Fon looked decidedly pleased with the first weapon Tsuna made for him. It took him a few months because he kept tweaking it for reasons known only to him. But the end result was something the tiny martial artist looked delighted with.
Tsuna called them "Storm Claws", though he didn't know why that was the first thing that came to mind once they were finished and sharpened.
It was a set of blades attached to a sort of gauntlet that would allow Fon the ability to use his hands freely without cutting himself. The blades themselves were retractable and were hidden as 'decorative' strips of metal along the guantlet. Fon practiced with using them and was rather happy with the result, as they extended and retracted on command and allowed him to be even more lethal as a result.
Tsuna still didn't know what the special metal Fon had given him was, but he knew it was far superior to the iron and steel fragments that his grandfather gave him to practice with.
All in all, Fon was so pleased with the weapon and the set of kunai and shuriken that Tsuna made for him that he paid more than the agreed price.
Somehow, Tsuna had the feeling the tiny martial artist was going to be a repeat customer. And would lead more people to him later on for business.
A few months later...
Tsuna looked at his favorite (and most regular) customer.
"You want me to make a full set of authentic shinobi gear for someone your size?" said Tsuna.
"It's for a friend who's really into Japanese culture. He's more of a ninja fan than a samurai one, and I thought it would cheer him up after the bad week he's been having, especially since I know his birthday is soon," said Fon, smiling pleasantly while at Tsuna's home.
By this point the man was a regular in Tsuna's house, since Hibari didn't like having him around and his aunt kept treating the man as an actual child. Not to mention his uncle was decidedly nervous at having Lichi around for some reason, as if the monkey were an untrained pet.
As a result, Tsuna made a point to stock up on some proper loose leaf tea and always had some ready whenever Fon came to visit. He seemed to find the atmosphere around the newly minted teenager relaxing.
"I might be able to pull that off. When do you need it?"
"Preferably by next month. I know it's a lot to ask, but he's an old colleague of mine and I know this would really cheer him up," said Fon.
"I've got a lot of practice and fortunately we do have a break coming up. Most of the issue I have with forging is that I have to deal with classes on top of it, which is why it takes so long," said Tsuna, sipping his oolong tea. "What's your friend's name?"
"Skull de Mort. He often refers to himself as the 'Great Skull-sama' and I know for a fact he's a huge fan of the older Godzilla movies. He has a pet octopus he calls Oodako," said Fon.
"That's a very...literal...name."
Fon smiled in return.
"So how complete of a set do you want? Kunai and shuriken are obvious, but do you want a sword and some claws similar to the ones I made for you a while back?"
"Something a casual fan of shinobi would have on hand to cosplay with, but with the lethality of the real thing. I have heard that the Narikawa clan specialize in creating swords that cleanse misfortune, so that would be something I would like him to have. He has enough bad luck on his own without adding more to it," said Fon.
Tsuna took out a notepad.
"So the basic kunai, shuriken...maybe some senbon and claws to 'climb' up walls with, and definitely a ninjato for smaller hands. I think I can come up with that in a month, so long as I spent most of my break in the forge," said Tsuna.
"If it helps, I can source some more of the 'special' metal you made my claws with before for the sword," said Fon.
"That would definitely cut down on the cost. I make kunai and shuriken out of scrap metal most of the time, so I can create those relatively quickly. Senbon are going to be a bit of a pain because I don't know if Akira has ever sharpened those before."
"I can source those, actually. I know someone who has a supply of them for acupuncture clinics," said Fon.
"So the two main issues are going to be the claws and the sword. This is going to be tough, but I'm fairly positive I can get the order done on time," said Tsuna confidently. "Think you can get a picture of his reaction when he sees it?"
Fon smiled warmly.
"I'm sure Skull will love it and his expression will be most amusing."
Tsuna worked for hours in the forge to make the ninjato. The claws were easy, since he tended to make shinobi weaponry as a way to test any new metals he bought to see what he could make with them. It took all of a two days to make them for someone Fon's size.
