used to it?"

God, that came out more pathetic than he meant it to.

Takeshi frowns, but doesn't say anything.

The elder Yamamoto slaps the last bandage on Tsuna's back and closes the first aid kit. "And that's that. How do you two feel?"

Takeshi and Tsuna turn baleful eyes on the older man, and Yamamoto Sr. laughs.

"Okay, okay. Go on, you two. It's almost lunchtime and the shop is probably going to get really busy. I've set something up on the counter, so don't forget to eat!" and the older Yamamoto walks off to the front of the restaurant.

Neither of the Yamamotos say a word about Tsuna and his reaction from last night, and Tsuna sighs, relieved. Later. He'd tell them everything later.

"Hey, Tsuna, let's go eat. I don't know about you, but I'm starving!" Takeshi grins. He grabs a hold of one of Tsuna's less injured arms, and Tsuna grins back.

"Yeah."

Iemitsu barely keeps the report from slipping through nerveless fingers.

"They what?" he asks, voice breaking. Deep breaths. Keep it together, Iemitsu. The Vongola needs him, especially in this critical moment, but oh god they what?

"Someone in Namimori reported finding Sawada Tsunayoshi a few hours ago, Master," Oregano repeats, voice soft. "A civilian. Apparently, Tsunayoshi came into their restaurant during dinner hours, though once he and his son identified him as missing, the boy fled. There are no reports of Tsunayoshi afterwards."

Iemitsu is glad he's already sitting. He lets the papers he'd been clutching scatter onto his desk as he holds his head in his hands. They – they found… Tsuna? After all these years – but no, the timing. It's too convenient.

Oregano seems to think so too, her expression just slightly pitying. "Master," she starts softly. "If I may say so, the timing of this finding is suspect. The Varia isn't beneath using such underhanded tactics. Until a more concrete report comes in – even if another report comes in – I wouldn't suggest –"

"I," Iemitsu cuts in, unwilling to listen to Oregano's perfectly logical reasoning, damn it. "I was too late the last time. To save Tsuna." His voice wavers. "I got the news too late, and by the time I'd arrived in Namimori, the only thing I could do was listen to the forensic reports about the samples of my son's blood –" Iemitsu stops himself. Deep breaths.

Deep breaths.

He can't afford to crack here. Not yet.

There's only one thing to do by this point. "Oregano, I never left my office. I'm still in Italy, dealing with paperwork and this new issue with the Varia," Iemitsu says. "Of course, I can't let such reports of my missing son being found left alone, so I sent a low ranking subordinate to go investigate in my stead. And if," his voice hardens, pitch dropping, "and if these reports happen to be falsehoods spread by the Varia – surely they cannot fault me for sending out hit orders for the ones responsible."

Oregano frowns. "Master, I'd advise against this – if it is the Varia –"

"Then I'll go after them myself," Iemitsu finishes. "Please take care of everything here for me. I'll be back in a day or two at max."

Oregano sighs, defeated, and suggests, "At least take someone with you. For such a sensitive mission it would not be odd for Basilicum to accompany someone to Namimori."

Iemitsu smiles gratefully at his subordinate. "Of course. Thank you, Oregano."

"Uhm, Yamamoto-san?" Tsuna approaches the elder Yamamoto, hesitantly, "What do you know about… about my family?"

He doesn't want to bring the situation about his missing self up again, but it seemed like the elder Yamamoto knew something of what happened to the Sawada family of this world.

Tsuna tries not to fret too much about them, but his mom wasn't home and it. It really worried him.

"Your family?" Yamamoto Sr. asks, hand pausing halfway to grabbing a knife. The man stares at Tsuna critically, eyeballing him. Probably to gauge Tsuna's mental status.

Tsuna grimaces, regretting running away the other night.

The elder Yamamoto looks away for a moment, eyes distant, before starting to cut into the fish sitting in front of him. "Your parents," the man starts, attention still on his work. "Moved away some eight to nine years ago. I don't know where they went," he says before Tsuna can get his hopes up. "But they moved without a word to anyone; no contact info or anything. Even the neighborhood ladies were at a loss for gossip material," Yamamoto Sr. adds with a huff.

