Title: Ardent

Summary: Reborn hadn't thought that finding a small human child outside in the cold during his daily prowls for food would lead him to take the child home and nurture him. It was a strange thing, him being a demon that eats beings like this child. So what made him do such a thing in the first place? And what will come out of this? Demon!Reborn

Pairing: Eventual R27

Rating: M

A/N: Another testers :P

Beta'ed by Ankou13

Chapter 1

Reborn glanced around the crowded street, his eyes searching for something among the crowd – for that perfect person. He was picky, he wanted to make sure that his next meal had all of what he was searching for, it helped to strengthen the taste. His eyes peered over each woman, each male, everyone carefully, making sure to not miss a single thing. Regardless, all he found was repulsive, everything appeared horrid and rotten. Then, he found a section where it was more promising. For a moment, his dark onyx eyes flashed yellow as his hunger began to grow. There were so many tasty-looking individuals around the area, perfect to satisfy him for the next two or three weeks.

'There!' His eyes peered at a single individual towards the back, a woman who was clearly flirting with two men over the counter at a side restaurant. She had golden hair, a foreigner in a sea of Japanese black and brown. The woman shot the men a brilliant bewitching smile, catching them in her seductive lure and reducing them to a drooling mess of lovesick puppies; to them she was a goddess. Despite it being winter she had left gracious amounts of her skin revealed, keeping the men's eyes trailing over her body. There was no doubt that her seductive abilities had been refined over countless years.

Reborn smirked and moved to stand beside the alluring woman. He tilted his fedora towards the side and spoke his greeting, "Chaos."

The woman peered over to him instantaneously, the lust clear in her deep green eyes, and shifted away from the two men behind the counter. There was no hesitation in that action, no second thoughts. It was clear that between the two of them and Reborn's good looks the men had nothing to offer. Reborn's deep bass on top of that, could make any woman or man succumb to his will, it was the perfect lure. Getting people to fall right into the palm of his hands was far too easy - it wasn't even worth the effort. The woman stepped closer, wrapping her arms around Reborn's right arm and cuddled up, rubbing her breasts purposefully against the limb. "Well hello there, handsome. Looking for a date?"

"Actually, yes, I am." Reborn smirked and tilted his head to the side, making his sideburns bounce. The shadow of the fedora he was wearing followed the movement, shading one eye while leaving the other open. It made him look so appealing to wandering eyes, a few passersby heading down the path stopped to stare. "Are you willing to offer?"

"For an extremely handsome man like yourself I'm more than willing," She giggled a high pitched titter as she kept herself attached and instantly leaned against the man happily. The two men beside them peered at the two scornfully before hatefully glaring at Reborn, knowing he had stolen their would-be date. However, they were smart enough to know when not to compete. They were simply nowhere near as good-looking as Reborn. The woman continued to smile with her red cherry lips. "Aren't you cold, handsome? You're not really dressed for the winter." The woman was absolutely right - Reborn wasn't dressed for the season. He was wearing his usual two-piece suit with the yellow undershirt and his typical fedora with the yellow band placed evenly on top of his spiky black hair. It wasn't enough to protect himself against the cold, not when it was snowing so heavily. Everyone else was dressed thickly in warm coats, trying to protect themselves both from the temperature and the chill of the melting snow upon their clothes. In certain areas, it was easy to see that some of the snow had gotten knee-deep, burying the land in white. The woman herself had a heavy coat despite the heels and revealing clothes underneath.

Reborn, however, just smirked, unbothered by the weather. "I was planning on having you keep me warm for the night. Was that too much to ask?"

"Oh no, I don't think I'd mind at all."

The raven watched as the woman giggled again and he began to drag her off, heading down the streets towards an isolated destination. It didn't exactly matter where he did the deed, it just needed to be devoid of people and out of view so that there were no possible interruptions. The woman beside him chattered happily, oblivious to what was about to happen, while Reborn searched through the various alleys for a destination. He was hungry and his mouth desperately wanted to devour something even if the taste wasn't enriching. He just needed something to fulfill his desire for the time being. Eventually, he spotted it, an abandoned area and began to nudge her towards it. It was clear she was taken along, her mind already working out what was going to happen next. She believed there was going to be a lot of screaming and pleasure involved, not knowing what she was getting herself into.

