I'm really sorry for the long hiatus on this story. Honestly, I thought I screwed it up, but I somehow managed to sort out the plot. I had been thinking yesterday, as I searched for updates, that anything updated during these two days would be like presents, and that I was expecting 'presents' without giving any 'presents'. Thankfully, I've learned how to type quicker over the past five months because I got the idea last night. Anyway, I hope you enjoy you're present! have a good last hour of Christmas day! Sorry, though, if there any mistakes...
Disclaimer: I don't own KHR
"Um, excuse me, but I'm pretty sure there are certain protocols and mechanisms we all should learn how to use." Again, all eyes were on the small angel, but Tsuna reasoned he would probably be dealing with these people a lot for God knows how long, and they would stare a lot. Hence, getting used to the action would be most productive.
The stare, and silence, didn't last for long. Basil nodded, "We will have to explain everything once so no one needs to be told again when we all return." Heads bobbed in agreement, and Reborn spoke, as he was the one Satan could entrust the secret workings of the various communication devices in their 'office'. "The main ones are the receivers and responders for angels and demons respectively," the tall demon started, walking over to the far side of the room they were currently in.
Metallic boards lined the walls, every couple of feet there was a chair and a narrow space for a notepad or a drink- just because they didn't need human substance didn't mean they couldn't have any, and boy, the demons loved it.
Microphones stuck out, their thin, wiry stalks barely supporting the heavy headphone sets, smothered in angelic and demonic charms and spells. Blank, small screens presented themselves in front each chair, one on either side. The seraphim nervously eyed the small switches and buttons that decorated the rest of the space, quietly trying to swallow the lump in his throat.
"The headphones have wards against tapping and tracing, if the enemy was capable of such high-grade magic," the Arcobaleno paused for a few moments, then continued after a half-hearted nod to the side. "They are capable of translating the normal angel-demon barrier when we talk on special frequencies."
Yamamoto scrunched his face. He couldn't understand Reborn when he used big words in a serious tone. Gokudera sighed heavily, quickly noticing his partner's confused expression. "He's saying we can understand anything when we put on the headphones," elaborated the shorter messenger. After a quick word of gratitude, and a huff from Gokudera, the torturer went on.
"You'll be able to speak to the person communicating through the microphone. It, too, has seals and charms so that you'll be able to hear if it's of your kind or not. Finally, the screens. The one on the left tells you the realm and the right one pinpoints their location and if there are any demons, angels, or monsters in the near vicinity."
Reborn made eye-contact with all 15 beings, lingering on Tsuna's chocolate orbs for several unnecessary moments, before asserting that everyone understood, "I'm not going to repeat this, so you better remember. If you don't understand something, play with it until you get it right," he smirked, "That's how the best killers do it."
Fuuta and Shoichi fought a shiver, while Chrome was used to weird things. Enma and Tsuna, who had already clicked, shook their heads. Reborn was a mystery, and the type to be avoided; strong, merciless, and with a sense of humor. Basil, wanting to clear the creepy air (which the demons found completely normal) cleared his throat. "What is it you want, Old fashioned olive vegetation?" Hibari demanded, glaring sharply at the angel.
Forcing a self-assuring smile, he spoke, "Isn't about time we split up?" This caught their attention; only Byakuran, Shoichi, Mukuro, Reborn, Gokudera, and Tsuna nodded, much to the skylark's irritation (the pineapple just had to boast he was better connected and knew than him at all times). "What do mean split up?" asked Spanner, fetching another lollipop from his white uniform pants pocket.
"As you all know, Heaven, Hell, and Earth are all vast places. There are many places where the enemy may lurk, meaning communication outposts. Many have to outfitted, however, for all beings- besides monsters - to be able to use them. then they need to be checked manually by a representative, namely, the people in this room," explained Shoichi.
Sighing, Gokudera fished out a neatly folded paper square, barely able to fit in his palm, from his jeans. Fluidly, he pulled it apart and set it on a free desk. In ancient script, the map depicted the realms. Small red circles dotted the earth, the various layers of hell and the folds of heaven.
