un regalo per EVERYONE
Checkmate
by ? // for EVERYONE
characters/pairings: Byakuran (cameos of: Mukuro, Uni, Tsuna)
rating: pg
warnings: spoilers, I guess.
wordcount: 3175
summary: Byakuran's goal is to rule the mafia world, and that is all. He is selfish, maniacal, and utterly greedy, and therefore, his motives, or the lack thereof, places well with him.
notes: The mind of Byakuran is as complex as the calculus project that I should have been doing during the period of time I was writing this fic. Thank you for my beta readers, D and R, I love them so much for putting up with me, especially D, to whom I've been such a complainer and mistake freak that I knew that she was on the verge of choking me. [deleted user], my darling, I don't know if this is really what you wanted, but I hope that you like it.
Checkmate
Byakuran's goal is to rule the mafia world, and that is all. He is selfish, maniacal, and utterly greedy, and therefore, his motives, or the lack thereof, place well with him. It is as simple as defeating enemies and achieving what is rightfully his, because he's grown accustomed to getting what he wants. He takes pleasure in being spoiled by those who already follow him.
The mafia became his life when he was ten. He was young, innocent, and curious, and for the first time, he saw a man die in front of his eyes. The expression of that man's face before he was shot was undeniably appalling, like a horror scene that slipped out of a roll of film and into the real world.
That man was his father, a mafia boss. Byakuran killed him with his own gun.
It became the testament of his evil. It was what led him to the path of wolves. He became the successor after his father's downfall and he led his family to where it is right now.
He is fearless, brutal, and merciless. It never changed.
He heralds his own army of ruthless criminals, ready to take on the next step to sovereignty. He likes that thought, just as much as he has loved the look on his father face when his own son pointed a gun at him.
The concept of his greediness is simple, but in practicality, it is like catching a falling star. He wants the world wrapped around his fingers. He wants it all under his command. Nevertheless, to be the most powerful, he needs more than a comet splitting the sky to help him grant his wish.
He does not believe in God - those who do die under whatever circumstance because they will not have the heart to commit terrible acts and defy this 'God' - but he believes in the perception of prosperity following after the industry. Even if there is a God, this God will not suddenly give you what to want because you want it.
You have to earn it. You have to deserve it. It's justified accordingly to how well you have worked for it.
He knows that it is not a game. It is pure, utter business. Shaking hands with other men, striking conversations, making deals, fabricating lies, killing when necessary: they are all just business. They are real, bloody, and murky around the center and he knows that his own life is at stake when he does these kinds of things. It is not a game.
If he can compare it to a game, per se, then he might as well compare it to chess. Byakuran knows enough of it to know how to play. He understands where to take his turns and when to walk ahead. He knows that there are times when he must stop and think, and unveil a series of conclusions in his head, as precautions, because it is a game that he cannot afford to lose.
And he repeats to himself, every time he sees a fallen king from the other side of the cycle: ruling a mafia is like playing a game of chess.
To rule, he has to win. To win, he has to play the pieces, map out the plans, and think twenty steps ahead; never try his guard down because a simple mistaken step of a pawn can lead to a disaster.
One misstep and all his plans will go into an array. One wrong move and he is twenty times dead.
He knows this, and he loves it. It's thrilling. It makes his blood boil in excitement. He is the king. Everyone protects him, everyone follows him. He doesn't need to do much other than moving the pieces, and he does enjoy the privileges.
Byakuran, the white king.
Befitting, yet isn't.
His robe is white yet his soul is as dark as the varnished paint on the opposing pieces. He has learned long ago that a man with a pure heart, with a pure conscience untainted by the murky past of their ragtag world, cannot become a leader. One cannot rule if one cannot become what is subjected under him. No one will follow that kind of person. They will only toy with him, lead him on -- make him believe the falseness that is etched on their foreheads.
It is why the Vongola has made the mistake of putting in such a naïve boy on their throne. It is why Byakuran makes it a point to destroy them. It shall be the penitence for their transgressions. He is absolutely not the Vendicare but he will establish the law in his own accord. They will not be able to do as they wish once he has sorted all the pieces out and corners the Tenth Vongola to an easy checkmate.