Tsuna stays silent, absorbing the information. So his dad must have learned about the Mafiosi and taken his mom somewhere. An extended vacation to the Bahamas forever or something.

Civilian Yamamoto, the Hibari who only has to protect Namimori, his mom who gets to spend as much time as she wants with his dad. Tsuna wonders if maybe this is the better world for everyone. The world without him. His shoulders droop.

"I don't know if you're aware of this, Tsunayoshi-kun," the elder Yamamoto says. "But your dad – I've heard things about him working with the other side of the law. These are just rumors, but…" The man looks Tsuna straight in the eye. "If you're ever in any sort of trouble, let me or Takeshi know, alright? We might not look it, but we'll keep you safe. I promise."

Tsuna, Vongola Decimo, laughs awkwardly and reassures the man he will.

Not.

These days, Byakuran finds that looking into other worlds takes way too much energy.

He had to take a day late flight into Japan to give himself time to recover, but really this kind of timing was amazing.

"Oya?" Byakuran smiles, staring down the barrel end of Sawada Iemitsu's handgun. Byakuran vaguely remembers that in the other worlds, the CEDEF leader fights with a pickaxe. And keeps a regular firearm on hand. What an old-fashioned guy.

Basilicum, the often CEDEF succeeding leader in many worlds, doesn't bother to hide his weapon either. Honest, isn't he.

"Byakuran Gesso," Sawada Iemitsu says in lieu of greeting. "What are you doing in Japan?"

"Sawada Iemitsu," Byakuran singsongs back. His grin widens, knowing he's annoying the older man. "I can ask the same of you. I happen to be here to visit a friend." Which is entirely true. He just happens to be visiting Tsunayoshi as well. "Namimori isn't such a big town – a little suspicious that you're here, isn't it?"

To his credit, the man doesn't even as so much flinch. "I happen to be here on personal matters."

Personal, huh? Byakuran's smile slips. So other people already know about Tsunayoshi. He's seen from other worlds how much of a trouble magnet the boy is, but to experience it himself – Byakuran giggles. This Sawada Tsunayoshi really is something. He definitely needs to meet him now.

"I see, I see!" Byakuran waves the man off, smile back in full force. "I'll let you get to that then. If you'll excuse me."

Sawada Iemitsu lets Byakuran go without a word.

"Shou-chan! I need you to research Sawada Iemitsu for me!" Byakuran singsongs as he bursts into Irie Shouichi's cramped bedroom first thing. One of these days he'd get the boy to accept his offer to move into a nice condo in Italy with him. Finishing high school! What a waste of his talents.

Shouichi shrieks, arms flailing as he falls backwards off his chair. Byakuran watches the boy's reaction with amused affection. Shouichi is always so entertaining.

"B-Byakuran-san!" Shouichi says at last, picking himself off the floor. "I thought your flight was supposed to arrive last night!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Byakuran laughs. "My flight got delayed a bit. How are you doing, Shou-chan?"

"Good, good," the boy sighs. "No, not you, Spanner – sorry." Shouichi fumbles as he tries to carry two conversations at the same time, eventually muting his headset with an "I'll talk to you later," and turns to Byakuran, rubbing his eyes. "Sorry, Byakuran-san, what were you saying before? I was… distracted."

By Byakuran. "It's fine~ I just said I wanted you to research Sawada Iemitsu for me. The Vongola CEDEF leader. Also! Do you have a lock on that interesting ring signal from the other day?"

Shouichi splutters and coughs. "Wait, you want me to what? Vongola – they'd kill me if I tried!"

Byakuran waves an unconcerned hand. "Shou-chan, you really underestimate yourself! Besides, if they try anything, I'll just blow them away!" World conqueror he might not be in this world, but Byakuran is plenty sure he can beat anyone around here. Except for Tsunayoshi.

