Thank you for the wonderful reviews! They made me awfully happy. This chapter may have a few mistakes here and there; I was too lazy to really check.
Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn does not belong to me…
A silver-haired man stood over a grave with a pink rose in his hand. Setting it down he collapsed into a bow on the ground. "Tenth." His voice was soft, not like his usual tone. "Sorry…I couldn't protect you." The funeral had taken place just a few hours before and not once did he cry. The only thing he could do to present himself as a good right-hand man was to keep his composure. Now when he was alone he vented his bent up tears. Sobs that he tried to hold in nearly choked him to death, so he had to let the sounds out. In that bowing position, with his forehead to the grassy floor, he stayed by the grave for hours.
The tears never stopped flowing but when it began to rain Gokudera barely noticed his own crying. The two liquids spread across his face and he felt a tug on his arm. Ignoring it only led it to a full blown yank. It disrupted his balance and he fell onto his side. Livid, he growled up at the person who had the audacity to disturb him so. His green eyes met brown ones and he quieted down. "How long have you been here baseball idiot?" There was no answer as the rain helped the storm part of the way up from the ground. Both of them were getting more soaked as they stood there but neither moved. The expression on Yamamoto's face wasn't dulled by the rain at all. It was one that wasn't seen often. Sadness lined his face and his lips were placed in a firm downcast position.
"Hayato, don't do this. Tsuna wouldn't want you to act like this."
"How, am I acting? Crazy?" He shook off the hand that was on his shoulder and refused to be helped the rest of the way up. "You don't seem to understand what's going on. The tenth is dead. He died right in front of my eyes and I couldn't do a thing." His words were laced with venom as he shouted them out at Yamamoto. "Don't you see that this isn't a game? It never was. Not before and definitely not now." The rain guardian only stood there as Gokudera pushed him away from him. "Mafia is about death. Anyone in this kind of business can die at any time." Rubbing the tears that remained off his face, he glared at his lover. "The next one to die could be you or me. Do you still want to play this 'game'? Want to stay beside me knowing the risks?"
At this point Gokudera was just rambling and Yamamoto knew this. Catching him unaware he wrapped his fingers around the storm guardian's seemingly delicate wrist. There was proof of all over his body that those wrists could pack a powerful punch, so he didn't feel like leaving them loose. Bringing his face closer to the other's he spoke in a painful voice, "I understand perfectly. I was there to." His tone grew rough but he continued, "Like you I couldn't protect him."
Gokudera's tension lessened some and in result his wrist was let free. Making a 'tch' sound he pushed pasted the other man and walked away from the grave. Watching the shorter man's retreating back he leaned down and gently set a yellow rose down on his friend's grave. "Rest in peace, Tsuna. Rest in peace…" Running a hand through his short black hair he dashed to catch up with his boyfriend. Slinging an arm over the sliver-haired man's shoulder he was met with no response. That was his way of accepting the touch. Over the years he had learned what every word and action that his lover made meant. "Hayato, I'm hungry."
His comment only received silence in acknowledgement, until a minute or two later there was a gruff reply. "We'll go to a sushi restaurant then." Ah, and that was his way of saying that he was sorry.
Grinning, Yamamoto bent down to kiss his check. "I love you, Honey." He didn't know whether it was his actions or words that made the other angry enough to hit him rather hard upon the skull. "That really hurt, Hayato."
Weeks later a figure moved about the dark and a tell-tale sliver weapon flashed in the night. After jumping down from a tree he landed by the grave he was seeking. Putting his bloodied tonfas back in their box he knelt down by the grave. Clearing off the leaves he stared down at the name plate that read 'Tsunayoshi Sawada'. His lover, his boss, a man who could put up a good fight was laying in a casket underneath that headstone.
The day he returned from his mission, one night earlier than planned, people were rushing about the mansion in panic. All those weeks ago he stopped someone to question interrogate him and he was told that the Decimo died. Dragging the butler around, he purposing sought after the herbivores so they could deny this. The first one he found was the wandering Lambo. The kid had burst out in tears and fell to the floor, trying to explain through his crying about what had happened. Hearing what the cow teenager had to say he didn't take the news well. Everyone within twenty meters of him at the time were bitten to death, including the cow. The day he got back was the day he set off for another mission, a self-assigned one, which was to kill Tsuna's murderer. It had been his own decision so there hadn't been a need to tell anyone. That was what he thought at the time. Now if he could be the kind of man who regretted his choices he would have.