He will not do so with such an easy way out, either. He will carefully lay out his plans. He shall dance that mysterious waltz with the Young Vongola and lead him to a spiraling downhill. There will be no music to guide him, but he will be graceful. He will show what it takes to be a symbol of sovereignty and he will nail that boy to the ground.
Byakuran can hardly grasp the gravity of the situation. Because he is happy-go-lucky for the most part, and because he has no care for the situation when he already knows that he will win. Because when the king falls, the game is over; the pieces surrender and the board is his. The world will be on their knees and he will be sitting in that golden throne in the heavens.
He falls asleep with that thought in his head and a smile on his face, and that thought will linger until morning and so on.
The death of Sawada Tsunayoshi is his to take because that man is strong yet weak, clever yet oblivious; because he does not know the power that he holds, that Byakuran wants. Because he is stupid enough to destroy this power, to leave Byakuran hanging with unsatisfied hope; because he is so innocent, and he does not belong.
Many will think that he's crazy. Most of them are part of his family. He does not deny that.
He has no reason, no motivation to be doing this, and yet he does. He commits and authorizes crimes and doesn't care if his family members get caught in a scuffle that will eventually end their lives. He does not treat them as family because only the strong, only the understanding, only the obedient, will be a part of him.
His life is mapped out in front of him and he sees the pictures of those who will help him achieve his future. There are three or four that catches his eyes and he, with all his will and power, recruits them to his family under whatever circumstances because he must - he must - for the win.
He takes them under his wing. Gradually, they will come to see the vision that Byakuran has created. He sees determination, he sees prowess, and desire for more and he knows that he will make the perfect pawns.
Byakuran will start with that quiet but undeniably talented engineering student and Byakuran will show him the greatness that he can provide. Irie Shouichi is strong and unwavering and there will be no other like him. He will move Byakuran upwards, to the heavens, and he shall make Byakuran the all-encompassing sky that engulfs the world.
He meets Rokudo Mukuro one fine day. Their accidental meeting is like a dance that has not been danced, but cannot end. In the middle of the streets of Italy, they stop, stare, and instantly recognize one another, and there's nothing more poetic than that.
The man is clever, sly, charming, and ambitious; Byakuran finds a mirror of himself within another and he thinks that it is sad that he is on the different end of the spectrum. He does not need to know why Mukuro decided to stay with such a terrible excuse of a boss. Anyone who does so instantly becomes insignificant to him, although Mukuro did catch his eyes.
They know each other well enough when they meet: Mukuro, the Vongola's Mist and Byakuran, the Gesso's Sky. There's no battle, no blood or gore, but they are pleasant, courteous, and loquacious. It is the tactic of the illusionist, the etiquette of the mafia boss.
"You're a very insatiable person," Mukuro remarks, baring his fangs, and Byakuran realizes that this man knows, but to what degree, he cannot find out. Inside his head, he tries to figure out what to do with this statement, to strangle Mukuro with it or take it as a compliment and wear it around his neck.
He chooses neither. "Is it that bad, Mukuro-kun?"
"It's not very appealing," Mukuro says placidly over tea, and Byakuran can feel the twisting feeling of his own lips when it creates a malicious smirk. "It's like you're walking over a thin thread and you try your hardest to stay balanced."
"Or so you say."
“I’ve been to where you are. I’ve had the world in my grasp where I could squeeze it to the perfection of my illusion.” Byakuran does not know whether to believe this or not, and Mukuro sees right through it with that perfected sneer. “You’re wondering why I gave all of it up.”
Byakuran can try and guess. “Is it Sawada Tsunayoshi?”
Mukuro chuckles darkly. There is a glint of mischievousness in his eyes. “Sawada Tsunayoshi is merely a tool that I have yet to touch, Gesso.”
It is a phrase that echoes in Byakuran’s ears over and over. Somehow, throughout time, he will realize the lies beneath the truth, the truth between the lies, and he will know that Mukuro’s illusions have engulfed him after their eyes met in the streets of Italy.
But that will not be for long.
Though delirious as he is, he does not believe in such a thing as time travel.
It is a myth, a thing for children in their bedtime stories and men who have nothing better to do that manifest conspiracy theories. But the idea of raiding the future and looking back into the past does sound intriguing. He's heard of the truth of its existence and he dares to find out more.
