In Their Story, There was a Girl
Chapter 22: Time Traveling
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It was a peaceful and quiet day. Almost too peaceful, Tsuna thought as he listened to the birds chirping. It worried him that nothing strange has happened today. They were sitting in class, listening to the teacher's lecture like normal students did. Yamamoto and Yotsuba were asleep; Gokudera was listening to his music player; Tsuna, himself, wasn't paying attention to class. The serenity in the air bothered him a lot, because something horrible always happens when it gets too quiet.
"Is Sawada here?"
All heads in the classroom turned to the opened door, where Sasagawa Ryohei stood. A bad feeling was already rising in his head when Tsuna heard his name being called. Series of chitchat began to take place as the students saw the unusually serious expression on Ryohei's face.
"Isn't his mood different from the usual?"
"He's quiet today!"
"What's wrong, Onii-chan?" Kyoko asked, a little worried about her brother's unusual quietness.
"Aren't you Sasagawa from the boxing club?" the teacher asked; he was clearly unhappy that his class got interrupted. "Do you need something in the middle of the class?"
Ryohei began, unusually serious, "Yes. The story began the day before yesterday… wait, the day before? The day before yesterday?"
And then he exploded. "EEI! THIS IS TOO TROUBLESOME! JUST GET ME SAWADA!!"
The teacher was so shocked that his eyes might bulge out of their sockets. But the students were quite used to Ryohei's sudden outbursts, and they thought that he was just back to himself. Standing up weakly, Tsuna asked, "Um… what is it?"
"I'll explain it later; just come with me right now!" Ryohei exclaimed as he dragged Tsuna outside of the classroom.
Waking up at the commotion, Yamamoto, Yotsuba, and Gokudera followed Ryohei and Tsuna out to the back of the school.
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The five of them met up with an old man at the back of the school. The man introduced himself as the master to a dojo nearby. From the old man they learned that there had been cases of thugs breaking into local dojos frequently. Three dojos in Namimori have already gotten their signboards taken away by those thugs. Not being able to guard his own dojo, the old man has been asking for help and Ryohei volunteered himself and Tsuna. Of course, Tsuna refused at first.
"Think about it, Sawada!" Ryohei said hot-bloodedly. "When you fight for justice, you'll know how wonderful boxing is!!"
Why is this about boxing?! Tsuna thought.
"Hmph! Stupid lawn-head! Juudaime is all about justice!" Gokudera said to Ryohei, earning himself a "Who'd you just call a lawn-head, octopus-head!"
"Maa, Tsuna! I don't see any reason not to help out!" Yamamoto said happily.
"You should do it, Tsuna-kun!" Yotsuba added. "Where would you rather be anyway? School or dojo?"
Neither! Tsuna exclaimed in his head, but ended up going to the dojo anyway because of his friend's encouragement and Reborn's threats.
Therefore, Tsuna and the others, along with several members of the boxing club, made their ways to the dojo. When they arrived at the dojo, they could already sense the high tension among the master and the students. At this situation, Ryohei was even more fired up. Whereas Tsuna couldn't get worked up at all.
"Ano…" Tsuna asked the master of the dojo beside him, "Are you sure there really are just people coming around to defeat the dojos?"
The master nodded. "Yes, they come at exactly 3:30…"
"What kind of people are they?"
"About that… all the witnesses are heavily injured to the point that they can't speak."
"WHAT?!"
"People say, after they leave, there won't even be a blade of grass left."
Tsuna couldn't believe what he was hearing. Can those people really be that bad? But before he could ponder more about the matter, the people already came.
"They're here!" Ryohei said.
The dojo door opened and a glare came in. Nobody saw anyone, until they looked down and saw a little girl only about five years old. "I-PIN!!"
Ryohei took a step forward. "It's that large-forehead girl from the Sawada family!"
"Didn't I just say her name was I-Pin?!" Tsuna exclaimed, and then turned to I-Pin. "What are you doing at a place like this? Did something happen at home?"
I-Pin shook her head no, and said something in her native tongue.
"I've come to take the dojo's board," Reborn translated. "So she said."
