A/N: Whoa, I really didn't expect someone to review since it's just a prologue. :D Because of that, thank you so much and I honor your suggestions. :D The incident have a chance to be revealed in this chapter, but let's see how, okay?

Unbeta-ed yet.

THE RAINBOW'S GUIDANCE

© Danielle Luna Soulhart

November 2012

GUIDE # 1: A bad start

…:[]:…

"Make sure you buy everything that is listed there."

A sigh escaped from the tired mouth of Reborn as he arranged the stack of essays submitted by his students. He was tired for two reasons: one was from constantly reprimanding his students on how to properly annotate their essays, and even if it was only an essay, if you're going to include certain words from famous people or ideas from events, it should be properly quoted or else they would be accused of plagiarism. But it seemed that three-fourths of the class remained stubborn, worse, some ending on having the same topic. Second, he received a note from the dean of the Liberal Arts Department that he was invited to a seminar and he was not allowed to back out. Apparently, this seminar was way, way, way out of his league – a seminar about Peace Studies in two months time. Seriously? Peace was something removed from his vocabulary long, long ago, and with the current environment he was in right now, ha, peace was something unattainable unless dealt with brute force.

Okay, maybe he was really needed in that seminar, and as long as he was not going to be a speaker in that event, it was fine. He knew how many would like to get in touch with one of the youngest PH.D professors in their seminars. Yup, he was one of the youngest PH.D holders within Namimori University. He was just the Coordinator of the Social Sciences Division of the Liberal Arts Department, and a well-renowned professor working in one of the most prestigious schools in Japan that was Namimori University. Yup, he's only that. But as for Reborn, these were only titles that bring no meaning to his entire life. Sure, he was living in a very comfortable and luxurious life, but even if he denied it, he knew something was missing. And so, Reborn remained humble and aloof from the rest of the lot of professors and just do his job professionally. Like what he's always saying, "Do everything with your dying will." Or some sort of that.

Another sigh came out of his lips.

It's almost 3:30 and his classes were over. He finished checking his idiotic student's idiotic essays with a marvelous red ink all over. He kept all of it inside a vacant folder and slid it inside his drawer so that he won't forget it tomorrow. With everything's done, he remembered what happened earlier this morning in his so-called house where the elements of happiness and companionship don't exist. Companionship, you say? As much as Reborn despised it, he was living with 7 other people in the house. They were his so-called companions or to other's eyes – FRIENDS. He doesn't know when and where they did start being friends; after all he doesn't recall any events that made them stick together until as of today. And whether he liked it or not, having those lots was calming and comforting than anybody else. Only, the others were war freaks like him, so peace never really descended on that house. Putting his hand inside his pocket, he fished out a small piece of paper with a list of things. He sighed once again. Since he was the one who will return home early today, he was tasked by Luce, the head of the household, to do the groceries. It's just really a good thing that he wasn't carrying any workloads or stuff, just his trusty body bag. With another sigh escaping his lips, he bid a muttered goodbye (an awful requirement from the dean) to his colleagues and went to the supermarket.

…:[]:…

"MY BAG!" A lady shouted in the crowd, "MY BAG WAS STOLEN! THAT BOY STOLE MY BAG!"

A blurred figure of a small child came into the view of the passersby by the time they heard the lady's scream. Some acted upon it, some ignored, and some just ridiculed the woman for being scandalous at broad daylight. Those who have acted upon it have called the police to inform a theft incident, while half of it chased the small child who was unbelievably fast for his age. Come to think of it, the child was no older than 5 or 6 years old, and by that age the child would still trip from walking or running too fast. Apparently, those were beaten by this child thief. The ones who tried chasing the child thought sadly of him because he was taught to steal at a very young age. They also wondered if the child have parents or not, but they easily doubted it because it's nearly impossible for a parent to teach their children how to steal. Worst of all, the child was uneducated so it was just possible that the child would turn out like that. Several minutes later, the child's pursuers gave up, panting at a sidewalk while others crouched down. Police cars arrived then, but when they asked where the child was, they couldn't give a proper answer but 'he got away'. The police-in-charge ordered his subordinates to search the area and to their dismay (though they may have not voiced it), they were disappointed because the woman victim wasn't able to look closely at the thief's or at least memorize a distinctive mark from the thief, so these policemen have a vague clue who that child thief was. Two hours later, the police gathered back to the car with negative reports and all the police-in-charge could tell the poor victim was 'your bag was taken away'. The woman cried because she lost her salary, her iPhone, and a fifty-thousand dollars worth of branded watch that she was about to give as a present for her husband. The policemen can't do anything but offer a ride towards their police station and file a complaint, at least it was recorded and they could do another round of search just in case. Gladly, the woman complied and told the whole story of how her bag was snatched from her. But the police were showing signs of disbelief when the woman said she didn't feel anything when her bag was snatched. How was that possible? If that's the case, the woman must be utterly reckless or she left her bag unattended. The police sighed.

