Wahhhh! I found a few small grammar mistakes here and there.. I should proofread my own stories better -.- Oh well! I decided to leave them where they are. Cause they are just small mistakes (like commas and such), and I don't really like changing anything once I posted it. Cause it shows how I write then and then my improvement now. I don't know. It's just something to show myself that I improve.

Project Tsunayoshi - Chapter 3

I watched Tsuna walk out of his bedroom with his unfinished homework. Presumably to talk about family matters, as Mama put it. The door clicked shut behind him.

"Tch".

My hand unconsciously angled my fedora to shadow my eyes. Leon sat comfortably on the brim.

Dame-Tsuna's hiding a secret.

A big one.

And I have a hunch it's going to be the cause of a lot of problems.

I let out a sigh. Leon looked down from his place on my fedora, to flick his tongue at me. His beady eyes showing his support.

I started changing into pyjamas. No point in trying to listen to their conversation. I never made any.. adjustments to Mama's room. No listening devices, secret cameras, secret vents; No nothing.

I climbed into bed. Leon changed into a slingshot and I shot the light switch effectively switching of the lights. Leon changed back and crawled his way to settle in my hair and fell asleep.

I could always try sneaking in and listening to their conversation. Maybe answer some of the questions in my head. Though it might prove to be difficult. Since Dame-Tsuna can be alert if he wants to be (though not really) and Yoshi is an unknown factor. Or I could send Leon in to record the whole conversation, only to listen to it later. Though I'll have to wake him up for that. I could install a listening device under the door to listen in to their talk.

But if their talking in Mama's room, then its Mama's privacy. And I can't involve Mama in any way in the Mafia.. Though with Mama knowing about Yoshi (who is classified Vongola information), could she already be involved in the Mafia?

I felt myself give the barest hints of a frown.

That'll raise a few more questions..

I let out yet another sigh. The third one for the night. This has already become quite troublesome.

With Mama over there, I can't just go (sneak) around as I please. And with that promise I made Dame-Tsuna, I can't just call Iemitsu and demand to know what's going on. And even if I ask someone to hack into the Vongola database for the answers, it'll probably pull out as a failure. Anything about the heir to Vongola is kept under such a high security level that only those involved knows about it and the rest of the information is kept under lock and key of the Vongola Nono, himself.

And anyways, Dame-Tsuna is going to tell me the whole true story. So why bother?

The real question is: How long would I have to wait until Tsuna tells me the whole true story?

But that is a question to be answered on another day.

For now sleep is welcome.

But just before I fell asleep, a question fluttered through my subconscious. Not mine though.

"Reborn, will you always be on my side?"

Tsuna's voice rang in my head, along with those determined-yet-sad eyes. My reply soon followed.

"It all depends dame-Tsuna, it all depends".

And I have a feeling that's just what the future holds. Call it hitman's intuition. But I learned long ago to trust my intuition.

And it's telling me, they are troubled times ahead.

And with that, I fell asleep.

I walked to Mama's room to have a 'family talk' carrying my unfinished homework. I can't believe Reborn actually listened to me! It's like-It's like-like hell freezed over! But I'll have to tell him the truth someday…. But I have a feeling it's not anytime soon though.

Well.. maybe it was me almost crying that convinced him.. He never saw me cry yet.. And he never will! I still have some manly pride left in me! ..somewhere.. hmm.. but who knew Reborn was weak to tears?

Wait.. Lambo always cried and Reborn just ignored him. So maybe it wasn't the tears? Waahhh.. whatever the reason, I got away from Reborn's interrogation! If that isn't a reason to celebrate, I don't know what is.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I found myself already standing in front of the Mama's room door for some time now. Yoshi already opened the door for me and along with Mama, was just staring at me, probably wondering what I was doing.

I looked down to the floor, feeling my face become warmer.

I faked a cough into my hand. "Okayy.. so here's my homework!" trying to distract them from staring at me.

Mama gave a giggle. "Tsu-kun's still so cute!" she gave her beaming smile and I heard Yoshi laugh.