As they slipped out of view, Reborn twisted the woman around and slammed her against the cold brick wall, bringing his face up close to her neck. His warm breath tickled along that sensitive skin and made her shiver in delight, she was clearly enjoying the roughness. "You are quite the pretty woman."

"Why thank you." The woman chuckled, gasping when she felt those warm lips brush against her neck. She tilted her head to the side, allowing more access, and relaxed into the grasp as if there was nothing wrong with this position. Reborn licked his lips, his eyes turning yellow for a moment and peered around the alleyway for any human life. He sensed none, knowing he was in the perfect situation to feast.

Smirking, he pulled back and grinned menacingly. "And you're definitely a fool of a woman."

"Huh?"

Reborn immediately struck, stabbing his hand right through the woman's abdomen with no hesitation. Her mouth and eyes went wide in shock, unable to comprehend what was happening to her much less the pain that coursing throughout her body. Within moments, the man had his lips against the whore, sucking out something from within her mouth - doing so also prevented her from screaming. It took merely seconds and as he pulled away, a small orb of blue came floating out only to be sucked straight into Reborn's waiting mouth. He let out a small, delighted sigh as if tasting the flavor of the orb before yanking his arm back, dropping the corpse carelessly to the ground. A 'tch' slipped past his lips. "Damn, not good enough, but it'll do." Wiping his mouth with his right sleeve, he peered down at the broken corpse and huffed, glancing around to figure out how to hide the body. Normally he wouldn't mind taking a little extra from his victims before eating, but today he didn't feel like it. It just wasn't necessary.

He was a demon after all and souls were his food source. He glanced to the side where a metal garbage can was located and smirked. There, he could hide the body in that. Yanking the corpse up, he dragged the body over and lifted the cover of the bin, tossing her motionless body inside. With a snap of his fingers, the dead woman burst into flames. It wasn't big enough to leave any smoke or a stench, it was just enough to make the body hard to identify. More often, people wouldn't even notice the leftovers and the woman would merely be forgotten, just a face on a missing poster that would be replaced with someone else. Well, if she even had anyone decent to search for her. Regardless, it was all over with, everything was cleaned up and soon the snow would hide all evidence of his meal. The blood would disappear under the new layer of already forming snow. Patting his pants down, he placed his hands into his pockets and turned to leave, wanting to head back to his place. Though the cold didn't bother him he'd rather not freeze.

Clank.

Reborn snapped his head around at the sound, his eyes glowing for a moment in disbelief. Had he been caught in the act? Impossible, he hadn't sensed any other individual in the area before having his small feed. That left an animal, but he needed to make sure, he couldn't allow any careless mistakes. His eyes searched the surrounding area, taking a small sniff, before finally finding the hidden scent of… human. He growled, so he had been caught. 'Better take care of it.' Examining the area, he noticed the only item in the vicinity; the trashcan. The same metal rubbish bin that he had tossed the corpse into, he smirked when he found the hiding individual. The snow was deep and his footsteps made crunches into the ground as he paced around the area tauntingly. He could feel the human better now, hearing the soft breathing, and sensed the dull pounding of the heart. Both were weak - extremely weak - and were barely audible unless he concentrated. It was probably the only reason why he had missed the person. His fingers gripped the top corner of the bin, knowing he was clearly scaring the person by the acceleration of the heartbeat, before stepping around to get a clear visual of the being… except it wasn't exactly a person.

'What the…' There, before his feet, was a child, a small, tiny child who was currently under dressed and shivering like mad. The child, probably around five or six, did little else but cower in fear, he just sat there awaiting his fate. Reborn continued to examine the human, taking in the spiky, soft-looking brown hair and the flat cheeks. He almost raised an eyebrow at the latter part, finding it odd that they weren't chubby like most children's. It was probably due to the boy's lack of food. The boy peered up at him with wide, fear-filled honey-colored eyes.

"Hey, kid," Reborn watched as the child flinched. "How much did you see?"

The boy didn't speak and instead tightened his hold around his jacket, burying himself against his legs. It was like the child was trying to make himself even smaller, attempting to disappear in the snow. Still, that response was enough to alert the demon to just how much the child actually knew.

