4
part i. wings
Life fell into a kind of routine after a few weeks. Wake up, train, eat, sleep, rinse-wash-repeat.
Wake up to Reborn's weird shape-shifting lizardchameleonwhatever (gun, hammer, rock?), tortured under his bizarre tactics that he called training, eat Tsuna's cooking (Reborn, that bastard, always pushed the task to him), and finally pushed to coma-like exhaustion at the end of the day. And throughout it all, he was teased endlessly. Reborn's favorite new word seemed to be dame; get up dame-Tsuna, run faster dame-Tsuna, do-it-with-your-dying-will dame-Tsuna!
He was so ready to tear his hair out.
It wasn't too bad, honestly. Some days, they would sit together on the back porch, tea and snacks between them with comfortable silence or small conversations in the air. In those kinds of lethargic days, Reborn would take the opportunity to stretch out his wings, messy as they were, and caused feathers to go flying everywhere.
It was embarrassing, but Tsuna knew that Reborn pretended not to know about the collection of those fallen feathers that he liked to keep in a box under his bed. It stung his fingers a little to pick them up at first with trace amounts of Grace still clinging to them, but Tsuna liked their softness and how pretty they were.
He supposed it was fair though. After all, Reborn knew that Tsuna pretended not to know about the stack of shoujo manga that the angel kept under his bed. Or the cosplay clothes in his closet.
(It was more like silenced with the threat of death)
It was actually during one of those days when Tsuna finally mucked up the courage to ask Reborn if he could groom his wings. He shyly fidgeted when he was pinned with an intense but unreadable gaze. Reborn looked at him for a couple of very long seconds.
Face a fire-engine red, Tsuna blurted out, "I mean, just look at them – they're so messy! When is the last time you took care of them? Your feathers stick out everywhere and some of them are even broken!" It wasn't a lie. With his wings out, Reborn looked more like a disgruntled parrot than an angel.
When Reborn didn't say anything, Tsuna continued to babble on, "One of my brother's friends has feathered wings too, only they are red, like wine, and a little smaller. G lets me groom his wings sometimes and I've gotten pretty good at it so I won't mess them up, I swear, well I don't think I will, your wings are not too different from his anyways –"
Reborn placed a hand on top of his head and he stilled, shutting up abruptly.
"Okay," he said.
Tsuna blinked. "O…kay?" he repeated, disbelievingly, and then his face lit up as he smiled, bright and happy. "Okay! Turn around, Reborn. Um, can you also suppress your Grace a little? My skin is prickling." Reborn obliged, still a little too quiet, but Tsuna's chatter filled the silence.
It wasn't as if he was wary of turning his back. Tsuna was really undemonic as a demon could be, as Reborn had come to find out. It was just that when Tsuna had asked his question, Reborn had to stop himself from reeling in surprise. He hadn't meant for his wings to get so messy. It wasn't really Tsuna's fault either. How could he have known? Demon culture was different, after all, and Tsuna's wings were not the same as his.
In Heaven, angels groom each other's wings in a sign of friendship or love. It was one of those social things, an intimate gesture of good-will and I-trust-you-so-trust-me-too kind of deal.
And it was the first time anyone had willingly touched Reborn's wings.
"Here, all done!" Tsuna's cheerful voice jerked Reborn awake with a grunt, a couple of hours later. Surprised, Reborn wondered when he had fallen asleep.
Yawning, he stretched his wings out beside him and flexed them, feeling relaxed and content. He was pleased to see that the feathers looked sleek and neat, unlike before when it tended to look ruffled from the messiness. "Not bad," he said with a little smile.
Tsuna rolled his eyes. "Not bad? That's it? I think I did a pretty good job, considering what a mess they were in earlier."
Reborn turned a closed-eyed smile on him. "What was that?"
Laughing, Tsuna raised his hands in surrender. "I'm kidding! I'll take whatever compliment I can get."
The ease at which the demon spoke to him made Reborn inwardly frown, feeling somewhat uneasy. He actually showed his displeasure when he noticed the little red burns on Tsuna's fingers.
"Stupid," he scolded, grabbing his hands and turning them over. "You should have stopped."
Tsuna shrugged. "I didn't notice," he admitted. He smiled up at him, giving Reborn's hands a squeeze. "But I'm alright! I'll go get some salve."
As Tsuna trudged up the stairs for the burn cream, Reborn dropped his hands to his lap and stared at them.
(Since when had he started caring so much?)
part ii. the half-breed
Hayato Gokudera was a bastard of both worlds.
Born to an exorcist of a noble clan and to a higher class demon, he had been ostracized and rejected his whole life.
