He was staring out the window with his hands behind his back, waiting for the news he knew would come. It had been a long time since he had last met that boy… or maybe it was just not too long ago. These days, the hours would stretch on for eternity; and today was no better.

His green eyes glared through the mist determinedly, seeing not the gray sky before them, but a different vision… Irie Shouichi had boarded the train to his memories as he waited calmly for the news to come.

His first encounter with the boy, he had to admit, did not leave a very good first impression. In fact, for the weeks to come, he had nightmares about cow-print chameleons holding guns, babies with enormous cheeks bulging out of their faces, and a purple haired woman who blasted everything into oblivion.

In any case, that first meeting brought him great distress and led him to the pits of unconsciousness with foam coming out of his mouth and tears flowing from his eyes.

The second time he ran into the boy was during the school year, when he was fifteen years old.

"M-my bike," a pitiful voice wailed. Looking around, he saw a horribly familiar boy with wild brown hair crouching down mournfully beside a bike. "Hibari-san is definitely going to bite me to death…"

He wondered for a moment whether he should be a Good Samaritan and extend a Hand of Help to the boy.

"Um," Irie said, coughing, a little hesitant to be communicating with the boy who had put him through nightmares. "I-if you like, I could help you fix your bike."

The boy's head shot up and a look of hope spread out across his face, making Irie's insides squirm a bit – he'd never seen such a happy look. "U-uh, what seems to be the problem?"

Within a few minutes, Irie had figured out what was wrong with the bike and set to fixing it as well as he could while the brown haired boy thanked him continuously. With a last 'thank you,' the boy swung his legs around the repaired bike and set off hurriedly, shrieking about how 'Hibari-san" was going to "bite him to death" for being so late.

The third time Irie had met that boy was in a bookshop during his last year of high school. Looking back on that time, Irie wryly remembered that he had been a truly depressed soul – his career as a musician was not looking good, and his mother, who had been diagnosed with stomach cancer, insisted that he follow a different path. His girlfriend had just dumped him after he had found out she'd been cheating on him for months, and his father had just died trying to save a boy from a raging river. His sister had recently been murdered by someone – he had heard rumors that it was a mafia family – and his grades were dropping now. What kind of life was this?

Nothing too great.

He was brooding moodily, staring unseeingly at a bookshelf filled with college-prep textbooks, wondering just what the point of life was – already, he had bought a bottle of pills and was seriously considering ending his life. The bottle sat in the schoolbag he had slung across his shoulder, along with a cold bottle of water which was sweating and getting his notes wet.

"Hiie! I'm sorry!"

Shaking out of his depressed stupor, Irie looked around for the person who had just crashed into him. He was surprised to see the brown haired boy sprawled across the floor with books strewn all around him. Solemnly, Irie helped the boy up, wondering what kind of fate it was to meet the boy whose name he did not know three times.

"Ah, you're the person who fixed my bike!" the boy said after thanking Irie. "I never got to introduce myself, sorry. I don't know if you even remember that, but I'm Sawada – Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Nodding, Irie said, "I remember you." How could I not. "I'm Irie Shouichi."

"Uhm," Tsuna said hesitantly, fidgeting a little under Irie's rather soul-less look, "I never got to thank you properly, either… so, would you let me treat you to dinner?"

"Huh? It's fine."

"N-no – you sort of saved my life that day," Tsuna said, laughing awkwardly. "There's a restaurant not too far away from here, so if you're not busy…"

Deciding that he might as well enjoy the last meal of his life, Irie turned away from the textbooks and shrugged, indicating that Tsuna should lead the way.

As he walked close behind Tsuna in an awkward silence, he noticed several things about him. One, the boy was very short, and it was only his wild hair that made him seem taller; two, he had a sort of air around him that suggested for most of his life, he had been bullied; and three, although he had that wimpy look, there was a bit of a more confident aura about him, something that suggested he wasn't really what he seemed to be.

In no time at all, they found themselves in an Italian-style restaurant and sitting at a table by the windows. Tsuna fiddled uncomfortably with the menus they had been given before saying impulsively, "Shouchi-san, is there something on your mind? You look really depressed."