"So you saw everything," Reborn almost wanted to curse, knowing he had been too lenient with his surroundings. He couldn't believe his stupidity for doing something so foolish. "Then you probably know what will happen next, yes?"

Still, the child simply stared, his small lips trapped in a thin line. He didn't move - he didn't do anything but sit there almost emotionlessly. The fear that had been in those eyes was beginning to die down and after a few seconds, the child finally moved, nodding his head. After that, nothing happened. The child didn't scream, didn't beg, he did nothing but wait for his fate to be decided by the demon.

This, however, interested Reborn, it was uncommon after all. He was so used to the more obvious reactions and kneeled down, continuing to observe the child. "How did my victim die?"

The child blinked rapidly and slowly he began to open his mouth, yet no sound came out. There was nothing. The boy struggled to say a few words and there was only a grumbling sound of something trying to squeeze through. It was only then that Reborn took notice of the tinted blue lips. Immediately, the demon reached out, grasping hold of the child's face. Cold, the boy's face was ice cold, almost like the air surrounding him. Reborn almost huffed at the fact. It wouldn't be much longer before the child died of hypothermia. His same hand went down towards the child's own and took hold of it. The ends of the fingers were beginning to turn a very light tint of blue while the rest of the hand was white, the cold already affecting the digits.

'There's no point in killing this boy, he'll be dead before long. He doesn't have hypothermia yet since his body is still warm but it won't be long.' Reborn surmised, tearing his hand away from the boy's and noticed the instant recoil from the child. He smirked, the boy had been seeking warmth even if it came from his would-be killer. His eyes continued to look over the child before sighing, reaching forward towards the child once more. The boy simply continued to stare, unable to do anything but that, and watched as the hands touched his shoulders. He didn't flinch, he didn't move, he did nothing, and that fascinated the demon. 'I'm going to regret this, but whatever.' Grasping onto the child, he lifted the boy up from the ground and placed him on top of the garbage bin. He dusted off the extra snow on the child's body, watching as those curious eyes stared at him. It was then that he noticed the so-called protection against the weather. The clothes were useless; old jeans, a shirt, and a jacket. The shoes were soaked through and Reborn could only guess that the same state of near hypothermia was affecting the toes. Carefully, he lifted the child up and placed him against his chest, cradling the child with ease since the boy was so light and young. Instantly, the boy attached himself to the demon, seeking that body warmth that Reborn held. The adult raised an eyebrow at that. "You're going to do that despite me being a killer?"

The boy didn't answer and refused to budge from his spot, moving closer instead. The huffs of air before the child were easier to see now that Reborn was up close and the shivering was terrible, worse than he had originally thought. The demon didn't know why he was doing this, but his interest towards the child had skyrocketed and slowly he began to move, heading towards the streets. No one looked at him or the boy. No one was really interested in seeing something that would be considered normal – an adult carrying a child. Reborn vanished into the crowd and only reappeared when he reached his apartment, the place he had been using to blend in with the humans. He went through the front, no security or people in the entry hallway, and pressed the button to call for the elevator. Despite everything, the child still hadn't done anything except move closer. Those large eyes were peering up at the demon questionably, unsure what was going to happen. As the metallic doors opened the two stepped in, disappearing inside, and waited for the doors to reopen after they'd closed.

Eventually, there was a 'ding' followed by the doors opening and Reborn stepped out onto the fifth floor, immediately heading right towards one of the doors near the back of the hallway. When Reborn opened the door with his keys, he stepped in, looking round to see if anything had been disturbed before slamming the door shut behind. "Alright kid, you're going to get something warm in you and then I'm going to have you talk."

The child was still silent as he was placed down onto one of Reborn's couches in the living room and he took note of his surroundings. He shifted towards the side, right where the arm of the couch and a couple of large pillows was. Immediately, the child buried himself into it, trying to keep warm, shivering uncontrollably as his body attempted to heat up despite the temperature difference. Reborn took notice of the sad effort and almost sighed, moving towards the kitchen to heat up some milk he still had in the refrigerator. While that was in the microwave, he went to bathroom and twisted the faucet in the bathtub, getting the temperature of the water as hot as possible. With his sharp hearing, he heard the timer of the microwave go off and slipped back into the kitchen, using his demonic speed to zoom across the room in mere seconds. There was no point in hiding his abilities any longer since the child already knew about it. He took out the warm mug, not caring about the temperature against his skin, before heading towards the child, lifting him up into his arms. "Look, kid, I'm only being nice to get information out of you. Don't think any more of it than that, and now I need you to take a bath, got it?"

