Sorry for the late update! Been focusing on my Naruto fic (lmao things getting lit over there you should head on over if you haven't already) and started school again so stuff has just been hectic in general

Also Mystic Messenger has taken over my life and I regret nothing.

(Sorry about reviewer replies again uggggh I will be better I swear)

Reviewer Quotes:

"I'd just like to say that I am a firm believer that the only reason Kyoko grew her hair that long is so she can sassily flip it, like so:

"Madam! All higher ups are to be evacuated from the building; please follow me to th-"
Kyoko whips around to face the trembling servant boy - a small whisp of kid who couldn't be older than 14.
"No," she intones. Her flames rage and curl around her lean flame like a second skin or that guy from the Fantastic 4 who yells, 'Flame on!' all the time (Johnny something?). Her long tresses of flaming red hair whip around like they've been hit by Lambo's lightening flames again.
"Please, I beg of you, madam!" The servent cries again with large, fearful eyes.
Kyoko stares him down. He was even younger than her godson. It sparked the protective rage in her that had earned her the life of a mafioso all those years ago.
"I'm sorry. But I must protect my family," Kyoko whispers as she brings her flames under control with a finesse learnt through painfull necessity.
She whips around again, protective fury coiled in her stomach like an adder waiting to pouce. As she does so, her ponytail glides after her and smacks the servant around the head.
"I can protect myself, kiddo." Kyoko simply says as she stalks away after her prey."-Anonymous (guest) (IT IS TRUE)

"Fuck!"

The two young adults went sprawling onto the ground, one getting a mouthful of dirt whilst the other rolled into a row of corn, the plants bending under their weight and scratching uncomfortably at their already raw and bleeding skin. Letting out a spew of curses, the woman pushed herself off the pile of plants, the man wiping his mouth as he too got to his feet.

"This is not what I envisioned when I was told we were having a quick holiday in France," Tsuna declared bitterly, Kyoko opening her mouth to retort something back only for storm flames to suddenly rain down upon them. She thrust her hand out, a purple-tined barrier zipping into existence and blocking the attack. It wasn't enough however, the two being thrown back further into the cornfield. This time, Kyoko landed on the man, Tsuna letting out a pained grunt as he was hauled by the back of his shirt to his feet and into a run.

Leaves clawed at their skin as they ran, creating criss-cross patterns with the cuts already there on the redhead's face. The corn was tall enough so that they couldn't even see further than a metre ahead of themselves, the only indication to enemies being the rustling of plants before they jumped out in front of them. Kyoko ducked under the swing of an axe, Tsuna catching the blade with burning hands and letting out a grunt of effort as the metal began to melt away under the heat. Foot swinging round, Kyoko's boot slammed into their attacker's open mouth, blood and teeth spewing onto the ground closely followed by the man's unconscious body.

Tsuna and Kyoko's eyes met in an exchange of silent words ("Are you alright?" "Good as I'll ever be. You?" "Been better."), the two then breaking into a run again. There was the sound of fire and explosions all around them as they ran this way and that, Kyoko's long-ish hair flying out behind her as they darted through the corn. The sudden clearing made them crash into each other, stumbling across the grass and Kyoko just about catching Tsuna by the arm before he fell.

A cottage was what lay in front of them, roof burning and a few bodies littered across the ground. Tsuna's eyes broke away to see a group of uniformed men flying through the air, flame boots boasting a myriad of different colours. "I'll hold them off," he whispered harshly, Kyoko opening her mouth to protest but closing it a second later with a nod, pressing her arm briefly to his shoulder before rushing forwards.

The door to the cottage was open and she jumped without a second look at the cloaked body laid in front of it. The inside of the building was just as if not more wrecked than the outside, furniture smashed and overturned. Blood soaked into the floorboards and bodies was scattered everywhere, Kyoko looking over them briefly but only holding her gaze on that of an old woman, a blade protruding from her chest although face carrying a peaceful expression despite the pain she should have been in. Her breath hitched. "Pierre!" Kyoko almost screamed, a desperate, raw tone to her voice. "Pierre, where are you?!"

She was met with just the sound of fighting outside.

Racing through the rest of the first floor, Kyoko then thundered up the wooden stairs, bodies increasing in number. Heart in her mouth, she had to step on a few of the corpses to make it to the ajar door. "Pierre?" She called out a little quieter, a little more hesitantly, swallowing thickly at the continued lack of response. Pushing the door open, Kyoko froze in the doorway.

A corpse surrounded by cloaked and uniformed members was sprawled across the bed in the centre of the room, a hideous, gaping wound across the neck still spraying blood. Teal hair that was usually pulled back into a ponytail formed a halo around his head, eyes with distinct triangle marks underneath them wide and vacant.

Stumbling towards the body, she then saw the silver dagger clutched in one of his hands, words scratched onto the blade that Kyoko didn't take the time to properly read, eyes wide with horror. Her lips parted to say something, perhaps to call the name again, but the abrupt sound of banging drew her attention to a chest, hands grabbing at the silver dagger and brandishing it dangerously. Wiping her eyes with her bloodied sleeve, she edged towards the source of the noise, a familiar sensation then causing her to drop the wary stance and rush forwards instead.

