It was two in the morning when Harry woke up groggily. Teddy has trained him well; his internal clock has now adjusted to his godson's schedule of eat, sleep, poop, and ensure-that-Harry-doesn't-get-more-than-three-hours-of-continuous-sleep-because-I'm-the-devil-spawn-of-a-Marauder-and-Harry-is-my-bitch. Right now it was feeding time so Harry walked over to the tiny cot in his room.

But Teddy wasn't there.

He was suddenly awake and aware. Both wands were in his hands: the Elder wand in his right and his phoenix wand in his left. The war was over but the opposition was still around. And it was no secret that Harry took in Teddy (there was very little that the Wizarding World didn't know about his personal life, much to his dismay) and that he was currently staying in the Burrow.

How dare they take away his precious godson!

He slunk around, battle-honed instincts enhanced by his godfather instincts. All of his senses were sharper, nothing escaped from him: not the way Ron snored in the next room (because he can't sleep with a squalling Teddy), George whimpered in the room across, and Percy paced in his own room. But he couldn't sense Teddy so he clamped down his rising panic as he moved through the Burrow, looking for any signs of intrusion (and kidnapping).

As he went downstairs, he noticed it was too quiet - eerily quiet - despite the light in the kitchen. So he silently entered the kitchen, staying in the shadows where they existed.

But there was no need for stealth because as soon as he stepped into the kitchen, he was nearly thrown back by the sheer volume of noise. In Molly's arms was a crying Teddy whose hair was a mixture of sky blue, neon green, and crimson. He immediately sheathed his wands as he ran towards Teddy.

"Oh, Harry, what are you doing here, dear?" she asked as she continued to fuss over Teddy who still won't stop crying.

"Teddy," he said as he took Teddy from her arms, the tension bleeding away from his body when the baby was in his arms.

"Hey, enough of that now. Have you been fed?" he cooed over the baby who finally realized that he was in Harry's arms, since his hair turned from an eye-watering combination of blues, greens, and reds to a black with a tint of brown.

"How did you know we were here, Harry dear?" Molly asked, frazzled as she tried to take the child in his arms but he only shielded away from her.

"I didn't," he answered honestly as he let Teddy take his glasses to chew on again.

. . .

A blonde entered the bar, garnering the attention of everyone in the room. And how could she not? Curvaceous but not overly so, long-legged as highlighted by her heels and obscenely short red dress, naturally beautiful in a way that was just so unnatural - she was the ultimate femme fatale.

She sashayed to an empty seat by the bar and sat between a lean muscular blond man, wearing a green uniform, and a black-haired teenager, who looked so out of place since he was barely an adult.

She couldn't help but give a flirty wink to the blond to her left but leaned towards the brunet to her right.

"Hey sweetheart," she purred into his ear.

A raised brow and an amused grin were all she got in return.

She leaned some more, emphasizing her chest and showing off her cleavage. He, along with everyone else in the room, was now watching her as she showed off her assets. She smirked at the attention and the challenge the brunet presented. "How about I buy you a drink, handsome?"

"Forward, aren't you?" he said with a grin, more charming than amused with a hint of roguishness, making him seem older than he looked.

"Is there anything wrong with being a little forward?" she crooned as he took the proffered drink.

"Of course not," he answered, smirking. Then quick as a snake, he wrapped his other hand around the back of her neck. Most men (and some women) in the room shouted protests and the blond on her other side seemed to be loading, if her hearing wasn't mistaken, an anti-tank. She would have felt threatened by the teen's actions but then he whispered, "I've heard about mother fucking, but isn't this taking things a little too literally, Teddy?"

She gasped as she pulled back out of his loose hold. Then she pouted and crossed her arms under her chest. He only grinned as he connected their foreheads, her green eyes meeting with his green eyes.

"How did you know?" She huffed. Her disguise was supposed to be perfect.

"Do you think I won't recognize my own son?" he said, entertained by her antics no doubt. Then he glanced over her, his gaze was appreciative but not lewd, as he added, "Or daughter?"

. . .

There was a storm outside and Harry was worried because Teddy hasn't come into his room yet. He didn't like loud noises and hated the sound of thunder and wind lashing.

He knew it shouldn't bother him because independence was a sign of growing up. But he wasn't ready for his godson to be independent. He needed his godson to need him.

