Well, enjoy...

Since that day after the incident, Tsuna and his friends got back to Namimori early. The next day, all guardians assembled at Sasagawa household, even Hibari and Mukuro were there. The only one wasn't there was only one person.

"We can't just sit tight here. We have to do something about this" Gokudera spoke.

"I agree, but where's Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked.

It was Reborn who answered. "He's at the hospital. Just let him having a private time"

With oxygen mask and some medical equipment, Haru didn't open her eyes since then. Tsuna never stepped out of the room ever since she was taken there. He kept sitting next to her bed while eyeing on her sleeping face. It was saddening to see her in that condition. It torn his heart apart, it was a really painful feelings.

"Hey, Haru. If you can hear me… if this will change a thing… if… if this will prevent you from getting hurt… I want to tell you that I've been in love with you since a year ago. I don't know why the sudden love, but that's what I feel. Anyway, do we need a reason to love someone?" he smiled amusingly, trying to lighten up the situation and himself, but failed. The smile slowly disappeared.

"I don't need a reason to love you. I've been blinded by my own eyes. You're my real sunshine, the one that keeps me alive, the reason that I agree to become the boss… in order to protect you, but… how can I be a boss when I can't even protect you?" he stopped briefly and balled his hands.

"I lied to everyone and toyed with Kyoko-chan's feelings so that everyone will think I still like her and you'll be safe. As much as I don't like hurting her feelings, I must. I may sometimes curse myself of having accepted the role, but that wasn't meant for you. It was meant for me and only me. Our time together runs short, Haru. I won't be seeing you again once I move to Italy, but that way, I believe you'll be safe" again, another brief stop, but this time, he caressed her cheek gently.

"Haru, I love you so much. So, please… please wake up. I missed your smile, your 'hahi', I don't care whether you're sometimes annoying. I want you here with me. I'm not asking for anything else. Just your smile would do. Actually... it's kind of dilemma for me. I want you to stay by my side, but I... I can't bring you to Italy"

"It's okay if you don't love me back… it's okay if you don't remember me. All that matters is that you're safe. I beg you…"

"Come back to me, Haru… please…"

"I will sacrifice everything I have... even the Vongola, just... for you to wake up... so..."

His voice was shaking. His eyes grew teary, but his pride wouldn't let him cry. He touched his temple with hers and closed his eyes in hurtful face, hoping that when he opened his eyes, she would open her eyes too. But fate had another thing for them. When he opened his eyes, she didn't open her eyes. He knew it wasn't possible to hope for that, but he really wanted her to open her eyes, tell him that she was okay.

He sighed as he peeled away from her. "What am I doing? I'm all messed up" he gripped his hair with his two hands, perhaps over the stress or desperation. All of the sudden, his phone rang and he picked it up.

"Tsuna, I give you enough time, didn't I? We need you here this instant. Don't worry, I'll ask Bianchi and Fuuta to take care of her"

"Okay. I'm coming" he hung up. Then, he removed her oxygen mask and kissed her lips. "I love you, Haru" he put the mask back.

With setting his eyes on her for the last time, he left the quiet room.

Just as he got there, Gokudera immediately set foot in front of him.

"Juudaime! Why did you spare that woman?"

"Tsuna, she's the real owner. I don't know much about it, but she's dangerous" Dino spoke.

"I know, but we can't just jump to the conclusion. By the way, where is she?"

"She's inside her room" Reborn said. "And we have to lock her in"

"Kyoko is nothing like that!" as usual, the brother defended his precious sister.

"Just like onii-san say, she's not capable of doing such feat. What if this is a trap from the real owner? What if it's an illusion?"

"Mukuro. You've watched the video, right? What do you think?" Reborn set his eyes on the pineapple hair guy who was leaning against a wall.

"Oya, oya. You bring me here just for this? What I think isn't important, but I'm positive it wasn't an illusion" he answered with his usual smile.

"No, it has to be an illusion!" again, Ryohei screamed his lungs out.

"Calm down, senpai. You've listen from the expert, you've seen the video"

"I won't let anyone harm her!"

