"Home run!  Nice swing Tsuna!"

The said brunet chuckled as he tapped his baseball bat onto his shoulder.

"Your pitches are still as fast as a bullet, Takeshi-kun."

"Maa, I know you can handle them!"

The two sat on one the benches outside of the baseball field; Takeshi handed Tsuna a can of juice as he opened his own.

Tsuna took a sip as he sighed softly.

"That's about 40 baseballs that we need to find now..."

Takeshi laughed and he rested his hands on the bench after setting his can down, leaning back slightly.

"Haha!  We'll find them easily!  Don't worry about it."

Tsuna chuckled softly as he took another sip of the can; he stared at the sun as it slowly set behind the buildings.

"...What are you going to do about the shark?"

"You mean Squalo-san?  Or the real shark?"

Tsuna let out an exasperated sigh.

"The real shark, Takeshi-kun."

"Oh.  Hahaha!  Well~I'm just going to cut it in half and save Squalo-san!"

Tsuna sweatdropped.

"...You make Squalo-san sound like a damsel in distress..."

Takeshi laughed again as Tsuna sighed once more.

"Okay...and as for the fight--don't go overboard, Takeshi-kun."

"Hai, hai~!"

~~

"VOOOOI, I FINALLY GET TO FIGHT YOU, YOU D*** BRAT!"

Takeshi grinned as he waved excitedly to the other.

"Hahaha!  Let's have a good match!"

Hayato swatted the other on the back of his head.

"Stop being so friendly with them!"

"Never~!"

Hayato facepalmed as Takeshi laughed some more; the ravenet walked towards the Cervello to meet up with Squalo.

~~

"May the Battle of the Rain Guardian, start!"

Takeshi pulled his katana out of its sheath as he quickly dashed at Squalo, dragging the tip of the blade through the water.

"Shigure Soen Ryu, 1st Offensive Form: Shajiku no Ame." (Axle of Rain.)

The ravenet smirked as he watched Squalo dodge the easy thrust of his sword.

"VOOOOI!  Try harder, brat!"

Takeshi laughed as he shifted his stance.

"Sigure Soen Ryu, 3rd Offensive Form: Yarazu no Ame." (Last Minute Rain.)

The ravenet dropped his katana and kicked the end of the hilt to send it to Squalo's face.

The silveret grunted at the speed and deflected the blade; Takeshi leapt up to catch it in midair, landing with a crouch on some of the concrete that was jutting out from the flooding water.

Squalo was smirking the entire time as he landed on a small island of concrete.

"Voooi...so you use the Shigure Soen Ryu Style?"

Takeshi nodded and grinned brightly.

"That's right!"

<<(Outside of the Building)>>

"Looks like I'm a little late..."

Everyone turned their heads to see a certain sushi chef standing there, panting slightly from running all of the way to the school; Tsuna blinked his eyes in surprise.

"Yamamoto-san?!"

Tsuyoshi took a deep breath before straightening himself up; he grinned in the brunet's direction.

"I promised my son that I would see his fight."

"Eh?" Tsuna's eyes filled with realization. "Does that mean Takeshi-kun...?"

Tsuyoshi gave a sad smile and nodded; he looked at the screen.

"Ah.  He told me." 'The son that I know...is not there anymore...'

::(Flashback)::

"Oyaji?"

Tsuyoshi smiled as set his kitchen knife down, looking back at his son.

"Hai?  What's up, Take--?"

The chef saw the serious glint in his son's eyes, so his question died away.

Takeshi sighed before giving a tentative smile to the other.

"Can we...talk privately....for a moment?"

Tsuyoshi blinked in surprise before slowly nodding; he followed his son into the kitchen after shutting the paper door behind him.

"What's wrong, Takeshi?" 'Is it something about baseball again?  Mom?'

Takeshi sighed before looking at the other.

"I...am not your son."

Tsuyoshi blinked blankly before smiling nervously.

"H-Haha...w-what are you talking abo--?"

"I'm not the son that you know."

Tsuyoshi stared at Takeshi with disbelief as he clutched the ravenet's shoulders.

"Wh-Why--?  What...?"

"Your son is...gone...but I--a different Takeshi--took his place."

The teen thought back to the blood he found staining his back when he first woke up in the parallel world.

Tsuyoshi dropped his hands and looked utterly...broken...

Tears fell from the man's eyes as he wept silently.

Takeshi smiled sadly--he didn't want to hug the other because he was afraid of rejection, since the man now knew that he wasn't his real son.

"Tsuyoshi-san...if you could..." Takeshi griped the corner of his shirt. "...Could you...watch my upcoming battle for the rings?  I know you were once mafia, so you know what I'm talking about..."

Tsuyoshi didn't respond as he looked at the floor.

Takeshi gave a shaky sigh before bowing to the other; he was about to exit the kitchen before a soft voice stopped him.

