"You guys are slow" Ryuuichi yawned, lying down on the floor of Namimori Shrine. He had been there since 6 in the morning and to be honest, it was quite eerie. The ten-year-bazooka was on the ground beside the short stairs. He pushed himself up, supported by his arms as he watched the others approached with bored eyes.
Of course, Tsuna, the children, Gokudera and Yamamoto were surprised that he was that early. Reborn had narrowed his eyes a little. He wondered if Ryuuichi had nightmares again. Shortly after their arrival, Chrome and the Sasagawa siblings arrived, leaving Hibari and Haru.
Right after the girl's name were mentioned, she arrived with a large baggage behind her. Ryuuichi sweated at that before moving to her to help carry it. He simply shrugged when she thanked him, didn't even noticed the small blush on her face.
Lambo who was in Tsuna's hands struggled. "Lambo-san's going home after all!" He jumped out of his hands, followed by I-Pin who had wanted to stop him. The two of them fell into the bazooka which blasted them to the future. At least the troublesome one had gone to the future first.
"We don't have much time. Go one after the other" Reborn said. But Hibari hasn't arrive. "Don't worry. Just go" And all of them when to the future one by one, leaving Tsuna, Reborn and Ryuuichi. Ryuuichi gave an ensuring smile to the brunette before going off too. "He'll be there. Don't worry"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryuuichi placed the heavy bag down on the floor right after the pink smoked cleared. He nodded to both Spanner and Shoichi. He looked towards the other side, and saw Hibari. He sighed. He had long knew that the prefect had arrived first. He, after all, was the one who saw him blasting himself with it. He wondered if he should have told Tsuna about it.
A few seconds later, Reborn and Tsuna appeared, with the latter crouching on the floor. Shoichi and Spanner greeted the brunette in which Gokudera had asked for his well being. "Hibari-san didn't show up"
The said teen walked up to him. "What did you say about me?" Tsuna was surprised upon the prefect's sight and stuttered. "Hi-Hibari-san? Why are you here?!"
"Hibari-kun returned a little early" "Bah, I thought you got scared and ran" Hibari glared at Gokudera but said nothing before turning back to the Arcobaleno.
"Infant. I'll be waiting for another fight. I won't allow you to win and run" Ryuuichi sweated at that, remembering Reborn's Trial. If Hibari and Reborn really fought all out, he wonder what would happen. Reborn smirked at that. "Yeah, one of these days" Hibari seemed to be satisfied at the answer as he smirked back.
He walked away, nearer to the wall and away from the crowd. Somehow, when he passed by Ryuuichi, he dragged him along by the collar of his shirt. "Whoah what the heck!" Apparently, he had noticed the lack of sleep from the teen and had promptly sat him against the wall, saying nothing at all. Ryuuichi frowned at that, but was a little thankful since he was feeling a tad bit dizzy.
"Hey! What about Byakuran? Did he find out?" Tsuna asked, deciding to ignore the two of them in fear for his own life. Shoichi smiled and re-ensured him that the Milliefiore boss had not found out since they've just went back to the past for about ten minutes or so, much to the brunette's relief.
"So? Are you able to open the Vongola Sky Box now?" Spanner asked. Now that Tsuna think about it, he hadn't tried opening it. "If you have all the Arcobaleno Seals, that's good enough. But we must begin preparing you to fight Byakuran-san" Tsuna suddenly remembered that the girls and children were present and turned towards them. Fortunately, they were busy discussing about candies and sweets and hadn't heard what they said.
He then turned towards his guardians, and Ryuuichi. They all nodded at him, with an additional mischievious glint in Ryuuichi's eyes. Reborn called out his name, in which he nodded at him. "We can't afford to lose. That's why we came back" Not after all the shits they have been through. Not when the future is like this. He will do anything it takes to protect them all and to change the future, and as they all will too.
As for Ryuuichi, well, he'll just watch things unravel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Tsunayoshi-kun, I'll like to discuss the upcoming battles a little more." Shoichi said as he and Spanner checked the grounds above. Just as he was about to speak again, Tsuna stopped him just in time the children and the girls, along with Bianchi and Fuuta came out of the lounge room they were in.
"Bianchi, Fuuta? What is it?" Tsuna frowned upon the solemn faces of the girls. They must had felt left out. But they couldn't know. If they do..
