"We have doors, Teddy," Harry idly commented, sitting on the windowsill in the living area of their home.
"It's Reborn, Dad," was his immediate response as he jumped onto the windowsill.
Reborn had just returned from the Sawada residence. He had to bring Tsuna back to that place, despite how much they wanted him to stay, because they didn't want to deal with any legal repercussions.
(And won't it be ironic that they will be using everything in their arsenal - mostly illegal methods and magic - to adopt Tsuna legally?)
"And besides, I'd like to point out we also have chairs," Reborn added, settling himself on the windowsill like his father.
"Mmm."
Reborn watched his father play with a small black stone, letting it run across his fingers, knuckles, and palm. Occasionally, he tossed it before catching it and letting it dance across his left hand again. Leon, being the mischievous chameleon that he was, crawled from Reborn's fedora to Harry's bent knee and tried to catch the stone with his tongue. This only spurned Harry to show off his dexterity, agility, and reflexes as he used both his hands to expertly keep the stone away from the chameleon.
When deep in thought, other people would drum their fingers or tap their feet. But not his father, who showed great feats of dexterity and agility when he was completely distracted; much to Reborn's jealousy and amazement, since even he, the greatest hitman in the world, would struggle in an attempt to mimic his father's reflexes. "It's worse than we thought." Reborn voiced out the reason for his father's distraction.
The stone landed on the back of his father's gloveless right hand, where a bisected triangle inscribed in a circle was etched in red. The stone flickered away from existence and the chameleon let out a small whining noise.
"Sorry, Leon. Next time?" Harry said with an apologetic smile as he patted the chameleon on his knee. Then he faced Reborn, glowing green eyes were visible since he perched his glasses on his head - a sign that he was serious.
"Should I practice my Occlumency again?" Harry said, amused. Reborn grinned back because they both knew Harry had no skills in Occlumency even after all these years.
"I don't need use Legilimency to read your thoughts," he answered confidently, ignoring the pain that he can't even if he wanted to. "You're far too predictable."
"Excuse me," Harry huffed, crossing his arms across his chest. "I would like to point out that I'm the paragon of spontaneity and unpredictability."
Reborn scoffed, "What you are is the paragon of senility. But that's all right. I heard it comes naturally with age."
"You are such a brat," Harry mourned, theatrically placing a hand on his forehead.
"Well, who raised me?" he retorted with a smirk.
"I know," he dramatically sighed. "Where did I go wrong?"
"Maybe when you brought me along to your goblin expeditions. Or maybe when you allowed me not to attend Hogwarts. Or maybe when you befriended the Ninth."
Then, silence. It was tense and awkward; and Reborn hated himself for mindlessly answering back with his usual lines. His father had broken ties with the Ninth almost a decade ago and it was still a sore topic for both of them.
"But seriously Dad," he said, mustering the courage to break the impasse. "You raised me all right. That's why I called you."
There was no response but the air felt lighter. His father gave him a small smile as his gaze mellowed in gentleness and affection. The silence was comfortable now and they let it linger for a few moments.
"A knut for your thoughts?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.
Reborn snorted, "My thoughts are worth galleons."
"I can pay," he retorted glibly. (And as the current Lord Potter and Lord Black, among other titles, Reborn had no doubt.) "So let me hear them?"
"He..." Reborn drifted off, looking for the right words to voice out.
"It didn't even cross his mind to leave the room!" he started off because it truly baffled him. "The room had gigantic glass doors. Which were locked in the inside!" he continued, jumping off the windowsill to pace in the living area. He couldn't understand on how or why Tsuna didn't bother to escape or at least attempt to escape. He could have left yet he didn't and that simply went against everything Reborn knew and lived by.
"And he didn't flinch from the bullies," he continued. Flinching was a defensive mechanism against pain. And for Tsuna to control that instinct implied many things - he didn't defend against pain, he was used to it, he welcomed it, he accepted it. Yet he obviously feared pain. It was a paradox that frustrated Reborn to no end.
"Yet he shuddered when you smiled at him." And there was something very wrong if he felt more threatened of kindness than pain. Of smiles than punches and threats. Of his father - who has done nothing but be his doting and caring self - than those cruel abusive bullies.
"He has dead eyes." And this was the worst of them all.
Eyes are windows to the soul; that's why he's wary of people looking at him in the eyes. That's why his father wore tinted glasses because his eyes showed that there was something different about him. Something distinctly not human.
And Tsuna has dead eyes, as if there was no soul in him. As if it has been sucked by a dementor. Or it has been battered, beaten, and broken into a billion bits.
