Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn

Warnings: Hello! This is a story centered on Daniela, Vongola Ottavo, so there's going to be a ton of OCs. There's also going to be a bit of bad language (not that bad haha). So, to set things off, the first chapter is pretty distant from the main KHR storyline, but there will be some "slightly" familiar face(s) (in a way) showing up later. Enjoy!

If I had to choose a specific incident when I finally started realizing, bit by bit, what truly hid behind the mask my family wore, I guess the first event that comes to mind was that day… the eighth day of the eighth month of my eighth year…

It was summer of course, and Italian summers were beautifully hot that year… more so after they came… the other Family…

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She found herself face to face with a gun and nowhere to run. She knew what guns were; after all, Luciano always carried one or two with him wherever he was, in the mansion or out riding. But, she had never had one of those L-shaped pieces of metal aimed at her, nor did any of the servants or guards ever gave her the liberty of seeing one in action. So now, as dire as the situation was, Daniela couldn't gather enough logic to formulate the conclusion that running into the fire would probably give her a higher chance of surviving than facing that L-shaped piece of metal in the hands of some strange organization Daniela didn't know about and never did care to know about. Of course, she never did care to know about those outside her home, until now.

The man grinned, having finally found his target and didn't waste another second in firing. However, his initial hesitation, used to identify Daniela, gave another enough time to throw himself between the shooter and the girl as the first bullet left the barrel. A second shot followed the first, and another and another. Daniela felt a warm liquid splatter on her face and raised a hand to wipe it away, finding a red sticky substance.

"Mr.… Mr. Luciano?" she called out uncertainly to the man hunched over her, as the blood began to diffuse into his suit, staining the black striped material to a darker shade of night. He struggled to keep his position lest the shooter decided to fire another round at the young eighth Vongola heir.

"Run… Miss Daniela…" he gasped, trying to ignore the pain stemming from his chest. He almost swore that he can feel his lungs and heart deflating like balloons somewhere under his rib cage from the bullet punctures, but he wasn't much of a scientist or a doctor, and he dismissed the notion, determined to defy physics a little longer. However, the girl didn't budge and instead stared at him with frightened eyes as the assassin began walking towards them, reloading his gun with a smug expression, and a deliberately slow click echoed off what remained of the walls. Even if Daniela had decided to run now, there weren't many places she could have escaped to; the shooter had already strategically obstructed the only exit not blocked by the raging fire around them. The assassin raised the weapon again, aiming.

"Miss Daniela!" a new voice yelled out, and the girl heard gunshots again, followed by the sound of a bloodied corpse, definitely not Luciano's since he was still standing in front of her, dropping to the ground. "Miss Daniela!" the voice repeated, as a young man ran to them, his light blue eyes widening when he saw the blood on the older man and the girl.

"She's fine…" the other managed to say.

"Ah! Mr. Luciano!" he gasped when the dying bodyguard finally allowed himself to fall to the ground in a bloody heap. Panicking, the fifteen year old butler turned Luciano around slowly so that the man lied on his back.

Luciano coughed out blood, and the red liquid began pooling beneath him as well as flow freely from his mouth at the corners of his lips. "Ah… Nico… you weren't the one who fired…" he whispered weakly, smiling serenely. His vision was beginning to waver in and out, blurs clouding around the edges, but he could still detect the lack of gunpowder on the teenager.

"No… one of the special units just arrived…"

The man chuckled. "You're still too soft… Nicolas…" His breathing was erratic, and he coughed again from the effort. Nico froze; Luciano rarely addressed him by his real name unless he wanted a serious conversation.

"Let's go, Mr. Luciano! We have to get out of here!" Daniela said, pulling at her bodyguard's limp hand, smearing some of his own blood that had fallen on her earlier on his hand.

"Miss Daniela… I'm sorry…" he said with difficulty, the strange smile still on his lips. "Promise me you'll find someone else to go horse-riding with you… okay?"

She froze, still not accepting the situation. "Why? Where is Mr. Luciano going?"

"I'll be right here… don't worry about me…" He turned his head slightly towards the butler. "Hey Nicolas… promise me… that you'll take of Miss Daniela… promise me…" he whispered.

"Don't talk like that. We're getting you out of here," Nico said to him, reaching to him, ready to hoist the man twice his size on his shoulder.

Luciano weakly knocked the butler's hand aside. "Promise me…"

"Mr. Luciano!"

"Promise me…" he repeated as another wave of coughs shook him.

"I promise! Now let's get you…" he stopped, letting the last word roll away. The other had finally allowed his eyes to close upon hearing the promise, and his breathing was no longer visible. "Mr. Luciano…"

"Mr. Luciano?" Daniela called her bodyguard, shaking the corpse. She repeated his name again, panic creeping into her small figure. "Wake up or the fire will eat you! Mr. Luciano!"

Something exploded near them, reminding them that they were in a burning building, previously a summer mansions belonging to Vongola. In one swift movement, Nico lifted the eight year girl, who was light enough unlike her bodyguard, up in his arms and ran out of the house, giving the fallen man a last backward glance.

Daniela didn't speak at all during the escape and instead looked silently at the blood on her hands, which was already drying and flaking away due to the heat around them.

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It wasn't like I started hating the sight of blood after Luciano died. I would just always look back to that day… and wonder if I could've prevented his death, if I had only moved and ran into the fire. I remember looking back at the burning house afterwards and watching it crumple into a heap of ashes. I wasn't scared; in fact, I was amazed by the power fire had. If I had only known exactly what Vongola was and what role I was meant to play it in, I might have saved my friend. Those are useless thoughts now; he's dead and the dead never come back, no matter how much one wishes it.

I didn't know it then, but five of the ten Vongola heirs were attacked that day. Three were killed, including my father, the Seventh's brother. My mother was with him, at the summer home where we were staying… I didn't know any of that at that moment… when I saw the orange flames dance on the wood in the horizon. It was a hot summer day…

Note: Thank you for reading! I know it's a little depressing, but it's supposed to be like… a tragic comedy XD… or not… I don't know… but it's not all angst. I like angst though… the comedy will be coming soon (I hope).

Also, I was considering putting an OC character list somewhere just to keep track of them. Give out a yell if you start getting confused later about who's who (I'll probably get confused myself).