Gokudera Hayato was running quickly down the hall of the Vongola mansion, a file on his hand and he was in panic. He stopped running when he arrived at the front of a wooden door that has a signpost, "Neo Vongola Primo". Gokudera let out a breath before knocking the door politely.
"Come in." When he heard the answer, Gokudera entered the room and saw a man with defying-gravity-messy- brown hair who was sitting behind the desk. He was wearing a white shirt and his sleeves were rolled up until it reaches his elbows. On the desk with the Vongola Famiglia logo, there were some stack of papers (those DAMN THINGS, his boss would called them, along with annoyance on his voice) called 'paperwork' on the said desk, waiting to be finished.
The man who sat behind the desk was reading a file when he saw the storm guardian, as well as one of his best friends, entering the room.
"Gokudera-kun? What is it? Why do you look like you're in a hurry? Did something blow up? Is it Hibari-san again?" He bombarded Gokudera with many questions, preparing to have another mental breakdown of counter-measures he had to pull in order to clean up the mess. Those thoughts ran inside his head as Tsuna put down the file he was reading, looking pretty terrified with those thoughts as he stared at Gokudera.
Gokudera shook his head quietly, as he walked towards his boss's desk, placing the file he was carrying on the desk. Tsuna stared at the file for a while.
"This is Hibari's intelligence report on Caloroso Famiglia that you asked few weeks ago, Jyuudaime. Instead of giving it directly to you, that jerk just fled as soon he dropped this on my desk.." Gokudera muttered irritably. Hearing Gokudera's complained about his fellow guardian, Tsuna couldn't help but stifled a laugh,
"Let him be, Gokudera-kun. That's Hibari-san for you. He's always like that since the start. Also, I believe he was currently busy managing the Foundation." The boss said with a soft laugh, while opening the file the silver-haired-man gave him. His brown eyes began to read theinformation that was contained in the file. It doesn't take long much time until the boss closed the file and stared at his storm guardian.
" ... Are you sure that this information is true?" asked the boss with a serious tone, completely different than before. The file that contains the information, provided by the cloud guardian, Hibari Kyoya, doesn't contain any good news that he was expecting. On contrast, the file contained a lot of bad things, and some of them were even taboo things that Tsuna wouldn't dare to say.
Gokudera nodded. "Caloroso Famiglia was suspected of conducting dangerous experiments on humans, specifically children. Letters, e-mails, phone records, financial reports and photographs, all of those, that were taken by the Foundation after observing the Caloroso Famiglia over the span of few weeks, indicating that your suspicion was correct, Jyuudaime." Gokudera reported, watching carefully as Tsuna's fingers twitched. "They are indeed conducting a human trafficking on the underground market, just like what you suspected."
The report from the storm guardian made the man in front of him began to massages his forehead before leaning back to his chair. He lets out a heavy sigh before ordered his guardian with a commanding voice,
"Gokudera-kun. I want you to summon all of the guardians now. I know onii-san is on an important mission, but I want him home now. If you can ask Lal Mirch or Colonello to replace onii-san on the mission, that'll be great." The boss commanded as he turned his chair to look out from the window. Gokudera bowed before answering,
"Certainly, Decimo." Gokudera replied and hurriedly made his way exiting the room.
And, He Pulled the Trigger.
Disclaimer : I do not own Katekyou Hitman Reborn
Note : I once wrote this in high school in my native language but now as I took a major in Psychology, I want to add more Psychological knowledge in this. So I literally pulled out DSM-V and my Abnormal Psychology book for some research, especially the PTSD symptoms one. I really enjoy writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it too!
It took three whole hours for Gokudera to bring all of the guardians who are out in a mission or was inside the mansion to gather inside their boss's work room. The Vongola boss, Tsuna, was standing and staring at the view outside his window while the fedora-wearing teenager was sitting on Tsuna's desk, cleaning his handgun. They waited as everyone entered the room and when Chrome Dokuro, the last guardian, entered the room and close the door, the meeting started.
"So.. What is it? Why did you summon all of us so sudden like this, Tsuna?" asked a man with short-cropped hair and a katana slung over his shoulder, he is leaning towards a book case behind him in a comfortable position. The man, Yamamoto Takeshi, or the rain guardian asked in light tone yet the aura surrounding him and the other guardians, were serious.
Tsunayoshi Sawada, also known as the Neo Vongola Primo (or Vongola Primo, Tsuna didn't bothered about his current title), looked at the ex - baseball player Namimori with an uneasy smile. Yamamoto knew immediately that something big (and bad) has happened. Tsuna, stares at all of his guardians one by one who had been with him since he was 14 years old, before opening his mouth,
"Caloroso Famiglia. Any of you know or might have heard the name of this particular Famiglia?" Tsuna asked as he leaned against the table, next to the boy with the fedora, eyes sweeping on his seven guardians.
"Caloroso Famiglia was a Famiglia that was formed a couple years ago and they are growing quite rapidly due to their specialization in experimental and inventions of the mafia world." Report Gokudera.
"I do know that they are one of the Famiglia who joined our Alliance." Yamamoto continued as he ruffled his hair.
"He was not a very pleasant person. The boss, I mean." complained Lambo Bovino with exasperation. Lambo spoke from experience as he once accompanied Tsuna when the Vongola and the Caloroso held a meeting. Surprisingly, it only took one meeting for Lambo to dislike the Caloroso don. Lambo remembered Tsuna ruffled his hair and saying something about how Lambo have been brave and patient.
"The boss, Antonio Caloroso was a man full of ambition and hungry for power." The only woman inside the room spoke out, "But, it was just an assumption because a lot of our Allied Famiglia reported that Caloroso Famiglia constantly sending them alliance requests to the point it annoyed some of the dons." The woman, Chrome Dokuro explained with a small but confident voice. The mist guardian who had a long indigo hair was clutching a small trident she always carried since she holds the title of the Second Vongola Mist Guardian.
"Boss, you certainly have heard about 'Superhuman', correct?" Chrome asked with a calm tone to which Tsuna nodded and a wave of understanding rushes inside him. This certainly made the whole thing more complicated.
"Apparently he promised the other Famiglias that he'll share this invention when he completed them, it intrigued most of the dons to finally accept their alliance requests".
Tsuna frowned when he heard the woman's statement. Chrome also serves as the Head of Profiler and Counselor for the Vongola Famiglia, her analysis about the don would sure be taken into account.
"That explains why it didn't take long for them to joined our Alliance.. They're pretty persistent..." Tsuna stated as he ruffled his brown hair, letting out a sigh.
Tsuna recalled his conversation with Kyoko and Haru who had help Tsuna manages the Famiglia. The two women explained that they kept getting letters and gifts with Caloroso Famiglia as the return address few months back. Well, the persistence is an admiration for sure to the point it pissed the two female. Which was a surprise for Tsuna, since both Kyoko and Haru are some of the people with the highest level of patience that Tsuna had knew.
Tsuna gestured to the next person to talk,
"I heard rumors from some bars that I visited. Rumor has it that the Caloroso Famiglia was a well-known Famiglia in the underground city and black markets because they were involved in human trafficking. It is extremely bad." Ryohei Sasagawa added (with his signature saying), the sun guardian, crossing his hands with a frown. It was pretty rare to see Ryohei with a frown even.
"And if we combined with the information we just obtained from our Skylark, it seems like they are indeed, not a pleasant Famiglia. Kufufu.. Caloroso means 'calm' but certainly they do not live up with their names… This is why I hate the mafia..." Mukuro Rokudo said while letting out a mocking sigh.
When the mist guardian himself read the Caloroso Famiglia reports about experiments on humans that Hibari sent to all of the guardians, Mukuro immediately vowed out loud, to give this Famiglia a 'living hell in Earth'.
Hibari Kyoya just stood near the door with a stoic face in silence. He felt that he didn't need to say anything, because all of these herbivores have explained everything. When Hibari know what the Famiglia has done, the desire to bite those Famiglia to death has somewhat increased drastically. And it was not because of the past events that the pineapple bastard had. His desire has increased dramatically due to several weeks of troublesome by staking out the Famiglia.
The results did not please the Foundation leader at all.
"What are you planning to do now, Tsuna?" the boy asked as he played with his handgun on his hand. "You do know that experiments on humans cannot be tolerated by the Vongola, right?"
Tsuna bit his lower lip, indicating he was beginning to feel anxious. At one hand, as the head of Vongola Famiglia, Tsuna certainly doesn't want to start a mafia war with other Famiglias while on the other hand, human experiments and human trafficking is one of the taboo acts for Tsuna and the Vongola, or humanity perhaps.
"Tsuna." Reborn called again. The boy was wearing a formal suit and a fedora while taking a quick glance towards his student. This was one of the toughest choices for his student, he's certainly sure. However, Reborn knew for sure that Tsuna would consider both options and would've picked the best choice.
Tsuna closed his eyes before let out a heavy sigh. The man walked to his desk, pulled out one of the drawers and pulled out a pair of gloves with the number' 27' on it and shoved it into his pocket before glancing at his guardians,
"Let's pay a visit to the Caloroso mansion, shall we?" Tsuna asked as he closed his drawer.
A woman with long orange hair was standing near the sink when she heard the news that was delivered by the grown-up I- pin, about don Vongola's plan to visit the Caloroso Famiglia.
