The invitation Reborn finds on his doorstep very specifically states; To Sky Reborn. It then names Skull and Colonnello as the Cloud and Rain. That emphasis means they know who Reborn has been with, that they're watching him. It's a threat.
The Sfondo is a higher-ranked famiglia with an heir -a Storm- so they'd still vie for a Sky as a trophy. The group is in a mid-range, invited to all the major events but still unable to compete with the big boys like the Vongola.
It's right in that gap, between the smaller famiglias who aren't strong enough to keep a Sky, and the larger famiglias who already have one or who are wary of Reborn overshadowing current blood heirs.
It's that fucking Mist, Reborn realises. That Mist is selling Reborn and he hopes they're at least getting a good price for him.
Reborn was having fun at first. Reborn ran around dismantling a network and it was fun for him, he didn't care that he was killing people for free because it was interesting - like a little mystery for him to solve.
The Mist has only just started playing along too; leaving hints and taunts with the people Reborn questions. Reborn even went on a cute treasure hunt of body parts one day.
Reborn had no warning about this invitation. It didn't seem like the Mist was getting upset or tired of their games, but maybe Reborn wasn't paying enough attention? He read their interactions wrong? He thought they had a system going – he killed people for free and the Mist willingly lost contacts to give him some entertainment.
Reborn is still staring down at the letter, trying to discern anything from the card, the handwriting, the pen ink.
He needs Fon. It's not about strength because Reborn is strong - Italy's streets will run red before he lets someone lay a finger on his friends. But Fon is Chinese Triad, he uses a different system and this famiglia have to tiptoe their way around that. It would give Reborn time.
What Reborn is most worried about is how the Sfondo might use some bullshit tradition to con him into joining their subpar posse because Reborn is so much better than a middling, mediocre background famiglia but if the Vindice get involved on a technicality...
Reborn could also use COMSUBIN. Colonnello is lower recruit, doesn't count for much, but he's still military and can't be dragged in without a fight. Lal is high-tier COMSUBIN? But Lal is also insane.
All of Reborn's potentials are insane though so Reborn probably needs someone intelligent. Maybe he should get Verde to go with him.
Maybe he should get…all of them?
God no, is Reborn's first instinct. But everyone showing up means his Guardian slots are basically filled. And he would have a Triad, two special ops military, plus Verde is solidly neutral because he invents for who pays more and famiglias would fight over that.
Even Skull can say he's Interpol and freak everyone out. (Actually, Skull is genuinely Interpol because they got him a badge last week and Reborn really needs to stop stalling and actually deal with that whole situation - but he probably won't.)
Honestly the whole Mafia would be too confused with these ridiculous Guardians to mess with Reborn. And imagine the first person to challenge Fon. Imagine if it's a Storm.
Imagine all of Reborn's Guardians combining their shithead energy together and Reborn being the one to direct them at his enemies.
Now that's a dangerous thought.
Viper ends up standing outside Reborn's place without consciously deciding to visit.
But it is lunch time, plus Reborn's taste in food is an exact match for Viper and the hitman is an amazing cook. Viper stole a bite last week from Verde's lunch after breaking into the scientist's lab to get a progress report on an invention.
Viper has been craving more of Reborn's food and also knows that since Colonnello is busy with COMSUBIN lately, that means there are probably leftovers in the fridge. Unless Fon dropped by and cleaned out the place with his stupid muscle-head metabolism.
Viper unlocks the front door with the key Colonnello 'lost' about a month ago and uses their ESPer power to just float up near the ceiling and skim over all the furniture on a straight shot to the kitchen. Admittedly, there has been a few close calls with Verde but Viper has gotten very good at tricking cameras lately.
They rummage through the fridge for leftovers and just toss the whole plastic container into the microwave, then steal some of Lal's yummy strawberry protein power and shakes it up with milk to make a drink. No one ever notices Viper's snacking because they all blame each other for missing stuff.
Which is really very negligent and these people should be keeping track of their stock properly. If Viper was Reborn's Mist then…
Well, whatever.
Viper searches for a fork in all of the drawers because Skull keeps moving shit around. They open a larger drawer down the bottom and find the paper shredder. They leave that pulled out and dig through the next drawer to finally grab a fork.
As they move towards the table for a seat, they use Mist flames to pull out the shredded paper and start sticking it back together. Of course they go through this rubbish, because they're nosy. This is how Viper built their empire at the start, just small secrets that people didn't think to bury deep enough.
They sit at the table and eat while going through the pile; A rejected hit contract for some foreign drug lord. A bill (and Reborn really needs to change energy providers because Viper can get him a deal that's two-point-four percent lower per annum). Some scraps. Then a ticket to Skull's stunt show – wait, why was that shredded? Reborn, how rude.
Viper seals the ticket back together and tucks it into a pocket. Viper will go see Skull. Might even take a peek at the man's contract because they do not pay Skull enough for the kind of idiotic things he throws himself head-first into.
Next is what looks to be a half-written letter from Reborn to Lal; asking her to stop leaving flames all over everything, as if she's marking her territory, because it makes Reborn think that she feels like home and ohmygod Lal you're doing it on purpose-! Another hit contract for some boring civilian political rival. An invitation comes out too.
Viper brings the invitation closer and reads it with a frown. In fact, they've been very proactive in shielding Reborn from anyone figuring out he's a Sky because the hitman is not subtle - or at least his Guardian's aren't. Honestly, if Reborn gets tucked into a basement somewhere then Viper lose a great resource – a hitman like Reborn, killing people for free? It's a steal! Viper isn't giving that up.
So how the hell did a basic bitch famiglia like the Sfondo get past Viper's control?
.
A/N: None of the Arcobaleno have even met Viper, but the Mist has had several arguments with them about financial security and the pros of stock exchange.
But actually, Viper has deluded themself into pretending they're friends with the others. Except Viper is in denial about the friendship because they don't need friends when they have money. (Viper is a very confusing individual.)
