A/N: This is the second part for the future arc… sees A/N below for clarification and information.

February 6, 2017: Betaed by Pure Red Crane

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn so no suing…!

Chapter Four: Part Two - End

"So, the three of you are finally together." Reborn's familiar squeaky tone piped in and Tsuna turned to look at his tutor. He immediately saw the other standing next to his female tutor, Lal Mirch.

"As I told you, we're going to begin a special individual assault enhancement program." Lal Mirch suddenly said. The three boys looked at her with various expressions of confusion.

"Individual enhancement?" Tsuna voiced out his question, followed by Yamamoto.

"What do you mean by assault?"

"It's for when you attack the enemy." Reborn helpfully informed them. Tsuna turned to his tutor with a startled look on his face.

"A-Attack?!"

"Just like how Tsuna's been training one on one with Lal in the last ten days, we're going to have each one of you train with an individual tutor. It's the same thing we did during the Ring Conflict."

Tsuna eyes widened at that explanation, "Then, I'd get Reborn?"

Reborn made a side long glance at his student, making the boy shiver, then said in a slightly devious yet saddened tone, "Sadly, no."

The brunet inwardly sighed with relief at that. Reborn might be nice to him from time to time, but there were bad, worse, times when Reborn's training wasn't training at all; more like torturing him. The memory of Reborn actually breaking one of his ribs after kicking him without mercy during one of those so called training sessions was horrible and painful. Of course, Tsuna knew that it wasn't intended since Reborn had looked at him with those eyes. The hitman remained silent when Tsuna accused him that his tutor had been a bit spartan. However, it didn't change the fact that Reborn had already sent him to the hospital. Who knew what Reborn would do to his student for this training?

The infant then looked at Yamamoto, "I'll be training Yamamoto instead."

Yamamoto immediately pointed at himself in confusion, "Me?"

Tsuna immediately looked gobsmacked when he heard who would be Reborn's toy. "What?" He stared at his sadistic tutor then at his baseball loving friend, "Reborn's going to train Yamamoto?! W-Will that even work?" Tsuna nervously asked as the thought of Reborn shooting Yamamoto with guns. The brunet didn't think that Yamamoto could leave Reborn's training without being hurt rather painfully. Yamamoto was still laughing and saying how fun this all seemed.

"Take it easy on me." Yamamoto said merrily.

That made Tsuna sweat drop. Reborn would do exactly the opposite. This was starting to look like a bad idea, even more so when they learned that Bianchi was Gokudera's tutor. The bomber paled rather drastically at the mere sight of his sister.

A really bad idea. His friends were in great potential danger from their respective tutors, Tsuna concluded.

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna looked worriedly at his friend, who was shaking, kneeling on the floor. "Reborn, there's no way! You'd better cancel this!" Tsuna exclaimed apprehensively.

How could Gokudera train when the sight of his sister made him sick?

What would Reborn do to Yamamoto on their training? He still thought that, somehow, Reborn wouldn't be too hard on Yamamoto since he called older Yamamoto by Takeshi. It should mean that Reborn had grown fond of the baseball lover. Tsuna was jealous. Reborn had grown fond of someone else, though that thought was a bit sketchy since he couldn't read Reborn that well.

"You should concentrate on your own training." Reborn said, then it ended with a bang.

Flames burst on Tsuna's forehead and palms, his caramel-brown eyes turned orange as the brunet jumped from his current position and into a fighting stance in front of Lal Mirch.

"Let's start, Lal Mirch." He started seriously, his eyes blazing with determination.

"No, I'm putting an end to your training." she said suddenly. "You haven't reached the level I expected. I've determined that you won't be able to level-up in a short amount of time."

"But I've gotten this far." Tsuna countered stubbornly.

Tsuna's eyes widened when an attack was headed in his direction. He automatically flew upward. The cloud flames emerging from a box weapon followed him even after he flew. As he landed on his feet against the wall, he reached both of his palms deflect the attack of the cloud flames.

"If you lose focus, you'll die." Tsuna heard the familiar older voice and he made a side-long startled glance at that direction.

"You're…" Tsuna immediately saw adult Hibari, wearing the same suit the first time the brunet saw him near the Namimori Shrine: clean black suit, pants, and shoes, purple dress shirt and a black necktie.

