Summary: OC SI. Dying, an orphaned girl from the real world finds herself reincarnated in the KHR world as the unknown daughter of Reborn. She didn't intend to change anything when she realized where she was. However, fate seems to be against her as she encounters the future Don before Reborn arrives and she inadvertently changes the plot. 'Oh well. I guess I'll just have to wing it!'
Disclaimer: I don't own KHR. Enough said.
Beta's by Gelasia-Kitty
Chapter 6- Days with Verde pt 1
It was surprisingly easy for Lumiere to adjust to normal life after years at the mercy of the Estraneo. Maybe it was because she had memories far longer than she was there, or because she desperately wanted to forget what happened, or even a combination of them both. Either way she adjusted rapidly to life outside of the facility.
Ever since Verde found her, alone and abandoned in the lab, she has lived with him. Living with the Lightning Arcobaleno wasn't as bad as she imagined it would be. The only complaints she had was the food. Verde couldn't cook, and despite Lumieres great cooking skills in her previously life, she failed epically at it in this life.
Yes, Lumiere sucked at cooking much to Verde's amusement and her ire. She didn't understand why her food sucked, but at least it was edible. When she first arrived at Verde's home in Paris and the infant cooked, well, let's just say that he should stick to his own food and stay far away from the kitchen. Eggs should not turn green and soup should not emit purple gas. Verde seemed put out when she refused to eat it, but no amount of stares, money or the likes would get her to eat that goop.
When Verde had Lumiere safe and sound in his house after he rescued her, he checked over her health and gave her an overview. Years from a lack of sunlight had caused extreme vitamin D and calcium deficiencies, causing her develop rickets, a disease commonly found in infants and children. Verde assured her that while she had a bad case, it was curable and not as bad as it could be thanks to her flame. If she spent some time in the sun everyday and took supplements, she would be fine. Lumiere had no problem with doing what the doctor ordered; she missed the sun after so long of not experiencing its blinding light onto her skin and the searing warmth that healed her soul.
While Verde was an excellent doctor, his bed side manner left much to be desired. It doesn't help that Lumiere refused any IV's, having gained a phobia of needles.
So it was a few months after Verde found her and after she was in relative good health compared to when she first arrived, that the questions of her parentage came up. She knew, and Verde knew that Reborn was her father; blood tests run by Verde and reports he found confirmed this. However, in regard to her mother there was no mention. Which is why he was asking her about her mother.
"I know that Reborn is your father, however, I can find no knowledge of your mother. Do you know who she is?" the both of them were in Verdes living room, Verde sipping on a small cup of strong black coffee and sitting in a too large love seat that made him look smaller then he already was. Lumiere sat across from him on the sofa, sprawled elegantly-or as elegantly as any eight year old could- legs tucked in as she read Hamlet in English.
She glanced up at him from her comfy position, eyes half lidded as she laid the book on her stomach. "Hmm... That's a funny question to ask someone who was abducted as an infant Verde."
Verde scoffed. "You and I both know that you are anything but normal." he ignored the unimpressed stare she gave him. "Plus, records say that you have an iadieic Memory and can remember memories from your infancy."
Lumiere smiled at getting the lightning arcobaleno to crack. "I don't remember her last name, but her first name is Rose. She has pink hair and tan skin" she recalled.
Pulling a laptop out of nowhere and ignoring Lumiere's surprise, he entered the description and got one hit. "Rose Dumont?" Eclair nodded thoughtfully, that sounded right, "She died almost seven years ago in a gas leak," he said bluntly.
Lumiere closed her eyes in sadness, fighting the tears that came rushing to her eyes at the news. She had known, in the back of her mind that her mother was dead. Her efforts were for naught as two trails of salty hot tears tracked down her face. She covered her face with an arm.
She cracked open an eye when she felt a small hand on her knee and looked down. There, looking as awkward as he allowed himself was Verde, offering her comfort in the only way he knew how. Lumiere scooped his tiny body into her arms and held him to her chest, bawling silently, body shaking as years of repressed emotion rushed forth. Verde patted her back and let her hold onto him like a teddy bear.
After what felt like forever, Lumiere calmed down, hiccupping as she tried to calm herself down, her green eyes and nose red, face flushed and wet. Patting her cheek awkwardly, Verde settled down in her now soft grip.
"Would you like to visit her grave?"
