Under a Clouded Blue

Summary:

"My ambition in life? To conquer the world because destroying the mafia is so last season and I never got around with it the last time anyway…kufufu."

In which Rokudo Mukuro is reborn into a parallel world and finds himself in the position of every other SI/OC. Did he mention Hibari Kyoya being his younger brother?
To hell with what Sepira's spirit has to say about him making sure everyone —even bloody Byakuran— plays the role they did in his previous life. But if that dead woman promises those imported chocolate bonbons from Kawahira's store— "Sure. Why not?"

Featuring the evil mastermind and guardian angel of the canon!character's fates (the hell?): Rokudo Mukuro/Hibari Kuroo.

DISCLAIMER: Let's put this real simple- I am NOT Amano Akira hence I own nothing! Except the plot and a few characters of course.

WARNING: Mind the language AND the grammar!

6. Of flames.

[Four years ago…]

It was all because of the dog.

That huge and dangerous looking beast with teeth befitting for a shark was the reason why he ended up so high on the tree. Who the hell kept a ferocious Great Dane to guard the back garden anyway!? Apparently, his father did. That man was so very paranoid when it came to security, for reasons unknown.

He wouldn't be surprised if his father's motto was on the lines of "safety first".

Kuroo, being the adorable two year old that he was had snuck out of his room to get away from his tante's constant watch the moment the woman had gone to fetch his afternoon meal. He couldn't be blamed for doing so because he was afteral, not your average child who required an adult around him at all times when he was not sleeping. The way his aunt had been keeping him under his nose was so fucking suffocating, he needed a breather.

Hence, the escape.

He would have gone to some other part of the manor if he had known that there was a monster in the back garden. Like perhaps the courtyard or get lost in the mini forest behind the manor. But no, he ended up in the garden at the back because it was the closest thing his little legs could carry him to without starting to wobble.

The two year old was lucky to not have run into any of the maids or security that walked about the hallways at every hour. If he had, he would have been sure that they would immediately whisk him off to his room without lending an ear to hear his "cute" and "adorable" request to take him elsewhere from that god-forsaken place.

The carpet grass looked very inviting as he hopped off the raised wooden platform and landed on his butt. It didn't hurt as much as it should have, thanks to his more than necessary baby fats on his bottom.

A giggle escaped his lips in his glee at being able to "ninja" himself away from his tante. He could totally imagine the look on her face when she walked into his room and found out he was nowhere in sight.

Kuroo sighed as he just sat there and let the afternoon sunshine kiss his ivory skin. The light spring breeze added to the serene atmosphere he soon lost himself in. Well, that was before he heard the growl…

He snapped his head towards the right where he had heard a deep throated growl.

And damn did his heart leap to his throat at the sight of the Great Dane baring his teeth at poor little him.

Hell, imagine yourself a tiny two year old infront of an almost four foot tall monster of a dog. Yup. Definitely not amusing or remotely funny. AT ALL.

The dog sniffed the air before him as it curiously observed Kuroo, probably wondering what kind of little unaware prey had been presented before it to rip and shred into a million bloody pieces. But that was mostly the crazy and morbid imagination of a two year old taking over, and also playing a really major role in his heartbeat racing at a "un-heart" like speed.

Now he understood why Sawada Tsunayoshi was scared of dogs after being traumatised by one at a young age.

But the Vongola Decimo's "attacker" was a fucking Chihuahua!

He stood on his wobbly two feet while breathing heavier than normal.

Careful. He told himself as he slowly began to back away.

"Woof!"

Fuck it!

And so, with just a bark, he did the most stupid and reckless thing one could do to a dog eager to leap onto him at a moment's notice. He turned and ran. Only realising how idiotic of a move it was after he did as the dog barked after him and followed, thinking they were playing some sort of game that would end with him being mauled to death just a few years after coming into this new world.

A totally "un-Mukuro" like shriek escaped his lips as he ran with adrenaline driving him to run faster than any kid his age would have managed to.

And somehow, in his still adrenaline driven state, he found himself high on a branch of the blooming sakura tree by the koi fish pond.

