A:N- Due to being pressed for time, I could not say last time that this is an AU.

The world of GB is NOT Virtual Reality, just Mugenjou. The world outside Mugenjou is the real world as the KHR will be here in later chapters.

Tineline: What should have been Tsunade's Grade 6 year

Morbid Reunion

Years later...January...

Tsunade is now 12 years old and Shido, ten years older than she was.

Like her partner, she wore a cloth-wrap bandana, a yellow-orange cropped top and an orange sleeveless denim duster ending mid-thigh. She wore short brown shorts and lace-up mud-brown boots. On her hands were a pair of red biker gloves.

They live in a nice farmhouse together outside Tokyo...with a really big backyard with a barn to match for all the animals Shido has.

They make a living by gambling and Freelancing, being multi-millionaires who spend their money wisely considering how things cost in Japan. With Shido doing the action and Tsunade his support, earning notoriety together in the Japanese Underworld. They live as Thieves-for-Hire or delivering contraband for gangs and such. They don't like it but hey, money is money.

One day, Kazuki paid a visit to their home.

'Yo.' the beautiful 20 years old greeted.

Fuuchouin Kazuki is a very beautiful man due to how his family works. He is very slim and slender with shapely feminine legs, well-manicured, beautiful hands and ankle-length hair which he secures with wrappings and strings. There were two gold bells on the right side of his accessory where his strings are stored. He tends to wear very loose tops to hide the fact he lacks a certain thing up there while emphasizing his beautiful legs with form-fitting pants as he uses his looks to charm need-to-knows off of people. Its to the extent that he's the most knowledgeable King in VOLTS.

Their martial arts thrive in beauty, gracefulness and femininity.

They can make koto strings lethal weapons with these traits, imitating the flow of wind and water...to lethal degrees.

When Tsunade asked if beauty ran in his family, he says that to encourage the traits, the family must marry only beauties.

Wow.

'Yo, Kazuki.' said Shido. 'Its just like you to find where we live when nobody else managed before.' he said as Tsunade set down dinner. 'No wonder Tsunade wanted to cook for three tonight.'

'Oh my, Tsunade-chan's instincts are as sharp as ever.' Kazuki chuckled. 'Ojamashimasu.' he said as he settled down in an armchair after taking off his shoes. 'How are things on your end?'

'Well, its apparently not easy to own a house and property in a city unlike the mountains where my tribe used to live in where we could settle in any flat land we wanted.' came the grumbling of the Beast King. 'Money makes society go round, and a lot of complicated paperwork.' said Shido. 'We paid in full up front, renovated and furnished, home sweet home.' he said, waving an arm around the living room.

'Heee...'

'How about you?'

'I live in a penthouse in Shinjuku. The rent would be cringeworthy if not for Tsunade-chan's help in our earlier years.' said Kazuki. 'But such wealth won't last forever so I have to work as well.'

'Heee...but Kazuki...'

'Hmm?'

'Why'd you leave Mugenjou after that guy?' Shido asked him. 'I made the same decision since VOLTS began to fall apart about five months after you guys left. Everything fell apart at the seams.'

'Because I still need to know the mysteries of Mugenjou and I can't bring Juubei and Sakura with me.' said Kazuki. 'If I barely survived the Belt Line years ago before I disbanded Fuuga...they got no chance.' he said. 'The Belt Line is a world only monsters can thrive in. I've seen and dealt with unbelievable things, easy to get lost or fall into deadly traps...if I wasn't me, I'm dead long ago.'

Among three of the Four Kings, Kazuki was the weakest in combat. Just take away/burn his strings, he's cornered. So he made up for it with his intelligence, being the smartest of the three adult Kings. Yet he can survive the Belt Line, a place not even Ginji braved to go?

'I wanted to know why we put up with what we have to put it every other day.' said Kazuki softly. 'Seeing many of our people die...pushed me into this.'

'I see...does those unbelievable things involve scenery changes?' Shido snarked as he sat down as Kazuki glanced at him. 'The places around you changing all of a sudden which was why its damn easy to get lost? One minute you're in this street and the next you're in an unfamiliar place?'

'Eh?'

'Tsunade likened it to illusions. But very lethal illusions.' said Shido sourly. 'She was my eyes in Mugenjou long before we joined VOLTS two years after we lived together. Something in Mugenjou is controlling these illusions.' Kazuki's eyes widened in disbelief. 'The thing is, if you believe what you see, you're dead meat. Getting lost is nothing compared to suddenly finding yourself on a building rooftop and about to fall down to your death. If I believed I'm gonna fall down, my mind will 'crash' and and injuries I believe I got, will reflect on our bodies making a lie damn real.'

