His Meaning of Life (Ch.1)

"Thanks to that idiotic cow, I now have more than enough power to complete the specimen..." Verde muttered under his breath. A coy smiled played at his lips, and his miniature fingers flew over the keyboard at a alarming rate. He then tutted in annoyance when the wound on his cheek suddenly stung, one he got when the robot he inhabited at Mafia Land was blasted to rubble. Sighing, he glanced over his shoulder, and his smile widened. Oh, how perfect she was! He was near overwhelmed with giddiness to know it was only a matter of weeks upon the day she could move freely. And of course, she would be moving to his will.

"Just a little more... my new assistant."
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Reborn gave a subtle smile as he woke from his sleep, and saw Tsuna sprawled on his bed like the most carefree child in the world... Though that's what most people would think at a glance. Even in the darkness, the home tutor could see his deepened set of eyes, slightly red upon the recent reunion with his mother and sunken with fatigue. His muscles were tensed, his body on guard and ready to attack or defend at a moment's notice. Even in his mind, Reborn read little thoughts here and there of his dark experience in the future, his not quite erased fear for his beloved Family and sorrow for Yuni's sacrifice. Tsuna had come a long, long way from when the Arcobaleno first met him, and though he would never say so directly, he was proud. Proud of Tsuna, and proud of everyone else in his Family. They were merely children, yet went through such an ordeal and somehow survived.

And they can still smile. An image of the laughing, talking bunch passed through his mind, as they dined own the feast Maman had set before them upon return, and, after a few good moments, the infant tucked it away into the back of his mind. Such thoughts were not beneficial for a hitman, though he was surprisingly reluctant to erase it completely.

He hopped from his hammock onto the floor, not bothering with the fake, showy traps he set around them. Trudging over to the porch, he carefully slid the door open, and effortlessly jumped onto the railing. His abyss of eyes stared straight into the moon, unblinking and thoughtful. He was happy to return to their own time, even more so knowing he would not die as soon as fate first dictated. But, even then, there was one thing that was bothering him greatly...

The box weapons.

When he first learned about them, he was quite surprised that such mechanisms were created in such a short amount of time. However, when he learned of Byakuran's ability to retrieve information from parallel words, it made sense. Byakuran simply went to other worlds, where science was most developed and brought it to the future Tsuna and the other were familiar with. And when Byakuran was eliminated, everything, across all space and time, involving him was supposedly erased, as if it never happened. Yet upon their final departures, the box weapons Tsuna and the others had seemed untouched. Does that mean Byakuran had nothing to do with their development?

Reborn supposed it was possible that the changes hadn't taken effect immediately, and that they had simply left too soon. Sighing, he pondered over his mind for any possible methods of contacting the future to do a touch base with Shoichi, but could find none. It's quite likely the Bovino Family will reclaim the 10-Year Bazooka soon after all the trouble it's caused. (The ones the annoying self-proclaimed hitman created in public, as even the technologically advanced Bovino Family have no way of learning what events occurred in the future.) But even then, 5 minutes isn't nearly enough time for a proper discussion.

If Byakuran didn't help create the box weapons, then something else did. Someone else. And the future must have something to do with it too, since the technology required shouldn't have come naturally within the next decade.

He sighed again, and decided the best thing to do was to deal with trouble as it came along. And trouble will come... he had no doubt about that.
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It was now one month since they had returned from the future.

Just as he promised, Yamamoto has gone back to baseball, determined to lead Namimori to the nationals. Everyone considered him to be the star player, and had no doubts for their school's victory.

Gokudera has become a slightly better brother to Bianchi, provided of course her face was partially hidden. Everyone was baffled as to what brought about this change, though he insisted otherwise.

Ryohei had started having trouble looking Hana in they eye, rather worrying Kyoko when he would dash off more quickly and enthusiastically than usual at the mere sight of her.

Chrome spent her days with Chikusa and Ken, occasionally picking up her trident for light sparring and had even a few times gone to visit Kyoko and Haru. The shy Mist Guradian had opened up considerably thanks to the girls, and her experience in the future.

Lambo suffered little change, living blissfully off his ignorance and whittling his time by playing with I-Pin, Futa and the other girls, though every now and then he would fondly check on his Vongola Box Ring. He had become surprisingly attached to 'Beef Bowl,' and rather missed him.

Hibari was just as reserved as usual, laying about on the school's roof and working just as passionately to maintain Namimori's order. Few could say they were relieved to have him patrolling the grounds once more.

And Tsuna, of course, was currently struggling with homework.

