WARNING: Violence, insanity, and death.

Sequel to "Burnt Flower."

If any of my OC acts like a Mary Sue in any way or if there are any mistakes, TELL ME IMMEDIATELY!

Oh and no flames please! Thank you~!

"" - speech

italics - thoughts

Disclaimer: I do not own Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn.

Blood in the Ashes

"Nina-" Kenny reached out to help when she slapped his hand away.

Nina leaned against the wall as she struggled to walk to her room. "Don't touch me." The others slightly flinched - unused to the cold emotionless voice she was using towards them. She slammed the door shut, unwilling to let anyone close.

They never tried to protect me…

I can't trust them anymore.

"No one…" Her hands covered her face as she remembered how she begged the heavens above to save her from the torture. She bit her bottom lip. "How pathetic." Reaching her desk, she pulled out a secret compartment. The item inside of it angered her. She pulled it out and threw it at the mirror. Sharp pieces flew around, scratching her arms and cheeks.

"Don't test me, woman. We all know the truth and the truth is that you betrayed the Vongola Famiglia and your own. Do you think I wouldn't notice your strange behavior in the last few weeks?"

His voice that mocked her - that disgusted her - only echoed in her ears. The silver chain she personally made out of scratch for his pocket watch - she would give it to him personally.

Knock. Knock.

"Nina-chan, it's time for dinner… Do you want to join us?" Ai's voice called out to her. She gritted her teeth at the sound. How obnoxious. Her eyes flickered of burning hell. Behind her thoughts, she could see the colors. Dull grey, charred black, transparent yellow, and matted red. The hatred consumed her very soul.

Was she also making fun of me? Laughing as I tried to make him happy, but got tortured in the end by him - even though I was his lover.

Angry tears sprouted from her eyes. She gripped her chest, wishing she had died during the torture. "How nice would that be." She pounded at it as though she could kill herself with the strength she put into each blow.

"Nina..chan…?" Ai called out to her once more in a hesitant manner. Her voice triggered a burst of anger. Nina immediately threw a chair at the door. It shattered into pieces.

"Go...away…" She growled, stepping on the glass shards without notice and pulling the silver chain from the ground. The door opened a little behind her.

"Nina-chan, I know that you're hurt, but-" In seconds, Ai flew into the wall of the hallway. "Ni-"

CRACK.

Nina slammed her foot against Ai's ribs without mercy. "You… are irritating me. Go… away..." She slammed her foot down again. "Why do you never listen?!" Red and purple swirled in her vision. Just looking at her best friend flipped a switch in her. "WHY?!" She lifted her up and threw her to the ground.

"N-" Before she could say anything else, Nina kicked her neck hard, knocking out the Sun Guardian. It was at this moment, she heard fast footsteps heading in their direction.

When she heard the footsteps stop, she knew they arrived. "NINA! What are you doing?!" Kenny cried out as he ran towards Ai with a worried gaze. He lifted her from the ground.

She snorted a little. "Isn't that obvious, Rifiutare Lightning Guardian?" Amusement pooled in her eyes as she cocked her head to the side.

I will...get rid of them all.

"No, I don't think I understand." His voice hardened. He stood up after checking on Ai. "What do you think you're doing to a fellow comrade?" His fists tightened.

Useless...

"Are you going to get in my way?" Her grip on the silver chain tightened. "Or…" She said in a mocking tone, "Are you going to say that you can handle the weight that I'm carrying on my shoulders?" Flashes of the letter for his upcoming birthday that reflected of her appreciation for him in her life, the expensive cleaning agent for his favorite pair of handcuffs that she was going to gift him for the holidays, and the effort she put into learning how to cook his favorite dish burned into her mind.

"Nina, considering our relations of the past, I will give you the chance to mentally prepare for what I'll do to you for betraying all of us."

"You will never understand, Kenny." She growled, swinging the silver chain in his direction. He easily blocked it, but did not expect her to immediately follow up with a jab in the stomach. He choked on his spit as he fell to his knees. "Never say that you understand - because you never will." With that, she knocked him out as well. Before anyone else arrived at the scene, she ran outside. The smell of fresh dew and the vivid green grass blinded her for a moment. The brightness reminded her of so many things she wished she could forget.

Happiness...was never there to begin with.

All of the occasional notes she slipped into his files, so that he could enjoy a tiny moment of surprise and happiness… They were all illusions. Of course, they had to be. It wouldn't make sense if it was real.

Or else he couldn't have done something that horrible to her.

She stood still, staring into the eyes of someone she once loved. Icy blue, but with a tint of warmth that flickered in them once in a while… Tears trickled down her cheeks without her realizing. "...Why…?" It was fine, wasn't it? This was all a dream - a mere nightmare.

The grief in his eyes that she hadn't noticed before glistened. "I...have no excuses." He looked away, clenching his fists tightly. He gritted his teeth as he spoke - as though it was hard to explain himself to the woman he loves. "If I had known...that Giotto's orders were...an illusion."

Of course… A mere illusion…

Her injuries from the torture had yet to settle down, so she flinched at how much she had opened them again. Her strength weakened from fighting the two guardians from before. She limped towards the CEDEF boss. Nina gave a short laughter. The tears never stopped. She pounded against his chest weakly. "You never… never believed in my words… Not even once." The silver chain in her hand swung at him as he let it hit him. It fell to the ground. "There… THERE'S YOUR DAMN PRESENT!"

