Chapter 4: An End to the Game: Sky Battle

The crack of gunfire cuts right through the night. One shot and then three more in quick succession.

Bright red blood splattered across the dirt, turning dark almost instantly. Bits of Hibari's bikaku hit the ground hard enough to spray blood.

Tsuna had seen, just seconds before, Xanxus approaching with the shine of gunmetal in his hand. He hadn't had enough time to get Hibari out of the way, but Hibari had been moving at the time. The first bullet had only caught kagune, which could easily grow back, but two of the other three struck home.

Tonfa smacked Tsuna's cheek without any weight behind it, the weapon following the predetermined motion of a hand and arm that was no longer attached to anything. Tsuna saw Hibari's eyes grow wide, wider than he'd ever seen them before. Shock wiped his expression clear of the narrowed determination he wore.

Tsuna couldn't look at that face. His eyes dropped down. There was another hole in Hibari's side, in the abdomen. The soft part of his body, between ribs and hipbone, was ripped out, the flesh burned by flame. Not burnt enough to stop him from bleeding, no. Not burnt enough to keep his organs from slipping out, no.

"Kyoya-" Tsuna whispered, reaching for him.

Hibari's eyes are no longer on him, either. They're staring at the ground.

Or rather, he's staring at his arm, which is on the ground. Detached from his body.

It's that Intuition that Reborn had told him about that makes Tsuna move next. He kicks off the ground, tackling Hibari backwards, just as another shot rings through the air and flame burns through the space where Hibari's head just was. They hit with a solid thump, Hibari too stunned, too shocked, to even try and brace himself. His head bounces. He lets out a whoosh of breath that's startlingly warm against Tsuna's cheek. Warm and wet. Flecked with blood.

He has to get Hibari something to eat, Tsuna knows this instantly. Something to stop the bleeding and something to eat and someone to get his arm and-

"The fuck are you doing, trash? Are you really protecting the ghoul that was trying to kill you?"

Xanxus.

Hibari's eyes meet his and he bares his teeth. His gums are bloody, his teeth too, his lips flecked with foamy, frothy blood. He's breathing it. He shouldn't be, Tsuna knows, that second shot was too low, wasn't it? Wasn't it? Fuck. He's not sure. "Bite him," Hibari says. His voice is as soft as his breath. "Bite him."

Tsuna leans in and presses a kiss to Hibari's cheek. He gets snapped at, snarled at, but he doesn't care if it's not the place to kiss.

(Violence is reserved for fights. Affection is reserved for moments of respite. Violence could be displayed publicly, to assert dominance. Affection was to be shared privately, to preserve intimacy. Tsuna knows these rules as well as he knows what kind of meat Hibari likes best and as well as he knows the feel of Hibari's hands on his skin.)

Tsuna kisses his cheek because he has to, he must. If he doesn't, he'll hate himself forever if Hibari doesn't survive. "Kyoya," he whispers. "Don't die."

"Bite. Him." Is Hibari's only response, his teeth snapping together as if Tsuna needs a tutorial on how to fucking bite a human.

Tsuna bares his teeth in reply. He rises to his feet, flames blazing, and turns to face Xanxus. "I've won the ring battles," He snarled, taking a step forward to keep himself between Xanxus and Hibari. "You had no business interfering like that."

"No business, huh," Xanxus said, drawing his second gun. He had them both trained towards Tsuna, though one was slightly lower, clearly aiming for Hibari still. "Seeing you dead wasn't exactly my plan, trash."

"Oh please," Tsuna lifted his fists, "You don't care about whether I live or die."

"You're right," Xanxus remarked, "I don't. But there is someone who does and he will give me anything I want when he hears I saved your ass from being a ghoul's lunch."

"Who is that?"

"Your father."

Tsuna actually lowered his fists. He blinked in surprise, his concentration flickering like the flames he had summoned. "My father? What does he have to do with any of this? I mean, I know he's involved in the Vongola business- He picked out my lightning guardian for me- but what about the rest of it?"

"How fucking clueless are you?" Xanxus asked, "You were chosen by my father to succeed him as the Decimo, although he had to send Reborn to clean you up and beat you into a proper mafioso. Your father is the one who sent me, begging for me to take the ring and keep you from throwing your life away to the Vongola family and its troubles." He sneered, his lip pulling up, and spat on the ground. "As if any civilian scum like you could ever run a family like the Vongola."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes as little pieces of information fit into place. He hadn't understood why his father had chosen Lambo- except if the man wanted him to lose that match, of course choosing a five year old to fight would have been the wisest choice. (Which, Tsuna realized with a start, meant Iemitsu had sent a five year old against a known assassin, anticipating their death.)

