-Tsuna's POV-

The ball of light rose to the air and glowed even brighter before it went out. In its place, was a pair of white mittens with the numbers '27' on it and a single bullet.

"Ooh? I wonder what results this bullet would bring?" Reborn smiled as he picked up the bullet and the mittens.

"Oya? I thought something interesting was occurring but it was only mittens? Though I should be careful of the bullet." Mukuro commented.

"Here. Wear them." Reborn said and threw the mittens towards me. I grabbed them and stared at Reborn in utter shock.

"Wear them? How could a pair of mittens help me in a fight like this?!"

"It can help you improve your blood circulation in your hands." Reborn promptly quips, smirking delightfully at my expression.

I put them on regardless, trusting the infant that he have some sort of plan in mind. And not a second too soon after I put them on, Mukuro came at me for another attack.

"I appreciate it if you don't ignore me." He smiled and took another swipe at my feet. I stumbled back a few feet, a little off balanced by the sudden attack and that's when Reborn took the opportunity to shoot me.

"Let's see what this bullet does." He smirked as he quickly took aim and shot it.

The bullet hit me right in the forehead and I felt myself fall. A familiar rush of fire burns through me as I felt my dying will flames ignite on my forehead. However, this time, it was slightly different.

Instead of exploding in a burst of flames, it felt opposite. I feel calm. The flames are still there like it always have been when Reborn shot me with the usual dying will bullet but this time it wasn't raging inside of me. It was peaceful like the calming waves in the sea. I could think properly and calmly unlike before.

'I rather like this mode compared to the other. For one, it's less embarrassing and I don't make a complete fool of myself....'

I looked down onto my hands and was surprised to see gloves instead of mittens on it. On the gloves, a insignia of the Vongola was imprinted on it.

I felt power building inside of me and I instinctively knew what to do with it. Focusing the energy into my hands, I stared in awe as pure orange flame bursts forth in it.

"Oya? Flames? And Sky flames at that. How interesting. I starting to want you more now Tsunayoshi. Kufufu~"

I fought a shiver at how creepy that sounds when suddenly, he came flying towards me, trident in hand. I brought up my hands and caught the trident with ease. I felt the flames inside of me fueling me with newfound power and used it to do a roundhouse kick at Mukuro. He has no choice but to let go of his trident in order to avoid the kick and now he's weaponless like how I was before. I allowed myself a small smirk before rushing forward for an attack.

"Don't think you won yet just because you took away my weapon." Mukuro sneered and before my eyes, he disappeared.

I halted in place, wondering if this is an illusion or not when suddenly, I felt the trident in my hands being snatch away. 'Damn!' I cursed in my head. 'Not Again!'

The air to my right shifted a little and I quickly reacted to it, narrowly blocking the incoming trident to my face with my gloves. We were locked like this for a while; him pushing to overthrow me and me trying hard to stand my ground.

A burst of orange flames came forth from me unconsciously, something that I didn't even know I could even do. It helped fuel my strength against Mukuro. However, Mukuro did the same, except his flames was purple.

The two colored flames collided and flickered brightly in the air above us in a fight for supremacy. The soft orange and the dull purple blended together to create a beautiful light show. I was in awe over what these flames can do and wasn't expecting a sudden rush of memories that flowed into my mind—memories that had nothing to do with me.

It looks like Mukuro also experienced the same thing I did because he stared at me with a mixture of fixation and amusement.

"Oh. So you're also someone like me then?"

I frowned, not understanding his words. "What do you mean I'm like you?"

"We're both an anomaly to this world it seems. Someone who experienced death over and over in exchange for power. Though, it was not by our choice." He spat the last few words out in disgust.

I now knew what he meant when he said he had no choice. I saw. I didn't understand what just happened, but I saw it. His past; what happened to his family, what they did to him, what those rotten scientists did to him and what he did in order to free himself of the torture he was forced to endure. And I guess he saw mine too. 'Well, that's one way to reveal a secret... if only it's that easy for Reborn.'

I glanced at this misfortune pineapple before me and I couldn't help but sympathize with him. It wasn't his choice to be a murderer. He would have died by their hands if he didn't do what he had to that day.

'But that doesn't justify for what he did to my friends.' That thought fueled my anger again. "Yes. It was not by our choice. Fate loves screwing with us even though we did nothing wrong. HOWEVER, never once did I think to drag others into my own problem. If there's a solution that doesn't involve killing, then I'll gladly take it even if it means I myself will die." I said with full conviction.

"Kufufu~ Playing the Hero I see. No one's going to thank you for that." He laughed.

"I don't need any thanks. It's just something I want to do and I'll do it." I said crossed my arms stubbornly.

Mukuro heaved a disappointed sigh. "I thought we could come to an understanding since we both know each other's backstory but I guess that'll be impossible. Oh well." He shook his head and smirked. "Looks like I'll have to take your body after all."

And with that, he lunged forward with his trident aiming right my chest. Thanks to my reflexes, I quickly sidestepped to avoid that fatal attack but he was fast and attempted a second strike.

'He's too fast for me to catch!' I thought in alarm.

Then, I suddenly thought of an idea. Pointing my palms downwards, I focused all my flames onto it and blasted it out. I found myself hovering in the air, inches away from the ground. 'I did it!' But there was no time for celebration as Mukuro was coming for another attack. Using my flames in my hands as a booster, I put it behind me like a thruster and blasted myself forward like a rocket. My speed increased by twofold compared to before and I found myself keeping up with Mukuro's speed.

"Hmm. Impressive." Mukuro smirked as he used his illusions to camouflage himself but that method doesn't work on me anymore. After seeing him do that the first few times, I've somehow develop a 3rd sense or intuition for sensing his presence. I closed my eyes, expanding my other senses outward to get a feel of where he would be. I listened to my intuition closely and made a strike in the air to my left, grinning as I felt something connect with my fist.

Mukuro appeared within my sights, grimacing and holding his stomach in pain.

"How did you know where I am?" He growled but I wasn't going to answer him, instead I rush forward to get another hit in before he could do his disappearing trick again.

He swiftly moved out of my way and maneuvered behind my back, intending to strike from my blind spot. However, with my flames, my agility is now faster than his—if not, then on par with him. I thrust more flames to my gloves, propelling me forward like a rocket, avoiding his trident.

He narrowed his eyes in annoyance and came at me again, this time faster and with more agitation. I avoided all his strikes with ease, finding it easier now with my newfound flames empowering me.

This went on for a while before I start to realize his strikes getting wilder and his impatience growing. His eyes looks worried and unfocused, like he has something else in mind.

With one last dodge, I backed a few feet away and he paused, wondering what I'm going to try next.

"Why are you so impatient?" I asked. His eyes widen for a second before returning to normal and his usual grin appeared.

"Why would you say that? Do you think I would have a reason to be? Against someone like you?" He gave me a smug look which I'm not buying. His eyes told me the truth, he's afraid. I don't know what he's afraid of but if something can scare someone like him, I'm not sure I want to meet that something. 'Wait, does that mean that something is coming?!' This sudden realization caught me unaware and I had a bad feeling throughout my body at the thought of it. And it isn't very assuring when my head started throbbing like an alarm bell went off inside my brain.

"This has dragged on long enough. I need to end this now." He narrowed his eyes at me, intending to use his strongest attack against me.

I gripped my hands into a tight fist to prepare for whatever he throws at me, wincing a little at my growing headache. However, that attack did not come because something else came instead.

Something that I never want to meet in this lifetime or in any other lifetime.

Something that can haunt your nightmares and give you countless sleepless nights.

That something came in a blanket of overwhelming darkness.

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A/N:

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