UNIVERSAL BONDS

Set in ten years later. xx

"Was it okay to give him a hint?" Yamamoto wiped off his Shigure Kintoki from the dirt on it, sitting on the mahogany table. His hazel eyes glanced at the red head, who was organizing the reports the guardians gave at the end of the meeting.

Gokudera went to Lambo's seat and collected his report. "The hint wasn't that obvious. And to survive, he needs the caution he must have, or dying was the only option."

Yamamoto made a frown, his eyes looking downcast right now. His Shigure Kintoki was put beside him, on the table, dirtless and wrapped by a white cloth—For who knows how, his scabbard was missing, maybe stolen when he was on his mission. He's keen on forgetting stuffs as well, and it didn't escape from Gokudera's wrath every time Yamamoto lost his things. "It could make another parallel universe, different than this. Or, our lives will be different in a moment."

For once, Yamamoto was right. And he thought the theory pretty well about parallel universes, after almost twelve to thirteen years living his life with the actions happening. "Who knows? Maybe Primo did have the hint from us at the other universe, and at ours."

"It's nice to see you two worrying about me like that." A voice stated, smooth and silky. The older Sawada Tsunayoshi took the reports from Gokudera's hands, noticing that once again, Lambo did his poorly. Hibari's was simple as always; with the 'I've bitten them to death neatly.' Tsuna even wondered what the definition of 'neat' to Hibari was. Mukuro himself would have done terrible, if it wasn't for Chrome to correct the report. The others were detailed and full with the billing.

"My younger self will be alright, and Primo will too, in this universe and the others as well."

Both of the guardians looked at their boss with narrowed eyes. Their eyes showing remorse, Tsuna knew what the look indicated to. "We all hope so. Even though we had the experience, we don't want it to happen in a worse way—much worse than we saw."

Gokudera scowled and pulled his cigarette, something he rarely do now except when he's that frustrated. "Both of you switched souls. But that project wasn't incomplete, so that happened. What I fear is, if it will change. I know, by giving him a hint will change something, but it's worth a try to make things better." His emerald eyes closed as his knuckles whiten, and when he opened his palm, there were nail marks there.

"The history will probably change, and more parallel universe will be created." Tsuna cut Gokudera's rant calmly. He heaved a sigh, closing the Yamamoto's report. "And maybe, our lives here will change as well, as little as it might be. And Yamamoto, you lost your sheath again?"

Yamamoto bit his lips, as he spoke, ignoring Tsuna's question towards his scabbard. Tsuna sighed, knowing it was an act Yamamoto often does when he wanted to be serious, but sadly, his gag like personality always ruin it. "Even if both of you—we, die? After getting switched, in a way, your souls and bodies are connected. If one dies—"

The boss smiled. "Then let it. Our future became calm after they helped defeating Byakuran, and there, if they haven't then we're all as good as dead. It was a nice decision of you, Gokudera-kun. We've tried to change, and whatever fate takes us, we'll accept it."

"And please, we have work to do. Your eyes will bulge out when you see the total bill. Haru will be stressed organizing all of the bills." He didn't like the idea of getting smacked by Reborn again, because of his guardians' shenanigans at the mission.

If he's hoping to get an immediate welcoming action from them after he confessed the truth, then something might be wrong with his head. But sure, hoping wasn't a bad thing. Tsuna had troubles after he dismissed the meeting, some of them (Asari, Knuckle, Lampo and G.) bothered to nod their head in politeness, while the others were complicated. Alaude and Daemon went off to who-knows-where.

Though the four of them were welcoming enough, Tsuna knew it was a habit to treat the guest nicely. They only see him as a 'guest' who was involved with all the mafia stuff and had his soul switched with their boss.

Tsuna expected that, but it still hurt. Even though they weren't his guardians formally—they became somehow close after a few weeks together. How long has it been since he switched anyway? Three weeks? Or maybe, a month?

He suddenly missed Reborn's sadistic tutoring, Yamamoto's continuous laughs, Gokudera's obsessive nature towards him, Hibari's bite-to-death, Mukuro's leer, Lambo's and Ipin's fights and cries, Fuuta's analysis, his mom's cooking, his dad's reek of alcohol and all of the people he knew there. Heck, he even missed Chrome's cooking that was almost on par with Bianchi's.

