*grins evilly* You know you wanted to see him, and now he's here! XD
The first clue her day...hell, the next week...was about to go pear shaped in a hurry was the sudden attack that left her flat on the ground with some girl glomping the life out of her and making it very clear she was not letting go anytime soon.
The second was the sound of an exasperated sigh and someone saying "Not again."
Hotaru looked up to find a girl about her age with lilac colored eyes and a far too familiar crazed expression. She had cropped silver-white hair and her eyes practically screamed she wasn't entirely sane in the head.
Not that Hotaru was about to cast stones, since she was on very good terms with well over half the Varia, including Belphegor, but still.
However it was the feel of her flames that made Hotaru pause and feel a chill of dawning shock...and recognition...pass through her own.
"Oh god... Creed?" she half-asked.
Please let that be her imagination, and not actually him.
"You remember me! I knew our bond was stronger than death, my beloved Train!" said Creed happily.
"Get off me you idiot!" snapped Hotaru.
Well at least now she knew that she wasn't the only one, but for the love of god why did Creed have to be the first one she stumbled across who remembered?!
"You know my dear twin sister?" asked the boy with an almost pained voice.
"Unfortunately. Wait, twin? So I'm not the only one who got reborn with a fraternal twin?" said Hotaru in disbelief. Seriously, what were the odds Creed would have a twin brother as well.
Creed's eyes glinted with a familiar possessive gleam.
Hotaru could feel Creed's flames trying to latch onto her own.
She gave her old friend/stalker a flat look.
"If and when I find Saya, will you agree not to try and kill her again?" she asked seriously.
"So long as Train is mine, now and forever, I suppose I could tolerate that witch's presence," said Creed.
Hotaru thought this over. On one hand, Creed was apparently still an unstable nutcase.
On the other hand, the sheer headaches she could inflict on people who annoyed her and the fact that Hotaru knew damn well Creed was very loyal (if highly unstable) wasn't something to be tossed aside so lightly.
"You know what, screw it. If I can be friends with that bloodthirsty brat Belphegor I suppose I can tolerate having you as one of my Elements," said Hotaru.
Creed's eyes gleamed with delight and possessive intent. The crackle of electricity with all the possessiveness of a particularly territorial Mist filled her Sky.
"...Somehow it doesn't surprise me that you were born with Lightning and Mist flames," deadpanned Hotaru. At least she wouldn't have to go hunting for a Lightning.
Most of the ones in the underworld were completely ruined because everyone expected them to act as meat shields.
Creed was positively giddy and was already clinging to her new Sky and obsession.
"I don't know whether to pity you or pray for your sanity," said her brother after a moment.
"Pity the Vongola. They still have no idea what's about to hit them," she said with far too much mischief and cheer.
The boy stared...before asking "Are you related to Giotto Vongola by any chance through your father?"
"I refuse to acknowledge any blood relation to Iemitsu," scowled Hotaru. "And no Creed, that isn't permission to kill him. Trolling him though..."
The boy started to laugh, long hard and with a slightly unhinged note.
"Of all the people my dear twin sister had to bond to, it was the Vongola Decima!" he cackled.
Then again this was the first time he had been born with a twin. Even if she wasn't a Sky, she was still his beloved sister.
"So what's your name this time?" asked Hotaru.
"Rosethorn Gesso," she said, practically purring.
"Hotaru," she replied.
"Don't you mean Black Cat?" asked Creed's brother with a grin.
Creed looked delighted to hear that.
"Like I was going to stick around in that house after I got my memories back with my mother like that. Better to make a clean break and let her keep her little fantasy intact than risk it. Besides... I was really bored," she admitted.
"Considering the number of alternate worlds where your sibling or mother treat you like crap after you were sealed, that was probably a good thing," commented the boy. "Where are my manners. Byakuran Gesso, heir of the Gesso famiglia. You have my deepest sympathies for having my sister as your new Lightning."
Byakuran was not oblivious to his sister's bad habits. If something got in her way she was more inclined to stab first and ask questions later. It was for that reason that they preferred to keep her within the bounds of the Gesso territory and prayed they found someone willing to marry her later, if only to make her their headache. Fortunately she was more inclined to simply be around her twin and look through interesting reports about various mafioso than go out and cause trouble.