"I'm going to pry your abilities open." Adult Hibari said with a certain promise of danger in his eyes.

Tsuna gritted his teeth as he felt the box weapon push him back. It made his eyes widen a bit when he could feel the strain already taking effect for merely defending.

'I don't want to lose.' Tsuna thought determinedly as he pushed back with as much sky flames he could produce and slowly but surely noticed that Hibari's hedgehog was being pushed back. This was a start. He could win.

"As I had heard from the infant, you're nothing like the man that I know, who was older by ten years." Adult Hibari said and it made Tsuna grit his teeth in frustration. The brunet actually thought that he was doing great, but now that Hibari had pointed that little fact out, it frustrated him. It only made him refute that statement and make Adult Hibari see that he could still get stronger.

The brunet closed his eyes as he prepared for his attack. He concentrated on his flames, thinking and wanting to get his own equilibrium. When Tsuna opened his eyes, it returned back to its original caramel-brown color as he prepared for his Zero point breakthrough. Tsuna's flames became frost, and he concentrated even more to seal the box weapon in front of him. If he managed to seal the box weapon Tsuna thought it would be enough for him to win.

Tsuna's eyes widened when something rapidly surrounded him and he immediately set to freeze the purple flames from doing anything harmful. Tsuna knew instinctively he had to do something. He shifted on his attack and sealed what he could, but the purple cloud kept multiplying and at an alarmingly fast rate. Tsuna didn't have time to think of how it could multiply so fast. 'They're too fast.' He looked worriedly at it and continued freezing what he could, despite realizing the difference in speed. 'I can't keep up!'

Tsuna's eyes widened in alarm when the purple clouds were about to enclose him. He tried to get away, but he was too late. By the next second, he was trapped inside the sphere of thick purple flames.

He couldn't see anything after that.

Tsuna reached for anything, slightly glad that he had his flames to light the place but he would prefer to be freed. 'This is no good.' He frowned after he lit his flames against the purple cloud sphere. He instinctively knew that his flames wouldn't work. The armour was strong. 'I can't do anything to it.' Tsuna thought helplessly.

"The amount of oxygen is limited inside the isolated area. If you don't escape soon," Tsuna heard adult Hibari's voice coming from the other side, "You'll die." The brunet's eyes widened at that revelation.

Tsuna slightly panicked and he immediately used his body against the wall surrounding him. However, he eventually grew tired of doing that. Tsuna panted. 'What should I do...?' He gripped his knees tighter. Tsuna could feel that he was growing weaker by the second.

He took a deep breath before attacking with his flames on both sides simultaneously, his eyes full of determination. He kept at it for a few seconds then repeated.

Tsuna didn't know what to do, but he wanted to escape from this prison.

Eventually, Tsuna grew exhausted that he was almost ready to sit down. The brunet could feel his knees growing weak. He took a large amount of air but he was still exhausted. Tsuna knew he couldn't last any longer so, in one last attempt, he willed himself for his next blow, hoping that this time, he would succeed.

'It's do or die.' He slowly sat up, willing his already exhausted knees to move. He readied himself with his eyes closed, concentrating his flames, visualizing his resolve more so in this situation. Tsuna needed stronger flames. He needed to concentrate his most powerful flame into a single point.

As he opened his eyes, he directed his attack to the single point in front of him until he couldn't produce any more flames and he fell to his knees. 'It's not even budging…' He thought exhaustedly. Tsuna lifted his head, feeling the melted portion on the armor after his last attack. It brought him a sense of victory, even for a tiny bit.

The brunet realized that it came from the flames around his ring. Tsuna concluded that its weakness would be a higher grade of flame. If he could produce a giant flame, that would be good enough to break through the sphere, but he was lacking in oxygen already. He couldn't produce anymore strong flames.

Tsuna breathed more deeply. 'This is bad…'

Tsuna could feel his weak body fade with the losing air to breath. Though he remained sitting, he didn't want to die here.

The brunet stared right ahead where he knew the melted portion of the armour was. Tsuna slowly stood up, only to fall with a thud when the flames on his forehead totally diminished, leaving him at the mercy of the darkness.

'Isn't my resolve enough?' he questioned through his exhausted-muddled mind.

Tsuna forced himself to look at his ring after pulling the mitten on his right hand, wondering if his resolve wasn't enough to produce stronger flames. If he could produce stronger flames, then he could get out.

