Chapter 5: Fuuta
Fon is in front of her in the blink of an eye, disintegrating the mist flames in the air with nary a thought. He takes up a defensive stance, but does not attack, because one of two things happened just now – Trident Shamal either just tried to attack Sorako or they bonded. As attacking Sorako in the presence of Fon would be the height of stupidity – and you don't stay alive as long as Shamal has in this business by being stupid – Fon has an inkling that it is the latter. Better to be safe than sorry, however, so he awaits Sorako's instructions. He senses Reborn appearing at his side – the man must have felt the surge of flames from upstairs – but does not let his gaze waver from the potential threat in front of him.
He sees Reborn cock his gun from the corner of his eye, but knows the hitman will not shoot until he has taken stock of the situation. The close call in almost killing Fon – one of Sorako's bonded Guardians – has done much to dampen his shoot first ask questions later, or never, impulses.
He feels Sorako move, and she puts a hand on each of their shoulders. "It's okay," she says softly, "I'm sorry for scaring you," He hears a smile in her voice, "This man is my Guardian now, so don't worry." Fon relaxes minutely, and Reborn does the same at his side.
So it is as he thought, Sorako and Trident Shamal now have a bond. He takes a moment to observe Shamal, who appears dazed but elated. The man is staring at Sorako in wonder, mouth parted in surprise as if he wants to say something, but it seems he cannot move past his speechlessness. Then, with a shake of his head the man's eyes clear and he pulls himself out of his stupor. Shamal's eyes move from Sorako to the hitmen in front of her, and he eyes them warily, flicking his gaze between Fon and Reborn with trepidation before he narrows his eyes, apparently putting the pieces together.
•••
"You're her Guardians," Shamal states more than asks, uncharacteristically serious. This complicates things, he thinks, tense. He knows that though he is associated with Reborn, he does not have the hitman's complete trust, not to mention Fon's, who he doesn't even know beyond reputation.
Shamal is a skilled assassin and a very strong mist, but he knows that if it comes down to it, he is outnumbered and outclassed here. If his sky's fellow Guardians decide that she would be better off without him, it is very possible that he could be separated from her. He would not be killed, because of the detrimental effects such a thing would have on the little girl, but he does not need to be dead to be parted from her. He clenches his jaw, because that cannot happen.
"We need to talk. Let me in." He demands, and normally demanding something of Reborn would not be good for his continued health, but the hitman's demeanor is just as serious as his own, and the hitman only nods with hard eyes, stepping back to let him through the door.
They end up in the family room, Shamal settling in a squishy armchair by the entrance to the kitchen. Little Sawada Sorako pitter-patters over to the only couch in the room and sits primly, gazing at Shamal with soft eyes. Reborn and Fon sit on either side of her and they are clearly signaling a divide. The tension in the room is palpable. Sorako is the only one that seems unaffected.
There is a beat of silence before, "Shamal." Reborn says flatly, accusingly. Fon remains silent, apparently content to leave the situation in Reborn's hands, but the storm Arcobaleno does place a tiny hand in Sorako's pointedly. It is a bold statement from such a supposedly reserved man. Mine, it says.
"Reborn." Shamal replies, before cutting to the chase, "She is my sky. I won't leave." No matter what you say is left unsaid but plainly heard.
Sorako starts, eyes widening in surprise, "What? Nobody is leaving. They're not going to make you leave." Silence is her only answer and she becomes uncertain. "Right, Reborn? …Fon?" The silence continues. Shamal clenches his fists. He will not be shut out. He is her Guardian too. He expects to have to wage a verbal war, fight long and hard for the right to stay, but little Sorako surprises him. Her eyes turn steely, and she lets go of Fon's hand to stand. She moves from the couch despite Reborn's warning to "Stay here, Sora-hime."
But she doesn't listen, and walks until she is in front of him. She turns to her sun and storm and says, "Shamal is my Guardian, just like you." She continues, showing her insight into the situation, "He may be dangerous, but aren't you as well? I accept that about you. Until he does something to prove that he is dangerous to me, I will accept that about him too." He does not know it, but right now she is channeling Harry – the Harry that was a leader, that led soldiers to victory through his decisions and actions. She continues once more,
"Reborn. Fon. Please, trust me." And Shamal can see how that hits the Arcobaleno – hard. And he knows that, with that, he is not going anywhere. His little sky has quite the backbone it seems. The stiffness bleeds from his frame and he smirks. Well, he smirks on the inside, no need to press his luck. Reborn has shot him for funsies before after all, no need to provoke the hitman unnecessarily. The sun seems to be able to sense his smugness though, and he looks at Shamal dangerously.
