Riding along the winds

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CHP. 4

When Lal meets the Arcobaleno, Skull blends into the background. It's logical. Besides people like Reborn, Viper and Fon, other people tend to seem bland. Even if Skull has a strong personality, he's, well, a nobody. In addition, after she finds out as they get to 'know' each other better, that Skull can be annoying as shit, she basically has established her thoughts on him for the first few months they knew each other.

Of course, Lal isn't an idiot. She does do a small bit of research in his background. Obviously, there are the stunts. Before that, he lived and worked in Japan for some time. And after some digging, she finds hints of him being part of a circus. It all points to the classic runaway who joined a circus. It's disappointing.

(She purses her lips and shakes her head at his enthusiastic chatter. He really has no idea where he ended up, did he? Well, no matter, fools are going to be fools. She couldn't be bothered to stop it. Better to be the less involved she can when it inevitably goes wrong. If he even holds out for that long, he'll probably be dead in a few weeks, anyway.)

Later she will think that maybe if she had actually talked with him she would have noticed there was more to his past, but fact was that none of them had tried to read in each other too much in the beginning. It had been just missions, and it was only after months and months, and injuries and problems, that they had very minimally and carefully began to reach out, even Reborn, Verde and Viper.

(Skull hadn't.)

Still, her first indication that there's something more to Skull than the classic circus runaway is after those first few months. They're (still reluctantly) sketching some kind of plan out for the next mission. It's easier to work together now, but before it had been a real struggle with prominently Verde, Reborn, Fon and Viper doing their own thing, while Lal, more used to actually work together, actually tried to work something out and Skull just hung back.

Now, they're actually having team meetings or something. It's mostly screaming or passive aggressive arguing, especially if Luce wasn't there. That day, Luce hadn't been there. Lal had been ready to step up between Fon and Reborn who had been pleasantly sipping from their drinks while shooting daggers at each other because of a difference in opinions about the getaway when Skull had softly called out her name.

In less than five minutes he laid out a simple, but good fucking plan, that somehow should appease Fon and Reborn both.

At the time, it hadn't struck out to Lal much, but it had been notable enough to remember. He had pointed out the good, clever vantage points and had constructed a coverup for the weaknesses into his plan with just enough ease. It could be luck, could be insight or a big brain, or it could be something else.

It doesn't end at that mission. Skull hangs back again for a weeks after that occasion, but Lal is looking now and then he has to improvise in a mission and in that split second, he chooses to hang back, even in face of danger, and let Lal take control. Objectively, It's the best course he can take. Emotionally, it's a really tough one. That indicates that it's something else. That isn't luck, isn't smarts, that is experience.

And so, Skull becomes more interesting, even with his annoying tendencies to scream and whine. It's curious, but Lal is hesitant to step out and question him. Though they have become closer and more amicable, they're still only colleagues at best. She doesn't have right, nor enough interest, to question him. It's still his business, just as Lal has her business. So, she lets it go. Just like she knows the others do with Skull's peculiarities, except for maybe Luce, who needles everyone about everything because she actually cares about them getting closer.

And then the curse happens.

They fight. (Skull doesn't join. He just sits to the side, seemingly frozen in shock or in some shitty daze, and stares at Luce and later he watches them scream and rage in silence and it had only made her angrier. Fucking civilians.) They split.

And then the other Arcobaleno are the last thing on her mind, but for Colonello and his stupidity. She's angry, frantic and hopeless, which makes her even angrier and angrier, swirling in a toxic storm through her body.

She loses contact with all of the other Arcobaleno for some time. She knew some of them were angry about her and Colonello's… situation. So, some for a longer time, some shorter. But eventually, every Arcobaleno came, because even with their weird circumstances, they were into this together. That is, every Arcobaleno but Skull.

All of them lose contact with Skull for over a decade. He's just gone. Though they realize that only after a few years in.

It's isn't like he tries to avoid them. Lal knows he's been in contact with contacts of them, even on accident. Skull just isn't seeking them out. Hell, he possibly even has seen them in real life and just decided to turn away or something. It's almost like he's respecting their wishes for privacy or something. Which had been nice in the first years, when she hadn't even noticed, but now calmed down, it was just frustrating.

(Skull frustrated her. He still frustrates her. Most things do though.)

But then, after they meet, prompted by Lal, Skull still doesn't start to visit.

Sometimes they stumble on each other, and sometimes Lal (aggressively) searches him out, but it's never Skull that prompts contact (Surprisingly, Fon is the first one to point this out, and as soon as he does, Lal has the ominous feeling that somewhere something went wrong).