The rest of his guardians had been either his choice or contacted for him by Reborn. Iemitsu had even come back to try and talk Tsuna out of running around learning to fight with Reborn and the others-

As if he didn't understand that Tsuna had learned how to fight years ago. His mother wouldn't have let him be helpless, not him, not her little Tsu-kun. He was her pride, her joy, her miracle.

And then Reborn had come to make him the heir apparent and Nono had chosen him-

Nono had sent those rings-

Only to have his own father choose Xanxus instead?

"So…" Tsuna asked, turning this information over quickly in his head, "You're only here because my dad asked you to? I'm surprised."

"Yeah? Why is that?"

"You don't seem like the type to do something like this just because someone asked you to nicely."

Xanxus blinked for a second, in silence, and then began to laugh. He really let himself laugh, tipping his head back and lifting one hand to press the heel to his temple, his gun aimed up into the air. "Really! And you know just what type of man I am?"

Tsuna licked his lips and smiled. "Why, of course I do. It's all in your scent." He took a couple of quick steps forwards. Instantly, Xanxus had his guns aimed at Tsuna. Both of them this time. Hibari hadn't moved since they had started talking and no longer appeared to be a threat.

"You owe me an arm and a lot of blood," Tsuna said, lifting his fists to either side. His flame flared with his conviction as he spoke, "I promised to take a bite out of you for Hibari, and, when it comes to one of my friends, Xanxus, I always keep my promises."

"Come and try it, trash," Xanxus snarled, "I'll get my revenge on Iemitsu through you one way or another. I'm not that fucking picky."

With that, Tsuna flung himself into battle. He immediately took off to the side, putting as much distance between himself and Hibari as he could. He had to give that space so the others could help with Hibari's wounds.

Once he had forced Xanxus to turn away from Hibari to keep Tsuna in his sights, he pivoted on his toes and went right at him. His blood was rushing in his ears. His flames were burning bright, almost blinding on his fists. A whisper of fore-knowledge, like a cool touch on his skin or a soft monotone voice in the back of his head, told Tsuna that his Hyper Intuition was alight as well. It felt like a second being inside of his blood, deep in his bones like a brain that belonged to his muscles, not his conscious thought.

Briefly, as he ducked under the flaming trail of Xanxus's shots, Tsuna thought of Chrome, who had shown up early that morning at his house, bloodied from her hunting with Ryouhei and shivering. He had asked her to come by, so he could talk to her one on one, and had discovered that, unlike his other ghoulish friends, she had once been human. Fully human.

The way she talked about the ghoul hunger inside of her body reminded Tsuna of the way his Intuition felt. Not quite like someone else was there, inside of him, but like a part of his body belonged to something more. Something greater.

Tsuna had felt like that for a while now. That he belonged to something more. That he was destined for something greater. Reborn had certainly told him that was the case, those months ago when he appeared at his house for the first time. Mafia boss, was what Reborn was attempting to style him into. Tsuna wasn't so sure about that.

Tsuna knocked aside one of Xanxus's bullets and twisted his body to simultaneously bring himself closer to Xanxus and to also avoid another shot.

Reborn was honest, surprisingly so, with what he wanted from Tsuna. Find your guardians. Defeat the Varia and get the rings. Become the Vongola Decimo. Maybe it was that honesty in his goals that had lead him to be honest about the Vongola and their bloody history- not just with ghouls but in dealings with some of the other famiglias.

If he knew what Tsuna was planning, now that he had that information, he probably wouldn't have been so forthcoming.

Tsuna was close enough that he could smell Xanxus's sweat, the salt of it almost overpowering the sweetness of his flesh. Xanxus was focused, his eyes following Tsuna, his guns following the path of his eyes. He was bringing one down and in, ready to tuck it under Tsuna's chin and blow his damn head off.

But Tsuna was quick. And he was hungry.

He put a foot on Xanxus's knee, using it as a support as he reached up with his hands. He didn't punch, no, not yet and that alien in his bones told him how to move his arms so that Xanxus's head jerk brought him into reach, not out of it. He gripped Xanxus by the chin with one hand and by the shirt collar with the other. "This is for Kyoya," he whispered, almost in Xanxus's ear.