"I'll be taking them back to the Vongola Base" Of course, Ryohei agreed. After all, the Vongola Base is much a safer place then the Melone Base. That, and they couldn't hear what Shoichi has to say to Tsuna and the others. Tsuna smiled, a little strained. "Thanks for coming to get them. I'm counting on you, Bianchi."
Of course, Kyoko and Haru didn't take it too well. "How can you say that? We're very unhappy about this!"
"We want to help out too!" "That's right! We can't go without you guys!" Kyoko and Haru protested. Tsuna didn't know what to do. He had somewhat expected it. "Thank you.. And you know, I appreciate the thought, but you shouldn't be here" Ryuuichi winced a little at the choice of words. Despite it was spoken softly, it was still a little.. Not good.
He sighed softly, knowing that the girls won't understand. Well, if he was with them, he would certainly be unhappy about it. It was as if he had no use at all, which he certainly do not like. He watched Tsuna struggled to convince them which Ryohei had helped.
"Because men have manly business to take care of" 'Just how manly is this..?' Ryuuichi deadpanned. "So please go back for now" That had managed to convince them. They backed out reluctantly, and had left with Bianchi. Fuuta, Lambo and I-Pin stayed back as they had something else to do, which Lambo wasn't really happy about it as he wanted to be with Kyoko and Haru.
"You can't always get what you want, Lambo. We need you. Look, I'll even give you this" Bribery to a child. Wow. But that certainly worked well. "Well, if Tsuna's gonna cry and beg, I'll stay."
Briefly, Ryuuichi wondered how did such a spoiled brat managed to turn into the TYL Lambo they frequently met. Might as well not know. That, and why Yamamoto sees things differently from what they normally see. In what mind did he thought that Gokudera was getting along with Lambo?
With Lambo settled, Fuuta followed Bianchi and the girls.
"The Milliefiore have been flushed from Namimori. There shouldn't be any danger." Shoichi spoke up right after the door closed. "So what did you want to talk about?" Gokudera asked, voice muffled for some reason. They turned towards him to find him stretching a Lambo's cheek whose leg were by his mouth. "We're listening so make it snappy!" They sweated.
"With the Varia's victory in Italy, we now have the advantage. All that's left is.." "Giving Byakuran an extreme beating!" Ryohei said quite enthusiastically which was yelled at by Gokudera for interrupting Shoichi.
"No" They looked around when they suddenly heard a voice. A quite familiar voice, to be exact. "We're just taking a breather. The all-out attack in Italy and the raid on Melone Base in Japan were a ton of fun" A hologram of Byakuran appeared.
"He appeared! That White Marshmallow freak!" Ryuuichi said with a bored voice, which Byakuran ignored but without glancing at him with a slight murderous glint. "I was able to witness the true strength of the strongest Vongola Squad. Very productive for a preliminary skirmish. It was also entertaining to watch Sho-chan try to fool me at Melone Base"
That had threw everyone off, except for Ryuuichi. "T-then you knew I was trying to..."
"Yep, it was plain as day. Though, it was a good plan to use this battle as an opportunity to switch sides. And to be honest, I never expected you to join forces with Vongola. But I knew you'd become my enemy one day, Sho-chan. After all you've always disapproved of my actions."
"You're wrong.."
"Well, do as you like. We'll soon see which one of us is right. Still, you have curious taste.. Entrusting the fate of the world to the young and naive Vongola Tenth. Honestly, it would be simple to throw my resources at you relentlessly and whittle the Vongola down. But you managed to entertain me so far. Besides, it hurts my pride as a leader when my second-in-command jumps ship. So I figure we should have a proper match. And official contest between the Vongola Family, led by Sawada Tsunayoshi and my Milliefiore Family"
Ryuuichi was honestly getting a little bored with his little, long-winded speech. All it all, Byakuran had wanted to fight with them, that's all. As if they weren't going to anyway. Not to mention that the white haired man probably had everything planned.
"With the Tri-Ni-Sette on the line, naturally. The timing is perfect, for a ceremony to bid farewell to Sho-chan and the old world, and ring in a new one."
Please wait, Byakuran-san! Do you believe we'll accept so readily?" Shoichi said. "You sent four to Melone Base here in Japan, one in Italy. Five of the Six Funeral Wreaths were deployed and you've lost five of the seven Mare Rings. You're just a bird with clipped wings"
"If they're real, that is..." Ryuuichi muttered loud enough for most of them to hear. They turned to him with a shocked expression. "Ohoh~ As expected of Ryuuichi-kun~ As sharp as always, aren't you~?" He scoffed at that and rolled his eyes. "Shut up and why don't you just tell them already"
"Fiesty~ Well, it would be true if those had been real." As on cue, the Mare ring on Shoichi's finger cracked and shattered to the ground. "What does that mean?!" Ryuuichi avoided the prefect's slight narrowed eyes and said nothing else at all. At the same time, the Gamma's ring had broke too.
