Chapter 10: Darkened Sky

"You will be fine," I gently whispered to the unconscious woman I laid down on the ground. After fleeing from my friends, I ran around Namimori aimlessly. That's when I spotted this woman with a witch's kiss on her neck. The witch's kiss is a mark left on a human who has been tainted by the powers of a witch and if left alone, the human will either comit suicide or harm another person.

Even though I no longer wished to defeat witches, I still followed this stranger. A part of me wanted to help her but another part just wanted to let her suffer. That's why instead of assisting immediately, I stalked her to the bridge I had once attacked Tsuna on. I had watched as she climbed over the railing and looked down at the flowing river beneath her. That's when I saw her lose consciousness and my senses finally kicked in as I sprinted towards her, just barely managing to grab the falling woman and pull her back onto the bridge.

"Boo, lookie look who is here. A stupid Vongola Puella Magi rescuing a woman pathetic enough to lose her mind to a witch," came the cheerful voice of the monstrous blue-haired child.

I wasn't surprised that Bluebell had appeared before me. The reason the woman had fainted was due to the effects of the witch leaving her body. Seeing as I hadn't used my powers to erase the witch's kiss, the only other way to save the woman would have been to kill the witch that had marked her. People afflicted by a witch's kiss usually commit their sins near the place the witch dwelt and because the witch's kiss had already vanished by the time I had caught the woman, I was expecting Bluebell to appear before me, any second now.

"The witch I just killed was a complete waste of my time. Well not completely. At the very least cutting it into little bitty pieces was fun, nyuu," Bluebell grinned just like any ordinary happy kid. Of course, she was hardly ordinary, though. "I hope you did what the amazing Bluebell instructed and became stronger. If you have become a worthy opponent now, then I can forgive that witch for being a bore because it would of been a wonderful appertizer for the main event."

Looking into Bluebell's hungry eyes, I told her, "Bluebell, I don't want to fight. Not you or the witches. I'm retiring from being a Puella Magi. So we don't have to fight as I won't stand in your way of collecting Grief Seeds and I already promised you that I wouldn't tell anyone about you being in Namimori."

Bluebell stood frozen, her face robbed of its usual childlike bliss. Suddenly, the small girl erupted into loud bursts of laughter. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Retire from being a Puella Magi? That is the most stupidest thing I have ever heard, nyu. It is impossible to turn your back on the fact that you are a Puella Magi. Even if you never fight a witch again, you have already sacrificed everything. You are exactly like me. Someone who has given up their humanity for power," she laughed. Given up my humanity? Sure, I hated myself now but I was still human, wasn't I? "I was gonna continue to let you live but now I'm just gonna go ahead and kill you. I promise you, it is gonna be painful. I am going to make you bleed out every tiny drop of blood that lies in your pathetic body, nyuu," Bluebell grinned like the devil.

"Ah!" I yelled out, as she rushed towards me and struck me hard with her water blade arm. With her next move, she knocked me down onto the ground.

"Boo, you're not even trying. This isn't fun! You need to entertain me more or I will get mad and you do not want to see what happens when I get mad, nyu," Bluebell grumbled. "Oh, I get it now. The reason you aren't fighting back is because you want to die. If that's the case, I'll just kill you quickly but because I really need some good entertainment for today, I think I will just go ahead and start my revenge on the Vongola. I think the first person I will kill is that lame girl. What was her name again? Kyota? Kyouma? Kyiako?" she joyfully puzzled over.

"Please don't hurt Kyoko-chan. I will do anything, just please don't harm her," I pleaded, getting back onto my feet. I didn't want her to harm Kyoko but even though I was begging Bluebell, I could hear the lack of conviction in my voice. It's just as Bluebell said. I've lost my humanity. People with no will to live are no longer human. They are just mindless zombies. Like what I have become.

"Then be a fun toy now and keep me entertained," Bluebell ordered. She swung her blade at me again but I avoided it. Her second swing came instantly afterwards and it flung me painfully back onto the hard stone.

"Time's out, nyu. You have failed to make me happy, so now I'm just gonna stab this blade through you heart," Bluebell skipped towards me, wearing the largest smile I had ever seen her wear. Standing right next to my lying body, Bluebell raised her arm.

"Boo, on the count of three, everything is going to end for you. One!" Bluebell began her countdown.

"Two!" I closed my eyes and braced myself for the final blow.

"Three!"

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Huh? What was that just now? Why did I not feel the blade pierce through me? Did Bluebell spare me, again?

As I opened my eyes, I couldn't believe the sight before me.

"You, you're..." Bluebell blinked in surprise, her blade turned back into a human form with fresh, glistening, sticky crimson liquid dripping to the ground.

"Haru...get out of...here," was what the tall, blonde coughed out as he stood facing the deadly rain child, gripping the trusty whip in his hands. I failed to obey his instuctions, though. I was frozen from the sight of seeing his favourite green jacket darken and the pool of liquid that was forming at his feet.

"Di...no...-san," his name escaped my lips. As he crumbled to the ground, no longer able to stand thanks to the wound Bluebell had afflicted on him, my brain was finally able to comprehend the situation that lay in front of me. "Dino-san!" I screamed out.

A/N: This fic is nearing its finale. The final chapter will most likely be chapter 13 but it could go on for a few more chapters depending on how things go. Random note is that Kyubey was there during this chapter but he just silently observes what occured because that is pretty much all Kyubey does, observe the girls he coerces into becoming magical girls.