'What more…do you want from me?' he asked exhaustedly while staring at the ring Reborn forced him to wear on his hand when he went into Hyper Dying Will Mode.

Slowly, he closed his eyes in exhaustion, only to open them again when a bright light emitted from the ring. Tsuna lifted his head and noticed that the bright light was directed to the middle of his forehead. 'Huh?'

Tsuna's eyes widened when he began hearing voices inside his head.

("Do it! Do it! Do it!")

Images started flashing inside his head, accompanied by…despairing voices.

("Just spare my life! If I die, my kid…my wife…" a man's voice yelled in desperation. It was followed by the sound of gunshot.)

The brunet's eyes widened further in growing horror at what he was seeing and hearing. 'What…What is this?' Tsuna grew pale. 'These images are flowing directly inside my head!'

(Screaming voices of men and women. Fire spreading and more gunshots that couldn't be counted. A gruff voice of a man, yelling to other men in war cry, "Get revenge!")

("Get them!" someone yelled, followed by a large explosion. There was the crying sound of a child yelling for help and then another explosion.)

("Wipe them out!" a man yelled, standing in front of many other suited men. Then that same man who yelled shot another man. There was an unintelligible cry and a bang before more gunshots.)

'What…?' He gulped down and found his throat dry. There was a sudden uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, making it churn. 'What is this?' he thought questioningly and despairingly.

("These are the sins of the Vongola." a sudden voice said.)

Before him, men appeared with masks covering their eyes in flames, the same sky flames he had.

("Murder. Revenge. Betrayal. The endless pursuit of political power. The history of the Vongola Mafia." the first man who appeared said in his gruff and deep voice.)

("One who holds Vongola's Sky Ring, do you have the resolution?" the second man said. His voice wasn't deep, but it still had that same tone of demand.)

Tsuna turned to look at the second man he could see, face set in confusion.

("The determination to inherit these sins?" another man asked in clarification.)

Tsuna stared, aghast, his face pale at what he was seeing. This…This…

("Save me!" a man screamed hoarsely and another man then shot the first man on the temple at close distance. The same men who killed the screaming man kept killing people around him with dark mania in his eyes.

"Give me back my husband!" a woman cried in despair, but she was shot to her own death.)

Tsuna opened his mouth to take a deep breath, but it was stuck in his throat. He couldn't calm down.

(Bodies piled on the floor. There was blood on the wall. Two men were standing before the dead bodies, holding a gun. There was fire the next and dead bodies being burnt like a waste of space.)

Tsuna gritted his teeth, tears forming in his eyes and spilling on his pale cheeks like a broken dam. He clenched his fist tightly as he continued seeing different cruelties, of men being stripped of their freedom, of women begging for their children and husband to be spared, of explosions that took mansions and of countless lives.

He didn't want to see this. Tsuna didn't…This…This is too cruel!

Tsuna gripped his hair, pressing his fingernails against his scalp. Tsuna's thoughts were but one thing: he didn't want to see anymore.

His breathing hitched as he continued seeing events in his mind, hearing horror-like voices of despair that made his ears ring loudly with voices of desperation, anguish and of so much more.

("These are the sins carried by the Vongola. This is the Vongola's history.")

Tsuna heard those words, but he couldn't focus on it due to the ringing in his ears. He didn't want to hear nor see any of this cruelty!

He gasped inaudibly, he couldn't hear that his heart was beating so fast on his chest, couldn't hear that he was sobbing and sniffling like a child. All he could do was see the images of cruelty and hear the anguished voices of many fallen men. No. No!

("Do not avert your eyes from the truth. Accept the truth. You had better have the resolution. You'd best have the determination to inherit these sins!")

Tsuna began panting. He was almost convulsing at how irregular his breathing was.

"No…" He closed his eyes, hoping not to see anymore. Tsuna's grip on his hair got tighter. "Stop…"

"Stop it!" he screamed, his stomach feeling so revolted at the sinful visions. Tsuna curled to himself. His tears kept falling like there was no end. He clutched his hair like a lifeline. "Stop…"

"Please, stop it…!" he yelled as the images of men killing each other played in his mind.

("Do not avert your eyes. This is the fate of those who succeed the Vongola. This is the very reason that you have life.")

