Chapter 5

Tsuna wasn't expecting the new transfer student at all. It was the middle of a semester! Who in the right mind would be enrolling in the middle of a semester? It would practically make things harder for the student himself!

And what's more surprising was the fact that it was a girl.

He would've understood if it were a boy. Might've been a delinquent who got kicked out of school or something… but NO! It was a girl!

And actually, she looked sort of pretty and cute. She had this dark layered hair that reached to her shoulders and bangs that partially covered the right side of her face. Her eyes were huge and had the most beautiful colors of amethyst. Tsuna had a feeling this girl would be popular in no time at all.

The teacher then turned to her, "Alright, please introduce yourself… eto…"

"Chrome Dokuro." She politely said before looking at the class, "It's nice to meet you all."

Tsuna ignored the murmurs around him and stared at the strange girl named Chrome. He was suddenly surprised to see her looking straight back at him. And before he knew it, she gave him a soft smile. Tsuna didn't know whether to smile back or not and in the end, settled to just look away, feeling very embarrassed.

"Alright Dokuro-san… your seat it is over there."

"Hai."

Tsuna tried not look her way and focused on looking outside the window instead. He then heard the murmurs of his other classmates who spoke.

"It's weird don't you think? We weren't announced about a new transferee until a few minutes ago."

"I know right? Where do you think she came from?"

"It's like she came out of nowhere. Suddenly transferring at the middle of a semester."

"I heard that she knows Hibari Kyoya though. Some people said they saw her talking with him right before the announcement was made!"

"Then it must be Hibari-san's doing!"

The brunet turned to Chrome and just as he expected… the new girl was smiling at Kyoko, almost like they had known each other for a long time.

'She must be one of them…' Tsuna gulped at the thought. More people who seemed to know him despite the fact that he was the most unpopular person in school. The small teen immediately shook his head and tried to focus on something else. He didn't have time for them... nor does he have time to start feeling depress over things he couldn't understand.

These people… whoever they were... and whatever they were supposed to be.

He really doesn't care.

"…-doesn't really remember?" Tsuna halted at the top of the stairs towards the rooftop as he heard the familiar voice of the transfer student along with some other certain people.

"That's right. So it's no use…-"

"-…I see, I'm really not surprise."

"Did something happen to him? I saw…-"

The brunet frowned as he realized he can't hear the conversation properly. He hesitated to approach the door and peek through the tiny gap. He didn't want to get caught eavesdropping on them.

"…baka-Vongola…"

Caramel eyes widen significantly at the voice he just heard. 'L-Lambo…?' Tsuna's grip tightened on the stair's railing. He always thought the cow child was acting a little too strange. Now he knows why.

But wait… how was he even able to enter school? The kid must be pretty good to be able to sneak through the disciplinary committee. And how did Lambo even meet Chrome and the others? And what did he just say?

Vongola?

He suddenly felt a sharp pain course though his head. He held back a gasp and gripped his head. Voices suddenly started echoing though his head. And the voices seemed to be muffled and blurred images would appear as he shut his eyes.

"To become… the Tenth!"

"…become the boss…"

"…Vongola guardians."

"Vongola…Family."

"Oi Tsuna." Tsuna opened his eyes and instead of seeing the familiar surroundings of school he was back in his home, inside his room facing an infant. He was too shock and stunned to speak as he tried to digest the sudden turn of events and kept staring at the stranger. He gulped to show his uneasiness. For some reason his guts told him he knew that the baby in front of him was no stranger. He knew that he should know him. He had a feeling that this child had done something important... in his life.

"I'm going to shape you to become the best Vongola Boss. Baka-Tsuna." The infant kept staring back at him. But behind the onyx eyes, pride and determination burned fiercely.

Tsuna couldn't help but let out a shaky breath. His eyes suddenly fogging up as he felt this sadness and nostalgia spread inside him.

"I..." He forced himself to speak. He felt his whole body tremble. He knew who this person was. He knew he did. His name... it was...

