A/N: Honestly I would probably want to join Varia rather than Vongola. They seem to be such a tight yet funny bunch. Kinda like my friends and me really, except we aren't assassins... We would make pretty good CIA agents though. lol.

Tsuna watched, mouth agape as Satsuki's body fell to the floor with a barely audible sound. A prickling sensation surged through his body. He could see Satsuki's face, her eyes closed as if she was in a very peaceful deep sleep. The barrier broke, and Rovin kicked Satsuki's body away from him, towards the Vongola tenth who ran and caught her with ease. "Satsuki!"

Tsuna touched her face, hoping to get a reaction from her. "Satsu…ki…?" His hands were covered with his gloves but his fingertips brushed her skin. Even under the gloves, she was still warm but he couldn't feel nor see the familiar rise and fall of her chest. His throat clogged up, he couldn't say a word and his chest felt so tight, he thought he was having a heart attack. He brushed his hand once again over Satsuki's cheek, a droplet from his eyes slid down the side of her cheek, followed by several others. His eyes lingered on her throat, the scar was there with a fresh red imprint of where Rovin had been strangling her. Tsuna shivered. He wasn't cold, nor was he afraid. He was incredibly enraged, his hands trembling as he closed them into tight fists.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Tsuna-kun."

A strangled sob escaped his throat, he pulled his gloves off of his hands and gathered her in his arms gingerly, as if she were to break further it handled roughly.

I couldn't… protect her.

He heaved a heavy sigh, as if trying to will away the pain in his chest. Denial started settling in, "Satsuki… It's okay now."

You can wake up.

"Urghh.. aghhhck!" Tsuna picked his head up at the sound of Rovin's gurgling voice, he was doubled over in pain. Instead of a green flame, a menacing black burst from his hands. "What is this?" His voice became distorted, similar to a tape that had been played in reverse. Rovin could hear something shattering, he picked up his cracked and disintegrating hands, slowly falling into ashes like crushed porcelain. "What?!" His legs started to crumble beneath him, the power he thought he had turning him into his own destruction.

Tsuna watched without any apparent emotion in his face as the mad man screamed in horror. Bit by bit he fell to ashes, nothing was left now except his torso and head. The screams subsided and not long after, the once powerful illusionist was now a heap of ash on the ground, getting whipped away by the wind.

Tsuna couldn't feel anything close to remorse, he turned his gaze back to Satsuki who lay still and peaceful in his arms. Then, there was a sudden shift in time, as if for a second, Tsuna could feel time slowing and the next thing he knew, Satsuki wasn't in his arms anymore.

"Sorry Sawada." Mammon started, waiting till the tenth had looked up and regained some of his composure. "We had to include you in the illusion." Mammon stated, looking exhausted on Fran's shoulder. For a minute Tsuna was confused, he could still feel his heart wrenching at every breath. Fran clapped his hand, "Mm! It's done! Mukuro-sama will be most pleased with my work." A few steps away from them, the body of Rovin laid unmoving. His eyes were open and glazed over by a purple haze. He wasn't breathing.

"He got stuck in our illusion, we had to pull you and everyone else into the illusion too, it's more realistic. He thinks he's dead, so he's as good as dead. Nothing you saw was real." Then Mammon noted the confusion on Vongola tenth's face. "Ten years of battle, shouldn't you be used to this by now?" Mammon said and jumped off of Fran's shoulder, muttering something about how he should get paid to do these things. Tsuna shook his head to clear his mind of what happened. It was an illusion, but it seemed as real to him as it was now. He even had tear stains on his cheeks.

"Mammon, Fran… you're sure this is reality, right?" Tsuna furrowed his brows towards the two illusionists. Sometimes their tricks drove him crazy, if this moment right now wasn't reality, Tsuna thought his head would burst. Illusion after illusion was too much. Mammon grunted, "Ask Fran to check… Unless you're paying me."

Fran took out a puppet and squeaked out "I can assure you that this is reality, no illusion or illusionist can mimic Mammon's love for money…" Tsuna was still uneasy, but the moment Mammon and Fran started to bicker, followed by Squalo's loud awakening and the Varia starting to come alive with their usual noises, Tsuna somehow knew that this was—although causing him a headache—reality.

"Xanxus…" Tsuna started and for the first time today, allowed his shoulders to slump and relax. "You can… take care of the body." Xanxus usually disregarded the tenth's orders but this time, he smirked. "Hmph… Bester needs a meal anyway."

Tsuna's heart skipped when he realized that he had missed something, he swerved around, looking for Satsuki in the small group around him. She was sitting on the marble floor, leaned against a broken pillar, her eyes closed. "Relax, she's just sleeping. We made it that way." Mammon addressed the poor boss' concern before he had time to go through another heart attack. Tsuna sighed and walked over to her sleeping form, kneeling beside her and checking if she was alright. Indeed she was breathing, although seemingly in a very peaceful sleep. He had finally calmed down after confirming that she was safe. Carefully, he picked her up in his arms and adjusted her comfortably.

A few meters away from him Mammon and the rest of the Varia watched them with lingering eyes. "Oi, pay up. I said 100 bucks." Levi crossed his arms over his chest at Mammon's request. "You said 100 bucks if they made out, I don't see it." Mammon looked back at the Vongola tenth, not believing that the kid had it in him to even kiss the girl. "No, I said 100 bucks if they get together." The small illusionist bluffed. Gokudera merely glared at their bickering, listening as the prices seemed to escalate while their confidence in the tenth's romantic abilities decreased.

Belphegor piped up, "I still stick to my bet, ushishi..."

"…$150 it'll take Sawada a year."