After he left the panic within the Vongola increased. Gokudera could only keep things together so long before they fell apart. There was no head in place and there wasn't an heir to take over. At the rate things were going at the strongest mafia family would be ruined by its own rules of not taking someone who doesn't share the blood of Vongola.
Yet at this moment none of that mattered for the cloud. A little while ago he had returned unsuccessful in his search for Tsuna's murderer and only because it was an important day. Reaching into his pocket he took out the rose that was settled there. On the right side of the grave there was a cluster of different colored roses. He knew the flowers were put there by the other guardians. Showing his personality, he set his lavender rose on the left, away from the others. "Stupid herbivore. You should have died by my hands."
Glaring at the stone silently, Hibari stood and dusted off his knees. He checked his watch and then glanced at the grave. It would hit midnight in a few minutes so he spoke the words he came to say now, "Happy birthday, Herbivore." With that he walked away his head held high even as the emotion of sadness filled his chest. Didn't someone say that once the first birthday pasted it would be easier? Taking another look at his watch, and seeing that he was passed midnight, he decided to bite to death whichever herbivore had said those words.
With one figure of the night gone another came to stand beside the headstone. The woman leaned down and took hold of all the roses. When she was done counting them her voice broke the silence of the night. "A dozen roses." There was one from each of the guardians. Then there were two from the boy's parents. One from Reborn, one from Bianchi, and one from the bucking horse. "You're lucky Tsuna. It's been awhile since any of the Vongola leaders got more than nine flowers. I wonder how long it will last." From experience she could only guess that it wouldn't last that long. Maybe a month or two at most.
Contrary to Aria's thoughts at the end of each month for the next six months, twelve roses were placed on the Decimo's grave. It went on like that until one day no roses appeared. Giving them the benefit of the doubt she waited a week for the flowers to appear. Life could get busy, especially in the guardians line of work. Yet even after the week and a few days passed nothing showed up. The only thing she could guess was that Tsuna's friends had forgotten completely about their monthly visits. Forgotten about him. Sighing, she picked herself up from the ground and started on her way home from her daily visits to the grave.
Back in the Vongola mansion, Gokudera moved through the halls quickly with an underlining right on his heels. "Wait, you forgot to take this!" Stopping the man turned to take the report from the other's hands. Clenching the piece of paper in his hand he stormed off in a hurry to get a hold of everyone. In the past week all seven of the guardians had been holed up inside arguing about the threat of an invasion. They noticed the threat when another family was slowly but surely walking into their territory. Each time several of the lover ranks were killed off. The depth of the intrusion got bigger every time it happened. Casualties grew and the stronger ranks got taken care of with ease.
Surprisingly in the past days nothing dramatic happened but they, so unlike the normal Vongola, were still tiptoeing around. Gokudera, earlier that very day, had thrown a fit that it was over and that they could go to the tenth's resting place. Reborn met his tantrum with a deal. If nothing happened in the next three days then he could do what he wanted. Not even half a day later he was handed this report. Spies that were sent out came back with priceless information, the plan of the opposing family.
Gokudera's feet picked up their pace when he heard voices coming from the conference room. The plans the spies found out could only be described as despicable. It went all the way back to the Tenth's death! Their leader wanted to become the Vongola boss, which normally should be impossible. Yet the bastard came up with a way to do it. Killing Tsuna left them with no heir so just from that the group could be destroyed. That was stage one of plan that failed when the guardians lived through the attack, meant to kill both them and their boss. The brunette stopped that by enduring immense pain and taking the hit, not backing down even when it reached intolerable levels.
Once they were dead the lackeys had planned to take a DNA sample from Tsuna. The chickens ran off when the guardians survived. The remote that Gokudera had seen shoot out flames did a lot more than just that. The sample that was supposed to be taken would have, with the help of that device, been merged with that man. The process was sketchy but the report stated that later the ring would accept him as being of Vongola blood. All in all to sum it up the Decimo's grave was about to be disturbed, the invasion force would reach the cemetery that day.
Finally reaching the room he was going for Gokudera pushed the door open and slammed the paper on the table, "Get off your lazy asses. We got some business to take care of."
Aria watched bombs going off in the distance from her perch in the tree Hibari once was in. On her way home something told her to stay. Like it was telling her everything was about to crash down on the Vongola. Waiting there made her hear the sounds from the ongoing battle. If this is what her intuition wanted her to watch then she would, even if it hurt to hear the noises of people dying. Explosions continued to go off and she used that as her reassurance that at least one of the guardians was still alive and kicking.
