Tsuna had insisted that they had to go to the negotiations. No matter how many times Gokudera told him about the warnings that all of their allies and informants had been giving them about the unrest. Despite his right hand man's gut telling him that this invitation was only a trap waiting to ensnare their boss. No matter what he said Tsuna would not listen and continued to make plans to attend the negotiations.
What had surprised Gokudera the most, though, was the fact that Tsuna insisted that only he, Gokudera, and Hibari attend the pending negotiations. Such a small number did not help to calm his nerves. Why had Tsuna insisted on such a small number? In theory that should have been enough. The strongest guardian and his right hand man should be able to protect him without any problems, so why would additional numbers be necessary? Especially during such a highly delicate meeting.
The day arrived and they were preparing to leave for the Millefiore mansion. Gokudera had attempted to make one final plea with Tsuna to cancel the negotiations or, at the very least, contact them via video in order to ensure his safety. As always his boss listened patiently and allowed him to explain, again, why it was a bad idea to go to the mansion, but there was a look in his eyes that would brook no argument. A resolution that could only be Tsuna's will. So Gokudera begrudgingly relented and the negotiations went forward as planned.
When they arrived at the mansion, Gokudera knew that something was going to happen. Tsuna was the one who had hyper intuition, but, after years of combat experience, he had learned that the best judgement was his gut. No matter how Tsuna reassured him, his gut was telling him a different story. The way that the representative for the Millefiore family, Shoichi, presented himself seemed very off as well. The way that the red-haired man spoke said that he was hiding something dangerous, and that there would be no peaceful resolution.
As they entered the negotiation room, Gokudera made a point to size it up. There were seven people in attendance: Irie Shoichi, two of the Cervello women, a man who appeared to be a security guard who chose to stand off to the side, Tsuna, Hibari, and himself. Upon a quick glance he saw three doors, five windows, the rather long oak negotiations table with twelve chairs surrounding it, and various decorative items, bookshelves, and wall hangings spread throughout the room.
"Please sit," instructed Shoichi as he took one of the chairs at the head of the table closest to the door that they had entered. The Cervello women sat on either side of him. Tsuna nodded as he took a chair at the other end of the table. Gokudera chose to sit to Tsuna's right and Hibari to his left. His seat allowed him to survey the guard who stood between the two remaining doors while his fellow guardian could watch the windows for any possible threats. "Can I interest any of you in anything to eat or drink?"
"No, thank you," Tsuna said politely. "If any of us becomes hungry or thirsty, we will be sure to ask." Shoichi nodded his head before opening a folder that he had placed on the table and pulled out the necessary documents for the negotiations. He pushed up his glasses before addressing Tsuna directly.
"As I am sure that you are now aware of, the Millefiore family has become rather powerful as of late and we were hoping that your family would be interested in forming an alliance in order to prevent future casualties." Gokudera was surprised at the man's direct nature. Usually, during a negotiation, both sides would flatter each other quite a bit before finally getting to business. He didn't mind skipping the usual farce, but the unspoken threat worried the storm guardian.
"Why should the Vongola align itself with the Millefiore?" Tsuna asked matching Shoichi's negotiation style. A knowing look flashed through his eyes.
"We believe that it would be best to make friends of the other powerful families instead of causing needless bloodshed." Gokudera had to suppress a snort. The Millefiore had become notorious among all of the mafia families for its 'needless bloodshed' as the man had put it. The family only wanted power and it seemed as though they would do anything to obtain it. He had a hunch that the only reason why they had been invited to this negotiation was because the Vongola family was well-respected and powerful in its own right. If the Millefiore could convince the strongest mafia family to join them, then who would, in their right mind, oppose this new alliance?
"And what would the terms of the alliance be?" Shoichi waved the guard from the wall as he took out copies of the terms from the folder in front of him. Gokudera tensed as the man moved to their end of the table with Tsuna's copy of the terms. He could clearly see the gun on the man's hip as he set the papers down on the table to Gokudera's right instead of directly in front of Tsuna.
As he pushed the terms to Tsuna, though, he noticed Shoichi give a faint signal to the man who was now positioned between Hibari and his boss. Before either of the guardians could react, the man had drawn his gun and pressed the barrel to Tsuna's temple. Tsuna remained calm as he sat perfectly still. Gokudera barely kept himself in his seat but could not keep his mouth shut.
"What the hell Shoichi!?"