She'll never admit this to anyone but leaves her unsure. Lal… well, she doesn't always read people right. Most times it isn't a problem; she honestly doesn't care about the emotions or motivations of most people, just their actions and what those mean for her. Yes, she is very much a pragmatic woman of action.

Skull's words were often empty and that never mattered, because Lal cared more for his actions. This only becomes a problem much later, when she has accepted that even for all of his mysteries, he will maybe not die sooner or later. Because Lal finds, when there isn't something to do or a mission to follow, Skull's actions have a horrible habit of being really awfully contradicting.

For decades Lal meets Skull once in the ten years or so. Then she meets him once every few years. There isn't really a clear line when it begins to become more often, but after what feels like a lifetime she finally comes to a point where she meets him at least once a year on average.

That was probably why it had been hard to notice at first. It was also probably why Fon had noticed first, and Verde, Colonello and Reborn not at all. Skull was acting weird.

Lal knows it's probably because of the curse. It must have hit and left a lasting impression. For a, while admittedly pretty tough, civilian, it must have been even harder. Lal remembers that they had to explain flames to him months after they had started. Flames. She remembered her disbelief at the knowledge that Skull had been using his flames with no idea what he had been doing. How he had looked so confused at their anger and explanations and how he had looked washed-out and small on the couch where he had been laid out. The annoyance (and concern and guilt) she had felt.

She remembers his empty eyes on the day of the curse and how he had stared at them.

She remembered turning away, even with the knowledge he, of all of them, would probably be thrown in the deepest end. Then thinking that Skull could take care of himself, that he was strong enough, that she didn't even know the guy that well.

And sure, Skull had obviously been taking care of himself. But how well? In her years of knowing Skull she had never heard him speak about family, about friends that were more than just fleeting acquittances. She wondered how lonely he had been, wondered if he and Reborn and Fon and Verde and Viper had that in common, wondered if it was worse or better than the others, wondered how much he had trusted Luce in the end and how much she had let him down, wondered if Lal herself should have reached out more to all of them, if she should have shown more care, even if it made her want to gag at the thought of it.

Point is that Skull is more skittish. He suddenly switched to calm sometimes now and then other times he is the explosion of annoyance she knows so well. Conversations become landmines where certain questions or words will make him fall quiet suddenly, and she needs to call his names several times to snap him out of it. When she asks about it, he always waves it off.

But the others (Fon) talk of similar experiences, and slowly, irritatingly concern bubbles up. Because even with their limited interactions, Arcobaleno are hers, and she is theirs and god help anyone who tries to separate them, even if it's the brat himself. And if, even worse, someone is messing with their brat, then nothing will be able to stop her in her hunt for blood.

Lal meets Skull again in India.

It's more of an accident than anything, as their meetings are fifty percent of the time. Lal has a mission there. The Barsanti familigia has been causing trouble because of a new supplier for their drug smuggling in India and she's been called up to check the situation out.

It's pure coincidence that she overhears the men talking about Skull, or to be more exact, one is trying to convince the others that there really was a ''mini-adult in a motor suit'' at the pub yesterday. Immediately she decides to put a hold on her mission to visit Skull; the mission doesn't have a time-frame after all, and none of them have seen Skull in a while.

It takes around two hours of tracking him for her to find out that he literally has just checked out of the motel he had been staying at. If she didn't know better, she would think he had been avoiding her. But she does know better and she finds him on the outer skirts of the outer skirts of the city, sitting on an old crumbling stone wall. As she walks closer, he doesn't seem to notice her approach and keeps on staring at the cross-roads in front of him.

''Deciding where you're going to go next?'' She asks.

Skull doesn't move, almost like he hasn't heard her. He murmurs hazily, and she steps closer. ''What to do? What to do? They keep screaming, but it's better not to tell, better not to tell, better to not even whisper words of farewell. You're only dreaming.''

''Skull?''

Skull startles, a full-body flinch shaking his body before wide eyes snap to her. For a second, he seems completely frozen, his mouth slack and then he exclaims, ''Lal! W-What are you doing here?''

If it hadn't been for the murmurs and the turning feeling in her stomach, she probably would have smiled. It's nice to see him startle for once too, with all the times he randomly turns up and ends up almost giving her a heart-attack, looking completely oblivious at her plight.

She shakes herself. ''Mission. Tracking some members down from the Barsanti familigia. They've been causing trouble. Though when I heard you were seen in town I decided to at least try and say hi. Almost missed you though.''

