thank you to all follows/favs! really appreciate y'all :)

shamed to say that I am as of now out of chapters to post so I gotta update but I've got no ideas AHHHH

anyway, pls enjoy this lol

Chapter 24: The Eye

"Milady! Milady, this is urgent!"

Groggily, I got up from bed, mind still fuzzy from being half-asleep. "What's with the commotion...?"

"Our base is under attack!"

I immediately jolted awake, slamming my ring into my box animals to summon Misa. "Misa, scout out the enemy immediately." As she flew out, I felt the familiar red flood my vision, signaling that my eyes were in their blood-red trait. I turned to Diana, already with my twin knives at my grip. "Any casualties?"

Diana winced. "The men on patrol have been killed. We have yet to figure out who is behind this but we suspect it's Byakuran-!"

CRASH!

Diana quickly shielded me from the broken glass, as something had been thrown at my window. Upon closer look, the "something" was Misa, who was gravely injured and had a note in her claws. At her injuries, I winced, recalling her back and I quietly read the note.

Diana frowned. "What does it say, Milady? If Misa was that injured, it's without a doubt Byakuran-!"

I crumbled the note in my grip and turned to Diana. "I need you to evacuate everyone in the building."

Diana's frown deepened. "We're all prepared to fight against the Millefiore bastards, Milady! Are you just telling us to retreat?! I know you are our Boss but you are younger and our Boss wouldn't have done that-!"

I narrowed my eyes. "Your boss isn't here, so you're listening to my orders, Diana."

She flinched. "Yes, Boss. I apologize."

I sighed. "We're not prepared to fight against Byakuran right now. The fact remains that we work best when we are the ones attacking, but I'm afraid our defense is below par. The smartest thing to do is to retreat."

Diana's eyebrows furrowed. "I understand. I'll let everyone know immediately, so for now you should retreat first-"

"I'm staying."

"What?!" Diana glared. "I get that you're my superior, but I can't let you stay here and risk your life! I'm your Guardian, I'm supposed to protect you! Just what plan do you have?"

I grinned. "I'm going to beat the shit out of him."

"Boss!"

I smiled. "Thank you for taking care of me, Diana. I'll see you again, I promise." And with that, I summoned Zai, who looked very cross with me. His left red eye stared beadily down at me.

Misa's been injured, incompetent human. What foolish orders did you give her?

"I'm sorry about Misa, Zai. I only summoned you to make sure that no one else meets the same fate as her." I averted my eyes to Diana. "Make sure she and everyone else retreat to a safe place, preferably the Vongola HQ. That's all I ask."

Zai stared at me some more, and then sighed, if a crow can sigh. As you wish. He turned to Diana. You heard the master. You should obey.

Diana looked visibly pained, but she nodded. "I understand. Just... please be safe."

I grinned. "Of course!" I watched them leave, and promptly felt my smile drop. I took a seat at the foot of my bed, trying to calm my racing heartbeat and the anxiety pumping through my veins. When the Sanguigno mansion reached a foreign silence, I released a sigh of relief and turned to the door, noting the presence in the room. "I did what you asked, asshole. What do you want?"

Byakuran sent a playful smile. "Why the hostility, Sanguigno Decimo? Are you that angry that I asked to meet you privately?" He blinked, as if realizing something. "Ah, you can't be mad about those guards I killed, are you? C'mon, I did you a favor! I got rid of those incompetent idiots for you, you should be thanking me-!"

In a flash, I was behind him, my dual knives at his throat. "I'm going to kill you if you don't get to the point here."

He turned his head to meet my gaze, not caring about the blood that dripped from the movement. "It's rude not to make any eye contact, you know. I just wanted to talk to you, but last time you were so mean! You just wouldn't give me the time of day!" He smiled. "I'm glad we're on better terms, Little Sanguigno. Oh, why don't I be more casual with you, since we're friends? How about..." He tilted his head. "Mi-chan!"

My grip tightened around the hilt of my knives. "Get. To. The. Point."

