Omg we've reached the 20th chapter.
___________________________

Tsuna could remember bits and pieces of memories of when he first came into the institution.

His memory was a haze and everything seemed to be filtered. The hand he held was ice cold and slack. The only thing keeping his and his father's hands together was his intense grip on his father's.

He had never held hands with his father before. Holding hands with one of his parents was a foreign concept. In fact, any kind of contact without pain was dumbfounding.

He didn't like it, holding hands that is. He didn't want to do anything with his hands because Lacie used to be in his arms. Her precious blood spilling and the warmth of her body leaving his palms.

Anything kind of contact-- especially when it was warm and wet-- caused his hands to itch. And itch and itch. Tsuna preferred putting his hands underneath numbing cold water until he couldn't feel anything.

Tsuna's mind felt heavy. Everything was cloudy and a solid thumping resounded in his head.

A puff of warm air looked like a small cloud as he exhaled. He hurt. He hurt but he didn't know where the pain was.

"You're staying in here, forever." His father spoke with a scratchy voice. It caused his ears to ring. "No one will find you and no one will remember you."

No one will find me.
No one will remember me.

For some reason, the words caused his heart to overflow with relief and bitterness-- no, it was resentment.

His shoes made contact with the tiles beneath him. A soft rhythm forming from the sound of his steps. He felt cold, so terribly cold and the change in environment didn't help. The white hallways felt colder than the forest outside despite the heater flowing out warmth inside.

And then his body reached its limit.

He passed out.

__________________________

Tsuna opened his mouth to speak but Enma beat him to it.

".. Giotto?" Enma whispered. Tsuna expected Enma to scream and shout words of hatred and bitterness but instead, a small murmur came out and caught Tsuna off guard.

"Wait-- no. That can't be right." Gokudera spoke, shaking his head. "Vongola is like-- the worst ... Of the worst.."

Tsuna could feel his friend's voice break and could feel his own breaking heart as well.

"How do you even know this, kid?" Mukuro sneered.

Uni gave a thin smile. "I told you-- I can see the future."

"Are you saying this information will be revealed in the future?" Yamamoto questioned.

"Or perhaps you envisioned yourself telling us this now?" Gokudera spoke and then blinked. "But then where did your future self-- I mean present self?-- get the info?" And then Gokudera exploded because of overthinking. Sorry. I was joking.

Uni's gaze fell, her smile fading. "I– I don't know," her voice was small, "I just can see the future."

Just then did it hit Tsuna that Uni was just a small girl. She was like them. Heck, she was even younger than they were. 

"Sorry," The words came out without warning, but Tsuna continued on, "We're sorry for suddenly demanding answers out of you. We're– we're just really tired." It was the truth. Tsuna didn't miss the way Yamamoto's eyes drooped with fatigue or the way Gokudera's form slacked.

From the corner of his eyes, Hibari's intense scowl softens slightly and Tsuna takes that as approval. 

It seems like the others have realized their actions as well. "Sorry for snapping at you and stuff." Gokudera releases a frustrated sigh. "I guess we're all messed up right now." 

"Yeah, kid." Yamamoto collapses onto his back, his arms sprawled by his sides. "Sorry, you had to see us this way."

Mukuro bows his head, apologetic. 

Uni beams and somehow it lightens up the dark, broken corridor. "No worries!" Her smile is eager and excited. "Now, let's continue onwards! To help your friend!"

Right. For Giotto. It didn't matter whether he was somehow related to the mafia, Tsuna thought to himself, he's still a friend. "Thank you very much for all your help Uni-san." To prove his gratitude, he bowed slightly. 

Uni's smile softened and only warmth was radiated from her. "I am simply thankful to be of assistance, Sawada-san." 

The mood around them had improved drastically and Tsuna knows that it was for the better. They were still grieving, but there was hope to continue on living. 

"Um," Enma says, catching everyone's attention, "Is it alright to ask something?"

Uni giggled. "By all means, please do. It's not like I haven't been bombed with questions before."

Enma gives a nervous chuckle before composing himself. Something in his eyes reminds Tsuna of loss. "About Giotto, could you elaborate on that?"

"I'm not too sure, honestly." Uni frowns thoughtfully, "It was hard enough to know your friend is the reason this building is crashing down, but other information was just impossible to get." 

"I thought you got all this info from looking into the future?" Enma raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, however, my ability has a limit." At this, Uni sighs, "I'm sorry for not being of much use."

Tsuna splutters. "N-no, no, you've been a big help!" As much as he wanted to know more about Giotto and his mafia connects– and why it felt so wrong– Uni had already helped considerably.

"I am glad you think that way." 