The child simply nodded his head, keeping himself close to the adult for warmth. Upon entering the bathroom, the child was immediately undressed, not that he was wearing much, and was placed into the bathtub. The toes were still blue, the white extending up towards the ankle. In that condition, there was no way the child would be able to walk without collapsing. Almost instantly, the hot water drenched the child completely from head to toe, his spiky brown hair flattening out from the weight. It was clear the water was doing wonders to the child's body, the blue beginning to recede as the hot water helped the circulation. Eventually, Reborn leaned over with the cup of still-hot milk, passing it to. His grip was strong by then, his color a healthy peach and he drank greedily as if it might be his last. A soft 'ah' slipped through his lips and he continued to swallow, his throat moving at each mouthful. Soon, there was nothing left and the child placed the mug towards the side, smacking his lips contentedly.

The boy's honey-colored eyes peered up at the demon and he smiled weakly, opening his mouth to speak. "T-Thank… you."

"So you can finally talk, kid," Reborn smirked, leaning closer to the child. The bathroom itself was small, just enough to hold one person and that was all that was necessary. The demon lived by himself after all. "Alright, what's your name?"

"T-Tsuna," The voice was raw but was getting used to being exercised. "It's short for… Tsunayoshi. What's… yours?"

"Reborn," The demon slipped closer, increasing the heat of the water when it began to cool down. The steam coated everything in the room and the air was heavy with moisture. His eyes could see fat droplets of water dripping down the mirror, leaving streaks behind. He leaned against the side of the shower, his arms folded neatly across his chest. "Tell me, did you see everything?"

Tsuna nodded his head, glancing down at his hands before finally looking back up. "Um…" The hesitation in his voice was obvious. He glanced straight into Reborn's onyx eyes before shutting up once more. The boy brought his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around his body, looking like a tiny ball. The raven just sighed and motioned Tsuna to continue. "What… are you?"

"A demon," It was a blunt reply. He was eager to see if he'd get a reaction out of the other, but unfortunately there was nothing; Tsuna simply stared and then nodded his head. "What? You're not surprised?"

"I… saw you… kill her and then eat that… blue glowy thing," The child whispered, keeping himself covered by the hot water. His skin was beginning to turn a dark pink from the heat, but it didn't bother him. Eventually, Reborn moved to turn off the faucet, grabbing a towel to let the child dry himself off. The demon knew what the other meant so he didn't bother to expand on the subject. "Why?"

"Why?" Reborn raised an eyebrow at the question, watching as Tsuna wrapped the towel around his body. "Why what?"

"Why did you do that?"

"The woman?" When he got a nod from the child, he almost wanted to laugh. "Because that's how I eat. I feast on the souls of humans. They are my food source, just like you eat food that your mother probably cooks for you when you're hungry."

Tsuna just blinked, tilting his head as he tried to understand, but since he was only a child, he couldn't. He wiggled his nose and turned his attention towards getting dry, cleaning himself off before reaching for his clothes. "I think… I get it."

Reborn rolled his eyes, knowing very well that the child didn't understand, but chose not to elaborate. He turned away as the child dressed himself in his wet clothes, unable to wear anything else. Still, there was one thing that the demon questioned: what was a mere child doing out there in the cold? It was possible that he had been abandoned or perhaps a runaway. There was a range of circumstances that could have been applicable considering human society. Of course, the easiest thing to do was ask. "Kid, why were you sitting out there in the cold?"

"Mama and brother left me there. Well, brother did and took Mama away. I thought that if I stayed in that spot they might come back for me," Tsuna concluded, he no longer had to struggle in order to speak. "But they didn't…"

The demon rubbed under his chin, figuring out that the child had most likely been abandoned by his own brother. "Would they notice you missing?"

