Who is ready to suffer through my bad prose?
Anyway, here's The end.

Il Maestro

Second Arc

VII

Tsuna was promptly moved into a proper room in Verde's dilapidated house and the green haired scientist immediately began to work on his case. He took as much blood he could with Reborn watching over his shoulder, scanned pretty much every inch of Tsuna's pale body and did so many other things that the dark-haired hitman learned as well while he kept a silent vigil over his lover's bed.

Tsuna hadn't been one of the best hitmen in the Vongola family for nothing and Reborn knew that many people would try to come and kill him whilst he was weakened by his sickness. And then, there was also Verde's innate talent to just enrage all kind of bad people with a mere comment.
In short, Reborn spent a big part of his time chasing away and burying every hitman sent to kill one of them.

However, even if the greatest scientist of this time was working over Tsuna's case and doing so with so much fervour that Reborn knew Verde wouldn't stop until he found a solution, Tsuna's condition didn't change. It kept getting worse and the best hitman of his generation could only watch his lover slowly fade away until he was but a mere shadow of the strong man he'd always loved.

"This isn't working," Verde told him one day after pulling an all-nighter. The scientist threw his keyboard on the floor and glared at the broken pieces with his tired eyes. "If only I had more data… Or if I could just dissect him…"

Reborn kept quiet but silently promised himself to kill the scientist once everything was over. Once Tsuna got better and could smile at him while they buried the green haired fool.

"Anyway," the future dead body muttered while scratching his unshaven chin. "He wants to speak with you."

The dark-haired hitman promptly stood and walked to the bedroom where the man who had changed his life for the better waited for him.

"Reborn," the latter whispered weakly when the door creaked open.

Reborn silently walked over the bed and sat next to his lover, making sure he didn't disturb him nor move any of the perfusions covering his fragile body.

"Tomorrow," Tsuna sighed softly as he tried to move his hand so he could Reborn's hand. "It's going to be your birthday."

The younger man nodded and observed Tsuna's pale face who had become his focus point.

"I want to go out," the brunet added while he closed his slowly dulling eyes. "I want to spend a day laughing with you and spend the night in bed with you."

Reborn watched over his lover and kept silent. His throat had become too tight, like a vicelike grip had taken him and wouldn't let him breathe.

"Could you do me one last favour? Just one," Tsuna whispered with a voice so weak, it broke Reborn's heart. "Let's celebrate your birthday like you deserve, like we always did…"

"You are sick," Reborn reminded him with a choked voice. He furrowed his brows when he noticed how much his words had come out shaking and shook his head. "Get some rest. Once you get better, we will celebrate it and everything else."

"Reborn," Tsuna said as he opened his eyes and gazed openly into his lover's misty eyes. "Have you heard of a dying will?"

The dark-haired hitman frowned and shook his head.

"Just the basics, like everyone else," he answered honestly.

"Did you know that you can do anything if you use your dying will?" Tsuna asked him in a whisper. His eyes were closed again, and his tense face seemed to vanish amongst the white pillows.

Reborn immediately missed the amber eyes. When Tsuna had his eyes closed, he looked horribly like a doll. A doll whose strings had been ripped off and who was now irreparably broken.

"Once," the brunet added in an absent voice. "My tutor taught me this. When you use the dying will, you must really be ready to die to realize your will. You should have seen him…"

"What did he do?" Reborn asked in a whisper.

Tsuna merely laughed weakly and shook his head. Then, he tried to straighten his back and sit down on the bed, ignoring his former student's complaints about his condition, and slowly took out the perfusions hindering his moves.

"Today," he said while meeting Reborn's eyes full of increasing panic. "I will give you your last lesson. So, listen well, Reborn."

The latter felt a shiver run over his back and understood.

Tsuna had accepted what was about to happen and had prepared himself for this atrociously slow death. And now, he stood proudly in front of it and was ready to welcome it with open arms and a fearless mind.

"Once upon a time," Tsuna started.

"Are you going to tell a fairy-tale story?" Reborn interrupted him with a raised brow.

"Rule number two," Tsuna retorted with a wry smile. "When I speak…"

"I shut up," his former student grumbled.

"That's right," the brunet nodded with a weak laugh. "Once upon a time, there was a young boy living a normal life. He was convinced he was a totally useless boy because everything he did ended badly. However, one day, a man came into the little town that young boy lived in, and promptly took him under his wing. He taught him many tricks to get better and as the young boy started to become a responsible adult, he met many people and realized he'd merely lived his life in the darkness. Thus, the young boy who had grown up and become a great adult turned to his tutor and thanked him from the bottom of his heart. The tutor merely smiled at him and thanked the young boy for being his apprentice. Then, he gave to the young boy a piece of his heart and went away to finish a mission.
Because, while the young boy had become a great adult, he'd also become the leader of other great adults and as such, also gave missions to them. However, that mission which had been easy was actually a trap and the tutor died because he didn't have his full heart with him."

