That Which Obscures The Sky
Summary: When Reborn comes to Namimori on Vongola Nono's request, he was NOT expecting to find a Sky all for himself. This was not in his job description and the hauntingly familiar face wasn't helping him any. The question now is, what will he do?
Sometimes, Reborn looks at his Sky and wonders how the hell someone as gentle as Fon had raised someone as brutal and rash as Kyoya. He would wonder what drove the kid's blood-lust and how Fon had actually managed to raise him at all, seeing how willful and stubborn he is. No matter how much help Tsuyoshi and then Kawahira were over the years, the younger Hibari was like a force of nature, unstoppable, bearing too much risk of fatal consequences to plant yourself as an immovable object to clash with him. Reborn knew, that even if it was him that was the immovable object, he would not come out of that confrontation unscathed, ignoring the part that he would most probably die should he kill the teen, as is the most likely - most probable, the only possible outcome, really, as Kyoya was still too green to stand up to him as a true equal. Maybe someday, but not soon.
He wonders and wonders and wonders and can't believe anyone could have given birth to this kid, let alone raised the feral little Cloud.
But then he would see him move, like right now, would see certain mannerisms that he could have only learned from his (former?) lover and he would be certain. Certain that not only had Fon raised the younger Skylark, but that blood was, indeed, thicker than water. Certain that the martial artist and the prefect were cut from the same cloth. He would see how Kyoya actually suppressed his blood-lust in order to sneak up on his opponents like a ninja, to deceive them into believing he is defeated, only to spring an impressive, practically impossible move on them that would leave them stunned and then deliver a devastating blow. He would see how precisely he moved, how quickly he went into motion, how sharp his mind was, strategies, calculations, possibilities, counter-strategies, all in the seconds it took him to assess his opponent, find a weakness and charge.
There was a reason Kyoya's fights were always so short and it wasn't just his impressive, monstrous strength.
There was a reason Fon's fights were equally as short, most brutally so, earning and keeping him the title of the best master of martial arts in the world and the best assassin the Triads have ever had the pleasure and luck to have.
Both Hibari were natural born fighters and it wasn't just the ease with which they learned how to battle, but instead the ease with which they learned how to wage war. The patience, the planning, the strategy and its execution, the countermeasures and contingencies for contingencies. The precision with which they strike.
It's what had first caught Reborn's eye, upon meeting them both.
Belphegor, Varia quality or not, simply didn't stand a chance. He was a mid and long range fighter, one who relied the most on keeping a distance between himself and his opponents, on tricks and slights of hand. He relied on people realizing too late that they have walked into his traps and on the fact that people panicked, that they could see no way out.
Even Gokudera,a certifiable genius, though temperamental, could not see through his tricks until he was already quite beat up, too tired and having lost too much blood to actually keep on fighting like he normally would.
Kyoya saw through his tricks almost instantly. He was more than well equipped to tear down the wires. He was more than fast enough to not only see but also catch the knives as they hurtled towards him. Kyoya was trained by Fon, the fastest man in the world. The knives might as well be moving in slow motion for him.
And Belphegor was even injured. One doesn't simply walk away from an explosion, covered in bandages, and casually fight the very next night. Not when the Sun in that Guardian set is too busy healing himself to be of any use to anyone else. An injured Belphegor didn't stand a chance against a Kyoya on his deathbed, let alone the perfectly fine, if a bit grumpy, prefect. The thin cuts, even if deep, won't be enough to stop him. It won't even slow him down.
Belphegor was both a genius and a fool to run. Nothing aggravated Kyoya more than someone running away from a fight just as he was getting warmed up.
So much for the genius prince.