"That's not really what I – never mind." Shouichi sighs. He takes a moment to ruffle his hair and readjust his glasses before snapping into work-Shouichi mode. "As for that ring signal... It disappeared as quickly as it appeared. I haven't been able to catch it again, Byakuran-san. They must have used a Mammon chain or something." The boy's gaze sharpens as he stares Byakuran down. "The only thing I can say for certain is that it was an extremely strong ring. An A class at the very least. I would even say over A class, but…." Shouichi waves a hand, a chained Mare ring reflecting off the bright computer screen's glare. "Are you certain it wasn't the Arco–"

"Ah, no, no," Byakuran reassures, hand reaching out to muss Shouichi's hair. "I know who the signal belonged to. He's a visiting friend!" A thought occurs to him. "Say, Shou-chan, have you been outside recently? Have you seen a fluffy-haired kid around town? He's kind of short and weak looking."

Shouichi swats at Byakuran's hand fruitlessly, probably annoyed at the insinuation he's becoming some kind of shut in. Though judging by the bags under his eyes, he is. "I have gone outside – just this morning even! I haven't seen anyone like that around though." Shouichi frowns. "Weak looking? Are you sure that's the source of the ring signal?"

"I'm sure," Byakuran says, breezily flapping an unconcerned hand. "Tsunayoshi-kun is the surprisingly strong kind. So," he smiles at Shouichi, who starts backing away, super serious work-Shouichi mode flying into the wind. "Sawada Iemitsu. Think you can do it, Shou-chan? He's kind of in town and I need to know about him before going to go find Tsunayoshi-kun!"

"The Vongola's leader is what?!" Shouichi screeches.

Byakuran laughs.

Iemitsu has the advantage of contacts – contacts everywhere. He didn't leave Namimori ten years back without leaving some threads of info – an in-case measure for if any information regarding Tsuna and his disappearance came up.

He'd never expected to hear that they'd found Tsuna himself.

The person to report Tsuna's reappearance was Yamamoto Tsuyoshi. A civilian with past Mafia contacts due to the nature of the sword style he had learned. Slightly suspicious, but not so much that Iemitsu is worried.

What he is on edge about is the appearance of Byakuran of the Gesso Family.

As far as Iemitsu – and anyone else for that matter – is aware of, the Gesso Family is one of the few mafia Families not involved in the Vongola civil war. Or rather one of the few who aim to do nothing with it at all.

So then what is the up and coming boss of the Family doing here in Namimori?

A friend, the boy had said, but a 'friend' could be anything from an actual contact to the rumored reappeared Sawada Tsunayoshi. But what would the Gesso boss know anything about that?

Rumors of Varia activity is suspiciously absent in Namimori.

Iemitsu doesn't allow himself to hope that Tsuna is alive. He can't deal with that kind of disappointment – especially not now. The mafia world is ready to snap, the tension from the Vongola civil war between the Varia and CEDEF at a max pulling at every underground Family, Vongola contact or not.

As leader of the CEDEF, Iemitsu has to be ready to fight, whether it be sometime within the next few days or the next few years. He can't relax until Vongola is reunited, Undicesimo at its head.

(The fact that Sawada Iemitsu is in Japan, chasing rumors of his missing/presumed dead son, is proof enough of how hopeful he is. Iemitsu crushes the thought down.)

When Sawada Iemitsu walks into Takesushi, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi's first instinct is to hide the boys.

Instead, he's working the front counter so he says, "Welcome to Takesushi!" and tries to direct Iemitsu into a chair far from the back entrance.

The man declines, holding up a hand. "Ah, sorry. Actually I wanted to talk to a Yamamoto Tsuyoshi?" Iemitsu says, eyeing Tsuyoshi knowingly. "I had a few questions for him."

Tsuyoshi smiles. "Ah that would be me. Give me a moment then," he says and heads into the kitchen.

Finding the boys, Tsuyoshi warns them, "Don't come into the restaurant; especially you, Tsunayoshi-kun." He hesitates and then adds, "Your father is here."

Tsuyoshi watches carefully as Tsunayoshi freezes up and stares at him with a deer in the headlights kind of look. Tsuyoshi spares a moment to berate himself for going straight to the police about Tsunayoshi before reassuring, "I won't tell him that you're here if you don't want me to, Tsunayoshi-kun, but I'd gone to the police yesterday – I was worried because you'd run so fast out of the store. Well anyways, what's done is done." He gives the boy a sharp look. "What would you like me to do, Tsunayoshi-kun?"

