Hello there!
First off, thanks for the review, alerts, and favourites. It's been like… the first for so long…
82 has not edited this chapter, I think, so I apologise for any mistakes. We didn't quite like how it turned out either and, because of my laziness, I wasn't bothered to rewrite it. 19 has decided to carry on with the story and updates will go by at her speed, whether it's weekly, fortnightly, monthly, I don't know.
So, possibly for the last time from me, enjoy the chapter!
Target 20: The Rings
Kioyshi's line of sight immediately shot downwards, staring at his hand in disbelief.
"Where could they be?" he asked, frowning.
Tsuna shook his head, "I don't think I actually had them when I appeared in this world."
"Should you call someone?"
Tsuna eyed the cordless phone on the corner of his desk. He reached over and picked it up while Kiyoshi dug into his pockets for contact numbers. Tsuna punched in the numbers of Yamamoto's mobile and waited impatiently for the dial tone to stop.
"The number you have called is unavai-"
Tsuna cancelled the call and immediately looked for another number. Scrawled underneath Yamamoto's mobile was Gokudera's number. Tsuna sighed mentally at the though of the amount of money that was needed to call overseas but emergencies were emergencies.
"Moshi moshi?"
"Gokudera-kun?"
"Jyuudaime! How are you?" Tsuna could feel the waves of happiness exuding from the phone.
"Not good at the moment, Gokudera-kun. The rings are missing."
There was a small silence, "Oh! I forgot to tell you when you arrived in this world. I've g-"
There were two beeps from Gokudera's side of the phone.
"Hold on. My phone's out of battery. I'll call you from the home phone."
"Alright."
Tsuna waited patiently for Gokudera to obtain the home phone, smiling slightly at the conversation between him and Mei on the other side.
"Oi, woman! Get off the fucking phone!"
"What do you mean? I need to call people too!"
"This is more important than your petty calls!"
"I'm telling Yukiko about this world at the moment. What's more important than information?"
"THE INFORMATION I NEED TO TELL TSUNA!"
"DON'T YELL AT ME!"
Tsuna held a short growl from the other side of the phone.
"OI! DON'T THROW DYNAMITE IN THE HOUSE! YOU'LL BURN IT DOWN AGAIN!"
"THEN GIVE ME THE FUCKING PHONE!"
"NO!"
There was an explosion.
"LOOK WHAT YOU DID! YOU BURNT DOWN THE HOME PHONE!"
"THAT'S YOUR FAULT WOMAN, NOW SHUT UP!"
"Um… Is everything alright there, Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna asked timidly.
"Stupid woman wouldn't give me the phone. Anyway, I was meant to tell you that I've g-"
There was a crackle and an ending tone. Gokudera's phone had run out of battery.
"Dammit!" Tsuna hissed, earning a strange look from Kiyoshi.
"Does Yukiko know this?" Kiyoshi asked as Tsuna shook his head. Kiyoshi cocked his head to the side before raising his voice and calling Yukiko.
"Did something happen with the phone?" Yukiko asked walking into the study almost immediately, "Mei and Gokudera-san were yelling at each other a moment ago."
"I think Gokudera made the phone explode," Tsuna replied, crinkling his nose, "But that's beside the point. The rings are gone."
Yukiko frowned, "Yeah. I only realised when Mei called and talked about this world."
"Sorry to interrupt but I'll go excuse myself. I need to do something," Kiyoshi said, giving Yukiko a hug and a kiss on the cheek before prancing outside.
"Talked about this world?" Tsuna questioned, ignoring Kiyoshi's strange departure.
"Yeah. Don't you find it weird? This world has no weapons. It's immaculate. We don't have rings either. We can't do any harm to others. It's a utopia."
Tsuna unconsciously ran his left hand over his right, feeling the emptiness on his knuckles, "So this isn't really the world we live in?"
"Kind of like a parallel universe, yes."
"Then where are the rings?"
"Mei mentioned something about the government. She thinks that that's where the rings are kept. After all, the rings could cause much harm and the government would want to get rid of them or use them for their own reasons," Yukiko sighed, "It seems like we'll be taking a trip to the government building."
The phone on Tsuna's desk started ringing and both Yukiko and Tsuna stared at it wordlessly. After the sixth ring, Tsuna moved to pick it up.
"Moshi moshi?"
"Ah. Tsuna-san? Is Yukiko there?"
"Yeah. Hold on." Tsuna gave the phone to Yukiko silently.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Yukiko! Sorry about that. The phone exploded."
"It's fine."
"I called up Yamamoto-kun a moment ago. We'll be arriving at Japan by tomorrow."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. We didn't actually take note of the rings until you brought it up today. We'll get them back."
"Alright. Thanks. See you later."
"Bye~"
Tsuna looked at Yukiko as she lowered the phone, "What did she say?"
"We're going to that government building sometime soon."
o.o.o.o
"Please fasten your seatbelts as we are ready for take-off."
Mei crossed her arms impatiently with Yamamoto beside her. The two of them had packed up, ready to go to Japan in order to take 14-year-old Tsuna and 14-year-old Yukiko to the main government building, situated back in Italy.
"Shouldn't we have told Hana?" Yamamoto asked, hear the small click as his seatbelt became fastened, "She'll be worried."
"I'll go call her."
"But we're ready for take-off."
"I don't care," Mei huffed as she whipped out her mobile. Dialling Hana's phone number, which she had long memorised, she waited for her stepsister to answer the phone.
"Hi, this is Hana. I can't answer the phone right now so please leave your name, message and contact number after the tone. Thanks, bye!"
