Author: The Plot Bunny Whisperer
Title: Colorire
Rating: T (Cuz, like… Reborn.)
Genre: Gen, Family
Summary: (Soulmate!AU; Gen) Everyone in the world is born colorblind, destined to only see color once they've met the eyes of their soulmate. Tsuna meets his soulmates one by one, and gains the ability to see a new color with each first meeting.
Pairing(s): None. Zip. Nada. You see Romance as a genre?
Warnings: Random swearing. Violence, maybe? Dunno. Can't write fight scenes to save my life.
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care, don't sue.
AN: Just for clarification, I have seen the band on Reborn's fedora as both orange and yellow, so for the purposes of the story, I chose yellow.
Updates for FFN will be on the 1st and 11th and 21st of the month, unless I'm less than four chapters ahead or sick or something. My tumblr (plunniewhisperer) updates first, usually weekly, followed by AO3 within 24-48 hrs if you don't want to wait.
So, enjoy!
Colorire
Part 1. Giallo
Despite the delay, Reborn eventually finds his way Namimori Middle. He arrives to exited rumors of Tsuna having somehow upset the captain of the kendo club enough that he planned to issue him a challenge later that day. Rumors that Tsuna seems entirely unaware of, judging by how unconcerned he is as he goes about his day. Reborn wonders how one person can invite so much trouble for himself entirely without trying, then remembers that Tsuna's Flames are sealed and stops wondering.
Sealing Flames is not an exact art, and always eventually causes problems. For an untrained Flame user, especially if they're young, there is always the possibility that the effects would be minimal. That, of course, depends entirely on the strength and purity of the Flames themselves. To his knowledge, no one has ever attempted to seal a Sky before; they were too rare and important to risk. Who knows what effect it has had – how much of Tsuna is because of Tsuna and not because of his sealed Flames.
Reborn doesn't approve of the action for the danger it courts – both for the one sealed and those around them – but as an independent ally of Vongola Nono, he has no say in his actions. Wouldn't have even if he had known anything about the situation eight years ago when the sealing took place. Especially as Tsuna's own father, who is in a much better position to advise the Ninth seeing as it was pretty much the job he was paid to do, agreed with the decision to do so.
(Reborn has a lot to say about and to Iemitsu, but he'll save that for when -if- the man deigns to return home. And by then, he should even have back-up, not that he would need it.
Tsuna is their Sky, and he knows the others will also have plenty to say.)
He spends the time waiting until the end of school by making a detailed mental map of the area, creating hideaways and short-cuts within the walls as well as mental notes of various interesting people. He debates the merit of forming a secondary set of Guardians for Tsuna, but just thinking of it causes him to tense in agitation and want to shoot something. He makes a list of potentials because he's thorough, but otherwise decides to wait on that decision.
Instead, he amuses himself with imagining Tsuna's reaction to being called out by the kendo club's captain. If his file is accurate, it's very likely that Tsuna would decide to hide or run instead of face his problems. Reborn only knows that the Mochida kid got angry because of something to do with a girl (Sasagawa Kyoko, whose brother practically radiates with Dying Will Sun Flames), but he arrived slightly after lunch, which was when the root confrontation originally took place, so he doesn't know the exact circumstances.
Spying on the kendo club (who gossip like old ladies) gives him his answer and Reborn can only shake his head.
Kids. Of course this would all be caused by a bruised ego.
–
When classes have ended for the day, Reborn finds the perfect perch from which to observe the match and settles himself on the observers balcony in the upper part of the gym. The room is filling quickly with eager students, some even placing bets on the outcome. Opinions are currently divided between Tsuna either running away or being 'escorted' to the match, but everyone is in agreement that he would be losing.
Reborn is somehow unsurprised and slightly impressed that Tsuna actually shows up without needing to be forced, and even somewhat on time. It appears that while the reports of his grades and his clumsiness are accurate, reports of his cowardliness are not. At the very least, Tsuna seems resigned to a loss and simply wants to get it over with.
He finds humor in Tsuna's vague disregard for how serious his opponent finds the situation. His response to Mochida's accusations are even gentlemanly and worthy of respect. Some of his soulmate's peers seem to agree, as they are looking at Tsuna with new consideration and at his opponent with new disdain.
Leon crawls down to his hand and transforms moments before Mochida's anger overtakes him and starts the match before Tsuna can even arm himself. The temptation to shoot the little kendo brat (and not with a special bullet) is high, but Reborn aims for Tsuna and fires.
He is also unsurprised by what follows, even as his eyes remain on the pendant hanging from the chain around Tsuna's neck, visual proof of the burden they share.
(Tsuna's reaction to it all after the fact is hilarious, however.)