"Your sister or all humans in the world. Which is it, Ryohei? This may not be a small scale. She could do worst deeds, more than Byakuran" Reborn's words twitched him.

"If she stays alive, many people will die" Dino added.

"I won't let anyone lay a finger on her!"

"It's hard for everyone, even me, but she will find a way to get the Mare ring if we let her live" Chrome spoke.

"I don't care what the reason is. I won't let Kyoko die! Don't you like her, Sawada? I know you do!"

"I…"

"Tsuna doesn't like her anymore"

"Reborn! How did you…"

"You can hide it from Iemitsu, but not from your tutor" he smirked.

"K-Know about what, Reborn-san?"

Elsewhere in the hospital, in one particular room where only one person resided inside with a doctor and a nurse, the unwanted and the unexpected would bring about the reality, the dark truth.

"Amazing…"

"What is it, doctor?"

"She's stabilizing, despite the fatal wound. Normal people should've been dead. We should let her rest more"

"Okay"

As the doctor and the nurse left, as if on cue, the one who was known as Miura Haru, the sleeping girl abruptly opened her eyes and whispered one name.

"…Byakuran..."

"Tsuna has been in love with Haru for the past one year"

"EEHH?" the shocking face on everyone was seen, except for the calm Mukuro and Hibari.

"So, you decided to kill Kyoko because of that? That's… extremely wrong, Sawada" Ryohei balled his fists, trying to submerge his anger.

"Tsuna hasn't made up his mind, Ryohei. Tsuna, you have 3 hours to decide whether she has to be killed or not" Reborn spoke solemnly.

"I'm not interested in participate in this troublesome event, but if you can't kill her, then allow me" Hibari let out his tonfa.

"Oi, oi. She's our friend. Why she has to be killed?" Yamamoto said.

"There's no other way and she's not a part of us anymore. We'll leave you think about this, Tsuna" Reborn spoke sternly, indicating that it was a matter of life and death.

With that said, Mukuro and Hibari left the house, except for the others who were waiting for those 3 hours. Ryohei wanted to comfort his sister, but he knew better he wasn't allowed to. Some part of him felt she had to die, but the brotherly side of him didn't allow that. Tsuna was stuck between the two choices, however he wasn't the soft Tsuna anymore. He also considered the fact he would kill if he became a boss, though it was the thing he wanted to avoid the most.

Reborn looked very serious, so he didn't dare to even question about killing her. But he was given the history about Mare from his ancestor and he knew very well that someone like that had to die. 10 minutes later and without anyone looking, he unlocked Kyoko's room and entered her room.

"Tsuna-kun, you have to believe me! They were dead when I arrived!" she abruptly rose up from her bed.

"…"

"Tsuna-kun!"

"It's okay, Kyoko-chan" he gently pushed Kyoko down to sit on bed and then he drank his pills. Sky flame emitted on his forehead and gloves had been equipped.

"Tsuna…-kun?"

"...I'm sorry" his hand was stretched to her and began to emit flame.

"Juudaime!"

He stopped and returned to normal as he heard the familiar male voice.

"Where are you?"

Tsuna opened the door and then met Gokudera.

"What is it?"

"It's Haru! She's gone! Anyway, please come with me!"

Gokudera and Tsuna ran downstairs to see Bianchi and Fuuta on the living room. Everyone, even Reborn looked more serious as they heard everything from them.

"We should postpone this and search her" Tsuna said.

"Not necessarily" Reborn smiled proudly.

"Eh?"

"Sorry we didn't tell you, Tsuna. Reborn had anticipated this would happen, so we put a transceiver on her attire. And right now…" Dino began looking at the phone-like tracking device. "She's at the park, but she seems moving around"

So, they scampered their way there, but what they expected to see was contradict to reality. No one didn't bulge their eyes as Haru stood amongst the 5 corpses and one familiar sword on her hand.

"Why…" Tsuna's eyes were quivering. It was too much of a shock for him.

"This world doesn't need any pitiful humans like them, just like the ones at Kyoto. I killed them the same way as I killed these maggots"

"Do lives mean anything to you?" everyone was caught in surprise as Tsuna screamed and went on hyper mode without drinking the pill.

