A Piano's Requiem

Ch 02 – Having No Trust for the Other

Tsuna placed his hands to his head, trying to knock some sense into him. Gokudera had disappeared, and he's no longer here, and the school was destroyed… It was all very real.

If so, then why is he still here? Shouldn't all of Namimori be complete ashes? Why was his house the only thing standing, supposedly? If nothing seemed to be alive at that time in the school… then why… why were the inhabitants of this house perfectly fine, not caring about what's going on outside? Why are Haru and Kyoko chattering so casually about. Why was Ipin playing so happily? Why was Bianchi so nonchalant about her cooking? Why was his mother still smiling with a cup of coffee in her hands?

"Speaking of which," Yamamoto muttered. "I woke up in the living room, you know."

"The living room?" Tsuna looked up at his Rain Guardian, who nodded.

"Yup," he gave a small smile before glaring out the window. "Bianchi was there, and she was trying to give me something to eat. I escaped that, though."

"G-good…" Tsuna sighed. The worst that could happen was the only person he could trust keeling over unconscious at a time like this.

"But, your mom came in to see me," Yamamoto said. "And she helped me to the kitchen with Bianchi. It was so weird when they touched my hands."

"Weird?" Tsuna blinked. Was that the same feeling that he felt when Kyoko and Haru helped him down the stairs?

"Yeah…" Yamamoto drifted. "Dunno, but something really weird is going on, and I guess we shouldn't be too cozy while we're here."

"Yamamoto," Tsuna held out his hand. "Can I feel your hand?"

"Uh, sure," the baseball fanatic nodded, and he grasped his boss's hand tightly. Tsuna blinked at it as he felt the surge of warmth emanating from his hands. It might have been a bit too warm, but Yamamoto did seem a little tired as if he had run a marathon, so that was explanatory.

"You're normal," Tsuna let go of his hand, and then went back to facing the wall with his back against the bath. "It seems that you're not cold like everyone else."

"Yeah," Yamamoto agreed, but then something made the hairs on his back stiffen. Tsuna felt a sharp spike in a feeling of adversity behind the bathroom doors, and the two of them slowly clambered to the said doors. Yamamoto slowly gripped the hilt of his sword, while Tsuna slipped on his pair of mittens, a dual dose of Hyper Dying Will Pills ready for consumption.

"Ready?" Tsuna whispered, and he heard a small grunt from Yamamoto, whose hand hovered on the doorknob. As soon as he turned it, the two of them charged forth, ready to face whatever was coming at them.

"T-Tsuna? Y-Yamamoto?"

The two of them stopped moving. Yamamoto's sword reverted back to its bamboo form, and Tsuna was almost placing the pills in his mouth. The boys craned their heads to the side to see a shocked Haru and Ipin. They then smiled at them, laughing at their playful antics.

"You were taking a while, so we came to check."

"Oh, really?" Yamamoto laughed, and returned his sword to his bag, while Tsuna shoved his gloves and pills into his pockets. The baseball fanatic then slung an arm around his boss.

"Sorry we took so long," Yamamoto pulled together an excuse. "We were just role-playing again!"

"Ah, really?" Haru was excited. "You should have called me over, so I could have given you costumes to cosplay in!"

"R-right…" Tsuna laughed nervously. "Let's go back to the kitchen…"

Haru and Ipin turned on their heels and went ahead, while Yamamoto and Tsuna walked slowly behind them. The two boys exchanged worried glances, just hoping that if they stay here long enough without that evil intent coming back again, they'd be fine.

Both of their minds were still mulling over everything that happened during lunch. They wouldn't forget the numerous bodies lying all over the floor, and they wouldn't forget that their best friend was somehow… missing. Where was Gokudera? Why did he disappear like that? Questions just kept pressing on in their heads as they sat back in their chairs quietly. Haru and Ipin sat next to Kyoko again, and the chattering resumed once more. Tsuna was glad that they were ignoring him for the most part. He really didn't want to talk about anything at the moment, not even to Yamamoto.

"Tsuna?"

The boy looked up blearily at Kyoko. He hated how he was acting towards her, but it was only common for him… she was acting so weird lately, he couldn't help but scorn her change.

"Yes?" he asked cautiously.

"Haru and I were thinking of going to the movies on Saturday," she giggled. "We wanted to ask if you wanted to come with us, and bring Yamamoto too. Oh, and don't forget Gokudera."

