Title: Fiamma: The Assassin
Summary: Every assassin have their own rules, yet all follows one golden rule: Never get emotionally involved with your target. Fiamma knows this. Yet, meeting that person, he can't help but break the most important rule of all…
Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! belongs to Akira Amano
Pairing: Eventual!G27
Warnings: AU; Language
Fiamma: The Assassin
Chapter 8
"…You wanted to see me, Master?"
"Ahh, Tsunayoshi." Byakuran smiled. "Come on in and take a seat."
Tsunayoshi gave a bow before stepping into the office. The room was quickly cleared of other occupants, leaving only Tsunayoshi and Byakuran in the office. 'I wonder what's going on…? Byakuran got someone to pass me a message yesterday that he needed to see me immediately.' Tsunayoshi frowned slightly as he took a seat. "Might I inquire as to the purpose of this meeting?" Tsunayoshi questioned.
"It has been three weeks since you infiltrated the Vongola estate. You have gathered sufficient information for me, and you have completed the first phase of your mission." Byakuran smiled. "So now, I want you to carry out the second phase of your mission."
"…Eliminate Giotto di Vongola." Tsunayoshi finished.
"Exactly." Byakuran smirked. "There has been a little change though."
"What change would that be, Master?" Tsunayoshi asked, a feeling of dread filling his stomach.
"Eliminate Giotto di Vongola… and all his Guardians."
"…May I ask for the reason why his Guardians should be taken out as well?" Tsunayoshi asked.
Byakuran narrowed his eyes, but answered nevertheless. "Given their… devotion to Giotto di Vongola, his death may trigger some unnecessary results. It would be rather troublesome to deal with them then, so we'll take care of them now. Are you clear, Tsunayoshi?"
"…Crystal, Master." Tsunayoshi answered.
"Then you are dismissed." Byakuran said.
Tsunayoshi got up, nodded, and quickly left the room. As he strolled down the hallway, Tsunayoshi thought hard over his mission and he clenched his fists.
'…Eliminate Giotto and his Guardians… Can I– No. I have to do it. There is… no other choice.'
"Giotto…"
The blond looked up from his paperwork and smiled. "Renato." He greeted the brunette that just entered. "What is it?"
Tsunayoshi shifted a little in his spot. "Well… It's been a month since the Family took me in… And I want to thank you and your Guardians." Tsunayoshi said somewhat hesitantly.
Thankfully, Giotto didn't seem to notice his hesitation since half of the blond's mind was on his paperwork. "There's no need for that. You know it." Giotto replied with a warm smile.
Tsunayoshi felt his heart clench for reasons unknown to him. "I know." He answered with a nod. "But… I want to."
"…Hmm. Well… If you insist…" Giotto sighed softly. Tsunayoshi gave a small smile. "What do you wish to do?"
"If you don't mind, I'd like to prepare today's dinner?" Tsunayoshi asked.
"S-Sure." Giotto stammered.
"Then can I get permission to use the kitchen?" Tsunayoshi continued. 'Requesting for the entire kitchen is too suspicious. I can do that in public view anyway.'
"Of course." Giotto replied. He pulled out a letter paper and wrote down his orders to the kitchen staff before signing it elegantly at the bottom. "Here you go."
"Thank you." Tsunayoshi said as he smiled once again. "I'll be going now."
Giotto blinked as the door closed with a soft click. 'Is it just me… Or was Renato's smile… sad…?'
Tsunayoshi leaned against the wall as he waited for the Vongola Guardians to arrive. The food was already set on the table; a simple dish of chicken fillet and some small sides, along with a glass of wine for everyone. '…This is it. The last night of my mission. After today, I'll return to Gesso headquarters. And return to 'that' life once again.' Tsunayoshi thought. He took a look around the room. 'It was… nice while it lasted.'
"Wow…!"
Tsunayoshi turned his head to the side to see a mop of green hair poke into the room. He straightened himself and turned to greet his 'guests'.
"It looks really good, Renato-kun." Asari smiled.
"Thank you. It was a little simpler than what I had in mind due to the lack of time, but I still hope you," Tsunayoshi paused momentarily. "…enjoy it. We should hurry, before the food cools."
"Right." Giotto answered. "Take a seat, everyone."
