Disclaimer: I own neither Katekyo Hitman Reborn nor Tokyo Ghoul and its characters.
AN: Yeah call me out for lying. I ended up writing despite my finals. Don't trust my profile or my idealistic time management skills.
I'M SO VERY DUCKING HAPpy for the positive reviews this has gotten. Like, people actually feel inspired from my work?! (wotifok ermeged FlightOrFight I especially love your work Bandaged Hand omgomgomg how the dog did I miss ur name on Ao3 and FFN??). Honestly, I couldn't stop smiling for hours when I read the latest one too. Thank you, like aww, you all are so sweet _.
Daniela was found seated across 'I want you to call me Kaneki.' Ken with her finger entwined, elbows on the table while her teeth grinded with worry. Heart fluttering, the woman felt sorely tempted to try another attempt at breaking out the window and finding her honorary godson herself.
She would've done so, truly, if she hadn't already known the pointlessness of the act even without Kaneki telling her in slight amusement. Daniela honestly didn't remember raising her precious child to grow up to be such an imp.
('You've only known the shit for a month,' Ricardo grumbled from the ring. Daniela could practically hear his eyeballs roll to back of his skull. Wisely, the woman ignored his unwanted comments.)
The young man in question looked as calm as ever, taking a cup of freshly brewed coffee to his lips as he smiled softly, froth sticking to the top edge of his mouth. Daniela already did the whole interrogation thing on the whereabouts of Renato Sinclair and much to her chagrin, only to have received word about the most basic information.
Like how her godson was technically safe and unlikely to die without her presence to back up the unfortunate soul. Kaneki could be one stubborn bastard if his heart was in it.
The Ghoul didn't know why he assumed otherwise, but the information made the lady understandably upset. Kaneki spent a decent fix of time explaining why Renato wasn't here with them having tea, cringing slightly when Daniela threatened to throw her cup across the room.
"Renato-san has gone to see the others." Kaneki said, ever so cryptic. "He is needed there, but the others won't hurt him. I promise."
Daniela only pursed her lips and nodded jerkily. Disappointment filling her eyes like the clouds of their mindscape- gently and gradually, diffusing across the sky before a person even realised no strips of blue were plastered above anymore.
Kaneki resisted the urge to fidget in his seat. "Tell me more," he heard her say when the silence grew heavy.
The Ghoul wasn't one to deny his precious people, so he obliged the woman's concerned curiosity with what he could afford to tell. King's warning prickled at the back of his mind, their eldest would be watching.
Anteiku shivered underneath his exasperation; it made Daniela raise a brow which Kaneki could only laugh sheepishly in response, hand rubbing the back of his head.
"When we came here, we were given a mission." He started. Daniela was immediately hooked, her ponytail spreading with the way her head jerked with surprised. "I can't tell you much, but a man in a checker mask approached us one day in a dream and told us to save the world."
Fiddling with the string of his eyepatch once more, Kaneki looked up from where his gaze had dropped while recounting the story. Vongola Ottavo looked intrigued, but no recognition or disbelief graced her eyes from his words yet.
She believed him.
Kaneki felt encouraged to continue. "We were informed beforehand to accept a 'valuable' gift when we got here. We got the pacifier, but I couldn't bring in the person who sent it for some reason. Either way, none of us know what the thing does except giving us a heart burn."
Sweating slightly, he ignored the pressure of King's Authority that begun to steadily press down on him. Careful Kaneki heard King say then, using a voice designed to fall deaf on foreign ears.
"You said you were a gateway once. Explain." The woman commanded after a moment of speculative silence. The Giglio Nero Famiglia was involved? I'll need to investigate this further once I get back.
(In a way, Daniela couldn't really bring herself to feel surprised.
Everyone knew about the pacifier Luce wore around her neck; the Famiglia's knack for borderline magical voodoo was practically trademark too. Add the two together, and you have the highly plausible key in unlocking Kaneki's mysterious appearance in Italy.)
Sighing, the Ghoul relented with puffed cheeks. Well, it wasn't like he himself knew much anyway. "My job is to oversee the people that come and go from here. I'm airport security basically.
I have the right to reject or accept entry and exit for whoever that wants to enter. I could also pull them in if I wanted, but then the person would have to be within a certain distance and have flames too. The person that gave us the pacifier being the only exception of course."
"Has it always been like this?" Daniela asked.
Kaneki shook his head, "No. Honestly, even I don't know much about our purpose here." He huffed cutely, lips pouting. "That's why I had to keep pulling in all those people from Mafialand. Getting information from the outside is a lot easier that way considering our body cannot move at the moment."
Daniela stood from her chair, its legs dragging on the floor loudly. She paced around the café with practiced quiet footsteps, gazing out the window with a strange look. "Tell me, Kaneki, who are the 'we' and 'our'?"
"D-Daniela-san…" the Ghoul stuttered out. The woman gave him a sharp look. "You know I can't tell you much." he finished quickly.