What kind of leader has no soul? A puppet leader - definitely not worthy of leading the Vongola.
"It was as if he's learned helplessness," he added, frustrated and defeated.
There was an experiment about it: mice were constantly manhandled until they stopped struggling; and when they were place in a pail with water, they didn't even try to swim - they just drowned.
And he could see Tsuna as one of those mice; in a deadly situation, he wouldn't even fight to live - he would just die.
So he couldn't use his usual methods. Hell, he can't even use the Dying Will bullets on him because even though they would release the limits of his body and bring out his flames, he would have to die first. And Reborn wasn't sure if Tsuna's regrets were strong enough to bring him back to life.
And Reborn was not allowed to kill his student. Even if at this moment, it seemed to be the greatest kindness he could offer. And considering he's the world's greatest hitman and the son of the Master of Death, he doesn't take death lightly.
"Your hair is really distracting," his father's non sequitur stopped him in his tracks as he stared at the teenager.
Harry's expression was soft and understanding as he got off the windowsill with Leon on his shoulder and crouched in front of Reborn. His rough yet dexterous hand reached out to stroke Reborn's hair.
He let out a deep sigh as he realized his depressing train of thought stopped when he stopped pacing. Tsuna was his student and he would not let his student die, whether or not he was allowed to kill him.
(Part of him wondered how does his father know? Reborn knew Harry had no skill in the Mind Arts after being traumatized when he was a teenager. Yet he always knew what was on Reborn's mind and if or when he should interrupt Reborn's thoughts.)
"It's so bright and colorful," his father added as he continued to run his fingers through Reborn's brightly colored hair. His hair was like a mood ring, a different color for each emotion. Pink meant sadness, sky blue meant anger, neon green meant frustration, brown meant happiness, and so on. The brighter the color, the more negative the emotion. So he didn't need to look at his spiky hair to know that it looked like a rainbow of neon colors.
"I thought I can't do that anymore," he mumbled, leaning towards the calming touch. Leon, being the wonderfully understanding and astute chameleon that he was, jumped onto Reborn's shoulder and nuzzled his neck in a reassurance.
Ever since he was cursed, he lost most of his magical powers and abilities - a part of himself.
Harry shrugged as he sat down on the floor, pulling Reborn to sit on Harry's crossed legs. "Maybe the curse is finally weakening," he said evenly though Reborn could hear the hope in his voice. (Or maybe that was just him, projecting onto his father.)
Reborn had no answer to that so he settled in his father's lap as the man stroked his hair until it returned to black. Black meant calmness (and at times, contentment) so it has become his default hair color.
(At times he wondered if it was his default hair color because he wanted to look like his dad.)
"But he said no," his father pointed out, breaking the silence once more.
And that made all the difference. Those dead eyes suddenly blazed with life. And if he wasn't mistaken, he saw those dull brown eyes turn into a shade of golden orange - Sky Flames. A sign that despite being broken, he had the will and resolve to fight. To live. Even if he didn't acknowledge it.
Even if he didn't know how to.
"We'll help him. You and me. He maybe be broken and probably will never be completely whole no matter what we do," his father said evenly, yet Reborn felt every word he spoke burned with his Dying Will.
"But he will learn how to live, I promise."
Reborn smiled as he closed his eyes, basking in his dad's Dying Will flames and pure magic. It doesn't matter if it would take Gryffindor courage, Sytherin cunning, Ravenclaw intelligence, or Hufflepuff diligence (or all of them and more), the world will bow to his father's word.
Unbreakable Vow - end.
note: it's not really plot relevant, but the whole conversation was in english.
no plot, but some background information about harry and reborn so i'm only sort of sorry. and i forgot about leon in the previous chapters, so i'm making up for it.
to KK, from what i understand from you previous review, you were implying that tsuna should not be book-smart. and i don't see him that way; he's no way an academic. and i agree that there are many types of intelligence; i won't deny that your friends are intelligent in their own ways. but i would differentiate the different types of intelligences by iq and eq. and at the moment, tsuna would have a low iq and eq at the moment. when he comes to himself, he will definitely have an average iq at the most but a relatively high eq, which is sorta canon. and i am free to my own interpretations, but so are you. and i welcome comments like these because they help me polish my characters and the story so don't hesitate to leave your thoughts.
to Pineapple King, thank you as well for leaving your reviews and i'll do my best not to abandon this. x3
to the guest who didn't leave a name, i'm sorry but i can't answer your questions without spoiling the story. but as for your last question, i hope this chapter answers it for you. x3
thank you for dropping by and i hope you enjoyed your read~