"I see..." she whispered in a small voice. Kyoko Sasagawa, the ex-school idol of the Namimori Junior High put the plate she was holding and placed it at the dishwasher. Mixed emotions happened inside her head right now after hearing the news that I-pin delivered to her.
"Kyoko-san?" I-pin called out with a concern voice. Since Kyoko and Haru had helped the Vongola Famiglia and was involved with the Famiglia itself, these women had the rights to also know all of the good news and bad news that was happening inside the number one mafia family, even though they didn't receive the whole story.
Both Kyoko and Haru appreciate that they were not left in the dark but at the same time, it is especially hard to find out about the news that involves their beloved ones in danger. But the two women knew that it was the consequences being involved in mafia and decided to acknowledge it.
Kyoko was the one who knew the best.
Kyoko smiles sadly toward the teenage girl before answering, "Ah. It's okay, I-pin-chan! Thank you for delivering the message. Has Tsu-kun already left? If not, I want to meet him." Kyoko said with a confident tone, trying to brush off the worry inside her.
I- pin nodded as she guided Kyoko towards the don Vongola's office. Kyoko opened the door and saw the don Vongola was trying to put on his tie. With a knock, Kyoko entered and made her way towards the man before began helping him by straightening his tie, without saying anything.
Although several years have passed but Tsuna still sometimes found himself feeling embarrassed when he was alone with his first crush (now significant other), thus he couldn't help but blushed at Kyoko's act.
"I heard from I-pin." Kyoko opened her mouth, her hands still tying Tsuna's tie and Tsuna couldn't help but smile wryly at the comment. He was about to say something before Kyoko had cut him off,
"Tsu-kun. Promise me that you'll come home no matter what happen. Could you promise me that?" Kyoko asked as she stared at his brown orbs, and Tsuna could sense a pleading voice in her tone. Tsuna stared at the woman in front of him, smiling gently,
"Of course." the man replied with a reassuring voice. Kyoko smiled brightly before embracing the man in front of her, the action that still bring redness on Tsuna's face, yet the male bring himself to embrace Kyoko back. Tsuna leaned forward to left a longing kiss at the temple of the orange-haired female's head; a bright smile appeared on Kyoko's face that Tsuna have always loved.
Antonio Caloroso let out an annoying groan when he saw several cars with Vongola emblems entering his mansion grounds. Indeed he knew that the Vongola will visit them today since they sent out a notice few hours ago, but somehow the Caloroso don was feeling a little fidgety.
"Zio. Tell the researchers to stop doing whatever they're doing at the basement. Lock those brats and hide the door. We can't make the Vongola grew suspicious." The don Caloroso ordered to the tall man who was standing next to him. The tall man nodded obediently and quickly left the room. Antonio Caloroso leaned back to the chair before a knock on the door startled him.
"Don Caloroso, Vongola Decimo is here to see you.." The secretary, Koko, called out with her distinctive voice. When she heard her boss giving out a response, Koko let the man entered the room and politely closed the door behind her.
The young man with brown hair stepped inside and whispered a 'thank you' to Koko, with the silver-haired man tailing him from behind. Antonio Caloroso couldn't help but to feel amazed at the young man, the Neo Vongola Primo, that was standing in front of him. Considering that the man was only on his late twenties but he was already able to manage and controlling the number one mafia group in the world.
"Vongola Decimo" Antonio Caloroso greeted with a respectful tone.
"Don Caloroso. I hope you do not mind with my guardians and I sudden visit like this." Tsuna greeted as he bow slightly, followed by Gokudera who still stand behind him.
"It is okay, Decimo. So, what made you came to this humble mansion of ours?" Antonio Caloroso asked as he gestured the young man to sit on the chair in front of him, and Tsuna immediately sat down.
"Well, don Caloroso. I've heard an unpleasant rumor and I do hope that it was only a mere rumor… That you have violated a rule that was written in our term of alliance and cooperation." Tsuna said, straight to the point, all with staring intently into the don in front of him. Antonio Caloroso body stiffened when he heard it.
"And what is this, unpleasant rumor have you heard, Decimo?" Antonio Caloroso asked, trying to put a calm face. Gokudera let out a small grin when he realized that Antonio Caloroso's body had became tense and stiff. Jackpot, Gokudera thought.
Tsuna took out the file from inside his cloak and put it at Don Caloroso's desk which startled the old don.
"Dangerous experiments on humans, children, to be specific." Tsuna stated as he rested his head on his palm, feeling a little satisfied. He stared at the Don Caloroso whose expression changed from calm to looking anxious and panic. But, to his surprise, Antonio Caloroso quickly gained his composure as he inhaled a breath before answering,
"Decimo. With all due respect, I fully acknowledge that my Famiglia specializes in experimental and scientific research, but I am afraid I do not know what you mean by dangerous experiments on humans. Specifically, children like you stated earlier." The don said in a calm yet mocking tone.
"Oh. I'm very sure you know what I am talking about, don Caloroso.." Tsuna smiled, a hint of dangerous was hidden behind his smile. "Please explain to us what this new weapon Caloroso Famiglia had made and sold to many international arms dealer the last few weeks?" Tsuna asked as he casually leaned back to his chair, trying to remain calm.
"A military weapon with flames as their ammunitions. Each flames has its own damage results. In this case, we do not need to reload and waste anymore bullets. As we know, reloading weapon was only a waste of time." Replied don Caloroso proudly.
Tsuna smiled slightly before saying, "Ah, yes. I know that weapon. But, don Caloroso, I'm afraid we're talking about a different one. Superhuman, is it right?" don Caloroso stiffened as he heard the words coming out from Tsuna's mouth.
"Superhuman is an experimental research and project to create a 'vessel' of a person who can bear all of the 6 flames inside their body, am I wrong?" Tsuna asked with a wide grin on his face when the body of the don Caloroso stiffened once again and his eyes went wide.
"You do know that we, the Vongola, hate— loath, Famiglia who does dangerous human experiments, Antonio Caloroso." Tsuna stated with a cold and somewhat dangerous tone. "Before you asked how I obtained any of this information, let's just say that I have some reliable guardians who do their jobs well."
Antonio Caloroso was in shock.
How did the infamous Vongola Decimo knew that they were doing the secret project, 'superhuman'? He had been very carefully not to get caught by other Famiglia, let alone the Vongola! All of the bodies that became a fail product of the project had been burned to ashes and buried perfectly on a place far away from the mansion. So, how come this project that he and several people of his Famiglia ran secretly, reaches the Vongola ears?
Before Antonio Caloroso could open his mouth, the phone on Neo Vongola Primo's pocket began to rang. Tsuna reaches out the cell phone inside his pocket and held it up to his ear, all while staring intensely into Antonio Caloroso.
"I found it." Two words that make Tsuna's brows furrowed, knowing what the man on the other side of the phone meant.
"Thank you, Hibari-san. We will be there soon." Tsuna answered before putting his cell phone back into his pocket.
"Get up from your seat, Antonio Caloroso. You owe me a very clear explanation." Tsuna stated in a commanding tone. Antonio Caloroso immediately found himself standing up so abruptly. He actually hate when someone ordered him around, but the tone on Tsuna's voice was very commanding. The man felt he would be in danger if he did not obey the words of the young mafia don.
Gokudera grabbed his arm hard and forcefully made the don walked while he's leading him.
When Tsuna, Gokudera and Antonio Caloroso walked out from the don Caloroso's office, the three were greeted by many unconscious bodies that seem to be Caloroso mafiosi, along the corridor of the mansion. In addition to some of the unconscious bodies, there were some walls that have blood spots, cracks, slashes, even a hole. This scene makes the don Caloroso horrified because he knew that these are the actions of the Decimo's guardians.
The three of them have finally reached a door that has the same color with the wall, and which seemed like to lead to a basement.
The basement wall was white, like a hospital wall, except these walls had red colored liquid splashed on it. In the basement there are also some unconscious Caloroso mafiosi all over the places and the scene made don Caloroso grew even more horrified.
The three men passed through a metal door which leads to another basement. The combination numbers next to the metal door had been broken and Tsuna was convinced that it was the act of his aloof cloud guardian, Hibari Kyoya.
Inside the room there were some dirty cells and in each cell seems to be a room where flames of the dying will, can't be used. Tsuna could see the sea of unconscious Caloroso Mafiosi on the ground. At this point, it is not clearly whether they are unconscious or death. Beside him, the Caloroso don's face grew even paler at the sight of his men.
Tsuna turned his attention around and the view made him shocked.
There were children, between the ages about 3-10 years old, scattering about inside the basement. Most of the children looked like they were in a very terrible condition. Some of them sat slumply outside their cells, some of them hugged each other and looked very terrified upon Tsuna's guardians or other Vongola's men approaching them. A small portion of the children looked unconscious.
These children looked weak, malnourished and on their bodies, there are some scars, lashes. Some of them even have lost their limbs.
Tsuna felt as if someone had punched him in the gut as he looked at the view.
Sasagawa Ryohei was seen attending some severe-injured children with his sun flames as he kept ordering some of the Vongola men to carry the injured children to his care. Meanwhile, Reborn, Hibari and Mukuro had captured some of the Caloroso mafiosi including the Don's right hand man, Zio and is now holding an interrogation session with some of the captured Caloroso men far from the children's reach.
