Namimori was separated into two different sections, the residential area, which housed a majority of the citizens, and the downtown area, where most businesses were situated. Compared to the residential area, which mainly consisted of one to two story houses, the downtown area was lined with multi-story buildings, shopping centers, entertainment parlors, and restaurants. While not as developed as the metropolis that is Tokyo that Ryuuji had lived in for the past 15 years, the hustle and bustle was certainly a change of scenery compared to where he just was.

Walking around, Ryuuji spotted a convenience store at the corner of the pedestrian road that he was currently on. For him, the thing that he needed the most right now was information, and the best way that he could acquire that was the newspaper. It wasn’t current events or politics that he was interested in, but rather, the date. With that, he would be able to see how far the story had progressed when compared with his memory of the manga.

As Ryuuji walked into the store, he was met with stares from the cashier and surrounding customers, to which he paid no mind to their glares and gossiping. He quickly headed to the magazine and newspaper section, and scanned for a date. It was June 25, 2004.

‘That’s odd. I clearly remember that it was February 2nd, 2021 before I was sent here.’ he thought to himself. ‘Could it be that time moves differently here compared to my own world? That could be why Tsuna is still just a middle schooler here.'

While Ryuuji never really paid too much attention to small details when reading, he could still estimate that this time around was probably before Tsuna and his familia fought against the escapees at Kokuyu.

After confirming the date, he made his way to the exit of the convenience store. Not having any money, despite wanting to get a small meal, Ryuuji reluctantly walked out, not before overhearing some minor heckling from the store clerk.

“Kids these days. Skipping school and perming their hair. What has this generation become?”

Ryuuji paid no attention to it, as he didn’t want to put his nose into others’ business. Or so he thought.

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Wandering around for another 10 minutes, Ryuuji’s hunger started to settle in. When he was working at the black company, they paid him well enough that he could still feed himself, even after paying for his sister’s hospital bills and his passed down debt. But now, without a single coin to his name, he was devastated.

‘Now, how does someone with no identification make money around here?’ Ryuuji asked himself.

At first, he thought of stealing, but quickly relinquished the idea as it would be troublesome to move around with authorities on his tail if he’s not careful. Besides, he didn’t want to cause misfortune to innocent people just for his own benefit. Walking along the street, he continued to think of ways to survive in this world, currently unaware that he was being watched by three figures.

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Inside a coffee shop, three men sat in a window-side booth, drinking coffee while observing a certain young man in a school uniform.

“There’s our next target, boys.” Said Ichirou, the eldest.

“A middle school student?” Questioned Saburou, the youngest. “What kind of money would a young guy like him have?”

“He looks like an easy target. Permed hair, weak physique, baby-faced, he looks like a spoiled rich kid to me.” stated Jirou, the second son.

These three mischievous looking men were known as the Three Criminal Brothers. Ichirou, the eldest son, known as ‘Ichirou the Swindler’, wore a clean, black suit and glasses, presenting himself as an honest businessman. Jirou, the middle son, known for his extortion, wore a yellow t-shirt covered by a brown blazer. His most distinctive feature was his buzz cut hair. The third son, Saburou, was exceptionally skilled at pickpocketing. With shoulder-length brown hair and a green hoodie, he looked like any other casual civilian. And these men have decided to make Ryuuji the next target in their criminal activities.

“I’ll go first then. I’ll get this done in a flash.” Proclaimed Saburou, as we walked out of the door.

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Ryuuji was still in his train of thought. Trained by the chaos of that which is Tokyo rush hour, he was able to easily navigate through crowds of people, going with the flow. He noticed that after learning [God-Speed Impulse], he was able to move along in coordination with his surroundings with barely any problem. This was due to the speed in which the signal from his visual and tactile receptors to his central nervous system was sent.

In the midst of his walk amongst the crowd, he felt the ever so slight brushing of a hand inside his left pant pocket. With barely a hint of hesitation, he reached over with his left hand to catch the pickpocketer in the act.

