Chapter Length: 2, 801 words

First Published: 27 July 2016

In the midst of chaos, there I stood.

10 December 1987 – 3:32 – Somewhere in southern Italy

Skull ducked under a rather sloppy punch and delivered a super-powered one in return. The poor idiot took to it to his gut and doubled over from the pain. Distantly, he could hear retching sounds in the background but he didn't pay it any attention. He was too busy bashing heads in and making grown men cry.

Earlier that week, Viper had called to cash in a favor. As a new member of the assassin organization Varia, his fellow Arcobaleno didn't really have the access to the resources needed to pull off a large scale annihilation like what they were currently doing. And knowing Viper, she would intentionally get the highest paying job available, even if it was impractically difficult to pull off.

He still wondered how she got said job in the first place, considering that she was a new member. Perhaps it was because she was an Arcobaleno known for her skills or she was that convincing. Knowing her, it leaned towards the latter option, possibly including blackmail or some other nefarious action. Her notoriety as the most ruthless of the strongest seven could have also helped in booking her the job. Even Reborn wasn't as ruthless as her.

Said job was to exterminate the Romano Famiglia who have recently dabbled in child slavery and organ farming. It wasn't long before the Vendice would step in but the Chiavarone Famiglia had hired the Varia to do the job instead. Apparently, one of the ninth boss' kids was captured by the idiotic upstart familgia.

The current mission needed at least a group of seven well-trained hitmen. In Viper's greed, she refused to split the pay with other Varia members willing to do the mission with her. It was only the two of them right now.

The two of them were perfectly enough.

He ducked and rolled away from an axe-wielding bear of a man. The bald idiot was screaming and swinging his axe left and right, not caring that he was injuring his fellow family members in the process. Skull expertly pried a semi-automatic from a slim woman—breaking her neck in the process—and started firing at his enemies. He may normally be a close-ranged fighter, but he knew how to handle guns well enough.

In the midst of chaos, Skull let out his loud and annoying persona. It helped him cope with the brutal actions that he did. If he didn't act like he did, Skull didn't think he would be able to accept himself. He wasn't really much of a killer, but he somehow ended up as one.

"Bow down to the great and almighty Skull! You weaklings don't stand a chance! Mwahahahaha!"

Statistical Anomaly

10 December 1987 – 4:12 – Bluegill Bar, London, England

After the brutal extermination of the Romano Famiglia and the release of the prisoners (sadly, the Chiavarone heir had been one of the casualties. The Chiavarone Ninth was down to his last child, a young boy a little older than Harry), the Arcobaleno pair found themselves in England, drinking in the bar that was slowly becoming their regular meeting place. Viper even had an Apparition point set up nearby.

Viper was nursing another fruity cocktail and Skull had his ever favorite vodka. They sat in their usual seats of the empty bar, savoring their drinks and enjoying the comfortable silence. It was past its closing time but the owner and bartender was willing to let the two powerful babies stay in. He knew of the Arcobaleno and he preferred being on their good side.

"So, tell me how that brat's doing." Viper turned to her companion. She had plucked out the lemon slice from her glass's rim and started sucking on it. Skull made a face at the action, knowing how sour lemons could be. He would never understand how she could eat any and all fruits, even the sour and bitter ones. She didn't care about his disgust and continued to suck merrily on the lemon slice.

"Well, he's well on his way to learning his third language. I swear, magic is such a cheat. He also recently made a new friend and I'm glad for that." He swirled his glass around, the liquid sloshing at the action. He didn't really know how to open the topic of Harry's flames, so he just bulldozed through it. Looking Viper in the eye he said, "He has Earth flames. I knew he had become flame-active recently but it was only when he rescued his new friend that it physically manifested. I still haven't had the opportunity to let Dr. Subaru check him over. As Harry's flame core is deformed, I don't know how it could cope with his recently activated flames. I don't know how the kid's conscious harnessing of the energy would affect his internal organs. His core's shape not really suited for channeling the amount of flames needed for the energy to physically manifest and interact with the world. Sadly, the doc's been busy with family matters. Something about his wife."

"Interesting," she murmured, mulling over the update. Flames of the Earth were exceeding rare even among the rare flame-active population of the world. Even rarer still were those who manifested the burnt orange Earth flames. Coupled with his magic, the child was increasingly becoming a statistical anomaly. Numbers would tell that the chances of having a magical child with Earth flames were extremely low, nigh impossible. And yet, the young boy continued to break people's preconceived notions without actively trying to do so. Apparently, it wasn't enough that he was able to survive a killing curse.

Truly, that child was special.

Knowing that Harry had Earth flames made a lot of sense, though. The thought of Skull, a normally distant Cloud that even Luce had difficulty Harmonizing with, suddenly bending over backwards to help a random kid was laughable at best. Even if said child was a Sky, the Cloud Arcobaleno should not have Harmonized as quickly as he did. However, with the Earth flame's much more aggressive Gravitation component, it wasn't too difficult to imagine that Skull was caught in the net of a suffering Earth.