On the other side of the coin, the small boy was sitting in a dark, narrow alley between a luxurius cake shop and a music store. That alley was almost unattended because of its narrowness and it's impossible for someone to be hiding there since trashes were everywhere. Plus, it only looked like a small gap between the two famous stores so no one was really paying attention to it. However, that's the most part they're wrong. Small rats can still reside in there, and apparently this small child was a rat. Digging his small filthy hands inside the bag, he found $1000 in an envelope, a rectangular device that was alien to him and a shiny watch. He looked at it uninterestingly before putting those back in the bag.

So, there's no food in it.

He kept the $1000 but he has no idea on how to use that. It's not even edible. But within his mind it told him that he should keep it for future purposes. His stomach growled and he pouted. He hasn't eaten food for two days straight already and with his luck today, food seemed to be scarce. Whenever he's looking at trash cans or the black bags thrown in the sideways for the garbage truck to collect, all he can see were empty containers, empty plastics or empty plastic cups. He already even tried stealing bird seeds being thrown by the bird watchers. He didn't even care the disgusted looks he received from them as long as he can eat. He looked around and unfortunately, there was no new black bag to search for food and so with a determined mind, he set out.

He left the bag in the alley.

…:[]:…

"…broccoli…carrots…celery…mushrooms…hmm…" Reborn muttered as he read through the list. He pushed his cart of goods slowly as he looked through a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables before him. So far, he got what he mentioned, plus cabbages, spinach, tomatoes, squashes, and lots of chili. All he needed were garlic, onions, ginger, and some others. He looked further and when he saw them, he looked at it with hawk eyes, scrutinizing if the vegetable or fruit have worm bites, rat bites, and other bites. When he found none, he put it on the cart in a very organized way. After the fresh goods, we went to the canned goods side and picked what was in the list. Reborn nodded and treaded towards the next aisle – the condiments. He took what was listed and again the left for the other aisle. He did that for about two hours and thankfully, he was able to get all what was needed. On the cart were his personal needs and some others that were followed-up to him through an SMS message by his other colleagues in the house. After that, he went to the counter and used his platinum credit card to pay for the goods. The cashier was simply astounded, not only at Reborn's handsome looks but at the luxury of having a platinum credit card.

And so, he was treated like a VIP. No. Like a King.

Fifteen minutes have passed and at last, it's over. Reborn can finally go home and avoid those stares he kept on receiving – both from men and women, adults and children, and even pets. He growled inwardly. What's so special about him? He's a cold, sadistic, merciless professor and no one wanted to mess with him. He also always carried his favorite Berretta gun in metallic green. He was a ferocious person, in short. So people should scram and leave him alone. But no. Every time, just every time he looked in all directions, he would always find pink backgrounds with fluttery hearts and swirling flowers of admiration towards him. Che, these people are so clichéd, he thought. Well, they can't find someone as dreamy as Reborn every day.

The moment he went outside, the valet has arrived with his car. He despised sports cars unlike his other companion, Colonnello; and so he picked a rather simple type of car but elegant looking – Porsche. His car was sleek black with silver linings and it has special devices like GPS system, a phone charger, and computer tablet holder. He went over and slipped 5 bags inside the car, gave the valet a tip and drove away. He swore to never go in groceries in his uniform and his car, and bring cash instead.

