Tsuna stepped onto his plane and wondered how things had turned out this way. He wondered if things were better this way. He wondered if part of himself preferred it this way. He thought a million different things while he waved a farewell to his escort and shut the hatch. He was returning to Italy a full month after the Ninth, like promised. The only problem was that he was absolutely and completely alone. Worst of all, it was his own damn fault. He hadn't paid attention to his own state of being while handing out orders.

Ryohei had been ordered to stay in Namimori and finish out his boxing tournament, although the truth was that he was there to keep an eye on his sister. Yamamoto had stayed behind to train Matsu up as Haru's personal guard. That had been Matsu's choice in his desire to repay Tsuna not only for his freedom, but his new lover. Tsuna had agreed willingly when possible implications of his long stints away from home hit him. Not only that, but Tsuna could see Yamamoto's unvoiced wish to stay with his new lover for just a little bit longer.

The big blow was Gokudera, though. Sangia had shown a desire to try to reconcile with her sister, although she had plans to stay as a Vongola. As the only person that she trusted, Tsuna had handed Gokudera over willingly for protection against the Kuneri Family. Gokudera had gone only because Tsuna hadn't told him about having already ordered Yamamoto and Ryohei to stay behind. Yamamoto and Ryohei hadn't blinked twice at staying behind, either, because they both assumed that Tsuna at least had Chrome and Hibari with him.

But Chrome and Hibari were staying behind, as well. Chrome was still trying to heal Kiyoshi and Hibari had agreed to Tsuna's request as a school escort. Since Tsuna had agreed to let Hotaru go to school with the other kids, his level of parental worry had skyrocketed. Rather than see a repeat of Kiyoshi's kidnapping with Hotaru as the target, Tsuna had begged, literally begged, the strongest person he knew to watch over him. Hibari had eventually agreed.

Hotaru would fly to the lighthouse in the morning under the cover of sunrise. Tsuna hoped that with the sun behind him, no one would see the little fireball fly past. Then again, they probably wouldn't anyway due to Hotaru's speed. Tsuna had helped Hotaru learn three different routes to the lighthouse with the little boy's promise to use them randomly. All three would help hide his presence along with giving him a memorized path home. Hibari would be waiting at the lighthouse each morning and would escort not only him, but the kids of Hayakeshi House to the town's small school. After school, he would escort them back to Hayakeshi House, where Hotaru would do a repeat trip of so-fast-he's-nearly-invisible from the lighthouse back to Haru.

Tsuna would change none of his choices, but it still meant that he was completely alone for his return to Italy. Even knowing that the first of his friends would follow in a mere month or two, Tsuna had a nagging feeling that he wasn't going to see them again for much, much longer. How that made sense, he had no clue, but it was what he felt.

It wasn't a feeling that he liked.

"I ended up doing it anyway. Didn't I?" Tsuna asked quietly to the man sitting next to him while they traversed the area between the airport and Headquarters under the cover of darkness.

"It's not easy, son," Iemitsu replied in sympathy. "I never wanted to leave you or your mother behind, either. She's happier that way, though. Haru will be, too, once she gets used to it."

"I didn't think I'd have to do that if I just got strong enough," he commented painfully. "I wanted her to stay by my side."

"We live to protect them and so much more, though," Iemitsu said in response. "Our wants are never satisfied. Neither mine as Vongola's second nor the Ninth's as Boss. One day, you'll be the same."

"Why did you choose me as heir?" Tsuna mumbled. "You knew that you were setting me up to--"

"Because you have the same spirit as many other Bosses in Vongola's history," he interrupted. "It was either watch Vongola be destroyed by an heir with only his own wants in his mind or hand it over to a person that I knew would be able to find happiness in giving other people happiness. For the sake of hundreds, along with the effect it would have on our Allies, I think I made the right choice. It might be hard at first, but you'll do well as Boss."

"Perhaps," Tsuna whispered. The two fell into an uncomfortable silence while the scenery passed by outside. Iemitsu began silently second-guessing his choice while Tsuna let his mind wander over what might have been. The two were so deep in thought that the sudden lurch of their vehicle caught them both unawares. Before they could react to the squeal of the tires and the sudden jerk, they were both tossed to one side of the vehicle while it began to flip from a sudden impact.

Tsuna cracked his eyes open and tried not to give in to the pain rampaging through his body. He could hear yells and the wail of sirens over the sound of a rampaging fire and shattering glass. It took him several minutes of just laying there to understand what had happened.

He'd been in a car wreck. A simple, horrifyingly quick car wreck.

