stay

Hayato spirals as a mass of dust when he plummets, landing hard just outside the Arcobaleno territory. Lambo straightens up a few meters away, shaking off debris like a dog.

Hayato takes a few calming breaths and mentally monologues the rehearsed story they both crafted together. To be fair, not a lot changed. They skipped the part where Hayato was caught and instead replaced it with tracking the angels when Takeshi got taken.

Arcobaleno Verde is a jikininki, a ghoul who eats corpses whether they be demon, angel or anything in between. People who have failed the Arcobaleno are often fed to the ghoul. Hayato doesn't want to be food.

The two trek up the winding staircase and stop at the massive double doors. Hayato ushers Lambo behind him and knocks politely. The doors swing open on their own.

Luche is standing down the long hallway with a pleasant smile on her face. It's fitting that she shows them in – she is a ferryman, leading people to where they need to be. For a price.

"Come in," Luche says kindly. "Would you mind terribly if we got straight into business? I know you must be tired after coming back down."

"Not at all," Hayato murmurs with a low bow. "Lead the way, ma'am."

...

Hayato and Lambo step through a portal as soon as they leave. Lambo is a bit shaky from fear because Reborn made him sit on the floor and was petting him the whole time.

They land on tall grass covering a cliff's edge. There are three angels already waiting, overlooking the ocean.

"How did it go?" Takeshi asks interestedly.

"As well as it could," Hayato mutters. "And you? Did your brothers say anything when you went back?"

Tsuna shakes his head. "We didn't say anything about the situation. Giotto is too occupied with Daemon to notice either."

Ryohei clenches a fist determinedly. "There's no use worrying now! Let's extremely go get some lunch!"

"I'm up for it," Lambo answers immediately. He just doesn't want to go back to Hell. He can still feel the phantom sensation of fingers gliding through his hair.

Lambo shudders.

...

"What do you think?" Lal asks Fon when the two lesser demons leave.

Fon waves a large sleeve, dismissing it. "The mystery being is not Kyouya. He was never even a hunter. Not suited for it, mother said, and wanted to stay away."

"That must have been a while ago," Lal retorts. "When was the last time you went back for more than a few days?"

Fon does acknowledge the point. "I have kept up to date with family matters but they've shut me out of most things when I joined you. I did leave when Kyouya was only a small child."

"He's still a small child," Mammon says.

"It isn't him," Fon insists. "How would he be able to get this strong? There's only so much training he can do until he'd have to fight opponents, strong ones, to get anywhere near the level of our mysterious powerhouse."

Colonnello sighs. "Back to the drawing board, I guess."

"We have to look ourselves," Lal murmurs. "Hayato and Lambo are good for small things but they can be tricked."

Mammon chimes in. "Don't forget, Alaude finally agreed to a meeting."

"Excellent," Luche smiles. "We can start there."

Verde is watching Reborn. The other is too quiet.

...

Fon and Alaude meet in neutral territory, a dessert on Earth.

"Kyouya?" Alaude grunts.

"Of course not," Fon responds.

Alaude purses his lips. "Those runes on him…"

"Were to keep him out of somewhere," Fon reassures. "Maybe away from the armoury, you know what Kyouya is like."

"Who else could it be? Only our family could ever be this strong and it's certainly not mother."

"It doesn't have to be our family," Fon hedges.

Alaude looks sceptical and Fon doesn't quite believe himself either. It's a human, that's been confirmed by several sources on both the angel and demon sides. What human could be that strong except for a Hibari?

Alaude and Fon are light years ahead of any possible contenders, only their mother getting anywhere close to matching them, yet she's still falling behind by a large margin.

"It has to be a Hibari," Alaude states. That's not arrogance talking, it's just a fact.

"Unless the creature is … not a human," Fon muses.

Alaude scowls. "We've already been over this."

Fon holds up a hand to stop his little brother. "Not fully human. A mix, or an experiment. You must have heard mentions of the mannequins being involved."

"I did," Alaude begins slowly. "I did not believe the rumours because you assured me-"

"Reborn enjoys his games," Fon admits. "I have … recently learned that perhaps he has kept one for his entertainment."

"As a pet?" Alaude deadpans, incredulous. "It's a mannequin, it's a soulless husk. It'll kill your demon as soon as he lets down his guard."

