Ghost of the Past (Katekyo Hitman Reborn/Xanxus) WATTYS 2017

2 3 - l o s s

Her hand was clutched in his as he they brought her to a stretcher and carried her away, yelling about blood pressure and other things Xanxus could no longer comprehend.

All he could do was look at her.

She was beautiful. Her blond hair framed her face and her lashes brushed against her cheeks.

She still looked the same. Like she was sleeping.

But her lips.

Her lips were turning a shade of pale blue.

"I'm right here." He whispered as he ran alongside her stretcher, not once letting go of her hand.

"Sir, you should step back. There's nothing you can do that can help her."

"Please let us do our job."

His hands were pried off her own and they brought her through the operating room doors.

Xanxus was left all alone.

Helpless and maybe even hopeless.

He's never felt pain like this ever since his mother died. He fell against the wall and sunk to the ground.

A single tear fell down his eye and he brought a hand up to wipe it away but stopped when he saw the blood on his hands.

Her blood.

His hand trembled and his vision became blurry. His tears were falling freely and they mixed with her blood.

He slammed his fist against the wall, his adrenaline wore off and the pain of his body hit him like a wave.

He gasped before coughing into his hands. There was blood. He could taste it in the back of his throat but he didn't care.

The pain that he was feeling emotionally was consuming him.

He hated it.

How could he be so weak when the person he loved was separated from him by a door and she was hurt and she was dying and there was nothing he could do about it?

He punched the wall, leaving a small dent in the cement.

He wanted to punish himself.

He punched the wall again.

She was in pain because of him and he wanted to hurt himself for that.

And again.

If you ever cared about me, please don't hurt him!

"Damn it!" He whispered angrily to himself. He consecutively punched the wall, until he felt his knuckles sting with new, open wounds.

"Dammit..."

Do I have to lose her too?

*^*^*

"We came as soon as we could." Karen went running up to Xanxus, her eyes filled with worry. Hiro was close behind her, along with Dino and Tsuna.

"What happened?" Dino asked. His voice trembled and he was fidgeting nervously.

Hiro grit his teeth, his eyes were full of pure rage and his clenched fists shook. "My brother did this..."

Xanxus shook his head. "He didn't. He didn't kill me after he saw his rain flames... Noelle," he trembled.

"She..."

Karen choked up a sob and she started coughing. "Why would she do this?" She cried in disbelief and Hiro rubbed her back.

Xanxus wouldn't turn to meet their gazes, all he could do was look at the flashing red light on top of the Operating room door.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Dino asked as he walked closer to the door. "Please let her be okay." Tears gathered in his eyes.

"She's the only family I have left... I can't lose her again."

Hiro stood, frozen. He just kept staring at the doors, as though if he stared long enough, Dina would go bursting through the doors laughing. Telling him he worried too much before asking for candy.

'If you're leaving this world I'm not that far behind...' Hiro's mind raced with that one single thought.

His mind was silenced as Karen grabbed his arm and gave him a concerned look. He felt something on his cheeks and realized he was crying.

Karen knew that though she and Dina were extremely close, she had to be strong for the three boys with her because Dina meant so much more to them than to her and it was only right.

Even so, she couldn't stop the silent tears for streaming down her face. This was her sister's doing... And all the blame and guilt Karen directed was to herself.

~•~•~•~

Two blue eyes that were framed with raven black hair stared at a hospital window.

It was Kuroi.

His hands were clenched into fists but he knew he had to do something.

He turned and carried something, and snuck into the hospital.

Noelle groaned in his arms. "Where are you taking me..?" She asked.

"To see what we have done and what your actions have caused."

Hiro snuck into the hospital and used his now-rain flames to put the doctors an nurses unalarmed by the sight of him and Noelle.

Until finally, he was inside the operating room. He dropped Noelle on the ground and went closer to where the med team was bustling about. He hid behind one of the hospital curtains as close as he possibly could to Dina's face.

He listened to the continuous beep of Dina's heart on the monitor.

"Kuroi! If you ever had feelings about me! If anything we ever had was real! You'd let him go! Please...!"

"I've never lost those feelings..." He whispered, trailing his fingers across the curtain, yearning to feel Dina's skin.

"Everything was real to me. It still is... But you have to let me go. We're toxic to each other... I hurt you. You hurt me. And the cycle continued... We're toxic to each other. Toxic. But don't doubt that I love you and that I care about you because I did. A lot. I love you. I really do. But this is goodbye."

Noelle choked back a sob and Kuroi turned to see that she was close behind him, her hands pressed against her mouth and tears escaped her lips.

"Do you think she's..?"

Kuroi's heart went out to her. Even though he wanted to make her have a reaction. Even though he wanted to hate Noelle. Even though Noelle was the cause of all this, he couldnt. Because it was clear that she still loved Dina.

When you start caring about someone, it doesn't stop no matter what happens.

"I don't know..." He whispered.

Noelle saw from her peripheral vision, her sister, heartbroken, along with three others in the same state... If not worse. Noelle trembled as she clenched and unclenched her fists. Hear head hung low and her shoulders shook.

She brought so much pain.

She wanted them to feel the pain she felt... But not to this extent. This was too much... And it was so much worse than what she went through.

She only ended up hurting herself.

"I can't let this happen. This is all my fault."

She raised her head and Kuroi saw in her glistening eyes, pure resolve.