"Shit, calm down, I'm getting you out now!" Kyoko kicked repeatedly at the lock with increasing power. A final yell of effort and the lock snapped, falling to the ground with a soft thud. Throwing the chest open, Kyoko shoved the silver dagger into her belt and grabbed the trembling boy inside underneath the arms, yanking him out. "I've got you. Don't worry, I've got you," she breathed as the pre-pubescent boy half clung to her, wide-eyed and knuckles bleeding from hitting the chest in desperate attempts to escape. His eyes then trailed to the body laid on the bed and Kyoko stiffened, hand grabbing his head so it was angled towards the crook of her neck instead. "Fuck, don't look!"

"Frère aîné?" His whisper was muffled into her skin.

She bit her lip, senses then heightening and yanking the boy up into a stronger hold, throwing herself out of the window as part of the burning roof collapsed. They landed in a roll, Kyoko taking the brunt of the fall and cursing under her breath. Just in time, she slid the silver dagger from her belt to block the swing of a sword, throwing the boy behind her and snarling at her attacker. "Genkishi!" She roared half with anger, half with effort, forcing the man back and scrambling to her feet. "You son of a bitch, I'llkill you!"

"So emotional," the man replied, eyes narrowed and sword held tightly in his hand. "You and your master both. Will you die because of such foolishness like your master, Sasagawa Kyoko?" Genkishi was forced to the side by the sudden swing of a tonfa at him.. "Vongola Decimo's strongest guardian. I should've expected they'd be following after you," he drawled, Hibari snarling at him. "Unfortunately, I haven't the time to entertain you all today."

Hibari lunged forwards as the mist flames exploded, weapon swinging towards the man only to meet with thin air. "You bastard!" Kyoko half screamed. "Get back here! Get back here now!"

But there was no reply, just the sound of fighting and the teal haired child's quiet tears.

I awoke with hard breaths and feeling as though something had been caught inside my throat. Stumbling out of my bed, I fell onto the floor, mind spinning as I knocked into the bedside table. A box then plopped down in front of me and I stared at it for a few dizzy seconds, grabbing it with shaking fingers. Lighting my Bovino ring, I slammed the flames into the hole, the box shooting out something into my lap that glowed momentarily.

The light vanished to reveal a sleek, silver dagger, words scratched into the blade.

Je suis vraiment désolé.

I am very truly sorry.

Tears began to slip down my face before I even realized I was crying and I doubled over as a strangled sob left my mouth. I didn't know how loud my grief was until the door to the room was slammed open and arms were slipping around me, pulling me into a tight hug. Comforting, hushing noises were whispered into my ears and I clung to the person hugging me without thinking, trying desperately to push down the sobs.

After a minute or so, I'd finally managed to get my crying down to a few sniffles, breathing hard and disgusting sounding. "Better now, darling?"

Oh shit.

I pushed Bel away hard, embarrassment and humiliation curling up inside of me as he laughed because oh my fucking god, I just cried in front of him and then proceeded to hug him what the fuck is wrong with you Sasagawa Kyoko get a god damn grip. The blonde grinned at me, orange eyes dancing with amusement alongside honest concern that caused an image I didn't think I'd be able to even get rid of if I bleached my mind. "How cruel, using me for comfort and then pushing me away so fast~!"

"If I knew it was you I would've kicked you out the second you opened the door," I snapped, rubbing furiously at my eyes.

He shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal. You've cried in front of me before after all."

What the hell is wrong with my future self?!

Bel laughed at my horrified expression before cocking his head to the side and moving uncomfortably close to me like he always did. "What's wrong, darling?" His voice took on a soft quality like it had when I'd been crying openly. My eyes flicked down to the silver dagger in my lap almost involuntarily, Bel's smile fading. "Ah." His fingers ghosted over the blade, eyes becoming thoughtful and hazy with nostalgia as he traced the scratched letters. "So you found out Schwarz is dead."

The words knocked the wind out of me again and I crumpled a little, surprised by the weight of my grief. One of Bel's hand moved towards my shoulder but I blocked it, the man's smile returning albeit more twisted than before. "No wonder you've got yourself into such a state. Confused as to why you mourn the death of a man you thought you hated?"

I couldn't stop my eyes from flicking up to him in surprise at his correct assessment of my inner turmoil. Because it was true, I despised Schwarz. He'd brought nothing but pain since the very first day I met him, conjuring illusions of Ryohei's broken and mangled body to get me to even become his apprentice in the first place. I'd never forgive him for that image, that bloodied mess that was meant to be my brother, and he hadn't done much to makeup for it since that day.

So why can't I feel anything but grief at his death?

"Emotions are not so clean cut, darling," Bel's voice dropped to a whisper, catching a piece of my hair and twisting it between his fingers. "You should know that more than anyone. Besides, he was a big constant in your life that helped make you what you are. It makes sense you would mourn at least for that gaping hole in your existence now, no?" His smile became even more wretched. "I cried for Jill after I killed him, y'know."

