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.
The Rain Battle went as well as anyone could guess. Yamamoto actually won despite Squalo having once defeated the Shirugen Soen Ryu while he was training to take on the Sword Emperor. It had been an interesting fight to watch and Yamamoto showed promise to be a great hitman one day, if he so wished. Reborn had seen the potential in him early on and even Squalo now acknowledged him as a swordsman, which is saying something coming from a guy like him.
Unfortunately, the Cervello were sick bitches and the match ended with Squalo allowing a shark to eat him, ironically enough, while kicking Yamamoto away to safety. Reborn knew Dino had tried to buy a wing of the Namimori hospital in advance, having prepared for Yamamoto's loss because he had been so sure that Squalo would win, so now the wing was being used for Squalo's continued survival. Dino probably didn't know that the only reason he could 'buy' that wing was because Kyoya must be indulging him if he heard his name because Kyoya knew him as Reborn's student. However, Dino's orders will still be null if Kyoya were to say otherwise.
The young Cloud was again suspiciously absent after having watched the Rain Battle, but he did, surprisingly enough, appear for the Mist fight.
Chrome Dokuro was not who Reborn was expecting. He had half expected Rokudo Mukuro, but something told him the girl was more than she seemed. The trident, the green Kokuyo uniform and the pineapple hairstyle, as well as her companions, all gave her away as someone with a deep connection to Mukuro. The eyepatch over her right eye, where Mukuro had that strange magical red eye of his, was also a suspicious giveaway that, maybe, Mukuro was possessing her.
"When is Mukuro getting out of prison?" Reborn asked his son, watching as Chrome and 'Mammon' gave their half-Rings for inspection to the Cervello. "And how come you're here, anyway?"
"The pineapple carnivore still has a few months left before they'll let him out, though uncle Bermuda tells me he's been behaving himself and might even come out a month or two early if he keeps it up," Kyoya says with a shrug. The others are keeping away from them, except for Shamal and Colonello - who was there to see Viper fake getting their butt handed to them for the sake of continuing the charade because the Cervello were now looking over their shoulder constantly so they can't snatch them up as easily due to Kyoya's little chat with the one the other night - so Kyoya would declare them crowding and bite them to death for it. "As for why I am here, well, just watch and see."
"Is she connected to Mukuro?" The hitman asked, narrowing his eyes at the Disciplinary Committee Chairman in reprimand for being so secretive. And yes, he is aware that he's being kind of hypocritical, but he doesn't care. He's motherfucking Reborn. No kid was going to get bratty with him, not even his own son. "If he's possessing her, he's going to get in trouble again."
"He doesn't need the possession bullet for that, or even his eye's powers of the Six Paths of Reincarnation," the skylark replies easily, smiling up at Reborn, razor sharp. "Their compatibility with each other is 100%. Their minds had reached out to each other on their own. It's a mutual, consenting, two-ways relationship."
"What is he doing for her, then? And do the Vindice know? How do you know?"
"That's their secret. Yes, they do know. Mukuro'd screamed for them the second they connected when Nagi was dying and she latched onto him for help. And I know because I'm a secondary Mist. Did you honestly think Mukuro would allow himself to be taken away without being a hundred percent sure that he wasn't being tricked?"
"You let him into your mind?"
"We created a connection," Kyoya countered. "Like Viper, Lal and I have one through our Mist Flames."
"You mean the one you use to smacktalk us behind our backs, kora?" Colonello asked with an arched eyebrow.
Shamal, though, huffed, looking offended. "You have a mental Mist connection and you didn't bridge me in? How cruel of you."
"Yes, that one," the teenager replied with a roll of his eyes. "It's just like that. A connection we can both manipulate on either side. I use it to check up on him every now and then. He uses it to go all 'kufufufu' in my head when he's bored because he knows it annoys me. Recently, though, as of two months ago or so, there's been a third presence but it's only opened fully last night. Nagi asked me to come watch her match."
"Hey, you said that name earlier, too, now that I think about it, kora," the blond Rain said, snapping his fingers. "Is that the girl's real name, kora?" Kyoya just nodded. "Why change it, though?"
"She's changed her life," the Cloud said with a shrug. "She picked the name Chrome but Mukuro named her Dokuro because they are the sides of the same coin, halves of a hole."
"I've heard of such a phenomenon happening with Mists," their resident doctor said, rubbing his chin in thought. "It's a one in a million occurrence between Mists who are absolutely compatible with each other in every way, not just Flame frequency. Did Sawada Imeitsu know about this when he picked the girl?"
