Fourteen

Stefan pointed the gun at Tsuna aimed exactly at his heart. Tsuna met his eyes. They were eyes full of anger and hatred so intense – the emotions paralyzed him.

He will kill him. No doubt about that.

He saw Luca ran towards Stefan.

Stefan pulled the trigger.

He heard Vitteli scream.

Tsuna fell down.

It was so sudden. He just dropped. It wasn't at all dramatic. He thought it would be but he guessed his death wasn't for the drama. After all, he hadn't had the time to think about it.

The bullet that hit him was real. The gun was real.

It wasn't like the bullet Reborn used to shoot his head using Leon as the medium. No dying-will flame. No power-ups.

Just blood.

Lying on the cold wooden floor, he looked at the sky. Sadness overcame him. The heavens—the whole of it - were blocked by thick clouds of black smoke. It was a bad omen, he realized.

A very bad omen.

He was expecting his life to flash before him. That's what happens when someone is dying, right? But nothing came. He was expecting regret, but he can't really think of anything to feel that way. Instead, he saw Gokudera - his face crunched up with worry and confusion.

Tsuna blinked twice.

″Shit! Shit! Shit! Jyuudaime, it's alright. Just calm down.″ He said. Gokudera said it more to himself than to him though.

Yamamoto stripped a piece of cloth from his shirt and carefully pressed it on Tsuna′s chest.

″We need him to get to the hospital now!″ Yamamoto said to Gokudera, his voice with worry and urgency.

That's when Tsuna realized that he was still alive. Barely alive, that is. Although Stefan missed, it wasn't at all comforting. He looked at the part where Yamamoto is putting pressure, just inches away from his heart. He saw blood - a lot of blood. It's still bleeding, he can feel it.

And then an unimaginable pain shot through him. Tsuna groaned. His breathing started to get uneven. He started to get cold.

Yes, he didn't die, but he is dying.

He stared upward. He saw the thick clouds of black smoke again.

…

″Tsuna, how are you feeling? ″ Yamamoto asked nervously.

″I feel… cold…″ Tsuna said.

Yamamoto doesn't need to be a medical expert to see that the bullet wound just inches above Tsuna′s heart is really bad. The bleeding just keeps getting worse. Damn it. If Luca didn't ran toward the man named Stefan and pushed him, Tsuna would have been dead by now. But even if the loss his footing, it was still close. Stefan didn't have second thoughts when he pulled the trigger.

He hadn't seen any of this coming.

″Shit! No signal! I can′t contact for help!″ Gokudera yelled hysterically, throwing his phone aside. "Jyuudaime, you need to calm down, ok.″

″I think you're the one who needs to calm down.″ Tsuna answered him.

″How can I? You're feeling cold right? I think that's a bad sign!″ Gokudera said, his voice was in panic.

″You're not good with comforting the patient.″ Tsuna commented. ″But yeah… I'm starting to get drowsy too.″

″JYUUDAIME, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, YOU MUST STAY AWAKE! ″ Gokudera yelled.

″I figured I should.″ Tsuna tried to smile but can't. He can feel blood rising in his throat.

Gokudera looked at Tsuna′s wound but averted his eyes as soon as he saw the blood. He felt worthless. He can't do anything to protect his Boss. As much as he wants to take his place, he can't change the fact that he let the Vongola Decimo be shot in his presence. Now, Tsuna is dying! How useless could he get?

"Shit…" He muttered helplessly.

…

″Aww! I missed!″ Stefan said nonchalantly.

″What have you done!″ Luca screamed at him angrily.

″Do I really need to answer that?″

He reloaded his gun. Luca grabbed it.

″Stop it!″

″Look here, when did I actually ever listen to you, Sotto Capo?″ Stefan said mockingly and then grabbed his gun back.

″The Sotto Capo said to stop. Are you disobeying her order? ″ Vitteli said grabbing Stefan's wrist.

″Ah, Princess, this is the first time that you actually touched me, you know.″ Stefan said smiling sweetly. ″But pests are pests and they need to be exterminated… so …″

Stefan removed Vitteli′s hand. ″If I may continue where I left off…″

He pointed the gun towards Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto and fired two shots. He moved so fast that Vitteli and Luca weren't able to stop him.

The bullets didn't reach the party.

″VOIII! Still a dick aren't you, Stefan! ″ A long silver-haired man appeared holding a sword. The bullets fell to the floor, split in half.

Stefan broke to a smile.

″Nice to see you too Superbi Squalo, still loud I see.″

Behind Squalo were a group of men in black. Stefan smiled at them.

″Ah, the Varia in the nick of time…″ Stefan said.

…

Tsuna was very well aware of what's happening - Yamamoto′s hands still pressed at his wound, Gokudera panicking at his side. And aside from the obvious that he is dying, he saw the Varia headed by Xanxus. He saw Reborn and his father with two other men he didn't recognize.

″You look awful Tsuna, I didn't teach you to be in this kind of state.″ Reborn said to him.

Tsuna smiled at Reborn weakly.

″Yeah, and that's fucking careless of you. You are the Vongola Decimo for Pete's sake!″ Xanxus said.

″Ehehe, thank you for the concern, Xanxus.″ Tsuna said.

Yeah, he is the Vongola Decimo. Unfortunately, the 10th generation boss of the Vongola is in another pathetic state. He could have dodged the bullet if he only had the presence of mind at that time.