"Dying Will Bullet?"
Reborn looks placidly at Tsuna from the other side of the table, taking in his look of open curiosity and makes another mental tick against the report he had been given.
(After Tsuna had calmed down in the wake of the quickly infamous kendo match and had dressed in a spare set of work-out clothes borrowed from Sasagawa Ryohei, Reborn finally showed himself to escort him home. They greeted Nana when they arrived and then retreated to Tsuna's bedroom for their talk.
Tsuna had taken the revelation of the mafia and Reborn's true purpose for being there relatively well, considering. He had freaked out for a few minutes, but there was a notable lack of denial or outright rejection; so yes, it had gone well. For the first time, Reborn was grateful for Iemitsu's incompetence.
Not that he would ever admit that out loud.)
"Yes. The bullet is used to force someone to enter their Dying Will Mode for five minutes. During this time, your limits are released, giving you great strength and invulnerability as well as unlimited access to your Dying Will Flames after reviving from a temporary state of death using the regret you feel upon dying. With training, one can enter Dying Will Mode without the necessity of bullets or pills, a relatively new creation." Here, Reborn pauses, and gives Tsuna a serious look. "However, your Flames were sealed when you were a child, which locked them in a dormant state. Because of this, the bullet was necessary to force your Flames to awaken, thus overpowering the seal."
He watches Tsuna as he turns contemplative, lips twisting downwards in a light frown.
"Sealed," Tsuna murmurs, comprehension dawning in his voice as though finally understanding something he has always wondered about. "That's what he meant..."
Reborn's eyes narrow, and he sends Tsuna a sharp look. "Explain."
Tsuna shakes himself out of his thoughts and one of his hands raises to fiddle with the chain around his neck almost without thought. His eyes lock onto the pacifier around Reborn's neck.
"About five years ago, a strange man approached me in the park. He told me that the sky was too pure to be locked away and that it could never find its true elements if it wasn't free. Then he gave me this necklace and told me to keep it safe and to never take it off."
He pulls the chain out from beneath his shirt. The pacifier that hangs from it glitters in the light. The soft glow from within the pendant reminds Reborn of the descriptions he has heard of the sunset, bright and rich and warm. It would be beautiful if not for the stark reminder of the fate his soulmate faces. Reborn grits his teeth and all but glowers at it.
"Did he explain to you what bearing that pacifier means?"
"No." Tsuna eyes him curiously, a question lingering on his tongue, but says, "He left after I put it on."
Reborn frowns, tilting his fedora down to shadow his eyes. So the Man in the Iron Hat curses an eight or nine year old child and doesn't bother to tell that child what he'd done? That from the moment he accepted the pacifier he was doomed to a short life? Typical. Reborn didn't think he could despise that man any more than he already did.
"You are what is known as a Sky Flame user. Skies draw in other Flame users to them, most notably the other six Flames of the Sky: Sun, Storm, Rain, Lightning, Cloud, and Mist respectively. This is due to their attribute, which is harmonization. In the mafia, Famiglie are usually led by a Sky because to the elements they gather, the Sky is the home that welcomes them and accepts them purely – that gives them a place to belong. That pacifier marks you as the Sky Arcobaleno which means you are the Boss - the home - for the other Arcobaleno."
Tsuna tilts his head curiously and reaches forward to touch the glittering yellow pacifier around Reborn's neck. Had he been anyone else, Reborn would have shot him. As it is, in a rare show of temperance, he indulges Tsuna and allows him his curiosity.
"So you're an Arcobaleno too?"
"Yes," Reborn admits. His hand curls around Tsuna's over the pendant. "I am the World's Strongest Hitman, the Arcobaleno of the Sun."
Tsuna smiles and Reborn stills in shock as he feels the stirring of the Guardian bond as it snaps abruptly into place.
"Well, then. Welcome home, Reborn."
–
(It is surprisingly easy – or perhaps not so surprisingly, now that he's coming to understand Tsuna a bit more after disregarding and them burning the rest of the file CEDEF had put together – to get him to sit down for Mafia Boss lessons after the rest of his schoolwork is squared away more or less satisfactorily. He is understandably reluctant, but he listens to the history and agrees to the training schedule Reborn contrives and promises to do his best despite it.
Reborn has great respect for Timoteo, both as a boss and as a friend, and he never fails once he commits himself to a contract. Above all else, beyond being even the World's Greatest, if he is anything, he is loyal. So Tsuna will be Vongola Decimo, as Reborn had promised on his alliance to the Vongola Nono.
However, Tsuna is his soulmate – his Sky – and that bond is stronger than any mere alliance can claim.)
—
Part 1. Giallo ~ End