Chapter Length: 3, 985

First Published: 17 August 2017

Child Predator?!

28 March 1988 - 11:20 - Some corner street, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Harry bit his lip and awkwardly paced in front of what looked to be a bookstore. He just turned his head to the side for just one moment (he saw an amazing balloon this one kid was holding) and suddenly he lost track of where his tiny uncle was. He would have called for Poppo and asked for help at this point, but the house elf opted to stay at their home back in Japan. The island they were in was too far and too unfamiliar for said house elf to apparate to.

Harry as hopelessly lost and he had no idea what to do.

He knew that he should stay still and wait for his uncle to come back. He knew that moving from his spot now would make things even more difficult for his uncle to find him but he was getting really nervous. The people passing by kept looking at him and he just wanted to hide somewhere. At some point, he knew that someone would approach him and he was really dreading that. How would he answer them? Uncle Skull told him to be careful of strangers.

Just as he was worrying about it, a very strange adult approached him. Harry wasn't one to judge strange things, as he knew that being different didn't necessarily mean that it was wrong. The Dursleys may have tried to beat into him the importance of fitting in and being normal, but Uncle Skull assured him that there was nothing bad about being different. His guardian emphasized how amazingly special he was and that that was a good thing. Really, he had magic and was training in using Flames, so he knew he shouldn't judge strange things.

But the adult approaching him was really, really strange. There was nothing wrong about the sunglasses he wore; a lot of tourists wore sunglasses in Hawaii. The weird things about him were his bright blue hair, fashioned into dreadlocks and the dead animal hanging around his neck like a scarf. It looked to be a ferret or something and Harry hoped that it wasn't a real. He had a swagger to his steps that oozed the confidence he had in himself and his style.

Trailing behind him was an older boy with equally...unique fashion. His black hair was partially dyed green. He too had fashionable sunglasses and clothes with loud colors of orange and yellow. He may not have been as confident or graceful as the adult he was following, but he held himself well.

Harry was seriously scared right now. What would he do? What would Uncle Skull do? What would Uncle Skull want him to do?!

"Hello there, little boy. Are you lost?" the strange, blue haired adult asked him.

The man smiled at him and he felt a chill go down his spine. This guy was really scary. Was this what Uncle Skull called a child predator?!

Careless!

28 March 1988 - 11:32 - Some street, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Skull grit his teeth in anger as he weaved back and forth between the foot traffic of the many people in Hawaii. It was during these moments where he wished people just didn't exist. His charge was missing and these slow, blind idiots kept slamming into him or almost stepping on his small form.

He was seriously angry with himself. He should have held Harry's hand! He knew he should have but he had wanted to give his charge some space after he almost snapped at him two days ago. He had gotten used to Japan's relatively safe streets and he wanted to beat himself over the head for his carelessness.

What kind of uncle was he if he lost track of the kid?!

"S-skull?! Is that you?" he heard a voice shout from somewhere behind him. He could care less who it was. He had a child to look for and he didn't need distractions right now.

He sped up his running, weaving through taller people's legs like an expert. He was practically an expert, honestly, what with how long they have been cursed to these small forms.

"Damn it, Skull! Slow down, will you?! What's gotten into you?!" he heard that same, obnoxious voice again.

"Not right now, Colonnello! I am fucking busy!"

He seriously didn't need to deal with the Rain right now. Ugh, he should never have been so careless. From now on, he'll never be this careless. He'll never allow himself to be this careless.

The warm, purple fire of his soul burned in anger.

What just happened?

28 March 1988 - 11:35 - Some street, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Colonnello was taken aback by Skull's rather violent behavior. The junior Arcobaleno was known to be whiny and pretty much a wimp, so it was really surprising for the ex-military man to receive a dismissal like that. That made the Rain curious and he decided to run after the Cloud, occasionally calling for the stuntman to slow down a notch. Not that he was listened to, of course. Honestly, it was kind of worrying how frantic the other was being.

He continued to dodge around the oblivious civilians walking the streets as he chased the blacked haired Skull. That's another thing that weirded him out. Since when was Skull not purple haired? He was pretty sure that the Cloud was naturally purple haired. Did he dye his hair black? Why?