If he wasn't confused at that time.

If he wasn't scared at that time.

If he wasn't hurting at that time.

Well, he wasn't, so he′d take this hell of a consequence.

But more than anything, he is more worried for her than him right now.

″Hang in there, son. Sorry were late.″ His father said, his voice cracked as if he is about to cry.

The two unknown men took Tsuna by arm and he suddenly blacked out. To think he tried so hard to keep awake.

…

She never wanted any of this to happen. Although she had seen so many deaths, what's happening isn't her thing.

What′s happening …

It's a massacre!

Vitteli looked at the burning school. Ah, the first school she had ever attended, from where the memories she could never have imagined happened, is burning to ashes right before her eyes.

She heard the screams and cries and anguish of people – innocent people, her schoolmates.

She looked at Stefan, smiling and enjoying everything. The bastard!

And then Stefan shot Tsunayoshi. Vitteli screamed.

She never screamed before. It was another kind of fear that made her do it. It was the same fear she felt when she thought her brother isn't coming back from an assignment. The same fear when Luca isn't by her side.

And it gave her the courage to stand up against Stefan. To the extent of touching him, no matter how repulsive he is.

He just shot Tsunayoshi Sawada!

Oh god.

She looked at him lying on the stage she made. It was ironic, really.

And then the Varia appeared with the former Vongola Advisor Iemitsu Sawada and Reborn. Two men took Tsunayoshi for immediate medication. Gokudera and Yamamoto followed them.

She felt relief.

″So, I guess this is the part where we will disappear, right?″ Stefan said, sarcastically.

″This is the part where we will have a nice and intense chat.″ Xanxus, the Varia leader, said. His face is stern and the burnt scars that cross his face were striking.

The Varia took their attacking position. And then suddenly, there was a strong pressure. It was pushing all of them downward, like a strong gravity.

Only the strongest shall stand.

All of them remained standing.

Vitteli was sure the Varia doesn't have anything to do with this.

It stopped. Vitteli looked behind her and was greeted by faces very familiar to her.

The Sopranos: Michele, Nicholas and Poppy. The group includes Stefan.

The Sottanos: Andreas, Enrico, Damian and Tod.

″Hey, hey, hey! Starting a party without us? ″ Enrico said. He has guns in both hands. He is the one who liked guns. He specializes in every type of firearms.

″And clearly, our side brought more guests.″ Michele said. Michele is the bomb-expert. His love for explosives bordered obsessiveness.

The atmosphere as heavy as it was already became heavier. The Corleone′s Caporegime meeting the Vongola′s Varia doesn't exactly bode well for both parties. In fact, this is one of the meetings that should never happen.

The police siren echoed.

″Oooppssieee!" Tod, the youngest of them, said. He was just 13 years old.

″As much as we wanted to get to know all of you, I'm afraid we have to go.″ Andreas said. He is the Sottanos′ leader.

″As a parting gift I would like to give this to you.″ Michele said. And then he threw a small rectangular case.

It touched the ground…

Then explodes with a deafening sound and created a blinding white light.

…

Tsuna woke up. His chest wasn't that painful anymore. He saw the two people he doesn't recognize who both came with the Varia, his father and Reborn. The tallest of them spoke, lifting his hands in globes – the kind of globes doctors used when performing an operation.

″You're lucky kid. The bullet didn't went too deep.″ He said.

The other one corrected him. ″Mind your tone Matt, he is the Vongola Decimo.″ His hands were also wearing globes.

″Who are you? Where am I?″ Tsuna asked deliriously, trying to stand.

″Easy Boss, we are the best doctors in town.″ The tall one stopped him grinning wildly.

Tsuna′s chest was already cleanly bandaged – it looked as if the bullet wound isn't that bad. He felt as if it wasn't bad at all – not life-threatening as it was before. But he knew better. He was outside the school. He saw the thick cloud of black smoke coming from the school building. A lot of people were running. A number of police were controlling the crowd. Everyone around him is panicking, crying, shouting.

″Oh, no!″ He said, devastatingly.

″Jyuudaime!″ Gokudera wailed. ″I'm so glad you're alive!″

″The moment they got you out safely, they started operating on you.″ Yamamoto explained.

He looked ahead. The sight was very disheartening. He wanted to cry. The school is still burning. Ashes by ashes it's crumbling down.

He heard the firemen disclosed the fire to alpha – the highest alert level. The firemen together with the policemen were having a hard time extinguishing it. The police nearby announced that another body was found. A coroner announced that it was the 23rd.

The possibility of that body to be someone he knew was very high that he dared not to think about it. It was totally awful.

Just the death alone…

Tsuna shuddered. He felt his heart breaking. He looked at his hands. They were trembling.

He couldn't shake the feeling of guilt out of him. He couldn't help blaming himself for being so weak! He is the Vongola Decimo, for crying out loud. He has the power to do something, at lease. He should have done something about this. But he didn't.

All he did was to get shot.

And then the anger washes over him. The people who did this don't even deserve to live. These people are monstrous.

Evil.

The Mafia Family of Corleone.

A/N: Bacon Powder: hi really like your fanfic but one thing I'm confused about is shouldn't the Arcobaleno curse be lifted already?

- hi there, thank you. Uhm, this story was set after the Inheritance Arc and before the Arcobaleno Arc, so the puzzle of the babies were still a mystery:) I conceptualized this long LONG ago, haha -