AN: Squalo, Hayato and (to an extent) Takeshi, are all triggered and panic extensively in this chapter. Please be cautious as you read, my lovelies~

Chapter Six: The Perfect Illusion

Ryouhei knew that he wasn't the brightest, despite having the flames of the sun. He knew that he wasn't the most mature and didn't always have the best ideas. He knew that sometimes he got way too excited about things and didn't take things seriously enough. Still, he tried to be there for people when they needed him and he did his best.

That was the important thing, doing your best. Extreme effort. Extreme results.

Do your best, Ryou-kun. Make your Papa proud!

That was why, even as tears ran down his face and his hands shook with the effort, he got up from where he knelt by Kyoya's blood in the grass and walked over to where the others were around Tsuna. Kyoya had gone from weeping loudly to silent, shaking tears. He clutched Tsuna with his one good arm, his wounded one hanging limp from its barely healed shoulder. Gokudera was the only thing keeping Yamamoto under control, clinging to his friend and sobbing against him while Yamamoto rocked mindlessly back and forth.

Distantly, as he stood next to Kyoya, he was glad that Lambo wasn't there. The little kid didn't need to see something like… this.

Cool fingers curled around his and Ryouhei looked down into Chrome's one visible eye. She had tears on her cheeks too, "We have to hurry," she whispered. "Mukuro can save him, but we have to hurry."

"You can?" Ryouhei gripped her hand tightly, "You really can?"

She nodded. "But we have to hurry. It's already been several minutes without oxygen getting to his brain."

Ryouhei did not need to be told twice. "What do you need me to do?"

"Hibari-san must let the boss go."

It was easier said than done, but Ryouhei would do it. He let go of her hand and went to his friend. Crouching down beside Kyoya, he said, "Kyoya, Chrome says that she can bring him back-"

Kyoya's head jerked up. His face was mottled red from his crying. His eyes red rimmed and swollen, but human in appearance. "Chrome?" he asked, his gaze jerking away from Ryouhei to the girl. He hissed instantly, coiling his arm tighter around Tsuna. "That isn't Chrome."

Ryouhei glances back to where Chrome was only to find the man from the Mist ring battle there again. Rokudo Mukuro smiled at them both, "I can save him, but you must trust me with his body." He held out his hands, "Hand him over, Hibari."

Kyoya, shaking, resisted this. His lips were pulled back in a snarl, clearly untrusting and resentful towards Mukuro. Ryouhei swallowed the shout he wanted to give- why can't you just accept other's help for once, Kyoya!- and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. He shook Kyoya, demanding his attention, "You have to hurry. There isn't much time until his brain is too damaged. Kyoya, please. Give him Tsuna."

"I don't trust him," Kyoya growled. "He wants to possess Tsunayoshi's body."

"Do you trust me?" Ryouhei asked.

Kyoya blinked, his angry expression faltered. "I… Of course I do."

"Then give Tsuna to me," Ryouhei said, "I will stay at his side the whole time. Mukuro won't be able to do anything with me here."

There was a snort, muffled, as though Mukuro doubted that very much, but he didn't actually say anything. Kyoya could ignore a snort, but not actual words.

"I'll take care of him," Ryouhei whispered, "You need to deal with those humans over there," he nodded his head towards the Varia leader. "C'mon, division of labor, Kyoya. Let the healers heal and the fighters fight."

"If he fails…" Kyoya begins.

"Yes, yes, you'll bite us all to death," Mukuro waves a dismissive hand. "Very amusing, but not necessary. You've already taken quite a chunk out of little Chrome's arm. I'm not pleased about that already, but it was her choice."

Kyoya carefully handed Tsuna over to Ryouhei and then stood up. He spun on his heel to face Mukuro and snarled, "If you possess him, you will regret it with every inch of your being."

Mukuro rolls his eyes at him but waits patiently as Kyoya stalks over to address the situation with the Varia leader. When he can, he sinks down to his knees beside Ryouhei. "You just keep holding him there, Muscles, and let me get to business, hm?"

Ryouhei nods. He turns Tsuna in his arm so he lays flat. The hole in his chest seeps and loose organs slip into Ryouhei's lap but he ignores that. Harder to ignore is the metal-sweet smell of his blood. Ryouhei shivers and turns his head, breathing carefully through his nose.

