I am the protagonist

There were only a few people in the house. According to Tsuna's arrangement, Sasagawa was the last to arrive, Chrome was the second to last, and Yamamoto was watching Gokudera and telling him not to come first. Given that there was only one Ten-Year Bazooka, the only person who came now was Lambo.

"Gokudera, you'll take care of Lambo."

"Yes!"

Gokudera subconsciously agreed, but only after agreeing did he realize that something was wrong.

[...Again, am I going to have to take care of this stupid cow again?]

Ten years ago, Gokudera was the one who was responsible for taking care of Lambo. After all, Lambo was still too young compared to them and definitely needed someone to take care of him. As it turned out, the person who took care of Lambo at that time was Gokudera.

He had finally reached adulthood and thought he could relax, but now he has to take care of the stupid cow from ten years ago.

I guess I can't escape the job of taking care of that stupid cow.

Tsunayoshi will never know the resentment in Gokudera's heart.

Of course, even if Tsuna knew, he wouldn't change his decision. Letting the hot-tempered Gokudera take care of the brat Lambo is the best way to train Gokudera. When Gokudera can calmly face Lambo, then Gokudera's personality will be fine.

"Johnny, continue to strengthen surveillance outside. Notify us immediately if anything happens outside."

Even though Tsuna knew that Milfiore's attention wouldn't be focused on the Vongola right now, he still couldn't neglect to pay basic attention to this scene.

"As for Xiaochun and... uh."

Kyoko chuckled, realizing she had forgotten to make sure Tsuna didn't remember her.

"Kyoko, Sasagawa Kyoko."

"...Ah, Koharu and Kyoko, if you're bored, keep the injured Ippei company and take care of Bianchi. You probably won't be able to go to the surface for a while."

Kyoko and Koharu didn't feel anything was wrong with Xiaogang's slightly apologetic words.

"It's okay, we've actually gotten used to this kind of life lately."

"That's right. We won't be in any danger if we don't go on the ground. Xiaochun is already used to this kind of thing."

"is it?"

Tsuna's expression stiffened slightly.

【Branjane, it seems I have another reason to kill you.】

"Then I'll go to the training room first."

As soon as he turned his head, even the smile on Tsunayoshi's face was gone.

Can I still laugh under these circumstances?

[Habit? Is it normal for ordinary girls to hide underground?]

It would be a sin to let ordinary girls have this habit.

[Blanc Gesso, if I don't kill you in this world, this world will truly never end.]

Those who remained in the kitchen sighed as they watched Tsuna's departing figure.

"Tenth Boss, you're angry."

As the right-hand man of the Tenth Boss in this era, Gokudera truly understands the Tenth Boss's personality perfectly.

Perhaps the Tenth Boss in front of him is from ten years ago or has even lost all his past memories, but Gokudera can still easily sense some of the Tenth Boss's emotional fluctuations.

"The matter involving Ms. Kyoko and Ms. Haru still had a significant impact on the Tenth Generation."

"Well, for Tsuna ten years ago, this kind of thing would have been impossible to get used to, but for people of our generation, we have to get used to everything."

Yamamoto had experienced this habit before.

When his father died at the hands of Milfiore, he truly tasted what hatred meant—the purest hatred for Milfiore and his ilk.

"Boss, are you alright?"

"It shouldn't be a big problem for Tsuna."

Since Yamamoto didn't show any emotional change in front of them, he figured it wasn't a problem with Tsuna.

"Tsuna has always been like this. He keeps many things to himself and doesn't say them out loud. However, Tsuna always manages to adjust himself in this situation. No matter what others say, he won't say what's on his mind."

"Hmm... Mr. Tsuna has always been like this, but it's always easy to spot when he does this."

This becomes easier to notice after you've had more contact with it.

In the past, Koharu often saw this situation, and it seems that it was the same when Tsuna inherited the position of Vongola Boss ten years ago.

[Tsuna-sensei has often said he didn't want to inherit the Vongola Boss position, and although he eventually got it, he probably didn't really like it.]

Having known Mr. Tsuna for ten years, every day of those ten years brought Koharu a new understanding of him, and the accumulation of those ten years was enough for her to have a comprehensive understanding of Mr. Tsuna's thoughts and feelings.

"Let's get here first today."

Reborn also ended the conversation here.

"Tsuna's idea was also a decision he made himself."

"Kyoko and Koharu just came back from danger today. This morning I was busy having you prepare breakfast. You can rest for the rest of the day. At least this Vongola underground base is safe for now."

"Ah."

Actually, the two girls were really tired.

Having been constantly hiding outside, not only did they need to conceal their identities, but they also frequently faced searches by Milfiore. They were already exhausted both physically and mentally, and now they needed time to relax and rest.

The others gradually returned to their rooms. The guardians of this era no longer needed to train for long; they would rather leave behind some information for their ten-year-younger selves to quickly adapt to the fighting style of this era.

They simply met alone in the conference room as two people from Alcbareno.

"Reborn, was it really just a head injury that Sawada suffered ten years ago?"

"...So you also think, like Colonello, that Tsuna already belongs to someone else?"

Larmielchi wanted to say that was what she meant, but he just couldn't get the words out.

The Vongola succession ceremony has already been completed, so all the previous bosses have confirmed that Sawada is the rightful successor. How can there be any talk of someone else?