Giotto took the head of the table while G and Tsunayoshi took the left and right side of him respectively. Asari was beside G with Lampo on the other side of him while Knuckle took the seat beside Lampo. Unfortunately for Tsunayoshi, Daemon was right beside him with a very reluctant Alaude next to him.
"Now, before we start our lovely dinner prepared by Renato…" Giotto smiled. "Let's give a toast to Renato to welcome him to the Family."
"Figures." G smirked.
Giotto chuckled. "You know me too well, G."
"W-What's going on…?" Tsunayoshi asked softly.
"Well, you've been here long enough, so Giotto wants to invite you to join the Vongola Famiglia." G explained.
"A-Ahh…" Tsunayoshi gasped softly. 'At such a time…?!'
"It's alright. You don't have to accept immediately." Giotto quickly assured him. "But I do want to have a toast, to celebrate one month of being together."
"That's rather… sappy." Tsunayoshi commented, a dash of light pink coloring his cheek.
G laughed loudly as Giotto blushed in embarrassment.
"That's Primo for you." Lampo commented.
"Let's not embarrass Giotto-san further…" Asari spoke up.
"But that's the fun thing." G answered.
"G!" Giotto growled half-heartedly. "Let's just do the toast… Please…"
"Alright." G said. "Toast!"
"To Renato." Giotto said.
"And to the Family." G added.
"Toast!" They called together before drowning their drinks.
"I won't hold back then!" Lampo announced as he took a bite of his food.
Tsunayoshi's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach. It didn't take long, as he had expected –he was well-versed in the arts of medication, after all. He was the creator of the substance he added to the meals. Within a minute, Lampo had already dropped his cutlery, his fork and knife falling with a loud clang as it collided with the pristine white plate as the Lightning Guardian hunched over, clutching his stomach in pain. Droplets of sweat littered his face as his eyes squeezed shut.
"It… hurts…" Lampo cried out.
"Lampo?!" Giotto stood up abruptly, dashing over to the teen. G and Knuckle followed suit as Lampo held onto Asari tightly for support.
Tsunayoshi watched numbly as tears ran down the teen's cheeks. Knuckle hurriedly checked over Lampo, asking him a dozen questions about how he was feeling, but Lampo was in too much pain to answer. Giotto stared worriedly at his Lightning Guardian, his mind in a mess. One of the only few who were still rational, G growled and yanked out his gun.
"You did this." It wasn't a question, but a statement –an accusation. "You prepared tonight's dinner. There's no one else who could have done this but you."
"Who are you? And what do you want?" Daemon narrowed his eyes.
Giotto turned to watch Tsunayoshi with unbelieving eyes. "Renato… Why…?"
"Renato… isn't your real name, is it?" Alaude hissed under his breath.
Tsunayoshi's lips were pressed into a thin line, his fists clenched at his sides. 'I don't have a choice, do I? Between that person, along with them, and Giotto di Vongola… I can only choose them. That's why… Sorry, Giotto.' Tsunayoshi's head snapped up as his eyes turned cold. A steel wire shot out from each of his sleeved arms. One wrapped itself around Giotto's neck, and the other around his torso. Tsunayoshi gave the wires a harsh tug and pulled the blond over to him. Tsunayoshi released the wire wrapped around Giotto's torso and the blond's hand immediately shot up to pull at the wire wrapped tightly around his neck. G growled as he aimed his gun. "I'd advise you against it, G." Tsunayoshi spoke coldly. "I don't know when my hand may just slip… accidentally."
"You bastard…!" G snarled.
"Please… stop this…!" Asari pleaded, even as he held on to Lampo.
"It's no use, Asari." G retorted. "That brat is obviously an assassin. And assassins will do anything to get their paycheck. This is nothing to him."
"W-Why… are you… d-doing this…?" Giotto choked out in Tsunayoshi's grasp.
"I told you before, didn't I…?" Tsunayoshi murmured. Giotto's eyes widened with confusion. "You trust people too much… You shouldn't have trusted me."
"Where's the antidote?" Knuckle demanded.
"…There is no antidote." Tsunayoshi replied smoothly, amber orbs glancing over to the fallen Lampo.