As the last words escaped from her mouth, Tsuna grimaced, his mouth twitching. It was difficult, trying to listen to them talk about it.

"S-sure…" Tsuna smiled. "I-I'll tell Gokudera… J-just…"

"Hm?" Kyoko gave him a strange look.

"Let's not mention Gokudera for now," Tsuna tried to keep his façade. "I-I'm a bit tired…"

Yamamoto glanced at the boy in concern, wondering if something really was bothering him. Tsuna said nothing as he returned to staring at the now cooled soup, which probably wouldn't taste so good, now that it was no longer warm.

"Oh….?" Haru began to giggle in a manner that really wasn't like herself. "Tsuna doesn't want to talk about Gokudera?"

"Oh, right, Gokudera," Kyoko followed with a strange laugh. "Gokudera… Hm… Wonder where he is now, that Gokudera…?"

"Ah, yes," Tsuna's mom joined in. "Gokudera should be at home, I guess…"

"Hm…" Bianchi spoke. "Hayato hasn't been around lately…"

"Gokudera…."

"Hayato…"

"Gokudera…"

"Gokudera… Gokudera…"

Tsuna gripped the spoon he was holding onto, trying not to listen as everyone began repeating his right hand man's name over and over again. This wasn't like them. If he asked them to stop doing something, they'd stop, but now they were seemingly deliberately bothering him with this. Yamamoto noticed the pain in Tsuna's face as the girls kept talking with their best friend's name in each sentence, and he then caught the girl's attention, while Tsuna relaxed his hold on the spoon, now that the girls have stopped saying Gokudera's name.

"Now, now," Yamamoto tried to persuade everyone. "Tsuna's a bit uneasy here, so let's not talk about this, okay?"

However, nothing would stop. The girls reverted back to some screaming match involving Gokudera's name, and Bianchi was singing "Hayato" in different pitches, they couldn't tell what song it was. Nana, then started cheerily repeating the boy's name over and over again, and Ipin gave an occasional nickname for the teenage bomber.

It wasn't long before Tsuna merely stood up from the table and slammed his hands down on the wood, banging it hard enough that everyone stopped talking. The boy couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't be around these people, not with them tormenting him day and night. This wasn't the Kyoko, Haru, Bianchi, Nana, and Ipin he knew. They weren't the ones he lived with.

"I already told you…" Tsuna's voice came out in an icy tone, and Yamamoto's blood curdled at the sound of it. "To not speak about Gokudera today. DID YOU NOT HEAR WHAT I SAID?"

He didn't make any eye contact with anyone at the table, not even Yamamoto, who was staring at his boss in worry. Tsuna wasn't going to take it any longer, and something was bound to go wrong. The entire table was eerily silent as Tsuna remained standing, and all eyes were set on him. Soon, a small applause came from the end of the table.

"Oh, really, Tsuna…?" Nana then began, and she had set down her cup of coffee. She pushed back her chair and stood up, looking at her son with disgust. Yamamoto couldn't help but feel afraid of her, too, with that woman wearing an expression he'd thought he'd never see on such a kind person like Tsuna's mother.

"To be speaking to Kyoko and Haru like this…" Nana spoke. "To speak to me like that…"

Tsuna didn't dare look up, hoping not to meet the eyes of a disappointed mother.

"Do you love your mother anymore?" Nana finally said, and Tsuna visibly flinched at the question. He tried to force himself to stop being so reactive to it, but why was his mother saying this? His mother was never the type to say such things to him at all if he did something wrong or received a bad grade… Why now?

"That's right, Tsu-na," Haru and Kyoko said in unison, and they both stood up from their seats. The screeching of chairs from Bianchi followed, too, and soon, every single girl and woman was staring down at him with disapproving eyes. Yamamoto got up shakily and stayed close to Tsuna, eyes glinting dangerously.

"Why do you have to be so angry at us?" Kyoko asked coldly.

"That's right, Tsuna," Haru said again. "You don't like us at all. You hate all of us, do you?"

A small gasp escaped Tsuna's throat, and he looked up at the girls, and was absolutely horrified. They were both standing, but their eyes weren't there. Just hollow holes, and nothing to see. Yamamoto was stiff at the sight of everyone else. No one around them had eyes, and their skins were turning ashen gray.

"You don't like us at all, Tsuna," Bianchi. "You don't like anyone here, do you?"

