Don't own KHR.

Don't own the Cover Art.

Morsmordre

If there was one thing Reborn hated, it was owing someone. Especially if that someone was someone that Reborn considered rather incompetent.

So the fact that he owed Skull for reporting a Vongola rat to him was infuriating on indescribable levels.

The world's greatest hitman played with his phone, contemplating calling the other to get a status update, before ultimately discarding that idea. The one thing that he and Colonello had made sure to beat into Skull's head was that he had to destroy his phone if he needed to back out on a job for his own safety. It had been two weeks already since his lackey had reported the leak and Reborn would shoot Skull himself if the other child hadn't destroyed the phone immediately after hanging up with Reborn.

Hmm, black eyes narrowed in thought. Maybe a new phone? The stupid lackey is so picky about the jobs he takes, he probably can't afford the kind of phone optimal for mafia business. That'll work, I suppose. His brow furrowed in annoyance. But how am I supposed to get it to him? He thought about it a moment longer then groaned aloud. He knew how to get Skull to Italy most efficiently.

Viper.

The things I do to get out of people's debts, he swore mentally, opening his phone and looking through his contacts for the elusive Arcobaleno. You'd better be grateful, Stupid Lackey.

Skull sneezed violently, rubbing his nose afterward and grateful that he'd started foregoing his helmet. Tsuna looked at him in concern from his spot nearby, remaining seated in a simple meditative position when he saw nothing amiss. "Are you alright, Skull-kun?"

"I'll bite you to death if you get sick, Infant," Hibari called from his spot on the patio, also in a meditative position, but with his eyes still closed as he hadn't bothered checking on Skull after he'd sneezed.

"Yeah, yeah," Skull groused, unbothered by threats of bodily harm from the nine year old at this point. "You and everyone else I've ever met." Before either of them could ask about what that meant Skull tossed a stick at Tsuna, which bounced harmlessly off his leg. "Eyes closed," he commanded, hiding a grin when Tsuna rolled his eyes at him before doing as he said.

"You're not asking your Flames to come out and fight beside you. Right now," he added in exasperation when Kyouya tried to glare at him through his eyelids. "Right now you're asking them to sit on your hand. You want them to get used to being outside of your body; that'll make it easier to summon them during battle if you need to. Once you get used to having your Flames out all the time, we can work on fighting with and without them."

There was silence following his words as the other two tried to do as he instructed in an effort to keep their Flames burning in their hands for as long as possible. When a flame started to appear on Tsuna's forehead Skull threw another stick at him and broke him out of his trance with a startled yelp. "Tsuna-nii! Stop grabbing at your Flames! Ask them first! Imagine your Flames were a pretty girl; would you just grab her hand and drag her onto a dance floor or ask her first?"

Tsuna, being shy at the mere thought of the opposite sex and still trying to get out of his "girls have cooties" phase, blushed and made a face at the purple-haired boy but obediently tried again, his eyes falling shut once more. Once he was certain the brunet wasn't looking Skull snickered softly into his hand. Tsuna thought Skull actually knew things about the opposite sex; that's hilarious.

When he felt a burst of Cloud Flames to his right Skull wasn't surprised. "Hibari-san, stop demanding your Flames obey you; they're your willpower, they're going to be just as stubborn about it as you are." You'd think the kid would have figured that out by now. Then again, he was a Hibari, and Fon certainly owned quite the well of stubbornness at times. Skull heard the skylark grunt in annoyed understanding and smiled to himself.

Hibari was still very independent and headstrong, but he'd mellowed out a bit with the accessing of his Flames. Alaude had been somewhat similar; maybe the Hibari clan members were just snippy until they could control their Flames? Skull hummed at the thought and patted Oodako on the head, letting the octopus bask in the sunlight. Good thing he was a Flame companion or that would end poorly for him in normal circumstances.

While Skull was deep in thought, he was still aware enough to see his pacifier begin to glow, and that broke him out of his thoughts as he let out a startled squawk. "KeeppracticingI'llbebacksoon–" he managed to get out in a rush when he saw the Mist Flames wrapping around him and Tsuna and Hibari's eyes snapped open.

And then he was gone.

