This chapter is very short due to it being part 1 of the final 2 chapters (Byakuran's and Tsuna's p.o.v I had planned as one chapter, then split them to make it a smoother separation).

There would be more chapters, but I think that by this point, its getting repetitive... Well, either way, please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn nor any affiliated characters


Byakuran smiled with a pleasant, jovial concord.

'Strongest Don since the First Vongola', indeed.

He brushed a hand through his thick white spikes, tousling them about. His company in the limo, a very silent Irie Shouichi, became the object of his gaze. He studied the red haired man with a playful smile, light purple eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"Shou-chan." he prodded, and the man twitched before looking up. Byakuran could see it in his underling's eyes, the thoughts flying too rapidly to hold on to. The poor genius was most likely shell shocked, rattled from his first kill.

And what a kill it had been. Granted Shouichi only finished what Byakuran had started, as such was many a case concerning the Millifiore Don.

"Are you not feeling well? You look a little pale." he said, eyes closing gently. "Would you like some water?"

Here he offered a bottle with an outstretched hand. Shouichi tentatively reached out to take it, then withdrew sharply, turning his head away while biting at the inner flesh of his lip. Byakuran raised an eyebrow, then smiled.

"Ah, sorry sorry! It seems some of Tsuna-kun has been left behind, hasn't it?" he drawled in a snake-like, eerily cheerful voice as he stared at the spattering of blood on his hand. A gaze burned into the white haired man, and here he looked to the back of the limousine, eyes sharpening and smile becoming more animal-like.

"Princess." he acknowledged, eying the young girl who sat perfectly still in her seat, large hat not shadowing her small features. Her large dark purple eyes gazed blankly straight forward. It would seem she stared at Byakuran, though it would be more accurate to say she was staring straight past him, into nothingness and space.

"I'm terribly sorry you couldn't attend the meeting, Uni-chan. Did you want to see Tsuna-kun? He had been so cute; a very cute Boss, like you!" he said, waving his blood spotted hand as if it were the Vongola Decimo in person. Uni simply stared, her expression vacant, somewhere far away from where she sat. Shouichi gave a violent twitch, a small drop of blood detaching from Byakuran's hand and spattering onto his trouser leg.

"Ah... I'm sorry Shou-chan. This kind of thing, its messy, isn't it?" the white haired man sighed with a sort of pleased, false irritation. Shouichi clutched his mouth, tilting his head back and breathing in deeply through his nose. His Boss frowned, brows furrowed in concern as he scooted over to lean his body against the young red head.

"Shou-chan... you are really feeling unwell? Now now..." Byakuran soothed, his lips flickering into a quick smirk as he cupped the other man's chin in his blood spattered hand, the flash in Shouichi's eyes testament to the tremor of horror that rolled over his quivering shoulders. Byakuran gave a light chuckle, wrapping one arm around his underling and sending a pout over the the silent girl in the back.

"Nah, Uni-chan. Come comfort Shou-chan, he's feeling sick. Didn't you take care of those from the Gesso family?" he prodded. Uni had no reaction. Byakuran enjoyed it, but wanted more, to see how far he could push the limits of his control. It was a ground breaking occasion, after all. This day was one of celebration for him, so why not enjoy it?

"Pity though, you couldn't help care for your dear mother, not matter how sick she became. And in the end, she left you behind." he smirked, watching those great deep eyes now flicker rapidly, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"Byakuran-sama..." Shouichi breathed, clutching his stomach with one hand as the other touched lightly on the white haired Boss's shoulder. Byakuran could feel the digits trembling, and it made him chuckle under his breath.

"Shou-chan, really, whats wrong? Aren't you pleased with this? Isn't today a marvelous occasion?" his light, gleaming purple irises shimmered dangerously against Shouichi's dilated green under heavy lenses. "Didn't you tell me when we met? 'I want to help change the world', that's what you said, wasn't it?"

Irie held his hand against his mouth, as though protecting himself against any chances of gastronomic purges.

"Shou-chan." Byakuran wondered if there was a limit to how much he was enjoying this.

"We killed him, Shou-chan. Just like we planned."

Everything in Byakuran's hands was merely a game of Choice.

A long time ago, this pathetic man with his coke-bottle glasses and shaking fingers, came to him with the apparent desire to change the world. Byakuran had never questioned Shouichi before, not when the Japanese man had been the one to introduce such a wonderful game to him in the first place. It was clear however, that there was more then doubt in Irie's eyes as each bullet had punctured the flesh of the Vongola Decimo.

But it was too late to stop anything now, the wheels of change and uprising were already in motion. The police and governments of the world were powerless to resist, and oh so easily corrupted by money and promises. They'd never posed a threat to those in the mafia in the first place, living with green eyes and wanton souls, clutching at material possessions.

Byakuran often wondered whether or not he himself appeared greedy, but then decided it really didn't matter. It wasn't that he wanted everything, it's that everything was already his to begin with. It was simply that no one knew it yet. But there had been one thing he couldn't hold in the palm of his hands, one thing he couldn't smother away quickly, and it had posed a bothersome obstacle.

Sawada Tsunayoshi refused the power he offered. Refused it with eyes that had been much like the little Princess Uni's. Headstrong behind innocence; bravery under nativity. The eyes of a fool.

But now, both problems were under his control. Tsunayoshi was dead, and little Uni sat across from him, her blank eyes silent and wrapped around his finger; quiet and captured.

He recalled the checkmate that had won both ends for him, in this, his most favorite game. The simple words strung into a phrase that strung into a victory that was simply obvious from the start. Fools with soft hearts and what others would call 'bravery', simply were, in the end, just people who watched those around them fall, one by one. Uni had known it, and in her moment of weakness, had fallen into his hand so nicely. Tsunayoshi had known it to be true as well, and this was inevitably why he came to the proposed 'meeting of the families'.

Tsunayoshi chose to sacrifice himself and the entire Vongola for the sake of protecting them. This was, Byakuran was sure, how it would seem through the eyes of the Vongola Decimo who thought of noble things and trusted in the honor of others. However, Byakuran had every intention of wiping out every last Vongola despite killing off the man who controlled them. It was Tsunayoshi's fault for not simply dedicating himself to Byakuran's plan for the new world. Had he simply become like the young Uni, and followed by his side obediently, the Vongola Family would be spared and tucked under the Millifiore's wing.

But Tsunayoshi had chosen to die, and it was just as well. He'd made his choice, it was written across the stained white floors and walls of that room. Tsunayoshi's choice was spilled and spattered upon Byakuran's bleach white uniform and smeared on Shouichi's cheek. It had been his choice, and that was all there was of it. A foolishly nobel choice.

But it was simply how the game was played. First a choice is made, and then everything falls into place.

"Tell me, Shou-chan, in our little game," the white haired man spoke quietly with his head resting back on the seat, a grin on his lips "what comes next?"

Shouichi swallowed hard, gripping his stomach and shutting his eyes.

"... W-we make the last choice...Byakuran-sama..." he said, voice rough and weak about the edges. Byakuran opened his eyes a crack, peering at both his red headed commander and his little Princess.

"Shou-chan, I'd like to hear you say what that is. For me?"

Green eyes under thick coke-bottle lenses closed.

"... N-now... we change the world..."

Lips curled upward.

"Perfetto."

Final Chapter/ Series finally to follow...