Tsuna gulps, trying to focus on not hearing Luce's soft sobs, muffled into her younger sister's shoulder, but the crying cuts straight through to his heart. This is his fault.
The village's ninth leader, Timoteo, is still having a hushed conversation with his advisors. Most are nodding along with every word he says, scowling in annoyance. Tsuna's dad keeps sending concerned looks at Tsuna and then arguing fiercer. Dino, the youngest advisor there and liaison to the Sun temple, also looks troubled.
The torches flicker in the light wind. It took the village a very long time to drag these out of storage and try to make new ones. They've never gone without light before. The torches are relics from travellers moving here.
Timoteo clears his throat and the room goes quiet. The three priestesses are sitting to the side while the Ninth is lined up with his advisors at the front of the room. Tsuna stands, shivering from the cold, in the middle.
"Tsunayoshi," Timoteo begins. "Thank you for telling us, it was very brave of you."
"I-is the Sun going to be okay?" Tsuna can't help but ask.
Timoteo smiles gently down at the teenager. "We're going to bring him back, don't worry. But we need time to gather people for the job and that's where you come in."
"Me?" Tsuna squeaks.
"You've seen this Rain God," Timoteo explains. "If you go ahead as a scout, you can find Reborn first. It means that we can rescue our Sun much sooner."
Tsuna stutters. "I-I can't – I don't know how-"
"I'm sure you'll do well," Timoteo says, still with that grandfatherly smile on his face. "Go and say goodbye to your family and friends. A pack will be brought to you with all the supplies you'll need."
Tsuna tries one last time to protest but everyone is already talking, reasoning out who should be on the actual rescue team. Iemitsu walks up to Tsuna and leads him out with a hand on his shoulder. They don't speak until they get home, carefully picking their way across the pitch black village.
Nana meets them at the door. "What's wrong?" she asks quickly. "Is our Sun okay?"
Iemitsu puts on a grin. "It's okay, my love. Reborn went for a walk but he got a little lost on the way back!" he laughs. "And guess what? Our adorable Tuna-fishie volunteered to go find him!"
"Oh, Tsu-kun!" Nana says in delight. "That's wonderful! Here, I'll pack you some lunch." She strides away with purpose.
Iemitsu's grin fades and he looks at Tsuna, completely serious. "There's a restaurant in Comsubin called Takesushi. When you get there, find a man called Tsuyoshi. Stay there until I can get to you, do you understand?"
"Dad…" Tsuna tries.
Iemitsu grabs him by the shoulders and brings him in close. "Tsuna, do you understand? You can't stay here because there are a lot of people angry at you for…for not protecting the Sun even though you were facing off against a God-" Iemitsu cuts himself off, still shaken. He could have lost him, could have lost his little boy. "Just – just stay with Tsuyoshi. Tell him you're my son and stay there."
"Okay," Tsuna says quickly, scared at how strangely his dad is acting. "I promise."
Nana hustles back into the room and Iemitsu pulls away, a neutral smile falling back onto his face. Tsuna accepts the food wrapped in cloth and then the hug.
A knock on the door comes next and Dino enters with a drawstring satchel. Tsuna tucks the food inside it and then starts walking.
It only really hits when he leaves the village gates.
Reborn wakes up freezing cold on a hard surface with a heavy body pressing against his back. His eyes snap open and he takes in the very messy bedroom.
There are racks lining the walls, filled with variations on the same strange weapon that the blond used, only in all shapes and sizes. Clothes are scattered over the floor and a door in the wall Reborn is facing leads off to a bathroom with several yellow rubber ducks sitting in random places.
The bed has a thin sheet half-heartedly tossed over a clear, freezing substance, the same element that the short chains connecting Reborn's wrists to the headboard are made of. Reborn is soaked through as well, from a sizable puddle on the bed where it dips towards the middle.
Reborn tries to move away from the body behind him but the heavy arm over his waist tightens and drags him back.
"Hrm," Colonnello grumbles and mashes his face into Reborn's hair. "Turn off the light, baby."
Reborn jerks away and twists awkwardly with the chains but still manages to plant a foot into the blond's stomach.
Colonnello goes through the wall.
When the Rain staggers back through the hole in the wall, Reborn is kneeling by the headboard, clothes dripping, a pissed off scowl on his face. The Sun is missing his hat, jacket, tie and shoes while his shirt is untucked. The Rain is missing everything except for his underwear.
"What is your problem?!" Colonnello snaps, rubbing his aching stomach. "Okay, you didn't even try to fight back so don't play innocent damsel with me, asshole!"
"Fuck you," Reborn spits out, furious, because he did try damn it. But when does a God need to fight? Reborn has never even seen violence before, much less thrown a punch himself. "It's cold!" Reborn blurts out.
"No shit," the Rain cries. "You melted the ice. It would have been fine if you didn't mess with it."
"Are you seriously too poor to buy a normal bed?" Reborn mocks.
No, focus. Don't argue with the Rain, he only feels so familiar because…because the other is also a God. Colonnello is a threat, treat him like one.
Reborn hauls back on the chains but nothing so much as budges even under his Godly strength. They're loose from the so-called ice melting but he can't get his hands out yet.
"You have your hammock, I have this," Colonnello retorts in annoyance, stomping over. "Lie back down and go to sleep, I forgot how bright it gets when you're this close."
Rain country is far enough west of Sun country that Comsubin stays at a nice, steady shine, only dropping to dim lighting when Reborn goes to sleep.
"Oh, you like being kicked around?" Reborn sneers when the other God advances again.
Colonnello becomes cautious when he gets closer. He takes a hit to the chest but catches Reborn's ankle as a trade off. He yanks and Reborn collapses onto his stomach as the Rain God pulls him taut across the bed, forming another ice chain to lock him in place.
Reborn lets out a burst of heat, sunshine moving under his skin like the lazy flow of magma, the brightness and hotness outside doubling down in response. All it does is evaporate the water on the bed because Colonnello's too quick to let the ice melt any further.
"Give up, baby," Colonnello taunts, clambering onto the bed to hover over Reborn. "You're in Rain country now, bitch."
The breath is pushed out of Reborn when the other God flops on top of him. "Get off me!"
"But you're so warm and nice to cuddle," the Rain God admits. He loves the coldness of ice but he missed having Reborn around.
The door slams open violently and a dark-blue haired woman in black shorts and a red crop top storms in. Reborn's eyes immediately go to the large burn mark scoured across the side of her scowling face.
"Tone it the fuck down," she snaps. "I'm sweating from everywhere and someone's going to get heat stroke out there."
Rain country is wet, cold and wet. This heat, while people welcome the lack of rain and the slowly drying environment, also brings humidity as everything evaporates. Reborn is also riled up enough that the normally pleasant warmth has turned to harsh baking.
"Hey, Lal," Colonnello says happily. He's not feeling hot because his bed is literally made of ice.
"And it's too fucking early as well." Lal jabs a finger at Colonnello then stabs it at Reborn before slamming the door shut behind her when she leaves.
"She's my priestess," the Rain God explain to Reborn, sounding very gleeful. "Isn't she amazing?"
Reborn imagines Luce, Aria and Yuni all acting like that. Then stops imagining. Because that's terrifying.
Reborn continues to slowly increase the heat outside. This is far from the hottest he can get, but it's just a threat, he doesn't actually want to boil this city alive.
Colonnello mutters something uncomplimentary but rolls off the Sun and starts picking through piles of clothes on the floor for something that's mildly clean. "Fuck, fine, we'll get up at ass o'clock in the morning, whatever."