Yamamoto and Lambo helped some of the injured children to stand up, carrying one or two children who had hard time walking, and guide them to Ryohei to receive some treatments. Chrome on the other hand, was seen comforting a child who looked so terrified. The young illusionist performed some illusion tricks to the child, tricking his mind so that he could transport easily. Other Vongola men, around 10 to 12 people, were also seen carrying the children to upstairs to receive help.
Seeing these appalling conditions, Tsuna quickly pulled the collar of the don Caloroso's shirt, pulling him off from Gokudera's hold and slammed the said man to the wall behind him with a loud thump, shocking his guardians. Indescribably anger expression was seen on the Neo Vongola Primo's face.
"EXPLAIN THIS TO ME AT ONCE, ANTONIO CALOROSO! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" Tsuna growled furiously. All of the guardians were quite surprised to hear their boss raised his voice in anger. Reborn glanced towards Tsuna who's currently in fury. It was a quite rare to hear Tsuna raised his voice in anger or furious, because Reborn had trained him to always stay calm in any situation possible.
Antonio Caloroso smirked when the Vongola Decimo slammed him to the wall and now was looking at him with fire on his eyes. The aura that surrounded them was intimidating and thick. Gokudera, Hibari and Mukuro have readied their weapons to attack the don Caloroso if he looked like he was going to launch an attack to their boss. Then, Antonio Caloroso smirked grew even more wider,
"Because by creating a 'superhuman', a person who have 7 flames flowing inside their body, would be the strongest humankind in the mafia world—no, The whole world, Decimo! Do you not want a perfect and very strong human being, Vongola Decimo?" The Caloroso explained, his smirking face grew wider as he goes on,
"These children are worthless human beings before I made them into 'superhuman' candidates and later, when they became the strongest human in earth, they will thank me-" Before Antonio Caloroso could continue his speech, his body was suddenly thrown across the room by Tsuna, and hit the basement wall, hard. The body of the don fell into the ground and did not move an inch.
The Vongola Decimo has entered the hyper mode, staring Antonio Caloroso furiously after he threw the man across the room. "You disgust me, Antonio Caloroso." says Tsuna before turning his back and walk away, with Gokudera follow suit.
His eye then caught a small figure that is currently hiding behind a pillar. Tsuna smiled gently, he got into one knee and offered the child his hand. The child, a girl about 4 years old, then began to move away further from Tsuna. She looked terrified and the sight of it broke Tsuna's heart.
"I won't hurt you." Tsuna muttered gently and smiled at her. The girl hesitated before she finally took Tsuna's hand and the young don immediately carried her in his arms. Tsuna could feel the girl is still shaking pretty violently in his arms.
While carrying her, Tsuna transferred his warm sky flames to the girl, trying to warm and calm her down. The girl then leaned her head into the Decimo's neck, seeking for more warmth as Tsuna hugged her tighter, giving her the sky flames warmth from his Vongola's ring that she was seeking for. Tsuna then walked towards Ryohei who's still using his sun flames to heal the children,
"Onii-san. Please bring these children to our hospital. Make sure the doctors and nurses treat these children well. Yamamoto, Lambo, Gokudera, Chrome, I want you to help onii-san. Reborn, I want you to protect the evacuates and the children as they make way to the hospital." Tsuna turned towards Hibari and Mukuro who have moved closer to him,
"Hibari-san, can you do me a favor and 'clean' the Caloroso mansion? I want this place to be spotless clean before the feds caught us. Please ask CEDEF for help if necessary. Mukuro, you know what to do." Tsuna ordered as he handed the child in his arms to Chrome who took the little girl to her arms. All of the guardians nodded at the orders given by their boss.
Ryohei immediately grabbed his cell phone, calling for reinforcements. The sun guardian, with the help of Lambo, Yamamoto, Gokudera, Chrome, and other Vongola Famiglia men, lead the children out from the basement. Reborn watches the evacuation closely but also keeping out for any conscious Mafiosi who will launch an attack.
The tutor made an eye contact with both Hibari and Mukuro, he nodded his head slightly, as if he was trying to say that he'll trust Tsuna to their care. After that, Reborn climbed out the basement, trying to protect the children.
"Where are you taking them?!" Antonio Caloroso who had gained concioussness, screamed at the rest of Vongola people who's leading the children away. The Caloroso don tried to move towards the people while screaming, "DON'T TAKE THEM! THEY ARE MY VALUABLE SUBJECTS! YOU DON'T WANT TO CARRY—"
"SILENCE!"
Dying will-flame flashed on the forehead of Neo Vongola Decimo as he screamed in wrath towards the now conscious don Caloroso. He stomped towards Caloroso don and looked the don Caloroso with rage and fury written all over his face.
Subjects? These young and innocent children are nothing but guinea pigs in his eyes?! Tsuna thought in rage. He had seen the children, thin and malnourished, some of them don't have some of the body parts. These.. Innocent… Children!
Without thinking clearly, Tsuna find himself flew towards Antonio Caloroso who already stood up and is ready to fight. The storm flames raged behind the Dons Caloroso as the don smirked, bracing himself from Tsuna's attacks.
Tsuna launched several attacks, which was successfully dodged by the don Caloroso. Don Caloroso then launched an attack, a swift kick that Tsuna himself dodged easily. The two went on for while, as Hibari and Mukuro watches silently and secured the basement exit, so that evacuates won't get hurt by any throwing debris from the fight.
But when the Neo Vongola Primo found an opening on Caloroso Antonio's fighting stance, Antonio Caloroso was instantly kicked on the stomach by the young don, sending the Caloroso don away, as he hit a wall behind him hard and slumped against the wall before falling to the floor.
Tsuna landed smoothly to the land, staring at the Caloroso don with a cold expression, am expression that he doesn't know he had it. His brown orbs piercing into the falling Caloroso don for a while before,
"Come on, Hibari-san. Mukuro. We're leaving." Tsuna said, spun his body around and began to walk away. Hibari and Mukuro walked behind him, following their Boss towards the basement exit, leaving the falling Caloroso don behind.
"You cannot cure the children, Vongola Decimo. They already have suffered too much, both mentally and physically." The don Caloroso reported with a weak yet audible voice.
"Oh, you'll see. We'll cure those children and we'll succeed." Tsuna replied with a calm tone, all without turning his attention around to Antonio Caloroso.
The next words that came out from the Caloroso don made Tsuna stopped walking as he widened his eyes in shock. He felt his hands began to tremble. Mukuro and Hibari also widened their eyes in shock, surprised by the statement that was made by Antonio Caloroso.
Before the two guardians could react, Tsuna had reached out a gun that was lying nearby and stomped his way towards Antonio Caloroso. Tsuna was so enraged to the point where he lost the control of his body and mind. He pointed the gun directly at the don Caloroso face. Tsuna pulled the gun's safety pin before asking again in a dangerous tone,
"Say that again." Tsuna dared with calm yet intimidating tone, the gun barrel directed on the don's face.
"Those children had already lost their will to live because of what my researchers have done to them." The Caloroso don replied with a wide smirk on his face, enjoy looking at the fuming young don who's hovering with a gun in front of him.
"What have they done to the children?" Tsuna asked again, now the hand that was holding the gun was shaking violently. As Antonio Caloroso answered the question with a twisted smile, Tsuna's mind went blank and before he knew it, he had pulled the trigger of the gun,
"SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI, NO!"
"DON'T!"
A gunshot was fired and it resounded on the basement. Once Tsuna realized what has just happened and see the sight in front of him, his hands began trembling hard. Tsuna immediately dropped the weapon and let out a muffled groan as he stepped back.
Tsuna looked at the gun he dropped earlier and he felt terrified. The feeling was indescribable for Tsuna. The smell of gunpowder in the air, the gunshot resounded being played inside his mind and the thin smoke that come out of its muzzle. Tsuna looked up and stared at Antonio Caloroso whose body slumped weakly with red liquid flowing out from his head, yet the nasty smirked was still engrossed on his face.
That's when Tsuna realized that he had fired the gun.
Sawada Tsunayoshi had taken someone's life away.
Hibari was the first one that reached Tsuna, kicking the gun away from Tsuna's reach. Hibari also grabbed Tsuna's body and pulled him away from the dead body. Tsuna suddenly felt nauseous, as if someone just twisted his stomach so hard that he had an urge to vomit all of his insides right now. He tried to break loose from Hibari's grip and wanted to run to the corpse's body.
Hibari was taken aback with the amount of force that Tsuna gave out as he struggled to break loose from the skylark's grip. Before that could happened, Mukuro managed to reached Tsuna and immediately hit the young don at his nape, making him fall limply and lost his consciousness.
The last thing that Tsuna heard before he lost his consciousness was his name that was yelled by Gokudera and Yamamoto respectively.
Tsuna woke up with a very terrible headache several hours later, safely tucked on his large king-sized bed in his bedroom of Vongola mansion. It has been worse than hangover that he ever experienced. Tsuna stepped down and felt a shiver down his spine as his warm feet made a contact with the cold floor.
"How do you feel?" Tsuna jumped when he found Reborn sitting on the sofa inside his room, cleaning the insides of the gun he loved using.
"I've been worse… With the headaches." Tsuna answered slowly, hands slowly lowered from his head.
"Oh? You took it fairly well." Reborn commented simply.
Which was an odd thing for Tsuna for taking it well, even the guardians went through some difficult times when they had their first kill.