Reborn turned his attention away from the site of the Storm Ring to observe Tsuna's fight against Xanxus. Tsuna was much better at controlling his Flames now than he was even just a few days ago, but he was still slow. It still didn't come as naturally as it should. He was doing great for such a beginner - Vongola Hyper Intuition helped with that a lot and Tsuna could be quite smart when he put his mind to it - but Xanxus had more experience, his Flames were more destructive and he didn't hesitate to hurt or even kill. He was not the leader of the Varia, Vongola's elite assassin squad, for no reason.
Kyoya had managed to fight the Deatheater poison, collapse the tower at the Cloud site and get the Cloud Ring to give himself the antidote, fight Belphegor and save Gokudera all on his own, without any help, earning himself the incredulous awe and respect from all of the spectators. Dino was pale in the face, probably only now realizing that Kyoya had been toying with him for the whole duration of their 'training' - for whatever reason. Tsuyoshi wasn't surprised, but proud, even though he still spent most of his attention and energy on worrying about his still poisoned son. Colonello had been ribbing Reborn about Kyoya's similarity to Fon until he saw just how quick and skilled the boy is, which left him actually asking if the kid and their fellow Arcobaleno are related. Shamal was impressed and a little confused at the fact that anyone can counter such a strong poison through sheer will-power alone. Basil was almost fanboying, sort of, at the display of strength. Mukuro's cronies were gaping and the blond even cheered at one point. The Cervello were simply speechless and Xanxus had thrown some remarks about how Kyoya belonged in the Varia and not with 'this trash' when he'd noticed that particular turn of events. Kyoya was now heading off to save Tsuna's actual Guardians - and Chrome - most probably because they were actually students and citizens of Namimori and he doesn't allow outsiders to kill those who are, in any way, under his protection.
Kyoya was fine, as he was always fine.
It was Tsuna who was in a worrying situation.
Because just as Tsuna got a hang of the battle, Xanxus sped up and made shit even more complicated.
"Kyoya got Yamamoto!" Dino exclaimed, once again bringing everyone's attention to the prefect, now at the Rain site. Yamamoto was already sitting up, groggy and a little shaky on his feet, but the color on his face was slowly returning to normal. Kyoya and he exchanged some words before the triple Flame user turned around and left, leaving it to Yamamoto to decide whether he wants to save the comatose Squalo's life or not. Yamamoto, of course, did and even started pushing the silver haired swordsman's wheelchair off towards the direction the other Guardians should be, heading towards Ryohei's location.
Kyoya, on the other hand, seemed intent to bite Belphegor and Viper - or Mammon, as they go by now - to death for using Chrome as bait to get the other Vongola Rings.
That promised to be interesting, but then Tsuna received a double dose of Xanxus' Flames and slammed into the ground, creating a bit of a crater. Xanxus landed and took aim again but Tsuna finally got his head in the game and Reborn had to hide a smirk when Xanxus attack, no matter how powerful, was rendered practically useless. Tsuna had been a second late, but he had still absorbed most of the damage. Zero Point Breakthrough Custom is a technique Reborn is quite proud of for thinking of it. A little Flame theory here, a little math there, some ingenuity and a dash of his student's Vongola Hyper Intuition and there you have it.
Not only has Tsuna defended himself, but he has also just replenished his own energy and it showed in how much faster he moved. Xanxus can declare Tsuna's attempt at the technique a failure all he wants, he didn't realize this was not the technique he knew as the Zero Point Breakthrough. Though, now that he is aware of the fact that Tsuna knows that version, too, he got even more vicious. Tsuna was definitely getting his ass handed to him right now.
"Does Sawada-dono even stand a chance like this?" Basil asked in a whisper, rather concerned for his new friend. THey were close in age and had grown closer in the time Basil had spent helping Tsuna train and cheering with him and his friends during the Ring Battles.
"He lost the protection of the special vest Leon had made for him, which makes him a lot more vulnerable, kora. Another hit like that and he's a goner, kora," the blond Arcobaleno replies seriously. "On the other hand, he just got a boost, so that might help him, kora. If he actually knew what to do with it."