"No," Hibari cooly replied. "He just sensed a strong, unbound Mist and asked her to fight for Sawada Tsunayoshi without even checking their compatibility with each other."
"Damn, I knew that man was an idiot, but to not even check? How the hell is he expecting a completely incompatible Mist to bond with his son? Mists and Clouds depend on compatibility to form bonds!" Shamal groused to himself, for once actually pissed. Though that might be because Chrome was a girl. If Mukuro had been the one standing in front of them, he probably wouldn't have cared as much.
"Except Iemitsu's not expecting a bonding to come out of this," Reborn said, actually having to remind himself that this was the Vongola they were talking about, no matter how different Tsuna was from other Skies due to how his seal had affected his personality, making him work hard to build bonds of friendship with people instead of automatically clicking like Skies usually would due to their Flames. Tsuna didn't know the difference between the two forms of binding an Element to his Flames, something which Iemitsu is using to his advantage because Tsuna has a bleeding heart and Reborn suspects he'd never be okay with the option his father and tradition in general expect from the future boss.
"You can't mean ... " Shamal trails off, turning to look at the kids around Tsuna in horror, his eyes sticking to Gokudera, his own one and only student since the kid was a pipsqueak. Gokudera had idolized Shamal as a little boy and Shamal had taken him in after he'd ran away from home so the affection was reciprocated, which is why Shamal had stopped training Gokudera when he proved to be a danger to himself but still kept an eye on the boy, eventually sending him to Reborn with flying recommendations as a potential Storm for Tsuna.
Shamal looked disgusted at the mere thought of what Iemitsu was expecting and it made sense. Just after Fon had been stolen through Sky thralling by Luce of Giglio Nero, Shamal had been the one to treat Reborn and he had seen what thralling and forced harmonization can do to an Element's Flames.
"Harmonization," the Sun/Sky confirmed, expression grim. "It requires no compatibility, just the strength of a Sky to maintain the connection."
"If they try it, the Vindice will be down upon them within the minute," Kyoya half reassured, half stated. "Nagi - though she prefers outsiders to call her Chrome - is under constant surveillance due to her bond with Mukuro. And even after he's set free, he'll be under surveillance as well, probably for the rest of his life. If they try to force a harmonization on them, whoever's involved will find themselves behind bars for life. If they're lucky."
"You seem kind of fond of them, kora."
"Chrome's a small animal, all cute and cuddly, and Mukuro is a carnivore and fun to fight. I don't get a lot of that outside of you guys."
"As expected from Kyoya," Reborn commented with a huff, ruffling his son's hair. Kyoya glared at him because they were in public.
"It's starting," Shamal said and they all turned to watch as Chrome tapped her trident against the floor and pillars of lava burst out from the floor. "Good technique, strong form. Not enough to fool a fellow Mist, of course, but not a bad start. And her Flames are pretty pure. That Mukuro fellow has Flames like this, too?"
"Like they're sharing the same Flames," Kyoya confirms even as they all watch Viper cancel out the illusions and then the real fight begins. Somewhere around halfway through the fight, Viper breaks Chrome's trident and the girl almost loses consciousness there and then as her fucking organs disappear and her abdomen collapses in on the empty cavity. A look at Kyoya shows that he's not surprised but he is worried and that worries Reborn.
~What should I do!?~ Comes the panicked mental message from Viper moments later, even as they continue acting aloof and uncaring of Chrome's fate on the outside. ~How am I supposed to 'lose' when this kid is dying here!? Do I save her? Help me here, Reborn, damn it!~
But before either of the Arcobaleno has to do something about it, creepy 'Kufufufu's start echoing around the gym before mist engulfs Chrome's frail body. What emerges from the mist is the other half of Tsuna's potential Mist Guardian, Rokudo Mukuro himself, though he seems to be using Chrome's body and his own Flames to make a real illusion of his presence halfway across the world from where he really is.
"Oya, oya, if you weren't important to my darling Skylark, I would kill you for injuring my precious Chrome," Mukuro says in the older Chinese dialects Fon taught the Arcobaleno because people outside of China usually didn't know them. Reborn and Colonello turn to give Kyoya a look, because clearly the little Mist connection was used for more than just brief check ups, like Kyoya would like them to believe. But the Skylark in question just shrugged.
"You don't have Mist Flames so you wouldn't understand how easy it is to 'transfer' whole 'databases' of information."
