Happiness Within A Steel Jail Cell

Summary: When you aim for the top, what will you find? Hey, it's pretty lonely being the one in command, you know. Tsuna learns this the hard way - via genocide and bloodshed, and surprisingly Giotto just smiles and takes it in his stride. Dark, drabble, oneshot.

Disclaimer: Don't own. That is all.

A/N: *shrugs*

I have returned, briefly. I have no explanation to offer to you guys, other than that I have moved on.

Giotto smiled and looked at the boy as he tottered up the last few steps of the grand staircase of Vongola Headquarters.

The boy was older, stronger now - and had grown into a fine boss. But he absolutely winded by the time he reached the top.

"You took your time." Giotto removed a pocket watch from inside his jacket, flipping it open - but he didn't so much as glance at it.

"..." Tsuna stared at him. As he wiped the blood off his forearms, he observed that the carpet on the stairs had gone from blood red - which was what its color was at the bottom - and gradually deepened into a true, dark, dried blood black that hurt his eyes as he went higher. "Why?"

"Hmm?"

"Why this? Why did you make me kill so many people...?"

The man seemed puzzled at first, but then he smiled again and looked at his latest successor. "We are the ones who stand at the top." He said simply. "The higher you go-" a finger traced an imaginary line from the top to the bottom of the stairs. "-the bloodier it gets. You're expected to kill the most, you know."

Tsuna looked askance at him. "Is that why you're wearing THAT?" He demanded, pointing at the black mantle the other boss wore. Coincidentally, it was the same color as the carpet on the top of the stairs.

A rueful smile twisted Giotto's lips. "It's just a coincidence. I assure you that I have no intention of wearing my victims' blood on my clothes."

"..." a pregnant silence followed. One minute passed, then two, and then three. Finally, the boy raised his fist and slammed it onto the cage that trapped Giotto in frustration.

Again, the man only smiled. "Don't be upset." He called, even as the surroundings started to swirl and melt together. "Even happiness can be found when you're trapped in a steel jail cell. It's not a bad thing to be chained to your famiglia."

Tsuna said nothing because his dream was already ending, and he was going to wake up in a few moments and forget it completely.

A/N: Thanks for reading.