"I..." He shut his eyes tightly. It's no use. He couldn't remember.

"I don't want to be a mafia boss!" Tsuna looked up only to realize he was back in his school. He could feel a dull throb in his head but merely ignored it as he tries to recall what just happened.

"Wha-?"

The door to the rooftop suddenly opened and Tsuna soon came face to face with Hibari Kyoya. The prefect's eyes widened for a moment before narrowing down into a suspicious glare, "What are you doing here?"

"Uhh..." Tsuna replied intelligently.

"Boss...?" Chrome then appeared behind the prefect followed by Yamamoto and the others. Tsuna didn't see Lambo and decided to ignore it instead. He was surprised at what Chrome called him and gave her a questioning stare. Chrome caught the look and frowned, though she did not say anything.

For some reason, this made Tsuna feel a little frustrated. He knew they were keeping things from him and maybe he had been running away from it, thinking that it was best to keep it that way. He knew if he tried to investigate whatever predicament he was, bad things would happen. And by experience Tsuna knew better and would always steer away from trouble...

But the frustrations of not knowing anything was far more infuriating than being an ignorant fool.

He looked down and clenched his fists. He knew he couldn't escape the matter no matter what he did. And after seeing (or was it remembering?) that infant, he felt a fire inside him that was once extinguished, lit up. He had to know who that person was. He knew he needed to know everything. No matter how painful i might be.

"Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko looked at him worriedly.

"Please..." Tsuna started as he continued staring at the ground, "Please tell me... what I was supposed to know."

The atmosphere surrounding them suddenly grew tense, making Tsuna look up in confusion. He felt a bit wary for he may have done or spoke something wrong. And sure enough, he was right. Everyone had that dark and depressed looks. He knew those looks could have been triggered by the "deaths" they had mentioned to him once.

"Tsuna..." Yamamoto shook his head, almost like how a doctor would do when he would talk of a bad news, "It's best if you don't."

"Eh? B-but-!"

"Sawada, listen. All we could say is that you made all this possible." Ryohei waved at his surroundings, but Tsuna still could not understand, "You're the reason why we're here alive. And we understand your reasons... even the reason why you chose to have no memories, unlike us."

"I-I don't..." Tsuna was unfortunately cut off once more, this time by Hibari.

"You were being a herbivore and didn't want to keep those memories. Pathetic."

Tsuna felt a blow in those words. His mouth was left hanging as he wanted to say something, but couldn't. He didn't know what he should say. He couldn't understand anything. They weren't being clear and instead of answers, they chose on making him feel worse.

The brunet wanted to turn and run away. He felt betrayed. It was unfair to the highest degree. Making conclusions of things he could not remember. Indirectly accusing him of being a coward for not having these memories that he should remember. But... what if they were right? In truth, he really is a coward... so what if he really didn't remember them because he didn't want to feel pain probably from bad memories?

But how was it even possible to forget?

How was he even able to extract his memories from whatever timeline they had mentioned and have them keep theirs?

And if they really were from another timeline... how did they come back? Could he also be one of them?

If these memories were so painful that he wanted to forget them, how come he let them remember it? Wasn't he being unfair?

The school bell rang, thus snapping the others' attention.

"It's time for classes... we should go." Yamamoto spoke to them but Tsuna could feel his stare.

And as if on cue, the others started going downstairs, passing by the brunet who remained still. Tsuna wanted to yell to them to wait, but he couldn't. He had no reason to. What was he going to say once he caught their attention? Apologize? But wasn't that just admitting a mistake. A mistake he wasn't even sure he had made. He knew there was something not right about his conclusion. But he just didn't know what.

"Boss." A hand suddenly held his clenched one, making him look up.

"D-Dokuro-san."

Chrome smiled softly, "Don't worry. I trust you. Everyone does. They're just having a hard time... but... I trust Boss' had a reason for his actions."