Just as he felt the barrel of the gun press against the soft skin under his chin, Tsuna snapped his teeth together over bare flesh.

He yanked his head back as Xanxus's finger pulled the trigger. Flame burned as it seared past his own cheek and ear, turning a chunk of his hair into char and turning his skin red and blistering. Tsuna didn't care.

Xanxus's blood was an explosion of flavor in his mouth. He pushed off of the man, hitting the ground awkwardly and falling to his knee because of it. Tsuna chewed the small bit of flesh he'd snatched slowly. He had to savor it. Because, god, Xanxus tasted better than he smelled.

Tsuna swallowed slowly. He licked his lips, tasting blood on them, and shivered. He brought up one hand, covering his mouth, covering the drool that dripped when he opened his mouth to pant for breath.

"Fuck!" Xanxus was shouting, "What the fuck was that!?" He took several steps back, eyes wide now, staring at Tsuna.

Looking up, Tsuna's eyes focused immediately on Xanxus's neck. Blood dripped down from where Tsuna had bitten off a chunk of his ear. It was red, so dark and so red, and he couldn't look away.

"Your eyes-" Xanxus wasn't shouting anymore. He took another step back. "What the fuck is wrong with your eyes?"

Tsuna blinked once, slowly. It took a moment of actual concentration before he was aware of what had happened. His vision hadn't changed much, as using his flames often augmented his vision in the same way as his ghoulish eye. But of course he was reacting to the mouthful of blood he'd gotten. Of course he was reacting to the heady scent of Xanxus's blood in the air.

Tsuna got to his feet. He swallowed back more saliva so he could speak. "Nothing is wrong with them," he said.

"It's like that girl," Xanxus said. "You have one ghoul eye. That's… What the fuck is that? What the fuck is this place? What kind of bullshit ghoul experiments are you running in this fucking town?" His voice rose as he tossed out questions. His guns were up, trained on Tsuna. His arms were shaking, ever so slightly.

"I'm not an experiment," Tsuna said. He slid a foot forward, slinking down into a crouch. "I'm a goddamn miracle." His eyes focused again on Xanxus's neck and the blood drying there.

He was glad he'd worn such a loose shirt when his rinkaku burst from his back. Xanxus shot at him, but Tsuna was done holding back. His hunger opened within him like a gaping dark pit, lined with teeth all the way down, and Xanxus was the ideal snack. His flames could only manifest at his fists, but he had never needed them to fight before.

Before Reborn, Tsuna's rinkaku had been all he needed to take down his prey. After Reborn, Tsuna's fists were useful as propulsion, jettisoning him across the distance between him and Xanxus. Even with the terror that Tsuna could smell in the air, not all of it coming from Xanxus, but certainly he was the closest source, he didn't back down. Tsuna grinned at him.

"No wonder Kyoya wanted to fight you," Tsuna said as Xanxus slipped out of his reach and flames tore at his clothing, burned his skin again. "You're absolutely a carnivore. And with your back against the wall, you're vicious."

He narrowly dodged another shot, felt the pain race up from his rinkaku, and winced. Yet, Tsuna pressed on, harrying Xanxus backwards, farther off the field, closer towards the buildings. He could heal later. He would shed the burned skin once he fed properly and rested at home.

"What a fucking hypocrite," Xanxus snarled. His anger was a sharp scent that cut through the fear. Tsuna stumbled, sucking in a deep breath because Xanxus pissed off was far more delicious than Xanxus afraid.

Tsuna blinked, "Eh?"

"Your father." Xanxus spat, "Is a goddamn hypocrite."

"I… don't get it?" Tsuna asked, hesitating. "What do you mean?"

"I've met the man," Xanxus said, "I know he's a damn human. But you, you're his kid. He's talked endlessly about his adorable little Tuna fish, his son. I've seen pictures of you as little snot nose brat. Pictures of you and your mother, in fact."

"...And?" Tsuna asked, edging to the side. They were nearly off the field now. There was a narrow gap between the sport shed and the school building that he had to make sure Xanxus didn't escape between. The shed was liable to collapse under their fighting, unless Tsuna could use his rinkaku to-

"He loathes ghouls," Xanxus said. He shifted his feet, bracing himself, eyeing Tsuna. Clearly, he expected an attack while he was talking. "When I took over the Varia, I started letting them in as long as they swore not to feed on anyone in the group. I had about twenty good members when he found out what I was doing.