Reaching up, he could feel blood oozing out of a head wound. Even worse, he couldn't feel his left foot. The stabbing pain coming from around his knee told him the probable reason. His right arm was dislocated and his neck and shoulders felt like it had been hit by one of Hibari's tonfas. Despite that, he tried to force himself to sit up and unintentionally cried out at the sudden stabbing pain that went through his side because of it. Even so, he managed to sit up and look around with the sound of chains in his ears. Although it might have just been the sound of the crash still ringing in them. He couldn't tell.

Paramedics were already trying to find injured while police and firefighters attempted to put out the flaming car. The large hole in the roof of Tsuna's told him how he'd probably been tossed outside. The vehicle smashed into it told him what had happened. The angle. The dead driver he could barely see squashed behind the wheel. All of it pointed to a late-night drunk driver.

Before he could catch sight of his father, a paramedic caught sight of him and began running toward him. Several more soon followed while Tsuna fought the darkness trying to creep over his vision again. Unfortunately, he lost the battle and fell back into the paramedic's arms right as the man reached him.

"Dad?" Tsuna asked before looking at their surroundings in horror. "No... no, no, no--"

"I'm sorry, son," Iemitsu replied sadly. "The path back is gone for me."

"No," Tsuna repeated with tears uncontrollably welling up in his eyes. "This is just a dream. A nightmare! Y-You can't be--"

"I'm dead, son," Iemitsu whispered. The blond man pulled Tsuna into his arms while small waves lapped up onto the shore of the lake behind them and Tsuna sank to his knees.

"No, you're not," Tsuna sobbed into his chest. Tsuna wrapped his arms around him and held on, not wanting to chance it being something other than a dream. "You're not. You're not dead, dad. You're--"

"I'm dead," Iemitsu repeated gently, sending another shudder of heartache through his son. Tsuna began crying helplessly at the words due to the feeling of certainty that welled up inside him despite his efforts to ignore it. This wasn't a dream, no matter how much he denied it. "I love you, son," Iemitsu whispered while Tsuna cried in his arms.

Gently pulling away, Iemitsu stood regardless of Tsuna's attempts to pull him back. Trying to give chase, Tsuna stood while his father slowly walked up to the edge of the lake and looked down at it. With a gasp, he was forced back down to his knees. The reason why was the clenching sensation around his heart that had nothing to do with his heartache. The sound of rattling chains got louder in his ears and Tsuna groaned from the weight that settled onto his body. A single glance down at himself told him the reason why. Six Flame-covered chains covered it, binding him in place despite his desire to follow his father in effort to stop him.

"It'll be okay, son," Iemitsu said with a sigh, completely ignoring the sudden appearance of the chains. "Tell Nana that I love her."

"Dad!" Tsuna cried while he reached out as far as his restrictions would allow. "Don't--!" Tsuna froze and stared at the lake in shock when Iemitsu stepped forward into it, only to be enveloped instantly without a single ripple. "D-Dad...? That's..." he mumbled softly without comprehending what had happened. When he finally did, he screamed.

"DAD!!"

"Good morning," a voice said gently. Tsuna opened his eyes with a gasp with his dream still fresh in his mind. He tried to sit up, but a hand firmly pushed him back down into a bed that he didn't recognize.

"Ninth...?" Tsuna mumbled, catching sight of the old man who was leaning over him worriedly.

"I'm here, Tsunayoshi," he confirmed. "How are you feeling?"

"I hurt," he admitted to cover how fast his heart was racing. "Where am I?"

"The inner sanctum of Headquarters," the Ninth answered with an unnaturally gentle voice. That note, rather than anything else, told Tsuna the unvoiced truth and brought everything to a quiet halt.

"Dad's dead. Isn't he?" He whispered, already knowing the answer.

"I'm sorry, Tsunayoshi," the Ninth replied painfully. "From what we could tell, he was the one that forced the roof open to get you out. After that, we're not sure what happened. He was already gone when we got there. They pulled him from inside the car not long after they got you to the hospital."

"I see..." Tsuna murmured. Clenching his eyes shut, he tried not to succumb to his misery. He failed when the Ninth gently brushed his hair out of his face in a caring gesture of worry. He stopped fighting against the need and began crying with his fists clenched over his face.

"I want to do it," Tsuna whispered into the crypt. The Ninth nodded in acceptance and stood back so that Tsuna could step forward.

At first, he'd been shocked and confused over the Ninth's refusal to send Iemitsu's body back home. Then, understanding slowly came when the older man had shown him into Vongola's deepest and darkest secret. Namely, the Vongola crypt. The real crypt and not the one that most of the Family was allowed to go into in belief that it was the real one. The Ninth showed Tsuna into the one that only Vongola Bosses were allowed to enter.