Tsuna started shaking, sobbing miserably.

("NO!" a teenager screamed. The adolescent was running towards his father. The teenager's father was crawling to the wall as countless men walked towards him, guns pointed at him menacingly. "Father!" The teenager was silenced with a bang.

"No!" the father yelled in horror.)

Tsuna curled into himself even more, shaking his head. "No…" He sniffed due to the clog on his nose. "I can't do these terrible things!"

("You cannot attain power without paying the proper price. If you want great power, you must have the resolve to succeed this great history.")

Tsuna slowly lifted his tear-streaked face and mumbled weakly in a depreciating manner, "Great history?" He sniffed rather loudly in growing disgust. "That's what you call this?"

(There was another scream. "Save me!")

Tsuna's eyes widened at what he heard and he closed his eyes shut in an attempt to block the voices and the images again. "I…"

"I don't want the power to do this!" Tsuna said determinedly. He wanted to be strong to protect everyone but…this kind of power…Tsuna didn't want it. However, he needed power to protect everyone…"Everyone…"

("Don't try to act so noble, Tsuna.")

Tsuna's eyes slowly opened. 'Reborn…'

("You don't need to be a hero."

"Returning everyone to the past? Endure the training to defeat the enemy?"

"Such noble ideas don't suit you.")

Tsuna closed his eyes, willing and forcing himself not to see or hear the tormenting voices of the dead and focused more on Reborn's voice.

("Isn't there someone you want to protect, even now?")

("I want to protect everyone!")

Tsuna opened his eyes, staring downward, "I thought I could do anything to protect everyone." He closed his eyes, "But I…" He took a deep breath and stared at the men before him with determined blazing eyes. "I don't want this kind of power!" They were taken aback by his sudden outburst, disbelieving that someone like him didn't want the power being offered.

"If you're going to make me succeed all of these sins," He bowed down his head and then lifted to look at them with defiant eyes, "Then I'll destroy the Vongola!" Tsuna yelled with strong emotion that came from the bottom of his heart.

Seconds later, Tsuna felt his exhausted body fall downward, 'Sorry…everyone.' he said internally, thinking that this would be his last thought, only for someone to catch him. The brunet snapped his eyes open.

"Kyuudaime!" Tsuna gasped in shock, face to face with his kind grandfather. The old man stood after helping him and walked away. That was when Tsuna noticed that he was somewhere bright, several men lined up on his left and right sides. In the center was the insignia of the Vongola Family that Reborn had drilled over his head.

One by one, those men lifted their weapons, and lit it up their sky flames. Tsuna looked at them with confusion in his eyes. He didn't know where he was or what he was doing here. What he did know was that he was supposed to be lying down in a dark secluded place.

However, Tsuna didn't ask any questions. He remained in his kneeling position, even when the person who was sitting on a very grand chair stood up and lit his flames, the embers coating his glove-covered hand. Tsuna saw a resemblance on that person and he came to question…just who was this person standing in front of him, looking so cool with his suit and over flowing black mantel?

"I accept your determination." Tsuna looked at the other person with blond hair and orange eyes.

Later, Tsuna would look back at that situation inside the thick sphere and think that it was thanks to Reborn's words that he managed to get back on his feet and strengthen his resolve even more. Though he wondered what Primo meant when he answered about time and why Kyuudaime also appeared.

"So the three of you are finally together."

"It's for when you attack the enemy."

"Just like how Tsuna's been training one on one with Lal Mirch in the last ten days, we're going to have each one of you train with an individual tutor."

"No, I'll be training Yamamoto."

"You should concentrate on your own training."

"Details will be given in ten days. I won't be moving during that, so rest properly." Hologram Byakuran happily informed. Tsuna could only clench his fist at this sudden turnabout.

"Stop this useless talk." Reborn started. There was a hard quality to it, making Tsuna turn to his tutor a bit curiously. "To see such a monster." Reborn partially growled the last word in anger.

Tsuna's eyes widened. It made him wonder where this sudden anger was coming from. Tsuna disliked Byakuran. Because of him, his friends were hurt, but Tsuna knew his tutor. His tutor just didn't hate anyone. Dislike, yes, but this…Tsuna could only describe this anger as hate, not a mere dislike or even annoyance.

