…

… Hey… S- *gets hit by a huge boulder*

Oww… Look, long story short, I got extremely lazy and I was running out of ideas on how this story would turn out. BUT, I'm officially back! I even know how the next chapter's gonna turn out (sorta…)!

Anyways, I am SO SO SO sorry for not updating in months… I won't go into details into what happened in what happened to me during these months cuz I know I don't have excuse for not even putting up an author's note…

But, I hope you'll forgive me anyways?... yeahh probably not, I totally understand if you don't, I haven't forgiven myself for this either… T.T

IMPORTANT: Everything in this chapter is in Japanese except the small scene with Reborn which is in Italian

*coughs* Without further ado, I present you chapter 3, The Quest For Answers.

Everything was white… pure white… where is this place?

"… Where am I?..." Tsuna groaned as he sat up, his body still stiff. He was dressed in a simple white collar shirt with black dress pants and shoes. His body was also back to normal, 16 years of age. He was surrounded by a huge white room that doesn't seem to have any exists or windows, there wasn't any furniture either.

Nervously, he got to his feet as he began walking forward; not liking the fact his footsteps resonated loudly so that it echoes throughout the room.

Tsuna began looking up and down cautiously as he desperately hoped to see something other than the plain, white walls that seemed to mock him everywhere he looked.

Then, he saw a mirror down the hallway. Not giving a second thought, he quickly ran to the mirror as fast as possible, hoping it will give clues as to how to get out of here.

On first glance, it seems to be a normal closet mirror; however, one must never judge a book by its cover.

The mirror took up most of the wall, making the size quite big, and the shape of the mirror was an oval. The frame of the mirror was an old, Victorian style mirror. As Tsuna inspected the mirror carefully, the mirror began flashing snippets of Tsuna's family and his previous life. It just so happened that all the pictures were the good/memorable times spent with his family.

Tsuna immediately felt his throat go dry. He knew he should run away right now, but his body betrayed his mind as his feet felt glued to the floor. Also, the images were too tempting to turn away, even if the memories were bittersweet.

Suddenly, a voice appeared.

"Having fun now, aren't you?..." The voice chuckled and the pictures automatically faded. Replacing the calm and peaceful environment, the room suddenly became raven black as blood began to drip from the walls.

However, what concerned Tsuna more were the new images presented in the mirror.

The image showed all of his family members as rotting corpse, slowly walking towards Tsuna. The conditions of their bodies were terrifying, all of them were horribly thin, the fact that their bodies were rotting didn't help either. However, the most horrifying feature was their faces. None of them had any eyeballs, and their mouths were dangling from the side, as if it were melting away.

"Keheeheehee~ Look who we have here!~~" Tsuna's eyes widened in fear as sweat began to drip from the side of his face. He had forgotten THEY were here as well.

"Eh!~~ What a rare sight we have!~~"

"Hmph… So the little rabbit's decides to show his face again."

NonononoNO! WHY were THEIR voices here?! He needs to get out of here, NOW.

"Hmm… What a special guest we have, we'll have to entertain him the best we can."

"… Vongola… Decimo…"

'DAMNIT RUN ALREADY!' Is what his mind is telling him, unfortunately, his feet were glued to the floor and his eyes couldn't resist the image presented in the mirror.

"Normally I wouldn't wake up just because of some guest, but I'll make this an exception…"

"Golden Eagle (1)…" Then, the bodies of the voices appeared beside Tsuna and smirked. It was quite obvious that Tsuna is petrified. His whole body is shaking with fear, which has led him into falling on his knees. His eyes are quivering in fear and he's just kneeing there, frozen.

A girl, who looks about 14 years old, was dressed in a scarlet red dress and red heels from the Victorian era with a pair of long gloves. She had two burgundy pigtails that reached to her hips and had a small, black top hat with some red laces as decorations. All in all, her short height and flawless skin makes her look like a porcelain doll. However, the most distinguishable feature is the pair of blood red eyes she possesses. She happily bent down to Tsuna's level and started to poke his cheeks, which he immediately flinched.