I blushed harder but couldn't help the smile from appearing on my face.

Yoshi moved aside to let me walk into the room. I went and sat on the bed across from Mama, placing the homework beside me. Mama's room had a king-sized bed, a bed-side table, a closet for her clothes and a few pictures here and there. There was snacks and tea on the bed-side table. In case we needed any food during our talk.

Our eyes were on Yoshi, who was closing and locking the door behind him. It clicked shut.

"Y-Yoshi, how-why-" A lot of questions were running through my head but I couldn't get a single one of them out of my mouth. Was he angry on what happened 8 years ago? I bit my lip, looking down at my hands. Clenching them to stop them from shaking. It didn't work.

What if he was angry? He won't forgive me, will he? I-I had to do it. But that didn't make it any easier. Tears were swelling in my eyes again. Just thinking about what happened that night was so-so.. heart-breaking.

I felt a hand under my chin, raising my head up to look into chocolate brown eyes that are an exact replica of mine. His forehead touching mine.

"Shh.. It's okay, Tsuna. I know why you did it.. and I forgive you".

And that's when the tears rolled down my cheeks. I've been waiting to hear those words. I've been waiting for such a long time. Bearing guilt in my heart but my head told me it was for the best. Everybody did. But I didn't want to hear it from them.

Only from Yoshi.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that".

I tried backing away from him. But he wouldn't let me.

Why is he sorry? Why isn't he angry? Why doesn't he hate me?

"Why?! Why aren't you angry?! Why do you forgive me?" I shouted at him, as loud as I dared to but not loud enough to leave this room.

Why Yoshi? Why do you forgive me when I can't even forgive myself?

"Cause I understand why you did it, Tsuna. I can never hate you. No matter what. We are brothers after all" he gave me a smile.

And I couldn't stop my tears anymore. I sobbed into Yoshi's shirt. He has his arms around me and my arms were wrapped around him. And soon a third pair of arms was hugging us both.

"Oh my boys" Mama's voice was quivering, like it does when she's crying.

We stayed like that for a while, content with just each other's presence.

But we still had other matters to discuss.

Mama was the first one to pull away. She poured us some tea and handed some snacks to us. I sipped the tea, which was still warm and took a bite out of the chocolate cake Mama handed me. What was it called again? Kyoko and Haru would know.

"Yoshi.." Mama wiped the tears from her eyes. "Not that we're not happy to see you, we're thrilled, but how are you.. here?". Mama took a pause as if trying to find the right words "I mean the last time we saw you, you were dead".

Mama's eyes flashed with all sorts of emotions; pain, grief, regret. But they went away just as quickly as it came. It's not good to dwell on the past. Let the sleeping dog lie. But in this case, even if said dog is dead, it'll come back to haunt you.

I've been wondering the same thing. Yoshi did die. I was sure of it. But if he died, then how is he here?

Please don't tell me I dreamt all this up. It's the most logical answer.. but that makes it all the more sad..

Yoshi sighed, bringing me out of my thoughts. He unconsciously ran his hand through his hair. "I'm not really sure on how I'm alive actually. When I woke up, my whole body hurt especially my stomach and I was on this bed with medical tubes sticking out of my body. Only later did I found out that a man saved me". Yoshi's eyes were far-away as if he was remembering it all.

"He told me he just happened to stumble on me" Yoshi closed his eyes "Pure chance he said that he saw me on the ground dead, for possibly less than 2 hours after my pulse went cold. He could sense strong flames inside of me with the remnants of my final resolve". Yoshi opened his eyes again and they had this orange-y shine to it. "So he used this machine on me. He said it was still in its experimental stages and that it shouldn't have worked. But it did.

"And I was in a coma for two weeks after that". Yoshi took a pause before continuing. "He said it was a miracle". Yoshi is staring into his tea now, as if he was seeing his memories in them. "It didn't feel like a miracle though. I felt like the living dead. And I guess.. that's what I was.