What was even more amazing about it, though, was that Harry had not come into contact with another flame-active person prior to Skull. With how strong his Gravitation was (considering how quickly Skull attached himself to the child), he could pull in almost any Free Element that was wandering around the vicinity. London alone had at least fifty flame-active people. Surely the young boy could have come into contact with at least one of them.

Apparently not and it was all for the better. Who knew what other mafiosi would have done to the poor boy? It was a good thing Skull was a fundamentally nice person, even if he was a killer for hire.

A lot of things that happened to Harry should not have happened at all, statistically speaking. Truly an anomaly, indeed.

Anonymity

10 December 1987 – 4:22 – Bluegill Bar, London, England

Viper had quieted down after he revealed Harry's flames. He let her mull over the details and implications for a while longer before he opened up a topic of concern. "Hey, Viper, what should we do about this? I want to protect Harry but now I also have to worry about the mafia and not just the Death Eaters and those of the magical population who want to do harm to Harry." Skull bit his lip and ran his hand through his hair. He was really worried about this and it showed.

She turned to him, tilting her head in thought. The slice of lemon that she had been absently sucking on earlier was put down on a table napkin and wrapped ready for disposal. She took a long sip of her drinking before replying.

"I believe the mafia is the least of your concerns. They don't even know he exists. You can keep him under wraps and train him up to take care of himself before the mafia population knows about the existence of the tenth Earth in all of history. With you having Gravitated towards him, his flames shouldn't be actively seeking people out. I honestly haven't felt anything but a slight tug the last time I saw him. By the time they know of his existence, Harry should have a complete set of Guardians and a well-running Famiglia to back him up. I'm sure you'll train him up well."

"I'm not Reborn. I…I'm not a good tutor." Skull looked down at his drink in shame. He truly wanted to help Harry but he didn't think he was qualified to do so.

"Thinking like that won't do. You always complain that no one else takes you seriously. They will continue to do so if you don't even believe in yourself. You will be weak for as long as you believe you are weak."

The reprimand was harsh and delivered in a biting tone. Truly, Viper was a very apt name for the woman in front of him. However, Skull couldn't help but smile at her in thanks. It may have been cold, but he knew she cared. What a total tsundere.

"Back to the topic at hand," she huffed, hiding her embarrassment at his thankful smile. "What we need to prepare for is our magical opposition. Just as anonymity is how we can protect the child from the mafia at large, anonymity will also be our shield for him."

"But how? He's pretty much a celebrity of the magical population. Honestly, I'm still surprised no news of his disappearance has hit the newspapers yet." Skull had taken the habit of stopping by the magical alcove in Osaka's Underground to check the news. He couldn't apply for an owl delivery service as his Octopus Keep was warded against such things. He liked to think his wards were top notch and would protect the child from being discovered, but surely the magical world would have had an inkling of the boy's disappearance. Not that he would look a gift horse in the mouth, but it was strange.

"Perhaps they have put too much trust in the wards set up around his previous abode. I had checked in recently and the house was still in top shape even after months of no tenants." She took another sip of her drink before continuing. "Let us be thankful that things have gone so well for now. Of course, that should not allow us to be complacent. For one, we have to find a way around locator spells and the like. The easiest way would be to change his name in mundane papers. Quite a lot of magic like that relies upon the person's name. If there is a dissonance between what they call themselves and what their magical name is, it would be much harder for them to find him. The safest way to ensure that he would not be traced, however illegal it is, would be to change not only his mundane name but his magical name too. The Transvorto Anima ritual would work best."

"But then he'll no longer be who he is! He would have no access to his family magic. Core aspects of his personality tied to magic would be altered. It's illegal for a reason, Viper, and that it's practically unchangeable after the fact. Tampering with the soul is dangerous!" Skull practically hissed, reaching over and gripping the woman's small shoulders. He was a squib but even he knew this.

"And since when did we care if things were legal? Honestly," she huffed, removing his hands from their perch. It was getting uncomfortably tight. "I understand that you're highly protective of the child, but I assure you, it's only illegal because erasing and adding family magic tied to a name is blasphemy for old pureblood families. Imagine if you could suddenly gain Potter family magic by changing your magical name via a simple ritual? Years upon years of careful breeding would be ruined in an instant."

He still didn't look convinced, however, so she pushed the matter further. She had come to care for the child too and she didn't want him harmed because of a silly thing such as the procedure's legality.