I stared.

"I despised him with every ounce of my being." Bel continued, holding my gaze. "I wanted him dead more than anything else in my entire life. But I still cried when I finally killed him. Because he was my twin brother and he defined so much of who I was. Now, do you think that's strange?"

No.

The answer didn't leave my lips but Bel heard it anyway. "Then why are you confused, darling?" He whispered, hand dropping the strand of hair and moving towards my shoulder again, this time not being blocked by me. "Cry if you want to. The prince doesn't mind if it's you he's comforting."

I hesitated before shifting my gaze into a half-hearted glare. "Like I need comforting from you," I retorted, ignoring the part of me that felt genuinely thankful for his words because god, was I really relying on Bel for emotional support right now?!

He blinked before his usual grin of amusement returned, eyes dancing with amusement and something else I couldn't quite pin down. "Oh, I know. That's what makes you so interesting, darling."

Lal made an irritated noise, glowering at Tsuna as he skidded across the floor to avoid an attack from her box weapon. He'd been moving slower than she knew he was capable was and she hadn't forced herself out of the infirmary earlier than recommended to train someone who wasn't trying their best god damn it! "You've been at it for an hour," Reborn piped up from next to the woman, shooting a meaningful look at her. "A break might be a good thing to consider right about now." For both of you.

She narrowed her eyes at the arcobaleno before letting out an angry sigh, centipede returning to her box and gesturing for Tsuna to approach. The brunet did so albeit warily, all too aware that the woman was pissed with him. "You'd better explain what the hell is pushing you off your game right now, Sawada," she demanded. "And if it's what I think it is-"

"That's not it," Tsuna shot back with a bitter tone to his voice because it really wasn't the obvious distraction. Okay, that wasn't strictly true since it was impossible for him to not think about the whole Kyoko issue all the time. But since his conversation with Bianchi he'd managed to regain some kind of control of his thoughts so that he could at least think of other things coherently whilst another part of his mind shrieked 'Kyoko is mafioso' on repeat.

No, what was distracting him was the 'dream' he'd had last night. "Schwarz is the illusionist who works for Itsuki, right?"

Lal frowned questioningly before answering. "Worked. He died a couple of years ago."

Reborn raised an eyebrow at this. "He died?"

She nodded curtly. "The Germoglio targeted him. Most of his attackers were L'Ordre Dionysus members so they managed to eventually take him down, although not without a fight. It's why Sasagawa Kyoko is now considered the number one illusionist since, as his apprentice, she took up the mantel when he died." Lal then paused thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should talk more about illusionists considering a large portion of your enemies are mist flame users." She wondered aloud, begrudgingly thankful to Tsuna's distraction for bringing the topic up.

Making up her mind, she then nodded purposefully, folding her arms before beginning to speak again. "You already know how L'Ordre Dionysus differs from that of normal mafia groups. Officially, the organization came into existence around the same time as the Vongola during the 1800s, although groups of illusionists have been around most likely as long as humans have been. Consequently, most of them are very traditionalist, which is why their taking of the Germoglio's side is so unheard of since the last family they ever took a bias towards was, in fact, the Vongola."

"I heard that the creator of the group personally knew Vongola Primo," Reborn added. "They apparently were the master to the first Vongola mist guardian, hence the connection."

"I am a mist flame user," Lal continued. "However, I was not classically trained as an illusionist and thus not a part of L'Ordre Dionysus since I did not discover this until it was too late to specialize as one. Which is probably for the best since I couldn't disagree more with how illusionists are trained."

Tsuna couldn't stop the curiosity bubbling inside of him accompanied by how the more he knew about illusionists, the more he knew about Kyoko. "How are they trained?"

"They're taught to keep all of their emotions under strict control. Flames rely upon emotions for power so illusionists are told to not 'feel' like everyone else does, drawing mist flames out usually with just a 'sense of duty' rather than aggression or resolve. They go around most of the time being emotionless and even speaking with monotone voices."

The brunet frowned. "Mochida, Nagi and...Kyoko aren't like that though."

Lal nodded in agreement. "Sasagawa Kyoko is an extreme outlier. According to rumours, Schwarz despised L'Ordre Dionysus and so didn't teach her the traditional method of restraining her emotions. And Mochida and Nagi were her students so in turn she didn't teach them such a thing either."

"Think about Mammon and Schwarz, Tsuna," Reborn told his student. "Mammon was fairly monotonous, although they were slightly more emotional from having been separated from L'Ordre Dionysus as an arcobaleno."

"Schwarz however was a perfect example of what that group looked for in and illusionist. It's part of the reason why they put the title of the strongest illusionist on him because he represented the perfect product of their methods." Lal then shrugged. "Although, considering he was meant to hate them, it speaks volumes about their training techniques. Then again, emotional illusionists are particularly dangerous as mist flames are so malleable and easy to use compared to other flames. They're also the only ones that can directly affect someone psychologically."

