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.
Fon did return five months later, but he looked exhausted and a little sickly though he still smiled that same serene smile he always wore. And yet, it didn't take long for either Reborn or Luche to discover a deep sadness within him, one that he refused to share and that he forbade Luche from delving deep into with her super Sky intuition. The woman, now the mother of a darling daughter she said was best not to introduce them to just yet, accepted his request and backed off.
The others noticed that Fon was different, too, and got a bit worried, but he managed to reassure them that it had simply been a harrying five months but everyone was fine, nothing had happened to his family and that the threat had been dealt with accordingly. The others had all gathered a fond and given the money to Viper so they'd look into what could have happened to Fon's family - only Reborn knew it was a clan - but the Esper could not find any information, no matter how much they wanted to.
"I've done some research on the Hibari Clan on my own," Viper said one day when they and Reborn were alone, drinking coffee in front of the house where people rarely ventured. "They have a long history of hiding things from the eyes of the world, though they've become real experts only relatively recently. Do you know how and why? Because Vongola Primo's Cloud Guardian married into the Clan and taught them how to cover all loopholes. Good grief, but they're a pain to scry information on."
"Alaudi?" Rebron asked, because there was actually very little information on what happened to the First Vongola Cloud Guardian after Primo left the Vongola to Secundo and fled to Japan. Yes, people had assumed that the aloof founder of CEDEF had followed his Sky to Japan, but those were as much rumors as the ones stating Daemon Spade had kept him to his last breath as a play thing in the Vongola mansion's underground facility to extract all the information Alaudi had collected in his life. Seems like Alaudi had, after all, went to Japan and even settled there.
Viper handed him a picture and Reborn stared at the blond, short haired, blue eyed version of Fon, though with slightly more European features, less sharp and with eyes that were the same shape as Fon's only because they were set in a perpetual glare/frown. "Whatever's going on with the Hibari Clan, this man has taught them and taught them well how to keep out of the eye of the mafia. I won't be able to get any more information than this."
So Fon's family emergency remained a mystery and they eventually let it go. There was no use in getting worked up over something that has already been dealt with and Fon really did just need a week of good sleep and hearty meals to return to his normal self, though there was still some of that sadness there.
"I've become an uncle, you know," Fon said one day, when Reborn had finally gotten sick of waiting for the proper opportunity to speak with Fon about that night they'd spent together and had approached him as Fon was sitting in the garden, looking like he was trying to meditate but had instead ended up looking up at the clouds drifting by. "In the whole mess of the last couple of months, my nephew was born. He's the most adorable, precious little thing I have ever seen and I fell in love with him the moment I saw him. He takes after my grandfather. It's the eyes, I think. Neither of his parents nor grandparents has that color. Like silver, but under the right light they appear blue. He's a really cute kid. A bit premature, but strong. We all worried about him for a while there."
" ... Is that why you look so haggard?" Reborn asked, staying by the wall as he leaned against it, hands in his pockets. He felt like he had taken a dozen steps back, somehow, staying back there when he used to be welcome to sit at Fon's side. "Is that why you're sad?"
Fon looked at him over his shoulder in blatant surprise, blinking in confusion. "I guess. Though as for why I'm sad is a bit more difficult to explain." The Asian frowned and looked away a bit, eyes distant. Not upset at Reborn but at the situation in general. "Though I'll admit you have something to do with it."
The hitman arched an eyebrow at that. He was not expecting that, he will admit. "Oh?"
"I was drunk and I trusted you." Ah, so they were going to talk about that night. "I won't be just another notch on your belt."
That, though, was very satisfying to hear.
"Who said you were?" Reborn half snorted, finally daring to take up his proper place in sitting down by Fon. The Asian man was regarding him warily, but Reborn didn't let that deter him. "Ask Colonello or Lal. If I just wanted a fuck buddy, I could have anyone and if I had wanted you as just a quick lay, I would have tried to seduce you, not court you. I'll admit, I could have courted you better if only we'd been somewhere where I could actually buy you gifts, little tokens to show my intentions, but I did my best with what I had available. Though I hope you'll accept this," he said, reaching into his pocket to take out a small jewelry box. "I tried to think of something that I could give you that would show I am serious about wanting to court you, but this was all I could think of."