Tsuna shook his head. "No, brother keeps Mama's attention all the time."

Reborn wanted to sigh but at the same time he was relieved. Even if he let the child go, no one would believe him. His eyes peered over the boy, observing as Tsuna bundled himself up in the towel despite being out of the cold. It was mainly because his clothes were still damp from the snow. It was only then that he saw the child glancing down at the empty mug of milk. "Are you still hungry?"

"Eh?" Blinking, the child tried to shake his head, a small tint of red on his cheeks. "N-No…"

"You don't need to lie. If you're hungry, just say so."

"O-Oh… Okay. I-I'm hungry. Mama told me that I shouldn't im-impose on people."

Reborn stood up from his spot, opening the bathroom door to leave, and waved the child to follow. "Come on, I'll make something simple for you. I don't normally have anything edible here besides drinks. It's not as if I need to eat human food often."

"Do you eat food?" Tsuna trailed behind the demon. His eyes were large as he peered up, almost like he was about to break out into a smile. Reborn didn't answer at first as he opened the refrigerator to look over the contents within. The only thing that was really edible was some pasta. It would work for the time being and keep the child full. It wasn't as if Tsuna would be picky about what he ate.

As the food was microwaved, the demon turned back to the child. "I can eat normal food, it'll leave me full for a while but eventually I'll need to eat a soul," The child listened intently, looking at the other with those wide sparkling eyes. Reborn was tempted to roll his own eyes at the sight. When the microwave went off, alerting the two that the food was ready, he pulled it out and passed it to the child with a fork. Settling at the kitchen table, he watched as the boy quickly devoured the food. 'He must have been starving… And he obviously hasn't learned that he's not supposed to take things from strangers.' He was tempted to tell the child to slow down but instead said something else. "How old are you?"

"Five!" Tsuna munched a little more and swallowed the piece he had. "Thank you for the food."

"Hmm," Reborn just observed the child, still wondering what he should do about him. He could already let him go, it wasn't as if anyone would believe the child if he went around telling people he was a demon. 'Actually, he might be handy later on. He could be useful to get past certain problems…' Smirking to himself, he leaned towards the table with his elbow against it. "Kid, I'll let you go if you do something for me in the future."

At those words the child paused. "Let me go?"

Reborn smirked. "You didn't think I would willingly let you go after finding out my secret, now did you?"

The child just blinked, biting down onto the fork as he thought over the words. "Oh…" Eventually, he placed the fork down, but would glance towards the food hungrily. Regardless, the child peered up at the adult to show he was fully alert. "So… what's going to happen to me? Are you… going to do the same thing you did to that lady?"

The demon raised an eyebrow at the curious expression. It was like the child had accepted his fate willingly. 'Well, considering he would have died outside anyway, I shouldn't be surprised.' This only made things fascinating. "I'll let you go if one, you promise not to say anything about me and two, if you do something for me in the future."

"What something?"

"Haven't decided yet."

Tsuna tilted his head in question and then nodded. "Okay!"

"What? No hesitation?" Reborn was quickly finding the child amusing and leaned further across the table. It wasn't often that such a thing happened in his long life. Tsuna just stared in question, not sure what the adult meant. "Whatever, I'll drop you at your house after you finish."

The child just glowed at that concept and went back to eating, smiling happily to himself as he continued to ingest the food. He didn't care that there was some stranger taking care of him.

Tsuna peered up at the demon curiously with a wide grin. He was at home, safe and sound after a torturous part of actually finding the place. Reborn had resorted to jumping up into the sky and levitating in place to help search since the child didn't know anything. The demon honestly had put more energy into helping this child than he had for anyone else before, even for his meals. Peering up at the place, he sighed and was about to turn away when Tsuna called out to him, "Thanks, Reborn!"

The demon blinked, a little surprised to actually being thanked. After all, who would thank a demon? Chuckling, he waved his arm and began to make his way back towards his place. He spoke no words and vanished into the darkness of the snowy night, leaving the child behind.

Tsuna's smile suddenly fell at the disappearance at his savior and glanced back towards his house with a heavy sigh. Heading towards it, he got onto his tip-toes to ring the doorbell, hoping that his Mama would answer it instead of his brother.

Hope you enjoyed it