"Let us continue," Mukuro says, pushing himself off the wall he was leaning on. "We cannot stay in this spot and rot." His usual smirk was in place. Tsuna was relieved that he had gathered his bearings. 

Yamamoto grinned. "Ready to hop onto my back again, Tsuna?" His smile falters for a little bit. "Sorry for not supporting you earlier..."

"N-no!" Tsuna stutters. "It's okay! Besides, it doesn't hurt too bad anymore!" He was saying the truth, the sun flame pills had worked wonders. Although his leg was still quite sore, it felt like he could support his own weight again.

Yamamoto still looked worried.

"Hey," Tsuna gives a reassuring smile, "If my leg starts getting tired, I'll immediately tell you alright?" 

Yamamoto reluctantly nods. "Okay."

"Okay, let's go!" Uni exclaims, happily. 

Hibari starts walking away without a word, leaving them to catch up to him. 

However, Tsuna purposefully lags behind to stay with Enma, away from the group but not too far to end up separated. "Hey," His voice was soft as he slightly nudged the red-haired teen, "You alright?"

Enma huffs a strand of hair away from his face. "Yeah, peachy." He says sarcastically. 

Tsuna frowns. "You don't look very peachy."

Enma runs his hand through his hair. He looks stressed. "I–I don't know anymore." He admits, voice raw, "There's too much happening."

Tsuna could relate to that. Reaching over, Tsuna grabbed Enma's hand, causing him to look up in surprise. "If you want to talk, you can."

Tsuna could see the moisture building up in Enma's ruby eyes. They reminded him of Lacie. 

He looks down, unable to look up. "I– I just have no idea how you're doing it, Tsuna-kun," Enma confesses. "You were closer to them than I was and yet, it's me who can't move on." The teen was rambling, "People died, Tsuna-kun. They died. And then your friend is missing and-and– Vongola."

Enma finds the will in him to stare into Tsuna's eyes. "There's too much happening." It breaks Tsuna's heart to hear how defeated and tired Enma was. 

"... I can't get over it either." Ryohei's last smile flashes through his head every time he closes his eyes and Chrome's and Lambo's frame falling into nothingness haunts him. "I wish so badly for them to be here with us." Tsuna could remember Ryohei's words, weakly telling him that he didn't hate him– telling him to live. He saw Chrome's desperate act in saving her brother. He remembered Lambo's strength. 

"As for Giotto... It was honestly a shock." Tsuna says, thinking back to the betrayal he felt. But now he knows that the betrayal wasn't right. It wasn't Giotto's fault. Heck, Giotto probably didn't even know he was Vongola's last heir! The ones at fault were Vongola. "But I care for him like I care for everyone else. I– I have faith that he's alright."

Enma was silent so Tsuna took that as a cue to continue on. "What's your deal with Vongola anyways?" It honestly bothered him. The seething, pure hatred he saw in his best friend's eyes... was terrifying.

Instantly, Enma scowled. "They killed my sister." 

Tsuna gasped. "N-No way... They killed Mami-chan?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Mami Kozato was... dead? "When?" The question was out of his lips before he could stop it. "When... when did she..."

"Shortly after they took me in." Enma replies, eyes blank and voice casual as if he was simply reciting something off a script. Perhaps that's what he was feeling. "I was informed a day after I arrived that my sister had been killed by someone from Vongola."

Utter dread filled Tsuna's lungs, leaving him speechless.

"I didn't know what was going to happen to her when they took me away." Enma confesses, his voice was trembling, on the verge of cracking. "I didn't think about her well-being that day, I was too full of rage." Tsuna could hear the self-hatred. 

"She was playing at a friend's house!" Enma finally screamed, hands pulling his hair. "She wasn't there! She couldn't have known and now–" A sob broke through, "And now–"

Tsuna opened his mouth to say something but Enma continued on rambling, "I should've run!" The boy's breathing was getting dangerously short. "I should've run like that old man said and protected her instead of looking for a fight!"

"Enma– Enma, listen to me," Tsuna finally spoke up, "Please, calm down." The two have stopped walking a long time ago and it was just them in the dark hallway, the others nowhere to be seen. Tsuna grabbed Enma by the shoulders and led him to the side, sitting down. "Shh, it's okay," Tsuna whispers, holding Enma close. 

"It's– It's not–" Enma wheezed, "Shes–"

Tsuna ran his hands through his friend's crimson hair. "Hey, listen. The records didn't say anything about Mami-chan."

It took a while before Enma could compose himself enough to reply. "The records could've been outdated." His voice was still raw and scratchy but his breathing maintained a steady pace.

"You said that they told you about her a day after you were admitted," Tsuna pointed out, "It's fishy that they wouldn't bother renewing the report."

"..."

"Also, if she was alive when you arrived here, they would've said something about her status. Instead, they didn't mention her at all." Tsuna continued to rub Enma's back soothingly.