He lived with his mother for the first few happy years of his life in Hell. He learned piano from her, and even though it was hard, he could bear with the rejection and scorn because of her. Lavina was a pacifist, gentle and kind, and she tried to nurture his human side. She had hoped to one day ease the tensions between Hell and the other two worlds.
She was also very sick. Frail from the start, little Hayato's birth had taken a toll on her and her illness progressed to its worst stages. Then, when Hayato was four, she died.
He was taken in by his human relatives, but his situation didn't improve. The matriarch of the family could not bear to look at him because of the shame, and his father always looked regretful and lost (he had loved Lavina, truly, but it was not enough to keep them together). His older sister loved him, but an incident with some holy water made him sick in her presence. He eventually grew up and became an exorcist himself, but the other exorcists condemned him and the oblivious humans rejected him (he was too violent, too dark, too different).
Hayato bitterly thought that rejection was a cold, ruthless weapon.
"It has been a while, hasn't it?"
Reborn grunted, face a picture of annoyance. He was sitting outside a café in Italy with his companion, a newspaper in his hands.
"Kora! Are you listening to me?!" Colonello snapped his fingers in front of Reborn's face and Reborn barely refrained from snapping back at them. With his teeth.
"Ah yes. Hello-Colonello-it-has-been-a-long-time. How-have-you-been?" Reborn said monotonously. He lifted his newspaper higher in front of his face, occasionally bringing his hand forward to sip at his coffee.
Colonello's left eye twitched at the obvious snub. He slammed his hand down in the middle of the paper, ripping it. "Seriously? You go off to who-knows-where and with no contact with any of us and this is your reaction! Where have you been anyways? Shirking off your responsibilities, Reborn?"
Reborn threw a dangerous glare at the other. "Just here and there," he gritted out, hand clenched tight around the handle of his coffee cup. He narrowed his eyes even further as the other angel continued to scold him. "Shut up, you hypocrite. What the hell do you want? You never cared before what I did."
Colonello slumped back in his seat. "It's about that demon a few months ago!" he wailed, covering his eyes. "We've been getting hammered for that, kora!"
"Oh, yeah. That." Reborn casually sipped his coffee, with an innocent expression.
"We scoured around for a little, but its presence just completely vanished! Are you sure you haven't noticed anything?"
"Who knows? I left this country around that time. Maybe it died."
The blond angel sighed. "Yeah, that's probably logical. Or it went home, but I dunno. I have this feeling, especially with some recent events…" He threw a suspicious look at Reborn. "Which reminds me. You never said why you left Italy."
"A little side project," Reborn replied with a smirk. He wondered how Tsuna was doing, back in Japan. He had left abruptly after all, when the call came in.
Colonello felt a little shiver at the smirk. "Riiight," he said slowly. "Well, I need you to stay a couple days here. Things have been a little chaotic among the demons, kora."
Reborn frowned. "What do you mean?"
"We're not sure," Colonello said with a helpless shrug. "But something's happened in Hell, some sort of ruckus, but the demons aren't talking." He clasped his hands in front of him. "Come on," he begged. "I have a date with Lal riding on this!"
"I'm not helping you for that." Reborn downed the rest of the coffee. "But I'm curious of what you just said. Fine, I'll stay."
In the meantime, he might as well find a phone for Tsuna. The lack of communication was irritating him.
Somewhere, somewhere, a black mass of shadow landed on Earth for the first time in its existence. It was a huge quadrupedal shaped being with its features indistinguishable but for its hellish orange eyes that glowed ominously from the darkness. It lifted its head up, taking great whiffs of air, searching for the scent of its prey. Its superior senses eventually detected a faint, familiar musk and it roared in excitement to the night sky. Its destination was east.
And somewhere, the Vatican heard its call. Concerned, they sent one of their own after it. A demon to track a demon, they figured. A couple days later, one ticket to Japan was bought under the name of Gokudera.
Tsuna hated to admit it.
He was bored.
It had only been three days since Reborn left on his trip too. He rolled over on the couch and groaned. He couldn't believe it. He actually missed him! Should this be a concerning thing? Tsuna felt like he should be more concerned about his attachment to the angel.
Reborn's training was absolutely hellish, but at least it was something to do, and he even had to admit that his stamina and strength had already increased. Speaking of training… Tsuna sat up with a panicked gasp. When Reborn came back and noticed that Tsuna hadn't done anything while he was gone-
Tsuna was out the door in a flash, jogging as fast as he could down the street. Unfortunately, he was too caught up in his panicked thoughts and totally missed the unusual sight of a teenager wearing a clerical outfit that was walking down the same sidewalk from the opposite direction.