The boy is old enough to make his own decisions, Tsuyoshi decides. He is determined to face down the man out in front (whom he knows –knows – is a mafia member) if Tsunayoshi felt uncomfortable with meeting his father. This boy draws out the most smiles from Takeshi since the boy was in middle school – Tsuyoshi owes him at least that much.

"I-I, uhm," Tsunayoshi stutters. He looks so frightened that Tsuyoshi makes up his mind to send that Sawada Iemitsu flying out the door with his sword if need be, but then Tsunayoshi continues with, "I-I think I'd like to meet him…? I need to talk to him."

The boy looks terrified at his own words.

Tsuyoshi frowns, wondering what Sawada Iemitsu could have done to make this boy so frightened, and he lays a hand down on Tsunayoshi's shoulder. "I can ask him to come again later, Tsunayoshi-kun." Or never, Tsuyoshi adds in his mind.

Looking sheepish, Tsunayoshi nods. "Can you…? I. I think I need to get my thoughts in order first. Please let… my dad know that."

Tsuyoshi smiles. "Of course."

Tsuyoshi walks into the store, determined.

Iemitsu frowns at him, probably irritated at the long time Tsuyoshi took talking to the boys, but Tsuyoshi frowns right back, thoughts about Tsunayoshi's reaction in his head. Perhaps… perhaps the boy hadn't gone missing at all but rather ran away from home. Tsunayoshi had freely admitted to bully problems, and that coupled with abusive parents – well, running away wouldn't be very odd at all.

Tsuyoshi's face turns severe at the thought. He could not let Tsunayoshi go with that kind of parent. "Perhaps we can speak outside?" Tsuyoshi beckons, knowing their – ah – discussion will not be so quiet. "So, may I know who I'm talking to?"

Iemitsu nods following Tsuyoshi out towards the side of the restaurant. "I am Sawada Iemitsu. I heard from the police that you had located my son?"

"Perhaps," Tsuyoshi hums. "Can you tell me the name…?"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," Iemitsu replies, eyes narrowing. "You are Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, yes? The one who made the police report yesterday?"

"Yes I am," Tsuyoshi confirms.

"So," Iemitsu says. "May I ask where he is?"

Loftily, Tsuyoshi waves a hand. "Unfortunately, when I broached the subject with Tsunayoshi-kun, he left. Apparently he didn't want to be recognized as the missing Tsunayoshi." He goes in for the kill. "He seemed rather… frightened. I wonder why that is?"

Iemitsu stiffens. "I'm not sure what you're trying to imply here, but understand that I am only looking for my son. He's been missing for ten years," the man emphasizes, probably hoping for an empathetic response.

Tsuyoshi glares. "What I'm saying is that while I don't know you, Sawada-san, as a person, I do know that Tsunayoshi-kun doesn't want to meet you. I don't know what you've done to that boy, but know this:" Tsuyoshi leans in, vaguely threatening. "If you try anything, anythingat all to force that boy into something, I will come after you personally. Please leave this establishment and have a good day."

Tsuyoshi whirls around and marches back into the store, leaving a gossiping crowd and a stunned Iemitsu behind.

He finds Takeshi and Tsunayoshi huddled guiltily with their ears to the wall, and he smiles at them. "Don't worry; he won't be coming back any time soon. Tsunayoshi-kun, you should stay indoors for the time being, alright?"

Tsunayoshi nods, looking an odd mix of grateful and guilty. "Alright. Thank you, Yamamoto-san."

Tsuyoshi gives into the impulse to ruffle the boy's hair and smiles. "Of course, Tsunayoshi-kun."

Sawada Iemitsu stands there, stunned – at the implications that he did something to Tsuna and Tsuna is afraid of him. Basil pats Iemitsu on the back, hesitantly.

He'd comb the town for his son if he had to.

Iemitsu doesn't know who is playing cruel games like this or what has happened to Tsuna in ten years, but he means to find out.

His heart cannot afford not to at this point.

Tsuna feels a shiver run down his spine and wonders if it's a spectral Reborn who knows what a cowardly thing he's just done.

He'll fix it later, he swears!

Alternative title: Misunderstandings galore. Happy Holidays.