Umm…. Hey guys….
I know it's been a long time, and I have no excuse: I can only plead college life and the fact that I looked over what I wrote, was horrified at the quality, and decided to redo it from scratch (which wasn't hard seeing as I have only uploaded two chapters anyways) and sort out most of the plot at the same time.
I can only tell you that there's been a lot of changes, both in the plot and in my writing style; and I hope for those who have followed or favorited this fic before the change will still continue to like it.
Thank you so much to Aines445, Aya Takeshi, Step1324, CielPhantomhive630, SilentMelody2413, GoldenBlueDeath, Hakuran, and Kuuhaku Particles for favoriting, following and/or reviewing!
Warning: This is an OC-centric fic. The summary should have given it away, and if you seriously don't like it, please press the back button. If not, then please give this fic a try. Also, this is unbeta'ed, so any criticism or comments are welcome and would be helpful.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Katekyo Hitman Reborn belongs to Amano Akira; everything else belongs to me.
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She was constantly intrigued by things most people never think about, that is why I needed her – to be the things I couldn't. She always told me how the moon is the universe's silence and that so many people feel connected to it because they can relate. In her words, it was as if the moon was pulling at her, them – pulling because humans just did not understand and it was the universe's way of saying you are not alone in this.
~Christopher Poindexter
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The Child who saw the World in Colours
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The soul-stirring strains of the violin drifted through the air, dipping and dancing and weaving a tapestry of emotions la cantabile in the amber dawn sunlight.
Lune swayed as he danced to the tune of his own song, closing his eyes and resting a pale cheek against the polished wood of the instrument, lost in the world of colorful music he weaved; a dancing angel illuminated by the sky painted in hues of amber and scarlet.
It was this sight that greeted Giotto as he pushed open the door to the rooftop of Namimori Academy, and after taking a beat to catch his breath from the sheer beauty of the scene, he brought out his viola and joined in with a small smile, weaving vivid tones of burnt orange into the symphony, which immediately accepted him with a happy mélange of rose gold and luminous silver.
With a final warbling trill of gold and amber notes, the melodies faded away, leaving the musicians panting after the exhilarating rush of expression.
Golden eyes shining with pure joy, Lune collapsed onto the ground, clutching his violin to his petite body as he stared up at the dawn-painted sky with a dazed and happy glow; not a moment later, there was a thump as Giotto plonked himself gracefully down next to the child.
"So... what is it today?" He whispered, twisting his torso slightly to face the quicksilver child next to him, only to see the small body shaking with silent giggles.
The dawn sunlight shimmered off the boy's eyes, turning them into liquid fire dancing with subtle mischief, and mios dios, that smile should be illegal because no one had the right to look so beautiful the world seemed to just become brighter and lighter. Sorry, not telling. The resultant slight pout only made the boy laugh even harder, curling up into a ball around his instrument as he tried to get his body under control. After a while, Giotto's own chuckles rang out into the crisp air, reverberating like church bells, and the sun rose, shining down upon the two figures laughing on the rooftop as Namimori slowly awoke from her slumber.
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Eril della Lune Frost first noticed that he was different when he was four.
He had been walking past a street performer, and the melodies from the saxophone had formed a blanket of blues and rose that caressed and wrapped around his legs, urging him to move with them. He hadn't understood the melody's demand at the time – he was only four, what did you expect? - so he ignored it and continued walking home.
Later in the evening however, he'd painted the blanket out, his instincts telling him that it was important to remember.
Slowly, as he grew older, he realised that the colours he saw were essentially people's souls; because it was no longer restricted to music. Now, to him, everyone had an aura of certain colours, like a painting which darkened or lightened according to people's moods and emotions. And he painted them all. By the time he was six, his ventures and explorations had grown to include dancing and music, his instincts broadcasting a strange sense of foreboding déja vú all the while.
Soon, his Sight had grown so strong that he had to resort to wearing glasses, which helped somewhat but didn't completely take it away. Furthermore, he was starting to find out a lot of things from his ability, not all of them good.
Like the lonely housewife with a heart disease next door had a huge rose-pink crush on the handsome married doctor across the street. Or learning that the boy two houses to his right was almost constantly on a sharp and grainy mercury high on illegal drugs. Or that the sickly yellow and angry scarlet group of male teens always hanging out in the nearby alley had caused the deaths of a family in a prank gone awry; and they were still doing it.