Tsuna felt his breath hitched, as the image of several hours ago went all blur for him. He couldn't even comprehend what went down during the Caloroso raid. All he could remember is Hibari's hands catching his limping body, a sharp pain on his nape and Gokudera and Yamamoto's voice shouting his name.
"Yeah. Maybe." Tsuna continued as his voice began much weaker than before. "Did Mukuro hit me with his trident again..?"
Reborn chuckled at Tsuna's attempt to joke. At a slight glance, Tsuna looked well. Pale and weak, but overall he looked well.
"Get some sleep. I'll wake you up in few hours." Reborn stood up from his seat, putting his revolver inside his holster again. Reborn then nodded to Tsuna who gave an 'okay' sign to his mentor and exited the room. Outside the room, Reborn immediately called Chrome and informed her that Tsuna has woken up. Chrome, on the other side of the line, quickly confirmed and is heading towards Tsuna's room.
Inside his room, Tsuna then leaned his head on the bed rest as he tried to recollect what went down several hours ago in the Caloroso Famiglia mansion. He tried to remember hardly but failed. He tried again and his mind are blank, as if someone had enclosed his recent memories.
Tsuna took a deep breath and tried to compose himself as he closed his eyes. Reborn once taught him this method if there's a piece of memory missing from his mind due to physical or psychological trauma. He'd done this several times (accompanied with headaches and nauseous) but it surprisingly worked.
Tsuna tried to remember how the Caloroso Famiglia's mansion looks like, felt like, even how it smelled like. It was done so that Tsuna could 'be' on the Caloroso Famiglia's mansion and remembered what went down several hours ago.
Deep breath, Tsuna.
Deep breath.
Tsuna could finally feel the cold breeze of the huge mansion, he could easily pictured the dull colors of the wall which some of them are tainted with red blood, the smell of autumn leaves from the outside, accompanied with the scent of blood successfully made its way to the young don's nose.
Tsuna's body shook a little but he took another deep breath and concentrated. He's already there, at the Caloroso Famiglia mansion he had built inside his mind. He had seen and created the smell. He just needed what it sounds like.
Tsuna lets out a breath slowly and began to recollect the small chatters from voices he quickly easily recognizes. His guardians. Of course. They had been there, helping some of the children escapes the mansion and took them to the hospital, hopefully also find their parents. Oh, the children. There were some crying and quiet groans coming out from the children, those poor children…
Tsuna's body shook again.
No. He can handle this.
He's almost there. He's almost the-
BANG!
Tsuna opened his eyes so abruptly and immediately had his hands come up to his ears; shielding them from the sound he just heard. He looked around his room and felt the headaches strikes him again, this time it was absolutely painful. Tsuna then shut his eyes and tried to steady his breath again, which results in failure.
Unconsciously, Tsuna lets out a painful scream.
BANG!
Tsuna shut his eyes again, even though it was already shut. His body was shaking hard, his breathing races, his eyes began to tear up and he had his knees near his chest, curling like a ball with his eyes covering his ears, as if the sound he heard suddenly became so loud that his eardrums could burst. He was having a panic attack. He knew this but he couldn't bring himself to stop—
"Boss!" Chrome screamed when she opened the door, immediately rushing to Tsuna's side and quickly ordered the passing by maid to call the medical staffs to hurriedly come to Tsuna's room with first aid kid.
Reborn, who immediately ran towards Tsuna's room when he heard his student's painful scream, could only watched silently on the doorway as Chrome finally calmed Tsuna's down with her illusion power and the doctors, who arrived approximately 1 minute later, put Tsuna down to rest. They had sedated him and is now monitored his body in a monitor.
Tsuna did not took this well, Reborn concluded. He had it coming, Reborn did. Reborn predicted that his student might experience some sort of trauma after his first kill due to how naïve his student is but to see him in person, breaking down so painfully in front of him, Reborn could feel his heart suddenly dropped.
He'd seen people with trauma, Tsuna's guardians for instance, but to see that one of his students that he had been with for almost over a decade, was definitely a new one. A new and painful experience one for him.
Tsuna woke up and felt the lights surrounding him began to dim. He'd like to switch them on but Tsuna didn't seem to find the said switch, hell he didn't even found where the lights even came from. Scratch that, he didn't even know where he is.
Time moves too slow here, Tsuna thought. He lost track of the time he had been sleeping.
All of sudden, in the middle of the dimmed light environment, Tsuna caught a glimpse of a man. A closer look, Tsuna noticed that there's blood all over the man's body, but the most noticeable was a bullet hole on his head. Suddenly, the bloodied-man ran towards Tsuna, trying to reach and captured the brunet with his bloodied-hands. Tsuna lets out a scream but none was heard as he later felt a hand creeping on his neck. As it on his neck, it began to strangle him, giving Tsuna no space to breathe.
Tsuna eyes shot open and he lets out a scream. He immediately sat up, felt a head rush going on inside his head as he gasped for air in difficulty, The image of his bloodied-hands and the surreal choking left him in horror. He had difficulties differentiate between dream and reality, and troubled breathing out of sudden. Another panic attack, Tsuna thought but his mind had become a jumbled mess.
That is, until he felt hands wrapping around his body, as if securing him, and his ears picked up lots of yelling consisted of,
"Do something!"
"Tsuna, hang in there!"
Tsuna can also hear choked sobs and low gasps yet he couldn't care. His whole body is burning and it is shaking very hard; it felt painful. Tsuna finally felt a sting on his neck before he felt his body went limp and his consciousness began to slipping away. Tsuna, once again, slipped inside the dream world.
Gokudera Hayato, who had been hugging his boss and securing him a while ago, gently tucks him back on his bed, putting blanket over him. The silver-haired male bit his lip in frustration. It had been pained him so much to see his beloved Vongola Decimo so weak and constantly in pain.
Meanwhile, Yamamoto Takeshi had both of his arms around the petite frame of Chrome Dokuro, who earlier had been trembling in fear and Lambo, the poor teenager was burying his face onto Yamamoto's shirt, too scared to open his eyes to see his older brother figure in pain.
The taller male strokes both of female's head and the youngest guardian in a soothing manner but Yamamoto himself couldn't control his frustration as his bit his lower lip very hard and his smile has disappeared from his face.
Hibari Kyoya stood furthest as he disposed the syringe that he used to injected sedatives into Tsuna's neck, into the trash bin besides him. The man observed the body of the boss he had followed for several years, laying unconsciously on the bed. Hibari had been following Sawada Tsunayoshi closely and observed as the brunet grow from a herbivore who was too afraid to make decisions that will affect lots of people; to an omnivore, who'll take a drastic measures to protect what's precious to him.
Hibari also had been not disturbed when he first took away a person's life, at a tender age of 17 years old. But that's just who he is, an absolute opposite of Sawada Tsunayoshi. To say that he had expected this when Sawada Tsunayoshi made his first kill was not a lie. Yet, Hibari chose to be quiet. He chose to lean towards the wall and watched the other guardians in front of him, crowding around the unconscious brunet.
Sasagawa Ryohei stood beside Gokudera and made sure that Tsuna was safely rested as he instructed the nurses near him to keep an eye for Tsuna. Ryohei also told them what to do if Tsuna woke up again. His eyes were filled with worry as he took a glance to the unconscious 'little brother' of his.
Ever since the Vongola Guardians returned from the Caloroso Raid, several weeks has passed, Tsuna's condition has gradually worsened.
On the early days, the young don would wake up several times during the span of several days and would scream loudly and looked frantically in horror. When Reborn and Chrome informed them that Tsuna might have a trauma-related due to him killing the Caloroso Famiglia don which also serves as his first kill, the guardians immediately understood as they have went through that phase before. They knew what to be done and had planning what to do with Tsuna's trauma.
They had Vongola's best and trusted doctors to monitor Tsuna's condition closely, under Ryohei's supervision. They had arranged meeting with a trusted, licensed counselor and therapist, one of Chrome's closest lecturer, who also had helped the other guardians with their therapy and counseling sessions once in a while. They had their best chefs' to prepared specific meals for Tsuna, as per Reborn and their Head Nutritionist's instructions. This was nothing new to them. The guardians, Reborn mostly, thought they knew what they're doing.
It was after several days after the initial incident, that they noticed Tsuna's condition was different than what they went through.
After the incident itself, Tsuna began to look unenergetic and slow as he would zone out during meetings or normal conversations. During meal time such as lunch or dinner, Tsuna would stare at his food and looking at it unappetizing even though it was his favorite meal.
Tsuna would also looked like he lost his composure every time the news of Caloroso raid was shown in the news or brought up in a conversation. He would suddenly look pale as sheet and quickly change the channel or divert the conversation to other topics. Tsuna also had to steadied his formerly ragged breathing.
Yet, every time he was asked about it, Tsuna would smile and said "I am fine."
Vongola's appointed counselor and therapist, Uemura Miki, told Tsuna to rest from taking any Vongola responsibilities for a while so that he can recover from the trauma faster in one of their session. Tsuna, being a stubborn person he is, told Uemura that he'll be fine and he couldn't exactly ditched his responsibilities; he's afraid that he might return from his healing time to find the Vongola Mansion burned down.
Uemura had laughed at it (as she knew the guardians well and Tsuna's fear might have happen eventually) and advised Tsuna to take things slow and try not to overwork himself.