All of the chefs here are capable of cooking delicious foods, but he wanted to taste his mom's cooking, and maybe when he's able to go back, Chroma's cooking will be edible after her being scolded by Mukuro with her cooking taught by Bianchi. After all, the two mist guardians share a bond no one could separate or enter. She was bound to understand that Bianchi's cooking is not edible.

Oh. Of course, his bullies. It's been a while since he saw Mochida's face, and his classmates'. He was always bullied by them (and it didn't decrease even though Yamamoto and Gokudera are with him.) almost every day. He wondered what are they doing, it's vacation right now so once they go back to school, they would gossip about where they went during the vacation.

'Tsuna must be at home, baby-sitting his brats. How lame.' – was what they'll say. Well, if being sent back into hundred years before you were even born in your ancestor's body and preparing a war for the sake of history wasn't 'awesome' enough, then the definition of awesome changed 180 degrees then for him.

He was starting to ramble in his thoughts now. Maybe because of the lack of sleep, his physique and mental would really enjoy a sleep right now. He passed a few servants on his way to his room—well, Giotto's room, winced a bit when he felt Daemon's gaze on him. "Good night, Daemon-san." He said, nodding his head at the guardian while the latter walked away without looking back.

"It seems like Daemon is in a foul mood, isn't he?" The rain guardian's silky voice rang behind him. Glancing back, Asari was beside Knuckle, in their bed-wear. Their warm gaze headed to Tsuna, smiling. "Alaude's the same as well; he won't stop staring at your direction."

"It's a bit uncomfortable." Tsuna laughed it off. "But my cloud guardian is the same… When he meets a stranger, he would bite them to death immediately."

Knuckle grinned, tightening his bandage around his knuckles. "Seems extremely similar. They could really need a daily dose of meditation like us, everyday!"

That statement made Tsuna blink, he didn't expect that. "You meditate every night?" He clearly did not expect a sun guardian—someone who's known to be loud and even obnoxious to be meditating every night. Asari, he expected it but Knuckle?

"Well, Asari told me it's the best way to calm you down." His gaze went to his palm, as he bit his lips. "I can't be reckless and hurt someone badly. What will God say?" Knuckle put his hands on a prayer motion.

Asari looked at Tsuna as he realized the latter's eyes, and his tense figure. His eyebrows creased seeing it, his arms putting itself to Tsuna's shoulders, patting it slowly. "If it's not a bother, why don't you join us?" He suggested. "You look very stressed, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"Oh, good idea!" Knuckle agreed to it almost completely. He looked expectantly at the Decimo, hoping he would accept the offer.

He didn't deny the fact that inside, he was tremendously happy being offered like that. It was a chance to ask them about themselves, and about Giotto's doings there. Though it's better to ask G about that—judging that G's the closest to Giotto, but sadly, the storm was in his room, apparently working some reports. "It's an honor-!"

Both of the older males chuckled. "Don't be extremely formal! Just treat us like you colleagues." The priest cheerfully said, patting Tsuna's shoulders.

"Ah," Tsuna halted on his step, suddenly looking downwards, his cheeks a bit red. They asked what was the matter; "I can't meditate—I've never done it before." He was embarrassed to say that. But it was true, he never tried meditating. And if he did, he was sure he's going to fail greatly. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of them—though, he did once. He screamed like a little girl in front of them, damnit.

"It's okay. We'll teach you, it's not embarrassing at all." Asari responded, being the savior of Tsuna. "Your acting as Giotto was more embarrassing. And we still remember your scream when you wake up." Did Asari read his mind or something? Ouch. "—and meditation is easy. You'll be able to do it in a few."

They went in to a large spacious room; some blue mattress lay there on the floor, a shelf on the corner of the room, and some candles for light. There weren't any lamp there except for candles, Tsuna managed to see the rest of the room when Knuckle light up the candles.