Before Tsuna could say anything in response, something whizzed past his head, brushing past a bit of his hair. Closely behind him, he could hear a distant crashing of glass and plates. Nana, on the other hand, was on the other end of the table, hand outstretched at him, her hand coated in metal, and holes at her fingertips. Her face wore a Cheshire grin, and eyes hollow. The only that could be nice about her anymore was her hair, brown and soft. Otherwise, she was no longer recognizable.

Bianchi and Ipin twitched with large bundles of metal coming out of their backs, and their arms were just wires and bits of metal. They continued to get bigger until they were merely large snake-like creatures made entirely out of metal, with pure white masks for faces, all with mad smiles on their lips.

They left their spots from the table, and began approaching Tsuna and Yamamoto slowly as the two boys backed away to the entrance to the hallway.

"Tsuna," Yamamoto suggested. "We run?"

Tsuna nodded slowly, and his legs were bending, ready to start springing at a moment's notice.

"Y-yeah…"

Immediately, they turned round and began dashing to the exit. If they couldn't get out this way, they'll have to reluctantly blow up the side of Tsuna's house.

Before they could a few feet, Tsuna could feel something metal winding around his waist, and his feet stopped moving. Yamamoto was whirling around slowly as the few seconds registered itself into Tsuna's head as he was suddenly moving backwards, and he felt the splintering of wood on his back. The pain of air draining out of his lungs was slowly creeping to him, before he could finally let out a piercing scream.

"Tsuna!" Yamamoto shouted, but he ducked to the floor to avoid a pair of bullets aiming for his head. He unsheathed Shigure Kintoki, and held it at the ready. Quickly a bird with blue flamed wings leapt from his hand along with a dog engulfed in the same fire. He raised his sword above his head and started running, swinging it in a wavelike manner.

"Scontro di Rondine!" He shouted, and he attempted to charge at Ipin, and sliced the demon in half, but as soon as he hit, he only felt horrible recoil on himself, and he had to retreat as Ipin turned round and swiped at his smaller form. He was now standing in the center of the living room, face full of surprise.

"Wha?" Yamamoto blinked. He was sure it had hit the demon fair and square, why wasn't it getting hurt? He jumped backwards to avoid the spray of bullets coming at him.

"Silly humans," Bianchi laughed as she kept shooting repeatedly. "You don't even have the mark of an exorcist, and you still fight!"

"Tsuna!" Yamamoto shouted, and tried to come forward, but he could see too many bullets coming for him. The swordsman bit his lip in frustration. He really made a bad move, did he…?

However, before he could think any more, a pair of hands yanked him away, and they went crashing into the nearest bookshelf. The Rain Guardian groaned as a stray dictionary fell on his chest, and he got up to see who had helped him back there. It was Tsuna, in Hyper Dying Will Mode, and his gloves were set aflame. Natsu was sitting beside its owner, whimpering as the boy got up and allowed the little lion to jump onto his shoulder. Yamamoto could see that Tsuna wasn't enjoying this battle at all, and it would have best for them to just go running away rather than fight.

"Tsuna…" Yamamoto tried to say, but Tsuna didn't answer when he jumped at the swordsman, and made him dodge in the round of bullets dancing across the wall behind them. The two of them started running into the kitchen when they saw that the ceiling and everything above had been completely destroyed. Now was their chance!

Tsuna went first and started charging at the opening, with Yamamoto getting ready to fly with his three short swords. But just as the Vongola Tenth was reaching freedom, he stopped with an expression of dread as his body hit something hard, and was flung back into the kitchen. Yamamoto ran over to help Tsuna, but the boy zoomed away from where he had fallen and left him to deal with Bianchi and ipin.

"You're not going to get away that easily, our prey," Bianchi chuckled, and a loaded barrel was aimed straight at Yamamoto, who couldn't move from where he stood. Flames leapt out of his swords, projecting the immense fear and strength he had. Like that would ever protect him from a poisonous bullet.

Tsuna dashed into the broken hallway, panting with the sudden burst of energy he had experienced. Frankly, he had to say that he hadn't been practicing very much since his return from the future, and needless to say, Reborn was very mad at him for not keeping his skills in check. Thanks to his mother's coaxing and his ongoing excuse of making up homework, Tsuna managed to avoid his tutor's wrath somehow, and now he was a complete slug in the middle of battle. The Vongola Tenth sure had a lot to regret about now, though.