"Twenty ghouls that swore to work for me. Twenty ghouls that I swore to lead. And your bastard of a father said that the Vongola would pull all of its backing, all of its support, and abandon the Varia if I didn't get rid of them." Xanxus's lips twisted in a snarl, baring his teeth like a lion as he shouted, "But it wasn't enough to kick them out, oh no. He wanted them dead."

Tsuna's skin crawled at those words. His stomach clenched like he'd swallowed a mouthful of human food. "...what?"

Xanxus gestured with his gun as he spoke, moving it from side to side in the air, as if he were taking twenty invisible shots. "One right after the other, all in a line. I executed twenty of my men because of him. Shooting them wasn't enough, either. He had one of his fucking subordinates take off their heads and burn the bodies, too.

"He watched the whole time. Watched me line them up. Watched me shoot them. Watched them be beheaded. Watched their bodies burn." Xanxus narrowed his eyes, "And then, when it was all said and done, he turned to that little blue eyed fucker that calls him 'Master' and said, 'I'm famished. What should we have for dinner?'"

Tsuna lowered his fists. His flame died out, fading as his horror rose. "He… he did that?" His rinkaku shrank back, responding to the chill he felt to circle protectively around himself.

"Oh?" Xanxus smirked, "You didn't have any idea, did you? What kind of monster your human father was."

"Would they have-" Tsuna shuddered, "Would they really have discarded the Varia over twenty ghouls?" He gestured absently towards their onlookers, from where Reborn watched, "Reborn told me some about the Vongola's hunting of the ghouls. He told me how they fight against each other. He told me that it's because of ghouls that I'm in this mess. Ghouls killed all of Nono's sons, except for you."

"Yes. They would have. The Vongola allow for no ghouls in their association. Even families allied with them must have nothing to do with ghouls." Xanxus took a step towards Tsuna, sneering, "This is what your father made me do. This is what he has to pay for."

Tsuna closed his eyes, looking away.

"That's the organization that you're going to be leader of," Xanxus said. His voice was harsh and sank into Tsuna's mind like ice water. Tsuna felt the rasping scale of his own rinkaku against his bare arms. "The moment you and your guardians step into that world, your lives will be in danger. If even a single Vongola member discovers your secret, they will call for your blood."

Tsuna reached up to the ring half he had hanging from a chain around his neck. He took a deep breath and let it out, slowly. His back flexed as he pulled his rinkaku back. Opening his eyes, he looked up to Xanxus. "Why did you do this, then? What is my father giving you in exchange for this ring and title?"

Xanxus laughed. "His life."

"...Eh?" Tsuna's jaw dropped. "But… but you can't...have that."

"What do you mean? Once I'm Decimo, he won't really have a choice in the matter."

"No, I mean," Tsuna shifted uncertainly. "My dad doesn't have body rights to himself. I mean, uh, look. In Namimori-" He stopped as Xanxus, putting one of his guns away, put up his hand.

"No no, Squalo explained this. Are you telling me that there's a ghoul that owns Iemitu's fucking body? Does he even know about that?"

"Well, yes? He should." Tsuna winced at Xanxus's glare. "He married my mother? And she's… she's a ghoul. His life belongs to her. If you wanted to kill him, you'd have to talk to her first."

"Your mother…" Xanxus stared at him. "What?"

"Look," Tsuna said. He walked over to Xanxus, pausing a moment when Xanxus glared at him. "Just, I have an idea. Will you hear me out?"

"I can hear you just fine while you're over there." Xanxus gestured him back with his gun. "Stay over there."

Tsuna put up his hands. "Yeah, you and everyone else. Will you let me closer, Xanxus? To keep this private." He glanced to the side, trying to indicate that he didn't exactly want to be overheard.

Xanxus ground his teeth audibly. "Tch. Fine." He shoved his other gun into its holster. He gestured for Tsuna to come closer.

Tsuna did. "Look, you want to kill my dad, right?" He leaned in, whispering. Xanxus bent down to hear him better. "But if you do it without my mom's permission, you'll only get her pissed off at you."

"We're talking about your dad here. Don't you care about his life?"

Tsuna blinked at him, "Before I saw him three weeks ago, the last time I saw my dad was four years ago. So, no, actually. I don't really care. Especially when he treats ghouls that way. It really is better for everyone if he never comes back again."

