The resounding sound of a piano, echoing through the halls. Music flows through the hall, not a particular piece, though it is beautiful nonetheless. But sad. There is sorrow in those notes; a touch of melancholy resides there. Perhaps it is a reflection of the pianist's soul. I do not know. But I sit here and listen, to this shapeless melody. A musician at his purest.
His playing is untainted by conformity of pieces, and I picture those long, pale fingers, dancing over the keys, moving on their own. His green eyes are closed, mouth set in a firm line. His brow is furrowed as he plays smoothly but with a hint of almost desperation, and is expression is pained.
Yes, the music must come from his heart. The pain in that tune perfectly mirrors that of the look on his face. What is it he is suffering from? What causes him such agony?
Gokudera Hayato has never had faith in God. He never went to church, he never prayed. He believed that if God were a real entity, there wouldn't be so many horrible people and the good people might actually get a chance to live. Salvation was a lie made by people who wanted an assurance of forgiveness after death, prayer never got through. If it did, his mother wouldn't have suffered. He hated God.
But everytime Jyuudaime went on a mission, Hayato would sit and play his piano in place of prayer, and hope that his boss would come home, as he always promised.
But today, as his beloved Jyuudaime headed off to meet that bastard Byakuran of the Millefiore… After he promptly sat down and played that piano as if he were to die, he felt it wasn't enough.
His hands slowed to a stop, and his sea-foam eyes opened. He closed the fallboard and put his elbows on top of it, again closing his eyes. Both his hands came and clasped together in a semblance of prayer, and his head came to rest upon them.
"If there is a God," he began. Hayato paused and struggled for the right words.
"If there is a God… and You can hear me… If You're there, and if You can only save one person… Please, let it be him. Please let him come back alive again… Don't let him die. Please, not Jyuudaime."
Gokudera Hayato didn't believe in God. But for his precious boss, he would pray to a thousand gods, a thousand times, if it meant that Jyuudaime would be safe.
Later, as Irie Shouichi nods at him and points the barrel of a gun at him, Sawada Tsunayoshi feels fear. He knows he will not die… and he is not scared of death anyway. What he fears for is the future, and the family he is leaving behind, even if only for a short while.
He thinks of his guardians, of Reborn and of the Ninth. He thinks of the Varia, of Basil and his father and his mother. He regrets having to make them suffer even the tiniest bit. Their faces all come forth in his mind, and he can't figure out whether the images in his head are laughing happily as he recalls them, or crying.
The last face he sees is one with brilliantly green eyes and porcelain skin, framed by a soft halo of silver.
As the bullet drives deep into his body, he has one last thought.
"I'm sorry Hayato. I'll be home a bit late this time."