When Uemura shared her and Tsuna's first therapy session to the guardians, she mentioned that she hasn't able to pinpoint how bad the trauma that took toll inside the Vongola Decimo and would need more time and more therapy sessions before she could came up with a diagnostic.
"In meantime, I should ask all of you to pay attention to Sawada-san. I am sure all of you notice that this trauma affected Sawada-san pretty hard." Uemura had said.
The guardians agreed that for precaution measures, they'd take turns to watch over Tsuna during his daily activities and try to distract him from any thoughts that would occur inside the brunet's head regarding the Caloroso raid. Haru and I-pin agreed to help, as to accompany Tsuna inside mansion whenever he's off duty. Even Hibari and Mukuro joined and watch over Tsuna in their own, a little twisted, way. (Hibari would monitored Tsuna's movement from CCTV in the Foundation office while Mukuro would reappeared around Tsuna's couple times a week).
At the end of the day, they'll report to Chrome, who made a daily log for Tsuna's behavior and condition from day to day. From the information, Chrome hoped that Uemura could make a diagnostic faster.
Kyoko on the other hand, would stand beside Tsuna, closely watching over him whenever he's not doing any mafia-related stuffs. She was shocked herself when the news about Tsuna had killed someone reached her ears. But finally, Kyoko resolute herself to stay strong for Tsuna.
Kyoko would checked up on him twice a day and would report to the guardians, especially Chrome, if any abnormality from Tsuna's behavior occurred.
So far, it has been normal. Probably.
Nightmares happened from time to time. Tsuna would wake up from his sleep while screaming and Kyoko, woken up, would call out the doctor from their infirmary to sedate him or to call Chrome to create illusions so Tsuna would fall asleep again. Kyoko, again tried to stay strong, when almost every night she tried to endure the heart-wrenching scream of pain that came out her fiancé's mouth who was sleeping beside her.
Eventually, under Uemura's orders, Kyoko was told to sleep with Haru because Uemura feared that Kyoko would eventually break down and affected by Tsuna's behavior.
Tsuna accepted it, a little too easy.
The guardians tried to reassure Kyoko that the nightmare was pretty normal as most of the guardians went through that after their first kill. Kyoko tried to protest but she lets out a heavy sigh, finally giving in for the guardians's reassurance.
Moreover, there were also times when Tsuna would pose a bit abnormality on his everyday behavior, such as dozing off while trying to do his works, not finishing his food, zoning out during conversations or meetings; but the guardians thought it may because Tsuna feeling tired.
The climax of Tsuna's experience was today, when they attended a meeting with some of their close associates.
Gokudera had been present, along with Yamamoto and Chrome, when Tsuna attended the meeting. The Cavallone and The Shimon Famiglia were also presented during the meeting as they took seat near Tsuna. They were discussing about the future of mafia and expanding their Alliances when one of the bosses suddenly praised Vongola's secret raid upon the Caloroso raid.
"I'm not kidding, Vongola Decimo. You were magnificent on the Caloroso raid."
"The raid is probably one of the best decisions you've made so far, Vongola Decimo."
The other attendees began to clapped their hands when one by one of his associates began to praise Tsuna about his performance and news about the Caloroso raid. Many Famiglia had tried to take down Caloroso's Famiglia but couldn't find a hole they can slipped into. So to heard that the Vongola Famiglia managed to take down the said Famiglia was a great news to all of them.
"I heard you yourself who shot the bullet into the don's brain, Decimo. A brave and brilliant move."
BANG!
Tsuna felt his breath stopped when a sound of the gunshot resounded in his ears. Tsuna searched around to see the other occupants' room's reactions to the gunshot. Surprisingly enough, everyone was busy talking with each other and minding their own businesses.
Suddenly, all Tsuna sees are the color bloodshot red in front of him.
Tsuna knuckles suddenly went white and his entire body suddenly shook violently. Tsuna closed his eyes and took deep breaths to calmed himself down with no avail. He turned his chair to an opposite direction and began to gasping for air. Gokudera, who noticed the sudden change from his boss, immediately went to Tsuna's side.
"Boss are you—" Gokudera noticed the sweat and how cold Tsuna's hands are. Gokudera then noticed how Tsuna looked like he had trouble breathing, cold sweats on his face and tears forming on his eyes. It's another panic attack.
The silver-haired guardian signaled Yamamoto to distract the other dons, which the rain-guardian immediately complied. Yamamoto informed that the Vongola Decimo was not feeling well and asked for a 15 minutes break before the meeting could continued. The dons agreed and left out the room to grab some food outside the meeting room. Chrome, on the other hand, made her way to Tsuna and Gokudera's position.
"Boss, can you hear me?" Chrome called out to Tsuna, to which she couldn't hear any response. Chrome immediately kneeled and grabbed both of Tsuna's hands, the violet orbs began to search for the brown's ones, "Boss, I want you to breathe slowly. I want you to breathe from your nose and exhales from your mouth. Boss, can you do that for me?"
Tsuna nodded, painfully.
Chrome slowly and carefully guided Tsuna to breathe normally while Gokudera wipes the cold sweat from Tsuna's face. Meanwhile, Yamamoto informed a confused Dino and a worried Enma about Tsuna's condition and asked their help to tell the other dons that the meeting had to be adjourned. Dino and Enma nodded and immediately handled the situation with other dons easily. Then, Yamamoto proceed to call the Vongola HQ and told them that they'll return to the HQ in front of the schedule.
"How are you feeling, Boss?" Chrome asked when Tsuna looked like he had calmed down. Tsuna already had his Vongola cloak and dark jacket stripped off, he only wore his white shirt that was already drenched in his own sweat.
"Worst." Tsuna answered quietly.
"I see." Chrome responded in a calm voice as she stroke Tsuna's hands in a comfortable manner, "Boss. We are going back to the Vongola HQ so you can rest."
Chrome looked at Gokudera, gesturing him to guide Tsuna to the car. Gokudera doesn't have to be told twice, the silver-haired male easily had Tsuna's arm across his shoulder and began to support him to walk towards the emergency exit, to where the car is.
Meanwhile, Chrome reached out for her phone and immediately call for Uemura to inform her about Tsuna's recent panic attack and current condition.
"I'll be in the HQ in several minutes. Watch him closely, Chrome." Uemura told Chrome, to which Chrome immediately agree.
Tsuna had to be supported by both Gokudera and Yamamoto when they arrived at the Vongola HQ. Lambo, Ryohei and Kyoko were already waiting for their arrival in front of the mansion's porch when the car pulled up. Upon arriving on Tsuna's room, Ryohei asked the other guardians to leave him alone with Tsuna so he could do a quick physical check.
Uemura Miki arrives several minutes later with Chrome followed behind her.
"How is he?" Uemura asked when Ryohei exited Tsuna's bedroom.
"He had shown evidence that he had trouble breathing for a while earlier. His heart shown a rapid heart beat earlier but is currently normal. I checked all the other vital organs and it seems to have working well, no abnormalities. I extremely think it's all psychological." Ryohei concluded.
Uemura nodded, "I will talk to Sawada-san for a while. Combining with Chrome's daily log of Sawada-san's behavior and all, I could make a diagnostic today."
The guardians began to stiff and Ryohei had her arms around Kyoko's shaking body, trying to comfort his little sister.
Around two hours later after Uemura entered Tsuna's room, the woman exited the room. She met Gokudera and Ryohei who were still waiting outside the room. Uemura told them that Tsuna is now sleeping soundly due to feeling awfully tired. She mentioned that Tsuna had been showing some symptoms of one of the stress-related disorder.
"I still need more time to make a diagnostic for Sawada-san. Can I borrow a meeting room so that I can compile all of the information? Chrome will be helping me." Uemura told Gokudera and Ryohei to which Gokudera then guided Uemura to one of the empty meeting rooms.
"Do you have any estimation of time when he'll wake up?" Yamamoto asked the nurse, after releasing his arms from Chrome and Lambo who have composed themselves. Yamamoto lets out a smile, "We want to be beside him when he woke up."
The nurse shook her head, "We do not have an exact time but we will inform you if he had woken up and was ready to communicate—"
"Please, inform us when Tenth wake up." Gokudera cut the nurse's sentences, to which the nurse responded with a small nod. After that, Gokudera gave the nurse a small gesture to let them have a private conversation, to which the nurse politely excused herself and exited Tsuna's bedroom.
"Will Tsuna-nii be okay?" Lambo broke the silence as he sat in front of the bed, his face was pale and he looked genuinely scared. It was understandable. Lambo had a special bond with Tsuna, the younger looked up to Tsuna and considered Tsuna as a big brother he never have. It must've been painful for Lambo to witness his beloved Tsuna-nii broke down and in pain.
Yamamoto ruffles Lambo's curly hair in a comforting manner. The rain guardian lets out a reassuring smile to Lambo.
"It must've been hard." Yamamoto spoke out as he sat on the edge of Tsuna's bed, observing the person he had followed and befriended since junior high school years. "The trauma after killing someone…" Yamamoto muttered quietly.
Yamamoto's first kill was also an awful experience for him. He was 20 years old back then. He will woke up in the middle of night after having nightmares and will not go back to sleep until morning came. It took him a good 4 months to recover fully from the trauma and could continue to taking missions like usual. Yes, he still experienced nightmares after killing someone sometimes, but it wasn't as bad as his first kill. He had to thank Uemura and Chrome for the good therapy sessions that they held.