~~
A few weeks later Lumiere accompanied by Verde took the public transport system to reach the cemetery Rose was buried in. Verde had insisted on taking one of his modified vehicles, but they were baby sized and Lumiere could not fit. They could have taken one of the cars that Verde would ordinarily use when going out in public, but he didn't trust his henchmen not to go running off about Lumieres existence. So they were stuck using public transportation.
Verde sulked the entire ride while Lumiere read another book, dressed once again in his adult clothes, the shirts sleeves pulled and tied in the back for an impromptu tube top and rolled up dress pants and some socks to cover her feet. After visiting her mother they were going to go shopping for some clothes, Verde's being borderline indecent on her.
When they arrived at the cemetery after taking a cab from the subway system and asking for directions to her mother's grave from the manager, they found themselves in front of a simple cement gravestone, showing nothing more than the name, DOB and DOD and a few nice lines. A small bouquet of pink carnations and yellow lilies rested on top.
Verde watched from the sidelines as his ward broke down. He didn't go and comfort her this time, knowing that she needed this time alone.
No, instead he wondered about what do to next. Verde had, to his irritation, become attached to the girl. It was nice having someone depend on him, and she didn't annoy him like other kids her age. She was independent, yet dependent on him to keep her safe, and that made something warm and fluttery to respond in his chest. It had been happening since the brat had wondered into his lab all nervous and jittery clutching a tray of badly made food and making him eat it, chiding him for not taking care of himself.
Originally he planned on patching her up then sending her either Reborn's or her mother's way. But as he grew increasingly fond of her and now news of her mother's demise, decided to change plans. He would keep her with him, and should Reborn ever ask tell him, but not a moment sooner. The hitman had lots of enemies, enemies that wouldn't hesitate on taking Lumiere hostage to get to him. No, Verde decided, it would be safer to keep the girl with him.
Verdes plan of distracting Lumiere with shopping after visiting her mothers grave was working out spectacularly even after its somewhat rocky start. The stores employee was naturally horrified by Lumiere's appearance and attempted to kick her out, chiding that poor little girls like her would never be able to afford the finery the establishment sold. It was only thanks to the timely arrival of the store's owner, Francis Bonnefay that stopped Verde from blowing up the place. Francis, while not being a mafioso did have underground connections and thus had knowledge of the Arcobaleno. After a stuttering apology to the both of them and a promise of a discount, did the two decide to stay and shop there.
Shopping was harder then Lumiere remembered. In her old life she would just grab whatever was on sale and looked good on her and buy it. She couldn't do that now.
As she tried on different styles of clothes it quickly became clear that her new body did not like certain fabrics. Cotton, wool and yarn were thrown out the and more expensive cashmere, silk, modal and strangely enough, bamboo fabrics were kept after Verde said to get what felt ok, mumbling something about 'Reborn', 'genetics' and 'diva'.
Lumiere mostly stuck to the darker colors of black, gray, and green with the occasional white and dark yellow thrown in. Most of her shirts were just plain tank tops, a few ruffled and a couple long sleeved shirts. She skipped the dresses and skirts and went straight for the shorts and pants, the former two reminding her far too much of the robe she was forced to wear for most of her life.
"Are you sure it's alright for me to get all this?" Lumiere asked worriedly, gesturing to the large piles of clothes on the cashiers desk.
Verde snorted. "This will not even cause a dent in my account," he handed over his card to the gaping cashier lady from before who was shocked that the infant talked, "Besides I told you to get whatever you wanted, if you recall"
Pouting playfully, Lumiere took the bags of clothes from the still shocked lady and headed over to the changing room. "I'm going to go get changed!" she called out and shut the door. She came out a few minutes later dressed in a dark yellow tank top and black cargo pants with black sneakers.
Verde did a double take at her appearance. Had her clothes been a little more formal and she wore a fedora she would have been the spitting image of the sun arcobaleno.
"Verde..." Lumiere said worriedly, "Is something wrong?" Verde snapped out of it, and looked away. He has been enjoying her company so much that it was easy to forget who her father is. It helped that the two didn't act alike at all.
"It is nothing." She still looked worriedly at him but he waved her off. He looked at his watch, "It's getting late, and we still need to take public transport to the house." he glanced at the large amount of heavy bags and then to Lumieres thin arms. He quickly wrote down a drop off address on a piece of paper and passed it to the owner. "Deliver the bags here either today or tomorrow."
