Title: When Nothing's Left

Summary: "I have nothing else left to lose. Why would I care?"

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! belongs to Akira Amano

Pairing: None

Warning: Major character deaths, OoC-ness, possible language. AU-ish.

Unbeta'd.


When Nothing's Left


It started, ironically enough, with the one person he thought he wouldn't care for or cry over.

His father.

Head of CEDEF (well, he mentally corrects himself, former head), external advisor to the leader of the Vongola Famiglia.

Sawada Iemitsu.

(To be fair, Tsuna didn't even shed a tear when they brought the body in.)

The Vongola Decimo only stared quietly at the covered body in the morgue, even as chaos broke around him. Gokudera was shouting something or another while Chrome and Lambo were crying, but Tsuna couldn't bear to reprimand his fiery Right-Hand man, nor could he comfort his two youngest Guardians (he was ever so thankful for the presence of his Rain and Sun Guardians). His whole surrounding was a blur of white noise to him as he continue gazing firmly at the thick white cloth covering the corpse underneath. He barely noticed when the Guardians left, one after another, until he was the only one left in the room.

He did, however, notice when a certain hitman slipped into the room. It was hard not to, really, when a man (infant, really) wearing a full black suit walks in front of you to lift the white sheet up to inspect the body underneath.

"Tsuna," the low voice of his tutor comes. "…There's no one else."

The Vongola Decimo didn't need a clearer explanation.

In the morgue, where, with the exception of his beloved mentor, there is no one else but dead bodies to witness his weakness, Tsuna finally lets himself weep for the man who failed as, yet still was, his father.

I'm losing…—

It started going downhill from there.

One by one, the Vongola Famiglia was shot down.

First was Basil, then came Lal Mirch, whose death eventually led to Colonello's. The Arcobaleno followed then; already weakened by the Anti Tri-ni-Sette radiation, they began dying or disappearing one by one. The loss of the Arcobaleno was a huge blow to the Vongola Guardians, given that all of them were tutors and mentors to them at some point in their lives, not only in the ways of combat, but in life.

It goes without saying that the Guardians were the ones who were next.

Lambo was the first to be targeted, his body, still covered in fresh blood—his fresh blood—left in the main foyer of the Vongola mansion for the guards (who had been knocked out, naturally) to find.

Ryohei, in all his rage and anguish, had recklessly gone after the enemy Famiglia. He never made it back.

Chrome simply collapsed one day, and died shortly after of multiple organ failures. It was only then did they found out that the tank that Mukuro was confined him had somehow 'malfunctioned', and the illusionist had died of malnutrition and asphyxiation, among many other symptoms.

(By then, the helplessness had faded and all that was left was plain and simple numbness.)

Surprisingly enough, Hibari was next. The enemies knew Hibari Kyouya couldn't be stopped by sheer numbers, so they overwhelmed him and took him down with them. The resulting explosion was the talk of the world for days.

Gokudera and Yamamoto went together last, doing their most important duty as Vongola Guardians: protecting him. They had died, smiles on their faces despite the blood spilling from their lips as the Vongola Decimo held their hands in his, the light in his eyes dying out with that of his two best friends'.

And then, Sawada Tsunayoshi, Vongola Decimo, Sky Guardian of Vongola, was all alone.

—…Lost.—

"It's Vongola Decimo!"

(Burning. Everything around him is burning.)

"Hurry!"

(Not enough.)

"Where the hell are reinforcements?!"

(More… more…!)

"S-Stop…!"

(He didn't.)

Nothing's left.—

By the time Tsuna reached the top floor of the building, where the CEO—the boss—of the Millefiore Famiglia's office was, his pristine white suit had been shredded in various places and was splattered with crimson (both his and the Mafiosi who tried to stop him). The dying will flame flickered wildly on his forehead while glowing orbs of amber peered out from blood-matted bangs. The same fluid staining his entire body dripped from his gloves, forming small puddles of blood on the ground.

"Hello there, Byakuran."

"What a pleasant surprise, Vongola Decimo." The Don Millefiore glanced at his appearance before standing up with a smirk, "You know, if you wanted to see me so much, you could have made an appointment."

"Vongola rhymes with dramatics, didn't you know?" Tsuna smiled, though his eyes remained stone-cold. "Besides, seeing as this is the last appointment I'd ever have, I think I have a right to make this more… exciting."

"You have a stranger sense of excitement than I thought, Tsunayoshi-kun." Byakuran replied.

"What can I say? I had a… unique upbringing." Tsuna answered smoothly.

The Don Millefiore chuckled before glancing at the Vongola Decimo with what can only be described as sheer exasperation. "And what do you hope to accomplish here, Tsunayoshi-kun? You have no more tricks up your sleeves." Byakuran remarked as he rounded his desk to walk over to the brunet, noting, but ignoring, the amber eyes tracking his every movement. With a smile, he added, "After all… they're all dead."

