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.
"What do you mean you're just going to watch?!" Demanded the hooded Arcobaleno of Fon when he, in the middle of Colonello's, Lal's and Reborn's tutorial, was asked about how he thought he'll do by Lussuria, a fellow close range fighter specialized in certain martial arts, only for the Storm Arcobaleno to say he won't be participating.
Kyoya looked up from where he was halfheartedly listening to the lesson, seeing the almost uncomfortable smile on Fon's lips that almost made him smirk in turn.
Fon had found out about the paintball competition only when everyone got ready and headed out of the house together, leaving behind a very confused martial artist that followed after them just to try and understand what was going on. He'd been perplexed to see them all in white from head to toe, the Shark Rain's hair pulled up into a bun so as not to get in the way, and all of them relatively amicable towards each other as they walked through the streets of Namimori that evening. Mammon had forbidden any of the Varia from telling him, Kyoya refused because he didn't want to be pulled out of the game before it could even start and he'd threatened all of the Cavallone with much pain and suffering should any of them slip and the Arcobaleno all knew better than to reveal what's going on because Kyoya would be pulled out by his overprotective relative.
He'd looked ready to murder the Baby by the time Reborn, decked out in a snow white version of a military uniform, finally decided to fill his lover in on what's going on. The tutorial was almost over now so Fon had calmed down enough so as not to try and snap the Baby's neck for going behind his back like that and the lesson was over, the newbies to gun shooting expected to give it a few tries on practice targets before they can begin the game.
Fon sighed, looking like he might be fighting a migraine. "The Hibari Clan has never relied on firearms for as long as it's existed. Most of our members became Flame Active at the age of four to nine, so they'd be taught to use their Flames in conjunction with a weapon of their own choice, usually traditional weapons like swords, knives, throwing stars, axes, a few bombers here or there, naginata, scythes. You name it, we had it, but it was never guns. Mostly, I believe, because while we seem to be talented for just about anything else, we are natural anti talents for firearms."
"Surely it can't be that bad?" Lussuria asked goodnaturedly.
Fon shot him a deadpan look. "The one time one of my superiors in the Triads forced me to shoot out of a gun, I managed to hit him in the left nut. He was standing seven feet behind me. The target was only ten feet in front of me. It was a standard gun and a straightforward shot. I've never tried to shoot out of a gun again."
Every male present, Hibari included, winced. Kyoya had known his family was bad with guns, one of the reasons why they had been so easily taken down ten years ago because the assailants had come in guns blazing, but he had never thought it was actually that bad. He looked down a bit warily at the rifle filled with paintballs in his hands and at the gun strapped to his thigh.
"Ha!" Gokudera Hayato let out a crow of victory. "Finally, something that the tonfa freak isn't good at but involves fighting! See, there's nothing to fear, Juudaime! We'll be taking out Hibari in no tim-"
The silverette trailed off, jaw somewhere on the floor, as Kyoya lowered the rifle after five consecutive perfect shots on the five practice targets, his purple paintballs the only ones with a perfect score with Yamamoto Takeshi's blue now in second place and Gokudera Hayato's own red in third, because the Rain had missed the first shot and the bomber had fired too soon twice so the balls hit just outside of the bullseye. The Cloud-purple shots, though, were in the dead center and the speed with which the score had been achieved knocked everyone else's well out of the water.
"You were saying, herbivore?"
"I'm recruiting him."
"Lal, no."
Clapping, slow and impressed instead of mocking, made him turn to look at the Baby, who had a delighted grin on his face that shot adrenaline shooting through the prefect's veins because he could practically smell that the other was itching for a match between the two of them as well. "As expected of Hibari. You think you can hit them if they're further back?"
"Don't mock me, Baby."
The hitman only grinned more and arranged the targets at the farthest end of the big room they were using for practice and will then be used for the match itself. "Ready when you are."
Kyoya studied the targets, remembering their location, their height, the exact position of the bullseye on each one before he turned around and pulled out the handgun, reaching behind himself and aiming blind five times before lowering the gun and turning around. Five perfect shots, the time stamp the same length as the first time.
"I'm recruiting him."
" ... I'll help."
The grin on the Baby's face was ... feral, a predator acknowledging another predator. It was gleeful, delighted.
"Wait, I thought you just said that the Hibari suck with guns!?" Mammon demanded and Kyoya looked over, interested in the reaction his 'uncle' would be having. He delighted in the pale, slightly panicked look that had settled over the older skylark's face. Because that? That just confirmed, one hundred percent, Kyoya's suspicions and he hasn't even started yet.
" ... I guess Kyoya is a special case," replied Fon, clearly trying his best not to sound hysterical.
"Maybe he got it from his father?" Suggested the Cloud stuntman of the Arcobaleno helpfully. "You did say he, like, worked for Interpol or something, right? He'd have to be handy with a gun or he'd be dead."
