UNIVERSAL BONDS

Tang!

The sound of the bat clashing with the ball rang, a homerun, as expected from the school's ace, Yamamoto Takeshi. Giotto took a look around his surroundings, with Gokudera as his guide, took him to the club rooms, the school hall, and the classrooms.

"What are you herbivores doing here—crowding?"

They were on their way to their classroom—when fate turned into a bitch, Hibari was as always, patrolling around the school even though there were no one there except the baseball team and of course, the intruders—Gokudera, and Giotto.

"Hibari." Giotto blinked, not expecting the boy to be here. Hibari wasn't a part of the baseball team, was he? "What are you doing here?"

Gokudera answered for him, "That idiot loves Namimori too much. He's patrolling around the school, even though it's a day off. He practically lives here." He grumbled, scratching his neck.

Hibari looked at the other way—where the baseball team was practicing; he smirked and turned to them again. His expression says it all; You two aren't part of the team, so, basically you are intruding the school. "I'll bite you to death." And there comes his catchphrase.

His tonfa and the wall clashed, making a loud 'clang' noise. Giotto blinked, gulping as his sweat dropped. "Hibari—I don't know what's going on, but you're misunderstanding something…" He tried to explain to no avail. Hibari smirked, taking a fast step towards them and swung his tonfa.

Luckily for them, their reflexes were good enough to dodge that fast attack—that was followed by another. Gokudera gritted his teeth, as his hands pulled out his dynamite. "You bastard!" And he was about to throw it, when Giotto panicked and hold the silver haired's hands.

"Gokudera-kun, not in here-!" Giotto warned the right hand hand. To his protests, Gokudera shoved his hands away and threw the bombs to Hibari's direction.

His steel gray eyes hardened, as he deflected all the bombs—crashing the window in process. Then, the people below wondered why a firework was being lighted at broad daylight and Namimori out of all places. Hibari frowned deeper, realizing that they made a mess just now. "Destroying Namimori's facilities. You violated the school rules, now, that gives me a reason to bite—"

Hibari stopped in his tracks, noticing he was talking to thin air.

They stopped in front of class 2-A, taking short breaths, regaining their stamina. "First, we didn't have to run from Hibari." Gokudera said, pulling out his bombs again, which made Giotto wonder how he kept all of that. "Hurricane Bomb isn't just a nickname, it's who I am so I'm able to fight him, at least."

"Gokudera-kun, please realize that we're in… school, not a battlefield." Giotto sighed. He side glanced to his right, glad that they missed the Cloud in the run. He didn't want to cause anymore troubles in where the guardians spend their daylight at, studying. "I hope the people below didn't get hurt by the explosion—nor did they think about it."

"They'll be fine." Gokudera looked below, and twitched his eyes seeing Yamamoto waving over him, while giving him an OK sign. "… Yamamoto will take care of it. Believe me or not, he's good at lying."

The brunette frowned, "Is he?" He didn't agree with that statement. As much as a good liar Yamamoto might be, there would still be a slight hint of lie in the words, and how Yamamoto behaved. Gokudera shrugged his shoulders, then suggested that they should continue looking around the school.

"This is my desk, First!" Gokudera pointed to the mahogany table cheerfully, his eyes glinting with excitement. "Tenth's is over there, and Yamamoto's the one in the front."

Giotto nodded, walking towards Tsuna's desk. He could see a few scribbles made by the students who were in the class, bored, had nothing to do. All of them were like; Yuka *picture of an umbrella* Tachigawa, a heart with an arrow, some slang words and other drawings like… Giotto squinted his eyes, a funny looking dog and a person with a funny looking hat—his teeth missing a few. He guessed it was an American cartoon show.

He caressed the table with his fingers; it was quite dirty, having it not be used for a few weeks. He looked over the locker below the desk and found an envelope. He sweat dropped seeing the red marks, at least he won't have to study that hard to keep the other's suspicion out. "Oh." Giotto realized. "Gokudera-kun, does Namimori have a high school as well?"

"Huh? Yeah. It's right beside the middle school." Ah, so that explains why Ryohei and Hibari were still around the area. He thought they had to repeat a year. "I'm not going there, though." He admitted.