As he drove, he saw a beverage shop and found one of his personal favorite delights – espresso. Apart from his title, people do also know how he was in-loved with coffee, especially espresso. Normally, people would drink coffee with lots sugar and creamer to fight the bitterness, but Reborn? Oh no, he'd prefer it black. He wanted it strong. If he was going for cold coffees, he preferred frappucinos as long as sugar was little. He was not the type for sweets so whenever he received chocolates from his 'fangirls and fanboys', he would immediately reject it or if inevitable, he would take it and give it to the street children instead. He doesn't want it to go into waste because it's against his principles. He stopped, parked smoothly, set the car's sensitivity and went inside. The employees there were awestruck and Reborn wanted to knock some sense out of them as well. Seriously, if this kept on he'd have one of those facial surgeries and morph himself into an alien to scare their wits off. Er…but of course, work comes first. So, Reborn shook the thought off. He made quick choices: A grande-sized frappucino (since their espresso was only served during breakfast, Che), three slices of mocha cake and 2 strawberry pretzels. Once paid, he hurried himself to his car. He left immediately.

…:[]:…

A telephone ring echoed the household.

"Hello?" said a woman while dusting the furniture.

"Luce?" a slightly deep, manly voice said on the other line. There were a few shuffles and few voices that can be heard before it totally went silent. 'It's Colonnello. I'm afraid I won't make it to dinner today.'

Luce looked disappointed, "Oh? Is it the season already?"

Colonnello happily replied, "Yep. And we're currently practicing right now. I need to keep my team in shape or else I'm sure Lal will kill me for it."

Luce smiled a little and stopped dusting, "All right. What time are you going home?"

"Hmm, maybe pass 12 midnight already. There's so much to do and we have less than a month to prepare. We can't slack off now."

"All right, all right. Be careful on your way home. You have your spare key, right?"

"Yep, don't worry. I have it here."

"Okay, Ciao. Good luck on the practice."

"Will do." And the lines went dead.

Luce sighed as she put down the phone back to its holder. It's just so sad when the family was not complete for dinner. And if you asked, Luce was the head of the Arcobaleno household. Why Arcobaleno? It was a name given by their neighborhood since they noticed the different colors the occupants possessed. Arcobaleno stood for rainbow in Italian and all of them were Italian-borne. Plus, all 8 residents were very accomplished persons at such a young age, and that gave off the idea of "passing with flying colors" and "crossing the rainbow for the pot of gold". Oh well. Anyway, she was the head of the family because the house was practically hers, having it inherited by her from her grandmother back in Italy when she wanted to start an individual life in Japan. Apparently, her grandmother didn't approve of her living all alone so she sent her 7 childhood friends with her to live with her in Japan and weirdly enough, all of them agreed. Luce's grandmother was the former Giglio Nero Clan Head by the way, and by tradition, only females can attain the title "head" unlike in some other clans wherein the man is the "head" of the family. And so, Luce got the "head" title. But, apart from that, Luce was the most caring individual in the house, almost considered as a mother.

Well, she's a mother, alright.

She frowned.

She went to the living room and turned on the television to kill some time. It was six in the evening and was almost dinner, and the rest of her family was not yet home. Aside from Colonnello, the others will come home by 7:30 in the evening, but it's a good thing that she has cooked dinner. Of course, they would just have to reheat it in case that they didn't arrive at 7:30. She sighed. Even Reborn was not yet home. She changed channels to see what's interesting and apparently nothing caught her eye, until she saw a woman carrying a baby in her arms made Luce stop switching channels.

Her frown deepened.

She was a mother. Was. In short, she had a baby before and now…gone. She had a miscarriage due to a kidnapping attempt. Well, she doesn't care about being kidnapped since it happened often because of her status, but the fact her baby was put into line and to an end was something that she can't forgive. She can't understand why her baby needed to be included. Why does she have to be kidnapped? Why does she have to bear the pain of being a child of the Giglio Nero? Because of what happened, her smile was lost in the dark. Her natural cheery side dissipated. Her lively soul seemed to depart from her and nothing can ever bring it up again.

And because of that, Luce's friends were affected. Everybody blamed themselves for being slow to act. Most of all, for being ignorant, even though they were very much skilled in guns, they weren't able to protect Luce. The most affected of that lot was Reborn.

Moments later of thinking, Luce heard a familiar honk from the gate. She knew it was Reborn. With a flick from a device, the gate automatically opened (it's electric-based, thanks to Lal Mirch who was an engineer) and Reborn drove into the garage. Surprisingly enough, the garage can hold 10 cars – 8 slots for the occupants of the Arcobaleno household and 2 slots for guests. Luce went outside to greet Reborn.

"Welcome back, Reborn." Luce said with a small smile, hands clasped together as she watched Reborn to totally dismount his car.