He could hear Yamamoto shouting a dozen attacks from the kitchen, and the sound of the water-like flames flowing about. Those demons must be really onto him, Tsuna thought, and he tried to come closer to help, but was halted by a single bullet that went right past his nose and into the wall beside him, while he heard heavy footsteps coming from behind.

"Oh, silly little Tsuna," his mother's voice echoed. "I wanted to play with you for a while…"

"M-mom…" the boy turned round, and saw Nana standing a few feet from him, hand outstretched with that steel like hand that shot bullets. Kyoko and Haru weren't too far away, and they were from the opposite side of the hall, completely flanking him. The flame on the boy's forehead was quivering from hesitance to make a single move. He had never fought against this before, and this was his own mother, to boot. He didn't want to hurt her, if she was alive… No! His mother was still alive! If he could try to defeat her without bringing any harm to her, Kyoko, or Haru, all of them would be fine!

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," Kyoko sounded close to a cackle, very unbefitting of a kind sweet girl like herself. "The worst student in the class of 2A. Useless Tsuna. Could never do anything right, and can't get a single math problem right… a complete idiot."

Tsuna flinched at what she had just called him. Kyoko would never call him that so easily. She was kind to everyone, even to him whenever he committed a blunder that shamed the entire class. Kyoko was the idol of the school, the perfect role model of a female student. Why was Kyoko acting entirely opposite? What has become of these girls and his mom?

"Useless Tsuna," Haru continued. "Stupid, useless, Tsuna. To think that I've fallen in love with a stupid, useless fool like you. I really wished you died when you tried to save me from drowning. I could have saved myself anyways."

"You were a stupid son," Nana continued, her voice wavering, almost close to mad laughter. "I can't believe you have grown up to be such an idiot. I don't even want to see you every morning. A shame to the family…"

Tsuna was frozen all over. W-Why…

"That's right," Tsuna's mom sneered. "We have never loved you at all."

"We hate you," Kyoko and Haru began to chant together. "We hate you."

"I hate you," Nana added. "We all hate you."

"But it's all right," Kyoko muttered, and now she was a foot away from Tsuna. "Because you hate us, too."

"K-Kyoko…" The Tenth Vongola boss muttered. With such hateful words rolling out of the mouths of the ones he loved, he still couldn't raise a hand against them. Even if they weren't themselves, he didn't want to see a drip of blood on their face. They were still wearing their persona's faces, and they were still smiling, just like they had always been, back when they cared for him. Back then…

"What a despicable little boy you are," Nana was walking towards him, her hands still trained on his face. "A stupid person. We all hate you."

"To let even the closest of your friends die and hurt," Haru joined in. "You're the worst."

"Wha…" Tsuna stammered. How did they know about this? Who were they talking about? Was it Uni? Was it Gokudera? Is all the blame of everyone's suffering being placed on him? It wasn't his fault! It wasn't his fault entirely that some of them had died, and some of them had gotten hurt. He didn't want them to die and get hurt. They themselves had jumped before him on their own will… So why…

Three mangled hands, encased in steel and riddled with bullets, were clicking around his head, and his shaking body couldn't take it anymore.

"Die. Because you should be."

Next thing moment, a sense of numbness washed over the young Vongola Boss, and he watched his own hands move on their own, flames burning vigorously in all directions. His body lurched forward all too quickly for his neck, which made a rather nasty whipping motion, and he shot forward, his forehead ripping through the layers of concrete and plaster. He was covered in dust as he automatically dodged to the side of the hole he created, narrowly missing the trio of bullets coming at him.

He crouched behind the mess of table legs and chairs, hoping they'd give him some sort of camouflage while he tried to think of a way to get out. He was currently at the kitchen again, and he could hear the distant sounds of Yamamoto holding on his own against what were once Bianchi and Ipin. He could hear the heavy footsteps of the other three trying to break through the wall he had run through. More importantly, his head was throbbing horribly from trying to run through a wall headfirst. It was fortunate he was in Hyper Dying Will Mode at the moment, but the pain would bite him back later.

He continued to catch his breath, the flame on his forehead flickering ominously. The boy looked behind him, the sounds of a wall pounding still buying him time. A small chuckle escaped his breath. Even if those three were powerful, they didn't seem to be smart enough to walk around the hall to the kitchen, nor did they ever think of crawling through the hole. If he could go through it, then Kyoko and Haru would have already gotten to him already. Guess these monsters didn't have the best of brains after all.