"……I did not mean that."

“I understand your thoughts. No matter what, Tsuna’s change this time is really too big. Even I thought so for a moment.”

Reborn didn't really want to continue discussing this issue, so he could only say one sentence at this point.

"Lalmilch, whether Tsuna is himself or not... you decide for yourself."

Chapter Thirty-Five: I Don't Want the Person I Like to See Me Cry

Time speeds up!

Tsuna sped through the training room at a speed barely visible to the naked eye.

At this moment, Tsuna's speed was no longer at a "normal" level; it had even surpassed the realm of humans.

Suddenly, Tsuna, who was moving at high speed, stopped.

The maximum time acceleration is 100x.

The speed of a normal person seems like a snail's pace to me; even the speed of lightning is visible to the naked eye.

But I didn't even have to pay a price for using this power... My time hasn't decreased at all. Is this power just something I can use at will?

Although Tsuna was just an ordinary person in the past who had no access to the power of time, he knew that this power was not something that ordinary people could possess, much less use at will. Yet, he was now using it freely.

Tsuna can sense any abnormality in his body, and he must have a very clear sense of danger to his life.

Even so, no matter how Tsuna used the power of time, his life did not suffer any loss whatsoever.

[…Never mind, it's better not to think about why I can use this power without paying a price.]

It's actually a good thing not to have to pay a price. Getting too hung up on why there's no price to pay is just asking for trouble.

If that's the case, shouldn't I also research more about the uses of time?

When it comes to the use of time, the first thing that comes to Tsunayoshi's mind is time acceleration and time deceleration.

Accelerating time for yourself can increase your own speed, thereby slowing down your opponent.

[Slowing down time for the opponent... that might be a bit difficult. It's definitely better to use it on yourself.]

It would be great if time slowing could be applied to a specific area.

If a deceleration of the entire population within a certain range could truly be achieved, even a deceleration of only twice the time would have an extraordinary effect.

But can it really affect a specific area?

No one can definitively say what the power of time truly is.

The power of time should be kept hidden as much as possible.

Time is arguably the strongest of Tsunayoshi's hidden trump cards. It can only be revealed in a one-hit kill situation, and only the dead are truly good at keeping secrets.

"We are now able to use the Death Flame with even higher purity skillfully."

[We can accelerate and decelerate time by a hundredfold; currently, the only improvements we can make are Zero Breakthrough and Zero Breakthrough Modification.]

"I really need to have some more threatening moves."

Even Tsuna himself felt that having only two offensive moves was a bit too few.

"Using the flames of death to launch an attack after high-speed movement is quite good, but that's more like ordinary close combat. We also need to prepare one or two long-range attack methods."

At this time, Kyoko and Koharu had already returned to a room to rest.

"Phew... It's been a long time since I've had such a comfortable shower."

Xiaochun changed into her new pajamas and lay happily in her bed.

"Yes."

Thinking back to the days of fleeing from disaster, Kyoko understood how precious this moment of peace was.

"For a while, we were constantly on the run around the world, either camping in the wild or sleeping in guesthouses. We couldn't get a proper rest because we were always thinking about being pursued."

The days of fleeing were actually very difficult. Normal grooming was not guaranteed, and even rest time was not guaranteed.

Sometimes, certain situations require traveling through the night, and sometimes you can't sleep for several nights in a row.

Their efforts over those days had finally yielded some results, and they were able to reach the Vongola underground base.

"I never expected that we, in this era, would encounter Tsuna from ten years ago, and even learn that... Tsuna from this era is actually still alive."

Hearing Kyoko's somewhat excited, even slightly tearful voice, Koharu could understand her feelings very well.

She was so excited when she heard that Mr. Tsuna from this era was actually alive that she almost cried.

"Yes, Koharu almost cried when she heard that Tsuna from this era was still alive."

"That's great...that's really great..."

Xiaochun, who had been holding back her emotions, finally let them all out.

Even the strongest girls have a vulnerable side, but they don't want boys to see their most vulnerable side.

Kyoko, who was sitting on the bed next to Koharu, came to Koharu's side and gently hugged her.

"Xiaochun, everything is alright now."

"We've now reunited with Xiaogang and the others, so we'll have fewer chances of running into those pursuers in the future."

Kyoko knew that from now on, the people who would run into trouble would no longer be her and Haru; the people who would have to face the trouble would change from themselves to Tsuna and the others.

"Ah."

After wiping away her tears, Xiaochun's emotions calmed down considerably.

"Next, we will do our best to support Mr. Tsuna and the others in their battle."

"We may not be able to help with the situation on the front lines, but we can do our part in the work behind the scenes."

"Yes, we should take full responsibility for everything we can do from now on. This will also allow Xiaogang and the others to focus their attention."

As one of the few girls in the base, Kyoko and Koharu each have their own roles.

They might not be able to help in the battles, and might even cause trouble, but they can help with internal affairs.

"Fortunately, we weren't born into this world ten years ago."

Koharu was stunned for a moment, then she understood what Kyoko meant.

"Hmm, if I were to come to this era ten years ago, I would definitely cause a lot of trouble for Mr. Tsuna and the others. It would be bad if my actions caused trouble for Mr. Tsuna and the others."