'Sonna...why didn't you say anything about it?'

'Just like your case, truth is stranger than fiction...who'd believe us?'

Kazuki pursed his lips in deep thought.

He can't really argue with that.

'...you're right...in Mugenjou...truth is stranger than fiction.'

'Beast Mimicry: Bat Ears has long since my best friend in Mugenjou when Tsunade's not available.' Shido continued. 'She acts as my eyes and ears as to her, the lying town of Mugenjou will never work on her. Nobody and nothing can lie and hide to her in Mugenjou if you're created by Mugenjou. And the people who tend to die horribly in Lower Town when the Belt Line goes out to play? They're illusions too.'

Kazuki wondered how many times he'll get shocked today.

'There's very few real people in Lower Town. Most of the population are illusion citizens.' said Shido darkly. 'I had to leave Mugenjou and re-train myself to reach Tsunade's level of senses and instinct. Its her inborn talent. My own abilities aside, I'm training her shoddy fighting abilities too. One day we'll come home to Mugenjou but as we are? Not now.'

'I see...looks like I have to train my own will and senses too.' Kazuki mused. 'Our free will doesn't exist in Mugenjou if we believe these illusions. Or I should say the only free citizens...are the two of you.'

'That's right.'

'Shido! Kazuki! Dinner!' Tsunade called out.

'Coming!'

Dinner was very extravagant. Vegetable and Mushroom Hotpot with Tofu, Hamaguri(shells removed of course), large prawns, and on separate individuals were beef steaks, already cut and dressed with a very fragrant sauce.

'Oh my! This looks wonderful!' Kazuki exclaimed as he looked at the extravagant dinner with an amazed expression with pink tinges on his cheeks out of anticipation.

'Hehe~ I learned how to cook more since cookbooks are easier to get by now!' Tsunade chimed. 'I had to do some adjusting though since I want my own style. Its Yosenabe since its still winter!'

'Itadakimasu!'

But after eating, Kazuki said, sighing blissfully after drinking tea. 'Shido, I think Tsunade-chan's spoiling you so much.'

'Oh, you think so?' Tsunade's eyes glinted in amusement. 'But I just tweaked the recipe books and wrote it in my notebook since they're not good enough for me.'

'That's her instincts talking.' said Shido wryly. 'When she read the cookbooks she brought home, she complained on how bland the turnout was and rewrote her version in notebooks.'

Kazuki approached Tsunade with a sparkle in his eyes.

'...can I have your notes regarding vegetarian and seafood cooking? That's about what my clan is allowed to eat though I won't pass up on beef if I'm offered some by a host family.'

He ate well since in his penthouse.

xxx

Not long after that...Shido gets jobs that involve the darker side of the mafia lately that he's not letting her come. But at around the beginning of summer...at June, he took her with him to a cafe in Shinjuku.

'Ne ne Shido, why're we going to this cheap area when we can go to higher-class places?' Tsunade asked him. 'I heard Marble's has its yearly anniversary where everything is half-price just for today.'

'What does your instincts say when you stepped in here?' Shido asked her.

Tsunade thought about it...before shrugging.

'I think we'll step foot in home soon.' she said.

'You're being cryptic again.' Shido snorted as they met up with a blonde woman in a revealing outfit and a teenager in blue spandex.

'Welcome, Shido-kun.' said the woman. 'And uh...you're bringing a kid along?' her eyes fell on Tsunade who was a bit shorter than the girl she was with.

'She's my partner for four years.' said Shido, patting Tsunade's head. 'Her age is nothing compared to her competence. Her name is Tsunade.'

'I hope so because its a big, dangerous job.' said the woman worriedly. 'This is Lady Poison, Kudou Himiko. You will be working together with the Get Backers, Kazuki-kun and one other.' she said. 'Ban-kun and Gin-chan won't be happy about this guy though but I'll take what professionals I can get.' she said as they arrived at...Honky Tonk Cafe. 'Wait here a bit.' she said as they heard,

'Listen, I don't want you getting any ideas, got that?'

'Oh, about that...'

'Its that obnoxious urchin.' Shido sighed as the blonde came in, saying, 'I called him over. Right, Ito no Kazuki?'

'Hai, yoroshiku.'

'Come in you three!'

'Shido, Himiko-chan and Tsunade-chan too?' Ginji gasped out.

'Its been a while, Ginji-san.' said Tsunade.

'Hey, who's the kiddie?!' Mido Ban sputtered, eyes popping out. 'Since when do you employ grade schoolers?!' he demanded from Hevn.