In his spare time, he looks up the Bovino Family name from a book that contains information about all the mafia families across the globe, and he comes across a device that raises his eyebrows in a pleasantly surprised manner. The next thing he knows, he is commanding his best troops to attack the Bovino Family and they break into the Bovino. And there, he finds a mysterious bazooka and is pleased of his accomplishments.
The Vongola hears of his execution of the Bovino and as the head of the Gesso family, Byakuran is demanded for an explanation. Maybe they know, maybe they do not, but the Bovino Family is of an inferior status within the mafia society. Such an attack from a rising family may be stupid or fructuous, depending on the perspective of those involved.
He laughs for a while because such an inexpert boss of the greatest mafia family has commanded him as though he has every right to, and the situation is nothing short of amusing.
The letter he sends back, stamped with the Gesso Family crest, is short and brusque, and it illustrates Byakuran's well-gained power that he has every right to keep confidential information until the time is right. He takes pride in that and satisfies himself to the vices he places upon himself.
Even the Vendicare cannot condemn him because this is the world of the mafia, and an unprecedented war is as well to be expected, no matter who is engaged.
Irie promises him something that day - something of great importance that will be kept in mind, in heart, and shall not be told to another existing soul - and Byakuran will hold him to it.
Yes, he thinks, things shall be kept to himself for a little while longer. The Vongola may surely be outraged by his nonchalant behavior, but this is how he sees things fit. Later on, he will outdo himself.
The news spreads around the underground about the downfall of a queen, and Byakuran readies an investigation that he will soon realize to be worth his while. The successor is a young child, the only daughter and only heir. He has heard of their power, of their fame, of their long history parallel to the Vongola's, and thinks that this is some kind of idiocy that the Giglio Nero are showing, without the judgment of a formal leader.
To let a child rule such a group in such a dangerous world…
She will be another Sawada Tsunayoshi and of course, he will not have that. It is unacceptable. He plans it thoroughly because she is a girl raised outside the mafia and he knows that she is softhearted and kind and pulling on a façade will make things simpler for the both of them.
He does not wish for her to die. Not yet. He's seen the pictures and he has heard the comments. There is little that he does not know about the power she has inside, and he does not want to kill. Her eyes that are full of life flash before him and he feels, he knows, that he wants - he needs this power and he will have it in any way possible.
No one but him - this is greed.
He schemes up a plan to meet with her, to consume her. He will trap her using his pawns and she will succumb to him. He knows it - she is a child that can be easily colored in the same way that he was easily influenced to the point where he has shot a gun to his own kin. It will be easy, like that saying that involves babies and candies and something of the like that he has long forgotten.
His pursuit ends with success and he meets her, a little lady with sharp eyes and an enigmatic stare that can see right through him. He likes the look she is giving him. She knows what he wants - he knows that she knows. Her eyes say that he cannot have it. It is the power of her family, of every generation of the Giglio Nero passed down and she will not let him have it. Never.
He makes a deal, she refuses. He strikes a compromise, she hesitates. He threatens her with danger and takes away an important part of her and he sees the panic in her eyes. And then it is over, and he is at his office having tea with Irie Shouichi who visits from Japan.
He has found his queen.
"You are greedy."
"Everyone says so."
"Why do you do this?" she asks, because she is curious and definitely worried, and it makes Byakuran smile knowing this - knowing that she is fearful of his capability, of how much, how far, he will push the limits before he gives up. But Byakuran is Byakuran and he will never give up. The room is empty and spacey and she thinks that she has been suffocated enough.
"Hmm, I don't know," he hums his tedious half-lie. "Maybe I just want the power."
Her scowl deepens, as does his smile. There he goes again in unsentimental riddles. "Are you that greedy for supremacy? Do you really want to see the world wrapped inside your control during your eternity? Aren't you content with the strength that you have?"
"It's not enough," he says the simple truth. "There are many things that I want."
"You can't have the whole world, Byakuran," she says sensibly because she knows the risks and she has seen the outcomes of such endeavor. She believes that Byakuran will not outlast this; she knows that he will only die trying, thinking of accomplishments that he will never gain. Greed is a deadly sin, a hideous vice that will make even the calmest of gods angry.