Yamamoto knew that killing someone could change a person personality so much, Uemura had told him that. That's why he doesn't want Tsuna to experience these kinds of things he went through.
But it's the mafia world, Yamamoto knew well there will be a day where Tsuna will have to kill someone. And the day arrived along with the Caloroso Famiglia Raid.
"Oi, turf-top. How was the condition of the children that we brought back from the Caloroso mansion?" Gokudera asked as he stared at the young don who was fast asleep but Tsuna's face seemed very disturbed. Ryohei lets out a small sigh,
"Their physical condition has improved gradually. The doctors and nurses have been keeping an eye on them as well monitoring their health. I don't know anything about their mental state though..." Ryohei reported, crossing his arms and let out a defeated sigh.
He spent around 8 hours a day in the hospital, monitoring the children's physical condition and conducted routine health check-up to them. Sometimes, he accompanied them for a small talk or play with them.
In an instance, Ryohei, Hibari, Lambo, Gokudera and Yamamoto turned their attention towards the only woman in the room, Chrome.
Chrome hung her head low, "If what Kumo-san said about the children may have zero potential to recover from this trauma…" Chrome reported in a small voice. She and a team of licensed child psychologists had worked with the children from the day they arrived at Vongola's Hospital. They would conduct therapies and counseling sessions with the children.
Chrome and the team learned that these children was kidnapped from their parents or were taken from an orphan. The young mist guardian did remember the sudden spiking number of missing children in the span of last few months but she didn't expect to found them in the basement of a mafia's basement as subjects of experimentation even.
She had remembered feeling very awful after the early days of therapy session with the children. As Chrome observed, most of the children's eyes looked so empty and blank. Even during play therapy sessions, most of the children would almost destroy the toys they were holding or ignore it altogether. It broke Chrome's heart whenever she reported it during the psychologist's meeting or delivering the report to Tsuna.
The woman, who is now sitting beside Tsuna's head on the bed, stroked Tsuna's brown hair before continuing, "But it's only the second week of therapy... Maybe there will be results by next week or next month. If Boss did promised that these children will recover, then I will use all of my powers to heal these children." Chrome stated determinedly.
Upon hearing Chrome's answer, Hibari exited the room in silence.
Shortly after Hibari exited the room, the door swung opened, showing Dino Cavallone and Enma Kozato entering the room with worried expression written on their faces, both shouting, "Tsuna/Tsuna-kun!"
That was before both of them tripped by their own feet and fell comically, face planted on the ground first, together.
"Enma! Dino-san!" Yamamoto called in surprise he saw the fallen two newcomers. Both Dino and Enma sat up quietly and stroke the small bump on their head.
"I heard from Chrome, Yamamoto. As soon as my meeting with Cavallone men finished, I immediately went here to check up on Tsuna." Dino explained fast as he approached the bed where Tsuna was sleeping.
The Cavallone don was quiet for a while before opened his mouth, "The don of Puccia and don Ragucci Famiglia sent their apologies. The don Puccia especially, had no idea that the incident still affected Tsuna and eventually sent him to this current state."
"So does the other dons. They all send their warm regards for the Neo Vongola Primo's quick recovery." Enma continued as he approached the bed where Tsuna was sleeping on. The red-haired immediately turned his head towards Yamamoto,
"Is there anything we can do for help?" Enma asked. Yamamoto, Gokudera and Ryohei share a look before the raven-haired shook his head.
"We cannot have any Famiglia get involved in our matter of affairs, Enma. You and Dino-san have been a major help for handling the other dons today, Tsuna asked me to relay his thank you for the two of you. He also felt bad that the two of you saw his bad side." Yamamoto replied, smiling weakly at Enma and Dino. It was true, Tsuna had asked Yamamoto to rely a message to both the Don of Cavallone and Shimon his thank you for today.
"Idiot, he shouldn't have to feel sorry." Dino muttered, Enma nodded quietly at Dino's statement.
The room was quiet for a while until the door of Tsuna's room was being slammed open with a loud bang, startling the occupants of the room itself.
"Enma!" "Boss!" the two newcomers simultaneously shouted. Enma and Dino flinched when they heard that their name being called out since they knew very well who called them.
"A-Adel ..." Enma whispered in horror when the woman grabbed Enma's shoulders tightly. The red-haired man gulped when the woman, Adelheid Suzuki, sent the Shimon boss a very sharp glare that made him flinched. Adelheid, now had his black-hair grew longer and looked even more mature than she was when the Vongola Guardians had met her, began to hissed at Enma,
"Enma, I know Tsunayoshi is your best friend and I know you're worried sick! But, you ran off even before you could finish all of your paperworks!"Adel hisses, gripping Enma's shoulders tightly. Even though she sounded pissed, Enma could catch a worried expression in her tone. But before the Shimon don could point it out, Adel was already dragging him out of from Tsuna's room. Of course, the Shimon boss tried to struggle so that he could free himself from Adelheid's tight grip, but the grip was so strong.
Eventually, Enma gave up and let Adel dragged her from Tsuna's room. Before fully exiting Tsuna's room, Adel turned her body and looked at each of the Vongola's guardians,
"I hope the Neo Vongola Decimo will recover quickly." Adel stated as she gave a small bow before walking away, with Enma on her tow.
Romario, Dino's right hand man, successfully persuades Dino to leave because he still has a lot of paperwork and stuffs to do back in the Cavallone HQ. Before leaving, Dino spoke,
"Please call me whenever you need anything. Cavallone always have Vongola's back. No matter what happens." Dino stated as he looked each of the Vongola guardians. Yamamoto, being a polite man he is, lets out a grin and nodded at Dino's statement.
Gokudera sighed with relief when both dons were out of sight. He initially feared that the commotion was going to woke Tsuna up. However, when the storm guardian glanced towards the still sleeping boss, it seems his boss won't regain conscious in the near future.
"Let's get back to work. We have to let Tenth to rest well so he can recover quick." Gokudera commanded as he rose from his chair. Yamamoto, Chrome, Lambo and Ryohei followed him to exit Tsuna's room.
Gokudera stole another glance at Tsuna's unconscious body at the bed, before flipping off the switch and closed the doors of Tsuna's bedroom.
Tsuna has to admit that since he started training with Reborn, he became a light sleeper, an ability that Reborn was proud with while Tsuna himself resented it (It's one of the basic abilities that don of a powerful mafia family should have, Reborn had said while Tsuna whined). Because of it, Tsuna will wake up from his slumber or dreams every time he heard a small voice that could threaten his poor life.
But, it seems like his ability was not working properly now, because he was still fast asleep even though the door of his room was being opened and closed gently.
One second, Tsuna saw dark black. Dark. Nothing. It was a lightless room and Tsuna had seen it coming, he had seen this area a lot lately in his dreams.
But the next moment, Tsuna saw red blood. He's suddenly back in the basement of the Caloroso's mansion and he saw the lifeless body of the don who was grinning obnoxiously at him while his face was covered in blood.
Tsuna opened his mouth to scream and called for help but no sound came out. For him, it was like many scenes in a zombie movie. Antonio Caloroso suddenly stood up and walk towards Tsuna with both of his hands raise, as if wanting to grab the neck of the Vongola Tenth and strangled him.
Maybe it was reflect or an intent to kill. Tsuna never knew. But before he even know it, Tsuna had found himself sat up quickly and swiftly had his hands on the neck of whoever it was in front of him. There was a sharp yell coming from the person in front of him.
"Ts... Tsu-Tsu-kun" a weak and soft voice called out, and Tsuna immediately woke up. His brown eyes grew wider in realization whose neck he was strangling.
He found himself strangling Kyoko Sasagawa, the woman that he loves dearly. Tsuna immediately let go of his hands from Kyoko's neck and leapt off from his bed and move backwards until he reached the corner of his room while groaning and stammering in fear. Kyoko threw a coughing fit, gasping for air.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, DAME-TSUNA?" Reborn who was at the doorway of Tsuna's room, yelled at him with rage. I-pin quickly rushed towards Kyoko's side and had her arms circling around the orange-haired female. Kyoko coughed in I-pin's arms, who helped Kyoko stood up. Tsuna glanced at Kyoko's neck and his heart dropped hard after he saw the red marks of his hands on the young woman's neck. Tsuna began to moan loudly and painfully, like an animal who was in a great pain. Before Kyoko can approached him, Reborn stood in her way, prevented her from approaching the young boss.
The teenager wearing fedora shook his head to which Kyoko's understanding. She caught the message that Reborn delivered to her albeit not out loud. She should not be close to Tsuna right now.
"I-pin. Please escort Kyoko and leave this room now. I want to talk to Dame-Tsuna personally. Alone." The ex-arcobaleno stated as he walked towards the Vongola's don who's still huddling at the corner of his own room. I-pin nodded then she quickly led led Kyoko out from the bedroom.
Kyoko stole a glance of Tsuna's current state and before she knew, she began to cry in I-pin's arms. Just that, I-pin close the doors.
"Oi. Dame-Tsuna. Why did you strangle Kyoko?" Reborn asked coldly while standing in front of the young Vongola boss who's still had his arms around his knees, hugging them tightly.
