One day Tsuna woke up at six in the morning on a school day.

Which was fine. Great even! He actually had the time to shovel food down his throat, check in the mirror to see that he had all the parts of his uniform on correctly (or face the wrath of Hibari Kyoya – wasn't the guy in high school already? Why did he keep accosting the middle school?), and make it to school way before the bell rang for the first time in… forever.

Forever? No, he made it to school just fine last week too. His mom got it into her head recently that perhaps she needed to take a more active role in her son's life. As in wake him up manually, fuss at him throughout his morning ritual, and shove him out the door. It made him feel like he was five, but it worked. Really well.

It was so much nicer than when Reborn took a hammer to his head by a nautical mile.

It just felt like it'd been forever, was all, Tsuna decided. Usually waking up at six in the morning was followed up by nearly two hours of "early morning training" with Reborn, chasing Lambo around to get his uniform pants, fighting to keep his breakfast poison cooking free from Bianchi, and then running out the door with Gokudera and Yamamoto to try and make it to the school gates before Hibari bit them all to death.

Speaking of, he hadn't seen anyone today. How strange. Lambo and the others could have overslept, certainly, but Gokudera? No way. He'd bodily drag himself to Tsuna's door if he had to.

Well, Yamamoto was already in his seat this morning so Tsuna supposed he had early morning baseball practice today. Despite Tsuna's repeated attempts at catching his friend's eye, the boy never once turned to look his way. Disappointed, Tsuna slumped in his seat.

Chrome wasn't in class either.

Kyoko didn't even greet him this morning. But why would she? He was Dame-Tsuna. No one to concern herself with.

What a strange thought to have.

Tsuna chewed his bottom lip viciously. How could he forget they had a math test today?! Augh, not that studying would have helped him any – it never did – but still! He wasn't mentally ready for this!

Reborn would kill him when they got their results back.

When the teacher told them to start, Tsuna grimaced and flipped the paper over with the tips of his index and thumb, handling the test gingerly like a live bomb. Or one of Lambo's unexploded hand grenades.

Factor and solve. the first set of questions demanded. Tsuna bit back a whimper. He could barely do that with some guidance. By himself? Never.

Oh. This one wasn't so bad. Tsuna quickly wrote out -7 and -2 for the answers before his mind forgot how he got there. The next one was similarly easy. And the next one. And the next.

Tsuna blinked as he flipped the page over, only to find it blank. Huh. He was done.

This test… wasn't so hard? They'd covered this stuff ages ago, and Reborn practically had him live and breathe the stuff after the first three tests of the nature Tsuna had failed. Weird that the test today was on this.

Surreptitiously, Tsuna looked around the room to see if anyone else had finished. If it was this easy for him surely – but no. Everyone else was. Working very hard. Even Hana was still working, face scrunched into intense concentration.

Slowly, Tsuna looked back at his answers. Oh god, they were all wrong weren't they.

No matter how anxiously Tsuna scanned his answers, nothing particularly wrong popped out at him. Augh. He was so stupid his brain thought he was actually smart for a second. Or something.

But it was too late now. He'd go eat lunch with the other and try to forget his sheer failure. He even had his mom's packed lunch today. He'd drown his sorrows in the omelet rolls.

Before Tsuna could even turn around to ask Yamamoto if he'd brought his lunch today or not, the boy brushed past him, waving at someone at the classroom door. Tsuna watched blankly as Yamamoto laughed and followed some of his baseball team out into the hall. He'd just… completely ignored Tsuna.

Tsuna frowned and shook his head. Well of course he did! It wasn't as though he and Yamamoto ever really talked before. Who would want to associate with a loser like him? It was weird to think that Yamamoto would eat with him in the first place!

And yet.

Tsuna clutched at his chest. Why did that hurt?

Ah. Break time bullies. There was a reason Tsuna didn't bother attending the full school day most days.

"That lunch looks pretty good, Dame-Tsuna. Why don't you give it to your seniors like a good underclassman?" One of the bullies sneered.

Tsuna sighed. Well, at least he got to eat breakfast today. He'd go home and just eat that way but Reborn was sure to be in wait, rubber bullets locked and loaded to berate Tsuna if he as so much dared to think about skipping classes for something so minor. But he skipped classes all the time. What did it matter if he stayed for classes he didn't care for or not?

At any rate, handing his lunch over was a much better option than getting beat up. Again. As Tsuna was about to offer his nicely packed lunch to his evil sempai overlords, a red haired boy stumbled into him from the side, clutching Tsuna's uniform tightly as they both went down in a tangle of limbs.

"Augh!" Tsuna flailed as he tried to figure out which body parts were his and which were his assailant's.

"Tsuna-kun! Tsuna-kun, wake up!" The boy, still tucked under Tsuna's chin and clinging to his uniform vest like a koala, cried. "You have to think! This isn't right!"

