He walked with a slow, nonchalant saunter. It was night time and the moon was out, peeking through the unnatural, dense mist that swirled around him hungrily.

It was night time and the night would hide it all.

He saw a shadow detach itself from a street light and approach him. He stopped, watching it calmly through steely eyes that reflected no emotion but one: hatred.

"You have the money?"

He tossed the wad of cash at the still shadowed man. There was a ruffle as the man counted the cash before pocketing it.

"That's it?"

There was a flash of steel as he stepped forward and brought his weapon up to the man's throat.

"Stingy, aren't we?" the man chuckled. "Alright, alright, I got it."

He lowered his arm.

"I'll need hush money."

A swish; a laugh. His weapon whistled uselessly through black mist left behind by the man's illusion.

"I was just kidding. I fear Hibari Kyouya of the Vongola just as much as any sane man would."

A snort.

"But…" the man mused, rematerializing just behind Hibari so that his breath swept past his ear when he whispered, "I wonder what would happen if your little comrades knew…"

A moment's silence. Then he began walking away, with that same nonchalant saunter.

"I have no comrades."

The man chuckled.

"If you mess up…" Hibari paused and turned slightly and locked one cold grey eye with the man's own two eyes. "I'll bite you to death."

The man stood stiff with fear and surprise on the same spot long after Hibari walked away. After a few minutes, he relaxed and let out a long, low whistle. A white crescent appeared on the shadow of his face as he grinned insanely.

"Damn… I wonder what that poor Vongola boss did to him… to have that much hatred in his eye…"

A breeze blew past, ruffling the hair of the nameless illusionist.

"I do wonder… what they would do if they knew that Hibari Kyoya was about to kill their precious little boss."

He was ready. As ready as a murderer-to-be could be. He straightened his tie one last time and swept his eyes over his room. They traveled across his futon, over his dresser, and halted on the mirror.

There was a man standing in the mirror. He wore a neat, pressed suit and a straight tie. A mess of black hair framed his face. Cold, grey steely eyes stared back at Hibari. There was no trace of emotion that showed on the man's face, as far as Hibari could see. His eyes traveled down the man in the mirror and stopped at the revolver tucked in his belt.

It was himself Hibari was looking at, himself, with a revolver in his belt.

He rolled five shiny bullets in his hand before slipping them into his pocket. They were five, shiny bullets that would soon be lodged deep into a man's flesh.

Thick fog descended, and he knew the nameless illusionist had begun his work. He backed away from their small, pathetic group as the enemy streaked down from the sky, flames billowing from the rings they bore on their fingers.

It was the only fight he would ever back out of.

He had more important things to do.

It was only a split second after his first step back when an exact copy of him appeared where he had stood. A curtain of fog fell around him as it rushed forward with the rest of the Vongola, fighting enemies made of flesh, mist and lies, while he walked away, drawing the revolver from his belt. He brought the first bullet from his pocket and rolled it through his fingers.

He slid it into its slot. And then the next. And the next. Until all five holes contained its own bullet.

And then he waited.

To pass the time, he watched the thick whiteness of the mist. If he looked carefully, he could see the shapes of wasted horses stepping slowly between thorny brambles. He could see butterflies with tattered wings flapping their wings of mist frantically before being blown apart by the slightest breeze. He could see the shapes of men falling, as if shot, to the ground.

By now, the Vongola would be separated. And now, the fight would be drawing to a close. And now… now was the time.

He only had to wander through the mist for a little while before he came across his target. He still walked with that same, carefree gait, as if he were but a cloud in the sky, taking its time to travel across the world, for it had all the time it needed… And Hibari had all the time he needed, for the hired illusionist would make sure of that.

He finally found him. Tsuna was on his hands and knees, surrounded by unmoving bodies. Blood was splattered on his clothes and hair as if someone had taken a paintbrush soaked with crimson paint and flicked it all across his body. Hibari rested his eyes on Tsuna for a second before raising the gun. His hand was steady. His breath was even. Tsuna's hands were bloody and shaking. Tsuna's breath was ragged.

Hibari stood there with the gun pointing straight at Tsuna for a while, staring unblinkingly with an icy glare, imagining the first bullet tearing through Tsuna's flesh.