So despite everything, he entered Teddy's room, only to find disheveled sheets and no Teddy.

He panicked but shoved it down because it was impossible for Teddy to be outside of the house. He warded the house to tell him if Teddy left the premises and if there were intruders. So he knew, logically, that the child was in the house. But logic had no place when it came to magic so he still worried.

"Teddy?" he said to the empty room and was about to leave it when thunder roared outside and a soft whimper followed.

He followed his ears to find the source of whimpering, and lo and behold, there was Teddy under the bed.

"Hey Cub, do you have room for one more?" he asked with relief as Teddy curled himself into Harry's willing arms.

. . .

They haven't talked for a year, which was a record considering on how much of a mother hen he can be. But Reborn cut off any form of contact with him after he disapproved of his chosen career path. He's old enough to know what he wanted in his life, thank you very much.

And besides, he had no right to disapprove since he was the one who introduced Reborn to this world where he flourished as a hitman. It was hypocritical of him since he was much better hitman than Reborn. (Though he preferred to be a mercenary, a jack-of-all-trades of sorts, unlike Reborn.)

Despite all that, he wished that his last words to him weren't "What right do you have to dictate my life? You're not my father!" since he knew he was going to die. The remaining Carcassa famiglia surrounded him on all sides and he was sporting three broken ribs, a dislocated leg, and a concussion on top of a few nonlethal (but very painful) bruises and gunshot wounds.

Still, it would have been nice to, at least, live long enough to apologize to the man who raised him.

"Teddy!?" a familiar voice screeched. And one heartbeat later, a flash of flames and magic filled the room, blinding him temporarily.

But that didn't mean he lost all his senses because he could smell the charred flesh and hear the frantic footsteps moving towards him.

"Teddy! Oh Teddy, what have those monsters done to you?" a familiar voice mumbled above him.

He scoffed because he was far more monstrous than the Carcassa famiglia will ever have been. And this man, who was running his gentle calloused fingers through his hair and casting spell after healing spell, was most definitely a bigger monster than Reborn could ever be.

And he loved Harry all the more for that. (For the man was only a monster for the sake of his cubs.)

"How did you find me, Dad?" he choked out with a burning need to know. He knew there were no tracking charms on him or anything of that sort. It should have been impossible for Harry to find him.

"My silly cub, I promised, didn't I?"

. . .

It was Ron's birthday and he wouldn't have missed it for the world. But as much as he loved his best friend/brother in all ways but blood, he did not appreciate being forced to play with the kids just because he looked like a kid. But Ron and Hermione asked (and so did Teddy) so what choice did he have?

So he was playing hide-and-seek. And he was it.

Though he had to search for at least a dozen kids, it wasn't really that hard. The Weasleys were never really the quiet sort, so he easily found all the Weasley kids (or grandkids because he still considered Ron and his brothers as the Weasley kids) in record time because of their giggling and whispering. (He was disappointed that he found Fred first. He expected more from George's son.)

All that was left was his own kid and noted that the brat was getting better at hiding from him.

(He ignored the nagging feeling of not finding your own kid, what kind of guardian are you?)

But not good enough as he pulled Teddy from underneath Ginny's chair.

"Really brat?" he asked fondly as he held Teddy by the scruff of his collar. The boy's hair turned neon green with tints of orange.

"How did you find me?" he pouted as Harry bopped his nose.

"Silly Teddy, I'll always find you."

. . .

The underworld was a strange place - it didn't question him or his agelessness. (But then again, they have multi-colored flames that don't act like flames at all and babies who can fight much better than him, so what right did they have to question him?)

It was also very dangerous. And after living a lifetime of danger, he realized he couldn't live without it.

But then, he can't live without Teddy.

"Stay safe and blend with your surroundings. Don't hesitate to use your spells or metamorphmagus abilities when you think they're going to find you. Keep moving and don't get caught," he softly instructed to his child as he kept an eye out for the stupid idiots who threatened to kidnap his child.

"But how will you find me if I move around?" he whispered fearfully, his hair turning into a blinding shade of yellow, which was normal enough so Harry didn't point it out.

"Silly Teddy, didn't I tell you that I'll always find you?" he whispered back as he brushed his lips to his forehead.

Teddy clung onto his clothes as he shook his head and whispered back, "This isn't hide-and-seek, Harry!"