"I assume the circles are where the transponders are?" asked Byakuran. The silver haired demon nodded. "There are hundreds!" exclaimed Fuuta. The albino chuckled, "Yes, thousands. I'd suppose it'd take us at least 1 or 2 human months to reach them all." Gokudera eyed the smiling marshmallow lover, "You have a week. The yakyuu-baka and I have to go back to hell, so we can take the people coming for those, but who's going where is up to you," he declared.
"Oh, we also need an angel and demon here at all times," declared Spanner, barely paying attention to the conversation going on. "Kufufufu~ The engineer is right. In case of emergencies there must be at least a representative of both realms here at all times," Mukuro added with his permanent, creepy smirk plastered on his face.
"Hell has already set up the compensation for my absence; it would disturb the balance if I went back now," Reborn said, sitting on a chair, ignoring the following complaints and rest of the conversation . His thoughts, although unreadable through his solid obsidian eyes, dwelled more on whether there were any coffee beans on hand, if the espresso machine worked, and how long the enemy would hold out against their numbers.
Slowly, he stopped thinking and focused on the lovely, ornate, golden band above the small seraphim's head. It floated inches away from his skull, but the untameable fluff that so perfectly suited him made it appear as a crown. Although all angels possessed one, he never cared much for them- only their death. It was kind of pitiful, really. The halos were like snowflakes; different for each angel depending on their personality, rank, choir, and job. After he killed the angel, the band disappears as well.
Tsuna's actually changed when he morphed into a seraphim. The halo caught his attention; a circle with 7 spikes pointed in every direction, and a round, small sapphire blue gem at the front. When he shifted back into his smaller form, Reborn watched in mild interest as the spikes evened out into a braided band, with a silvered thread caught in.
"Um...Reborn?" called the voice of the owner of the very halo he was studying. The rest of the demons and angels had left some 5 minutes ago after deciding that because Tsuna had just returned from Earth duty, and running around constantly, he should stay. Begrudgingly, they left the innocent angel with the sun arcobaleno.
He may have let his mind think to other things because he didn't want to listen to any arguing, but the hell did that mean Reborn was not constantly aware of his surroundings. So, the raven fondly watched as the small brunette awkwardly tried to initiate a conversation. Tsuna kept stuttering, and it so damn adorable.
Reborn, being a very powerful demon, was amazing with the ladies. He had no qualms going with a guy though, especially a cute one. Sometimes, what's needed to break a man is a good stick up the ass, so Reborn didn't mind the extra exertion. So long as he was on the top, the raven was happy. But with a face like that, the arcobaleno was amazed he retained his pureness.
Suddenly, Reborn stood from his seat, towering over the flustered seraphim. Tsuna cocked his head to the side, muttering a weak 'yes?' Absently, he cracked a smirk, stiffening the poor angel. The arcobaleno went on a knee, his lanky thighs long enough to be of near equal height of the angel. Tsuna stared at the demon, who didn't release any murder intent, or aura. But then again, the arcobaleno rank knew endless bounds. It wouldn't be surprising if the raven could perfectly conceal what his intentions were.
worried at being unable to discern the reason for the demons actions, Tsuna began wringing his hands. He never really was good with a one-on-one situation like this. Reborn was immensely intimidating, and it was these moments when Tsuna questioned how Lucifer thought that he could do whatever he wanted with more power. If you can't lead right, what's the point of power? You'd just scare everyone aware. He's not saying Lucifer doesn't have a super annoying charisma for demons, but he just doesn't see how power can give you confidence.
Quivering, he continued to stare into Reborn's blank orbs, or at least, until he felt the unmistakable petting of his wings. He squeaked, flapping them as if in warning. Tsuna heard a deep chuckle and looked back up to Reborn. the angel was nearly being enveloped by Reborns suit-clad body. The torturer's chest and shoulders shielded the seraphim and although the man was infamously stone-hearted, his limbs- mere inches away from his own -radiated in warmth.
The comforting warmth, as well as the gentle rubbing of the small wings lulled him into a sweet bliss. Unable to keep himself upright, Tsuna dived right in, not caring his head and halo were touching a demon. His chest's warmth was very attractive, and Tsuna was a cuddler. He latched onto Reborn with no intention of leaving for a while.
