Buona lettura!

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. All rights belong to its respectful and rightful owner.

CHAPTER XI

Brown eyes bulged open. She turned her head around the empty room. All she saw was a big double door, a throne, and long carpet stretched from the door to the throne. As she took a step forward, it felt like stepping onto something odd—rather round. Slowly, she looked down and widened her eyes in horror.

She took steps backwards, helplessly trembling at the blood and lifeless bodies of her friends. Every one of her friends was on the floor, each covered by their own blood, but as she saw Tsuna, he was the only one that had his dilated pupils at her, as if he was seeing his killer.

She noticed. She lifted her hands slowly in anxiety. Her white skin complexion was tainted with their blood, her face, her hair, her clothes, all had their blood. She looked aghast, she stilled and her breath stopped.

"Hello," she looked to her right, where the voice was. It was her, although with red, cold, sharp eyes, and black flame on her forehead. "Nice to meet you, Miura Haru… or my old self. This is the first time we meet face-to-face, isn't it?" she sneered.

"Who…?"

The red-eyed Haru furrowed her brows. "What do you mean by that? I'm you. But don't worry, I'm not going to take action… yet." Haru shivered at her chilling grin. "This is just a wake-up alarm, my old self. From the moment you move with your goal, the red 'truth' will be uncovered right before your eyes. Your real cursed life… begins now."

…

Her eyes bulged open and her body abruptly lifted up as she panted for air and cold sweat ran through her face. Her heart was thumping loudly and hardly that she could even hear and feel it. Her pallor was awful and her eyes stayed wide, staring out in horror.

"Haru?"

She flinched. She turned her head sideways to see Bianchi's worried expression. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Haru gulped and nodded before looking at the bed sheet. The paleness still didn't go away. "It's… it's just a bad dream. Bi-Bianchi-san, where are we? What happened to me?"

"You fainted right after we arrived at the airport. You're now safe in Vongola's base."

"I see…"

Seconds after Haru fell silent; the horrible red sight came to haunt her. The wall and ceiling were painted in red blood. She slowly turned to Bianchi, whose uninjured head and body was casted with blood. Her brown eyes widened in horror again.

He looks weaker than ever, Tsuna thought. Staring at Ninth's pale face, the sick old man who was sleeping on his bed, he started to think whether it was a good idea to visit him. But seeing this Ninth, he knew he would die soon, and for Ninth, he had to return Vongola's true principle back as a vigilante group. He didn't dare to wake him up and walked to the door, but stopped as he heard a mumble.

"Tsunayoshi-kun?"

Tsuna turned around and approached the bed. Ninth was awake now. "You're here, after 9 years of waiting. I'm glad." his smile looked so frail, it saddened Tsuna. He nodded. "Don't worry, Ninth. I'll take care of the Vongola."

"If only your tutor was here… his existence alone would lead you to the way of recreating the family."

He raised his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"He never came back," his eyes widened. "It's not just him. All former arcobaleno are missing."

As much as Tsuna was surprised—and worried, he maintained his calm. "Those guys are strong. Whatever happens to them is none of our business."

"Tsunayoshi-kun, are you mad at Reborn?" Tsuna twitched. "I don't know what happened between you two, but if you lead with that anger, you can never lead this family as vigilante group."

"I wasn't mad at first, Ninth. This hatred I have is shallow, I know. I used to just sulk, but as time went on, this feeling turned into hatred and anger. Because of him, I had to face every Mafioso that's after my head for 9 years, I was forced to see the cruelty of mafia alone. Since then, every time I think about Reborn, there's nothing in my head but anger."

"Tsunayoshi-kun…"

"But I don't want to live with this hatred. He's the best tutor I had, he made me to be what I am now, my strength to protect my friends came from him, I have friends because of him. Sadly, I still can't let go of this anger," he looked at his watch. "Ah, I'm sorry. I have to go somewhere else. Have a good rest… grandpa."

With a smile, he left. Before he went to Fuuta, he walked towards a room to visit Haru, but as he arrived there, Bianchi was outside the room, and her concern face worried him. He scurried to her. "What's going on here?"

"It's Haru. She suddenly screamed and told me to get out. She said she wanted to be alone, but with the condition she's in now, I can't do anything about it. Can you go in, Tsuna?"

Tsuna nodded and opened the door, where he found Haru on the bed with face buried under her folded legs. He sat on the bed and looked at her intently, evaluating her unknown situation. He rested his hand on her shoulder. "Please leave me alone, Bianchi-san…" her voice was rather shaky.

"It's me."

