Author's Note: FINALLY! I've figured out how to upload. This is my attempt at getting used to a new Windows phone.
Partially inspired by Set the Skies Ablaze.
Update: Not as much activity as I was hoping for but it's only the first chapter.
I added line-breaks since the other ones didn't show up. I'll have to use those dots from now on since the regular line breaks don't seem to appear.
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Tsuna scanned the apartment he had been held captive in for three days before he slipped out of the front door (bold, yeah, but his captor was underestimating his self-preservation since he'd left Tsuna alone in an apartment with minimal security) without wasting time.
He should have known it was too good to be true.
He got half way to the elevator before he, quite literally, ran into Leto-a fair skinned foreigner that broke into his house one night and stole him while everyone was asleep (there would be no living this down if Reborn ever found out-hopefully he could get out and get back to Namimori in one piece without wasting too much time and say that he snuck out for a road trip with a couple of friends... Reborn would be impressed but he would feel the need to put the boy in his place. Impressing his volatile tutor could save him from severe humiliation... Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about the pain).
He had enough training under his belt to assist him in his next escape and a very lethal instinct driven into his very potent bloodline as well as a Will of steel that could almost effortlessly convert into condensed Sky Flames. If that wasn't enough to escape from a low level goon that was just keeping him for a higher power, he was screwed, and even though he could hear four different (violent) voices saying in a level but lethal tone as he ached from whatever blow they had given him at the time of that lesson because that was exactly what he was doing (and there was no denying that he was underestimating his opponent), he had to go through with it.
But right now, he was in for a very painful punishment from said captor. His uniquely colored eyes (red over black with very light pupils) flared dangerously but his expression was amicable.
"Who's this?" It was then that Tsuna noticed that he was not alone in the elevator.
Tsuna's Intuition whispered as a foreign, untamed power brushed against his skin causing the hair on the back of his neck rise.
There was someone stronger than him here.
He had people to protect, though, so the power he would use to protect them was being held back because he couldn't control it.
And Tsuna could see why.
The source was wounded.
He'd heard of the Dresden Slate-had lived in the disaster zone with his mother's mother and father when he was seven after Iemitsu moved to Italy for good (he hadn't-the man visited after they moved back to their small house in Namimori, the one Tsuna had been raised in).
But he had never seen a King before.
His presence kind of reminded him of Xanxus.
"Ara, ara, are you shy, miss?" A friendly looking brunet asked.
A flush rose to Tsuna's cheeks as he mouthed the word 'miss'.
The King smirked.
Tsuna couldn't help but stare. That bastard knew better... and he wasn't correcting him.
"Ah, Mikoto-san isn't as mean as he looks." The blonde beside him said, waving a hand towards the King.
"She's just not used to the presence of a King. She's a Strain, see." Leto put an arm around him, his fingers pressing against his side in a deadly threat-he had a pair of retractable claws.
Tsuna flinched. He caught a bruised rib.
"Really? What's your power?"
Tsuna felt the fingers flex. He ignored it as he examined the brunet. "The same as yours."
The person in front of him was not a fighter, however, so his instinct wouldn't push for him to kill like Tsuna's Vongola Intuition did. He would only have an instinctual grasp on key events that would happen in the near future.
But, like the Vongola Intuition, it could be combined with other powers that lurked just beneath the skin's surface to make it twice as powerful as it was on its own.
"Eh?" The brunet tilted his head. "But I'm not a Strain."
Tsuna felt a flash of frost but he doubted that the person in front of them knew of his power if he was denying it and looked genuine.
"Not yet." Tsuna amended. It would need to be drawn out. Would he live long enough?
Tsuna shuddered. Such an odd thought.
It was mild but he could sense more to the odd power, something that was separate from the Aura he got from his King. It was similar to the Harmony factor of his Sky Flame combined with some sort of insight. It could easily develop into something very lethal if he combined his Aura with the dormant ability.
'If he lives long enough.' Tsuna blinked. Was the brunet going to die soon?
No, his intuition whispered, but after the Red King builds his Clan...
He will be.
Tsuna made sure to store that information away for later. He'd indulge his Intuition later.
"When you find out, you'll know."
"Uwah, not fair."