Mei sighed. Hana, being the workaholic she was, never had her phone turned on…
"Hana? It's Mei. Yamamoto-san and I have gone to Japan again. The Vongola and Artiglio rings are missing. We'll be travelling back soon but don't worry. We'll take care of things." Mei noticed a flight attendant staring grumpily at the phone in her hands, "I have to go now. Bye!"
The second Mei hung up the phone, the flight attendant sent one last glare her way before continuing down the aisle.
o.o.o.o
Yamamoto and Mei arrived in Japan a couple of hours later. Tsuna and the Sujimichi twins were waiting expectantly, their faces matching the worried looks from the two that had recently stepped off a plane.
"Yo, Tsuna!" Yamamoto greeted happily, disguising his anxiety with an awkward smile. The young mafia boss smiled back sheepishly before Mei started to speak.
"You two will need passports to cross the borders. You obviously can't use your current ones seeing as you're now fifteen years younger," she trailed off.
"But you don't want to interrupt Ryohei-san and Mary in the middle of their honeymoon," Kiyoshi pointed out.
Mei coughed, "emergencies are emergencies. It's important. Besides, Mary's the only one who can forge a passport quickly."
By then, Yamamoto had already taken out his phone and dialled Ryohei.
Ring ring. Ring ring.
"Moshi moshi? Yamamoto?"
"Ah, Ryohei. How's your honeymoon?"
"HONEYMOON? THAT'S WHAT THIS IS?"
Yamamoto blinked, "isn't it?"
"BOOK! SMOKE! ROOM! GIRL! WHAT?"
"Sorry, I don't understand what you're saying," Yamamoto coughed.
"WHAT IS THIS PLACE?" Ryohei continued to yell.
"Um… Can you give the phone to Mary-Anne, please?" Yamamoto had a slight suspicion as to what was going on.
"Hello? Yamamoto?"
"Ah. It's Mary-Anne, isn't it?"
"Yeah. What happened? Ryohei suddenly disappeared and little Ryohei appeared."
Suspicions confirmed.
"There's too much to explain but don't think too much of it. Do you think you two can get back to Japan by this evening?"
"I think so. Yeah, alright. But you better explain everything later."
"Will do. Bye~"
Tsuna, Yukiko, Kiyoshi and Mei looked at Yamamoto strangely.
"Ryohei and Mary-Anne will be arriving soon," Yamamoto explained, "Ryohei from the fifteen-years-ago world appeared. All we can hope is that Ryohei doesn't cause too much of a problem when they come here, otherwise we'll need to smuggle you two over."
Tsuna shuddered slightly. He was a very honest boy. Smuggling people across borders was a giant leap, was it not?
o.o.o.o
Evening came all too soon. By this time, Ryohei and Mary-Anne had still not returned from their honeymoon. Yamamoto decided that it was best to carrying on their trip to Italy without forging passports. As a result, Tsuna, Yamamoto, Yukiko and Mei travelled to Italy, hoping their private jet plane wouldn't be stopped.
"When we arrive in Italy," Yamamoto said, looking at Tsuna and Yukiko, "The two of you will be situated between Mei and I. This way, we can help you if one of you get into trouble."
Tsuna and Yukiko nodded in response.
"We have found out that the ring boxes are kept underground," Yamamoto continued, "Under the Vatican."
"The Vatican?" Tsuna asked.
"The Vatican is where the Pope lives," Mei explained, "Although we're fairly sure the Pope has nothing to do with this, we still don't know why the government chose to place it there of all places."
Tsuna frowned. They were travelling underneath the Pope's home? Was it just him or did he run into a lot of strange situations the second he was forced to be the 10th Mafia Boss of the Vongola Family?
"The plan's simple enough. We break in, take the ring boxes and leave. They're bound to have traps and guards and all but we've got the upper hand in combat."
Everyone stayed silent after this. Not one word was uttered throughout the rest of their trip to Italy.
Not very far away, the Cervello members who had entered Inari's Archive appeared. The pink haired soldiers glanced around at their surroundings, understanding that their plan had worked.
With the Archive, they were able to control future, past and present that had been recorded in that strange door-less building.
The power was all theirs.
And that's 20 chapters!
I have no idea what the next chapter is called, seeing as I only wrote a paragraph in advance and 19's carrying on. Also, this story has way too much dialogue... I should learn to cut down a bit... A lot...
Either way, next chapter – Target 21: _?
- 37, MHYHM
Main Artiglio Family (Our OC's)
Sujimichi Yukiko – The founder/leader of the Artiglio Group. She is described as evil, emotionless and gets bored very easily.
Kirifuda Hibiki – The co-founder of the Artiglio Group. Despite the fact that Yukiko is the leader, it was Hibiki who suggested becoming a mafia family. He is described as quiet, mysterious and slightly sadistic.
Kusuri Hana – The healer of the group. She is described as cheerful, happy, and smart.
Hatsuon Mei – The adopted sister of Hana. For personal reasons, she decided to keep her original last name. She is described as spoilt, childish, somewhat ferocious and has a brother complex.
Mary-Anne (Mary) Schioppo – The trickster of the group. She is described as annoying, confident and extremely hyperactive.
Support
Kusuri Kai – The biological brother of Mei and adopted brother of Hana. He's the oldest of the support group and the mutual leader. He is described as very smart, kind and mature.
Sujimichi Kiyoshi – The older twin brother of Yukiko. He designs and makes all the clothing the Artiglio Family wear and he has a sister complex.
Kirifuda Teion – The younger brother of Hibiki. He is described as cute and is often spoilt by his brother.
Anne-Marie (Anne) Schioppo – The twin sister of Mary-Anne. They are exactly the same, hyperactiveness and all.