Calm before the Storm

Hospital...

While the boys are injured, Chrome only got scrapes and still weak from poison and Mai is the only one unscathed out of all six guardians.

But she was strong enough to walk to tell the boss what she decided. Mukuro didn't like her decision but despite that...she didn't want the 'cheaper option' and he was more for the cheaper part for her sake, not the costly one.

She looked for Reborn who is with Tsuna in his room after being treated by Sun Flame Users.

'Boss...Reborn-san...I decided.' she said. 'I'm taking it. The costly one.'

'...we will get ready then.' said Reborn. 'For now, stay with Mai in her house, you three.' he said. 'We have to prepare it for a few days before we can begin.'

'OK...'

xxx

'Oy, you guys won't tell us about this...all I know is that there's a way to regrow organs in exchange for a decade of lifespan due to overtaxing the body's ability of mitosis!' Ken grunted. 'Why won't you take the cheaper method byon?! She left you for dead! She doesn't deserve your mercy at all!' he cried, shaking her.

'Why didn't you choose the easy way, Chrome?' Chikusa asked her, pushing up his glasses.

'...I just...don't want to.' said Chrome softly. 'Even if she's like that...she's still my mother.' she said.

'Er, you DO realize that at some point in the future, if you, Mukuro-sama and that woman meet in the same room due to Vongola involvement or some legal business, Mukuro-sama won't be able to hold back.' Ken snorted. 'Some punishment is due. Dying would be kinder than what he'd do to her for you.'

Chrome gulped audibly.

Indeed, Mukuro is scarier.

'At any rate, however depressing to hear, its her choice. And in medical treatments, the word of patient is law.' Mai sighed. 'Just to remind you...an ordinary human only has seventy or eighty years...assuming we live that long because we're in the mafia.' she said. 'We'll contact the needed people first and have them get ready for you, Chrome-chan. We're also looking into less-costly avenues and we do mean less-compromising...the only ones aware of the process is Tsuna-sama, Reborn and myself. This process is under Omerta levels.'

xxx

And so...next morning...

Mai cooked up plenty of food for breakfast and lunch. Practically getting up extra early.

Cooking two pots of rice, loads of side dishes, soup, and her bento.

Her three guests woke up to the smell of food.

'Whoa...'

'Well, my godfather is a total kitchen disaster...if he cooks, the kitchen would end up looking like a warzone.' Mai snorted. 'I had to learn and get better!' she said wryly. 'Well, he's on Britain due to business so if a man dropped by dressed like nobility with long hair, that's him. He doesn't know you're here so tell him you're my guests if he ever comes while I'm at school. He knows I'm in the mafia so its OK.'

'...'

'So he involved?' Chikusa asked her.

'Only in the know...but not involved. He's my acting family head y'know.' said Mai as after she served the meal, they began eating. 'He's too busy handling our family estates than get into the Mafia. And also, we're 'old money nobility' so there's politics too and he's out to make life difficult for those attempting to get to me for my money just because I'm an orphan and CEDEF is helping out. Being a rich girl means greedy men wanting to marry you or have their sons marry you for money. Its complicated. Chrome, you know what to do while I'm out and your job is to train and eat till you're really full! You're skinny like a twig you could use some meat over those bones!'

'H-hai...'

xxx

At school...Reborn and Mai taught the boys how to activate and use their flames. Mai then taught them numerous ways to use their powers while within their ability...and indeed, she is incredibly creative with those abilities. Although Hibari demanded she focus on him first so he can leave sooner as he hated crowding.

However, due to difficulty of first-time activating for Yamamoto, Gokudera and Hibari being first-timer flame users, they had to rely on their rings for easier access...and every after school was spent with training.

However, a week later...Mai took Chrome in a blindfold to Fushigimori Alley. To the hospital.

'M-Mai-san, why do I have to be in a blindfold?' Chrome stammered out. She has a black blindfold on, and Chikusa's spare beanies.

'Well, this is top secret as its still not patented. They require at least 100 successful patients before they can patent it and so far, you're the fifth case.' Mai told her. 'Reborn-san and CEDEF pulled all stops to find these guys who are so hidden and wanting secrecy first. That getup over your eyes and head is so just incase Mukuro shows up he also won't see a thing.'

Chrome is already in a hospital room, waiting for the healers arranged to meet them.

'So what happens first?'

'Well, they'll focus on your missing eye...then these following organs of the digestive system: small intestine, colon and the appendix attaching it to your rectum. After that is the Bile tract and Pancreas. Next is the Adrenal Glands. After that is the abdominal Lymphatic Nodes and your Spleen. Then the Urinary System. After that, you're home free but you know the cost.' Mai sighed. 'I really wish you went for the easier option such as nearby organs! Heck, and as long as its a cute girl Shamal will work for free and no cost for you. Money or lifespan!' she griped 'You should remember that some people aren't worth being nice over to.' she said as a team of Healers came.

'So she is the patient, Potter-sama?'

'Yes. Just remember secrecy.' said Mai as the Healers nodded.

'The first procedure is putting the patient to sleep...the one time we did this while the patient is awake, he screamed so loud because regrowing is really painful we decided to make them sleep while this is going.' another Healer shuddered and Chrome meeped nervously.

'Erm...how long this will take?' Chrome squeaked nervously, quivering in her seat.

'In a short while. Less than an hour in fact but still painful. We'll extract several blood samples to add to our stuff here to regrow the proper organs that you're currently missing. Now, time to knock you out!' Mai knocked Chrome out with her power and took her eyepatch, Mist Ring and her Trident before leaving the room.