"...You are one cold hearted kid," Xanxus muttered. "But fine. So I've got to talk to your mom? I can do that. What do you get out of this?"

Tsuna ducked his head, pulling the necklace off from around his neck. He held it out to Xanxus. "Take the ring and the title. I never wanted to be Decimo."

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Reborn was watching, not just watching but paying attention. Tsuna glanced over to see the baby holding his gun.

Quickly, Tsuna stepped up into Xanxus's space. He grabbed his wrist and pulled, ignoring Xanxus's shout of "hey!". He pushed the ring into his palm. "Take it," Tsuna pleaded. "This will only get me and my friends killed and I refuse to do that to them. I won't let them die."

His Intuition screamed at him and Tsuna jumped forward, tackling Xanxus to the ground. Reborn's shot rang out over their heads. "Shit," Tsuna hissed.

"Off," Xanxus snapped.

Tsuna couldn't speak. His eyes had caught sight of Xanxus's bitten ear. His nose had caught a whiff of his drying blood. His fingers caught in Xanxus's shirt and he couldn't move.

"Off!" Xanxus shouted, but instead of shoving, he rolled. There was another crack of a gun and Tsuna, underneath Xanxus now, took in a sharp breath.

That did not help things. Tsuna could almost taste the iron in the air. He couldn't even blink.

Xanxus spat out a curse and turned, "The fuck is wrong with you, Reborn?"

"Those were just warning shots," The baby said, approaching slowly. "The next won't be. Give Tsuna your half of the ring, Xanxus. He and his guardians won four matches of seven. Your fight with him was a non-regulated fight. It doesn't count."

"This is between me and the brat-" Xanxus began but the words choked off when Tsuna moved underneath him.

Tsuna, almost hypnotized, pushed himself up on one elbow. He put his mouth to Xanxus's neck, licking up the blood that had gone tacky. He made it almost to Xanxus's ear before the man jerked back while shoving him back to the ground with one hand. Tsuna panted, staring up at him, saliva filling his mouth. "Why?" he asked, "Why do you taste so good?"

Xanxus grunted. He batted away Tsuna's hand when he reached up for him and then leveled a glare at Reborn. "Is this really what my father wants? A ghoul for Decimo? Ghouls for guardians?"

"Tsuna is only half-ghoul," Reborn said. "And the Vongola will follow their leader. Timoteo chose him for this path and sent me to assure he succeeded."

"I don't-" Tsuna said. "I don't want it." He tried to sit up but Xanxus pushed him down again. Without resorting to his ghoulish strength, Tsuna was easily pinned. "I don't want to be Decimo. I never did."

"There is no one else," Reborn said. "Xanxus has the Varia and turned Nono down when he was first asked. You're the only one, Tsuna. And you're going to be Decimo."

"Never," Tsuna bared his teeth at Reborn. "These ring battles nearly killed Lambo and Gokudera. Hibari lost his arm. I don't even know if he's going to survive! I refuse to be Decimo. You can't make me anymore, Reborn. I've already given the ring to Xanxus."

"You don't have a choice, Tsunayoshi," Reborn said. "You will become the Decimo."

"Will not." Tsuna said, grinning.

Xanxus rolled his eyes, "Don't be stupid, trash. Nono picked you and sent Reborn to train you. It's not like he doesn't know about you being a half-ghoul, though I think he'd really have to see it to believe it. You're not going to get out of this. I'm not going to be able to give you an out."

Tsuna's smile fell away. The little whispering of his Intuition went quiet. Deeper in his bones, his hunger gnawed at him. He looked up at Xanxus and held his gaze. "Oh," he said, "But you are."

He moved quickly, not pushing to get out from under Xanxus, but sliding down, farther beneath him. Xanxus was tall, much taller than he was, but was only holding him down with that hand to his chest. Tsuna wriggled down between his legs until he could reach the gun holster at his hip. He grabbed one and pulled it out. It felt heavy, unfamiliar, but warm to the touch.

How had Xanxus used this? Filled it with his flames of wrath and shot with that? Tsuna could do that. Maybe not with any wrath, but certainly the strength of his own flames would be enough. Xanxus grabbed for his arm, but Tsuna twisted, putting his shoulder up and deflecting with his empty hand.

The barrel of the gun pressed hard against his ribcage. "Xanxus," he said, his breath coming out in a rush, "Make sure Hibari gets a bite of me. He'll need it to heal."

"Tsuna-" one of them started.