"How could we properly rest?" the hitman added. Tsuna was taken aback at the emotion in Reborn's eyes.

"Reborn…" he unconsciously called out in a small voice.

"Oh?" Hologram Byakuran paused and looked at the tutor with an amused expression on his face, and then a contemplating look. "The Arcobaleno, Reborn?" Byakuran eyed his tutor a bit longer before humming under his throat. The white haired man sounded like he just thought of something. Tsuna automatically became wary. Despite not showing an ounce of sign, Tsuna felt that Reborn was wary as well.

"There's something peculiar about you, Arcobaleno Reborn." Byakuran slowly said. "It's probably just me," he added with a shrug, and then continued, "But you were slightly different from them…"

Tsuna's confusion grew at that, "What do you mean by that?"

Byakuran turned to look at him then added, his voice mocking, "Well, Tsunayoshi-kun, even if I do explain you still wouldn't understand." That insult made him bristle. If Byakuran's snickering was any indication, he found his reaction entertaining.

"Reborn," Byakuran called out to the tutor casually, giving the hitman a grin. Tsuna automatically cringed. There was a sudden gut feeling about Byakuran that made him not feel so good. "Is it because I'm the reason the Tsunayoshi Sawada of this era died?" Byakuran's smile became mischievous. Tsuna felt anger at that, so did the others, but the brunet focused more on Reborn's response.

What Tsuna saw made him clenched his fist. Reborn was looking at Byakuran with his default cool expression, but his tutor's eyes told a different story. It saddened him to see such vulnerable emotions in his tutor's eyes.

Byakuran chuckled as if he saw the answer to a difficult riddle. Then he started laughing louder, "Jackpot."

A feeling of protectiveness rose from within him and Tsuna immediately acted on it.

"Byakuran!" Tsuna yelled angrily. "Stop making fun of us!" He almost growled at the end. Tsuna's eyes were blazing with emotions.

"Tsuna." Reborn called out to calm him down, but Tsuna promptly ignored it, continuing to glare at the white haired enemy.

Byakuran continued laughing in hilarity. Tsuna seemed ready to fight even without his flames backing him up as he promptly forgot that the Byakuran in front of them was merely a hologram. Eventually Byakuran stopped laughing and turned to look at Tsuna with amused eyes.

"I am merely stating a fact." he commented. Tsuna glared harder at Byakuran. The white haired man made a sidelong glance at Reborn. There was a exchange between them before the Millefiore boss turned back to the rest of the group again. "Anyway, time's almost up." Byakuran said with a clap. "I would like to talk to you more, but alas, I must cut this conversation short."

Byakuran informed them that the melone base was going to disappear. Later, they would arrive at their own base, exhausted and ready to pass out, but the words Byakuran had uttered and Reborn's eyes never left the brunet until he fell asleep.

"Stop this useless talk. To see such a monster, how could we rest properly?"

"The ones who'll defeat you aren't the Arcobaleno. It'll be my student…Tsuna."

Reborn's voice suddenly permitted through Tsuna's ears and made his unconscious mind jerk up to start working.

'Re…born…' Just what would his tutor say if the brunet remained unresponsive?

("Dame-Tsuna, get up or I'll shoot that thick skull of yours.")

That voice, that sudden memory, immediately brought something like panic at the pit of Tsuna's stomach. Slowly, but determinedly, the clog on his mind had slowly disappeared. It made him think a bit more clearly than earlier, but it still felt like his thoughts would slip through his hands like sand.

'I…' Tsuna slowly started.

"Tsuna," At the call of his name, Tsuna's mind struggled to keep in control, wanting to hear what would be said to him. Hopefully, Reborn wouldn't say something about how no-good he was.

"You've got no choice, but to defeat Byakuran." Reborn said with a strong voice. It made Tsuna abruptly stop his mind from thinking. Reborn, his tutor, had such a strong conviction for him, yet the voice had more emotion than that.

However, that faith made the brunet want to meet that expectation, even when the feeling of numbness had started coursing on his body as if coaxing him to sleep.

Reborn wouldn't allow him to fall like this.

'I…can't die...' Tsuna's fingertip twitched. His tutor would kick him if he stayed down like this. Then Reborn would yell at him about how dame he was for not having the Dying Will to get up and being too weak to protect a single girl from the enemy.