Looking up from his menu, Irie stared at Tsuna for a bit before returning to scanning the items. "I guess so."

"Uhm," Tsuna said, looking unhappy. "I know we just met each other… but if you need someone to talk to…"

"It's okay," Irie cut in, flipping to the back of the menu. "I'm going to die in a few hours, so don't worry yourself about it. Waiter – could I order some Mezzaluna?"

"I-I'll have the same," Tsuna spluttered. "But, Shouichi-san, why –?"

When he received no answer from Shouichi, Tsuna mumbled, "Don't you… have things you want to do?"

"Sure," Irie said, turning his gaze out the window. "But it's not like I'm going to be able to. I want to become a musician, but I already know that that will never work for me." Because I've been traveling to the future. "Almost my whole family is dead already – in a few years, it'll just be me."

"But… Shouichi-san, I'm sure your family wouldn't want you to also die."

"Well, there's really no future for me," Shouichi said, shrugging. "My grades have been horrible this year; I can't get into anywhere good like this. I'm sure you understand – you look like you're pretty much a failure in life, to be frank."

Tsuna put on an expression that suggested Irie had hit the mark, but nonetheless, he shook his head. "I… I can't say I understand you. I have a friend like you who, a few years back, tried committing suicide because of a reason similar to yours…"

He fiddled self-consciously with the ends of his sleeves, shifting uncomfortably as Irie continued staring blankly out the window. "I can't understand how either of you feel, because I, when at death's door, would feel a lot of regret. You seem the type to try your hardest at everything, Shouichi-san, but I never put any effort into anything. Recently, it's become different – I've found a lot of things –" Tsuna hesitated, glancing up nervously at Irie. "I don't want to die because I still have a lot of things I want to do.

"Shouichi-san, wouldn't you, at the last second, also regret dying? Because you still have so much more to do… Isn't there something you want to accomplish?"

"If there's anything I'd want to do," Irie said quietly, turning his drink around in his hands, "it would be to make the world a safer place. But really, how can a person like me achieve something like that?"

"Well…" Tsuna said, "as long as you're alive, you still have a chance of making that happen, isn't that right? Isn't a small chance better than no chance at all, Shouichi-san? Instead of throwing your life away, shouldn't you try harder to make your dream come true? I-I mean," Tsuna added hastily, holding up his hands, "I'm not one to talk, because I never do these things… but Shouichi-san… I truly believe you should give life a chance."

At that point, the waiter arrived with Irie and Tsuna's orders, saving Irie from having to think up of a response to the sappy stuff the boy had just spouted out. After that, Tsuna seemed to try to avoid the topic of life and death, talking instead about college entrance exams and schools.

After saying "I'll see you again," with a tone that implied I'll see you again alive, right?, Tsuna waved goodbye to Irie before setting off in the direction of his house. Irie turned around, heading back to the bookstore. He stared through the windows for a moment, looking at the college prep books sitting on the shelves.

He decided to buy three textbooks that were half off and threw away the bottle of pills he was carrying with him.

"I guess I didn't really want to die," he said, sighing. He could see his warm breath puffing out into the cold air as he stared up at the already starry sky. "And it just took an idiot to tell my idiotic self that."

The following week, he ran into Tsuna a fourth time in the streets of the Namimori shopping district where he was trying to get some medicine for his stomach. Irie was on one side of the street, and Tsuna the other. A look of pure relief flooded Tsuna's face when he caught sight of Shouichi looking splendidly alive. People crossed in front of Tsuna, but his arm sprouted up over their heads and waved energetically; smiling and shaking his head, Irie pushed his glasses up his nose and waited for Tsuna to cross the street.

Miraculously, Irie managed to bring his grades up from their slump and entered a university where he met one of the most interesting people of his life – white haired Byakuran, complete with the purple tattoo under his eye. He found himself inclined to follow the cheerful man, interested in his talk of creating a better world – at that time, he didn't know that Byakuran meant it literally when he said 'creating.'

He believed Byakuran had good intentions; after all, the white-haired man had used his powers to find Irie's sister's murderer in a parallel world. For that, he was indebted to Byakuran, and he continued following him.