Everyone present was shocked that a little like that was taking away all the dojo's signboards. Even though Tsuna was still doubting, Ryohei already made the order to catch I-Pin with "extreme power". The boxing club members charged at I-Pin, but she jumped high in the air and defeated all of them in an instant.
"Che," Gokudera made a tisking sound and took out his bombs. "These people are useless! Juudaime, leave it all to me!"
"Heeeee!! Don't light those in here, Gokudera-kun!"
"Yeah, Gokudera! Fireworks are for outdoors!"
"THESE ARE NOT FIREWORKS!"
Yotsuba sighed. "Boys… you can't count on them for anything!" Taking a step toward I-Pin, Yotsuba bent down and grabbed something from her back. She took out a large, round lollipop and waved it in front of I-Pin, "Candy?"
Just when I-Pin was going to fall for it, someone else crashed into the dojo. "GAHAHAHAHA! Lambo-san wants candy too!"
"Lambo!" Yotsuba turned around to see Lambo standing behind her, already holding a lollipop. "No! You already have one!"
"AND IT'S STUCK IN YOUR HAIR!!" Tsuna exclaimed as he pointed out.
Lambo then tried to laugh and take out the lollipop at the same time, but ended up choking instead. "Don't… ignore… Lambo-san!!"
Tsuna could not think of what to do, and Lambo has already taken a leap toward Yotsuba, who was holding the new lollipop. However, he had an unsuccessful landing. His lollipop shattered with a merciless crack, and tears welled up in Lambo's big eyes.
"CAAANDYYY!!" Lambo wailed.
Tsuna was going to say something when he was interrupted by Ryohei again.
"Be quiet!" Ryohei said, grabbing I-Pin from behind. "The fight is over! This just proves that boxing is the greatest martial art!"
Just as Ryohei thought that everything was over, there was suddenly an explosion. Pink smoke was flowing everywhere and Tsuna instantly knew what happened. The smoke came from where Lambo was standing, so that could only mean one thing. A tall, slim figure replaced the little cow-suited boy. Tsuna was not wrong; it was the Ten-Year Bazooka.
"Oh, great. I was in the middle of cleaning the bathtub…" Adult Lambo groaned as he sat up with a scrub in his hand.
"Adult Lambo!" Tsuna exclaimed, but before he could say anything else, a voice that wasn't present before screamed out.
"ARRRRGHHHH, WHAT IS THIS?! LAMBO, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!"
Tsuna, Adult Lambo, Gokudera, and Yamamoto all looked toward where the voice came from. There was still some smoke around. Wait… Lambo was standing close to Yotsuba-chan when he fired the Ten-Year Bazooka… so does that mean…?
A taller, curvy figure walked out of the pink smoke. The boys, except for Lambo, all gaped at the woman in front of them. Besides the new height, the slightly wavier hair, and the maturity, she was definitely Yotsuba from the future! Adult Yotsuba held a very mad expression at the moment, and she was glaring at Lambo, who cowered at the woman's fierce eyes.
"Ah… Yotsuba-san!" Lambo stuttered.
"I was in the middle of a mission!!" Yotsuba shouted. "And I was about to close the deal, too! If anything happens to my younger self, I will end you!"
Lambo panicked and hid behind Tsuna. Tsuna opened his mouth, "Um… Yo…Yotsuba-chan? Just exactly what kind of mission do you go on?"
Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto have been studying Adult Yotsuba for a while, and they were all getting weird ideas about the content Yotsuba's mission. She was wearing a very revealing black dress, with her white thighs showing and all, and some deadly high heels. Plus, one strap of the dress was falling off her shoulder. Her hair was messy, and her lipstick seemed to be smeared too. Tsuna couldn't help but blush a little, but at least he wasn't the only one. Gokudera and Yamamoto were speechless and blushing, too. But, considering that Lambo wasn't, that means Yotsuba does things like this a lot in the future.
"What kind of mission?" Yotsuba repeated. "Spying, of course! There's a rising mafia family and they seem to be doing some dirty work in the black market, so I was sent to spy on them."