"Reborn ... " That was all Fon seemed to be able to say as he gingerly took the gift. A pink flush slowly spread across pale cheeks and Reborn didn't resist to show his more Italian side, leaning over and kissing that blush. It only got darker, which made him smirk, which in turn made Fon actually roll his eyes at him. Somehow, that was immensely satisfying. And then Fon opened the box and a bit of confusion set in.
"The moment I realized you had me at 'Chaos'," Reborn said with amusement, twisting the saying with his own version of a greeting. "That's a really impressive trick, you know. I've never seen someone do that before."
"I mostly practiced with arrows enhanced by Sun Flames," Fon said absentmindedly as he lifted the necklace with the same bullet he'd caught several months ago as the pendant. It was simple and gilded and Reborn had actually had the 'You Had Me At Chaos' engraved into the rim of the bullet around the primer. The inside of the bullet no longer contained gunpowder but was filled up and where the primer once was now stood the ring through which the gold chain went to hold the necklace. "At some point, my master figured out my reflexes might be even sharper and brought in bullets from various guns. I can dodge all of them, but I can't catch sniper bullets just yet."
"We can practice with rubber bullets if you want," offered the hitman. "You like it?"
"I ... Yes, thank you." The shorter man smiled gently at him, clasping the strange little necklace tight in his hand. "Can you put it on me."
"Sure." As he went about that, he leaned forward and started whispering into the other's ear. "Listen, Fon. I've seriously never done something like this before, but I want to try. With you. But I have no idea if I'm going too fast or being too forward and what happened at that party months ago was definitely caused by the alcohol. Yes, I very much enjoyed it and would love to do it again, but I don't think we should hurry into this too much. We're both busy and who knows how often we'll get to see each other. Would you mind going slow? I've never had to chase someone before and I find I rather liked the experience, especially when the one I'm chasing is you."
"Slow," Fon agreed, twisting around enough to plant a kiss on the Italian's lips, smiling when Reborn's cheeks actually took on a pink hue at the action. "We can go slow and just enjoy it."
The fedora wearing man smirked, all but draping himself over his lover's back once the necklace was securely in place. "We've got all the time in the world."
00000
Not a month later, he learned that he had jinxed them.
They were Arcobaleno, their souls were bound by the Pacifiers and the Trinisette they must protect and they were turned into infants, all eight of them. Checker Face or the Man in the Iron Hat or however he preferred to call himself, apologized for their fate, for the curse they now carried as a burden, and thanked them for protecting the world before he disappeared, leaving behind eight infants.
Yes, even Luche and Lal Mirch were cursed. Luche, the mother of an actual baby. Lal Mirch, whom Colonello had attempted to replace when he'd heard of the fate to befall the chosen strongest seven Flame users in the world.
Luche had told them only yesterday that they were going further up into the mountains to finish the last stage, had told them what their fate was to be. Cursed infants, immortal in the worst sense of the word, to be called upon in life and in death whenever the Trinisette needed them, never to age, never to grow up again as long as they carried the Pacifiers. And if they did live to see the new choosing of the Arcobaleno, they were still more than likely to die when their souls are finally free of them.
Reborn brings up his fist, so small, and clenches it in anger.
The only one even remotely satisfied with this outcome is Verde, who sees this as an opportunity to continue his research forever, even if they know that even Arcobaleno become weaker over time, lose power and are then discarded.
Luche was crying and begging their forgiveness. Lal and Colonello were having a conversation about how Lal can move on and live her life like a normal girl if she doesn't use the Corrupted Pacifier. Viper was sulking. Skull was panicking in his usual ridiculous Skull way.
All of their partner animals watched from afar, worried but not coming closer because they could sense the turmoil in the air, that they are not yet ready to face their new reality.
A hand landed on his shoulder and Reborn nearly punched the fool stupid enough to dare touch him when he was so angry, only to stop when he saw Fon. Fon, who was not smiling, nor did he look serene. He looked like he was mourning. He leaned over and brushed a kiss to Reborn's cheek and gave him a sad smile. And Reborn understood. They were infants now, when not an hour ago they had been adults, some of the strongest in the world. They needed time to adapt. To come to terms with the curse, with their new existence.
