The core of the dying will flame is identical throughout the world; it's just a basis, a skeleton structure that can be built on and personalised. The shell is what changes depending on the person and their frequency. If you happen to match frequencies, then a bond forms, but a shell can be so varied between individuals that bonding is incredibly rare.

(Which makes it so damn ridiculous that Reborn found three in the space of a month without even having to leave Italy.)

People only have one collective flame centre inside them. It doesn't matter how many types of flame a person has, because the main storage is just shared between 'doorways', and only then does it get converted into different colours.

Reborn has immense Sun flames and the doorway to his flame storage can be opened wide to allow as much as possible through when necessary. Quite frankly, it is more power than he will ever need at one time.

In contrast, summoning his Sky flames takes too much time and too much energy because the doorway naturally formed as something jammed almost entirely shut. It can barely be opened and the flames have to squeeze through. It's inefficient. It shows itself as weak flickers, a pathetic flame.

When Reborn bonded to Skull he didn't quite realise the shift, not to mention he was unconscious at the time after being kidnapped by the purple freak.

Reborn's not very aware of his Sky flames, so when the doorway was forced open just a bit more, hinges bending unnaturally, it completely went over his head. The door jammed again in this new position, open slightly to supply enough flames to keep a bond going, weak as it was at the start.

Verde's bond broke something. The hinges were already strained and warped. It's not a crack anymore, something to peek through – the entire door just completely ripped off. It's too much power, constantly. Reborn can't close it, he can't hold everything in without hurting himself.

So he hurts himself.

Because the only other option is flooding the faint, newborn bonds and making them solidify. Like this, they can still be broken. Reborn is not giving up everything he's worked for just because these fuckers can't keep their hands to themselves. Reborn can still fix this clusterfuck before he gets dragged down and the world's greatest title becomes nothing but a desperate hallucination while he drowns in mediocrity.

So Reborn burns from the inside out.

Because at least it means he's not drowning.


Skull is happy because they're going to the beach today. Well, Skull is going to the beach and Reborn is going to kill his target then throw them into the ocean.

"Which is ridiculous," Skull is whining as they step into the train station. "I can do a triple backflip in my sleep, I wouldn't have messed up if I was on my normal bike. She's the one who wanted to promote the shitty Vespa in the first place!"

Reborn moves up to the (thankfully empty of people) ticket counter and starts flirting with the woman there. Skull stays quiet while they talk but impatiently shuffles around, bouncing on his feet so his backpack bounces too. He has swimwear for both of them inside because apparently anything but a briefcase would ruin Reborn's aesthetic, so Skull is the pack mule now.

"That train is just about to leave," the woman admits. "The next is only half an hour away if you can wait."

"We'll make it," Reborn says carelessly.

The woman looks sceptical but Reborn is too handsome to say no to.

As the woman searches around for the paper tickets, Skull flops forward, headbutting Reborn's shoulder. "So anyway, I stacked it and broke my neck to freak her out. She quit."

Reborn hands over a note to pay and glances sideways with a flat stare. "Yeah, your neck looks really broken."

Skull laughs. "Babe, I told you, I'm immortal."

Reborn hums and grabs the tickets. "Well, Skull, I hope you're also fast."

Reborn sprints off because the train is leaving in half a minute from the platform furthest away. Skull splutters and runs after the hitman. They weave through a crowd of people just getting off another train, Skull vaulting over a little boy and Reborn very deliberately splitting apart a young couple holding hands.

"Which number?!" Skull calls out, Reborn well ahead of him.

"Fourteen!" the hitman yells back.

Skull takes a sharp turn down platform six and then leaps off the edge, sprinting across the empty tracks before jumping back up onto seven. He slowly closes the distance between them because Reborn has to dodge the crowd of people milling about.

Skull darts into the waiting train at platform eight and bursts out the other side, diving over the gap onto nine just as that train pulls in, skimming his backpack.

Eleven to fifteen are later additions to the station so their placement is much further back, even if they are still parallel to the other platforms. Reborn has to turn and run down along the shop fronts but Skull just skips across the train tracks at ten and finds himself at the very start of eleven.

Reborn is faster but Skull had the shortcut so they turn down into platform fourteen at the same time, racing each other and the train that's already pulling away and gaining speed. Just as they catch up to the closest train door, Reborn ducks to the side in front of Skull and comes to a dead stop with a wicked smirk on his face.

Skull rams into the hitman's back and bounces off. Reborn staggers from the impact but still reaches for the metal bar near the train door, planning to quickly haul himself up and then watch as Skull gets left behind.

Skull manages to grab a fistful of Reborn's suit jacket even as the stuntman is falling so Reborn gets jerked off balance instead. He trips over an accidentally placed foot from Skull and tips backwards, fingers brushing the metal bar as he falls.

Skull hits the ground first and Reborn flops on top of him as the train leaves them behind.

Skull cracks up laughing, the sound half muffled in between Reborn's shoulder blades. "You dickhead! What was that?"

"Complete accident," Reborn says earnestly, which just makes him sound like he's lying. And he definitely is.

Reborn rolls off Skull and to his feet, made more difficult by Skull clinging to Reborn's waist. Skull gets dragged up with the hitman and doesn't let go even when Reborn shakes his hips to try and dislodge the leech.

"Get off," Reborn complains. "Security is here to drag you away and I don't want them to think we're friends."

Skull peeks out around Reborn's shoulder to find that, yep, station security did not like his shortcut. "Ride or die, senpai."

"Fuck no."