"What do I do?!" He wailed. "At this rate, I'll end up having to take summer courses!"

Reborn quickly hit Tsuna in response, having Leon turn into a hammer. "You should have paid more attention in school."

"OW!" He screamed, clutching his head. "How can I pay attention when I have to go chase after Lambo?!"

His home tutor struck him again. "No complaining. You're the boss, it's your job to take care of the Family."

"I can't do both at the same time! And I'm not the boss! I have nothing to do with the Mafia!"

Tsuna flinched as he anticipated another blow, but Reborn merely sighed. "You're still saying that?" Leon turned back to his usual form, and he hopped onto the table. "Vongola Primo has already recognized you, and the others approved of you when you were stuck in Hibari's hedgehog. Your new gloves prove it."

"But I only wanted to prote- ow!"

"I'm not done yet." He said sternly. "You're very nearly the official Vongloa X. All that's left is to get Ninth's direct approval, as well as the other Famiglias in the alliance."

Tsuna settled down somewhat, and choked "Alliance?!"

"That's right. I've already told you the Vongola's the center of a powerful alliance. You have no choice but to become Vongola X, for the sake of the family."

"You're not making any sense! What's Yamamoto and the others have to do with this?!" He cried exasperatedly.

"If the others deem you unworthy of the Vongoloa's new boss- or rather, the new leader of the alliance, they could very well come after you and the rest of the Family."

"What?! You mean if they don't like us they'll kill us?!" His scrawny arms flailed in panic.

"Most likely."

"Wahhhhhhh... I thought we were done fighting!"

"Stupid Tsuna. One in the Mafia never stops fighting." He pointed his gun at Tsuna, forcing an alarming shriek from the child before putting it away. "Every few years, all the families in the alliance have a meeting. The next one is in several months. If you don't prove yourself then, you're screwed."

He blinked. "Eh."

"..."

"..."

"NANIIIIIIIIIII?!"

"That's right."

"But the other bosses said I could do whatever I want with the Vongola, right? D-doesn't that mean..."

"That's no good." Reborn pulled out the gun again. "It's true they've given you permission to change its ways, but by no means can you destroy their pride. Do that, and they'll never forgive you."

"Eh?! Wh-what do I do?! Kyoko-chan and the others will be in danger!"

"Simple. Become Vongola X."

"It's not that easy! I'm not cut out for this!" He said exasperatedly.

Reborn frowned. "Of course it is. You are the one who lead the attack on Byakuran."

"B-but everyone was helping me!"

The Arcobaleno gave Tsuna a hard stare. "And you think this time will be different?"

Tsuna's grimace softened as he was struck with realization, and he lowered his arms.

That's right... even without Shoichi or Spanner or Lal Mirch, I have my friends... I can do this, right?

"Wrong." Reborn made a clicking sound with his gun.

"Eh?! Reborn!"

"You're not strong enough. Without the box weapons, only about half the experience you gained from fighting in the future is usable now."

His jaw dropped. "That's crazy!"

"Crazy or not, it's the truth."

And Gokudera's got the worst of it... Reborn thought. His SISTEMA CAI depended almost entirely on the rings and boxes of the future. Thanks to the Arcobaleno and the Vongola Box Rings, their box animals could still be summoned, but it's still not the same.

"Anyway, you better get back to studying." He said curtly, and had Leon fly him outside.

"Reborn!"

"No leaving the house." He pressed the button on the remote, and the porch broke into an explosion.

Tsuna screamed, and Reborn chuckled. The child still had a ways to go.
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Balancing the bat over his shoulder, he stared intensely at the pitching machine, focused solely on its entrance. His grip tightened, then loosened again, and his heels dug into the dirt.

Suddenly, it fired. Eyes narrowed, he quickly swung at the blurred shape in front of him, and felt the impact. A perfect hit. The ball sailed over the field and beyond the fence, and he sighed. That was the 5th one he lost today.

"Yamamoto!"

The said teen glanced behind him, then smiled. "Kid! Hiya!"

"Ciaossu." The baby landed on his shoulder, and Leon returned to his original form. "Hm, 200 km. Impressive."

"Ah, really? Well, I did miss a few."

Reborn only responded with a smirk, then tapped Yamamoto's shoulder. "You haven't truly dropped the sword, have you?"

His eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know?"

"I can just tell." He replied. In truth, he had seen him practicing late into the night, though he wasn't about to say so.