He hiccupped and wiped his face to find tears streaming down his cheeks, much to his disgust. Oh well, he couldn't control the emotions of the body he had attained after being reborn again. If he could, he wouldn't have shrieked or cried in the first place.

…no wonder his vision seemed blurry.

The dog continued barking at him for a few more moments before deciding that he was a total bore and trotted off to some far end of the garden to find stray rabbits or something it could play with.

He sighed in relief. Then froze and then groaned.

Now, just how the fuck was he supposed to get down without breaking a bone?

The pond was not too shallow so maybe he could have jumped into it and swam out.

But he didn't know —more like his two year old form didn't know— how to swim. And he didn't want to risk drowning to test and see whether muscle memory would help him.

So instead, he decided to wait out on the branch for tante Alison to come find him or anyone else to do so.

But of course, fate seemed to have other plan in store for him…

CRACK!

He shut his eyes and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. No. Just no. He wished the sound he had just heard was a figment of his imagination. That was not the sound of the branch of the tree slowly cracking under his weight. Come on! He was not heavy for fuck's sake!

SNAP!

…and then he was falling.

I'm gonna die. I'm gonna fucking die! Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit…

NO!

He was not going to die. Not here. Not because he fell from a tree and ended up drowning. He would NOT die here.

Then suddenly, indigo flames rushed out of him like a torrent of water trapped behind a dam which just broke open. He couldn't see of course since his eyes were shut tight but it was a sight to behold. The flames wrapped around him like a blanket before transforming into wings that carried him away from the tree and placed him gently beside the koi fish pond on the soft grass.

The abrupt unlocking of his dormant dying will Mist flames had made him tired, so tired that the moment his head was placed on the carpet grass, he slipped into a state of sleep. One so deep he didn't even feel it when his tante carried him back to his room after finding him a few minutes later.

And that day, he had a peaceful dream.

Of the place he once called home.

[Present…]

The sky was blue.

Wait. Sky!?

Kuroo immediately sat up from his position on the grass underneath the shade of a huge weeping willow that bore strange silver flowers whose tips were a deep midnight black. He frowned and tried to remember what had just happened to him.

Ah, right. I reached out for my leaking flames…but where am I?

"Your mind."

Kuroo whipped his head around, eyes widening at the sight of Sepira before narrowing again. Was it just him or did she seem to have a solid form? Wait. What was she even doing in here in the first place?

"This is your mind, Kuroo." She smiled as she came to stand by his side. "It's a beautiful place if you ask me."

"…what are you doing in here?"

"I'm not your imagination, if you were wondering." The woman's melodious laughter seemed to echo around him. "I told you I was your guide, didn't I?"

"'Of some sorts'."

"Yes, a guide of some sorts. And being such, I have access into your mindscape. It's necessary for me to look into your memories and combine them along with my visions. A necessity to aid you in order for you to be able to prevent certain events from happening; so that the world progresses on smoothly with no deviation from the one you lived through previously."

"Oh?" Kuroo raised an eyebrow.

This was the first time she was giving such…insight on what her job truly was.

"Kufufu, and what makes you think I would want to make everything go on smoothly like it did in my previous life?"

"You will have to." Her smile was mysterious as her sky blue orbs met his eyes. "Like right now. If you don't listen to what I have to tell you to do, you'd simply die."

His eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by I'm going to die?"

"What I meant. My words are not a riddle, Kuroo. You are going to die here if you don't find a way to control the two flames within you. Your body as a child can't take the strain the flames are giving you as they fight for dominance. If you were older, it would not have been a problem…but circumstances are different as of now."

"Two flames?" The raven head furrowed his brows. "As far as I'm concerned, the Mist has always been my dominant flame. As for the other attribute inside me like every other person out there, it is only that of the Rain which I have never seen a need to utilise in my entire past lifetime. Why would it be fighting for dominance now?"

"It's not the Rain, Kuroo; it's the gift of Death."

…

"...is this the part where I gasp and dramatically exclaim 'the gift of Death!?'?"