Skull laughs, his hand moving to the back of his head and ruffling his hair. ''Well, the road moves on.''

''It never seems to stop with you.'' She scolds. Honestly, him just travelling on and on, refusing to be bound by one place, was one of the only reasons she truly believed Skull to be a cloud. Actually, a theory of Colonello was that instead of his cloud traits being fairly distributed, it was all focused onto the 'ultimate freedom'.

Sometimes she just wished he would stop going everywhere and nowhere for once. Just stay with them for a while again. Just long enough to make it feel like he isn't a stranger in almost every sense of the word, even if he seeks them out more these last years.

It's silent for a while and Skull turns back to staring at the cross-roads in front of him. Lal decides to wait Skull out. He's in a strange mood again, quiet, hazy. She hasn't seen him like that for a while.

So, she looks at him as she waits. She scans the coat of white make-up wondering about the secrets it hides. The Arcobaleno don't really talk much. Their friendship is one which requires less talking and more the knowledge that they'll have each other backs, which is okay. Lal isn't much of a people person and so Lal's friendship mostly are like that, and she can't imagine Reborn or Viper opening up anyway. The only drawback was that they sometimes stepped on a landmine in a conversation without meaning to, causing the other to shut down, but after decades of knowing each other it happens very rarely.

It had never been a problem with Skull before though, because Skull never let the conversation get personal. At least, that's what Lal says. Colonello often jokes it's because he didn't just go through enough to get triggered by conversations, but Lal's pretty sure he doesn't even truly believe that himself.

Now… Lal wonders.

''You said the Barsanti familigia?'' Skull interrupts her thoughts, ''You've got pretty shitty timing, Lal.'' He huffs.

Lal raises her eyebrow. ''How so? You recognize the name?''

''Yeah, nasty guys.'' He answers as he turns back to look at her. She must have stared just a bit too long or maybe the expression on her face hadn't been as neutral as she thought because a moment later he asks, ''What?''

She blinks and shakes her head. ''Oh, no, nothing, just a bit surprised you recognize the name, that's all.''

''Hmm? How come? These guys are all over this place. They've got some plantations not too far from here, if you catch my meaning.''

Lal's scans him over. ''I thought you wouldn't know about them, because you try to avoid involving yourself with this stuff.''

Skull shrugs. ''Only so much I can avoid these days.'' And, oh. That slams. A bit. It wasn't her fault that Skull got involved in this mess, but honestly, she hadn't done much to keep the former-civilian out either. Nor had she tried to help him when they got cursed. Skull blinks at her unwittingly though, and Lal knows he hadn't meant to imply anything like her thoughts. Somehow that makes it even worse.

Lal hadn't reacted for too long though and Skull shrugs again. ''Ah, '' he sighs. ''It's no matter. Skull-sama was planning on leaving soon anyway. It's going to get pretty volatile in these parts, and as you said if I don't have to, I rather not deal with it.''

He stands up and stretches. ''I can stay until five o'clock maybe? With a bit of a stretch six? So, how would you feel about a luncheon?''

Lal stares at him like he's mad.

''Tea-time? They do have great tea here.'' He offers again, the British clown.

She wonders when he would finally understand you didn't just invite the world's strongest to luncheon or tea-time, for god's sake. She would have thought it would have finally sunk in after the idiot had changed one of their meetings into afternoon-tea and Reborn almost had a breakdown - which he still denies - because his coffee had been replaced with tea and 'sugary abominations'. (However, Lal was sure Fon had loved it. Partly because of the tea and partly because of Reborn slowly getting closer and closer to having a cerebral infarction.)

Skull grinned. ''You know what? I have something even better. I know this place with the most amazing Thai Roti. Like you wouldn't even believe!''

Lal sighs. She should have known better than to think Skull would be actually normal for once.

It's almost two hours later when they end up at the crossroads again.

Skull's Thai Roti had indeed been infuriatingly enough very amazing and the woman who had made it had doted on Skull every time she walked passed.

They had exchanged words together in an Indian language. And while Lal knows Skull knows a few languages it still looks and feels weird to see him talking, especially with his obnoxious suit and make-up looking completely out of place. She hadn't even recognized the language. As it hadn't been English for sure, and she was also pretty sure it hadn't been Hindi, and Lal didn't know enough about the other languages from the country to recognize which one it was. She decided to ask him if he had been here for long. Skull looks at her confused and blinks.

''Why?''

''You look comfortable. So, how long have you been here now?''

Skull shifts and frowns. Skulls entire go-lucky demeanor seems to disappear and replaced with a blankness Lal doesn't recognize. He scratches the back of his head.