"... You've been spending too much time around Verde, kora," Colonello decided simply on the terms Kyoya used. The Cloud rolled his eyes and returned to watching the fight, more relaxed now that Chrome wasn't in danger. It made Reborn wonder if Kyoya's Cloud was compatible with the two Mists for him to so easily claim them as his own.
"Isn't that cheating?" The Varia's side wondered to themselves but the Cervello explained that this was still Chrome Dokuro. According to the Flame signature, it really did still feel like her. Kyoya was right when he said Mukuro and Chrome were completely compatible with each other. Not even Reborn, or his Sky intuition, can find a single difference in their Flames.
"Shall we begin?" Mukuro asked with a twirl of his trident before the world burst into illusions.
The rest of the fight went according to plan. Viper didn't even have to do all too much acting on their part. Mukuro was a strong opponent, especially as he wasn't simply an illusionist, but a close combatant as well, Viper's one true weakness if their illusions don't work. 'Mammon' pretended to die but instead ran away, finally freeing themself of the Varia.
With Fon on the way home and Viper now free, too, only Lal was left and Reborn's Mist had promised they'd get Lal from Italy soon enough.
"Hibari Kyoya," Mukuro called even as he started to be surrounded by mist, slowly giving control back to the true owner of this body. "I do not know what it is you plan to do, but please do keep an eye on my precious Chrome." And then he was gone, leaving a girl in his place, lying on the floor, breathing regularly, skin a normal color, her abdomen not caved in.
"So the deciding match will be the Cloud Battle tomorrow night, huh?" Shamal mused as they were let out of the cage meant to prevent them from interfering with the fight. Kyoya ignored them all and immediately went over to the unconscious Chrome who now had the Mist Vongola Ring on her finger. The Skylark easily picked her up while Ken and Chikusa looked on, looking conflicted between going after the Disciplinary Committee Chairman and going their own way. They pretended not to care about Chrome beyond her being their only link to their Mukuro-san for the moment, but they still worried. "Wonder how that will turn out."
"Who knows," Reborn said and dismissed the battle from his mind altogether. He had a student to train because something told him the Cloud Battle, this whole Ring Conflict, was more than it seemed.
He didn't like it.
00000
"Tonight's your night to shine," Dino said as he entered the office, easy going as ever, smiling at the only other occupant of the room. Romario was standing just behind him, an ever faithful shadow. His student was sitting at the big mahogany desk by the windows that looked more fitting in a president's office than in a little room like this, no matter how well kept it looked. "Are you ready?"
The blond couldn't help but shiver as those sharp eyes bore into him. At times, he wondered how this kid was even real. He seemed like a fighting machine.
He hadn't known what to expect when Sawada Iemitsu himself had approached him and asked him to not only deliver the half-Rings to his sworn little bro back in Japan, but to also train Tsuna's future Cloud Guardian.
A willful, strong teenager with sharp eyes, sharper instincts, even sharper reflexes and a natural fighting talent. The strongest Guardian Tsuna could possibly get, an unbound, aloof Cloud.
Dino had never actually met a Cloud like him before. He hadn't known how to deal with the little troublemaker at first, until he'd learned a spar was enough to garner his attention. Until he'd learned the school was his prowling grounds, the heart of his territory, the one thing he will defend with his life. Iemitsu warned him that this one comes from a complicated background, but Dino could find nothing on him except the most basic of information, and sometimes not even that. The kid's age is a mystery. The boy's surname, though, caused any and all information brokers he'd contacted to immediately hang up on him, no matter the money he offered.
Dino had gone into this little assignment blind. He'd tried assessing the teenager, like Reborn had assessed him, all those years ago, but the kid seemed to be hiding the true extent of his skill. Every time Dino thought he'd found an opening, it turned out the boy had let it be found.
It soon turned out that it was the boy testing him, not the other way around.
And somehow, Dino passed.
Just so he can be a punching bag.
But if this helped Tsuna, he didn't mind. And he grew to sort of like the kid. He was his (un)cute student, all sharp edges and sharper teeth. He ... suspected the teen might actually be Flame Active but he had no subtle way to check. Especially if the kid is Flame Active and feels him poking at him with his Sky Flames and takes it as an attempt to force harmonization. Reborn would skin him if such a story were ever to reach his ears.
"Are you here to spar with me or to crowd? Because if it's the latter, I'll-"
"I know, I know. But I promise I'm just checking in on you," Dino placated, grinning at the scowl sent his way. "Do you want me there tonight?"