Viper watched with well concealed amusement as Skull popped into existence in front of her, hitting the ground with a thud and a wheeze as his breath was stolen from him. "That wasn't funny, Viper," the purple-haired baby groaned, his Flame companion making an agreeing sound and Viper's lips twitched slightly.

"Only because you have a horrible sense of humor," Viper countered dryly, bending down to help him stand. Once he was on his feet she held out her hand demandingly. "That'll be 10 euro."

Skull made a face at her but instead grabbed her hand with his own and began walking off, forcing her to go with him. "How about I just take you out to eat and we call it good? We're in Italy, right? The canals look familiar."

Viper tilted her head to the side, Phantasma not shifting on her head as she considered the value of Skull's company and a free meal in comparison to the 10 euro and nodded. "That sounds reasonable. And yes, we are currently in Venice."

"Wonderful. I would give up my arm for a cannolo right now."

Viper deadpanned, "That could be arranged," and watched as the other baby squawked at her in startled indignation and pulled his arms to his chest protectively, still not letting go of her hand. Unbidden, a faint smile appeared on her face. It was good to see Skull again.

Once they settled into a small café, and Skull wasted about three minutes trying to steal some of Viper's cannolo that he paid for, with the Mist Arcobaleno calmly countering each of his attempts with a steak knife made out of her Mist Flames. Skull pouted sullenly at her when she finally lost patience and stabbed his sleeve into the table before focusing again. "So what am I here for? I was trying to lay low after reneging on a job." Well…sort of trying, he added mentally, wincing as he imagined the others' reactions to finding out what he has been up to in the two weeks he's been out of contact.

"I was made aware," Viper told her only friend, cloak keeping her eyes from view and thus hiding the way they hardened, though Phantsma may have given her away as he shifted slightly on her head. "Reborn called me and wanted me to teleport you here so that you could receive this." She laid a sleek cell phone on the table, and slid it to the Cloud Arcobaleno who grabbed it with his free hand. "I assume he believes that this repays the debt he owes you." Which it didn't, but Skull seemed willing to ignore that fact as Viper made a mental note on the matter.

Pale fingers swiped over the screen, checking to see what the phone was capable of. "Nice," Skull whistled. "This has quite a bit of memory. I could put Angry Birds on this without any problem!" Viper lifted her espresso to her face to hide the wicked amusement that curled on her lips. The others would likely never know how much she appreciated Skull's relentless attitude in regards to dragging the other Arcobaleno out of their shells through incessant childish mannerisms. "So how much did you charge him?" Skull asked her curiously, and a darkly satisfied look overcame her hidden features.

"Two times the normal price of one of Reborn's hits to have you sent here, another hit's worth to deliver you the phone." Skull whistled in awe and Viper allowed the Mists obscuring her face to recede slightly, so he could better see the pleased look on her face.

"Still trying to bleed the other Arcobaleno dry, huh?" he asked, and Viper scoffed into her drink.

"Of course. They deserve it." When Skull didn't say anything back, Viper glanced up to see him staring at her, eyes suspiciously bright.

"…Thanks." The voice was quiet, but Viper heard it anyway and bristled defensively.

"I have no idea why you'd say that. They have too much money for their own good; I'm just trying to even out the playing field."

"Whilst owning a hoard the size of Erebor's," Skull quipped back, and Viper sneered jokingly at him.

"You've read Tolkien, Skull? I wasn't sure you knew how to open a book."

Skull just stuck his tongue out at her petulantly and Viper huffed a quiet laugh at his childishness. They finished their cannoli and drinks in ease, Viper pretending to ignore Skull as he made faces at her. When he pouted at getting no reaction out of her Viper allowed a slight smile to escape to appease him. "So what's been going on?" Skull finally asked her, and before she could name a figure that he'd have to pay her for that information the waitress placed a cup of gelato in front of her.

Viper wavered for a moment before accepting the implied payment and grumbling when Skull beamed at her. With a flick of her Mist Flames a paper fan appeared and whacked Skull on the head, startling a squawk out of him as he spun around to look for what hit him, Oodako peeking over his shoulder as well, only to find nothing. "Don't get smug," she sniffed when the Cloud Arcobaleno spun back around to shoot her a confused look.