"What are you trying to say?" Enma finally lifted his head up and stared into Tsuna's eyes. His eyes were glassy with tears. 

"I'm saying there's hope." 

After a few seconds, a shaky smile blossomed on Enma's face and Tsuna took that as a victory.

---

When they finally caught up to the rest, they were taking a break. 

"Oi. Took you guys long enough." Gokudera said but his words lacked any heat in them. "What the fuck happened?"

Tsuna smiled when he realized that they were waiting. He was glad that they decided against searching for them. "Thank you for waiting," He says, "Me and Enma-kun just had a nice chat, didn't we Enma-kun?" He turns to his red-headed friend.

"Uh, Y-yeah!" Enma splutters, face growing red. "Sorry!"

"That's nice and all, but we would appreciate it if you didn't pull a stunt like that again," Mukuro sighed, "It's dangerous enough with the sudden earthqu– bombings, but we also have the undead crawling around this place." 

Gosh, it was going to take some time getting used to the fact that they were being bombed, Tsuna thought to himself.

"Yeah, what's even up with that?" Yamamoto asks as everyone starts getting ready to continue on. 

"They're from failed experiments." Hibari explains and leaves it at that.

Gokudera rolls his eyes, stepping over a piece of debris. "Yeah, we kinda got that already." The bomber kicks a pebble in annoyance. "But why the fuck are they only showing up now?"

Hibari looks irritated at having to talk more. "There are hatches around this building. They were inside the hatches. The explosions have caused them to break free."

"I'm assuming that you found that out by finding one?" Mukuro asks.

Hibari simply nods in reply then gestures to Uni. "I found her around that area."

Uni giggles despite the topic, "Hibari-san has been such a great help! I was completely lost and had no idea where I was going!"

"That's not something to be laughing about!" Gokudera retorts.

They eventually fell into silence after that. The silence unnerved Tsuna. Usually, even while they were exploring, there would be carefree chatter and banter, but now... it was just silence. Thinking logically, it made sense, seeing as the majority of the people around weren't really the talkative types. 

Hibari just doesn't speak, Mukuro isn't the type to start a conversation, Enma was shy and awkward, Gokudera was pissed while Yamamoto just didn't seemed like he wanted to talk.

Uni... It was kind of hard to talk to her, despite her being cheerful. 

Just– It wasn't the same anymore. 

There was no Lambo to babble on and on about stupid things, there wasn't a Ryohei to shout odd things at random times and there was no Chrome for Mukuro to talk to quietly or make small comments every now and then. 

Tsuna missed them. 

---

Giotto inhaled whatever oxygen he could. His lungs were screaming for air. Sweat dripped down his face and he could feel his clothing stick to his body. 

His piercing blue eyes glared defiantly at the nutjob in front of him. Giotto spat out blood. "You're going to regret this." He growled, voice hoarse. 

Kanou's eyes were cold and his expression was bored. "Y'know, this is honestly getting tiring–"

"I'm the one who's fucking tired!"

"– so can't you just give me what I want?" He carried on as if he wasn't interrupted.

Giotto spat in his direction.

Kanou sighed. "It's truly amazing that you are able to defy me, I'll give you that." The doctor claps sarcastically. "But we're running out of time and I can't play this game forever."

Giotto grins, his bloody mouth showing. "More of a reason for me to hold out, eh?" 

Kanou glared. "I hate you." He bit out at his wit's limit.

"Likewise." 

Changing tactics, Kanou purrs, "I guess you really won't give me the information I need." He walks around the room full of machines like he was dancing to a beat that Giotto couldn't hear.

Giotto narrowed his eyes. What was this man playing at? "About bloody time you got that." Still, Giotto couldn't resist sassing at him.

Kanou's eye twitched and Giotto was smugly satisfied with the reaction. "Let me cut to the chase–" Suddenly the man was right in front of his face, glowering. "Vongola will find us soon enough and they are looking for you."

Giotto's eyes widen. "How–"

Kanou shrugs flippantly. "Who knows?" The man walks away from him, stance casual. Too casual. It sent an anchor of dread in his stomach. "All I know is that they're tearing apart the institution in search for Vongola Decimo."

Giotto frowns. Decimo? No, he couldn't possibly mean–

Kanou grins and it sends chills down his spine. "That's right. Giotto– you are Vongola Decimo."

Giotto fucked up.

---

Author's Note: Wow I'm back from the dead. Aaaand yayyy we're reaching the climax. Slowly.

wow, it sucks having all the bright characters dead. It's hard to lift the heavy atmosphere. I guess you guys only have yourself to blame cause I did this in the order of least favorite to most favorite. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Just kidding, this is all my fault.