Then, there is this whole thing about divine punishment and infernal persecution that she knows Byakuran will have to face sooner or later. Maybe he knows, maybe he does not. But that is Byakuran, and he never tells the whole truth. One will have to figure him out to be able to know for sure. He will always be ahead.
He laughs out loud; it echoes in his office, ringing over and over in her ears. "Maybe. Maybe not."
He moves his white king a tile forward, and she looks down on the chessboard laying across the table, frowning deeply, unsatisfied with such vague responses, but Byakuran thinks that he has justified his words accordingly. She does not need to know much when she already knows enough.
"I will have the world, Uni."
The silence is overwhelming afterwards.
The Vongola asks the same question. Byakuran laughs the same laugh - malicious, spiteful, and ravenous. Sawada Tsunayoshi may have already known since the beginning, but he still dares to ask.
"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe I just want the power."
There is malicious poetry out of his mouth and Sawada Tsunayoshi dies a little inside. He knows that he has lost. He is trapped in the enemy cage and there is nowhere for him to go, and he thinks of every little thing he has done and asks himself 'what more of a life could he have asked for? ', and then, there is worry written all over his face.
There are people waiting for him, people who love and respect him and he does not want it to end like this. But it will - he knows it will. He can see it in Byakuran's eyes and he knows that it is mirrored in his own. He wanted a better life than this - a better death than this.
"You will never have the whole world, Byakuran." Tsuna is sure, because insatiability is a dangerous route to follow. It will lead to a destruction that Byakuran has never foreseen.
He has left instructions, for those who know and for those who do not. It is their last hope, their only hope. It is the only glittering candle in the velvet evening that has engulfed their world. He knows that this will be cruel to everyone involved, but he hopes that it will be understandable - to everyone - once the truth comes about.
Tsuna's voice is clear and firm. "I'll make sure of it."
That is his move. It is Byakuran's turn, and the white king moves forward, a step ahead. "How can you make sure of it, Sawada Tsunayoshi, when you are dead?"
His smile is just as sinister as that time when he killed his own father.
It is not over, but Byakuran believes that he has won.
by ? // for EVERYONE
characters/pairings: Byakuran (cameos of: Mukuro, Uni, Tsuna)
rating: pg
warnings: spoilers, I guess.
wordcount: 3175
summary: Byakuran's goal is to rule the mafia world, and that is all. He is selfish, maniacal, and utterly greedy, and therefore, his motives, or the lack thereof, places well with him.
notes: The mind of Byakuran is as complex as the calculus project that I should have been doing during the period of time I was writing this fic. Thank you for my beta readers, D and R, I love them so much for putting up with me, especially D, to whom I've been such a complainer and mistake freak that I knew that she was on the verge of choking me. [deleted user], my darling, I don't know if this is really what you wanted, but I hope that you like it.
Checkmate
Byakuran's goal is to rule the mafia world, and that is all. He is selfish, maniacal, and utterly greedy, and therefore, his motives, or the lack thereof, place well with him. It is as simple as defeating enemies and achieving what is rightfully his, because he's grown accustomed to getting what he wants. He takes pleasure in being spoiled by those who already follow him.
The mafia became his life when he was ten. He was young, innocent, and curious, and for the first time, he saw a man die in front of his eyes. The expression of that man's face before he was shot was undeniably appalling, like a horror scene that slipped out of a roll of film and into the real world.
That man was his father, a mafia boss. Byakuran killed him with his own gun.
It became the testament of his evil. It was what led him to the path of wolves. He became the successor after his father's downfall and he led his family to where it is right now.
He is fearless, brutal, and merciless. It never changed.
He heralds his own army of ruthless criminals, ready to take on the next step to sovereignty. He likes that thought, just as much as he has loved the look on his father face when his own son pointed a gun at him.
The concept of his greediness is simple, but in practicality, it is like catching a falling star. He wants the world wrapped around his fingers. He wants it all under his command. Nevertheless, to be the most powerful, he needs more than a comet splitting the sky to help him grant his wish.
He does not believe in God - those who do die under whatever circumstance because they will not have the heart to commit terrible acts and defy this 'God' - but he believes in the perception of prosperity following after the industry. Even if there is a God, this God will not suddenly give you what to want because you want it.