As Asari prepared a relaxing aroma—lavender, Tsuna took a look around the room. On the shelf, there were many books of religions and about Jesus Christ. He saw a cross and some holy songs there as well, for Christian prayers. He also saw some guides or books for other religions, such as Buddhist, Islamic, etc.

Knuckle clasped his hands in a prayer motion, as he made a cross, he prayed for a while before ending it and crossed his legs, ushering Tsuna to follow his steps. "Now, just sit down and relax. Cross your legs like this and make yourself comfortable." He guided calmly, while Asari sat beside him. "Close your eyes, and pay attention to your surroundings; noise, smell, sight, texture, everything."

A few seconds later, there were no sounds coming from the three of them. Only their slight light breathing was heard, the wind rustling outside, the cicadas crying. He could even hear his heart beating, dug dig dug.

It was soft, he knew the mattress was stuffed by feathers and enveloped by a light cloth. Though it wasn't the same as cotton, it was quite comfy enough to his liking. He noticed how dry his skin felt, and calloused his fingers—or Giotto's. His sore muscles felt good, as it finally relaxed itself.

The lavender scent made its way to his nose. It relaxed every bit of his muscles, slowly, he felt himself leaning back as comfortable as ever. When he made that move, it felt that the wind was pushing him lightly, and the oxygen he breathes felt fresher. He imagined himself in a field of flowers, the wind blowing sending shivers to his spine, the sun shining brightly, burning his skin but as well, and warming his body after the cold wind.

He felt more… alive.

Tsuna didn't know what the time was right now or how many minutes they've been meditating. But he didn't really want it to end for some minutes, he enjoyed this, it's been a while since he felt this relaxed. He wonder why Reborn never ordered him to do this, or why his guardians never did, well the present and the past are two different things after all, like the earth and the sky.

He opened his eyes, fluttering and laid to the mattress. His eyes glanced to the two guardians, who were peacefully meditating. He paid attention to their way of meditating; Knuckle was mumbling a few words like a mantra, while Asari was silent, maybe imagining the nature around him like Tsuna did.

"Tsunayoshi-kun, you're already done?" Asari opened his eyes, straightening his arms, cracking his neck to his right and left. "I felt your stare on me." He informed calmly, his smile coming up to his face.

"Well—umm, yes. I'm done." Tsuna scratched his hair teasingly. "It was relaxing." He didn't know what to say beside that, but it was true, anyway.

The Japanese smiled. "I'm glad." He noticed Knuckle was finished, and offered to go to the dining table to drink green tea before ending the night. They agreed to it completely.

Green tea was always Tsuna's favorite. And it pleased him more when the tea that Asari served was Japanese green tea, gyokuro (jade dew). It's sweet, just the way he likes it. The distinct aroma was there—it was the perfect gyokuro.

The wet leaves from the tea were on a plate, with a citrus seasoned soy sauce and dressing. He tried a bite of it, and how delicious it was.

"This is EXTREMELY delicious!" Knuckle pressed the extreme, grinning like an idiot as he gulped another tea and the leaves. It was at these times Knuckle would really sound like Ryohei, Tsuna thought, how funny.

Asari chuckled. "Tsunayoshi-kun, how does it taste? I thought Japanese tea would suit your tongue well."

"Uh, yeah! Thanks for your concern." Tsuna blushed a bit at the attention. He looked shyly to Asari, comparing the man to Yamamoto. He was more responsible in his actions, and more calmer, if he must say… "Asari-san, since when did you know Giotto-san?"

"Huh? Well, a few weeks after I performed the first time." He put down his cup, reminiscing the old times. "G and Giotto came to Japan as tourists, after a few years after the slavery—and they came into a festival, where the Ugetsu Family was assigned to lighten up with music—our specialty. We met at a few occasions after that, and they began telling me their plan to form a vigilante group at Italy." He smiled bitterly.

The Japanese scratched the back of his neck as he continued with his story. "I didn't want to join at first, but after seeing their determination and how close we became after a few weeks—I supported them. And that's when war broke down at Italy and they had to fight; and like the history, I sold my flute for swords and money to travel to Italy and officially became a Vongola." Asari sighed, "My family disagreed with it. They wanted me to continue on with my music and I abandoned it for the sake of my friends. They were enraged for sure; till the extent they never accept me as an Ugetsu."