'I can't…die. Not like this!' Tsuna repeated strongly and clearly. It lit the burning passion in his heart. Tsuna's hand twitched again in activity, and then he coughed out blood. With that single action, the numbness coursing through his body disappeared and was replaced with pain, especially around his throat. It made him cough even more.

("I want to protect everyone!")

"I…" Tsuna hoarsely started. The action of speaking even made his throat yearn for water, pain radiating from his body.

"…won't…" Tsuna slowly willed his body to move, silently encouraging himself that this pain wasn't as bad as Reborn's physical tendency to hurt him. The brunet slowly gazed up, lifted his body so that he was almost crawling on his elbows and arms.

"Hand Yuni…" He looked at his enemy. At the mere sight of Byakuran, Tsuna's body unconsciously shivered, but he still persisted to say his words, his resolve.

"Over…to you!" He almost screamed by the end, but his sore throat prevented him and it made him cough again.

Byakuran laughed and looked at him in amusement, "You're quivering! The body is so honest, don't you think? Yours remembers the fear of being beaten hollow."

Tsuna's resolve slowly weakened and his exhaustion strengthened when Byakuran pointed that out. He couldn't refute Byakuran's statement. It was true and it made him feel infuriated at his own weakness. Byakuran snickered this time.

"Your quivering is almost contagious." Tsuna noted that it was sarcasm. It made him shiver once again.

He continued kneeling like that, trying not to get up, not that he wouldn't but couldn't.

"How unlucky of you to wake up in a situation like this." Byakuran said almost sympathetically. Tsuna never believed that it was genuine. "But then again, I suppose since your middle school years, you've been unlucky." Tsuna could only stay in position.

"I know quite a lot about you." Byakuran remarked. "Not too long ago, you were merely a failure of a student who skipped school, and then a hitman came along and told you that you were a candidate to become the boss of a huge Mafia group, which threw you into this scary world."

"Since then, despite hating conflicts, you've been forced to fight for the title of boss. Your biggest misfortune, however…is that you came to this generation." Byakuran laughed mockingly.

Tsuna knew that Byakuran had a point, but it was still…wrong.

"If you hadn't been brought here, you wouldn't have had to go through all this. Didn't you curse your own fate? Right?" Byakuran questioned, but it was poised as a statement. Byakuran thought the brunet would agree with that, but Tsuna shook his head, clenching his fist against his kneecap.

"No…" Tsuna started, peering at Byakuran with an exhausted look on his face, but the burning in his eyes stood out.

"That's not exactly…true."

Byakuran stopped and looked at the brunet with questioning eyes.

"Well…" Tsuna started. He looked at the ground, yet he didn't unclench his fist. "The future is scary…and painful…and full of uncertainties." His mind went back to when he first came to be in this era and learned that everyone was in great danger. It was scary and painful. There were times when he grew uncertain of his decision, if it was really necessary to fight Byakuran when it was obvious that they didn't completely belong in this era, and if he made the right decision for his friends.

"There's been very few times where I've felt happy since coming here…" Knowing that everyone was safe and sound made Tsuna happy. The fun they had in this era, despite the war that was going on. The party they had, despite the dangerous and serious time.

"But…I feel as though I understand all that now…" He clenched his fist tighter. "It's not about what's good or bad…" Tsuna bit his lip willing himself to continue without coughing, to say what he really felt.

"Everything that happens here…is a precious part of my life." He looked up with determined eyes at Byakuran. The Millefiore boss looked thoughtful.

"You sure have an odd way of perceiving things. But I want you to think carefully. If you die, that'll only be a way to comfort yourself." Byakuran's right hand started gathering flames for an attack. Tsuna forced himself to stand up so he may counter or even dodge, coughing out blood in the process.

Gokudera yelled a vehement disagreement. "No!"

Tsuna was surprised that Byakuran actually stopped. The white haired man hummed to himself before the white dragon that was about to form in his hand dispersed and disappeared. "You're right. In his state…" Byakuran paused for dramatic effect, his face almost genuinely apologetic but everyone knew it wasn't. "A mini white dragon through his heart should be enough." In Byakuran's hand, a spear-like form of the dragon appeared. It made Tsuna's eyes widened in shock.

"W-Wait!"