"And… you need to dress like that?"
"Well, you know how middle-aged men are." Yotsuba shrugged as she fixed the strap on her dress. "I couldn't find any replacement, anyway. Bianchi-san was on vacation and Chrome is obviously too shy to do the job."
Tsuna just gaped. He couldn't understand a word that she just said. And who is Chrome?
"But, still…" Yotsuba said as she approached Gokudera and Yamamoto, "Ah! So nostalgic! Everyone is so young back then!"
Gokudera and Yamamoto's cheeks were pinched by Yotsuba's long fingers. Yamamoto scratched the back of his head with embarrassment; Gokudera fumed at the touch.
"Woman! Don't touch me!" Gokudera yelled as he slapped her hand away.
"Ara! Hayato-kun!" Yotsuba stepped back in a dramatic way. "You know, you are so much gentler ten years later!"
Gokudera blushed hard. "I…I'm not gonna believe a word you say! Besides, aren't you supposed to be back by now?!"
All heads turned to Lambo, who was still in his adult form also. It seemed that the Ten-Year Bazooka was malfunctioning again. Yotsuba's expression got more and more stupefied every second. Tsuna noticed the change in mood, "What's wrong?"
"Well," Yotsuba began, "At this rate, I just hope my younger self comes back a virgin…"
……………
"WHAT?!"
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The last thing Yotsuba saw was a blinding light shooting out at her. She didn't know what happened; was she attacked? There was a dizzy feeling in her head, and then, judging by her position, she figured that she was now lying down on something soft—probably a bed. But then, she felt another weight on her, and she curiously opened her eyes. An enlarged face of a middle-aged man with a big mole right next to his nose was in front of her face.
"AAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" Yotsuba screeched in horror. However, her scream stopped short as she heard another voice's scream on top of hers. It was the man's.
"Wha-wha-wha-WHAT HAPPENED?!" The man backed away, stuttering in Italian as he spoke. "Lady Noir! Where's Lady Noir?!"
Yotsuba raised her voice to cover his. "I don't know what you're talking about! Who are you?! And where am I?!"
"Who am I? WHO ARE YOU?!" The man shouted over Yotsuba. "This… this is ridiculous! You must've disguised yourself as Lady Noir, and tried to set me up!"
Then something dawned upon Yotsuba—she must've been hit with the Ten-Year Bazooka. That little brat… he'll get it when she goes back. Still, Yotsuba was confused. Lady Noir? But before she could yell back at him, the man got off the bed that they were both on, and took out a gun from his back. Yotsuba was silenced instantly as the man pointed the gun right at her forehead.
"Little missy, I'll have you know that you've just made a death wish when you decided to mess with Adolfo Massimiliano of the Massimiliano Family!"
In the next second, three sounds were heard at once: Yotsuba's screaming, the clicking of the trigger, and…
"YOTSUBA-CHAN!!!!"
A man around his early-twenties burst into the room. His voice and face were very familiar to Yotsuba, but she couldn't grasp who it was. The young man charged at Adolfo, who was dumbfounded at the young man's appearance. In an instant, the young man knocked Adolfo out with the back of his katana. Adolfo collapsed with a thump, and the young man turned around and made a surprised face to see young Yotsuba.
"Ah! Ten-Year Bazooka, is it? I was wondering why you were taking so long even though I gave you a signal a while ago!" The man said with a big bright smile.
Yotsuba studied the young man. The big bright smile, the katana, the short black hair…
"Ya…Yamamoto-kun?"
"Yep!" Adult Yamamoto said as he put away his katana and picked up Yotsuba princess style. Yotsuba yelped at the sudden lift, and grabbed onto the collar of Yamamoto's dress shirt.
"Wha…what are you doing?!"
"I'll take you back to the headquarters," Yamamoto said, exiting through the window all the while. "Our mission is completed, anyway!"
"Mission?"
"Yeah, Tsuna often sends you and someone else on missions like this!" Yamamoto explained as he darted with an incredible speed through the woods. "Yotsuba-chan takes on a disguise as Lady Noir, a well-known pub dancer in Italy. First, you spy in the opposite Family and figure out their strengths and weaknesses. And then Yotsuba distracts the leader of other families while the others take care of the subordinates, and we signal you to escape when we're done."
