Title: Flame source

Summary: There's a God of Fire inside Tsuna, and he just wants everything to burn.

Background: Disregard everything about flame origins, but everything else happened like cannon – if not slightly more violent during the battles.


There is a place inside of Tsuna that he falls into sometimes.

It's when he can't handle it anymore and his mind just shuts down. He tumbles and dives - and is occasionally dragged - into this place. It's not a new development but sometimes this place and the concept of having it overwhelms him.

It's not a nice place.

Don't misunderstand, though - it feels comforting and safe like nothing can hurt him. This place is warm without being hot and all-encompassing without being oppressive. It's a fine line between those, Tsuna realises, because the mafia was on the other end of the spectrum. It's just that… it isn't nice to people other than Tsuna.

It grows bigger every time Tsuna falls.

He wraps himself in it sometimes; like when that man asked Tsuna to help find his dog. It helps him, no matter the situation – and no matter the cost paid by unsuspecting triggers. It squirms just a bit deeper into Tsuna's conscious every time he wakes up after. When he was a kid it was barely noticeable, but now it hovers and beckons.

Tsuna is scared.

Because maybe, one day, he'll fall and keep on falling. That there won't be an end and he won't wake up. Tsuna needs to wake up, because when he's asleep the place does things that leaves rust coloured stains and black scorch marks.

He doesn't remember much of the future, but Byakuran won't look him in the eye any more.

That it's Byakuran who's wary, more than anything, is a sign something is wrong. Tsuna is only glad that it wasn't outright fear teasing at the edges of the man's expression, but that could change any time. He has memories of fighting and his friends but it trails off into blanks when he tries to remember leaving the Choice arena.

His friends don't know either.

They say he vanished and Byakuran chased him. Gokudera apologises for not finding a trail, and Ryohei praises him for moving so (Extremely!) fast, while Yamamoto laughs and says he showed up two days later and Byakuran was never found. Reborn gives him unnoticeable looks that the thing inside him hums at.

Reborn used to be a trigger.

Less so now that Tsuna has moved to Italy. Before, it took everything he had to keep stable footing in front of his mother. He slipped up a few times -Mukuro, Xanxus, Daemon, Bermuda- but managed to wrestle back control so there wasn't too much damage. Now, the thing inside doesn't register the hitman as anything more than amusing, which Tsuna supposes he should be grateful for. The place was being very tame compared to before; it didn't take over as quickly or as often. It almost seems to let Tsuna take the lead.

However, it was growing restless.

It started hooking tendrils around Tsuna not more than a week back. It would pull sometimes, just teasing little tugs that sent his vision black and made his steps falter, but it didn't pull him down. Unfortunately, the timing couldn't be worse; a Chinese mafia were taking liberties with Vongola-run operations.

They called themselves Hui Lu and it made the place churn and flare.

Tsuna's smile was growing harder to fake the longer they spent blatantly mocking him. His friends ("Guardians, Dame-Tsuna. Guardians and allies.") must have picked up on it because they were being more confrontational than they usually are, which was going to end well for no one.

Tsuna just needed to stay calm, and everything will be fine-

A harsh yank made Tsuna wince and sent Gokudera into a fit. "Wait, no!" Tsuna cried, holding out a hand to make Gokudera put down a chair that he was about to throw at the Hui Lu diplomat. "I'm fine, just a headache."

Reborn was glaring a hole into the back of his head from wherever the hitman was hiding. Tsuna could not possible care any less about what Reborn considered a weakness. Gokudera needed to be calmed and he won't even mention the growling thing inside of him. At least Mukuro and Chrome were enjoying this, hiding smiles behind cups of water.

"Perhaps you should go rest, Vongola Decimo." The man smiles like Tsuna was just a formality and he already had everything sorted out. "Hui Lu will oversee the weapon exports. All you have to do is sign the contract." Tsuna manages to stifle a shudder, ignoring the rage from that place when it heard the name.

Reborn told him the reference and Tsuna thought it maybe a little too arrogant. Hui Lu was a God of Fire and a magician in mythology. He carried around a gourd full of one hundred fire birds that was said to burn an entire continent if they were ever let free.

Then again, Tsuna ran an organisation called clam, and the world strongest seven called themselves rainbow. They had no room to talk.