Sepira clearly must have been expecting it because her mysterious allure immediately seemed to deflate, leaving her with a sigh of exasperation. "Yes, Kuroo." She took a seat next to him and ruffled his hair, whether out of some sort of revenge due to not reacting like how she had wanted him to or out of fondness, he did not know. But what he did know was that she really did have a solid form now, if her warm fingers were anything to prove it. "And it was also the part where you were supposed to go into shock and drill questions into me."

"Sorry for being a disappointment, Sepira. But you know that's not how I roll."

"Indeed. I cannot possibly fathom how I forgot such a glaringly obvious trait of yours."

He snorted in response as he moved back a little so that his back was resting against the bark of the weeping willow. "Alright."

"…should I continue with it then?"

"Kufufu, please do. I don't think I'm getting out of here any sooner unless I solve this 'problem', and there seems nothing interesting to do other than listening."

Sepira nodded. "Well then, the flame within you is a gift of Death, it is called the Flame of Hades. And yes, it's a special flame type like how you have Xanxus of the Varia's Flame of Wrath, the Vindice's and Daemon Spade's Flame of Night, and all the other types the memories of your previous lifetime holds the information of." She paused, waiting for her words to sink in, only continuing when he gave a nod of confirmation that he was following her.

"As you might have already guessed, your flames are a result of dying once and being reborn. Hence it is the gift of Death. But of course, your circumstances were special. Not all who die and are reborn again bear this gift. If I recall correctly, you had a special ability called the 'Six Paths of Reincarnation', did you not?"

"Yes. It was a result of experimentation coupled with occult rituals that resulted in my visitation of the six realms that exist according to Buddhism. It was a feat deemed impossible, only by fools luck did they achieve such a noteworthy accomplishment and managed to carve the memories of my visitation to all those realms into my eye, hoping to turn me into a weapon for their own benefit because of the abilities I attained." Then he shrugged in an uncaring manner. "A pity their own creation turned on them instead. You should have seen the looks on their faces when the first scientist went down with a machete embedded on his neck and his pretty blood spluttered out like a fountain, his wife's reaction was by far the best I can remember."

"I did not ask for such a graphic description." Sepira winced. "Anyway, the attainment of your unique ability was, as you said, a result of an experimentation gone extremely lucky. You did not even have to die to be able to go through all those six paths then, but now that you did die and were actually reborn this time, you ended up becoming a very special case."

"So now I have this supposed gift of Death which is soon, and most likely, going to be the death of me if I do nothing about it?"

"Exactly." She paused for a moment, as though trying to find the right words. "From the aspect of Buddhism, we can say that you unlocked a seventh path."

"If I recall correctly, Buddhism does not only have six paths but rather a lot more than that. Is this related with what you're implying?"

"I'm relieved you're catching up to what I'm saying." Sepira nodded. "But this path has no specific ability for you to attain like the other paths did, rather, you simply obtain a new type of flame, the Flames of Hades."

"So what is this new flame's attribute?"

"Time."

He raised a brow at her reply. "Time?"

"Yes, its property is to do with time. I am not so sure of it myself; it's up to you to figure out how to actually control it. But what I do know is that it has nothing to do with you skipping through time, or anything science can implant in your brain about having an ability that is technically about 'time'.

It is only concerned with the time of the living organisms around you.

Like say, for example, let's take a flower into consideration. The Flames of Hades allows you to quicken the death of a flower or slow down its death, growth or whatever it is that time has to play a role in it. There are obviously limitations but as of now, you will, like I said earlier, have to find more about it yourself."

"…well, that is a lot to take in; and it's somewhat comforting to know that I still retained my eye's ability despite being reborn." Kuroo mused after a brief pause. "But why is this flame named after the Greek god of the Underworld if its attribute is to do with time? Why not Chronos, god of time?"

"The 'Six Paths of Reincarnation' goes by many names, one being the 'Six Paths of Hell' which can also be known as Hades." She shrugged in reply. "It has its own reasons, don't expect me to be aware of it all, Kuroo."