"Mou~ He's not talking!~" she pouted, and began stretching his face playfully, but was soon stopped by a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, dressed in a typical gentlemen fashion.

"Now now, Lady Vivian, we'll get him to talk..." A man's voice reassured the girl. He turned to face Tsuna with a maniacal grin. "Whether he likes it or not."

Tsuna immediately felt a shiver travel through his spine as he finally found the courage to back off, only to of course, fail.

"Hmm… Where do you think you're going, Tsu-chan?~..."

Tsuna didn't need to turn to know who was behind him, whispering those dreadful words in his ears.

"After all, a guest MUST be entertained, especially you, Sa-wa-da Tsu-na-yo-shi-kuun~…"

In an instant, Tsuna found himself in another room, though the room is still black and blood is still dripping from the sides.

Then, his worst nightmare officially started.

The rotting corpses from the mirror, now without the mirror acting as a barrier began making their way towards Tsuna. Gokudera, the fastest of the group slowly raised his head and began to speak. "Juudaime… You promised to defeat them, but look; now I'm dead because of you…"

Tsuna's eyes widened in fear and desperation. "N-n-no, H-Hayato, I-

"Hayato?... You dare call me by my given name, you insolent fool." Tsuna didn't even get time to process what he just heard as another voice appeared.

"Ne ne, Hayato's right… Sawada Tsunayoshi…" Yamamto's dead corpse also walked its way across towards Tsuna. "I mean, if you haven't existed, all of us wouldn't be dead right now."

Tsuna tried to speak, only to find his throat too dry to make out a word.

"Oi Sawada, do you have any idea the extreme pain Kyoko must've felt when she was unknowingly dragged into this and died as well?..."

"Lambo-sama only wanted to live a normal life, but my death caused by you must mean I'm wrong…"

Tsuna just stood there, trying his best to process the information that was just spoken, not that he's doing a really good job.

"Pathetic herbivore… what will become of Namimori?..."

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, you will pay for the death of Nagi, you fiend."

"Mukuro-sama saved me from death… only for you to destroy our lives…"

'… I was the reason behind e-everyone's d-d-death?... but… they do have a p-p-point…'

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," That voice made Tsuna shiver right down to the bone as he cautiously turn his head to the direction of the voice. "You have failed in protecting your familiga members… and in me as well."

"I-I-I…" He couldn't find the right words to reply to all those dreadful statements.

"Tsu-kun… do you understand the pain I went through not knowing what I was involved in, only to get killed?!"

Those words made Tsuna feel as if his heart just shattered in pieces. "o-o-oka-san, I-I'm s-s-

"SILENCE. Don't you dare pretend you understand me."

'She's right… I had no idea how she felt when she was suddenly brought to Italy with us… she acted like it was nothing and even cooked meals… even though she had no idea what's going on…'

"I w-wasn't… s-strong enough to protect everyone… they all d-died b-because of m-me…" Tsuna fell on his knees again.

"THAT'S RIGHT. Do you know what the blood dripping from the walls represents?"

That immediately snapped Tsuna into reality as he slowly raised his head to the owner of the voice, only for him to accidently stare into Reborn's dead orbs (it just so happen that Reborn was the only one who still had eyeballs looked human).

Deep in his mind, he knew the answer, but he was just too frightened to answer.

Then, the dreaded answer was spoken. "That's right, all the blood we shed in order protect YOUfrom the enemy. Have you ever bothered to care about what we sacrificed in order to prevent you from being captured?"

Tsuna widened his eyes in fear. He knew. He knew that if he hasn't existed, none of this would have happened.

His family wouldn't have died.

Tsuna clutched his head in pain as his mind was very conflicted at the moment. One side is convincing him that this huge failure was all because of him, and that he was too ignorant and selfish to care about his family, while the other half is desperately trying to knock some sense into him by saying how this is merely a dream/illusion set up by the enemy and that his real family would never say such dreadful words to him.

However, Tsuna was too busy to notice the rotting corpses of his family members getting closer and closer…

"Keheehee~ I would start running if I were you, not that it would help~" The girl's voice echoed through the room.