The boss raised his eyebrow, asking why Gokudera would attend another school other than Namimori, at least he think Tsuna would enter Namimori. "A private school would be good for me. Reborn-san said so. But I also don't want to leave Tenth, however, after I think it over; for the Vongola, it would be better if I attend a private one. It's just three years." He smiled bitterly.

Giotto smiled, ease filling inside. "At least the Vongola is in good hands, eh?"' Hearing that, the right hand man blushed as he looked at the other way, fingers brushing his lips. Giotto could hear some mutters of; You can count on me.

So this is where Tsunayoshi usually studies, Giotto thought, looking over the room. He carefully sat on the chair, feeling like he was an actual student. He closed his eyes, imagining, that the teacher was in front of him, explaining the history of how Japan lost the battle to the Allies with the loss of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (at least it was in the book he read before.) then the country… Indonesia, was it? Yes, Japan promised freedom to it, and it eventually happened with Indonesia's own hands.

And then, there was a student goofing around with his friend who eventually got hit by a chalk and got scolded. Then there comes the questions the teachers or the students asked and discussed it together. After that, the bell rang, indicating that it's break time.

A smile entered Giotto's face. He was going to live as a normal teenager in this era for a while, it pleased him that he got to get new experiences, but he also missed his former life before. He gained so many, but it also means that he gained more things to lose. Should he also go see a few club activities? He was curious on how Japan in this era had evolved their studying.

"That's about all of the rooms in the school." Gokudera started, walking to Giotto. "So, want to go to the field, first?" He offered, combing his messy hair again with his hands. As an answer, he got a nod.

"Oh, done with the tour around the school?" Yamamoto approached them, his body full of sweat. On his neck was a blue towel used to wipe his sweats, and some dirt on his sport clothes which consist a navy blue shirt and denim shorts. There were a few sunburns on his tanned skin.

"Yeah, you could say so." Gokudera answered, frowning looking at Yamamoto who took a mouthful of water immediately, the water dripping wet to his clothes. "When are you going to finish off practice?"

Yamamoto thought for a while, "Maybe in a few. Don't know." - which made Gokudera protest why the members chose this airhead as their captain. He looked over to Giotto and grinned, "Sorry, it's just that it's an important match. And the first years are quite promising, so I need to teach them properly. Do you mind?"

Giotto shook his head, waving his hand off. "No, of course not." He smiled gently. "It seems like they're really enthusiastic about the match." He looked over the field, seeing a few males grinning like an idiot and jumping high, seeing that he hit the ball high. They all shouted "ah, yeah!" together like a chorus, gaining a yell from the coach and some upperclassmen.

The rain guardian laughed, "Yup! And there's this foreign guy from Italy. Foreign students are rare here, and usually they would be a bit silent 'cuz of the culture shock and all; but that guy isn't. He's loud and energetic, and most important of them all, he loves baseball!"

A mutter of 'baseball freak' was heard from Gokudera's mouth. Giotto chuckled, looking at the expression in Yamamoto's face. All out of the sudden, there was a high pitched 'ciaossu' from behind. They jumped, except for Yamamoto, who had already seen the baby appearing.

The usual, Giotto protested about Reborn should fix his habit. "Shut it. Who's that boy you were talking about, Yamamoto?"

His hazel eyes glanced at behind, looking where might the freshman be. His finger pointed a boy around seven feet tall, with long arms and legs. He's quite tanned—although not as tan as Indian people (due to exercising), his neck is a bit long, and his jaw is broad. His nose is a bit snub, his eyebrows thick only at the end, and pointy eyes. Unlike most Italian people who have dark hair, his is a natural pale blond hair with a few red strikes. It seems like he has blue sky eyes.

"That one? He's quite a one." Gokudera hummed, while Yamamoto laughed, comparing Gokudera with the new kid; "Well, he's more friendly than you, that's for sure." And Yamamoto earned a jab from Gokudera.

Giotto tilted his head, looking at him weirdly. "What's his name, Yamamoto-kun?" He asked.

"I think, it was Dante or something. I forgot." Yamamoto scratched his neck in embarrassment. He gave Giotto a look, 'is-something-wrong-?' written. Giotto shook his head, merely saying that it's just his feeling.

Reborn remain silent as he continued to observe the Italian boy. He shrugged and looked over at Yamamoto, "You should continue practicing. The coach is calling you." Yamamoto looked at the coach and yelped as he yelled his name continuously.