"He was the definition of a paper pusher, not a field agent," Fon seemed to snap out of it enough to sneer the way he often did when his brother in law was in question. Kyoya had never quite understood why Fon was so hot and cold towards the man. The cold part he could understand - he had been a dismal husband and a horrible father - but, at some point, Fon had apparently approved of him if he'd allowed his younger sister to marry him, only something must have happened to change that. Kyoya figured he'll weasel out the story about that one of these days. "Trust me, he didn't pick up anything useful from that man. Almost everything is Hibari except a few things that is mostly just Kyoya being Kyoya."
Almost and mostly. It would seem Fon had a talent to spin lies while not actually lying. He told people things how they were but let them assume by jumping to conclusions immediately after he said them.
No wonder he and the Baby are perfect for each other.
"Can we start?" Kyoya asked, finally getting impatient for some action and sick of waiting. The little tutorial was over and everyone had tried out the guns, even the civilians Sawada Tsunayoshi always surrounds himself with, so there was really no more reason to stall.
"Eager, are we, kora?" Challenged the blond Rain and Kyoya gave him a smirk that had sent many a yakuza running the other way. He heard Fon groan in the background but ignored him.
"I'll bite you to death."
"Then I guess it's safe to say that everyone is ready, right?" Bucking Horse said with a laugh, already putting the safety goggles promised to them on, getting ready to begin. Kyoya wondered for a moment if his men will actually manage to really fight against their beloved boss or if they'll break the rules of a free for all. The Arcobaleno have made it clear that teaming up was against the rules and if the judges/overseers - AKA Verde (who wanted to take everyone's statistics), Kusakabe (there to make sure the discipline is kept up so there'd be no cheating), Shamal (who had no intention of getting dirty) and Viper (who was actually just trying to get out of the incoming massacre and was in charge of the betting pool) - or any of the audience - Fon, Kurokawa Hana (who had been unable to resist Sasagawa Kyoko's request), a few of Cavallone's men and some CEDEF agents who were there to drag their boss off back to work after the game was over - were to catch even a hint of it, the person/people involved would immediately be disqualified and punished. The Baby had looked particularly gleeful at the punishment part so Kyoya doubted anyone would tempt fate.
"Then let's get this started!" Yamamoto Takeshi cheered before a sharp look entered his eyes.
"Voooiiii! Get ready to eat paint, you trash!"
"Shishishishi, this will be fun."
"Bring it, you Varia freaks!"
"This is so EXTREME!"
"Then, everyone, take positions," the Baby instructed. They'd all drawn a piece of paper with a number and a letter on it to mark their starting position at the beginning of the game. It was totally random so that everyone has a fair chance of getting a good spot and no one can cry foul play. "We're starting in exactly one minute."
The warehouse they were playing in had been hastily modified into what is possibly the best paintball course this side of the world. Hibari didn't like the Vongola all that much, but he had to concede that they're efficient. Everything had been hardened with Thunder Flames - probably the green Arcobaleno's doing - so that no one can fall through crates that have been modified as hideouts, stepping platforms and sniper posts. There were chains and overhead hanging walkways, stairs and bars, empty metal barrels and even hidden traps all over the place so it was kind of like a real war zone, courtesy of Lal Mirch and her 'golden retriever'. Some of the traps were infused with Mist Flames, so the unlucky person will be trapped in an illusion for nearly a minute. Some were infused with low voltage electricity. One had knockout gas, but that one was placed near the entrance/exit, in case someone tries to run.
Kyoya was mildly happy with the starting point he got. He was hidden between two crates that were close together, there was a chain hanging overhead and the mouth between the crates on either side provided with a rather wide view of the rest of the playing ground. He has no intention of staying there throughout the whole game - there was actually a rule that disqualifies people if they stay in the same place for fifteen minutes, just because the Baby is a sadist and wants to watch everyone run around like headless chickens as he takes them out one by one - but he also has no intentions of running out blind without scoping out the situation first.
Bucking Horse was not exactly right in his opinion that Kyoya runs into dangerous situations head first without even thinking things through first. He just does it quicker than a normal person and he just chooses a riskier path, that's all.
When the loud, piercing siren sounds to signal the start of the game, Kyoya quickly loads the rifle, crouches down and edges towards the mouth of his little 'ally'. He immediately sees the cow child - wearing all white, as they'd all been instructed for the occasion, save for those strange horns on his head - charge with unerring accuracy for where it turns out Reborn's been stationed. Then again, the child was five and had followed the Baby from Italy without anyone at the airport noticing and seems to always be able to sooner or later scope out the hitman. It's either a talent or an obsession. Either way, the Baby takes him out with a single, precise yellow shot straight in the face, between the eyes.
The Cloud grinned, because clearly the Baby wasn't going to go easy on them. That just made everything all the more exciting, even if the danger level was so low.