''Oh... I, ah, forgot.'' He says sadly, then he shrugs. ''It's been a while though.''

Lal frowns at him, purses his lip. This was one of those moments again. This is what Fon had worried about, and what they almost all had recognized in Skull's unfocused behavior, and their more frequent weird encounters.

She forces herself not to fiddle. This was Luce's and Fon's expertise. Lal didn't do feeling talks.

''Skull... Are you- Are you alright?''

Skull blinks again, piping up a bit again. ''Yeah, sure! No worries. Skull-sama is amazing as always!''

Lal feels annoyance twitch her fingers and anger rush in her blood. She hates it when people do this because Lal isn't good with- with feelings. And when she tries- Just, being blown off feels wrong. She doesn't know how to talk and force them to open up. She can't do that.

But the Arcobaleno, for all their highs and lows, after all these years and meetings they're allies. Friends even, even though Lal doesn't really like to admit it. And they take care of the fellow Arcobaleno. That's what they've always done, even (very badly) at their very first missions because that's how a team works. So, she is going to goddamn do this.

Point is, Lal doesn't know how.

Lal isn't a people person, and just can't always read people right. In addition, Skull is confusing, even worse than others. But even she can recognize there's something there. Something hurting and festering, like the infected battle wound which had slowly taken her first general bit by bit. It might have already been there when they met for the first time and grown worse over time, and it might have come in later, but it was becoming worse and worse, and Lal doesn't like it.

To be honest, her first instinct is to force the answers out of him. She wants to throw down, force Skull to the ground and push and push until he can't hold back anymore, and then to adjust her actions accordingly… Skull wouldn't react well to it though. He would deflect and misdirect and only anger her more. That was as much his cloud-side as Skull himself.

So, she needs to resort to something else.

She probably needs to talk, or something. And emotions. Yes.

She resists a sigh. Why isn't Fon here? He would probably look at her judgingly and then begin to try to talk with Skull and completely fuck it up because he's a complete social disaster. It would be funny to look at, at least.

Better than fucking it up herself.

She swallows and tries to find words. She has no idea how to do this- Ugh. Still, she needs him to understand- ''You know you can talk to us, right?'' She forces out.

Skull blinks at her. ''Because we're...'' She swallows, tries to think of a way to say it without cringing. ''We've got each other's backs. ''

Yes, that sounded alright.

Skull looks completely bamboozled. Shit. Maybe, it isn't right?

She tries to hurriedly adjust her words, feeling unsure, and fuck that. She's Lal Mirch. ''Because we need each other in top form.''

The moment the words leave her mouth, she wishes they hadn't. It's an excuse. A weak one, which is even worse than just an excuse. Besides, it doesn't even make any sense. What the shit.

Skull's interrupts her thoughts when he clears his throat. ''Are you alright, Lal?''

Fuck it. If she beats up Skull bad enough, he will probably forget this ever happened. She will just tell someone else to talk to him. Hell, she could take the unconscious body and dump it with one of the other Arcobaleno. Fon maybe, or maybe better Viper, Fon would be too soft.

Skull seems to somehow recognize her violent thoughts, he hops of the wall and laughs nervously. ''Don't you worry about it! I've just lost some stuff, and I can't seem to get them back, but I'll get there because Skull-sama is invincible!''

He is walking backwards, but the direction is obviously to his bike and Lal has him gripped by his collar before she knows it. She shakes him. ''You fucking little brat. Tell me what's been bothering you.''

Skull whines.

She shakes him again. ''Fon is worried about you.'' She says because she is self-aware to know that she would never be able to get those words out if they concerned herself without actually throwing up in disgust.

''Fon is weird.'' He whines.

He isn't wrong but ''That doesn't mean his worries are invalid.'' She says, feeling strangely like a dysfunctional mother. Which- She shudders.

''Lal, I don't know what you want from me!'' He wails, and she shakes him again in response, causing his voice to wobble. ''Ho-hon-nest-ly!''

''Talk brat.'' She snarls.

''I seriously only lost some things!''

She takes a deep breath and tries to clear up her mind. It didn't sound like he was lying. She doubted it was the crux of the problem, and that he didn't leave a huge amount of information out, but she could attempt to help at least. Just. Lal can do this. She hesitates and loosens her grip. Skull gratefully lands on his toes, and she pats his chest mechanically. ''… What did you lose?''

Skull gapes.

''Wha-? How is that important?!''

''Well, how am I going to help you find it otherwise?!'' She snaps, feeling clunky and stupid and vexed.