A sudden sort of earthquake broke the two from the silence that had comfortably settled between them.

…

"…what the fuck was that?"

"Your mindscape slowly giving away to the stress from the flames' fight for dominance?" The Giglio Nero Primo offered.

Kuroo sighed and got to his feet. "I presume you know how to stop this?"

"Of course."

"Please, do show me the way to end this stupid 'fight'. I do not intend on dying, yet."

Fon was stunned.

Why?

The son of his cousin was a Mist.

It came as a shock to him because usually, the Hibari were known for the Cloud attribute they carried down their line of offspring whether it was dormant or active. The discovery was unsettling, it would have been understandable if the boy had a little of the Mist within him, considering the fact that his mother was a Mist too, but to have the Mist as his dominant element?

Now, that was confusing.

He had run a check on his nephew using a few techniques that had to do with flames, having learned it over the past, before making the unsettling discovery. He was no professional but he was not an idiot to not know how…unusual this whole thing was. Fon was a medical specialist too, not that great of one to be recognised worldwide but exceptionally good nonetheless.

And so, according to him, there should have not been such a drastic change of the hereditary flames.

There were other theories he could come up with, but none fitted the case presented before him.

Also, it was very abnormal that the Mist Flames which were so very unstable just this afternoon, and had most likely been so for a really long time, were now so soothing and perfectly stable, like nothing had even gone wrong in the first place. But of course it hadn't completely healed. He had even considered to call upon the famed Doctor Shamal to look into his nephew's problem but decided against it the moment he found out the strange improvement of his nephew's health.

The boy had been suffering from the problem for a few years already for crying out loud! He discovered that his nephew's "mysterious sickness" had been a side-effect of the unstable flames all this while. It explained why ordinary doctors could not find out what illness the boy had been suffering from.

It couldn't have been a sudden miracle that saved Hibari Kuroo from death. No. He had a feeling it was something more than that. But he had no means on finding out what exactly.

And all these confusing happenings were the cause of his forming migraine.

He was thus very grateful to Izanami when she served him oolong tea prepared just the way he liked to take it.

"Will he recover soon?"

"Yes." Fon hummed over the cup of the warm tea. "Remarkably quickly too so I can tell you that you have nothing to worry about. But I cannot assure you full recovery of his health. However, I will tend to his medication personally and make sure relapses aren't likely to happen in the near future."

"Thank you so much." Hibari Izanami breathed the air she didn't know she had been holding in. Her head bowed deep to show her gratitude. "Our family is forever indebted to you. Had you not attended to him on time…"

Her words didn't need to be completed because Fon knew just what she was trying to say.

"It's no problem. I am happy I was able to help." He replied. "Though, I must say, your son is…a very confusing young lad."

The woman laughed, the sleeve of her kimono concealing her smile of amusement that now played on her lips. "He is. And that's what makes him so unique, my oldest boy."

"Yes." He found himself nodding in agreement. "Yes, he is. Extremely unique, indeed."

A/N: I do hope the chapter explained itself well enough, if not, feel free to drop questions regarding your confusions :')

Yes, a new flame type! Don't worry, Kuroo won't be turning all Mary Sue (Gary Stu?), obviously (._.)/

I hope this chapter was to everyone's liking. And about the next update, don't expect it in the next two months because I have my pre-finals in January and finals in February to worry about xD
But after those exams are done, you'll have constant updates in shorter periods of time so no worries :'3

A big thank you to all for your follows and favourites, and also to my dearest reviewers zoela, SakuraLuck, SugarAlien, almakarma18 and Avezevin for your reviews! My source of motivation and happiness 3!

And thank you almakarma18 for reminding me of Mukuro's trademark laugh. It completely slipped out of my mind xD

SugarAlien: Yup. Future chapters are fully loaded with "extreme" bromance to the extent that its ALMOST yaoi (I won't be writing any yaoi folks, just super bromance) xD And it's not only with Kentaro :'3 Do look forward to it as much as I'm looking forward to typing it :'D

THANK YOU FOR READING!