(She had always speculated that he had come from one of those rich and old families—considering they dumped him all too readily when they found out that he was a squib—and his reaction to Transvorto Anima hinted at his upbringing. It was also obvious that he was used to house elves even before he had his own, which hinted at a rich childhood that involved said creatures, perhaps many of them. He liked to hide behind heavy make-up, a punk-styled attire and a brash attitude, but he couldn't really hide his sophisticated upbringing from her. His posture was too good and if he wasn't concentrating, his act sometimes slipped. Viper knew her thoughts were swerving off-topic, but she couldn't help but speculate about her long-time…friend.)

"The ritual shouldn't change him as a person like that, fool. You make it sound like the child will become someone completely different. It does not work like that. Family magic is only one aspect of a person. The personality of someone is tied not only to their magic, but also to their memories, feelings, and experiences. At most, changes that come about from the ritual involve small traits—such as the person becoming a little more shy, or a little more thrill seeking—but the core of the person never will become different from a mere fourth-year level ritual."

Skull had a feeling Viper had personal experience with the ritual. Considering that she had always called herself Viper ever since he met her, he had an inkling she used the ritual on herself. She had never introduced a family name to go along with her given name and he knew from Poppo's experience that her magical name really was just Viper. Grudgingly conceding to her points, he nodded before saying his ultimatum, "But Harry has last say."

"Of course. This ritual would not work without a consenting party anyway."

A small pocket of silence enveloped the duo. It wasn't uncomfortable. They just had a lot to think about, most of all the purple haired toddler. Things were changing fast and his new ward was caught in the middle of it all.

Monetary Concerns

10 December 1987 – 4:34 – Bluegill Bar, London, England

"We have something very important to talk about before even thinking of the ritual, however." Viper's voice cut through the silence and immediately caught Skull's attention. "We need access to his vaults while he still bears the Potter name."

"Is money really all you think about, Viper?" grumbled Skull, eyebrows raised incredulously at his fellow Arcobaleno.

"Of course not, fool, but it is important nonetheless. For one, you obviously need the money to raise the kid. Hits may pay well, but I doubt you'd give the kid nothing but the best education. That needs money. Lots and lots of money."

He could see that she had a point. He conceded and gestured for her to continue.

"Secondly, we don't want anyone else getting their grubby hands on Harry's money and whatever else his parents left him. If and when Harry's pronounced dead after his name change and they can't find him, the Potter fortune will be up for grabs by the nearest of kin. With how interbred the British magical population is, it would most likely lead to another civil war or something equally stupid when those fools cannot decide where the money will go. It would sprout a lot of blood feuds at the very least. The Potters are seriously rich, after all, and everyone would want a piece of that fortune."

Again, he could clearly see that happening in the future. It was scarily accurate, actually, knowing how inter-family politics went. He doubted it changed very much over the years he'd been gone.

"So how are we going to convince the bloody goblins to go along with what we want? It's not like they're very accommodating of humans. Hell, I'd bet they'll try to find some loophole or whatever in their messed-up, self-serving system." It was a fact of life that goblins were one of the most infuriating races to deal with. The stuntman had the pleasure of working with other races, such as centaurs, veelas and vampires, and they never were as difficult to deal with as goblins.

Viper just smirked. "Trust me," she said. "I have my ways."

Skull felt a shiver up his spine. That expression never yielded good things, mostly to his health and safety.

AN:

I apologize for the rather long delay. I had just stared my internship last June and things have been busy. This chapter was also rather difficult to write for some reason. To be honest, I just wanted to cram everything here and get the damn plot moving onward but it has been too long, I feel, since my last update. I should have two more chapters until the next arc but I don't trust myself at estimating these things anymore.

I added some action in the beginning of this chapter to see if things still fit within the rating. What do you guys think? Still within bounds?

A kind reviewer, Alice-Italy-Haruhi, has pointed out that I had some of the ages wrong and I thank them for that. If in the start of canon Xanxus and Dino are 22-23, Tsuna and the cast are 13-14, then Harry and Aki should be 20-21 by canon. So at this point, Tsuna and the cast are 0-1 years old, Harry and Aki are 7 years old, and Xanxus and Dino are 9-10 years old. I hope this clears things up.

Thanks for all the comments on Aki. I admit that his interactions with Harry so far make him out to be a female version of Haru and I apologize for that. I really do want him to come off as more arrogant, self-assured, and approval-seeking compared to Haru. In my mind, Haru is a bubbly and cheerful girl who doesn't really care about other's opinions of her. She's eccentric and she's proud of it. She gathers attention because of her cheer and weirdness, but doesn't really go out of her way to get that attention. I think she's kinda like Mabel Pines from Gravity Falls, you know? Aki, on the other hand, craves attention and wants to be in the spotlight. He feels lonely when he isn't surrounded by people and thinks that the best way to be seen by people is to be outstanding and become someone that people look up to. I still have a lot of improvement to do in terms of presenting his character and I will go back and change his interactions with Harry in the previous chapter on a later date.

If you guys have any questions, comments, corrections, or prompts, please do not hesitate to leave a review!