That warning snapped Tsuna out of his daze as he looked in front of him. The living dead versions of his family were less than three metres (approx. nine foot) away from him. He clumsily got to his feet and ran away as fast as he could.

However, the game of tag ended when Tsuna felt a sharp intense pain on the back of his knees and back as he collapsed. Tsuna knew that feeling; he was shot by several bullets.

And not just any bullets, it was Reborn's.

It didn't take long for his family members to catch up.

"Tsk tsk… Tsuna, I thought I taught you better than to get hit by simple bullets." Tsuna froze as he realized he was surrounded by his psychotic, living-dead versions of his family, COMPLETELY defenseless.

The zombie version of Mukuro chuckled. "Now I can finally torture you for all the sh*t you made Nagi and I go through." His trident was immediately violently stabbed into Tsuna's back as soon as he finished his sentence.

Tsuna gasped in surprise and pain. Even though the pain was nothing compared to the torture he had to put up to when he was captured by his enemies, it deeply pains him knowing it's his family members purposely hurting him, even if it's illusions.

Also, he knew, he knew that he deserved this deep inside.

Soon, stabs were joined by painful stomps and kicks. It didn't help that all of them wore combat boots that had spikes underneath them.

Tsuna, though under tremendous pain refused to utter a single scream to show his defeat towards his enemies, knowing full well that his "family" were nothing more than illusions created by the enemy mist guardian. However, his face tells a completely different story.

There were tears streaming down his face as his eyes were shut tightly and biting his tongue to the point of bleeding to prevent from uttering a pathetic scream.

"Not giving up are you?~" The familiar girl's voice appeared in front of his face. He tiredly looked up to find "Lady Vivian" facing him lying in a prone position, faced only 10 cm (approx. 3 inches) apart. It didn't help that the others were right behind her, enjoying the "view". She smiled maliciously as she leaned into his ear. "But you know… that's what I find the most thrilling about you, Tsu-na-yo-shi-kun~"

Tsuna immediately felt a shiver down his spine. However, that was quickly interrupted as his "family" miraculously decided to attack him at once.

Tsuna gasped in surprise and pain as he choked back a sob.

It was so painful, both physically and emotionally. He wanted to be anywhere but here, being tortured by the ones he loves and his enemies happily laughing at him.

"I-I'm s-so s-s-sorry…" His voice got raspier and quieter as he said each word. "P-please f-forgive m-

"SHUT THE F*CK UP." Gokudera murderously commanded as he gave a harsh kick. "Did you honestly think we would forgive a piece of scum like you if you apologized to us?!"

The rest agreed by laughing maniacally with occasional "as if!"s.

Tsuna froze as he tried processing the information in his mind, not caring about the painful abuse that has continued again.

"Hmm… in a predicament aren't we?~" A male voice spoke from afar. "But you know Tsu-chan, you should just accept the fact you FAILED in protecting your precious family. It's no use denying it, after all, the truth is presented in front of your face."

"Stupid, useless leader…"

"Why did I even bother in helping you in the first place?..."

"Why don't you just go and die pathetically in some alleyway? It suits your patheticness…"

"I can't believe I actually once called YOU my older brother…"

"Get out of my site, you pathetic herbivore…"

"Kufufufu~! die Die DIE!"

"How DARE you, how DARE YOU!"

"Completely useless... failed as son…"

However, what hurt the most was Reborn. Even though he just stood there, watching, what he said mentally scarred him for as long as he lived.

"Leave. I don't ever want to feel your worthless presence ever again." With that, Reborn began walking away.

And that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"N-n-nononono, d-don't l-leave, p-p-please, a-anyone b-but y-y-you!" Tsuna desperately tried crawling towards Reborn, who appeared to be nothing more than a dot, only to be stabbed in the lungs.

"Kufufufu~ Who said you could leave, Tsunayoshi-kun?~" Mukuro laughed maliciously as the rest soon joined in. They continued their torture.