He only realized the gravity of the situation after Byakuran extended an invitation to him to join the Gesso family a few years later. Unsuspecting, Irie accepted the invitation – and that was when he found out what Byakuran really had in mind. He wanted a way out, a way to stop the man, but there was none as far as he could see –

Until the letter arrived in his mailbox.

If you are looking for a way to stop the orchids from destroying everything, meet me where you first learned my name.

Sawada Tsunayoshi

He learned that the weak-looking boy was actually the Tenth boss of one of the strongest mafia families.

It was one of the biggest shocks of his life.

A year later, he was sitting at the table, looking stunned at the older Tsuna accompanied by a fearsome looking Cloud guardian who looked as if his temper might snap at any given moment.

"You… have to die?"

Nodding, Tsuna said with a smile on his face. "I'll have to die."

"I don't understand," Shouichi spluttered. "Why –?"

"It's so that my past self can be brought to the future and educated properly," Tsuna said calmly, as if he had not just suggested his own death. "It's part of Byakuran's plan as well, anyways."

"But, I don't see why you have to die!"

"It makes everything seem more serious," Tsuna said. "And, once I'm gone… the Vongola hunt will decrease in its intensity, and more things will get done. I know, you've been hiding it from me, but the hunt is going on – all the deaths of the people related to the Vongola family have not escaped my notice."

"On the contrary, Tsunayoshi-kun," Irie protested. "Your death will only intensify the hunt!"

"Either way, I am going to die," Tsuna said calmly. "Byakuran has set up a meeting with me, but I know that once I arrive, I will be killed. So, in order to prevent things from becoming complicated, I just have to die before that, won't I?"

"But – how –?"

"Hibari will kill me."

There was a long cold silence during which Irie found himself staring anxiously at the cloud guardian, wondering just exactly how the man would take it. A stormy look was crawling over Hibari's face, but you could hardly tell since his expression had been like that from the beginning. Drumming his fingers nervously against his knees, Irie darted his eyes from the still smiling Tsuna to the Hibari who looked as if he couldn't be angrier about the situation.

"Excuse me?" Hibari finally said. "Sawada Tsunayoshi, I will do what exactly?"

"You'll kill me," Tsuna continued, avoiding Hibari's eyes. "Irie-kun will suggest an ambush, and during the confusion, you'll kill me."

"I do not remember agreeing to something like this," Hibari said stiffly. "I am wasting my time with you herbivores."

He stood up and pushed past Tsuna who called out, "Hibari…"

The door slammed shut and the two men left in the room could hear the footsteps echoing in the secret hallway leading to their meeting place. Sighing, Irie loosened his tie and slumped back into his chair. "Nice act, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"Same to you," Tsuna said, grinning. But the smile dropped from his face. "I… I still don't like the idea of involving everyone, though…"

"We both already decided that it's necessary," Irie said. "And I'll leak some false leads to make sure nothing bad happens before the time comes."

Nodding, Tsuna closed his eyes, a dry smile coming on his face.

"Thank you, Irie-kun."

Irie's heart twisted in his chest as he looked at the weary man. A long rest – that's what Sawada Tsunayoshi needed.

It felt wrong. Very wrong… after all, Tsuna had told Irie to keep on living, and now Irie was telling Tsuna to die.

What a twisted fate.

"Shou-chan, did you hear?"

Jerking, Shouichi shook his head, jostling himself out of his thoughts. He squinted at the monitor out of which stared Byakuran's beaming face. "H-huh?"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi is dead! Thanks to your suggestion, the ambush managed to wipe the Vongola boss out!"

For a split second, a strange expression crossed over Irie's face. But then a victorious look was plastered on and he said, "Great! Everything's going according to plan!"

"Right~ Then, we'll meet up later Shou-chan and plan the next moves in this exciting game!"

The monitor switched off, and Irie pushed his glasses onto his nose.

"Now, it's only a matter of time…"

He successfully managed to climb up the stairs leading to the front door without slipping. Rearranging his clothes, he knocked loudly on the wood, waiting as he heard footsteps running in the house.

"Nana – Nana, I'll get it!"

The door cracked open, and Iemitsu peered cautiously around the door, brightening up when he saw who it was.

"Bucking horse Dino!" he said, swinging the door wide open. "I thought it might've been the Millefio – well, that doesn't matter. Come in, come in!"