The room was cavernous, with stone tables set up across it in a checkerboard pattern. His father lie spread out across the one before him, waiting for his Vongola burial. Having been allowed to look around while the Ninth positioned Tsuna's father, Tsuna had slowly come to understand why the place was so secret. The Ninth's explanation had sealed that comprehension in his mind.

All those of Vongola blood were 'buried' in the secret Vongola crypt. It was part of a contract with forces beyond that of the Path of Humans that gave them access to such power as the Vongola Dying Will Flame. The Ninth hadn't been ready to tell Tsuna much more, but it had been enough to gain his acceptance in the burial. If that hadn't, seeing the 'buried' form of Giotto, the First Boss of Vongola, laying in state under a preserving cover of Zero-Point Ice had.

Regardless of generation rivalries, all those of Vongola blood were laid to rest by being covered in negative Flames. It was a hidden secret that had been started with the death of Giotto. Even more secret was the lies that founded Tsuna's own family history in Japan. Giotto's name change to Sawada Ieyasu hadn't been truth. Rather, his son had been sent to Japan to be put under the care of Sawada Ieyasu in effort to protect him after the death of the First. Sawada Ieyasu was the one that went into retirement, not Giotto himself. Ieyasu had been Giotto's shadow, although only Vongola the Second had been aware of the switch. Even Sawada Yoshimune, Giotto's child by blood, hadn't known.

While Tsuna wasn't sure of how he felt about it, he knew that it didn't truly matter. His father had lived for Vongola with every fiber of his being. Even though he hadn't been part of the Family because of his affiliation with CEDEF, Tsuna knew that he would be happy if he knew that he was being buried alongside the bloodline. For that reason alone, Tsuna refused to cry while he slowly spread ice across his cold and unmoving body.

The moment that he was completely encased, Tsuna pulled his hand back and clutched it to his chest. The Ninth patted him on the shoulder in understanding with a small, pain-filled glance toward where his own mother lay in state beside the Ninth's three dead sons. The message wasn't wasted on Tsuna while they slowly turned and headed for the hidden entrance to the crypt. They moved slowly together with the Ninth leading Tsuna who limped along with the aid of a crutch.

"Have you decided whether you want to follow tradition or not?" The Ninth asked carefully. Tsuna paused and clenched his eyes shut, feeling like a monster for even considering it. Even so, he knew what his answer was.

"I'll allow it," he permitted softly. "You've already checked the Flames so that Hotaru won't notice. Right?"

"There's a slight difference in balance, but it should be easily explained away," the Ninth soothed.

"T-They'll be happier this way, won't they? This is what Dad would want, right?" Tsuna asked with a bowed head. The Ninth nodded, reaffirming his own belief to Tsuna. Tsuna sighed, hating himself for allowing such a thing, but accepting it for the sake of his loved ones. "Tell him to tell mom that he loves her every day," Tsuna whispered.

"I'll let him know," the Ninth agreed. "Iemitsu's retirement should be finalized by morning. The shadow has already been thoroughly briefed and trained with every tidbit of information regarding his life. He should be plenty to keep the Family from being hurt over Iemitsu's untimely death."

"He didn't even live long enough to retire himself," Tsuna whispered with tears once again in his eyes. The Ninth paused down the corridor and reached out when Tsuna began trying to fight the silent sobs that began wracking his body. "It's not fair!" He cried. "Dad--"

"He lasted longer than most," the Ninth soothed. "He had a good life, Tsunayoshi. He never regretted his choices, no matter how painful they were. He was a fine man and--"

"I want him back," Tsuna sobbed. "It's not fair that he died in such a stupid--" Tsuna fell silent at the slap that landed across his face. Holding his stinging cheek, he stared at the Ninth in shock.

"No death is stupid, Tsunayoshi," the Ninth scolded. "Don't disgrace your father's memory by saying such a thing. He managed to save you before he died. I'm positive that he didn't find that stupid."

"Forgive me," Tsuna replied in shame. "I just want him back, Ninth. In all my worst nightmares, I never thought of him dying in a simple car wreck. He always seemed so...invincible."

"No one is invincible," he whispered. Tsuna nodded, unable to deny the truth of the words. No matter how much it hurt, no one was invincible.