"I'm aware. Unfortunately, Reborn keeps disappearing every time I try and have this conversation with him."

Alaude scoffs. "Let him be a puppet then. He reaps what he sows."

Fon's smile twists at the edges. "I will deal with him how I see fit but thank you for your suggestion."

Alaude almost rolls his eyes at the possessiveness. "You've spent too much time with the demons."

"When are you visiting mother next?" Fon abruptly asks.

"You want to … ask her about the being?"

"She would know if it's a Hibari," Fon points out. "And she would tell us – out of pride and spite if nothing else. If a Hibari is already wreaking havoc like this then she's not trying to keep it hidden."

Alaude hums. "We could be there for dinner."

"Wonderful. I miss homemade dumplings."

...

Maria Hibari laughs when they ask her.

The woman was rightfully named, meaning sea of bitterness. Her face is beautiful and refined but always cold and twisted up like she's looking at something distasteful.

Her personality is much of the same thing. She was the second child born to the clan head, two years younger than her brother, but that means nothing when the leadership is passed down depending on strength and intelligence.

Maria fought for her position, defeating over a hundred other applicants, both from the main and branch families. She is rightfully the Alpha hunter.

It's because she struggled and earned her position with her own strength that she now looks down upon those weaker than her. If she could push herself to this peak then anyone below her is just lazy, not even trying. They disgust her.

Alternately, anyone stronger is always leaning on some kind of cheat – a golden finger that allowed them to be greater than her. She worked this hard, shed blood and sweat but never tears, and yet these foul creatures are stronger. It must be some dirty trick.

She even looks upon her children with these kinds of thoughts.

Maria's training damn near killed Fon. It was torture, destroying the young boy over and over again, making him stand up on broken legs and keep training because if he was going to be the next leader then he would have to be better – always better than what he is now, whatever he will be, he has to be more.

But as Fon grew older she saw a monster inside him – too strong, too unwavering, unbreaking, cut sharp like a razor. Ravenous.

Even then Fon showed signs of being less than a human. His strength was unnatural and so were the emotionless replies, framed with empty smiles. She put so much love and care into his training and yet there was something wrong with him. It was almost inevitable that he would disappoint her in the end.

She pulled back because he was too much and she wasn't going to feed that ugly thing. She sent him out alone on missions, distracted him from training in any way possible. Then he fell in with those demons.

Alaude was a side note. She trained him, just as intense as Fon, but never personally. She never spent so much time with him, not when she had Fon - because she didn't know Fon was going to fail her yet.

Alaude was handed off to others; specialists, the greatest in their field. Alaude was trained to be well-rounded and tactical while Fon was meant to be overwhelming with his terrifying strength. Maria should have watched him closer or perhaps restricted the knowledge he consumed like a starving man.

Alaude had immense intelligence but a weak will, being easily influenced. Then Fon took off and Alaude got strange ideas in his head. He started thinking about things he had no business learning in the first place. The angels took advantage of his weakness and lured him away.

Maria wasn't going to fail with her last child. She knew where she went wrong, history would not repeat. She stopped the training. Maria would not raise another monster hiding in human skin, nor would she tolerate a naive daydreamer. If Kyouya didn't have the strength to tempt him into leaving, if he only learned what was necessary, then he wouldn't follow his brothers.

But she wasn't satisfied with that. No child of hers would be weak. So, in order to fulfil two very different criteria, she decided to train Kyouya. Except, whenever he got too strong, she would add another layer to the armband she gave him.

Maria would spar with the child often but when she started struggling to win she would seal his strength away. Then she would start all over again. Four times, five, eight, twelve, twenty.

Maria has lost count of how many additions have been added. The armband is powered by jade figures that contain condensed energy taken from creatures right before death. The armband needs seven jade figures to function at this level and she is so proud of his strength.

She can afford to be proud because the boy is still weaker than her. He always will be. He will never reach his peak, never hit a plateau, never struggle to find someone strong to challenge himself against. Kyouya should be grateful because he just keeps growing without a hint of slowing down, all because of her.

Maria Hibari laughs when Fon and Alaude ask her about a Hibari as strong as the being that has been stirring up rumours.

The laugh is ugly. Dark and vicious.

Maria laughs because yet another son has become a disappointment.