Silence hung in the 3E mansion.
It was an eerie kind of quiet.
A waiting kind of quiet.
A watching kind of quiet.
The air was thick with the taste of abandonment, bitter and ashy.
There was a single soul in this empty shell, and he sat so still, he could just as easily be another piece of furniture.
He sat in perfect darkness, staring up into painted brown eyes he couldn't see, but knew were there. Just as surely as he knew his own reflection.
Sitting here, darkness wrapped around him like a shawl, the boy fought the terrible sense of finality that threatened to suffocate him.
He had sat in this very spot a million times before in his life, staring up at the portrait of the man he had pledged his eternal loyalty to.
Those soft brown eyes, like willow bark - tough and weathered, centuries older than they should be, but soft and smoothe inside, welcoming.
Suddenly, the whisper of footsteps across the carpeted floor.
Then, a hand on his shoulder.
"Luca."
Luca didn't reply.
"We need to leave, kid."
Luca stayed still a moment longer, cementing this moment in his mind.
The last time he would see his boss's portrait, and he couldn't actually see it in the darkness.
It was a cruel irony.
But the feeling was there. That feeling of peace and safety, of conversing with someone he knew would never judge him.
And finally, when he couldn't stall any more, he stood and followed his leader out of the portrait room.
Luca looked around as they walked through the halls in near silence, his eyes taking in the outlines of the furniture around him, sitting lonely and abandoned in their places.
All around him, he could see ghosts of a life he may very well never return to.
He could just imagine the kids running through the halls playing hide-and-seek, echoes of their laughter bouncing around in his head.
It was eerie, even for him, seeing everything left in their places, as if their owners coud return any second now.
But of course they wouldn't.
It grew much lighter when they reached the front of the mansion, with sunlight streaming in through the windows, the curtains still hanging open.
And as the front door swung shut behind them and Fiammetta locked up, Luca felt the last few strings attaching him to his old life snap, freeing him.
He'd let himself grieve as long as possible.
And now it was time to move on.
The day after their departure, the entire mafia world knew that Vongola the Fourteenth had been forsaken by his assassination squad, 3E.
Not that it had even truly been his in the first place.
Established by his great-great-grandfather, Vongola the Tenth, 3E was one of the Vongola's two elite assassination squads, along with the Varia.
After the Tenth's death, 3E had continued to uphold his values, and had continued to recruit.
As a result, 3E was a core force in the Vongola even now, four generations later, and every single one of its 25 members (give or take) were completely, unfalteringly loyal to Vongola the Tenth.
They were something of an anomaly in the mafia world - their loyalty to a dead man that none of them had met was stronger than most men who knew their bosses personally.
But at the same time, they were deeply respected.
Vongola the Tenth, also known as the second coming of Primo, had far surpassed his ancestor, and had taken his place as the most influential mafia Don in history.
The Rules he had put down in relation to human trafficking and experimentation had become a core part of the Code of Honour that all mafioso lived by.
Therefore, as the men and women who upheld the Tenth's beliefs, the members of 3E were greatly admired and were regarded by most in much the same way the Vindice had been regarded, once upon a time.
Thus, their withdrawal was a shocking political statement that alerted many to the fact that the Vongola may be straying once more to the bloody ways they'd practised before the time of the Tenth.
It was the first time in their history that this had happened, and already, the consequences of their decision were being seen.
Many of the Vongola's allies had turned their backs on the Family, and it was rumoured that even the Chiavarone, who had a long, friendly history with the Vongola, were starting to drift away.
Underneath all the uneasiness however, was an undercurrent of excitement.
Because 3E cutting off their ties with the Vongola meant that they were now, officially, hitmen for hire.
SkyGem: That's the end of this chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it! In case any of you were wondering, yes, this is an oc-centric fic, BUT, Tsuna and his guardians, and of course the lovely students of 3E, wil all be playing a very large part in it. So please stay tuned for the next chapter, yeah? Ciao!
P.S. WHOO! ONE FULL WEEK OF DAILY UPDATES HAVE PASSED. I'm so happy!