Title: Falling Skywards
Character/ Pairing: Reborn/ Luce; some Gamma/ Uni in this chapter; Reborn/ Lal friendship (if you squint hard enough and tilt your head to the side.)
Rating: K + - T.
Warnings: OOC, mentions of character death
Summary: "Take too long and they slip away before you know it." Reborn knows all too well how it feels to fall in love with someone as unreachable as the sky.
Disclaimer: I am but a highschool student who lives to procrastinate. I own nothing.
A/N: Now I know that I should be working on something else, but, this needed to be written and the plot bunny won't let me concentrate unless I write this...thing. This is a bit different from my usual writing style (at least I think so), so comments and constructive criticisms are more than welcome.
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Chapter 1
Hypocrite
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"Take too long, and they slip away before you know it," he hears himself say as his dark eyes bore down on Gamma. Reborn sees the blond man open his mouth to say something in response to his statement, but he closes off his hearing, averting his eyes just a tiny bit so his gaze falls on a random patch of forest and not on the man that reminds him so much of himself.
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Reborn likes to think that he has changed, even when he hasn't.
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He thinks that Gamma should get a move on before Uni vanishes without a trace. He hopes that she'll disappear with the knowledge that she'll live on in someone's heart.
Forever.
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Reborn's heart is unfortunately not big enough, not even for Uni. And he curses himself for that fact.
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The dark-haired hitman raises a hand to tell the other to stop and he lets his mouth run once again and spout nonsense.
"Tell Uni before it's too late."
He turns around and heads back, inwardly cringing at the crunching of leaves beneath his shoes. He does not look back at Gamma's stricken face because Reborn isn't sure he wants to see or even know what he has missed.
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Reborn has regrets. They are few but they are heavy burdens on his shoulders.
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"Goodnight, Grandpa Reborn!"
The sputtering bonfire is warm; Uni's smile is even warmer that he almost chokes on the suffocating affection he sees there. He reaches up to pull his fedora down, not wanting the girl to see the grim expression on his face.
"You're a hypocrite," Lal tells him simply; voice low enough so that no one would overhear, as she gracelessly sat on the scrap of dirt next to him.
"I didn't peg you as the type to eavesdrop," he counters easily, not even bothering to add a scathing remark.
The former COMSUBIN trainer snorts, rolling her eyes incredulously. "You weren't exactly being discreet about it, Reborn."
"It's polite to leave when people are having a conversation."
At this statement, Lal merely shrugs, eyes lazily mirroring the flickering embers. "As if you know anything about being polite…"
Reborn glances at her with a bemused expression. "Touché."
The bonfire crackled cheerfully, releasing the earthy fumes of the numerous twigs used to feed it. A companionable silence fell over the makeshift camp even with the growing tension of the looming battle. It was a silent reprieve from the chaos the two were accustomed with and as such was welcomed with open arms.
"But is it alright? I mean, for Uni to do this…" Lal trails off, uncertain.
"Both you and I know well what her duty is and she knows that as well." He replies briefly. Indifferently. Apathetically. Just as he should, because he can't let his emotions bubble through the calm façade he's perfected throughout the years…
A sigh. "I know that. But is it okay with you?"
And for not the first time in his life, Reborn is caught speechless.
"You're more transparent than you think, you dolt. That stupid armor of yours has gotten rusty over the years." The failed Arcobaleno explains, turning her head to face the hitman.
The pseudo-tutor stares at her blankly before turning away to chortle incredulously.
"Pfft…and you've gotten lady-like after all these years."
"Shut up."
"…"
"So?"
"So, what?"
"Reborn."
"What do you want me to say? That I don't want her to do it? That I can't bear to see her going through this alone? That I hate the fact that I can't protect her just like I can't protect Luce or Aria?" He chokes, fighting to keep his voice in check as his mouth babbled on.
"Reborn, I—"
He shook his head, standing up from his perch near the bonfire and heading towards the dark forest that shrouded their encampment.
"I don't want him to commit the same mistakes I did. That's all."
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Reborn can't stand it when people make the same mistakes he did. Because he knows that the world does not need any more broken-hearted idiots like him.
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A/N: Huh, short fic is short. But meh. I'll post the next one as soon as I feel comfortable with it.
Please tell me what you think. :D