Dino shook his head. "I can't stay for long. I just came to Japan to make some plans with the Varia – in a few minutes, I'm going to be boarding a plane to Italy with them."

"Did something happen?" Iemitsu asked, stepping out on the patio and closing the door.

An odd expression crossed over Dino's face; one of pain and pity; Iemitsu didn't quite know what to make of it. But his stomach started churning uncomfortably when he saw Dino's eyes drop to the ground.

"Iemitsu…" Dino said lowly. "Your son – Tsuna's dead."

Mind completely blank, Iemitsu could only stare at Dino with disbelief written all over his face.

"My son… is dead?"

"I only heard about it yesterday, but they've already held the funeral – don't try going over there; it's too dangerous." Giving Iemitsu a quick, tight hug, Dino stepped back. "I have to go. Iemitsu, we'll talk later –"

"VOIII, CAVALLONE, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

Waving hastily, Dino tripped down the small set of stairs and rolled across the lawn, stopping when Squalo aimed a kick at his head. Iemitsu watched blankly as Squalo grabbed Dino by the hair and dragged him to a black car which sped off as soon as the two men clambered inside.

Iemitsu stumbled back into the house, a horrified expression spread out across his face. He was glad Nana was outside hanging up the laundry – he didn't know what he would have done if she asked him what was wrong. He made his way back to his room on shaky legs and collapsed into his chair.

The corner of his eyes caught sight of a small photo in a glittering gold frame that sat in the most brightly lit corner of the desk. He reached out and picked it up, tears trailing down his face in a fresh wave as his eyes traveled over the beaming faces that stared out of the photograph.

His cute wife, Nana… himself, a younger, happier, goofier man… and…

"My son…"

He wiped the tears off the glass covering, revealing the laughing, rosy face of his one and only son, age five at the time. It had been a windy day at the park; Nana was holding her flapping hat down against her head as her hair whipped past her face. Iemitsu held a bubble wand in his hand, laughing as his son reached out with chubby fingers to try to catch the evasive bubbles. What he would give to go back to those days – what he would give to have his son back…

"My son's all grown up now!" he sobbed, clapping Tsuna on the back. Tsuna's knees buckled. "Tenth boss of Vongola already – I feel like I'm an old, old man now."

"Dad – dad, this is really embarrassing," Tsuna muttered from the corner of his mouth. He straightened his suit nervously, casting an anxious glance around at the smiling faces around him.

"My cute son!" Iemitsu bawled shamelessly. "Oh, my cute son…"

"Dad," Tsuna whined. Behind him, he could hear Yamamoto laughing and Gokudera retorting with an angry, "shut up, baseball idiot! This is a touching moment between father and son!"

"But Tsuna," Iemitsu said, wiping away his tears. He set a hand on Tsuna's shoulder, looking him gravely in the eyes. "Do you think you're ready for this?"

To his surprise, Tsuna laughed and put his hand over his father's. "Dad, have I ever been ready for anything? Or rather, did you ever ask me if I was ready for this?"

Iemitsu chuckled and ruffled Tsuna's hair. "I guess you're right. Tsuna…" His smile turned into something different – still curved up, but with a hint of sadness around the edges, like he was sad to see his son become the official boss of the Vongola. Tsuna had grown up so much… had become so much more confident… his son was an adult now and would be treading into the dark side of the world…

"For the first time in his life, Daddy's proud of you."

Iemitsu grinned as Tsuna turned an embarrassed shade of red and inched away from his father, muttering things about, "thanks dad, but I can't say the same for you." Tsuna looked up at his father and, giving him one last innocent smile, he went to join the rest of his guardians.

"Tsunayoshi-kun has grown up a lot, hasn't he?"

"Ninth," Iemitsu said, bowing respectfully. He turned his gaze back onto Tsuna, a fond smile drifting across his lips as he watched Tsuna walk away from him. "Yeah, that useless son of mine has grown up so much that I'm left stunned."

Chuckling, the Ninth set his eyes on the young Tenth boss, observing him quietly. "You're worried, aren't you?" he said after a moment of silence.

