10 Year Mishap

28

After no more than five minutes, Tsuna managed to slip away from Kyoya and out from between the walls. It was honestly a miracle. He made sure to avoid staff as much as he could, and was safe so far. He eventually made his way to the lab where he was sure his ticket home was. Admittedly, Tsuna hated the prospect of any kind of lab, but his broken trust was pushing him to get away from these people as soon as he could.

When he opened the door, he was pleased to find that the room was empty. Papers were scattered everywhere, monitors and computers were turned off, and there were tools everywhere. Surprisingly, anything that could be potentially dangerous was locked away somewhere, probably behind one of the three other doors, but he wasn't going to check. He chose to ignore everything in his search of the Parallel Bazooka. Now, he didn't know what it was or what it looked like, but he had a pretty good idea that the thing had to be massive in order to engulf a fully grown man.

Tsuna's search, however, was cut short when the door opened. "Little animal." That was new.

"Kyoya?" he turned to face the man, "What are you doing in here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." was the answer. Tsuna didn't say anything more as he continued to stare at the man.

Having enough of the staring contest, Kyoya stalked toward the child who backed away from him. He paid no mind as he lifted the young Sky by the back of his shirt. "Stop struggling. We're going to the top floor s we can get you home."

"I can walk by myself."

His pout was obvious to Kyoya, but it wasn't brought to attention. Instead, the Cloud huffed. "You're a flight risk."

"Says who?" The blank stare Tsuna got in return was answer enough, so he stopped struggling. Thankfully, they didn't see any staff on the way up.

It was weird. Tsuna was sure that there would be at least two members of staff in each hallway as a safety precaution, but they'd been very lax and lacking for two days now. Was something going on? He shook his head of those thoughts. These people are none of his concern. He doesn't belong here.

The walk was quiet, but quick. They encountered none of the Vongola Staff on the way up to Tsuna's office on the top floor. Three flights of stairs, three floors, and not a single other person to be seen. Suspicious.

Upon arriving on the third floor, the door at the end of the hall seemed much more daunting than it had the previous - and only other - time he'd seen it. It loomed over Tsuna as the two drew nearer to it. Voices on the other side only served to make him more nervous. He didn't show his nerves, though. He couldn't. No emotions, no attachments, no trust.

"You're late." Reborn said when Kyoya and Tsuna came into the room.

"Hn." was all Kyoya bothered to say as he dropped Tsuna.

'Kyoya, Ryohei, Takeshi, Reborn,' he mentally cataloged on his right before looking to his left, 'Hayato, Lambo, Chrome, Kyoya.' They had him basically closed in; trapped. Then, he spotted the thing he was probably looking for sitting on the dest between Reborn and Hayato. 'Bingo' Without further thought, Tsuna bolted for the object he'd locked his sight onto.

"Hold on there, brat." Reborn grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him away from the desk. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Going home." he was careful to keep eye contact.

"You don't even know how to use that thing."

"I'd have figured it out." The silence told him no one in the room believed him. Tsuna was offended by the audacity.

"Nevertheless," Reborn cleared his throat, "Sit down. We've got something to tell you."

"You can tell me," Tsuna didn't move from where he was put down. Sitting was showing trust. He didn't trust these people any more. Standing gave him a few seconds longer so he could run if needed. "I can't guarantee I'll listen."

The eight shared a look and silence retook its place in the room like a blanket. Just as Tsuna was getting ready to launch himself at the desk, Lambo spoke. "I'm sorry." he said, "I had the means to get you home the day you arrived, but I didn't."

Tsuna didn't respond.

No one else wanted to say anything. It was obvious that the child had no care for what they had to say. Mukuro shifted. "When you get back to your own world," he said, "make sure to stay safe."

Mukuro was the only one Tsuna allowed himself to feel any kind of trust towards. The man had gone through something similar in his childhood, and he knew the man - child - in his own world. He nodded.

Reborn opened and closed his mouth several times. He'd almost started a different sentence each time, but failed to find the proper words. He doesn't apologise. Not to adults and not to children. With a sigh, he picked up the Bazooka and aimed. "You better not turn up here again, okay, kid?"

"Don't bring me here and we won't have to meet each other ever again." Reborn pulled the trigger and baby blue smoke filled the room, thickest where the child once stood.

The room was tense as the smoke started to clear. The quiet was broken by Reborn's phone pinging a total of twice before coughing accompanied it. "About time you guys got me home."

***

Tsuna opened his eyes and found he was in an unfamiliar place. He left his world on the streets, so why was he in a house? Not only that, but the writing was different. His mind told him to be cautious, but the voice in his head said it was safe. A quick sweep of his immediate area lead him to discover some papers on the table. Making sure there was no danger, he picked up the papers and read through them. From what he could understand, Parallel Tsuna was a generous guy.

"This is all mine?" The house was clean, electricity, water, food, a phone, and money were all provided by his parallel self. 'No Emotions, No Attachments, No Trust' was the mantra he knew would keep him alive. Maybe, though, Tsuna would allow himself to trust his parallel self. After all, they're basically the same person. "Make Me Proud." was the message he'd been left. "I won't let you down."