"I stayed with him for two years after that. Gaining back my health bit by bit; Both physically and mentally. He also trained me" Yoshi's lips tugged into a small smile but it was gone as fast as it came. "But that change when they came. It was the same famiglia. I'm sure of it".

He pulled out something from his pocket. It was a piece of cloth. Wait, no. The cloth was wrapped around something. He handed it to me. I gave my empty cup and plate to Mama before taking it. The cloth was old and worn and it seemed like it was torn from a bigger piece. I unwrapped the cloth and in it was a metallic carving of a bird's head and it's wing. It was about the size of my palm.

I was expecting it but at the same time I wasn't. I froze when I saw it. But I was prepared for the memories that came with it and I suppressed them. I'm not going to think about them now.

"It turns out that, he was previously working for them but had already retired. But before he retired he took the machine with him. And they came to take back the machine and to kill him in the process. They found me with him and instantly recognized me. So they tried to kill me too". Yoshi couldn't meet our eyes. But I didn't expect him to. "He died saving me. And the rest happened like 8 years ago".

I closed my eyes and looked down at the bird carving. The metal was probably silver, though dull through the years. Yoshi killed them all, just like then.

"And since then, I sharpened my skills, got a few jobs and been thinking. I've done a lot of thinking. I couldn't come back here. I just couldn't". Yoshi eyes showed all those years of loneliness. "I found out about the heir to Vongola" he looked at me now. And I can't help but shrink back.

"I never accepted it".

I was looking into his eyes as I said it. "I never did".

He blinked at that. As if he wasn't expecting that.

"But you had the inheritance ceremony, did you not?" He was curious. Well.. things are complicated..

"Well.. it's complicated. I denied all inheritance from Grandpa and then Yamamoto got attacked and then to lure them out, I went to the Inheritance Ceremony. But later, the ceremony was interrupted by Enma and his famiglia" Yoshi narrowed his eyes "Though we're best friends now" I added quickly. Yoshi's expression turned to amused.

He was giving a small smile "how did you become best friends with someone who attacked you?"

I scratched my head, sorta like what Yamamoto does. "Ahhhh.. well, it wouldn't be the first time" I gave a sheepish face. And I saw Yoshi's smile turn to a full grin. But before he could ask another question, I cut him off. "But anyway, the point is I never inherited anything and I'm not accepting that position".

Yoshi thought for a moment and just when he was about to ask another question, probably along the lines of 'who else attacked you then became friends with you' but he never got a chance.

"Yoshi".

We both looked up to Mama, who spoke. I kinda forgot Mama was in the room too. Mama, who's giving us tea and snacks, and was the person who said we needed a 'family' talk and whose room we're talking in right now…yeah..

Mama seem like she didn't really mind being forgotten for the moment. She was happy just seeing us talking. "Before you boys get off topic," Mama seemed amused and generally very happy with us being off topic "one question". Her face turned serious. And that's when I knew it's time to get serious, If Mama's serious then everyone should be.

"Why did you come back? Why are you here now?"

Her question rang straight through me. If questions could pierce your heart, this is it. Bells were ringing in my head. This was it. This will be why our lives will change forever.

I glanced at Yoshi, waiting for the answer. His eyes serious, just like his face. His body turned rigid. Cause this was it. This was the reason he came. And when he spoke, shivers ran through me and this-this was the Yoshi I last remembered. This was the Yoshi that lost his mind and his heart by that famiglia all those years ago. And when I saw his eyes. I remembered them as clear as day. Those eyes from all those years ago. They were beyond grief, they were empty.

"I came back here to say goodbye".

"No! I won't allow it!"

I shouted it straight at him and I didn't even notice I was standing up. Yoshi just explained what he wanted to do. And I couldn't disagree more. I clutched the silver bird insignia in my hand. Glaring at the object and all it represented. This is all your fault! Why did you ruin all our lives!?

