Fasten your seatbelts because things are about to get serious!

Thanks for your kind words and let's go!

Maestri

Part V

"What's going on, young Tsunayoshi?" Kawahira asked while ignoring the menu that the server was handing him.

A pair of orange eyes glared at him and the adult smiled at him before he shook slightly his hand. Soft tendrils of purple mist came out of his white fingers and swiftly surrounded them, sending away the poor waiter who was still holding onto the menu.

"Sorry for that mistake," the adult said whilst pushing his round glasses over his nose. "What is going on, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

The child kept glaring at him with his ageless eyes, drilling holes into his interlocutor's benign smile, and he frowned while sighing way too heavily for such a young body.

"During our first meeting," he reminded the man while thrumming lightly his fingers over the table. The boy closed his eyes to avoid meeting the adult's amused eyes. "You taught me many things that no one should ever know. Why?"

"Isn't it obvious, Tsunayoshi?" the man answered back as he looked over the menu that had appeared over their table during their chat. "I already told you…"

The child furrowed his brows and a dark expression that didn't fit at all with his chubby face followed. "Why would you want me to know so much about the Tri-ni-sette?" he muttered to himself while he took one of the restaurant paper napkins just to fiddle with it absentmindedly.

"Who knows," Kawahira shrugged with a knowing smirk. "Maybe this will prove to be of essential use in your future…"

The child briskly moved his hands, tearing up the napkin, and gritted his teeth.

It was so cold.

Tsuna shivered and smothered a scream of pain when he felt his lukewarm blood rush through his folded fingers over his injured torso. He was so cold.

His eyes stayed closed and he focused all of his strength over the only source of heat he could feel, the pacifier he had stolen from Bermuda. His flames were still pouring over the cursed object and the teenager's teeth started chattering. He faintly felt rain pelting over his body.

How could it be? He was sure he'd checked over the weather forecast before they had left for the fight. It was supposed to be a sunny day…

A new shudder ran through his body and the brunet gritted his teeth, feeling the waves of warmth and heat from his determination leave him progressively to light up the stolen pacifier.

His thoughts were becoming muddy and he used his last strengths to focus on his goal. However, the memory of the reunion with his allies and friends the eve of this decisive fight kept coming back to his mind, and he thanked silently his Guardians to have accepted to not intervene in his fight. God, he loved them so much.

Tsuna felt tears run freely over his cheeks and he didn't fight them. He knew what would follow and, even if he didn't regret anything, the teenager couldn't stop crying about the sadness that his friends would feel.

Gunshots echoed faintly in his buzzing ears and he weakly smiled. Xanxus hadn't been able to counter Reborn, he should have expected it.

"Reborn," he whispered softly.

His cracked and bloodied lips opened a bit and he tightened his grip over the pacifier that seemed to burn with an internal fire, shining with a grim bloody red light. The brunet could faintly hear Uni's horrified screams and kept smiling weakly, understanding the sadness that was attacking the young girl who had seen the future.

The memory of a discussion with Kawahira came to his mind and Tsuna slowly relaxed his painful body. He could finally understand why the man had taught him so many things about the Tri-ni-sette. A pang went through his chest and the teenager knew his end was coming.

He calmly opened his eyes and looked over the orange dome and the rain slowly falling over him, easing him worries like a mother's hug did.

"Yamamoto," Tsuna thought as he kept smiling.

He slowly turned his head over, using what was left of his strength, and glanced at the ragtag group that he could proudly call his friends, with his Guardians, the Varia, the Millefiore and the Arcobaleno.

« T-Tenth! You're not alone! We… We are there for you, you know? »

Gokudera's familiar voice echoed in his mind and Tsuna tiredly glanced at the teenager, feeling his heart clench when he noticed his Storm Guardian's horrified and desperate face. However, the silver haired boy hadn't moved, obeying till the end his best friend's orders.

"I…" Tsuna said slowly as he fought against the tiredness that was surrounding him. He closed his eyes just as slowly. "Was ne… ver a… lone… thank… you."

Soft steps could be heard through the rain and the teenager kept breathing, all his attention focused on the pacifier he was still tightly holding against his tiring heart.

"Reborn," he sighed in a soft whisper.

How much time had gone? Was he still in his adult body? Or was he in his cursed baby form? Tsuna remembered the dark face with onyx eyes he had loved so much and kept loving till his last breath.

"Reborn…"

"Enough," the adult cut him harshly with a slight frown.

The teenager opened slowly his eyes and looked over his tutor's face with a soft smile.

"Enough," the hitman repeated with a voice on the verge of breaking. "You have done enough, Tsuna…"

The boy tried to rise his chest, he needed to tell him everything, explain to Reborn his true feelings before the ritual was finished. Before it was too late.