Mukuro frowns as he settles down. He glances up as a shadow passes over them and then rolls his eyes at their audience. Lussuria and Belphegor stand off to the side, watching curiously. Mukuro reaches into Tsuna's chest, muttering to himself, "Diaphragm is fucked. Heart's half gone. Lungs are just scraps… And what the hell is this?"

Ryouhei looked down at the organ that Mukuro poked at. "Oh. That's the kagune."

"A what?" Mukuro blinked. He poked at it some more. The bright red organ crumbled a little at his touch, "How important is it?"

"Uh," Ryouhei answered, "Really important."

"Don't you know anything?" Belphegor suddenly said, stepping up. He bent over, hands braced on his knees, grinning, "That's the source of a ghoul's weapons. That's why they must eat people- to feed that organ. Little Sawada won't be a proper ghoul without it."

Mukuro cursed under his breath, "Fuck. Okay. So I'm definitely replicating that." He muttered some more and then the indigo of his mist flame began to coil into being. He manipulated the flame down in the hole of Tsuna's chest, starting with heart and lungs, "Muscles, what can you tell me about Tsuna's kagune thing? I don't want to form it like another human organ."

"Ah, not much, sorry," Ryouhei admitted, "My own is of a different type and I never really studied the others…"

"Sawada is a rinkaku type, isn't he?" Lussuria asked. Ryouhei nodded to that, knowing that was true.

"Think of it like this, Pineapple head," Belphegor said, holding out his hands. He gestured as he spoke, "Smooth and rippling like water, but strong, linked together like scales. It should knit together well if you give it enough suggestion. Rinkaku is regenerative- the best healer of all types."

"...huh," Mukuro spared a moment to give Belphegor a glare before focusing on Tsuna's chest again.

"You're creating false organs to give time for his real ones to regenerate?" Lussuria asked, stepping up around to the other side, "Incredible. Will it really work?"

"It works on humans," Mukuro said confidently. "Anything else about that ghoul organ you want to add?"

"Don't harden it too much," Belphegor said, "Remember, it's like a bag of liquid. That's really the best description for it. Imagine it like a water balloon full of blood. Except the rubber is about a quarter inch thick and instead of just straight water inside it's a supersaturated sponge!" He licked his lips, his hands gripping an invisible kagune organ in the air. "A healthy one is bright red and fit to burst! If you bite into one like that, the blood goes everywhere and it can be such a waste of effort."

Slowly, Ryouhei lifted his gaze from Mukuro's work on Tsuna's chest to Belphegor. He exhaled sharply, clearing his nose, and then sniffed the air. Belphegor had a… strange scent. There was metal and blood on him- bright metal, old blood. Human blood and ghoul blood.

Which...wasn't right.

Ryouhei frowned at Belphegor and asked, before he could stop to think about it. "What are you?"

Belphegor grinned. He straightened up and for a moment, just a flash, his hair was away from his eyes and Ryouhei saw the blackness indicative of a ghoul. Then the golden locks were back into place, obscuring his eyes as he beamed, "Why, I'm a prince! Prince Belphegor the Ghoul Eater."

Mukuro reacted before Ryouhei did. Thick chains snapped out of the ground, swung around Belphegor and held him tightly in place. "You," he said, his voice low and dangerous, "Are going over there. You will not be coming near Tsunayoshi until he is healed again."

Even with chains holding his arms to his sides and coiled around his throat and his legs, Belphegor laughed, "If you say so! I suppose the Prince is bored with you two anyway. The clash of guardians seems much more interesting!" Mukuro narrowed his eyes at him but didn't otherwise move in order to make the chains drag Belphegor away. Lussuria watched mildly as that happened, arms folded over his chest. As Mukuro dumped Belphegor into the middle of Kyoya's situation, Lussuria looked down at Tsuna and gave a low, admiring whistle.

"Your skill is quite impressive. Sawada is lucky to have such a gifted Mist as his guardian… though I have a feeling the position of Decimo might end up being Xanxus's after all."

"That's fine," Mukuro said quietly, intent on his work. Ryouhei wasn't even quite sure he knew that he was talking to someone. "I never wanted him to be Decimo anyway."

Ryouhei smiled a little helplessly. "Yeah," he agreed, "Neither did I. I don't think any of us did." His voice trailed off as he watched muscle knit itself into being over smooth, unbroken ribs. Skin followed that, pale and without a single blemish.