Mai used that time frame to withdraw the money to pay for the operation.

The operation costs 100.000 Galleons, Sickles and Knuts because of how incredibly rare and expensive the ingredients are, and that, the hospital also pays the Potioneer who made it and she paid the hospital up front.

An hour later...

Chrome woke up in Mai's bedroom, ready to go home...and can see in both eyes!

'I...I can see in both eyes...' Chrome gasped out as she looked at herself in the mirror.

'Well, you now have fully-functioning organs again.' Mai told her. 'However, your organs are all what we call 'newborn' unlike your 13 years old body...needless to say, until your organs are four years old, you cannot eat solid foods. You can only eat soft foods and soups the way you are now.'

'Oh...OK...but how do I get those?'

Needless to say, Mai taught her how to make vegetable soups by chopping them up, putting them in blender till well-blended, pour into a pot with some seasoning and let it boil and she has her soup. She can even eat tofu and eggs as they're not that hard...fish is also soft, if boiled! Then there's congee! Fruit is also soft, if chewed real well.

Sure that as due to her case, she'll be hungry often but that would encourage her to keep eating more and more while still doing her training. And she's eating both vegetables and protein, practically healthy foods! That's not so bad...

xxx

Spring next year, before sophomore year ends...

They would soon be glad that they trained...

'Hey Mai-san!' Yamamoto called out. He was with Haru, Kyoko, I-Pin and Lambo.

'What is it, Yamamoto-kun?' Mai asked him.

'We're looking for Reborn-kun...' said Kyoko. 'He's been missing for a while now and now Tsuna-kun vanished too!' she said as Mai flared her bio-radar all over Namimori at this while the girls and children felt something tingly wash over them.

'We were looking for Gokudera to help out but he can't be found too.' said Yamamoto.

'Hahi! I felt tingly for some reason just now...' Haru gasped out.

'Me too...' said Kyoko.

'Me three! It feels weird!' I-Pin chimed.

'Lambo-san doesn't feel anything though...' Lambo blinked owlishly.

Yamamoto knows of Lambo's unusual skin, of course he didn't feel anything.

'...Tsuna-sama, Gokudera-kun and Reborn-sama are not in town...they're not in Namimori at all.' Mai declared. 'Maybe they went out of town on an e...'

All of them got struck by something and appeared in a place full of containers in various colors.

'Y-you guys...' Gokudera croaked out as the other teens are baffled.

'Gokudera? Weren't you out of town?' Yamamoto blinked.

'We're in Namimori idiot! Future Namimori ten years from now!' Gokudera yelled. 'We were taken from our time due to the disaster here!'

'Hah?!' the two newcomers yelped as Gokudera pointed at the flying boy in the sky and Mai quickly maimed him, causing him to cry in pain.

'Eek?!' Haru yelped in horror at the girl's ruthlessness.

'...maybe a more detailed explanation would be nice...assuming this IS the future, Gokudera-kun.' said Mai wryly. 'Where's Tsuna-sama?!'

'In the warehouse to save turf-head's sister.' said Gokudera. 'He should be done about now...' he said as cue a loud crashing noise off the rooftop, and a frozen, dark-skinned man. 'Yep, he's done.'

'We better go see him!' said Yamamoto as they went to where Tsuna is...and at the warehouse...Tsuna explained the situation to the newcomers as calmly as he could. Their future of being hunted down, Vongola almost destroyed, and everyone they knew either dead or missing...to their horror.

However, there's a difference in this time...

Lambo is the Lightning Guardian, not Mai. Meaning, they were taken to a parallel future where they didn't meet Mai. A world where Mai obediently stayed in that apartment and continued living miserably with the Dursleys, no doubt. Something Mai didn't take too well in how her parallel self is so weak and wussy.

Elsewhere in the future world in Britain, 23 years old Fiore Potter vanished right before her subordinates' eyes in the Auror Office in pink smoke, causing quite a ruckus, and one Irie Shoichi wondering who is this lady who appeared in his safety machine where the others are...she sure looks the very picture of overworking and stress!

When Tsuna finished explaining...all of them are horrified that caused Haru to burst into tears, Kyoko to look grim and Yamamoto dumbstruck.

'In the meantime, we should go to the Vongola Base.' Mai suggested. 'After us newcomers are recorded, I'll go to Tokyo to get information about the status of my family.' Tsuna knew she meant Sirius and about her other self. 'Millefiore doesn't know about them as I'm not a Guardian of this era...hopefully they're OK. Darn it, they make my real name sound bad!'

'Real name?' Haru sniffled.

'Her real name is Fiore Potter.' Gokudera told her. 'She just prefers being called Nogami Mai since she hates her real name.'

'I didn't know that...' Kyoko croaked out. 'We all knew she's foreign and we thought its weird she has a Japanese name...'

xxx

The base...

'Who's that girl?' Lal Mirch frowned as she saw the newcomer come in with the others.

'She's Mai, our Lightning Guardian...in a world where Lambo isn't the Lightning Guardian...compared to Lambo, she's very competent. Her competence is reason why I trained the boys early than planned in my schedule.' said Reborn with a smirk. 'In our current era, she's our strongest but no doubt Hibari will quickly catch up and reclaim his title as Strongest Guardian as Clouds are supposed to be.'

'Oh...'

'I should tell you all about that girl and how things wound up this way with us.'