He nodded and Fon gave him a genuine, fond smile before he turned to leave with Lichi on his head.
Viper disappeared with Fatasma soon after.
Colonello, for once, left in front of Lal Mirch, flying off with Falco carrying him into the distance.
Verde climbed onto Keiman and left without a care for who remained behind.
Reborn ended up kicking Skull down the mountain while escorting Lal Mirch and Luche, both depressed but for different reasons, to the bottom. It was a lot more perilous now that they were smaller, though no less strong, and it took two days instead of a single night. He admired how quickly Lal seemed to pick herself up, determined to make something of her life, of this weird second chance. Reborn ended up staying with Luche for another month before he finally showed himself to the world again.
He recrated his image, erased his former identity even if he kept calling himself Reborn. He was even more feared and respected and sought after as the Sun Arcobaleno. He got all sorts of jobs, found an interest in disguising himself and discovered he could get a kick out of causing chaos wherever he went and people would just go along with it. He had a few 'students' here and there, found he could have lovers, too, and indulged from time to time. He found another interesting Storm some years later. Her name was Bianchi, she was the daughter of a Don allied to Vongola and she specialized in poison cooking and was obsessed with love. Reborn went on two dates with her because she wasn't your typical Storm, but it just wasn't the same. She wasn't Fon. He decided to categorize her into 'possible work partner' but since they were 'lovers', once, he broke contact with her.
Only she followed him wherever he went and she proved to be useful when he was assigned to train Dino Cavallone as Cavallone Decimo because she was under the impression that they can 'go back to being lovey-dovey' if the blond heir dies. Reborn let them have their fun, because Dino learned from it and it meant Bianchi spent less time hanging all over him. Yes, Bianchi was a nice girl and will probably find one day someone who will love her and her strange ways. But Reborn had already unwittingly given away his heart once and it was hidden somewhere in China, probably going through Triad assassins sent after him like people do socks.
He found himself fond of Dino, though, in that almost fatherly way. Not quite, because he was a professional, but he did like Dino and would probably go well out of his way if the blond were ever to ask something of him. Sure, he'd demand something in return but Dino would abide by any of his requests, anyway, so it was more for show. He was the first student he liked and he stayed with Dino for about five years before Vongola Nono called on him and sent him to tutor the Vongola Decimo candidate Sawada Tsunayoshi.
The kid was an even more hopeless case than Dino when they met. All wide eyes and naivety, though he had an attitude on him that Reborn was quick to kick out of him, literally. Just because he looked like an infant did not mean he would let a kid still stinking of his mother's milk treat him as one. He was the best home tutor in the world and the greatest hitman to boot. He beat respect into Sawada Tsunayoshi within the first few minutes of knowing him.
Then they arrived at the boy's school - after introducing him to the wonders of a Dying Will Bullet, of course; the boy was pathetic, really, and definitely needed Reborn if he was ever going to become a mafia boss and he would have to whether he liked it or not - and Reborn felt like all the air was punched out of his gut.
'Fon?'
Except Hibari Kyoya was decidedly not Fon. He was a teenager, probably a couple of years older than his new student, and he had silver blue eyes - 'Must be that nephew he was so excited about,' he realized with a pang of sadness for his once lover - but he could pass off as the spitting image of Fon, from the skin tone to the hair to his face and stature to the aura of danger and power he exuded. Unlike Fon, he didn't hide that he was a predator. He relished it, embraced it, loved it. He was not serene. He was the unassuming cloud that is the harbinger of a deadly storm.
He had quite a reputation on him, too.
And very little available information.
Definitely Fon's nephew.
And the perfect Cloud Guardian candidate for Tsuna.
Damn it, Fon's going to kill him, isn't he?