You have to earn it. You have to deserve it. It's justified accordingly to how well you have worked for it.
He knows that it is not a game. It is pure, utter business. Shaking hands with other men, striking conversations, making deals, fabricating lies, killing when necessary: they are all just business. They are real, bloody, and murky around the center and he knows that his own life is at stake when he does these kinds of things. It is not a game.
If he can compare it to a game, per se, then he might as well compare it to chess. Byakuran knows enough of it to know how to play. He understands where to take his turns and when to walk ahead. He knows that there are times when he must stop and think, and unveil a series of conclusions in his head, as precautions, because it is a game that he cannot afford to lose.
And he repeats to himself, every time he sees a fallen king from the other side of the cycle: ruling a mafia is like playing a game of chess.
To rule, he has to win. To win, he has to play the pieces, map out the plans, and think twenty steps ahead; never try his guard down because a simple mistaken step of a pawn can lead to a disaster.
One misstep and all his plans will go into an array. One wrong move and he is twenty times dead.
He knows this, and he loves it. It's thrilling. It makes his blood boil in excitement. He is the king. Everyone protects him, everyone follows him. He doesn't need to do much other than moving the pieces, and he does enjoy the privileges.
Byakuran, the white king.
Befitting, yet isn't.
His robe is white yet his soul is as dark as the varnished paint on the opposing pieces. He has learned long ago that a man with a pure heart, with a pure conscience untainted by the murky past of their ragtag world, cannot become a leader. One cannot rule if one cannot become what is subjected under him. No one will follow that kind of person. They will only toy with him, lead him on -- make him believe the falseness that is etched on their foreheads.
It is why the Vongola has made the mistake of putting in such a naïve boy on their throne. It is why Byakuran makes it a point to destroy them. It shall be the penitence for their transgressions. He is absolutely not the Vendicare but he will establish the law in his own accord. They will not be able to do as they wish once he has sorted all the pieces out and corners the Tenth Vongola to an easy checkmate.
He will not do so with such an easy way out, either. He will carefully lay out his plans. He shall dance that mysterious waltz with the Young Vongola and lead him to a spiraling downhill. There will be no music to guide him, but he will be graceful. He will show what it takes to be a symbol of sovereignty and he will nail that boy to the ground.
Byakuran can hardly grasp the gravity of the situation. Because he is happy-go-lucky for the most part, and because he has no care for the situation when he already knows that he will win. Because when the king falls, the game is over; the pieces surrender and the board is his. The world will be on their knees and he will be sitting in that golden throne in the heavens.
He falls asleep with that thought in his head and a smile on his face, and that thought will linger until morning and so on.
The death of Sawada Tsunayoshi is his to take because that man is strong yet weak, clever yet oblivious; because he does not know the power that he holds, that Byakuran wants. Because he is stupid enough to destroy this power, to leave Byakuran hanging with unsatisfied hope; because he is so innocent, and he does not belong.
Many will think that he's crazy. Most of them are part of his family. He does not deny that.
He has no reason, no motivation to be doing this, and yet he does. He commits and authorizes crimes and doesn't care if his family members get caught in a scuffle that will eventually end their lives. He does not treat them as family because only the strong, only the understanding, only the obedient, will be a part of him.
His life is mapped out in front of him and he sees the pictures of those who will help him achieve his future. There are three or four that catches his eyes and he, with all his will and power, recruits them to his family under whatever circumstances because he must - he must - for the win.
He takes them under his wing. Gradually, they will come to see the vision that Byakuran has created. He sees determination, he sees prowess, and desire for more and he knows that he will make the perfect pawns.
Byakuran will start with that quiet but undeniably talented engineering student and Byakuran will show him the greatness that he can provide. Irie Shouichi is strong and unwavering and there will be no other like him. He will move Byakuran upwards, to the heavens, and he shall make Byakuran the all-encompassing sky that engulfs the world.
He meets Rokudo Mukuro one fine day. Their accidental meeting is like a dance that has not been danced, but cannot end. In the middle of the streets of Italy, they stop, stare, and instantly recognize one another, and there's nothing more poetic than that.