"Of course, it is," Harry answered back, gently peeling Teddy from his person. He could hear them coming closer. "It's just more...dangerous," he added..

"So don't worry, Cub. I'll always find you. I promise."

. . .

"Are you hiding from me, Tsunayoshi?" an ominous squeaky voice came from behind him, startling Tsuna and forcing him to drop what he was holding with a muffled crash.

"No, of course not, Reborn," he squeaked as he turned around to face the baby hitman.

Reborn only snorted as Leon turned into a gun and fired a warning shot to the left of Tsuna's head. His intuition told him not to move because Reborn didn't aim to hurt him. This time.

"What did I tell you about lying?" Reborn said, displeased and angry.

"But I'm not trying to hide from you," he explained as Reborn prepared for another shot.

"From Harry?" Reborn asked, incredulous and surprised, which was an odd reaction from him because nothing fazed his tutor.

Tsuna fidgeted before muttering, "Yeah."

"You can't hide from him," the baby scoffed. "Why are you trying to hide from him in the first place?" emphasizing his pathetic attempt to hide from the older teen.

And speak of the devil. "Yeah, Tsuna-kun, why are you trying to hide from me?"

Tsuna looked up to see Hari with his customary smile and twinkling brown eyes. He looked down as he said, "I, um-"

He didn't even get to start explaining when Hari was suddenly in front of him with wide eyes and his hands in his gloved ones. "Oh dear! Are you hurt? You should know better than to hold onto broken ceramics with your bare hands. Didn't I teach you better? What if it broke into your skin? Oh Tsuna," he rambled as he inspected Tsuna's hands.

"Um, I'm not hurt. I, uh, broke your mug so I was trying to fix it. But I just dropped it again and I'm sorry," Tsuna explained, cursing his clumsiness for breaking Hari's favorite mug.

"Oh, that's good to hear," he sighed with relief. Tsuna blinked at the odd reply.

"Um, I broke your mug. I'm sorry," he repeated because Hari had selective hearing, especially when he was in mother hen mode.

(In hindsight, he should have realized that Hari didn't have selective hearing. He always listened attentively to Tsuna; he just had a tendency to have the most unexpected responses.)

"Yeah," and this time it was Hari who gave him an odd look. "You just said so. There's no need to apologize."

"But I just broke your favorite mug," Tsuna commented and both Hari and Reborn gave him a raised brow. (Reminding Tsuna that despite their differences, they are related. And proud of it, too.)

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Hari asked, amused.

"Because it's the only one you used," Tsuna pointed out.

"Good observational skills, Tsunayoshi," Reborn said, smirking. Tsuna couldn't help but flush with pride and embarrassment from Reborn's blatant praise.

"Because it would be a waste if I didn't use it," Hari explained before brightening up. "Now that it's broken, I can finally buy my own mug!"

Tsuna looked at him weirdly before turning to Reborn, who usually had an explanation for Hari's eccentricities.

(The opposite was also true on the rare occasions Reborn confused him instead.)

"He's had it since he was seventeen. He was bound to get tired of it sooner or later," Reborn said blandly.

"It was a gift from Hugo!" Hari said, defensive. "How could I say no to my godson?" he protested dramatically.

"You say to no to me all the time!" rebutted Reborn.

"But you're my cub," Hari said factually, as if it made all the difference.

Interlude: Hide and Seek - end.

if you should know, the update schedule of kintsukuroi is supposed wed/sun (unless stuff happen like brownout and storms. yes, i'm talking to you glenda/rammasun!)

so what is this? this is my way to thank those who have left reviews. so for every 150 reviews, i'll post an interlude, chapters not related to the plot. they're mostly about insights, characterizations, and maybe past and future interactions not related to the current flow of the plot . you may leave behind what kind of scenes you wish to see, like reborn crossdressing, which was a suggestion by a reviewer.

i don't demand reviews, but i'm not above using incentives to get them. many of you just put this story (or me) on your follow/favorite and i appreciate that, but i would really like to hear from you. comments, reactions, rants, constructive criticisms, whatever - these are the things that make my day.

so expect the next interlude when there are 300 reviews. and the next chapter on sunday.

and if you're curious, the order of events is 1,3,5,6,4,2 then after a very long time, 7.

p.s. i'm sorry that i haven't replied yet. i'll get to them soon. maybe on tuesday.

thank you for dropping by and i hope you enjoyed your read~