Mukuro let out a slow breath, closed his eyes and said, "Now the difficult part…"

Strangely, Ryouhei found himself watching the young man across from him instead of the not-so-lifeless body in his arms. His expression was focused, intent. His brows were furrowed and his lips pressed into a thin line. As he leaned forward, his hair fell in his face, obscuring it somewhat. Ryouhei ducked his head unconsciously, since he couldn't move his hands, so that he could keep a clear view of Mukuro's face.

Minutes passed, long and quiet, where indigo flame seeped into Tsuna's exposed chest and the only loud sound was the arguing of the others, namely Gokudera and Squalo.

As he worked, Mukuro's head bent lower and lower, his lips turning down in concentration. Instinctively, Ryouhei leaned forward. He shifted his legs, his arms, holding Tsuna balanced across his forearms and thighs and offered up his shoulder. Mukuro's forehead thumped lightly on his shoulder.

Jerking back, Mukuro blinked up at Ryouhei. Sweat beaded at his temples and he offered up a wry smirk, "Look at you… You've kept pretty calm during all of this, Muscles." He lifted a hand, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Giant robots filled with bodies. Limbs being shot off. Friends committing suicide. Holes in chests. Everyone's weeping, wailing and gnashing their teeth. And only a few tears on your part. I'm impressed."

Ryouhei pulled his eyes up from Mukuro's lips, quirked in that dry amusement, and up to his mismatched eyes. He flushed at the compliment. "Extreme circumstances require extreme strength," he said in all seriousness. Looking down at Tsuna, looking like he was asleep if not for the stillness of his chest, he added, "I was chosen as his sun. And maybe I can't destroy what has harmed Tsuna, but I can be steady and strong and protect all members of the family with everything I have."

Looking back up, Ryouhei met Mukuro's gaze with confidence. "That includes you, Mukuro."

Mukuro blinked at him, once, his smile fading for a moment. Then he reached out a hand, resting it on the side of Ryouhei's neck. "Good," he said, "Because there's something that I need from you to finish my work here with Tsunayoshi."

"Whatever you need," Ryouhei said without hesitation. "Just tell me what to do."

Mukuro smiled.

It had been years since the last time that Xanxus needed to press his hand to the center of Squalo's back to keep him calm in the middle of, well, not exactly a fight but a dangerous situation. Right now they stood nearly chest to back, Squalo standing guard between him and the grieving ghouls. The edge of his sword flashed in the lights around the field. His breath heaved in his chest and it shuddered under Xanxus's palm.

"We never should have fucking come here," Squalo hissed out of the corner of his mouth. "Those twenty weren't worth this, Xanxus."

"Those twenty swore allegiance to me," Xanxus muttered back, "They fought under my command. Some of them even saved our lives and we did nothing for them."

"And now we're condemned to death in this shitty ghoul infested town!" Squalo pressed back against Xanxus's hand. "Nothing is worth being a ghoul's meal. It's the worst- Fuck- We'll be lucky if they just kill us first- Who knows what else kind of sport they could-"

"Squalo," Xanxus cut him off. "You said it yourself. These are not Italian ghouls. They have different rules. I doubt they have a fucking feeding pit to toss humans into. That isn't going to happen to us."

Squalo whispered something under his breath ("Allegra, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let you go alone.") and Xanxus politely ignored it. He gave Squalo a moment to himself before tapping with his fingers. Instantly, his friend went rigid. One of the ghouls, the former cloud guardian, approached them with a stilted, slow step. "Keep calm," Xanxus muttered, "He's hurt so he'll be wary already. Let me do the talking. You just stand there and look pretty."

Hibari- Sawada smiling, speaking softly. "Make sure Hibari gets a bite of me." - comes to a stop several feet away. His left arm is limp at his side and in his right hand is his tonfa. This he lifts up, pointing it to Squalo. "Where did the baby go?"

"What?" Squalo hissed.

Xanxus knocked a knuckle against Squalo's spine to shut him up. "By baby, do you mean Reborn?" he asked to clarify. "Because if you're looking for him, he fucked off a while ago."

Hibari considered this in silence. Slowly, his head tilted to the side, his gaze shifting past them, focusing on the distant ground beyond them. Xanxus resisted the urge to turn and look. He didn't feel anyone there so either it was a tactic, or, well, the kid had hit his head pretty hard on the ground when he fell before.

