Disclaimer: the usual drivel

The Future's Past

by shizuke

Two weeks. It's been two weeks since everyone was returned to the past. But the days passed so slowly it felt like the chaos from the future had taken place months ago.

They had been very successful. The Millefiore was brought to its knees by Tsuna and his family, and the Vongola hunt finally ended along with the many Gesso graves that littered the future Namimori.

Although everyone was glad that the futuristic chaos was over, but something didn't sit right with Tsuna.

It took him two long weeks to figure out why the nagging feeling in his head wouldn't go away. When he finally did, he couldn't believe no one else had spotted this mistake from much earlier on.

The whole Vongola hunt and destruction of Namimori had been completely unexpected except by those who were already from the future. TYL Lambo and TYL I-pin, who often popped in from the future, should've known about the bleak situation. So why didn't they mention anything about it to the people from the past?

Tsuna wanted to know. For sure, they had changed things when he and his friends skipped time to fix the future. But why had Lambo and I-pin withheld information from them when the situation had been so dire on the other side?

For the longest time, Tsuna hid his misgivings towards Lambo and I-pin. If Reborn or anyone else noticed his discomfort, they didn't say anything. A chance to solve the mystery didn't come until one month later when Lambo shot himself with the Ten Year Bazooka.

Tsuna stared at the swanky young man in a cow-print shirt standing in his kitchen. The young Vongola boss didn't try to beat around the bush because he only had five minutes. "Why didn't you tell us? You must've had the chance since you were transported to the past many, many times."

To his credit, Lambo didn't even look mildly surprised. He merely took a seat opposite Tsuna at the kitchen table and regarded him calmly. "I was wondering when someone was going to ask me. Lately, I-pin has been afraid to come back to the past. She must've noticed your growing suspicions."

"Lambo..." Tsuna trailed away. There was a pained look on Lambo's face and a strain in his voice. It disconcerted Tsuna to see that subtle suffering in someone who was supposedly ten years younger than he was.

"The reason I didn't tell you was because it was too painful for me," said Lambo. "In that future, an important person was taken away from me, so I didn't feel like talking about it. It was also the reason I looked forward to going back in time so often...if only just to see his face..."

Tsuna's eyes widened. He knew that look. Lal Mirch had the very same look when she spoke of Collonello. "Don't tell me you..."

Lambo nodded. "Exactly. Why don't you pour the both of us some coffee, young Vongola? It's time I tell you what had happened."

== fu+ur3 w!+h0u+ Y0u ===

It was odd to see Lambo, who was always drinking milk, sipping on instant coffee. Tsuna wondered if this meant he was preparing himself for a long talk. Would he be able to talk beyond five minutes, though?

"Since you already know all about the Millefiore from your time in the future, I'll just talk about the Vongola situation before you arrived," started Lambo. "When you and the others arrived, it was nine years and ten months from this period. But Reborn was already dead for three years by then. Along with Viper and Skull, he was the first of the Arcobalenos to be wiped out by the Negative Seven rays. Considering that Reborn had always been your anchor point to the mafia world, everyone got worried when you threatened to resign after Reborn's death."

Tsuna choked on his coffee. Him? Threaten to leave the Vongola? He didn't even think such an option was plausible. Then again, the future him did sound pretty awesome. But it unnerved Tsuna to hear Lambo speak about Reborn so detachedly, almost as if he's been telling himself this story many times now.

Lambo continued, "The year of Reborn's death marked the fifth year of your reign in Vongola. Your subordinates as well as fellow mafia bosses all loved you. To make sure that you didn't leave them, several of the Vongola lower echelon kidnapped Sasagawa Kyoko. Of course, this was when the Sun guardian, Sasagawa Ryohei was overseas for a mission and till now, this matter has been kept secret from him.

"The lower echelon Vongola hid Kyoko-neesan and sent you a note saying that her life depended on your answer. Naturally, you agreed to remain in the mafia world and they relinquished Kyoko-neesan to you. Rest assured, their actions did not go unpunished. They were banished from the Vongola but what they did made you realise that it was impossible to leave the mafia without hurting someone.

"To keep Kyoko-neesan safe, you announced that the two of you were going out and that anyone who dared touch her would attract the wrath of Vongola. The only ones who knew that the two of you were just pretending to date are me, I-pin, Fuuta and Hibari. The situation had remained the same even when you arrived at the future."