Before Tsuna could even react, the transfer student had left to follow the others, leaving him alone.

Tsuna looked back at the empty staircase before ruffling his hair in frustration, 'Who's having a hard time!?'

TIMESKIP

"Don't forget to do your homework and remember to study for your quiz tomorrow!"

"Hai..."

Tsuna stuffed his books back into his bag before turning to Chrome who was with Kyoko and Yamamoto as usual. He fought off the sadness that was eating him and tried to focus on the new plan he had thought of. Seeing that he won't be getting answers from them, he thought of finding that Haru girl instead. If that doesn't work out, then maybe he can bribe Lambo with some candy for answers. He was pretty sure Lambo was with them at the rooftop. And if that still doesn't work out he would have to approach that group he had bumped into last time. They knew him and he didn't. So they might know something the others know as well.

He shouldered his bag and immediately rushed out of the classroom.

While jogging through the corridors, he had passed by Hibari, who didn't even look his way. He had also passed by Ryohei as he left the school gate but didn't mind him for now. He had to deal with his problem asap. It was time to step up and look for answers.

To remember that person...

To remember who those people really where and how much did they mean to him...

To remember those memories... even the horrible ones.

He stopped in front of a store while panting. He looked up and was about to enter when he felt an ominous presence. He froze and stiffened as he felt it grow nearer. Quickly he turned away from the store and started walking away. He tried to blend with the crowd as he felt the presence keep coming nearer now in an alarming speed.

He tried to keep his breath under control but the fear and panic was getting to him. He knew this person following him was dangerous. Something in his head was screaming at him to hurry up and hide. Tsuna wanted to comply but he could tell he wasn't doing much of a good job as the feeling of dread grew and grew. So... with no other choice, Tsuna broke into a sprint.

He tried to dodge a lot of people as quickly as he can while tripping most of the times. He was now sure he was being followed as he heard people from behind him, yelping as if they were being pushed away. He did not dare look back for reasons he might end up in an unfortunate situation that might result to him getting caught.

Tsuna suddenly found himself in a street with less people and looked around in fear. His sweat was now mixing with the rain that had fallen awhile ago.

He felt a hand grab his shoulder and the brunet yelped in surprise. He quickly pushed away the hand as he felt it grip his shoulder a little too painfully. He didn't dare look at the person who had grabbed him in fear he might froze from... well, fear.

Without even looking at where he was going he ran forward and would've kept running only to stop as he heard the loud honking of a truck.

He looked at the source of the noise and was horrified to see headlights heading his way. His legs wouldn't move and he was frozen in shock.

Could this be... the end?

He heard the screams and gasps from other people... but... one shout stood out the most.

"JUUDAIMEE!"

He felt someone collide on him and arms immediately wrapped themselves around him securely. One on his head and the other around his waist. He didn't know why but he suddenly felt tears well up from... relief? But he did know he was now safe with this person. His instincts told him so.

They landed roughly on the unforgiving ground and heard the truck pass by before screeching to a stop. Tsuna hoped the person who saved him wasn't hurt and was greatly relieved to feel the other move.

"Are you okay... Juudaime?"

The stranger had separated from him and grabbed him by the shoulders. The grip was firm and reassuring, unlike the one before. He looked up to thank the person and tell him he was fine but as soon as he saw those familiar forest green eyes and silver hair, he felt another wave of nostalgia hit him. Tsuna gulped and finally, spoke...

"Juu...daime?"

End of Chapter

Hello~! It had been awhile hasn't it? I'm so sorry for that. I'm just starting college you see... and I have to admit I have been having this major writer's block recently. Fortunately I was able to finish this chapter... however, unfortunately, I am still stuck at the chapter for 'Their Boss'. It's kinda hard you know~ but I really appreciate the support you keep giving.. they're like that ice coffee I just drank awhile ago. So very delicious and well... delicious. xD

Hopefully I'll be updating soon.

Life is hard... especially if you wanna succeed in college.