Story Title: projectile
Rated: T for violence
Status: Complete // 500+
Summary: [Enma/Tsuna] Tsuna and Enma face the end.
Steve's Notes: I wrote these drabbles immediately after reading ch. 283 (which is the very first chapter Enma was introduced). Therefore, there is a lot of projection on my behalf, though considering Amano's general lack of attention to detail, some quirks I've given Enma may yet remain undebunked by canon. Anyway, each drabble is based of a general scenario as to how I think the Inheritance Arc may end; all of them include a conflict arising between the Vongola and Simon Families, but how Enma plays out his role as head of the Simon Family and how Tsuna reacts to it differ.
Disclaimer: Katekyou Hitman Reborn! © Amano Akira

01. Scenario I

"You lied to me," Tsuna states; the only thing that keeps him from roaring in painangergrief is the clarity afforded to him by the flames of his dying will. He keeps his elbows locked into the position needed to fire his X-Burner. "I thought we were friends, Enma."

"Friends?" Enma smirks; the only thing that keeps him from roaring in hysteriamadnessdefeat is the clarity afforded to him by the forced flames of his dying will. He keeps his fingers aimed, locked into the parody of gun. "We were never that, No-Good-Tsuna."

Tsuna only just manages to not grit his teeth. This Enma before him is not the painfully shy, quiet boy who's ring resounded with Tsuna's when his skin slid against his skin, he is not the boy who could shoot a bird out of the sky but was afraid of the gun he was forced to carry, he is not the boy who got stomachaches from eating too much junk food, he is not the boy who repeatedly beat Tsuna in videogames, he is not the boy who became Tsuna's best friend despite their Family rivalry, he is not the boy who ran away when he pressed his lips too hard and too quickly against Tsuna's own.

This Enma is broken, a shell of his Family's ambitions and greed.

"We were," Tsuna states coldly, replies after a breath. "And because of that, I am sorry for what I have to do."

02. Scenario II

"But—" Tsuna grasps for words now that he is no longer enflamed by his dying will. "You tried to—"

"Kill you?" Enma smiles back; it's not a very strong smile, and it wavers at the corners, but it is genuine nonetheless. "Yeah. I did."

Tsuna only just manages not to choke on that logic and his own spit.

"Our Families never got along you know, despite the alliance," Enma continues in his soft, barely audible voice, but his crimson eyes target Tsuna's and stay locked. "There are no other legitimate heirs in the Vongola with you gone, and the Vongola Family would squabble about a true heir. There would have been internal fighting and, eventually, a division. It wasn't anything personal. I was just—"

Enma unconsciously touches the Sky Ring pulsing against his finger.

"—trying to protect them." Tsuna finishes, because even without his hyper intuition, he can still read Enma like a book. "Yeah, I know."

And when Enma's genetically altered eyes flicker away, Tsuna amends, No, it's more like a mirror.

03. Scenario III

When it comes down to it, Tsuna thinks, this should really bother him more.

He's fifteen. He supposed to be worried about girls and school work and getting into a good high school, not girls, school work, getting into a good high school, and deep-seeded mafia rivalries.

"Come on," Enma laughs. It's a hollow, sharp noise made entirely of desperation and bluff. "Come on, Vongola Decimo, do it!"

So Tsuna does.

And, when there's nothing left of Kozato Enma but a glittering ring on scorched earth, Tsuna thinks it should really bother him more.

end.