"I'm sorry." He whispered out, reaching out to touch her. She smacked his hand away from her.

The scowl remained on her face. "Don't touch me… Being touched by you makes me feel like puking." She had nothing else left to fight with, but she had no chance to get another weapon.

The man that she loved had gotten the wrong person and no matter how close they were with each other before, he chose to never believe in her, despite her cries about speaking the truth.

She could feel her strength dwindle even further, so she held onto his coat - the coat she used to love being covered by. "I…" The platinum blonde hair and the icy blue eyes swirled into colors of blue and yellow. "I don't…" Her time… She had barely any left.

Why…

As though her mind had cleared up from the fog of insanity that she fell into during her last moments of being alive, she fell to her knees as he held onto her. Her fingers gently touched his face. "I...just wanted to give you…" He wiped the tears off her cheeks.

"I know… I know now." Regret stained his voice as he gave a rare open expression of upsetness and grief. He bit his bottom lip and his forehead touched hers. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Nina."

"It's… too late... for that, isn't it?" She managed to whisper out to him with a breathy laugh. "I hate… I hate that I love you." Her eyebrows furrowed. He gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead.

"You don't have to ever forgive me. I will just accept it all." He murmured as he held her close to him.

She shook her head. "I'm… I'm too tired… I won't…" do anything anymore… The suffering that she would have to go through if she continued to get treatment for her injuries made her cry a little bit more. It was only trying to elongate her life a tiny bit longer - she didn't want that. To be free was her life. To be chained down was her death. So she did the only thing she could do - despite knowing how cruel it was. She breathed out, "Alaude… Please kill me. I-I can't."

He stilled at her request. "No." He firmly refused, shaking his head. He did not want to hurt her again with his own hands.

Never again…

"Giotto, are you sure that it's Nina?" Alaude's fists tightened. He couldn't really believe that it was the person he loved so dearly. After all, she wasn't the type to do such a thing.

"My hyper-intuition is telling me that after seeing her. Not to mention, all of the evidence that point to her…" Giotto looked regretful towards his trustworthy comrade. "I'm sorry that it turned out like this."

Alaude closed his eyes for a brief moment. "Don't you think that it's perhaps not her? People could have manipulated the evidence and-"

He turned towards his desk, picking up some of the files, as he talked to the CEDEF boss. "Haven't you told me that she was acting odd lately? And that you haven't been able to see her these days?"

His icy blue eyes narrowed. "But what does that-"

When Giotto turned around, the severity in his expression stopped Alaude from talking any further. "People's lives are at stake here, Alaude. I can't afford to waste anymore time on speculations. You understand, don't you?" The justice that he strongly felt could be easily seen by Alaude; this was why he worked with Giotto in the first place.

He shut his eyes as if surrendering to what he will have to deal with in the near future.

'Nina… Why…?'

When he left the room, he never saw how twisted the smile Giotto held became and how the mist flames faded away as though he was never there to begin with.

"I…" Nina breathed in deeply. Her vision slowly turned black. "I can't see you.." Her hand reached out to grab him; he held her hand and leaned his cheek against it. "Did you… believe in me at one point…?"

Why am I asking him this?

"Yes, but it's too late, isn't it?" He echoed her words from earlier. She felt something wet on her hand, but her mind was too hazy to discern what it was. "I...always loved you."

"...Loved…?" She questioned as though that word stood out more than any other word.

"You never let me finish." The pained smile that she felt on his face made her try to focus on him. The platinum blonde hair blurred into meshes of white and light yellow. His eyes became blue orbs, while his figure became a vague shape.

Her finger twitched on his face. "I'm...sleepy…" She murmured to him.

"Then go to sleep. I'll wake you, so that you can avenge yourself after." He comfortably held her so that she could sleep, despite knowing that she was never going to wake. "...You've always been tired… So now you can rest as much as you want."

His words seemed to make sense. She was very close to fading away. "Un… Wake me in an hour, Alaude…" She smiled a little as though she no longer harbored any hatred for him in the deepest crevice of her heart.

"Don't worry. I'll be here next to you… Always…" He managed to whisper to her. That was when her hand limped in his grasp and her chest stopped moving. Without anyone around them, droplets of tears fell on her face - one by one, so silently that no one would notice unless they looked at the two closely.

"YOU BASTARD-" Tea held her book - ready to summon her illusions to kill the Vongola Cloud Guardian, but Prec immediately tied her up with her ribbons, negating her flames. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KILLED HER!"

He never moved as he stood silently with Nina in his arms. "Yes, I was the one who killed her." His dull eyes looked off into the distance. The voice he spoke with remained lifeless - almost dead.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU-" Prec smacked the Mist Guardian on the head.

"Stop it, Tea." The grief in the Rifiutare Boss' eyes were obvious. "You know the truth, so stop twisting it."

"But… But that doesn't mean… It doesn't mean he isn't at fault…" Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. Frustration lingered in her voice. Tea pounded her fist onto the ground as she shook from the immense emotions of grief and sadness that she felt. "Why…"

Everyone stayed quiet as the wind blew against them and the sun began to set. It was supposed to be just another day, but when the shadows drowned them all with grief - it no longer felt like a normal day.

And now… All that remained was the memory of the Rifiutare Cloud Guardian and her cold body - as though the blood of the famiglia will remain in her ashes forever.

END.

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