"God damn it, Skull! What's going on?! Do I need to pull out my rifle? Call for Falco?! Oi!"

He continued shouting as he ran, eliciting grumbles of "Noisy, annoying kids" from the clueless, so called adults cluttering the streets. Honestly, if the lackey would just slow down and brief him on the situation, he could help out. It was obvious something was bothering him and it was only right for him to help his fellow Arcobaleno out. Those cursed stuck together, yeah?

They eventually reached a corner street and if Skull was angry earlier, he was enraged right now. Without warning, he jump kicked a man in dreadlocks who was surprised enough that he wasn't able to dodge all the way. The man's chin was nicked and he stumbled back unsteadily. The strange, green-haired kid behind him tried to catch the older man, but the weight may have been more than he could handle, and both of them tumbled down into a mess of limbs.

Skull then turned to a shaking kid who was on the floor, obviously trying to comfort the black haired child. The kid's glasses were askew and he was crying a river.

Surrounding the chaotic events were a bunch of confused civilians who dithered around, not knowing what to do about the casual act of violence.

"Fuck, Skull. What the hell is going on?"

Misunderstanding?

28 March 1988 - 12:13 - Akoni's Bar and Grill, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Mee Noi sat next to his mentor uncomfortably in the nearest restaurant they could find. Sitting across him were two of the Arcobaleno, the blond looking more confused than anything but still was rather intimidating. The black haired one looked pretty embarrassed but the eleven year old knew that underneath the sheepish expression was a scary human being. The black haired Arcobaleno, as embarrassed as he was, still positioned himself protectively next to the bespectacled child.

And therein lies the source of this whole mess, the child named Harry.

Earlier that day, he and his mentor Lussuria were enjoying their vacation in Hawaii. They had a mission in the island that they completed earlier on and were just sneaking in some sun and sea before they had to be back at the Varia base. Things were going well and they were on their way to have lunch when his mentor saw the young boy looking obviously very lost. Lussuria, who always had a soft spot for children, approached the child with the intention to help him find his parents.

His mentor may be notorious in the underworld for his strange sexual preferences but even he had his limits. He may have preferred his men to be younger than him, but he wasn't one to touch children. He drew the line there. He had approached young Harry with no malicious intent, but perhaps that may have been a bad move.

Lussuria was very confident in himself and dressed however he wanted, but even Mee Noi would admit that his mentor was scary and had a weird fashion sense. Harry was obviously scared of the dead ferret scarf his mentor wore and wanted nothing to do with them. His fear may have caused the black haired Arcobaleno to react so violently.

The silence continued to stiffle the atmosphere before the black haired child coughed a bit. All turned to look at him and his green eyes watered from the attention, the tiny hands holding onto a tall glass of water was shaking.

"I-I'm sorry! The, um, water didn't go down right!"

Harry hastily set down the glass, his face burning red from embarrassment. Mee Noi found the child's mannerisms to be cute, though more in a little brother fashion than anything else.

The black haired Arcobaleno comfortingly patted the child's back before turning to the group at large. With the silence broken, he looked more comfortable with the situation.

He bowed in apology at Lussuria.

"I apologize for my rash actions. I had lost track of my charge and acted too hastily."

His blue haired mentor quickly waved off the apologies, a light-hearted laughter escaping his lips.

"No, no! Goodness, no! I totally understand where you're coming from, dear Skull! Honestly, I have lost track of how many times I've worried myself sick over my apprentice here!" Lussuria patted Mee Noi's back for emphasis, the boy almost crashing onto the plate of food in front of him. It took a lot of strength for the young man to stop himself from making a mess of things.

With the tense atmosphere broken to bits, the black haired Arcobaleno and his mentor went on to chat amicably over topics that Mee Noi couldn't really keep up with. Occasionally, the blond Arcobaleno quipped in, but he mostly observed the conversation and the bespectacled child.

Well, all's well that ends well?

Skull, a responsible adult?!

28 March 1988 - 20:35 - Room 304, Shining Sands Inn, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Colonnello still couldn't believe the day's events and the things he had learned. Skull of all people had a charge? Skull the lackey? Responsible over a child? That man was practically a child in behavior to match his looks. Surely he wasn't meant to be a guardian over anyone, let alone a young, impressionable, human being!