Reborn nodded, "I'm back." Then opening the storage, Reborn took the baggage and handed some to Luce, "I've bought all what you wrote and some others that you followed-up."

"Oh, thank you. I'm sorry if it bothered you."

"It's okay, Luce. Besides, no one was present to help you; even that stupid lackey of mine would come home at a later time."

"Reborn," Luce chided, "Don't be so harsh on Skull, all right?"

"Fine." Then carrying the bags, he said, "Come on, let's get inside."

Once inside, Reborn put all the baggage atop the counter. Luce, on the other hand, removed all fresh goods and immediately stored it in the refrigerator. The non-perishable goods were kept in a cabinet that was on top of the condiments and utensils counter and the other things remained in one plastic. When Reborn searched the bag, he realized he forgot something.

"Luce," he called, "I need to go to the grocery again."

"Eh?" Luce said, confused, "Why? Did you forget something?"

"Yeah. I forgot to buy chips."

Luce's eyes narrowed, "Are you going to stay up late again, Mr. Reborn?"

Reborn shrugged, "Can't help it. I need to help Lal in her blueprint for her next project. Plus, I need to do extra research on Nietzsche's philosophy for next week's essay."

Luce shook her head in defeat, "Oh Reborn, you're such a work-a-holic. Okay, fine, go ahead and return here before 7. Dinner's ready."

"Okay."

…:[]:…

It's already evening and it's still unfortunate for the child thief to find food. On his hand was still the $1000 salary he stole from the lady couple of hours ago but he doesn't have any idea how to use it. For him, it's just a scrap of paper with odd drawings and a face that was directly looking at him. He kept on walking and people were desperately removing themselves away from the path of the child. They see him as someone who was not appropriate to live in Japan. However, the child was oblivious to whatever they were saying. All he wanted was to find food in order survive the hunger. Sleeping was not a problem since there were lots of leaves and other places that he can sleep on. Only food was important.

Moments later, he stopped by a hotdog stall. It was not that big, but the container sure does attract the small thief's stomach. With quick, cute toddles, the child went in front of the stall and stared at it for a short period of time. It made the vendor raise an eyebrow and shooed him away. But the small child doesn't understand what he meant. The vendor has no choice but to talk it out.

"You," he started, "You're ruining the business mood within my area. Go somewhere else to bother." Then he turned away. The child remained glued in front of the stall, and right after wiping his work counter, he turned around to see that the child was still looking. Actually, to the pictures.

"You know, kid, you can't afford those. You don't have any money to buy food. And look at you. Who would give you a damn penny?" Then he laughed.

The child seemed not to understand and instead of walking away, he tiptoed and raised himself to peek inside. His (dirty) hands were propped onto the ledge of the stall. Who would want some brown hands on a clean ledge, right? The vendor immediately swatted the small boy's hands, causing him to lose balance and fall on his butt. Accidentally, the money he stole (that was carelessly put into his pocket) fell and like a shining ore, the vendor's eyes sparkled. The child remained impassive yet his stares followed the vendor who was picking the $1000 money like treasure.

The vendor looked at the boy then at the money.

The boy simply blinked his eyes.

Without hesitations, the vendor hurried himself towards the child (albeit not holding him or the hands) and said, "I stand corrected, my child," his voice was all sugary and brightened up his smile at the child, "You have money." When the child doesn't react, the vendor waved the piece of paper in front of the child and spoke, "This is money. You use this to buy stuff you wanted like food. Money is life, my child." The child seemed interested and so he went on, "I don't care how you got this big amount of money, but one thing is for sure, my lad, and that's for you getting a month's supply of hotdogs and drinks from me."

The vendor kept on blabbering nonsense yet the child seemed unfazed. Poor guy.

After five minutes, the vendor gave the child his meal and the child wolfed down the meal in minutes. The vendor was surprised. Half of his mind told him to pity on the child and probably the kid hasn't eaten yet, but the love for money was stronger. Business was business after all, and like he said, money is life. The child was able to take down 6 hotdogs and 4 bottles of water. The child was still emotionless but the action of rubbing his tummy showed satisfaction. Indeed, it covered the two-day starvation and the good side of it was the vendor not minding giving the small child extras. One thousand dollars was something not seen in streets every day. The vendor twirled in happiness. After that, the vendor told the little guy to come back. When the words seemed to pass by the child's ears only, the vendor sighed and used body language to convey his message. All the child could do was to nod.

