Ciao~! I'm back from break! I had dim sum~~~~ XD

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So. Anyways. I CANNOT believe I actually did manage to get the number of reviews I wanted (plus one!). SO EXCITED~~~! LOTS OF THANKS AND HUGS AND CHOCOLATE AND ICE CREAM TO ANYONE WHO REVIEWED/FAVORITED/ALERTED! And I got a review in French! So cool, since I take French in school! Anyways, it was really fun to write this.

Thanks again to CrylikeRaina again for beta-ing! This would be horrible if it wasn't for her. =.=|||

DISCLAIMER: The fangirl in me can only dream of owning Hibari... *o* -Sigh-

He stood still. People - civilians - in yellow raincoats walked around aimlessly, their incessant chatter blocking out the soft pitter-patter of the rain. Above him, the sky was a watercolor of shimmering silvers and gunmetal grays and beneath him, brown cobblestones formed an always undulating, never-ending mosaic.

The voices surrounding him rose, and in the din, he realized that his raincoat was branded with a dark, angry red. Blood red. Why did he have to be different? What had he done? Filled with a sudden, inexplicable fury, he watched as his hands erupted in twisting orange flames. He was distantly aware of the sobbing, the shouting, but it was only background noise. Fire licked the streets and the buildings and the sky, and rings of suffocating smoke danced across the air. His world suddenly turned black.

After all, didn't the brightest lights cast the darkest shadows?

He woke from the nightmare screaming.

Hydra sat, cross-legged, outside the entrance of the Vongola base, watching as the sky bled from the soft gray of predawn to the blazing red of sunrise. Soft laughter echoed in his ears. Sighing, he rose from the ground with the grace of an experienced dancer and swallowed the feelings of guilt that were threatening to overwhelm him. Guilt. When had he last felt guilt?

It wasn't his fault, he reminded himself; he was doing nothing wrong. His Guardians were the ones who had betrayed him first, not he, them. They could have rescued him, they could have saved him, but had they? No, they had fled from Byakuran like the cowards they were. They had fled from their precious "Boss." This was only his sweet, cold revenge.

The guilt was still there.

Hydra shoved a hand through his hair with a quiet, resigned groan. Guilty or not, it wasn't as if he had a choice. Byakuran was always there, always watching. It was impossible to escape. The mocking laughter filled his ears again.

"Tenth? What are you doing here?"

Resisting the urge to snort at the concern in Gokudera's voice - where had that concern been when the man had abandoned him eight years ago? - he half-turned. "I'm fine. Go inside." The Storm Guardian flinched at his curt dismissal.

"Tenth..."

Hydra's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. Once upon a time, Gokudera would have listened to everything he said. "Learn when you aren't wanted around," he snapped, sick of sugar-coating his words.

"Very well, Tenth," his former right hand mumbled stiffly. "Call if you need me."

I won't ever need you again, Hydra thought bitterly. I already made that mistake.

"Oh, and Hayato?" he asked casually.

Gokudera stopped and, even though his back was turned, Hydra could picture the childish hope in his eyes. "Yes, Tenth?"

"The only thing I'm Tenth of is a group of idiots."

Gokudera didn't respond; instead, there was the soft swish of a door closing. Had he been too harsh? But his words had been true. Who and what was he Tenth of?

Gokudera. He plucked a blade of grass. Yamamoto. Another blade joined the first. Ryohei. He clutched a handful of grass now. Hibari. Another handful. Mukuro. More grass. Lambo. More. Giannini. More. Futa. More. Bianchi. More.

And the girls.

With a frustrated yell, he flung the bundle of grass he had been cradling into the air, watching as a storm of green spiraled down lazily around him. The girls. Dammit, why them? Why did Byakuran choose, of all people, them to be his new Funeral Wreaths? There were a million other choices, so why them?

Storm: Haru. Sun: Kyoko. Lightning: I-pin. Rain: Keiko Yamamoto. Mist: Chrome. Cloud: Hana.

All of them had strong bonds to their respective Vongola counterparts. That much was obvious. But Hydra was sure Byakuran had picked them as much for his own sick, ironic pleasure, as for their strategic value.

His stomach suddenly emitted a low growl and he winced. Time for breakfast and with it, his not-Guardians.

Hydra felt the guilt descend again.

The girls were gathered around a comfortable table in their traditional meeting place - the kitchen. Haru had had it designed with the old kitchen in the abandoned Vongola base from eight years ago in mind, with soft yellow walls and a home-y feel the rest of Millefiore HQ lacked, and the new Funeral Wreaths had fallen in love almost immediately.