"Oh, haha! Yeah, that's true." He grinned sheepishly. He slowly swung the bat around in his left hand. "For some reason, I couldn't just stop with it. I mean, I don't practice like I used to, just swing it around every now and then." He turned his head towards the sky, and said under his breathe "Maybe it was something Squalo said..." Right before Yamamoto left, the Varia swordsman scolded him (rather loudly) for deciding to abandon the sword and return to baseball.

"You coward! You'll never be able to outdo me as a swordsman!"

Yamamoto smiled, and said quietly "Who knows..."

"Perhaps." Reborn jumped off Yamomoto's shoulder onto his hand, then to the ground, landing neatly. "Well, you'll see him again soon enough."

"Oh! Really?" Even if it's only been a month, he missed his old tutor. But at the same time...

"Yup."

His eyes darkened. "Will there be trouble?"

Both turned to the sky, and noticed the sun starting to set. "Yeah..."
________________________________________________________________________________________

So what do I have to work with... After carefully laying out his weapons, the Storm Guardian scanned the array, mind working to somehow figure out a new fighting style. Since he couldn't bring back the Vongola Boxes from the future, all he had left were his dynamite, Uri, and his Vongola Ring.

Speaking of which... it's been a while. Replacing Uri on his finger, he focused his flames in the face of his old friend and pointed it onto the table. In a flash of crimson light, the cat appeared, lazily stretching and yawning. "Ah, sorry Uri! Were you napping?"

Then, the cat turned on him and snarled, promptly launching itself onto his face. "Ow ow- oy! Uri!"

He ripped the cat off him, and scowled as he felt the all-too familiar sting of scratches. "Stupid cat! Ain't it about time you got used to me?!"

Uri hissed once more, then wriggled away from his grasp and haughtily stalked off somewhere. "Hey! Uri!"

The door shut on his words, thought he had no doubt the Box Weapon heard them. "Stupid cat." He muttered again. Why did he summon him again?

He studied the weapons once more, then yelled in frustration when nothing helpful came to mind. He knew very well that he was most likely the weakest of the guardians right now. Heck, if someone used the trigger word on Lambo, even he could beat him!

Though of course he knew those things, admitting it was another story.

"Stupid cow." He muttered angrily. The scorch mark he'd gotten from Beef Bowl was still giving him grief. Sighing, he realized he had relied too heavily on SISTEMA CAI. Now that he can no longer use it, he was probably at the same level as when he first fought Gamma. (Though he did fight Gamma with a box weapon, he was quite sure that his reflexes had improved.)

"Dammit!" Who could he ask for help? Shamal maybe? Nah, he looked like he had nothing else to teach him.

"Oh, I know! I'll, go to Reborn-san!" Surely the Arcobaleno could help him somehow. Ah, wait... but then... He suddenly remembered the time he was forced to adorn that ridiculous hair style, and his awful experience with the Goyza Tempo, and slowly sat back down.

That's no good either! He thought in distress.

Dammit... looks like I'm on my own... Picking up a pad of paper, he shoved on his glasses and began jotting down ideas.

No more than a few seconds later, he threw down everything in his hands and rushed out the door. "Uri! URI!"
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"EXTREME RUNNING!" Ryohei shouted as he dashed along his route. Normally, he would be doing this in the morning, but he had to tell Kyoko some kind of excuse for running away from... from...

His face suddenly flushed as he remembered the photo he saw in the future. "Dammit! Maybe I should have said something to her?!" He yelled. Maybe if he said something, he wouldn't be feeling so extremely... whatever he was feeling.

"But what should I have said?!"

A familiar figure appeared in front of him, and he grinned. "Hey! Korra!"

"Master!" He slowed down a little, and settled to jogging in place beside Collonello.

"Isn't it a little late for this? And why is your face so red? Korra!"

"Oh! I, er..." His face reddened further, and Collonello sweatdropped. He then promptly turned away and ran off at a pace that left dirt flying in his trail. "Sorry Master! Gotta run!"

"Ryo-"

"EXTREME RUNNINGGGGG!"

The baby watch in skepticism as his student suddenly summoned a kangaroo by his side, which struggled to keep up with Ryohei's ridiculous speed.

The pair quickly disappeared from his sight, and he sighed. "Tch, korra. What was that about?" Obviously something was up with Ryohei, but he didn't sense any danger either.

"Guess I can leave him be for now, korra." He muttered, and had his seagull fly him off.

Off in the distance, Ryohei yelled "Crap! Master's onto me!"

Mangaroo made a strange sound in reply, which the Sun Guardian somehow interpreted as agreement.

The two continued to run, (but of course, the kangaroo hopped) until they hit a forest.