With all that transaction, both parties were satisfied. And it's time to go home, at least for the vendor.

…:[]:…

Reborn sighed. It's almost 7 and he was still walking in the streets. The grocery store that he went into was a mess! People reeked unpleasantly and boxes were everywhere. It looked like the grocery was still on the process of stocking the goods in their respective shelves, but the employees have no choice but to let the buyers proceed on getting what they wanted. Apparently, he's one of them. Ah, it's just such a bad time. As he walked, he thought a lot of things, starting from the day he decided to live with his other companions in one house if not for Luce's grandmother. They were just in their first year in college and Luce's grandmother literally kicked them towards here in Japan. Well, not that he didn't like Japan, but he was more Italian-like than Japanese, even after a decade of living in Japan. But what bothered him the most was the sudden turn of events right after Luce's miscarriage. Up until now, no one has the lead for the kidnap attempt and even though Luce appeared calm, he knew that Luce was still mourning.

And Reborn thought that if he didn't do something sooner, Luce will fall into abyss – Depression.

The next thing he knew was exclaiming a 'shit' as he fell down, with an additional weight on his body and a sticky feeling that was onto his hand. When he opened his eyes, he saw a kid filled with grime. His face was almost unrecognizable due to the blackness of his entire body. But what irked him the most was that the child kept on tugging on the grocery bag that the professor was holding.

"Oi, brat," Reborn sneered. The child didn't react, "Let go of my bag."

The child kept on tugging the bag, although a little stronger pull now.

Reborn felt his veins tick, "Brat, if you're stealing my food then you have a fat chance of doing it. Move aside before I kick you."

The child won't budge.

Reborn was not a very patient person and his patience was reserved only for those who deserve it. But this child in front of him was definitely not worthy of his patience. Without further ado, he kicked the boy on the stomach, sending the child towards the post. The child winced silently and coughed blood, plus the dinner he had went to waste because he vomited. Reborn's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He called this child pathetic. He waited for a moment, watching what the child will do. He knew this age – it's survival of the fittest – and anyone was entitled to do whatever it takes to survive the cruel world. This child was one of them.

And then his eyes widened.

He had never seen such strong yet gentle eyes in his entire life. If ever the boy was cleaned, he bet that the child has the most sparkly eyes – take note, sparkly eyes from the dictionary of the PH.D professor – and it could mean anything. This was also the first time that he encountered such blank emotion. It's like the child was not capable of emotions or he doesn't know how to control his emotions or he was traumatized or whatever. Reborn continued to watch until the child stood, but the child didn't move from where he was; instead the child remained looking at him – both in fear and interest. It lasted for a minute until Reborn can't take it.

The child's mouth was still bleeding and an arm was hugging the tummy.

Reborn grunted before leaving him.

…:[]:…

"Seriously, you did that?" Fong asked as he placed his chopsticks down. He was the fastest to eat among his companions and not only that, he arrived 25 minutes earlier than Reborn.

Reborn didn't reply but made a huffing sound indicating his pissed mood.

If anyone was pissed from what Reborn did, no one can beat the irritation that Luce emitted. "Reborn. You shouldn't have to kick that child. What if you killed him?"

"Tch, Luce," Reborn spoke, "That kid won't die from a single kick," and a kick he earned from Luce, "Ouch, that hurt woman – anyway, I was acting on self-defense. Who knows what that child might bring me?"

"Geez," Viper muttered and sipped her strawberry shake, "Children are defenseless and weaponless, Reborn."

"Viper's right," Fong seconded, "Plus, you're smarter than him."

"Che." Reborn muttered.

Luce sighed. She sometimes wondered where all the war freak spirits came from and invaded her companions' bodies. For a simple thing, it got big and worse. Men…"Well, what's done is done. It's a good thing Reborn is not hurt. Just," she paused and glared at Reborn, "don't ever do that again to a child, Reborn."

"Alright, alright."

O_O whew. And honestly, I was quite bothered as I wrote this fiction. I am sorry for the grammatical errors in advance and I would love if someone will beta this fiction, although I already have one, but it won't hurt if I have another, right? :D

I know most of you already knew who that little guy was, but I have a little question, should I put this on T or M? I am basing this on my characterization of the child.

Oh well, don't forget to review! The more, the faster update. :D