"But the decision I made wasn't wrong, and I knew it. I didn't regret any of it." He finished, sipping another mouthful of tea.

Tsuna blinked, not expecting that story. He bit his lips, and continued hearing their story—how the Vongola was born.

Knuckle continued, "Now's my turn." He stirred the tea, finding no other activities for his hands to do. His fingers teasingly tapped the table—unable to stay. "—I killed an opponent."

The boss was silent; he patiently waited for Knuckle to continue with it. It was an honor for him to hear the history of them by the people who were the history, one thing; Knuckle was blunt enough about his story that made him almost choke on his drink. "Guilt. Remorse. It felt horrible, you know? I still remember how his eyes won't show the glimpse of life, how his heart stopped, and how you know that with your own hands—you were the one who did it."

"People didn't mind about that, I wonder why. I killed someone. It wasn't right. The next thing I knew, my gloves were hanging on the wall untouched for years. And I began serving God—maybe as an attempt to atone my sins, even though just a little." Knuckle clenched his fists. "Giotto came by the church to ask blessing for his family—for his group. He said he wanted to meet me at that time, hearing about the' legendary Knuckle'." Knuckle scoffed at the fact. "I declined, I thought that many blood will be seen and more lives will be fleeing. But I realized that he wasn't after dominating the place—he wanted to protect the lives of people. To donate the unable. I thought this was the fate God has chosen for me to atone my sins, since then, I used my fists-" He made a motion to it, "—to protect the family."

A clasp of hand. Clap. Both of them stared at Tsuna with confused gazes, wondering why he clasped a hand towards them. "—amazing." He had his head downwards. His blue eyes wide and almost in a verge of tears—he was never good at hiding his emotions. "The Vongola really is… amazing."

"I'm a bit envious by your bonds." He cracked a smile. "So strong, unbreakable. And things happened a lot in the past, as well as now, yet you all still… And all of you didn't stop believing in the value of life." He clutched his chest with his right hand, "Giotto-san is amazing. Unlike me, he… he brought the Vongola together. He's truly legendary. While I'm just, useless Tsuna. The one who gets bullied every day at school, low grades, low reputation…"

Knuckle punched Tsuna lightly on the shoulder, not too hard but not too soft. Hard enough to make the little one yelp. "Everyone is not perfect. Giotto was the same as you—we were the same as you. But you're not that useless man anymore, you're the tenth boss of Vongola."

Asari sighed. "It really made me happy, to see that the Vongola we made with all of our hard work still managed to continue for ten generations, and to be led by teenagers—most of you are middle school-ers, right? I think it's more admirable."

"Someone once said- We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over." Knuckle continued, patting Tsuna's head kindly and softly—Tsuna felt he was calm like when he meditated. "Your bonds are not the same as us, but it's as strong as us."

Knuckle made a cross sign. "May God always bless us with our hearts—staying strong together."

Lampo didn't really like the new kid.

Tsunayoshi Sawada—was it? Ah, yeah. The kid whose soul got switched with Giotto. He looked scrawny, even though he's basically in Giotto's body. But Lampo guessed his original body must be petite, scrawny, like those nerds.

He even thought the boy was a coward. To hide the truth from them for almost a month or more, what did he think they were? It irritated him. But he didn't hate the boy.

Another one, after they saved Lampo—the Shimon accident (damn Cozart. He would really beat him up if he wasn't older and more superior /and stronger/ than him.) Lampo's slight view in the boy changed a bit. He thought the 'odd Giotto' changed into almost the normal Giotto, and it disappointed him when the boy revealed himself as another person, not Giotto.

Dare to say that Lampo misses the boss? Yes.

"—together." Lampo was about to get a midnight snack at the kitchen when he halted, hearing Knuckle's voice. Damn, he's still awake? He peered over a little to take a better look. There were Asari and Sawada as well, he wasn't lucky this time. He doesn't want to be accused to be the one who ate the food supplies (when it's absolutely true.) every night, he can't go there!