Tsuna stopped any resistance after that. Not a single noise was uttered out of his mouth nor was any tears shed. His eyes turned into a lifeless coca-brown.

He was breaking; both the illusions and enemies knew this.

But he continued to let them do so anyways, he was so tired... too tired to resist.

He could hear psychotic laughing in the background, but there was only one thought in his mind.

'Please… just kill me now… anyone...'

Tsuna gasped loudly as he immediately sat up, breathing loudly for air.

"A-a dream?..." He whispered as he carefully viewed his surroundings, he then looked at his hands and sighed. He was in his child body again. "This really did happen…" He cautiously checked his body to make sure there weren't any wounds/scars from his dream, the pain felt just as real as real life…

Once he made absolute sure there wasn't any, he took one final breath for reassurance, and that's when he noticed the condition he's in. He was covered in sweat and tears. "Not good, I'm sweaty all over… Where's the shower?"

Tsuna slowly got up and walked towards the washroom and got into the shower.

'What's wrong with me? Thinking about this...' He sighed tiredly as he leaned his body on the wall of the tub. 'But… this really is my fault, isn't it?...'

"Leave. I don't ever want to feel your worthless presence ever again."

Tsuna felt his body go weak as he remembered that dreadful sentence. "Damn it… I'll never reach my goals if I keep thinking about the past." The small boy clenched his fists and shook his head to get rid of the depressing thoughts he have based on that dream.

He quickly washed his hair and body as he tried his best to not think about the horrifying dream he just had. However, he knew. He knew that that this dream will haunt him for eternity if he doesn't make everything right this time.

He turned off the shower and swiftly dried himself with a towel and dressed himself in another butler uniform he found in the closet.

As the brunette dries his hair with a blow-dryer, he began to ponder. 'Now that I've looked at myself more clearly, why is it that I seem to be a European-Asian mix?!...' He then noticed that his skin color is leaning more towards the "white" side than his Japanese skin tone. Also, his hair color seems more like an almond-brown rather than his usual cocoa-brown and his eyes are more golden-brown than his usual cocoa-brown. 'Great… as if all the mysteries of this world isn't enough as it is.' He sighed in frustration as he turned off his hairdryer.

"Hmm… That should do." Tsuna looked into the mirror and fluffed his hair one last time to make sure it's dry before putting the hair-dryer away.

As he left the washroom, he noticed that he probably won't be able to fall asleep again, especially after that gruesome experience… 'I should take a walk around this mansion to familiarize myself with the interior of the building, though I hope I won't get lost…' Even after years of spartan training with Reborn, getting lost were something that will stay in his "dame-genes" no matter how much time passes.

After spotting a flashlight in a drawer beside his bed, he cautiously opened the door and peered outside. 'Hmm… Nothing special here… I'm guessing this is probably the servant rooms on this floor.' He turned to his right after noticing that the rest of the rooms were towards his right.

'Still, this place is huge; even the servants' hallway is spacious…' He continued walking taking in all the details of the hallway, not noticing any movement from behind. 'It seems like the servants here are very diligent at doing their j-

"Oi Colin," Tsuna immediately froze at the sudden words. He carefully turned his head to see a young girl casually leaning against the door. "What are you doing here?"

Reborn was pissed. BEYOND pissed. And you do NOT mess with him when he's in that mood. As he is walking down the streets of Sicily, one could literally feel the murderous aura emitted from the infant from miles away. Unfortunately, the victims of his rage during his mission that day were permanently scarred for life before dying. Fortunately, the citizens that passed the infant wisely chose to step aside and make space for the moody Arcobaleno whose aura literally screamed KILL.

Now, dear ladies and gentlemen, the question would be 'why?'

Let's take a look at Reborn's day, shall we?

From the moment he woke up, he was grumpy. VERY grumpy. Or in Reborn's case of grumpiness, skin the motherf***er alive out of someone.

His grumpiness was confirmed when his daily dose of espresso didn't even calm him down.

He thought he could just take out his anger on his useless student Dino (as always), but was proven wrong when he was suddenly given an emergency mission to deal with some traitors via phone.

