A/N

MY DEBUT HAS FINALLY COME! I hope you guys enjoy this and I hope to continue this in the near future. Um, I'll make this short so you guys don't get bored. This is a Gen!fic, so no romance is planned whatsoever (if that changes I'll let you guys know but, again, there is no intention). The Arcobaleno are full adults because I have a personal preference. This is essentially a re-telling of the original story (same arcs except Curse of the Rainbow arc since my Arcobaleno don't have it), but I do plan on putting a big spin on it. Do tell me if there are any issues with my works - no matter how small (i.e. forgot a space) - and enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: If I were the author, I wouldn't be here; I'd be writing the actual novel version. So no, don't own it.

1.

The pristine building gleamed in the dying sunlight, light reflecting off the stained glass panels that were the windows. Oranges blended with fading blues and deep purples, a rainbow at the edge of the world. The building itself was perfectly situated so that a rainbow formed across the windows, purple at one end slowly turning into red on the other end.

A boy, his hair defying gravity, stood at the gates of the school. It was hard not stare at the structure, having never seen anything larger than a school up until four days ago. He shifted his orange drawstring bag, holding the bare essentials since the school promised to supply the uniform as well as meals and other necessities. His eyes were brown, complimenting his brunet hair, but in the light there was an orange tint to them. It disappeared as he looked behind him, staring at the long road that seemed to stretch on forever, wondering how one person could move so quickly. There was no sight of his guardian, his father, who had immediately begun the enrollment process once he had discovered the boy had potential to be accepted into the school. It almost hurt how fast his father had disappeared, but the boy wasn't overly surprised. His father wasn't necessarily close to the boy and had always seemed to be looking for something in him that was missing. His mother had wished him well, proud that he was finally succeeding in something rather than bringing home the most abysmal report cards he could. The boy was going to make his mother proud, if he could. Truth be told, he wasn't sure how he'd gotten accepted into such a big school, but here he was, ready to take the first step into a new life.

Taking a deep breath, the boy stepped through the archway, feeling a slight tingle as he passed through. Feeling as though he had somehow passed a test, the boy let a smile cross his face and he took another step, and then another. The smile grew larger as he neared the large doors, rather imposing and made of a dark wood, but more in a way that demands respect than fear. A knocker – rather plain in comparison to the door – laid in the middle of the right door, crafted in a simple horseshoe shape.

Raising the rather heavy knocker, the boy notices words inscribed behind the great knocker. Squinting to read the faded writing, he makes out in the script, "Cu è Surdu, Orbu e Taci, Campa Cent'anni 'mpaci"*. Not understanding what it meant, nor recognizing the language it was written in, the boy let the knocker fall, sending a resounding boom behind the door. Nothing happened for a moment, allowing the boy to stop and think for a second about why he was here in the first place. How the man had intruded so abruptly on his life the day he had shown up the boy's doorstep.

The doorbell had rung rather intrusively. Dinner had been served and everyone had finally sat down to eat. My mother, as though she was expecting the bell, had immediately stood up and held up a finger to tell us to wait, a smile spreading across her face. My father and I had stared after her wondering what could've brought this on.

A deep voice came from the doorway, causing my father to frown. I nearly rolled my eyes at that. He was way too sensitive about her knowing other men. Their voices were muffled by the wall. Unable to contain my curiosity, I got up to see who was at the door. My father, as though finally receiving an excuse to also get up, followed me into the entryway, ready to tell off the man should he be flirting with his wife. Turning the corner, I wish I had remained in the kitchen. Wearing an imposing suit and fedora, the man was taller than I by at least a foot or so, just about my father's height. I couldn't be sure, but what looked suspiciously like a gun was ever so slightly poking from underneath the jacket of the suit. My father, who had been discreetly glancing around the corner of the wall to peek at the entryway, straightened and smiled. I was officially confused as he stepped forward to shake hands with the stranger before inviting him to sit down and have dinner with us.

The man accepted with a small nod, a smirk gracing his lips as he walked past both of them. When he saw me, he slowed for a moment, what looked like surprise gracing his features before falling back into that smirk. He briefly nodded to me before continuing into the kitchen and sitting down in my chair. I barely registered what had happened before he began to eat my untouched food. Neither my father nor my mother seemed to object, my mother simply getting another chair and plate out for me, the smile never leaving her face.

I sat and ate in silence as they talked, attempting to glean any information on what was going on. All I gathered was that the man was important and he was simply known as "Reborn", stating he had been rechristened on the day he received his position. I gradually lost interest as I realized that none of it seemed to relate to me in any way whatsoever.

I was washing the dishes – the adults had relocated to the living room – when I noticed a pamphlet on the table. It was colorful and advertised a school for gifted children. I nearly dropped the plate I was holding when I read that. But I mean really! Gifted? Me? Had my parents finally lost it with the last report card? I was pretty sure an F, three D-, and two D+ hardly counted as gifted! I sighed, already foreseeing the disappointed looks on my parents' faces when the man told them I wasn't what the school was looking for.

I finished washing up, and went into the living room to excuse myself for the night. When I entered, the man immediately stopped what he was saying and shifted his attention to me. My mother and father also turned to look at me, placing all six eyes on me. I felt a small blush begin to color my cheeks at the attention and mumbled a goodnight. As I turned to flee, the man called for me to come back. I stopped on the stair, a mere four steps from the safety of my bedroom, gazing longingly at my haven from the world.