"Reborn... Why did I pull the trigger? Why did my mind went black when I pulled the trigger? Why did I lose control of my body? Did I make a good decision by killing Antonio Caloroso?" Tsuna began to sound like a broken record as questions began to blurted out from his mouth,
"Reborn… Why did I strangle the woman that I love?" Tsuna asked with a trembled voice and sounded very frightened and also lost. Tsuna's current voice and tone made it sound very pathetic in the ear of the ex-Arcobaleno.
Pathetic but still, it pains Reborn to hear his best student in that state.
Reborn squatted in front of Tsuna, so that he and the Vongola don are at the same height, although Tsuna was still taller few inches than him. The assassin raised his hand and hit his apprentice's head hard. Tsuna winced in pain and before he could opened his mouth for protest, Reborn cut him,
"How many times do I have to explain until you understand it well, Dame-Tsuna? In this mafia world there are no 'good' or 'bad' decisions. There are only decisions that will determine whether your Famiglia survives or not. Remember, Tsuna. The strongest Famiglia will survive and the weak Famiglia will not." Reborn explained with a firm tone. Tsuna smiled weakly as he hugged his knees tighter.
"Then.. What do you think about my decision killing Antonio Caloroso, Reborn?" Tsuna asked weakly. His voice was shaking but not as severe as it was before. Thinking that this conversation will go on for a while, Reborn took a seat on the floor and then moves next to his student.
"Well, when you stated that your mind went black and you have no control for your body, it spells more training for you." Reborn said simply. Tsuna moaned by the given answer. "But, it also means that your instincts were the one who told you to kill Antonio Caloroso. Maybe your Vongola Intuition decided that Antonio Caloroso must be erased from this world, thus triggering you to shoot him."
Tsuna shuddered in fear when he heard the explanation. Does that mean that the Vongola blood that was flowing in his body stated that Antonio Caloroso was not needed and should be gone from this world?! It sounds wrong! Tsuna thought. Then he immediately stood up, facing his instructor who was still sitting on the floor angrily.
"But, that's just wrong, Reborn! I mean, yes, Antonio Caloroso sure did many inhumane things and he was indeed an evil bastard but killing him… Does that mean I'M the same as him?! I mean—I took his life! I snatched away his life! His dreams! Reborn, I KILLED HIM." Tsuna asked as he pointed to himself, sounding desperate and stressed out by blaming himself of the whole trauma that he's currently experiencing.
"NO. You are different from him, Tsuna. What Antonio Caloroso did was very cruel because he used innocent children as guinea pigs for his dangerous and horrible experiments. You killed him so that he would not become a terror to other children and parents in the near future. You killed him for the sake of many people." Reborn replied calmly as he stared at his student back.
"There must be another way besides killing him, is not it? Maybe arrest him? Or handing him to the feds or police?" Tsuna asked back as he ruffled his hair in stress. By then, Reborn finally snapped,
"Tsuna! You killed Antonio Caloroso, end of story! What do you want to do now? Revive Antonio Caloroso so you can let him walk free, abducted more children and made them as his guinea pigs again?" In here, Reborn lets out an annoyed scoff,
"Oh, or maybe you will kill him again?! And have you ever thought that you will endanger your whole Famiglia and Vongola's alliance if you report this to the police—or worse, Feds?!" Reborn almost yelled in anger, glaring at Tsuna with his dark orbs, piercing through the brown ones.
Tsuna was shocked to hear his mentor snapped and raised his voice. Tsuna paused before slumped to the wall behind him and sat. The young men then hugged his legs and buried his head.
"The world mafia is a cruel, Tsuna. You should already know, that sometimes killing someone is the only way out to save your Famiglia and survive." Reborn said as he took off his fedora and play with it.
"Please tell me why I agreed to follow your desire to make me into Neo Vongola Primo." Tsuna sighed, letting out all of his frustration. Reborn chuckled when he heard that,
"You don't." Reborn replied shortly.
The two of them basked in silence; Tsuna himself couldn't tell if it was a comfortable or uncomfortable one. By then, Reborn opened his mouth,
"I talked to Uemura-sensei earlier. I ran to her while she was compiling your diagnostic in the meeting room." Reborn spoke out, catching Tsuna's attention as he spun his attention towards Reborn.
"It looks like you have some symptoms leading to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Simply put, you had it worse than your other guardians." Reborn informed as he ignored the upcoming earful that Uemura Miki would gave him later, about the confidentiality between therapist and client and how the therapist themselves should present the diagnostic.
Tsuna went silent. He… Maybe he had seen this coming, unconsciously. He knew that he took it far worse than his other guardians during their first kill (minus Lambo, who was still young to go to a dangerous mission, and Chrome, who was put on the defensive side rather than the offensive side).
But still, hearing that he might have symptoms leading to PTSD… Felt surreal. There were so many things in his mind right now but Tsuna took a deep breath until there was only one question remaining,
"Reborn.. How will I forget about this? About me killing don Caloroso and everything?" Tsuna asked and he hasn't moved from his place either. Reborn glanced towards his student and replied,
"You never forget, Dame-Tsuna. You just move on." Reborn replied dryly.
"But how can I live my life back after all of this happened? Because I'm pretty sure I won't be the same person as I was ever again!" Tsuna roared, feeling somewhat frustrated.
"That's why your Famiglia is here, Tsuna." Reborn answered, looking at Tsuna straight into his eyes. "You're definitely going to change, there's no doubt about it. But your Famiglia will make sure that you will not change too much and stop you when it was needed. I am one of them." Reborn replied with a small smile as he stood up slowly.
When Reborn exited the room, he stopped for a while. The teenager wearing fedora then turned to Tsuna and smiled, "You have a visitor, Dame-Tsuna."
Tsuna looked up and feeling confused.
But when the young female with orange hair presented herself in front of the entrance in front of his bed room, Tsuna's eyes went wide in surprise. Reborn moves slightly, letting Kyoko to enter the room.
"Kyoko-chan?" cried Tsuna in surprised. The young woman walked towards Tsuna before eventually fell into a sitting position in front of him. A relief expression was written all over her face.
"Tsu-kun! Thank goodness you're awake! You had us all worried sick!" Kyoko smiled, a relieved and happy tone could be heard in her soft voice. Tsuna realizes that the red bruises from earlier were still visible on the woman's neck. Realizing where Tsuna was staring at, Kyoko immediately raised the collar of her dress, trying to hide the bruises all while staring at the floor.
Tsuna positioned himself in front of Kyoko, he kneeled directly on the ground and immediately bowed until his head touched the floor. Kyoko was surprised but couldn't bring herself to say anything.
Tsuna began to speak in a very apologetic and shaken tone,
"Kyoko-chan. I am so sorry for everything that I've done. From the very start I scared you with my reactions to nightmares… to the moment where I strangled you. I'm sure what I did to you had make you scared or maybe ended up hating with me and it was okay for you to hate me because I hurt y—no, I almost killed you.. If Reborn didn't shouted, I might have well-" Tsuna apologizing speech was interrupted by Kyoko who's holding Tsuna's shoulders gently, gesturing him to stop doing dogeza, before shaking her head,
"Tsu-kun. Please stop. Please… Don't blame yourself anymore... Indeed, I am very scared but deep down in my heart, I somehow knew that you would never harm me while conscious…" Kyoko began to speak, her voice was the same as Tsuna, apologetic and shaky as if she was scared but tried to be strong like she usually tried,
"Moreover, this is also my consequences I should carry by following you, Neo Vongola Primo." Kyoko replied while smiling gently towards Tsuna. After knowing Kyoko closely over the course of the years, Tsuna could caught a hint of pain in Kyoko's voice and it pained Tsuna even more that he was the reason of it,
"Haru and you are not safe here again, Kyoko-chan... I absolutely don't want you nor Haru or anyone else to get hurt... Especially getting hurt because of me... I can't carry that burden…" muttered the Neo Vongola Primo as he fell raised his head to meet Kyoko's eyes.
Kyoko was silent for a while before grabbing both Tsuna's warm hands,
"There are no safe places for me or Haru-chan in this world besides staying close with you and the Vongola, Tsu-kun. You don't need to tell me and Haru-chan that the mafia world is a dangerous and cruel world. We, humans, were never safe to begin with. Danger is lurking everywhere, every time. You might have hurt me today, Tsu-kun. However, you and the Vongola have saved me so many times more… and I'm sure Haru-chan and I could never repay you and the Vongola for everything all of you did for me and Haru-chan up until now. Thank you." Kyoko replied, still smiling towards Tsuna.
"But I hurt you, Kyoko-chan! It doesn't make sense if you don't hate me—more likely still be on my side after everything that happens!" Tsuna half-yelled which made Kyoko startled for a moment, but she stood by her resolution,
"I don't need logic when it came to putting my faith and trust in you." Said Kyoko, all while still holding Tsuna's hands. Kyoko began to caressing Tsuna's hands gently as she spoke quietly. "I can't and would never hate you, Tsu-kun. Besides, how can I hate someone who has been saving my life, my brother and friends' life all this time? I will always be by your side, no matter what happens. And I'm sure Haru-chan, Hayato-kun, Takeshi-kun, my brother, Lambo-chan, Chrome-chan, even Mukuro-san, and also Hibari-san thought the same."
