My Storm, My Cloud, My Sun, My Sky
Summary: Reborn met Fon, they became Arcobaleno and went separate ways, not seeing each other for years. Kyoya was born, Fon had to leave to protect his family and they didn't see each other for years. Tsuna met Reborn, the adventure starts. Hibari met Reborn, craziness starts. Dino met Kyoya, Fon returns and secrets are revealed. Better than it sounds, I promise! D18, RF, LalCol possible others.
Acknowledging he liked Fon - as childish as that word sounded for such a momentous notion that for the first time occurred in the life of a man like Reborn - did not mean he was immediately ready to start courting the man. Courting would definitely be needed, because a teasing conversation Lal and Colonello once held with him still stuck in his thoughts and sounded rather accurate now that he knew Fon even the little bit that he did. Fon definitely didn't seem like the type to just fall into bed with random people just because he or they felt like it. And since Reborn liked him, it was already something special, so Reborn could go out of his way to make it mean something.
It wouldn't exactly be a hardship. Fon was not like a woman.
Now, Reborn had the upmost respect for the fairer sex, but he will admit that women sometimes confused him. He was without a doubt one of the most intelligent men in the world and long experience as a hitman allowed for him to develop quite a skill in reading people, but sometimes not even that was enough to figure out how the female mind worked. Women could be truly complicated, even hitwomen, so to say. Hell, especially hitwomen. They could change their mind at the drop of the hat, go hot and cold on him any second, could demand a lot more attention that he could or would want to give them, could get clingy or were just not his type because they had only shopping, fancy drinks, make-up and sex on the brain. He'd, of course, met truly ingenious women and he knew Lal Mirch personally, so he knew not everyone was like that - just like not all men were better drivers, for example - but women like that were usually in his line of work and that was simply dangerous so he stayed away from them. At least as lovers.
But Fon was not a woman and he definitely wasn't like a woman, either.
Fon had effortlessly caught his attention that very first moment they had met. And it wasn't even the 'literally catching a bullet' trick that had done it, though that was definitely a huge turn on. No, it was the danger hidden in the shorter man, the skill that did not sharpen his smile unless he wished for it to be cutting, the cunning intellect in those chocolate colored eyes and yet the genuine kindness he still exudes. Fon was a contradiction, an enigma, a puzzle he'd very much love to solve. He wasn't annoying, he could hold up his own in a fight against Reborn even if the hitman still held the lead of a few spars between them, he wasn't as explosive as a usual Storm's personality tended to be, though he definitely still held on to that 'relentless, continuous attack' part, as evident from watching Fon's fighting style. He liked sweets and green or black tea over coffee or alcoholic beverages, though he'd drink a glass of it if it's a special occasion. He held some wisdom and a lot of experience and he was definitely the beautiful kind of handsome while being utterly oblivious to it.
All of that, Reborn mused as he lounged around on his bed, fiddling once again with that fated used, caught bullet, was invaluable information if he wants to court Fon. But, he also recognized, it wasn't enough, and so he made the first step towards preparing the start of this strange courtship.
He knocked on where he knew Viper's door was and waited for the Mist to realize Reborn won't be leaving until they speak.
"What do you want?" They asked a bit peevishly, but the black haired Italian merely arched an eyebrow.
"I am in need of your services. I will, of course, pay accordingly."
The Mist studied him for a moment from underneath their hood before sighing. "Good grief. Might as well come in, I guess." He wasn't even welcomed properly by his 'host' when Viper turned to look at him and crossed their arms almost challengingly. Or was it expectantly? Maybe both. Most likely protectively. Reborn knew he intimidated his fellow 'strongest seven' to various degrees, yes, even Fon and Luche, because that's only the natural human reaction to being around someone stronger, more powerful and more dangerous than you. Viper, though, was one of those types that hated pain and would prefer never to actually enter a fight if they can get away with it. It is unlikely they'd challenge Reborn. "Well, what is it?"
"I want to know all you can find about Fon," the Sun said easily, not bothering to beat around the bush. He took out his phone so he can start working on giving Viper their payment. Half now and half after he gets the information, though he had a special account that would allow for him to retract the half he had already transferred to another's account if it turns out to be a double-cross. He'd learned plenty of tricks over the course of his 'career'.
Viper gave off the feeling that they're arching an eyebrow. "Yare, yare, that's a pricey demand. Are you sure you can afford it?"
"Don't waste my time, illusionist."
"Yare, yare, what a boorish brute." When they heard the click of a gun's safety being removed, Viper agreed and took out a sheet of paper from somewhere from within their cloak and seemingly sneezed on it. "Let me see the proof of the payment."
Reborn turned the phone around so they can see it. "Half now, the rest when I'm satisfied."
"Tch. Good grief, but you drive a hard bargain. Very well, let's see." Viper waited for the information to appear before they started rattling off basic information, like date of birth, nationality - which was, surprisingly enough, Japanese and not Chinese; he just lived most of the time in China - current age, weight, height, occupation, position within the mafia world, last known whereabouts. "Hm, it would seem he belongs to an old clan that tracks its roots to the first emperor."