"But we don-" the cashier started before her mouth was covered by Francis' hand. "Of course sir. I hope you enjoyed your shopping here" he held open the door for them, "please come again"
The two left the store and instead of heading toward the subway station like Lumiere expected they made their way to another store, one that sold bathroom essentials.
"Verde-"
"I believe you are in need of toiletries as mine have proved unsatisfactory for you." She blushed at the reminder of her comment from days previous about how she smelt like a man.
Unlike the first store the two were not stopped when they got in though they did receive some weird stares directed at Verde. What? Had they never seen a baby in a lab coat before?
"Welcome! If you need any help finding anything don't be afraid to ask! Enjoy your shopping!" the door greeter chirped.
Inside the building were rows upon rows of items for girls, and Verde realized, much to his chagrin, that he neglected to pay attention to the store they went in, which resulted them going into the pink, sparkly preppy building saturated with strong floral and sweet smells that burned his nose after a whiff.
Lumiere wasn't much better, her nose sensitive from lack of exposure to different scents. She glanced at another customer and shuddered in disgust. The women was wearing a neon pink halter top and hot pink shorts that barely covered anything, pink sandals and a large pink purse. She even wore pink make up. Inwardly shuddering at the pink overdose, Lumiere turned elsewhere. She saw Verde look around in disgust and smiled cheerily. "Shall we shop till we drop?" she teased. The bland I-know-what-you're-up-to stare caused her to chortle as she turned and walked out. "I think another shops calling our name. What do you think?"
Verde readily agreed. Never had he been so disgusted in regards to a single color, and if he saw pink again it would be too soon.
They went to another more normal looking store that sold what they needed. Lumiere intended to get some nice smelling shampoo and conditioners and body wash but she couldn't handle the scents. Instead she got some unscented soaps and lotions.
"Will I ever be able to stand strong scents?" she asked, curious. They were heading toward the subway station, bag in hand and Verde sitting comfortably on her shoulder.
"Yes, but your sense of smell could prove to be beneficial if you train it."
"How so?"
"People will eventually try to kill you. A strong and trained nose would allow you to smell gun powder or poison in your food if trained right."
"Hmm..." now there's a thought. He was right.
Perhaps a strong sense of smell was perfect for this world.
The saucepan sizzled as the cold water hit its hot surface, the small amount of oil left over from the food separating from the water and rising to the top in clumps. That done, Lumiere beamed brightly down at the platter of Chicken Fricassee with Tarragon. The chicken was slightly burnt and the vegetables a little bit too overcooked, but compared to her earlier dishes it was a massive improvement.
Lumiere had found during her stay here that Verde couldn't take care of himself. Not really anyway. The scientists only ate food when he absolutely had to, or on the rare occasions he wasn't researching, something that Lumiere was trying to rectify.
It was hard though. With her less than stellar cooking skills the Arcobaleno was wary of eating anything she cooked. Which is why she tried really really hard this time. It was the six month anniversary of them meeting.
She had one of the kitchen robots Verde made to carry the food and another to carry the plates and utensils they were going to use and another to hold their drinks as the small group of robots made their way to the dining room while she went to the lab to retrieve him.
"Dinners ready!" she called out from the door. Her cheeks puffed out in annoyance when he ignored her, still typing away on his baby sized computer- and wasn't that amusing? When she saw the chibified lab she bit her lip so hard to keep from squealing- it was adorable!
After spending most of her new life in laboratory setting it was understandable that she would be reluctant to enter into any sort of dwelling that was similar. So it was with great caution and no little amount of reluctance that Lumiere walked into the lab.
She was happy though that since the place was so small just a few big steps and she was already half way through. Reaching him, she grasped his little infant body.
"I was working on something!" he snapped darkly, glaring at her.
Too bad. She's seen scarier. "It's time for dinner. This will still be here later, dinner in the other hand is getting cold." she marched them out the lab, Verde held in her arms as he folded his, muttering under his breath about ungrateful females.
"It is edible right?"
"As if I would feed you something that's not."
"Well there was-"
"You must be mistaken. You are obviously more famished then you thought if you are remembering something wrong." Verde grumbled from her arms, but smiled.
This feeling, these feelings of family, they were nice.