"Calm down, Gokudera. I'm only ensuring that your boss will seriously consider accepting these terms." Gokudera growled as he moved to pull his box from his pocket. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I've instructed my guard to shoot if these negotiations appear to be going south. If you were to draw your boxes now, he would be forced to carry out my orders and your boss would be dead before you could attack me."
"Gokudera," Tsuna's firm tone forced Gokudera to return his hands to where they had been previously. Gokudera noticed that the cloud guardian had not even attempted to retrieve his boxes, which irked him even more. Why was everyone, but him, calm about all of this? Even though he was complying with their request to not touch his box, nothing was stopping him from fixing the guard with a look as he clenched his fists tightly below the table
"Now, to continue. As you can see on the paper in front of you, our demands are simple: we wish for you to trade with us and to not attack us no matter our actions. We, of course, will oblige the same. In order to finalize the alliance, we hope that you might pick out a female from your family to marry a man amongst our family." Tsuna's face paled.
"Was there someone specific that you had in mind?" Gokudera didn't like the idea of placing any of the girls in an area where they could not be protected. He didn't care if he didn't get along with some of them, any member of the family didn't deserve to be married off to a group like the Millefiore.
"Well, more than likely, we would prefer to choose a woman who was very important to you. Your mist guardian, Chrome, would do nicely. Though, if you were to remove Mukuro from the Vendicare, then you may leave her stranded in favor of the stronger Mist guardian. So that would leave the two women Kyoko Sasagawa and Haru Miura, and the girl I-Pin. It's up to you."
"I would need to decide that at another time." Shoichi sighed. It was obvious that this was an unsatisfactory answer.
"The decision must be made today otherwise we will retract our offer and this negotiation will be deemed a failure. So please, who will it be?" Gokudera could tell that, beneath his boss's calm façade, that this bit of news was nerve-wracking to him. Damn that gun! If that gun wasn't there, then he and Hibari could help Tsuna escape, void the terms, and call in allies to protect them from being followed. But, because neither guardian could risk such a possibility, they found themselves trapped.
"I-Pin." It was obvious that it pained Tsuna to choose the young girl, but Gokudera knew that she would be able to protect herself much easier than Kyoko or Haru could. Lambo's upset face flashed before the storm guardian's mind, but the younger guardian's potential feelings would have to be ignored currently. The welfare of the whole family was at stake. Shoichi's condescending voice brought Gokudera's mind back to the issue at hand.
"I see. So the younger girl is less important to you. If she is less important to you, then I ask that you choose another." Shoichi steepled his fingers as he leveled Tsuna with a look that clearly said that he was not amused.
"I-Pin is just as important as the other women are. She is like a younger sister to me." Tsuna might have been easily intimidated in the past, but, with the experience that he had gained over the years, he was able to match his host's intimidation.
"I see. Let me phrase this a little clearer." Shoichi snapped his fingers which caused the guard to cock the gun. "Which of the women in your family is most important to you? Kyoko Sasagawa or Haru Miura?" Tsuna took a deep breath before pining the redhead with his most determined look.
"Neither."
The next thing that either guardian knew, the guard pulled the trigger. Tsuna's eyes closed as the bullet lodged itself inside of his skull. His head then fell with a loud crack on the wooden floor. Gokudera tried to catch him, but his shock paralyzed him. A small part of his mind noted Hibari vaulting the table, tonfas drawn, in order to ascertain whether their boss was dead or alive.
"I would suggest that the two of you vacate the premises immediately." Shoichi said as he stood, the two pink-haired women trailing behind him. As Gokudera attempted to pull his box out from his pocket in order to kill the man who had pulled the trigger, he found that the man was gone. He had heard no door nor window open so it would appear as though an illusionist had constructed the man. A small ray of hope that the bullet had not really killed Tsuna worked its way into his heart, but, with one look at Hibari's shaking head, it was apparent that such a hope was not possible.
Their boss was dead.
The scene kept playing over and over in Gokudera's head as he helped carry Tsuna's coffin to where they would lay him to rest. They, as a group, had decided not to tell the girls about what had happened until they were brought to a safe location. Because of that decision, the funeral was very small. Only Yamamoto, Hibari, Kusakabe, and himself could attend. Giannini wanted to take part in the small ceremony, but someone had to watch the base.
Their boss had requested that they place his coffin above ground and to not cremate him upon his death. None of them knew why he would request such a thing, but they did not dare go against his final wishes. So, they carried his body in the coffin to a clearing near the base. It was an area that Tsuna tended to go to when he needed a place to think or to get some fresh air, and the coffin was one that had been made especially for the 10th boss. Each of them had one, but it was an unspoken rule that they were to not be discussed until such a time as this when it was necessary.