"It's not the problem whether he knows what to do with it, but rather that he lacks speed," Shamal commented gravely. "He takes too long to build up for his attack and his movements are too obvious. He may have learned whatever it is he's trying to do, may have mastered the technique, but he lacks practice. The legendary Vongola Hyper Intuition can only get him so far. He needs someone to cover for him."
And, as if summoned by Shamal's words, someone did. That someone being, of course, Kyoya. By throwing his tonfa straight at Xanxus head and nailing him, dead center, all the while carrying, piggyback style, Chrome. A glance at the Mist site reveals carnage and two unconscious Varia members. Another look around shows that the other Guardians had reconvened and were rushing towards the location of the Sky Battle, Yamamoto still wheeling a now awake Squalo with them, even as the Varia Second in Command yelled very loud profanities at him for it and Gokudera and Ryohei tried to yell over him, which was apparently humanly impossible. If they continue that, Kyoya will simply knock them all out indiscriminately for being so loud. Not to mention that they're crowding.
"Stay out of this, trash!" Xanxus yelled at the bored prefect and Kyoya just scoffed at him, raising his remaining tonfa in both challenge and defense of his secondary Mist link.
"Come, Monkey King. I still need to bite you to death."
The Varia leader actually fired at him, only for the shot to go right through what appears to be a mere illusion. Startled and confused, Xanxus whirls around, searching for the real Hibari, only to find at least ten more, all completely identical, standing in a circle around him.
"Is that Chrome-dono's doing?"
"She looks out cold, though," Romario comments.
"Is it Mukuro?" The Cavallone boss asks the two Estraneo escapees but Ken growls at him like a rabid dog while Ken ignores them, so no answer comes from there. Reborn, personally, is of the opinion that it's Kyoya's doing. Chrome really does look like she's still knocked out. It seems that the poison was affecting her more than the others. Lambo was still out, too, carried by Gokudera along with his oxygen tank and breathing mask in place. Could be that they had been overdosed, given their slighter body mass and more delicate health. Either way, they were still out. And Kyoya had to watch over Chrome while he fought Xanxus, who could fly, which put him at a severe disadvantage.
Unless Kyoya used those spiked sphere things again.
Reborn had never seen something like them until last night, when they had acted as both sword and shield, for both Kyoya and the others he was trying to protect. He had asked Kyoya about it after the Cervello had left upon delivering the message and Kyoya had finally really shown him the Animal Ring. He had even summoned Roll from it and the hedgehog was adorable, a bit shy but also competent and ferociously protective. His Sky didn't really explain how Roll worked, except that the Animal Ring operated on Flames and needed a lot of power. Kyoya had, for some reason, gazed at the Cloud Ring on his right middle finger at that and contemplated it for a while before he started speculating about what might happen that night.
The hitman knew it was probably a bad idea for the Skylark to actually use Roll right about now, when the chaos was considerably less drastic and distracting than when Gola Mosca had went berserk, but that didn't stop him from wanting the triple Flame user to utilize everything in his power to stay safe. True, Kyoya was the least injured or endangered person in this whole fight besides Xanxus and it was all due to his own skills, but that didn't stop Reborn from worrying. Kyoya was strong, yes, but he was still young and, in Fon's own words, could be quite brash, especially if Namimori was in any way involved. Given that only two people on 'his' team weren't Nami-chuu students and residents of Namimori, Reborn had good enough reasons to worry. Kyoya's ire is actually a lot like a ticking time bomb and he would rather not be there when it explodes.
Or, actually, perhaps it would be best if he was.
Someone has to tell the kid to cool it before he gets himself injured and Tsuyoshi was currently too worked up because of his son's status to do it.
Kusakabe was also out of the question, given his family and the entirety of the Disciplinary Committee were currently on the lookout for any strange or suspicious activities around Tsuna's family, friends or his friends' families. Kyoya is smart to keep an eye on the Varia. Xanxus wants Vongola for himself, which meant taking out any and all competition. He wouldn't hesitate to involve civilians, especially if he is unaware that Vindice visited Namimori semi-regularly due to their unique alliance with Hibari.