It reminded him of a time not long ago...
When the Arcobaleno still lived together
"Uncle Verde."
Verde looked up from his very important work in confusion. The two of them were once again in the living room of his house, Lumiere insisting that he spend some time away from his lab with her.
Had he heard that correctly? "What?"
She glanced down at him and away from the TV that she insisted he buy to alleviate her boredom. "I'm calling you uncle Verde from now on," she hesitated, "If you don't have a problem with it..." she finished nervously. He has been taking care of her with nothing to gain and treated her like family. It felt right.
Shaking his head he responded, "It's not that I have a problem with it, I am confused as to why?"
She arched an eyebrow at him incredulously, "You take care of me, feed me, pay for my clothes, house me and pretty much are my guardian. It only seems right to call you that,"
Verde considered her words carefully and the light fluttery feeling in his chest. Her words made sense, and at least she didn't call him father. He drew the line there.
"Very well," he told her. She beamed at him, smiling so brightly that Verde couldn't help but smile back.
"Lumiere?"
Said girl looked up from her book, "Mmmm?"
"Do you know anything about the phoenix tears the Estraneo developed?" he asked bluntly. She tensed.
"Why?" she started folding in on herself, legs pulling close, hugging herself. Verde was beginning to regret asking, seeing her reaction. They probably created it or used it on her he realized.
"When an Arcobaleno consumes some their infant bodies grow for a while before shrinking, or at least that's what that idiot Skull said"
Lumiere contemplated this new information for a bit. Her tears aged the Arcobaleno? But how? And why? "I'm sorry uncle Verde," she apologized, "I don't know anything about them." she wasn't ready yet to face those demons.
"That's alright. I was just curious," Verde waved her apology off, ignoring the pain he felt at her refusal to confide in him.
"I'm going and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"
Can you guess what's going on?
"Think this through! What if someone from the mafia is out there and sees you? You are the spitting image of your father it does not take much to put the two together and realize your his daughter!"
Yup, Verde and Lumiere were having their first fight.
"I've been stuck in this house ever since I got here! I'm getting cabin fever!"
"No means no!"
"Then put a tracker on me or something! I know you have some! I just want out! Even if it's only for an hour" she yelled.
Verde pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing "Fine," he bit out exasperated.
Lumiere grinned in triumph. +1 Lumiere, 0 Verde!
It was December twenty-fourth, moments away from midnight. Usually during Christmas Eve and day Verde would gather at the Arcobaleno cabin deep in north Italy's woods.
Every year since their meeting and the curse was placed on them would the members of the "I Prescelti Sette" or the selective seven meet up at the cabin and celebrate the year together. This year Verde didn't bother to go. He never liked gathering with the others, finding them too loud and bothersome for his liking. Instead he stayed at the house, and for Lumiere's sake and her whole Christmas spirit drivel, did not go into his lab once.
After eating dinner, which was take out as neither of them felt like cooking, they lazed around in the living room watching Christmas shows, much to Verde's horror and Lumieres amusement.
"Put something else on. I refuse to watch this!" Verde demanded as on TV, the green Grinch broke into the houses and stole the presents. He could just feel his IQ dropping each second he watched.
Lumiere giggled helplessly as she kept the remote away from the scientists' grabby fingers. "No way, The Grinch is a classic."
"But if you don't stop now you won't be able to open your present," Verde pointed out.
"They'll still be there tomorrow," Lumiere rebutted, snorting as his questing hands touched one of her few ticklish spots. He paused, and Lumiere took one single look into his dark green suddenly mischievous eyes "don-" too late. Verde in an act of utter childishness befitting his physical age attacked her, tickling the laughing girl as she tried to get away relentlessly.
Lumiere took advantage of her admittedly larger size and turned the tables. She pouted angrily when she didn't so much as get a giggle from the Arcobaleno. It just wasn't fair. His body was that of an infant so she should at least be able to tickle him. Unfortunately for her Verde had long since become immune to such physical acts.
Tired of getting no reaction Lumiere stopped. "That's mean Uncle Verde. Couldn't you at least act like its affecting you?" he pinned her with an are-you-stupid look. "I guess not.."