"I'll come."

The teen couldn't tell what the other was feeling and gave a watery laugh.

"A-Ahaha...thanks, Tsuyoshi-san."

::(Flashback End)::

Tsuna bit his lip as he looked at the sushi chef sadly.

"I'm...sorry..."

"Haha!  Don't be!"

Tsuna blinked at the cheerful aura Tsuyoshi emitted--it wasn't fake.

"I still have my son with me," The chef made eye-contact with the brunet. "Even though he's not the one that I know."

Tsuna widened his eyes in surprise before giving a small bow to the other; tears pricked his eyes as he smiled softly.

"Thank you, Yamamoto-san." 'Takeshi would be happy to hear this.'

Reborn watched with slight confusion.

'They act as if...Takeshi died...?'

Everyone turned their attention back to the large screen in front of them.

Squalo was just finishing his explanation on how he knew about the Shigure Soen Ryu, and that he had defeated it already.

<<(With Takeshi)>>

"Haha!  I'll have to disagree with you, Squalo-san.  Because the Shigure Soen Ryu Style is an invincible sword style."

Outside of the building, Tsuyoshi smiled proudly.

Takeshi grinned as he readied his blade--much like a batter's position; Squalo scowled as he charged at the ravenet.

"VOOOOOOI!  WE'RE NOT PLAYING F****** BASEBALL, BRAT!"

Takeshi merely smirked as he dipped his katana into the rising waters.

"Shigure Soen Ryu...9th Offensive Form..."

Squalo widened his eyes at the number.

''9th'!?  I thought it only went up to 8!'

Takeshi brought up a wave of water in front of him as Squalo rushed at him, stabbing his sword through and hitting the ravenet; the silveret smirked.

"VOOOI, IT'S OVER, BRAT!"

Takeshi disappeared in a splash of water, causing Squalo to widen his eyes.

'What!?  A f****** reflection!?'

The silveret spun around, but he didn't have time to block Takeshi's attack as he was knocked out by the blunt side of the ravenet's blade; Takeshi grinned.

"...Utsushi Ame!" (Duplicate Rain!)

Takeshi caught Squalo before the man could faceplant into the water; one of the Cervello on a mike suddenly spoke.

"The water has reached the limit point.  The beast has been released.  Yamamoto Takeshi is the winner of this battle."

Takeshi merely grinned as he hopped up to a higher level with a boost of Rain flames; he set Squalo down as he searched for the shark in the waters below.

Slowly, Squalo regained his conscious and looked at Takeshi.

"Vooooi...why didn't you just leave me down there?"

Takeshi grinned.

"I am the Rain that will wash away the pain.  But you, Squalo-san, are the Rain that will cleanse the battlefield of conflict.  You're still needed, Squalo-san."

The silveret blinked with shock as Takeshi jumped down to the waters below, fully aware of the shark that was circling down there.

The shark jumped up from the water and opened its jaws as Takeshi smirked, readying his blade.

"Shigure Soen Ryu, 10th Offensive Form:..."

Rain flames appeared at the tip of the ravenet's sword as he cut right through the shark; the sea beast fell apart into pieces as Takeshi landed on a small island of concrete below, shouldering his katana--not a single drop of blood was present.

"Scontro di Rondine." (Clash of the Swallow.)

Everyone watched with shock as two pieces of the shark splashed into the water, slowly sinking to the bottom.

Takeshi grinned as he gave a thumbs-up to the camera; Squalo was smirking above.

'Tch.  The f****** brat held back on me...'

~~

"Ts-Tsuyoshi-san?"

The said man gazed at Takeshi as the ravenet lowered his head, afraid to meet the other's eyes.

"A-Ah...thanks for coming!  I didn't think th--!"

"Takeshi."

The ravenet paused in his slight babbling, but he kept his head down.

Suddenly, two strong arms wrapped around him.

"Even if you're the son that I don't know, I'll still love you all the same--you're still my son, Takeshi.  And I am very, very proud of you."

Takeshi widened his eyes as he felt tears prick them.

"R-Really, Tsuyoshi-san?"

The sushi chef held the teen at arm's length, grinning brightly.

"Of course!" The man pouted. "And none of that 'Tsuyoshi-san'!  Call me like you usually do!"

Takeshi wiped his tears with his sleeve.

"Haha!  Arigatou, Oyaji..."

Tsuyoshi grinned as he turned to the others.

"How about some sushi at my place!  It'll be on the house in celebration of my son's win!"

"Hai!"

On Tsuna's shoulder, Reborn whispered into the brunet's ear.

"You have some explaining to do later on, Tsunayoshi."

With that, the hitman hopped onto his head and said nothing more.

Tsuna sighed as he followed the others.

'I knew it would come to this.  Nothing escapes Reborn's eyes.'