"What are you doing?" Questioned Ryuuji as he glared into the eyes of Saburou. "My wallet's not there, you know." Ryuuji could feel sweat permeating from Saburou's wrist as he held on tight.

Being an experienced criminal, Saburou knew better than to admit to his crime, and decided to feign ignorance. 'Innocent until proven guilty' he would always say.

Saburou replied, trying to keep his composure. "I don't know what you're talking about. Now, let go of my hand." As he tried to pull his hand away from Ryuuji's grasp.

Ryuuji, however, did not relent. While the fact that he didn't have a single valuable on his person still remained, he was adamant that this man had just tried to steal from him.

"Let go of me!" Saburou repeated, this time more agitated, and pulled his hand away with more force than before.

With his hand free, Saburou gave Ryuuji a distraught glance and scurried off.

"Wow, this ability is actually pretty useful." Ryuuni chuckled to himself as he watched the youngest run off.

Saburou, after returning to the café, wore a look of frustration.

"Damn it!" He exclaimed after sitting down again. "How the hell did that boy catch me?"

Putting his hand on his younger brother's shoulder, Jirou snarked. "Maybe this job is too difficult for you, huh Saburou? Let me show how it's done.”

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With an expensive-looking porcelain vase in one hand, Jirou made his way towards his target. His plan was simple. He would get as close as possible, then drop the vase, putting the blame on Ryuuji.

‘This will be a piece of cake. I’ll just get on my knees crying how expensive and valuable the vase was to me. Kids these days are so gullible.' He internally thought with a huge grin on his face.

Walking up from behind wouldn't be as effective; it was more difficult to prove that his target bumped into him. Jirou had to make sure that they were walking from opposite directions and stage the act, whether it be a shoulder bump or a trip. According to him, this plan was foolproof… unless the other person was able to react in time.

Locking onto his target, Jirou decided to go for a shoulder bump, seeing that his target was in somewhat of a daze. It would be a piece of cake to claim that Ryuuji was not paying attention to his surroundings, thus securing his pay.

With each step Jirou took towards Ryuuji, his legs appeared wobbly, his arms, shaking, and his breath, heavy. Of course, the vase was reasonably heavy, but not to the point that a healthy man in his 20s would have trouble with. It was all part of the look.

As he was only a couple of feet away from Ryuuji, who was still deep in thought, Jirou made his move. Swaying his body slightly to the left, as if the weight of the vase had gotten the best of him, he made contact with Ryuuji's shoulder.

'Now's my chance.' Jirou smirked, as he suddenly dropped the seemingly expensive vase. He could practically smell the money.

What he didn't expect was, the instant that he dropped the vase, Ryuuji's eyes sharpened. While the effects of the God-Speed Impulse did not work on all five senses of the human body, its effectiveness was extraordinary in both sight and touch, of which he had just received stimulus from both. From sensory neurons to the central nervous system to motor neurons, it all happened in literally a tenth of a second.

Ryuuji, from an upright position, lunged and swooped down, catching the vase as it was half way through its descent, one hand on the base and one on its rims. Not one bit of the vase made contact with the ground.

Standing back up, Ryuujj handed the vase back to Jirou. Looking directly into his eyes, Ryuuju said with a faint smile.

"Phew! That was a close one. Would have been messy. Here you go!"

Receiving the vase back, Jirou was speechless. Even if someone saw that the vase being dropped, there should have still been some hesitation in their actions. It was practically impossible for someone to catch the vase, especially coming from behind them.

As Jirou was in shock, an unexpected applause came from the crowd nearby.

"Wow! Did you see that?"

"Amazing!"

"Kids these days are pretty gifted, huh?"

Hearing the voices of praise, he was a bit taken aback. Growing up within a dysfunctional household and, later in life, working in a black company, Ryuuji was never really exposed to positive feedback, much less praise for doing something good without an ulterior motive. He could only stand there, embarrassed, while scratching the back of his head.