She went and retrieved her presents from the sofa, handing the thin box wrapped in yellow wrapping paper. Verde opened the box, and after seeing the contents glared at her. This so wasn't funny, but apparently his reaction was as she collapsed in a fit of amused giggles. Inside was a set of infants clothes, the black shirt having "world's smartest baby" in green letters stitched across along with tiny jean shorts.
"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't help it!" she panted, handing over his real gift. After looking suspiciously at her he opened it. Inside was a tiny-compared to normal- mug that was just a little bit bigger than the one he was using now. It was black and smooth with the words "Worlds Greatest Scientist" sprawled in tiny letters.
"It's made out of a certain type of clay that allows for any beverages to stay hot two times longer" she explained, fisting her pants nervously. She hadn't been sure what to get him, Verde's only passion being science. She could have got him a book about recent discoveries, but she knew that anything it said Verde already discovered. Then she remembered that he drank coffee in his lab everyday and got him the specialized mug. It was simple, but she knew he would use it. Verde despised having useless items around.
"Thank you. This is much larger than the one I use now so I won't have to refill as often" the answering smile made convinced him that he said the right thing. He pulled out two items from somewhere and handed them too Lumiere. He didn't bother wrapping them so she already knew what they were.
The first one was a thin, slick phone that looked a lot like an iPhone. It was a dark yellow with a black touch screen and immediately she turned it on. When the screen light came on she was unsurprised to see no brand name appear. The other was a long thin silver laptop. "I made them in the lab. The ones sold in stores are...less than satisfactory."
"Than you uncle!" she breathed out in excitement. She squished the poor scientist to her chest in her joy, though he just chuckled and patted her silky soft spiky hair.
He could certainly get used to this.
It was just a few days after the new year that Verdes most recent fear was realized. Lumiere had gone out shopping and on her way back was attacked. The attacker was, to his relief, not affiliated with the mafia or an enemy of Reborn, but he was strong and managed to catch Lumiere by surprise.
She managed to defeat the man, shoving the knife he planned on using to carve her up against him, jabbing the sharp end deep in his throat before fleeing. He managed to inflict a few serious wounds on her, a long deep gash on her shoulder from when she was too slow to dodge, another from hip to thigh that bled profusely, the knife having cut through her jeans and skin like butter.
Verde was noticeably pissed when she came staggering into the house, panting from exhaustion as she ran the rest of the way home. He didn't scold her, didn't say anything of the sort as he bandaged her up, telling her softly that thanks to her advanced healing she didn't need stitching.
She nodded thoughtfully. She had been training her body to get stronger but that man had so easily captured her. The only reason she managed to beat him and get away was because he underestimated her. Lumiere did not like being weak. Hated it in fact.
She needed to get stronger.
Her mind at ease and heart resolute she turned to the arcobaleno. "I need to be stronger"
Verde peered over his glasses at her solemnly, reading her determination in those acid green eyes of hers. "You do," he agreed. "Give me a few days and I'll have something set up for you."
Lumiere smiled widely at his agreement. Nothing more needed to be said.
The next day Frances' national news station reported that their most recent serial killer had been found dead in an ally by his own knife and if anyone had information to please contact the French police.
"Lumiere this is Keimon, Keimon, Lumiere," Verde introduced, the small-for its species- alligator and Lumiere measuring each other up. That was right, she had completely forgotten about the animal partners the pacifier bearers have. "He will be staying with us from now on." This is so weird.
She gave him a look. He returned it with a crooked smile and flashing eyes. "Welcome to the family Keimon," she sighed, before kneeling down and patting the reptiles rough green skin. Keimon's tail wagged from side to side in a doggish fashion.
Yup. Weird.
AN: I looked on Reborn wiki but it doesn't say when any of the infants got their partner, and I've only watched the anime and don't recall it. If it says in the manga when and how I'm sorry, but it stays as is. This is my longest chapter ever :3 I am so proud :3
As always, this chapter was written on my iPhone, and the autocorrect hates me so any mistakes I blame on it.
Thanks to all who reviewed! You guys make my day! 21 Reviews for last chapter! You guys rock:3 only two more chapters till Tsuna comes running in, late as usual :3
I still have that little game going on; whoever guesses right on what Roses mafia connection is gets a sneak preview of the next chapter :D
I also need you guys opinion on something. Did you like the way this chapter was wrote? Or should I go back to Lumies POV? Please tell me :3
Anyway thanks for reading! Review before you leave and I'll update faster :3