"Gotta go, the coach will give me extra work load if I don't." Yamamoto waved off and ran to the field, shouting apologies to the team as they laughed it off.

Gokudera and Giotto spent the rest of their time waiting for Yamamoto studying—or maybe, getting to know each other and the universe more. Surprisingly, Giotto also held an interest towards science—in his past days at the cell, he always wanted to study properly, so it seems. However, he didn't really believe in UMAs, to Gokudera's disappointment.

After a few hours passed (it was already five pm.), Yamamoto finished his training and gave some tips for the members to practice at home. They're going to practice again tomorrow, the same time too. "I think I'll stay home." Giotto said, "Reborn said that I need to meet a few people tomorrow."

"Spanner's going to arrive later at midnight with Giannini." Once again, Reborn appeared and informed that. "Shoichi doesn't have anymore school works so he's free tomorrow. Perfect timing, isn't it?"

They nodded while Yamamoto complained how he's still going to baseball practice when he wants to meet Giannini and Spanner again after a long time; maybe he can teach Spanner how to make sushi, considering how the British loves Japan. Oh! Maybe he can ask him to go to practice with him, two foreign people, one British and Italian.

As for Gokudera's plans, he decided he would finish his research for the science project and reload his bombs. He said sorry to Giotto for unable to come accompany him as Giotto shrugged it off, saying that it's okay and stuff.

After they said their goodbyes, Reborn hopped to Giotto's shoulder, relaxing there. "After dinner, go to sleep. We're going to see Spanner and Giannini at the airport."

He craned his neck, releasing a breath. "Of course."

.

.

"Alaude,"

The called man raised his hands from the documents he examined, his steel eyes narrowed looking at the woman before him. He maintained a straight face and nodded.

Her long parted blonde bangs tucked in behind her ear, "Working again?" She raised her eyebrow, crossing her arms as well as straightening her figure. She smirked maliciously before continuing, walking closer to the man. "We won't have fun tonight if you continue working yourself out."

Alaude ignored the woman, walking as he instructed the orders to his subordinate. While he paid no heed to her, she continued peering over him to gain his attention until Alaude finally snapped. "Who are you? I don't recall ever meeting you."

"Now that's rude," She replied almost immediately, glad that she's finally talking to a human, not a brick. She sighed before continuing, "We met at France, you know?" So that explains her dialect. "You were so alluring, although you were a little delirious, and—"

He glared, "What is your business with me?"

"There is a problem in France again, think you can help?"

Alaude thought for a while, another problem again? He wondered how much times he'd gone to France because of thugs and drug dealers. "No, miss. Tell your father; I can't. There are problems in Italy as well."

The woman shrugged her shoulders, "I see. I'll tell my father that." She walked past Alaude, stroking his cheek before leaving. "Merci, nous pourrionsavoir du plaisirla prochaine fois ? (Thank you, maybe we could have fun next time?)

"Quelle absurditéparlez-vous.(What nonsense do you speak.) "

While the woman left the building, Tsuna watched the scene with confusion. They were speaking Italian way to fast for him, and the woman's dialect wasn't that clear while in the end, they spoke French. And he didn't learn French yet.

Alaude noticed the stare the boss gave him and glared at him, earning a squeak from the boy. "What is it?" He asked the boy, putting the documents down. "If it's about the documents, I've handled them all."

Tsuna blinked before replying with a shook, he walked closer to the cloud guardian, of course, with Alaude taking a step behind. "No, it's not about it… Who was that?" He blurted out due to curiousity, flinching when Alaude gave him a glare again.

"It's none of your concern." He replied, not sparing any glance again. He noticed the sudden change in Tsuna's voice; dissapointment. "I'm not like the others I do not think I should associate to you, boy. What's the merit for?"

The brunette chuckled a little hearing the statement, although diffferent, his cloud guardian is really similar with Alaude. He didn't really hoped that the last two guardians would open up to him anyway, it was a bit unbelieveable with their personalities. And Daemon wouldn't possibly like him, he still remembered the conflict in the future.

Boy, was that some memory.

Alaude grumbled hearing the boy laughing, what was funny about it ? He didn't recall making any jokes to him, or think about it. He chose to ignore him afterwards. Unfortunately, Tsuna kept pestering him to talk with him, saying that he doesn't have anything to do and he would like to talk to the French about some matters. "Fine, spit it out."