What were they talking, anyway? It sounded serious. He noticed a tear rolled from the boss' cheek to his thigh, making some wet stain on his pants. Huh, he was crying? Talk about a crybaby (Lampo's worse.)

He decided he would come back again after a few minutes.

A half an hour passed, the clock showed a half past one a.m. Lampo groaned, his stomach carving for sweets. His mouth tasted dry now, he just wants his sweets. Was it that hard to get? He made his way to the kitchen, hoping that there will be no one except him—oh great, that kid was still there. Alone? He scrunched his eyes. Yes, he's alone.

Maybe if it was Giotto seeing him stealing the sweets, the precious sweets Giotto loves, he'll throw a tantrum. But he guessed the descendant must be different. Considering at their first dinner, he didn't gobble up the sweets.

He stepped in the kitchen. The boy looked up to him and greeted, while he merely nodded his head while opening the fridge. He picked up the snacks there, and held it as if it's his precious treasure.

"Lampo—Aren't that too much?"

"It's Lampo-sama." Lampo corrected, at least, he wanted the new kid to address him using the polite way. Although he doubt the kid will really use it. "And this is not too much. This is my daily dose of sweets, it's normal."

Tsunayoshi knitted his eyebrows together, "I've read that there was a report about missing food supplies, especially sweets." He said, staring at him.

"The security here isn't that good, that's all." Lampo tried to deny although to no avail. He knew the tenth boss has the same Hyper Intuition as Giotto, lying would be pointless.

"Haha," To his surprise, the boy laughed childishly. "Sorry, but my lightning guardian is the same as you."

Lampo raised his head, "Tall and handsome like me? Ain't the Vongola's tenth generation lucky."

Tsunayoshi managed to hide a burst of laughter at his comment, Lambo, handsome? Maybe, at ten years later. Lambo and Lampo were the same—they were too similar. Except in his time, Lambo's still a kid. Well, ten years later, he's still a kid. He will always be a kid. "Lambo's a crybaby, and a coward. He's still a five years old kid."

The taller male gawked, a five year old? What was the Vongola thinking, using a kid as their guardian? He closed his mouth. "So… you forced him to fight?" He asked, clenching his fist. He was always forced by Giotto to fight for Vongola's sake, was Tsuna the same-? Or rather, more merciless?

"… Of course not." The boy cracked a smile. "I disagreed at first, he's still a kid but he's already ordered to be a mafia. Even the Bovino won't raise him properly."

Lampo opened a snack, as he offered one while the latter shook his head. "It was all out of the sudden. He became my lightning guardian—my obnoxious guardian. Truthfully, it's troublesome to have a crybaby like him, I was never good at kids." He continued to listen. "But he's still considered as my family."

"When he grows up, he'll know more responsibilities… and I guess, more challenges are waiting for him." Tsunayoshi smiled. "He'll become a good guardian like you, Lampo-san."

A slight arrogance of him rose up, feeling damn great as he got complimented—although, he scoffed a bit. What, just Lampo-san? Where did the –sama go? How insolent this brat is!

But Lampo didn't hate the kid. He has the same aura as Giotto, calm, caring-

"And put the snacks back in the fridge, thank you."

"You don't have the right to order me what to do! I'm the great Lampo-sama."

"Go away, I'm busy!" Gokudera grumbled as he moved his right hand up and down, while his left hand continued to construct a project.

Yamamoto laughed sheepishly, looking at the frustrated storm guardian. His right hand reached out and high-fived his hand. The latter looked at him while he asked, why the hell he did that, while Yamamoto just answered simply; "You were waving your hand, like you were asking for a high-five!"

"No, I wasn't asking for one." Gokudera dangerously mumbled his words slowly, hoping that the baseball idiot would get it for once. "You'll ruin the entire project, you fool."

Giotto turned to look at them, turning from his cake—damn it was delicious, he didn't regret asking Enma for a walk again, and accidently met with Chrome who was chatting with her female friends, Haru Miura, and Kyoko Sasagawa were it?