00000
Fon's nephew was definitely Reborn's favorite of the new potential Guardians he found for his student. Tsuna wasn't even aware of how lucky he was. Yamamoto Takeshi would be a good Rain, Gokudera Hayato would be the most loyal of Storms, Lambo they could have done without, even if his electricity-resistant body made him the perfect Lightning Guardian, and Sasagawa Ryohei could have been a stronger Sun. That Rokudo Mukuro resonated so well with Tsuna and Hibari both made him probably the ideal Mist and they definitely needed another fighter of nearly Hibari's calibre on the team, anyway, but Hibari was a damn strong Cloud and definitely related to Fon.
Tsuna's Vongola Hyper Intuition, buried deep inside until that incident with Mukuro at Kokuyo Land, seemed to have recognized that, too, and his Sky Flames were now actively trying to entice the aloof Cloud, but Hibari wasn't responding favorably. He still stuck around only for Reborn and he didn't care one bit about how he was not involved with the mafia. A true Cloud, indeed, but perhaps a troublesome one.
Reborn watched as Tsuna gazed almost sadly after the retreating Chairman of the Namimori Middle School Disciplinary Committee. There was longing there and for the first time, Reborn wondered whether it was Tsuna's Flames' or Tsuna's own.
"Do you think Hibari-san will ever accept any of us as something more than 'herbivores'? I mean, he fought with us at the summer festival against those delinquents and he helped us against Mukuro, even if he was hurt so much." The unexpected topic was breached one day while Reborn was reading the day's newspaper while Tsuna prepared for school. The hitman stared up at the future Vongola boss and couldn't help but wonder, once again, what is the source of the recent longing in Tsuna's eyes.
"Where is this coming from, Dame-Tsuna?" Could it be that his student had similar tastes to Reborn's own? The thought amused him, but there was a very big difference between Fon and Hibari Kyoya. Namely that Hibari would most certainly 'bite to death' any pursuers he might get. Hibari wasn't like Fon at all. It was refreshing as it was startling and confusing. Hell, in some ways, the boy reminded Reborn of his own youth, before he refined all of his sharp edges and hid his already sharpened teeth. The him back then had held no affection for anyone. He had something to protect and that had been his reputation.
Being with the other Arcobaleno before they became Arcobaleno had changed him, as had his experiences up to that point. He'd learned things. Life had taught him the hard way how to survive, but it had also taught him how even though it was rough, he could have some piece of happiness for himself.
Hibari needed that. He only had Namimori Middle School to hold him grounded and his pride. Pride won't get him anywhere and Nami-chuu will turn into a cage rather than his nest of freedom. The boy was angry - it was there, in his eyes; Reborn would recognize it anywhere. He'd had the same eyes roughly fifteen, sixteen years ago - and he was trying to prove something. To himself or to an unknown party remains to be seen. But he was strong and he was a Cloud. That combination was usually bad when there were unbound Skies around, especially strong ones.
"It's ... It's nothing," Tsuna replied and Reborn didn't pry. He won't, not with this. This was a Sky courting its Elements and he had a strong bond with all of them except his Mist - that one was really iffy - and his Cloud. Reborn tries to remember if Luche had had any problems with the Arcobaleno Cloud and Mist, but Skull had latched onto her - though Skull was not your typical Cloud to begin with - but Viper had never really accepted Luche as their Sky, had they? In fact, had any of the Arcobaleno made a proper set with their Sky? Fon and Skull were fond of her, but they had left easily enough. Lal maybe respected her and Verde didn't care, while Colonello's heart only had space for Lal Mirch, no matter what. Reborn ... accepted her as a friend of sorts, but she was indeed not his Sky. Had she tried courting them? Or had they courted each other, like Colonello and Lal, Viper and Verde, Fon and him? For their own reasons, in their own ways, making bonds and connections that had nothing to do with anything except each other.
That's what he's trying to prevent, instead making the Guardians focus on Tsuna, but Hibari won't. Hibari won't ever be a part of their group and perhaps that's for the best. It will make the others strive to keep up with him.
But then the Varia arrive and Dino brings the Vongola half-Rings and Reborn knows that, for once, they must force Hibari to be a part of the group.
And so, he assigns Dino as Hibari's home tutor, hoping Fon never catches wind of what his nephew is being dragged into.
It all promised to be a headache and a half.