Or knowing, after his parents come back to visit for a day and promptly leaves again, that his father is more in love with his work than his wife, or that his mother feels neglected and angry at her husband and guilty for having an affair, or that his brother hates him with an ugly mud-brown intensity that threatens to creep around his throat and suffocate him, and he doesn't know why when he's never spent more than a total of two days with his brother, or his family for that matter; the first day being the day they adopted him.
Then just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, his instincts give one last warning pulse, and then the memories exploded, crowding and clamoring in a sharp and jarring and overwhelming symphony till he felt like screaming.
And scream he did.
Later in the hospital, he stared up blankly up at the ceiling with huge haunted eyes, sharp jagged blue tears streaking down his face as he hears the nurses discussing the heart attack that took his neighbour's life when she had heard the screams. He wasn't a fool; he knew exactly who was the cause of her death.
From that day forth, he never spoke again.
Sometimes, when he looks at himself in the mirror, he tries to see what his aura is like; but nothing shows, not even a slight wisp, and he is always disappointed. From anger, to bitterness, he is now resigned; perhaps he just doesn't have an aura, perhaps he is just meant to be invisible and unnoticed. And just like that, another year passes.
Then the letter comes, and his whole world is turned upside down in a riot of chaotic rainbows.
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When Yamamoto Asari Ugetsu first heard about the new student, it was during lunch break at Namimori Hospital.
"Hey Yamamoto, did'ja hear?"
Stuffing the last bit of onigiri into his mouth - he swears his old man would be the best chef in the world if not for Gio and Tsuna's mother, who was a kitchen goddess - he looks up inquisitively.
They were sitting at one of the long wooden tables in the hospital canteen, a group of the more senior interns just casually hanging out before the next emergency comes in; the speaker, a carroty haired guy, calmly pushed up his glasses under the stares directed his way at the call of Yamamoto's name. Inwardly, he was sweating bullets; he'd only meant to gain the attention of his idol!
"Haha, which new student?" Keenly picking up on the poor guy's nervousness, Asari chuckled as he swallowed, savoring the taste as long as he could before turning the full weight of his gaze on the fidgeting intern as he prompted him to continue.
"Well, apparently this year, the I Prescelti Sette has chosen a special student to come to our school!" Glasses guy exclaimed excitedly, only to be met with bored stares.
"So?" A pierced blonde scoffed in disdain. "It's not as though it's something new." His scornful tone had everyone else snickering and glasses guy flushing a dark ruddy red as he stared down at the wooden table in embarrassed anger.
The blonde had a point though; it really wasn't a novelty for the Arcobaleno, or any of the Big Three to choose someone they deemed worthy to come and attend Namimori Academy. Often, these students had special talents that were valued by the organisation, and if they accepted; then they were bound to the organisation for life.
"So which of them is the one who chose this time? Skull? Verde?" Taking pity on the poor guy, Asari calmly asked, causing everyone else to stop sniggering at the mention of the famous babies' names.
"That's the thing, you see," pulling himself together, Glasses guy clasped his hands on the table as he leaned forward in renewed excitement. "Apparently, this time it was the Sky Arcobaleno herself who personally requested for this student!"
This time, jaws dropped all round, and even Asari widened his eyes in shock. A Sky's request...? Now that was big news.
In the history of Namimori Academy, there had only been two requests made by Skys for the enrolment of a selected person, now three; one by the Vongola Decimo for one Daemon Spade who was now one of the best illusionists in the world, said to be on par, even, with Viper of the Arcobaleno; another by the Varia for a then six-year-old Belphegor who had been given the title of 'Prince the Ripper' at merely eleven and was now eighteen; and now one more by the current Sky Arcobaleno, Yuni di Giglio Nero.
The implications were enormous; the first two had both gone on to become the Guardians of said Sky... so did that mean that the Arcobaleno was changing members?
Or was there something more...
A sudden blaring startled Asari out of his dark thoughts, the red light of a new emergency flashing scarlet in true klaxon fashion. Subconsciously following everyone else as they rushed to the A & E, his thoughts coalesced to form a single decision.
Gio needs to be informed of this.