Recognized that voice, she flinched and then she hesitantly lifted her head upwards. Her eyes began to clear as she no longer saw the blood. "Are you okay? Bianchi said you suddenly screamed." he moved closer to her. Haru was too absorbed in her thought to give a verbal answer. She just nodded in silence.

She might be acting weird lately, but after he saw this, he was convinced. He was sure she was acting strange, something about her seemed not right and abnormal. He couldn't see the essence of spring she had always emitted, either. He feared it was caused by him, moreover after the last time he literally hurt her. But asking her in her current condition wouldn't bring result—or even good result.

"Do you need anything? Maybe a drink?"

She shook her head. He ruffled the back of his hair in confusion. He should retrieve the address from Fuuta, but he felt bad for leaving her in this state. "It's alright," Haru let out her voice in a soft tone. "You need to be somewhere, right? It's best to leave me alone."

"But, you…"

"Excuse me," both looked at the door and saw Fuuta. "Ah, here you are, Tsuna-nii. Here's the address you want." he gave a note to him. "Oh, thanks, Fuuta." he read the address and intently studied the small drawn map. He had studied Italy's geography, so he knew the location. "It's far from here, huh. Okay then. I'll inform the others and prepare the car."

"I'll do it for you—ah, Tsuna-nii. I suggest you not to take many people. Maybe just you and Haru-nee? I heard this scientist isn't too fond with humans."

"Huh? That's… weird. Well, I guess it's just the two of us, then."

From the moment they left the mansion, Haru had never spoken a word. While Tsuna was driving the jet black expensive car at the cold night, she never averted her stare away from the view of the scenery. At times, he looked at her to know her condition, and he knew she wasn't absorbing the view of the mountain and the grass. It was dark, they were in open field, all that could be seen was the road ahead illuminated by the headlights. Blank—his description for her eyes.

An hour later, they arrived at the only house in the middle of the mountain area. He knocked, but no one answered. Surely, someone was there. A purple roofless sport car was parked beside his car.

"Stop it!"

They stepped aside as the door was abruptly opened. A woman with just her 'welcoming' sleeping wear under the brown coat came out and headed for the sport car. Afterwards, a half-naked man with towel on his shoulder came out, and he looked pissed. Although his hair fell down from water, Tsuna recognized that face.

"I know you're smart and hot, but you can't treat a woman like that!" the woman screamed. "Geez, what's wrong with my ears and eyes? You may be hot and your voice is deep and sexy, but you don't have any manners!" she slammed the car door close and left.

The man sighed. "I'm not the one who broke into someone's house half-naked and asked for se—" he spotted the two and furrowed. "Who are you?"

"Ah, we're—"

"You're not her friend who's actually trying to introduce me to her after she persuaded you to do so, aren't you?" he interrupted Tsuna.

"I'm not interested in you, professor," she crossed her arms. "Please listen to what he has to say before interrupting other people. We want to talk about the dusk flame."

Nero's eyes twitched upon hearing the flame. "Why?"

Knowing words couldn't get through this man, she lit her ring, his eyes widened. He whirled around, "Come in."

Not knowing where he was taking them, they were just following him, until they stopped at a door. "This is my office. I've seen your face. Vongola Decimo, am I right? I need to talk to her alone."

Tsuna hesitated and thought for a moment. But as much as he didn't like it, Nero was an expert. If there was something only both of them should know, then he had to respect that. "All right."

"Grazie. Make yourself at home. If you need a drink, feel free to help yourself in the kitchen." Nero and Haru entered the room.

Haru sat on the sofa and looked around. There were bookshelf and piles of organized paper on the desk. "I'm sorry about before," he sat across her while holding a shirt. "Ever since I posted a report about the flame, many women pretended they know about the flame or some pretended they have the flame."

"Umm… don't mind me, but Tsuna-san is the one who wants to talk to you."

"I know," he donned his shirt. "But before we get into that, I want you to tell me your story, about how you became an arcobaleno."

Haru flinched in surprise. It was questionable as to why this man knew, but seeing his expression, she realized he was serious. Therefore, she told him her story. Unaware by her, throughout her story, Nero put up a confused look, and she noticed that, after she finished with it. "Is there something wrong?"

"Actually… may I know your name? I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself. My name is Nero Oscura, Oscura is my family's name. You can call me anything you want."

"I'm Miura Haru. And the same applies to you."

"All right. Haru, are you sure Checkerface chose Vongola Decimo at first, and made you as the secondary choice?" she nodded and he leaned forward. "It's not possible. He's not that careless. Like all arcobaleno, there should be no replacement for the chosen one, especially if it concerned the Void."