"What do you mean, Enma-kun?" Tsuna gasped out, finally figuring out that his butt was on the ground and ah yes that was his leg. That wasn't his leg. "Moreover where did you come from? I was standing in the corner of the – " wait. Tsuna looked up, expecting to see the bullies glaring down at the commotion, but no. There wasn't anyone there. The school building usually shading the area was gone too, and the bushes planted around the perimeter of the school fence were nowhere to be found.

Tsuna looked down at the boy hugging his middle again, blinking. "Enma-kun…?" Who? How did he know the kid's name?

"Tsuna-kun," Enma said, looking desperately into Tsuna's eyes. "Remember where we are!"

"What – " But it was too late. The sky and the ground melted away along with Enma, leaving Tsuna floating aimlessly in an empty void.

I dunno. Virtual Reality scrambling Tsuna's brains? Memory implant of Tsuna put into a past Tsuna? What is Enma doing there? Why Enma?

Who knows.

I think I was going for "Tsuna who has been sent to another past by (plot device) but doesn't realize he's been sent to the past/AU/etc." but then Enma? I lost interest realizing how much work it was to set anything up.

"Tsuna, the only way to save Yamamoto Takeshi is to become a magical boy!" Says a tiny lion the size of a house cat. Tsuna only assumes it's a lion because it… it has a mane. And it's on fire.

But moreover. "Excuse me?" Tsuna says, dumbfounded. "Do you mean Yamamoto Takeshi from my class? The baseball star?" Yamamoto is a very common last name, Takeshi is a very common name, and Tsuna only knows the one from his class because the boy is practically an idol and very popular. "Why do I need to save him…?"

From what? And why a magical boy? Tsuna has never even heard of such genre.

"Yes, that one! He will be important to you in the coming weeks. So let's go!" The lion… cat… thing cries, jumping up and down, still on fire. It has a surprisingly deep voice for its… shape. Yeah it's shape. If Tsuna had to pick a voice for a talking animal, he'd definitely recommend something more high pitched and cute. You know, to match.

This isn't the main issue here. "What's he in danger from…?" Tsuna asks finally, seeing that no matter how many times he blinks and rubs his eyes, the burning lion thing isn't going away. He considers pouring water over it. Being on fire couldn't be healthy. "Are you okay? You're on… fire."

"This is what I always look like," The lion thing sniffs, offended now. "And Yamamoto Takeshi is in danger! From himself! We need to go, right now!" The cat leaps onto Tsuna's shoulder, and before Tsuna can freak out, it rubs its cheek on Tsuna's own – why isn't he catching on fire? – and suddenly Tsuna finds his body moving on its own.

"Hiieeee?!" Tsuna cries, the only part of his body he can still use. The rest of him does some strange pose, hands clasped together as if in prayer, and then he thrusts his right hand into the air – and there's fire! His hand is burning?! Tsuna doesn't even get to scream, his mouth and throat moving on their own, making him say something entirely different. "Sky Gear: Equip!" He says. In English. What is that even supposed to mean?

The rest of his body is suddenly engulfed in flames, feet leaving the safe embrace of gravity entirely. The flames extinguish, starting from the tips of his hands and feet and moving towards his abdomen. Tsuna still doesn't have control of his body as he lands, straightening to strike another pose. It's so embarrassing. This can't get worse.

"By Vongola's name I will vanquish their sins!" Aaand no there it went. The last vestige of Tsuna's dignity and sanity flies off into the winds, leaving Tsuna standing in some dingy back alley, still posing, unsure if he can move now or not.

"That was great!" The cursed cat lion thing says, sounding far too exuberant for the situation. "You look so cool, Tsuna!"

No, he looks like some otaku cosplayer, Tsuna thinks, finally unfreezing from his uncomfortable and heroic pose. His clothes have changed into an uncomfortable suit ensemble. A very frilly, uncomfortable suit ensemble. A long cape settles over his shoulders, and reaching up, Tsuna feels his way around some metallic facemask with gloved hands.

"What is going on?" Tsuna asks, voice strangled.

The cat ignores him. "Now off we go! Away, Vongola Tenth!" It pronounces Tsuna.

What happened to Vongola one through nine? Tsuna doesn't bother questioning this out loud. Afraid that his body will start moving on its own again, Tsuna takes the initiative, setting off in whichever direction the cat thing pointed.

Tsuna stares blankly as the shadowy winged version of Yamamoto Takeshi disappears after a good punch from Tsuna.

(His hands! Were on fire! This entire magical boy thing seems to involve a lot of this and Tsuna feels like he should be stopping and dropping and rolling his way on out of this as soon as possible.)

The real Yamamoto Takeshi slumps against the wall of the school, having been unceremoniously thrown off sometime during the fight. Tsuna had… somehow flown and caught Yamamoto and set him very carefully on the ground before returning to fight with the shadowy thing. He doesn't know what he's doing and what this magical boy thing is about, but Tsuna does understand that if he doesn't throw flaming punches at shadow creatures, they will harm people. Like Yamamoto.