"They're much more useful compared to your sky flames," Reborn agreed.

Tsuna twitched. " Thanks a lot."

"You're welcome."

The door to the training room then slid open and Fuuta stuck his head out, a wide grin on his face. "Tsuna-nii! Takeshi-nii and Hayato-nii are finally awake!"

Lambo's hysterical laughter was what greeted Tsuna as he entered the infirmary, the brunet blinking at the sight of his lightning guardian almost falling over whilst Gokudera stared at the teenager, eyes wide and horrified. Yamamoto was chuckling away too, stopping when he noticed Tsuna in the doorway and beaming with relief. "Yo!"

"What's going on?" He asked as he walked further into the room, Gokudera breaking out of his stupor briefly to greet him with a half-hearted smile.

"He- oh my god, this is better than the reaction his older self had!" Lambo guffawed.

"Shut up!" Gokudera snapped, turning bright red in embarrassment.

Lambo did the exact opposite. "You were crushing on Madam Glycerin who was Kyoko all along!"

"I was not crushing on that woman!" Gokudera screeched, grabbing his pillow and attempting to smack the Bovino member with it only for Lambo to dodge easily, still giggling.

"I completely forgot about your crush on her, holy fuck, this is the funniest thing I've heard in years." Lambo shook his head through his chortles.

Tsuna paled slightly.

Oh shit, I was trying to get Hayato to go after the girl I was obsessing over without even realizing it.

No one can ever know.

His HI then ruined the casual thought, bringing in the emotions he'd been trying to shove to the back of his head again.

Perhaps you never really had a crush on Kyoko? Mistaking the reason for your obsession with her to be attraction rather than the realization she was dangerous?

In which case, the feelings you still hold for her have been born from a lie.

Shut up.

He didn't want to think about what he felt about Kyoko. He didn't want to think about why he still thought she was beautiful, didn't want to think about the moments he treasured when she told him the truth, didn't want to think about how her laughter was the best thing he'd ever heard-

Tsuna collapsed in the chair next to Yamamoto as the charade between Lambo and Gokudera continued, Fuuta now smiling and laughing too much to the bomber's chagrin. The baseball jock regarded him with a concerned smile. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You're the one in the infirmary, not me."

Yamamoto laughed. "It's no biggie. Almost all my wounds have been healed by Giannini already. Those sun flames are great!" He enthused, flexing his arm with a grin which slid away a second later. "I guess the biggest wound is to my pride. Gamma really did a solid on that one. Although, that makes what Kyoko did all the more impressive," he added, eyes shining with awe.

Tsuna stiffened. "How...how are you so calm about this?"

Yamamoto blinked. "Oh. Well, I guess it's because it makes sense?" He folded his arms, making a thoughtful expression. "Sure, it bothers me that she didn't trust us enough to say anything, but it's Kyoko. She's not a bad person." He finished simply, smiling at Tsuna only to see his friend wasn't smiling back.

"But she's- she's the Momokyokai illusionist." A killer. A worker for Itsuki. Bad news in general.

His friend hesitated before speaking again. "She's best friends with Ryuga too. And Ryuga, he...he's a good guy. He's a joker but he cares so much about everyone and I know that isn't a lie, even if he hasn't told the whole truth to me either. And he's always talked about Kyoko like she was personally the one to hang all the stars in the night sky so everyone else could see how beautiful they were. So I believe in his and my own judgement."

A memory sparked in Tsuna's mind.

"Lu soon was so mad that he didn't hate Kyoko and Kyoko then said to us that she should be hated because she has no redeemable qualities. And yeah, she's bitch. But we didn't become friends for her flaws."

If her flaws are so large then how great are her good points?

How come everyone but me can see them?

"Tsuna." Yamamoto cut through his thoughts with a troubled look. "Are you really okay?"

He opened his mouth to reply - no, not at all, the girl I desperately obsessed over isn't who I thought she was at all and I keep dreaming about memories I don't have where I'm close enough to touch her, but the version of her I've never known - only for Lal's voice to boom. "If you brats are good enough to be gossiping like this then get to training!" She shouted, cloud flames swirling and her centipede roaring to life.

"Oh crap-"

Lambo's laughter rung in Tsuna's ears as he, Gokudera and Yamamoto sprinted out of the room, chased by the creature the irritated woman had set on them.

(It reminded him of the one time he'd heard Kyoko's genuine laughter.)

I sat well away from Bel, Irie laughing nervously as Hana looked exasperated with the two of us. "What the hell have you done now, Kyoko?"

I glared at her. "What makes you think it's my fault?"

"She's just embarrassed that the prince knows her heart better than she does." Bel declared with a wink, getting a cushion thrown at him in response.

Hana raised an eyebrow, placing a hand on her hip. "Do I even want to know?"

"I do," Desiderata announced on her way past the room, shooting finger guns at Bel who giggled in response.

"What happens between me and darling is private I'm afraid, whore~!"

"Oh my, how scandalous-" Hana shut the door, ignoring the woman's mock cry of offence. She then shot me a look that screamed 'you will tell me everything that happened later', making me bite back a groan and glare at Bel again. He just seemed amused by my annoyance.