The result was that Tsuna accidentally bowled over the silver haired boy in a tremendous crash.
The boy didn't seem too hurt to Tsuna's immense relief. "I am so sorry!" he said, holding out a hand. Mentally noting the outfit, along with the many shiny gothic-styled jewelry the boy was wearing, Tsuna wondered if this was some sort of statement. He instantly decided that he'd seen worse in the city (and from Reborn) and determinedly stared at the boy's face instead.
"Watch where you're going!" the human snarled in accented Japanese, batting away his hands. He stood up, brushing dirt off his robes. He sneered down at Tsuna, his bright green eyes conveying his disgust. "Pathetic," he muttered, stalking away.
Tsuna stood there frozen. Was that…G…? He shook his head. Nah, impossible. Lack of contact with his brother was probably getting to him. He started jogging again.
He didn't notice the presence of a shadow following after him, too occupied in his thoughts.
Predictably, Tsuna got lost in the Namimori forest. It was dark and somehow he lost the trail. He curled up at the base of a tree, slamming his head back.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he chanted as he thunked his head. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stu- "
Something growled.
Tsuna stopped and cautiously stood up. "H-hello?" he called out. The trees shook. There was something like the smell of sulfur and electricity in the air, and fear was starting to swell. The wind blew and the scent of a hell-animal reached his nose.
"Okay," Tsuna squeaked and ran. The creature followed.
(There are two types of demons. The higher kind, descended from the Fallen and from corrupted human souls – that would be most of the population. Then there were the others, formed by the darkness of Hell as cliché as it sounded. They were basically the equivalent of animals – the ones that caused the most trouble for humans, exorcists, and angels because they didn't follow any rules and the demons didn't bother controlling them unless they were pets)
Hayato had tracked the demon to the forest when someone ran into him for the second time that day and landed on top of him. Groaning, he rubbed his head and looked down at his chest to large panicked eyes.
"You," he growled, surprised. "Aren't you from this morning? What the hell are you doing here?!"
The boy whimpered and scrambled off, lifting Hayato to his feet with surprising strength. "You need to run," he frantically whispered. "There's something out there!"
That 'something' roared behind him and Hayato hissed, "Demon." The boy tensed when Hayato took out his cross and dynamite. "Stay behind me," he ordered. "I'm an exorcist."
"Oh. Oh - Ohhh no." the boy said.
"Lord, bless this holy hand grenade!" Hayato yelled and threw his dynamite. The bushes exploded.
The boy gaped. "Grenade - Are you serious?!" he shrieked.
Hayato glared at him in affront. "It's a good blessing!" he snapped. "It totally works!"
"But Monty Python?! And that was dynamite you just threw!"
"It's a great movie, don't judge me!"
He was cut off when something stepped out in front of them. Something dark and dangerous. "I think you made it mad," the boy said lowly.
Hayato sighed, "Just my luck," grabbed the boy's arm and ran.
"My name's Tsunayoshi by the way," the boy panted out, trying not to stumble over the rocks and various foliage in their way. "Call me Tsuna."
"Gokudera Hayato," Hayato said back. Introductions in this situation seemed strange but he didn't have much to lose at the moment, he figured.
"Are you really an exorcist?"
"Stop talking, you're distracting me!"
The demon chasing them jumped over their heads and landed in front of them. It turned around, bright eyes shining out disturbingly. Something dripped down from what was probably the maw. It sizzled on the ground and burned through the leaves there and both boys gulped nervously.
Hayato got out his dynamite, but the thing was fast – faster than any demon he had encountered – and the next thing he knew, he was flying through the air, slamming against a tree. He groaned, disorientated, and watched panicked as the thing went for Tsuna.
"Shit," he swore. He… didn't want to do this. But another life depended on him, didn't it? Taking a deep breath, he called up on his demonic side and released it.
With a roar, Hayato's green eyes went bright and slitted like a cat's, his nails became claws, and his canines lengthened. He launched himself at the demon with a snarl, grappling with the thing, and kicked it away hard enough that it knocked down the tree it landed against. He grabbed Tsuna who was staring at him with surprise and a bit of fear. He tried not to let it bother him.
"It's coming after us," Tsuna gasped, staring behind him. He pulled at his arm until they were running. The demon launched at them again with a roar, but Hayato couldn't help but notice how it was ignoring him and going straight for the scrawnier boy beside him.
"It wants you," Hayato managed to get out. "Why?" They ran faster. With a growl, he looked back and snapped his fingers. The ground rocked as several explosions filled the air.