The sword, however, he put far more care into. After all, it was a Narikawa specialty and he didn't want word getting out he had half-assed making a proper sword.
He almost didn't make the deadline, but the finished product was something he was happy with. He called the sword "Cloud Rider", and just like Tsukiyo, he could see an infant sword spirit being formed while it was sharpened by Akira.
He could only hope the spirit that was born from the sword was a kind one. He found it rather funny that it almost seemed to take the form of a lizard with sharp spikes along the back.
It would be rather amusing if the Godzilla fan ended up with a sword that had a soul that looked like the king of kaiju.
"Happy Birthday Skull," said Fon grinning.
Skull opened up the box and gaped.
"No way, where did you get actual ninja weaponry?" he said in shock, but his delight was obvious. He looked at Fon suspiciously. "Are you sure you're not secretly a ninja?"
Fon coughed with amusement. It was a longstanding argument after one too many movie nights before the curse, and it was something the others still teased him about.
"I found a rather good weaponsmith in Japan who does custom work for a far more reasonable price than I could get in China. He's still an apprentice, but he's very skilled. The sword in particular was something he spent quite a bit of time on, and he comes from a long line of swordsmiths. I believe he called the blade 'Cloud Rider'," said Fon.
"A long line of sword smiths? Which one?"
"He's from the Narikawa family."
Skull gaped at him.
"No way, you're telling me this was made by a descendant of Kouin? Which grandson made this?" asked Skull eagerly.
Fon blinked.
"You know which family I was talking about by the name?"
Skull looked as excited as a puppy.
"The Narikawa are famous in Japan! The grandfather is a national living treasure and he often works with his son to create really high quality blades! I heard a rumor one of the grandchildren had taken up the family tradition and did custom orders, and that the other one was a sharpening master!" said Skull eagerly. "You wouldn't believe what the forums have been saying about the grandson's work."
Fon smiled at him.
"I have the feeling Tsuna would be embarrassed but happy learning you like his work. He enjoys it when people show love towards his creations, especially when it comes to swords. The claws he made for me are far superior to what I normally get my hands on in the Triads," said Fon.
"Claws?" said Skull, tilting his head.
Fon pulled out the gauntlets and extended the claws.
"That...is insanely cool!" said Skull.
"He called them Storm Claws," said Fon. You could hear his amusement at the name.
"Can I meet him? Please?" begged Skull. He was so bored lately and he was between jobs. Besides, it meant he might be able to get Narikawa's autograph which would be awesome!
"I don't see why not."
Skull was the least threatening of the group and often acted like a little kid. Tsuna might enjoy having him around.
Of all the things to happen, this was not the outcome he anticipated.
Fon openly stared after Kyouya attempted to brain Skull for getting close to Tsuna...before proceeding to go Active. It took some fast talking before his grandson calmed down thanks to Tsuna...who's eyes were glowing amber with a hidden well of strength.
Fon had a rather sudden epiphany seeing that.
"My apologizes Skull. I honestly had no idea that Tsuna was a Sky or that Kyouya had already staked his claim on him as his Cloud," said Fon sheepishly.
He had known Tsuna was Active, but he had never bothered to find out which type he was. He had just assumed the boy was a Mist because of his skill at creating things.
He never would have guessed the teen was a Sky.
Tsuna blinked.
"What's a Sky?"
Fon sighed. This was going to be a headache, but on the plus side so long as Tsuna never displayed any obvious signs of Flame use he might be able to skate as a civilian. After all, he was the most cost-efficient supplier of custom-made blades available in Asia.
Tsuna might not know it, but a lot of his clients were part of the underworld. They were just discreet about it and followed by the simple rule Fon had placed when it came to orders.
The rule was that no one with obvious underworld affiliations was to approach the boy or his family. The Narikawa were respected enough even by the Triads and the Yakuza that they were willing to use proxies to make orders.