"Eh? But…"

"I know all about it, I was Verde's pupil for few months. Checkerface must be lying about Decimo being the vessel. He might have chosen you as the vessel from the start. In this particular case, I'm sure he had his eyes on you for years, and based on his choice, he observed you, and tested you. When you've become a full-fledged vessel, he gave you a last test, your resolve. He might use Decimo as a tool to voice out your resolve."

"Observed me? But…" Haru stilled. She suddenly recalled when she knew an old lady from Kawahira Realtor. She began to understand when it started, and why she had never seen Kawahira before. She also figured out, that he probably disguised as an old lady to observe her.

Nero cleared his throat. "The road of Void arcobaleno is nothing but torture. Illogical sadness, remorse, any kind of negative emotions hit you like tsunami violently crashing against the land. Only one who has a very powerful will could live that life. The Void is the most pitiful creature, and yet the strongest of all. It preys on human and will keep on torturing its vessel until the human loses humanity, but ironically, the Void is you. It's the new you, but considering you just woke up, you still have your humanity that makes your old self stay alive. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She nodded. Nero continued his explanation. "Being the Void, the negative emotions, the unknown sadness will keep torturing your mentality, and there's no stopping, until your humanity vanished. Normal people would rather die than to feel that abuse, much less to endure it forever. I'm saying this not because you're a woman, but this is just a simple explanation of what I learned. Mental pain is much more painful than physical. You're now living a life of torture, but now that you know the detail, do you have any regrets?"

"No," he flinched at her answer. There was no pause, she just straightly replied it. "I believe everything happens for a good reason. My existence as the Void is also the existence of this world. I can't view this matter as though I'm the most to lose, but initially, I decided to take this path, and even if that tortures me, I have no regrets, because if I do, I'll lose my humanity quickly, right?"

"Even though horrible sights will keep haunting you? You've seen the pool of blood, right? One time is enough to make people go insane, but to let that vision hits you forever… it's far worse than death. Knowing that, do you question your choice?"

"No."

Upon hearing her answer, he smiled. "Remarkable," Nero clapped his hands. "Truly what great piece of art you are. You must be like an angel sent by God."

She blushed. "Nero…-san?"

"Ah, forgive me. You're just one unique being. You're special, Haru. You're noble, kind, exquisite, beautiful, and helplessly adorable in your own way. You're an untouched, untainted light, but you're also the divine darkness. If only you were still human, I would fall for you. I ran a test in case you don't believe me."

"Test?"

"I questioned hundreds of human, all with different backgrounds. I asked them about the life of the Void, whether they would accept that burden, and the result… surprising yet predicted in this society of humans. 100% answered 'no'. But you, Miura Haru… with little knowledge of the Void you still accepted the role, and when you now know the detail, even when you know the dark and killing path you've chosen, you never regret anything. You take it as if it's the best thing for everyone. I never met someone like you. Now I know why you're the chosen one."

"Y-You're just being nice. I'm not that special."

"But despite knowing Kawahira lied to you, you don't hate him, right? Because lying or not, you can't blame him, because it was your choice to begin with."

Haru chuckled. "You said that as if you know me well."

"Maybe we did meet somewhere before," he replied with a smile and she just laughed softly. "But you do know you're not allowed to love someone, right?"

The curve on her smile disappeared and she nodded. "I began to understand. As an arcobaleno and Void, maintaining the feeling of love is forbidden. My condition doesn't allow me to love. But in my entire life, I only love one man, and he's the reason why I chose this path. The thing about letting go of this feeling… it hurts. Every time I tried, he drew closer to me... and it became more painful." her smile was a painful smile, Nero started to concern for this girl. "Still, I'll keep on trying. No matter how much it hurts… I…"

Her clenched fists that were rested on her lap got wet with a drop of water from her face. She lifted her face and smiled while wiping the tears. "I'm sorry. It's hard to mingle with these unnatural negative emotions."

Nero stood up, sat beside her, and wiped her tears. "You already force yourself more than you should."

"No… I don't think I'm forcing myself."

"Don't lie. Listen, Haru. You believe everything happened for a better future, you're not afraid to die, you sacrificed your innocence and friendship in exchange of everyone's lives, you lied even if it hurts you, you want to become strong to protect what you hold dear, even though you know it'll only expose you to danger more. You never rely on the Vongola to protect you. You rely on them to make you strong. You don't mingle with the world, you survive for mankind."

"How did you know about me…?"

"I learned how to read people's mind. You've done everything yourself, you work too hard, but still, I'm not in the position to say that. In the end, you have to keep pushing yourself to live as the Void."

She hung her head low. She fell in silence for seconds until that silence disappeared. "But Nero-san, 'survive for mankind' sounds really noble, right? I'm not that noble. Like I said, the reason why I chose this path is Tsuna-san. From the start, I've given away everything I have as Miura Haru and human because I want to protect everything he's protecting. I want to be his undying shield. This is never a part of protecting the world as my own desire. My resolve was created… because of my will to act for him."