"Thank you, but no. I'd prefer to get this sorted out." Tsuna waves it off and accepts the stack of papers from Mikaela, one of people in the legal department – poor lady got the short straw. He flips through the contract once again, eyes skimming across bright red annotations that covered all available space. "We're almost finished, and the sooner we get this done, the sooner my legal team can draw this up." The five members of Hui Lu look annoyed from across the table.

Tsuna hides a smile, passing the papers back to Mikaela. It really was mean to do this, but he had free time and the look on their boss's face when he read it will be so entertaining. Re-working it so the main theme of 'Hui Lu gets all the profit and deals while Vongola passes all resources over and doesn't stick their nose in' was completely changed to 'Hui Lu can find their own business deals, like grown adults, but Vongola would be happy to help their Kouhai for a reasonable sum'.

It had been passed back and forth, and while the wording would change, neither of them were giving concessions. The best part, by far, was that each of them knew exactly what they were doing. It was literally the most childish thing Tsuna had ever done.

Reborn disapproved.

Tsuna didn't care.

The place inside of him twisted and shuddered in amusement, urging him to mock, to insult, to burnandburnandburn- Tsuna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "So, you get use of forklift-15D on Tuesdays and Sundays, but only every other week, because then you get it on Mondays and Wednesday afternoons."

Mukuro was dying if his coughing fit was any indication. Chrome was politely smiling with glazed over eyes and Gokudera had his head down and was wheezing strangely. Mikaela just bent over the papers even further, admirably keeping her professionalism.

"Decimo, really." One of the Hui Lu men spoke up, looking like he wanted to walk out. A sudden ringing cut him off and the leader fished out his phone, took one look at the caller ID and excused himself.

They turned back to the contract and waffled about with fanciful words, throwing backhanded compliments like it was an Olympic sport. Mukuro was thriving and Gokudera gave as good as he got. Tsuna leaned back in his chair and watched with Chrome.

The mockery of a professional discussion ended when the leader came back, his phone still in his hand. "Sorry, but Liu Fei doesn't want to waste any more time." The other four Hui Lu stand.

"But this was so productive." Tsuna says with a smile. In an instant the leader smashes his phone onto the table and a cloud of white gas gushes out and spreads to cover the room in seconds. Tsuna lurches to his feet and presses his collar to his face to not inhale too much of the gas.

He can see, vaguely, his three guardians jerking up and charging the Hui Lu. Reborn is beside him in a split second, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him backwards to the just opened window. Tsuna flails a bit but manages to find Mikaela's arm and drags her with them. In between one second and the next, Reborn is leaving him to jump into the fray and he's helping Mikaela out of the window to the balcony below.

"Get inside and stay there. I'll come find you when it's over." He tells Mikaela. The crashes and thumps picks up sound and speed, indicating that backup had arrived. He ducks back in, takes one step and a skull-jarring hit makes him black out.


"Wakey, wakey." Tsuna rolled away from the noise and immediately after, as it registers, his eyes snapped open. A large grin covered his vision, pulling away to reveal a black haired man in a dark grey suit. Tsuna blinked and jerked up, just noticing the cuffs tying his hands behind him and his ankles together.

He hunches over, groaning when the sudden movement makes his head throb, and more than that, the thing inside him bends and bubbles. "Couldn't have just asked?" His rhetorical question gets a chuckle.

"Well, I had an in, so why wouldn't I use her?" Liu Fei shrugs casually. Tsuna's head snaps up and spies Mikaela in the corner. Another groan escapes him, echoed by a low growl in the back of his mind.

"Of course it had to be the sane one." Tsuna complains. "Because anyone else around me would laugh in your face and outline their own plan for my death." He slumped back down onto the white chaise lounge. (And wow was the furniture uncomfortable.)

"I can't deny that." Liu Fei pats him on the head. "Now, welcome to my famiglia, Hui Lu." The thing jerks on Tsuna's ribcage, making his back arch. "I am Liu Fei, the Fire God reborn into a modern world." It howls in rage and a cord wraps harshly around Tsuna ankle, dragging him into suffocating waters. "You really are fun to have around, so don't think this is personal." Tsuna's head slips under but his hands grab onto reality with a dying man's desperation. "Now, I would stay but I do have things to be doing. Chan Ming will take over for me."