Concerned, the ex-military man decided to hang out with his fellow cursed man to see how he handled the kid. Surely someone as irresponsible as Skull, who would lose his pacifier if it wasn't permanently attached to him, shouldn't do a good job of raising a child. Hell, he even lost the child in a crowded street earlier today! It was only right for him to check up on their situation, yeah?

So he found himself visiting his colleague's hotel room. It was a pretty good hotel, not too shabby but not really extravagant either. Honestly, it amazed Colonnello that Skull was able to book the damn thing. The occupants looked like regular children to those not in the know. It should have been difficult to get everything to run so smoothly. This place wasn't a mafia-run establishment, so Skull couldn't have pulled the Arcobaleno card.

"Eh, not really. You just gotta now the proper techniques. I've been doing this for years, you know. It's not like I bring my airship everywhere I go!" Skull quipped. It surprised the blonde. Perhaps he had said that aloud?

"Uncle Skull is really good at talking to people! He said it's all about working with people's preconceived assumptions about you and finding a way to take advantage of that!" Harry proudly declared. It was obvious to both adults that he didn't fully grasp what he had just said, but the sheer confidence in this exclamation showed the absolute trust he had in the truthfulness of the statement.

The Cloud had an embarrassed grin and all the Rain could do was send an incredulous expression at his fellow. His face practically screamed, "What the hell are you teaching this kid?!"

Harry continued preparing for bed, unaware of the strange reactions of the blond. Colonnello was honestly amazed at how innocent the kid was. He had a cheerfulness in his step and whenever he caught Skull's eyes he would smile so brightly, it was as if a Sun user had spread healing flames all over the room.

It was obvious to him that the kid loved Skull. It was as if the Cloud was Harry's light in the world, and if he read the expression in those purple eyes right, it was a mutual feeling. Skull really, truly cared for the kid.

Huh.

You take that back!

28 March 1988 - 20:48 - Room 304, Shining Sands Inn, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

"I'm amazed you're doing so well, kid. The lackey over here doesn't really have a glowing resume of being an upstanding adult," Collonello said casually, as if commenting on the weather. To him, Skull's incompetence was the absolute truth. He didn't think the noisy lackey had much going for him, even if he tried his best.

"He's always been stupid, so I didn't think he'd take anyone in," the blond continued. "You sure you don't need help? He did lose you today and I bet you were scared, right?"

To the blonde, he was being helpful, offering the child options. The bespectacled child, on the other hand, just saw red.

Harry turned to him and the anger in those green eyes was rather potent. For such a young child to have a concept of that kind of anger, the kid must have been through a lot.

"You take that back!" the child cried. "Why are you picking on Uncle Skull?! He's the nicest person ever! I thought you were friends, like he is with Mr. Viper! Mr. Viper doesn't do that to Uncle Skull and you shouldn't either! He deserves better than that!"

The normally quiet, shy, and polite child cried in anger as he ran from his bed to Collonello's side. He was weakly beating at the shocked blond's chest, crying at his unfair treatment of his beloved uncle. The soft blows were barely registering in the Rain's mind, his shocked blue eyes looking at an equally shocked purple set.

It took a moment before Skull gathered his wits and laid a gentle hand on the child's shoulder. He comfortingly hugged Harry when he ceased his act of violence.

"Hey, now, Harry," Skull murmured as he ran circles along the child's back. "I get that you're angry but you should never hit people in anger. I understand that's what your Uncle Vernon did, but that's not how we do it with me, okay? Perhaps Colonnello said things you didn't agree with, but that doesn't mean you have to hit him. Are you listening to me, Harry?"

Among the sniffles and the sobs, a pitiful "Yes, Uncle," could be heard.

"Now, what will you do?"

Skull let go of the still sniffling Harry, who hastily wiped his tears away. The slightly watery green eyes turned to the blond, who still stood in shock at the event. To the him, it was like watching the world turn upside down and only he wasn't informed of the new world rules. It was crazy, seeing someone come to the Cloud's aid. No one had ever done that before. Even Mammon, who was the closest to Skull, kept quiet when he and Reborn picked on the Cloud.

