A/N: a perculiar child of a twisted brain. The first draft for it came from my song challenge meme, while listening to Ayu's End Roll, which is only 4:49 minutes. The polishing was done while listening to Ayu's Love~Refrain and too late. I recommend listening to them for the mood.
I love comments~
Warning for slight 5927. Though not my fav pairing, it was the first to escape my brain when I listened to End Roll.
Last Graveyard Flowers
T'was strange that Tsuna found himself waking up in a dark, lid-less box. The first thing that he saw were roses, thousands of them, their sickly sweet smell choking him. Sitting up was effortless and he almost gave a wry smile at what he assumed was a fail of a kidnapping attempt. Yet his intuition, now almost perfected after 10 years, told him otherwise. The tense atmosphere was hard to decipher but he knew it had to be a grim situation. He tried to reach into his pocket for the pills but his hand found a wound.
He glanced up.
The sky was a dark grey and a few people in dark suits could be seen from his blurring vision. He gripped the sides of the dark box as he took in his surroundings. His Famiglia's pale faces could be seen as his vision slowly cleared, his mind struggling to identify each person. He registered all their tear-stricken faces but could only focus on one.
His Right Hand man kneeled a few feet from the lid-less box, his expression unreadable from his angle. And Tsuna was glad about that as he watched his Right Hand man collapsed onto the ground, his body trembling from each heartrending sob: looking straight into his face would be too much to bear. His Gokudera, never the one who gives up on him, perhaps the first one to appreciate him and definitely the only one who loves him so much.
Tsuna leaned forward and slowly extended his hand to grasp his shoulder. But he only grasped empty air.
Time stopped. Suddenly it was all clear to him. The roses. The lid-less box. The solemn mood.
He was dead.
Tsuna slowly stood up and petals of white roses fluttered in the air before falling down. This must be what they called the last graveyard flowers; their scent pleasant yet nauseating. Roses, what used to be a symbol of all that was beautiful, now only serves as a painful, constant reminder that he died.
Slowly, in what seemed like reluctance to himself (or was it really remorse?), Tsuna took in the sight of his Guardians, a shadow of the men they used to be. Fresh tears sprung forth. Even Reborn, his fedora was tipped more than usual, as if to hide something, his face missing the signature smirk.
He opened his mouth to scream but it died in his throat. All that came out was a dry, helpless sound. He wanted to protest that there are too many things that he had not done. He wanted to tell his mother who had just fainted a few seconds ago that he is here, alive but not breathing. He wanted to tell his Famiglia,-his friends- that he has not yet gone. To tell his Right Hand that he never wanted this outcome.
Finding an edge of the coffin, Tsuna sat down, with his back against it. He felt as if he is immobilized to the ground, sobbing in despair. At that moment, he was not the Vongola Decimo, much feared by foes and venerated by allies. He was just Tsuna, the no-good Tsuna that was always giving up, running away, and living a life that seemed to be missing something. And still it is missing.
He never wanted this outcome and yet at the same time, he could say he expected it. This life of running, sprinting through time was too tiring. And now, all he wanted is to take a nap, which he had not had since Reborn came into his life, bringing with him the crazy world known as Mafia life. The irony felt bitter in his mouth and he wondered if it was due to the tears or the sorrow.
With one last apologetic kiss to his Right Hand's lips, now dry and bleeding (not that he can ever feel them now), Tsuna laid back down in the coffin, his coffin.
Unfulfilled dreams still tugged at his heart but he would face it. Happiness had long ago slipped from his hands.
Sorry, Gokudera-kun...
The sky remained a dark grey.
Author's Notes: Once again, I apologise for any spelling problems (it must have escaped my usually sharp eyes!) and phrasing fails (I almost failed English). Dedicated to Kagami, who just refuses to tell me how to write a kissing scene. Bawr!
I knew Tsu-kun did not die, but can't resist a good angst.
2010.6.24
~十六