Liu Fei pulls back and gestures for another man with dyed silver hair, before walking out with a strut to his step. Chan Ming smiles wickedly and steps closer. "It's simply because you are in our way, so we must burn you-"

A hand snaps out and wraps around Chan Ming's neck, digging in nails until the useless human can't breathe. What a pathetic sight. If you hope to command Hui Lu and everything he stands for, you must be stronger, faster, and far more…durable.

Tsuna brings the man closer and tilts his head, observing the hand that gropes for a sword, and the other that tries to pry his hand off Chan Ming's neck. The humans around are making loud noises and are running closer, unwilling to use their black weapons with their compatriot so close.

Tsuna opens his mouth to speak.


Chan Ming knew he was going to die. It was with an utter certainty and acceptance of said fact that let him stare into the Decimo's eyes. Or maybe it was because of the eyes. Sure, he still tried to get away, but that urge was simply instinct and muscle memory.

Because he was already dead.

Decimo grinned, wild and free and oh so beautiful. A white hot tongue of fire flickered out and coyly traced his lips before darting back in. His hair was liquid amber and his eyes molten gold. Chan Ming felt his neck warm under the man's hand and tried to gulp down saliva through the constriction.

Blue flames flared up from the Decimo's heart, gliding along his suit and burning away the finest material, revealing glowing white skin underneath. Chan Ming felt his palm hit the hilt of his sword and it was habit to pull on it. It scraped out of the scabbard and when he blinked it was already pushing into the Decimo's skin.

The metal wavered and shuddered under the pressure of meeting such a man, and Chan Ming wasn't surprised when it bowed at the man's feet, dripping molten graphene on to floor in deference. The lightning flames that shot down the swords length wouldn't do anything, not that Chan MIng wanted it to. Either way, the current of jagged green met an invisible barrier and disappeared.

There was no way he would come out of this still breathing. He's going to die, is dying, and was already dead. Case closed, no post script. At least he was leaving with the image of a God encased in fire seared into his thoughts. Unfortunately, the voice of a demon lasted a lot longer.


Ashes floated gently to the ground, decorating the floor in colourless beauty, swirling in the lightest of air currents. Tsuna let them land on his still outstretched hand, contemplating how beautiful ugly things can be after the cleansing of fire.

A chocked sob comes from the quiet room and Tsuna drops his hand, turning gracefully to face a female in the corner. She was trying to push through the wall with will power alone, hand covering her mouth and tears making her cheeks glisten in the light of undulating fires.

DON'T BE SCARED, HUMAN.

A guttural, overlapping of screams exploded from Tsuna's lips. It was all pain and all death mixed into the scrapping and grinding of two trains meeting at full speed. She screamed and covered her ears, blood slipping between her fingers. The human fell to her knees and Tsuna frowned at the dramatics.

IT WILL HURT, BUT ONLY FOR A MOMENT.

The human convulsed and stilled, her eyes still crying but her face slack. Tsuna frowned harder. That was a little bit over the top, wasn't it? He hadn't done anything… oh, right. Tsuna smiled, happy that he had figured it out.

I FORGOT how pitifully weak you all are." The feral snarling that called to something deep inside twisted to a low growl and faded into normal speech. Tsuna glided over to her, swerving around gluttonous fires blazing on top of human skin. Ashes danced around him, resting on his glowing skin before dissolving into nothingness. His black suit had crumpled in the face of his awakening, tatters hanging onto his chest and arms. He pulled them off as he walked, and liquefied his shoes until he was barefoot.

The human twitched when he stopped at her form. He held his hand palm-down above her and let white hot lava dribble onto her head. She convulsed and was still. He smiled at the playful liquid that quickly ate up the body.

He missed this. His powers were so restricted when he slept; it was always soft and warm, never alive. Tsuna twisted to look over his shoulder, glad to see that the flames were exploring in their usual child-like curiosity. They would flicker ever so hesitantly before leaping and tumbling forward with an excited, unstoppable momentum.

The floor under his feet started getting too soft so he made his way to the door, leaving glowing red puddles of concrete where he stepped. He stopped at the door and nodded in thanks when a little flame opened it for him.