Daemon eyed Tsunayoshi closely. While he could easily warp the dimension and save Giotto, the brunette intrigued him deeply. He held his stance, waiting to see Tsunayoshi's true strength. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the same thought ran through Alaude's mind as he rested his hand on his weapon.
"You… don't want… t-to do this… d-nngh-do you…?" Giotto coughed out.
"What…?" Tsunayoshi frowned.
"You… don't want… to do this…!" Giotto repeated.
"I'm an assassin. I've been given orders to kill Giotto di Vongola. Of course I'm doing this." Tsunayoshi scoffed, tightening the wire around Giotto's neck.
The Don Vongola let out a cry as he pulled harder on the wire that was cutting off his air supply. "You're… ordered to… Doesn't… mean… you want to…!"
"Rather unique way of begging for your life." Tsunayoshi laughed. "We assassins are nothing but tools to their employer. Whatever the employer wants, we do it. If we have to get our hands stained with blood to fulfill their wishes, then so be it." Tsunayoshi growled out through clenched teeth. "It's such a pity that we have the meet under such circumstances. You really are… a pleasant man to be with." He murmured, soft enough for only Giotto to hear. "Farewell, Giotto di Vongola." Tsunayoshi spoke, pulling hard on the wire.
Giotto gagged as the wire around his neck tightened. He pulled hard at the wire, but to no avail.
"Giotto!" G's eyes widened. He took aim, his finger on the trigger, but… G couldn't do it. He couldn't shoot. He knew that Tsunayoshi was a trained assassin. Strangling Giotto to death also meant that Giotto could be used as a human shield. 'What the hell am I supposed to do?! If I shoot, Giotto will be shot to death by me; but if I don't, Giotto's going to die anyway!' G thought in a panic.
A loud crash rang throughout the room as the windows broke. Tsunayoshi narrowed his eyes as he concentrated on the presence. 'Four, five… No… Six…!' Tsunayoshi's eyes widened. He took a few steps back, pulling his captive along. It was all Giotto could do to avoid stumbling over, accidentally strangling himself in the process (since Tsunayoshi's hold had loosened slightly as they moved). Shattered glass was scattered all over the floor, and crunching sounds alerted everyone where the intruders were. Tsunayoshi growled lowly as he readjusted the hold in the wire wrapped around Giotto's neck, keeping it steady such that the Vongola Boss would constantly have severe breathing difficulties. His free hand gripped Giotto's arm tightly as the brunette held the blond in front of him, as though using him as a shield.
"Who's there?!" Tsunayoshi demanded, a glare fixed on his face.
"Looks like we got here just in time."
"…That voice… As I thought… Varia." Tsunayoshi's eyes narrowed.
"The famed assassination squad?" G muttered.
"Heh. So we meet again, trash." The leader spoke.
Tsunayoshi narrowed his eyes. "Xanxus. Your face is such an unpleasant sight as always." Tsunayoshi spat. "Here to steal my targets again? I must say, I had fun stealing yours."
Xanxus growled and raised a metallic gun with a blood red X mounted on the side.
Both Fiamma and Varia were known as one of the top few assassins in the world; the only difference being, Fiamma was an assassin belonging to the Gesso Famiglia, while Varia was an independent assassination squad. Ever since they were hired by their respective clients to assassinate the same target, a strange rivalry had developed between them. It wasn't exactly often that they were given the same targets, but whenever they did, they competed to see who could assassinate the target first. And it was, at times, when they would deliberately seek out each other's target even though they themselves weren't hired to kill said target.
While both Fiamma and Varia respected each other for their strengths, they still had a grudge, and were liable to start fighting whenever they met.
"Voooooiiiii!"
Tsunayoshi cringed and snapped out his thoughts. "Squalo. How many times do I have to say this: Screaming the hell out of your target's eardrums is the lamest way to assassinate someone ever."
"Ushishishi… That is how our dear Captain always is, isn't it?"
"…Belphegor." Tsunayoshi greeted. "I don't know who is worse: Your Boss or your Captain."
"I'll win this time!"
"Now, now. Let's not fight the moment we see each other."
"Perhaps I should remind you, Leviathan, that I have never once lost to you. And Lussuria, you should watch them more closely." Tsunayoshi remarked casually, smirking when Leviathan scowled and nearly jumped around in rage.