"Oh, I'm almost done!" He panted. His house was just on the other side of the woods! "Mangaroo! Thanks for being an extremely awesome running partner!" He held out the fist with the ring, and the Box Animal bumped it with its own in response, immediately disappearing in a flash of golden light. Can't let Kyoko see the kangaroo.

He continued the route on his own, going at his normal pace. The sun had almost completely set, almost entirely casting the woods in darkness. He could barely see the ground in front of him.

This isn't extremely good... He thought to himself. Kyoko would worry if he came home with a sprained ankle. Maybe he should walk instead?

"No! No matter the danger, men push through extreme conditions!" He shouted.

Suddenly, a large shadow flew past him, and he whirled around just in time to raise his right arm to block an attack. Giving Ryohei no time to celebrate, the attacker lay a flurry of kicks, never once touching the ground.

"Oy! You attacked me from behind!" He shouted as he avoided and blocked the blows, almost easily.

The stranger have him a hard stare, one Ryohei couldn't see, but feel. Instantly, he attacker spun himself around in midair, and aimed a hard kick on the teen's shoulder. The sudden change in direction of the attacks completely caught the Sun Guardian off guard, and he took the full brunt of it right in the junction of his shoulder. The attacker then wasted no time, planting a foot squarely on the ground before whirling around and striking across the upper half portion of Ryohei's body with his heel, sending him flying into a nearby tree trunk.

The stranger backed up slightly as he closely watched Ryohei's still body, half buried in the trunk. Dust stirred from the impact.

'Hm... did I finish him?'

Beneath the hood, his eyes widened. 'No!'

"Oy, you're extremely good!" Ryohei grinned at him. "Come join the boxing club!"

He bit back a snarl. 'This man is... ridiculously tough.'

Ryohei took no notice of the ill intent, and winced as he saw the bruise that attack on his shoulder left him. This will definitely make Kyoko worry.

'No, no! This is no good!' The stranger thought in panic. 'I can't waste anymore time on him!' Ignoring Ryohei's obvious intent on battling, he turned and began to flee.

"Hey! Real men don't run from battles!" He shouted angrily.

Surprising him once more, the stranger turned and yanked his hood down, revealing his- or rather, her, face. "I'm a woman!" She yelled. She then dashed off, leaving behind a flabbergasted Ryohei. His pupils were shrunken in surprise.

Eh.

EH?!

"NANIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII?!"
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"Uri! Uri!" Gokudera pulled at the leaves, brushing them aside in hopes of finding the box weapon. He had been searching for over an hour. Not only is it late, but he heard the neighbor's dogs suddenly broke out.

"Stupid owners." He muttered. "Can't even handle their own pets." Of course, only he did not know the irony of this. "Gotta find Uri before those scoundrels do." He sighed.

Suddenly, a faint cry sounded from deeper in, and his eyes brightened. "Uri!"

"Mrow~" The cat sauntered in from the leaves, nudging along something very familiar.

"Uri?" Gokudera urged the cat to sit next to him, and he took a closer look at the object.

His eyes widened in shock. "This... this is-!"

His box weapon.
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"Again with the meetings Reborn?"

"What is it now? Korra!"

Reborn frowned. "They need to be further trained."

"What for?" Fong asked calmly. "I haven't seen any dangers around these parts since I returned to Japan."

"Well, first of all, the Vongola Alliance meeting is coming up. It's around this time they start sending out Mafiosa to test those in the Vongola family." Reborn looked at them all intensely. "Most of them, I'm pretty confident Tsuna and the others can handle, but there's one that nearly tore down the alliance 3 years ago."

Lal thought hard, and her expression changed as she suddenly remembered. "The Drago family!"

Reborn nodded. "Yeah. I already verified that they're still up and running, actively working in the alliance. Apparently, they are generally peaceful people, but refuse to work under anyone weaker than them."

"Well, you're asking us to train them, but what else can we teach them? I've already done all I can during the time our seals were being collected, korra!"

"Currently, they're not as strong as they were when they took the Arcobaleno trials. You remember those strange weapons they used when they fought you, don't you Collonello?"

"Yeah, korra! That Storm brat was tons stronger when he used them."

"Well, they no longer have them. We need to help them develop new fighting styles, since their previous ones revolved around the box weapons."

Lal blinked. "What happened to them?"

"Unfortunately, I can't say."

They fell silent, but knowing Reborn, there must be a good reason he couldn't tell them.

"R-Reborn-senpai! I brought him!"

"Please, I came here of my own will. No lackey of Reborn can 'bring' me anywhere."

"Verde!" Lal Milch and Collonello rushed to their feet. "You traitor!"

