Yay, the next chapter! I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own KHR
Reborn growled. There have only ever been a few people that could aggravate and frustrate him. Luche and Tsuna, and immediately upon leaving one, the other swooped him and dragged him to the one group of people he hates seeing at the same time.
Luche smiled at the glaring Sun Arcobaleno. The other 6 adults watched without words as the two strongest and most influential people in the Arcobaleno fought it out. It was rare they were called together, ever since Luche gave birth to Aria, Aria to Yuni, and most recently to meet Ieyasu.
It had been so long since they all converged, for some reason, that after they broke the curse, the 8 now saw the idea of retaking jobs attractive again. Maybe it was because Checkerface was finally defeated, and they had their bodies again. Or, simply, they were bored since the strongest people they knew had turned into babies, and they had brand new bodies to destroy.
The Arcobaleno had been called for a meeting to discuss the topic by Luche, setup months prior, right after the trials ended. For some reason, Reborn had been very reluctant to come since 10 days previously. Although curious, none of them thought he would actually try to skip. It took the all 7 of them to convince him to come.
The were in Sicily, and luckily, the raven hadn't been far. Reborn was in an increasingly bad mood as he sat, mentally killing them repeatedly. The Arcobaleno sat at a circular table in a dimly lit room, Reborn was sour, suspicious, and dangerous, and Luche had cookies. It was exactly like all those decades ago when they first met.
The raven had been aggressive in the entire hour present, which could be considered an improvement compared to the first time. Of course, after all the time they spent working together, most of them hadn't expected the hitman to be so cranky.
"Can I leave now?" he snarled. Reborn didn't even move to get up, nor did he pick up the cup of espresso that had been waiting for him when he first entered.
"No," the Sky Arcobaleno bluntly answered, never dropping the smile. Skull noshed on the cookies, Colonello fisted his hands, Lal tried to ignore them by polishing a handgun, Mammon counted some money while inconspicuously listening, Verde was transcripting the conversation, and Fon calmly sipped tea, openly listening.
"I have work to do," Reborn grumbled, shadowing his eyes with the fedora ever perched on his head.
"What work? You've been digging in Vongola ancient history the past 10 days, not to mention tutoring Ieyasu. I highly doubt you took any other jobs."
"Doesn't mean I don't have an important reason not to be here, or other more important places to be rather than attending a pointless meeting."
"Pointless?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Biting off half a cookie, Luche gestured for him to continue to share his thoughts. It was a rare privilege for him to actually speak of what was on his mind.
Glowering even harsher at her, Reborn dutifully answered bitterly, "Yes, pointless. We all want to kick ass, but after being kids and connecting to people, we see that a lot of what we did was unethical, inhuman, and morally wrong, besides Verde. He's just an uncaring ass."
The scientist looked up from his papers to glare at him, to which the hitman easily ignored, before just as quickly looking back to the papers he was writing on.
Sighing, Luche responded, "Perhaps, but we all, after working in teams during the trials, actually remembered that working with other people can be exciting and may further develop our skills in multiple fields. One being information gathering. Shall I demonstrate?" she suggested, smiling.
Reborn could tell this was not going anywhere desirable to his situation. Out of the group, only him, Luche, and Mammon could gather information on people at the highest level. Just like he had a way of knowing a person's thoughts, Luche could tell what you wanted and what you were up to. She was a woman and a psychic after all.
"You went to the Mansion of the Sky, didn't you?" she asked. Everyone except the woman herself was confused. Reborn just didn't show it.
"So that place has such a real name? Not surprising, considering what it was used for," he replied, smirking. To most, that was better than him being a pissed. To others, it meant they were going to get involved, and will likely still be injured somehow.
"If we're going to working together, we need a place to meet up."
"So that's your objective," Reborn murmured, but didn't escape the Arcobaleno leader's ear. "Yes, since we can't exactly stay in the same place everytime. Considering the people in the room and what we quite possibly can and will do, it's safe to say old and new associates are going to find and hunt down this place after a few months."
It was true. The abandoned building they were meeting at was in Palermo, but it wouldn't be hard to deduce their hide out. Taking into account how many other abandoned buildings currently are in Sicily's capital, and what would need to be within a block range 5 exits and entrances, water piping large enough for a body and , 360 degree view of the surrounding area, and on high ground, and Reborn's enemies and competitors given the opportunity when not in Vongola's headquarters, Luche gave it 3 months after their first big job.
"How did you know that was it's name?" Verde asked. Obviously, Reborn had no idea, so Luche most likely has looked into it before.
The Sky Arcobaleno seemed to weigh her options before answering. "It's been inhabited since the 1400s, served as the first Vongola HQ, and is only down the block from the current one. The Mansion of the Sky is named for the incredibly potent sky flames of the guardian of the house, which destroyed entire platoons of Vongola's first enemies, when it was young and vulnerable," she explained, "And Giglio Nero has been watching over it for years."