He remembered Haru as the girl who loves Tsunayoshi, while Kyoko as the girl whom Tsunayoshi had the crush on. He didn't know whether the boy still has some feelings for her though, but he had to admit, they were kind and polite girls, a bit unique in their own way.

And what made him happy the most was they share the same sweet tooth as him. This resulted him buying cakes, again, at the cake store the girls fancied. Of course, they knew about him. They said it was "woman's intuition." Then again, he never understood woman's feelings.

"What project?" He asked at them, scratching his hair.

"Uh, the science project at school. We have to finish it in this week." Yamamoto answered it for him. "Oh yeah! Tsuna's in our group as well, should we ask Primo to help out?" He grinned, patting Gokudera's shoulder to get his attention.

"Don't touch me!" He protested, putting the magnet inside. Gokudera sighed, and looked at Giotto, pulling off his goggles. "It's not needed, the project is not that hard—"

Giotto cut him off. "I would like to help—since, this is also Tsunayoshi's life, right? Reborn told me to live it for a while. And I do have some free time."

Gokudera frowned. He wanted to show Primo his loyalty and his hard work—he's going to show Primo what a great right hand man he is, so the future will be bright for him, and the door leading him to be Tenth's right hand man will be opened to him and only him! "Sure, then… Oi, baseball idiot, go and help us!"

"Sure!"

"Yamamoto-kun, you love baseball?" Giotto asked the teen, familiar with the sport, baseball. He've read it in a magazine, monthly magazine (don't comment about that fact.). "As far as I know—you're the school athlete, right?"

Yamamoto grinned, "Yup!" When he blanched and pulled out his phone. "Aw man, I totally forgot today is the first day of practice-!"

Gokudera raised his eyebrow, "Ha? It's started already when school hasn't?" He connected a part with another, focusing on his project—while Giotto helped with steadying the whole miniature.

"There's this important tournament in summer, you know." Yamamoto laughed. "The coach ordered us to start practicing three days before school starts." He looked at the clock, and laughed nervously, facing Gokudera and Giotto. "I've gotta go now."

"Haa?! Come back here, idiot! Our work here isn't done yet!"

Suddenly, Reborn (as always) showed up from nowhere, making Giotto jump at his appearance. Giotto didn't like his sudden appearances like this—it always makes him surprised and he wondered how his heart could take it for so long. "Leave it, Gokudera. The project can be continued tomorrow." To Gokudera's protests, he continued. "In fact, let's watch Yamamoto's practice, all of us."

Reborn must have a plan, Giotto thought, and a devious one at that. "Why, Reborn-san?" Gokudera asked in Giotto's behalf. Yes, why?

"School is in four days." Reborn said. "And all of you must know that our war with Calesse won't be finished in that short time. Spanner isn't even here yet, and we need him with Shoichi."

Spanner and Shoichi are important parts for the plan to succeed. Giannini's included also. Sadly, Giannini and Spanner are still on their way to Japan. Mukuro hasn't even contacted Fran yet; the poor boy was still at his grandmother's house, maybe being told fairy tale stories.

They nodded, urging the baby to continue. "This means, all of you will go to school—while waiting for more information from the other families. And back-ups." Holy shit, how did they forget something like that-? Of course! This means that a person late in trend for years will go to school—hell.

"Oh." Yamamoto squeaked.

Giotto began to chew on his nails—he's fucked up, for sure. He wasn't that intelligent at the beginning, and he barely managed to act as Tsuna in front of his family and guardians, let alone at school.

"It's a good opportunity for Primo to take a look around the school. So get your asses up and go."

A/N; The quote was from Ray Bradbury. I love his quote so I just inserted there, though I don't know it made any sense or not :P So I ended Giotto's part there, cause it just sounds so funny to end it there XD If I continue, it will be so long. The dreadful school is coming!

Knight Yuuki asked for a chapter where Tsuna cooperates with the guardians, so here it is, more to come in the next chapter :3 I hope you all like this, and support it with your kind reviews, reaching 200 guys! Wo-hoo, I'm so happy now.

No worries, in these filler chapters, there will be some hints, like that part in ten years later *wiggles* Soplease do read and review! Critisms are very welcomed! :D I love y'all. Ciao.