Asshole.

"Um, should I start now or…?" Irie wondered aloud, Hana gesturing for him to begin and sitting between Bel and me purposefully. "Okay. So, as I mentioned yesterday, chain weapons are the weapon of choice for those with good enough flame control, which applies to you, Kyoko-san. Ryuga-kun only completed them around eight months ago so they can be very dangerous if used by an inexperienced flame user. Um, Hana-san, could you possibly…?"

Hana sighed as she stood, lifting the arm that her team Vindice bracelet hung on to reveal several chains hanging down from it. Lighting her Bovino ring, she passed the cloud flames through the small ring on the end of one of the chains, the groove in it lightning with purple flames. It then suddenly expanded and what seemed to be purple lasers shot into the centre of the open space, forming what seemed to be a bird in midflight. The bird looked as though it flew from thin air, soaring upwards in a loop before landing obediently on Hana's shoulder. "Merlino di Nuvola." She named the falcon, the bird preening with it's pale blue feathers. "Otherwise known as Buzz. He's a Merlin falcon."

"An A-class chain weapon." Irie hurriedly informed me, gazing in awe at the bird. 'Buzz' cast him a disinterested look.

Like owner like pet, huh?

"As you saw, the chain weapon expanded in order to form the chain animal," Irie continued. "It does this by using cloud flames incorporated into the system as cloud flames have the attribute of propagation, thus expanding the 'weapon'. And these cloud flames are converted from your own flames so you don't need to worry about running out of them, which I must admit is genius on Ryuga-kun's part-"

Hana rolled her eyes. "Get to the point, Irie."

The man flushed. "Ah, well, yes. The trick to using chain weapons, Kyoko-san, is to use the right amount of flames to fill the groove in the ring. Too much and the weapon will malfunction and, in cases, explode. Too little and you'll be going so slowly there'll be no point to using it in combat."

"For your first time, you should do it slowly though," Hana told me, flicking her hand and making Buzz disappear into cloud flames. "Use the chain with the red mark on it."

Seeing the one she was pointing to that I'd also connected to my team Vindice bracelet, I sat up straight, lighting my Bovino ring and slowly pouring flames into the groove. The ring expanded much slower than Hana's had, mist flames becoming lasers that formed something at in infuriatingly slow pace. At least it wasn't blowing up in my face though, that I could see Irie being thankful for even through my concentration.

Eventually, what I presumed to be my chain weapon finally appeared and I stared at it with wide eyes.

"...What the fuck?"

"I bet the Vongola has a space station."

Laughter exploded into the room. "Tsuna, when I asked what you were thinking, I thought you were going to give me an update on your shitty mental health."

He rolled onto his side to look at the girl, high school uniform scruffy and hair just beyond her shoulders, splayed across the floor. "Well, that is still crap but it's my honest answer. Do you think they have a space station?"

She snorted, rolling onto her side too. "Of course. I mean, it's the Vongola. Knowing them they were probably the first on the moon and just hushed everyone up about it."

"Yes, exactly. I bet Reborn's been up there too."

"Definitely. The little bastard has probably had first contact with aliens too. They never came back because he scared the shit out of them."

Tsuna laughed. "That's Reborn for you." He then flopped down onto his back. "I'd like to go up to space one day."

"Hate to break it to you but I don't think Itsuki will be happy about you just blasting off in a rocket one day," Kyoko drawled, one arm propping her up.

"Shush, don't let my dream die so soon."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, so let's imagine Itsuki says 'okie dokie, go be an astronaut, son'."

"Don't be so ridiculous, Kyoko." He laughed again when she smacked his arm. Then he breathed out slowly, staring up at the ceiling. "I think it'd be nice up there. Quiet."

"In space, no one can hear you scream."

Tsuna couldn't stop the smile, eyes flicking to the girl to see her amused smirk. "Hey, listen, I'm being serious. Peace and quiet up amongst the stars. No mafia to deal with, no troublesome family, no homework."

"No flirting."

"Ah, that's an issue." He hummed, fingers then knocking against her arm. "I guess you'll have to come with me then."

"Ha, no. Go blast off into space with someone else."

"Rude." Tsuna sat up, looking down at the girl. She gazed up at him with amusement dancing in golden eyes, light reflecting off her eyelashes. The same light made his eyes burn a brighter orange than usual and there was a lipstick mark on his neck he'd forgotten to wipe off from the girl Kyoko knew he'd broken up with before meeting with her. "Okay, fine, would you come to space with me if I kept the flirting to a minimum?"

Kyoko raised an eyebrow. "Sure, why the hell not?"

"Oh, you'd better remember this then when I turn up with the astronaut suits. You owe me a date in space."

"Hey, that wasn't in the deal."

"No backsies! You gotta have a space date with me!" After a few moments of holding his serious gaze, the two burst out into giggles, Kyoko repeating the words 'space date' through her laughter and neither understanding why it was so funny but laughing anyway.