To Byakuran's utmost disappointment, the Vongola Decimo didn't even twitch.

"You would know, wouldn't you…?" Tsuna murmured to himself.

Byakuran's grin was almost playful as he leaned in to the brunet. "So then, what makes you think you can win?"

"I don't." Tsuna answered plainly, actually feeling an urge to laugh in a very, very long time at the look of confusion on Byakuran's face. "There's nothing that makes me think I can win." (The urge increased with the increasing confusion on the other's face.) "There is also, however," This time, a faint smile lifted Tsuna's lips. "…nothing that makes me think I will lose."

Byakuran frowned, "Oh?"

"I have nothing else left to lose. Why would I care?" Tsuna chuckled humourlessly. "…Ahh. I guess I should rectify that statement. There is one last thing I care about, I suppose."

"…And that would be?"

The smirk that appeared was one that no one would think that the Don Vongola, known for his kindness, was capable of.

"Revenge."

I don't care anymore.—

When he woke up, the first thing he saw was… nothing.

He was literally in the middle of some empty mess of darkness.

Alone.

A chuckle escaped his lips. 'How fitting,' he thought. Another chuckle bubbled up within him at the first and last thing he remembered—box weapon and glove piercing each other simultaneously—and then another, and another, until he was outright giggling.

Anyone who saw him now would think that he was insane.

'Not that there is anyone anymore…—'

"Decimo."

'—Ahh, of course. How did I forget.' He cracked an eye open to peer at the man standing before him. "…Primo." He greeted with a goofy smile. The founder of Vongola—his ancestor—stared at him with a neutral expression; not judging, not disapproving, merely observing. His smile fell and yet again he chuckled, though this was clearly humourless. "I've disappointed you." He states, rather than asks.

Primo shook his head, "You did the best you could."

"But not the best you thought I could be." He replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Under those circumstances, you did the best you could." Primo repeated. "I might have done the same."

"Are you trying to make me feel better, Primo…? Because we both know that Re—" The name dies on his lips and his throat tightens painfully. "…he will probably kill me—metaphorically, I guess, considering that I am already dead—if and when he finds out—which he will, since I doubt dea… death affects his all-knowingness."

Primo smiled faintly. "Shall we find out?"

—…right?—

They appeared in his—well, technically, their—office.

And they weren't alone.

"Jyuudaime!"

"Tsuna!"

"Sawada!"

"Vongola."

"Tsunayoshi-kun."

"Brat."

"Boss…!"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna stared blankly, frozen in place even as, one after another, they—his familycame up to him, tear-stricken but smiling, and hugged him, telling him how good it was to see him again. The brunet couldn't comprehend what was happening. He failed to protect his family; they weren't supposed to be so happy to see him, to welcome him, even.

So why?

Why was Gokudera, Lambo and Chrome crying so uncontrollably? Why was Yamamoto and Ryohei trying to stop them, yet they themselves were crying too? Why was Mukuro, Hibari was the bulk of the remaining people look at him with varying degrees of smiles, grins and smirks, all the while having a glint in their eyes that was akin to pride? Why was Primo smiling fondly at him and not telling him how disappointed he was? Why was—

"…Dame-Tsuna."

—his thoughts screeched to a stop.

All of a sudden, his throat felt dry, and that familiar sensation of fear and safety was once again welling up inside him. Before he could even begin to utter that name, he was cut off by a cry of pain, hands instinctively reaching up to nurse his throbbing head. He barely managed to stop the instinctive urge to whine as he spun around, dim amber meeting bottomless onyx.

I don't care anymore…—

"Re…born…"

The name sounded almost foreign on his lips. (Not a surprise; he had refused to even utter his name after his mentor's… downfall.)

His tutor stood, in full adult glory (a small part of his mind noted that the other Arcobaleno were all in their adult form as well), a glare on his face as he hissed, "You are the single most idiotic and infuriating student I ever have the pleasure of teaching in my entire life…" He paused, watching as said student lowered his head, gaze falling to the ground. "…but you did well."

His head snapped up so fast, Reborn briefly pondered if he broke it.

"I…"

Primo came up to him, still smiling, as he spoke gently, "You worked hard, Decimo. It's alright now."

"…Idiot." Reborn sighed, ruffling his student's messy hair roughly as the other all smiled.

And so, for the first time since his father died, Sawada Tsunayoshi allowed himself to cry for all the pain and loss he'd suffered, to finally grieve and to finally heal.

—…because I'm home.—


A/N: Mostly because I was feeling depressed and I wanted to try writing insane Tsuna again. Though, as it turns out, this is less insane and more angst. Still, I think I liked how this turned out, both content-wise and style-wise. Thank you for reading as always, and that's all for this time. Ciao ciao~