Didn't fall. He was pushed. Sawada tackled him to the ground so I couldn't blow his damn head off.

Sawada's gaze, burning, his lips pulled in a snarl. "Oh please. You don't care about whether I live or die."

Xanxus's fingers itched for his gun, but he only had one on him now. The other was with Sawada's body. One quick glance told him that that strange Mist guardian- what had they called him, Mukuro?- and the sun guardian were by Sawada's corpse now. Lussuria and Bel were with them. He could see them talking. He could only hope Lussuria would be able to negate any agitation that Bel would cause.

Blinking, the ghoul in front of them turned away from his stare into nothingness to look at the two teens behind him. They were calmer now. Not completely calm, of course. Their shoulders still heaved but the loud sobbing had been replaced by something broken and soft. They rubbed at their faces, attempting to get themselves under control.

For the first time, Xanxus wondered if any of Sawada's guardians had harmonized with him. He felt a sickening twist in his belly as he remembered Squalo's words, describing how it had felt when Xanxus had nearly died several years ago.

"It was like losing Allegra all over again. Everything that I thought I knew was wrong. Everything I thought I had was being torn out of my hands." Hands, opening and shutting as he spoke, one metal, one flesh, both shaking.

"I couldn't feel safe anywhere. I couldn't calm down. I couldn't think beyond the moment I existed in and that moment was full of terror and pain and nothing else." Eyes staring at the wall, as blank and as dead as the stone.

"It was like… It was like someone had taken out my heart of my chest. It still beat. It still worked. I was still alive, but I was so cold. So cold and lost. Missing something….I can't do that again. I can't. Can't. I won't. I'd rather die first." Conviction in his tone, in every line of his body, a promise made with absolute sincerity, the fullness of his will.

Squalo would die to prevent Xanxus from doing the same- if only out of the selfish desire to not lose his harmonized sky.

"Call Mama," the ghoul said to the teens. Their storm- Smoking Bomb Gokudera, wasn't it? -jerked upright.

"Mama?" He repeated.

Hibari nodded. "Find out if Reborn went to her. He is as responsible as the monkey king but he is missing. He cannot be bitten to death if he is not here to get disciplined." His lip pulled in a snarl and he turned back to face Xanxus. "You," he pointed to Squalo, "If you do not cease to crowd, you will be bitten to death along with that one."

"Oh please," Squalo snarled, "Go ahead and fucking try it. I'll cut your damn head right off, ghoul."

"Squalo," Xanxus snapped. He reached up, grabbing a handful of Squalo's hair and pulling, "I told you to keep your mouth shut." Squalo resisted the pull, turning his head instead.

Desperation is a terrible thing, Xanxus thought suddenly. The wildness around the corners of Squalo's eyes were the same as around Sawada's. He really thought they were about to die there on the field.

Couldn't he see Xanxus was willing to do anything to keep that from happening? For both of them? For all of them?

Gokudera was shuffling through pockets, looking for a phone, while their rain, Yamamoto, rose to his feet. His hands opened and closed on nothing, a familiar enough action that gave Xanxus even more questions. Why would a boy, a ghoul, raised to fight with kagune, make the motion of searching for a weapon when he wouldn't need one to kill someone?

Yamamoto stepped up so he was between Gokudera and Hibari. His kagune were even still out, listless before but now wavering to attention. His advance made Squalo's breathing quicken. Xanxus grit his teeth together.

"Yamamoto," Hibari said, still facing Xanxus, "Get control of your human."

"I am no-"

Xanxus, fed up with Squalo's shouting, hit him across the back of his head. Squalo staggered forward, glanced back at him in shock before realizing that doing so left him vulnerable to ghouls. He quickly regained his footing and hissed wordlessly.

"Hibari?" Gokudera's voice cuts across the air, high and edged with a frantic worry, "She says Reborn isn't at the house? She also… she also wants to know what happened. What… what should I tell her?"

There's a pause, heavy and tense, broken by the sudden arrival of Bel. He was wrapped in mist chains, ones that vanished the moment he was deposited on the ground unceremoniously. Getting to his feet, he brushed himself off. "Hello."