Tsuna yawned, Lal shooting him a glare for doing so as he entered the training hall. Gokudera immediately descended into accusatory shouts because it's her fault for training them for two days straight without break, no wonder Tsuna-sama is so tired!

(The brunet decided not to tell him it was the dreams keeping him up at night, not wanting to sleep because it meant her saw her and that just sent him spiralling into more confusing thoughts and feelings when he woke up.)

Lal huffed, arms folded. "Well, that won't be a problem anymore then because you're all getting personal training from different people now." She retorted.

Explains why Nagi is here too then, Tsuna thought, the girl shuffling on the spot somewhat awkwardly. "You're all going to get specialised one-on-one training from your own tutors," Reborn explained as they all lined up. "Takeshi, you get me."

Tsuna did a mini fist pump.

Reborn raised an eyebrow at this. "Don't rejoice quite yet, Tsuna." He warned.

Ah shit. That's not good.

"Hayato, you're with your crush's wonderful godson," Lambo announced with a scheming grin.

"I did not have a crush on that woman!"

Bianchi stepped forwards with a smile. "Nagi, I'm your tutor."

The girl blinked before bowing her head respectfully, relief overcoming her features. "Ah, please take care of me, Bianchi-san!"

Tsuna then raised his hand. "Excuse me but I thought you said I was going to get a different tutor," he gestured to Lal as the only one left.

The woman bristled. "Tch, like I have time to waste on a failure like you."

"Bitch!" Gokudera hissed. Lambo smacked him over the head, ducking away before the bomber could hit him back.

"She's not your tutor." Reborn's grin grew a little wider.

Which means…

Oh fuck.

Tsuna barely jumped out of the way of the barrel of cloud flames in the form of a hedgehog. It slammed into the wall, spikes burying themselves into the stone and plaster. "Sawada Tsunayoshi," Hibari began, one of his rings burning with flames. "Either you will become stronger now or you will die, simple as that."

Fuck.

"Well then, let's leave them to it," Lambo yanked the protesting Gokudera away by the arm. "Try not to die Tsuna, it's a bitch to find a replacement for you!"

"Let's go too, Takeshi," Reborn ordered, the baseball jock nodding hesitantly as the brunet shot him a look that screamed 'traitor'.

"Good luck boss…?" Nagi called uncertainly as Bianchi steered her away.

All of my guardians are traitors.

Tsuna huffed, turning back to look at his supposed 'cloud guardian', who had practically just stated he didn't care if he died. "Does he really have to train me?" He asked Lal who was now leaning on a wall off to the side.

"Yes."

"Damn it." Tsuna's eyes narrowed as he ducked underneath the swing of a tonfa, slipping on his mittens hurriedly and entering HDWM with the blink of his eyes. The kick to his side however caught him off guard, HI screaming in confusion at having not sensed it coming. What the-

"Too slow." Hibari slammed his tonfa downwards, Tsuna trying to dodge but getting hit directly on his right arm. He gritted his teeth through the pain, HI whirring.

Mist flames. He's concealing his intentions with subtle but high-class illusions.

Using his flames, Tsuna flung himself away from the man, skidding across the floor. He only had a second or so to get his bearings before the hedgehog Roll flew at him again, decidedly bigger than before. Flames powered him sharply to the side although a spike sliced through his clothing, leaving a shallow cut on his side. But Hibari was somehow right there, tonfas swinging.

Tsuna somersaulted backwards, trying to use his sky flames to combat the cloud flames that shrouded the weaponry but seeing he was losing, orange eaten up by the purple. "No wonder you lost to someone like Gamma." There was a sharp blow to the ribs and Tsuna was knocked away, coughing and glowering at the man.

The memory of the blonde man made him grit his teeth again, concentrating flames in his gloves. "Shut up."

Lal watched as the brunet charged at Hibari again, not able to avoid the sense of bitter disappointment in the pit of her stomach. Of course, she'd known Tsuna didn't stand a chance against the older man from the start. The difference in experience alone was enough to determine that, let alone the fact that the cloud guardian looked more pissed than usual.

(He hadn't wanted to have that dream, that memory which didn't belong to him but those two, her laughter mixing with his. He didn't understand the point to them if they weren't to try and hurt him where only she could, god, why was she doing this to him when she knew exactly how he felt-)

Tsuna was knocked onto the floor again, winded. "You're nothing like you're future self" Hibari declared bitterly because he was bitter that this brat had a future with her that he couldn't quite ever have. Memories he didn't have. "You hesitate over everything and it makes you weaker. I'm not going to wait for you to selfishly take time making decisions, herbivore." With a brutal kick, Tsuna was sent up into the air. The teenager let out a wince, meaning to use his flames to try and desperately put distance between him and the man that was so obviously stronger than him only for cloud flames to suddenly be all around him.

Don't get caught!

Pressing his forefinger and thumbs together, Tsuna's flames pulsated before he thrust his hands towards the cloud flames, freezing them. Except the flames were multiplying and becoming more tangible fast, too fast, I can't-

Not even a second later he was surrounded by darkness.