Tsuna stared at Kyoko who's smiling gently at him. He sometimes thought he really didn't deserve Kyoko or even his guardians beside him. Yet the thought of it made Tsuna's heart hurt.
Before he knew it, tears started to form in his eyes and began to running down on his face. Tsuna then let out a broken sob before it turned into a crying fit. Tsuna cried and let out his frustration and anger out. Kyoko lets Tsuna's head to rest on her shoulder as she strokes his light brown hair, in attempt to comforting the fragile young don.
"It's okay, Tsu-kun. We're in this together." Kyoko had muttered over and over again like a chanting to Tsuna's ears who cried until he fell asleep in Kyoko's arms.
Reborn watched silently at the scene and smiled to himself.
From the looks of it, they will be fine. Tsuna will be fine.
In the next morning, after receiving news that Reborn was given a full-length of lecture and an earful from Uemura about confidentiality and else; Tsuna held another therapy session with Uemura.
This time, Uemura told him about her diagnostics based on the evidence from therapy session and Chrome's daily log of his behavior. Tsuna show some signs of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, for short. Uemura calmly explained what PTSD is before proceeding to continue to explain how the symptoms correlated with Tsuna's own behavior. To close it off, Uemura explained the rehabilitation and therapy process that Tsuna will go through.
Uemura looked up and she could tell that Tsuna's body began to stiffen up. It's understandable, Uemura thought. So, the woman smiled,
"Sawada-san." Uemura called out, catching Tsuna's attention, who looked up to see her. "I can assure you, I will help you to go through this. It will be a long process to heal but I will do my best. But, I will need Sawada-san's full cooperation too for the therapy to go well, as well as the rest of your guardians." Uemura Miki had smiled again. Seeing the woman in front of her smiling, Tsuna couldn't help but his mouth began to curves up.
"Does my guardians know, sensei?" Tsuna asked Uemura.
The woman smiled, "Yes, I talked to them first. I hope you don't mind about that, Sawada-san. I informed them about the therapy that you'll undergo and how their role would fit in along the way." Uemura answered, which brings Tsuna to smile.
"All of my guardians?" Tsuna asked in a light tone, in an attempt to joke.
Uemura laughed again, "Yes. Even Rokudo-san and Hibari-san."
After the therapy and counseling session, Tsuna, with the accompany of Kyoko, made their way to the main building where the Vongola HQ and the guardians workplace at.
Ever since Tsuna was bedridden, the guardians had been doing his paperwork day and night (Kyoko had told Tsuna that it Reborn-chan's orders. All of the guardians, without exception. Yes, that means Hibari and Mukuro also.) plus their own paperworks in Tsuna's office (again yes, including Mukuro and Hibari).
Upon arriving at the door with the sign post of 'Neo Vongola Primo', Tsuna stole a glance at Kyoko who playfully pat the young don's back, in an attempt to reassure him. Tsuna smiled at Kyoko. But, before Tsuna could open the door, he heard the distinctive sound Yamamoto's cheerful tone exclaiming,
"Tsuna will certainly be happy to hear this, Miura." exclaimed Yamamoto cheerfully. Tsuna smiled when he heard one of his best friend's cheerful voice outside room. It felt like he hadn't heard him for a while.
"Kufufu, why don't you tell him right now, Yamamoto Takeshi?" Mukuro's voice suggested and the door suddenly swung open, revealing a confused Tsuna and Kyoko that were standing in front of the door of Tsuna's office.
"Tsuna-saan!" Haru shouted tearfully as she ran towards Tsuna, wrapped her arms around him, hugging him and then the two of them fell. The next thing was everyone began to calling and shout (Ryohei's case) Tsuna's name in a relieved tone.
It was later followed by Gokudera yelling at Haru, Haru yelling back at him, Lambo crying happily as he moved to Tsuna, engulfing him a big hug. Tsuna could also hear 'Extreme' shouts from Ryohei, Yamamoto typical laughing with no attempt on stopping the rising chaos, as well as Chrome gentle laughter fit which was immediately followed by Mukuro's usual 'kufufu's.
Meanwhile, Hibari was surprisingly sitting quietly at the corner, reading his share of paperwork, next to the stack of files and was using headphones that covered his ears (this explains why the ex-prefect didn't threatened to bite all of them to death for created a commotion nor pulling out his lovely duo tonfas; because he himself weren't paying attention to what's going on. That doesn't explain the small genuine smile that was seen on the ex-prefect's face, though).
"What news do you have for me, Yamamoto? The one you said I'll be happy when I heard that?" asked Tsuna when all the commotion subsided, he had sat in his chair once again, looking at his present guardians.
Yamamoto glanced towards the other guardians and Haru who are smiling happily (minus Hibari who closed his eyes and Mukuro's usual smirk) before nodding towards Yamamoto, giving him the go signal.
Yamamoto walked towards Tsuna and handed him a brown envelope, to which Tsuna's accepted it with a confused look. Tsuna pulled out the insides of the envelope and he found a bunch of paper with hand writings with crayons and sleazy hand writings.
From a first glance, Tsuna knew it was from children. It was not uncommon for Tsuna to receive letters from children from the orphanage that Vongola manages. But, Tsuna's eyes grew wider when he saw the content of the letters in his hand.
"Decimo, thank you for saving us."
"Decimo! Lili want too meet yoo! Lets plaay!"
"Decimo, Eiger love you!"
"Decimo is mee hero!"
"Thank you for saving me and my brother, Decimo."
Tsuna's grip to the letters began to tightened as he felt his eyes began to water,
"Decimo, thank you for your hug. Anna is happy."
"Chrome and the other psychologists held a project day where the children could send a letter to anyone they could think about. One child shouted what was the name of the person who fought the bad guy and Chrome answered 'Decimo'. Apparently, the children wanted to send you letters since day 1." Yamamoto explained, smiling widely. He took a peek at the letters that Tsuna received. Some of them only had messy letters with crayons but some also had drawings on them, a messy one but Yamamoto can really tell that the children poured their hearts into them.
"We should visit the hospital and orphanage later, Jyuudaime. Some of the children already transferred there." Gokudera suggested.
"Hahi! We could make a festival day for the orphanage! Wouldn't be fun? Just like old times!" Haru chirped in, suggesting ideas.
"That's a great idea, Haru-nee!" Lambo agreed, while Ryohei yelled 'EXTREME COOOL' in the background.
"Boss. The children have shown a tremendous growth in their mental state. There's still a long therapy sessions ahead of us but they will be fine." Chrome added, a genuine smile was on her face as she delivered the report.
"Kufufu, isn't that great, Tsunayoshi-kun?" Mukuro asked.
"Aah.. Thank God!" Tsuna exclaimed in relief, tears streaming down on his face as the grip on the letters that the children wrote for him tightened. Kyoko kneeled beside him and soothes Tsuna down.
Thank goodness those kids are strong kids managed to pull through. The fact that they managed to show both the doctors and psychologist their progress on their mental and physical recovery was splendid news for Tsuna himself.
"Good job, all of you... I'm sorry, you guys have to do all of the hard work like this and handling me who I'm sure gave you all hard time—" Tsuna's words was interrupted by Gokudera who exclaimed,
"Jyuudaime. All of us will definitely help you get through this. You would not get through all of this by yourself! You have us here who wanted to help you get over it!" Gokudera exclaimed with spirit.
"Yes! Tsuna-san is never alone! Tsuna-san have Haru, Kyoko-chan, and everyone who's willing to help you!" Haru continued while nodding energetically.
"Take it easy, Tsuna-nii! We're here to help you." Lambo said, smiling widely towards his older brother figure.
"All of us, including Hibari, will definitely help you through this! We promised you to the EXTREME! Right, Hibari?" Ryohei asked, turning his attention towards Hibari who's still reading the file on his hands and headphone on his ears, doesn't care about the current situation around him.
"You have to answer yes, Kumo-san" Chrome stated with a flat tone. Hibari looked up, stared at Tsuna for a while, letting out a small 'Hn.' before carrying the stack of files and walked out from the room and closed the door of Tsuna's office.
"Oya oya. It looks like the Hibari Kyoya has agreed to help others.. Kufufu.. That man has indeed grew soft throughout the year." Mukuro said, grinning towards the door where Hibari had close.
Tsuna looked at Kyoko who smiled proudly at him as if trying to say, 'See? I told you.'
Indeed. Tsuna won't agree that killing someone is actually a bad thing.
He also won't deny the statement that he was a killer.
He was scared for this day, the day where he finally took away someone life. To top that off, being diagnosed with PTSD even. Tsuna kept thinking how he would get over this.
However, he is not alone.
Tsuna have people that are dear to him and that would help him get over this incident. When they said they'll support him, they do support him, some of them support Tsuna in their own ways. When they said they'll be with him, they did stay with him. Because, despite after dirtying his hand for the sake of protecting others, Tsuna is convinced that his Famiglia would stay with him.
And for Tsuna, it's enough.
For Tsuna, it's a start.
Author's Note : It's really fun to rewrite this and add the knowledge that I really love! I really do hope all of you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would like to apologize if there are some inconsistencies regarding the PTSD and all, I would be so happy if you guys can help me straightened them out as I myself haven't quite received my Bachelor Degree yet :(
PS. It's my first 15K! Did you know that this story was rotting in my laptop for like 5 years HAHAHAH.
PSS. There's A LOT of inconsistencies of name and I am so sorry.