"I will trust your judgment, Sora-hime," Fon mutters, eyeing Shamal with no small amount of suspicion.
Reborn follows up with, "Alright, Sora-hime. But if he steps one toe out of line, I will string him up by his fingernails." And Shamal absolutely believes him.
Sorako laughs, her voice tinkling like bells – apparently she thinks Reborn is joking. But it melts the tension in the room, the heavy atmosphere falling away. She turns to face Shamal and smiles, "I'm Sorako. I know you didn't come here for me, but I'm so happy we met." And she is so sincere that Shamal cannot help but flush lightly even as he grins.
"Ah, I'm lucky to have bonded with such a cute little girl!" He says without his usual leer – he's not a pedophile after all. Even he has limits, but Reborn cuts in,
"Hm, you may reconsider your feelings once you find out how much of a pervert he is, Sora-hime,"
"Yes, I too have heard of Trident Shamal's depraved tendencies," Fon chimes in. And why are they ganging up on him!? This is not fair!
"Don't worry, Sora-hime. If he tries anything I will remove his favorite appendage," Reborn says darkly and Shamal gulps.
Sorako laughs again – why does she think Reborn is joking? Doesn't she know that Reborn is a demon in human form, he would not hesitate to follow through on his many, many threats – before she settles down and asks,
"So you can help my brother?" She looks at him hopefully before what she said registers,
"Brother?" He asks with a grimace.
"I don't treat men." He states, but those wide orange eyes are staring at him. And they're so big and expectant and immediately he folds like a wet paper towel. "…usually." He mumbles, resigned.
He hears Reborn snort and knows he will not live this down, caving in to a tiny baby sky with just one look.
He grudgingly cures her brother, and then preens under her obvious gratitude.
Later that night, he tries to climb into her bed – and not in a creepy way, either! She was about twenty years too young for him for God's sake – because if Reborn and Fon get to sleep with her he should be able to get cuddles too! Reborn shoots him – thankfully with a rubber bullet, he probably doesn't want Sorako to see all that blood – and Fon, who he'd heard was about as Inverted as a storm could get and was notoriously level-headed and tranquil, drop kicks him in the head. Sorako chides them for it but Shamal doesn't hear because he spends the rest of the night unconscious on the floor. Sorako kindly gets him a blanket.
•••
Tsuna comes home one day to a yard full of black-suited men. He is immediately concerned, and knows that somehow this must be Reborn's fault.
He meets Dino, and thinks the man is probably one of the coolest people he's encountered, being a mafia boss aside. That impression is later altered when none of Dino's men are around and he becomes a klutz just like Tsuna! Tsuna identifies with him more after that. He really does like the man.
Until his sister arrives. She comes through the door followed by Fon and Shamal who is laden with groceries. Oh, it looked like his sister was in a cooking mood. His stomach grumbled in anticipation – Sorako's food was heavenly. Secretly he thought she was a better cook than even their mama, though he would never say so aloud.
Dino stays for dinner, and seems fascinated by Sorako. He pays entirely too much attention to her, much to Tsuna's consternation. He rhapsodizes about the food, to the point that he makes Sorako blush in flattered embarrassment. He asks all about her – how is school, what's her favorite color, what does she think of the current political situation in Japan, would she ever like to ride a horse? Maybe during a visit to Italy? He just so happens to own a ranch, perhaps she'd like to see it? Tsuna starts to seethe. Dino needs to back off and leave his baby sister alone. What's up with all this interest, anyway? Maybe Dino was a creep.
In the end Tsuna decides that his initial impression couldn't have been more wrong – he does not like Dino at all. The man needs to go.
•••
Sorako watches as Tsuna winds tighter and tighter during dinner. He glares daggers at Dino, who she'd been informed was Reborn's old student. She couldn't figure out the cause of Tsuna's obvious dislike as the man was perfectly pleasant, if not a little too nosy. She sees the smirks on Reborn and Shamal's faces, and even the subtle amusement on Fon's, and knows she is missing something.
Later that night, she asks about it.
"Dino is courting you." Reborn says, and she is alarmed because,
"I'm only eight years old!" She squeaks. Reborn snorts, and Fon huffs a laugh. Shamal breaks out into full-bellied laughter from his futon.
"Not like that, Sora-hime," Reborn comments dryly. She blushes bright red in mortification and hides her face in her pillow.
"Well then, how?" She asks, the question slightly muffled.