"Let me out!" Tsuna shouted even though he knew it was a bad idea, concentrating his flames in his hands again. A wave of dizziness then made him drop to the bottom of his circular prison, flames dispersing. His hand flew to the cut on his side.

Mist flames.

He injected them into you during that attack with Roll.

God damn it.

Groaning, he leant backwards against one of the smooth walls. "Kyoya, I give in, just let me out!"

"There is limited air in there so I suggest you don't waste it making useless demands," came the muffled response.

Tsuna twitched. Motherfucker-

Another wave of dizziness made him scrunch his eyes up, breathing already noticeably more difficult. Fine then. I'll just die in here. Go solve the problems of this future without me, asshole.

You don't want to die in here.

Captain fucking obvious aren't you?

Focusing his flames in his fists again, he slammed his hands forwards, grunting with effort as he concentrated them into a single spot. His prison was illuminated as he forced the flames out of him, ten or so seconds passing before he gave up, gasping and coughing. It was getting more and more difficult to breathe. The mist flames weren't helping, making his movements sluggish and vision blurred. He groaned once more, flopping backwards.

There's no point to this.

I'm just going to have to wait for the bastard to stop being so stubborn.

But what if he isn't going to stop?

The thought made Tsuna shift uncomfortably. Hibari had been even more pissed than usual and there had been more than one moment one he'd felt killing intent ooze from the man, directed solely at him. Panic began to seep into his veins and he opened his mouth to shout again, to yell that he was going to die if they didn't let him out, when an even more devastating wave of nausea made him curl up on himself, wheezing breaths taking up the limited oxygen faster.

No, I don't want to die here.

I really don't want to die here.

That was when his ring lit up and the images started.

Blood. Screaming. Gunshots. Bones crunching.

Revenge. Ambush. Eradicate.

Tsuna's eyes widened. What the-

"The Vongola's past sins." He snapped his gaze up to see ghostly figures with masks of flames obscuring their features. A woman being shoved to her death. A child being ripped away from the corpses shielding them.

"The uncontrollable thirst for power."

"Murder."

"Betrayal."

The voices swirled around him. A car exploding. An elevator crammed to bursting point with bodies and blood. A man clutching his face and screaming about his missing eyes.

"This is the bloodstained history of the Vongola, rich with death and misery."

"Will you, the holder of the sky ring, accept these sins?"

"Do you really have the resolution to inherit the burdens of your family for power in return?"

"Answer us."

Tsuna wanted to be sick.

The images were getting faster, swirling painfully around in his mind. Pushed into the sea with bricks tied to their legs. A stool being kicked out from underneath their feet, noose tight around their neck. Sword slowly pushed deeper and deeper into their chest as they screamed-

"Stop it." The words came out as a choking mess so he tried again, fingernails cutting into his palms. "I said, stop it." Tsuna snarled up at the ghostly figures, images still flashing but focusing on the anger they caused to bubbled up inside of him. "I wasn't the one to do this all so why the fuck should I carry your sins?!"

I didn't do this.

Don't pin the blame on me for things I didn't do.

There was a pause as the ghostly figures regarded him with heavy gazes. "Then, what of the sins the Vongola carries because of you? The crimes committed that are your fault."

Tsuna had all but a second to stare up at them in confusion as the images came to a halt before a new reel started.

Namimori. Snow. People racing through streets he knew.

A man's skull being caved in by a hammer.

He flinched hard, hands coming up to grip at his head. My fault, what do they mean my-

Corridors where people were running or fighting within the piles of corpses that kept on growing, oozing blood onto the floorboards.

A dagger, a kimono, a naginata, blood, so much blood, she's-

Children, the red shock of hair, the wide grey eyes, mother don't die, hidden in a cupboard with little hands covering their mouths lest they made a noise and then running past the man that was SCREAMING because she's dead, oh god, he'd cradling her body but she's already dead and the children are running with one gripping the wrist of the other-

Tsuna doubled over.

The base, a place he recognizes but without the stains just yet, no it's happening now, everyone is screaming, running, traitors, traitors, red hair, a little boy hugging a small girl with hair that covers her eyes and sobbing into his chest as the men get closer.

"Poor things. Just bad luck they were born to the back-stabbers."

Sword through the head, the girl is screaming, his arms are still around her but he's dead, deaddeaddeaddead.

"You'll just betray us again if you live. Don't worry, it'll be over soon."

The stains are all there now, people are killing themselves, the note, 'we'd be killed in a more brutal way if we continued on living anyway', neck snapping as the noose strains-

He was crying. He didn't know when he'd started but these awful, sobs were wrecking through his chest and he was begging for it to stop because my fault, this happened because of me, make it stop.

Pain made him gasp and crunch up his eyes, the flashing, jumbled images replaced with the black and white scene that had plagued him so many times before. Long blades of grass with something dark dripping from it and the domed sky as a scribbled out face-

Schwarz.

The scene became clearer for the first time.