"Seriously, Hibari," Gokudera asked, "What do I tell- Mama?" He gripped the phone with two hands, "Mama, no no, Mama- It's fine here- You don't need to- Really- Wait!"

Hibari spun on his heel to face him. "What did she say?"

Gokudera lowered the phone and looked up with wide, horrified eyes, "Mama's coming here. She's gonna…. She's gonna … She's gonna see the Tenth."

Squalo backed up so far enough that he bumped into Xanxus. "Tsuyoshi spoke about her," he whispered, not looking away from the teens who were now promptly arguing between Yamamoto and Gokudera while Hibari stood, staring off into the middle distance with his good hand tucked under his bad arm, tonfa and all. Bel rocked back and forth on his heels, smiling absently, playing with one of his knives.

Xanxus knew then that Squalo was well and truly at the end of his rope because he didn't even snap at Bel to take this seriously. He was panicking, breathing sharp and quick, as he repeated what he had learned about this 'Mama'. "She's a ghoul, through and through, one that's been affiliated with the Hibari clan for several years now. He said that when she fell in love with Sawada Iemitsu, it was completely. So completely that when he fucking left her and told her to tell his son that he had gone off to become a star, she damn near lost her fucking mind." Squalo gave a full body shudder, "He said not to cross her. Ever."

"...There are some things that really are useful to know beforehand, Squalo," Xanxus muttered. "This is one of them."

"I never thought we'd actually meet her!" Squalo snapped. His head jerked as he struggled against not turning to look at Xanxus, but keep his eye on the teenagers. Gokudera was no fully on his feet, freaking out at Hibari.

Hibari was eyeing him cooly, completely unresponsive. Xanxus wondered who would crack first, Hibari and his mask, Squalo and his control, Gokudera and his sanity or Yamamoto and his literal face. Boy had started smiling when Gokudera hung up the phone and hadn't stopped.

"She'll be here any second!" Gokudera shouted, "She's going to find the Tenth's body! Hibari, we have to fucking do something! Yamamoto, stop grinning like a fucking idiot and help me get Hibari to do a damn thing!"

"Haha, there's nothing we can do," Yamamoto said, "Hibari's in charge and he had you call in Mama. We just have to wait until she gets here and see what happens!"

"You guys!" Gokudera ran a hand through his hair, "What the fuck! We can't let her… She's his mom! If she sees him like that, with that big hole in his chest…"

"She will be appeased by the sacrifice of the monkey king," Hibari said suddenly. "Maybe even enough to share. He smells good." His eyes flicked towards Xanxus suddenly, focusing on the dried blood on his neck. "Tsuna did that to you, yes?"

Xanxus gripped Squalo's arm, squeezing it tightly so he wouldn't speak. "Yeah," he replied, "He did."

"Why do you taste so good?" The hunger in those eyes had been otherworldly and yet human at the same time. What was it that Yamamoto had said to Squalo before? There are many ways to taste a man?

"He also said that you should have a bite of him, to help you heal, before he died. Which I think is pretty fucked up." Xanxus added, anything to stall time, distract them and Squalo, to diffuse the anger. Or at least try to diffuse it. "I didn't think ghouls ate other ghouls."

"They do," came the surprising addition to the conversation. Bel stopped twirling his knife around his finger. "Not all of them, mind you. A ghoul tastes awful to another ghoul, but you can stomach it if you want the power that comes with it."

Xanxus was not alone in the utterly shocked stare he gave Belphegor. The blond prince only smiled, bright and wide, and said, "The kagune of another ghoul tastes the same, whether or not you're related to them."

"Xanxus," Squalo breathed out a whisper, "Did you know?"

Grudgingly he muttered back, "I had suspicions but-"

"Xanxus."

"Look, I wasn't going to fucking ask him if he was a ghoul, Squalo. If I wasn't certain then they couldn't make me fucking kill him too, okay?"

"She's here!" Yamamoto cheered, throwing his hands into the air. "Mama!"

Xanxus's heart leaped into his throat and then stuttered to a stop there as he turned and saw the woman that had Squalo so terrified and the ghoul children so excited.

She was not at all what he expected.

Mama didn't look any different than normal as she walked across the field. Hayato noticed this with the most distant part of his brain, the rest of it thrown into full blown panic at the thought that his beloved boss's mother was there and was going to see Tsuna's body- know that Tsuna killed himself.

