Mio Famiglia, Mio Scudo

Episode XVIII

"So... Because of me using my flames to nightly lift the thing you refer to as the Arcobaleno Curse off of your son's tutor, my flames automatically used that connection in order to show me what was going on in the future?" Naoki inquired as his mentor calmly knead the bread dough with her hands. As the young man stared at the said hands, lifting the dough and folding it in half on repeat, she answered. "Partially yes, but also no. You see, the sky set works very differently from the set you represent, the power of the sky is to oversee the time itself, which is present in two families in particular. Vongola, which see to the past, and Giglionero, that has the power to see what may come".

The answer didn't really explain anything at all, but that didn't really bother Naoki as much. In fact he was delighted to receive an ambiguous response like that, it gave him a reason to think and deduce. Like one of those detective stories he'd redd as a child and adored. He loved them so much that he'd wanted to be a detective once grown up. "You mentioned the seer and the Arcobaleno in the past, her name was Luce wasn't it? The sky Arcobaleno who was a seer aswell", he started, a thought forming in his mind, "Is it possible that the connection to Reborn created a slight connection to the current sky of Arcobaleno?". Nana's smile was all the confirmation that he needed to find himself to be on the right trail.

"None of the Arcobaleno are truly bonded to one another in the way they believe they are, their connection is through a common Cloud rather than a Sky and even then their bond isn't exactly a fully formed one, it's more of a security net than an actual flame bond. Only third of them are classic users, the rest being inverted type"

The door opened and closed, and Nana's tone shifted immediately into a happy go lucky type, a big dreamy smile making it to her face. "And that's how you are supposed to be kneading dough into a bread!"
Naoki stared at the perfectly round loaf to be, his brows furrowing in thought. "How do you get the stripes into them? I mean.. If you run a knife through it after it rises, it'll ruin it, won't it?"

Iemitsu stared at the two people in the kitchen, his brows shot up in surprise. The boy looked a lot different from what he'd expected him to be like, a much fluffier, shorter, paler. He was softly emitting that comforting candlelight like flame, the type that just called people towards them, like moths. The male was also younger than expected, he'd been waiting for at least a twenty year old, not a wet behind the ears highschooler. As he observed the boy who was being given a baking lesson by his wife, the teen suddenly turned to look at him with the sharpest eyes he'd ever seen.

It felt uncomfortable, the gaze so clear and unavoidable by man whose sins were now surfacing at an alarming speed. His eyes were so much older than they should've been and the presence itself was that of an old man, a priest's, someone who you'd confess how horrible you've been with teary eyes and be gifted with forgivance and advice of how to become a better person. Someone who you could rely on to lift you up on their arms and wash away the darkness you carry within.

But it was so oh so terrifying. Because he knew. He knew what he'd done. There was nowhere to hide. And he knew what he was planning to do.

Iemitsu painted a smile up onto his face and approached the teen nonchalantly. "Nana my dear, who might this be?" he asked from his wife, fully knowing who he was referring to. But he didn't want to alarm her into thinking that the teenager might've been a threat, oh no. He knew exactly who his wife was even if she was shattered long time ago. His wife flipped her hair away from her face, something he'd last seen her do before she lost her set. The man stopped to stare at the brunette, his heart full and ready to burst as he saw more and more of those tiny habits that had originally made him fall for her in the first place. The tiny twitch of her nose, the swish of a hand, the flick of a wrist, the tiny spring in her step, the small steps she took. His heart was so full now.