Tsuna didn't listen. He simply smiled and pulled the trigger.

There was flame and there was light, something bright orange and burning. Tsuna felt strangely at peace, almost like he was part of something bigger than himself, and that something was as big and as encompassing as the sky. He wanted to smile, to laugh. He couldn't though.

God, but it was hard to breathe without lungs.

Hard to think, too, without blood.

But as the light faded, as everything faded, he smelled something sweet and that same sweetness was still on his lips.

What was it?

What was it?

That's right. Blood.

Good stuff, that blood. He'd love another taste.

Tsuna slumped over, his body crumpled around the gun and exhaled both from his lips and the gaping hole in his chest.

Ryouhei pounds across the ground the moment Tsuna takes the fight to Xanxus. His bag thumps against his side, a heavy weight, and he's cursing himself for only bringing bottles of blood. That won't do much, won't be enough, to get Kyoya back to normal.

He reaches his best friend's side in seconds, dropping down to his knees beside him. "Hey," he says, reaching for his face. "Hey, look at me."

Kyoya's eyes open slowly, first a crack and then a little larger. There was drying blood on his lips and more of it in his mouth when he opened his mouth to speak. A wheezing breath and then, "Ryo...hei…"

Ryouhei sighs in relief. "It's me. I'm here. Don't worry. Tsuna's taking care of that extreme asshole. I'm going to help you with your arm."

Kyoya's head moves over to the side. His skin is paler than normal from bloodloss. Ryouhei doesn't spare a moment to brush the hair out of his face. Instead, he turns and reaches for Kyouya's arm.

To his surprise, Chrome is kneeling beside him, holding it out. "Here," She said quietly. "How can I help?"

"We're going to try and reattach it," Ryouhei said. He pulled back the sleeve from the detached arm. Doing the same to the sleeve on his shoulder, he lay the arm down, lining it up with the torso. With that done, Ryouhei closed his eyes and concentrated hard, summoning his flames as bright and as strong as he could.

"Sun flames?" Chrome asked. Ryouhei nodded, not opening his eyes. He could see the light of it behind his eyelids. "Will that be enough?"

He shook his head. "I'm not good at it. I need to train more with my flames. But if we give him blood and flesh…"

"Oh," Chrome said. Ryouhei heard her, felt her, getting into the bag he still carried. "I'll feed him this." There was the plastic opening and then shuffling movements. He squinted against the light to see her holding the blood filled sport bottle to Kyoya's lips. He drank, but not well. Blood ran down his cheek and chin, pooling at his throat and onto the ground.

"He needs meat," Ryouhei muttered. "His hunger must be so extreme now."

"Human, right?" Chrome asked, "Then I have some with me."

"What?" He blinked, looking up at her.

Ryouhei's mouth dropped open as Chrome rolled her shirtsleeve up to her elbow. She took the bottle away from Kyoya and pressed her pale skin to his mouth instead. "Hibari-san," she whispered, "Please. Eat."

"Chrome-," Ryouhei gaped at her.

Kyoya didn't need to be invited twice. His teeth dug into Chrome's arm. She flinched, bit her lip, but made no noise as he bit down, ripping a chunk from her arm. Chrome held her arm in place for three more bites, before Kyoya turned his head away. He was panting, hard, his good arm reaching down to his side.

Ryouhei swallowed. "That was so extreme…"

Chrome blinked, looking up at him, and flushed. With a curl of her own mist flames, her arm went from bitten and bleeding to smooth once more. She gave a shy smile and then turned her attention to Kyoya's side. "How is his arm?"

Ryouhei glanced down. "Attaching, but…" He didn't know how well it was going to work. Not until he was done. He looked to Hibari's side also. He wasn't going to be able to handle this on his own. "Can you do anything for his side?"

Chrome nodded. She began to knit together Kyoya's body with her mist flames. Sweat beaded on her forehead and she frowned, "He's… he's fighting me…I think. It's not taking easily."

"Kyoya, you are an idiot to the extreme!" Ryouhei shouted. "Let her use her flames on you!"

Kyoya only grunted, turning his head away.

"Helloo kids," said a familiar voice. Ryouhei glanced up to see the man he'd fought against on the first night of the ring battles. "Looks like this is a job for more than one sun, hm? Why don't you let me help you out?"

Chrome blinked, obviously not knowing who he was. Ryouhei grinned, "If you're willing to help, it would be extremely welcome!"