"Come along, Tsuka. We need to get dinner started." Leto said. Tsuna resisted the urge to bare his teeth at the name. Where the fuck did he come up with that? A genderbending name generator? They couldn't come up with something more... Fitting?
But he was already being pulled back to the apartment.
The second the door closed, Tsuna was thrown to the ground and kicked in the ribs. He screamed when he felt one crack under the pressure. He tried to crawl away but Leto grabbed his hair and picked him up. He swiped an arm over the counter and pinned Tsuna to it by holding his arms behind his back. Leto kicked Tsuna's legs apart and dug his knee painfully into Tsuna's groin from behind.
Tsuna screamed again.
"I bet you like this sort of thing, don't you? With Guardians like Rokudo Mukuro and Hibari Kyoya... Tell me, do they both fit inside of you or do they take turns?"
Tsuna felt his heart drop into his stomach.
"Well, I guess we'll find out, huh?" Leto began taking off his jeans but before panic could swallow Tsuna whole, there was a knock at the door.
Leto froze.
The King was the one that was knocking. Tsuna could feel it.
Leto cursed.
He released Tsuna who quickly scrambled away and fixed his jeans. He followed Leto into the hall where he saw Mikoto holding up a necklace with a Ring on it.
A very familiar Ring.
"That's mine." He blurted before he could help himself. Deciding that the damage was already done, he reached for the Ring. Leto was powerless to stop him. They had a witness and that witness was a King. If he caught wind of something fishy, he was bound to investigate it, especially if he and his vassals were living in the very same building. This was their territory after all.
Tsuna was safe.
He had a weapon now. His most powerful weapon.
"Thank you." Tsuna whispered, willing Mikoto to understand that he had just saved his life. "I truly thank you."
Mikoto blinked before he nodded, understanding more than Tsuna knew.
The door closed.
When Leto struck, Tsuna made sure to give as good as he got.
•
Kyoya's grin was nothing short of feral when Reisi launched his attack, his Aura wrapping around him and making his body twice as fast as it normally was. Sword against tonfa, the two lunged, dodged and parried in a lethal and dangerous fight.
Reisi and Kyoya had met through Kyoya's father. The two men had grown up together, often being separated for long periods of time before meeting up again and indulging in a no-holds-barred match.
This time, however, Kyoya was holding back...
And Reisi knew it.
Kyoya was unmarked... But then so was Reisi. Kyoya was going on the defensive to avoid being injured.
How... Out of character.
Reisi leapt back and sighed. "Your heart is not into our fight. What troubles you, old friend?"
Kyoya landed in a graceful crouch. "I told you when we ran into one another that I was busy, Munakata."
Reisi sighed once more. "After all that we've been through together, you still refuse to use my first name. Does familiarity scare you, Kyoya?" He was taunting him now but Kyoya could read his concern.
"I have no desire to get familiar with a King."
Reisi shook his head quietly. So defensive.
Kyoya stood gracefully. "I shall give you a real fight after I've retrieved what's mine." He said curtly before leaving a confused Reisi in his wake.
He needed to find his Sky. No one else mattered.
Not even acquaintances, however powerful.
He'd managed to track the perpetrator to an apartment complex somewhere near the heart of Shizume City but had yet to confront him.
Something was telling him to wait and Kyoya knew better than to ignore this particular instinct, especially when it came to one Sawada Tsunayoshi.
He did not notice the way Reisi watched him leave with an unidentifiable glint in his eyes.
•
Izumo couldn't sleep.
The girl from this afternoon had not left his mind. Her eyes were wide and frightened and she flinched when Leto put his arm around her.
Did he hurt her in the past? Was that what caused her reaction? He had also seen Mikoto pick Leto's pocket. Had his King and best friend notice the same thing he did?
Izumo sighed and got up to pour himself a drink but when he got into the living room, he saw Mikoto was already up.
Neither spoke as Izumo poured two glasses of whiskey.
Mikoto downed his in one gulp.
Izumo raised an eyebrow.
"He's not a girl." Mikoto said after a moment of silence.
"Huh?" Izumo cocked his head. "Who?"
Mikoto gave him a look. "From this afternoon. That idiot was wrong."
Ah.
Izumo cocked his head slightly. The kid looked a bit girly for a boy.
