Mia Tempesta
Summary: Reborn never liked being a (secondary) Sky, but he can't deny his nature forever, so one day he starts collecting his Elements. Except now there was a tiny Storm that packs quite a punch that he doesn't know what to do with. Denial leads to trouble, trouble leads to possessiveness, possessiveness leads to ... something else much more tender. Throw in Checkerface and the Arcobaleno Sky into the mix and things get quite complicated.
A/N: Hi! Sorry for the little mishap with the chapters, it seems my computer did us all a great disservice so I'm fixing it and hopefully making up for it with a special Black Friday deal of 2 for 1 chapters! Hope you like it! Please feel free to leave a review and thank you for your support!
"Home sweet home!" Yelled Skull when they, finally, returned to the 'headquarters' two days later, everyone feeling just a little bit like shit after the long journey. It's been too long and they all wanted a proper meal and a proper bed.
Or a proper couch, in case of two very weird flatmates, but whatever. Normal was overrated anyway.
"Skull, for once in your life, just put a sock in it or I will shoot you."
"Better yet, put a cock in it and choke on it, you damned lackey, kora."
"I think I might be starting to miss the explosions. Not quite close to missing the Triads, but I'm getting there."
"Seriously, no more perverted jokes. Good grief, I'm surrounded by morons."
"I can't wait to get back to the COMSUBIN barracks, just to get away from you idiots."
"I'll be taking this down to my lab, then."
"Oh, come on! We have to throw a Welcome Home Party for each other!" Insisted and weaseled Skull, but Reborn just grabbed onto Fon's billowing sleeve and dragged his bedmate off for a proper night of rest and Lal disappeared from the house in record speed, Colonello hot on her heels. Viper vanished in a burst of Msit Flames and Verde was already gone. Reborn was really just too tired to drive, so they'll go back to his place in the morning.
If he doesn't kill his Cloud before he even goes to sleep, that is.
"Is it just me or do those two seem really domestic?" Skull said to someone - probably Oodako, because they all leave their pets at the headquarters if it's a longer mission, since half of their pets would just take up too much room - just before Reborn slammed the door of his room closed and headed straight for the bed, shedding his tie, jacket, belt and vest as he went.
Fon, however, stayed right next to the door, looking all awkward and shifty with a light blush to his cheeks.
"What? Is something wrong?" The hitman asked when his pillow/blanket/bed-buddy didn't immediately follow. Neither of them had ever hesitated or been embarrassed by their sleeping arrangements - well, Fon had hesitated to initiate it that first time when Reborn had been sick and Reborn had been embarrassed to wake up the next morning all snuggled up to his younger flatmate and potential future Storm - so this truly surprised him.
"Wouldn't the couch be more comfortable?" The younger male asked, shifting from foot to foot. "We're used to that arrangement ..."
Which was true enough, but Reborn still frowned. "The couch is comfortable for lounging around but I wouldn't advise sleeping on it. I always get a crank in the neck so sleeping on the floor would be preferable over that monstrosity down there. Also, it's not like back home." He thought Fon was very close to matching his tunic now. speaking of which, Verde owed him a new one and Reborn will be making sure the scientist gets him one. "It's always noisy here. We wouldn't be able to fall asleep even with earplugs on. Besides, there's more space on the bed and it's only for tonight. We can go back to our comfy couch in our quiet apartment tomorrow."
"Oh ... " Fon breathed and seemed to just stand there, staring into space. Reborn was getting worried now. Had Fon managed to hide an injury? The boy had said he was good at patching himself up, so it's possible that he'd done a patch job so no one would notice and the sleeping arrangement might keep him in pain the whole night. It hadn't seemed like he was losing sleep on the way back home, either, always falling asleep faster than Reborn - because the hitman absolutely refused to go to sleep first since he knew by now what his Guardians were like and he will not be letting any of them have any blackmail material on him simply because he was using his future Storm Guardian as a pillow - and he always woke up before the teen because there was this ridiculous urge to protect the martial artist since they were not exactly in a safe place, even if they were in safe company.