Tsuna smoked his third cigarette while watching the live video feed from the Japan Headquarters. The Family took to 'Iemitsu's' retirement in open joy and excitement. Only the glass of V Special in his hand kept him from vomiting when he watched the man kiss his mother as if he were the woman's husband. He was actually on his second bottle. The first one had disappeared when Yamamoto and Ryohei hadn't noticed the switch and had begun preparations for a retirement party instead of an early lunch.

Tsuna and the Ninth had completed the cover-up in absolute secrecy. Even the people that had pulled Iemitsu's body out of the car had been safely threatened into absolute silence with the threat of death for not only them, but their whole family if they broke it. The three men were now retired, as well, and safely stored on a paradise island by their own choice. None of them wanted to chance breaking their vow. Records also only showed that there had been no passengers in Tsuna's vehicle and all record of his hospital treatment had been wiped from existence.

As far as anyone but the Ninth and Tsuna knew, Iemitsu was still alive and well. His death changed everything, though. The Ninth had moved Tsuna into the Inner Sanctum in the center of Headquarters for his own safety. After losing Iemitsu, the reality of Tsuna being the only one left of the Vongola bloodline had hit both of them to a depressing degree. It hadn't really hit Tsuna at first, until the Ninth had pointed out that Hotaru's body wasn't real. The child might grow up, but he might never be able to have his own children.

His old room was still set up like he'd left it. Copies of all of his things had been put in place so that no one knew that he no longer slept there. It would become his shadow's residence once Nobody was trained up, since Toshi was far from being ready. Until then, another look-alike slept there temporarily. Training wasn't required merely for sleep. Even once Tsuna's Family returned, the temporary shadow had orders to turn them away to keep them from noticing the switch.

It all came down to fooling the enemy by fooling his friends. The whole thing made Tsuna sick, even while he'd accepted it.

Almost as bad was his new surroundings. Every hallway up to his room was trapped, unless he turned them off with the remote that the Ninth had given him. There were no real windows since they were literally in the center of the building. The fake ones that were attached to a video feed outside didn't help one bit. It actually increased his claustrophobia rather than lowering it. The expensive and lush interior made him feel like he was in a gilded cage.

But this was how he had to live now. This was how the Ninth had lived for decades. This was how the Ninth had survived past middle-age in the Mafia world. Only chancing his safety when he found it to be absolutely necessary. Only letting one or two people have access to him. Working in the shadows. Living in the shadows. All so that others could live and work in the light without fear. It was a necessary sacrifice to ensure the Family's happiness. Or so the Ninth had explained.

He hated it!

Yet, like so many other things in his life, he accepted it anyway.

"Tsunayoshi," the Ninth called from the door between their two sections of the off-limits area. The Inner Sanctum was actually a small complex of rooms closed off from outside with only two hidden access points. Headquarters had originally sprang up around the real crypt in effort to protect it. The Inner Sanctum held the only entrance to it, along with two lavishly appointed bedrooms, two high-tech offices, two generous living areas, and a small clinic that Tsuna didn't want to think about. One set for the Boss and one set for the Heir.

"I'm here, Timoteo," Tsuna replied unnecessarily. Grabbing his crutch, he stood and limped over in the direction of the Ninth's real office. The man smiled sadly at Tsuna's drunken stumble and curses while he tried to navigate over to the older man's desk.

"You were watching, too?" The Ninth asked, pointing to one of the monitors lining the wall beside his desk. Tsuna nodded at the sight of his 'father' drinking sake and toasting with everyone else.

"Ah," he confirmed unhappily. Sitting down in the only other chair in the room, Tsuna found his eyes latched onto the screen despite knowing that it would do him no good.

"I wanted to ask to see if you felt up to going out tomorrow," the Ninth commented while he poured both of them drinks. Tsuna shrugged, knowing already that it would only be another business trip. He'd only left the Sanctum once so far and that had been to shadow the Ninth at a touchy negotiation that required hyper-intuition to see through properly.

"Where are we going?" Tsuna asked before taking the offered glass of V Special.

"Mafia Row is finally completed," the Ninth answered. "We're going to ensure that Gesso fulfilled their end of the agreement."

"Isn't that risky?" Tsuna mumbled. "Gesso aren't--"

"Vendiche will be inspecting it, as well," he interrupted. "They'll be swarming all over the place to ensure that Gesso didn't do anything to jeopardize the neutrality of the area. It should be relatively safe."

"Alright," Tsuna replied. "Do you think that I could get a different cast before then? I don't want to be limping around on crutches in front of our enemies."

"Already taken care of," the Ninth said warmly. "I called my Sun Guardian out of retirement just long enough to come help you out."

"Eh?"