"Hmph. You certainly are one to talk, aren't you? As I recall, you didn't lose, but you didn't exactly walk away unscathed either."
"Care to try me, Mammon?" Tsunayoshi glared. "The last time I checked, news was that you were beaten by the Demon of the Six Paths." Tsunayoshi chuckled.
"Voooiii! Shut up and hand over Giotto di Vongola!" Squalo shouted.
Tsunayoshi arched an eyebrow and took a step closer to Giotto. The blond was still struggling to breathe. Throughout the entire time Tsunayoshi spent talking with the Varia, every time he was close to losing his breath completely, Tsunayoshi had let him have a little breather before repeating the process, almost like torture. Giotto could barely stand anymore; his legs had lost all its strength. If it wasn't for Tsunayoshi's grip on him, he would have fallen to the ground.
"And why would I do that?" Tsunayoshi replied. He leaned forward, resting his chin on Giotto's shoulder. "Giotto di Vongola is my target."
"Let's just say… we can't have you killing our targets." Lussuria answered.
It didn't take long for Tsunayoshi to figure the meaning behind those words, and he laughed loudly. "So the famed assassination squad is babysitting now?!" Tsunayoshi said. "How pathetic!"
"You can say whatever you want, trash. Vongola is under our care now." Xanxus spoke.
"…And if I say no?" Tsunayoshi questioned.
"Then we'll take you down, Fiamma." Squalo answered.
"…If that's the case…" Tsunayoshi murmured softly.
His eyes hardened, and with a tug of his hand, tightened the wire around Giotto's neck. The Vongola Guardians, who had been quiet until now, shouted out for their Boss while the Varia, hired to protect Vongola Primo and his Guardians, tensed. They all knew that as a trained assassin, Fiamma wouldn't hesitate to kill Giotto. And judging by how much Giotto was struggling; Tsunayoshi was no longer being merciful. Yet they faced the same problem with the Vongola Guardians –Tsunayoshi held Giotto in front of him, and with the assassin's quick reflexes, any attack they launched would be blocked by none other than Giotto himself.
As they watched Giotto's breath (and hence, his life) slowly leave him, they noticed something else.
Tsunayoshi was… shaking.
Giotto, who was the one closest to the brunette, felt it rather than saw it –Tsunayoshi was trembling behind him. The wires shook with its owner's effort as Giotto heard a hitch in the other's breathing. The hitch slowly turned into a pant, and then into heavy breathing; almost like Tsunayoshi himself was struggling to breathe. Slowly but surely, Tsunayoshi started loosing his grip –both on Giotto and the wire– and the Don Vongola greedily took in the much needed air. Unfortunately, he had been held almost breathless for too long for him to be able to pull away. The wires retracted with a loud snap in the new silence of the room, the speed that it took place leaving a cut on Giotto's neck. Finally free, Giotto crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath. He managed to turn to see what made Tsunayoshi let go, and his eyes widened.
Tsunayoshi's eyes were wide with fear as he grabbed at his head. His breaths were shaky and unsteady, as sweat covered his face. "No… No… Please… Don't… a… a…" He mumbled to himself over and over again. His entire body was shaking visibly as he suffered from what looked to be a mental breakdown. His eyes snapped shut, and his hands tightened on his hair, almost pulling the strands of hair out.
And suddenly, at the same moment Tsunayoshi let out a sharp, desperate scream, on the Varia's side, Mammon collapsed, coughing out blood violently.
"Incredible…" Daemon murmured. "Renato forced Mammon out of his mind using sheer will?"
"Not… just sheer will…" Mammon coughed. "Will was part of it… But he also… had his mind trained… I was forced out before… I could see anything…"
"I'm not surprised." Squalo remarked. "He encounters illusionist often. Took a lot of them down too."
"Focus." Xanxus growled.
The group looked back to where the duo –now trio was. G had, in the meantime, ran over to help Giotto away from Tsunayoshi, even if it was only a short distance away, before kneeling slightly in front of the blond in protection.