He was about to demand from Fon to tell him if he'd been injured and to do a checkup himself when the teen nodded and finally shuffled over on soundless feet over to the bed. "Okay."
He was still acting a bit weird, almost jittery, Reborn took note, but he also seemed to be ... happy, so maybe it was a good jittery? This is why Reborn sucked at being a Sky, even when his orange was his secondary Flames. Skies were supposed to have some super intuition or something that allowed them to understand people better, how they might think and what they might be feeling. Reborn, on the other hand, sucked at emotions. If he could, he'd rather shoot them into nonexistence, but he can't, so he tries to deal with it however he can manage.
He more often than not comes across as a bastard because of that, but whatever. As long as those who are supposed to know he cares, know, he's content.
"Goodnight, Reborn," Fon mumbled after they'd arranged themselves into their usual positions.
"Night, Fon."
00000
The next morning, Reborn found himself alone on the bed with an actual pillow serving its purpose instead of Fon's lap and he was very, very grumpy. Since, apparently, he considered the headquarters as a safe enough place, he had slept on longer than Fon, who was now gone, as were Lichi and Leon. He could faintly smell coffee and hear the sounds of food preparation, so he could guess Fon was down in the kitchen, resuming their usual routine as though it hadn't been broken for the last week or so.
Reborn hated that they weren't actually back at their place, because it meant he'd have to be as representable as he would be in a public place instead of just walking around in a pair a pants and a button up shirt like he does at home after his shower as he follows his nose to the source of the seductive smell of freshly made espresso. He also hated it because he found, when he entered the kitchen, that it wasn't actually Fon cooking - Skull was; just some boiled eggs, toast, some salami or jerky and various spreads, both sweet and salty (there was both peanut butter and jam set out, which meant Colonello, at least, was back, if not Lal, too, but judging by the ajvar, she definitely was because she was the only one who liked that thing) - and it would seem everyone was drinking from his coffee pot.
"Good morning, Reborn-senpai!"
But the worst thing wasn't even the lack of peace and quiet in the early morning hours.
"Verde, what the fuck are you doing?"
No, it was the fact that his Lightning had just handed over a vial containing a very suspicious, bubbling substance to Fon, who already had several empty ones sat in front of him, and was waiting expectantly for him to drink the no doubt hazardous concoction.
The scientist turned bored eyes on his Sky, motioning absently for Fon to consume the offered 'drink'. "Fon mentioned that he can't be poisoned because his Storm Flames burn through any dangerous substances that he might consume or inhale. He insists that there is no poison in the world, natural or man-made, that can even start affecting him with how quickly his Flames react, so I suggested an experiment and he agreed."
The Sun snatched the vial out of Fon's hand and looked at Verde's neat writing on the tag before he glared death at the - clearly mad - scientist. "A single drop of this would kill a grown hippopotamus in five minutes," he hissed, enraged.
Verde actually had the gall to roll his fucking eyes at him. "He burned through 5g of Death Heather poison in a minute and it hadn't even gotten to impair his movements with its paralyzing properties."
"That's not the fucking point!" Snapped Reborn as he drained the poisonous substance into the sink, his temper raising even more when the fumes coming from it immediately killed the stupid ugly plant Colonello kept on the window sill just above it. He whirled back around on his Lightning and slammed his hands down on the table hard enough to make it creak in protest, which was saying a lot because everything in the house had been hardened by Lightning Flames because they were dangerous people and tended to get rather destructive. "How many fucking times have I told you not to run fucking experiments on any one of us!? It was bad enough when you'd injected Colonello with that virus that nearly gave him brain cancer if his Flames hadn't been strong enough to slow the disease to a dead stop! Or that time when you'd taken out both of Skull's kidneys to see if his Cloud Flames will make him a new set! Or the time you wanted to test on Lal how long alcohol would linger in a Rain's liver! They could have died! Fon could have died right in front of you and none of us would have been suitable to heal him because Sun Flames and fucking poison don't fucking go well together!"
