Author: The Plot Bunny Whisperer
Title: Colorire
Rating: T (Cuz, like… Reborn.)
Genre: Gen, Family
Summary: (Soulmate!AU; Gen) Everyone in the world is born colorblind, destined to only see color once they've met the eyes of their soulmate. Tsuna meets his soulmates one by one, and gains the ability to see a new color with each first meeting.
Pairing(s): None
Warnings: Random swearing. Violence, maybe? Dunno. Can't write fight scenes to save my life.
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care, don't sue.

AN: I know I said I would never post another WIP on here again, but I'm a sucker for nice readers, and someone asked me if I would post it here so they could follow it because they didn't have an AO3 account. I like to consider myself a nice person? I guess? I do see myself finishing this, however.

Updates for FFN will be on the 1st, 11th, and 21st of the month until complete (when completed I'll update every other day), unless I'm less than four chapters ahead or sick or something. My tumblr (plunniewhisperer) updates first, usually weekly, followed by AO3 within 24-48 hrs if you don't want to wait.

So, enjoy!

Colorire
Part 1. Giallo

He meets Reborn for the first time after having tripped, as usual, down the last two steps of the stairs. He barely registers his mother's bubbly announcement of having hired him a home tutor over the shock of meeting the sharp black eyes of what looks like an infant in a crisp, black suit with comically curly sideburns springing out from beneath a meticulously placed fedora. Even that thought is pushed to the side in favor of the shining pacifier around the child's neck, glowing as brightly as the sun, and the small sprinkles of color in his otherwise grey-toned world.

There is a thick band of it adorning the baby's fedora, partially hidden behind the small lizard perched on the brim (what?), and a different shade of it filling in the flowers on his mother's apron. There are splashes of it on the walls, or rather the pictures that hang upon it, and from book spines on the shelf. His rain boots stick out like a sore thumb in the genkan; spots of it swim in and out of the corners of his eyes. He knows he is staring, but it is so very hard to look away.

It is soft and sharp and oh so very warm, this color, and seeing it is like a balm to the soul.

He sits up slowly, unsure how to feel. He's elated at the thought of actually having a soulmate (because it means he wasn't meant to be alone, he doesn't have to be alone, that the bullies were wrong, his existence isn't meaningless); but at the same time, his soulmate appears to be an infant with a somewhat frighteningly blank face and sharp coal black eyes, and on top of that, his world is still grey-toned. There is only one new color he can see, and what does that even mean, maybe there was something wrong with him, maybe the bullies weren't entirely wrong, what if his soulmate didn't want anything to do with him because he messed it all up somehow, because he was broken-

Tsuna hisses and rubs the top of his head to ease the stinging. The baby raises the cartoonish '10 Ton' mallet that he did not previously have, as if threatening to hit him with it again. The slightly squeaky lisp does not quite hide the dark warning hiding within the baby's words as he speaks.

"We will figure it out. Don't be so dramatic."

Tsuna's teeth click as his mouth shuts, swallowing the multitude of questions on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he turns to his mother, blissfully oblivious as always, who is cheerfully extoling the virtues of her absent husband; the wonderful, loving man who apparently arranged everything because she once mentioned a long time ago how poorly Tsuna's grades were and how concerned she was about it. Too busy trying to tune out her weekly gushing love-spiel and panicking over the realization that he was going to be late for school, Tsuna doesn't notice the slowly fading light from the pendant beneath his shirt.

Reborn rarely misses anything, however, so his eyes linger as he creates a mental to-do list.

First on his list is to shoot Iemitsu for being so unacceptably inaccurate in his reports.

—

Reborn is the World's Greatest Hitman, and being colorblind does not detract from this. It is a non-issue, as far as he is concerned. He has never desired the ability to see in color beyond idle curiosity and has never been bothered about the fact that he couldn't (so long as one ignored his pouting ego). This is mostly due to the fact that having the ability to see in color means that he would need to meet the eyes of his soulmate, something else he has never desired.

He is one person in a world of billions and the likelihood of ever meeting his soulmate, much less that that person would also be a mafioso and thus be able to understand and to survive within the dark world he thrives in, is infinitesimal. Why would he desire to be inexplicably attached to a stranger, a most likely civilian stranger at that?

Eyes are the windows to the soul, however, and his ability to read others through them as though he is reading their minds is something he takes pride in. It is a hard-earned skill that he has invested countless hours of dedication and practice into learning; something as silly and unlikely as meeting his soulmate is not enough to make him throw away all of that effort. So despite the nearly infinitesimal possibility, he meets the eyes of everyone he speaks to and if there is a small voice in the back of his mind saying, not this one with each pair of eyes met,he doesn't hear it.