Once she'd started on the gelato she began filling him in what she'd overheard thus far, idly using her Mist Flames to filter their conversation to something more innocuous for anyone listening in. "For starters, Massimo is dead."

Skull looked a little surprised at that. "That was Timoteo's kid right? Second son I think. His older brother…Emilio? Was killed earlier this year as well if I remember right."

"Enrico," Viper corrected. "And yes, he was killed in a gun fight a few months ago."

"Which is weird in itself," Skull said quietly. "He was the Vongola Boss' firstborn. Was he taking down seven people by himself? Because that's the only thing that seems reasonable for why he would lose and die."

Viper didn't comment on that; it was obvious that she found it just as suspicious as he did. "That leaves Federico left, who Nono is said to favor as the next Boss for Vongola Family anyway. Do you think Federico was just removing the competition?"

"If he was favored he still had a good chance of becoming the leader of the CEDEF," Skull countered. "And I never heard any rumors about there being tension between the brothers for inheriting the position when I was in Italy last. If anything, there were rumors about how well they got along despite at least one being left behind in the family business. And what about the fourth kid? Is he still on ice?"

"You haven't been in Italy in years," Viper reminded him. "And you are correct. Xanxus is still trapped in ice as punishment for attempting a coup a year ago. I have been helping screen those that enter the Varia since and checking that their loyalties remain solely with the branch and not the entire tree." Skull nodded slightly to that and Viper cocked her head to the side, sensing his contemplation. "What are you thinking about?"

"Did you know that, originally, the Arcobaleno were considered the final authority on matters?" Skull asked back, and Viper just went along with the seeming non-sequitur to see where the conversation was going.

"I did not."

"If there were any large disputes between Families, or if a loyal Family member was accused of treachery and sought sanctuary, the Arcobaleno would play mediators between the two parties, typically with the entire group helping with Family disputes and specific Arcobaleno mediating if someone of the same Flame as them was being persecuted. Then the Vindice and Cervello Family appeared around the era of the Fourth Vongola Boss, the Vindice enforcing the mafia laws and the Cervello playing mediator between groups, and so the Arcobaleno just fell from that duty, with them taking sides and swearing loyalty to different Families.

"Doing so wasn't considered a bad thing," Skull defended. "It's just interesting to see the Arcobaleno fall so far away from their original position as a type of final authority."

"I see," Viper hummed, taking note of all of that because Skull was right; it was very interesting to get an informal history lesson on the Arcobaleno over the years. As they talked, Oodako had moved to rest on the table, Phantasma jumping off of her head to perch on the octopus.

Then Skull asked her the question Viper had been looking the least forward to. "So what of the Estraneo? I was hearing bad things even years ago."

"They've only gotten worse," Viper admitted reluctantly, handing over a small folder that she brought into being before them. "That has all of the information I've managed to gather on the matter." Skull reached out and snatched the folder, flipping through it quickly. After all, "worse" is not something you want to hear about a group like the Estraneo.

"…They started experimenting on their kids?!" Horror and disgust showed plainly on the purple-haired baby's face as he read through the file, fury slowly replacing those emotions the farther he went. "Why hasn't anyone stopped them yet?!"

Viper shrugged, her own anger at the situation well-hidden. "It's all happening inside the Family. It's legal by mafia laws."

Skull snarled at that before a vicious, triumphant light appeared in his eyes. "Well, another law states that any Arcobaleno tortured while not being affiliated with any Family is allowed to kill off any of the guilty family that he or she wishes. There are actually a lot of laws that favor the Arcobaleno, but they're so old that no one really knows them anymore."

"Have the Estraneo tortured an Arcobaleno?" None of the others had mentioned such a thing…

"Once. They wanted to see how he ticked…he got out when they cut off his head to see if he'd recover from it." Skull's hand rose and briefly rubbed at his neck before looking away from Viper and returning to the folder, but the Mist Arcobaleno knew that it would be years before she'd have a chance of forgetting this conversation.

...I'm not sure if Federico should be alive right now, but he is for the time being. So Tsuna was sealed and named a potential heir to the Vongola.

Try and guess what the name of this chapter is a reference to and why I used it. I'll probably reveal it in a few days as a Fun Fact on my tumblr.

Please review.

Ja ne!