"What a mess. Though if we're going to have this discussion, it might be best to do it at TakeSushi," said Fon.
"Why?" asked Tsuna.
"Well for one thing, it means I can get some sake," said Fon bluntly. He had the feeling he was going to need it. "And for another, this discussion will definitely involve young Takeshi at some point so it would be better to get it out of the way. Besides, his father is an ex-assassin."
Tsuyoshi would be an acceptable contact for the boys to have in the event Fon wasn't available himself to answer questions. Besides, he had to have suspected something was going on with his son and Tsuna.
An hour later...
Tsuyoshi not only gave them a private dining room for free, but he gave them a discount on their order.
Skull found himself in Tsuna's lap, which he didn't mind at all. The teen was rather cuddly and his flames weren't trying to smother him into a bond he didn't want. Kyouya was still rather grumpy, but the fact Skull's flames weren't trying to attach themselves to Tsuna kept him from becoming violent...again.
Tsuna took the explanation well enough...right up until Fon told them about the fact that Flame Actives were more often than not forcibly dragged into the underworld.
Case in point, Skull, who was a former civilian stuntman.
Tsuna paled upon hearing that. However he actually relaxed at the possessive growl from not only Kyouya, but Takeshi as well.
"So just to be clear, these underworld guys are going to come after Tsuna because he has some rare color and expect him to play for their team even if he doesn't want to?" said Takeshi.
Tsuyoshi looked resigned at the fact that his son went active the second Fon confirmed that any number of unsavory characters would try to force Tsuna into their families because of his flames...with or without his consent.
On the plus side, it was clear that Takeshi had developed a proper Guardian bond with a Sky that actually gave a damn, so that was one less worry for him. And it was someone Tsuyoshi didn't mind his son being around.
"You said that people would try to force fake bonds on me in order to drag me into their family," said Tsuna. "What did you mean by that?"
Fon took a long hit of his sake. It was clearly a sore subject for him.
"Nowadays it's rare to see a Sky properly courting a Guardian that would actually match them. And a lot of families encourage their Skies to try and entice the most powerful or influential Elements first to improve their own standing. However if there is no compatibility between them, the attempts at harmony can be...painful...to say the least."
"How so?" asked Tsuna with open concern.
"Imagine putting on a pair of headphones and hitting play on a music player expecting something you consider acceptable to come out, only to hear a genre like heavy metal blaring at full volume into your ears without any warning whatsoever," said Fon after a moment. "The experience is very jarring and quite often rather painful to handle, especially with the sudden shock to the system. Except instead of a momentary pain from the blast of sound, you have to deal with the ache of having something that would complete you in a way that's impossible to fully describe and knowing that the odds of finding it are almost impossible."
Seeing the collective wince of Takeshi and Tsuna, he knew he had gotten the point across.
"So how do I bring out these flames anyway?" asked Tsuna.
Fon thought of a way to describe it.
"How would you react if someone were to threaten your mother at this very moment?" asked Fon. "And don't describe it in words...put your thought into protecting her and will it to appear."
Tsuna didn't have to think twice... it was the same strange calm he felt while forging, except aimed towards protecting his loved ones and close friends like Takeshi or Kyouya.
There was even some protectiveness for Fon and to a lesser extent Skull.
You could imagine Fon's shock when Tsuna went from calm straight into Hyper Dying Will Mode.
Kyouya and Takeshi relaxed immediately when they felt Tsuna's flame fill the room and wrap itself protectively around them. Offering them a home where they didn't have to hide their true natures and giving them unconditional acceptance.
Tsuna felt something click into place, and the shock of that caused the flames to turn off. He sagged, exhausted beyond belief and really wanting a nap.
The thing that bugged Fon and to a lesser extent Skull was the fact that while Tsuna's flames were out, they could feel the gentle call of his Sky. It was a vast difference from what they normally had to put up with.
His 'call' wasn't demanding anything...just offering a place where they could finally rest and not have to deal with being alone anymore.