"Hibari, is that you?"

His hand tightened around the gun.

"Are the others alright?"

No answer.

Tsuna turned.

One after another with no pause in between, each with a deafening blast, the bullets left the gun.

Fog fell around Hibari like a curtain falling at the end of a show. He did not have time to see the body fall; he was not sure if he wanted to. He threw aside the empty gun and walked away from the body as he heard somebody else run towards it. He heard a scream without words and he stopped.

What was that?

He wandered aimlessly through the mist, like a cloud with no purpose would across a bleak sky, scowling. The mist reminded him too much of Rokudo Mukuro. He saw figures not too far ahead of him and wondered if it was the mist playing tricks on him again. It began to rain.

Who is that?

He walked towards the grey shadows ahead of him, still walking when a thick roll of fog obscured his vision. His pace quickened without his notice and he did not feel the rain that slashed against his body. He could see now, who it was beside Tsuna. Yamamoto, Lambo, Mukuro, Ryohei. He sank slowly down beside the body. His hands were cold, as cold as the metal of the revolver had been in his grip. He stared up blankly at the sky and blinked against the rain.

Had he done the right thing?

"OI! WAKE UP YOU DAMN BASTARD!"

Hibari rolled over, displeased that he had been woken up by the rude yells of Gokudera early in the morning. He preferred waking up to the sound of rushing water in his quiet, Japanese-style room.

A fist hammered angrily against his door.

"YOU KNOW EVERYTHING, DON'T YOU? WHERE THE HELL IS THAT MIST FREAK?"

Hibari removed himself reluctantly from his futon. Yawning, he walked over to his bedroom door and swung it open just as Gokudera was about to slam his fist against it. His fist met Hibari's face with a dull thwack. Yamamoto and Lambo, who were standing just behind Gokudera, gasped in horror.

"Good morning," Hibari said coldly, drawing out his tonfa. "I see you wish to be bitten to death. Very well, I shall grant your wish."

"I don't have fucking time for this shit," Gokudera snarled. He brandished a handful of dynamite angrily. "Where the hell is the pineapple bastard."

Hibari yawned. "Get out, you herbivores. I'm sleepy."

Gokudera grabbed the front of Hibari's yukata and swung his fist across his face. Immediately, he was on the ground, spitting out blood. A glint from the metal of Hibari's tonfa could be seen underneath the sleeve of his yukata. He yawned again and closed his eyes, attempting to catch a few more minutes of sleep while standing.

"H-hey, Hibari, you shouldn't be like that," Yamamoto said reproachfully as Lambo held out a hand to help Gokudera up. He slapped it away and got to his feet, dynamite already in his hands once more.

"I'm gonna kill this fucking bastard—"

Hibari snorted. "You're pathetic."

"What did you say?" Gokudera's voice was quiet with fury.

"Pathetic," Hibari repeated. "Want me to say it again?"

He didn't even have to open his eyes to see what was going on. He knew Gokudera had lunged forward viciously and that now Yamamoto and Lambo both were restraining him.

"Fucking let go of me."

"Oi, Gokudera, I know you're about to reach your limit, but don't you think we should all calm down?"

"Pathetic. Once your herbivore of a boss is gone, you can't do anything."

"Don't you fucking insult the tenth—"

"Do you need him by your side to be able to function properly? Hmn. I had thought you had grown up over these years, Gokudera Hayato, but it seems that you are still the same pathetic herbivore as ever."

"Don't call me herbivore, you bas—"

Hibari could feel something heating up inside him, something he had pushed down deep inside of himself ever since he had shot that gun. It was something like anger, but it was a different anger than before.

Was it grief?

"Weak herbivores following around their weak herbivore boss. I can't believe I'm still here."

"Don't you fucking – let me go, damnit, don't insult the tenth, you filthy bastard!"

There was a short silence as Hibari felt his anger boil over.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi was nothing but a weak, pathetic fool," he said in a quiet voice. There was a stunned silence as he turned back to his room. He shut the door and breathed out, leaned against it, and let his head fall back.

"A weak, pathetic, and heartless fool."