Turning around, I slipped, falling down the stairs and landing right in front of the doorway to the living room. The previous blush came back as I tried to get my feet under me and stand up. My face burning at the clumsy display I had just shown the man, I stepped forward into the room. I expected him to retract the call for me to come back, saying there was no way that someone so clumsy could be gifted, that it was the mark of one who could never succeed. Instead, his face was unreadable, as he beckoned me forward. Looking at my parents as if asking for permission and receiving nods in return, he reached into his jacket and brought out a case that held seven rings. He held them before me. All I could think was that they looked fragile and if I held one, I would surely drop and break them. A small smile twitched on his lips as though he could read my mind and see the possibly overdramatic image in my head of me falling and all of the rings shattering into countless pieces.

He told me to just hold them in my hand, one at a time, and think of the thing I value most, the thing I would protect with my Dying Will. I blinked twice, trying to figure out why he had placed such emphasis on the last two words, before shrugging and taking the first. I grabbed the red one, the stone set in the middle gleaming slightly. There was a very simplistic drawing of what appeared to be a storm in the middle with a crest at the top and a word on the band beneath it. I couldn't understand the word written, but it read Vongola. I held it as gently as I could, determined not to break it. I concentrated as hard as I could on the one thing I valued the most: my family and friends. Admittedly, my family was slightly tense (*cough*dad*cough*) and I didn't have too many people I could consider friends, but those I did I treasured with everything I had. Kyoko especially. She was always nice, even when everyone else made fun of me for bad grades and my clumsiness. Her smile was my ray of sunshine in this dark world I was trapped in. With all of this in mind, I concentrated. To my surprise, there was a slight reaction with the ring. It shone just the slightest bit brighter, something reminiscent of a Flame flickering at the edges. I dropped it in surprise; luckily, the man – Reborn, I remind myself – was already there to catch it. There was a curious undertone to the smirk on his face as it grew larger.

Reborn looked at the ring for another second or two before giving it back to me and asking me to concentrate even harder. I did but there was never more than the slight flicker. Reborn finally sighed as he took it from me. He excused himself, telling my parents that yes, I may have a little potential, but it wasn't what they were looking for. My mother's face nearly broke my heart as I saw it fall into the usual look of disappointment and my father… he wouldn't even look at me. Reborn was walking out the door when something deep within me pulled hard. It wasn't like anything else I had felt and I just followed the pull wherever it took me.

I walked from the living room and followed Reborn into the entryway. He looked at me before going back to putting his shoes on. I walked past him and stood between him and the door. I was freaking out, wondering why I was standing between this intimidating man who had already deemed me worthless and the door. Reborn asked me to move. My mouth, still following the orders of whatever led me to stand where I was, refused. Upon asking me why I wouldn't move, I managed to regain control of my mouth and honestly replied I didn't know, that there was something that compelled me to do this. Reborn actually looked thoughtful and asked me what else this feeling was telling me. To my surprise, I pointed at the box of rings he had tucked back into his jacket and asked him to show me them again. Humoring me, he pulled them out.

I reached forward as if in a daze and grabbed the blue ring, repeating what I had done with the red one, once again causing a small flicker of Flame across the surface. Reborn was no longer disinterested, looking at me intently from where he was tying his shoes as I nodded and replaced it before picking up the yellow one. I repeated the same thing on that ring before doing the same to the purple, green, and indigo rings. The whole time, Reborn had been standing straighter and straighter each time I lit a ring, as if waiting for something. As I replaced the indigo ring, I paused, feeling a sense of urgency as I picked up the final ring.

It was different from any of the others. It was a duller color with small chips the same color as the other rings on outside with the words Vongola Famiglia written across the bands. There was another compulsion from me as I put on the ring; the weight felt familiar and comforting. Reborn now looked at me with rapt attention, not blatant as with most people but I could feel his burning gaze. I took a deep breath and released it, allowing a small smile to spread across my face and once more thought about what I valued most. A fire rushed through my veins, setting my body alight with warmth that made me feel safer than I had ever felt before. I opened my eyes just in time to see the ring explode in orange light, the whole stone igniting with a brilliance that lit up the darkened entryway. I saw small colors beyond it as the other rings blazed in response to the orange one.

It only lasted a moment and left me tired and dizzy, but I felt a fulfillment school never gave me. Reborn was still staring at me as I took off the ring and put it back into the box. The daze I had been in had disappeared when the ring had ignited, leaving me sheepish as the events of the past few minutes came back to me in all too clear focus. I stammered out an apology and fled to my room to escape the stare that burned into my back as I fled. I heard the door close as Reborn walked out of the house. I fell asleep soon after, exhausted and filled with the memory of the Flame that had burned so brightly.

A few days later, I had received a letter of acceptance into the school, giving me half a day to pack and say goodbye before my father drove me to the gates.

A sudden cold wind blew across the grounds, causing the boy to shiver and huddle deeper into his orange hoodie, the number 27 stitched over the pockets. The door slowly opened, and a rather familiar face appeared, leaning on the door. A grin appeared on the face and the boy couldn't help but flinch at the rather scary image. The curly sideburns, rather comical on anyone else, were somewhat threatening when the man had a fedora pulled low enough to send a shadow over his eyes. He was still in the same suit he had been in when he had visited the boy's home, causing the boy to wonder if he ever wore anything less… intimidating. The man moved slightly, as if inviting the boy in to look around. Taking a very cautious step forward, always keeping the man in sight, the boy gripped his drawstring bag tighter and blinked as the interior of the building came into focus.

A/N

Word Count: 2,450

* - Sicilian proverb: "He who is deaf, blind, and silent will live a hundred years in peace". Refers to Omertà

Slightly irked that FanFiction doesn't allow certain fonts (had some cool effects in the original on Word)... But it doesn't really change my story so I'll get over it. See you next time!