He sputters. ''You want to help me find it?!''

''I thought that was obvious by now!'' Lal bites out exasperated. Skull blinks, shakes his head and Lal bristles defensively. ''Just tell me what you lost!''

''No!''

Now Lal gapes. ''What, why?!''

''Because you won't be able to find it anyway!''

''You stupid brat!'' She lunges at him, and at this close of a distance, Skull doesn't even have a chance. He goes down with a screech.

''You will never take Skull-sama alive!'' He screams while clawing at the earth, which doesn't even make sense.

''I am trying to help you, you dumb fuck!'' She snaps. Skull just keeps wailing.

.

Lal does not find out what Skull lost that day. She does manage to reach a higher peak in annoyance than she even thought she could.

Next morning Lal arrives at the base of familigia she's been ordered to investigate.

Years ago, the Barsanti familigia had been an 'upstanding' familigia who had been loosely associated with the Vongola. However, they had taken quite a hard fall when their boss at the time had taken a bit too much of a liking for casinos and the wildlife. Only a couple years ago, with a new boss and an ambitiousness born from bitterness, they had started slowly climbing up back to their old position again. Which would be fine, if it hadn't been for the suspicious and shady activity they have been participating in; several members of the familigia have been spotted with members of the Esposito familigia. A familigia that Vongola had decided to boycott after one too many 'incidents'.

It doesn't seem like much of that matters though, because Lal looks over the plantations that Skull had talked about and only sees ash and smoke. She walks through the base to find bodies and blood, and she searches for remains next to still burning buildings.

There's not much to find.

That same day, the city where she had met Skull begins to move. Lal goes back to the small stand with the woman after she phoned a short report. The Thai Roti really was to die for. But as she sits on the sidewalk, the woman of the stand laughs and cackles. She's not the only one, people are running around in the whole city. Every now and then, a person runs by and begins to talk to the woman rapidly in the Indian language. Another few dance on the streets. There's crying as a family embraces a teenage boy who looks like he has a few tough weeks.

It becomes very clear to Lal that the Barsanti familigia hadn't been involved in smuggling drugs only.

As she stands up to head back and report her further findings, the woman laughs again, brightly which transforms her wrinkles and makes her face look young and free. In broken English she rattles. It isn't nearly good enough to be understandable, but Lal hears Skull's name in the rattle, so she smiles and nods.

The woman, satisfied, claps and joins the dancing on the street, her purple sari swirling and her old jewelry glittering in the sunlight.

Skull, Lal wonders as she thinks about corpses and paperwork, did he know about this?

(''Skull-sama was planning on leaving soon anyway. It's going to get pretty volatile in these parts, and as you said if I don't have to, I rather not deal with it.'')

She wonders and keeps wondering as the eradicated family causes ripples similar to ones she has seen before.

Yes, Skull has lost many things, Lal, like his will to live, his mind, most of his memories, his family, friends. Helphim pls. Ah, I'm making him go through to much. I kinda feel guilty.

You know imma be honest with y'all. This chapter isn't very long. It isn't very perfect, and it certainly is very late. But at least it is, right? To be fair, I have started my last year for school, and work is killing me, been killing me for the last year or so, as you've probably noticed from my last update… Thanks everyone who wished me a fine rest btw! It was very sweet.

On to this chapter, I'm actually writing this while tipsy and I literally have a week of exams coming up, so yeah, being very responsible here, but I have kind of accepted that I'm never going to get anywhere with my life anyway, so whateffs. Anyway, getting to the point, here's Lal! I love her as a completely dysfunctional person who does not like emotions nor knows how to deal with them. Just the violent woman often kind of falls flat to me and I honestly don't remember much about Lal but for that… This is what I made of it, hope you liked it.

Yk, I think the most annoying thing in this chapter is Skull talking in third person? Every time I wrote it in third person it was weird but when you don't it's like your missing something, so now we've got a weird mix from third and first person, you're very welcome. Characterisation is hard.

To the one who commented about the unreliable narrator vibes: yes! Exactly! I'm so glad you took that in consideration!

To the one who commented about the desert: you're absolutely right and I'm a fool and as soon as I have time and motivation I will change this.

To everyone who commented: I wanted to thank you all! I'm so glad you liked last chapter and the little bits you highlighted, like Oodaku and Skull's descent in madness! It's super nice to get comments like that!

Now, I must start with the maths (yay.), and I feel like I've written a far too long note, so imma leave it at this. Thank you all for reading this chapter, and please leave a comment!

Kisses!