"What? People will die eventually, so why would they have to wait when they can just settle in now?" she looked at the corpses sharply.

"You… who—" Tsuna's words were cut by a shot that came from behind, but circulating chains shielded her.

"Reborn! What did you do?"

"Your hyper mode activated on its own, then deep within your conscious, you know what this means. She's no longer Haru. Most likely, she's the real owner"

"You've got guts, Reborn" suddenly, a chain appeared above him and strangled him.

That left the others no choice but to attack her. All she did was standing at her spot while her chains knocked and tied them, but she didn't touch Tsuna. He watched his friends got knocked out and he couldn't stand that horrible sight, although she didn't kill them.

"Stop it!" Tsuna dashed towards her and raised his fist against her, but she blocked it with her sword.

He kept punching and punching, but none hit her. Knowing how effortless it was, he backed away and charged flames on his both hands. She stood still at the moment, as if waiting for him to do it. But as he was charging the flame output and as he looked at her, her sad face suddenly popped into his head. He couldn't afford to hurt her.

"Tch" with closed upset eyes, the flames gradually wore off and then he lowered his hands. "…I can't do it"

"Tsuna, watch out!" Reborn's voice snapped him and made him opened his eyes abruptly. But as he opened it, chains arose from the ground and chained his whole body, causing him to fall on two knees. In a blink of an eye, she appeared suddenly in front of him with a gun that was pointed to his forehead.

All she had to do was to pull the trigger and then she would be free from her bound. But strangely, she didn't and her hand was trembling. To everyone's surprise, she started gripping her chest and screamed painfully. In the end, there was nothing they could've done. Haru collapsed and the chains disappeared.

The night starry sky which was used to be a symbolism of peaceful night was now shattered by the little event called inversion. Kyoko was set free, but Haru was taken to an underground lab made by Spanner and Giannini. Not just that, they both made advance medical tech to restrain her personality. There, she was lying on a certain bed with EEG equipment that was placed on her forehead. Inside that room, Tsuna and Reborn were there.

"The issue has changed. She must've tricked us to think that Kyoko is the owner" Reborn spoke solemnly.

"Why? Kyoko-chan is her best friend"

"That's exactly why she scapegoated her. I heard from Lal; She has a trait of a natural psychopath"

"But that's…"

"Hm? Seems that Vongola primo told you more, didn't he?" Tsuna didn't answer, just hung his head low while staring at Haru. "I won't ask anything. I'll leave you here" Reborn walked his tiny feet towards outside.

"Reborn" he called and the sun arcobaleno stopped. "I can't kill her"

"I know" Reborn replied without looking back. "Whatever you choose, you have to trust your choice and don't regret it. But know this, once she opens her eyes, she's no longer a part of us" he looked back a bit and then left the room.

As soon as Reborn left, Haru woke up and slowly rose her body up. Tsuna sighed in relief seeing her, but his expression turned solemn as he remembered what he truly came for.

"Haru. Are you…"

"It's me, Tsuna-san"

"Good. Haru, listen to me. If I don't kill you, they will. I won't let you be killed, so let's go" he grabbed her both arms gingerly.

"…Where?"

"Anywhere from here, you and I. I'll keep you safe"

"…What about your family? Would you neglect them?"

"If that's what it takes to save you"

"…I can't"

"What?" he bewildered.

"…Kill me"

"What? No, there's a way!"

"No, there isn't…"

"Don't give up! Think about the people, their call for you! Everyone would be sad. Do you want that?"

"That's all I've been thinking about! You and everyone!" she suddenly burst up, but regained her calm afterwards. "Many lives will be saved if I die"

"No! You won't save mine if you die"

"Just kill me!" she shut her eyes.

"Stop it!"

As Tsuna said it, she abruptly opened her eyes. With brute force, she pushed him to the wall. So hard that it cracked the wall and Tsuna lost consciousness.

The underground lab was far away from the surface, so neither Reborn nor anyone heard the noise. It took them half an hour to realize something was wrong. Dino and Reborn found out the shocking sight as Tsuna was found unconscious. Dino tried to wake him up, but Reborn kicked the passed out boy in the face that it managed to wake him up.