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Dear Eril della Lune Frost,
We are pleased to inform you that you are cordially invited to attend Namimori Academy of the Arts. Enclosed in this envelope is this letter of acceptance, which will need to be presented once you reach the Academy, a plane ticket and a list of whatever general items you might need, though we are certainly not stopping you from bringing anything else you deem important!
The date of arrival on the plane ticket is two days before the first day of the term, this is to allow you to familiarise yourself with our faculties and school environment first. Do not worry, lodgings will be provided for you at the dorms, which you will be sharing with someone. I am not too sure who just yet.
Also enclosed is a list of the subjects we offer at the Academy. If you decide to accept this invitation, please check the subjects that you wish to take in your time at the Academy and send it to the address at the very bottom of this letter by the last day of the year.
We sincerely hope that we will see you in the Academy come spring; oh yes, just a friendly warning. Please do try not to be late; the heads of our Disciplinary Committee cannot stand tardiness.
Yours sincerely,
Timoteo di Vongola Headmaster of Namimori Academy
P.S. Pets are allowed on school grounds, so please do bring your little friend.
Lune tore his eyes away from the letter and rubbed his brow; he wasn't sure why he was even bothering to read it again, seeing as he'd already memorised the entire thing. Is this a joke...?
But he couldn't see any malicious tones of insidious black or infected brown; instead, cool but warm tones of orange blazed at him, tempered with accents of teal and sky blue amusement.
Frowning a little at the strangeness of it all, he leaned back against the pillow of bed, absentmindedly stroking the top of a silky head of pure white.
What do you think, Rin?
"Ri... riri!"
A little fluffy ball of fur wriggled out determinedly out of his master's small hand, jumping over to the envelope and bouncing happily on it.
Large golden eyes blinked. I guess that's a yes then...
Truthfully, the first time he saw the envelope, he'd almost sent it back to the post office, sure that there had been some mistake; why would anyone send a letter to him? Even now, after reading the letter with his name clearly handwritten at the top - that was another thing, who actually writes a letter nowadays? - a part of him half expected one of the male teens to jump out at him from his door and yell, "just joking!" - It would have been one of their more harmless pranks.
Provided they could find him first, of course.
The thing was, he was intrigued; and his instincts were giving him mixed signals. He'd heard of Namimori Academy; who hadn't? It was a private boarding school; one of the best in the world; to turn it down would a waste of a huge opportunity, provided it really wasn't all a joke. Because seriously, a school that subsidized all school fees? There had to be a catch somewhere.
Besides, how did they even know about his talent in the Arts? It wasn't as though he'd ever showed any inclination in his current school, and he was very sure no one had figured his secret out yet; who would ever reconcile his deeds with the way he currently looked?
Chewing on his bottom lip, Lune frowned.
Perhaps he should get information from his other sources.
Reaching into his shirt, Lune pulled out a thin silver chain. Three items glimmered in the sunlight streaming in from the window to his right; a set of intertwined silver bands, an intricate silver earring with a dangling scarlet gem, and an obsidian ring that was no less exquisite than the other two. It was this ring that he selected, and putting it on, he gently drew an invisible line in the air in front of him, leaving a trail of sparkling onyx fire and a huge, gaping hole.
Extending a slender arm, he pulled out a slim laptop, leaving the hole to close as though nothing had happened.
Opening the laptop, pale fingers started to dance over the keyboard, creating a cool blue rhythm of taps and pauses. He'd found the computer in an obscure corner of the apartment, gathering dust but still functioning well, and so had taken it for his own use.
The crystal ring glittered with an eerie light on his nimble fingers, carved with a complicated but beautiful repeating pattern of Manjushaage. Still, no matter how you looked at it, it was just a pretty accessory; but to Lune, he could see the black glittering fire that burned gleefully, slightly warping the air around it. It was a technology that had come back to him along with his memories; one in his old life that allowed him to have a measure of control over space, but it came with restrictions.
One time, he'd accidentally broken one of those rules; he'd nearly died of a caved-in ribcage and a broken shin.
Twenty minutes later, he closed the laptop and casually opened up the space again. Placing it back in, he huffed out a pent-up breath and leaned back against the pillow, staring up at the ceiling with a golden maelstrom of emotions in his eyes.
The information he'd gotten had been very, very detailed; it had contained the history of the academy all the way to its current situation, the alliances and rivalries, the leaders of the school, and one more interesting titbit that had sent his instincts on red hot alert.