So that was why it felt like the future Kyoko was so closer to him. They were pretending to go out. Wait a minute. "I like Kyoko-chan," said Tsuna, blushing even as he spoke. "Why would I pretend to date her instead of dating her seriously?"

Lambo stuck a finger into his curly hair and twirled several strands leisurely. "That's because the future you was in love with someone else."

Tsuna went into mild shock. "Really?! Who? Is it Haru?"

The Lightning Guardian coughed as he stifled a laugh.

Tsuna's eye twitched as dread crept up on him. "Chrome? Bianchi? I-pin?" Lambo chuckled outright this time. Tsuna swallowed and tried again. "L-lal Mirch?"

At this, Lambo blinked at him, dumfounded. "If that were truly the case, I think the future you would have just killed himself. The Vongola Boss and Lal Mirch indeed. That's a funny thought."

"Then who?" demanded Tsuna. Those six were the only girls he hung out with. Was there another female who would waltz into his life within ten years' time? Unless the person he liked in the future was... "Is that person male?"

Lambo blinked at him in a way that said, 'Did you still need to ask?'

Tsuna's sunk in his seat. Never in ten lifetimes did he expect himself to turn out gay. Rather than take all the blame, he'd like to blame fate for surrounding him with so many good-looking men. He looked at Lambo cautiously. "Will you tell me who?"

"Maybe later," said Lambo indulgently, enjoying this a little. "Now, where was I? Ah yes - the Vongola guardians were spread out all around the world. Sasagawa Ryohei, the Sun, was stationed at America but often traveled around the world for missions. Hibari Kyoya, the Cloud, remained at Namimori, because really no one could tell him otherwise. Gokudera Hayato was stationed at Italy officially but usually followed you everywhere you went. Yamamoto Takeshi was given China, which he kept careful watch of. Chrome Dokuro's whereabouts were never known and I was too young to be given a station.

"Although this setup was the most convenient for the Vongola since their influence was easily spread and enforced by the Vongola guardians in their respective countries, it also caused unrest because all the guardians really wanted to do was remain by your side."

Tsuna flushed red. He knew he was adored by his subordinates to a certain extent but to hear it like this...

"Don't misunderstand," cut in Lambo. "While it's true that we guardians liked you, the reason we wanted to stay by your side was to protect you. Up till the time of your death, the number of assassination attempts on your life is 2999. The 3000th time finally did you in."

Tsuna didn't know whether to be comforted or horrified by this little piece of information.

"Although it was obvious that you were more than capable of taking care of yourself, the consequences of your death were just too big to risk. I imagine you already understand since you saw the amount of unrest your death had caused in the future. You grew up to be a very influential man, young Vongola. It's not too much of a stretch to say that you held the mafia world together," said Lambo.

"Hiii~, I don't want that kind of responsibility!" exclaimed Tsuna.

"Stop whining, No Good Tsuna." Reborn came flying through the door, landing with a rough kick to the back of Tsuna's head. "Just be glad that you grew to such great heights despite your cowardly disposition."

As Tsuna gripped his head in pain, Reborn averted his eyes to Lambo. "Calfs like you shouldn't be drinking coffee."

Lambo smirked through his fingers. "You were always such a hypocrite, Reborn." With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. In his place was a baby with a large afro, digging his noise leisurely.

Tsuna was slightly disheartened. He would have to wait for TYL Lambo to return to hear the rest of the story. He turned to Reborn, who was already walking out of the kitchen. "Were you listening in on us all this while?" he asked.

"I might have," replied Reborn cryptically.

"Didn't you want to ask Lambo some questions?"

"Unlike you, I already got all my answers while I was in the future."

Tsuna considered his home tutor for a while. "Will you tell me who I was in love with in the future?"

"Figure it out for yourself, No Good Tsuna." And Reborn left.

Out of the short exchange, it wasn't Reborn's response or violence that disturbed him. Tsuna was already used to all that. He just couldn't get it out of his head that Reborn - the Reborn - had acknowledged TYL Lambo on his own accord. This was, perhaps, the first time, he had ever seen Reborn initiate conversation with the cow-like youth.

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To be continued...

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Author's Notes: This is one of the stories which I can't stop writing so this time, I won't wait for reviews to update, lol.