"You left someone I find myself rather fond of with one of your roommates. I think I deserve an explanation. As brief as it may be."
Without warning, the young man grunted painfully, dropping on the floor as he curled up into a defensive ball. Daniela found herself kneeling beside him, worry etched on her face. Kaneki had his fist clutching at his chest as if he couldn't breathe.
Daniela watched the sweat dribble down his temples as Kaneki panted and struggled to take in air.
"I-I'm sorry, Daniela-san." The grey-eyed student (because he'd told her about his university days. One that Kaneki understood she'd never find no matter how much she looked.) gasped. "I cannot tell you more. Our King thinks the best for us, so it'd only be counter-productive if I said anything more."
Kaneki shielded a cough with a fist.
"A-and… as you can see, I am physically incapable of talking about 'us'. Another day, maybe." Kaneki rubbed his chin absently.
Daniela ran a comforting hand down his back, tracing soothing circles ever so often. She helped him up as he tried to stand, her expression resigned and a little guilty. She didn't apologise, however.
A heavy crackle boomed from the outside, two heads immediately snapped towards it. Out of the blue, the darkening sky was pregnant with inky clouds flashing with an alarmingly bright purple outline with every streak of lightning that streamed into the sea.
Kaneki was visibly distressed. His fingers started trembling before he chewed on his lips and forced Daniela back on her knees, pushing her underneath the table. "Please stay down." the young man said steadily with convincing confidence, each word belying the nervous trembles in his hands.
"Centipede doesn't normally come down here." Kaneki tucked his head in curiously despite the butterflies in his stomach; Daniela doesn't think Kaneki noticed it, but the Ghoul started talking to himself at a volume even Daniela struggled to hear.
"-pose, unless Shiro gets upset and if he's upset it means…!"
Grey eyes widened in realisation. Dropping an apology, Kaneki suddenly vanished before Daniela's eyes, leaving her alone with the mad world outside.
Renato could hardly believe it. The pair of siblings had the gall to chain and cuff him to a chair on the first date no less. It did his pride no good when the chair was also one that was barely holding together with its creaky metallic screws and rusted legs.
Snarling to himself, Renato accidentally recalled the days of helplessness buried underneath hills of bodies watered with blood. Shaking his head, Renato grunted coarsely. He wasn't there anymore, no point getting pissed about it.
Nevertheless, the greatest hitman in the making absolutely despised having his freedom taken away. It made him feel smaller even if he knew no form of restriction would be able to keep him down for long.
Yet, there was something about the seat he sat on that felt off, somehow.
Trusting his instincts as they've served him well for years, Renato forced his body to relax. If what Daniela told him was true, there would be no point in struggling because in the mindscape of a powerful Sky, Elements like Renato could only bend until they've found an exploitable opening.
Speaking of which, Renato seemed to have to put in twice the effort in remaining calm, more so than usual. The boy called Ken wouldn't stop hugging his leg like a koala. Narrowing his dark eyes, the hitman tried his hand in flaring his Sun flames to shoo away the little pest. It didn't work.
Ken proceeded to rub his small face on the fabric of Renato's pants, brother forgotten at the side.
"What are you doing, silly thing?" Renato asked mildly exasperated.
"You smell very nice." Came the somehow hungry(?) response. The hitman sweat dropped, what did that mean?
Nothing made sense ever since he stepped into Mafialand's room. First, it was his Flames going out of control; next, he couldn't meet Daniela's new adopted son apparent due to some technical difficulties and now, there was a young boy rubbing himself all over Renato.
Insanity.
Renato couldn't help but jerk up a kick when Ken started nibbling on him. The urge to curse was strong, but it shouldn't be the weirdest thing the hitman had experienced yet. The act was climbing quickly up the list, though.
Pushing up his glasses, "Stop it, Ken. That's not very polite." Reaper said, tone stern. The boy did so immediately. "I understand the need to feed, but the King has yet to say."
"But King nii-sama is the champion of going on strike! Second to Kaneki nii-chan." Ken whined. Renato cringed a bit when the boy's blank expression fell, revealing a child barely older than 9. He tried to not think how Ken's cheeks looked like little dumplings when he puffed them up.
Renato couldn't comprehend why seeing the young boy act his age (playful, endearingly spoilt) made something in his stomach churn.
"We'll never wake up at this rate." The boy finished sulkily.
"Point taken," the older man said genially, tone bemused. "But our troubles will come to light, Ken. See, your precious Kaneki nii-chan is right there."
On cue, Renato saw a another version of the pair siblings walking towards them. Face full of youth, untouched by the darkness his younger and older counterpart wore like a second skin.
Kaneki's cheap pair of dress echoed in elegant clicks over the tiled marble floor. Ken ran over like an excited puppy, holding his arms wide while shouting "Kaneki-nii! Kaneki-nii! You're here!" Renato couldn't see the gleeful smile, but he heard it.