Tsuna made his way through the mansion, leaving a path of bright and wild life behind him. He closed his eyes as he walked, letting the fires joyfully recount meeting other humans on their exploration, and about how they tasted sweet.

"Tsuna!"

A voice called out to him and a herd of human stampeded in his direction. He glanced down a hallway and found the caller running with a few other humans behind him. Tsuna frowned when the flames catch sight of another.

"Tsuna, what happened?" The tall, black haired one askes. He swings his sword up and glances around in caution but keeps his focus on Tsuna. "Why are you only wearing pants?"

"Why are you glowing?" Questions the one with a hat, a green gun resting comfortably in his palm. Tsuna isn't listening, too focused on the flame calling out the location. He takes off in a dead sprint, leaving the human to blink at an afterimage of flickering fire and try to catch up.

He skids around the corner, his feet splashing up boiling concrete against the wall. The human was in his sight now, trapped in a gradient of blue. He makes active effort in cooling himself down before stepping through the ring of fire and smiling at the enraged man.

"Decimo, what brings you here?" Liu Fei smiles crookedly, spreading his arms and gesturing to the ring of blue fire. "Come to enjoy the scenery? Isn't it beautiful?"

Tsuna really is sorry that the man was so intolerable, because they would have been good friends otherwise. Unfortunately, the human though he could command fire, and that would not do.

"Do not tempt me, human. I am already angered at your treatment of my Little Flame." Tsuna stepped closer, cold enough to not burn, but still uncomfortable to Liu Fei.

"Human? So you think yourself above me?" The grin is manic. "How about you come down here with the little people and I'll show you my flames this time?" Tsuna scoffs, circling the man and trailing a hand through the wall of flame.

"You think you have fire?" Tsuna muttered before raising his voice in question. "How, exactly, do you think this is going to end? You didn't even try to run." Tsuna cocks his head to the side. "Honestly though, do you think I will be satisfied with only taking apart this building and its inhabitants, but not you?"

Liu Fei shrugs, uncaring. His rings lights up with Sky flames, a dark orange that travels to his elbow before stopping. He casually rolls up his sleeve, revealing the shine of sliver metal that is his arm. In an instant it shifts and clicks, whirring into a cannon like form and belting out successive globules of plasma.

Tsuna jerks in shock, blinking down at the blobs that cling to his torso. They fizzle out momentarily and Liu Fei looks hesitant for the first time Tsuna has known him. "That was rude. Perhaps I should take your life as forfeit?" Tsuna gives him a smile, his body heating up to a glow slowly.

"Decimo," Liu Fei begins. "It really wasn't personal. My family – you have to understand, my family believes everything is a do-or-die scenario." He offers up, blinking away sweat from the too hot temperatures. The circle of flames close up, teasingly caressing the human but backing off before catching on to his clothes. Tsuna is disappointed that he gave up instead of fighting, but oh well.

"I will kill you." Tsuna states with a nod to himself, before addressing the man. "Do not think I will be so lenient if you dare again."

"What- lenient? You just said you were going to kill me!" Liu Fei snarls like a trapped beast. The ring's light was still going strong and he raises his arm-cannon again. Tsuna takes great pleasure in melting it before the man's very eyes.

"Yes, it is. Yes, I am." Tsuna answers back in a sing-song voice before becoming serious. "Do you expect for me to simply back down when you bare your neck to me in a facade of submission? You, who does not even know what he is up against?" Tsuna offers up a grin with more teeth than necessary.

Liu Fei scowls and shift on his feet, desperate to find a way out but not able to.

"You are much like Icarus; ignorant." Tsuna says it like it's a fact. "Believing you are in control. That you can stop me if I 'go too far'. Be careful, for if this happens again, I will burn much more than your wings of arrogance." Tsuna rocks back on his heels and the flames sway with him. Liu Fei doesn't notice that his shirt has caught on fire, but Tsuna sees the bright blue tower above the man. "For I am Ra, and you are but a common sparrow." The wave crashes down upon the human's head and Tsuna is already walking away when the screaming begins.


A/N: On the mythology - the sites I looked at were confusing names and didn't have enough information, so I just went with Hui Lu. Also, no one else sounded awesome enough.

If anyone knows the full myth, I'd love to hear it.

(Got into a fight with a teacher, so this felt very good.)