From Another World

16. Intermission

Surprise broke through the group once more at the claim. I sat there silent, fingering the rings on my fingers. No one had noticed that I was switched out yet and I was amused.

"Normally, everything I do in under a twenty-four-hour surveillance by my subordinates and the cameras which transmit directly to Byakuran-san. But, thanks to you guys, everything is a mess," Shoichi gestured wide, indicating the destruction of Melone Base. "Finally, I can talk without altering the Millefiore family... haaaah... I've been waiting for too long for this moment.

"Being able to meet you in this base, under these conditions, was the goal we were planning for from the start. The fact that you were brought to this era because the Millefiore wanted to take the Vonolga Rings is one hundred percent true. But ever since you guys arrived in this era, I've been pulling the strings to get you all here. This is all a secret plan we devised without the knowledge of the Millefiore so that you could undergo training and become stronger."

Even with all the exclamations of surprise that continued to come from everyone, Shoichi kept on talking, trying to show everyone that he really was on the good side.

"A lot of bad things happened though... and for that, I'm really sorry. But you had to be trained to increase your strength exponentially in the shortest time possible so that you'd be ready for the upcoming battle... This was the only way!"

"For the upcoming battle...?" Reborn wondered.

"That's right!! I am not the enemy you're after!"

"Screw you!" Gokudera shouted, pissed off at what seemed to be a pathetic attempt at playing the good guy. "You're making this all up! You were the one who got us all into this mess!"

Everyone shouted their agreements, blaming Shoichi and I rolled my eyes. Everyone else was standing, but I wanted them to solve their differences themselves, I shouldn't have to clean up Shoichi's unlucky mess.

"W-wait, just think about it! If I'd wanted to kill you, I'd have killed you all from the moment you came to this era!" Shoichi ruffled his hair, frustrated. "No matter how much the Millefiore drop their guard, their fire power is light years ahead of yours. Instead of replacing your future counterparts all at once, I made sure your counterparts of this era could guide and train all of you from the past.

"Also, once you entered this base, I could have moved the base much earlier and capture all of you. But... that wouldn't help you gain the experience you needed, so I had to delay on purpose! And that's not all... did you think about why I-Pin, Sasagawa Kyoko and Miura Haru were brought here from the past even though they were not your guardians?"

Tsuna perked up at that, wanting the reason as to why innocent people were involved. I closed my eyes, mentally telling him that this was necessary. Even if it wasn't what this Tsuna had wanted, it was what his future-self decided; future Tsuna knew himself and knew what it would take for young Tsuna to power-up immensely within the span of a few hours.

"You would grow a lot stronger when there are people you want to protect," Shoichi continued. "We had decided that it was a necessity we couldn't avoid."

Tsuna lost it, he rushed to Shoichi and grabbed his shirt, angry. "How could you!! What kind of reason is that?!! What is something had happened to Kyoko-chan and the others?! And, it's not just them! All of us! Even before the training started, Yamamoto, Gokudera-kun, and even Lal... we all could have died in a fight!"

"If that were the case... it couldn't be helped anyway..." Tsuna froze at the harshness of Shoichi's words. Before Tsuna could make a comment, Shoichi exploded, his frustration boiling. "I've tried my best to plan it all! If something unexpected happened, I'd be introuble too! All of this is a lot more serious than you think! Besides, this entire plan was part of your future counterpart's idea too, Tsunayoshi-kun!"