Tsuna was ready to jump onto his feet, and run to find Yamamoto. With those three distracted, he could rejoin his friend, and everything would be better. He pressed down on his feet, and he slowly stood up, noticing how his entire body shook horribly when was fully standing. His entire body locked itself, and he couldn't move a single joint anymore

"W-what…?" He was puzzled. Why wasn't he moving? Was he this scared of the situation?

The ground beneath began to rumble, and he gazed down to see cracks stretching around him on the floor. When those slabs of floor crumbled away, he caught himself from falling with the flame of his gloves, and he began zooming towards the door. But something caught onto his foot, and reeled him back, and his back made contact with the rack of pans and pots hanging off from the wall. The impact knocked the wind out of him once again, and he was flung forward through more layers of wall.

"That was a good distraction, wasn't it?"

Nana rose from the hole she had made, her arms now comprised of a metal strips of ribbon that could move on its own. The woman walked towards the cloud of building dust, and found Tsuna, completely caked in crumbled plaster, barely moving. He was very well awake, but his flames were extinguished, his battle gauntlets transforming back into wool mittens. His eyes were still open, still watching whatever loomed above him, but his body was no longer able to move. The monster that was once his mother reveled in the sight of darting brown eyes, that fear that ran through them.

"You were never loved, Tsuna," She whispered. "You were a murderer, a cheater, an abomination."

She struck him once more, earning a well-deserved gasp from the receiver. Nana continued to beat down on the poor boy, laughing as she did so. She watched the quivering body twitch to her own sounds, those whispers that would surely break him. She could have just given him a more quick death with a poison bullet, but there was no fun in that. Now she'd just keep hitting him until Kyoko and Haru came, and the beating would increase threefold.

"Ahahaha! A mere attack like this wouldn't graze me a bit, lowly human!"

Yamamoto ducked behind a pockmarked couch, his one Shigure Kintoki remaining in his hands. His three other short swords were cracking from trying to block those bullets, and in fear of losing them permanently, he had put them away. Now he was even more at a disadvantage, and he regretted his decision.

Now the swordsman was wondering if Tsuna was doing well himself. He couldn't hear many sounds with Bianchi cackling and bullets flying from all directions. Tsuna was supposed to be even better than him, right? Perhaps he had a higher advantage than Yamamoto did. Thus, he was confused: why could Gokudera kill a demon instantly with his weapons, and not Yamamoto. They were on the near same level of fighting, but these demons were nearly in impenetrable to his swords, so much that he could only make a single scrape out of all the hits he had inflicted on their metal armor.

The sense of both Ipin and Bianchi were getting closer, and he tightened his grip on his sword, which was glowing blue with flames still licking against the surface of the blade. He crouched low, and raised his sword back, his eyes focused on the targets behind the sofa that divided the distance between them. He sprung forward, his sword cutting past the sofa, and he leapt at the nearest of the two demons. He held his sword back again, and made a second swing, but it only hit the armor on the surface.

The Rain Guardian reacted quickly, and retreated to a good distance away from them, running around as much as possible to avoid the rain of bullets. Guess that approach was no good, again. For once, he couldn't be any more frustrated than he had been with Genkishi. He was losing this battle by the minutes.

It wasn't long when he heard a crash on the other side of the house. He froze in fear, watching the halls carefully. Soon, something whizzed so quickly right passed him, he could barely catch the hint of brown. It hit the hallway, and a blocks of plaster fell right on it. Yamamoto ran towards the dust, and swatted the dust away, trying to see what had flown into the wall. His heart leapt a beat when he recognized the formation of spiky brown hair.

"Tsuna!" He cried, and tried to help him up, but froze when he saw how different Tsuna looked. The boy's eyes were entirely glazed over, as if he were no longer there anymore. He was covered in bruises and cuts, and he must have broken something, with his legs and arms bent so precariously like that. Something was very wrong about this, if it were the demon's fault.

"Tsuna," He shook the Vongola Boss a bit, but nothing changed in his expression. Apprehension rose as Yamamoto heard a snap wooden plank from behind him. The demons were closing in them, and they weren't any close to escaping without dying altogether.

For once, he was afraid, and shaking terribly. Tsuna wasn't reacting to this revelation at all, his expression blank, and his consciousness wilting away. Yamamoto held onto Tsuna, not sure on how to move with an unconscious person, and a sword, when the miracle came.