"You have to be a little careful with Mama," Tsuna gave a weird little smile as he said that, "Usually she's really good, you know? But sometimes she can get… bad."

"Bad?" Hayato had asked. Any family of Tsuna's was family that he cared about and thus, wanted to do everything he could to protect and care for them. "What do you mean?"

"Like, most of the time? When Dad comes back to visit, she's really good. Super happy he's around and all that, but after he goes? Sometimes she'll go away for awhile. Maybe a couple of days or a week. It used to be worse when I was little, but now it's better. She's better. She can cope better, especially with all of us here to distract her." Tsuna had laughed then, small as his smile and almost nervous. "But sometimes… I don't know.. Something will set her off and she'll become ...bad."

Hayato's worry must have showed on his face because Tsuna put up both hands, placating and calming, "Not bad as in she'll hurt anyone or herself or anything! Just… she'll pick up some bad habits. Ones that Auntie Chika says she dropped years ago. So just… be careful with Mama. And she'll be careful with us."

Hayato knew he was hyperventilating. He knew it because his throat was beginning to hurt and his vision spinning. Yamamoto slapped him across the back but that didn't help any. He staggered, almost fell to his knee, but caught himself and struggled upright.

Mama's neat brown hair bounced with each footstep. She wasn't very tall, not like Xanxus, not like her husband, but somehow she seemed to be approaching quickly, her steps eating up the ground until she was almost there. She wore the same kind of clothes that he always saw her in, jeans, a shirt, a sweater on over that with small floral buttons at the front. The only difference was that she wore gloves. Bright red ones that disappeared underneath the long sleeves of her sweater.

Almost as an afterthought, Hayato's gaze caught the white oval bouncing at her hip. He didn't recognize it, saw only that it was tied loosely to a belt loop, and, when the front of it faced him, it had a blank white background with black holes for eyes and a black line curved in a smile. There were splashes of red on it, as bright as her gloves. Hayato swallowed around the lump in his throat and forced himself to stop staring at it.

That's her mask, he thought with that tiny not-screaming part of his brain. She's a ghoul and all ghouls have masks. Why isn't she wearing it? Oh. Oh… she doesn't know. She doesn't-

"Hayato-kun," Mama walked straight for him. Why? He couldn't guess, but he was glad that she did. One second she was still twenty feet away, and then she was in front of him, hands on his shoulders. "Honey," she smiled, "take deep breaths, okay? You're going to be all right. Mama is here now."

Fresh tears formed in Hayato's eyes, "Mama, it's- You shouldn't have-" He choked around the words and stuttered into silence as she pulled him into a hug. She smelled like the clean linen of her home and of fresh coffee. Hayato put his arms around her and hugged back.

"Kyou-kun," Mama said while she held him. Hayato squeezed his eyes shut, tensing. "I thought tonight was your match. Did it not go well?"

"I won," Hibari said. He sounded closer. Hayato peeked out with one eye and saw that he had, indeed, come closer. "Tsuna and I were discussing body rights over the feathered human when he interfered. And then the baby got involved in their fight and Tsuna-" he stopped. His mouth was open but no sound came out. He opened and shut his mouth a few times before shaking his head and pointing. "Over there. Tsuna is over there."

Mama's fingers tightened on Hayato. He could feel her manicured nails digging through the cloth of his shirt and into his skin. He bit his cheek and endured the pain. She was stronger than he had ever even considered.

She's a ghoul, that tiny sensible part of his brain muttered, she's a ghoul and you're right in her arms.

But he was safe there, right? He lived with Mama. She was his- She had- If Tsuna was gone, really gone, then she had body rights, didn't she? She would take care of him, wouldn't she?

She wouldn't… hurt him.

Would she?

"Who is that with him, Ryou-kun? And those other two."

"Mukuro and the Varia sun guardian," Yamamoto piped up from the other side. "He was the one who helped Sasagawa reattach Hibari's arm."