"Oh…" Yotsuba said as she took everything in, "do I always use… that… kind of tactic to distract the middle-aged men?"
"Hahahaha! Don't worry, Yotsuba-chan, Tsuna made a rule for you to signal us when the enemy tries to go too far. And when you signal, it's our first priority to get to your side."
"I see…" Yotsuba nodded; a small smile formed on her lips.
That's great… Yamamoto-kun is still happy as always ten years later, and Tsuna-kun is the Tenth leader as I expected!
Just as Yotsuba was lost in her thoughts, Yamamoto has stopped running. Yotsuba looked up at him and Yamamoto smiled down at her as he put her down. "I'm going to create a distraction so other people don't find out about the Vongola headquarters! Follow me closely, okay?"
Yotsuba nodded, but before she could make out what Yamamoto was doing, rain started to pour from the sky.
"Yamamoto-kun! I didn't know you knew magic!" Yotsuba gasped.
Yamamoto laughed and gradually disappeared in the rain, "follow me!"
"Ah! Wait!" Yotsuba tried to run after him, but, out of any other time, she was clumsy this time and slipped on the wet grass. Taking a fall on the butt, Yotsuba groaned. And when she stood up again, she'd lost track of Yamamoto.
"Oh, no…" Yotsuba said to herself as she started to wander aimlessly. The rain had stopped and the sky was clear, but she could not find a clue of where the headquarters are. Well, Yotsuba was never the kind to worry too much about herself, so she just kept on walking. She figured that she was completely going the wrong way as she exited the woods.
Yotsuba ended up in a small city somewhere in Italy. Even though she grew up in the Vongola headquarters, she didn't know where she was. Maybe it was another branch that Tsuna made. And she couldn't ask anyone, either. So Yotsuba just resumed walking toward nowhere, hoping that she would return to the past soon. Speaking of the past, hasn't five minutes passed already?
Oh, now she's getting more worried. What if I can't get back?! Anxiously, Yotsuba turned around toward the woods and fastened her pace. She didn't notice that someone was closely behind her until she crashed right into him. She fell backwards from the human wall, but her arm was grabbed before she could make contact with the ground. She looked up to see a young man with a sly grin.
"Um… sorry!" Yotsuba said quickly. "I didn't see you behind me!"
"Don't worry about it!" The young man said sweetly, his white hair shining under the sun. "You know, you look terribly like someone I know!"
"Oh, really?" Yotsuba said absentmindedly, trying to leave. "Who would that be?"
"You look just like… a younger version of Lady Noir."
"Eh?" The name caught Yotsuba's attention. She studied the young man's face a little more. No, she was sure that she doesn't know this person. She put on a mischievous grin, "Who knows? Maybe I'm the young Lady Noir from the past!"
With that said, Yotsuba ran past the young man and back into the woods. The young watched as Yotsuba disappeared into the woods, and an explosion soon followed. Some pink smoke traveled out from inside the woods. The young man's grin spread out wider.
"The past, you say?" The man murmured in a sickly sweet tone. "Miss Mikami Yotsuba of Vongola…"
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"Ah, Yotsuba-chan!"
Yotsuba opened her eyes as the pinkness faded away. She was relieved to see that she was back to the past.
"The real thugs were just here a minute ago," Tsuna explained the situation. "But don't worry, Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun helped taking them out!"
Tsuna's words went from one of Yotsuba's ears and out the other. With a thump, Yotsuba sat down on her back and lied down on the floor.
"Yotsuba-chan?" Tsuna called her name worriedly.
Yotsuba smiled weakly, "I think I've had enough of today…"
Closing her eyes shut after those words, Yotsuba fell right to sleep.
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TBC.
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A/N: This chapter was kind of written just for fun, but I guess it'll become an important factor in the Future Arc, if I go as I planned. Anyway, review please! And I'll give you a lot more Mukuro and Hibari in the next chapter!