"Th… That really hurts. That's uncalled for, Reborn!" he shouted as he held onto his cheek.

"Where's Haru?" Reborn inquired.

"Ah, Dino-san! Do you bring that tracking device with you? Can you locate her whereabouts?"

"Got it" Dino brought out the device.

"Did she do that to you? What happened?" Reborn asked solemnly.

"…she just…"

"Got it" Dino cut in. "She's at her house"

"Okay. Dino, call the others. Tsuna, we'll go ahead"

With Reborn in command, Tsuna went to her house. The night was filled with intense and worries as he ran with Reborn on his shoulder while holding the device. He ran as fast as he could until he arrived at her quiet house. The door was opened, so they entered the house straightly. According to the device, she was at her room, therefore they hurriedly went there. But as they arrived, unfortunately her attire was left on floor with the transceiver.

"Juudaime/Tsuna!" he could hear his friends' voice at the same time and it began closer.

"Did you find her?" Yamamoto questioned, but seeing the looks on him, he didn't need an answer.

"There's one more place" Reborn spoke.

Thus, everyone followed Reborn and eventually they arrived at Namimori Island. For people who knew arcobaleno, they would surely think that they were the strongest seven, but there was always the stronger after the strongest and the sight of the injured arcobaleno proved that.

"Lal! What happened here?" Tsuna approached the corrupted arcobaleno, but she was unconscious.

"Why are you here?" Reborn questioned them as they tried to stand up with every bit of their remaining strength.

"Lal… she called us. She said there'll be a threat coming here to grab the rings" Colonnello spoke.

"But how did she know Haru would come here?" Tsuna asked as he was holding Lal.

"Because Lal was her tutor for a year. She knows almost everything about her" Reborn spoke.

"Was? Anyway, why is she the only one in this state? What happened?"

"She confronted Miura Haru alone when we got incapacitated. We didn't expect she would be this strong" Verde answered as he adjusted his cracked glasses.

"Juudaime!" Gokudera called from the cave. "The sky Mare ring… no, all of the rings are gone!"

"What…" Tsuna and everyone startled as they heard the word 'gone'. At the moment, Reborn's eyes were casted by the shadow of his fedora.

"Oi, Reborn. I think you should tell us. Why did she take the rings? Why her of all people?" Colonnello approached while wobbling, but Reborn didn't answer. He was at silence, having a thought to himself.

"This isn't the end. Fon is currently watching over Byakuran" Reborn finally spoke. "As I heard from the sky arcobaleno of another world, the new—no, the real owner needs to kill Byakuran in order to use the powers of the rings. The main struggle is at Italy and we can't do anything but hope"

Speak of the devil, a ringing sound was heard from Leon as he later on turned into a phone. "It must be him" Reborn picked it up and turned the speaker mode on. "How's the situation, Fon?"

"…I'm sorry, uncle Reborn"

"Yuni? Where's Fon?"

"He… can't talk with you for a while. He's… sleeping"

"Sleeping? What do you mean?"

"I… I'm truly sorry, uncle. We did everything we could, but she was too strong"

"Wait, you're parallel world Yuni, right? What do you mean by that? I've been unconscious for just half an hour? How could she get there so fast?" Tsuna joined the conversation.

"I forgot to tell it myself. The truth is, once she gets all the rings, she'll automatically teleported to Byakuran. I'm sorry…"

"So, what happened to Byakuran?" Reborn bluntly inquired.

"…"

Even with the silence they could tell that the situation had turned dire. Even if they had to search for her and get the rings back, Yuni stated it was too late. Once she got her hands on the rings and the successors of the rest of the rings, they could never find her whereabouts.

And that night… it was the last night of his life when Sawada Tsunayoshi could ever talk to Haru, the last night when he could see her as the illuminating Haru.

Note

It may take more time than usual to update the next chapter. Something unpleasant is happening to me and I don't even know what. Well, it's hard to explain. For short, something's wrong with me and that may delay the update time. I can only hope that I can recover soon in less than a week.

Ja, sayonara, minna