The game only got more interesting from there. Intense, too. Skull and Sasagawa Ryohei had no knowledge of strategy, nor were they used to being taken out with a single hit, so they easily forgot the rules and charged out into the open, only to be hit by multiple paintballs at once. The Shark Rain seems to have set his sights on his Vongola counterpart, the two swordsmen quite content to ignore everyone else unless they happened to cross their paths while they focused on each other. The Knife Storm left his counterpart to the umbrella man, instead hunting down Kyoya in hopes of finishing their little confrontation counter in his favor, only to find that Kyoya, for a first timer, really was rather handy with guns. Kyoya had to be thankful for the fighting instincts he was both born with and had cultivated over the years, because he had sensed the other's presence even before the Storm had a clear shot at him, which had given him the chance to shoot first. The 'Prince' certainly wasn't happy with how things ended between them, but then Romario had appeared in front of the skylark and Kyoya had to deal with the man.
He knows that the Monkey King had come across the little animal in his search of either Hibari or the Baby because he can hear the brunet shrieking, useless as always without those special bullets the Baby shoots him with. He's pretty sure Bucking Horse got engaged by the civilian girls Sawada hung out with and the little Ranking boy with Fon's student and the Poison Scorpion as their backup or sorts - not really a team, they were all just shooting at the biggest threat before they'd turn on each other - and he knows that the two Arcobaleno Rains had at first been after each other but had teamed up against the Baby to take him out.
At one point, Kyoya came across Sawada Iemitsu and took great pleasure in shooting three consecutive shots, one in the man's head, one over his heart and the third one much lower where, should it have been a shot from any closer a range, would have been a fate worse than death.
He had to resort to sniping after the Monkey King took down Sawada with ease since the future Vongola boss had nothing and no one to help him besides his own nonexistent strength and skill and battle instincts. The Vongola Hyper Intuition can help one only so much, after all.
Xanxus and Kyoya had an interesting game of cat and mouse, only neither of them really knew which was which. The Monkey King might just be the type of Sky Kyoya would accept if he had been any less against bonding to one, so they really had a lot of fun trying to mock-kill each other. But then Bucking Horse seemed to appear out of nowhere and get in a lucky shot at Xanxus - hardly a killing blow, since he only managed to skim the Monkey King's pant leg, but with the rules of the game proclaiming everyone who didn't have pristine white clothing 'dead', it was enough, much to the Varia leader's rage - only to be taken out by the Shark Rain, who gave a victorious shout, but was in turn hit by Yamamoto Takeshi, who was then eliminated by a smirking Gokudera Hayato. Then Reborn shot the dynamite obsessed Storm before he had to return his attention to the two Rains.
Kyoya, in turn, found himself engaged by Poison Scorpion Bianchi, who had somehow 'survived' her little 'team's' confrontation with Bucking Horse. Probably ran off when the blond got too close in. There was rage in her eyes, a sort of hatred that stems from jealousy and the prefect knew she was seeing his 'uncle' in him. He nearly rolled his eyes at the herbivorous behavior, instead jumping up and holding onto one of the hanging chains, swinging to keep out of her range. He got an open shot at Lal Mirch and took it, allowing for the Baby to take out the other Rain while he himself turned back to focus on his 'uncle's' 'love rival'.
He'd always found it strange how people did not know how to wield their rage as a weapon to help them fight instead of hinder them. Rage is one of the rare emotions that can make one stronger as long as one knows how to use it. The female Storm obviously isn't one of those people who knew how to do it. Kyoya barely needed to shoot five times while they were both moving erratically before he got her, straight in the heart.
With a quick cursory glance, he realized that everyone else had been taken down and now there was only him and the Baby.
"Come, come, little skylark," sang the Italian hitman gleefully from somewhere as Kyoya came to a stop, still holding onto the chain. "Let's play~!"
Instinct screamed at him and Kyoya vaulted up by the one arm holding onto the chain with a lot more speed than Olympic elegance, just barely avoiding a shot that would have hit his middle. He wrapped his legs around the chains, followed the trajectory and took aim, making the Baby swiftly abandon his previous hiding spot. Yellow paintballs returned fire and Kyoya found he had to abandon the higher ground because, while it gave him a great view of the room, it also made him a much easier target as there was nothing to shield him from enemy fire.
He tucked and rolled and fired as soon as he was upright, making the hitman duck behind a pile of crates. Kyoya quickly found himself a hiding spot and changed ammunition. The game's already lasted a little over two hours. Everyone was tired, no matter how good their stamina. It was late. He and the Baby will have to end this quickly. It was a school night and Kyoya will not tolerate tardiness.