"They do contain incredible A-rank gems, but the Tri-Ni-Sette is even more special. Forgive me, but I kept another group on sly. I kept them hidden because I thought you wouldn't be able to handle a meeting. But since we're enemies now, it should be fine. Allow me to introduce you."
A large screen hologram appeared and pictures of five men and one girl appeared. "Here are the six true Guardians of the Milliefiore Family. The real six Funeral Wreaths. They were chosen to be the bearers of the authentic Mare Rings, to help me create a new world. My true guardians."
The picture shifted to six rings of different element. All of them, including Shoichi were shocked. Even Shoichi didn't knew who they were. They were never in the list of Milliefiore Family members. Of course, if he had knew about them, Byakuran would have a hard time.
"Allow me to explain. Choosing people by their strength will only take you so far. Because the power of the rings is built on resolve. So I searched within the mafia all across the globe for strong fighters with extraordinary resolve. And I choose those whose resolve would transform into loyalty. The world's a big place. But that's the reason I was able to find them. For instance"
The screen shifted to the picture of a red head, before to a picture of peaceful looking mountains and green hills. "This man hails from a very lovely homeland, full of nature, as you can see. But when I asked him to demonstrate his resolve.." The picture shifted and the same one appeared, only, there were lava and fire everywhere, as if it was hell.
"He abandoned his homeland. Scary, right? It was over in an instant. I didn't expect him to eradicate the village and the people he grew up with just to show his loyalty."
The screen showed the lava flowing down, burning the trees that were in it's way. It was too much to Tsuna. How could someone do this to their home?
Gokudera then spotted something, or rather, someone in the magma, which turned out to be the red head. He was.. Bathing in it while whistling. Here's the point. How could a human, even if he's the real Funeral Wreath, be inside a fire burning lava which could burn you into nothing, and weren't dead? Well, this is the world of Anime. What do you expect?
"You should understand the extraordinary power of the real Funeral Wreaths now. And each one of them has been given 5000 men and 100 chosen A-Rank soldiers. Ah right, before I forget"
Byakuran turned towards Ryuuichi's direction with a cunning smirk. "Ryuuichi-kun, join Milliefiore and you'll be spared from death" The rest went silence and watched them with wide eyes whilst Hibari growled. The said teen, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expect the white haired man to even try and recruit him. He simply scoffed and chuckled.
"No thanks Byakuran" The smirk from the said man dropped. Ryuuichi pushed himself up, standing with his head held high and smirking, hands in his pocket. "My loyalty lies with them" He gestured to Tsuna and the others, giving them a small smile before turning back to the man.
Byakuran, of course had knew that he would reject it. He chuckled a little menacingly. "As expected. I thought you would accept it, unlike your older self" Ryuuichi narrowed his eyes and his smile dropped. 'My older self...?'
"Well, then. It's your loss, Ryuuichi-kun. If you all can defeat us, you'll truly win. And the Milliefiore will surrender to the Vongola"
"Byakuran-san, what are you plotting?!"
"Do you remember that Choice game we used to play? We'll be playing that in real life. I'll announce the details in ten days, so sit tight for now. We won't make a move before then. Kick back and relax"
Reborn jumped down from the computer table and landed in front of Byakuran. "Don't be ridiculous. How are we supposed to relax after seeing that monster?"
"Oh, you must be the Arcobaleno, Reborn. I'd love to chat, but it's almost time. The Melone Base you're in will soon disappear. To be more precise, the Flame Ring Teleportation System within the base will move it."
The place started to slowly glow in bright, white light. Everyone other than Ryuuichi and Shoichi panicked as the whole place started to shake. And before then knew it, their sight were taken away. The impact of the teleportation had most of them falling down. Ryuuichi grabbed hold on Hibari and they along with Reborn were the ones that were still standing.
As the blinding light dispersed, the Melone Base had disappeared, except Shoichi's laboratory. Ryuuichi whistled, impressed at the work as he looked down to the void before backing away from there. "But why? Why are we still here when the base disappeared?"
"We weren't teleported because the seven Vongola Rings were in one place. They created a barrier that protect us and the device." Shoichi answered the brunette. Reborn then asked. "Did you predicted this? Is that why you brought Ryohei and his ring from the past?"
