Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn and Harry Potter; the honour goes to Amano Akira-san and Ms. JK Rowling respectively.
Chapter Two
Due
"…Ngnh?"
Skull blearily opens his eyes, turning his head. Yawning, he rubs the crust out of his lidded eyes.
Ah, He thinks, taking in the red bedsheets and martial arts posters, ah, this is Fon's bed…
…
Wait, FON'S bed?
Then, when he thinks he couldn't hyperventilate more, he notices the tanned arm snaked around his waist, and the face nuzzled in the crook of his neck.
HIEEEE -
Taking a deep breath, Skull quickly wiggles away from Fon, ignoring the engine-red blush taking over his face. Carefully, he steps over the martial artist, and tiptoes out of the room, only stopping to write a short note to notify him of his whereabouts.
At least he doesn't snore like Dudley.
Fong,
Just out to get something to drink. Be back soon!
-Skull
He doesn't notice the dark, lustful gaze trained on him.
Skull nearly has a heart attack when he comes across Reborn in the kitchen.
"Lackey," Reborn greeted absentmindedly, face hidden behind the newspaper that was always left behind by Verde, who always got up at obscenely early hours to start working on his experiments.
"S-senpai! What are you doing here?"
*Whack*
"Owww..."
"Don't question me, idiot Lackey," comes Reborn's menacing reply, rolled up newspaper in one hand. "Besides, I should be the one asking you that."
He clearly wants an answer, so Skull just explains about his want of a drink, slightly weirded out by the other's question.
At this, Reborn scoffs, sitting back down at the dining table and unfurling the newspaper.
"Make me an espresso."
Skull twitches, about to protest, but the dark glare shot at him makes him quickly dash over to the coffee machine.
Reborn grimaces behind his newspaper, an uncharacteristically weary expression flickering across his face. Yet another sleepless night. Twitching when a light thud is heard, he looks up.
"Here."
He sips at his espresso, grunting. "Passable."
"Just passable?"
Reborn lowers his newspaper to snap something back at the Lackey, but he closes his mouth at the raised eyebrow the other is giving him.
"What?"
"No offense, senpai, but you look like shit."
His hand, still holding the newspaper, spasms for a split second. Fuck. Tell me he didn't see that.
"I saw that."
Shit.
"Look, Lackey," he growls, setting the newspaper against the table, unwilling to tear it in his anger, "how I look is none of your business."
The Lackey raises his hands in a show of surrender, chucking nervously. "Alright, alright." He stands to leave, hands wrapping around his mug.
He stops at the door.
"Senpai..."
"What is it now?"
"If there is anything, anything wrong, you know you can come to me, yeah?" He is facing Reborn now, nervously wringing one hand, and he wants to scoff. So even the Lackey knows how to fish for information, huh?
But then he looks into the Lackey's eyes, and he sees.
And for the first time in a long, long while, all he can see is red.
Skull gasps when Reborn suddenly appears in front of him, slamming two hands on the wall on either sides of his head, effectively trapping him.
What is he...!
"What is your purpose, Lackey."
Oh.
"Is it so hard to believe that someone cares for you, senpai?" hurriedly, he slips his wand back up his sleeve.
Reborn snarls at him, uncovered obsidian eyes glaring at him. With rage, with hate, with anger.
With desperation.
"Stop lying, Lackey."
"I am not."
"Liar!" he roars, and the first thing Skull thinks, aside from the relief that Fon is a heavy sleeper, is
What a broken, broken person.
"What is wrong with caring for someone precious to you?"
He stiffens when Reborn's hands ball into fists, creating spider-web cracks in the wall. Mammon's going to throw a fit when he sees this.
"Are you kidding? How would I be precious to you?"
Cocking his head in confusion and surprise, Skull blurts out, "Why wouldn't you be?"
This time, it is Reborn's turn to stiffen.
"It's alright if you don't want to talk about what's bothering you," Skull soothes, misinterpreting Reborn's action, "but all I'm saying is, if you ever want to rant about something, I'll be here." he grins weakly. So please don't kill me.
Reborn's hands lower from their position, and for the first time, Skull sees nothing but confusion in the other's eyes.
"...Why?"
"Because we're family, mate, why else?"
"...Because we're family, senpai."
Slowly, Reborn pulls his fedora back down, shadowing his eyes. Refusing to look Skull in the eye, he walks back to the table, collecting his mug. Skull furrows his eyebrows. He didn't say anything wrong, did he?
Unsure what to do, he carefully steps out the door.
"See you, Lackey."
And Skull smiles so wide, his cheeks hurt.
"See ya, senpai."
And long after Skull's footsteps fade into the distance, and his espresso is no longer warm to the touch, Reborn blinks slowly, a faint tinge of pink on his face.
God, that smile...
*: "Due" is "two" in italian.
I admit, this wasn't what I had in mind when I started to rewrite this story: it's totally different from what I originally wrote. Hope you find this alright, as well.
Questions, comments, answers. They're all accepted!
(Edited: March 9, 2016)