"It's okay, Reborn. I knew what I was getting into and I've had far worse," Fon tried to reassure while Skull just gawked at them from beside the toaster. Verde, though, at least was starting to look chastised, which actually said quite a bit how much his Sky's/Sun's words had affected him, because usually nothing was to stand in the way of his scientific curiosity and finding answers to his questions. It would seem Verde had forgotten his fellow Guardians, his friends, were human and had reverted to bad habits. Reborn wasn't sure if he was more worried or angry at the moment. "I've trained myself since I was young to battle poisons. It's one of the favorite methods in the East. He wouldn't have been able to actually harm me."
"He didn't know that," he snapped at the teenager, turning to him to finally notice that he was hooked up to various machines. "What the hell is this?"
"Monitors," Verde supplied, not quite sounding like himself yet. "I wouldn't have let anything happen to him, Reborn. I was monitoring his state of health the entire time, so I could administer the antidote if it came down to it." He gestured to the row of separate chemicals, all neatly labeled and in easy reach in case something were to go amiss.
"You had nothing to worry about," Fon tried to reassure him again, but Reborn had not yet had his first morning espresso and was still high-strung from what he'd just walked in on so it didn't really work.
"Of course I had plenty to be worried about! You might still be just a kid, Fon, but he should know better than to experiment on one of us when we've become targets and especially now when someone knows we're all a set!"
Fon's eyes flashed dangerously and became diamond hard as he carefully plucked off the equipment and stood up smoothly. He was by far shorter than Reborn, but he carried himself with as much confidence as the hitman. "I might be young, but this kid can, has been and will be taking care of himself just fine for as long as I've lived because most of my life, I've spent with no one but myself to rely on. You know I can hold my own in a fight, even against someone as strong as you. You know I am perfectly aware of how the underworld works, be it mafia or Triads, East or West or anything in between. I am young, yes, but I am not inexperienced. I am young, yes, but I am not naive, I am not helpless. I don't need you or anyone else to hold my hand in order to survive. I'm sorry if that offends you, but you've extended a hand to me as a potential Guardian, not a child you are to take care of. You may be a Sky and I might be a Storm, but we are both individuals with our own pride and honor. I am ... thrilled that you care for me, but I will not accept the treatment befitting of a child. Not from you, not from anyone. Wasn't it you who kept reminding of the others that I am capable and that they should stop fretting? Where did that confidence in me disappear off to now? Or was it just for show? What do you want from me, Reborn? Think carefully before you answer, because if you blink, you might just miss how you might have acted like those other Skies you despise so much."
Reborn's first instinct was to argue back, to aim to hurt, maybe to even hurt the teen for even daring to think to compare him to famiglia Skies, but he reined himself in because the last time he had lashed out, he had nearly lost Fon.
And Fon was right, wasn't he? Reborn had been Fon's biggest support regarding his ability to take care of himself, had done his best to give Fon room to build his own standing within his Guardian set if he were to choose to remain as their Storm, but the first time something went even slightly amiss - even though it really hadn't - he was all but barking orders and putting in restraints, calling Fon a kid of all things when Fon had never actually had a chance to be a kid because of the lifestyle his own father had thrust upon him.
Reborn was being possessive. Reborn was being overbearing. Reborn was trying to subdue one of his own Elements, even though he had promised himself he'd never be that kind of Sky. He knew Verde wouldn't purposefully hurt any of the others, not even Fon, who was a newbie and Verde didn't know as well, nor was he bonded with the rest of them through Reborn.
Reborn felt himself calm, but he remained tense, out of disgust at himself this time and the blunder he'd made. Skull and Verde were watching warily, looking between the martial artist and the hitman, unsure if this will come to blows. Reborn would actually be grateful to Fon if the younger man were to punch him in the face or slap him silly until sense returned to his brain.
