Faceless

1: Phone Call

After defeating Byakuran in the future, nothing had ever been more peaceful. There were no fights... There were no wars...until suddenly, all the small mafia families began dropping like flies. The attacker is strong, and Vongola is on the hitlist.

Faceless

A silhouette danced through the night skies of Nanimori, a trail of rattling chains following it. The shadow silently slid from tree to tree and house to house like it was merely the wind, and left no trace of where it landed and where it took off. Anyone walking by the person's wake would have suspected nothing, seen nothing and heard nothing, because the presence it conjured was literally nothing.

But in the crisp moonlight, a girl was walking. Her hair was violet, the exact same hue as the the flowers she held and the single eye she bore. The other was concealed behind a single eye patch. Now on an ordinary day, that would have seemed normal and harmless the way the young girl strolled in the darkness, probably because there was nothing that could possibly hurt her. But this was under no circumstances a normal day.

Little did the purple clad girl know, she was walking straight toward where the shadow was slinking by with grace more like a cougar or a snake than a human. The shadow saw her, but was blatantly determined to keep going, even though an alarm was blaring danger. It was cautious of the girl, but also possessed an uncanny desire to both confront her and run in the other direction. None of the above was chosen, so it simply prayed that the purple girl wouldn't notice the slight breeze.

But she did. Chrome Dokuro looked up from where she was walking to the cemetery, just in time to see a little blotch of black darker than the rest blur away. She turned away and focused back on her own path, keeping up a front of indifference as if she hadn't seen or heard or noticed a thing. However, Chrome was very much unnerved.

Something was wrong.

As she reached the gravestone and lay the flowers on top, she noticed how strange they looked next to the miniature owl sculptures, and how odd they seemed to feel under the crescent's cold glow. Yes, a feeling in the air drew her ire. It was too bad her suspicions lay untied, for Chrome was too far away to hear the five gunshots followed by the five screams of pain and the five thumps of bodies falling down, and down, and down.

Faceless

Timeto, 9th Generation Vongola Boss, had passed away. His body was marched around the estate before being settled in his old mansion for all the members to see and mourn. 10th Generation Vongola Boss was there too. His name was Sawada Tsunayoshi. The brown haired young adult was dressed in a tight black tuxedo with a just as dark tie. The only bright colors were his eyes, but even they were fairly dull. The shirt under his formalwear was charcoal in color, but none the less dreary and depressing. It was, after all, traditional for funeral attire to be so deep.

It was the color of death. And death, according to Reborn, was the time when all people deserved the utmost respect.

To Tsuna's right was Gokudera Hayato—the right hand man. All the other guardians were lined up behind him with their heads bowed, still paying their respects. All of them were very different, not only in mood, but in personality. Over the past ten years, all of them had matured a considerable amount. The lame, skyward look in the 10th's face had long come and gone. Now there was only one of authority, understanding and calm determination.

And so, when Timeto had passed away, he didn't cry. Tsuna wanted to. He really, really did. But that wouldn't have been what the 9th would have wanted, right? Be strong till the very end. That's what he said, that's what he always said.

So why was it still painful?

Faceless

Vongola the 9th died a peaceful death. There was no war, there was no fighting. All of that had gone. There was just happiness and justice now. It was diagnosed that he had died of old age and sickness. Yes, that came with everyone. Death was inevitable, and Reborn was proud that Timeto held out till the very end to make sure that every ounce of the Vongola was prepared for him to take his leave. He was even prouder that Tsuna had grown so much and was able to show his old friend that the strongest mafia family was in good hands.

When his passing was announced, Xanxus was angry. He came to the funeral early with the rest of the Varia, Fran included. But when he went up to his body, at Timeto's relaxed face, he said only one thing;

"You left me too early."

It was surprising coming from the ice cold hot headed Xanxus who detested his 'father' so much. It was a strange thing. But what was even stranger was that Xanxus seemed to be observing his former relative's body with a suspicious gaze. Reborn, with his older, uncursed body, was able to pick up that something was wrong.

Was it really a peaceful death?

Why is there copper in the air?

Faceless

The funeral was over. Each person had returned to their respective homes. All except 10th Vongola Boss and his famiglia.

"Reborn," Tsunayoshi addressed his advisor calmly. It was still awkward for him to be staring up at a full-fledged adult rather than a talking infant. "For what reason did you call us out?"

He narrowed his eyes, then. It had been a long time since Reborn had been so…urgent. "Is something wrong?"

Next to Hibari and Lambo (he's much older now), Chrome's eyes perked up. Her fingers fidgeted.

"Did you notice anything different about anyone… or anything at the funeral?" Reborn asked slowly.

There was a long silence. "Different how?"

"Like there's a secret somebody knows, but we don't."

He shook his head. "I don't understand."

Chrome then remembered the shadow she saw a week before. It was no illusion. No trick of the light. But she did not speak up.

"Use your hyper intuition," he pressed. "I'm digging for bones here, 10th Vongola Boss. You've got much to learn about the ways of the mafia even after over a decade of experience, but…" His jaw tensed. "You have to have noticed something."