Soon, almost like in a horror movie, Aria no longer heard those sounds. In the past she would have automatically thought that the Vongola won but now it was different. Anxiety filled her to the care as the silence deepened. Then suddenly a dark-haired man came into view. He wasn't limping but his footfalls were uneven. Maybe he was too proud to show weakness.
Hibari didn't stop until he was right in front of the headstone. Reaching into his suit jacket he brought out wrinkled, blood covered roses. "The herbivores wanted me to deliver these to you. They died." Aria's eyes widened slightly. The blood on the roses spoke volumes but could they have really died?
"Don't kill us off by your own accord you bastard!" Gokudera growled when the bird freak was within his shouting range. His face was scratched up and the arm he held his bow with was injured. The other guardians stood behind him all of them looking like they were in pain. The smirk on the cloud's lips told him that he knew they had been alive.
Running footsteps reached their rears and Hibari switched his gaze towards the sound. A young man appeared from behind the guardians, who immediately turned and watched the man, should he be a threat. Gokudera pulled out his dynamite and glared at Hibari. "Damn, Skylark help us protect the tenth's grave."
Tonfas were out and ready even before he agreed, "I'll bite them to death."
"To the death then." It was Lambo who spoke in a monotone voice. He certainly didn't want to die but he knew that his silent wish to live couldn't come true. After all he was sure about what would occur as they protected Tsuna-nii's resting place. The location wasn't in their favor. To win they needed to be able to move around freely. That would not happen because if they moved the grave would be an open target. No longer could they take a step back. The battle began with the feeling of dread looming over them.
The sky Arcobaleno reviewed the scene before her with horror. Smoke filled the area and made it hard for her to see but it didn't stop her sight completely. Corpses lay on the ground as if they were just trash, in which she knew they really should be considered that. Xanxus would agree with her wholehearted but that could be the result of him calling everyone that. The smoke began to clear and she watched where she stepped carefully, not wanting to disregard the shells of people left on this earth. Franticly, she searched for the guardians within the battle field.
When Aria finally found them the first thing that caught her eye was their new injures. Ones that was possibly fatal. She rushed forward to check on them, her hear beating fast as she did so. All of them were somehow or other propped up against Tsuna's headstone, protecting him even in the state they were in. Hands fussing over them she made sure that each of them had a pulse. With relief she realized they did, although it was weak. In her movemnets of checking their pulses she noticed the roses Hibari had set on the ground. She stared at them but slowly, after turning her face skyward, she crushed them the rest of the way within her hand.
"I have watched you, Decimo. Seen the If's that led you to this future." She gulped and held her breath with her next words. What she was about to do could make things worse than they already were. Her pacific glowed and she stood. "I'll give each of you a new life. If you can find the mistakes you made this future will be fixed." The glow brightened as she lifted her hand to cup the floating pacific. "When all the Vongola ring wearers are gathered you'll regain your memories of this life."
A snarl interrupted the process and Arai looked behind her. A man stood there with a remote in hand. "Like I'll let you do that." She tried to burn her flames faster as the man pulled out a gun. With a glare he shot the weapon and the bullet came rushing towards her. It hit her shoulder but she didn't stop the burning of her flames. The last of the sky flames were leaving her and she saw that man raise his remote. Right as the last licks of dying will left her a button was pressed. Even as she disappeared leaving her clothes behind, she felt the impact of whatever came out hit the flames, distorting what she painstakingly put together.
"Sorry, Tsuna."
A certain brunette's eyes flashed open as he felt a weight lift off of him. Looking down he saw shackles on the floor next to his feet. That was what had been tying him down, connecting him to this life. Rebirth, was the word that ran though his mind in that moment. "Tsunayoshi." Hearing his name he jumped in surprise and took a look around him. He was incased in complete darkness and the voice called out for him again, "Sawada Tsunayoshi." A light appeared nearby and he stared at it as Arai formed beside the light. She looked slightly darker than he remembered her but it surely couldn't be anyone else. "Time will move back for you on the count of three."
"Huh? Wait a second!" What did she mean by that? The last thing he actually remembered was the pain that he went through. Where was he now and what was happening?
"One."
The voice she spoke with made him flinch with how cold it was. "Can't we talk about what's going on?" An hourglass formed in her hands so he took that as a no.
"Two." He tried to stand up but something new and more evil held him in place. "Three." The hourglass was flipped over and the stand started to spill into the other end. "Rewind."
Tsuna felt the air move and shape around him as he fell into 'time.' The only sound he could let out was an, "Hiiie!"
I'm hoping to get another chapter out for Christmas and maybe even one for the new year. I have no idea if that will actually happen. The next chapter is when everything really begins.