"Most of my Guardians were killed in my youth," the Ninth explained sadly. "My Sun Guardian was the only one to survive it all. He retired as a good-will doctor in a small country, but I managed to get his agreement to come treat you. He should be here in the morning."

"I see..." Tsuna murmured. "What's he like?"

"You can see for yourself in the morning," he replied with a twinkle in his eyes. "For now, go get some sleep. You've seen enough of the celebration to know that your Family is happy."

"You're right," Tsuna admitted sadly while he once more glanced at the smiling faces of his loved ones on the screen. The Ninth gave him a look of empathy, but Tsuna turned away from it while he got to his feet. He didn't want empathy. Not from a person that had lived years worth of lies before Tsuna. Accepting such a feeling would mean that he was already treading the same path rather than making his own.

That was one thing he refused to accept, no matter how true it was.

"Something doesn't feel right," Yamamoto mumbled sleepily into his pillow.

"How about this?" Matsu replied, pressing himself closer to Yamamoto's bare back and pulling his arms tighter around him. Yamamoto moaned when his lover kissed him on the nape of his neck and started heading for his ear.

"Not that," he finally gasped. Matsu chuckled softly before settling back down in contentment, taking pleasure by merely having someone in his arms.

"What's wrong, then?"

"Something was different about Iemitsu," he answered while lazily drifting into the sensation of warmth behind him. "I can't put my finger on it, but he just didn't feel right. I feel like I'm missing something that should be obvious."

"Like when you can't find your pencil and it's stuck behind your ear?" Matsu inquired with another laugh, remembering how Yamamoto had done it no less than three times while doing his homework.

"Laugh it up," Yamamoto growled. "I'm being serious here."

"Oi," he mumbled apologetically, once again pulling Yamamoto tight to him. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"No one else noticed anything different about him," Yamamoto continued unhappily. "I can't even tell anything different about him, but something is."

"Maybe it's just because he retired?" Matsu suggested. "I'm sure he's not feeling as burdened anymore and you're just picking up on that."

"Maybe," Yamamoto agreed with a sigh. "He's just a normal guy now where he had to worry about so much before. I'm probably just over-thinking it." Yamamoto chuckled softly to himself. "Then again, thinking was never my strong point."

"What was?" Matsu asked playfully. In answer, Yamamoto wriggled around in his arms so that they were face-to-face.

"I could show you," he murmured. The soft lips he got in return was a definite yes.

"Eh?"

"I wish to speak to you in private," Hibari growled again. Everyone traded looks with each other around the dining table while Iemitsu shrugged and stood.

"Alright," he agreed. "I'm sure that my cute little son won't mind me using his office." Hibari nodded with narrowed eyes and silently fell in behind him while he led the way. The moment that the door was shut, Hibari attacked.

"Who are you?" Hibari asked dangerously with a tonfa choking the blond.

"I'm Iemitsu," he gasped in panic.

"I will thoroughly bite you to death if you don't give me the truth," Hibari whispered into his ear while tightening his tonfa on the impostor's throat.

"Shit," Iemitsu cursed. Hibari raised his eyebrow at the obvious reason being the ringing phone in the background rather than his own peril. Curious, Hibari released him and watched while the man dashed for the phone. Picking it up, he immediately paled. "Y-Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir. I'll try harder, sir. Are you sure-- Yes, sir." Looking up at Hibari, Iemitsu gave a crooked smile before hitting the speaker phone.

"You couldn't leave it alone. Could you, Hibari?" Hibari raised his eyebrow at the sound of Sawada's voice alongside a weary sigh.

"Hotaru seemed upset this morning when I took him to school," Hibari commented nonchalantly. "He wouldn't tell me why, but I happened to overhear him tell a certain bird that his Grandpa Iemitsu felt funny."

"So he noticed," Sawada commented.

"What's going on?" Hibari growled. "Even I know that Hotaru's senses are adequate enough to recognize--"

"My father is dead," Sawada said softly, bringing Hibari to a lurching stop. "The man before you is a filler so that mom and the rest of the Family don't know. I'd prefer it if you didn't pass that along, though."

"You replaced your father?" Hibari asked despite himself.

"Ah," Sawada confirmed. "Given the choice between a funeral and letting mom live out her life in happy oblivion, which did you think I'd choose?"

"You've become quite despicable," Hibari commented.

"So I have," he agreed. "Even so, I'd like to ask you to ignore it and leave things as they are. Hotaru should shrug off the difference after a while."

"I require compensation," Hibari replied with a gleam in his eye. "You know I help no one for free."

"Put it on my tab."

"I will," Hibari promised softly.