Lussuria smiled and knelt down beside Ryouhei. Chrome, on the other side of Kyoya, took the prone ghoul's hand and pulled it away from the wound. "Pay attention, Ryouhei," Lussuria said, "This is how to use your sun flames to the best of their ability."

He put his hand over Kyoya's wounded side and began to accelerate his healing. "It's always easier with you ghouls," Lussuria explained, "Your bodies are naturally more forgiving with injuries and bloodloss. You'd have to blow a hole the size of a watermelon in your chest to really be in trouble."

"Xanxus shot off his arm," Ryouhei said, "He lost a lot of blood to that."

"Eh?" Lussuria cocked his head to the side. "Well. I guess that shows me for being fifteen minutes late. I figured that I'd miss the whole thing, considering it was this kid against the Mosca. I told Xanxus it was pointless to use that tin can against him, but we didn't have any other viable clouds."

He glanced over to the decimated robot in the ring, "I guess we still don't."

Ryouhei laughed. "He took that robot down without so much as a scratch! And he punched it open too. Was there someone inside?"

"That's how Moscas work," Lussuria nodded. "They're powered by the life force of people. They'll keep going until they run out of juice. Even if you dismember one, they can still self destruct."

"Good thing Kyoya bit the person inside to death then!" Ryouhei said, grinning down at his friend. "Do you hear that, Kyoya? You protected the school from an extreme detonation!"

Kyoya grunted at him.

Ryouhei, grinning, turned to ask Lussuria something when he heard an unusual sound.

He glanced over his shoulder at the fight and was surprised to see Tsuna pinned to the ground under Xanxus. More surprising than that, however, was the little mafia baby, Reborn, walking towards them with smoke trailing from his gun.

Chrome was looking too. "Boss?" She asked, though from that distance there was no way Tsuna could hear.

They still didn't know what they were seeing when suddenly Tsuna was twisting under Xanxus. Ryouhei took in a breath, to cheer for his friend in his escape, but it caught in his throat at the burst of bright orange light.

It was so bright it cast a stark shadow on the building next to Xanxus and Tsuna, making them appear as enormous, stretched out aberrations, painted in black up the school's side. Immediately after the light dimmed, there was a shout of utter disbelief.

Ryouhei's flames flickered out of existence. From where he sat he could see Tsuna, on his side, on the ground. From where he sat, he could see the gaping hole in his chest, the white of his rib bones, the red of his blood, the purple of his organs.

The whole was so large he could see the green grass on the other side of Tsuna's body.

He couldn't move even when he felt Kyoya's hand limply slapping his arm. "Ryo… Ryouhei… What… happened?"

He couldn't speak. All Ryouhei could do was think that he was glad Kyoko had stayed home that night. She wouldn't have been able to control herself if she saw Tsuna's face like that. And if she had hurt Xanxus, she would have gotten in trouble with Kyoya.

He was so glad his baby sister was at home, asleep. She'd never forgive herself for not being here for Tsuna, but at least she wouldn't have to see him this way. It was for the best.

It was for the best, really.

Slowly, Ryouhei turned around and looked to Kyoya. As soon as he could breathe, just as soon as he could speak, he would tell him what he saw. Kyoya loved Tsuna. He deserved the truth, even if it was awful.

Even if it would kill him to find out.

Someone was screaming Tsuna's name.

They were so loud and they weren't stopping.

Hayato's whole body shook as he ran across the field. His breath was ragged and his throat raw and oh, oh it was him. He was the one screaming.

Fast as he took off towards his boss, his friend, his world, that dumb asshole Yamamoto was faster. Hayato's eyes blurred with his tears. He ran after Yamamoto, cursing himself, cursing Xanxus, cursing Reborn, cursing everyone and everything because Tsuna was dead.

Yamamoto was good for something though. He threw himself at Xanxus, and, for once, the sight of his kagune didn't make Hayato afraid. Instead, he felt furious pride. He wanted Yamamoto to kill Xanxus.

He had never wanted anything so much before in his life.

Because of Yamamoto, Xanxus had to retreat from his position kneeling over Tsuna. He brought up one arm and a gun, but didn't fire. Hayato stopped paying attention to them, however, once he was able to drop to his knees at Tsuna's side.

"Tenth," he gasped out, "Tsuna, please." He touched Tsuna's face. It was still warm. His eyes were open and empty. His mouth curved in a soft smile. Hayato curled one arm under Tsuna's head and the other around his shoulders. There was no heartbeat to check. There was no breath to feel for. The hole in Tsuna's chest had replaced essential organs with blood and shattered bone and death, death, death.