Come to think of it, she had taken a very terrifying interest in the hit man Black Cat, but refused to explain why.
And now Rosethorn had harmonized with the future Vongola Decima. Byakuran didn't know whether to laugh, cry or simply pity the holder of the Vongola rings.
Hotaru looked at Rosethorn exasperated.
"Just so we're clear, I don't care if you decided to be a crazy bitch around me so long as I don't have to fill out the paperwork for it. You can give the Ninth generation conniption fits about your behavior for all I care so long as their inevitable heart attacks or aneurysms don't get traced back to me," said Hotaru bluntly. "And you had better get used to sharing me this time, otherwise there will be more than words."
Rosethorn's eyes gleamed.
"So long as you don't go soft like before when that witch got her claws into you, I can tolerate having to share."
"Considering I plan to seize control of the Vongola and will likely need all my old skills, I highly doubt that will be an issue this time."
A short time later
Reborn had to stare at Hotaru's new Lightning.
"Really? You had to bond with the unstable twin of the Gesso heir as your Lightning?"
"It gets even better. She's Creed's reincarnation," deadpanned Hotaru, already looking for some migraine medicine. "On an unrelated note Byakuran was more than happy to help discreetly fund me in exchange for keeping his sister happy...and on a leash where he wouldn't have to deal with it directly. Once I take control he's going to create a potential alliance between me and the Gesso."
Creed looked at Reborn with a disturbing amount of fascination.
"Really, my darling firefly? You went and harmonized with the World's Greatest Hit Man as your Sun? It's so delightful to know that you still have good taste," she purred.
Reborn couldn't help but feel his skin crawl hearing that. He had heard things about the Gesso heir's sister, but there was something that screamed she was dangerous and unstable to every sense he had.
And his Sky looked perfectly comfortable around the psycho.
"Reborn, I'm on good terms with most, if not all the Varia. And to be honest, I at least know where I stand with Rosethorn. So long as she behaves and I don't have to clean up after her just learn to tune out her behavior," said Hotaru flatly.
Rosethorn almost looked like she wanted to pout at that.
"Besides, at least this way I know my Lightning will actually be competent and perfectly capable of killing anyone who tries to do the same to me. Creed wasn't exactly known for being lenient with those that got between him and his obsession."
"And if you see Saya again?" asked Reborn.
"I will tolerate that witch's presence so long as my dear Black Cat never goes soft again," sniffed Rosethorn. "It was absolutely terrible how much my beloved cat resented me for killing her last time!"
Definitely a psycho, but at least Reborn was coming to terms with how the girl's mind worked. He could learn to ignore it, so long as she never directly targeted him.
Mostly because he wasn't entirely certain he would come out on top of that particular fight.
"So just to be clear, you bonded with a Yandere Lightning?" said Reborn at last.
Hotaru about died laughing her ass off.
"Oh god, why didn't I think of that?" she said cracking up. Because seriously, Creed's behavior was pretty standard for a yandere.
Rosethorn was definitely pouting now.
"First brother and now you! Is it really that funny?"
"Yes, and I wish I had known about Japanese pop culture terms last time because it would have saved me a lot of grief," deadpanned Hotaru, getting over her amusement.
Because if she had known exactly what sort of personality Creed had before she would have been much more careful about being around Saya.
Rosethorn took one look at Squalo and a vicious grin appeared on her face. She had always wanted to play with the current Sword Emperor, but her brother would never let her.
"Voi. Why is she staring at me like that?" demanded Squalo.
"She's a yandere Lightning who uses swords. Odds are she just wants to play with you. Word of warning though...she's about as stable as Prince the Ripper when she really gets into it," said Hotaru dismissively.
Xanxus choked when he heard the words "yandere Lightning", and had to give Hotaru an incredulous look when she openly stated her new Guardian was about as 'stable' as Belphegor when he saw blood.
"Where did you find this one?"
"She found me. It's a long story, but at least I know what her obsession is and how to deal with her behavior."
Train had worked with Creed a long time, and it was only when he tried to leave behind the life of a hit man that Creed had flipped. It didn't help that he had been attempting to become a little more human while turning Creed's offer down.
If he had known what a yandere was, he would have been a lot smarter about the whole affair and Saya might have lived.
