Summary: The Arcobaleno Curse had not gone away quietly. Each victim of that particular curse has their own demons to face, whether they be recent or decades into the past. And Skull will help them do so, whether or not they want him to. But what happens when Skull's own demons from the past come knocking? A Skull-is-Harry-fic. Inspired by Tempesta D. Uzu's Soldier Series!

Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, and Harry Potter, not unless I want the lawyers chasing after me! The honor goes to Amano Akira-san and Ms. JK Rowling respectively.

Warnings: This is an Arcobaleno x Skull fic. That means shounen-ai, people, don't like, don't read! Also some depressing stuff at first, but gets much happier at the end!

So, without further ado, I proudly present…

Chapter One:

Never Leave You

After Byakuran had been defeated, the world had reset itself, and everything seemed fine again.

Keyword: seemed.

A crying boy with braided black hair sat in the middle of a sandpit of a playground, bawling at the insults and sharp items others his age threw at him.

"You're so useless, you can't even throw a punch correctly!"

Rocks caused bruises and small cuts to appear on his skin. The children around the Chinese boy delighted in the fear in his black eyes.

"Yeah, what boy puts their hair in a braid, anyway?"

"A freak!"

Sticks tore through his fragile skin, leaving small trails of blood.

"Freak-Fon!"

"No one wants you!"

"So go die!"

"Yeah, die and be gone from our lives!"

Fon knew, he knew that the pathetic young boy cowering in the middle of the sandpit was long gone, but he couldn't help but think,

What if they were right?

What if he really was useless? A liability?

Before he could drown, he was—thankfully— yanked out of his dream, vaguely registering someone calling his name.

Skull de Mort was a wizard.

No, wizards (or witches for that matter) did not say 'Abracadabra'—it was 'Avada Kedavra' by the way, and it didn't make rabbits pop out of hats, it instantly killed you-, however, they did use wands and wear black robes and pointy hats.

Skull was also a rather famous wizard named Harry Potter, also known as the Boy Who Lived, but he liked to think that that part of him was gone, that part of him who had always been manipulated by almost everyone around him. And now that he thought about it, wasn't everything about his life had been orchestrated like some sort of sick choir? His abuse from the Dursleys (hell, they had been paid to abuse him, and from Dumbledore, no less), the dangerous, life-threatening events at Hogwarts, his death at Voldemort's hands (well, he didn't die, but it was the intent that mattered, and the fact that Dumbledore, his guardian, had arranged his death made him feel sick), heck, even his crush on Ginny Weasley had been orchestrated, as he later found out that his closest friend, Ron Weasley, had been giving him love potions and stealing his vault money. From that point on, he just no longer cared. He liked guys anyway.

Skull had quite the strong hearing as well, honed to perfection during the war, and when he heard whimpering from his usually calm roommate, Fon, he immediately knew something was dreadfully wrong. He quickly made his way to the older male's bed, and performed a quick Legilmens, as while he hated prodding into one's mind (that was Mammon's speciality), this was an emergency.

He did not like what he saw.

At a loss at what to do, Skull decided to wake Fon up, so he shook the Chinese male.

"Oi! Fon! Fon! Wake up!"

"-on! Fon! Wake up!"

Shénmé?

Yanked out of his nightmare (could it be called a nightmare if it happened before, in real life?), Fon saw a purple figure shaking him firmly. Then he focused and saw that the purple figure was Skull.

"S-Skull?" His voice sounded gravelly. What was the younger male doing beside him?

"Yeah. Bad dream?" Skull looked uncharacteristically concerned, Fon was glad that the purple-haired stuntman forwent silly phrases like 'are you okay?', because he was definitely not 'okay', and he doubted he looked too well, either.

"…Yeah. It's fine, Skull.", he shakily replied, running a calloused hand through his loose braid. "Why don't you go back to sleep?"

Skull scrutinized the martial artist. Fon was certainly not fine, if the wild look in the usually controlled male's eyes that hadn't quite gone away, and said male's disheveled appearance meant anything. He mentally sighed. The Arcobaleno Curse had not gone away quietly.

"…"

Fon was tempted to break the silence, and was about to, but Skull spoke up again.

"I don't think so. Despite what you said, Fon, you don't look 'fine'." The Storm Arcobaleno could practically hear the quotation marks around the last word. "Tell me, what's wrong?" Fon still refused to speak though, fearing that the purple-haired male would laugh at him (and shatter you, break you, a voice at the back of his mind whispered, because hell, didn't Skull's opinion matter to him the most?) if he did so.

"…Nothing. There's really nothing wrong, Skull."

Silence. And then,

"You're lying."

Fon stiffened. Skull sighed, sitting down on the martial artist's red bed (because he was standing up all the while, and while he really wanted to help his roommate, he was sleepy), and stared into his shocked eyes.

"Listen, I may be the weakest member of the Arcobaleno, but I like to think that I'm actually a member for a reason. I'm not the only person who can read people, you know. Tell me, what's wrong?"

Nothing. But Skull knew that he was so close, so he continued maintaining eye contact with his fellow member, not wishing to read into his mind, as he was mind-raped by Snape so many times, and he didn't want to wish that on anyone else.

"…I..." Skull let him speak, already tasting victory.

"I…" so Fon talked, he spilled his innermost fears to the purple haired male. About how he didn't want to be useless, or a freak, or a liability, about the hurtful barbs, both mental and physical, that the children of his time threw at him, about every insecurity that was eating him up inside.

After he was done, he glanced up fearfully at Skull, knowing that he would most probably laugh at him, and confirm that he really was a useless freak, and leave him again, all alone. Just like everyone else did.

But Skull did exactly the opposite of what he thought he would do.

Purple eyes immediately softened, and Fong was suddenly hugged, said purple eyes staring into his own dark orbs.

"Oh, Fong, how could you think that?"

The stunned male could only whisper, feeling his throat constrict from trying not to cry, "You…you don't h-hate me?"

"Of course I don't!" The emotions in the stuntman's eyes were conflicting. There was anger (but not at him, he realized with a jerk), sorrow, and oh god, was that understanding?

"You", Skull cupped the dark haired male's face with his hands, "are not a freak, do you hear me? You are kind, skilled, a kick-ass (the martial artist's lips twitched upward slightly at that) martial artist, and a whole lot of other things! The others may not show it, but they love you. I love you. Friends help each other, and I am never going to abandon you, okay? I'll stay by your side 'til you don't need me anymore, 'cause I'm the great Skull-sama! Death hates me, so I'll never leave you, deal?" he finished with a grin.

Eyes glimmering with unshed tears, Fon whispered hoarsely, hardly believing his luck,

"Deal." Skull smiled softly.

"Go to sleep, Fon.", he said. "You'll still see me in the morning."

So slowly, Fon slept, leaving Skull alone in the dark night to think. Soon, he fell asleep, too.

AN: And…cut! Whew, finally finished with this thing, 'tis the start of my second fic, if my first one, Allies, can be counted as one at all. Sorry for the abrupt ending, Winter Holidays are ending, and I had to finish up my homework. This fic is inspired by Tempestas D. Uzu's Soldier Series. If you haven't read it, do it. Now. I demand you do it with your Dying Will! XD So, everyone, stay tuned for the next chapter of "Facing Your Demons", thanks for bothering to read this, and bye for now!