The man is clever, sly, charming, and ambitious; Byakuran finds a mirror of himself within another and he thinks that it is sad that he is on the different end of the spectrum. He does not need to know why Mukuro decided to stay with such a terrible excuse of a boss. Anyone who does so instantly becomes insignificant to him, although Mukuro did catch his eyes.
They know each other well enough when they meet: Mukuro, the Vongola's Mist and Byakuran, the Gesso's Sky. There's no battle, no blood or gore, but they are pleasant, courteous, and loquacious. It is the tactic of the illusionist, the etiquette of the mafia boss.
"You're a very insatiable person," Mukuro remarks, baring his fangs, and Byakuran realizes that this man knows, but to what degree, he cannot find out. Inside his head, he tries to figure out what to do with this statement, to strangle Mukuro with it or take it as a compliment and wear it around his neck.
He chooses neither. "Is it that bad, Mukuro-kun?"
"It's not very appealing," Mukuro says placidly over tea, and Byakuran can feel the twisting feeling of his own lips when it creates a malicious smirk. "It's like you're walking over a thin thread and you try your hardest to stay balanced."
"Or so you say."
“I’ve been to where you are. I’ve had the world in my grasp where I could squeeze it to the perfection of my illusion.” Byakuran does not know whether to believe this or not, and Mukuro sees right through it with that perfected sneer. “You’re wondering why I gave all of it up.”
Byakuran can try and guess. “Is it Sawada Tsunayoshi?”
Mukuro chuckles darkly. There is a glint of mischievousness in his eyes. “Sawada Tsunayoshi is merely a tool that I have yet to touch, Gesso.”
It is a phrase that echoes in Byakuran’s ears over and over. Somehow, throughout time, he will realize the lies beneath the truth, the truth between the lies, and he will know that Mukuro’s illusions have engulfed him after their eyes met in the streets of Italy.
But that will not be for long.
Though delirious as he is, he does not believe in such a thing as time travel.
It is a myth, a thing for children in their bedtime stories and men who have nothing better to do that manifest conspiracy theories. But the idea of raiding the future and looking back into the past does sound intriguing. He's heard of the truth of its existence and he dares to find out more.
In his spare time, he looks up the Bovino Family name from a book that contains information about all the mafia families across the globe, and he comes across a device that raises his eyebrows in a pleasantly surprised manner. The next thing he knows, he is commanding his best troops to attack the Bovino Family and they break into the Bovino. And there, he finds a mysterious bazooka and is pleased of his accomplishments.
The Vongola hears of his execution of the Bovino and as the head of the Gesso family, Byakuran is demanded for an explanation. Maybe they know, maybe they do not, but the Bovino Family is of an inferior status within the mafia society. Such an attack from a rising family may be stupid or fructuous, depending on the perspective of those involved.
He laughs for a while because such an inexpert boss of the greatest mafia family has commanded him as though he has every right to, and the situation is nothing short of amusing.
The letter he sends back, stamped with the Gesso Family crest, is short and brusque, and it illustrates Byakuran's well-gained power that he has every right to keep confidential information until the time is right. He takes pride in that and satisfies himself to the vices he places upon himself.
Even the Vendicare cannot condemn him because this is the world of the mafia, and an unprecedented war is as well to be expected, no matter who is engaged.
Irie promises him something that day - something of great importance that will be kept in mind, in heart, and shall not be told to another existing soul - and Byakuran will hold him to it.
Yes, he thinks, things shall be kept to himself for a little while longer. The Vongola may surely be outraged by his nonchalant behavior, but this is how he sees things fit. Later on, he will outdo himself.
The news spreads around the underground about the downfall of a queen, and Byakuran readies an investigation that he will soon realize to be worth his while. The successor is a young child, the only daughter and only heir. He has heard of their power, of their fame, of their long history parallel to the Vongola's, and thinks that this is some kind of idiocy that the Giglio Nero are showing, without the judgment of a formal leader.
To let a child rule such a group in such a dangerous world…
She will be another Sawada Tsunayoshi and of course, he will not have that. It is unacceptable. He plans it thoroughly because she is a girl raised outside the mafia and he knows that she is softhearted and kind and pulling on a façade will make things simpler for the both of them.