A man was lying in front of him, bleeding from the nose and ears. Nana was lying crumpled against a tree, large bruise on her forehead but no other injuries. And he, Tsuna was screaming, shrieking for his mummy and then his dad that even then he'd known wouldn't come to save him-

Another memory flickered through his brain.

"Your mum seems really laid back about these sorts of things!"

"You're telling me? This one time when I was nine she let this complete stranger stay at ours for the night. I swear, she's going to get herself killed…"

"You're here already?" Schwarz spoke as another man entered the black and white scene.

"Itsuki sent me just in case." His face was scribbled out.

Tsuna's younger self was bawling but it wasn't just sobs but words that he couldn't hear.

"They came for him."

"He can't remember."

"Agreed."

The hand stretched towards his face, liquid dripping from his fingers. "It's all going to be okay. You just have to forget."

"Stop it!" Tsuna screamed the words aloud, flames billowing around him and eyes lifting to glare at the ghostly figures because no, no more, stop this right now. "None of this is my fault! I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask to be born into this stupid family, I didn't ask to have this voice that won't stop talking in my head, and I didn't ask for the Vongola to do that! So either you give me that power to make up for the shitty life the Vongola has made me live or you take your own fucking sins that aren't my fault and go fuck yourselves."

There was a moment of blissful silence.

Then, a symbol shone underneath Tsuna and everything went bright, the ghostly figures suddenly taking physical forms and flaming masks disappearing into the air. It was as if the prison had turned into a wide, open sky and he stared as flames burst into existence from weapons wielded by the ghosts-turned humans. A familiar old face smiled at him from near to the end of one of the two rows but Tsuna's attention was taken mostly by the man sat in a chair, features so similar to his he almost felt as though he was looking in a mirror.

"Your resolve," he spoke in Italian but Tsuna somehow understood, staring at him with still teary eyes. "Although unorthodox, has been accepted willingly and completely." The people then began to disappear into flames that flew into his ring, but his mirror image hesitated momentarily, standing instead and walking towards him. His gloved hand then pressed against Tsuna's shoulder. "The Vongola has wronged you in ways that cannot be forgiven and it hurts me to see my family hurt the heir I have so longed for. So I leave the decision to you. Whether it be to inherit or destroy it, know that I stand by your will and accept the path you have chosen. Buona fortuna, Vongola Decimo."

Good luck.

Tsuna stared as his gloves began to glow brighter and brighter until he couldn't take it anymore, squeezing his eyes shut as flames roared around his hands.

"What the-" Lal, who had been close to demanding that Hibari let Tsuna out after hearing his screams, not caring how threatening the man was, gawked as the prison holding the boy disintegrated in the raging fire that exploded from within. Hibari watched on without a single drop of surprise in his expression, eyes following the teenager as he dropped to the ground in a crouch.

His gloves have changed, he thought at the sight of the Vongola insignia on the sky flame medium weapon, readying his tonfa to begin the fight again.

Except, as the smoke cleared, Hibari found himself pausing at the sight of the boy that would be his boss with tears running down his face, orange eyes gazing at his new gloves with this sort of horrified acceptance. And he looked so much like the Sawada Tsunayoshi that he had known, the man he'd ended up making an oath to follow, the pain in the ass who understood her in ways he couldn't, his friend Tsuna, that Hibari allowed his tonfas to disappear into cloud flames, turning on his heel. "Training will continue tomorrow," he declared in a sharp tone, ignoring Lal's stumbling squawk of protest. The overwhelming anger from before was gone, replaced with exhaustion that made him feel so much older than he was.

Lal sighed as the man finally disappeared into the elevator, turning to see Tsuna furiously rubbing his eyes with his arm. Part of her wanted to yell at him to get a grip like he had to her when emotions had swallowed her, but…

He's just a bratty kid.

"Go clean yourself up," she muttered loudly enough for him to hear, closing her eyes as he half jogged, half stumbled past her. His HDWM died away some time during the journey to his room but Tsuna barely paid any attention to it, solely focused on getting somewhere where nobody would see him. Once he'd finally stumbled into his room and he door had slid shut behind him, he allowed himself to sink to the ground, burying his head in his hands.

It was my fault.

All of it, everything-

The Namimori Massacre was all my fault.

.

.

.

.

.

Yes, it's all my fault. And if you aren't careful I'll do it again.

Chapter 105: where Tsuna finds out he was promised a space date by Kyoko only for then the universe to laugh at any joy he took from that

SO FINALLY WE ALL KNOW THE TRUTH OF THE NAMIMORI MASSACRE

Or at least the part where we find out it was the Vongola all along. HURRAY.

I'm not gonna explicitly say why it was Tsuna's fault right now (I will later) but I'm guessing you all can figure out that haha

The succession trial was meant to be very jumbly alongside Tsuna's regaining of memories so hopefully it gave off the intended effect!

BTW that line Tsuna says about his mum having let a random stranger stay at his house when he was nine (which was Schwarz) comes from chapter 59 because I PLANNED THIS ALL FOR A LONG TIME AYYE

Leave a review~

Shit is finally going down I am very excite~

Discoabc~