"Reborn," Tsuna whispered with an empty laugh at his future demise. "I did it again…"

"Enough," Reborn repeated with his face as blank as ever, even if his shaking voice was enough to show how distressed he felt. "Get some rest, you deserve it…"

Tsuna wanted to protest, he needed to tell him everything. However, a nasty cough ripped through his chest and he shrivelled into a ball, pouring his last flames in the pacifier while his flowing blood covered it as well.

The horrified screams and sobs that had been ringing in the clearing vanished and the only thing the teenager could hear was Reborn's shaky breath as well as the buzzing that the cursed object in his hands made.

"Reborn," Tsuna pushed himself to say as a fulgurating pain went through his torso. "I have alw…"

"I have always loved you…"

The last Sky flame left his body and Tsuna felt his life do the same.

"Reborn."

The pressure made on the pacifier vanished as the bloodied hands slowly relaxed their grasp.
The cursed object fell into the red grass with a soft sound.

Uni fell over the drenched grass and started sobbing heavily. The others staying quiet while the Guardians of the dead Vongola Decimo went into shock.

"Tenth," Gokudera whispered with a slow blink.

However, before the teenagers could even scream against the death of their friend, a surprised sound stopped them. It came from the Arcobaleno and they all turned towards them to discover their true appearance.

"How is that even possible, kora?!" Colonnello screamed as he ran a hand over his face.

Nobody answered him, no one finding words to explain the surprising transformation of the cursed babies.

"Tsunayoshi-kun's plan worked," Byakuran stated calmly as he stared at the now adult former babies.

The latter kept watching each other with shock, they couldn't believe that their curse had been broken with the young Sawada's death.

"Ara," an unknown male voice sighed heavily. "Tsunayoshi truly outdid himself this time…"

Uni quickly turned around towards the stranger and widened her sky blue eyes in surprise when she recognize the latter.

"You," she whispered. "Kawahira…"

"Ah," the man seemed surprised to be recognized and gave her a gentle smile. "The young Uni… You are truly dazzling without the curse."

Then he shrugged and walked towards the centre of the clearing, where Sawada Tsunayoshi's body had been laying along with Reborn's silent vigil. He stopped in front of the couple and nodded to himself, his dark eyes looking with a cold and analysing gaze the bloodied teen and the man's lifeless eyes.

"Well, well, well," Kawahira commented as he ran a hand through his white hair. "Tsunayoshi truly knows no restraint…"

"Who are you," Reborn growled threateningly as his hand skimming over the handle of his revolver.

He wouldn't let anyone disturb his student's sleep.

"Come on," the other man sighed as he waved lightly his right hand. "We don't have time to waste on this kind of trivia. Tsunayoshi has outdone himself…"

The Sun Arcobaleno, now freed from his curse as well as his childish body, furrowed his brows and tightened his grip on his favourite weapon while the man that had helped them in another future was surrounded by a heavy indigo mist that changed his face and clothes into Checker Face's, the man with an iron hat.

"You!" Reborn thundered with hate.

Kawahira ignored him and snapped his fingers, making iron ropes surround and trap the hitman wearing a fedora.

"Now," the illusionist muttered to himself as he pushed his mask over his nose. "Let's get down to business. Okay, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Only silence answered him and Kawahira nodded with an amused smile.

"You were never much of a talker," he commented as he went over his jacket pocket to fetch seven tiny pacifiers that were still uncoloured. "But I guess that's what makes your charm…"

He leaned over the brunet's dead body and fetched Bermuda's pacifier which had been on the reddened grass. Kawahira straightened his back with a soft admiring whisper and observed the pacifier under the flaming dome's light. The pacifier, which had been uncoloured before, was now strongly shining with a fiery orange colour.

"Ara," the masked man exclaimed with a satisfied smirk. "Tsunayoshi will never stop surprising me…"

The man shrugged and glanced briefly at the hitman fighting against his restrains.

"Anyway," Kawahira sighed as he put down Bermuda's pacifier over the drenched and muddy ground. He then carefully put the seven empty pacifiers around it. "I didn't expect any less from my disciplie…"

"Don't touch him!" Reborn threatened as he fought even harder when he saw Checker Face caress the teenager's face and softly push back some brown strands that had been glued with the cooling blood over the dead's forehead. "You won't get him this time!"

Kawahira merely kept smiling and a torrent of flames surrounded him just as Reborn finally got free from his ropes.

"TSUNA!" the former Sun Arcobaleno screamed as he fought the intense heat and fire circling around the teenager and the protector of the Tri-ni-sette.

Only one chapter left and I shall post it tomorrow, hell yeah, we are going to end this story right.