Who had to look after Lambo's birthday? Who had to make sure Yamamoto didn't try to kill himself again? Who had to make sure Mukuro discovered the truth at the right time? Who was it that stopped Ryohei from giving himself a concussion by banging his head against his knees? Who, after nearly a month, had to sneak into Gokudera's room to make the message more obvious in his letter?

Who was it that had to end Tsuna's life?

Him.

It was all him.

He, the supposedly aloof guardian, the one who was bound yet free from the Vongola, the one who would do things his own way, had to take up the responsibility. Hibari had to make sure everything went as planned. Hibari had to make sure the Vongola didn't fall. Hibari was the one to put the plan into motion.

He was the one who had to shoot the bullets. He was the one to have to kill one of the closest people to him. Not Gokudera; not Yamamoto. They wouldn't have been able to pull the trigger. They had a 'heart.'

So Tsuna had picked him, Hibari, the cold, heartless one. Tsuna had chosen him, and by choosing him, he placed upon his conscience a terrible weight that Hibari himself did not know he could have.

The weight of grief.

Of all the guardians, Hibari would have thought that Sawada Tsunayoshi would be the one to understand the horror felt after ending a person's life. Ah, but wait. Tsuna had never killed. Thus, he would not know. Hibari had killed before this, and he had felt nothing more than a slight twinge, if even that. But this, this was different. This was killing someone he knew –

Hibari chuckled and smirked. What was this? Hibari Kyoya grieving?

– the intense pain he felt after pulling the trigger had almost been too much –

No. No, he refused to let himself become an herbivore like the rest, one with a 'heart…'

– but Sawada Tsunayoshi had counted upon Hibari's 'heartlessness' to proceed with his plan –

… He was curled up with his back against the door, hands clenching his hair…

– without a single thought that maybe, just maybe, Hibari Kyoya wasn't a ruthless killing machine who felt no emotion but bloodthirstiness; that maybe Hibari Kyoya wasn't as strong as he seemed; that maybe it would hurt to kill someone he had unconsciously grown attached to. Even if they were to come back.

"Kyo-san! Kyo-san, are you all right?"

"I am fine," Hibari said coldly, regaining his composure. "I'm… simply a little tired. Let me rest."

"Ah, before that," Kusukabe said hastily. "I apologize that this is so late, but it was set aside from the others… We found it in his bookcase, but anyways, this is Sawada Tsunayoshi's letter to you."

Hibari's eyes widened marginally before accepting the letter. As Kusukabe left the room, he slit the envelope open and read its contents. A wide, dark smirk grew on his face and he crumpled the letter up before throwing it on the futon.

"You weak, pathetic herbivore."

He dressed himself in a freshly ironed suit and collected his boxes and rings. Then, for good measure, he put Tsuna's letter in his pocket.

It was time to go.

"I'm going to bite you to death."

The real war was about to commence.

Dear Hibari,

If my calculations were correct, you should receive this letter a long time after the rest of the guardians had. About a month or so? Perhaps two. Or three.

Anyways, now is the time to move.

You know what to do.

You still frighten me a lot, so I didn't give you a reason as to why you had to do what you did… but the reason is as simple as this: No one else could do it. No one else is as brave as you. No one else is as strong as you.

No one else has your resolution.

Anyways! Enough with the rambling. If all goes well, I shall expect to see you again soon.

– Sawada Tsunayoshi

P.S. Sleeping bullets are useful, aren't they?

lalala~ oh hey guys. Long time no see, eh?

ohohoho

=_="

I AM SORRY. I HAVE NO EXCUSE OTHER THAN LAZINESS, PROCRASTINATION, AND. YEAH. lol.

anyways, this was a pretty bad chapter. In case you don't understand (hell, I wouldn't understand), in the end, it is revealed that Hibari only shot sleeping bullets instead of real ones. He, however, did not know this beforehand, which is why he is showing (uncharacteristic) remorse.

If I ever get around to writing another chapter, the next would be... Cavallone Dino!

You guys are way too nice... I never thought i would get so many reviews for this story ;_; At this point, though, I would be happy if I even got a single one for this chapter -_-'

Until next time! :)