And just when he thought his new mission to assassinate some traitors might calm his nerves, he messes it up. Honestly, out of the hundreds of missions he completed, it just had to be the one where he feels like murdering everyone painfully to ease his rage. Not that he didn't kill them, oh no, he made sure that their deaths was slow and painful for making him mess up his mission. After all, the only thing that went wrong were the classified documents that got destroyed in the process of capturing them. However, even after that, not a single one of his raging cells calmed down.

After that, while waiting to report to Nono how the mission went personally, he was stuck listening to Iemitsu gushing on about his lovely wife and adorable son whilst complaining about how much he misses them since he's not able to visit them any time soon. Naturally, Iemitsu would've been as good as dead by now, unfortunately, weapons/violence was strictly not allowed in the waiting lobby. *coughnotgoingtomentionwhatha ppenedlasttimesaidrulewasbro kencough*(2) Reborn tried warning lemitsu by emitting a murderous aura that would've left anyone else running for their lives (the guards were very smart for getting the message). Alas, Iemitsu either was too retarded/engrossed in his la-la land for his own good to notice this very obvious threat, or didn't care at all.

Reborn made a mental note to personally hunt him down once everything was settled.

And yes, this brings us to the present. I mean, just look at this, a mafia baby walking down the streets emitting a suffocating murderous aura ready to kill anyone with his Leon gun any moment. *sighs* Typical.

Then, it happened.

Just when he walked to an abandoned alley to clear his mind, his pacifier glowed. The infant instantly knew it wasn't because another Arcobaleno was near, especially since the light was so blinding even covering his eyes didn't help. After what seemed like an eternity, the glow finally died down.

'… What was tha-

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when his pacifier emitted another glow, creating a small sized monitor. There was a message written on it as well. He read the message then gritted his teeth.

'This is!...'His eyes widened in surprise and debated on whether to accept the invitation. He sighed as he gritted his teeth in frustration but decided to press the screen, immediately causing him to disappear.

'Crap… caught red-handed…' Tsuna began to become nervous as he debated on a legit answer. 'Wait, should I just be honest and say "oh nothing, couldn't sleep"? And did she just ask me that in Japanese?!' Noticing the awkward silence between them, Tsuna quickly gave out an answer.

"Couldn't sleep…"He mentally slapped himself. Seriously, that was the best he could come up with?

The girl gave a small nod in understanding. "I figured as much… Oh yes, I have a few questions to ask if you do not mind." She walked towards him and turned on the lights controlling the room and poured two cups of coffee. She then sat on a bench by the table, gesturing for him to sit down on the opposite side, which he cautiously did, she offered him a cup of coffee and took a sip of hers. The girl has flowing dark plum hair with glasses and was wearing a maid uniform.

'Don't tell me this girl noticed something different in me… Not that I wouldn't blame her if she did, after all, I have NO idea how my parallel-self acts like…' He then came up with an excellent idea for a reply.

"Don't worry, as always, I sound proofed the room." The girl replied as she took another sip of the coffee. Tsuna raised an eyebrow in suspicion but nodded nevertheless.

"That's fine with me, but first," He smiled a bit lighten up the mood. Horrible mistake. The coffee the girl was drinking was suddenly slammed on the table as she immediately put one of her legs on the table; replacing her cup of coffee was a gun pressed against Tsuna's forehead. All of that happened so fast that Tsuna had to concentrate to digest every movement, which was pretty fast considering the harsh training he went through in his original world. The girl had on a glare that would put the greatest devil to shame. Tsuna's eyes narrowed and seemed unfazed as he continued to sit there. "Who the hell are you?" The gun was pressed harder.

"I'm Colin Ravensdale, butler to Lady Nicole of the Brooks family. For some reason, my smile seemed to have offended you in some way. Now if you would put down your gun I would be more than happy to explain." The girl did not seem to accept Tsuna's response as her glare intensified.