"Yoshi! How could you even think that! You! That's practically suicide! You know it's suicide! Taking on the entire famiglia by yourself?! What are you thinking?! I'm not letting you do that" I looked to Mama and I saw she's determined to stop Yoshi too.

"We won't let you".

And this is when Reborn's training really kicks in. I'm not letting Yoshi go to his death.

Yoshi let out a sigh but it was shaky. It showed his desperation. He was clenching the bedsheets and his head hanged low. "Then, what am I suppose to do?! I'm tired!" his voice was shaky and he was shouting. Yoshi's crying. "I'm tired of everything! I'm tired of living like this! Of being this!".

And Yoshi lit up his flame, or should I say flames. He lit up 2 flames. One on his right hand and the other on his left. The one on the right was exactly like mine, a sky flame. But the one on the left was black, but it wasn't completely black, it had flecks of orange and at the edges it was orange too. That one was - his insanity.

I gasped. And I heard Mama gasp too. And when I looked into his eyes, I knew they were no turning back. Not for Yoshi, there isn't. And deep down I knew not for us either. We've seen too much, suffered too long to be able to turn back.

Nothing can ever be the way it was before.

And it was all because of a certain famiglia's greed.

And that was when I got an idea. A crazy idea. An idea crazier than Reborn's. And you know that means something.

I grasped Yoshi's hands, quite used to the feeling of burns in my hands (and all over my body.. and other injuries as well). The flames disappeared. And Yoshi looked up into my eyes. With my hands, I tugged him into standing up with me and reached out to invite Mama into our circle. She stood and grasped our hands. We stood in a circle, both of them staring at me. Yoshi stood on my right and Mama on my left, and we were all holding hands.

"You're never alone, Yoshi". I gave them my biggest smile and Mama joined in too, giving her biggest smile. "We're all in this together. Now till the day we die" I closed my eyes. No. I reopened them "Even then we'll be in your heart and you in ours.

"I have a plan. You don't have to face them alone. We'll be with you. Always".

"Whhaaa.."

We're doing my maths homework now. Surprisingly (or should I say unsurprisingly?), Yoshi didn't know anything on the paper. So Mama had to explain everything first, I still didn't get it though Yoshi did. And Yoshi is teaching me now.

"Okay" he sighed at me. "Since you didn't understand that, look at it from this point of view" he glanced at me to make sure I was paying attention. "Imagine these" he circle a number "are the amount of.. um.. carrots, let's say. And these" he circled another number "are the amount of bunnies. Bunnies eat carrots. This number" he circled yet another number "says how many carrots each bunny eats. But the farmer forgot about the other field of carrots he planted, which has" he underlined this number this time, "this amount of carrots. But the bunnies found it and ate" he circled a number "this amount of carrots. Now, find out how many carrots are left". He gave me a bright smile.

"Ohhhhhh….." I understand now! And when I finished the question and gave it to Yoshi to check. He nodded and said it was correct. Aha! I got it correct! And I started to do the next one with the same concept. This symbol means the bunnies ate this number. And that means how many carrots per bunny. I'm smiling because I understood the question without the use of bombs, or gunshots, or anything fearful, just bunnies. Bunnies are nice.

I was doing the fifth question when Yoshi spoke "hey Tsuna". I continued writing though with a tilt of my head I indicated I was listening. "Your plan will.." Yoshi paused for a moment, trying to find the correct words.

"Your plan will tear this family apart".

And I did pause at that. But no. You're wrong, Yoshi. It won't tear this family apart. I replied to him:

"No, Yoshi. This family was torn apart the moment that famiglia killed Ryanna".

Yoshi winced at my words and Mama showed no response to it. But they both knew, that was the truth.

And I continued to do the next question.

Okay! Sorry I'm late. I kinda didn't really know how much information to put into this chapter. And trying to find the right words sometimes were hard. But hey! I put a bit more than I thought! And added a few extra pages than usual. So here! I'm pretty happy on how it turned out ^^ Guys! Review and tell me how it turned out! I'm pretty curious! Ayz out! ^-^v