He does not wish for her to die. Not yet. He's seen the pictures and he has heard the comments. There is little that he does not know about the power she has inside, and he does not want to kill. Her eyes that are full of life flash before him and he feels, he knows, that he wants - he needs this power and he will have it in any way possible.
No one but him - this is greed.
He schemes up a plan to meet with her, to consume her. He will trap her using his pawns and she will succumb to him. He knows it - she is a child that can be easily colored in the same way that he was easily influenced to the point where he has shot a gun to his own kin. It will be easy, like that saying that involves babies and candies and something of the like that he has long forgotten.
His pursuit ends with success and he meets her, a little lady with sharp eyes and an enigmatic stare that can see right through him. He likes the look she is giving him. She knows what he wants - he knows that she knows. Her eyes say that he cannot have it. It is the power of her family, of every generation of the Giglio Nero passed down and she will not let him have it. Never.
He makes a deal, she refuses. He strikes a compromise, she hesitates. He threatens her with danger and takes away an important part of her and he sees the panic in her eyes. And then it is over, and he is at his office having tea with Irie Shouichi who visits from Japan.
He has found his queen.
"You are greedy."
"Everyone says so."
"Why do you do this?" she asks, because she is curious and definitely worried, and it makes Byakuran smile knowing this - knowing that she is fearful of his capability, of how much, how far, he will push the limits before he gives up. But Byakuran is Byakuran and he will never give up. The room is empty and spacey and she thinks that she has been suffocated enough.
"Hmm, I don't know," he hums his tedious half-lie. "Maybe I just want the power."
Her scowl deepens, as does his smile. There he goes again in unsentimental riddles. "Are you that greedy for supremacy? Do you really want to see the world wrapped inside your control during your eternity? Aren't you content with the strength that you have?"
"It's not enough," he says the simple truth. "There are many things that I want."
"You can't have the whole world, Byakuran," she says sensibly because she knows the risks and she has seen the outcomes of such endeavor. She believes that Byakuran will not outlast this; she knows that he will only die trying, thinking of accomplishments that he will never gain. Greed is a deadly sin, a hideous vice that will make even the calmest of gods angry.
Then, there is this whole thing about divine punishment and infernal persecution that she knows Byakuran will have to face sooner or later. Maybe he knows, maybe he does not. But that is Byakuran, and he never tells the whole truth. One will have to figure him out to be able to know for sure. He will always be ahead.
He laughs out loud; it echoes in his office, ringing over and over in her ears. "Maybe. Maybe not."
He moves his white king a tile forward, and she looks down on the chessboard laying across the table, frowning deeply, unsatisfied with such vague responses, but Byakuran thinks that he has justified his words accordingly. She does not need to know much when she already knows enough.
"I will have the world, Uni."
The silence is overwhelming afterwards.
The Vongola asks the same question. Byakuran laughs the same laugh - malicious, spiteful, and ravenous. Sawada Tsunayoshi may have already known since the beginning, but he still dares to ask.
"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe I just want the power."
There is malicious poetry out of his mouth and Sawada Tsunayoshi dies a little inside. He knows that he has lost. He is trapped in the enemy cage and there is nowhere for him to go, and he thinks of every little thing he has done and asks himself 'what more of a life could he have asked for? ', and then, there is worry written all over his face.
There are people waiting for him, people who love and respect him and he does not want it to end like this. But it will - he knows it will. He can see it in Byakuran's eyes and he knows that it is mirrored in his own. He wanted a better life than this - a better death than this.
"You will never have the whole world, Byakuran." Tsuna is sure, because insatiability is a dangerous route to follow. It will lead to a destruction that Byakuran has never foreseen.
He has left instructions, for those who know and for those who do not. It is their last hope, their only hope. It is the only glittering candle in the velvet evening that has engulfed their world. He knows that this will be cruel to everyone involved, but he hopes that it will be understandable - to everyone - once the truth comes about.
Tsuna's voice is clear and firm. "I'll make sure of it."
That is his move. It is Byakuran's turn, and the white king moves forward, a step ahead. "How can you make sure of it, Sawada Tsunayoshi, when you are dead?"
His smile is just as sinister as that time when he killed his own father.
It is not over, but Byakuran believes that he has won.