As for the other involved party, Jirou was unsure as to what to do. What he had in his hands right now was a double-edged blade. On one hand, with this many people around him, it should be rather easy to place the blame onto the kid. Adults are more prone to believe in the words of other adults, he thought. On the other hand, if they got a good look at what happened and realized that Ryuuji did in fact catch the vase without damaging it, he wouldn't have an easy time getting out of this predicament.

As a bead of cold sweat dripped down his forehead, Jirou decided to take his chances.

"Hey kid! Thanks for catching my vase, but there's still a bit of a problem."

"What's wrong?" Ryuuji asked, as the applause died down.

And thus was when Jirou's act began.

"Well, you see, this vase is a priceless heirloom passed down my family for generations and it's very expensive. When you caught it, you must have used too much force and damaged the rim." Jirou said, as he pointed to an area to the top of the vase.

"I don't see anything there. Are you sure that you aren't just seeing things?" Ryuuji asked again with a confused demeanor.

"Of course I'm sure! Why would I lie about such a thing? You're probably just trying to get out of paying! You weren't paying attention to the road and made me trip."

Jirou was feeling more and more confident. While the crowd saw Ryuuji catch the vase, but from a distance, they weren't able to see what really happened up close, so bending the story in his favor was definitely a possibility.

Ryuuji, who was still the center of attention, was surprised to hear the accusation upon him. Did he, in fact, use too much force when grabbing onto the vase? However, in this predicament, he noticed something. Something that he wasn't sure as to whether he should be mad at or laugh at.

"You know," he said towards Jirou. "You look awfully familiar."

"What? What kind of trick are you playing here? Trying to get out of paying, are you?"

"Oh! I remember now! You're related to that pickpocket, aren't you? The one with brown hair." Ryuuji said in a voice that the people around them could barely hear.

"What?" Exclaimed Jirou, looking visibly more distressed.

While he wasn't entirely sure if they were really related or not, Ryuuji felt as if something fishy was going on. Two incidents that could have cost him a large amount of money happened within a short span of time, so it wasn't wrong to be even a little suspicious. And then, after getting a better look at Jirou, he was certain.

'It's the eyes.'

In an even louder voice than before, Ryuuji exclaimed. "Oh, I know what's going on here! You're trying to extort me out of my money! That's why you're so adamant that I damaged your vase, even though there's nothing there."

"What? What are you saying, kid? Stop messing around and pay up! You wouldn't want to get the police involved would you?"

"Police? I haven't don't anything wrong here. You and your pickpocketing brother, on the other hand, I wouldn't be so sure."

There was a brief silence in the crowd. Jirou knew that if this charade continued and the authorities were involved, he and his brothers would most likely be charged with criminal activities. This wasn't the first time the three stole from people, so with all the potential evidence that could be used against them, it was best if the situation didn't escalate any further.

"Oh, it's my bad. I must have been still in shock. I almost lost this vase after all." Jirou said, trying to defuse the situation. "I best be on my way home now. Take care now, boy"

Soon after saying that, Jirou hurried away from the scene, as to not attract any more unwanted attention. Left standing there, Ryuuji watched as the buzz-cut man scampered off, all while showing little to no regard for the so-called "priceless heirloom" that he so desperately cared for.

As the crowd started to dissipate, Ryuuji noticed something that was still bothering him: his stomach. From the time he woke up until now, about roughly four hours had passed. Normally, this shouldn't have been a problem for Ryuuji, who has had to fast multiple occasions in the past, but since this new body of his has yet to eat anything at all since its creation, it was inevitable that he would be hungry.

Looking around for something to eat, despite having no money, a particular restaurant peaked his interest. This was none other than Take Sushi, owned by one of the main casts', Yamamoto Takeshi's, father, and from what he could remember from the story, the quality of the food here was top-notch. Thinking with his stomach first and head later, Ryuuji headed straight inside.