Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, and Harry Potter; the honour belongs to Amano Akira-san and Ms. JK Rowling respectively.

Chapter One: Yī*

After Byakuran had been defeated, the world had reset itself, and everything seemed fine again. The war was over, the Arcobaleno had their old bodies back, and everyone had their happy ending.

But no one is without secrets, and even as we try to bury them, hide them, what happens when the demons of our pasts come out to play?

A crying boy with braided black hair sits in the middle of a sandpit of a playground, sobbing at the insults and sharp items others his age thro w at him.

"You're so useless, you can't even throw a punch correctly!" A sneer. Cruel laughter.

(WhywhywhywhatdidIdotoyouI'msorrypleaseleavemealone)

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

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

"A freak!"

Sticks scratches his fragile skin, leaving small trails of blood.

(Sticks and stones may break my bones, but...)

"Freak-Fon!"

"No one wants you!"

"So go die!"

(But what? Why can't I remember?)

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

Fon knows, he knows that the pathetic young boy cowering in the middle of the sandpit is long gone, but he can't help but think,

What if they were right?

Before he could drown (in what? In regrets, in broken promises and fractured dreams that-), he was—thankfully— yanked out of his dream, vaguely registering someone calling his name.

Skull de Mort is a wizard.

To be more specific, a wizard named Harry Potter.

He hasn't heard that name in a long time, though. Not since the War, at least. Come to think of it, when was the last time someone had called his name - his true name?

God, he misses Mione and Ron.

Skull blinks sluggishly, eyes fixed on the ceiling. He directs his gaze to the glaring, red numbers on his alarm clock. 3:42 AM.

...I should probably sleep.

And then he hears a whimper, a whimper he probably wouldn't have heard if it wasn't for his exceptional hearing (honed to perfection during the War).

A minute passes, before Skull finally dismisses it as a figment of his imagination.

*Whimper*

"Ah, fuck it."

"-on! Fon! Wake up!"

什么？

Yanked out of his nightmare ('nightmare'), Fon sees a purple figure shaking him firmly. At first, he immediately tenses, preparing himself for a fight, but then he focuses and sees that the purple figure is just Skull.

(Come to think of it, when was it when he stopped registering Skull as a threat?)

"S-Skull?" What is he doing beside him? A part of him vaguely registers that his voice sounds gravelly.

"Yeah. Bad dream?" Skull seems uncharacteristically concerned, but Fon is glad that the purple-haired stuntman forgoes silly phrases like 'are you okay?', because he is definitely not 'okay', and he doubts that he looks too well, either.

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

Skull scrutinizes the martial artist. Fon is certainly not fine, if the wild look in the usually controlled male's eyes that hadn't quite gone away (the same look in the eyes that stare back at him in the mirror), and said male's disheveled appearance means anything. He mentally sighs. The Arcobaleno Curse had not gone away quietly.

"…"

Fon is tempted to break the silence, and is about to, when Skull speaks up again.

"I don't think so, Fon. I've seen a fair share of 'fine' in my life, but trust me - you don't look 'fine'." The Storm Arcobaleno can practically hear the quotation marks around the last word.

"Will you tell me what's wrong?" Fon still refuses to speak, fearing that the purple-haired male will laugh at him if he does so (and shatter you, break you, a voice at the from the darkest parts of his mind whispers, because hell, doesn't Skull's opinion matter to him the most?).

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

Silence. And then...

"You're lying."

Fon stiffens. Skull sighs again, sitting down on the martial artist's crimson bed (because he was standing up all the while, and while he really wants to help his roommate, he is sleepy), and stares into his shocked eyes.

"Come on, mate. Don't lie. Tell me what's wrong?"

Nothing. But Skull knows that he is so close (he hates that he knows in the first place, having too, too much experience with traumatized victims after the War), so he continues to maintain eye contact with his fellow member, not wishing to read into his mind, because he understands the need for privacy more than anything.

"...I..." Skull lets him speak, already tasting victory.

"I…" so Fon talks, he spills his innermost fears to the stuntman, the person he trusts the most, yet, at the moment, fears the most. About how he doesn'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 is eating him up inside.

After he is done, he looks away, unable to make himself bear to see the cruel smirk he knows that is on Skull's face, unable to make himself bear to see him leave him, all alone, just like everyone else did.

(And the worst part is, Fon would always forgive him.)

Yet Skull does exactly the opposite of what he thinks he will do.

Purple eyes immediately soften, and Fon's own widen as slender arms wrap around him.

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

He can only whisper, feeling his throat constrict and his eyes burn, "You…you don't think I'm..." weak?

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

"You", Skull cups 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 twitches upward slightly at that) martial artist, and a whole lot of other things!"

Taking a deep breath, he continues, oblivious to the way Fon hangs onto every word.

"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 who Death hates, yeah?" he grins roguishly, slapping his fellow Arcobaleno on the back in a show of camaraderie.

Fon doesn't say anything for a while, head lowered and bangs suspiciously covering his expression, but -

"Okay." Skull smiles softly (and is it Fon's fault for wanting that smile to be for him, only for him?).

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

So slowly, Fon sleeps, exhausted, leaving Skull alone in the dark night to think. Soon, he too, falls asleep, a small smile on his face.

(...But words will never break me.)

*: Yī is the number one in Chinese.

Questions, comments, answers. They're all accepted!

(Edited: March 8, 2016)