First Kills - Gentle Mist

Of all the guardians, his hands were those stained with the most blood. What's more, he had no regrets for the acts that had dyed them so.

His kills were acts of vengeance. He made the scientists that ruined his and so many others' lifes pay. If he laughed while doing so… Well, no one could deny that their deaths were not justified.

His kills were acts of hatred. Each life taken, a step closer in ridding the world of its darkest side. His goal was the eradication of the Mafia, and he took great joy in it.

His kills were acts of protection. There were few people that he felt were not simple waste of breathing air. If someone threatened the few he could actually tolerate, then they had amply deserved their fate.

His kills were acts of respect. He had not given the young Vongola his allegiance, far from it. He however, acknowledged the other's goal of changing the Mafia and his determination. If, in the rare cases that it happened, the Decimo thought someone needed to die, who was he to disagree?

One kill, the first, was an act of mercy.

Before his escape, before Ken and Chikusa, before the forced trips to Hell, when he was just a terrified newly kidnapped kid in the Estrano's cells; he had had a friend.

A small and frail girl of 8, same as he. He does not remember her name or even what she looked like. Her smile, however, he can't forget.

When, at her desperate pleas, he wrapped his trembling hands around her neck, the grateful smile he caught through his eyes blurry with tears graved itself deep into his memory.

If years later he found another broken girl who smiled at him the same way, if he went to great lengths to save and protect her… of course it was completely unrelated.