"The first Japanese emperor?" Reborn asked with a frown, impressed despite himself.
Viper threw him a look that was probably as deadpan as their voice as they replied. "Chinese." The hitman felt his eyebrows climb under the rim of his fedora. "Apparently the clan moved to Japan in time for one of their own to marry one of the first dynasty Japanese emperors, so I guess that's true, too. When there was a shift in dynasties, they faded from public eye for a while and reemerged some decades later as the Hibari Clan."
"Hibari?"
"'Skylark' in Japanese." That tidbit almost made him startle, because he remembered a certain comment made by Fon that finally made some sense now. "They have a rather impressive bloodline, all things considered. Fon's the eldest son of the current Clan Head. His mother is dead. He has three cousins, all male, two aunts and one uncle. He also has a sister, but I can't find her name or any other information about her. It's well protected." Viper shrugged it off and asked for more money if Reborn wanted to know more about Fon's family instead of Fon himself. When they were refused, Viper sighed and continued rattling off the information they got on Fon. "He has mastered one hundred and fifty three martial arts, including that stinky Gyoza Fist, has the purest Storm Flames in the world and ranks as the tenth most dangerous person in the world and the absolute best martial artist in the world. He speaks English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean, has joined the Triads when he was seventeen, can use a variety of weapons for close to mid range combat and has survived three different Triad bosses. He seems to have grown up in the mafia neutral zone in that town Vongola Primo and some of his Guardians settled in, Namimori. He has completed over three thousand five hundred and seventy successful missions, out of which two thousand and fifty were purely assassination ones. There's no data of him ever having particularly close friends or lovers, though he does have a relatively long list of enemies. Many of whom are dead already, mostly by his hand, so it is safe to say he can take care of himself and lives up to his reputation."
"That's it?" Reborn had heard about Viper's skills in gathering information and this didn't seem nearly enough.
"He obviously has someone to cover his tracks where he doesn't want them being visible," the Mist said a bit peevishly. "I can't track data that isn't there."
"Well, I guess that's still good enough," the hitman said, initiating the rest of the money transfer as he turned around and just walked right out of the door, not sparing Viper a second glance. He walked right past Skull, blocking a punch absently when the Cloud got irked that he was being ignored, twisted his hand around enough to plant Skull into the wall and then closed the door behind himself as he entered the room. He passed by his bed and came to sit on the window sill, eyes absently gazing outside as he once again started fiddling with that damned bullet that had started this whole ridiculousness.
Yes, he knew more about Fon now, but very little of the information he had gained was actually all too useful in courtship preparations.
At least he knew for sure that Fon didn't have a lover.
He can work with that.
00000
He started off small, simple. Like he was slowly easing into it. He didn't exactly want anyone to catch on to his intentions too soon. He had to figure out if Fon was interested in him, too, before he lets the others realize his intentions because he did not want to deal with Colonello's teasing because he might just kill the blond and dump his body down the side of the mountain to be found by whatever poor, unfortunate soul stumbles upon it. Yes, he'd probably be doing Lal a favor - she could do better - but it would mar his reputation quite a bit if people were to hear he'd lost his temper in such a manner.
So it was just small gestures, really. More smiles than smirks, though the smirks he did give Fon were inviting, intense, spoke of seduction even if he did not let it ooze sex appeal because he didn't want to send the wrong message. He helped Fon in the small things he did to ease Luche's everyday activities as a soon-to-be mother - and somehow got even closer to Luche, to the point she had once said he was 'like a brother to her' right to his face with Fon practically giggling in the background at the stupefied expression he must have made - saved him extra treats - by stealing Skull's, Verde's or Colonello's, depending on which one of them earned his ire the most that day - sparring with him or just spending more quiet nights with him in the gardens.
Then came touches. Small and fleeting but definitely more contact than he engaged with the others, even Luche or Colonello - whom he'd tried strangling a few times by the time they'd all been staying together for three weeks, so it wasn't exactly the type of contact another person would want, but whatever. At times, Reborn would get Fon tea out of the blue and hand it to him, just so he can make sure their fingers brushed. A few times, though he wasn't one hundred percent sure, he thought Fon had blushed at the contact. It should have been easy to see, given how pale Fon's skin was, but the martial artist was if nothing else exceptionally good at controlling his own body, including such reactions as blushing. Which only prompted Reborn to try harder because each blush or shy smile - those were ... adorable; Reborn nearly had a heart attack the first time one graced his intended's lips and he was pretty sure he heard someone (Viper and Skull) choke on air behind him, not that Fon had noticed, but Luche sure as hell seemed to get a kick out of it, judging by the silent giggles that honestly looked more like maniacal cackling of a mad scientist seeing their own Frankenstein monster waking up - felt like a victory and Reborn loved winning, especially if the prize was so precious.
He upped his game the week Luche introduced them to their new partners.
"Good grief, I don't want a pet," Viper said with a heavy sigh as Luche presented them all with five very different animals. "They cost too much money to keep."
