{{Wingless Angels with shotguns.}}
Whether you wish to see this as Shounen-ai is up to the reader. This is set TYL with Reborn back in his adult body after the curse was broken. The flashback is set any time within around 5 years or so of the curse being broken, when they are still in Japan and innocent, not in Italy.
This first chapter is about Gokudera and Reborn's relationship, or 'pact' between themselves.
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn or either of the songs mentioned over the course of the fic. All rights go to their rightful copyright owners.
Warnings for Gokudera swearing.
{Part 1: Guardian Angels with Shotguns.}
We are angels with shotguns, and we will do everything we can to protect him. It was an unspoken pact between us, to protect him no matter what. Pain was not an obstacle, our bodies were shields. And whilst death would have been a mere afterthought, it was instead at the forefront of our minds. We could not put him through the pain of our deaths, but at the same time, we would never allow his. It was a fine line to balance, made ever so much easier by the pure number of protectors our precious one had. But anyone would be hard pressed to get through the pair of us. One of us was always by his side, either directly, or in the shadows. From by his side or from afar, there is no where we can't protect him from. Our weapons cover far, mid and close range, singular or multiple enemies, and our physical fighting skills aren't to be ignored either, honed on the cold hard streets of the Italian Mafia from a young age.
He may be the most wanted man in the Mafia, someone everyone wants to kill, but they won't get to him. Just let them try. For they'll have the World's Greatest Hitman and the Mafia's Best Right Hand Man to get through. And it won't be easy.
We are angels with shotguns, and we don't care if heaven won't take us back.
"Good job."
Hayato just nods, sitting down on a sofa with a towel over his wet hair. That was the thing about using dynamites, things at close range got… messy.
"And you?" He asks, looking Reborn over. As usual the man was impeccable, not a crease on him, not a speck of dust or gun powder. One wouldn't think he had even left that chair.
"Need you even ask?" Reborn smirks before taking a sip of his espresso.
But Hayato knew. After working together like this for so long, he knew the signs. Hayato wasn't stupid nor ignorant, he had the best knowledge of weapons out of the Guardians. Reborn had had a harder time than he let on and that was clear, ever so clear. Or else Leon wouldn't be flat out asleep and one ammo holder in his belt wouldn't be missing. But Hayato let it be, instead nodding and turning to his own pre-prepared drink.
Things hadn't started out well between them, but after things had come to a head and boiled over, they finally found out they both wanted the same thing, but were going totally different ways about it. Add in nearly a decade, a change of scenery and atmosphere and now they were on the same road, desires and methods perfectly in sync.
"You know what? I've fucking had enough of you!" Hayato growled, turning fierce eyes on Reborn. Juudaime laid next to him, unconscious with a broken arm after one of Reborn's 'tutoring' sessions.
But enough was enough.
These techniques weren't famous, they weren't something to be revere, to beg and plead for! They were pure madness and torture from this fucking sadistic egocentric maniac. World's fucking Best hitman he may be, but not the greatest tutor. And Hayato himself, well he'd been a star-struck fool, too busy fawning over his idol, the Mafia's idol, to see plainly what was happening in front of his very own eyes to the person he loved most. He watched Juudaime every second he could, yet he didn't see a fucking thing! He might as well be blind.
It was time he finally cleared his eyes and did what he was supposed to be doing- protecting Juudaime. Juudaime had a Family now, there was no need for Reborn. He should move on, go back to being a hitman, back to the black world of killing games. There was no need of him in Juudaime's bright future. The Family was all he needed.
He stood, walking right up to Reborn, directly in his personal space, hardly a breath of space between them. He wasn't afraid, he should be, any sane person was, but Hayato wasn't. He was far too angry to be afraid. He was a man on a mission, an unstoppable raging storm, and a sun shining so brightly it burnt wasn't going to stop him.
"Get the FUCK out of Juudaime's life. Pack your bags, leave the house, leave Japan and never let me see you ever again. You got what you wanted, right? The honour and fame of training the tenth heir to Vongola, the curse broken and your adult body back. What more do you want from him? His happiness? His life? His eternal loyalty and grovelling at your feet? For him to be your plaything until something new comes along? Well I won't allow it any longer!"
"Are you finished?" Reborn asked, blinking slowly after Gokudera's outburst. Gokudera bristled, lips rising into a snarl, an audible growl leaving his lips. "Can you say your 'training' was any different?"
Gokudera knew Reborn didn't mean his dynamite training with Shamal, the old man might be an ass but he wasn't harsh like Reborn. No, he knew what Reborn meant. His tutor was the bitch called real life, his training the years after he had escaped the castle. His training was that of a pure young teen in the harsh reality of an adult's mafia.
So no, he couldn't say his training was any different- it was worse. His torment had just come from many instead of one.