The lightning Arcobaleno ignored them, and sauntered up to Reborn. "Well, what is it? Keep in mind the only reason I came was because of your message."

Reborn smiled. "I was hoping you could tutor Gokudera."

"Gokudera?!" The others cried in protest.

"Hey! Hey! I did a good job, didn't I Senpai?! Senpai?!"

"The Storm Guardian? Please. What could I possibly teach such a child?"

"Both of you think in theory. I figured if anyone could help him develop another fighting style, it'd be you."

"Senpaiiiii!"

Verde smirked. "You honestly think that delinquent can keep up with me?"

Reborn smiled back. "Of course. He's the brains of the group. And he's also my student."

"SENPAI!"

"Shut up Skull." Without warning, Reborn picked him up by the helmet and tossed him into the beyond.

As Skull sailed into the sunset, he screamed "REBORN! I'LL GET YOU BACK SOME DAY! Mark my woooooooooooooords..."

Collonello blinked at the flying figure. "You were pretty easy on him, korra!"

"Now that I think about it, perhaps I should have hit him with the 1 ton hammer."

"Please, your 1 ton hammer has nothing on my artillery gun, korra!"

"Shut up!" Lal gave Collonello a couple hard slaps in rapid succession. "Now isn't the time for this!"

"Indeed."

"You could have hit Reborn at least once, korra."

"Finished making the tea!~" Aria walked over and set down a tray of cups in front of them. "Please help yourself, I made plenty."

They all poured themselves a cup of their liking, as she made quite the variety. "Did you hear everything, korra?"

She nodded. "And other than who I will be mentoring, I have but one question..." The Sky Arcobaleno turned to Reborn. "What other threat is there? Before the explanation, you stated 'first of all.' Is there something else?"

'As perceptive as always...' He thought. Reborn frowned. "There's something that's been bothering me, but I can't tell you in detail. All I can say for sure is, there will be some other trouble."

"So vague..." Lal Mirch tutted.

"Well, it is Reborn." Aria said, voicing their thoughts. "There must be a good reason why he can't tell us."

"Agreed, korra!"

"So you will tutor Gokudera, Verde?"

The scientist sipped his tea, then said "I'll give him a chance. I'm quite curious about this intelligence you speak so highly of. But of course, if he doesn't meet my standards, I'll drop him immediately."

"Alright then" Reborn then turned to Colonello. "Could you tutor Yamamoto again? Right now, all he needs is a sparring partner." The Sun Arcobaleno smirked. "His fighting style doesn't rely much on box weapons. You'll be quite surprised by how he's grown."

"Sparring? Seems easy enough, korra!"

"Hibari as well. Fong, could you mentor him?"

'Ah, is he the child who sets off I-Pin's Pinzu-Timed Super Explosion?' He thought. "If a sparring partner is all he needs, I believe I can help."

"Just so you know, he's stubborn one. You'd have to give him a pretty hard beating to get him to stand down."

Fong smiled. "So I've heard."

"Hm, Skull is a pretty useless tutor. I don't want him 'teaching' the others anything, he may just end up bringing them down. Aria, could you check on Chrome?"

She blinked in surprise. "Just check on her?"

"Well, I'm quite positive there's something you can teach her, but not sure what exactly. Just do as you see fit."

Aria smiled. "Ah, alright. I'll see what I can do."

"What about Mammon?"

"I tried to get a hold of him, but he's doing some important business in the Varia. And even if I did, I'm not sure who he could tutor other than Chrome, and I doubt he'd be willing to do it again."

"Good point, korra."

"And finally..." Reborn turned to Lal Mirch.

Her eyes widened, and she gestured to herself. "Me?!"

"Could you train Tsuna?"

"That Sawada brat?! He's hopeless!"

"He isn't much help himself, but when he's using his flame, he'd be a pretty good match. Either way, his physical abilities could use some work."

Lal sighed. "If you say so Reborn. But I ain't going easy on him!"

"I expected as much."

"Somehow, the thought of training him feels a little nostalgic..." She muttered.

"What about Ryohei?"

"He's having some... problems. I'm planning on setting him up with Shamal."

"Yeah, I noticed it too, korra! Running like a madman at 9 pm with a face redder than a beet."

Reborn smiled. "Yeah."

"Shamal." Lal said in disgust.

"Are we leaving Lambo for now?"

"Yeah, there's nothing we can teach him. Rather, he's still too young to learn. We'll just have to rely on him when the time comes."

They all sighed, and watched the sun go down. Japan is quite a beautiful country.