So having the man...well, woman back by her side again was oddly comforting. At least this time he had better idea of what her personality was like and how to avoid certain triggers.
Squalo had to admit, Hotaru's assessment of her Lightning's personality was dead on. However that didn't mean he was bored... the Gesso brat was the first real challenge he had had in a very long time and he was already grinning wickedly while fighting her!
"How the hell did you end up with that girl turning her obsessive behavior towards you? Even Belphegor is considered sane next to that one!"
"...Would you believe reincarnation and the fact she apparently recognized me from before?" asked Hotaru.
Xanxus turned his attention to Rosethorn, who was giving off enough bloodlust to match Belphegor on a really bad day and all the obsessive tendencies of Mammon around a large amount of money or profit. Her skills were far too good for anything less than years and years of real combat experience, but he knew perfectly well the Gesso had been keeping a lid on this particular girl because of her behavior. The odds of her coming by it normally were so damn low it wasn't even worth considering.
He looked back at Hotaru.
"I believe it. That actually explains a damn lot, like where you got so skilled with a gun when no one even knew who you were until you suddenly appeared on the radar with enough talent to match even the infamous Renato Sinclair at his prime," said Xanxus deadpan.
"We were teamed up in our previous life, and the second she recognized me she decided she wasn't going to let something as ridiculous as being reincarnated stop her from becoming one of my Elements. Considering her behavior before, when I had no idea the level of her obsession, I decided it was easier to go along with it and just hope for the best," said Hotaru tiredly.
Xanxus smirked.
"I came with good booze."
"For the love of god share, because she would drive even a saint to drink! Though there was one big reason I took her in as my Lightning."
"What was that?"
"Imagining the reaction of the Ninth generation and the jackass when they realized who she was and the depth of her obsession towards me, and the fact I wouldn't bother to reign in her behavior so long as she didn't attack civilians and I didn't have to fill out the paperwork for it."
Xanxus had to take a moment to process this. He took a good, long look at the psychotic Lightning playing with his Right hand and Rain, and then at the cheerful expression on Hotaru's face imagining the chaos of inflicting Rosethorn on the Ninth generation.
Then he did something that sent shivers down Squalo's spine...and oddly enough Timoteo and Coyote, despite the fact they weren't within earshot of it.
He started howling with laughter at the thought of inflicting Rosethorn on the Vongola.
"I almost feel sorry for Bianchi, though. Even if she is a borderline pedophile."
"Why's that?" asked Xanxus, when he could speak again.
"She tried to poison me because she thought I was holding Reborn's affections from her...and Rosethorn damn near gutted her. If Hayato hadn't pleaded for his sister's life she would have left here with more than just a few life threatening injuries and possibly major scarring," said Hotaru. "On an unrelated note she had a rather interesting reaction to being called a borderline pedophile to her face."
Bianchi had a very startled and disgusted look when Hotaru called her out on her own obsession with Reborn. The whole 'true love conquers all' nonsense annoyed her greatly, and if Bianchi's reaction was amusing it was nothing compared to the look on Reborn's face as Hotaru calmly explained how Bianchi's attempts to "woo" a man trapped in the body of a toddler would look to anyone who didn't know what an Arcobaleno was.
It was one thing to claim maternal or sisterly love for a small child. It was an entirely different kettle of fish that generally resulted in a lot of people all too willing to 'remove' said person from the collective gene pool of humanity to express romantic love to someone under the age of ten. Even if it was just appearance wise.
That she made the mistake of targeting Hotaru in view of Rosethorn was either spectacularly bad timing altogether or just a sign from above that she should really find someone else to obsess over...or force to be her boyfriend.
Reborn certainly kept his mouth shut, but then again he had mostly humored Bianchi to begin with and had never really reciprocated her 'feelings' for him. She was too young for him anyway, since he was a little over sixty and old enough to be her grandfather.
Xanxus just laughed his ass off.
Hotaru was far too entertaining and he had absolutely no regrets treating her like a little sister. Besides, he saw his Nonna in her every time she pulled something like this and he couldn't wait for her to announce her heritage and make her own claim for the Vongola rings.
He almost felt sorry for whoever Federico dragged up as his Lightning.
Almost.