"Reborn, does this have anything to do with the 9th?" Broke in Yamamoto Takeshi, his bright look gone without a trace. Even he knew this was no time for fun and games. Not anymore.

He nodded.

"This is strange to the extreme," Ryohei Sasagawa admitted. He no longer yelled, but was never able to get rid of his 'extreme' habit.

Something in Hibari clicked. It was, of course, like him to be one of the first to realize a notion. "Are you saying that the 9th was really killed, old man?"

"Maybe," he replied.

This time, Gokudera spoke. He had been silent the whole time, jotting down notes. He stood up at the same time so fast that his chair stumbled behind him. "If that's true, then 10th is in danger. If that's true, someone is out there and hasn't been caught. What if someone is hunting us down—hunting 10th down—right now? What if assassins are being dispersed?"

Yamamoto rose. "Don't draw conclusions so fast! Panic and we're all done for!"

"You don't get it! For every second we waste contemplating whether or not there is an assassin, the enemy will be contemplating how to kill the 10th. I won't let that happen!"

"No one wants to see that happen! Get your head straight. There hasn't been a fight since Byakuran, and even then we had our wits. It might not be anything at all. Remember that when Tim—when the 9th's body was checked, there were no wounds. Only a heart failure."

"He was old, too old. It had to come sometime," Ryohei added. Somehow, his voice was still quiet and collected. He was thinking. Just years ago, that very thought would have been crazy.

Yamamoto and Gokudera continued to argue across the table. Gokudera banged it in frustration, and a mug of coffee spilled over. Occasionally Ryohei would chip in to one side or the other, but otherwise sat in vigil. Tsuna hopelessly tried to stop them but was then startled by what one of them had said. Chrome wasn't able to hear what it was. Reborn was observing with his eyes narrowed. What was he thinking?

Chrome hadn't uttered a word for the whole meeting. At last she spoke up.

"Yamamoto…" she murmured so soft it could have been the wind. He didn't hear.

"Yamamoto!" She repeated. Again no response. But Tsuna heard her, and grabbed both his men's arms, nailing them to their chairs.

"Quiet you two," he said stoically. "Listen to what Chrome has to say."

They turned their heads to face her, both surprised and Yamamoto a little ashamed that he never noticed. She grabbed the chance before it slipped away.

"Um… Yamamoto… I think I saw something last week…"

She gulped, nervous.

"…That may have had to do with 9th Boss's death."

Reborn' gaze whipped to her so fast it was scary. "Go on," he said. "And take your time."

"Um… while I was walking to the Nanimori cemetery to grieve for Mukuro-Sama… someone was running toward where 9th boss was staying for the week…"

Chrome did not hear her voice grow smaller.

"…At the hideout."

Yamamoto dropped into his chair. Gokudera stood stiff, glaring at the ceiling.

"I didn't know what exactly it was, but I sensed it was powerful, and it was…unfamiliar."

"It was trying to avoid me. I felt like it knew who I was."

"I barely sense it…"

"…Yamamoto, I think it was an assassin!"

Reborn sucked in a quick breath and tilted his hat forward so it shaded his eyes. "That was the worst case scenario."

"Impossible…" Gokudera muttered. He knew it was coming. He did, he felt it, he smelled the heavy scent of copper at the funeral. He tasted it. He also smelled something akin to his sister's cookies.

No one noticed that Lambo was even there. They completely forgot about him until his voice sounded out in the reticence.

"This calls for a huge defense scan. Obviously we shouldn't use the hideout anymore. Out patrols are flawed—make them inconsistent. The enemy probably knows our every move. Tsuna, your life is in danger. Actually, all of ours is, Varia's Xanxus and Cavallone's Dino included. That means all of you should either form one big unbeatable fortress, or flee incognito."

Everyone stared at him in awe. "Lambo, that's a great idea, I'm shocked to say," Tsuna murmured, the edge of his lip twitching up. What a change. But their shock didn't last long. Soon, Reborn's phone rang. Then Ryohei's. Then Tsuna's, and Lambo's, Yamamoto's and Gokudera's.

"A mafia family off the coast of here was just taken down!" Reborn cursed.

"The branch in the south point was just set in flames!" Said Ryohei, eyes wide.

"The town there I-Pin was staying just fell under gunfire…!" Lambo cried.

"Squalo's unit was taken down and Xanxus is missing—"

"—My family in Italy is under siege!"

But the phone's kept ringing.

And ringing.

And ringing.

Chrome looked around. Hibari wasn't here anymore, and her phone was silent. Gokudera was scrawling codes like a madman and cursing and tearing at the same time. It was panic.

As the rings died down and the information began to set in, everyone was thinking the same thing.

The mafia world is falling down.

Reborn was stressed. He was rubbing his temples and looked enraged at the same time. Ryohei was muttering and trying to contact Kyoko on his cell now that it stopped receiving. But then Reborn stopped and so did Tsuna who was helping Ryohei. They stopped because Chrome's phone rang for the first time. They were staring, and she picked it up, putting it on speaker. They couldn't tell who it was or what gender, but little did the group conceive that those 5 words could have saved their lives.

"Nagi… I'm coming for you…!"