"Reattach?" Mama asked with an arch to her voice and a shift in her stance. Hayato tightened his arms around her. Maybe, just maybe, he could keep her over here, away from Tsuna, away from finding out-

"Xanxus shot off Hibari's arm when he interrupted their claim dispute," Yamamoto again. Far too cheerful. "And then he gave the gun to Tsuna that he-"

"Stop!" Hayato jerked his head back, shouting at that stupid idiot. Was he just going to say it like that? Didn't he have any sense? You had to be careful with Mama. He couldn't pull away from her, though, not in time to stop that idiot with those blood-black eyes and that too wide, too hungry grin. God, Hayato had forgotten, his kagune was out, he was still fucked up-

A flash of black and white, stained with red, and the sound of metal against bone cuts off Yamamoto surer than anything Hayato could have said. Yamamoto hits his knees hard and then lands with a solid thump on the ground, kagune receding, eyes rolling back in his head. Hibari stood behind him, tonfa up, smeared with blood. He looked up from Yamamoto to Mama and said, "Ghoul hysteria is forbidden upon school grounds."

Hayato could feel Mama's shuddering breath. He did his best to comfort her, patting her back gently. "Mama," he said, speaking softly, "Mama, can you listen to me for a second?"

She looked down at him. Her eyes were wide, "Hayato-kun?"

"It's… The Tenth, he…" Hayato swallowed down the tears that threatened to fall, "He… when he was fighting with Xanxus, they were talking about his father. And they were talking about him becoming Decimo, you know? Like the next Vongola leader."

Her lips turned down in a frown. "The Vongola. Right. Reborn told us plenty about them yesterday… I can't believe my little Tsu-kun would ever lead such a bloody organization."

"Yeah, yeah," Hayato tried to smile. It didn't quite work. He stopped trying. He wasn't much good at smiles anyway. "Tsuna didn't really want to be the Decimo either. He- He gave his ring to Xanxus. We saw him give it over. Even, even Reborn saw and-"

Mama's eyes were slowly rising from Hayato's face. He held onto her tighter, speaking quicker. "Reborn saw and he went over to try and convince him to change his mind, to take the ring back! And then- a-a-and then Tsuna he, he struggled and- and took the gun from Xanxus and he- he-"

Hayato was no better than Hibari, it seemed. He couldn't say it either.

"Tsu-kun?" Mama whispered. "Baby? Mama's here-" She began to pull away and Hayato, desperate to stop her, clung harder.

"No," his tears started again, "No. Mama, just stay here, please-" His words broke off to a cry of pain as she took his arms and pried them off of her body. Hayato looked up at her but she wasn't even seeing him anymore.

"Tsu-kun," She called, "Mama's coming now." She was smiling but her eyes were bloody and black and Hayato stopped struggling against her. He let his arms go limp, let her let go of him, and slid down to his knees.

Mama walked right past him as he sank down to the ground, shaking, hard. He grabbed the grass with both hands, leaning over, bracing himself with his arms. He took shallow breaths, trying not to scream, trying not to vomit.

He had, unfortunately, seen plenty of ghoulish eyes- had even seen Tsuna's just the other night- but he had only seen eyes like Mama's in that moment once before.

There were whispers that the worst thing one could do was to kill a ghoul child without killing its parent first. For such a vicious, bloodthirsty species, their paternal instinct was incredibly strong.

Hayato had made that mistake once. Just once. It had taken weeks to recover from that, weeks he couldn't spare while living out on the streets, doing grunt work and small hits just to survive. Reborn had taken him away from that, had brought him here, where it was safe.

Except now it wasn't. Not anymore.

Tsuna was dead and Mama…

Mama was broken.

At the edge of his peripheral vision, Mukuro saw something pink and faded blue and glanced up to see a woman in a sweater and jeans walking towards them with wide ghoul-dark eyes and a face that was so familiar…. Oh. Oh. She looked just like Tsunayoshi. Just older and taller and-

He jerked his gaze back to the unmoving chest under his hands. Ryouhei was panting across from him, sweating, tapped out for all his sun flame's worth and now it was just him. Just Mukuro.

Just Mukuro with Chrome in the back of his head, whispering how far away Nana was before she was there.

Mukuro snapped at her to shut up. It was ruder than he liked to be to his darling Chrome, but now was not the time for measurements of incoming doom.

Now was the time to start that little heart. Now. Now. Now.

"Beat," he hissed, words ragged in his throat. "Beat. Beat. Just start beating, damn you!"

There was still silence under his fingers when a shadow from a petite body in a pink sweater crossed over them. Mukuro closed his eyes and willed his flames to bend one more time, bend and twist and form the perfect illusion.