"Good job, Vongola Tenth!" The lion cat thing praises, "You handled it better than I could have ever hoped! As expected of my grandso – er, my chosen!" No, it definitely meant to say something other than "chosen". Tsuna glares at it.

"Okay, now who are you, what just happened, and why me?" Tsuna demands, pointing a finger at the lion cat. A fire lights at the tip of his finger at his emotional outburst, and Tsuna frantically shakes his hand to extinguish it. "And how do I get back to normal?!"

The lion cat considers Tsuna with extraordinary gravity. "I suppose I should have explained a few things before…" ("You think?!" Tsuna cries, exasperated.) "But it was an emergency situation!" That much, Tsuna could concede. But ugh. "Anyways, I'm Giotto! It's my job to find chosen people to become magical boys and girls to fight the sins of the world." The lion cat – Giotto – says. "The shadow thing you fought is a Sin – the effect of a conflict of self."

"That sounds kind of severe." Tsuna inserts. "So if you're indecisive you create a Sin? You really need to change that name." Maybe something more like Anxiety or Shadowy Thing.

"Y-yes well, it's not that common. We'd have a real crisis on our hands if Sins were so easily generated!" Giotto flusters, mane fluffling. "Sins generally only form in certain areas – like Namimori right now. It's due to the influence of an evil artifact." The cat sighs. "Usually I'd be able to find the artifact and get moving before I need to contract a magical boy or girl, but something about the area is keeping me from finding out where it is." Giotto actually looks properly contrite about Tsuna's situation. "So I'm going to need you to help me in the mean time. I'll try to keep it as short as I can, I promise!"

Tsuna sighs. "I still can't believe this." He runs a hand though his bangs, grimacing at the sweat matting his hair from his previous fight. "And? How do I get this stuff off?" He gestures widely at his strange costume. It's starting to get really itchy.

Giotto smiles – as well as a cat lion thing on fire can, at any rate. "Uh, I don't know? Usually people just turn back when they don't need to be a magical girl or boy anymore." The cat squints at Tsuna. "It must be because of your extraordinary potential, Tsuna. You're really strong!" It sounds ecstatic.

Tsuna hides his face in his hands. "I'm going home. I can't take this anymore."

The next day Tsuna arrives at school ready for a normal day of normal living.

(His magical transformation came undone halfway through dinner. Thankfully without extra poses and cheesy lines. Tsuna's mom didn't even question Tsuna's sudden bout of glowing and change of clothes. Strange.)

Yamamoto Takeshi is in class today, seemingly unchanged and unharmed. Tsuna counts it as a good thing.

Until during lunch he hears people talking about Yamamoto about to jump off the school roof.

Tsuna doesn't bother putting his bento away, streaking out of the classroom and up the stairs to the roof, where Yamamoto stands on the other side of the flimsy chain-link fence with an audience gathered at a distance away. There are a lot of cries of "it's not worth it, Yamamoto!" and "don't do it!" but no one approaches.

Tsuna doesn't really think as he makes it past the ring of spectators and shouts, "What are you doing?!"

A hush falls upon the rooftop.

Yamamoto turns around, an expectant face falling at the sight of Tsuna. Tsuna pushes the strange twinge that gives him away. It's not like Yamamoto and he are well acquainted, but right after Tsuna saved Yamamoto the other day? There's no way Tsuna's going to let the boy just jump off the roof.

"Yamamoto – "

"I think I'm waiting for my hero." Yamamoto says, and Tsuna blinks, not expecting the answer. Hero? "He saved me yesterday too, when I thought I should jump. So maybe he'll come back today too."

Hero…? Yesterday…? Yamamoto surely couldn't mean – "T-that's stupid!" Tsuna blurts. "You don't know that! What your hero doesn't come?" And he really wouldn't – especially if it really is Tsuna that Yamamoto is referring to.

Yamamoto turns away, face closing up. "Then I'll die. That's okay too."

Tsuna splutters. "No it's not!" A thought occurs to him. "T-that hero! If he saved you yesterday, doesn't that mean he doesn't want you to die? You'd be disappointing him!"

"If he doesn't come to save me today too, then I don't matter enough to save twice." Yamamoto responds, still not looking at Tsuna. "You almost sound like him. Dame-Tsuna, right? Why do you care so much?"

Because I am him! Tsuna wants to respond. He wants to shout and shake at Yamamoto's shoulders because why?

That Sin the other day. It had wings.

Tsuna isn't certain why this occurs to him at this moment, but it does. "You don't really want to jump," Tsuna says, trying to figure out why the wings were so important.

Aaaaaand then Tsuna gives a speech worthy of his shounen title and Yamamoto becomes Tsuna's "love interest" also known as "most frequent damsel". For the sake of Magical Girl tropes of course.

But haha can you imagine? Nono as magical boy Vongola Ninth! Oh. Oh dear. And to think. Xanxus wants to be the Tenth.