When they arrived, they placed the coffin in the shade of a tree. Hibari had found a mortician who had repaired the damage that the bullet had left, but none of the men wanted to confirm Tsuna's death. To see his dead body would mean that his death was real and none of them wanted to accept that as of yet.
Unfortunately, the 'ceremony', if it could be called one, was very short since the state of the world was in such disarray. Hibari paused for a short moment in front of the coffin and bowed before saying: "You've done well herbivore. We'll take it from here." Before the other two guardians in attendance could react, he quickly turned on his heel in the direction of the shrine that he lived in. His subordinate, Kusakabe, bowed for as long as he dared before running after him.
Yamamoto went next. He knelt beside the coffin and bowed his head. "We'll make sure to take care of everyone while you're gone. And don't worry, we've sent for Lambo and I-Pin. They should be able to find Kyoko and Haru within the next few days. They'll be bringing them to the base soon. We've also sent out messages to everyone in order to find out where they are and regroup in order to make sure that we all make it out of here in time." He stood and turned to Gokudera. "You're sure that you'll be okay out here?" His comrade nodded. They had decided to watch over the grave while there was someone at the base. They didn't want the news of Tsuna's death to reach too far too soon in order to avoid internal conflict. "Alright, I'll contact you when I've made contact with the CEDEF representative."
Gokudera stood where the rain guardian had left him for minutes on end. As the minutes ticked by, it began to sink in that one of the most important people in his life was no longer there. They would never again go into battle together, sit and chat about the happenings in the mafia, or have fun together watching fireworks. He sank to his knees as the weight of his grief fell on his shoulders. How on earth was he supposed to go forward from here? He was no longer anyone's right-hand-man.
He wanted to say something, anything, but no words would come out. This was all his fault. If he would have, instead of insisting and pleading, forced Tsuna to stay at the base instead of going out and meeting with this Irie Shoichi, then he would still be alive. It was also possible that this whole crisis would have been avoided as well. He felt a certain numbness, one that he had only felt a few times in his life, creep over him as he sat on his knees everything replaying in his mind over and over and over again. His mind continued to run rampant with guilt until the sound of his own cellphone broke him partially out of his comatose-like state.
"H-" he cleared his rough voice before attempting to greet the person on the other end of the line, "Hello?" Who would be calling him right now?
"Hayato," his sister said with a lot of concern in her voice. "Yamamoto called me and told me about what happened. I won't be able to be there for a few days still since Futa and I have been gone finding out information. Is there anything I can do for you in the mean time?" Gokudera shook his head, forgetting that his sister wouldn't be able to see his movements. "Hayato?"
"N-no. There's nothing that you can do for me. "
"Alright, I'll be sure to get a carton and some of your favorite foods for you since I'm sure that you'll need it in the coming months."
"Thanks, sis." In all honesty he had been in too much shock to even think about smoking. Having been reminded of his addiction, though, made him aware of the ever present headache that had been there since the day that Tsuna had been shot. He stood as he picked up his forgotten briefcase.
"Don't worry about it. I'll see you soon. Love you."
"Love you, too." He hung up the phone and replaced it in his pocket. The need to smoke had him in its tight grip, but he felt as though smoking in front of Tsuna's coffin would be disrespectful. So he moved farther into the forest in order to keep an eye on the clearing while he smoked. He reached into his brief case and retrieved a cigarette from the pack that lay in there half-forgotten. He closed the case and placed it at his feet as he retrieved a lighter from where it always sat in his breast pocket.
As he took the first drag, his headache began to clear. The familiar action helped calm his raw nerves and allowed him to think a little clearer about the situation. No matter what happened in the future he would always feel guilty about losing his boss. He knew that Tsuna would want him to continue to do as he had done as the right-hand man. There had been hushed talk about him probationarily taking charge of the Vongola during this time of crisis, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to do something like that. In all honesty, Yamamoto would probably be a better fit and more people would be apt to follow him. He had more tact when it came to talking to people and he was respected more among all of their allies.
He threw the butt of the cigarette to the ground and used his foot to extinguish it. The next few months were going to be the most trying of his life.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Ever since I saw TYL Gokudera I've wanted to see what he thought of the whole ordeal so... here's my interpretation of it. If you have any comments or critiques let me know. I'm hoping to continue to grow as a writer so all input is good input.
Disclaimer: I don't own Reborn