"I don't have the time. A pet will interfere with my experiments," Verde said, not even looking up from one of his smaller laptops that he was carrying in one hand, typing away with the other. He did, however, look up when he felt something nudging his foot and the rest of them all watched warily as the crocodile of the group kept trying to get the Lightning to pay more attention to it. Then, because it had grown impatient and Verde was just looking at it out of annoyance, the crocodile decided to shatter their understanding of the world by growing in size until it was big enough that Verde could easily ride it like a pony.
The laptop crashed to the ground, purple eyes wide as saucers. The crocodile didn't give a damn about the fact that there are now five of the most dangerous individuals in the world aiming various attacks or weapons at it. It just looked smug at having Verde's attention and then outright delighted when the scientist actually touched it. And then its eyes glowed a bright green, like Lightning Flames, before it settled with a happy croon and leaned into Verde's touch.
And, most shocking of all, Verde gave a fond smile.
None of them had actually thought the green haired man capable of such a thing.
"As you can see," Luche said with a little smile on her own lips, half amused and half very satisfied with this turn of events. "These are not ordinary animals, nor are they 'pets'. They are to be your partners. Each and every one of them will choose one of you just like you would choose them and they will display their own special abilities only upon coming into contact with their chosen partner. A bond will form only when you touch them back in acceptance. And from that moment on, until either of you die, you will share a bond stronger than death. They will share their power with you, making you stronger, helping you. They are not 'pets'."
"Yare yare," was all Viper could say while the rest of them just stared. Then, like with the crocodile, a yellow white snake flies over to the Mist and boldly nuzzles their face. They protest, but the creature does not move away even as it glows with Mist Flames before it calms down and bites its tail, coming to float over the illusionist's head like a halo. "Good grief," gripped the Mist, but Viper did nothing to discourage it from its new 'perch'.
Skull was the first human to approach the animals, making a straight line for the white monkey with a red face, but the primate screeched at him and ducked away. Reborn noted that it picked up a green lizard as it made its retreat, going straight for Fon, who welcomed the furry animal with open arms, red Flames glowing on its tail before it settled on Fon's head, still cuddling the lizard. Skull, on the other hand, was soon manhandled by a big, armored red octopus that he seemed to immediately become fond of since he was hugging one of its tentacles. Reborn not so subtly grabbed Fon around the waist and pulled the shorter man flush against him as he guided them both away from the overzealous duo.
There was an enormous white hawk - but not unnaturally so, like the octopus, just big - that seemed to be glaring at Lal Mirch and Colonello both and Reborn wondered if it couldn't decide between the two Rain users. Lal and Colonello both had pretty strong, pure Rain Flames. As they both approached, it seemed to be trying to avoid Lal Mirch while edging towards Colonello but not really accepting either. For some reason, Reborn felt that was a rather important detail, but he didn't really get the chance to properly ponder it when Fon tapped him twice on the face - gently, almost like the caress of a passing wind - to get his attention in the only way that he could with the way Reborn was still holding him against his body.
"I think Lichi has something for you."
Reborn mouthed 'Lichi' back at the martial artist, but the man just smiled as his new monkey companion jumped down from his head to his shoulder so he would be face to face with the hitman and all but thrust the little green lizard into his face. And it wasn't just any random lizard, Reborn quickly realized, but a chameleon and it was making grabby hands at his face. Reborn leaned back a bit and offered it his free hand. The chameleon immediately lit with Sun Flames as they touched and, to his surprise, transformed into a gun. Reborn nearly dropped him, because that was not how the other animals had reacted.
"Oh!" Luche said excitedly, moving over to see better. "It would seem that the two of you are a rather powerful pair, Reborn! I've never seen a shapeshifter of this sort before! Usually, it's only the size or color or a few extra limbs! I've never actually seen a partner be able to completely change their shape! Can you fire bullets out of it?"
Reborn shrugged, took aim at the sky and fired. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when the most destructive Chaos Shot he had ever fired came out, twice as large as his strongest attempt ever and lasting way longer, which could only mean its destructiveness was out of league as well. He stared down at the now once again chameleon resting on his hand, looking all happy and satisfied with itself because its master was so impressed with it, and he immediately moved his hand to his precious fedora that no one had ever been allowed to touch but himself, offering the chameleon its new seat of honor. It seemed to understand the importance and significance of that move and respectfully settled there.
"Leon is the damned best," he announced to the others with a smirk, ignoring Viper's and Verde's cries of protest and especially Skull's challenges that they test that in a fight.
Fon chuckled, a hand coming up to tickle Lichi's chin, obviously not even going to attempt to challenge him for his claim. He seemed rather taken with his new partner. "I think you owe Lichi for bringing Leon to your attention, though."
Still smirking, Reborn brought up a hand to offer his own scratches to Lichi, but then instead of pulling back, he used that same hand to card his fingers through silky black locks, making Fon's eyes go huge while he leaned down and brushed a feather-light kiss against the other's cheek.
"And I owe you thanks for bringing my attention to Lichi." The blush on Fon's cheeks almost matched the robes he was wearing and Reborn felt infinitely smug, even though the others now knew what his game was.
He didn't care. Today, he felt good.