Hayato held Tsuna and with painful, wretched sobs tearing their way out of his throat, he wept.

Takeshi first saw orange.

And then he saw red.

His fingers curled, begging for the hilt of a sword, but he hadn't brought it with him.

I will never leave my sword behind again, Takeshi swore those words like an oath as he tore up dirt with his shoes while crossing the yard towards the humans. He didn't feel it when his rinkaku ripped out of his back but between one step and the next, there was bright red in the corners of his vision.

There was the human baby, small and too quick and smelling of gunmetal. Takeshi struck at him, but he jumped out of the way. Then the smell of him vanished completely. A few more steps and he was at Tsuna's corpse. And it was a corpse. Takeshi had seen plenty to know the face of death when he saw it.

And there was the human who had caused Tsuna's death, still knelt over him, staring down at him, frozen.

Good, Takeshi thought with a snarl, Prey should know when to stop moving and die.

This human didn't stay frozen, though. He brought an arm up and Takeshi's rinkaku slashed over the sleeve and into the skin beneath. Then he was rolling back and onto his feet and drawing his weapon.

Takeshi bared his teeth, snarling openly. "I will take your heart," he said, advancing a step, "And feed it to your father."

"Fuck," the human said, his voice shaking. "What the fuck."

There was a scream from behind him, wretched and horrible and climbing into the air. Takeshi and the human both flinched, but the human looked away, towards the source of the sound. Takeshi struck instead.

It was his turn to scream, though in pain, not grief, when cold metal bit into the flesh of his kagune. He no longer faced off against one human, but two. This one he recognized the smell of. Long silver hair was bright against his dark suit and his sword was what had cut the end off of one of Takeshi's scaled limbs. Takeshi hissed because this human was an idiot.

"Out of the way," Takeshi growled. "Move away from him!"

"No," said the long haired human. "You will have to go through me to get to the boss."

"Squalo," the second human said, taller and dark and smelling like Tsuna's blood. "Fuck, the kid he just… God, he just shot himself."

"What?" the first said, turning his head towards him.

Takeshi took advantage of the distraction and attacked. Again, that sword cut at him, but he was already regenerating from the first hit. Takeshi was well fed this night and he would not lose to a human. He would get his revenge.

"He shot himself!" The second shouted, "He took my gun and fucking- He said he didn't want to be the fucking Decimo, but I didn't think that he would do that."

"You're kidding me!" The long haired one said back. "He killed himself?"

They were distracted. They were such easy prey. Takeshi was going to glut on their flesh. He was -

"Takeshi!"

There was a human grabbing him. A human trying to stop him. He snarled, turning to attack, and caught a nose full of gunpowder and cigarettes. He coughed on the reeking stench of it, hardly able to smell the flesh of the human underneath it. There was silver hair almost in his face, green eyes staring up at him, and, there, a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Takeshi grabbed his face. He knew, distantly, his grip was too hard. His knuckles were white and Gokudera's eyes were full of pain. Or had they been full of pain to begin with?

"He's telling the truth," Gokudera gasped out. "Tsuna is holding the gun in both hands. Tsuna's finger is on the trigger." Gokudera was grabbing him just as tightly but by the shoulders. He shook Takeshi so hard his teeth rattled in his head. "Tsuna shot himself."

Grey smudged into green as tears filled Takeshi's eyes. "But...but why," he gasped out. "But why? He… he had us… We… we were here for him… Why would he…?"

Takeshi sobbed. His knees shook. His rinkaku sagged, trailing across the grass as he sank to the ground with Gokudera. They held onto each other, Takeshi sobbing just as badly as Gokudera was.

With his head on Gokudera's shoulder, he was able to look past him and see Tsuna's body.

Blinking away his blurry vision, Takeshi slowly identified the form curled over Tsuna, shaking violently. He couldn't recognize the voice. The hoarse sobbing was too rough, too unfamiliar. It was the dark hair and the blood stained white shirt that he recognized. The shape of the shoulders curled over Tsuna and the hand that clutched at shredded cloth and flesh.

Seeing Hibari weeping, Takeshi was unable to hold back. He gave himself to his grief, supporting and being supported by Gokudera as his friend did the same thing.

It was a game. It had all been a game.

But games weren't supposed to end like this.