Vongola Nono's request comes at exactly the right time. He had long finished his last contract and though he loves his job, assassination has become less of an occupation and more of a chore. Being the top of the top comes with perquisites that he has no shame in taking advantage of, but the rush it used to fill him with, the excitement of a new challenge, the glamour and notoriety and thrill… it's just… not gone, exactly, but diminished. Less than it once used to be.

It certainly helps that training the Cavallone Heir had made him feel more accomplished than his first successful hit. Watching how the cowardly, whiny boy turned into a confident, resilient man capable of leading his Family out of the dark hole they had been sinking into – it had ignited the spark he thought he had lost. He had done that; he had molded something brilliant from the useless lump it had used to be. It had been the most rewarding challenge he had ever faced… not that he would ever admit that out loud, and certainly not where the brat could hear him.

So he takes the job and hides his anticipation for this new challenge behind the repayment of favors and mutual respect. He only hopes he won't regret it despite that it sounds like exactly what he needs.

When he arrives in Namimori, he is expecting Dino 2.0. Only worse, because this time his student is a civilian who knows nothing of the dark underworld he will be forced into, not an heir reluctant to and incapable of taking over from his predecessors. His file is less than impressive, with failing marks, no athletic abilities to speak of, and apparently very poor social skills if the lack of friends is any indication.

It is much less than he had to work with before; less a useless lump of clay and more a solid slab of marble he will have to chip at a bit at a time. It is an excellent challenge where none existed before, despite or perhaps especially because of who his new student is. He resigns himself to a long, frustrating few years because the boy who practically trips over air down the stairs is exactly what he expects.

The explosion of color as their eyes meet is not.

He is the World's Greatest, however, so none of his surprise at this entirely unexpected turn of events shows on his face, even as he reads the shock, happiness, wariness, worry and fear in his student's – his soulmate, and how even is this his life? – eyes. The boy's eyes are moving between his pacifier, his hat, his mother's apron, and there is the reason for his fear and worry, because for some reason the boy is still mostly colorblind. He is afraid, because he has wanted for nothing more than a validation for his existence, and this failing, this flaw, could mean that Reborn would leave him, and the idea of being rejected by his soulmate terrifies him more than anything else in the world.

Naturally, Reborn refuses to allow for such stupidity, so Leon transforms into the perfect object to knock some sense into him and he proceeds to do so without so much as a by your leave.

He is able to calm the boy – Tsuna, his name is Tsuna – down with just a few simple words (which both surprises and pleases him because in no way is he in the mood for excessive dramatics; in this, Tsuna seems to be nothing like his father, thank providence), and when his student is finished panicking over the time, Reborn sends him off with the assurance of explanations later. Reborn had been planning to follow him to school and shadow him all day to observe him (possibly start the unsealing of his Flames by shooting him with a Dying Will Bullet) but this new revelation, and what the consequences will mean for both of them – for Vongola, for the mafia world in general – comes first.

With Tsuna (his fourteen year old soulmate, how?!) safely out the door on his way to school, and Nana not long after him to go to the market, Reborn sits back with a cup of espresso and thinks. The clues are starting to connect, and to be honest he's not sure if he likes the conclusion that's forming.

Observation one: Sawada Tsunayoshi is his soulmate.

Okay. He can work with that – might even be a bit happy about it once he's had time to process. The ball of unrest that has always sat at the back of his mind that he prefers to pretend didn't exist is finally settled and quiet. He feels inexplicably lighter, a weight lifting that he had never noticed – or had refused to notice – before. It just means he'll have even more reason to tor- that is, to whip him into shape. He does not deny that he is a possessive man; he refuses to leave what is now his at any more of a disadvantage than he is already in.

Observation two: Tsuna is still mostly colorblind despite having met his eyes.

Strange, yes, but there is obviously some unknown factor causing this phenomenon. No one has ever been able to understand how soulmates actually work despite decades of study and research. In a world of over six billion, less than eighteen percent find their soulmate within their lifetime, and just under one percent of that total happens every year. In the last few centuries, however, those numbers had been steadily increasing – and not only because of technological advances. Perhaps it is related to whatever is causing the soulmate boom, or even perhaps it is just simply a quirk of his genetics.

Observation three: Tsuna is the bearer of the Sky pacifier.

The light shining from beneath Tsuna's uniform, the warmth and glow of his own against his chest… it is unmistakable. Tsuna is – somehow – the Arcobaleno's Sky. Which means he is Reborn's Sky. Which means Reborn will have to share his soulmate, however much that thought grates.

The lines are forming.

Reborn taps his fingers against his cup. Leon climbs down from the brim of his fedora and rubs his head soothingly along Reborn's jaw. Reborn pets him for a long moment, still thinking.

He makes a decision and grabs his phone.

"Come to Namimori, Japan. I've found something interesting."

He hangs up before the other can answer and starts to plan.