"Yeah. I've planned for a number of Byakuran-san's potential moves." Well, even though things had taken an unexpected turn, their motives are still the same. Defeat Byakuran. That was why they've returned to the future when they had a choice not to. But it would be a hard fight. With that amount of soldiers and the strengths and power from the real Funeral Wreaths, the chances of winning are slim.
"No, we can do it!" Shoichi insisted as he moved towards the Round device. "You've overcome obstacles for this very reason. Now that you're stronger, you have a chance to take them! We weren't simply trying to cause you trouble! Your training will unlock a new power"
He stopped in front of the machine and turned towards them. "A power you wouldn't have been able to use without becoming stronger" He placed a hand on it, and it started to glow. Six flames of different element other than the Sky turned in the small hole in the center of it. "They're a gift from the Vongola boss of this time. Don't hesitate to take them." Flames were shot towards the guardians and six boxes were in their hands.
"The Vongola Boxes for your Guardians. These are the Vongola Boxes left by the Vongola Tenth from this time"
"I-I left them?" Gokudera eyes sparkled in admiration. "Thank you so much for thinking of me, Juudaime!"
"Uhh, Gokudera-kun. The future me did this.."
"I thought that the Sky Box would be enough, but I wasn't expecting the real Funeral Wreaths. Vongola Tenth had much better foresight when he prepared boxes for all the Guardians"
And then, Squalo's voice was heard over the transmitter. Ryuuichi winced at the volume and immediately took it off, rubbing at his ear, seeing that they could literally hear his voice even without it anyway.
"You shits are still alive, yeah?! Listen up! At this point, all the members of the Vongola are in the same lot. It doesn't matter if you're a bunch of brats-" A rock was thrown at his head as he angrily shouted at his boss. "You!"
"Sawada Tsunayoshi" Xanxus spoke. "Did you finally matured a little bit? In ten days, you'd better prove that the Vongola are the strongest." Annddd, the connection was cut off, presumedly that Xanxus had broken the transmitter.
"'Prove that the Vongola are the strongest'? Who does that shit think he is?"
"Well, either way, they should be on our side this time. And now.." Reborn held his gun towards Ryuuichi, who was still rubbing his ringing ear, eyes shadowed by his fedora. "Explain. Now" Everyone fell into silence as Ryuuichi sweated, wondering if he should have just shut up that time.
He sighed and held out his hand, pointer finger indicating a number. "One, yes, I knew about the fake ring and the real Funeral Wreaths. Two, I know Byakuran but!" He emphasized his word upon the open mouths. "That was the first time I ever talked to him. Three, I definitely had no idea why he would try to recruit me nor about the thing he has with my older self. And lastly" True, he hadn't had a clue why Byakuran had did that. And the fact that he had once tried recruiting his older self wasn't even mentioned in the letter his older self had written.
His older self sure has a lot of secrets. And here he thought that he has more.
He stood straighter. "You all have my word I will always by your side and that I will never be your enemy. My loyalty lies with you guys. " His eyes gleamed, showing that he was in fact, very serious and his words shouldn't be taken lightly. Reborn, although wasn't satisfied, but slowly lowered his gun, much to his relief.
The others, too, nodded slowly. He sighed in relief. "Thank you.." He muttered in a small voice, but it was heard.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N = First chapter of the Choice Arc!!
I just realized that the part with Byakuran was long winded as heck but I can't seem to find a part to cut off so yeah.
Well, they were used to Ryuuichi not telling them the truth so they didn't asked further but chose to believe him. After all they been through together with him, they knew better than not to believe him. Reborn too.
Fun Fact= Ryuuichi had almost screamed Hibari appeared at the shrine.. Via trees. Yes. Via trees. So imagine yourself sitting on the porch of the silent Shrine when suddenly the trees and bushes rustled and someone jumped out of it. Yeah.
No, Haru do not have a crush on Ryuuichi even if he had helped him with the huge baggage. He was just helping. Anddd Haru still has this crush on Tsuna so yeah.
I just realize how the time when the truth would be revealed is getting nearer. Well, not exactly but if you compare to the time when I've started writing this? Holeh shit. And Nope. I'm still not revealing anything yet so MWAHAHHAHAHAHA.
That, and this is by far the longest story I've ever written, and is still updating and blah blah blah... *Remembered my other stories* *gloom* .........
[I apologize for any spellings, grammars, etc.etc. mistakes]