Ever since he had let out that almost unearthly scream, Tsunayoshi had quietly stood still. If it weren't for the barely visible rise and fall of his body, they would have thought that Fiamma had stopped breathing. When Tsunayoshi's head finally rose from where it rested on his chest, the Varia took one look at the assassin and readied themselves.
"…That look… no doubt about it." Squalo grunted.
"…Those blank, lifeless eyes… Fiamma-chan has abandoned his consciousness. In exchange, his senses are all heightened, and even if he's hurt, he wouldn't notice. It's the highest amount of concentration someone can reach." Lussuria said. "To beat Fiamma in such a state… That's quite a challenge. But… I like challenges."
"I don't care. I'll beat Fiamma this time!" Leviathan announced.
Leviathan wasted no time and immediately charged forth with a parabola in hand. The parabola crackled with lightning. Tsunayoshi watched the incoming attack with dull orange orbs, dodging right as Leviathan was within a meter of him. The brunette spun around quickly and wrapped a wire around the handle of the parabola, snatching the weapon over for himself, parrying the next blow from Leviathan.
"I'm sorry, Fiamma-chan…" Lussuria spoke.
Tsunayoshi's face remained as blank as ever, even as he barely dodged the unexpected blow from behind, bringing up the parabola to defend himself against any attacks. Lussuria easily kicked the parabola away, and immediately fell into his footwork, dropping punches left and right. True to Lussuria's earlier words, Tsunayoshi's didn't even twitch at any of the hits that landed, and instead continued to dodge and retaliate as if it never hurt.
Xanxus watched from the back and growled. He charged up his dual flame guns and shot, Lussuria dodging out of the way easily.
Tsunayoshi's eyes barely shifted as he skidded to a stop before rolling to a side. The flame brushed past his right shoulder, burning his skin lightly, although with little effect to the unfeeling brunette. Tsunayoshi froze up when electricity coursed through his body. Lussuria followed up quickly with a kick to Tsunayoshi's gut, making the assassin fly backwards, crashing into the wall. Several adorned knifes flew through the dust cloud stirred up by the crash-impact. Tsunayoshi didn't take long to stumble out of the dust cloud, coughing out blood with the same blank face as he pulled out the knives stuck in random parts of his body.
"He can still move…?!" G muttered in shock.
"Levi, you idiot!" Squalo growled. "Your lightning numbed that brat's nerves!"
"Nngh…!" Leviathan cringed.
Tsunayoshi stood, staring blankly at the Varia while his entire body was covered with countless of cuts and bruises.
Squalo growled, "Unless we wake him, this will never end." Squalo dashed forward, past both Leviathan and Lussuria with his sword arm at ready. He watched Fiamma closely, knowing that the assassin was fighting purely on instinct, and dodged under the punch Tsunayoshi threw. Squalo spun around immediately with an announcement of his attack. "Attaco di Squalo!" Squalo shouted. He swung his sword down, hitting Tsunayoshi's body with the back of his blade. The brunette staggered, the numbness attacking all his nerves, leaving him unable to move. "It's over, brat!" Squalo yelled.
Tsunayoshi coughed out blood as Squalo stabbed him through the side. Amber eyes widened, brightening ever so slightly as a hand, hanging in mid-air, started twitching in response. Narrowing his eyes, Squalo pulled out the sword horizontally, slicing through Tsunayoshi's body. As his eyes continued to brighten to a lighter shade, a scream tore itself from Tsunayoshi's throat. The Varia barely reacted, but the Vongola Guardians watched in shock as the brunette fell to the ground, a pool of blood rapidly expanding beneath him.
"Squalo! That was too much!" Lussuria cried.
Tsunayoshi tried to breath, but only succeeded in coughing out more blood. He grunted as he tried to get up. Supporting himself on his elbows and slowly lifting his body, Tsunayoshi winced when more blood splattered out of his wound, joining the pool of blood on the ground.
"He's… still… trying to… get up…?" Giotto gasped unbelievingly.
"Fiamma-chan, stay down." Lussuria instructed. "Even if it's you, you'll still die…!"