Absentmindedly petting Rin, his lips tightened, and his eyes took on a haunted look.
The Bridge between Worlds, eh...
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That had been four months ago.
Keeping a tight hold on his luggage, Lune easily slipped through the huge throng of colorful people, his small stature making him all the more invisible in the crowd. At least Rin was fast asleep in his bag, slightly opened to allow her air to breathe as he maneuvered his way through the large number of people that seemed to be increasing by the minute.
Apparently, club try-outs start as early as two days before the start of school; it was a good and strategic move, new students would be disorientated from just arriving and easy prey for the seniors, who were shades of sunflower enthusiasm and icy blue calculation, dimmed by his thick black-framed glasses.
Stepping to the side as a pair of candy pink giggly girls rush by, he keeps his head down and focuses on finding his way out as quickly as possible - those senior girls had almost knocked him to the ground, though he did wonder why they were rushing like that.
Soon, he breaks free from the crowd, and after swiping a copy of the academy map from a person he assumes is a member of the Disciplinary Committee - what's with the pompadour, though? - and checking his position, he set off to find the dorms, ignoring the huge commotion that suddenly erupted behind him.
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Hibari Kyoya was annoyed. And that was never a good sign.
Kusakabe Tetsuya sighed and winced as he watched his superior break his third pen at the latest round of screams that reached them even though they were three blocks away from the main gate and throw the remnants into the wastepaper basket, which was by now holding a veritable pool of ink.
Stepping forward, he offered a handkerchief to the irate teen, who promptly snatched it away from him and elegantly wiped his black hands, and catching the piece of fluttering cloth thrown back at him, he immediately handed over a fresh pen and stood back again, slightly flinching at every minute twitch in the skylark's hand.
After this pen had also been sacrificed to his superior's increasing frustration, Kusakabe finally ventured hesitantly, "Kyoya-san?"
Sharp steel-grey eyes flew up to meet his, and he instinctively swallowed hard. "Kyoya-san, why don't you take a break?" Away from the crowds was left unsaid as the words hung in the air like a veritable weight.
A calculating and thoughtful glint came into the teen's eyes, before he came to a decision with his usual quick decisiveness and stood up, startling Kusakabe though he would never admit it on pain of getting bitten to death. Literally.
Well, not exactly, but you got the point.
"Tetsuya. I will be in the usual place."
Hibari Kyoya's cool voice brushed by his ear as the ravenhead strode out of the Reception Room with a lithe predator's grace, his black gakuran fluttering in the wake of his movements.
Immediately after leaving, Hibari headed straight towards the back of the school compound, teachers and students alike scurrying out of the demonic teen's way.
Inwardly, he scoffed as his irritation heightened and his headache worsened, fingers itching to just pull out his tonfas. Tch, weak herbivores.
Stepping out into the school gardens, he continued walking; patent black leather shoes almost silent on the grass as he reached a forest of pink blossoms.
Settling himself against one of the innermost trees, Hibari closed his eyes tiredly, annoyed with the weakness he could feel in his body, and slept.
Not long after the teen disappeared into the large grove, boot-clad feet quietly approached, and stopped, the whirring of luggage wheels falling silent.
Holding out a slender hand, Lune's eyes were bright with shining awe at the beautiful rain of sakura blossoms, a fragile pale pink petal floating down onto his palm.
Inexplicably drawn, he padded further on into the woods, the sunlight streaming down turning his hair into a silver halo of spun moonlight. It was as though he'd stepped into another world, aged white and demure, mysterious pale pink whirling around him in a flurry of light, sweeping and urging him on.
And then a flash of bright lavender catches his eye.
An impeccably dressed teen sits leaning against one of the aged trunks, arms folded and eyes closed in repose. There are no petals falling around him, as though this place doesn't want to disturb the boy resting under their shade, and Lune's interest is piqued.
Cat-quiet, he walks on the balls of his feet as he goes closer to the handsome boy, almost tiptoeing in his wish not to awaken the teen, whom he somehow instinctively knows is a very light sleeper.
But when he looks closer, he narrows his eyes, observant eyes catching the swirls of dark plum around a forehead covered by messy long bangs and slightly lighter ones around his throat. He's sick...
And then his foot snaps a small twig, the sound ricocheting in the small clearing like a bullet shot, and slightly unfocused but predatory grey eyes shoots open and lands on him.
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Reviews please?