"I apologize for hitting you, Mr. Colonnello. It was not the right thing to do," the child bowed. When he came up again, resolute eyes stared at him. "But, I also don't like what you said and I won't apologize for getting angry at that. What you said was rude to Uncle Skull and you have to apologize to him."

The stubborn tilt of his jaw told him that he was not backing down from this.

It was amazing, really. The child immediately came to Skull's defense. The Cloud in turn gently but firmly corrected the child's behavior. Colonnello never imagined he'd see this.

Still dumbstruck, he turned to Skull and apologized. "Sorry about that. I was careless with my words."

The purple eyed faux toddler nodded in acceptance. Seeing this being resolved, Harry went back to his bed and settled in to sleep. A quiet "Good night," emerged from the sheets a few minutes later.

Colonnello was still shocked.

A friend, perhaps?

28 March 1988 - 01:23 - Shining Sands Bar, Shining Sands Inn, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

With Harry safely sleeping in their room, Skull decided to invite Colonnello for a drink as an apology. He felt that as Harry's guardian, he had to apologize for his charge's behavior as well. Conveniently, their hotel had a bar so he didn't have to go all that far for a couple of drinks. It was a little difficult to get the both of them drinks, but he somehow managed. Thank you potions in convenient spray bottle format. It might be illegal to use potions on unsuspecting mundanes, but it wasn't like he cared for such things. All it took was a small spritz of 'cologne' in the area and the bartender and patrons didn't pay attention to the false toddlers.

Honestly, it took a lot of his mental powers and a whole lot of research to create a formula that was both viable for airborne deployment and effective on mundanes as well. A mundane's lack of magic had strange effects on potions-some worked too well and others barely worked at all. It took years of trial and effort for him to create this highly illegal substance. He was proud of it, although a part of him still felt bad about tricking the poor, well-meaning adults.

Sometimes he wished he had a working magical system. It would have made life so much easier. But he tried not to think of such things. That only led to disappointment.

The duo had been in the bar for quite some time and were generally enjoying themselves. True, Colonnello had a tendency of picking on him but perhaps Harry's reprimand really struck a cord in the blond's heart. He had been taking care in his jokes and Skull really appreciated the effort. A new friend was always appreciated. It sometimes got too lonely with only Viper as his real friend.

Perhaps he could dare hope that he'd form a bond with the Rain?

"You suddenly look like you ate something shit tasting," a slightly drunk Colonnello quipped.

"Nah, I was just thinking. It was nothing."

"Bullshit. Tell me anything, my man! I have a shit ton of experiences to draw from. Is it the ladies? It's the ladies, right? It drives me insane too, man! So many hot chicks and I can't even hit on them. No fun times for us, eh?"

The Cloud smiled at the blond's antics. He was clearly drunk. His language tended to be loose even when sober and it just got worse with alcohol. It was one of Lal Mirch's many pet peeves about the blond.

"It's nothing, really. I was just thinking of what to do with Harry for the next few days. I want him to enjoy, but I also don't want to lose him again. That scare earlier really rattled me, I suppose," Skull confessed. It may not have been what caused his earlier expression, but it was a concern he had been thinking of as well.

"Oh! That's easy to solve, then. Just come on over to Mafia Land! I'll give you guys a free pass for, let's say, three days? How's that sound?" Colonnello cheerfully offered, raising his now empty glass. It didn't take long for the bartender to refill it with more beer.

Purple eyes widened in surprise. Three days at Mafia Land was really expensive! And the Rain was giving it away, just like that?

"A-are you sure? That's…" Skull couldn't even gather his words. Mafia Land was really, really expensive.

"Why not? I have the authority! I can exercise my authority however I see fit!" Cue more beer glass raising, some contents spilling out.

"I don't think you're of sound mind right now to make such decisions," mumbled the raven haired toddler around his own glass of vodka.

As if a switch was flipped, Colonnello's boisterous actions ceased. He turned to his fellow cursed man, an intense expression on his face.