The room was filled with silence as Luche stared searchingly at Reborn.
The hitman juggled the idea around. It would be true that after summer break Ieyasu and co. would have to go back to Japan, he would also have to. The raven would have no reason to come back until the next summer break. If the Mansion of the Sky really did become the meet up, or perhaps the home, of the Arcobaleno, Reborn would be able to visit whenever they had a job.
"If I agree, can I leave?" he bargained. Luche smiled, and agreed.
"Then yes." With that, he stood up, and left.
00000000
Within 20 minutes, Reborn was in the current Vongola HeadQuarters, in his own room, right under Nono's office for security reasons. In any case, it had fantastic signal connection.
Walking out of the shower, he looked in the mirror. The tall, infamous body of the World's Greatest Hitman stared back, curly side burns and raven haired dripping with water droplets on to his already damp skin. A single towel covered his more private parts, openly revealing the handsomely built, tight muscles, as well as the gallery of scars.
He sat on the comforter, staring down at his hands. Reborn mused that after all the hell he went through, he was finally experiencing something deeper than any loyalty.
Suddenly, his phone rang, annoyingly beeping. He'd have to remember to change that. "What?" he asked monotonously, so as not to reveal the fatigue he felt after 10 days of research, inquiring, and sleepless nights. Still, a light sigh found it's way out his lips at the sound of his student's voice.
"Reborn, everyone's on the plane," the blonde future Decimo reported. Why, Reborn didn't know nor care about. "Okay, that means that you'll be here a little before 9," he grunted, ready to hang up and sleep for a few hours.
"Yeah, but, um, we've all been wanting to know why we're suddenly going to Italy," Ieyasu said.
"If you have a question, then you damn well better phrase it as one," Reborn growled. Letting out a small yelp, the heir hastily amended. "Reborn, why are we staying in Italy?"
Chuckling, the raven decided he had enough energy to tell them most of the story.
"Several hundred years ago, a human and his pet moved into this great mansion, named the Mansion of the Sky because of his amazing sky flame capabilities. He tried to help those in need, and never failed to in the village that later became Palermo. However, because of his abilities, all feared him, and pushed him away-"
"Those bastards!" shouted Gokudera on the other line. "Interrupt me again, and I swear that plane will never land," Reborn threatened. That quickly shut the storm up.
"So he cried in his room during full moons at exactly midnight," thinking about how he was telling it, Reborn wondered if there was a correlation between him meeting Dark. "This didn't really help, since there was, at the time, a king, and that king pretty much took all this human's credit." The hitman paused, as if daring anyone to comment. To his satisfaction, no one did.
"Eventually, that human died, and soon after so did the king, when all the good deeds 'he' did stopped happening. However, the human's spirit, or will, or whatever, didn't pass on, and continued to weep at midnight on full moons. Either he was bound to the mansion, or became incredibly bitter about it, he was never heard from any other time. Well, until Primo came."
This time, the raven paused so that they could gasp, and yes, most of them did.
"He befriended the spirit, and made the mansion the newly formed Vongola family's first HQ," he said, ignoring the collective noises of surprise, "They lived there a decade, until they moved into the current one down the street. The guardians and Primo visited often, and the spirit exchanged notes with the Vongola head. When Primo moved to Japan, letters were sent up until a week before he died.
"Afterwards, the spirit was mostly quiet, crying only on the anniversary of Primo's death. He seemed to watch over Vongola, peaceful and benign. Perhaps the spirit was waiting, 400 years later. He saw Quattro come, and the various descendants of Primo and his guardians visit every few decades. The mansion and spirit remains to this day," Reborn finished.
"So? What does a Vongola ghost story have to do with us?" Gokudera asked. "What did I say about interrupting?" the raven snarled, glaring at the device. The silver haired teen shivered, shocked at the hitman's ability to transmit murderous aura over a phone.
"The point is, Nono got interested, and sent Xanxus, Byakuran, and me to go check out the mansion with haunting rumors within such close vicinity to HQ," he said, and as he expected, Ieyasu promptly chirped, "That's why you suddenly left 10 days ago!"
"Yes, and guess what? He and his pet were still there, and has agreed to house you idiots just like he housed Primo 400 years ago," Reborn said, smirking.
"What?!" the Decimo's family squawked.
"Oh, yeah. His name is Tsuna."
I hope you liked it. This one seemed kind of lean to me. And sorry, this is not the one where they meet. Yeah, I could have combined this one and the next chapter, but this seemed like such a good place to stop. Bye, and review! It helps me to try and write better.
9CatLives