Byakuran shrugged. "Tough crowd." Byakuran made a signal, probably to one of his cronies. "Show her." A man donned in a black suit walked near me and took out a bag, spilling its contents onto the floor.

My eyes widened in horror. It was Zai's unconscious body.

"Now then, why don't we take our time here, Mi-chan? We can either talk civilly, or the casualties won't end with just your animals. Now, we wouldn't have had this problem if you had just agreed to meet us when we first offered, would we? Ah, that's right, you're a different Sanguigno Decimo! A shame we couldn't meet sooner."

"Is this the girl who's supposed to replace me, Master Byakuran? She's supposed to be that weakling's sister or something, isn't she? You can't possibly believe she's going to defeat me! The Great Genkishi!"

A conversation I had with Takeshi was brought to my mind.

While I had visited the Vongola Base for training sessions, I had frequently noticed Takeshi acting strangely. There would be moments where I would catch him lose his bright persona and be lost in thought, a pained expression on his face. Concerned, I decided to talk to him about it.

"Ah, you noticed that, Nee-chan? Guess I wasn't as sneaky as I thought." He gave a smile. "I lost a battle I was confident in winning, you see. I was just angry that I overestimated my capabilities and underestimated my opponent. He was strong. Stronger than me. If Hibari wasn't there, I wouldn't be standing here and it would've been my fault."

"Takeshi..." I sighed, placing a hand onto his head. "I know I haven't talked you one-on-one in a while, but listen to me. It's useless to think about events that have already happened. I get that you're upset at yourself, and I think it's good that you're reflecting, but don't stay stuck thinking about "what could've been." Think about the now, and the future. Now that you've experienced fighting such a tough opponent, what are you going to do? How are you going to ensure the same event doesn't happen again? You understand what I'm saying?"

He blinked. "Yeah. I do." He grinned. "Thanks, Nee-chan!"

I ruffled his hair, grinning back. "Of course. Don't hesitate to talk to me again when something similar happens."

He sighed. "Okay, okay." He pushed away my hand, and blinked. "You know, Nee-chan, I've always been curious about something. I know we've been training together, but you never spar with us! How come? I wanna see how strong you are!"

I smiled. "I can't bring myself to fight you guys, even if it's just friendly sparring. I don't want to hurt you."

He narrowed his eyes, nudging me playfully. "Who's to say you'll be the one hurting me? I could easily defend myself!"

I laughed. "Thought you were reflecting on your overconfidence, Takeshi."

"Ah, right."

"On that note, though, if I ever personally meet the people who hurt you guys, I'll make sure they regret messing with my family."

Clapping. All that was heard after the aftermath of the battle was clapping. And of course it belonged to the bastard Byakuran. He smiled, his eyes bright with pride. "I knew you wouldn't disappoint me, Mi-chan! I'd been meaning to get rid of that idiot, you see. He was another one of the incompetent ones, confident he could prove himself again. I'm so glad you decided to finally take this deal seriously!"

I stared at my dual knives, staring down at the reflection it produced mixed with the red that belonged to the idiot who dared to hurt my little brother. My blood-red vision moved to Byakuran's face, and I glowered at him. "Don't get my intentions wrong, Byakuran. I did not do this for you."

Bluebell yelled at me. "Hey! How dare you call Byaku by his first name, you bitch?! Did he give you permission to do that?! Huh?!"

Zakuro groaned. "Shut up, Bluebell. I don't want to hear your yapping, it's more annoying than Kikyo's nagging."

Bluebell threw her hands up petulantly. "Does it not anger you?! This bitch thinks she's all that!" My gaze moved to her, and she immediately glared back at me. "Finally done ignoring me, huh?!"

I just smiled. "You know, I used to work at a sushi restaurant. I would watch your mouth."

Bluebell's eyes widened, stunned, and Zakuro started howling in laughter. "I like her! Finally, someone who's not boring like the rest of this group! I've been waiting for someone to put Bell in her place ahahaha!"

As Zakuro and Bluebell began arguing, I escaped to the room Byakuran provided for me. Collapsing into my bed, I felt myself want to cry.

"Room? This feels like a prison cell."