A large portion of the wall beside them burst open, and the demons were taken aback, gasping at the sudden amount of dust flying around the house. Yamamoto clutched Tsuna even closer, making sure that the two of them didn't inhale too much of the dust. He heard footsteps, jumping and running into the house, and relief washed over him. Help had finally come, and he had managed to hold off that much. But who had come to their aid?

"You take the three down there in the hallway," a squeaky yet hostile voice commanded. "I'll take these two. You two, look for survivors."

Yamamoto immediately recognized this, and he was far too happy to know that these guys were alive.

"Reborn!" He shouted, and startled footsteps caming running towards his direction.

"Yamamoto!" Another voice came, that of a teenage boy. "Is that you?"

"Yeah!" He shouted. "Tsuna's with me, too!"

"Oh, good!" Two people came forth, and Yamamoto recognized immediately.

"Ryohei! Chrome!" He cried. If he didn't have Tsuna in his arms, he'd already leap and hug them in appreciation that they were alive, but he pointed to Tsuna first. The boxer and the young girl came closer, and they gasped at Tsuna's state.

"Sawada…" Ryohei muttered, and immediately activated his Sun Ring. Yamamoto and Chrome watched in silence as they listened to the sound of bullets and metal behind them.

"What's Reborn doing?" Yamamoto asked quietly, and Ryohei glanced up to look at his comrade.

"Reborn's fending off the demons," he said. "Apparently, our weapons aren't working against these guys, and Reborn's is the only one that does any damage at all, even if it's just a few holes. If you put it through the right places, these guys die soon enough."

"Oh," Yamamoto realized."So you had the same problem, too."

"Hibari's shouldn't be working," Ryohei added. "But Hibari's Hibari. He apparently managed to put some damage on these monsters that came u-"

Their voices were muted as a loud boom rocked the entire house, creating a big wave of dust flying about. Ryohei got up and punched the wall that Tsuna had crashed into previously, and he made a large exit for them. He looked at Yamamoto, who nodded quickly, and they all filed out of the house with Tsuna in tow. They were out in the streets (or what was left of it), and Yamamoto noticed two people standing a good distance away. The two ran forward, cheering and yelling that Ryohei and Chrome had returned.

"Lambo was waiting too long!" The smallest of the two cried, and the little toddler leapt into Chrome's arms. The girl didn't speak much, but she patted the poor child's back to comfort him.

"It's all right," she said in a soft voice. "We're all here now…"

The second person was Fuuta, and he stopped short when he saw another explosion toppling the Sawada household. He winced at the sound of it, but noticed that Tsuna had made it. The little boy dropped to his knees beside Tsuna, and touched the boy's face, hoping that rubbing it a bit would wipe away the plaster that fell on his surrogate brother's face.

"He's not… hurt, is he?" The little boy looked at Yamamoto, but the older boy couldn't say much, not when his friend here was obviously ill, and the Rain Guardian was trying to keep his composure here.

Two explosions in a row followed quickly, and they saw Hibari running out quickly. He was still donning the school uniform like Yamamoto and Tsuna, but the shirt was charred and ripped in some places. Somehow, his coat still managed to hang onto his shoulders like it always did, but it was just as torn and tattered like the rest of his clothes.

The Namimori head prefect kept his distance away from the group of "herbivores" and glanced back at the house, wondering how the little baby hitman was faring with his share of monsters. Just then, the entire front of the house broke down, and the demon was rendered useless onto the ground. Reborn was walking on the anterior of the monster, gun poised carefully on the demon. Yamamoto recognized the creature as the one who posed as Bianchi, and watched as that nastily smiling face turned into one of fake sweetness.

"Oh, Reborn…" said the demon with the face of the woman who loved him dearly. The little hitman didn't change his expression at all as he pressed his gun closer to the demon's head.

"You aren't Bianchi, so don't even try," Reborn said in his intimidating demeanor, and he filled the demon's head with bullets. Chrome and Lambo winced at the sound of the continuous round of bullets and small gasps from the demon before it was just gunshots, and nothing more. Reborn hopped off from the Demon and began approaching the rescue party, eyes hidden under the rim of his fedora while Leon climbed back onto his hat.