"What did the young boy do," Reborn asked as he tried his best to keep a blank voice. However, his hands were clenched tight over the dark cotton of his trousers and he resolutely kept his head down so his mentor couldn't see his face.

"He started a war with those who had trapped his tutor. However, the young boy, in all his pain and rage, had made the wrong choices and lost the war. But, one day, the young boy was contacted by a magician who taught him some magic tricks to realize a wish. Only one."

"What did he wish?"

"The young boy wished for only one thing, to erase all his mistakes. However, the magician's magic was cunning, like its master. And the young boy ended up cursed, his life about to end while the magic worked to delete everything, even his existence to erase his errors. The young boy ended with a cursed body in a world where nobody knew him and where he knew nobody. The end."

"Where did you heard of this fairy-tale?" Reborn whispered while he kept looking at his hands clenching his trousers.

"Who said it was a fairy-tale?" Tsuna retorted softly with a weak smile. "And even if it was one, what would be the moral of it?"

"The young boy shouldn't have attacked those people. He should have waited for the best moment to strike and take them down," the dark-haired man answered calmly as he raised his eyes to look at his lover.

The brunet nodded slowly, even if his eyes darkened and he pursed his lips.

"Then, can you tell me why the tutor gave a piece of his heart to the young boy?"

Reborn furrowed his brows and shook his head.

"I don't know," he admitted.

"You aren't the only one," Tsuna whispered tiredly. "I thought that you, out of anyone else here, could answer this…"

A strange glint went over his eyes and he straightened to get out of his bed. However, Reborn stopped him and forced him to stay put in his bed. Tsuna ended giving up and moved his hand to point at the leather satchel laying innocently in a corner of the bedroom.

"Isn't that the bag you…" Reborn commented as he took one of the handles of the satchel and brought it over Tsuna's lap.

"Exactly," the latter approved with an amused smile. He opened the bag and took out a revolver. The silver shine surprised Reborn when he recognized the engraving over the cross.

"One day before his death, my tutor gave me this," Tsuna explained in a whisper as he glanced down at the weapon on his lap. "It is now time for me to give you this."

Reborn accepted silently the revolver and, still keeping quiet, carefully replaced the gun in his shoulder holster by the silver revolver. Then, finally fully realizing what Tsuna had meant by that gift, he fell to his knees and pressed his head against Tsuna's shaky hands.

"Tsuna," Reborn whispered with a choked voice. "You can't die…"

"Reborn," Tsuna murmured softly while he caressed his dark hair and thought over how important his former tutor had been in his life. "What do you think of making a promise?"

The hitman raised slightly his head and met Tsuna's decided eyes. He felt his heart miss a beat and nodded weakly.

"I promise you this," Tsuna added while lovingly holding his lover's face. "When I die, if you keep living… if you live, I'll come back and find you. Of course, there will be differences, I might not even remember you, you might even be very surprised… but it will be me. So don't hesitate a second, Reborn. I trust you. You will know what to do."

The door opened behind them but Reborn didn't turn around. He could feel that his tutor had more to tell him.

"I know that what will follow won't go well with you," Tsuna added quickly while he used his last strengths to make sure Reborn kept looking at him. "But I beg you, please Reborn, don't interfere."

A gloved hand landed sternly over the dark-haired hitman's shoulder and he turned quickly around to glare daggers at the man wearing an iron hat and a checker mask.

"How did you like this little holiday in hell?" the newcomer asked while ignoring Reborn as if he was a gnat.

"It wasn't hell, if you'd like to know," Tsuna hissed with a threatening look at the masked man.

"The time has come, Tsunayoshi," the stranger announced with a bright smile.

"I've already given my dying will," the brunet nodded sombrely. "However… let me give my goodbyes."

The man, Checker Face Reborn decided to name him, nodded and took a step back before he fused with the shadows of the brightly lit room. However, the dark-haired man didn't care about his sudden disappearance and focused more on his lover's weak grip over his hands.

"Reborn," Tsuna whispered with one last desperate kiss to his lover. "The promise. Will you keep it?"

The younger man merely poured his soul into their kiss and, feeling the time running away from them, tried to convey all his love, affection and feelings in it.
However, it had to end and Reborn looked with an increasing heartache how his former tutor, the love of his life and the man who had changed him for the best, slowly and shakily got out of bed and took a step towards Checker Face's stretched hand.

And just like that, Tsuna, the man who had suddenly irrupted in his life, brought him out of his small-minded village and taught him so many incredible things, vanished from his life.

Reborn gripped harshly the silver revolver, the last proof of his lover's existence, and finally let the tears run freely over his face.

So, That's it. End of the line. In two hours, I'll post the epilogue of the Second Arc. And... Something else?

By the way, I wrote all of this while listening to The Greatest Showman soundtrack. Who is ready for an R27 Au of that movie?