"Wait, is that the Hibari boy?" Shamal asked, finally having spotted the origins of the Mist Flames creating the illusions. The still unconscious Chrome had been lowered safely to the ground and there were three rings glinting on Kyoya's fingers, two of them near identical looking and the third quite spiky, like a hedgehog. Reborn also saw through the second illusion cast over the summoned Roll Needle Sphere hovering protectively over one of Kyoya's secondary Mist links. All three rings were ignited with a small Flame, two violet and one indigo.
Shit, Kyoya was using both the Cloud and the Mist Vongola Rings! How were they supposed to explain that away!?
But it seems that no one out on the battle ground has noticed yet, also due to Kyoya's illusions. Shamal only noticed anything because he was looking for the source of the illusion and Reborn could see because he was, well, Reborn, an Arcobaleno and one of Kyoya's Guardians. A glance at the two older Rains who were also watching it all, he could see that both Colonello and Tsuyoshi could see right through them.
The blond Rain leaned in closer to him, voice an unexpected whisper. "Hey, Reborn, is it just me or is that kid using two different Flame Types at the same time, kora? On two Vongola Rings, kora?"
The Sun Arcobaleno was careful to keep all his emotions in check and his face neutral. "It would seem so."
"Did you know about this, kora?"
"I thought he might have secondary Flames but the Cloud was always overwhelming so I couldn't quite discern if that was the case or not without alerting him." Which wasn't exactly a lie. Anyone else would have trouble sensing anything under that sea of violet fire that represented Kyoya's soul, so Reborn pretended he and Kyoya were nothing special to each other besides two 'carnivores' that respected each other and each other's strength. He doesn't want Colonello to learn about what they are to each other. He doesn't want any Arcobaleno to know about it. (Except for Fon, of course, but the Storm had known before Reborn had even found out about Kyoya's existence, so he didn't count.)
The soldier opened his mouth as if to comment on something again but that was the moment Tsuna slammed into Xanxus, distracting, once again, the other Sky and drawing him back to their fight.
Things sort of spiraled from there because Xanxus revealed that the turbulent Storm Flames he had as secondary Flames actually created Flames of Wrath the likes of which only Vongola Secondo has ever been recorded to possess and despite their natural impurity, Xanxus' Flames proved to be very powerful and even more destructive. Then Squalo revealed his backstory and the fact that Xanxus was not, in fact, Timoteo's biological son, but was instead adopted, apparently in the hopes of culling the madness that could come from uncontrolled Wrath Flames raging through a too young child. Xanxus raged some more, Tsuna fought back and then they had a frozen Varia boss, for the second time in about eight years, in an ice block created by the Zero Point Breakthrough: First Edition.
Of course, Mammon didn't want to see their money income brought down, so they managed to, through the use of their own Flames and the naivety of Tsuna's group of friends, gather most of the Vongola Rings, including the most important Sky Ring, and symphon their Flames to counter the Zero Point Breakthrough. Threats were made, the Varia boasted as they, too, convened at the final point of the Sky match, neither side having a full set of Vongola Rings due to Kyoya still holding onto the Cloud and Mist Rings. It was a stalemate until Xanxus put on the Sky Ring and it rejected him.
Why he would even try when he knew the Ring demanded the blood of the Vongola, Reborn would never understand. He was lucky to survive the rejection.
Reborn kind of stopped paying attention after that, right up until Tsuna fainted from fatigue and the beating he'd received. Actually, most of the people collapsed just as Chrome woke up from her nap, being handed the Mist Ring by Kyoya while the now unconscious Tsuna was declared the true successor of the Vongola, the new Decimo.
Reborn couldn't help but wonder if it really was worth it though, all of this.
And he had a bad feeling it was not the end of it.