"Stop!" Tsuna suddenly yelled, trying to pull back, but it was too late. The path in front of them suddenly gave out to an unexpected cliff and they fell, screaming.
"FUUUUCK," Hayato screamed, still clutching at Tsuna. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? A FUCKING CLIFF?! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS, A FUCKING MOVIE?!" He looked up and flipped the sky off. "I can't believe I'm going to die like this! FUCK YOU, BIG MAN, FUCK YOU."
"Right," Tsuna said calmly. It was Hayato this time who watched in amazement as Tsuna – a demon, he's a demon! – released his wings and his true form. Hayato garbled in surprise as Tsuna glided them over the trees in search of a clearing.
"Y-you're a demon!"
"And you're a half-blood and an exorcist. Trust me, I was just as surprised as you," Tsuna said wryly. He smiled kindly. "You're not dying today, Gokudera-kun. So don't be too mad at God."
Hayato blushed.
They crashed hard in an open area. Exhausted, Tsuna glanced over at the exorcist next to him. "Sorry, but you're kinda heavy."
Hayato groaned. "I think my bruises have bruises."
For some reason, that was incredibly funny to Tsuna. He burst out into hysterical laughter, holding his stomach as he tried to breathe. Hayato stared at him in bemusement until he couldn't hold it in any longer and started to laugh along with him.
"This is a strange turn of events, isn't it?" he said between his giggles.
Tsuna managed to calm down enough to say, "I thought you seemed familiar earlier, but to meet one of G's family… I thought for sure he had caught up to me!" Before Hayato could ask what that meant, Tsuna turned bright gold eyes at him. He looked so terrifyingly inhumane at that moment, but there was no malice in that body. Like mother, Hayato thought fondly.
"You know, my mother was a demon like you," Hayato said after calming down. He looked wistful as he stared at Tsuna's wings. "Her wings were dark, like ash, and she used to fly us around our house." He smiled sadly as he reached out a hand and lightly touched Tsuna's own leathery ones. They were different than his mother's but no less beautiful, he thought to himself. He put his hand down when he realized what he was doing.
Tsuna blushed at the attention but didn't comment on it. "Your family are known for their wings," he said instead. "Feathers… it's unusual."
Hayato was surprised. "You know them?"
"I know one. He's my brother's close friend."
"I see. I don't know anyone of my mother's side. My father took me in after she died, but they were a family of exorcists so you can imagine how that went. Well, I became an exorcist myself, but I've never really stuck with one particular group."
There was something soft in Tsuna's eyes. "…I'm not much of a demon," he confessed. "I got bullied a lot and I ran away from Hell a few months ago after I got yelled at by my brother. I've been hiding out here since."
"Ha! I wouldn't have taken you for the rebellious type!"
"Eh, we all got to try something new once in a while, yeah?"
There was some silence between them. And then, "You never answered my question earlier. Why was that demon was chasing you?"
"I have a theory about that," Tsuna started to say, but he was then interrupted when the demon from earlier landed in the clearing with them with a growl. They both scrambled to their feet and Hayato pulled out his dynamite.
"Damnit!" he cursed.
"Wait," Tsuna protested, and pushed his arm out. He stepped forward.
"What are you doing?" Hayato hissed.
"Just wait!" Tsuna put his arms out. "Who's a good boy," he cooed in a sweet tone. Hayato looked at him like he lost his mind. What was he doing? The hell-animal growled and stepped forward.
"Are you nuts?!"
Tsuna grinned. "No, but he is!" He put his arms out wider, welcoming. "Natsu! C'mere, boy!"
The demon bounded forward and Hayato tensed. But to his shock, the shadows that were clinging to it rolled off to reveal… a lion.
A really tiny lion.
"Gao!" the demon jumped into Tsuna's arms, purring and rubbing his head under his chin, nothing at all from what seemed like a truly frightening beast of Hell.
"Aww, did you miss me? Did you miss me? I missed you, you little fur ball! How could you scare me like that? What if you got hurt, you silly thing," Tsuna crooned and kissed his nose.
"What the hell?" Hayato muttered.
Tsuna turned to him with a warm smile. "I didn't notice at first, until you mentioned it… I thought it was strange when he was coming for me, but then I realized it was just Natsu!" He turned his attention back to the lion with a squeal.
"Brother must have sent you," he said in Enochian and pressed another kiss to the lion's snout. "But you'll keep me a secret for a little longer, right Natsu?"
Natsu licked Tsuna's cheek and purred.
"How am I supposed to explain this," Hayato sighed as he walked Tsuna home. They managed to find the trail back to the town and Tsuna was back in his human form. "Natsu appeared in Italy at first. The Vatican noticed, did you know that? They hired me to hunt him down. He looked pretty powerful."