"Don't wanna." Byakuran childishly denied with a sing sang tone. Next thing Tsuna knew, something pierced his heart, making him gasp. Pain coursed through his body. With that, Tsuna felt his body fall in slow motion, eyes wide with shocked and sudden realization that he was stabbed with a spear. Tsuna slowly let his gaze fall to the spear sticking through his chest.

"Tsuna!" the familiar squeaky voice yelled. It was unlike everything he had ever heard coming from his tutor that he unconsciously looked and searched for where it was coming from. Tsuna realized that the voice was filled with anguish and those eyes were so vulnerable.

An immeasurable hot burning pain coursed through his body and Tsuna finally fell to the ground with a thud. Tsuna's eyes found his tutor's and then it was gone. The brunet's eyes were wide open and directed at his tutor, who was looking at him with pale complexion as his student eyes became dull and slowly lost its shine.

Reborn unconsciously reached out his small chubby hand as if to desperately grasp something that had slipped through him. Reborn's mouth was open and he gasped out a silent one word that made this reality sink through him, "No."

His student was claimed by the darkness, once more.

"The ones who'll defeat you aren't the Arcobaleno. It'll be my student…Tsuna."

"Tsuna, you've got no choice but to defeat Byakuran."

And just like always, what Reborn saw next made him stare at his dame student with desperation and anguish on his face. They were so close to defeating Byakuran!

"Ciaossu!"

Reborn felt his mouth open to utter that same old wordto the brunet, who was sitting up from falling down the stairs. Tsuna looked at him with wide, confused and unknowing eyes. It made him see how trusting this naïve little boy looked at him, a stranger in his home, a hitman, without any distrust, and how Tsuna wore his heart in his sleeve.

"So you're Tsuna?" the tutor asked softly and painfully. He already knew the answer to that rhetorical question, but this was his line. The hitman watched his dame student nodd with a dumb blink, and then ask who he was, sitting down to reach his level with legs crossed. Reborn automatically replied with his originally sixth line, but now third line.

"I'm the home tutor, Reborn." He pulled a business card from inside his dress shirt.

Tsuna blinked at him. Reborn already knew what would happen next. Tsuna would laugh in hilarity and he would respond by kicking the said laughing boy on his head, though the last few repeats made him cringe rather than pleased, but it needed to be done.

What he didn't expect was for Tsuna, his dear student, to reach towards him. The brunet softly and worriedly asked, caramel-brown eyes peering at him with concern, "Are…you alright?"

That wasn't part of the script. Tsuna would never say that in the first act of the play.

As if the mere action wasn't already strange, Tsuna's eyes widened in panic upon asking a weird question and he immediately pulled back, gesturing animatedly with his arms and burning humiliation. "Ah! I mean! I-I…Well, you see, I actually didn't-! I mean…"

A small unnoticeable smile graced Reborn's face as he kicked his dear student in the chin after that garble of incoherent excuses. That action wasn't part of the script, but he had the sudden urge to disrupt that pattern to get a better result.

Reborn thought fondly that, perhaps, this time he would get this right.

And wrong he was as he watched his dear student fall to the pavement with a thud and no sky flames burst on his student's forehead.

Reborn then realized that Tsuna had died when he had been shot with the Dying Will Bullet. It only hit home when, a second later, his mouth had moved to state that accursed word that had started his own hell and noticed that he was back in time, starting all over again.

"Ciaossu!"

End

A/N: and here is the answer on why chapter 1 to chapter 3 was a cliffhanger, because this story is written in Tsuna's POV. Tsuna couldn't possibly know what would happen when he dies. The part where Tsuna dies wasn't clear because his death was so sudden he didn't want to think the word dying or death or die. Why I write the dialogue in the center was for difference between the original dialogue and on that's life dialogue of Reborn.

Those dialogues on the middle came from the original timeline where Tsuna first died against Byakuran and Chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4 was another timeline repeat with few changes because Reborn knew and despite reacting and saying almost the same thing Tsuna with his hyper intuition would instinctively felt something is wrong. Basically, Reborn's action causes Tsuna's decision it was like a butterfly effect because Reborn had the knowledge of what to come. Despite trying not to change anything too drastic Reborn couldnt and it showed on his lines and actions. (You could say that the canon timeline in the khr manga is the original timeline but Tsuna died after being choked by Byakuran.)

Thank you for reading Fractured Paths

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