"Was that your… girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend…?" Alaude frowned at the unfamiliar word. "More importantly, what you're asking is not important."

"Girlfriend is like your… mate." Tsuna's cheek flushed a little, he wasn't used in using that kind of word.

"Are you asking if I'm a virgin or not?"

It was amusing looking at the pestered face of the brunette, he could take a photo of this and show it to Giotto when he comes back. It will be amusing, and he could use it to blackmail the First. His usual calm, calculating eyes were continously rolling, and his cheeks were burned red. Alaude could almost surpress the urge to laugh. "Maybe, I'm not." He teased him a bit, trying to get more expressions from him.

Oh god, this could become a habit. Alaude needs this moment to be captured, he would really enjoy Giotto flustering and protesting more to him—he could even ask the First to stop his carving for sweets because sometimes, the boss would eat while in the meeting earning unwanted attentions from the others. And he absolutely didn't want to embarrass himself and the family.

"Change of topic," Alaude said, already pleased with the results. His eyes looked faraway, almost like in deep thought. He suddenly looked at him again, with a stern glare. "Why, of all people, must be Giotto?"

(why must it be that person ?)

"And I must ask the same too why of all seven billion people in Earth, must be me?" Tsuna chuckled bitterly. He shrugged his shoulders, and looked at the fountain before him. He crouched, seeing his reflection his eyes were damped—from crying yesterday. "It's fate.I've thought about it for a few years, why must I get the fate of being a mafia boss? At first, I was just a normal middle school student and it suddenly changed."

(and he didn't hate the change)

To think that their history was really different wasn't shocking. Giotto was a born slave, making him obviously not normal. He earned from freedom and he got it, but then he wanted to make a vigilante organization something that Alaude couldn't understood why. Wouldn't it be better if they didn't form the Vongola? Sometimes that would run in his mind. Especially after hearing that a few decades from now, a child is being forced heiring it.

Not that Alaude cared.

(Psht.)

He wondered what was that douchebag doing in the future did he manage the whole problem well? He remembered how Giotto would often panic and ask for his opinion, apparently like a child asking an elder.

Which made him wonder again, why did he accept the offer of being Vongola's guardian.

(he wanted to be a part of it)

Sure, he was a workaholic. But being in that group, means that he had to associate with people, and he certainly dislikes it.

(not very sure about that again)

Tsuna smiled. "And I don't mind the change, if it's fated, then I would just accept it and do my best. That's what I learnt." He scratched his chin, "I've been searching for clues that would make me comeback. Rest assured, I will find a way as fast as I can."

(please)

Cling

He clumsily catched the tiny object Alaude had thrown to him—with his eyes in wonder, what did he threw ? And so suddenly too, when he was at his coolest too—Can't Tsuna have his moment for a few seconds ? He opened his palms and found himself looking at a tiny purple bullet. It had a few blood stains—making him scrunch his face in disgust.

"It's the bullet." Alaude said simply. "The bullet Calesse shot. The one thing that changed everything. Knuckle told me to give it to you in the morning,"

(he was debating whether to give it or not)

He immediately put the bullet in his pocket. His eyes filled with disbelief, he touched the bullet again—the texture was so hard and rough, different than any normal bullets. It was also smaller than the usual. "Oh god… " He whispered. "Alaude, thank you."

"Merci!" He thanked the blonde, with a messy French dialect, earning a scoff from the other.

Bonus

Dark was all they could see.

And screams were all they could hear.

They are in the verge of death.

A/N: WHOOT 200+ REVIEWS GUYS I'M SO PROUD OF YOU GUYS

Calmato is calm in French, I think. I'm so sorry with the shortness in Tsuna's part omg. I was getting lazy at the end, I won't deny it. And btw, Tokyo Ghoul has taken over my life, like seriously. The ending. Kaneki is totally my bias now.

So, because of tg, I've been thinking to make a tragedy ending for this. Hinting for character death if you want, or mental disorder afterwards. The bonus was the idea for the tragedy ending hwehehe. What do you think? Leave a review! ;)

IMPORTANT : EPISODE SUGGESTIONS FOR TSUNA AND THE FIRST GUARDIANS PLZ. LIKE SRSLY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT THEM AND I CAN'T WRITE UNTIL I HAVE AN IDEA. SHARE YOUR IDEAS!