"From the… very moment… I knew Varia was here… to protect… Giotto di Vongola… I knew I would die here…" Tsunayoshi gave a broken chuckle. "If I don't die here… I'll only die… back at Gesso… It… makes no difference… to me…"
"But–"
"–That's… the fate… of a Gesso… assassin…" Tsunayoshi interrupted. "Every… single one of us… is a tool… A tool… he uses to kill… If a tool gets rusty… all you have to do is throw it away… and replace it with a newer… better one… I'm… easily replaceable…"
"Oi, Fiamma." Squalo called. "Why work so hard for that bastard? Given your strength, going solo is no problem for you."
Tsunayoshi gritted his teeth as another wave of pain hit him. "He… Master… took away everything… every single thing… that I held dear… I have… nothing left…" He was struggling to even stay on his hands and knees. His body was shaking from the effort and blood from the wound has yet to stop splattering onto the ground.
"You're an idiot, Fiamma." Xanxus grunted. "I'm feeling merciful today, trash. Give up and we won't beat the hell out of you."
"A little… late for that… isn't it…? Squalo already tried… to clean out my innards, you know…" Tsunayoshi smirked, wincing a little when he felt the expanding pool of blood coat the palms of his hands. He glanced down and stared at the blood. 'Squalo's Tranquility, huh. That explains why my innards still feel like they're going to fall out.'
Meanwhile, Giotto was in shock over the conversation they just heard. He glanced over at Tsunayoshi. 'How… How can he talk about his own life like its nothing…?' Giotto frowned. 'This bitterness coming from him… It's overwhelming…'
"Besides…" Tsunayoshi continued, "…You want me… to give up…?" The brunette laughed. Very slowly, Tsunayoshi got up from the ground. His legs were shaking, his body was hunched over in pain, but he stood, staring resolutely at the Varia. "…You should know… I'd rather die… than give up."
"You want me to kill you, trash…?!" Xanxus narrowed his eyes.
"Maybe, maybe not." Tsunayoshi answered. "But I know one thing…" The brunette closed his eyes tiredly, "Even if… even if I despise my job… I still have my pride as an assassin."
Xanxus stared at him with an unreadable look in his eyes. "…Fine." Xanxus said finally.
"Xanxus." Squalo narrowed his eyes.
"Since this trash wants to die, why not grant his wish?" Xanxus spoke. "There is no other way we can ensure the Vongola's safety, in any case."
Tsunayoshi glanced at Xanxus, his eyes softening for a split moment. When the leader of the Varia gave a barely visible nod in reply; Tsunayoshi knew his hidden plea had been understood and answered. Xanxus strolled towards Tsunayoshi, charging up his gun as he did so. Hazel eyes met blood red as Xanxus stopped beside Tsunayoshi, pointing his gun at the brunette's face. Without any hesitation, Xanxus fired the gun. Tsunayoshi closed his eyes, waiting for the impact.
…But it never came.
Tsunayoshi was certain he heard the sound of Xanxus' gun firing, but he also heard a small explosion happening right in front of him. Before he could open his eyes to see, he was knocked out by a well-placed blow to the back of his head. As the last of his consciousness faded away, the very last thing Tsunayoshi remembered was falling into a familiar set of arms, a wave of nostalgia washing over him.
"Voiii! What's the meaning of this?!" Squalo demanded, glaring at the man in front of them.
The man who knocked out Tsunayoshi and was currently cradling the unconscious brunette almost protectively in his arms wore a hooded cloak with the hood up, the cloak parting to reveal the man wearing a black suit underneath. The shadow of the hood completely shielded his face from view, though the Varia were well-aware who they were dealing with.
"My order was to 'stop Fiamma from killing Giotto di Vongola'. Not kill Fiamma, Superbi Squalo." The man growled lowly.
Xanxus sneered, "You know this better than anyone else; the reason why Fiamma is so successful." Xanxus narrowed his eyes. "It's because he doesn't fear death. He welcomes it. Fiamma is an assassin that seeks death."
The man nodded. "Unfortunately, this idiot seems to believe that death is the only redemption for his sins." He shifted the unconscious Tsunayoshi in his arms and glanced down at the brunette. "…That's the end of your job. You'll get your paychecks tomorrow."
The man walked over to one of the broken windows and stepped out, disappearing into the darkness thereafter.
A/N: It think it's pretty obvious who the man is. ;) I hope the action scene is satisfactory. That's all for this time. Ciao Ciao~