(It was for that reason that Izumo didn't berate himself for assuming that the idiot had been correct in guessing the person's gender.)
"Why did Leto go along with it?"
"Maybe he doesn't want anyone to know who he is."
"Or maybe he's being held hostage." Tatara said from the door, his expression grave. "I saw the panic on his face when the elevator doors opened. I needed to make sure that he was in trouble before I helped him." It helped that Leto had ignored his presence altogether, seeing him as a pony boy instead of someone who observed their surroundings for threats (and he'd found one in Leto).
"Don't start a fight you can't win. You know you can't fight." Mikoto said, giving his temperance a level glare. Tatara spun around, a protest already falling from his lips.
"King! We can't stand by and do nothing..."
"We're not." Izumo said, practically reading Mikoto's mind. This was his area of expertise, not his King's (no offense to Mikoto, of course, but just as Tatara couldn't fight, Mikoto couldn't strategize-that was Izumo's job). "We're just going to go about helping him in a different way."
•
How long had it been since he had healed himself of the damage inflicted the day he got the Vongola Ring back?
Tsuna had taken the time to channel his Flame through every part of his body to heal the injuries Leto had given to him in punishment (Leto hadn't escaped without injury himself) but doing so had cost him. While he was unconscious, having fainted from exhaustion, Leto had chained him to the bed in the spare room. He reversed the doorknob and put a flap on the door to slide one meal through everytime Tsuna woke up through and that one meal was laced so heavily with drugs of every kind that Tsuna's Flame was having a hard time burning it all out of his system.
It didn't help that Tsuna had to be unconscious for his Flames to burn it off.
Nor did it help that every time he woke, his head was foggy with hunger but whether it was because of time or because his body was trying to replenish the energy as fast as it was being used up, he was unsure. Either way, he was starting to notice severe weight loss from the repetitive process.
Until one day, he was violently shaken awake by his Captor.
Tsuna blinked away the grogginess, far too used to violent awakenings from a certain sadistic Arcobaleno.
"Put these on and be ready to cook." Leto glared savagely at Tsuna. "Your little episode in front of the Red King has brought too much attention to us. You're going to throw it off."
"Why should I? I bet if he knew you were keeping a teenager hostage in your own home, he'd hand you over to law enforcement."
"Don't get cute. If they hand me over, I'm taking you down with me. Let's see how the Vendice like it when I tell the Golden King about how the Trinisette impacts the Dresden Slate."
The objects that made up the Trinisette were carved from a similar material. The differences between them were their shape and what power they gave. What didn't change was that they all linked a group of individuals together with a bond so strong, not even Death could break it.
The other difference between them was the people who found them.
Giotto and Sephira discovered the Trinisette. Weismann and his sister were the one who discovered the Dresden Slate.
Everyone involved with the Trinisette knew about the Dresden Slate and their connection to one another. Everyone involved with the Dresden Slate knew nothing about the Trinisette as the Omerta protected that and Dying Will Flames from public knowledge.
But Leto was threatening that protection.
Tsuna's vision went orange. How dare he?! Didn't he know that those laws were in place for a reason?
"Scary... But not enough." He sneered before turning to leave. "I will return in five minutes to unchain you. Use that time to change."
"How am I supposed to get dressed if I'm still chained?"
There was far too much mirth on Leto's face. "You won't be wearing pants."
Tsuna felt himself shudder. Surely, he was kidding.
...
He wasn't. There was a dress in the bag. It was a frilly black one that showed off his legs (which, according to Leto, were his best feature... He wouldn't know. He never really looked at himself like that before).
He didn't really have a choice in this matter did he?
But then... When has he ever?
•
Mikoto would never admit it but Tatara was probably the most resourceful person he'd ever met. He could probably charm a child into giving him their candy if he wanted to.
(He wouldn't do it, of course, he was far too kind to do anything of the sort but that didn't mean he wasn't capable of doing so.)
The fact that he conned his way into having dinner at their asshole neighbor's apartment only strengthened that opinion.
The apartment was similar to Izumo's, the only difference being where the rooms were located and the size. Izumo's was much larger, as it was the penthouse apartment.
But then Mikoto had been expecting that.
He was not, however, expecting what came next.
He'd almost blown their cover when the boy walked out into the main part of the house in a freaking dress.