'I didn't, Shido-kun brought her.'

'Fufu, that 'Grade Schooler' is one of us, Mido-kun.' Kazuki smiled. 'In a few years, she will be Mugenjou's Lord of Flames after Ginji-san being Lightning Lord.'

'Yeah, she fought with us in the past.' said Ginji, remembering the old days. 'As support while we fought at the front though.'

'I find that hard to believe...' Ban twitched, wondering if the Mugenjou Residents are trolling him with a kid.

'Anything's possible in the world these days.' Tsunade snidely remarked with a sneer on her face. 'You even managed to make our boss elope with you after a clandestine affair.' everyone went chibi and spit-sprayed, shocked from what she said, eyes popping out of their sockets.

'Is that what a kid is supposed to say?!' Ban sputtered, almost in shrieking levels. 'Oi ito-maki! What're they teaching kids in Mugenjou, eh?!' he demanded from Kazuki, grabbing him by the shirt.

'Tsunade-chan that's not good for my heart at all!' Ginji cried, going crying Tare-Ginji on her. 'That's disturbing!'

'Ahahaha, Tsunade-chan has a tendency to say shocking things even back when she was eight years old...' Kazuki laughed sheepishly as Wan Paul, Mizuki Natsumi, Hevn, Ban and Himiko turned into cracked granite, utterly floored with the string master's words.

'Yup, that's her alright.' Shido pinched his nose. 'You really won't let that eloping theory go wouldn't you?'

'Nope!' Tsunade chirped cheerfully.

"Really, what's child upbringing like in Mugenjou?" the outside residents all thought.

'Oi Hevn, what's with this mismatched crew together?' Ban frowned. Hevn went serious at this.

'There's a big job going down.' she stated seriously. 'I'll have the client explain once our final member is here.' she said. 'This job is huge, the client asked me to assemble the best people I know. To be honest its really dangerous, you might not want to accept it.' she warned them. 'But Gin-chan, Kazuki-kun, Shido-kun and Tsunade-chan probably won't be able to turn it down.'

Hevn was more worried for the kid, despite Shido vouching for her.

'Its Mugenjou, is it?' Kazuki frowned.

'Gee, no wonder Tsunade said she feels like we're going home.' Shido snorted. 'Her instincts made her think of Mugenjou when we came here.'

The door opened again.

'Ah, he's here.'

'My my...' a smooth voice spoke as a gentleman came in. 'I've never been fond of this slum city Shinjuku.'

His mere presence got everyone wary of him.

'What an interesting group...seems to me it'll be an amusing job.'

'Hey boob-lady, who's this guy who feels like Jack-the-Ripper and Mr. Hyde's brother-in-law?' Tsunade bristled, the hairs on her back stiffen. Hevn twitched at being called 'boob-lady'.

'That assessment is too damn accurate.' Ban muttered darkly, clearly unhappy with this man.

'That's pretty mean, ojousan. Your intuition is accurate though.' the man chuckled kindly, impressed that a child sensed the danger that he is. 'But for the record, I'm Akabane Kuroudo. Dr. Jackal, they call me. What's your name?'

'I'm Tsunade.'

'E-ehem,' Hevn coughed awkwardly, wanting to dispel the tension away. 'Chill out guys! Break it up! There's no babysitter here, grow up!' she spoke commandingly, wishing that some of them can just be damn professional. 'You're all gonna have to work together to make this happen and show some example to your junior.' she said.

'Hevn-san, who are the clients?' Ginji asked.

'They refuse to name themselves either.' Hevn frowned. 'They contacted me as 'anonymous'.'

'Well, must be some big-time contraband, they lost said contraband and they don't want us knowing the idiots who lost said contraband or the law will be on their ass. What's new.' Tsunade huffed.

'Yup, nothing new for two of us.' Shido snorted.

'H-hey, I haven't even known or mentioned anything yet because they'll explain to us upfront!' Hevn gasped out as Shido and Kazuki began to walk out with Tsunade so the others followed suit.

'Tsunade-chan's instincts are always right on the money. It never failed VOLTS not even once we sometimes think she can see the future in vague ways.' said Ginji with a grin. 'If she's not being the young Lord of Flames, she's also the Gambling Lord. She never lost a gambling game not even once.'

'Kids aren't allowed in casinos!' Ban yelled at him.

'She makes Shido play for her and he plays to her instructions from afar. VOLTS was rich thanks to her.'

'WHAT?!'

'If VOLTS is so rich, how come you have a 20 yard long tab here?' Paul muttered.

xxx

Slums, a street away from Mugenjou...