With that in mind, he climbs stealthily to the top of a pile of crates and stakes out the situation before firing at an overturned barrel, making it roll slightly in hopes of making his opponent take the bait. The Baby doesn't, probably because he knows as well as Kyoya does that the Cloud would never be so clumsy as to announce his presence with a blunder like that. He's not sure whether he wants to smirk or scowl but then he has to repress a snarl when yellow paintballs hit the edges of his sniping spot. He can't let even a single drop of paint splash on him or else it's the Baby's victory. He shoots blindly in the direction of the trajectory and the Baby has to leave his own hiding spot, once again leaving them tied.
He thinks he sees a shadow move between a small gap between crates and chains almost on the other side of the playing ground and he fires there, eliciting delighted laughter from the hitman that has all of the Arcobaleno perking to attention.
"Oh dear, Babyborn got excited, didn't he, kora?"
"Can anyone actually remember the last time that happened?" Shamal asked the Arcobaleno and Kyoya was pretty sure they all shook their heads in a negative.
"Fon-senpai, are you alright? You look a little pale."
"Of course he's uneasy, you dumb lackey," the Varia's Arcobaleno replied in a sniff. "He's an overprotective idiot and that's Reborn down there facing against his nephew. An excited Reborn."
"Reborn's adrenaline levels surely have spiked up in the last couple of minutes, that's for sure," the scientist Arcobaleno shared from where he was monitoring their vitals and Kyoya felt like he wanted to preen.
"With the skill level shown between these two, it's no wonder," Lal Mirch groused but Kyoya had to stop listening to their conversation for a while because the Baby found him again and he had to change hiding spots. He coursed when he, moments later, realized he was on his last round of ammo for the rifle and he had only three changes for the gun. The game was coming to an end one way or another.
Lowering the gun so it nearly touched the ground to free most of his body for movement, Kyoya started sprinting between the crates, making the Baby shoot after him, hopefully making him spend his own ammo as well. The man had been mostly sniping everyone out with scary precision, which meant he hadn't lost too many shots. With Kyoya so low and so few usable weapons on hand - because everyone else relied on quantity of shots, not the quality of the aim to survive - he needs to even the odds or else he won't be able to continue the game, which might as well be an automatic loss. Kyoya didn't care if he wins or not. He just doesn't want to lose by default.
"Wow, he's almost as fast as Fon!" Someone of the Arcobaleno commented, but Kyoya didn't care to find out who because he had a clear shot of the Baby but had no other choice than to take it mid-leap as he jumped up towards a tower of cranes that he planned to scale for, once again, the upper ground.
He smirked smugly when the shot nearly hit the hitman, which only elicited more delightful laughter.
"That's it! Come at me, Hibari! It's been a long time since I've had some proper fun!" More such calls came in company of Sun-yellow paintballs. "Fuck, I should introduce you to all my contacts! I could make you my second coming!"
"Atta boy!"
"Bravissimo!"
"Don't pull too harshly on the trigger, sonny! Caress it like a lover!"
"Come play, Hibari! I don't bite. Much."
"Damn, that was a great shot. I feel so proud, figlio!"
"Verde, tell me you caught that? Because that was great!"
"Mio Dio, if I were to take you to Italy with me now, people'd swear that you're my son!"
"Come to daddy, Hibari! It's time we end this game!"
Of course, some of those things accompanied other comments from the peanut gallery. He didn't catch them all - the Baby was obviously only now truly serious, even though there was now only one opponent as opposed to the previous free for all - but he got the gist of it that some people were terrified, others were joking making bets that he was Reborn's secret bastard son and Fon seemed to be choking on air, nearing a panic attack.
That, if nothing else, confirmed it all, because the Baby had started cackling about how he'd be getting adoption papers to make the Cloud his legal son, about teaching him everything he knew, introducing him to all the right people and showing him off to the mafia world at large as the next world's greatest hitman - after the Baby dies one day, of course, because no one can be better than the best.
"Hibari, I know you're on your last round for the gun," the Italian called just as Kyoya put in said round, making the teenager glare. "I'm down to my gun, too." But he has full ammo for it. "How about we do this the dramatic way, hm? A test of skill, speed and strategy. And plain dumb luck, I guess."
" ... I'm listening." It was a challenge, after all. A challenge from a fellow carnivore. Kyoya didn't ignore those, no matter what.
"On the count of three, we both jump out of hiding and see who's a better shot. We're obviously both good at playing war. We obviously both know patience and strategy. And we're obviously both the most skilled, opportunistic and adaptable people here-" There were some protests at that, but neither of them cared. "So why don't we just settle it. No more games. You up for it, little skylark?"
"You're on, hitman. 3."
"2," the eager grin was obvious in his opponent's voice and Kyoya took a deep breath, adjusted the grip on his gun and let fighting instinct take him over completely.
"1!" They called together and lunged out of their hiding spots, all but sailing through the air as they shot their guns.
When the noise died down, it all came to a stop and the two of them stood opposite each other, guns empty, eyes locked.
It was judgment time.