"You may see me as being unfair, but you should know better than most of the Guardians that life is unfair. You want to protect him from the path he is on but that's not possible; sometimes if you want peace you have to go to war. Tsuna is destined for great things and you know it to be true. We both desire the future Tsuna can bring, even if it renders ourselves obsolete. Tsuna has saved me, saved the both of us, so I want to save him in return. Being harsh now means he'll be able to bear it later, when reality comes knocking. He will bend and wobble and buckle under the pressure and harshness of the mafia, but he won't break. The harsher I am, the higher his chances of survival are."
He looked Gokudera in the eyes. "So, would you like to repeat yourself?"
It was then that Gokudera realised that Reborn's feelings weren't that far from his own. That the gleam of adoration and protectiveness was the same as his. That maybe… just maybe… Juudaime had saved Reborn too.
Taking a step backwards, Gokudera turns and picks Tsuna up, carefully placing his broken arm on his stomach. "You had better not leave then." Says Gokudera, quietly subdued. "Juudaime couldn't bear it if you left. And… I can't look after him alone." Gokudera knew he couldn't, not with the amount of enemies Juudaime was going to make. Sure being his right hand meant Gokudera would always be near-by, but he would also have other obligations. Being in the same room meant getting caught in the same trap, being close meant he couldn't always see the bigger picture an enemy was planning until it was too late. He was only human, only one man, and a man with many faults at that.
"I'm not going anywhere." Reborn replies, "I've had enough of freelance work. I only ever moved when I was bored, and I don't think things are ever going to get boring here. People will always be coming after Tsuna, and it'll be a test of my skills to keep him safe from each and every one. Looking after Tsuna is going to be a handful, why else do you think I found him so many babysitters?"
Gokudera chuckled, knowing that Juudaime saw it the other way around, that he was the babysitter for their wild and crazy group. Understanding Reborn's intentions now, Gokudera allowed Reborn to slip his arms around Tsuna, to pick him up and carry his weight, Gokudera following like the loyal guard dog he is.
Both had the same resolve shining in their eyes. Both had the same mission. It didn't matter what appeared in the future, or who tried to stand in their way, they would never let Tsuna get hurt. Ever.
"What am I going to do with you?" Reborn huffs, getting up out of his chair. Gokudera looks away, his hand automatically reaching up to cover the wound he was sure Reborn was talking about. "I'd hate to wonder how many times these wounds would have gotten infected if I didn't look after you. It's annoying."
Gokudera clicks his tongue and looks away. "Well excuse me. You didn't have Shamal as your doctor for as long as you can remember. So you'll understand if I happen to hate doctors and hospitals. And it's not my fault that area is hard to reach."
"You're forgetting I had Shamal there at my 'birth', " Reborn smirks, gentle fingers moving wet silver locks to get a better look at the wound. Gokudera rolls his eyes, not finding the joke funny since that was not the same thing.
Gokudera stays still, letting Reborn dry the wound, check it before rubbing a cream over it and covering it up with a bandage. "All done. Your collar should cover it so Tsuna won't notice and worry over you." Hayato nods, the last thing he wanted was for Juudaime to worry over him when he had so many other more important things to worry about.
"So you gonna let me do yours?" Hayato asks, moving the towel to his bare shoulders to catch the last of the dripping water.
Reborn laughs, looking down at Gokudera. "I thought Tsuna was the only person you'd mother?" Hayato just gives him a look, one that passed between them often, saying:
You're my partner in protecting Him, so of course I'm going to look after you too.
Gokudera knew that he and Juudaime were the only people Reborn would lower his guard around, let them see him injured, or tired or at anything less than as the perfect fearsome Mafia idol he'd become. And maybe the Baseball-idiot too, Reborn had a soft spot for him for some unknown reason (or at least unknown in Gokudera's opinion).
So Reborn sighed and sat down, rolling his trouser leg up so Gokudera could see the small 'scratch' he had gotten during his assignment.
"Mother hen."
"Fuck off!"
So whenever someone thought they were good enough to kill the Neo Vongola Primo, whether it be at a party-
"Ha, you think you had us fooled? I've been watching you play with that weapon since the moment you walked in. You couldn't have been more obvious if you tried!"
Or in his sleep-
"Now now, don't scream, or else you'll wake everyone up. Let's have a nice little chat, shall we?"
Or during a negotiation gone wrong-
"Juudaime, quick, under the table!... When I tell you, make a run for the door, Reborn will meet you out there… Don't give me that! Just run!"
They found themselves faced with two Guardian Angels, guns loaded and ready to kill. They would do anything for Tsuna, and they really did mean anything. That 'anything' would be practically boundless if not for the restrictions placed upon them by Tsuna's ethics and wishes. Angels they may be, but pure white, they were certainly not.
They would do anything for the person that saved them.
Because Tsuna was worth it.
This is a small two shot based around two songs although the lyrics aren't used generally. This one is based around the song Angel With A Shotgun, by The Cab. I'm not sure when part 2 is coming out, although I'm working on it (along with a hundred other things sadly…)
Phantom Hitman 1412
First Published: 31 July 2013