"He is powerful, but he won't hurt anyone," Tsuna said cheerfully, arms swinging. After another cuddle session, Natsu had gone back to Hell. It had been awfully good to see him again and Tsuna didn't realize how much he had missed certain aspects of home.
Hayato stopped suddenly and turned to look at Tsuna. Confused, the demon let out a questioning noise. "Natsu was wearing the Vongola emblem." Hayato's head was bowed, his face shadowed.
Tsuna blinked up at him, innocently. "Yeah?"
"You saved my life, even though I treated you disrespectfully."
"Well, yeah, but I couldn't just let you fall –"
"It doesn't bother you that I'm a half-breed?"
Tsuna frowned. "Should it? And I really don't think you should belittle yourself like that, Gokudera-kun. Honestly, half-breed like you're some kind of animal –"
Hayato grabbed his hands with sparkling eyes. "I'll follow you forever!" he shouted.
"…What." Tsuna was torn between disbelief and crying. W-what? Why? How did this escalate so fast…?
"I heard that the youngest Vongola was a bit of a loser, but I see that's not true!"
"Now back up for a minute –"
"I see you have had your hardships too!" Hayato teared up. "Tsuna-sama!"
And somewhere inside, Tsuna's Intuition said that his normal life of routine just shattered to itty bitty pieces.
"I was gone five days," Reborn said dully.
Tsuna twitched from where he was seated on the couch, Hayato pressed up next to him. "Who are you?" he snarled, hands on his dynamite. Reborn determinately ignored him.
"Five days," he repeated.
"Is this person bothering you, Tsuna-sama?" Hayato asked. Tsuna shook his head.
"No, Gokudera-kun, that's Reborn… my, uh, tutor. Um, he's an angel but there's a story behind that-"
Hayato had already dropped his dynamite and was bowing, head to the floor. "My sincere apologies!" he groveled. "I didn't realize you were the greatest archangel, Reborn!"
"Archangel?!" Tsuna shrieked.
Hayato turned to him with an admiring smile. "Tsuna-sama, to think you have befriended the Reborn. As expected of a Vongola!"
"Vongola!" Reborn hissed with shock. For once, his face truly expressed his surprise.
Oblivious, Hayato continued to sing Tsuna's praises as the two stared at each other.
"You're an archangel," Tsuna said weakly.
"You didn't tell me you were Vongola," Reborn growled.
"I didn't think it was important!"
"Important? Dame-Tsuna, your brother is the king of hell."
Things just got complicated.
EXTRA: for love of love
"By the way, Tsuna-sama, Reborn…" They were seated at the dinner table, waiting for food to cook. Reborn was sipping at some coffee, Hayato some tea.
"What is it, Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna asked, as he stirred some noodles in a pot with a spoon.
"Are you and Reborn together?"
Reborn choked and Tsuna flailed. "What?!" he said. He faced Hayato with a pale face, nervously glancing at Reborn who was sitting very still. "No,no,no! You have it wrong, do you hear me? You have it wrong!"
Hayato nodded, understanding. "I see," he whispered, eyes a light with something that made Tsuna feel very uncomfortable. "A forbidden love story…!"
"Gokudera-kun –"
He stood up, passion written in his features. He brought his fist to his heart. "Do not worry, Tsuna-sama! Your secret is safe with me! I will protect your love to the ends of the earth and beyond!" He saluted Reborn who was still frozen in his seat and nodded at Tsuna with determination. "Now, shall I help you set the table, Tsuna-sama?" he asked in a sudden change of topic.
Tsuna nodded slowly, his hands clutching at his wooden spoon like it was the only thing anchoring him to sanity. Reborn still didn't move.
(Hayato was a true romantic. He had a whole bookshelf full of sappy romance novels)
EXTRA 2: what's in a name?
"You said your name was Sawada Tsunayoshi," Reborn said.
Tsuna nodded. "Yes! I use my mother's name in public." He blushed and looked down. "Most demons don't believe I'm a Vongola, even though I look a lot like Brother. It's easier to be a Sawada to avoid the whispers."
Reborn sighed, ruffling his hair. "Yeah, it's unmistakable when you're standing next to each other, but you look a lot like Giotto. But you don't at the same time." He frowned and pulled at Tsuna's hair, ignoring his yelps. "But to use a name that he would recognize…" His eyes gleamed. "It looks like there's still a lot for you to learn."
Tsuna whimpered.
edited 8/01/16
notes: changes in dialogue. hopefully it flows better.