But Fon didn't.
Instead, Fon reached over for Reborn's favorite cup in the HQ, filled it with espresso and, eyes challenging and locked on Reborn's, he knocked it back in one gulp. He then thrust the cup into Reborn's hands, ignoring Verde's wide eyes and Skull's slack jaw as he walked right past the Sun/Sky and out of the room, out of the house and into the backyard, probably to get rid of the annoyance through some training. Doing his katas always seemed to calm the Japanese down, in the rare moments when he actually wasn't serene.
A low, impressed whistle came from the doorway and Reborn turned to see his oldest Guardian leaning against the frame casually, arms crossed and eyes trained on the cup in his hands. "Wow. Well, I guess he's our perfect Storm, right?"
Colonello made a sound of confusion from over her shoulder as he turned back to look into the room instead of after the pissed off teenager.
"What do you mean?" Verde asked coherently and Reborn just furrowed his brow slightly. Skull, surprisingly, kept quiet.
Lal looked directly into Reborn's eyes. "You always had a problem with how Storms act around their Skies. You didn't want a slave, a bootlicker. You didn't get a gale that you can direct and control. Instead, you found a category five storm who has been hiding his true nature by keeping us in his eye."
"I don't understand," their Cloud admitted.
"Reborn doesn't want a traditional Storm, who would bow down to his every whim," the female Rain explained. She smirked. "He wants someone to fight against him, to tell him when he's being an ass, to call him out on his bullshit, just like we do. And Fon seems to be doing just fine while retaining a Storm's stereotypical loyalty. You better not chase him away, oh dear, respected Sky," she continued with sarcasm as she sat down at the table, uncaring of the vials of poison, both empty and full, right next to breakfast. She snapped her fingers and Skull all but tripped himself to get the toast on the table before it cools. "He's ours."
"Yeah," Reborn breathed, even as Colonello took pity in him and moved over to fill his cup with espresso when he didn't move from the spot Fon had left him in. "He is."
It would seem he had some apologizing to do.
Again.
00000
"I'm sorry." The words surprised Reborn and he blinked, turning to look over his shoulder at a tense looking Fon as he finished locking the door and setting the alarms and traps again in case any unwise intruders try to get in.
"What?" Shouldn't he be the one apologizing?
"I said I'm sorry," replied the teenager, still tense. "I was way out of line, comparing you to those other Skies when you've been so kind to me. So I apologize, but I don't take back anything else that I've said. I won't be treated like a delicate china doll, Reborn."
"You have nothing to apologize about," the Italian said with a sigh as he took off his fedora and ran a hand through his spiky hair. "You were absolutely right, in everything you've said. I was the bastard and snapped at you. And though Verde was in the wrong for giving you poison, I should not have overreacted. Not when I know how capable you are and that he wouldn't hurt a fellow Guardian, even if you're not an official one yet. So I'm sorry. I hope this won't strain things between us."
Fon smiled and he looked relieved. "No such worries from my end. Though we should probably spar, using Flames and all, just in case I need to clear it up to you that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
Reborn smirked. "You have no idea how glad I am that you're not a 'traditional' Storm. Lal tells me I need someone to point out my bullshit, as if she and the others don't do that all the freakin' time already." They might have even made a sport of it and Viper was keeping a tally board. Of course, there was also a tally board of all the times Reborn one-upped all of them, which was only fair because they usually teamed up against him because he was 'causing too much chaos' for his own entertainment, as though there was something like 'too much chaos'. There was never enough chaos, if you asked Reborn. "I'll be honest, I really hope you decide to stay with us."
The Japanese teen just smiled again. Reborn, for the first time, noticed that Fon only now truly relaxed as though he had only just come home for the first time, in that exact moment. "No such worries there, either, Reborn. I am quite happy to be here."
The hitman stared at his future Guardian with a serious expression. "Welcome home."
Fon beamed. "I'm home."