Snorting, Iemitsu grabbed a glass of wine from the passing waiter. He downed the red liquid in one go and, smacking his lips, he said, "Just worried to death about that clumsy son of mine. But, I threw him into the lion's den and he's come out fine so far… so I have confidence that he'll make it through the rest this somehow."

"You sound proud of him," the Ninth said, smiling.

Now, Tsuna was frantically trying to keep Gokudera from leaping at Yamamoto's throat. Iemitsu chuckled at that look on his son's face – useless and lame; the same as ever.

"Yeah, I'm proud of that wimpy son of mine."

"Darling!" Nana's voice came through the door. She knocked lightly on the wood, startling Iemitsu from his thoughts. "Darling, is there something wrong? Dinner's ready!"

"Oh, Nana," Iemitsu said gruffly. He switched on the television just as Nana poked her head into his room.

"What's wrong?" Nana asked. "Did something happen? Why are you crying?"

"I – uh, this program was just too sad for me, so I started crying," Iemitsu said, grinning goofily. Seeing that the channel was showing some kids dancing around a purple dinosaur, he quickly switched the television set off and smiled innocently at Nana. "Dinner's ready, you said?"

Oblivious to the blatant lie, Nana nodded, smiling cheerfully at Iemitsu. Sadness tugged at his heart – how would he tell Nana?– but he pushed it away and got up from his chair.

"Hey, Nana, what do you think about going on vacation?"

"Vacation?"

"Yeah," Iemitsu said, turning off the lights to his room. "Just you and me, a romantic getaway to, say… Italy? What do you think?"

"I think that sounds wonderful!" Nana gushed. "Should we ask Tsu-kun to come along?"

"Ah, no," Iemitsu said, grinning forcedly. "He's kind of busy right now."

He let his eyes stray into his room and caught sight of the smiling Tsuna in the photo – his breath caught in his throat for a split second, but before the tears could begin spilling from his eyes again, he quickly shut the door.

"Ah, just you and me?" Nana was saying. "Let's go! When?"

"Say, tomorrow?"

"Alright!" Happiness was leaking out of Nana's smile, but it couldn't permeate Iemitsu's heart. "Darling, what's wrong?"

"Just thinking about that program again," Iemitsu said, brushing his hand across his eyes. "Go ahead and start dinner without me; I just remembered I have to make a phone call."

Pushing Nana into the kitchen, Iemitsu turned to the phone and began dialing a number. It rang once, twice – and then the voice of his pupil reached his ears.

"Master? What is it?"

"Basil," Iemitsu said, steeling himself. He said it bluntly, succinctly, as calmly as he could so that he wouldn't have to say it twice. "Tsuna's dead."

The line was silent for a moment before Basil began speaking again. "Sawada-dono… is dead?"

No longer wanting to linger on the fact, Iemitsu pushed on. "Nana and I are leaving for Italy tomorrow – the usual place. Do you think you could meet us there?"

"Of-of course, but Sawada-dono–"

"Ah, Nana's calling me," Iemitsu lied. "See you then, Basil."

He put the phone back in its place, pushing an image of Basil's hurt face out of his mind. He crossed through the hallway and stopped abruptly at the picture of Tsuna hanging up on the wall. Dressed in a suit, Tsuna looked uncannily professional, but that perpetual look of nervousness and worry was still on his face. Snorting, Iemitsu closed his eyes and continued walking. "That wimpy son of mine…"

Memories poured in through his mind – yelling "up high, higher, higher!" while throwing a screaming Tsuna into the air – going fishing with his son at an ungodly four o'clock in the morning – seeing him miraculously graduate from preschool, seeing him protect his friends, seeing him become the Tenth boss –

But, all of those were just memories now, and new ones with Tsuna would never be made again. He knew he had to accept this fact sooner or later, realize to its fullest extent that his son was gone, but now, for now, all he could say to his dead son as he walked past that portrait was –

"Goodbye."

Goodbye, my one and only son.

Goodbye, the son that I am and always will be proud of.

Sorry for that other chapter - I realized that I wanted to add something else to the story and had to change a couple of things so the timeline worked out.

This was a pretty long chapter XD I hope it was alright~

As always, thanks for your support! One or two chapters to go :O