Upon hearing her answer, he smiled. "Then, this time he'll act for you. Call him in. Relax, I won't tell anyone about you."

Not a moment after, Tsuna came in and sat beside her. "Now, what do you need me for, Vongola Decimo?"

Tsuna gave off a solemn stare at Nero who was across him. "Why did she have this flame? Why the rock transformed into a sword and Vongola's ring that never existed before?"

"I have no answer for your first question, but the rock was a part of her, and it responded according to her will. It chose a form of the voice of her heart, her deepest wish, and it seems she wished to become a part of Vongola. In other words, that is the solid proof to her resolve. The sword and the ring, both are semblance of her will to become strong and protect the Vongola—or maybe, you."

"Then, I really do have to take her as my guardian, don't I?"

"I recommend you should. I advise you to protect her by keeping her existence as the flame-user as a secret, do not let anyone outside the family knows, and get a bodyguard for her."

"Bodyguard? Why?"

"She's the target of possibly the entire mafia organization. She needs a 24 hour protection; perhaps one of your guardians could do the job?"

"I can't comply with you on that," Tsuna said. "If possible, I would personally be her bodyguard, but as the boss, I can't. But I can't let anyone take the role, either. Besides, she wants to go an undergo training. Aside that, this 24 hour protection, won't it violates her privacy?"

"Your reason is valid, but also invalid. Even if she trains, she still needs a bodyguard. As a woman and a target, she needs a man to protect her. You have to entrust her to at least your guardian."

"Even so, I…"

"I agree," Haru voiced. "I don't want to trouble anyone, but in this case, I have to comply with you, Nero-san."

"What? Haru—"

"Tsuna-san, the flame I have here isn't a matter of joke. While I'm training, I need someone to keep me safe. This is my decision and it's the only way."

"But I should take the burden instead… after what I've done to you…" his voice trailed off.

"Decimo, no matter whose fault it is there's no denying what's needed. I suggest you to take in my words. I normally despise helping humans, but for this case, I'm willing to associate myself with you."

Puzzled, he glanced at Nero and Haru, whose eyes froze on him. Nero gave off a 'this is crucial' stare while Haru gave off a 'believe in my choice' stare. He exhaled deeply and stood up. "Fine. You got your wish. Come on, Haru, we're going back." he grabbed her hand and headed to the front door.

"Haru," they halted and Haru turned around to Nero. "You'll know, how you and Vongola Decimo are alike."

"Eh?"

Out of the blue, her head thumped in excruciating pain. The sight of pool of blood forcedly pierced her brain, creating horrible view of blood, dark sky shaded with red, people in her sight coated with their own blood, the scent of blood, the intensity, the feeling as if it was real. Her eyes widened in horror. She grasped her head and hung her head low. "No… this again…"

"Haru?" as Tsuna's hand touched her shoulder, Haru instantly shifted sideways to look at him, however that bloody sight never left her alone. "Haru, what's wrong? Your face looks—"

"Stay away!" she shoved him away and ran towards the trees. "Ah, Haru!" Tsuna pursued her.

There was no light in the forest to lead him and he couldn't keep up with her speed, it was dark and he couldn't see a thing.

BANG!

He was startled by the loud gunshot. He feared the worst. Without any seconds to waste, he ran to where his ears led him. He ran and ran; her safety was the only thing in his mind. He kept hoping it wasn't what he thought, he wished he was wrong. As he reached a road, the street light flashed on the car below. Mafioso that was going to enter the car shot a gun at him, but Tsuna dodged it a bit too late; it hit his right upper arm.

As the car drove away, Tsuna scurried to the road, and at the moment he saw the dripping blood and a gun, his fear turned into reality. He picked up a gun he recognized with his uninjured hand and widened his eyes in horror seeing Haru's gun tainted with her own blood.

A/N: I've been thinking... I won't update the humanity percentage if it's unnecessary, but I can assure you at every chapter it decreases by 1%. But that also depends on the situation. The numbers could go up to 2% or more, depending on the events and conditions. Haru's humanity level decreases 1% if there's nothing out of the ordinary, but the number could go up and it depends on her situation (whether she feels a tremendous negative emotions, such as that, etc) or at what level of intensity the condition is to be calculated, also to decide the percentage drop I have to look at how distinctive the conditions are, well, that sort of system, but you don't have to think about that. I'll be doing the counting and thinking.

I know doing the math is kind of a problem, but you don't have to. I'll measure the percentage myself, and several chapters after, you'll see another percentage. I'll post it if there's a major drop.