"Seriously, Skull, it's okay. You want what's best for the kid and I can see the kid really loves you. I stopped by today since I was worried that you were not fit to care for a kid, since you're pretty much the baby of the group. But I was wrong. Somewhere along the line, you stopped being that annoying kid who kept shouting about being better than us. You grew up, I suppose."

Skull clung onto his glass of vodka, as if afraid to break his colleague's sudden seriousness. This was seriously unprecedented. Colonnello turned away, leaning forward onto the countertop and holding his beer almost absentmindedly.

"We haven't kept in touch in the past years except for those annual Arcobaleno meetings. Even then, in those, I would pick on you as you were still that snot-nosed brat that joined us in those so called missions that landed us with this curse. I didn't think that time would have changed you. Sorry about that, bro."

He leaned back, almost falling out of his barstool in doing so. He held his balance, however, and continued to speak as he stared at the ceiling.

"I've been thinking since that kid shouted at me. Would you imagine that, a kid shouting at an Arcobaleno like that? If it was someone else, perhaps the kid would have been killed on the spot. I know Reborn wouldn't really appreciate that kind of talk. But there was something about that kid's eyes that spoke to me. He was hurt and you're healing him. I can see that. And only someone who's good inside can heal someone like that."

Skull's breath hitched when the blond turned to him. He had never seen someone so...apologetic. And in his direction too.

"So yeah. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm sorry for what I did before. You're a cool guy, you know? That lunch with Lussuria and his brat was fun. You were fun to hang out with and I've seen things about you today that I've never thought would apply to you. So I'm inviting you guys over at Mafia Land both as an apology and perhaps as an offer, hmm, friendship sounds too lame. How about being bros, yeah? We can drink beer and look at hot chick's asses or whatever."

The emotional statement was ended so crudely it could only be something heartfelt from the blond. It took a lot of emotional control for Skull not to cry then and there. Perhaps being around a crybaby like Harry was bringing out the crybaby within that he had been burying all this time.

The stuntman smiled. Perhaps that hope wasn't so impossible after all.

"You're an ass guy too? That's something I can get behind. Boobs are overrated," he replied, hiding his grin behind his almost empty glass. Perhaps a refill as in order?

"Did you just make a pun?! Dude no!"

He couldn't hold it in anymore and he laughed. His colleague's reaction to the pun was beautiful.

AN:

Good day, everyone! I apologize for the rather long delay. Life has gotten really busy for me and finding time to write has been difficult. It didn't help that I was just not satisfied with the initial draft of this chapter. This one contains completely different drabbles from the initial draft and I think this is much better. The other one felt really stale or something.

I thank you for all the prompts! This chapter contains a whole lot of them. I'll go back and mention the sources in a bit, as I'm using the office computer for this update. My personal laptop has the notes on who these prompts come from and I'll properly acknowledge them soon enough. I'm just too excited to let this out that the moment I finished it, I immediately uploaded it.

So please keep giving prompts~ They help me when my writing becomes stale and gross.

Oh! As a note, the Lussuria that appeared here is not the canon Lussuria that you know. That distinction goes to Mee Noi. Blue haired Lussuria is canon Lussuria's mentor. I always had the thought that Lussuria wasn't Lussuria's birth name. In the process of making this chapter, I had the brain fart to have Lussuria be a name that's passed down. I'll go into more detail in the future chapters, but for now, keep in mind the Mee Noi is not an OC but in fact is canon!Lussuria's younger self. The minor OC here is the blue haired Lussuria. And even then, that OC is only on a technicality. He's pretty much Lussuria.

This happened because I wanted to have Lussuria in my story but then I realized he would be eleven or so in the current timeline. He wouldn't be the flamboyant Lussuria we know and love just yet, and so I had someone else be that flamboyant presence that I think would have a positive effect on Harry's development. Who wouldn't want Lussuria to be their weird auntie? Don't worry, I'll do my best to make sure this blue haired Lussuria would have quirks and traits that would differentiate him from canon!Lussuria. I will also do my best to develop Mee Noi into the canon!Lussuria that we know.

Honestly, I'm excited to tackle this challenge I gave myself.

I would love some feedback on this chapter, from Mee Noi and Lussuria, to my interpretation of Colonnello. Feedback helps in improving this story, as I do go back and fix chapters often.