Eyes expressive even through the eyepatch, Kaneki caught the tackle with a practiced "Oof.". Hugging back the smaller boy, the older male then lifted him up, allowing Ken sat on the crook of Kaneki's arm with his own pair of arms wrapped around the older teen's neck. "Ken!" The young man greeted cheerfully. "Reaper." He nodded towards the other with a smile.
"Now, you two, I don't think I have to really say why you can't go stealing Shiro's chair without asking. He's at Anteiku now, y'know, King's dealing with him now and he's mad." Kaneki whispered the last part with a tone of conspiracy, making Ken giggle.
Reaper chuckled darkly. "His highness himself? Or did you mean Shiro?"
"Both, I'd say. Everyone knows how touchy Shiro gets with his property, Reaper. It wasn't wise to swipe it off his field. Centipede's gonna be kicking up a fuss for the next few days too."
Reaper sighed, combing through his hair. "It wouldn't have been polite if we let our guest remain standing. Ken thought so too."
"Shrugging is rude, nii-sama. But yeah! It would've been real sad if we didn't let the Sun rest. Anyway, I'm hungry, Kaneki-nii. When are we going to go hunting?"
The semi-formally dressed male laughed. "Soon." he said, giving Reaper a warm look at the same time. Reaper nodded, the frame of his glasses gleaming faintly. "Renato's here for that reason, y'know. He'll be the one to wake our body up."
The Sun widened his eyes. He what?
"I don't remember agreeing to this." The hitman finally spoke after a trio of indiscernible stares faced his way. Kaneki laughed, a sound comparable to ringing bells. He set Ken down and placed a gentle hand to pat the soft head of dark hair. "I don't think the little one here would take well to the rejection." He said lightly.
The child was starting to have stars in in his eyes. An entire galaxy of hope and anticipation just waiting to swallow Renato up. Renato steeled himself. Internally frowning. He didn't know the kid, no reason to feel guilty.
Or so he told himself. Guilt weighed like an anchor, putting suffocating pressure in the pits of his stomach. Curse those set of doe eyes.
Suddenly free from his confines, the hitman eyed all of them suspiciously. Even attempting to understand their actions felt pointless. Why was he released? Where did that chair gone to? Perhaps from now on, he'd take on those mind-reading lessons more seriously. The Italian man thought to himself.
Nevertheless, Renato crossed his arms over his chest, looking at the kid straight in the eyes. "Look, bambino, but my Flames are more… specialised. I could potentially kill you, or myself, if any accidents happened."
Let's not even talk about the fact the hitman didn't even know what was wrong with the Kaneki Ken up outside. Went the silent complaint.
Little Ken's eyes watered, shining like unpolished diamonds. His lips trembled as his nose sniffled and dusted pink. "You… might die?" He ran towards Renato, pulling at the seams of his suit. The man nodded, confused at the drastic reaction to his hypothetical death.
"Then it's fine." Ken blurted, making Reaper's eyes widen, golden framed glasses dropping from the bridge his nose slightly. Kaneki look frustratingly understanding and approving. The boy brought up his free hand to stifle a hiccup, grip on the Sun's suit tightening where Renato simply starred, "Kaa-san always said it was better to hurt than hurt others."
Something inside Renato shattered. There hadn't been enough time to tell himself that it wasn't his heart. That the low thrum of vibrating heat was not the fragile lines of a bond starting to form- strings reaching out because this Sky would not hurt him- would not force him into a Bond or life he didn't want. Ken is RENATO'SHISHISPLEASE-
The floor beneath them was crumbling before Renato could comprehend the longing and possessiveness. Ken! The hitman's brain startled immediately. Renato's focus suddenly sharpened, sensitivity going into an overdrive.
A vicious snarl was practically jumping out of his throat when Renato quickly pressed Ken close to him. Capturing the small, too-skinny body into his embrace. Sun Flames crooning as it prepared them for the worst. It took all of 5 seconds to realise that the world had stilled, appearing stuck in time. Kaneki was smiling.
"It has been days, our Sun. I hope that when you wake, you will find a way to save us." He placed a gentle hand on Renato's cheek. Reaper was standing by the youth's side. "Perhaps it is time for a change, no?" the darkly dressed man pushed up his glasses. "We've never really asked to be saved before."
Ken was hugging Renato's middle all the while, warm liquid gems- priceless, precious- still running down his cheeks. "But you don't have to, Ren-nii. I'd hate for you to get gurt because of us. We aren't worth it."
Renato's hold on him tightened. "No." He shook his head slowly. The hitman knelt down to reach Ken's eye level. His knew Sky. "I will find a way. You will never hurt me, Bambino."
"It's time. Come." Kaneki murmured absently, seemingly seeing something they couldn't. Ken sobbed, chest heaving, "Thank you, Ren-nii. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
There was a familiar gut wrenching pull and Renato knew that he had not a minute left with his new found Sky. Agony was a new throb in his soul, the Sun could only run his un-gloved hand down the boy's back. "Skies do not apologize to the Guardians who want to save them. I'll wake all of you up, Kaneki Ken. I'm the strongest Sun, after all."