"He sees potential in you, and as you are not officially part of the Vongola, he seems to have decided to try to court you into his famiglia," Fon clarifies.
"Your brother considers you his, so he subconsciously felt threatened by another person encroaching on his territory – as if to take his place. That it was another sky didn't help," Shamal adds.
"Hm, skies are a bit strange when it comes to other skies," Reborn says. "They either soothe or scorch each other, as the saying goes. Either they get along well, or they form a bitter rivalry."
"I didn't think skies could bond with skies," Sorako murmurs questioningly.
"Not as such, no. But sky flames are inherently possessive – this bleeds into the personality of the flame user, and even without a bond, if a sky considers you his then their flames will react accordingly. In this case, that is what caused Tsuna's agitation. He went from getting along with Dino to forming a rivalry, over you." Reborn lectures, much to her dismay.
Tsuna sticks close to her the following days while Dino visits. His ire is tangible, and he is uncharacteristically aggressive. Dino appears to have better control of himself, but even he has thrown a few frowns in Tsuna's direction when he thought she wasn't looking. Eventually, the older blonde has to return to Italy, and Tsuna's clinginess abates.
•••
Tsuna is glad when Dino finally scrams, and he finally feels like he can calm down. He's been spending a lot of time with his sister lately, and it makes him realize that after Reborn had shown up, and more people started to flood into his life, he'd been neglecting his sister. He vows to spend more time with her from now on, though maybe not as much as he had been lately. That episode while Dino was around had maybe been a little excessive and he winces as he remembers one example.
Tsuna is sitting with his sister on the couch while they watch one of his favorite anime, when Dino arrives. Dino sits next to Sorako and starts to playfully flick her hair around, commenting on how nice it was and how with that shade of blonde he looked even more like her brother than Tsuna did.
Tsuna breathes deeply through his nose, trying to control his temper, before he turns and plucks Sorako from her spot in the middle of the couch. She is a bit like a doll and easy to move around. He deposits her on his lap and wraps his arms around her in a hug, shooting a dark side-eye at Dino, "She doesn't like that," he snaps, tightening his hold. Sorako rolls her eyes but gets comfortable, shooting an apologetic look at Dino with a shrug.
So, he was glad Dino was gone, and things went back to normal. Sort of. That perverted doctor took up the position of the school nurse, though he only treated the girls that came in. He was staying at the house now, too, and was constantly hitting on his mother – it went straight over her head – and Bianchi – who only had eyes for Reborn.
Then, a little boy named Fuuta shows up, bringing nothing but trouble. But in the end things get sorted out and one more person is added to the household. Now if only the brat would stop blushing every time his sister came near! Boys should not be allowed near her, she was too cute, he decides.
•••
Fuuta de la Stella, the Ranking Prince, does not bond with Sorako immediately. He is not damaged enough for her flames to reach out for him instinctively, is what Fon tells him later when he takes him aside one day. Instead, he follows a more traditional approach, and gets to know her. He can tell her Guardians know exactly what he is doing, but they don't interfere, presumably letting Sorako make the decision in the end. He hopes that she will find him to be a good companion, and that she will see his potential as a lightning Guardian. He desperately wishes for Harmony and not just because she is ranked number one strongest sky in the mafia. Instead, it is because she is also number one in not caring about his ranking ability.
At least, that is why he wants her as his sky at first. As he gets to know her, he becomes infatuated. She is compassion wrapped in empathy covered in kindness. He sees her take care of her Guardians, her family, sees the love she has for them, and wants that for himself. Also, and though this has nothing to do with his decision, he can't help but notice that she's beautiful and he blushes every time he thinks that.
When he thinks enough time has passed, he nervously reaches for her, scared of Rejection. Though she is startled and surprised, she doesn't fail to reach back. When they harmonize, his flames leap from him and tangle with hers in a tornado of acceptance and it is peace and home and Iwillacceptyou Iwilltakecareofyou Youwon'teverbealoneagain and he is astonished. He thinks he wouldn't mind ranking for her so much after all.
•••
A/N: As always, thank you so much for the reviews, they made my day! I've been responding to those with questions via the respond to review button, so if you do have questions, be sure to ask! If you have ideas or want to see a scene that I skimmed over or want to see a scene from another perspective than the one I wrote (say, you want to know what Fon was thinking when Fuuta tried to woo Sorako for instance), then let me know. I'm going to start a "deleted scenes" fic when I get time, for things that I can't fit in the main fic. Anyway, finally we're past the Daily Life Arc. Kokuyo Arc is next, I'm so excited!