"Good afternoon, Suoh-san, Kusanagi-san, Totsuka-san. I'm sorry we couldn't meet properly yesterday. My name's Tachibana Tsuka. I hope you enjoy dinner!" The cheery, high pitched voice he was using was like that of a housewife eager to please her husband...
But Mikoto could see that it was an act. His eyes gave him away. They were slowly starting to bleed into a crystal orange color that reminded him of the setting desert sun.
Mikoto could tell. He was pissed.
With a good reason.
But what could they do? They wouldn't be able to do anything until tomorrow because they needed to case out the apartment first.
Or so Mikoto thought until he saw the little brunet pick Leto's pocket after dinner was served. He pulled out a little bottle, carefully hiding it in the folds on his dress.
Mikoto took that as his cue.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you." He said, drawing Leto's full attention away from the kid. "What's your strain ability?" He asked.
The brunet unscrewed the eyedropper and dripped some of the contents onto Leto's food while everyone was focused on Mikoto who was sitting on the other side of Leto, opposite of the kid.
No one, save for Mikoto, noticed the action.
"I can see in the dark and I have retractable claws. I can cut just about anything and they never break." It was clear that he was boasting about his abilities.
"Like a raccoon!" The kid chimed in, giggling like a girl.
Leto shot him an almost unnoticeable glare. The kid looked smug but Mikoto saw that his smugness was giving way to cold, hard calculation when Leto bit into his rice with a little too much force.
Mikoto bit his tongue. The kid was a bit like Tatara. If he couldn't hide his emotions, he use them to his advantage.
He used them to rile up his opponent.
And on top of which, he was resourceful.
When dinner was over, Leto was beginning to slur his words. Mikoto excused himself and his Clan because now, he knew for sure.
By the night's end, Mikoto had no doubts that the kid would be free.
•
Tonight was the night that Tsunayoshi would escape. Kyoya could feel it in his very bones. There would be no hunt and no bloodshed.
And yet, Kyoya found himself grinning.
'I know that as long as you rely on me, I can count on you to be strong enough when I need you to be, Sawada Tsunayoshi.' Kyoya thought.
Because he truly did need this fight.
Because he had to say goodbye.
'Munakata Reisi...' Kyoya thought as he turned, letting his jacket fall. He strode forward, brandishing his tonfa. "I've changed the rules to this fight." He announced, watching in predatory delight as Reisi leveled his scepter at Kyoya in a blatant challenge.
"Since when have there been rules?" Reisi asked, his lips lifting into a pleased smirk. This was his Kyoya.
And yet...
Reisi knew.
There was something... off... about this fight.
It was as though...
"This time," Kyoya said, releasing the chains that bound his Ring and Box Weapon. The top of this building was a perfect setting for what he planned on doing.
Reisi watched in morbid fascination as Kyoya knelt down, lowered his tonfas and proceeded to remove the chains from the strange jewelry he had noticed but not asked about.
And the ring burst into an inferno of hot-as in Munakata was standing on a chilly rooftop with a severe windchill six feet away and he still wanted to shed his coat. It was a miracle Kyoya wasn't being roasted alive... unless this was son sort of Strain ability? Hmmm-violet, purple, flames.
Through the bright inferno, Reisi could see Kyoya trying to smother the flames by shoving the ring into a box with a hole on top...
No. That wasn't right.
It was almost as though...
He was.
Kyoya was feeding the flames into the box, as though he was feeding an animal.
He wasn't wrong.
But it didn't look as though that tiny box couldn't hold all of the flames because Reisi could see cracks appearing around the top and spreading.
What was the purpose of this?
When the flames turned into a bright ball with what appeared to be spikes, Reisi had to shield his eyes to keep from burning his retinas.
When he lowered him, he saw Kyoya standing on a spike that lined the wall of the globe that had surrounded them.
"This is my Reverse Needle Sphere. I was careful to keep our stage from attracting too much attention so we can both display our full power."
"You act as though we have to hide our power. Everyone is quite aware of a King and his Damocles... unless it is your own power you wish to keep hidden?"
Kyoya inclined his head. "There are... consequences to those outside of the few who bare our power that find out. I do not want any secrets between us.
"I can see the way you long for me to be apart of your Clan. You want me to submit to you, to serve you... but there is only one person I will submit to.