"I couldn't care less either way."
"Aw, don't be like that! I thought we were starting to get along!"
The teen paused, appraising him from head to toe. "Bucking Horse, I swear to you, and I am only telling you this out of truly good intentions, that you will run away screaming if you wish to try something with me and not just because I'll break every bone in your body. My parents are overprotective, my aunt and uncles are just as bad and I have recently acquired two 'friends' that might give you nightmares for life. Are you absolutely certain you want to flirt with me?"
Dino went to argue that he wasn't and didn't want to flirt with the teen, but then he did a little appraisal of the other, too, thought back to the last ten days and grinned because he could see the potential for a relationship after a few dates. "Yes."
"Your funeral. You'll be lucky if it's chichi that gets to you. Pray to whatever higher power you believe in that it's not babbo. Or uncles Bermuda and Jaeger."
"So I can come and cheer you on?"
"I don't care either way."
Dino was still sure he saw a little smile tugging at the very corner of the younger's lips.
Yup, he was going.
00000
The turn-up for the Cloud Battle was the biggest so far, because everyone was curious to see who the mysterious Cloud Guardian was. Chrome, Chikusa and Ken came to watch for their Mukuro-san/sama, Colonello was watching for Reborn, who was busy training Tsuna to perfect the Zero Point Breakthrough, Viper was also around somewhere coated in Mist Flames so heavy not even Chrome noticed their presence and Shamal was adult supervision for Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takeshi and Sasagawa Ryohei. Dino Cavallone and his right hand man, Romario, had also come to watch.
On the Varia's side were only Belphegor, still all bandaged up from his fight with Gokudera, Levi and, of course, Xanxus, who wanted to see which unfortunate soul had to face Gola Mosca.
The surprise guests of 'honor' were actually Iemitsu and his most trusted CEDEF agents, who had come demanding of Xanxus where Nono was. Xanxus had just laughed in his face and replied he'd tell him if Sawada's 'trashy Cloud' can defeat his 'Cloud Guardian'.
This is the scene Hibari Kyoya walked into, his black gakuran fluttering behind him in the light wind and causing everyone to stop what they were doing to gawk at him and the half-Ring hanging from a chain around his neck. Sawada Tsunayoshi's father puffed up when he saw the reaction his choice was gaining but Kyoya ignored him. He was more entertained by the faces Shamal, Colonello and Viper - and yes, he could see them; he'd been trained by Viper to see through most of their strongest illusions, after all - were making, as well as the shock on the Monkey King's face.
"Hibari?! You're the extremely mysterious last Guardian?!" Sasagawa Ryohei bellowed his question, finally getting everyone in motion.
"Hey, you can't fight, kora!" Colonello protested. Lal Mirch, who was standing beside an injured Iemitsu, looked ready to start snipping.
"And why is that?" A Cervello asked. There were more of them here tonight. The Arcobaleno should have been trying to get one of them instead of worrying about the little toy Xanxus was sending to fight against him.
"Because!"
"That's not a good enough reason," the other 'main' Cervello replied almost judgmentally, if only the Cervello actually had an ounce of personality in them. "We need a legitimate reason to prevent a chosen Guardian from fighting and potentially postponing the Cloud Battle until a more suitable candidate can be chosen."
"I don't mind," Kyoya said, but went unheard due to Iemitsu loudly asking Colonello why he thinks Hibari shouldn't fight and going as far as to say that it doesn't concern him so he gets no say in the matter.
"How about a legitimate reason being that Reborn's going to tear you all to bits, gleefully, if he were to find out," Shamal called out from the spectator's area, already looking ready to bolt should that, indeed, happen.
Lal grabbed Iemitsu by the lapels of the suit he was wearing and tugged him - painfully - around to face her so she can hiss in his face directly. "This is violating the contract I signed. Make him fight and we will be free to retaliate. However. We. See. Fit."
"If he doesn't get hurt," Sawada pointed out overly confidently. "You can't call on that stipulation in the contract."
"I. Don't. Mind," Kyoya minced his words so people would hear him and Xanxus, who did, laughed.
"So the little trash thinks he can win this fight?"
"Of course he can," Yamamoto Takeshi said with absolute confidence, a sharp look in his eyes, an almost smirk on his lips. "Hibari is our Ace. He won't lose."
Xanxus only laughed more, but Kyoya didn't care either way.
He just took out his tonfa and waited to begin.