"Don't you DARE mock Sebastian Connell, that person is already DEAD.(3)" A tear escaped the brim of her eyes, but she still maintained her posture. "Now then, if you tell me which organization sent you, I'll spare your lif-

"Put the gun down KT-218.(4)" Tsuna's eyes suddenly turned molten gold as his voice held total authorization. "NOW."

The girl's eyes widened in surprise as she slowly and shockingly dropped her gun. There was a moment of silence as the girl kept staring at Tsuna's eyes.

"You… y-you're h-him!- b-but how?!" She suddenly slumped onto her seat.

Tsuna was just as surprised as the girl. The moment the girl whipped out a gun Tsuna felt as if something, or rather someone possessed him and well… everything went accordingly after that. Suddenly realizing that he was staring at the ground, Tsuna quickly shook his head as he noted the conversation so far in his mind.

"Now then, are you ready to hear what I'm about to say?" Tsuna continued the conversation, hoping he's as much as in character with his parallel self. There was a pause before the girl slowly and hesitantly nodded in reply, still staring nervously at the ground.

'Well, here goes nothing…' Tsuna took a deep breath before continuing. "As confused as I am, considering how you and I are able to talk so prodigiously at such a young age, I suppose you can explain everything to me if I mention the word 'amnesia'?"

The girl slowly raised her head in surprise and realization. "… D-don't tell me… y-you have a-a-amnesia?" She quietly whispered. Tsuna hinted fear, yet there was a hint of hope and happiness in that sentence as well. He mentally noted that in the back of his mind.

Tsuna slowly nodded his head and sighed. "Unfortunately, I think the condition is quite critical as my only existing memory contains my name and position in this household. Therefore, could you possibly help me to restore my memory?" Suddenly realizing how suspicious the request sounded, he quickly started backing up his suggestion. "I-I mean, you can call me weird and all, b-but I feel like as if I could trust you for some reason?... Ahahaha... y-you knooow, s-sixth sense?..." He sheepishly rubbed the back his neck as he slowly lowered his neck in embarrassment and humiliation for coming up with such a lame excuse.

'Aw man… what caused me to think of such a lame excuse?! She'll never explain anything at this point, I mean, that sounded soooo sus-

"I see." The girl suddenly spoke, startling Tsuna out of his thoughts as he lifted his head. The girl stood up and a small, sincere smile found its way on her face. She extended her hand, motioning Tsuna to grab it, which he slowly did as they started shaking each other's hands. What impressed Tsuna though was the confident aura the girl emitted from her petite body, though he was mostly mesmerized by the confidence in her eyes.

It was as if… as if she was determined to start things anew again.

"My current name is Alisa Schaffer, currently four years of age and a maid of this household, and as for why we can speak so maturely, I'll get to that in a moment." The girl, Alisa motioned for Tsuna to sit down. "Why don't you get yourself comfortable? This is going to be a long talk." Tsuna nervously nodded but complied nonetheless.

'One that I hope you are prepared to swallow…'

(1): Don't worry if you're confused, it'll be explained in the chapters to come (:

(2): Stupid Fanfic edit not working... In case any of u didn't understand, it's "*coughs* not going to mention what happened last time said rule was broken"

(3):Same as (1)

(4): Same as (1)

A/N: I know, I know, I'm terribly SORRY for not updating in forever… trust me, I really didn't want it to turn out like this ); honestly, I felt as if A LOT were going on during those months so I might've been a little emotional during that time. So yeahh, wasn't the best few months of my life… BUUT, I'm totally back in shape now so I hope you'll forgive my absence! . Anyways, hope u guise enjoyed this long-awaited chappie and hope u liked it! Please leave a review how I did even though I know I don't deserve any cuz of how long this chapter took to upload…

Next Chapter: Where did Reborn disappear to? ;D

IMPORTANT!:

Since I have failed miserably in uploading this chapter within a reasonable time, I shall give myself a due date for the next chappie- Due latest by: March 4/2013

And guise… if I fail that, I give u full permission to find me in real life and kill me…

None of u are actually gonna do that, right? O.o"…

*coughs* Ciao ciao~