"He's the irritating type that can't make up his mind about whether he wants to be a powerful carnivore or a weak herbivore. I don't know what he is. He is a mystery and I don't like mysteries.
"He doesn't lead a flock of frightened birds. I had mistaken a pack of loyal, lethal carnivores for a bunch of weak herbivores waiting to be picked off by someone far stronger.
"But they weren't. They've grown their fangs and claws... and now they've asked me to join them." Kyoya drew forth his Flame and held it out for Reisi to see. "But they aren't full grown yet so they need someone to watch over them. Our leader is still young, still uneducated, but one day, he will be a carnivore and I will serve him until the day I die.
"Because serving him, I am my own King. I am bound by nothing. They expect nothing of me so I will give them everything. In exchange, they are mine just as I am theirs.
"I could never serve someone that binds me to death because one day, that Damocles will fall and we all know what happens to the Clan when a King dies."
It was a long, agonizing process but eventually, death seized all of them. The longest anyone in either of the two Clans that had lost their Kings had lived was ten years on the spot.
But they wished they were dead for every second of it.
Kyoya desired none of that. At least with Tsunayoshi, he already knew the pain of that kind of loss.
He could exist without him, though he'd prefer not to.
Reisi closed his eyes. "I see." He said. The words hurt less than he was anticipating.
Because he could tell that Kyoya was truly happy with his the people he'd chosen to be his pack.
"After the summer ends, I will be leaving Japan." Reisi's head snapped up. His feral smirk softened into something Reisi almost called a smile. "I'm not leaving because of what you asked-I assure you, that changes nothing... But I'm afraid that our surroundings have become far too dangerous for me to allow my pack to stay. I'm not sure if they are ready for that kind of shift in environment but they have a way of surprising me."
"I see," Reisi said again. "I... Appreciate the honesty. Thank you."
Kyoya bowed his head, his bangs covering his face as a feral grin stretched over his face. "Now prepare yourself, Munakata Reisi...
"I'll bite you to death."
•
Tsuna closed his eyes as the elevator continued to descend. He was finally free. Now he could work on coming up with a valid excuse for being out as long as he's been...
And pick up some weight in the process.
The elevator dinged, startling the young Don. A quick scan told him it was safe.
When he rounded the corner, Aura-warmed arms grabbed him but before panic could fully set in, the emergency-stair door opened revealing an irate and harried Leto. The arms spun him around, causing him to crash into a chest that far too warm to be considered normal. Tsuna put a palm against the chest to brace himself.
The King's aura washed over him like waves on the beach.
Mikoto lowered his head to make it appear as though they were closer than they actually were. Tsuna shivered as the adrenalin settled and he was left trying to smother his heart.
When Leto was a reasonable distance away, Mikoto released him.
Tsuna's eyes flashed as his Will tried to fight against Mikoto's natural presence. After a moment, he smothered it, concealing his presence entirely.
Mikoto smirked.
"I will pay you back for this, someday, Red King." Tsunayoshi vowed, his Flame staining his irises with a flame that danced as though it were burning a candle wick.
"Heh. I'll be counting on it, young Sky." Mikoto said.
"Tsunayoshi." The brunet, Tsunayoshi, corrected before he blinked the Flame away and disappeared into the city's nightlife.
It wasn't until much later that Mikoto realized his Aura had been silent and his Damocles had been repaired.
•
"Hn. I always knew you'd be into that sort of thing."
"Hiiiiie!" Tsuna shrieked, flailing when he fell hard onto his backside as the leggings twisted into a mangled mess.
"K-Kyoya!"
"Don't get so familiar with me, omnivore."
Tsuna's lips quirked into a wry smile. He saw Kyoya look over how thin he was seconds before the biting remark left his lips. He was never really good at expressing his concern. "I'm fine, Kyoya. I just need food that isn't drugged."
"You have four days to recover. The infant is starting to ask questions."
"You mean to say that Reborn thinks I've been here with you this entire time?!" Tsuna demanded.
"Hn."
"Kyoya, I love you!" Tsuna hugged his Cloud, not caring that he was still in a dress. Reborn wouldn't kill him!
Kyoya smirked to himself.
The Sky was his home and Sawada Tsunayoshi was his Sky.