"So, Kyoko, how's your boyfriend?" Hana smirked, the steely silver-blue eyes she shared with her cousin glinting.

The auburn-haired girl blushed profusely. This was how it should be, a darker part of her grumbled. This was how her life should be - talking about things as normal and ordinary as boys, with normal and ordinary friends. Not discussing battle tactics with a psychopath set on taking over the world, not worrying about whether or not she would live another day.

"Tsu-kun's fine, I think. Byakuran-sama sent him to spy on...you-know-who..." Her voice trailed off feebly.

Across the table, Haru stiffened and Kyoko realized belatedly that she had just breached the taboo subject of the former Guardians. "Stupid bomber," the brunette grumbled, pouting slightly. "I wish he would just join us already! You're so lucky you get to be together with Hydra-san, Kyoko."

"Yeah," Kyoko admitted softly. Then again, if Tsuna hadn't been with the Millefiore, she wouldn't have joined them either. And neither would have her five best friends, whom she had convinced to follow Byakuran for Tsuna's sake. "You're right, Haru-chan."

"The monkeys will see sense eventually," comforted Hana, before adding thoughtfully, "though they'll never stop being monkeys..."

Keiko laughed. "Takeshi was always a bit clueless."

"So was Lambo," added I-pin.

"I have faith in Mukuro-sama," murmured Chrome.

But though she would never admit it, she didn't - and neither did the rest of the girls. After all, once a Guardian, always a Guardian.

Byakuran watched his right-hand fling grass into the air in frustration from one of the bugs set up around the Vongola base. What was the expression in his eyes? Anger, perhaps? Or even guilt? Byakuran frowned, and the expression looked decidedly eerie on his usually smiling face. He couldn't have dear, dear Tsunayoshi betray him.

The Millefiore was not kind to traitors.

"Byakuran-sama," called a voice from the doorway. The albino swiveled around in his chair and grinned cheerfully at the bowing Cervello.

"Hmm?"

"It has arrived."

Byakuran smirked. Tsunayoshi-kun wouldn't feel guilty much longer.

Psychological torture, Hydra resolved, was much, much worse the physical kind. He swore, if Yamamoto laughed happily again or if Ryohei "EXTREME-ED" again or if Lambo begged for candy again he would scream in frustration. He had endured for a week, already, but the crushing guilt, the knowledge that he would betray his (not) friends all too soon, was simply too much.

Hydra stalked across the gleaming hallway, ignoring Giannini's greeting, and slammed the door to his room shut with a resounding bang. Byakuran's laughter was in his ears again.

"Tsunayoshi-kun!"

Hydra groaned, resisting the urge to crush the near-invisible earpiece that connected him to his beloved boss.

"What."

"You don't seem too happy to hear from me! Mou~! I'm hurt!" Byakuran sang. Hydra's head was already beginning to ache from the ridiculous amount of exclamation marks.

"Actually, I'm very happy to hear from you."

"I'm sure you are. So, how's the mission going? Not feeling guilty, hmm? Not thinking of becoming a traitor?"

"No, of course not," Hydra forced through clenched teeth.

"Have you gained their trust, yet?"

That made Hydra pause. Had he gained their trust? At first glance, the answer was yes. Over the time he had been at the Vongola base, the Knights' attitudes towards him had softened. Even Ryohei seemed to be accepting his former Boss. But his intuition told him otherwise. There was a darkness in Yamamoto's eyes when he grinned, and the Sun Guardian's "EXTREMES" were a touch more subdued around him.

"No, not completely," Hydra admitted.

"Pity." There was a muted crackling as Byakuran cut the connection, and tense silence reigned again. One word lingered in Hydra's mind - traitor.

But who?

He couldn't hear. He couldn't see. He couldn't breathe. Byakuran's purple fist was tightening around him, squeezing, crushing. Pain lanced through his body in spears of red. Blood roared in his ears. Around him, the orange shell of sky flames was crumbling and his Guardians were screaming, the girls were screaming, he was screaming. Was this how it would end? Would the Millefiore defeat him so easily, even after Cambio Forma and the Arcobaleno seals?

Darkness closed in.

That's it! So, what do you think of DarkandCreepy!Tsuna? He sorta scares me... O.o He's such a meanie to poor Goku-chan.

Anyways, I'm going to try something new and not ask for reviews this time. ...Screw that. PLEASE REVIEW! (Please?)

More reviews = happy authoress = faster updates! (The Basic Law of Fanfiction)