"R-Reborn…" Ryohei muttered while the Arcobaleno hopped onto his shoulder, his eyes falling over Tsuna, who looked as dead as a doorknob, had he not been breathing. Yamamoto and Ryohei noticed the concern the tutor had for his student, and proceeded to explain.

"He's breathing, Reborn," the Rain Guardian said solemnly. "But he's not responding to anything."

"I see," Reborn said coldly. "He must be shell-shocked for the moment. Those monsters must have really gotten to him."

"But… he's hurt…" Fuuta whispered, crying at the state of the person who housed him.

"Little baby," Hibari's voice caught his attention, and he turned to see the prefect strolling forth, Hibird chirping softly upon his shoulder. He approached them stiffly and nodded to the past dilapidated home.

"I've gotten rid of those things back there," he said.

"Good," Reborn nodded, and then the Cloud Guardian looked at Tsuna, who was unmoving on the ground as Ryohei healed his wounds. A small flicker of interest flashed through the young man's eyes, and he turned around to look about the destroyed house. It was so quiet, and the world was completely empty for just this moment.

"I…. I…"

A small voice came from the ground, and everyone whipped their heads to Tsuna, whose lips were moving slowly, trying to form words, speaking to no one. His eyes were half-lidded, and not even glancing at anything but the red sky.

"couldn… sa… really…. re… ly… wh… sav…"

"Boss…" Chrome was close to tears, seeing a close friend in such a state. Reborn then gave an accusing stare at Yamamoto, demanding an explanation. The Rain Guardian promptly began sputtering exactly what had happened to him and Tsuna at school until now. Chrome and Ryohei were having quite some trouble listening, and adjusting to a nervous Yamamoto, too. Never once had they seen him so out of it before. Reborn merely nodded every few seconds until their story was finished.

"I see," the hitman turned back to Tsuna, who lay on the ground unmoving, eyes closed from exhaustion. He had lost consciousness now, and he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

"Hey…." Lambo whined. "Where's Stupidera? Isn't he always with us?"

Chrome looked down at the young toddler. He was trembling from just watching this entire world fall apart, but he still had the gall to ask where their friends were without much fear or worry… what a lucky child.

"Gokudera… didn't make it…" She whispered, and she merely hugged Lambo, who was rather skeptical of what she meant. Reborn's face darkened at that fact, and looked at everyone. This was what was left of the Vongola at the moment, he presumed. He had tried contacting everyone he knew close to here, and even in Italy, but there was no sign of his other comrades' existence on the other side of the line. Was the entire world attacked by these monsters? If so, they shouldn't stay here out in the open, especially Tsuna and the younger children.

"We'll have to get out of here," Reborn noted, and he hopped onto Yamamoto's shoulder, pointing to the area outside of Tsuna's house. "Let's go. There should be someplace that's not touched by whatever demons we have running around."

Yamamoto nodded obediently, and the entire party began their trek out of Namimori. Yamamoto took the job of carrying Tsuna on his back while Reborn took the lead in front. Chrome, Ryohei, and Fuuta stayed in the middle of the group with Yamamoto, and Hibari was the tail.

The last had no desire to talk to anyone, especially about the state of the precious city he had sworn to himself to protect. He didn't even want to go with these herbivores (and the baby) at any circumstance, but then that baby brought up the fact that they could find out who caused all this, and then he was now tagging along in the back of this rescue party. Hopefully, they didn't go off to bring more herbivores into the group, otherwise these demons would get to them quickly.

They were on the borders of the town when they heard a small disturbance nearby. Everyone stopped, and saw a little dog running towards them, tongue swinging. Everyone watched the dog deftly, and Reborn pulled the trigger at it, his expression grim. The dog yelped as the bullet hit its leg, but the barks became howls and laughter of an non-canine creature, and another demon rose out of the skin and bones that was formerly a dog.

Yamamoto and Fuuta watched in utter horror at the fact that a small creature could house a colossal monster, but Reborn and Hibari readied their weapons. They really did have to get out of here, especially here.

A/N: Is this too dark for anyone? I mean, it was intended to be somewhat dark, and I don't think it has as much humor as the previous story… If this is making anyone feel sad or angry, I'm really really sorry! Also, I missed Fuuta a lot, so he's our "main cast" of survivors. I know it's a bit unfair, taking Gokudera out, and putting Fuuta in, but… well, this story is technically going to shine light on the one-scene wonder characters, or the ones that got stacked back into the shelves after one arc.