'Meeting clients out here...how classy.' Akabane commented with a smile.

'Outsiders like our clients can't survive a few hours in Mugenjou. If they had a meeting in there, this job would end before it can even start.' Tsunade snorted. 'We can't talk to corpses after all but at any rate, we have quite the welcome wagon though its kind of insulting.' Ginji, Shido and Kazuki stiffened, a fact not lost on the others.

'Welcome wagon?' Himiko frowned.

'It means our clients wants to test us.' said Shido with a grin. 'A welcome in bad taste eh?' he said, cracking his knuckles.

'They intend to test our skills.' Kazuki sighed. 'Oh dear.' he got his bells ready.

'Hevn-san, its best for you to stay out the door until the welcome's done...' Ginji sweatdropped.

'Looks like the brat's word is gospel.' Ban snorted. 'If the Kings of VOLTS and Lightning Lord take this seriously.'

'...let's go. I'll announce ourselves but I'll stay by the door then.' said Hevn as they went in ahead of her. 'We're here! It's me, Hevn!'

The door shut behind her, leaving them in pitch darkness.

Chaos ensued as many masked men jumped on them in the darkness.

'Hmmm...quite a production.' Akabane said, amused. 'Looks like Tsunade-jousan's words are right on the money.' he said as his own mooks are chopped to pieces.

"Flames...huh?" Ban mused. While it looks like a typical power, he cares more for why she looked the way she is when using her powers. 'But at any rate, they're taking us way too damn lightly if you ask me!' Ban griped as it was chaos at once, being attacked in the dark that Tsunade's flames were the only source of light as they all fought and the youngest member is just as competent as they are. Just that what's obvious is that due to her age, she's clearly frailer than they are that she compensates a lot.

'WAAAAH!'

'PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUUUUT!' her victims were panicking and flailing, being lit on fire.

'...Lord of Flames, huh?' Akabane mused, intrigued. 'When you grow up one day, I wish to fight you, Tsunade-jousan.'

Suddenly, a spotlight flashed up above, shining light on three masked men.

'Well done. Your assembly is even better than we expected.' he spoke coldly and clinically. 'Won't you introduce them, Hevn-san?'

She did and had to shut up Ban when he got pissy about the attitudes of the clients.

The clients were also very evasive, calling the object IL that they heard it as the english word 'Ill'. They were all also paid five million apiece for downpayment.

'...'Ill' or is it 'I.L'...who the hell are they fooling?' Tsunade scowled as they left the building that was demolished afterward. 'That's a rather pathetic attempt at concealing its an acronym but for what, we don't know...'

'No kidding...anyone think of what can I.L stand for?' Ban asked the others. 'Its a big bad contraband stolen from the government's no-no places since they said they suffered a lot of losses to get that envelope to us.'

'Yeah but considering its a top-secret government item...we'll probably get killed just for knowing what it is and the fact it exists. Real cool.' Shido chuckled darkly.

'Well, considering the chumps they chucked at us? Highly unlikely!' Ban sneered.

'By the way boob-lady...here is the safest spot but also the boundary to Underground Shinjuku.' said Tsunade to Hevn. 'From here on out, its a strip-kill. You'll be stripped of everything you have valuable to your death. Go home.'

'V-valuable...all I have is my handbag and my watch...' Hevn croaked out.

'What she means by strip-kill is a bit morbid here...' Kazuki sweatdropped before going serious. 'Wallet and watch aside, your organs and blood will fetch a high price as well as your bones in a hospital you know. They'll literally butcher you and sell you piece by piece for money, and that's after taking turns raping you while filming a snuff video out of it that'll soon be in the market's porn industry.' Hevn paled at the grim prospects if she stays. 'Only the strong, cunning and crafty can survive here. Those who lack all three die.'

'I'll escort her to safety. I know my way around Mugenjou so I'll catch up.' said Tsunade. 'Take care of the fakes by the entrance!' and she pushed Hevn out as she guided her out to safety.

Later...

'THIS IS WHAT SHE MEANS BY FAKES?!' Ginji freaked out as the 'statues' that jumped on them are in fact, well-disguised goons!

'Our first prey in two weeks!'

'Strip them of their valuables! And organs! Hyahyahya!'

'I'm really starting to think that brat is a seer.' Ban swore, twitching.

'Not really, her instincts and intuition can come up with weird stuff that is always right on the money but she insists she's not a seer so we better start thinking what I.L is.' said Shido as they fought off the statues. 'She's my partner since she was eight years old, I know her the best. What she says, we gotta take seriously no matter what.'