Sighing, Reborn chuckled at the actions of the smaller being, and continued petting the delicate, tiny wings. Like a baby chick's, white down made up most of the feathers covering the extra limbs. They were surprisingly a pleasant warm; not like the hot, internal fires of hell. Only pleasant. Tsuna nestled further into Reborn's chest, much to the demon's delight.
Like a bundle of warmth, Reborn embraced the small creature, but the hot holiness of the halo took his breath away. It hissed in rejection of touching Reborn's impure flesh, not that the Torturer couldn't blame it. He had done a lot of shit. The heat that burned into his left shoulder somehow relaxed him.
At this point, he didn't really care, but he couldn't stop the overwhelming calmness that took over his vision. He retained his awareness of the outside world, but eventually even that, too, faded into the white. Barely, Reborn remembered lifting himself and Tsuna to an open space against a wall, underneath a cross. Big shots like Reborn wouldn't even notice it.
Willingly, he drifted into the whiteness of dreamland.
His last conscious thought, was that of a rumor. If an angel was pure enough, with a single touch of it's halo, it could dive into your soul and drag out all your shit; shit you thought you flushed a long time ago.
The heavy, cold metal weighed down his hand. It seemed so hard to hold because of the mass amount of sweat. Slowly, Reborn looked down at his hand. It wasn't sweat. The only color in his monochrome existence; red. The red of blood. It showered itself upon his life; he could never escape it. Death, greed, corruption. His life was sad. Known as the greatest hitman in the world, he killed, then served the vongola Primo. Then more killing.
He was a great man, and Reborn had been okay with more red, if it meant that man had less. But he died too young. Primo's predecessor was bloodthirsty and represented the new Italian mafia perfectly. Reborn kept killing. His world retained it's simplicity. The fear of him. The fear was the only thing that sparked up his life.
It entertained him.
Reborn knew he would never die of old age, but the pride of his hard work was too great to look for a job he couldn't accomplish. Suicide was boring as well. Seeing his life turning out pitifully and boring, Reborn thought of a solution. He loved teaching. He wanted to leave the legacy of the world's greatest hitman. He set up the hardest course he could think of, and challenged all the hitman of the world to kill him.
Reborn would not defend himself; all they had to do was clear the course.
In the end, he starved to death 36 days later. Reborn hated the world. He hated everything. There was nothing. All his life was black, white, and red. Everything he knew was dirty. Nothing in his life was good, not fully. He never found the great love that Primo's mist did. Even in the good people, he saw through the mask everyone puts up.
Reborn saw the evil in every human being, and he couldn't stand it. Fear. When he went to hell, he scared the demons. Not because he was filled with it, but because he wanted to see it again. Fear made all the sin and the masks fly away. Soon, he became a demon, and quickly rose through the ranks. He was one of the 'lucky' few that remembered the past; past experience, past skills.
With Reborn's power he gained, he could cause millions of souls to wallow in fear, crying and begging for mercy. To Reborn, all he saw were humans' true faces. Billions of them populated earth, and Reborn was a genius. He could do the math. There weren't nearly enough souls. He learned then that Heaven and purgatory existed, never knowing that humans could purify themselves. That humans could finally see their evil as well; not just him.
He learned that humans could be good if they really wanted to, but that they had to persevere. Reborn knew that knowing was hard, and healing even harder. It made him hate the souls in Hell even more. They chose against being able to be forgiven and be evil forever, torchered by souls just like them.
Reborn never knew there was a choice.
But he would have lived a billion lifetimes over if it meant he could see people that didn't wear masks. Truly beautiful people...
I hope you liked it! I love fluff, so yay for snuggling on Christmas! Thanks for the reviews! Note, It's never discontinued unless the author says it's discontinued. As payback for not updating at all these 6 or 5 months, my new New Year resolution is learn how juggle school, fanfiction, and yaoi fangirling! Hopefully, by the next year of this account, I'll have finished most of these! Well, Have a good Winter, dudes! The next Chapter should be out in less than a week...
9CatLives